Application of a vanishing, quasi-sigma, vertical coordinate for simulation of high-speed, deep currents over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico

Recent observations over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico have revealed extremely energetic deep currents (near 1 m s⁻¹), which are trapped along the escarpment. Both scientific interest and engineering needs demand dynamical understanding of these extreme events, and can benefit from a numerical model designed to complement observational and theoretical investigations in this region of complicated topography. The primary objective of this study is to develop a modeling methodology capable of simulating these physical processes and apply the model to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. The very steep slope of the Sigsbee Escarpment (0.05–0.1) limits the application of ocean models with traditional terrain-following (sigma) vertical coordinates, which may represent the very complicated topography in the region adequately, can result in large truncation errors during calculation of the horizontal pressure gradient. A new vertical coordinate system, termed a vanishing quasi-sigma coordinate, is implemented in the Navy Coastal Ocean Model for application to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. Vertical coordinate surfaces for this grid have noticeably gentler slopes than a traditional sigma grid, while still following the terrain near the ocean bottom. The new vertical grid is tested with a suite of numerical experiments and compared to a classical sigma-layer model. The numerical error is substantially reduced in the model with the new vertical grid. A one-year, realistic, numerical simulation is performed to simulate strong, deep currents over the Escarpment using a very-high-resolution nested modeling approach. The model results are analyzed to demonstrate that the deep-ocean currents in the simulation replicate the prominent dynamical features of the observed intense currents in the region.     

Benthic macrofauna and productivity regimes in the Barents Sea — Ecological implications in a changing Arctic

Benthic faunal assemblages were analysed from 47 stations in the central and southern parts of the Barents Sea, together with sedimentary and water column parameters, daily ice records and modelled integrated primary productivity. Sampling spanned areas influenced by Atlantic Water (AW) to those lying under Arctic Water (ArW), and included stations with mixed water masses. Ice cover suppressed water column productivity in the northern areas. Three main faunal groups were identified, based on similarity of numerical faunal composition. The northern and southern faunal groups were separated by the northernmost penetration of AW in the bottom water and the third group, the Hopen group, was influenced by modified bank water. Faunal abundances were significantly higher within the southern faunal group relative to the northern group, but the numbers of taxa present were similar. The particularly rich fauna of the Hopen group reflected sediment heterogeneity and tight pelagic–benthic coupling. These results suggest that a retreat and thinning of the ice cover in the Barents Sea likely will result in the northern parts of the Barents Sea becoming more Atlantic in character, with a higher productivity at the sea floor.     

Salt tectonics in the Cap Boujdour Area,Aaiun Basin,NW Africa

Seismic reflection data indicate the Moroccan salt basin extends to the Cap Boujdour area in the Aaiun Basin. Two salt diapir structures have been identified and several areas of collapsed strata indicate probable salt removal at the shelf edge. The presence of salt in this area correlates to the conjugate southern George's Bank Basin and the Baltimore Canyon area, and it is suggested that the salt extends southward from the known salt diapir province in the George's Bank Basin southward to the Great Stone Dome. The paucity of salt diapirs is attributed to the thick carbonate and anhydrite sequence, which was deposited soon after salt deposition that inhibited halokinesis. The presence of salt along this large segment of the Atlantic margin should increase its hydrocarbon potential with traps created around salt diapirs and provision of migration pathways from deep potential source rocks in the early Cretaceous and Jurassic strata to shallower levels.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

Image‐warping waveform tomography

Imaging the change in physical parameters in the subsurface requires an estimate of the long wavelength components of the same parameters in order to reconstruct the kinematics of the waves propagating in the subsurface. One can reconstruct the model by matching the recorded data with modeled waveforms extrapolated in a trial model of the medium. Alternatively, assuming a trial model, one can obtain a set of images of the reflectors from a number of seismic experiments and match the locations of the imaged interfaces. Apparent displacements between migrated images contain information about the velocity model and can be used for velocity analysis. A number of methods are available to characterize the displacement between images; in this paper, we compare shot‐domain differential semblance (image difference), penalized local correlations, and image‐warping. We show that the image‐warping vector field is a more reliable tool for estimating displacements between migrated images and leads to a more robust velocity analysis procedure. By using image‐warping, we can redefine the differential semblance optimization problem with an objective function that is more robust against cycle‐skipping than the direct image difference. We propose an approach that has straightforward implementation and reduced computational cost compared with the conventional adjoint‐state method calculations. We also discuss the weakness of migration velocity analysis in the migrated‐shot domain in the case of highly refractive media, when the Born modelling operator is far from being unitary and thus its adjoint (migration) operator poorly approximates the inverse.     

Age verification,growth and life history of rubyfish Plagiogeneion rubiginosum

Age verification of rubyfish (Plagiogeneion rubiginosum) was sought using the bomb radiocarbon chronometer procedure. Stable isotopes were investigated for life history characteristics. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) and stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) levels were measured in micro-samples from five otoliths that had been aged using a zone count method. All the core ¹⁴C measurements were ‘pre-bomb’ indicating ages of at least 45 years, and the ¹⁴C measurements across the otolith sections suggested that the zone-count ageing method described herein is not biased. Maximum estimated age was 100 years. There was no significant between-sex difference in the von Bertalanffy growth curves. The δ¹⁸O values indicated that rubyfish are near-surface as juveniles, and move deeper with age. Adults appear to reside in 600–1000 m; this is deeper than most trawl-capture data suggest, but not implausible, and has stock assessment implications. The δ¹³C values reflect fish metabolic rates, trophic feeding levels and oceanographic conditions. The stable isotopes record the environmental life history of each fish, and have value in distinguishing stocks and/or indicating vertical and latitudinal migratory patterns.     

Travel times for snowmelt-dominated headwater catchments: Influences of wetlands and forest harvesting,and linkages to stream water quality

The time it takes water to travel through a catchment, from when it enters as rain and snow to when it leaves as streamflow, may influence stream water quality and catchment sensitivity to environmental change. Most studies that estimate travel times do so for only a few, often rain-dominated, catchments in a region and use relatively short data records (<10 years). A better understanding of how catchment travel times vary across a landscape may help diagnose inter-catchment differences in water quality and response to environmental change. We used comprehensive and long-term observations from the Turkey Lakes Watershed Study in central Ontario to estimate water travel times for 12 snowmelt-dominated headwater catchments, three of which were impacted by forest harvesting. Chloride, a commonly used water tracer, was measured in streams, rain, snowfall and as dry atmospheric deposition over a 31 year period. These data were used with a lumped convolution integral approach to estimate mean water travel times. We explored relationships between travel times and catchment characteristics such as catchment area, slope angle, flowpath length, runoff ratio and wetland coverage, as well as the impact of harvesting. Travel time estimates were then used to compare differences in stream water quality between catchments. Our results show that mean travel times can be variable for small geographic areas and are related to catchment characteristics, in particular flowpath length and wetland cover. In addition, forest harvesting appeared to decrease mean travel times. Estimated mean travel times had complex relationships with water quality patterns. Results suggest that biogeochemical processes, particularly those present in wetlands, may have a greater influence on water quality than catchment travel times.     

Natural expansion and experimental manipulation of seagrass (Zostera spp.) abundance and the response of infaunal invertebrates

A study of an expanding seagrass bed on the south-west coast of British Columbia, Canada involved documentation and explanation of the pattern of expansion of the vegetation as well as documentation and experimental investigation of the accompanying changes in the distribution of infaunal invertebrates. Expansion followed a major environmental change, improved water clarity initiated in 1969 when a causeway blocked access to the site for silty Fraser River water. The original eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed expanded landward over 30 m year⁻¹, probably causing more and more water to be retained in the bed at low tide and thus improving its own habitat. More rapid expansion occurred from 1979–1983 after Z.japonica colonized at the landward edge of the eelgrass bed and in a separate intertidal area. Expansion ceased around 1983 coincident with, but probably independent of, further construction.Burrowing shrimp (Callianassa californiensis) decreased in abundance between 1977 and 1984 in areas where the two seagrasses colonized. Short-term experiment over one summer and fall showed that removal of all shoots allowed adult shrimp and tube worms to colonize the sediment while addition of shoots of Z. japonica by transplanting caused temporary decreases in shrimp abundance. After a few weeks an established shrimp population destroyed the transplants. Among reasonable alternate hypotheses for the decline in Callianassa, the effect of sediment texture can be eliminated, but either direct negative effects of seagrass, i.e. inhibition of the burrowing of adult shrimp or of settlement of juveniles, or indirect effects, i.e. the harboring of more predators of shrimp in seagrass beds, deserve further study.     

What about reservoirs? Questioning anthropogenic and climatic interferences on water availability

Water resources in semi-arid regions like the Mediterranean Basin are highly vulnerable because of the high variability of weather systems. Additionally, climate change is altering the timing and pattern of water availability in a region where growing populations are placing extra demands on water supplies. Importantly, how reservoirs and dams have an influence on the amount of water resources available is poorly quantified. Therefore, we examine the impact of reservoirs on water resources together with the impact of climate change in a semi-arid Mediterranean catchment. We simulated the Susurluk basin (23.779-km²) using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. We generate results for with (RSV) and without reservoirs (WRSV) scenarios. We run simulations for current and future conditions using dynamically downscaled outputs of the MPI-ESM-MR general circulation model under two greenhouse gas relative concentration pathways (RCPs) in order to reveal the coupled effect of reservoir and climate impacts. Water resources were then converted to their usages – blue water (water in aquifers and rivers), green water storage (water in the soil) and green water flow (water losses by evaporation and transpiration). The results demonstrate that all water resources except green water flow are projected to decrease under all RCPs compared to the reference period, both long-term and at seasonal scales. However, while water scarcity is expected in the future, reservoir storage is shown to be adequate to overcome this problem. Nevertheless, reservoirs reduce the availability of water, particularly in soil moisture stores, which increases the potential for drought by reducing streamflow. Furthermore, reservoirs cause water losses through evaporation from their open surfaces. We conclude that pressures to protect society from economic damage by building reservoirs have a strong impact on the fluxes of watersheds. This is additional to the effect of climate change on water resources.