Inhomogeneous substrate analysis using EM300 backscatter imagery

Backscatter reflectivity from multibeam echo-sounders provides a powerful tool to efficiently characterize seafloor substrates. A comprehensive EM300 bathymetric and backscatter survey has been completed of Cook Strait, in central New Zealand. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the realtime corrections applied to the raw EM300 multibeam data and additional corrections required to compute angular variations of the backscatter strength. The corrections, including the local absorption coefficient, the influence of seafloor topography and sound refraction in the water column, are determined for different Cook Strait seafloor substrates. Modifying MB-System software code, we extracted the backscatter signal parameters in order to quantify the raw backscatter strength and apply additional processing. Profiles of backscatter strength versus incidence angle were computed for a variety of sites characterized by flat seafloor and homogeneous substrates, and for which ground-truth data were available. For each homogeneous site, different but characteristic backscatter profiles are observed that can be interpreted in terms of sediment facies. To analyze heterogeneous substrates, we present a statistical technique, based on a 3-dimensional distribution of (incidence angle, backscatter strength) couples that preserves geological information of the substrate components. This analysis, using backscatter data acquired on a submarine volcano, north of New Zealand, clearly differentiates soft sediments and lava flows within a heterogeneous substrate.     

Isolation and characterisation of pristane metabolites formed in vivo by rainbow trout

Pristane (2,6,10,14 -tetramethylpentadecane) occurs ubiquitously in the marine environment. This hydrocarbon may be of biogenic or petrogenic origin.¹ Recently it has been shown that residual amounts of this branched alkane increased in marine organisms after an oil spill.^2,3 The lack of data on the fate of pristane in fish, added with the fact that this compound was considered by some authors as a non-metabolisable substance in vertebrates, including man,⁴ led us to investigate the capability of fish to metabolise pristane. In this study, urinary and fecal excretion, tissue distribution and metabolism of ³H-pristane were analysed in Salmo gairdneri R. after a single intragastric dose. In addition to unchanged hydrocarbon, various labelled compounds have been isolated and identified in liver, bile, faeces, urine and surrounding water, demonstrating that pristane was first oxidised to alcohols (pristanol and pristane-diol) and to acid (pristanic acid). The elimination of these compounds occurred in the form of conjugated products (primarily glucuronides) as well as free metabolites.     

Fine resolution 3D temperature fields off Kerguelen from instrumented penguins

The use of diving animals as autonomous vectors of oceanographic instruments is rapidly increasing, because this approach yields cost-efficient new information and can be used in previously poorly sampled areas. However, methods for analyzing the collected data are still under development. In particular, difficulties may arise from the heterogeneous data distribution linked to animals’ behavior. Here we show how raw temperature data collected by penguin-borne loggers were transformed to a regular gridded dataset that provided new information on the local circulation off Kerguelen. A total of 16 king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) were equipped with satellite-positioning transmitters and with temperature–time–depth recorders (TTDRs) to record dive depth and sea temperature. The penguins’ foraging trips recorded during five summers ranged from 140 to 600 km from the colony and 11,000 dives >100 m were recorded. Temperature measurements recorded during diving were used to produce detailed 3D temperature fields of the area (0–200 m). The data treatment included dive location, determination of the vertical profile for each dive, averaging and gridding of those profiles onto 0.1°×0.1° cells, and optimal interpolation in both the horizontal and vertical using an objective analysis. Horizontal fields of temperature at the surface and 100 m are presented, as well as a vertical section along the main foraging direction of the penguins. Compared to conventional temperature databases (Levitus World Ocean Atlas and historical stations available in the area), the 3D temperature fields collected from penguins are extremely finely resolved, by one order finer. Although TTDRs were less accurate than conventional instruments, such a high spatial resolution of penguin-derived data provided unprecedented detailed information on the upper level circulation pattern east of Kerguelen, as well as the iron-enrichment mechanism leading to a high primary production over the Kerguelen Plateau.     

Surface texture of Vesta from optical polarimetry

Polarimetric, photometric, and reflectance spectroscopic properties of asteroid 44 Vesta are simulated in the laboratory by a preparation of eucrite Bereba consisting oof a broad mixture of particle sizes (mainly greater than 50-μm) mixed and partially coated with particles of size 10 μm and less. Coarse grains are necessary for producing the same albedo and a very fine dust coating is necessary for producing the same polarization inversion angle as observed for Vesta. There are less small grains and fine dust in this sample than in lunar soils. Photometrically, if coating a sphere, this sample shows a constant brightness on the sunward half of the observed hemisphere, the brightness being given on the other half by the Minnaert reciprocity principle. With such a photometric behavior, the global geometric albedo and the sub-Earth point geometric albedo differ by no more than 5%. The microscopic phase coefficient β is 0.021 magnitude per degree for the sample; the larger value, β = 0.025, observed telescopically for Vesta indicates that large-scale roughness is present on this asteroid.     

Geochemistry of oceanic carbonatites compared with continental carbonatites: mantle recycling of oceanic crustal carbonate

Major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-O-C isotopic compositions are presented for carbonatites from the Cape Verde (Brava, Fogo, Sáo Tiago, Maio and Sáo Vicente) and Canary (Fuerteventura) Islands. Carbonatites show pronounced enrichment in Ba, Th, REE, Sr and Pb in comparison to most silicate volcanic rocks and relative depletion in Ti, Zr, Hf, K and Rb. Calcio (calcitic)-carbonatites have primary (mantle-like) stable isotopic compositions and radiogenic isotopic compositions similar to HIMU-type ocean island basalts. Cape Verde carbonatites, however, have more radiogenic Pb isotope ratios (e.g. ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb=19.3-20.4) than reported for silicate volcanic rocks from these islands (18.7-19.9; Gerlach et al. 1988; Kokfelt 1998). We interpret calcio-carbonatites to be derived from the melting of recycled carbonated oceanic crust (eclogite) with a recycling age of ~1.6 Ga. Because of the degree of recrystallization, replacement of calcite by secondary dolomite and elevated ‘¹³C and ‘¹⁸O, the major and trace element compositions of the magnesio (dolomitic)-carbonatites are likely to reflect secondary processes. Compared with Cape Verde calcio-carbonatites, the less radiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and the negative Ɨ/4 of the magnesio-carbonatites (also observed in silicate volcanic rocks from the Canary and Cape Verde Islands) cannot be explained through secondary processes or through the assimilation of Cape Verde crust. These isotopic characteristics require the involvement of a mantle component that has thus far only been found in the Smoky Butte lamproites from Montana, which are believed to be derived from subcontinental lithospheric sources. Continental carbonatites show much greater variation in radiogenic isotopic composition than oceanic carbonatites, requiring a HIMU-like component similar to that observed in the oceanic carbonatites and enriched components. We interpret the enriched components to be Phanerozoic through Proterozoic marine carbonate (e.g. limestone) recycled through shallow, subcontinental-lithospheric-mantle and deep, lower-mantle sources.     

Aquatic hydrocarbon distributions in the Seine estuary: Biogenic polyaromatics and n-alkanes

Dissolved and particulate hydrocarbons of biogenic origin were investigated for the first time in surface waters along the Seine River and its estuary. They comprise n-alkanes (n-ALKs) and diagenetic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Samples were collected in three different sections of the estuary: the riverine zone, the mixing zone, and the marine zone. At the river mouth, two mooring stations were used for the collection of samples over tidal cycles. Total particulate n-ALK concentrations ranged from 31 ng 1^?1 to 2,918 ng 1^?1, or 5 μg g^?1 dry ng 1^?1, or 2 μg g^?1 of SM. Concentrations varied with the SM load and could be related to sedimentation and estuarine mixing. The sources of the n-ALKs were different in each zone of the estuary. The dissolved n-ALKs displayed lower concentrations than the particulate phase, varying from 136 ng 1^?1 to 344 ng 1^?1, while biogenic dissolved PAHs were almost absent.