Waveform Shaping of Sonar Transducers for Improving the Vertical Resolution in Sub-bottom Sediments Profiling

Vertical resolution is of fundamental importance in sonar exploration and is directly related to the duration of the acoustic pulse generated by the transducer. The shorter the radiated pulse, the higher the vertical resolution. Many sub-bottom profiling sonar systems use piezoelectric transducers because they are reversible and well understood. Piezoelectric projectors are normally resonant transducers, which are intrinsically narrowband. A piezoelectric transducer is usually driven by a tone-burst. However, it is possible to use Fourier techniques to find a pre-compensated electrical driving function so that the transducer radiates a prescribed wider band acoustic waveform. This technique can be applied to synthesize zero-phase cosine-magnitude, Gaussian, and bionic pulses, with a conventional sandwich transducer. Zero-phase cosine-magnitude waveforms provide minimum length pulses (and therefore maximum resolution) within a prescribed frequency band.The aim of this paper is to illustrate the synthesis of wideband acoustic pulses using an underwater piezoelectric projector. The conventional acoustic waveform radiated when a Tonpiltz transducer is transiently excited using a “click” and allows its frequency response function to be measured. This function is used to design the electrical signal which then drives the transducer so that it radiates the shortest pulse compatible with its mechanical response. The significant resolution enhancement of the waveform shaping process is illustrated by its application to a sediment wedge model.     

Measuring and modelling temporal trends of 226Ra in waters of a Spanish estuary affected by the phosphate industry

The presence and temporal evolution (1990-2001) of (226)Ra in a tidal estuary affected by the phosphate industry has been investigated. Water samples collected in the course of four separate sampling campaigns were analysed for (226)Ra content using a gas flow proportional counter following Ba coprecipitation. Two (226)Ra sources have been identified: direct discharges from the industrial complex and run-off from a phosphogypsum pile. Although activity levels are similar, or even higher, than those found in other environments affected by the phosphate industry, there has been a general decrease in contamination since direct discharges ceased in 1998 due to new regulations from the EU. However, sediments are now acting as a source of Ra to the water column due to redissolution processes. A numerical model of the estuary has been developed to describe quantitatively the experimental results. The model solves the hydrodynamics and the dispersion equation of (226)Ra including interactions with sediments. Model results are, in general, in good agreement with observations.     

The European vision for oceans and seas—Social and political dimensions of the Green Paper on Maritime Policy for the EU

The EU Green Paper on Maritime Policy is the European response to the new generation of ocean strategies based on science, technology and innovation aimed at new objectives, such as the strengthening of security and access to new resources. The European character of the proposal is found in the presence of social, cultural and historical elements, what is called the “European vision”. The viability of a European vision of the oceans and the idea of maritime empire as an extension of the current concept of empire within the general context of emerging ocean strategies are the elements offered up for debate on this European Union initiative.     

Local remineralization patterns in the mesopelagic zone of the Eastern North Atlantic, off the NW Iberian Peninsula

The short-time-scale variability of the remineralization patterns in the domain of Eastern North Atlantic Central Waters (ENACW) off the NW Iberian Peninsula is studied based on biogeochemical data (oxygen, nutrient salts, total alkalinity, pH, dissolved organic matter and fluorescence of dissolved humic substances) collected weekly between May 2001 and April 2002. The temporal variability of inorganic variables points to an intensification of remineralization during the summer and autumn, with an increase of nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and a decrease of oxygen. During the subsequent winter mixing, there is a biogeochemical reset of the system, with lower nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and higher oxygen. In contrast to inorganic variables, the levels of dissolved organic matter in the ENACW seem to respond to short-term events probably associated with fast sinking particles, where solubilisation of organic matter prevails over remineralization. Applying a previously published stoichiometric model, we observed a vertical fractionation of organic-matter remineralization. Although there is a preferential remineralization of proteins and P compounds in the entire domain of ENACW, the percentage was higher in the upper ENACW (σ<27.10 kg/m³) than in the lower; the percentage of N and P compounds in the oxidised organic matter was >80% for the upper ENACW and 63% for the lower. Likewise, the redissolution of calcareous structures contributes about 6% and 13% to the carbon regenerated in the upper and lower layers of ENACW, respectively.     

Feeding Habits of Trisopterus minutus capelanus (Gadidae) Off the Eastern Coast of Spain (Western Mediterranean)

Abstract. The stomach contents of poor cod, Trisopterus minutus capelanus (Lacepède), were taken at monthly intervals off the eastern coast of the Gulf of Valencia (Spain). A total of 1276 were analyzed to determine diet according to fish size and season. The basic food consists of crustaceans (Mysidacea and Decapoda) and teleosts. Feeding habits varied with size: decapods and fishes were more abundant in the stomachs of larger specimens. Little seasonal variation in food habits was recorded.     

An aromatase inhibitor and tamoxifen decrease plasma levels of o,p'-DDT and its metabolites in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

The objective of this study was to determine if tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor (4-hydroxyandrostenedione; 4-OHA) affected plasma concentrations of o,p' -DDT and its metabolites, o,p'-DDD and o,p'-DDE, in mature tilapia. Male and female tilapia were injected 6 times intraperitoneally with o,p'-DDT (40 mg/kg) alone or in combination with 4-OHA (2 mg/kg) over a 12 day period. An additional group of male fish was injected with tamoxifen (5 mg/kg) plus o,p'-DDT. At the end of the treatment period, plasma samples were extracted and analyzed by GC/ECD. Females injected only with o,p'-DDT had significantly higher levels of o,p'-DDT compared with males. Interestingly, females and males treated concomitantly with o,p'-DDT and 4-OHA or tamoxifen had significantly lower concentrations of plasma o,p'-DDT (about 50%) compared with fish treated with only o,p'-DDT. These initial results suggest that an interaction between endocrine-active compounds occurs in vivo in tilapia and may involve alterations in metabolism of o,p'-DDT.     

A comparative mineralogical study of gas-related sediments of the Gulf of Cádiz

The Gulf of Cádiz area has been extensively surveyed in recent years and several gas-related fluid escape seafloor structures have been identified. In this study, gravity cores, collected during the ANASTASYA/00 and ANASTASYA/01 cruises, on mud volcanoes, hemipelagic sediments and dredged material from diapiric structures, have been studied. A comparative mineralogical analysis by XRD and SEM of samples from different areas has been performed in order to determine whether there is a characteristic mineralogy related to these fluid escape structures, and also to determine the origin of the mud matrix and constrain the depth of the parent units. The mineralogical analysis reflects the different origins of the different units described in the cores: hemipelagic material of the slope, clays that underlie the mud volcanoes and are discharged at the sea bottom surface, and authigenic and diagenetic minerals possibly involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane in the mud volcano sediments.     

Onshore Neogene stratigraphy in the North of the Alboran Sea (Betic Internal Zones): Paleogeographic implications

The Neogene is the period in which the Betic Cordillera, the Rif, and the Alboran Sea acquired their present configuration. The Neogene sediments of the Betic Internal Zones (located directly to the North of the Alboran Sea) show the effects of important periods of deformation. Deposition was clearly controlled by tectonics. Therefore the generation, evolution, and total or partial destruction of basins and the formation of new, often superimposed, basins are common phenomena, according to the locations of the basins in the Betic Cordillera and to the different geodynamic situations.     

Phosphate adsorption and desorption in a tropical estuary (Maracaibo system)

The Maracaibo Estuary is of particular interest because of its location in the tropics, its large size (over 12,000 km²), the economic importance of its underlying hydrocarbon deposits and its increasing rate of pollution. Sediments from this estuary were studied in order to characterise their capacity to adsorb and desorb phosphorus. Considerable variability in capacity for phosphate sorption was found among the seventeen samples studied. This variability can be attributed first to the differences among the samples in total P content and, secondly, to their differences in free iron content. Also, it appears that P retention contributes to the control of P concentration in the water and therefore the sediments serve as a buffer in controlling P eutrophication in the estuary.