Holocene permafrost history and cryostratigraphy in the High‐Arctic Adventdalen Valley,central Svalbard

This paper presents the history and cryostratigraphy of the upper permafrost in the High‐Arctic Adventdalen Valley, central Svalbard. Nineteen frozen sediment cores, up to 10.7 m long, obtained at five periglacial landforms, were analysed for cryostructures, ice, carbon and solute contents, and grain‐size distribution, and were ¹⁴C‐ and OSL‐dated. Spatial variability in ice and carbon contents is closely related to the sedimentary history and mode of permafrost aggradation. In the valley bottom, saline epigenetic permafrost with pore ice down to depths of 10.7 m depth formed in deltaic sediments since the mid‐Holocene; cryopegs were encountered below 6 m. In the top 1 to 5 m, syngenetic and quasi‐syngenetic permafrost with microlenticular, lenticular, suspended and organic‐matrix cryostructures developed due to loess and alluvial sedimentation since the colder late Holocene, which resulted in the burial of organic material. At the transition between deltaic sediments and loess, massive ice bodies occurred. A pingo developed where the deltaic sediments reached the surface. On hillslopes, suspended cryostructure on solifluction sheets indicates quasi‐syngenetic permafrost aggradation; lobes, in contrast, were ice‐poor. Suspended cryostructure in eluvial deposits reflects epigenetic or quasi‐syngenetic permafrost formation on a weathered bedrock plateau. Landform‐scale spatial variations in ground ice and carbon relate to variations in slope, sedimentation rate, moisture conditions and stratigraphy. Although the study reveals close links between Holocene landscape evolution and permafrost history, our results emphasize a large uncertainty in using terrain surface indicators to infer ground‐ice contents and upscale from core to landform scale in mountainous permafrost landscapes.     

Observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The occasional occurrence of brief but intense bursts of cosmic gamma-rays was disclosed through a systematic search of data acquired from the Vela satellites. Confirmation of the nature of the events and additional detail of their characteristics has subsequently been provided by 15 other groups of experimenters with instruments on 13 spacecraft. Thirty-nine such events have been identified from data spanning a period of four and a half years. The record of intensity as a function of time varies considerably for different events, with total durations ranging from 0.1 to 60s. Time-integrated flux density ranges from 10^–6 to 10^–3 erg cm^–2. Spectral measurements have been accomplished by several groups of experimenters, showing a broad maximum in the energy distribution at about 150 keV. The distribution of source directions implies either near galactic or extragalactic locations. The existing data are not sufficient to distinguish between the various models proposed to explain the phenomenon; no model is completely consistent with all observed characteristics.Work performed under the auspices of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X-and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.     

Age and growth of Cape stumpnose Rhabdosargus holubi (Pisces: Sparidae) in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

Rhabdosargus holubi is a small (maximum weight=2.4?kg) yet important fishery species in the estuaries of the south-east coast of South Africa. Little is known of its biology and specifically its growth rate, which is essential for sustainable management of the fishery. We examined and counted the opaque zones in the sectioned otoliths of 134 R. holubi to determine its age and growth parameters. The otoliths from two recaptured fish marked with oxytetracycline confirmed that one opaque zone was deposited annually. The species reached a maximum age of 18 years and growth was adequately described by a von Bertalanffy growth function of the form: L_t = 358.1 (1 – e^{?0.24(t+0.77)}) mm fork length. There were no significant differences between any of the male and female growth parameters (likelihood ratio test: p = 0.3). The growth was slow (omega index: ω = 86.56); however, despite this, the unique life history of R. holubi may provide a degree of resilience to heavy fishing pressure in estuaries.     

Population connectivity of an overexploited coastal fish,Argyrosomus coronus (Sciaenidae), in an ocean-warming hotspot

The West Coast dusky kob Argyrosomus coronus is a commercially exploited fish with a distribution confined to the Angola–Benguela Frontal Zone (ABFZ) of the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. A previous study revealed that during a recent period of local warming the species extended its distribution into Namibian waters, where it hybridised with the resident and congeneric Argyrosomus inodorus. Environmental changes are a major threat to marine biodiversity and when combined with overfishing have the potential to accelerate the decline of species. However, little is known regarding the evolutionary history and population structure of A. coronus across the ABFZ. We investigated genetic diversity, population structure and historical demographic changes using mtDNA control region sequences and genotypes at six nuclear microsatellite loci, from 180 individuals. A single, genetically homogeneous population was indicated across the distributional range of A. coronus (φ_ST = 0.041, F_ST = 0.000, D = 0.000; p > 0.05). These findings imply that the oceanographic features within the ABFZ do not appear to significantly influence population connectivity in A. coronus, which simplifies management of the species. However, reconstruction of the demographic history points to a close link between the evolutionary history of A. coronus and the environmental characteristics of the ABFZ. This outcome suggests the species’ vulnerability to the rapid environmental changes being observed across this region, and highlights a pressing need for transboundary management to mitigate the impacts of climate change in this global hotspot of seawater temperature changes.     

On shallow-water bottom reverberation frequency dependence

Determinations of bottom scattering strength in the decade below 1 kHz under downward refracting conditions have been made using acoustic reverberation and transmission data from the 2001 East China Sea Asian Seas International Acoustic Experiment (ASIAEX). The measurements were performed using explosive sources and receiving hydrophones in ship-suspended vertical-line arrays. The focus of this paper has been the dependence of bottom scattering strength on the frequency and characterization of the uncertainties associated with the extraction of scattering strength from reverberation. The derived bottom scattering strength gradually rises with frequency from 100-300 Hz and then more rapidly above 300 Hz. A potential explanation suggests that the frequency variation results from two scattering mechanisms, rough layer scattering at the low end of the band and sediment near-surface volume scattering at the high end. The spatial extrapolation of these results is explored by comparing them with similarly derived scattering strengths using data obtained under the Navy's Harsh Environments Program at a somewhat separated site (56 km) under environmental conditions similar to those during ASIAEX. In the ASIAEX analysis, it has been found that the largest source of uncertainty in the scattering-strength frequency dependence arises from persistence of finite-amplitude effects associated with the source signal.     

The role of perched aquifers in hydrological connectivity and biogeochemical processes in vernal pool landscapes,Central Valley,California

Relatively little is known about the role of perched aquifers in hydrological, biogeochemical, and biological processes of vernal pool landscapes. The objectives of this study are to introduce a perched aquifer concept for vernal pool formation and maintenance and to examine the resulting hydrological and biogeochemical phenomena in a representative catchment with three vernal pools connected to one another and to a seasonal stream by swales. A combined hydrometric and geochemical approach was used. Annual rainfall infiltrated but perched on a claypan/duripan, and this perched groundwater flowed downgradient toward the seasonal stream. The upper layer of soil above the claypan/duripan is ～0·6 m in thickness in the uplands and ～0·1 m in thickness in the vernal pools. Some groundwater flowed through the vernal pools when heads in the perched aquifer exceeded ～0·1 m above the claypan/duripan. Perched groundwater discharge accounted for 30–60% of the inflow to the vernal pools during and immediately following storm events. However, most perched groundwater flowed under or around the vernal pools or was recharged by annual rainfall downgradient of the vernal pools. Most of the perched groundwater was discharged to the outlet swale immediately upgradient of the seasonal stream, and most water discharging from the outlet swale to the seasonal stream was perched groundwater that had not flowed through the vernal pools. Therefore, nitrate‐nitrogen concentrations were lower (e.g. 0·17 to 0·39 mg l^?1) and dissolved organic carbon concentrations were higher (e.g. 5·97 to 3·24 mg l^?1) in vernal pool water than in outlet swale water discharging to the seasonal stream. Though the uplands, vernal pools, and seasonal stream are part of a single surface‐water and perched groundwater system, the vernal pools apparently play a limited role in controlling landscape‐scale water quality. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trace metal fluxes to nearshore Long Island Sound sediments

Sediments are very important as trace metal ‘sinks’ in coastal areas. In this paper we present data on the concentrations and calculated fluxes of the trace metals, Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd and Ag at nearshore sites in Long Island Sound. In both areas a percentage of the metal accumulation can be ascribed to local human activities with the highest anthropogenic metal fluxes occurring closest to their source.     

The age and growth of hottentot seabream Pachymetopon blochii before and after the South African linefish state of emergency in 2000

The hottentot seabream Pachymetopon blochii is a small-sized (maximum 2.67 kg) sparid endemic to southern Africa. It is an important target in South Africa's Western Cape traditional linefishery, particularly in the absence of more valuable pelagic species (such as Thyrsites atun and Seriola lalandi). In 2000, South Africa's linefishery was declared to be in a state of emergency, and commercial fishing effort was consequently reduced by 70%. A subsequent increase in stock biomass and intraspecific competition, coupled with environmental changes, were hypothesised to have thereafter altered the growth rate of hottentot, from 2000 to 2010. This study aimed to revise outdated age–growth models for the hottentot by using modern techniques (sectioned otoliths), and to compare age–growth relationships before and after the declared linefish state of emergency. The maximum age observed was 19 years, with no difference in the growth rate between sexes (p = 0.39–0.43) or time-periods (p = 0.96). Although the growth rate did not change, there is evidence that the age structure of the stock changed between time-periods as a result of changes in fishing pressure between 2000 and 2010. The enhanced recent growth model for hottentot, described as L_t = 418.063 (1 – e^{?0.104(t – [?4.709])}) (pooled sexes; n = 206), indicates a considerably slower growth rate for this species than was proposed previously using whole otoliths and has major implications for effective stock management.     

Subtidal sea level variability in a shallow Mississippi River Deltaic estuary, Louisiana

The relative roles of river, atmospheric, and tidal forcings on estuarine sea level variability are examined in Breton Sound, a shallow (0.7 m) deltaic estuary situated in an interdistributary basin on the Mississippi River deltaic plain. The deltaic landscape contains vegetated marshes, tidal flats, circuitous channels, and other features that frictionally dissipate waves propagating through the system. Direct forcing by local wind stress over the surface of the estuary is minimal, owing to the lack of significant fetch due to landscape features of the estuary. Atmospheric forcing occurs almost entirely through remote forcing, where alongshore winds facilitate estuary-shelf exchange through coastal Ekman convergence. The highly frictional nature of the deltaic landscape causes the estuary to act as a low-pass filter to remote atmospheric forcing, where high-frequency, coastally-induced fluctuations are significantly damped, and the damping increases with distance from the estuary mouth. During spring, when substantial quantities of controlled Mississippi River inputs (?q = 62 m³ s^-1) are discharged into the estuary, upper estuary subtidal sea levels are forced by a combination of river and remote atmospheric forcings, while river effects are less clear downestuary. During autumn (?q = 7 m³ s^-1) sea level variability throughout the estuary is governed entirely by coastal variations at the marine boundary. A frequency-dependent analytical model, previously used to describe sea level dynamics forced by local wind stress and coastal forcing in deeper, less frictional systems, is applied in the shallow Breton Sound estuary. In contrast to deeper systems where coastally-induced fluctuations exhibit little or no frictional attenuation inside the estuary, these fluctuations in the shallow Breton Sound estuary show strong frequency dependent amplitude reductions that extend well into the subtidal frequency spectrum.