Negative Impacts of Perkinsus olseni Infection in Manila Clam Ruditapes philippinarum Observed from Tidal Flats in Anmyeondo Island on the West Coast of Korea During Post-Spawning Period

Ocean Science Journal - The high load of protozoan parasites in marine bivalves often leads to mass mortalities of the hosts. On the west coast of Korea in the Yellow Sea, the protozoan parasite...     

Bathymetry enhancement by altimetry-derived gravity anomalies in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

The gravity-geologic method (GGM) was used to enhance the bathymetry of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) with satellite altimetry-derived free-air gravity anomalies and shipborne depth measurements. By comparison with the bathymetry model of Smith and Sandwell’s (SAS) approach (1994), GGM was found to have an advantage with short wavelength (≤12 km) components, while SAS better predicts longer wavelength (≥25 km) components, despite its dependency on density contrast. To mitigate this limitation, a tuning density contrast of 10.25 g/cm³ between seawater and the seafloor was primarily estimated by the downward continuation method and then validated by the check points method with GGM. Similarly, SAS is limited by the “A” value in low-pass part of the Wiener filter, which defines the effective range of the wavelength components on bathymetry. As a final result, we present an enhanced GGM bathymetry model by integrating all available data.     

Reconstruction of regular time series from bi-monthly temperature data in the Yellow Sea and the northwestern East China Sea

Reconstruction of evenly-spaced, regular time series from routine survey serial data was investigated for precise analysis of spatio-temporal variations in a temperate sea at mid-latitudes where the seasonality dominates the interannual variability. Considering that the annual range of sea surface temperature in the Yellow Sea and the northwestern East China Sea can be as large as 15–20 °C, temperature data collected bi-monthly in these temperate seas were used for the assessment of reconstruction methodology. The cubic spline interpolation with a sampling interval of 0.5 months reconstructed the regular time series closest to the in-situ measurements among various interpolation schemes. Also, two computation methods for the interannual anomaly were compared; the residual method that the long-term monthly means are subtracted from the monthly serial data and the filtering method that high-frequency variations are removed using a low-pass filter. In that the high-frequency variations in frequencies greater than 1 cycle per year are comparable in magnitude to the interannual variation, the residual method proves inadequate in the temperate sea. High-frequency noises can be effectively removed through the use of a proper low-pass filter with bell-shaped weights.     

Evaluation of Bearing Capacity for Multi-Layered Clay Deposits with Geosynthetic Reinforcement using Discrete Element Method

A stability analysis of reinforced foundation soil is presented in this paper. A method based on the discrete element method (DEM) is suggested for calculating the bearing capacity on strip footings over multilayer soils reinforced with a horizontal layer of geosynthetics. The proposed method can estimate the ultimate bearing capacity and the distribution of tensile force developed in the geosynthetics of the footing system by Winkler springs to account for the compatibility between soil blocks and tensile elements to consider the tensile behavior between soil and geosynthetics. For footings on various multilayer soils with or without reinforcement of geosynthetics, the results of the method were compared to the field test results as well as to those obtained by various methods proposed by other researchers.     

Behavior of soil plugs in open‐ended model piles driven into sands

Calibration chamber tests were conducted on open‐ended model piles driven into dried siliceous sands with different soil conditions in order to clarify the effect of soil conditions on load transfer mechanism in the soil plug. The model pile used in the test series was devised so that the bearing capacity of an open‐ended pile could be measured as three components: outside shaft resistance, plug resistance, and tip resistance. Under the assumption that the unit shaft resistance due to pile‐soil plug interaction varies linearly near the pile tip, the plug resistance was estimated. The plug capacity, which was defined as the plug resistance at ultimate condition, is mainly dependent on the ambient lateral pressure and relative density. The length of wedged plug that transfers the load decreases with the decrease of relative density, but it is independent of the ambient pressure and penetration depth. Under several assumptions, the value of earth pressure coefficient in the soil plug can be calculated. It gradually reduces with increase in the longitudinal distance from the pile tip. At the bottom of the soil plug, it tends to decrease with increase in the penetration depth and relative density, and to increase with the increase of ambient pressure. This may be attributed to (1) the decrease of friction angle as a result of increase in the effective vertical stress, (2) the difference in the dilation degree of the soil plug during driving with ambient pressures, and (3) the difference in compaction degree of soil plug during driving with relative densities. Based on the test results, an empirical equation was suggested to compute the earth pressure coefficient to be used in the calculation of plug capacity using one‐dimensional analysis, and it produces proper plug capacities for all soil conditions.     

High-frequency near-bottom acoustic reflection signatures of hydrocarbon seeps on the Northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope

 Acoustic reflection signatures of four hydro-carbon seeps were classified using near-bottom 25-kHz echosounder profiles. Echo patterns were compared with ground-truth data obtained by submersible observations and shallow coring. Six echo types were distinguished: strong reflections from (1) exposed or (2) buried hard substrates, such as authigenic carbonate or gas hydrate; acoustic scattering in (3) unlayered or (4) layered sediments owing to gas, shells, or disseminated carbonates; (5) attenuation caused by gas; and (6) undisturbed sediments. Echo type distributions suggest that high spatial variability indicates a younger, vigorous seep, whereas extensive hard substrate implies an older, encrusted seep. Received: 29 May 1998 / Revision received: 7 October 1998     

Characteristics of bottom dissolved oxygen in Long Island Sound,New York

The variability of bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) in Long Island Sound, New York, is examined using water quality monitoring data collected by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection from 1995 to 2004. Self-organizing map analysis indicates that hypoxia always occurs in the Narrows during summer and less frequently in the Western and the Central Basins. The primary factor controlling the bottom DO, changes spatially and temporally. For non-summer seasons, the levels of bottom DO are strongly associated with water temperature, which means DO availability is primarily driven by solubility. During summer, stratification intensifies under weak wind conditions and bottom DO starts to decrease and deviate from the saturation level except for stations in the Eastern Basin. For the westernmost and shallow (<15 m) stations, bottom DO is correlated with the density stratification (represented by difference between surface and bottom density). In contrast, at deep stations (>20 m), the relationship between oxygen depletion and stratification is not significant. For stations located west of the Central Basin, bottom DO continues to decrease during summer until it reaches its minimum when bottom temperature is around 19–20 °C. In most cases the recovery to saturation levels at the beginning of fall is fast, but not necessarily associated with increased wind mixing. Therefore, we propose that the DO recovery may be a manifestation of either the reduced microbial activity combined with the depletion of organic matter or horizontal exchange. Hypoxic volume is weakly correlated to the summer wind speed, spring total nitrogen, spring chlorophyll a, and maximum river discharge. When all variables are combined in a multiple regression, the coefficient of determination (r²) is 0.92. Surprisingly, the weakest variable is the total nitrogen, because when it is excluded the coefficient r² only drops to 0.84. Spring bloom seems to be an important source of organic carbon pool and biological uptake of oxygen plays a more crucial role in the seasonal evolution of bottom DO than previously thought. Our results indicate that the reassessment phase of the Long Island Sound Total Maximum Daily Load policy on nitrogen loading will most likely fail, because it ignores the contributions of the spring organic carbon pool and river discharge. Also, it is questionable whether the goal of 58.5% anthropogenic nitrogen load reduction is enough.     

Sampling the vertical particle flux in the upper water column using a large diameter free-drifting NetTrap adapted to an Indented Rotating Sphere sediment trap

Further development of the large, surface-tethered sediment trap (NetTrap) employed as part of the MedFlux program is described whereby the large collection capacity of the NetTrap is combined with an Indented Rotating Sphere/Sample Carousel (IRSC) sediment trap (IRSC–NT). This trap is capable of collecting particle flux either in a time series or settling velocity mode; settling velocity mode allows the collection of particles that fall within discrete settling velocity intervals. During short field deployments in the Mediterranean Sea the IRSC–NT configured in the settling velocity mode successfully collected unpoisoned samples for chemical and microbiological experiments. In addition to the development of the IRSC–NT, particle-settling behavior above and below the swimmer-excluding IRS valve was tested during on-deck experiments using a specially constructed water-tight trap. Chemical analyses of settling materials (published elsewhere) suggested that separation of particles by settling velocity was achieved. However, due to the motion of the ship, it was not possible to directly measure particle-settling velocities within the trap. Particle release from the IRS did not bias the apparent settling velocity spectrum. Rotation of the IRS did not engender turbulence at the surface of the sphere or within the skewed funnel below. Tests of different ball designs over the course of the MedFlux program showed that a “ridge and saddle” pattern was optimal for efficiently transferring particles under the IRS seal while still reducing swimmer entrance to the collection funnel. The large size of the IRSC–NT did not prevent it from drifting effectively with the current. Several modifications of the present design are proposed that should improve the accuracy of the settling velocity measurements.     

Implications of mycosporine-like amino acid and antioxidant defenses in UV-B radiation tolerance for the algae species Ptercladiella capillacea and Gelidium amansii

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 3.0 W m^?2) induced higher H₂O₂ production and lipid peroxidation in alga Gelidium amansii inhabiting in lower subtidal regions than upper subtidal alga Ptercladiella capillacea. Compared to G. amansii, mycosporine-like amino acid (MAA) concentration in P. capillacea was higher and can be increased by 0.5–1.0 W m^?2 UV-B, while carotenoid concentration was lower but also increased by 1.5–3.0 W m^?2 UV-B. UV-B increased ascorbate concentration, but to a higher degree in P. capillacea. UV-B decreased glutathione concentration, but to a higher degree in G. amansii. UV-B increased ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities in P. capillacea but decreased them in G. amansii. UV-B increased superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, but to a higher degree in G. amansii. So, G. amansii suffered greater oxidative stress from UV-B radiation. P. capillacea can effectively reduce UV-B sensitivity by increasing sunscreen ability and antioxidant defense capacity.