Effects of predation and oxygen deficiency on different age classes of the amphipod Monoporeia affinis

Predation by the big brackish-water isopod Saduria entomon on two age-classes (juveniles and adults) of the small deposit-feeding amphipod Monoporeia (syn. Pontoporeia) affinis was studied at different oxygen conditions (normoxia>11 mg/l O₂, and moderate hypoxia 4 mg/l O₂). Vulnerability of juvenile and adult M. affinis was studied in single and mixed age-class treatments. The proportions of juveniles and adults were varied at one total numerical density. The predatory effects were measured as numbers of individuals consumed and of total biomass intake (mg ash-free dry weight). The highest predation rate (in numbers) was detected in the single-prey treatment with juvenile M. affinis, both in normoxia and moderate hypoxia. No preference for any of the two size classes was found in the treatment with equal numbers of adults and juveniles. In normoxia, the total number of prey consumed decreased with increasing proportions of adults, while intake increased in terms of biomass. In moderate hypoxia, high proportions of adults reduced the predation rate of S. entomon to such an extent that also the intake in terms of biomass was significantly negatively affected.     

Risk of dike failure due to flow slides

Flow slides may affect the stability of dikes. A flow slide is an instability of a submerged slope caused by liquefaction of loose, (medium) fine sand. Whether a flow slide will occur depends on the properties of the sand, which are a function of its density, and the geometry of the slope, as determined by wave and current induced scour and sedimentation. The influence of sand properties and the geometry parameters on the risk of flow slides are discussed. The application of a flow slide prediction method to an example and a risk analysis is briefly discussed.     

The status of geological dredging techniques

Scientific sea-floor dredging is currently used in marine geology primarily by the hard-rock community interested in the recovery of basement rock samples from the unsedimented deep ocean floor. The technique has generally been eclipsed by ocean drilling for recovery of sedimentary rocks, because of perceived uncertainties in the location of sampling and in the representativeness of recovered material. This contribution reviews dredging equipment currently in use by marine geological institutions and refers to pinger attachments that allow precise information on the behaviour of the dredge to be telemetered back to the ship. We argue that improvements in ship navigation and transponder navigation at the seafloor, when used in conjunction with surface and/or deeply towed sidescan and swathemapping surveys, now allow for considerably less uncertainty on the location of dredge sampling. Refined sorting criteria for dredge hauls are now also available. Recent comparisons of regional sample recovery by ocean drilling and by dredge sampling indicate that the dredge hauls can usefully supplement the drilling data in the construction of sedimentary and tectonic histories of seafloor areas.     

Morphodynamics of a bar-trough surf zone

A field study was made of the distinguishing morphodynamic processes operating in a surf zone which perennially exhibits accentuated bar-trough topography (the “longshore-bar-trough” and “rhytmic-bar-and-beach” states as described by Wright and Short, 1984). Characteristic features of the morphology include a shallow bar with a steep shoreward face, a deep trough, and a steep beach face. This morphology, which is favored by moderate breaker heights and small tidal ranges, strongly controls the coupled suite of hydrodynamic processes. In contrast to fully dissipative surf zones, the bar-trough surf zone is not at all saturated and oscillations at incident wave frequency remain dominant from the break point to the subaerial beach. The degree of incident wave groupiness does not change appreciably across the surf zone. Infragravity standing waves which, in dissipative surf zones, dominate the inshore energy, remain energetically secondary and occur at higher frequencies in the bar trough surf zone. Analyses of the field data combined with numerical simulations of leaky mode and edge wave nodal—antinodal positions over observed surf-zone profiles, indicate that the frequencies which prevail are favored by the resonant condition of antinodes over the bar and nodes in the trough. Standing waves which would have nodes over the bar are suppressed. Sediment resuspension in the surf zone appears to be largely attributable to the incident waves which are the main source of bed shear stress. In addition, the extra near-bottom eddy viscosity provided by the reformed, non-breaking waves traversing the trough significantly affects the vertical velocity profile of the longshore current. Whereas the bar is highly mobile in terms of onshore—offshore migration rates, the beach face and inner regions of the trough are remarkably stable over time.     

Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni and Co distribution in the German Bight

Cd, Pb and Cu concentrations, dissolved and total, have been determined in the German Bight. In 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1983 water samples were collected at 215 sampling stations. In the 1983 mission samples were also analysed for Ni and Co. The samples were filtered and acidified immediately after collection. Analysis was performed by voltammetry.The analytical data indicate that a net portion of the Cd, the Weser being a distinct source for it, will cross the estuarine zone. Open sea Cd levels in the German Bight are about a factor 10 higher than North Atlantic values. Pb, being transported mainly with the suspended particulate phase (up to 99.5%), is better eliminated by sedimentation in the estuaries. Ni and Cu occur mainly in the dissolved phase. Pollution by Co is distinct in the Elbe, but the output is rapidly diluted to background contents below 10 ng kg⁻¹. An interpretation of the results from the different years yields a rather steady state situation in the German Bight.     

Mixed-function oxygenases as biological monitors around petroleum hydrocarbon development sites: Potential for induction by diesel and other drilling mud base oils containing reduced levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The use of oil-based drilling muds has been discouraged in hydrocarbon exploration and production in the marine environment but these muds are presently being used to a considerable degree in the United Kingdom and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. Field studies in the North Sea have demonstrated only localized impacts around individual drilling sites,^1,2 even including those sites where ‘toxic’ diesel oils were employed as base fluids in drilling muds. Yet the question of disposal of cuttings contaminated with oil from drilling muds remains somewhat controversial. The induction of mixed-function oxygenases (MFO) has been validated on a number of occasions in the field as a sensitive index of low level hydrocarbon exposure (reviewed by Payne),³ including sites in the North Sea where diesel-based muds were used.⁴ The present study demonstrates that any potential for induction by hydrocarbon contaminated cuttings will probably be reduced by substitution of low-aromatic base oils for diesel in drilling mud formulations.     

On the structural evolution of the Central Trough in the Norwegian and Danish sectors of the North Sea

The Central Trough of the North Sea is not a simple rift graben. It is an elongated area of regional subsidence which was initiated in mid Cretaceous times and continued to subside through to the late Tertiary. Its form is not representative of pre-mid Cretaceous tectonics.In Late Permian times the North Sea was divided into a northern and southern Zechstein basin by the E-W trending Mid North Sea-Ringkøbing-Fyn High. The latter was dissected by a narrow graben trending NNW through the Tail End Graben and the Søgne Basin. The Feda Graben was a minor basin on the northern flank of the Mid North Sea High at this time. This structural configuration persisted until end Middle Jurassic times when a new WNW trend separated the Tail End Graben from the Søgne Basin. Right lateral wrench movement on this new trend caused excessive subsudence in the Tail End and Feda Grabens while the Søgne Basin became inactive.Upper Jurassic subsidence trends continued during the Early Cretaceous causing the deposition of large thicknesses of sediments in local areas along the trend. From mid Cretaceous times the regional subsidence of the Central Trough was dominant but significant structural inversions occurred in those areas of maximum Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic subsidence.     

Low-frequency damping of a moored semisubmersible obtained from simulated extinction tests and mean wave drift forces

Low-frequency damping of a moored semisubmersible drilling platform was obtained from numerical extinction tests simulated in still water and in regular waves and from mean wave drift forces calculated at zero forward speed. The influence of drag forces was represented by the modified Morison equation. The platform as used for the 18th ITTC Comparative Mooring Study was analyzed in irregular beam waves. The computed time series of sway as well as the corresponding sway response spectrum compared favourably with model test measurements, demonstrating that this procedure to determine low-frequency damping can be effective.