Environmental effects of the MV Rena shipwreck: cross-disciplinary investigations of oil and debris impacts on a coastal ecosystem

ABSTRACT

The 2011 wreck of the MV Rena off the northeast coast of New Zealand, and subsequent impacts, has been called New Zealand's worst ever maritime environmental disaster. It is certainly one of the world's most complex as it involved a pollutant combination of oil and dangerous goods debris in a dynamic oceanic environment adjacent to a pristine coastline. Heavy fuel oil, shipping containers loaded with cargo, and a wide range of wreck debris and contaminants were spread along hundreds of kilometres of coastline of the Bay of Plenty. Much of this landed on sandy beaches and rocky shores. Broken containers released often toxic substances, and the wreck itself slid down the pinnacle of the wreck site at Astrolabe Reef (Otaiti). The reef remains heavily contaminated, with substantial remnants of the ship and its cargo present, and chemical effects still evident in some species. Here we present the background and timeline of events that unfolded after the grounding. The following articles contain the results of the ensuing chemical, toxicological and ecological studies of contamination and environmental recovery. At the time of writing, numerous legacy issues remain.     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘奥陶纪生物礁基本特征、分布规律及成礁模式

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘奥陶纪发育有生物礁。本文通过对鄂尔多斯盆地西缘野外及钻井岩心生物礁调查及室内鉴定分析,认为在乌海桌子山地区、棋探1井地区、彭阳石节子沟等地发育了较为典型的生物礁,主要造礁生物为珊瑚、层孔虫和海绵。三处生物礁发育特征有差异,北段礁体生长发育2～3期,中段发育2期生长,南段生长发育可达4期;北端及南端生物礁造礁生物个体较大,生长的水体环境相对较浅,而中段生物礁造礁生物个体较小,生长的水体相对较深。这些典型生物礁的生长、发展和消亡呈现了不同的发育特征和时空分布规律,北段生物礁体发育层位早,中、南段发育层位晚,这种分布变化规律与华北板块在早古生代处于赤道附近发生了北漂右旋的旋转漂移规律有关。通过对不同地段生物礁基本特征分析,结合δ13C和δ18O同位素分析结果,认为盆地西缘生物礁成礁模式为中央古隆起西部陆缘海背景下的开阔台地边缘带点礁-滩体组合模式,分布较为局限,认为该地区生物礁死亡原因系海平面快速上升事件导致礁体被淹死所致,也进一步推测生物礁之上存在一次海平面快速上升事件。     

Algivory in hawksbill turtles: Eretmochelys imbricata food selection within a foraging area on the Northern Great Barrier Reef

This paper describes the food selection of hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, using reefs of the Far Northern Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (nGBR) during 2006 and 2007. A total of 467 gastric lavage and 71 buccal cavity ingesta items were collected from 120 individual E. imbricata, comprising adult female and immature turtles of both sexes. Nineteen E. imbricata that were captured in 2006 were recaptured and sampled again in 2007. Within the total pooled buccal and lavage sample (n = 538), the occurrence of food items was dominated (72.7%) by only three algal taxonomic divisions: Rhodophyta (red algae; 53.7%, n = 289); Chlorophyta (green algae; 11.0%, n = 59) and algae from the division of Phaeophyceae (brown algae; 8.0%, n = 43). The remaining total (buccal and lavage) ingesta sample comprised sponges (10.4%, n = 56), soft corals and a wide variety of possibly nutritionally important invertebrate species (12.6%, n = 68), and a small percentage (5.4%, n = 22) of inorganic material. Generally, E. imbricata were considered to be primarily a sponge‐feeding specialist and secondarily an omnivorous species; within coral reef habitats and in various parts of the world this is the case. However, this study has shown that E. imbricata found foraging on reefs of the nGBR are primarily algivorous and secondarily omnivorous. A feeding strategy that relies on a predominantly algal diet may infer important benefits to the species if the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification inhibit coral growth, while promoting algal density and distribution within the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.     

Coral bleaching indices and thresholds for the Florida Reef Tract, Bahamas, and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

It is well established that elevated sea temperatures cause widespread coral bleaching, yet confusion lingers as to what facet of extreme temperatures is most important. Utilizing long-term in situ datasets, we calculated nine thermal stress indices and tested their effectiveness at segregating bleaching years a posteriori for multiple reefs on the Florida Reef Tract. The indices examined represent three aspects of thermal stress: (1) short-term, acute temperature stress; (2) cumulative temperature stress; and (3) temperature variability. Maximum monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and the number of days >30.5 °C were the most significant; indicating that cumulative exposure to temperature extremes characterized bleaching years. Bleaching thresholds were warmer for Florida than the Bahamas and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands reflecting differences in seasonal maximum SST. Hind-casts showed that monthly mean SST above a local threshold explained all bleaching years in Florida, the Bahamas, and US Virgin Islands.     

石柱复向斜长兴组层序1高水位体系域礁滩分布预测

石柱复向斜上二叠统长兴组层序1高水位体系域中的礁和滩因处于复向斜内部而得以很好的保存。根据钻井证实的礁和滩所对应的地震反射特征,总结出礁和滩的地震相识别标志并进行对比。据此,在地震剖面上对礁滩进行识别,最终绘制出石柱复向斜长兴组层序1高水位体系域中礁滩的平面分布图,简要分析了礁和滩的平面分布特征及其控制因素。     

Pesticide and Herbicide Residues in Sediments and Seagrasses from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Queensland Coast

Pesticides and herbicides including organochlorine compounds have had extensive current and past application by Queensland's intensive coastal agriculture industry as well as for a wide range of domestic, public health and agricultural purposes in urban areas. The persistent nature of these types of compounds together with possible continued illegal use of banned organochlorine compounds raises the potential for continued long-term chronic exposure to plants and animals of the Great Barrier Reef. Sediment and seagrass samples were collected from 16 intertidal and 25 subtidal sampling sites between Torres Strait and Townsville, near Mackay and Gladstone, and in Hervey and Moreton Bays in 1997 and 1998 and analysed for pesticide and herbicide residues. Low levels of atrazine (0.1–0.3 μg kg⁻¹), diuron (0.2–10.1 μg kg⁻¹), lindane (0.08–0.19 μg kg⁻¹), dieldrin (0.05–0.37 μg kg⁻¹), DDT (0.05–0.26 μg kg⁻¹), and DDE (0.05–0.26 μg kg⁻¹) were detected in sediments and/or seagrasses. Contaminants were mainly detected in samples collected along the high rainfall, tropical coast between Townsville and Port Douglas and in Moreton Bay. Of the contaminants detected, the herbicide diuron is of most concern as the concentrations detected have some potential to impact local seagrass communities.     

Effect of intraband variability on stable isotope and density time series obtained from banded corals

Density, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C were measured along two tracks, one close to the central growth axis and the other, ∼20ℴ off the axis, in a coral (Porites lutea) collected from the Stanley Reef, Central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The δ¹⁸O variations in the coral are well correlated with sea surface temperature changes. The common variances between the two tracks were about 60% in the δ¹⁸O, δ{13}C, and the skeletal density variations. Part of the noise (40%) could be due to the difficulty of sampling exactly time contemporaneous parts of each band along the two tracks and part of it could be due to genuine intraband variability. In spite of the intraband variability, the time series obtained from the two tracks are similar, indicating that the dominant causative factor for the isotopic variations is external, i.e., the environmental conditions that prevail during the growth of the coral; density band formation does not appear to be directly controlled by the sea surface temperature.     

西藏安多县东巧晚侏罗世生物礁的发现

首次发现西藏安多县东巧地区晚侏罗世生物礁,造礁生物以层孔虫和六射珊瑚为主,其中,层孔虫可分为枝状、筒状和块状三种类型,它们多以原地生长状态保存.礁岩石学特征研究表明,礁岩可分为筒状-枝状层孔虫障积岩、枝状层孔虫障积岩、筒状层孔虫障积岩、筒状-块状层孔虫障积-骨架岩和筒状层孔虫-六射珊瑚障积-骨架岩.礁体类型可分为筒状-枝状层孔虫障积岩隆礁、枝状层孔虫障积岩隆礁、筒状层孔虫障积岩隆礁、筒状-块状层孔虫障积-骨架岩隆礁和筒状层孔虫-六射珊瑚障积-骨架岩隆礁,礁体的演化均经历了奠基阶段、发育阶段和衰亡阶段.     

天津大神堂牡蛎礁海洋特别保护区生态旅游环境容量研究

在不妨碍海洋保护的前提下,适度开展生态旅游,是增强海洋特别保护区自养能力,实现海洋特别保护区可持续发展的有效途径之一。文章综合旅游生态容量、旅游空间容量和旅游设施容量3个因素,对天津大神堂牡蛎礁海洋特别保护区的生态旅游环境容量进行了测算,结果表明其生态旅游环境容量为37 677~39 589人次/d,并提出重视对保护区营养盐因子的输入、完善旅游服务设施建设、加强旅游旺季客流疏导的建议。