Short period internal waves over the Huanghe (Yellow River) delta front

Internal waves with periods of about 5 minutes and trough to crest heights of up to 6.2 m were observed acoustically over the actively accreting delta front of the Huanghe (Yellow River) in the western portion of the Gulf of Bohai, Peoples Republic of China. The radian frequency of the internal waves was close to the locally-observed Brunt-Vaisala frequency. Through the relatively short (one hour) duration of an internal wave train, the amplitude was observed to decrease progressively with time. These internal waves may cause resuspension of delta-front sediments.     

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.     

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.     

Variations in age-0 pollock distribution among eastern Bering Sea nursery areas: A comparative study through acoustic indices

Cohort abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is subject to strong interannual variation in the eastern Bering Sea, and this variation is known to be determined largely at the age-0 stage. We estimated the spatial distributions and densities of age-0 walleye pollock in five nursery areas around the eastern Bering shelf in three successive years (1997–1999) from acoustic survey data. Concurrently, we calculated estimates of the spatial distribution of euphausiids, a major prey of age-0 walleye pollock, and estimates of spatial overlap of groundfish predators with the age-0 walleye pollock. The analyses showed that all nursery areas had low densities of age-0 walleye pollock in 1997, which ultimately produced the weakest adult year-class. In the intermediate year of 1998, age-0 densities were low to medium, and in 1999, which produced the strongest of the three adult year-classes, all nursery areas had medium to high age-0 walleye pollock densities. Euphausiid distributions had a consistently positive spatial relationship with age-0 walleye pollock. Groundfish predator density ratios were positively related to age-0 walleye pollock density when age-0 walleye pollock were displaced relatively northward. Our results suggest that abundance of age-0 walleye pollock, and hence of adult cohorts in the eastern Bering Sea, can be predictable from a concise set of indicators: the densities of age-0 walleye pollock at nursery areas in mid- to late-summer, their spatial relationship to euphausiids and groundfish predators, and the latitudinal trend of their distributions. The 3 years 1997–1999 had significant differences of physical conditions in the eastern Bering Sea, and represent an advantageous framework for testing these hypotheses.