The Effect of Copper on the Settlement Success of Larvae from the Scleractinian Coral Acropora tenuis

This study examined the effect of copper on the settlement success of planula larvae of the reef-building coral Acropora tenuis during 1994 and 1996 at Magnetic Island, Great Barrier Reef. Copper concentrations of 2, 10, 20 μg l⁻¹ did not inhibit larval settlement after 48-h exposure. However, copper concentrations of 42 μg l⁻¹ and 81 μg l⁻¹ significantly reduced settlement success of A. tenuis larvae after 48-h exposure compared with controls using normal seawater. At 200 μg l⁻¹ copper, all larvae died. EC₅₀ values for the effect of copper on A. tenuis larval settlement were calculated from the 1996 results using measured copper concentrations. The 48-h EC₅₀ was 35 μg l⁻¹ with an upper and lower 95% confidence limit of 37 μg l⁻¹ and 32 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The 48-h NOEC value for both experiments was 20 μg l⁻¹ copper. These experiments provide some of the first data on sub-lethal effects of trace metals on tropical marine organisms, and demonstrate that relatively low copper concentrations impair or inhibit settlement of coral larvae.     

A facies of Kophobelemnon (Cnidaria,Octocorallia) from Santa Maria di Leuca coral province (Mediterranean Sea)

During a research cruise carried out in April 2010, aimed at updating the knowledge on the biodiversity of the Santa Maria di Leuca (SML) cold‐water coral province (Mediterranean Sea), a facies of the sea pen Kophobelemnon stelliferum (Muller, 1776) was found on mud‐dominated bottoms. This finding represents a new species and a new habitat record from the SML coral province as well as a new bathyal facies in the whole Central Mediterranean Sea. The colonies were collected using an epi‐benthic sledge, at depths between 400 and 470 m. A significant positive relationship between polyp number and colony length was detected. Density of the colonies ranged from 0.003 to 0.038 N·m^?2. Differences and affinities between Mediterranean and Atlantic occurrences of K. stelliferum are discussed.     

New geological and paleontological data on Alba Guyot (Magellan Seamounts, Pacific Ocean)

New materials obtained in the Pacific during cruises of the R/V Gelendzhik carried out by the State Scientific Center Yuzhmorgeologiya in 2000–2001 make it possible to specify the geologic and geomorphologic structure of Alba Guyot and clarify lithological and paleontological characteristics of lithotectonic rock complexes ranging from the Early Cretaceous to Pleistocene in age. Based on macro-and microfossils from sedimentary rocks several “transgressive” phases are distinguished in the guyot development: Cenomanian-Turonian, late Campanian-Maastrichtian, late Paleocene-middle Eocene, and Late Cenozoic. Finds of Paleogene molluscan and coral remains, together with planktonic foraminifers, imply relatively shallow sedimentation settings on Alba Guyot during the early Paleocene.     

Deep-sea corals evidence periodic reduced ventilation in the North Atlantic during the LGM/Holocene transition

Nine new intermediate water ages estimated with coupled uranium-series and radiocarbon measurements on deep-sea corals from the northeastern Atlantic are presented. Together with six intermediate and deep-water ages from the western North Atlantic [Adkins et al., Science 280 (1998) 725-728] and one from the equatorial Atlantic [Mangini et al., Nature 392 (1998) 347-348] they span the time period from 15?400 to 560 yr ago and show abrupt variations of intermediate and deep-water ages from 270 up to 2320 yr. Both major pulses of meltwater discharge MWP 1A, following Heinrich Event 1 and MWP 1B after the Younger Dryas cold event are followed by enhanced supply of southern source water at intermediate depths in the North Atlantic, together with reduced formation of well-ventilated glacial North Atlantic intermediate water (1000-2000 m). This result gives strong support to numerical models, predicting fast and sharp increase of bottom water age in the Atlantic triggered by pulses of freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic [Rahmstorf, Nature 372 (1994) 82-85; Stocker and Wright, Radiocarbon 40 (1998) 359-366].     

Stratigraphie et sédimentologie des « calcaires à Productus » du Carbonifère inférieur de la Montagne noire (Massif central,France)Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Lower Carboniferous ‘Calcaires à Productus’ of the Montagne Noire (Massif Central,France)

The ‘Calcaires à Productus’ of the Montagne Noire are microbial build-ups. Two formations are defined and dated respectively as Uppermost Visean (Upper Warnantian–Brigantian) and Serpukhovian on the basis on corals. That makes these limestones out to be younger than previously stated (Lower and base of Upper Warnantian–Asbian and base of Brigantian) and indicates that the development of the olistoliths and thrusts including them, due to the Variscan orogeny, was at least as young as the Upper Serpukhovian. The Serpukhovian limestones of the Montagne Noire are correlated with the Lanet Limestone (Mouthoumet Massif, Corbières) and Ardengost Limestone (central Pyrenees). To cite this article: É. Poty et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 843–848.     

Stable isotope variations in a coral (Favia speciosa) from the Gulf of Kutch during 1948–1989 A.D.: Environmental implications

The stable isotopic analyses (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) of a coralFavia speciosa spanning forty two years (1948–89 A.D.), collected from the Pirotan island (22.6°N, 70°E) in the Gulf of Kutch have been carried out to assess its potential for retrieving past environmental changes in this region. It is seen that the summer (minima) δ¹⁸O variations in the coral CaCO₃ are negatively correlated with seasonal (summer) monsoon rainfall in the adjoining region of Kutch and Saurashtra and a qualitative reconstruction of historical rainfall variations in this region can be obtained by analyzing the δ¹⁸O in this species of coral. The observed mean seasonal range of δ¹⁸O variations is 0.34 ±0.17‰ (n = 42), whereas the expected range calculated (from available SST and measured δ¹⁸O of sea water) is ∼ 1.1 ±0.15‰ The difference is due to the coarse resolution of sampling, which can be corrected. The seasonal range in δ¹³C is ∼ l‰ and is explained by changes in: a) the light intensity related to the cloudiness during monsoons and b) phytoplankton productivity.     

台湾北部近岸海域柳珊瑚体内金属累积的研究

自台湾北部和平岛沿岸海域及淡水河出海口海域，采得软木软柳珊瑚(ubergorgia suberosa)、扁刺柳珊瑚(Echinogorgia complexa)、网刺柳珊瑚(Echinogorgia reticulata)和1未定种柳珊瑚等4种柳珊瑚目样品。检测体内18种金属含量。其中以Ca、Zn、Cu、Al、Fe及Mn含量较高．体长较长的珊瑚。体内金属累积量则相对较高，尤其以Cu及Zn的趋势最为明确。经统计分析。显示4种珊瑚体内金属含量彼此间无群组相关性存在，呈现多变、无规则性的分布。本研究与大堡礁及委内瑞拉附近海域同一目珊瑚(Gorgonacea)中相同金属分析值进行比较结果Cd、Pb及Ni含量彼此差异不大，但Cu的含量则以台湾北部珊瑚体内较高。     

Current status of coral takeover by an encrusting excavating sponge in a Caribbean reef

On Caribbean reefs, the excavating sponge Cliona tenuis opportunistically colonized dead skeletons of the elkhorn coral Acropora palmata after its massive die‐off in the 1980s. Further C. tenuis population increase occurred by colonization of other coral species, causing coral tissue death through undermining of live tissue and lateral growth. To follow up on a previous (2001) characterization of the abundance and size structure of C. tenuis at Islas del Rosario (Colombia), these factors were again estimated in 2014, along with its substratum utilization. The fate of sponge individuals colonizing massive coral colonies marked in 2001–2004 was also followed. By 2014 C. tenuis was still disproportionally occupying dead A. palmata branches, but its abundance and density, and the cover of other benthic elements, had not significantly changed over the 13‐year period, suggesting that a stasis has been reached. Cliona tenuis was thus initially favored in the 1980s, but substratum monopolization did not occur. From 2001 to 2014, small individuals increased in number and very large ones decreased, suggesting not only that new recruitment is occurring, but also that larger sponges are shrinking or fragmenting. Marked sponges continued killing corals over the first few years, but over longer times they retreated or died, allowing corals to resume upward growth. However, it could not be ascertained whether the sponge retreat was age‐related or the result of some environmental effect. The apparent preference for recently dead clean coral by larvae of C. tenuis and its current dynamics of recruitment, growth, fragmentation and mortality have stabilized its space occupation at Islas del Rosario.     

Timing of the Last-Interglacial High Sea Level on the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean

Corals from the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean, occur mainly as small coralline algae–vermetid remnants found in cavities adhering to the rock surface, and they rarely attain more than 2 m²in area. Samples ofGoniastreaandPoritesfrom elevations between 1.7 and 6 m above present mean sea level were dated by TIMS²³⁸U–²³⁴U–²³⁰Th techniques. The ages from well-preserved corals lie between 131,000 and 122,000 yr B.P., in agreement with most other observations of the last-interglacial sea level. Field evidence and dating from high marine limestones from two sections at La Digue Island indicate a period of coral buildup until 131,000 yr B.P., followed by a drop in sea level between 131,000 and 122,000 yr B.P.