Ocean acidification: Separating evidence from judgment – A reply to Dupont et al.

Recently ocean acidification as a major threat for marine species has moved from a consensus statement into a much discussed and even challenged conception. A simple meta-analysis of Hendriks et al. (2010) showed that based on results of pooled experimental evidence, marine biota may turn out to be more resistant than hitherto believed. Dupont et al. (in press) indicate the importance of evaluating the most vulnerable stages in the life cycle of organisms instead of only adult stages. Here we evaluate additional material, composed of experimental evidence of the effect of ocean acidification on marine organisms during adult, larval, and juvenile stages, and show that the observed effects are within the range predicted by Hendriks et al. (2010). Species-specific differences and a wide variance in the reaction of organisms might obscure patterns of differences between life stages. Future research should be aimed to clarify underlying mechanisms to define the effect ocean acidification will have on marine biodiversity. Conveying scientific evidence along with an open acknowledgment of uncertainties to help separate evidence from judgment should not harm the need to act to mitigate ocean acidification and should pave the road for robust progress in our understanding of how ocean acidification impacts biota of the ocean.     

Dynamics of the Mackenzie River plume on the inner Beaufort shelf during an open water period in summer

The oceanographic conditions of the Mackenzie River plume in the Arctic Ocean were examined during a 12-day period in August 2007. Field observations in the river channel and the delta region (2–6 m depth), ship-based observations on the shelf and satellite observations of sea surface temperatures indicate that movements of plume density fronts cause changes in water temperatures of over 10  C over a few days. We used a 1D model to compare the strength of stratification versus surface wind stress, and a 3D numerical model to simulate the plume motions under forcing from the river flows, local wind and water level variations from tides and wind-driven surge. The results indicate that the coastal region is stratified with a ∼2 m thick surface plume even in water depths of 3–4 m, resulting in strong vertical variation of horizontal currents. Moderate easterly winds of 5–10 m/s are sufficient to induce offshore transport of the surface plume and onshore transport of the deeper shelf water, leading to large fluctuations in temperature and salinity in the coastal region. This study examined a period of offshore transport and mean water level set-down, and indicates the rapid response of the plume to wind over the shallow delta.     

Effects of the seasonal variation in chlorophyll concentration on sea surface temperature in the global ocean

The effects of biological heating on the upper-ocean temperature of the global ocean are investigated using two ocean-only experiments forced by prescribed atmospheric fields during 1990–2007, on with fixed constant chlorophyll concentration, and the other with seasonally varying chlorophyll concentration. Although the existence of high chlorophyll concentrations can trap solar radiation in the upper layer and warm the surface, cooling sea surface temperature (SST) can be seen in some regions and seasons. Seventeen regions are selected and classified according to their dynamic processes, and the cooling mechanisms are investigated through heat budget analysis. The chlorophyll-induced SST variation is dependent on the variation in chlorophyll concentration and net surface heat flux and on such dynamic ocean processes as mixing, upwelling and advection. The mixed layer depth is also an important factor determining the effect. The chlorophyll-induced SST warming appears in most regions during the local spring to autumn when the mixed layer is shallow, e.g., low latitudes without upwelling and the mid-latitudes. Chlorophyll-induced SST cooling appears in regions experiencing strong upwelling, e.g., the western Arabian Sea, west coast of North Africa, South Africa and South America, the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and strong mixing (with deep mixed layer depth), e.g., the mid-latitudes in winter.     

海洋中二甲基硫的生物生产与消费过程

DMS是海洋中最主要的挥发性有机硫化物,对全球气候变化和环境酸化产生重要影响。DMS的生物生产与消耗主要发生在海洋真光层。生物的生产与消耗被认为是海洋中DMS的主要来源和去除途径。海洋中DMS的生物生产和消耗是密切相关的,两者的速率基本保持平衡。目前,有关DMS生物生产与消费速率的测定方法有放射性同位素示踪和加抑制剂2种,后者颇受青睐,不过有关抑制机理还需进一步的研究。     

长江口基础生物资源现状及年际变化趋势分析

探讨长江口生物资源可持续利用和对生物栖息环境的保护措施,2004年对长江口海域的基础生物资源进行4次监测。结果表明:浮游植物5月份有5门39属86种,8月份有6门48属139种,河口锋附近水域的浮游植物种类、数量较多,中肋骨条藻(Skeletonema costatum)在数量上处于绝对优势;浮游动物5月份为77种,8月份为91种,中小型浮游动物的数量在河口锋附近水域较高,主要优势种有针刺拟哲水蚤(Paracalanus aculeatus)等,大型浮游动物种类数量较高的区域位于长江冲淡水以外的海域,主要优势种为中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)、五角水母(Muggiaea atlantica)、真刺唇角水蚤(Labidocera euchaeta);2004年共鉴定底栖生物146种,5月份63种,8月份108种,其中多毛类41种、甲壳类41种、软体动物32种、棘皮动物6种、鱼类21种、其他4种;长江口沿岸的崇明东滩、南汇边滩和嵊山岛共鉴定潮间带生物126种,其中5月份86种,8月份71种;鱼卵仔鱼计8目20科30属34种,鱼卵中绝大部分为凤鲚,其数量占95.7%,仔鱼以中华小公鱼出现频次最多。通过年际变化分析表明,长江口门以内区域浮游生物种类明显下降,长江冲淡水区域的生物资源基础饵料生物种类数基本保持稳定,浮游生物群落结构发生变化,硅藻比重减少,甲藻增加,长江口区域的潮下带和潮间带底栖生物种类数也存在不同程度的下降,以口门以内区域下降明显。     

粘质沙雷氏菌(Serratia marcescens)发酵培养基优化的研究

采用单因素试验和正交试验,对从山东东营海岸湿地盐碱滩地土壤中筛选出的一株海洋菌种———粘质沙雷氏菌(Serratia marcescens)的发酵培养基进行优化,并进行100 L发酵罐中试放大试验的研究。确定粘质沙雷氏菌的最佳培养基配方为葡萄糖10 g/L,硫酸铵5 g/L,麸皮50 g/L,柠檬酸三钠1.0 g/L,K2HPO4.3H2O 0.3 g/L,FeSO4.7H2O 0.05 g/L,MgSO4.7H2O 0.5 g/L,pH 7.2~7.7。发酵最适温度为30℃。通过测定粘质沙雷氏菌在发酵罐中培养的生长曲线,确定发酵时间以28~30 h为宜,发酵结束后发酵液中的活菌数约为50×108个/mL。将所筛选到的粘质沙雷氏菌应用于农作物的病害防治,效果非常显著,表明是一株高活性的生物防治拮抗菌。此研究结果为高效率、低成本和工业化生产具有生物防治作用的海洋菌种制剂提供了科学依据,也为海岸湿地盐碱土的可持续开发利用提供了技术支撑。     

一种承压堵漏新方法的实验研究

钻井过程中会遇到一些微裂缝地层,这往往要引起井漏.轻微的井漏可能只是耗费处理时间及成本,而严重井漏则可能会诱发诸如井塌、卡钻、井喷等一系列复杂情况或者事故,这将不仅影响钻井工作的效率,还带来巨大的经济损失.所以,堵漏是钻井过程中必须经常面对的问题,能够低成本地实现承压堵漏对于钻井井漏的处理就显得格外重要.使用新的材料/方法来提高地层的承压能力,即在抗高温聚磺钻井液中加入矿渣（KZ）,并在激活剂处理液中培养,配制出新型的堵漏钻井液体系.经过试验证明,加入KZ对钻井液常规性能的影响不大,不但能大幅度提高地层的承压能力,同时证明了激活剂对于激活KZ活性的可行性.对于抗高温聚磺钻井液,当KZ加量为30％、并且激活剂加量为30％时,试样的承压能力达到最大.此方法在一定程度上提高了微裂缝地层的承压能力.     

Relationships between land use and stream invertebrate community structure in a South Island,New Zealand,coastal stream catchment

Macroinvertebrate community composition was compared across streams draining catchments dominated by either native bush, agricultural or urban land uses within the Water of Leith stream catchment near Dunedin, New Zealand. Land use was associated with differences in taxon richness and faunal composition of communities present in each stream. The mean abundance levels of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera were highest in native bush catchments, and lowest in urban catchments. In contrast, the mean abundance of Oligochaeta exhibited the opposite pattern. Increasing dominance of the urban and agricultural streams by pollution tolerant taxa was reflected in the Macroinvertebrate Community Index and Quantitative Macroinvertebrate Community Index scores.     

Impact of Ocean Mean Dynamic Topography on Satellite Data Assimilation

The response of an eddy-permitting ocean model to changes imposed by the use of different mean dynamic topographies (MDT) is analyzed in a multivariate assimilation context, allowing the evaluation of this impact, not only on the surface circulation, but also on the interior ocean representation. The assimilation scheme is a reduced-order sequential Kalman filter (SEEK). In a first set of experiments, high resolution sea surface temperature, along-track sea surface height and sea surface salinity from climatology are assimilated into a 1/3° resolution North and Tropical Atlantic version of the HYCOM model. In a second experiment, in situ profile data are assimilated in addition to the surface measurements.

The first set of experiments illustrates that important differences in the representation of the horizontal model circulation pattern are related to differences in the MDT used. The objective of assimilation is to improve the representation of the 3D ocean state. However, the imperfect representation of the mean dynamic topography appears to be an important limiting factor with regard to the degree of realism obtained in the simulated flow.

Vertical temperature and salinity profiles are key observations to drive a general circulation ocean model toward a more realistic state. The second set of experiments shows that assimilating them in addition to sea surface measurements is a far from trivial exercise. A specific difficulty is due to inconsistencies between the dynamic topography diagnosed from in situ observations and that diagnosed from sea surface height. These two fields obtained from different data sources do not contain exactly the same information. In order to overcome this difficulty, a strategy is proposed and validated.     

Drifting and Meandering of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles in the Bay of Bengal: Role of Oceanic Rossby Waves

Olive Ridley turtles in the Bay of Bengal are previously thought to migrate southward from their nesting ground, along the east coast of India (Orissa coast), towards Sri Lanka. Surprisingly, three of the four Platform Transmitter Terminal (PTT) attached turtles in April-June 2001 meandered off the east coast of India for about two months. It is found that these turtles meandered at the peripherals of cold core cyclonic eddy surrounded by warm core eddies on either side. Concentrations of prey for the turtles in those frontal regions are known to be abundant. Only one of the four PTT attached turtles migrated to the south along the frontal regions in the direction of geostrophic currents. It is found that the locations of these thermal fronts in the Bay of Bengal are primarily determined by the Oceanic Rossby waves and local Ekman pumping.