A case study of a modified gravity type cage and mooring system using numerical and physical models

A modified gravity-type cage, developed by SADCO Shelf Ltd., was examined using numerical and physical models to determine if the cage and mooring system is suitable for an exposed site south of the Isles of Shoals, NH. The 3000-m/sup 3/ SADCO Shelf Submersible Fish Cage has angled stays between the upper framework and the ballasted bottom rim (in addition to net) to resist the horizontal shear deformation. The mooring system consists of three legs-each made up of a taut vertical chain and an angled rope, both leading to deadweight anchors. Normalized response amplitudes (response amplitude operators) were found for motion response in heave, surge and pitch, and load response in the anchor and bridle lines, in regular (single frequency) waves. In addition, a stochastic approach was taken to determine the motion and load transfer functions in random waves using a spectrum representative of seas at the selected site. In general, the system motion had a highly damped response, with no resonant peaks within the wave excitation range of 0.05 to 0.45 Hz. The anchor line force response was at all frequencies below 5 kN per meter of wave amplitude. The physical model tests showed consistently more conservative (larger) results compared to those for the numerical model.     

Copepod grazing during spring blooms: Does Calanus pacificus avoid harmful diatoms?

During late winter and spring of 2002 and 2003, 24, 2–3 day cruises were conducted to Dabob Bay, Washington State, USA, to examine the grazing, egg production, and hatching success rates of adult female Calanus pacificus and Pseudocalanus newmani. The results of the copepod grazing experiments for C. pacificus are discussed here. Each week, copepod grazing incubation experiments from two different depth layers were conducted. Grazing was measured by both changes in chlorophyll concentration and cell counts. In 2002, there was one moderate bloom consisting mainly of Thalassiosira spp. in early February, and a larger bloom in April comprised of two Chaetoceros species and Phaeocystis sp. Similarly, in 2003, there were two blooms, an early one dominated by Thalassiosira spp., and a later one consisting of Chaetoceros spp. and Thalassiosira spp. Clearance rates on individual prey species, as calculated by cell counts, showed that C. pacificus are highly selective in their feeding, and may have much higher clearance rates on individual taxa than rates calculated from bulk chlorophyll disappearance. During weeks of high phytoplankton concentration, the copepods generally ate phytoplankton. However, they often rejected the most abundant phytoplankton species, particularly certain Thalassiosira spp., even though the rejected prey were often of the same genus and similar size to the preferred prey. It is speculated that this avoidance may be related to the possible deleterious effects that certain of these diatom species have on the reproductive success of these copepods. During weeks of medium to low phytoplankton concentration, the copepods selectively ate certain species of phytoplankton, and often had high electivity for microzooplankton. The selection mechanism must consist of active particle rejection most likely based on detection of surface chemical properties, since the diatoms that were selected were of the same genus, nearly the same size, and at lower numerical abundance than those cells that were avoided. The grazing choices made by these copepods may have important consequences for the overall ecosystem function within coastal and estuarine systems through changes in the transfer efficiency of energy to higher trophic levels.     

Differential distribution of the two cryptic species, Pomatoschistus microps and P. marmoratus, in the lagoons of southern France, with an emphasis on the genetic organisation of P. microps

The presence and the distribution of two cryptic sedentary gobies, Pomatoschistus microps and Pomatoschistus marmoratus, were investigated in several lagoons stretching along the Golfe du Lion, southern France Mediterranean coast, and Corsica. Pomatoschistus microps is the only sedentary Pomatoschistus species in two shallow lagoons with large variations of salinity and temperature. In contrast, P. marmoratus, another sedentary species, can be found preferentially in a deep salty lagoon with small salinity variations. Both species occur sympatrically in the Rhone Delta and hybridise, producing fertile offspring. Using allozymes, competition, linked to fitness, is invoked to explain the distribution pattern of these sibling species.     

Sub-lethal effects of metal exposure: physiological and behavioural responses of the estuarine bivalve Macoma balthica

Variation in glycogen concentration, condition index (CI) and filtration activity were measured in the bivalve Macoma balthica buried in sediment and experimentally exposed to cadmium (Cd). The stress due to elevated but sub-lethal concentrations (300 ppb Cd) affected the overall fitness of the organism as all parameters monitored responded significantly. Lower concentrations tested (10, 30 and 100 ppb) only induced a significant decrease in filtration activity, which may play a protective role, enabling the organism to slow down its metabolic activity and preserving the integrity of its reserves (reflected by stable CI and glycogen levels). Hence, the various endpoints selected show different thresholds. Our results also demonstrate that under high exposure, small individuals loose proportionally more glycogen per unit of weight than larger ones, thus confirming the higher sensitivity of small individuals to metal contamination. Furthermore, exposure to intermediate concentration (30 ppb) seems to be beneficial to the small individuals as indicated by their high CI values compared to the control. These results showed thus that non-sigmoidal concentration-response relationship and sizes of individuals should be considered in monitoring programmes and risk assessment.     

Intrusive Stratification of the Gulf-Stream Frontal Zone According to the Results of Investigations Performed during Cruise 43 of the R/V Akademik Vernadskii

We analyze the data of investigation of the intrusive structure of the Gulf-Stream frontal zone obtained in making frequent drift sections with the help of an MGI-8102 probing complex, study the regularities of variation of temperature, salinity, and density along separate intrusions, and present a series of results connected with the specific features of initiation and development of intrusions and the types of exchange processes determining their transformations. It is shown that the T-diagrams of all intrusions are well separated into segments with different slopes. Moreover, by comparing the slopes and locations of these segments with each other and with the T-diagrams of the Gulf Stream and slope waters, we can fairly reliably attribute the corresponding segments of intrusions to one of the following four types: initial dynamic folds of the frontal zone, layers of domestic water separating the intrusive segments of foreign water from each other, intrusive segments characterized by the penetration of ambient water, and segments not intrusive initially but getting the required slope as a result of interaction with upper and lower intrusive segments. For segments of the last two types, it is possible to specify the predominant type of exchange.     

An alternative approach to the structural motion analysis of wedge-beam offshore structures supporting a load

For convenience of dynamic analysis, some offshore structures such as fixed-type platforms are often modeled as the wedge beams supporting tip lumped masses. It is well-known that, due to the effect of the surrounding water, the natural frequencies of a beam in air (or dry beam) are different from those of the same beam immersed in water (or wet beam). However, if the natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of a dry beam are calculated by taking account of the “added mass” for the immersed beam, then the last natural frequencies and mode shapes will be equal to the corresponding ones of the wet beam. Based on the last concept, the closed form solutions for natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of the dry beam were determined first, then the partial differential equation of motion for the wet beam was transformed into a matrix equation by using the expansion theorem and the foregoing closed form solutions of free vibration responses for the dry beam. Solving the last matrix equation will give the required natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of the wet beam. The formulation of this paper is available for the fully or partially immersed double tapered beams with either circular, square or rectangular cross-sections. The taper ratio for width and that for depth may be equal or unequal. The numerical results of this paper were compared with the existing results or the finite-element-method results and good agreement was achieved.     

Release into the environment of metals by two vascular salt marsh plants

Metals in contaminated salt marshes are mainly locked in the anaerobic layer of sediments, where they are tightly bound as sulfides and organic complexes. Vascular plants survive in saturated soils in part by pumping O2 into their root zones, changing their microenvironment to an oxic one. This, along with chelating exudates, mobilizes metals, allowing uptake by the roots. We compared the common reed Phragmites australis and cordgrass Spartina alterniflora in lab and field studies for ways in which they handle trace metals. Both plants store most of their metal burden in their roots, but some is transported to aboveground tissues. Spartina leaves contain approximately 2-3 x more Cr, Pb, and Hg than Phragmites leaves, but equivalent Cu and Zn. Furthermore, Spartina leaves have salt glands, so leaf excretion of all metals is twice that of Phragmites. In-depth studies with Hg indicate that Hg excretion correlates with Na release but not with transpiration, which is 2.2 x higher in Phragmites; and that more Hg accumulates in early-appearing leaves than in upper (i.e. later) leaves in both species. Spartina thus makes more metals available to salt marsh ecosystems than Phragmites by direct excretion and via dead leaves which will enter the food web as detritus.     

The expression of CYP1A,vitellogenin and zona radiata proteins in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after oral dosing with two commercial PBDE flame retardant mixtures: absence of short-term responses

The short-term effects of the commercial PBDE flame retardant mixtures Penta-BDE and cta-BDE on the expression of cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A), vitellogenin (Vtg) and zona radiata proteins (Zrp) were investigated in juvenile salmon (Salmo salar). For this purpose, groups of fish were dosed twice (oral intake at days I and 4) with 10 and 50 mg/kg body weight of both commercial mixtures. The fishes were sacrificed at day 7 (n = 5 for each group) and 14 (n = 6 for each group), and blood, liver, fillet, and brain were collected. Blanks and positive controls were also part of the experiment. The expressions of Vtg, Zrp, and CYPIA were measured with several techniques (EROD, ELISA, Western, Northern and Slot Blot). The values in the groups of fish treated with Penta-BDE or Octa-BDE did not significantly differ from the reference group for any of the parameters tested. In contrast, the positive control groups treated with estradiol-17beta for Vtg and Zrp expression, and beta-naphthoflavone for CYP1A expression did show a significant response, indicating the potential sensitivity of the fishes for the parameters measured. Since the results of the chemical analyses showed concentrations of a number of PBDE congeners in liver, fillet, and brain that were about three orders of magnitude above those of fish from the North Sea, it is concluded that the short-term toxicity of both commercial PBDE mixtures for these endpoints was low.     

Control over natural resources in ecological economical systems

We consider the problem of stable development of natural economical complexes from the viewpoint of basic balances in an ecological economical system. We construct a basic dynamical model of the complex capable of predicting various scenarios of the industrial development, consumption of natural resources, and pollution of the environment and propose a mechanism of control over the process of development by introducing rent payments for the use of natural resources and ecological fines for the pollution of the environment. The efficiency of the applied model is demonstrated by analysing the process of control over the concentration of biological resources in marine media as an example. We describe the results of numerical experiments performed to show the possibility of creation of the information technology of control over marine bioresources. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev