Discovery of the Avon – Solent Fracture Zone and its relationship to Bath hot springs

 The hot springs of Bristol and Bath and two geothermal wells at Southampton are located on a 155-km-long Avon–Solent Fracture Zone extending in a NW–SE direction from the Severn Estuary to the English Channel. Initiated during the Variscan earth movements and reactivated in Miocene times, the structure, which extends across the English Channel to France, is still active. With this discovery, it should now be possible to throw fresh light on the origin and movement of the thermal water at Bath and thus to protect the hot springs from derogation by limestone quarrying. Received: 16 October 1995 · Accepted: 13 February 1996     

Evaluation of the Influence of Aquatic Plants and Lake Bottom on the Remote-Sensing Reflectance of Optically Shallow Waters

Abstract

Aquatic plants and lake bottoms in optically shallow waters (OSWs) wield great influence on reflectance spectra, resulting in the inapplicability of most existing bio-optical models for water colour remote sensing in lakes. Based on radiative transfer theory and measured spectra from a campaign for Lake Taihu in October 2008, absorption and backscattering coefficients were used to simulate the remote-sensing reflectance, which are considered to be reliable if matched to their measured counterparts. Several cases of measured spectra at different depths, Secchi disk depth transparency, and aquatic plant height and coverage were analyzed thoroughly for spectral properties. The contribution of aquatic plants was evaluated and compared with the measured and simulated remote-sensing reflectance values. This is helpful for removing the influence of aquatic plants and lake bottoms from the spectra and for constructing an improved chlorophyll a retrieval model for OSWs, such as that for Lake Taihu, China.     

A Social–Ecological Systems Approach to Assessing Conservation and Fisheries Outcomes in Fijian Locally Managed Marine Areas

Locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are often recommended as a strategy to achieve conservation and fisheries management, though few studies have evaluated their performance against these objectives. We assessed the effectiveness of eight periodically harvested closures (PHCs), the most common form of management within Fijian LMMAs, focusing on two outcomes: protection of resource units and biodiversity conservation. Of the eight PHCs, only one provided biodiversity benefits, whereas three were moderately successful in protecting resource units (targeted fish biomass). Protection of resource units was more likely when PHCs were harvested less frequently, less recently, and when total fish biomass in open areas was lower. Our findings further suggest that monitoring, enforcement, and clearly defined boundaries are critical, less frequent harvesting regimes are advised, and culturally appropriate management incentives are needed. Although PHCs have some potential to protect resource units, they are not recommended as a single strategy for broad-scale biodiversity conservation.     

Oxyanion Concentrations in Eastern Sierra Nevada Rivers – 2. Arsenic and Phosphate

Water samples were collected from the Truckee River-Pyramid Lake system, the Walker River-Walker Lake system, and the Carson River, all located in eastern California and western Nevada, U.S.A., at three different times (i.e., summer 1991, spring 1992, and autumn 1992) over a two year period. The concentrations of As, Na, Cl, PO4, and pH were measured in these river samples and the associated terminal lakes. Arsenic values ranged from below 13 nmol/kg near Truckee, California to 160 nmol/kg at Nixon, Nevada in the Truckee River, from 40 nmol/kg in the headwaters of both West and East Walker Rivers to 270 nmol/kg below Weber Reservoir on the main branch of the Walker River, and from <27 nmol/kg to 234 nmol/kg for the lower Carson River system. Arsenic concentrations in Steamboat Creek (0.91 mol/kg–1.80 mol/kg) in the Truckee River catchment are above the U.S. EPA drinking water maximum contaminant level of 0.67 mol/kg, as are the As concentrations in both Pyramid Lake (1.33 mol/kg–1.57 mol/kg ) and Walker Lake (13.7 mol/kg–18.7 mol/kg). Sources of As for all three rivers include weathering of As-rich rocks and/or regolith and input of high-As geothermal spring waters, both processes primarily, although not exclusively, adding As to the headwater regions of these rivers. Steamboat Hot Springs (29 mol/kg As 54.5 mol/kg), for example, is identified as a source of As to the Truckee River via Steamboat Creek. The high As concentrations in Pyramid and Walker Lakes are likely due to (1) desorption of arsenate from aquatic particulate matter in these high pH waters (9.0 pH 9.5), (2) limited biologic uptake of arsenate, and (3) evaporative concentration of the lake waters. Evaluation of molar PO4}/As ratios of river waters and geothermal spring waters (e.g., Steamboat Hot Springs), indicates that phosphate is substantially enriched in Steamboat Creek as well as the mid to lower reaches of the Walker and Carson Rivers. These regions of each river are dominated by agricultural interests and, additionally, in the case of Steamboat Creek, residential areas and golf courses. Our data strongly imply that phosphate-rich agricultural return flow has likely added P to these streams and, consequently, increased their respective P:As ratios.     

Economic impact of climate change and climate change adaptation strategies for fisheries sector in Solomon Islands: Implication for food security

Fisheries resources play a major role in the national economy and to food security in Solomon Islands. Climate change is likely to have a substantial impact on fish production that can lead to a fragile food security condition in the country. This paper assesses the potential economic impact of three important climate change adaptation strategies – natural resource management (NRM), fish aggregating devices (FAD) and aquaculture – in Solomon Islands. The study used a country-specific partial equilibrium economic model with six fish sub-sectors and analyzed potential impact of alternate climate change adaptation strategies for 2035 and 2050. The modeling and scenario analyses show that total fish demand is likely to surpass domestic fish production in 2050. Without appropriate climate adaptation strategy, per capita consumption of domestically produced fish will decline, which has serious negative food security implications for the country. The economic (welfare) analysis conducted based on modeling results show that the national level net economic gains due to climate change adaptation strategies are substantial. If cost and topographic conditions permit, low-cost inshore FADs are expected to be a good mechanism for augmenting domestic supplies of tuna and similar species in Solomon Islands.     

Conceptual hydrodynamic-thermal mapping modelling for coral reefs at south Singapore sea

Coral reefs are important ecosystems that not only provide shelter and breeding ground for many marine species, but can also control of carbon dioxide level in ocean and act as coastal protection mechanism. Reduction of coral reefs at Singapore coastal waters (SCW) region remains as an important study to identify the environmental impact from its busy industrial activities especially at the surrounding of Jurong Island in the south. This kind of study at SCW was often being related to issues such as turbidity, sedimentation, pollutant transport (from industry activities) effects in literatures, but seldom investigated from the thermal change aspect. In this paper, a computational model was constructed using the Delft3D hydrodynamic module to produce wave simulations on sea regions surrounding Singapore Island. The complicated semi-diurnal and diurnal tidal wave events experienced by SCW were simulated for 2 weeks duration and compared to the Admiralty measured data. To simulate the thermal mapping at the south Singapore coastal waters (SSCW) region, we first adapted a conversion of industrial to thermal discharge; then from the discharge affected area a thermal map was further computed to compare with the measured coral map. The outcomes show that the proposed novel thermal modelling approach has quite precisely simulated the coral map at SSCW, with the condition that the near-field thermal sources are considered (with the coverage area in the limit of 20 km × 20 km).     

近岸水质遥感评价参数的选择及评价模型的研究

利用遥感技术的水质评价是海洋环境监测的必然趋势,但目前可通过遥感技术反演的水质参数种类远少于《海水水质标准》中的35项,因此遥感监测时必须反演的水质参数有哪些?利用有限的参数该建立怎样的水质评价模型?成为我们关心的问题。本文以雷州半岛海域为研究对象,通过对实测数据的分析得出13种水质参数中的主导参数为总氮(N)、总磷(P)、化学需氧量(COD)、酸度(pH)、溶解氧(DO)这5种;再通过数理统计理论得出这5种参数对水质分类判别能力的大小关系为:COD> DO> P> N> pH,分别建立对应的五参数、四参数、三参数水质评价模型,并确定最优评价模型。即,雷州半岛海域水质遥感评价时必须反演的参数为COD、DO、P和N,水质综合评价模型为四参数模型,为后续其他海域水质的遥感监测提供可借鉴的方法。     

广东沿岸海域发生赤潮的硅藻种类

根据1990－1991年在广东沿岸海域采集的178份浮游植物样品的鉴定，产结合近几年在广东沿海河口湾海域几次浮游植物采样的分析资料，报告了广东沿岸海域硅藻赤潮生物47种，逐种列出了其生态习性和地理分布及在广东沿岸海域的分布情况。     

大鹏湾盐田水域反曲原甲藻数量的时空变化特点

对１９９０年３月３０日－５月５日广东大鹏湾盐田水域反曲原甲藻Ｐｒｏｒｏｃｅｎｔｒｕｉｎｓｉｇ－ｍｏｉｄｅｓＢｏｈｍ进行研究。详细分析了反曲原甲藻数量的时空变化及分布特点。多元回归分析表明：影响反曲原甲藻数量变化的环境因子，表层主要是亚硝酸氮，而底层仅与盐度相关。４月２０日盐田水域发生赤潮，经水样分析，发现表层水体中反由原甲藻数量很高（大于３００个·ｍｌ（－１）），占浮游植物数量的８６％以上。由此说明，反曲原甲藻是此次赤潮的原因种之一。本种通过扫描电子显微镜观察和分析所确认，并作了形态特征描述。