The light transmission and seiche depth of Izmir Bay,western Turkey

Izmir Bay is one of the most polluted estuaries in the whole Mediterranean Sea. The inner part of the Bay (Inner Bay) is heavily affected by domestic and industrial discharge. As a result of these loads, strong eutrophication occurs in the Inner Bay, which is temporally anaerobic. The ecologically sensitive approach of the local authorities during the last decade has given rise to a wide variety of monitoring and research studies on this bay. On the other hand, the municipality of Izmir started to operate wastewater treatment facilities since January 2000. The Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology — Izmir (IMST) with its research vessel R/V K Piri Reis has been conducting an intensive monitoring program since 1988 and especially during the recent few years. These investigations provide an opportunity for the evaluation of the performance of the wastewater treatment plant in terms of the change in the optical properties of Izmir Bay water in a positive manner. The turbidity values measured in these monitoring studies indicate that the values have changed drastically after January 2000. Their spatial variation indicates that the values decrease from the Inner Bay towards the Aegean Sea. The turbidity (light transmission) values are measured with an automatic CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) system during each cruise. The seiche disc depth measurement is carried out only occasionally. The accuracy of the seiche disc depth is dependent on certain daylight conditions and depends on the operator. The seiche disc depth (D _s) is an important parameter to estimate primary production of organic matter (hereafter called production). A relation between light transmission (turbidity) value and seiche disc depth (D _s) is found with very good agreement. The correlations are very high (approximately 0.94) with slight seasonal variation.     

Responsibility, opportunity, and vision for higher education in urban and regional carbon management

This is a summary of the conversation among scholars attending the special session on "Responsibility, Opportunity, and Vision for Higher Education in Urban and Regional Carbon Management" at the First International Conference on Carbon Management at Urban and Regional Levels: Connecting Development Decisions to Global Issues in Mexico City Sept. 4–8, 2006. It includes The Declaration for Carbon Management Education, agreed upon by the participants. Obstacles to such a vision were discussed along with exemplar models of transdisciplinary curricula and suggestions for scholarship.     

Assessment of pollution in the West Black Sea Coast of Turkey using biomarker responses in fish

Aim of this study was to determine the extent of pollution in the West Black Sea Coast of Turkey by measuring CYP1A associated EROD activity, phase II enzyme, glutathione S-transferase and antioxidant enzymes, catalase and glutathione reductase activities and immunochemical detection of CYP1A protein level in the liver of mullet. The fish samples were caught from six locations having a varying degree of pollution in the West Black Sea Region of Turkey in August 2005, 2006 and 2007. Mullets caught from Zonguldak Harbour, Ere?li Harbour and Gülüç Stream’s Mouth displayed 6–9-fold higher EROD, 2–4-fold higher glutathione S-transferase and 2–3-fold higher catalase activities than the reference site, Amasra. Total polyaromatic hydrocarbon levels in mullets caught from these locations were also significantly higher (2–4-fold) than Amasra. The results of this study indicate that Zonguldak Harbour, Ere?li Harbour and Gülüç Stream are highly polluted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related contaminants.