Heavy metals in particulate matter and sediments in the southern Barcelona sedimentation system (North-western Mediterranean)

Concentrations of selected heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) from surface sediments, suspended particulate matter and settling particles in the southern Barcelona continental margin were studied in order to evaluate the environmental impact of the anthropogenic metals discharged by the Llobregat River in this Mediterranean area. The temporal variation of heavy metals discharged by this river onto the continental shelf is clearly related to the river water flow. Part of the fine sediment and associated heavy metals transported by the Llobregat River during periods of low river flow accumulate on the river bed, and they are totally removed and discharged onto the Barcelona continental shelf during sporadic river water flow increases. Metals produce significant anomalies of chromium (×2.5), copper (×3.4) and zinc (×3.7) in the surface sediments of the Llobregat prodelta and tend to be transported along the continental shelf following the mean flow. Metals associated with the finest suspended flocs transferred to the slope are controlled by the shelf-slope density front and are transported along slope by the general geostrophic current, instead of accumulating and becoming concentrated in the slope bottom sediments. Settling particulate matter collected in sediment traps on the Barcelona continental slope offshore of the shelf-slope front shows low heavy metal concentrations except in a few sediment trap samples that are significantly metal-enriched in chromium (×4.5) and zinc (×6.8). This enrichment is associated with very short and sporadic river flow increases and is only recorded inside the Foix submarine canyon, which acts as a preferential conduit for the shelf-slope sediment transfer.     

Über interne Wellen,besonders solche mit Gezeitencharakter

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Überblick über unsere derzeitigen Kenntnisse der internen Wellen im Ozean gegeben, wobei besonders jene mit Gezeitencharakter berücksichtigt werden. Die theoretischen Erörterungen sind möglichst kurz gehalten. Die Koppelung mit den Trägheitsschwingungen ausgedehnter Meeresgebiete erfährt eine eingehende Würdigung. Zum Schluß werden auch die Stabilitätsbedingungen interner Gezeitenwellen erörtert.

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On internal waves, especially on those of tidal periods

Summary This is an outline of our present knowledge of internal waves in the ocean with special reference to internal waves of tidal periods. The theoretical aspect is dealt with as briefly as possible. The coupling with the phenomenon of osciallations of inertia in large ocean areas is discussed in detail. Finally, the stability conditions of internal tide waves are treated.

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Sur des vagues internes, surtout sur celles ayant des périodes de marée

Résumé Voilà un aperçu de notre connaissance d'aujourd'hui des vagues internes dans l'océan, surtout de celles qui ont des périodes de marée. L'aspect théorique est brièvement traité. Le rapport avec les oscillations d'inertie en larges régions océaniques est précisé. Enfin, les conditions de stabilité des vagues internes de marée sont exposées.

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Vortrag, gehalten im geophysikalischen Kolloquium der Universität Hamburg am 10. Dezember 1952.     

Theoretische Überlegungen zum Phänomen des Windstaus und des Auftriebes an ozeanischen Küsten

Zusammenfassung Die Bearbeitung von dynamischen Schnitten quer zu ozeanischen Küsten mit Windstau und Auftriebsphänomenen, insbesondere jener Schnitte, die das große Beobachtungsmaterial des Marine Life Research Program der Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla (California) geliefert hat, hat den inneren Mechanismus des Vorganges bei Windstau oder Auftrieb an ozeanischen Küsten klargelegt, so daß es nun möglich ist, die Zusammenhänge in einfachen schematischen Modellen theoretisch zu erfassen. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung wird das Modell eines freien Ozeans mit anschließendem Schelfmeer unter vereinfachenden Annahmen vollständig durchgerechnet. Der Vergleich eines zahlenmäßigen Beispiels mit den Verhältnissen vor der kalifornischen Küste ergibt eine gute Übereinstimmung. Dies läßt annehmen, daß im theoretischen Modell alle das Phänomen mitbestimmenden Faktoren richtig erfaßt worden sind.

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Theoretical considerations on the phenomenon of wind effect (Windstau) and upwelling on oceanic coasts

Summary The elaboration of dynamic sections located at right angles to oceanic coasts with banking effects as well as upwelling phenomena, above all the working up of those profiles based on the comprehensive observation material obtained under the Marine Life Research Program by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of La Jolla (California) has recently enabled the internal mechanism of the processes of the piling up or upwelling of water on oceanic coasts to be revealed; thus it is now possible to theoretically conceive the correlations with the aid of simple schematic patterns. In the present paper the model of an open ocean with an adjacent shelf sea is completely computed under certain simplifying assumptions. A numerical example is compared with the conditions existing off the coast of California and the correspondence is found to be good. This allows of the assumption that in the theoretical model all factors exerting an essential influence on the phenomenon under discussion have been properly taken into account.

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Considérations théoriques des phénomènes de montée et de baisse de niveau sur les littoraux

Résumé En se servant des coupes dynamiques orientéesperpendiculairement à la direction générale des littoraux soumis aux phénomènes de montée et de baisse de niveau sous la pression du vent de mer et celle du vent de terre, et surtout en élaborant les nombreuses observations faites sous le Marine Life Research Program de la Scripps Institution of Oceanography à La Jolla (Californie) on est récemment arrivé à éclaircir le mécanisme interne de la montée et de la baisse de niveau sur les littoraux. Il est donc possible de saisir d'une manière théorique les corrélations à l'aide de simples modèles schématiques. On a introduit des suppositions simplifiantes dans le travail suivant et on a complètement calculé le modèle d'un océan ouvert se reliant à une zone adjacente de la marge continentale. L'exemple numérique donné est en bon accord avec les conditions devant la côte de la Californie. On peut donc supposer que tous les éléments qui influencent essentiellement ce phénomène ont été proprement introduits dans le modèle théorique.

     

Orion: A 1–5 Micron Focal Plane for the 21st Century

The Orion program is a project to develop a 2K × 2K infrared focal plane using InSb p-on-n diodes for detectors. It is the natural follow-up to the successful Aladdin 1K × 1K program started in the early 90's. The work is being done at the Raytheon Infrared Operations Division (RIO, previously known as the Santa Barbara Research Center) by many of the same people who created the Aladdin focal plane. The design is very similar to the successful Aladdin design with the addition of reference pixels, whole array readout (no quadrants), two-adjacent-side buttability, and a packaging design that includes going directly to the ultimate focal plane size of 4K × 4K. So far we have successfully made a limited number of hybrid modules with InSb detectors. In this paper we will describe the design features and test data taken from some of these devices. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Lead and copper in the waters of Raritan and Lower New York Bays

A survey of waters adjacent to this heavily urbanized and industrialized region showed concentrations of copper, 65 μg l.^?1 to be the highest reported to date for estuarine waters, and lead up to 13.9 μg l.^?1 Correlations between distributions of dissolved and total metal concentration in the water column, hydrography, and metal in the sediment were related to benthic studies in this area. Laboratory studies are cited which show the potential for adverse effects on marine animals at these metal concentrations.     

Genetic Relationships Among One Non-Endemic and Two Endemic Mediterranean Triplefin Blennies (Pisces, Blennioidei)

Abstract. Three triplefin blennies occur sympatrically in the Mediterranean Sea; Tripterygion tripteronotus and T. melanurus are endemic, whereas T. delaisi is also found in the Eastern Atlantic. Although very similar in morphology, ecology and behaviour, some striking differences exist among reproductive strategies. Several authors proposed hypotheses on the evolution of these species. In order to enhance insight into the genetic structure of this genus, an enzyme electrophoretic survey was performed. Samples of 40 to 45 specimens of each species were collected near Calvi (Corsica, France). Twenty-four enzyme loci were analysed, of which 17 appeared polymorphic. T. delaisi showed a high level of average observed heterozygosity (H_o) of 0.140, as opposed to very low levels of 0.009 and 0.021 in T. tripteronotus and T. melanurus , respectively. Nei's genetic distance was 0.21 between T. delaisi and T. tripteronotus , 0.35 between T. delaisi and T. melanurus and 0.45 between T. tripteronotus and T. melanurus . We hypothesise that divergence of these species started before the Pleistocene and that the endemic species survived the Pleistocene glaciations in refugia within the Mediterranean. The possibility that T. tripteronotus and T. delaisi diverged through sympatric speciation is discussed.     

InSAR detection of residual settlement of an ocean reclamation engineering project: a case study of Hong Kong International Airport

Man-made land or islands that are reclaimed from the sea are suitable for building airports, harbors, and industry parks for material transportation because of their broad air and land spaces. However, the reclaimed foundation settlement process is of public concern, including the continuous impact of ocean processes on its stability. The majority of the buildings and facilities of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) are built on a reclaimed foundation. The reclaimed foundation has been in residual settlement since completion of the filling project in 1994. In this study, we use persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) and ENVISAT (European Satellite) advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) data to detect the residual settlement rates from 19 April 2006 to 9 January 2008. We use ground truth data to develop empirical correction models for correcting systematic biases in the ASAR PSI-detected settlement rates. The corrected data follow the Lorentz distribution well, implying that the residual settlement process is dominated by two modes or categories of settlement rates. The first category represents a relatively stable state and the second category represents a continuous settlement state. A ground settlement rate map of HKIA shows that an area of the Passenger Terminal Building and an area of the Southern Runway are two relatively stable areas. There are two major continuous settlement areas. One covers the airport Midfield. Another is along the coastline, implying that attention should be paid to impacts of ocean processes on the stability of airport foundations.     

Carbon isotopic fractionation during a mesocosm bloom experiment dominated by Emiliania huxleyi: Effects of CO2 concentration and primary production

We investigated the effect of CO₂ and primary production on the carbon isotopic fractionation of alkenones and particulate organic matter (POC) during a natural phytoplankton bloom dominated by the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. In nine semi-closed mesocosms (∼11 m³ each), three different CO₂ partial pressures (pCO₂) in triplicate represented glacial (∼180 ppmv CO₂), present (∼380 ppmv CO₂), and year 2100 (∼710 ppmv CO₂) CO₂ conditions. The largest shift in alkenone isotopic composition (4-5‰) occurred during the exponential growth phase, regardless of the CO₂ concentration in the respective treatment. Despite the difference of ∼500 ppmv, the influence of pCO₂ on isotopic fractionation was marginal (1-2‰). During the stationary phase, E. huxleyi continued to produce alkenones, accumulating cellular concentrations almost four times higher than those of exponentially dividing cells. Our isotope data indicate that, while alkenone production was maintained, the interaction of carbon source and cellular uptake dynamics by E. huxleyi reached a steady state. During stationary phase, we further observed a remarkable increase in the difference between δ¹³C of bulk organic matter and of alkenones spanning 7-12‰. We suggest that this phenomenon is caused mainly by a combination of extracellular release of ¹³C-enriched polysaccharides and subsequent particle aggregation induced by the production of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP).     

Bounce Rock—A shergottite‐like basalt encountered at Meridiani Planum,Mars

Abstract– The Opportunity rover of the Mars Exploration Rover mission encountered an isolated rock fragment with textural, mineralogical, and chemical properties similar to basaltic shergottites. This finding was confirmed by all rover instruments, and a comprehensive study of these results is reported here. Spectra from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and the Panoramic Camera reveal a pyroxene‐rich mineralogy, which is also evident in Mössbauer spectra and in normative mineralogy derived from bulk chemistry measured by the alpha particle X‐ray spectrometer. The correspondence of Bounce Rock’s chemical composition with the composition of certain basaltic shergottites, especially Elephant Moraine (EET) 79001 lithology B and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201, is very close, with only Cl, Fe, and Ti exhibiting deviations. Chemical analyses further demonstrate characteristics typical of Mars such as the Fe/Mn ratio and P concentrations. Possible shock features support the idea that Bounce Rock was ejected from an impact crater, most likely in the Meridiani Planum region. Bopolu crater, 19.3 km in diameter, located 75 km to the southwest could be the source crater. To date, no other rocks of this composition have been encountered by any of the rovers on Mars. The finding of Bounce Rock by the Opportunity rover provides further direct evidence for an origin of basaltic shergottite meteorites from Mars.