Interaction of an antecedent fluvial system with early normal fault growth: Implications for syn‐rift stratigraphy,western Corinth rift (Greece)

Continental ‘overfilled’ conditions during rift initiation are conventionally explained as due to low creation of accommodation compared with sediment supply. Alternatively, sediment supply can be relatively high from the onset of rifting due to an antecedent drainage system. The alluvial Lower Group of the western Plio–Pleistocene Corinth rift is used to investigate the interaction of fluvial sedimentation with early rifting. This rift was obliquely superimposed on the Hellenide mountain belt from which it inherited a significant palaeorelief. Detailed sedimentary logging and mapping of the well‐exposed syn‐rift succession document the facies distributions, palaeocurrents and stratigraphic architecture. Magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy are used to date and correlate the alluvial succession across and between fault blocks. From 3·2 to 1·8 Ma, a transverse low sinuosity braided river system flowed north/north‐east to east across east–west‐striking active fault blocks (4 to 7 km in width). Deposits evolved downstream from coarse alluvial conglomerates to fine‐grained lacustrine deposits over 15 to 30 km. The length scale of facies belts is much greater than, and thus not directly controlled by, the width of the fault blocks. At its termination, the distributive river system built small, stacked deltas into a shallow lake margin. The presence of a major antecedent drainage system is supported by: (i) a single major sediment entry point; (ii) persistence of a main channel belt axis; (iii) downstream fining at the scale of the rift basin. The zones of maximum subsidence on individual faults are aligned with the persistent fluvial axis, suggesting that sediment supply influenced normal fault growth. Instead of low accommodation rate during the early rift phase, this study proposes that facies progradation can be controlled by continuous and high sediment supply from antecedent rivers.     

Use of hierarchical cluster analysis to assess the representativeness of a baseline groundwater quality monitoring network: comparison of New Zealand’s national and regional groundwater monitoring programs

Baseline monitoring of groundwater quality aims to characterize the ambient condition of the resource and identify spatial or temporal trends. Sites comprising any baseline monitoring network must be selected to provide a representative perspective of groundwater quality across the aquifer(s) of interest. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) has been used as a means of assessing the representativeness of a groundwater quality monitoring network, using example datasets from New Zealand. HCA allows New Zealand??s national and regional monitoring networks to be compared in terms of the number of water-quality categories identified in each network, the hydrochemistry at the centroids of these water-quality categories, the proportions of monitoring sites assigned to each water-quality category, and the range of concentrations for each analyte within each water-quality category. Through the HCA approach, the National Groundwater Monitoring Programme (117 sites) is shown to provide a highly representative perspective of groundwater quality across New Zealand, relative to the amalgamated regional monitoring networks operated by 15 different regional authorities (680 sites have sufficient data for inclusion in HCA). This methodology can be applied to evaluate the representativeness of any subset of monitoring sites taken from a larger network.     

Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carcinus maenas</Emphasis> on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats

Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In the Dutch Wadden Sea, these bivalves might face substantial predation pressure by the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), which increased considerably in numbers during the last 20 years. However, the quantification of this species on bivalve beds is challenging, since most methods common for quantifying animal abundance in marine habitats cannot be used. This study investigated the potential of two methods to quantify the abundance of C. maenas on 14 epibenthic bivalve beds across the Dutch Wadden Sea. The use of the number of crabs migrating from subtidal towards intertidal areas as a proxy of abundance on bivalve beds yielded unreliable results. In contrast, crabs caught with traps on the beds were correlated with the abundance assessed on the surrounding bare flats by beam trawl and therefore provided usable results. The estimates, however, were only reliable for crabs exceeding 35 mm in carapace width (CW). The application of these estimates indicated that crab abundances on bivalve beds were influenced by the biogenic structure. Beds dominated by oysters attracted many large crabs (> 50-mm CW), whereas abundances of medium-sized crabs (35–50-mm CW) showed no relationship to the oyster occurrence. The combination of traps and trawls is capable of quantifying crab abundance on bivalve beds, which offers the possibility to study biotic processes such as predator-prey interactions in these complex structures in more detail.     

Chemical fractionation of zinc versus cadmium among other metals nickel, copper and lead in the northern North Sea

Concentrations of dissolved Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb were measured in water samples collected during a cruise with R.V Pelagia (29-6/14-7-1993) in the northern North Sea and N.E. Atlantic Ocean. At least six depths (0–90 m) were sampled with modified Go-Flo samplers from a rubber zodiac. In the study area, the first 25 m were well mixed and stratification occurred below this depth. The local bloom of Emiliania huxleyi hardly affected the trace metals concentration, except for some removal of Cd as seen from its correlation with nitrate. The mean dissolved concentrations were for Ni (3.66 nM), Cu (1.61 nM), Zn (4.5 nM), Cd (48 pM) and Pb (108 pM). These concentrations are among the lowest reported for the North Sea and are of similar magnitude to those found in the eastern North Atlantic at the same latitude. Zn was the only exception with values 10 times higher compared to those in the Atlantic Ocean, suggesting external inputs, mainly atmospheric and possibly from surrounding land masses. The observed ratio Zn:Cd in the North Sea and estuaries is in between the high ratio 600–900 for continental sources and the low ratio 5–10 for oceanic waters. Latter low ratio is consistent with the 21-fold stronger inorganic complexation of Cd in seawater which, in combination with the preferential biological uptake of Zn, may lead to the observed about hundredfold fractionation of Zn versus Cd in the marine system. Other processes may play a role but would need further investigation. The dissolved Pb values tend to be lower than found before in the North Sea, indicating decreasing inventories due to reduced anthropogenic emissions.     

Land use,soil erosion,and sediment yield at Pinto Lake,California: comparison of a simplified USLE model with the lake sediment record

Quantitative interpretation of past land use using palaeolimnological records of sediment yield requires an appropriate soil erosion model. This paper describes the application of a simplified USLE model, comparing the predicted sediment yield with the lake sediment record at Pinto Lake (Central Coast, California). Our principal finding is that simplified USLE prediction, without correction for sediment transport capacity, accurately predicts fine sediment yield. Because the fine component of the soil is delivered far more efficiently than the coarse component, this and related soil erosion models can more readily be applied to the interpretation of palaeolimnological records than to estimation of total sediment yield, for which reliable estimation of hillslope and fluvial sediment storage are more important. The focus on fine sediment also means that the model output is optimal for assessing past ecological impacts of soil erosion on stream water turbidity and particulate transport of pollutants and nutrients.     

Unforeseen importance of historical collections as baselines to determine biotic change of coral reefs: the Saba Bank case

Botanical and zoological collections may serve as archives for historical ecological research on the effects of global change and human impact on coral reef biota. Museum collections may harbour old specimens of reef‐dwelling species that have become locally extinct. Such collections also help to determine whether early records of invasive species can be obtained from times when they were not yet recognized as such. A case study (2006) involving Saba Bank, Caribbean Netherlands (former Netherlands Antilles), suggests that the coral reef fauna here may have become impoverished when compared with data obtained during an earlier expedition in 1972. However, the 1972 sampling may have been incomplete, as it was performed by professional divers who were not trained taxonomists, whereas the collecting in 2006 was done by experienced marine biologists who knew the taxa they were sampling. As Saba Bank has been under stress due to the anchoring of large vessels, and invasive species have been a potential threat as well, future studies are needed to obtain more insights into the changing reef biota of Saba Bank. Using this Saba Bank example, we want to address the importance of natural history collections as reservoirs of valuable data relevant to coral reef biodiversity studies in a time of global change. As such, these collections are still underexplored and underexploited.     

Bacterial abundance and production in different water masses around South Island,New Zealand

Abstract

Bacterial numbers and production were measured in the upper water column in the winter and spring of 1993 in five water masses surrounding the South Island of New Zealand. Average bacterial numbers and production were found to be higher in spring (8.5 × 10⁵ cells ml^?1 and 0.20 mg m³ h^?1, respectively) than winter (5.5 × 10⁵ cells ml^?1 and 0.05 mg C m³ h^?1 respectively). Bacterial production was strongly correlated with chlorophyll a and primary production (P < 0.001) in spring but not in winter. Spring bacterial production and at 10 m depth averaged across 28 stations was 23% of primary production, and with a growth efficency of 40%, may have consumed up to 57% of primary production. Bacterial biomass was greater than phytoplankton biomass for 75% of the 10 m depth comparisons during winter sampling and 44% during the spring sampling. The bacterial biomass was found to represent 24.6–33.5% of the nitrogen in particulate organic matter (<200 μm) supporting the concept that in New Zealand oceanic water masses bacteria are of significant biogeochemical importance.