The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management

During the past 10 years, the evolution of marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean zoning has become a crucial step in making ecosystem-based, sea use management a reality. The idea was initially stimulated by international and national interest in developing marine protected areas, e.g., the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. More recent attention has been placed on managing the multiple use of marine space, especially in areas where conflicts among users and the environment are already clear, e.g., in the North Sea. Even more recent concern has focused on the need to conserve nature, especially ecologically and biologically sensitive areas, in the context of multi-use planning of ocean space. Despite academic discussions and the fact that some countries already have started implementation, the scope of MSP has not been clearly defined. Terms such as integrated management, marine spatial management, and ocean zoning are all used inconsistently. This is one of the reasons why its importance is not more seriously reflected at the levels of policy and decision-making in most countries. This article attempts to deal with this problem. It describes why MSP is an essential step to achieve ecosystem-based sea use management, how it can be defined and what its core objectives are. The article concludes with an analysis of the use and achievements of MSP worldwide, with particular focus on new approaches in Europe.     

Remotely sensed rivers in the Anthropocene: state of the art and prospects

The rivers of the world are undergoing accelerated change in the Anthropocene, and need to be managed at much broader spatial and temporal scales than before. Fluvial remote sensing now offers a technical and methodological framework that can be deployed to monitor the processes at work and to assess the trajectories of rivers in the Anthropocene. In this paper, we review research investigating past, present and future fluvial corridor conditions and processes using remote sensing and we consider emerging challenges facing fluvial and riparian research. We introduce a suite of remote sensing methods designed to diagnose river changes at reach to regional scales. We then focus on identification of channel patterns and acting processes from satellite, airborne or ground acquisitions. These techniques range from grain scales to landform scales, and from real time scales to inter-annual scales. We discuss how remote sensing data can now be coupled to catchment scale models that simulate sediment transfer within connected river networks. We also consider future opportunities in terms of datasets and other resources which are likely to impact river management and monitoring at the global scale. We conclude with a summary of challenges and prospects for remotely sensed rivers in the Anthropocene. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cadmium detoxification processes in the digestive gland of cephalopods in relation to accumulated cadmium concentrations

The high concentrations of cadmium recorded in the digestive gland of cephalopods from various temperate and subpolar waters suggest that these molluscs have developed efficient cadmium detoxification mechanisms. The subcellular distribution of cadmium in the digestive gland cells was investigated in seven cephalopod species from the Bay of Biscay (France) and the Faroe Islands. In most species, cadmium was mainly found in the cytosolic fraction of the digestive gland cells, reaching up to 86% of the total cadmium for the squid Loligo vulgaris from the Bay of Biscay. But species with the highest total level of cadmium showed a higher percentage of cadmium associated to insoluble compounds. The quantification of metallothioneins (MTs) by the polarographic method was performed in order to evaluate the involvement of these proteins in the detoxification of the high amounts of bioaccumulated cadmium. Metallothionein levels in cephalopods ranged form 742 +/- 270 to 3478 +/- 1572 microg/g wet weight. No relationship could be established between total cadmium, cytosolic cadmium and MT levels suggesting the occurrence of other Cd-binding ligands. Although these proteins have not been characterised, as cadmium in the digestive gland of cephalopods is mainly associated with soluble ligands, a high potential transfer to predators can be predicted.     

Effect of cadmium, copper and mercury on antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in the gills of the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus

Metals are known to influence lipid peroxidation and oxidative status of marine organisms. Hydrothermal vent mussels Bathymodiolus azoricus live in deep-sea environments with anomalous conditions, including high metal concentrations. Although B. azoricus are aerobic organisms they possess abundant methano and thioautotrophic symbiotic bacteria in the gills. The enzymatic defences (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total glutathione peroxidase (Total GPx) and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPx)) and lipid peroxidation were determined in the gills of B. azoricus exposed to Cd (0.9 microM), Cu (0.4 microM) and Hg (0.1 microM) with different times of exposure. The experiments were performed in pressurized containers at 9+/-1 degrees C and 85 bars. Results show that vent mussels possess antioxidant enzymatic protection in the gills. Cd and Cu had an inhibitory effect in the enzymatic defence system, contrarily to Hg. These enzymatic systems are not completely understood in the B. azoricus, since reactive oxygen species might be produced through other processes than natural redox cycling, due to hydrogen sulphide and oxygen content present. Also the symbiotic bacteria may play an important contribution in the antioxidant protection of the gills.     

Scales of columnar jointing in igneous rocks: field measurements and controlling factors

Columnar jointing is a common feature of solidified lavas, sills and dikes, but the factors controlling the characteristic stoutness of columns remain debated, and quantitative field observations are few in number. In this paper, we provide quantitative measurements on sizing of columnar joint sets and our assessment of the principal factors controlling it. We focus on (1) chemistry, as it is the major determinant of the physical (mechanical and thermal) properties of the lava, and (2) geology, as it influences the style of emplacement and lava geometry, setting boundary conditions for the cooling process and the rate of heat loss. In our analysis, we cover lavas with a broad range of chemical compositions (from basanite to phonolite, for six of which we provide new geochemical analyses) and of geological settings. Our field measurements cover 50 columnar jointing sites in three countries. We provide reliable, manually digitized data on the size of individual columns and focus the mathematical analysis on their geometry (23,889 data on side length, of which 17,312 are from full column sections and 3,033 data on cross-sectional area and order of polygonality). The geometrical observations show that the variation in characteristic size of columns between different sites exceeds one order of magnitude (side length ranging from 8 to 338 cm) and that the column-bounding polygons’ average order is less than 6. The network of fractures is found to be longer than required by a minimum-energy hexagonal configuration, indicating a non-equilibrium, geologically quick process. In terms of the development and characteristic sizing of columnar joint sets, our observations suggest that columns are the result of an interplay between the geological setting of emplacement and magma chemistry. When the geological setting constrains the geometry of the emplaced body, it exerts a stronger control on characteristic column stoutness. At unconstrained geometries (e.g. unconfined lava flows), chemistry plays the major role, resulting in stouter columns in felsic lavas and slenderer columns in mafic lavas.     

An insight into the formation of severe ozone episodes: modeling the 21/03/01 event in the ESCOMPTE region

High ozone concentrations are observed more and more frequently in the lower troposphere. The development of such polluted episodes is linked to a complex set of chemical, physical and dynamical parameters that interact with each other. To improve air quality, it is necessary to understand and quantify the role of all these processes on the intensity of ozone formation. The ESCOMPTE program, especially dedicated to the numerical simulation of photochemical episodes, offers an ideal frame to investigate details of the roles of many of these processes through 3D modeling. This paper presents the analysis, with a 3D eulerian model, of a severe and local episode of ozone pollution that occurred on the 21st of March 2001 in the ESCOMPTE region. This episode is particularly interesting due to the intensity of the observed ozone peaks (450 μg/m³ during 15 mn) but also because it did not occur in summer but at the beginning of spring. As part of the premodeling work of the ESCOMPTE program, this study focuses on the sensitivity of the simulated ozone peaks to various chemical and physical phenomena (long-range transport, industrial emissions, local dynamic phenomena…) to determine their influence on the rise of high local photooxidant concentrations and to better picture the photochemistry of the ESCOMPTE region. Through sensitivity tests to dynamical calculation resolution and emissions, this paper shows how the combination of sea and pond breezes with emissions of reactive VOCs can generate local intense ozone peaks.