Shell Middens,Cultural Chronologies,and Coastal Settlement on the Rhode River Sub‐Estuary of Chesapeake Bay,Maryland, USA

North America's Atlantic Coast has been a focus of human settlement and subsistence for millennia, but sea‐level rise, sedimentation, and other processes pose significant challenges for archaeological research. Radiocarbon dating of 31 shell middens near the Rhode River Estuary, Maryland provides an opportunity to evaluate human land use, settlement, and cultural chronologies on the Chesapeake Bay. Sixty calibrated radiocarbon dates on eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shell and charcoal demonstrate that Native Americans, colonial, and historic peoples harvested oysters and other shellfish from at least 3200 years ago through the 19th century. The number of dated sites increases during the Late Woodland period after about 1000 cal yr B.P., a factor probably related to greater site visibility and preservation, as well as increased human exploitation of the watershed. Accumulation rates for five of the shell middens provide preliminary indications that some of the sites accumulated rapidly suggesting, along with other evidence, that many of the region's shell middens were logistical or perhaps seasonal camps. Our study demonstrates the importance of regional watershed surveys and radiocarbon dating programs to help build and refine cultural chronologies in coastal regions threatened by sea‐level rise and other processes.     

Methylation of Hg downstream from the Bonanza Hg mine,Oregon

Speciation of Hg and conversion to methyl-Hg were evaluated in stream sediment, stream water, and aquatic snails collected downstream from the Bonanza Hg mine, Oregon. Total production from the Bonanza mine was >1360 t of Hg, during mining from the late 1800s to 1960, ranking it as an intermediate sized Hg mine on an international scale. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the distribution, transport, and methylation of Hg downstream from a Hg mine in a coastal temperate climatic zone. Data shown here for methyl-Hg, a neurotoxin hazardous to humans, are the first reported for sediment and water from this area. Stream sediment collected from Foster Creek flowing downstream from the Bonanza mine contained elevated Hg concentrations that ranged from 590 to 71,000 ng/g, all of which (except the most distal sample) exceeded the probable effect concentration (PEC) of 1060 ng/g, the Hg concentration above which harmful effects are likely to be observed in sediment-dwelling organisms. Concentrations of methyl-Hg in stream sediment collected from Foster Creek varied from 11 to 62 ng/g and were highly elevated compared to regional baseline concentrations (0.11–0.82 ng/g) established in this study. Methyl-Hg concentrations in stream sediment collected in this study showed a significant correlation with total organic C (TOC, R² = 0.62), generally indicating increased methyl-Hg formation with increasing TOC in sediment. Isotopic-tracer methods indicated that several samples of Foster Creek sediment exhibited high rates of Hg-methylation. Concentrations of Hg in water collected downstream from the mine varied from 17 to 270 ng/L and were also elevated compared to baselines, but all were below the 770 ng/L Hg standard recommended by the USEPA to protect against chronic effects to aquatic wildlife. Concentrations of methyl-Hg in the water collected from Foster Creek ranged from 0.17 to 1.8 ng/L, which were elevated compared to regional baseline sites upstream and downstream from the mine that varied from <0.02 to 0.22 ng/L. Aquatic snails collected downstream from the mine were elevated in Hg indicating significant bioavailability and uptake of Hg by these snails. Results for sediment and water indicated significant methyl-Hg formation in the ecosystem downstream from the Bonanza mine, which is enhanced by the temperate climate, high precipitation in the area, and high organic matter.     

Misdirected QSOs in the most luminous infrared galaxies

I discuss imaging and spectropolarimetry results which show that buried QSOs (monsters) are sufficient to power hyperluminous infrared galaxies.     

Two-way time spreading and path loss in shallow water at 20-40 kHz

Two-way time spreading and path-loss measurements were collected in water 100 m deep, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Data were collected at frequencies of 20-22 kHz, 27-29 kHz, and 35-37 kHz using linear FM pulses 0.160 s in duration. The source-receiver was an anchored, high-frequency active sonar, and the target was a free-drifting echo repeater. Sonar and target positions were recorded using a portable tracking range. In the paper, two-way time spreading and path loss measurements are compared with modeled estimates obtained using an enhanced version of the generic sonar model (GSM). The GSM estimates of time spreading due to multipath propagation compare favorably with the experimental data. The model indicates that the path loss for individual eigenrays was extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the sound-speed profile. This led to substantial variation in the model output depending on the choice of profile. In place of the model, an empirical estimate of path loss was computed from the data. We obtained a two-way spreading loss of 2[18.4log₁₀(R)] where R is the range from sonar to target. The data were also used to compute the standard deviation of the received echo intensity at each frequency. The standard deviation was computed two different ways. First it was computed using the peak echo level from each of the pulses at a given frequency. Then, it was computed from the total energy received from each of the pings. At all frequencies, the standard deviation was 1-2 dB lower when computed from the total received energy     

Relaxational dissipation in atmospheric waves—II. Application to earth's upper atmosphere

A dispersion relation is derived for acoustic-gravity waves propagating in a multiconstituent gas whose atoms and molecules are subject to relaxational exchanges of thermal energy between translational and internal forms. The relation employs a complex thermal capacitance, derived in a companion paper, which incorporates the relaxational effects. Approximations to this relation permit ready assessment of the attenuation of wave amplitude and energy that relaxation produces, both in absolute amount and relative to viscous attenuation.In Earth's upper atmosphere, relaxational attenuation is found to be of greatest potential consequence in the middle and upper E region. Both electronic relaxation in atomic oxygen and vibrational relaxation in molecular oxygen and nitrogen appear to be capable of playing a significant role, but it is found that the actual significance of their roles cannot be assessed adequately because of present uncertainties of governing parameters (and, in the case of vibrational relaxation, of governing collisional interactions). Similar uncertainties are found to surround the role that relaxation, notably in atomic oxygen, may play in the termination of turbulence near the 110 km level.     

Understanding the SAM influence on the South Pacific ENSO teleconnection

The relationship between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) is examined, with the goal of understanding how various strong SAM events modulate the ENSO teleconnection to the South Pacific (45°–70°S, 150°–70°W). The focus is on multi-month, multi-event variations during the last 50 years. A significant (p < 0.10) relationship is observed, most marked during the austral summer and in the 1970s and 1990s. In most cases, the significant relationship is brought about by La Niña (El Niño) events occurring with positive (negative) phases of the SAM more often than expected by chance. The South Pacific teleconnection magnitude is found to be strongly dependent on the SAM phase. Only when ENSO events occur with a weak SAM or when a La Niña (El Niño) occurs with a positive (negative) SAM phase are significant South Pacific teleconnections found. This modulation in the South Pacific ENSO teleconnection is directly tied to the interaction of the anomalous ENSO and SAM transient eddy momentum fluxes. During La Niña/SAM+ and El Niño/SAM? combinations, the anomalous transient momentum fluxes in the Pacific act to reinforce the circulation anomalies in the midlatitudes, altering the circulation in such a way to maintain the ENSO teleconnections. In La Niña/SAM? and El Niño/SAM+ cases, the anomalous transient eddies oppose each other in the midlatitudes, overall acting to reduce the magnitude of the high latitude ENSO teleconnection.     

Localized versus regional adaptation in limpet shell morphology across the Iberian Peninsula

The climate‐envelope approach to predicting climate‐induced species range shift is limited. There are many possible reasons for this, but one novel explanation is that species adapt to changes in temperature at the expense of adaptation to other stressors. Here we test this hypothesis using the limpet Patella depressa (Mollusca, Patellidae), over a large geographical area covering most of the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, known to consist of a genetically inter‐connected population. We examine limpet shell morphology on four shores in each of three regions, from Northern Spain to Southern Portugal. Within each region, shell morphology (measured as maximum shell profile to length ratio) varied between shore types differing in their insolation, wave action, microhabitat availability and biological factors. However, this ratio, which is known to be an adaptive response to heat stress, was found to be consistently higher in more southern latitudes despite differences between shore types being found in all regions. This implies that localized adaptation to shore type (most likely through phenotypic plasticity) is compromised by factors that change over latitudinal or regional scales, or which could occur in response to climate change. Although such climate‐induced changes may initially be localized, compromised adaptation (through phenotypic or genetic plasticity) may result in altered community interactions and potentially large shifts in community structure.     

A STATISTICAL PROCEDURE TO EVALUATE CLEAN-UP STANDARDS

The object of this paper is to develop a suitable statistical procedure to evaluate clean-up standards athazardous waste sites.Under the assumptions that contaminant masses at a site follow a gammadistribution and that the data from the pre-remediation baseline sample as well as from the interim orfinal sample taken after a certain period of operation are both distributed as gamma with the same shapeparameter but different scale parameters,we derive a uniformly most powerful unbiased test of thehypothesis that a specified percentage of contaminant mass has been reduced.A large-sampleapproximation of the exact test procedure and a comparison with the likelihood ratio test are provided.     

Vertical distribution of infauna in sediments of a subestuary of central Chesapeake Bay

The vertical distribution of infauna was quantified in eight strata from 0–35 cm in sand and mud sediments of a lower mesohaline subestuary of Chesapeake Bay. Large numbers of small polychaetes, amphipods, and clams occurred in the upper 5 cm of both sediment types, whereas large clams (Macoma balthica in mud andMya arenaria in sand) extended down to 30 cm and comprised most of the biomass in their respective sediment types. There was extensive overlap of the species inhabiting both sediment types. Vertical stratification within and among species apparently reflected constraints on burrowing depth related to body size rather than resource partitioning among competitors. The maximal sediment penetration of 35 cm, which was exhibited byHeteromastus filiformis, was considerably less than the maximal penetration for deep burrowing species in some marine infaunal communities. Several species which burrowed deeper than 5 cm exhibited significant temporal shifts in their vertical distribution.     

Linking the Abundance of Estuarine Fish and Crustaceans in Nearshore Waters to Shoreline Hardening and Land Cover

Human alteration of land cover (e.g., urban and agricultural land use) and shoreline hardening (e.g., bulkheading and rip rap revetment) are intensifying due to increasing human populations and sea level rise. Fishes and crustaceans that are ecologically and economically valuable to coastal systems may be affected by these changes, but direct links between these stressors and faunal populations have been elusive at large spatial scales. We examined nearshore abundance patterns of 15 common taxa across gradients of urban and agricultural land cover as well as wetland and hardened shoreline in tributary subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Coastal Bays. We used a comprehensive landscape-scale study design that included 587 sites in 39 subestuaries. Our analyses indicate shoreline hardening has predominantly negative effects on estuarine fauna in water directly adjacent to the hardened shoreline and at the larger system-scale as cumulative hardened shoreline increased in the subestuary. In contrast, abundances of 12 of 15 species increased with the proportion of shoreline comprised of wetlands. Abundances of several species were also significantly related to watershed cropland cover, submerged aquatic vegetation, and total nitrogen, suggesting land-use-mediated effects on prey and refuge habitat. Specifically, abundances of four bottom-oriented species were negatively related to cropland cover, which is correlated with elevated nitrogen and reduced submerged and wetland vegetation in the receiving subestuary. These empirical relationships raise important considerations for conservation and management strategies in coastal environments.