Seasonal changes in community composition and trophic structure of fish populations of five salt marshes along the Essex coastline, United Kingdom

European intertidal salt marshes are important nursery sites for juvenile fish and crustaceans. Due to the increasing threat of habitat loss, the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities need to be understood in order to appreciate the ecological and economic importance of the saltmarsh habitat. This study was the first in Great Britain to investigate the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities and the variation in community structure between closely located marsh habitats. Between February 2007 and March 2008, five marshes on three estuaries of the Essex coastline were sampled using flume nets to block off intertidal creeks at high tide. Fourteen fish species were caught. The community overall was dominated by three species that made up 91.6% of the total catch: the common goby Pomatoschistus microps (46.2% of the total catch), juvenile herring Clupea harengus (24.3%), and juvenile and larval sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (21.2%). Cluster analysis demonstrated clear seasonal patterns, with some community structures unique to specific marshes or estuaries. The marsh fish community shifts from a highly diverse community during spring, to a community dominated by D. labrax and P. microps in autumn, and low diversity during winter months. Gravimetric stomach content analysis of fish community identified three main trophic guilds; macroinvertivores, planktivores and omnivores. The macroinvertivore feeding guild contained D. labrax and P. microps, the two most frequently occurring species. This investigation demonstrates the importance of British salt marshes as nursery habitats for commercial fish species.     

Major's Creek,N.S.W., Australia — A Devonian epithermal gold deposit

Mineralized veins at Major's Creek consist of preponderant quartz and carbonate gangue with gold, Au-Ag tellurides and base metal sulphides within silicified and sericitized dykes or granodiorite of the Braidwood Granite. Fluid inclusion studies indicate deposition throughout the range 350–80°C by low salinity fluids. Significant Au-Ag telluride mineralization took place at a temperature of about 155°C. Mineral deposition was due to the separation of a liquid CO₂ phase from an originally CO₂-rich aqueous fluid. Observed argillic alteration is a consequence of acid leaching above the boiling zone. Mineralization is epithermal in character and probably formed during the existence of a hydrothermal convective system. A relationship with similar epithermal gold deposits in the adjacent Eden-Yalwal Rift zone is inferred.     

Hydrofracturing in response to the development of an overpressurised subglacial meltwater system during drumlin formation: an example from Anglesey,NW Wales

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of a complex hydrofracture system and host diamictons exposed within a longitudinal section through an elongate drumlin located to the west of Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, NW Wales. This complex, laterally extensive sand, silt and clay filled hydrofracture system was active over a prolonged period and is thought to have developed beneath the Late Devensian (Weichselian) Irish Sea Ice Stream as it overrode this part of NW Anglesey. The sediment-fill to the hydrofracture system is deformed with kinematic indicators (folds, thrusts, augen) recording a SW-directed sense of shear, consistent with the regional ice flow direction across this part of the island. The lack of any geomorphological evidence for active retreat of the Irish Sea ice across Anglesey has led to the conclusion that hydrofracturing at the Cemlyn Bay site occurred within the bed of the Irish Sea Ice Stream whilst this relatively faster flowing corridor of ice was actively overriding the island. Shear imposed by the overriding ice led to the development of a subglacial shear zone which facilitated the propagation of the hydrofracture system with the laterally extensive feeder sills occurring parallel to Y-type Riedel shears. Although a subglacial setting beneath the active Irish Sea Ice Stream can be argued for the Cemlyn Bay hydrofracture system, its relationship to the formation of the ‘host’ drumlin remains uncertain. However, evidence presented here suggests that hydrofracturing may have occurred during the later stages or post landform development in response to the migration of overpressurised meltwater within the bed of the Irish Sea ice; possibly accompanying the local thinning and shutdown of the Irish Sea Ice Stream on Anglesey.     

The major‐ and trace‐element whole‐rock fingerprints of Egyptian basalts and the provenance of Egyptian artefacts

Discrimination diagrams have been developed that source Egyptian basaltic artefacts using whole‐rock major element geochemistry. These include K₂O versus SiO₂, TiO₂ and P₂O₅ against MgO/Fe₂O₃^t (total Fe as Fe₂O₃), and a discriminant analysis diagram using SiO₂, Fe₂O₃^t, CaO, and MnO. A complementary set of diagrams uses easily obtained trace element data (Nb/Y versus Zr/Nb; Zr [ppm] versus Rb/Sr; TiO₂ [wt % volatile free] versus V; and Cr [ppm] versus Zr/Y) to determine the bedrock sources. These diagrams have been applied to seven First Dynasty basalt vessels (Abydos), two Fourth Dynasty basalt paving stones (Khufu's funerary temple, Giza), and two Fifth Dynasty paving stones (Sahure's complex, Abu Sir). They show that the bedrock source for all the artefacts was the Haddadin flow in northern Egypt. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis applied to the whole‐rock data (major elements and trace elements together) and previously published mineral fingerprinting studies confirm these results. Comparing mineral versus whole‐rock fingerprinting techniques, a major advantage of the former is the small sample size required (0.001 g compared to ≥ 0.1 g). Analytical costs are similar for both methods assuming that a comparison (bedrock) database can be assembled from the literature. For most archaeological problems, a whole‐rock bedrock database is more likely to exist than a mineral database, and whole‐rock analyses on artefacts will generally be easier to obtain than mineral analyses. Whole‐rock fingerprinting may be more sensitive than mineral‐based fingerprinting. Thus, if sample quantity is not an issue, whole‐rock analysis may have a slight cost, convenience, and technical advantage over mineral‐based methods. Our results also emphasize that the Egyptians cherished their Haddadin basalt flow and used it extensively and exclusively for manufacturing basalt vessels and paving stones for at least 600 years (∼3150 B.C. to 2500 B.C., approximate ages of the vessels and Abu Sir paving stones, respectively). © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.