Regional variations in cleavage and fold development in North Wales

The arcuate pattern of the main Caledonian cleavage and associated fold axial plane traces in North Wales is due partly to NW-SE compression with tectonic transport to the southeast against the concealed crop of the Tan y grisiau Microgranite. Low-angle cleavage close to the microgranite is shown to be a local variant of the regional cleavage formed during the main deformation and not an earlier phase as previously supposed. Transcurrent movements along several major fault systems are also related to compression around the microgranite and the Harlech Dome block.     

On the Structure of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies

The investigation of the distribution of number densities and radial velocities in the Perseus cluster led us to the conclusion that this cluster possesses dominant substructures. This result is in agreement with a corresponding result for the Hydra-I cluster and with former conclusions of different authors that substructures are a typical phenomenon for a high percentage of all clusters of galaxies. The complex of the Perseus cluster has a diameter of 60–80 minutes of arc.     

Faint Blue Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster Region

Finding charts, coordinates, B magnitudes, and U – B color estimates are given for 110 faint blue galaxies located near the centre of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The galaxies have been found by blinking on plates taken with the Tautenburg 52 inch SCHMIDT telescope.     

Nonlinear inertial oscillations of a multilayer eddy: An analytical solution

Nonlinear axisymmetric oscillations of a warm baroclinic eddy are considered within the framework of an reduced-gravity model of the dynamics of a multilayer ocean. A class of exact analytical solutions describing pure inertial oscillations of an eddy formation is found. The thicknesses of layers in the eddy vary according to a quadratic law, and the horizontal projections of the velocity in the layers depend linearly on the radial coordinate. Owing to a complicated structure of the eddy, weak limitations on the vertical distribution of density, and an explicit form of the solution, the latter can be treated as a generalization of the exact analytical solutions of this form that were previously obtained for homogeneous and baroclinic eddies in the ocean.     

Morphosedimentary features and recent depositional architectural model of the Cantabrian continental margin

Multibeam bathymetry, high (sleeve airguns) and very high resolution (parametric system-TOPAS-) seismic records were used to define the morphosedimentary features and investigate the depositional architecture of the Cantabrian continental margin. The outer shelf (down to 180–245 m water depth) displays an intensively eroded seafloor surface that truncates consolidated ancient folded and fractured deposits. Recent deposits are only locally present as lowstand shelf-margin deposits and a transparent drape with bedforms. The continental slope is affected by sedimentary processes that have combined to create the morphosedimentary features seen today. The upper (down to 2000 m water depth) and lower (down to 3700–4600 m water depth) slopes are mostly subject to different types of slope failures, such as slides, mass-transport deposits (a mix of slumping and mass-flows), and turbidity currents. The upper slope is also subject to the action of bottom currents (the Mediterranean Water — MW) that interact with the Le Danois Bank favouring the reworking of the sediment and the sculpting of a contourite system. The continental rise is a bypass region of debris flows and turbidity currents where a complex channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) of the Cap Ferret Fan develops.The recent architecture depositional model is complex and results from the remaining structural template and the great variability of interconnected sedimentary systems and processes. This margin can be considered as starved due to the great sediment evacuation over a relatively steep entire depositional profile. Sediment is eroded mostly from the Cantabrian and also the Pyrenees mountains (source) and transported by small stream/river mountains to the sea. It bypasses the continental shelf and when sediment arrives at the slope it is transported through a major submarine drainage system (large submarine valleys and mass-movement processes) down to the continental rise and adjacent Biscay Abyssal Plain (sink). Factors controlling this architecture are tectonism and sediment source/dispersal, which are closely interrelated, whereas sea-level changes and oceanography have played a minor role (on a long-term scale).     

Tortonian-Pleistocenic oceanic features in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea: magnetic inverse model of the Selli-Vavilov region

We show the magnetic model of the Selli-Vavilov region. The Selli Line is known as the northwestern edge of the southern Tyrrhenian Basin. The tectonic evolution of the Tyrrhenian Basin is dominated by a Tortonian-Quaternary extension through the eastward movement of the Apennine subduction system. This migration has generated a diffuse stretching of the continental crust with the emplacement of new oceanic material. This latter occurred in several localized zones where the eastward retreating of the Ionian subduction system produced a strong depletion of the crust with formation of basins and correlated spreading. Nowadays the presence of oceanic crust is confirmed through direct drilling investigation but a complete mapping of the oceanic crustal distribution is still lacking. The Selli-Vavilov region shows a differentiated crustal setting where seamount structures, the oceanic basement portions and continental crust blocks are superimposed. To this aim, a 2D inversion of the magnetic data of this region was conducted to define buried structures. The magnetic susceptibility pattern was computed by solving the least squares problem of the misfit between the predicted and real data for separated wavebands. This method produced two 2D models of the high and low frequency fields of the Selli-Vavilov region. The two apparent susceptibility maps provide different information for distinct ranges of depth. The results of the inversions were also combined with seismic data of the Selli region highlighting the position of the highly magnetized buried bodies. The results confirm a role for the Selli Line as a deep crustal boundary dividing the Sardinian passive domain from the easternmost active region where different oceanic structures are located. The Selli Line has worked as a detachment fault system which has moved eastward. Finally, the Selli-Vavilov region may be interpreted as a tectonic result due to a passive asymmetrical rift occurred between the Tortonian and Pliocene.     

Protein carbonyls and antioxidant defenses in corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops) from a heavy metal polluted and a PAH polluted site

The use of fish in environmental monitoring has become increasingly important in recent years as anthropogenic substances, many of which function as prooxidants, are accumulating in aquatic environments. We have measured a battery of antioxidant defenses as a measure of oxidative status, as well as protein carbonylation as a measure of oxidative damage, in corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops) captured near a disused copper mine, where water and sediment are contaminated with heavy metals, and an aluminum smelter, a site contaminated with PAHs. Results were compared to two different reference sites. Fish at the heavy metal site had lower glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and elevated protein carbonyls (1.8 times) compared to fish from the reference site. At the PAH site, EROD was increased 2-fold, while total glutathione and methemoglobin reductase concentration, were decreased. No differences were seen in protein carbonyl levels at the PAH site. Measures of both antioxidant defenses and oxidative damage should be used when assessing effects of xenobiotics on oxidative stress in fish species.     

1997–1998 El Niño off Peru: A numerical study

An eddy-resolving numerical simulation for the Peru–Chile system between 1993 and 2000 is analyzed, mainly for the 1997–1998 El Niño. Atmospheric and lateral oceanic forcings are realistic and contain a wide range of scales from days to interannual. The solution is validated against altimetric observations and the few in situ observations available. The simulated 1997–1998 El Niño closely resembles the real 1997–1998 El Niño in its time sequence of events. The two well-marked, sea-level peaks in May–June and November–December 1997 are reproduced with amplitudes close to those observed. Other sub-periods of the El Niño seem to be captured adequately. Simple dynamical analyses are performed to explain the 1997–1998 evolution of the upwelling in the model. The intensity of the upwelling appears to be determined by an interplay between alongshore, poleward advection (related to coastal trapped waves) and wind intensity, but also by the cross-shore geostrophic flow and distribution of the water masses on a scale of 1000 km or more (involving Rossby waves westward propagation and advection from equatorial currents). In particular, the delay of upwelling recovery until fall 1998 (i.e., well after the second El Niño peak) is partly due to the persistent advection of offshore stratified water toward the coast of Peru. Altimetry data suggest that these interpretations of the numerical solution also apply to the real ocean.     

Comet assay in phytoplankton as biomarker of genotoxic effects of environmental pollution

The alkaline comet assay was tested on different microalgae: the dinoflagellates, Karenia mikimotoi and Alexandrium minutum, and the diatom, Chaetoceros gracilis. The microalgae were exposed during their exponential growth to the model direct genotoxicant, hydrogen peroxide (1h, 5 and 100muM H2O2). Following H2O2 exposure, the comet assay was validated only for K. mikimotoi for which genotoxicity was observed from the lowest tested concentration of 5 microM with a concentration-dependent effect. C. gracilis was too small in size (4 microm) to be correctly analysed. For A. minutum, our lysis buffer was not strong enough to digest the cellulosic thecal plates. For K. mikimotoi, the comet assay was thus applied for the study of the genotoxic effects of different pesticides: epoxiconazole (as Opus formulation), chlorpyriphos-ethyl (as Dursban formulation) and endosulfan at 1, 10 and 100 microg of active substance/L for 24h. Exposure to epoxiconazole in formulation resulted in an increase in the extent of DNA strand breaks at the highest tested concentration icro/L. Endosulfan exposure resulted in DNA damage for K. mikimotoi nuclei. Genotoxicity was observed from 1 microg/L of endosulfan and was not concentration dependent.     

Biochemical alterations in juvenile carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to zinc: glutathione reductase as a target

The aim of this study was to investigate biochemical changes in juvenile carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to zinc chloride (10, 30 and 100 microM) for a period of 48 h. Zinc exposure caused a concentration-dependent reduction in glutathione reductase (GR) activity in gills, liver and brain. Gill glutathione S-transferase (GST) was reduced when animals were exposed to the highest concentration of 100 microM zinc. The phosphorylation of p38(MAPK) increased in the brain of fish exposed to zinc 100 microM, while phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) remained unchanged. Expression of proteins HSP60 and HSP70 were not affected by zinc exposure. Considering the significant concentration-dependent inhibition of GR in all tissues analyzed, this enzyme could be a potential biomarker of exposure to zinc, which has to be confirmed.