Transitional waters: A new approach, semantics or just muddying the waters?

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science has throughout its history considered a diverse range of habitats including estuaries and fjords, brackish water and lagoons, as well as coastal marine systems. Its articles have reflected recent trends and developments within the estuarine and coastal fields and this includes the changing use of well-accepted terms. The term “transitional waters” first came to prominence in 2000 with the publication of the Water Framework Directive of the European Communities [European Communities, 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities 43 (L327), 75 pp.], where “transitional waters” are defined as “bodies of surface water in the vicinity of river mouths which are partially saline in character as a result of their proximity to coastal waters but which are substantially influenced by freshwater flows”. The inclusion of the term transitional waters in our own aims and scope reflects the evolution of language in this subject area, encompassing tidal estuaries and non-tidal brackish water lagoons. This article reflects on some of the difficulties posed by the use of the term and its attempts to be inclusive by incorporating fjords, fjards, river mouths, deltas, rias and lagoons as well as the more classical estuaries. It also discusses the problems of including in the term river mouths discharging either into predominantly brackish areas such as the Baltic Sea, or into freshwater-poor areas bordering the Mediterranean.     

Assessing the South African sardine resource: two stocks rather than one?

Sardine Sardinops sagax distributed off the west and south coasts of South Africa have traditionally been assumed to comprise a single well-mixed stock for assessment and management purposes. New research, however, lends weight to the possibility of two stocks in this region. A precautionary management approach thus needs to consider the impact of management decisions on the hypothesised two individual stocks as well as on the resource as a whole. As a first step in this process, Bayesian assessments of South African sardine are presented, which compare results for the traditional single-stock hypothesis with those that follow from a new two-mixing-stock hypothesis. Recruits from the west stock are assumed to move to and remain part of the south stock in annual pulses of varying size. This movement is estimated to be appreciable, and to take place from a substantially more productive west stock to the south stock. This immigration makes a greater contribution to the south-stock biomass than do years of above-average south-stock recruitment. Importantly, this two-mixing-stock hypothesis is shown to be consistent with the data available. Further alternative sardine stock-structure hypotheses suggested by the most recent data are discussed.     

Classification of marine bioregions on the east coast of South Africa

Marine bioregional planning requires a meaningful classification and spatial delineation of the ocean environment using biological and physical characteristics. The relative inaccessibility of much of the ocean and the paucity of directly measured data spanning entire planning regions mean that surrogate data, such as satellite imagery, are frequently used to develop spatial classifications. However, due to a lack of appropriate biological data, these classifications often rely on abiotic variables, which act as surrogates for biodiversity. The aim of this study was to produce a fine-scale bioregional classification, using multivariate clustering, for the inshore and offshore marine environment off the east coast of South Africa, adjacent to the province of KwaZulu-Natal and out to the boundary of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles offshore. We used remotely sensed data of sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a and turbidity, together with interpolated bathymetry and continental-slope data, as well as additional inshore data on sediments, seabed oxygen and bottom temperature. A multivariate k-means analysis was used to produce a fine-scale marine bioregionalisation, with three bioregions subdivided into 12 biozones. The offshore classification was primarily a pelagic bioregionalisation, whereas the inshore classification (on the continental shelf) was a coupled benthopelagic bioregionalisation, owing to the availability of benthic data for this area. The resulting classification was used as a base layer for a systematic conservation plan developed for the province, and provided the methods for subsequent planning conducted for the entire South African EEZ. Validation of the classification is currently being conducted in marine research programmes that are sampling benthic biota and habitats in a sampling design stratified according to the biozones delineated in this study.     

Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Blue Nile Basin,Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau

The Blue Nile Basin, situated in the Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau, contains ∼1400 m thick Mesozoic sedimentary section underlain by Neoproterozoic basement rocks and overlain by Early–Late Oligocene and Quaternary volcanic rocks. This study outlines the stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Blue Nile Basin based on field and remote sensing studies along the Gorge of the Nile. The Blue Nile Basin has evolved in three main phases: (1) pre‐sedimentation phase, include pre‐rift peneplanation of the Neoproterozoic basement rocks, possibly during Palaeozoic time; (2) sedimentation phase from Triassic to Early Cretaceous, including: (a) Triassic–Early Jurassic fluvial sedimentation (Lower Sandstone, ∼300 m thick); (b) Early Jurassic marine transgression (glauconitic sandy mudstone, ∼30 m thick); (c) Early–Middle Jurassic deepening of the basin (Lower Limestone, ∼450 m thick); (d) desiccation of the basin and deposition of Early–Middle Jurassic gypsum; (e) Middle–Late Jurassic marine transgression (Upper Limestone, ∼400 m thick); (f) Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous basin‐uplift and marine regression (alluvial/fluvial Upper Sandstone, ∼280 m thick); (3) the post‐sedimentation phase, including Early–Late Oligocene eruption of 500–2000 m thick Lower volcanic rocks, related to the Afar Mantle Plume and emplacement of ∼300 m thick Quaternary Upper volcanic rocks. The Mesozoic to Cenozoic units were deposited during extension attributed to Triassic–Cretaceous NE–SW‐directed extension related to the Mesozoic rifting of Gondwana. The Blue Nile Basin was formed as a NW‐trending rift, within which much of the Mesozoic clastic and marine sediments were deposited. This was followed by Late Miocene NW–SE‐directed extension related to the Main Ethiopian Rift that formed NE‐trending faults, affecting Lower volcanic rocks and the upper part of the Mesozoic section. The region was subsequently affected by Quaternary E–W and NNE–SSW‐directed extensions related to oblique opening of the Main Ethiopian Rift and development of E‐trending transverse faults, as well as NE–SW‐directed extension in southern Afar (related to northeastward separation of the Arabian Plate from the African Plate) and E–W‐directed extensions in western Afar (related to the stepping of the Red Sea axis into Afar). These Quaternary stress regimes resulted in the development of N‐, ESE‐ and NW‐trending extensional structures within the Blue Nile Basin. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intertidal fauna of the industrialized Forth estuary

The estuarine Firth of Forth on the East Coast of Scotland receives a considerable volume of industrial and domestic effluent. This report summarizes the present status of intertidal invertebrates and their bird predators.     

The Need for Definitions in Understanding Estuaries

This paper considers what the definition/classification of estuaries has taught us and why there is a need for classification systems. It further considers why we need to define an estuary and its constituent parts, including the fundamental difficulty and dilemma of trying to define parts of a continuum, as a means to both understanding and managing that estuary. The review considers where an estuary starts and ends and the relative merits of defining estuaries in terms of their biology, physics, chemistry, geographic nature and socio-economic units. It briefly discusses the need for legal and planning definitions and the linkages between science and management. Following this, we present a generic framework for the definition, classification, monitoring, assessment, reporting and management of estuaries. In particular, it is argued that scientists should engage in the debate on the definition of estuaries for legal and socio-economic purposes. It is concluded here that as existing definitions will never be suitable for all needs, a different approach is required. The proposed ‘ Expert Judgement Checklist Approach ’ could provide guidance for those needing to define/delimit an estuary while still acknowledging the inherent variability of such systems. The proposed system mostly relates to the European, temperate estuary, but there are lessons here for estuaries worldwide.