The role of bioindicators in estuarine management

Estuarine organisms can be considered three ways as bioindicators—first, as indicators of a defined set of environmental conditions, second, as indicators of contaminant loads on the system, and third, as indicators of the overall health of the system. By their very nature, estuarine organisms are eurytolerant and this, along with the various stratagems that have evolved to cope with the problems of life in estuaries results in a confusing picture for the estuarine manager. The recommended bioindicators for estuarine conditions are plankton; for contaminant loads, a range of species with different feeding types; and for system status, a eurytolerant species, such as the musselMytilus edulis for laboratory monitoring or a “target” species such as the clamMacoma balthica for field monitoring. However, it would be unwise to rely on a single indicator, and the recommendation is that the final choice, and preferably choices, be tailored to the desired goal.     

SLOPE EVOLUTION ON ABANDONED SPOIL BANKS IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

Unreclaimed strip mine dumps near Henryetta, Oklahoma were employed as a natural laboratory for the study of slope evolution. These dumps were created by similar technologies and from similar materials but at different times. Modern, 30-year-old and 60-year-old slopes were compared through morphometric analysis and by the direct measurement of current rates of denudation. Slope evolution may be generalized as slope decline. This was effected through reduction of the slope crest, burial of the slope foot, and extension of the upper convexity and lower concavity at the expense of the rectilinear main slope of the original mine dump. There was a progressive reduction in rates of surface erosion, and the balance between weathering and suffosion became skewed towards the latter on the oldest dumps.     

Ghost fishing in European waters: Impacts and management responses

In this paper we review levels of net loss, what happens to the gear once it has been lost, and the resulting levels of ‘ghost catches’ made in passive net fisheries in the EU. We also consider ghost catches resulting from lost gear in other types of fisheries, and the extent to which the value of ghost catches has been quantified. We consider why fishing gear is lost, and profile common management responses. We present a cost benefit model to assess the relative cost effectiveness of different management measures, and suggest that gear retrieval programmes may provide less value for money than other management responses.     

Bodily tides near the 1:1 spin-orbit resonance: correction to Goldreich’s dynamical model

Spin-orbit coupling is often described in an approach known as ??the MacDonald torque??, which has long become the textbook standard due to its apparent simplicity. Within this method, a concise expression for the additional tidal potential, derived by MacDonald (Rev Geophys 2:467?C541, 1994), is combined with a convenient assumption that the quality factor Q is frequency-independent (or, equivalently, that the geometric lag angle is constant in time). This makes the treatment unphysical because MacDonald??s derivation of the said formula was, very implicitly, based on keeping the time lag frequency-independent, which is equivalent to setting Q scale as the inverse tidal frequency. This contradiction requires the entire MacDonald treatment of both non-resonant and resonant rotation to be rewritten. The non-resonant case was reconsidered by Efroimsky and Williams (Cel Mech Dyn Astron 104:257?C289, 2009), in application to spin modes distant from the major commensurabilities. In the current paper, we continue this work by introducing the necessary alterations into the MacDonald-torque-based model of falling into a 1-to-1 resonance. (The original version of this model was offered by Goldreich (Astron J 71:1?C7, 1996). Although the MacDonald torque, both in its original formulation and in its corrected version, is incompatible with realistic rheologies of minerals and mantles, it remains a useful toy model, which enables one to obtain, in some situations, qualitatively meaningful results without resorting to the more rigorous (and complicated) theory of Darwin and Kaula. We first address this simplified model in application to an oblate primary body, with tides raised on it by an orbiting zero-inclination secondary. (Here the role of the tidally-perturbed primary can be played by a satellite, the perturbing secondary being its host planet. A planet may as well be the perturbed primary, its host star acting as the tide-raising secondary). We then extend the model to a triaxial primary body experiencing both a tidal and a permanent-figure torque exerted by an orbiting secondary. We consider the effect of the triaxiality on both circulating and librating rotation near the synchronous state. Circulating rotation may evolve toward the libration region or toward a spin faster than synchronous (the so-called pseudosynchronous spin). Which behaviour depends on the orbit eccentricity, the triaxial figure of the primary, and the mass ratio of the secondary and primary bodies. The spin evolution will always stall for the oblate case. For libration with a small amplitude, expressions are derived for the libration frequency, damping rate, and average orientation. Importantly, the stability of pseudosynchronous spin hinges upon the dissipation model. Makarove and Efroimsky (Astrophys J, 2012) have found that a more realistic tidal dissipation model than the corrected MacDonald torque makes pseudosynchronous spin unstable. Besides, for a sufficiently large triaxiality, pseudosynchronism is impossible, no matter what dissipation model is used.     

宝石级钻石鉴定的回顾

概括地评述了天然钻石、实验室处理的钻石、人造钻石以及钻石仿制品的宝石学鉴定特征。     

Association Between <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Fusarium</Emphasis> spp. on <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> and Dieback Sites in Connecticut and Massachusetts

Sudden vegetation dieback (SVD) is defined as the loss and lack of recovery of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in salt marshes. A new species of a moderately pathogenic fungus called Fusarium palustre is consistently found in SVD sites, but greenhouse tests revealed that it is not capable of causing mortality of healthy plants. Similarly, root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spartinae) are also found in SVD sites, but their incidence in marshes affected by SVD is not known. To understand more about the ecology of F. palustre and M. spartinae, salt marshes along Connecticut’s Long Island Sound and Massachusetts’ Cape Cod that exhibited SVD and those that did not, were visited during the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009. Belowground and aboveground tissues of smooth cordgrass plants from 18 marshes were removed, washed, and assayed for Fusarium spp. to determine if patterns between the incidence of the different species of Fusarium, their virulence on S. alterniflora, root-knot nematodes (M. spartinae), and the health of the marsh could be revealed. There were significantly more colonies of Fusarium growing from plants in SVD sites (6.1%) than in healthy marshes where no SVD was present (<1.0%). The incidence of Fusarium spp. from plants at the perimeter of the SVD site was not statistically different from asymptomatic plants 10–20 m from the SVD edge. The majority of isolates could be assigned to one of two species, F. palustre or another slightly pathogenic group called Fusarium cf. incarnatum (88% in 2007, 62% in 2008, and 96% in 2009). The ratio of F. palustre to F. cf. incarnatum was 6.7, 2.7, or 2.1 for 2007, 2008, or 2009, respectively. Greenhouse tests on healthy S. alterniflora revealed that isolates of F. palustre were more virulent than F. cf. incarnatum, regardless of whether they were recovered from plants in healthy marshes or in SVD sites. Root-knot nematodes were found sporadically and could not be associated with SVD. Factorial greenhouse experiments did not demonstrate any interaction between F. palustre and M. spartinae providing no experimental evidence that combining Fusarium and root-knot nematodes could cause mortality. The presence of Fusarium on S. alterniflora in healthy marshes also suggests an endophytic relationship that may subsequently function in the breakdown of tissue when plants are compromised.     

Evolution of a Carboniferous carbonate-hosted sphalerite breccia deposit,Isle of Man

A newly discovered, extensive sphalerite-bearing breccia (~7.5 wt.% Zn) is hosted in dolomitised Carboniferous limestones overlying Ordovician–Silurian metasedimentary rocks on the Isle of Man. Although base metal sulphide deposits have been mined historically on the island, they are nearly all quartz vein deposits in the metamorphic basement. This study investigates the origin of the unusual sphalerite breccia and its relationship to basement-hosted deposits, through a combination of petrographic, cathodoluminescence, fluid inclusion, stable isotope and hydrogeologic modelling techniques. Breccia mineralisation comprises four stages, marked by episodes of structural deformation and abrupt changes in fluid temperature and chemistry. In stage I, high-temperature (T _h > 300°C), high-salinity (20–45 wt.% equiv. NaCl) fluid of likely basement origin deposited a discontinuous quartz vein. This vein was subsequently dismembered during a major brecciation event. Stages II–IV are dominated by open-space filling sphalerite, quartz and dolomite, respectively. Fluid inclusions in these minerals record temperatures of ~105–180°C and salinities of ~15–20 wt.% equiv. NaCl. The δ³⁴S values of sphalerite (6.5–6.9‰ Vienna-Canyon Diablo troilite) are nearly identical to those of ore sulphides from mines in the Lower Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks. The δ¹⁸O values for quartz and dolomite indicate two main fluid sources in the breccia’s hydrothermal system, local Carboniferous-hosted brines (~0.5–6.0‰ Vienna standard mean ocean water) and basement-involved fluids (~5.5–11.5‰). Ore sulphide deposition in the breccia is compatible with the introduction and cooling of a hot, basement-derived fluid that interacted with local sedimentary brines.