ALBERT

Description: It is a good method to utilize the grain size distribution curves and cumulative frequency curves of marine or river sediments to estimate the hydrodynamic conditions, transportation processes and sedimentary environment. However, researchers can only rely on Excel or Grapher to plot the curves one by one at the present day. The manual plotting procedures are complicated, and calculating the truncation points is time-consuming. To solve the aforementioned problems, we have developed a software tool to plot cumulative frequency curves and calculate the values of truncation points automatically. The software has the ability to plot curves of hundreds of samples accurately and rapidly, promoting researchers to analyze transport mechanisms and hydrodynamic environments. And it is convenient to apply the software to compare the processes of transportation and deposition between different samples.

Description: Fish food is an inevitable item in human consumption with healthy sourceof good quality proteins and fat. Aqua industry can help to improve food security,livelihoods for the poorest and to meet the world’s food demands. But producingmore seafood that is at affordable cost with rich nutrition is challenging for aquaindustry. Many factors affect the productivity of aqua industry; one such an impor-tant constraint is bacterial diseases. Hence, Aqua industry, a booming businesssector, immensely requires continued research with scientific and technical devel-opments, and innovations. Study of bacterialfish disease is one such thrust areawhich requires intense research to understand the causes and control bacterialdiseases infish. The appearance and development of afish disease is the result ofthe interaction among pathogen, host and environment. An insight into bacterialfishdiseases, clinical symptoms and treatment may help to manage the bacterial diseasesand so can make aqua industry a more profitablefield. This chapter deals withdifferent aspects of the most threatening bacterial diseases, occurring in farmedfishes and also in wildfishes, which are results infish loss and economic lossworldwide. A wide range of gram positive and gram-negative bacteria causingbacterial diseases, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, vaccines and the natureof water habitat are also discussed in this chapter.

Description: A comprehensive study of the Earth system and its related processes requires a holistic examination and understanding of multidimensional data acquired with a large number of different sensors or produced by various models. To this end, the Digital Earth project developed a set of software solutions to study environmental data sets using visual approaches. In the following chapter, we present three data visualization products developed to deal with the challenges of the analysis and exploration of environmental data.

Description: Data-driven science has turned into a fourth fundamental paradigm of performing research. Earth System Science, following a holistic approach in unraveling the complex network of processes and interactions shaping system Earth, particularly profits from embracing data-driven approaches next to observation and modeling. At the end, increasing digitalization of Earth sciences will lead to cultural transformation towards a Digital Earth Culture.

Description: Every year, vast quantities of plastic debris arrive at the ocean surface. Nevertheless, our understanding of plastic movements is largely incomplete and many of the processes involved with the horizontal and vertical displacement of plastics in the ocean are still basically unknown. In this chapter we review the dynamics associated with the transport of plastics and other pollutants at oceanic fronts. Fronts had been historically defined as simple barriers to exchange, but here we show that the role of these structures in influencing the transport of plastics is more complex. The tools used to investigate the occurrence of frontal structures at various spatial scales are reviewed in detail, with a particular focus on their potential applications to the study of plastic pollution. Three selected case studies are presented to better describe the role of fronts in favoring or preventing plastic exchanges: the large-scale Antarctic Circumpolar Current, a Mediterranean mesoscale front, and the submesoscale fronts in the Gulf of Mexico. Lastly, some aspects related to the vertical subduction of plastic particles at oceanic fronts are discussed as one of the most promising frontiers for future research. The accumulation of floating debris at the sea surface is mainly affected by the horizontal components of frontal dynamics. At the same time, vertical components can be relevant for the export of neutrally buoyant particles from the surface into the deep sea. Based on these evidences, we propose that submesoscale processes can provide a fast and efficient route of plastic transport within the mixed layer, while mesoscale instabilities and associated vertical velocities might be the dominant mechanism to penetrate the deeper ocean on slower but broader scales. We conclude that given the ubiquitous presence of fronts in the world’s ocean, their contribution to the global plastic cycle is probably not negligible and the role of these processes in vertically displacing neutrally buoyant microplastics should be investigated in more detail.

Description: Marine electromagnetic methods provide useful and independent measures for the identification and quantification of submarine gas hydrates. The resistivity of seafloor sediments, drawn from area-wide electromagnetic data, mainly depends on the sediment porosity and the nature of the pore fluid. Gas hydrates and free gas are both electrically resistive. The replacement of saline water, thus conductive pore water with resistive gas hydrate or free gas, increases the sediment resistivity and can be used to provide accurate saturation estimates if the background lithology is known. While seismic methods are predominantly used to study the distribution of submarine gas hydrates, a growing number of global field studies have demonstrated that the joint interpretation of marine seismic and electromagnetic methods improves the evaluation of submarine gas hydrate targets. This article discusses the relationship between resistivity and free gas/gas hydrate saturation levels, how the resistivity of the sediment may be measured and summarizes the status and results of current and past field studies.

Description: The Digital Earth project aims at a strong interrelation between Data and Earth Science and a step-change in implementing data science methods within Earth science research. During the project, the progress of interdisciplinary collaboration and adoption of data science methods has been measured and assessed with the goal to trace the success of the project. This chapter provides the set-up of this evaluation and the results from two online questionnaires that were held after the start and before the end of the project.

Description: The Black Sea has undergone several limnic and marine stages due to fluctuations in the global sea level. The exchange of saline water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea through the Bosporus Strait was interrupted when the sea level dropped below the Bosporus sill. This induced limnic conditions, while marine conditions were established after the reconnection to saline Mediterranean seawater. Extended river fan systems developed during sea level low-stands, providing large amounts of organic material being buried by rapid sedimentation on the slopes of the Black Sea margins. The biogenic degradation of this material produces most of the methane gas expelled into the anoxic water column today. This largely happens by ubiquitous cold vents at ~700 m water depth (i.e. at the stability boundary of methane hydrates) and by mud volcanoes in ~2000 m water depth. A significant amount of gas is expected to accumulate in the sediment within the methane hydrate stability zone. However, bottom-simulating reflectors, the seismic indicator for gas hydrates, are not found everywhere along the margin. Recent analyses of the Danube and Dniepr fans have revealed a discontinuous gas hydrate formation in an area with no active seeps, while areas of active seepage located in the vicinity of BSR reflections held no gas hydrates. In addition, the ongoing diffusion of salt into the uppermost Black Sea sediment pore space since the last glacial maximum further reduces the volume of the gas hydrate stability zone. Estimates of the total amount of gas stored in gas hydrates therefore require a detailed structural analysis prior to regional- or basin-scale modelling attempts.