Distributional patterns of blue crabs (Callinectes sp.) in a tropical estuarine lagoon

A two-year trawl study of Laguna Joyuda, Puerto Rico, a small, polyhaline lagoon with restricted oceanic exchange, yielded 803 crabs belonging to sixCallinectes species.Callinectes danae was the most abundant (35.7%), followed byC. sapidus (21%),C. ornatus (12.6%),C. bocourti (12.1%),C. exasperatus (1.2%), andC. larvatus (0.4%). Abundances of different species differed more spatially than temporally despite very homogeneous salinities.Callinectes bocourti andC. sapidus were most abundant furthest from the lagoon’s inlet, whileC. danae andC. ornatus were most abundant near the inlet and in the center of lagoon. Juveniles were least abundant in the center of the lagoon. Size frequencies of most species showed common trends with high percentages of small crabs furthest from the inlet, and high percentages of larger crabs near the inlet and central parts of the lagoon. Distributional patterns appear to be a result of complex interactions of habitat preferences and intra- and interspecific interactions among the crabs.     

The distribution of Mn,Fe, Cu,Ni, Co,Ga, Cr,V, Ba,Sr, Sn,Zn, and Pb,in some soil-sized particulates from the lower troposphere over the world ocean

Soil-sized particulates have been collected on board ship by a mesh technique from the lower troposphere of the North, Equatorial and South Atlantic Ocean, northern and southern Indian Ocean, South and East China Sea and various coastal localities.Spectrographic analysis reveals that, on average, the particulates have concentrations of Mn, Ni, Co, Ga, Cr, V, Ba, and Sr which are of the same order of magnitude as those in average crustal material. In contrast, the average concentrations of Pb, Sn, and Zn are one order of magnitude higher than those in average crustal material.Within this “world-wide” average there are significant geographical variations in the distributions of Pb, Sn, and Zn which may be related to anthropogenic sources.On the basis of trace-element distributions lower tropospheric soil-sized marine particulates have been divided into four genetic components; local, zonal, inter-zonal, and global. The proportions of these components vary geographically, and each component may have both a natural and an anthropogenic fraction.     

Paleoclimate of Southwestern China for the Past 50,000 yr Inferred from Lake Sediment Records

Long sediment cores (12.5 and 13.5 m) from two lakes in Yunnan Province were used to infer the paleoclimate of southwest China over the past 50,000 yr. During the Holocene and marine isotope stage (MIS 3), bio-induced carbonate precipitation and organic matter (OM) production was high, suggesting warm temperatures and high primary productivity. In contrast, sediment inorganic carbon (IC) and organic carbon (OC) concentrations were low in last glacial deposits from 38,000 to 12,000 cal yr B.P., indicating cool temperatures and low productivity. The 50,000-yr record has alternating peaks of carbonate and coarse-grain (>38 μm) quartz that reflect warm, moist interglacial or interstadial conditions alternating with cold, dry glacial or stadial conditions, respectively. Spectral analysis of the carbonate and quartz signals reveals power concentrated at periods of 7200 and 8900 cal yr, respectively, that may reflect a nonlinear climate response to precessional forcing at a time of reduced eccentricity modulation (McIntyre and Molfino, 1996). Oxygen isotope values of calcite from Yunnan lake cores indicate the summer monsoon was weak during the last glaciation from 50,000 to 12,000 cal yr B.P. The summer monsoon intensified between 12,000 and 8000 cal yr B.P., but weakened gradually in response to insolation forcing during the mid-to-late Holocene. Our results support the Overpeck et al. (1996) model that posits a weak summer monsoon during the last glaciation that responded nonlinearly to insolation forcing when its intensity was affected by Eurasian snow cover and ice-sheet extent. The summer monsoon intensified and responded linearly to seasonal insolation forcing in the Holocene when ice volume diminished.     

The clay mineralogy of particulate material from some surface seawaters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean

The concentrations of the clay minerals montmorillonite and illite have been determined in 28 samples of particulate material from surface (0–～5 m) waters along the eastern margins of the Atlantic Ocean, and the concentrations of chlorite and kaolinite have been determined in nineteen of the samples.The average concentration of the four clays in the particulate material decreases in the following order: illite (～42%) > kaolinite (～25%) > chlorite (～19%) > montmorillonite (～14%). There are specific trends in the latitudinal distributions of illite and kaolinite in the particulate material; illite decreases and kaolinite increases towards low latitudes. These trends are also found in eolian dusts and deep-sea sediments from the same region, and these clays are considered to have a detrital origin.The concentrations of montmorillonite in the particulate material and deep-sea sediments are similar in the North Atlantic. However, in the South Atlantic the sediments contain about twice as much montmorillonite as does the particulate material. It is suggested that whereas the montmorillonite in North Atlantic deep-sea sediments is largely detrital, that in South Atlantic sediments is both detrital and authigenic.     

Controls on chemistry and diagenesis of naturally occurring iron-oxide phases

The purposes of this study were to (i) document chemical and mineralogical compositions in two naturally acidic drainages over a 1 m soil profile, (ii) document organic and inorganic signatures representative of past chemical or biological processes in the soils, and (iii) determine whether mineralogical and chemical differences are a consequence of differences in original composition, depositional conditions, or diagenesis. Two sites were studied: Paymaster Creek in the Heddleston Mining District near Lincoln, Montana and the New World Mining District near Cooke City, Montana. The oldest deposits at both naturally acidic sites pre-date human mining activity by several thousand years, although there is recent human activity at both sites. Both sites have streams with high dissolved Fe and moderately low pH and actively accumulate schwertmannite on streambeds. Soil deposits away from the streambed at Paymaster Creek contained goethite with adsorbed sulfate, but no schwertmannite, suggesting either that the original conditions precluded schwertmannite precipitation or that diagenesis occurred rapidly converting the schwertmannite to goethite. The New World Mining District site showed the expected profile, which is a gradual transition from schwertmannite- and goethite-bearing soils to goethite-only soils. Concentrations of Cr, As and other trace elements shown to retard diagenesis were higher at the New World site than at the Paymaster site.     

The concentrations of “aluminosilicates” in particulates from some surface waters of the world ocean

The concentrations of aluminium, and of “aluminosilicates”, have been determined in 56 centrifuge-collected total-particulate samples from “open-ocean” and “coastal” surface waters.The average percentages of “aluminosilicates” in the particulates have been tentatively related to the supply of land-derived solids to the oceans. The China Sea, which receives a relatively large input of river-transported solids from the mainland of Asia, has particulates which contain an average of 62% “aluminosilicate” material. The eastern margins of the North Atlantic have a relatively large input of wind-transported solids, and the particulates contain an average of 9.6% “aluminosilicates”. “Open-ocean” areas remote from the land masses have particulates in which, on average, “aluminosilicate” material constitutes ? 5%.     

Limnological and sedimentary processes at Sawtooth Lake,Canadian High Arctic,and their influence on varve formation

This paper synthesizes data collected to document the modern limnological and sedimentary processes in South Sawtooth Lake located on northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Field observations show that the finely laminated sediments deposited in the distal basin are formed by the settling of overflows and interflows, and in rare occasions, by non-erosive hyperconcentrated density flows. Thin-sections of these sediments allowed for the classification of the sedimentary fabrics into six facies, each representing different limnological processes. The sediments in this distal basin are considered to be continuous and annually laminated (varved) based on radioisotope analyses, and both limnological and sedimentological evidence.