Interstitial water chemistry of Jamaican reef sediment: sulfate reduction and submarine cementation

Chemical and isotopic analyses of pore waters from Jamaican reef sediment suggest the importance of microbial sulfate reduction as a major control upon the origin, distribution, and composition of submarine cements in this fringing reef setting. Fore-reef sediment pore waters exhibit active sulfate reduction and enrichment in ¹⁸O which is consistent with associated active magnesian calcite cementation, alkalinity consumption, and cement enrichment in ¹⁸O. Conversely, lack of widespread submarine cementation in the back-reef corresponds to the diminished resupply of sulfate coupled with input of CO₂-charged meteoric water from a nearby unconfined aquifer into the more stagnant pore waters which lower pore-water magnesian calcite saturation states and preclude active submarine cementation.     

Nepheloid layers and internal waves over continental shelves and slopes

Theoretical and laboratory results indicate that bottom velocities within shoaling internal gravity waves intensify upslope approximately inversely proportional to the water depth. The elevated velocities (and bottom stresses) caused by shoaling and, possibly, breaking internal waves might explain the generation and maintenance of near-bottom nepheloid zones and attached turbid plumes that have been observed over certain continental shelves and slopes. This process is proposed as an explanation of zones of relatively low transmissibility that emanate from the upper continental slope near Newport submarine canyon off southern California.     

Voltammetric estimation of iron(III) thermodynamic stability constants for catecholate siderophores isolated from marine bacteria and cyanobacteria

Thermodynamic stability constants have been estimated for the complexation of iron(III) with catecholate-type siderophores isolated from the marine bacterium Alteromonas luteoviolacea and from the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. Stability constants were determined utilizing the “chelate scale” of Taylor et al. (1994). The scale is based upon a linear relationship between the reduction potentials and the pH-independent thermodynamic stability constants for known iron(III) complexes. Log K values for the alterobactin B ferric iron complex are 43.6 ± 1.5 at pH 8.2 and 37.6 ± 1.2 at pH 6, consistent with a shift from bis-catecholate to monosalicylate/monocatecholate iron coordination with decreasing pH. Synechococcus isolates PCC 7002 Nos. 1 and 3 formed iron(III) complexes with stability constants of approximately 38.1 ± 1.2 and 42.3 ± 1.5, respectively. The binding strengths of the iron(III) complexes examined in this study are quite high, suggesting that catecholate siderophores may play a role in the solubilization and biological uptake of iron in the marine environment.     

Differential model of the hydrophysical fields' vertical structure in a stratified tidal flow over a shelf

This paper studies the influence of shelf tidal flows on the structure of surface and near-bottom turbulent boundary layers.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Recent and Late Holocene environments on the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea as inferred from microfossil data

The study of diatoms and benthic foraminifers from the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea shows that their most diverse and abundant recent assemblages populate the peripheral underwater part of the Lena River delta representing the marginal filter of the sea. This area is characterized by an intense interaction between the fresh waters of the Siberian rivers and the basin seawater, the Atlantic one included. Local Late Holocene (～last 2300 years) environments reflect the main regional and global paleoclimatic changes, the Medieval Warm Period (～600–1100 years B.P.) and the Little Ice Age (～100–600 years B.P.) inclusive. In addition, the composition and distribution of planktonic foraminifers implies a strong influence of the Atlantic water during the Holocene optimum ～5100–6200 years B.P.