Bioerosion by chemosynthetic biological communities on Holocene submarine slide scars

Geomorphic, stratigraphic, and faunal observations of submarine slide scars that occur along the flanks of Monterey Canyon in 2.0–2.5 km water depths were made to identify the processes that continue to alter the surface of a submarine landslide scar after the initial slope failure. Deep-sea chemosynthetic biological communities and small caves are common on the sediment-free surfaces of the slide scars, especially along the headwall. The chemosynthetic organisms observed on slide scars in Monterey Canyon undergo a faunal succession based in part on their ability to maintain their access to the redox boundaries in the sediment on which they depend on as an energy source. By burrowing into the seafloor, these organisms are able to follow the retreating redox boundaries as geochemical re-equilibration occurs on the sole of the slide. As these organisms dig into the seafloor on the footwall, they often generate small caves and weaken the remaining seafloor. While chemosynthetic biological communities are typically used as indicators of fluid flow, these communities may be supported by methane and hydrogen sulfide that are diffusing out of the fresh seafloor exposed at the sole of the slide by the slope failure event. If so, these chemosynthetic biological communities may simply mark sites of recent seafloor exhumation, and are not reliable fluid seepage indicators.     

A Comparison of Simulated Particle Fluxes Using NEMURO and Other Ecosystem Models in the Western North Pacific

JGOFS has revealed the importance of marine biological activity to the global carbon cycle. Ecological models are valuable tools for improving our understanding of biogeochemical cycles. Through a series of workshops, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) developed NEMURO (North Pacific Ecosystem Model Understanding Regional Oceanography) a model, specifically designed to simulate the lower trophic ecosystem in the North Pacific Ocean. Its ability to simulate vertical fluxes generated by biological activities has not yet been validated. Here compare NEMURO with several other lower trophic level models of the northern North Pacific. The different ecosystem models are each embedded in a common three-dimensional physical model, and the simulated vertical flux of POM and the biomass of phytoplankton are compared. The models compared are: (1) NEMURO, (2) the Kishi and Nakata Model (Kishi et al., 1981), (3) KKYS (Kawamiya et al., 1995, 2000a, 2000b), and (4) the Denman model (Denman and Peña, 2002). With simple NPZD models, it is difficult to describe the production of POM (Particulate Organic Matter) and hence the simulations of vertical flux are poor. However, if the parameters are properly defined, the primary production can be well reproduced, even though none of models we used here includes iron limitation effects. On the whole, NEMURO gave a satisfactory simulation of the vertical flux of POM in the northern North Pacific.     

Spatial heterogeneity of epibenthos on artificial reefs: fouling communities in the early stages of colonization on an East Australian shipwreck

Artificial reefs are spatially complex habitats and serve as good model systems to study patterns of community succession and the response of epibiota to environmental clines over small spatial scales. Here, we quantified spatial heterogeneity in community composition and diversity of fouling communities across a number of environmental gradients that included water depth, surface orientation of habitats, exposure to currents, and shelter. Assemblage structure was quantified by spatially replicated photo transects on a recently scuttled large navy ship off the East Australian coast, lying in 27 m of water. A rich assemblage of epifauna had colonized the wreck within a year, dominated by barnacles, sponges and bryozoans. Community structure varied significantly over small spatial scales of meters to tens of meters. Depth, surface orientation and exposure were the major environmental drivers. Assemblages were substantially less diverse and abundant on the deepest (23 m near the seafloor) part of the hull with residual antifouling paint, on sheltered surfaces inside the wreck, and on the sediment‐laden horizontal surfaces. Overall, the wrecks’ habitat complexity corresponds with small‐scale heterogeneity in the fouling communities. This study supports the notion that wrecks enhance local diversity and biomass within the habitat mosaic of their location, and habitat complexity may be an important mechanism for this, as demonstrated by the large spatial variability in the assemblages documented here.     

Effect of native and invasive cordgrass on Macoma petalum density, growth, and isotopic signatures

Ecosystem engineers can influence community and ecosystem dynamics by controlling resources, modifying the flow of energy or biomass, or changing physical characteristics of the habitat. Invasive hybrid cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora × Spartina foliosa) is an ecosystem engineer in salt marshes in San Francisco Bay, California, U.S.A. that raises intertidal elevations and may be either increasing C₄ plant carbon input into food webs or tying up carbon in a form that is not usable by consumers. A manipulative experiment compared abundance, growth, and stable isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) composition of the clam Macoma petalum (=M. balthica) among native marsh, hybrid Spartina, and mudflats in central San Francisco Bay. We found higher densities (individuals m⁻²) of M. petalum on mudflats compared to either native or hybrid Spartina (p < 0.001). Macoma petalum shell growth was significantly greater in mudflats than in either vegetation type in 2002 (p = 0.005) but not 2003. Differences in shell growth between native and hybrid Spartina were not significant. Stable isotope results showed differences between habitats in δ¹³C but not δ¹⁵N. Carbon signatures of M. petalum placed in Spartina were much more depleted than the isotopic signature of Spartina. Neither native nor hybrid Spartina appears to be a significant carbon source for M. petalum in San Francisco Bay, and we found no evidence that hybrid Spartina contributes carbon to M. petalum beyond what is provided by S. foliosa, despite the hybrid's much greater biomass. Our results show that loss of mudflat habitat, rather than increased input of C₄ carbon, is the greatest effect of the invasion of hybrid Spartina on M. petalum.     

Nature of the connection between the Northern and Southern Zechstein Basins across the Mid North Sea High

The seismic expression of a salt-filled channel which cuts across the Mid North Sea High in Quadrant 37 is described, with features interpreted as being produced by salt-edge dissolution forming both eastern and western margins of the channel. The apparent half-graben nature of the channel is shown to be only superficial, and due to complex faulting associated with, but not defining, its western margin. The shallower faulting here is a Mesozoic to early Tertiary growth fault related to local dissolution of Zechstein salt. The dissolution effect appears in turn to have been localized by the presence of a deeper fault that was already downthrown to the east in Zechstein times, when it seems to have limited the eastward progradation of Zechstein shelf carbonates and anhydrites, and had probably ceased to move significantly before the onset of the Late Cimmerian erosional phase. The origin of this arcuate fault is tentatively ascribed to subsidence around a granite batholith. Zechstein salt originally spread some distance to the east and west of the channel; it was dissolved from the edges inwards, mainly before the Late Cretaceous, giving rise to a thicker Mesozoic sequence on parts of the flanks of the channel than in the middle. Besides providing an interesting structural case history, the features described have implications regarding Zechstein sedimentation, reservoir potential, the tectonic history of the North Sea, and the nature of the Mid North Sea High itself.