Chemical alternation of waters in the Kuroshio/Oyashio Interfrontal Zone

An intensive survey has been conducted of the distributions of some chemical properties (dissolved oxygen, nutrients and carbonate properties) in the Kuroshio/Oyashio Interfrontal Zone. Many low-salinity water patches were found down to depths of 640 m. Each chemical property also showed anomalies in these patches, but the degree of variation showed a low correlation with salinity. This may be due to the high variability of biological processes in the surface waters where these patches are formed. Vertical profiles of the chemical properties were also observed along the Kuroshio extension axis from 140.50°E to 146.75°E. The concentrations of nutrients and total carbonate (TC) in the water having densities greater than σ_θ=26.60 can be regarded as being formed by the isopycnal mixing of the Kuroshio component water and Oyashio component water and biological degradation within the density surfaces. This implies that the transport of chemical properties by the diapycnal mixing is negligible in these density layers in the K/O zone.     

Konzepte zur Mobilitätsabschätzung von Schadstoffen in Boden- und Abfallmaterialien

Concepts for the Evaluation of Contaminant Mobility in Soil and Waste Materials Elution tests (S4, pH_stat, and SDS test) are presented, enabling the evaluation of the mobility of hydrophilic/hydrophobic and inorganic/organic contaminants in soil and waste materials. While elution tests for estimation of the mobilization potential of hydrophilic substances are performed following the pH_stat method, for hydrophobic species surfactant-containing eluents are used. The individual parameters of the elution process are selected assuming a "worst-case" scenario. In principle, because of economic reasons, detailed analytical investigations should be preceded by relevant screening tests.     

Malthusian overfishing in Pulau Banggi?

We assess, based on fisheries and interview data collected on-site, whether Malthusian overfishing is occurring in Pulau Banggi, Sabah. Fisheries resources in Pulau Banggi have been perceived to be declining over the past 20 years, and characteristics of Malthusian overfishing are evident, although not at a magnitude comparable with other more heavily exploited artisanal fisheries in the Philippines. It appears that Pulau Banggi's reef fisheries are at an early stage of Malthusian overfishing, and this is therefore a critical time for addressing and mitigating drivers of overfishing to prevent inevitable and further decline of Pulau Banggi's reef fisheries.     

Annual variation of methane in seawater in Funka bay,Japan

The concentration of methane in seawater was determined approximately once a month for one year from August 1990 to July 1991 at a station close to the center of Funka bay (92 m depth) and some supplementary observations were also carried out. The concentration of methane was usually increased with increasing depth, suggesting that methane was emitted from the bottom of the bay. While highly variable both spatially and temporally, the emission was intense in March and April, a period immediately after the spring bloom of phytoplankton. The maximum of methane found in the intermediate water suggests its source from the slope of the bay. The concentration of methane in the surface water changed seasonally and also interannually. The annually averaged flux of methane transferred to the atmosphere in the bay was estimated to be 6×10^–3 gCH₄m²/day. The coastal zone in the world may be a significant source of the atmospheric methane, although its source strength has yet to be accurately estimated from more data in different coastal seas.     

A Nonlinear Model of Surf Beat

A nonlinear short-wave-averaged (surf beat) model is presented. The model is based on that of Roelvink (1993), but the numerical techniques used in the solution are based on the so-called weighted-averaged flux (WAF) method (eg Watson et al., 1992), with time-operator splitting used for the treatment of some of the source terms. This method allows a small number of computational points to be used, and is particularly efficient in modelling breaking long waves. The short-wave (or primary-wave) energy equation is solved using a more traditional Lax-Wendroff technique. Results of validation indicate that the model performs satisfactorily in most respects.     

Trophic organisation and predator–prey interactions among commercially exploited demersal finfishes in the coastal waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea

Trophic interactions in commercially exploited demersal finfishes in the southeastern Arabian Sea of India were studied to understand trophic organization with emphasis on ontogenic diet shifts within the marine food web. In total, the contents of 4716 stomachs were examined from which 78 prey items were identified. Crustaceans and fishes were the major prey groups to most of the fishes. Based on cluster analysis of predator feeding similarities and ontogenic diet shift within each predator, four major trophic guilds and many sub-guilds were identified. The first guild ‘detritus feeders’ included all size groups of Cynoglossus macrostomus, Pampus argenteus, Leiognathus bindus and Priacanthus hamrur. Guild two, named ‘Shrimp feeders’, was the largest guild identified and included all size groups of Rhynchobatus djiddensis and Nemipterus mesoprion, medium and large Nemipterus japonicus, P. hamrur and Grammoplites suppositus, small and medium Otolithes cuvieri and small Lactarius lactarius. Guild three, named ‘crab and squilla feeders’, consisted of few predators. The fourth trophic guild, ‘piscivores’, was mainly made up of larger size groups of all predators and all size groups of Pseudorhombus arsius and Carcharhinus limbatus. The mean diet breadth and mean trophic level showed strong correlation with ontogenic diet shift. The mean trophic level varied from 2.2 ± 0.1 in large L. bindus to 4.6 ± 0.2 in large Epinephelus diacanthus and the diet breadth from 1.4 ± 0.3 in medium P. argenteus to 8.3 ± 0.2 in medium N. japonicus. Overall, the present study showed that predators in the ecosystem have a strong feeding preference for the sergestid shrimp Acetes indicus, penaeid shrimps, epibenthic crabs and detritus.     

Suspended particulate matter in the St. Lawrence estuary and Gulf surface layer and development of a remote sensing algorithm

Remote sensing of chlorophyll concentration is potentially affected by the presence of inorganic matter in the water column. Seasonal variability of total suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and its partition into organic and inorganic fractions was thus measured in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence during five cruises. These measures were made in the surface layer down to the depth of the 0.1% light level. Results indicate that vertical variability was small for the entire study area. Data analysis lead to the definition of two main regions having different SPM characteristics: 1) the estuary zone characterized by a strong spatial variability, intermediate SPM concentrations and a clear spring phytoplankton bloom that is combined to an increased inorganic matter load; 2) the gulf region characterized by a relatively low SPM concentration and phytoplankton blooms in the spring and fall periods. Combined with in situ measurements of remote sensing reflectances, the database was used to validate existing inorganic matter retrieval algorithms and develop a new one better adapted to the low concentrations encountered in the St. Lawrence estuary and Gulf.     

Persistent volcanic signature observed around Barren Island, Andaman Sea, India

This study delineates the formation of a warm pool (>34°C) of air to the west (downwind) of the active volcano of the Barren Island during October–November 2005. Barren Island is located in the Sumatra–Andaman region, about 135 km east of Port Blair, and lies within the Burma microplate, the southern tip of which experienced a submarine earthquake (M _w 9.3) causing a tsunami in December 2004. Barren Island is the only volcano, which has shown sustained eruptive activity since shortly after the Great Sumatran Earthquake of December 2004. Our observations require further corroboration to relate how submarine earthquakes activate volcanoes and how far these thermal emissions influence climate changes. Because it links global warming and climate changes to the frequent emissions from a volcano activated by submarine earthquakes, this case study is of special interest to the earth-ocean-atmosphere sciences community.