The co-location of offshore windfarms and decapod fisheries in the UK: Constraints and opportunities

The offshore wind sector in the UK is expanding rapidly and is set to occupy significant areas of the coastal zone, making it necessary to explore the potential for co-location with other economic activities. The presence of turbine foundations introduces hard substrates into areas previously dominated by soft sediments, implying that artificial reef effects may occur, with potential benefits for fisheries. This review focuses on the possibilities for locating fisheries for two commercially important decapods, the brown crab Cancer pagurus and the European lobster Homarus gammarus, within offshore wind farms.Existing understanding of habitat use by C. pagurus and H. gammarus suggests that turbine foundations have the potential to act as artificial reefs, although the responses of these species to noise and electromagnetic fields are poorly understood. Offshore wind farm monitoring programmes provide very limited information, but do suggest that adult C. pagurus associate with turbine foundations, which may also serve as nursery areas. There was insufficient deployment and monitoring of rock armouring to draw conclusions about the association of H. gammarus with offshore wind farm foundations. The limited information currently available demonstrates the need for further research into the ecological and socio-economic issues surrounding fishery co-location potential.     

海南铜鼓岭国家级自然保护区海域珊瑚的分布及其健康状况评价

沿铜鼓岭国家级自然保护区海岸南北两侧沿岸布设8个站位,采用断面监测法调查了珊瑚的种类多样性、覆盖率、死亡率和补充量等指标,并利用健康指数（CI）评估了铜鼓岭珊瑚礁生态系统的健康状况和遭受环境压力的程度.本次调查共发现铜鼓岭造礁石珊瑚11科23属40种,软珊瑚8种,造礁石珊瑚和软珊瑚覆盖率分别为13.8%和19.4%,该海域珊瑚礁生态系统保存较为完好和健康.铜鼓岭珊瑚的覆盖率呈现明显的空间分布特征,北侧珊瑚覆盖率为0.1%～9.8%之间,远低于南侧的水平（8.1%～66.1%）.从珊瑚补充量来看,铜鼓岭北侧珊瑚的恢复能力基本为零,而铜鼓岭以南的区域可以有0.4个/m^2珊瑚新个体.通过比较2006年以来珊瑚种类、覆盖率、死亡率、补充量、健康指数等方面的调查数据,认为铜鼓岭保护区的珊瑚礁生态系统得到有效保护,珊瑚礁生态系统处于健康状态.     

珠江口盆地东沙隆起生物礁地质及地震特征

东沙隆起珠江组生物礁是珠江口盆地重要的储层类型,礁灰岩主要为珊瑚藻灰岩,分为骨架岩、粘结岩及障积岩。研究区生物礁发育于开阔台地、台地边缘及台地前缘斜坡3类沉积相中,生物礁类型可分为台内点礁、台地边缘堡礁及台缘斜坡塔礁,以台地边缘堡礁为主。珠江组沉积早期,东沙隆起发育滨岸砂质沉积;中期海水逐渐淹没东沙隆起,形成镶边浅水碳酸盐台地,发育生物礁;晚期海侵台地逐渐淹没消亡,被浅海陆棚泥质沉积代替。流花台地厚度最大,最厚达563m,台地顶面地震强反射使外形轮廓清晰,台地内部中-弱振幅至空白反射,连续性降低;惠州台地厚度较流花台地薄,厚度多大于100m,顶界面强反射轮廓清晰,内部层状反射能量强-中振幅、高-中连续、中-低频,局部空白反射;陆丰台地厚约30m,只有一个高连续的强振幅。生物礁地震响应以丘形、箱型、低丘-透镜状为特征,礁顶常为强振幅,内部为波状、有时见前积结构,翼部可见上超和披覆现象等。     

Sea-level and reef accretion history of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 7 and late Stage 5 based on age and facies of submerged late Pleistocene reefs,Oahu, Hawaii

In situ Pleistocene reefs form a gently sloping nearshore terrace around the island of Oahu. TIMS Th–U ages of in situ corals indicate that most of the terrace is composed of reefal limestones correlating to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 7 (MIS 7, ~ 190–245 ka). The position of the in situ MIS 7 reef complex indicates that it formed during periods when local sea level was ~ 9 to 20 m below present sea level. Its extensiveness and geomorphic prominence as well as a paucity of emergent in situ MIS 7 reef-framework deposits on Oahu suggest that much of MIS 7 was characterized by regional sea levels below present. Later accretion along the seaward front of the terrace occurred during the latter part of MIS 5 (i.e., MIS 5a–5d, ~ 76–113 ka). The position of the late MIS 5 reefal limestones is consistent with formation during a period when local sea level was below present. The extensiveness of the submerged Pleistocene reefs around Oahu compared to the relative dearth of Holocene accretion is due to the fact that Pleistocene reefs had both more time and more accommodation space available for accretion than their Holocene counterparts.     

Paleoenvironmental setting and description of an estuarine oyster reef in the Eocene of Patagonia,southern Argentina

A middle Eocene Crassostrea sp. reef near Río Turbio, southwestern Patagonia (Argentina), represents the earliest record of an oyster reef associated with estuarine facies in the southern hemisphere, and also one of the few known worldwide occurring in Paleogene rocks. The reef grew in an outer estuary environment subject to periodic changes in salinity and may have reached a maturing phase. The Río Turbio reef – by its dimensions, geometry, and substrate lithology– would have been located in a tidal channel convergence area. This reef provides new evidence suggesting that estuaries served as refuges for Crassostrea populations allowing them to disperse into fully marine environments many times throughout the Cenozoic.     

珊瑚生长率重建西沙海域中晚全新世海温变化

珊瑚生长率是记录海洋表层海水温度(SST)的重要指标之一.本文在测量西沙永兴岛海域1个现代滨珊瑚(Porites lutea)和4个中-晚全新世滨珊瑚样品生长率基础上,定量重建了中晚全新世5个特征时段的SST:1887 ～ 2007A.D.(27.27℃)、1993～1936a B.P.(26.73℃)、2985～ 2904a B.P.(26.5℃)、4004～3962a B.P.(26.8℃)和5514～5398a B.P.(27.0℃).这些结果表明5.5～ 1.9ka B.P.期间西沙海域SST总体上呈下降趋势,与中国大陆的平均温度基本同步变化.西沙海域中晚全新世SST的降低趋势受东亚夏季风强度减弱的控制,也可能与这一时期逐渐活跃的ENSO存在联系,而岁差引起的北半球太阳辐射量的减少可能是SST变化的根本驱动因素.     

Studies on the Coral Reefs of the South China Sea: From Global Change to Oil-Gas Exploration

Studies on the coral reefs of the South China Sea (SCS) was the theme of the 6th Session of the 3rd Conference on Earth System Science (CESS) in Shanghai, 2014. This session discussed the most recent study developments on the SCS coral reefs, including coral reefs’ responses to global changes, coral reefs’ records on past climatic variations, and the activities about constructions and oil gas explorations in the coral reefs areas of the SCS. Disturbed by intensive anthropogenic activities and global climate warming, coral reefs in the SCS have declined dramatically, reflecting the up to 80% decrease of living coral cover and many areas having less than 20% of living coral cover. Geochemical data of SCS coral skeletons clearly show that since the Industry Revolution, the pollution situation of the SCS have dramatically increased and the seawater pH values have been continuously lowering, i.e. oceanic acidification. All these environmental phenomenon are further stressing the healthy development of the coral reef ecosystem in the SCS. Meanwhile, the poor coral reef ecosystems in the SCS are facing more anthropogenic disturbances such as coastal developments and engineering constructions. Obviously, the SCS coral reefs will be faced with more environmental challenges in the coming future. We therefore suggest that the policy makers should realize the extreme importance and the fragile of the coral reef ecosystems, and scientifically and with great cautions design construction project when in coral reef areas. We initiated the concept of “green engineering” for future developments in coral reef areas. Coral reefs are widely spreading in the whole SCS, and most of them developed since Miocene. Variations in coral reef structures provide good future oil-gas exploration. Because the SCS coral reefs have a long-developing history and a wide spatial distribution, they provide great potential in recording past environmental changes.     

Atoll island vulnerability to flooding and inundation revealed by historical reconstruction: Fongafale Islet, Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu

The reef islands formed on coral atolls are generally small, low, and flat, with elevations of only a few meters. These islands are thus highly vulnerable to elevated sea levels caused by extreme events and global warming. Such vulnerability was recently evidenced at Fongafale Islet, the capital of Tuvalu, when it flooded during accelerated spring high tides possibly related to sea level rise caused by global warming. Many factors, not only environmental but also economic and social, determine the vulnerability of an island to sea level rise. In this study, we used data spanning 108 yrs to reconstruct changes in topography, land use/cover, population, and the distribution of buildings at Fongafale Islet. The results indicate that the vulnerability of Fongafale Islet relates to its original landform characteristics: the central part of the island was formerly dominated by swampland that flooded at high tides. Fongafale Islet experienced greater population in-migration and centralization beginning in the 1970s following the independence of Tuvalu and Kiribati. Migrants were also responding to declines in overseas mining operations and limited options for paid employment. As the population increased, construction took place in vulnerable swampland areas. Our results clearly demonstrate that examinations of global environmental issues should focus on characteristics specific to the region of interest. These characteristics should be specified using historical reconstruction to understand and address the vulnerability of an area to global environmental changes.     

南海珊瑚礁光学浅水海域多光谱遥感水深反演

海洋水深信息对研究珊瑚礁海域资源与环境具有重要作用。南海珊瑚礁海域测深数据受多种条件限制施测困难,在时间与空间方面数量非常有限。文章针对南海岛礁海域以I类水体为主导的海水光学特性,以南沙群岛库归沙洲海域为例,使用Sentinel-2多光谱卫星遥感影像和同期过境的MODIS卫星数据,构建底质光谱,采用半分析半经验模型计算海水表面遥感反射率与海水叶绿素浓度,通过对数比值模型进行该地区光学浅水海域遥感水深反演分析,并进一步通过多时相反演水深融合提升精度。经与多波束实测水深数据验证,研究区域反演水深总体均方根误差和平均相对误差分别为2.68 m 和9.99%。该方法通过叶绿素浓度推演部分海水光学特性,可以从多光谱卫星影像中快速获取南海岛礁光学浅水海域初步水深信息,供相关海洋领域分析与应用。