Sustainable shellfish aquaculture in Saldanha Bay,South Africa

The carrying capacity for bivalve shellfish culture in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, was analysed through the application of the well-tested EcoWin ecological model, in order to simulate key ecosystem variables. The model was set up using: (i) oceanographic and water-quality data collected from Saldanha Bay, and (ii) culture-practice information provided by local shellfish farmers. EcoWin successfully reproduced key ecological processes, simulating an annual mean phytoplankton biomass of 7.5 µg Chl a l^–1 and an annual harvested shellfish biomass of about 3 000 tonnes (t) y^–1, in good agreement with reported yield. The maximum annual carrying capacity of Small Bay was estimated as 20 000 t live weight (LW) of oysters Crassostrea gigas, or alternatively 5 100 t LW of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, and for Big Bay as 100 000 t LW of oysters. Two production scenarios were investigated for Small Bay: a production of 4 000 t LW y^–1 of mussels, and the most profitable scenario for oysters of 19 700 t LW y^–1. The main conclusions of this work are: (i) in 2015–2016, both Small Bay and Big Bay were below their maximum production capacity; (ii) the current production of shellfish potentially removes 85% of the human nitrogen inputs; (iii) a maximum-production scenario in both Big Bay and Small Bay would result in phytoplankton depletion in the farmed area; (iv) increasing the production intensity in Big Bay would probably impact the existing cultures in Small Bay; and (v) the production in Small Bay could be increased, resulting in higher income for farmers.     

Mussel Periostracum from Deep-Sea Redox Communities as a Microbial Habitat: 3. Secondary Inhabitants

Abstract. Vacated microborings in periostracum of live mussels of the Florida Escarpment redox community (depth of 3266 m) become a habitat for a prolific secondary microbiota consisting of a variety of prokaryotic and a few eukaryotic organisms. Periostracum surface is also colonized by diverse microorganisms, dominated by presumed chemolithotrophic bacteria with stacks of intracellular lamellae. Unlike sheltered microflora within borings, the surface community is heavily grazed upon by numerous archaeogastropods and ciliates.     

A multiphase approach for evaluating the horizontal and rocking impedances of pile group foundations

This paper advocates the use of a multiphase model, already developed for static or quasi‐static geotechnical engineering problems, for simulating the behaviour of piled raft foundations subject to horizontal as well as rocking dynamic solicitations. It is shown that such a model, implemented in a FEM code, yields appropriate predictions for the foundation impedance characteristics, provided that shear and bending effects in the piles are taken into account, thus corroborating the findings of the asymptotic homogenization theory. Besides, it is notably pointed out that such a multiphase‐based computational tool makes it possible to assess the dynamic behaviour of pile groups in a much quicker way than when using direct numerical simulations, which may face oversized problems when large pile groups are concerned. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of deforestation on pearl mussel habitats in the Russian section of the Baltic Sea basin

Changes in the vegetation cover associated with intensive forest extermination may have a strong effect on the riverine environment, including the chances of survival for bivalve mollusc populations in small streams and rivers. In order to check this hypothesis, drainage area properties of the rivers with extinct and existing pearl mussel populations in the Russian section of the Baltic Sea basin were compared. Preservation of forest vegetation along the river banks of the studied rivers was correlated with the presence of pearl mussel populations. Traditional agriculture turned out to be, in some cases, more harmful for river ecosystems than urbanization and industrialization.     

辽南新元古代桥头组海相冰碛沉积事件

通过对辽南瓦房店市岳山地区详细的野外地质调查,在桥头组中首次发现两处冰筏坠石冰碛沉积现象。坠石大小不等,均呈椭球倒锥状,磨圆较好,岩性分别为灰褐色细粒石英砂岩和黄褐色铁质胶结细粒石英砂岩,寄主围岩岩性为黄绿色粉砂质页岩且环绕坠石沉积,两者岩性差别较大,界线清晰。另外在桥头组中采集的碎屑锆石最小~(206)Pb/~(238)U年龄为662±16 Ma(~(207)Pb/~(206)Pb年龄为884±28 Ma),可以推断桥头组形成晚于800 Ma,应为新元古代中晚期沉积产物。根据以上证据及层序学资料,笔者把辽宁地区出露的桥头组、长岭子组(康家组)厘定为辽宁地区第二次冰碛事件,形成时代确定为新元古代中北方世(南华世)。     

Distinct activity phases during the recent geologic history of a Gulf of Mexico mud volcano

Laser line scan imaging and chirp sub-bottom profiling were used to detail the morphology of a submarine mud volcano and brine-filled crater at 652 m water depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The mud volcano has a relief of 6 m and a basal diameter of about 80 m. The feature comprises a central, brine-filled crater (253 m²) surrounded by a continuous bed of methanotrophic mussels (Bathymodiolus childressi) covering 434 m² and a patchy bed covering an additional 214 m² of the periphery. The brine pool was mostly <2 m deep, but there were two holes of >28 m and 12 m deep, respectively at the northern end of the pool which emitted continual streams of small clear bubbles. Sub-bottom profiles indicated three distinct strata beneath the present surface of the mud volcano. Integration of 17 profiles shows that the mud volcano has been built in at least three successive stages: the lowest stage deposited 35,400 m³, while the middle and upper stages deposited 7700 and 20,400 m³, respectively. Piston cores were taken at the northern edge of the mussel bed and a site ∼100 m southwest of the pool. Mussel and lucinid shells were recovered from the closer core, lucinid shells from the distant core. A mussel shell from 3.4 m sub-bottom had a Δ¹⁴C age of 16.2 ka. Mixture of modern carbon with “carbon dead” reservoir material would produce actual ages ∼2 ka less than the radiocarbon ages.     

苏北浅滩养殖筏架附生绿藻入海过程在黄海绿潮形成中的作用

本研究采用现场定量观测为主的研究方法,在2017年5月期间对苏北浅滩竹根沙收紫菜养殖筏架作业过程进行跟踪调查;对养殖筏架绠绳附生绿藻自然脱落和收筏架作业过程人为刮落附生绿藻,以及收筏架作业前后入海的漂浮绿藻生物量进行定量观测。结果表明:筏架绳附生绿藻自然脱落率低,为3.58%±0.78%;收筏架作业过程中绠绳上刮落绿藻生物量为(12±3)kg湿重/根,由此估算2017年整个苏北浅滩刮落的生物量估算可达到万吨湿重;收筏架作业后海域漂浮绿藻生物量是作业前的7.6倍。研究结果进一步明确了收筏架作业过程中人为刮落绿藻是目前筏架附生绿藻最主要的入海方式。刮落绿藻是海水中漂浮绿藻的主要来源,其生物量对南黄海绿潮的规模大小有重要的影响。研究结果为绿潮防控措施的制定和实施提供科学依据。     

Geographic variations in shell growth rates of the mussel Diplodon chilensis from temperate lakes of Chile: Implications for biodiversity conservation

The Chilean lake district includes diverse lentic ecosystems along ca. 700 km of the country (36°–43°S), including the “Nahuelbutan lakes”, “Araucanian lakes” and “Chiloe lakes”. This area is recognized as an important “hot spot” of benthic freshwater biodiversity in Southern South America. In Chilean temperate lakes, increased nutrient loads of P and N caused eutrophication, particularly in the Nahuelbutan Lakes. The freshwater Hyriidae mussel Diplodon chilensis (Gray, 1828) which is one of the most abundant species in Chilean temperate lakes, is known to be very susceptible to eutrophication. This species presents a clear reduction in its geographic ranges and is considered to be a threatened species in many Chilean lakes. In this study, we used a correlative approach to determine how eutrophication-driven changes in the food supply and in geographical parameters of different Chilean lakes affected the shell growth rates of D. chilensis. The results obtained from sclerochronological analyses of the mussel shells suggest an association with a group of environmental variables, including geographical types (negative), such as latitude and altitude, and limnological types (positive), especially phosphorous and turbidity. However, the D. chilensis populations under extreme conditions of turbidity in eutrophic and hypertrophic lakes are extinct or nearly so. The high positive correlation of the mean D. chilensis growth rates with orthophosphate (R=0.76; P<0.05), in relation to dissolved inorganic nitrogen, suggests that P is the major limiting factor of the primary productivity in Chilean temperate lakes. We discuss some implications of our results in terms of the conservation of biodiversity in temperate lake ecosystems at different taxonomic levels.     

桩筏基础下地基土的荷载传递特性

桩筏基础由桩和筏组成一种联合基础，筏将大部分总荷载传递给桩，同时其本身也承担总荷载的一部分。因此，充分认识桩筏基础对上部荷载向地基土的传递特性是非常必要的。该文提出一个桩筏基础传递荷载的计算模型，模型考虑了桩的布置形式对地基接触压力的影响，同时还考虑了桩的受荷过程中的变化特性，并详细分析了桩与筏之间的荷载分配问题。     

短蛸(Octopus ocellatus)酪氨酸蛋白激酶基因的克隆及其mRNA在细菌刺激后的表达规律

从前期构建的短蛸(Octopus ocellatus)c DNA文库中克隆获得了一个短蛸酪氨酸蛋白激酶(Oo Btk)基因的c DNA全长,其c DNA全长1191 bp,包括5’非编码区(UTR)259 bp,3’UTR 227 bp,开放阅读框(ORF)705 bp,编码234个氨基酸,预测理论等电点为8.50,分子量为27.7 k Da。运用实时荧光定量PCR法分析了在健康短蛸的不同组织以及鳗弧菌和藤黄微球菌刺激后血细胞中Oo Btk的表达规律,结果表明:Oo Btk在肌肉、外套膜、鳃、鳃心、系统心脏、肝胰脏、肾囊、胃、性腺和血细胞等各检测组织中均有表达,其中在肝胰脏的表达量最高;短蛸经鳗弧菌和藤黄微球菌刺激后,Oo Btk在血细胞中的表达量呈现出了明显的被诱导表达趋势,在鳗弧菌和藤黄微球菌刺激后6 h表达即增强,并分别在鳗弧菌刺激后48 h和藤黄微球菌刺激后12 h达到最高。Oo Btk参与短蛸对于鳗弧菌和藤黄微球菌刺激的应答过程。