Recurrent Red-tides in the Southampton Water Estuary Caused by the Phototrophic CiliateMesodinium rubrum

In the Southampton Water estuary (southern England, U.K.), red-tides caused by the planktonic, phototrophic ciliateMesodinium rubrum(=Myrionecta rubra) occur during most summers and sometimes in autumn. These events were investigated in detail between 1985 and 1987 and were characterized by levels of chlorophylla(chl a) of over 100 μg l⁻¹, cell numbers ofM. rubrumof over 1×10³ ml⁻¹, oxygen saturations of around 150%, and depleted numbers of macrozooplankton. Initiation of red-water did not appear to be triggered by irradiance or nutrients, but coincided with an increase in temperature and water column stability. This enhanced stability was promoted by increased surface to bottom gradients of both temperature and salinity, and by reduced mixing during neap tides. Development of red-water was accompanied by removal of most of the dissolved NH⁺₄from the water column, whereas some NO⁻₃persisted, presumably maintained by freshwater input. NO⁻₃and NH⁺₄gradually returned to pre-bloom concentrations as the red-water declined in late summer. Maximal biomass ofM. rubrumappeared to be limited by irradiance, and self-shading probably imposed an upper limit of around 300 mg chl a m⁻²within the water column. At the observed levels of chl a, irradiance values within the population maximum between 1 and 3 m depth were only just of the order (≈15 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹) required to balance estimated respiratory demands. Oxygen concentration became undersaturated during the late bloom phase, with minimal values of 20–30% saturation recorded in deeper waters; however, despite this and reduced numbers of macrozooplankton, direct deleterious effects on other organisms were not observed.     

Sea‐surface temperature and salinity changes in the northwest Pacific since the Last Glacial Maximum

The oxygen isotope records of both benthic and planktonic Foraminifera in five piston cores, collected from the region between the Oyashio and Kuroshio Currents near Japan, clearly show the marked latitudinal shifts of these two currents during the past 25 kyr. Under the present hydrographic condition, a clear relationship between the sea‐surface temperature (SST) and oxygen isotope differences from benthic to planktonic Foraminifera is observed in this region. Using this relationship, we find decreased SSTs of 12–13°C (maximum 15°C) in the southernmost core site at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), indicating the Oyashio Current shifted southward. The SSTs at the southern two core sites abruptly increased more than 10°C at 10–11 ka, suggesting the Kuroshio Current shifted northward over these sites at 10–11 ka. In contrast, the northern two core sites have remained under the influence of the cold Oyashio Current for the past 25 kyr. With the reasonable estimate of bottom‐water temperature decrease of 2.5°C at the LGM, the SSTs estimated by this new method give exactly the same SST values calculated from Mg/Ca ratio of planktonic Foraminifera, allowing palaeosea‐surface salinities to be reconstructed. The result suggests that the ice volume effect was 1.0 ± 0.1‰ at the LGM. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planktonic foraminifers in the southern Bering Sea: Changes in composition and productivity during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene

Taxonomic composition and distribution of planktonic foraminifers are studied in section of Core GC-11 that penetrated through Upper Quaternary sediments of the Bowers Ridge western slope, the southern Bering Sea. As is shown, structure of foraminiferal assemblage and productivity have varied substantially during the last 32000 calendar years in response to changes in surface water temperatures and water mass circulation in the northern part of the Pacific, the Bering Sea included. The productivity was maximal during deglaciation epoch, being notably lower in the Holocene and minimal at the glaciation time.     

冲绳海槽有孔虫壳体的微量元素Sr,Nd同位素地球化学

钙质生物壳的微量元素组合和Sr,Nd同位素组成是识别海底混合源沉积物中生物源物质相对贡献的重要参数.冲绳海槽有孔虫壳体强烈富集Sr,P,Mn和Ba,富集Li,U,Th,Sc,Co,Pb,Zn,Cr,Rb,Y,Sb和轻稀土元素,弱富集V,Ga,Zr,Nb,Cd和中稀土元素,相对贫Ge,Mo,In,Sn,Cs,Hf,Ta,W,Tl,Bi和重稀土元素,海水中微量元素的背景含量和生物活动对微量元素的选择性吸收是有孔虫壳体中微量元素发生富集和贫化的主要机制,冲绳海槽有孔虫壳体的稀土元素配分模式与海水和太平洋有孔虫的有明显差异,表现出中稀土元素相对富集,并具有微弱的负Ce异常.有孔虫壳体的Sr,Nd同位素比值也与大洋海水不同,分别为0.709769和0.512162,前者略高于大洋海水,后者略低于大洋海水,表明冲绳海槽海水明显受大陆河水影响.     

钙质成岩作用对有孔虫氧同位素的影响

通过对南海北部ODPl84航次1148站井深477m之下深海相渐新世浮游有孔虫Globoquadrina压扁壳、次生方解石和充填壳的氧同位素对比，定量分析了钙质成岩作用对壳体氧同位素的影响，结果发现，受成岩作用影响，1148站浮游有孔虫氧同位素显著变轻，这种变化趋势与低纬度开放性大洋明显不同。其原因可能与南海海盆扩张早期，大量陆源物质从较窄陆架可以直接沉积到海底，由于陆源物质氧同位素相对偏负，当与海洋沉积物混合后，引起本区沉积物孔隙水氧离子浓度变轻。而扩张初始，高的沉积速率可能使钙质壳体被快速封存在一个相对孤立的系统中，造成孔隙水离子成为影响壳体氧同位素变化的主要因素。当氧同位素相对较重的有孔虫壳体溶解和重结晶并与孔隙水离子发生交换时，引起壳体δ^18O负向偏移。     

Multi-bioindicator study of a small estuary in Vendée (France)

Surficial sediment (about 5 mm) was scraped off in 15 stations selected in the Vie Estuary, a small estuary on the French Atlantic coast. The samples, prepared using the suitable methods, were used for comparing the behaviour of periphytic algae, sporopollinic and other palynologic material, ostracoda and foraminifera for proposing a synthetic evaluation of the information provided by each of them. Dinoflagellate cysts, which are found in an almost monospecific assemblage in low-salinity water, are dispersed by tidal currents, but the location of tintinnids in only the lower reaches shows a limited inward transport. Sporopollinic material is clearly related to the adjacent vegetation, indicating a local origin, and then little influence of transport on the microbenthos, even if fragments of freshwater crustaceans and of Pediastrum alga are found down to the mouth in the sporopollinic deposits. This limited transport of microbenthos allows the use of periphytic algae, benthic ostracoda and benthic foraminifera as indicators of local environmental conditions. It was then possible to determine the extent of marine influence in the estuary, to discriminate between the main channel and adjacent basins, and between different stages of evolution of the basins, from a recently dug basin to a eutrophicated one.     

冲绳海槽北部表层沉积物中底栖有孔虫分布及其与海洋环境的关系

对1999年6月采自冲绳海槽北部的62个表层沉积物样品进行了底栖有孔虫分析。研究表明，该区属种多为中外陆架和上部陆坡常见底栖有孔虫，其中Cibicides pseudoungerianus在研究区域内广泛分布。底栖有孔虫群落明显受研究区水团的制约，该区底栖有孔虫Q型因子分析反映的4个组合分别对应不同的水团影响：组合1以Cibicides pseudoungerianus、Uvigerina sp.、Ammonia ketienziensis、Textularia pseudocarinata为主，代表陆架混合水团影响环境；组合2以Uvigerina peregrina、Beregrina、Bulimina mexicana、Bulimina submarginata、Globocassidulina subglobosa为主，代表黑潮暖流中层水影响下的环境；组合3以喜营养分子Bulimina marginata和Bolivina robusta为主，代表冷涡沉积和上升流沉积区的环境；组合4以Cibicides pseudoungerianus、Globocassidulina subglobosa为主，代表了对马暖流水团影响下的环境，其中水团的氧含量水平和营养状况是影响底栖有孔虫组合变化的主要因素。底栖有孔虫的丰度从西往东依次出现两个丰度高值带，一个位于研究区西部100—140m水深的陆架区，另一个位于400—600m水深的上陆坡，后者可能反映了冲绳海槽大陆坡普遍发育的陆坡上升流现象。     

福建深沪湾潮间带全新世有孔虫及其环境意义

本文对深沪湾西部潮间带表层沉积物和两个钻孔岩芯共30个样品的有孔虫组成进行了定性和定量分析。结果表明，表层沉积物中有孔虫群分布规律明显，随着离岸向海越远，水深越大，有孔虫娄量从1倍数上升到5位数，种数为9-69种，多变度V31-44，复合分异度H（s)3.25-3.25。从钻孔岩芯中的全新世有孔虫群特征可看出，中全新世以来海面升降和海洋环境可分为2个阶段：（1）海水初到钻孔位置，有孔虫数量和种数较少，分异度不高，海相性程度较低。（2）后期（埋深1.8m和2.0m以浅），海面有所升高，变为潮间带（高潮位→中潮位→低潮位）环境。     

南海晚第四纪浮游有孔虫类群变化所表征的古海洋学特征

通过对南海4个岩心的74个样品进行Q型因子分析,求得4个浮游有孔虫组合:亚热带-热带组合,温凉组合,热带易溶组合和亚热带组合。亚热带-热带组合为优势组合,它的发育状况反映了晚第四纪西太平洋热带海水对南海的影响程度,其因子载荷作为古海流特征的参数。温凉组合的发育与南海存在冷涡有关。利用转换函数FP-12E计算了南海南部表层古水温,冰期与间冰期的表层水温平均变化冬季为4.7℃和2.9℃,夏季为3.0℃和2.1℃,季节性温差冰期最大可达8.6℃,间冰期最大可达5.0℃,均比太平洋同一纬度海区的大。冬季表层古水温波动比夏季的大。全新世的表层水温呈上升趋势,但在NS86-43柱中有一变冷现象,这可能和the younger Younger Dryas有关。     

Biological Responses to Seasonally Varying Fluxes of Organic Matter to the Ocean Floor: A Review

Deep-sea benthic ecosystems are sustained largely by organic matter settling from the euphotic zone. These fluxes usually have a more or less well-defined seasonal component, often with two peaks, one in spring/early summer, the other later in the year. Long time-series datasets suggest that inter-annual variability in the intensity, timing and composition of flux maxima is normal. The settling material may form a deposit of “phytodetritus” on the deep-seafloor. These deposits, which are most common in temperate and high latitude regions, particularly the North Atlantic, evoke a response by the benthic biota. Much of our knowledge of these responses comes from a few time-series programmes, which suggest that the nature of the response varies in different oceanographic settings. In particular, there are contrasts between seasonal processes in oligotrophic, central oceanic areas and those along eutrophic continental margins. In the former, it is mainly “small organisms” (bacteria and protozoans) that respond to pulsed inputs. Initial responses are biochemical (e.g. secretion of bacterial exoenzymes) and any biomass increases are time lagged. Increased metabolic activity of small organisms probably leads to seasonal fluctuations in sediment community oxygen consumption, reported mainly in the North Pacific. Metazoan meiofauna are generally less responsive than protozoans (foraminifera), although seasonal increases in abundance and body size have been reported. Measurable population responses by macrofauna and megafauna are less common and confined largely to continental margins. In addition, seasonally synchronised reproduction and larval settlement occur in some larger animals, again mainly in continental margin settings. Although seasonal benthic responses to pulsed food inputs are apparently widespread on the ocean floor, they are not ubiquitous. Most deep-sea species are not seasonal breeders and there are probably large areas, particularly at abyssal depths, where biological process rates are fairly uniform over time. As with other aspects of deep-sea ecology, temporal processes cannot be encapsulated by a single paradigm. Further long time-series studies are needed to understand better the nature and extent of seasonality in deep-sea benthic ecosystems. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.