ALBERT

Description: In this study, a series of drained triaxial tests were performed in order to examine the effect of cementation on the shear behavior of granular soil. It was observed that the brittle nature and dilative tendency of granular soil is dominant under a low confining stress level, while high confining stress results in a contractive behavior despite the strong cementation bond. Based on experimental results, an idealized concept is suggested to define the shear strength of cemented sand in three distinctive zones: the cementation control zone with a constant cohesion intercept at a low confining stress level, the transition zone in which the cohesion intercept is gradually reduced after a breaking point, and the stress control zone with almost zero cohesion intercept due to breakage of cementation bonds at a high confining stress level. It was shown that the sitting pressures during cementation have little effect on the strength parameters of cemented sand, while the increase of gypsum content and relative density, and the decrease of particle size, result in an increase of the cohesion intercept and the breaking point. In addition, the prediction equations for the shear strength and cohesion intercept in the cementation control zone and the transition zone are suggested from the analytical and experimental interpretation.

Description: A new 30-arc second resolution global topography/bathymetry grid (SRTM30_PLUS) has been developed from a wide variety of data sources. Land and ice topography comes from the SRTM30 and ICESat topography, respectively. Ocean bathymetry is based on a new satellite-gravity model where the gravity-to-topography ratio is calibrated using 298 million edited soundings. The main contribution of this study is the compilation and editing of the raw soundings, which come from NOAA, individual scientists, SIO, NGA, JAMSTEC, IFREMER, GEBCO, and NAVOCEANO. The gridded bathymetry is available for ftp download in the same format as the 33 tiles of SRTM30 topography. There are 33 matching tiles of source identification number to convey the provenance of every grid cell. The raw sounding data, converted to a simple common format, are also available for ftp download.

Description: Cirripedes are one of the major groups of fouling organism in the marine environment. The cyprid can, before a permanent attachment, actively explore and walk on the substratum using its antennules in a bipedal fashion without leaving the surface. Studying the structure of the cyprid antennule is therefore important for understanding the events that culminate in biofouling by barnacles. There are at present no complete, standardised accounts of the structure of the cyprid antennules in thoracican barnacles, and moreover, the existing accounts vary in their use of terminology. This article describes the cyprid antennule of the barnacle Megabalanus rosa. This barnacle species is common in E Asia, and the cyprids have previously been used in several biofouling studies. All externally visible setae on the antennules have been mapped; these comprise both chemosensors with a terminal pore, a putative aesthetasc-like seta and mechano-sensory setae. More setae were found on the attachment disc than in previous scanning electron microscope-based studies, but not all structures that can be seen with transmission electron microscopy were visible. The disc itself seems to have a variable surface area, which could assist in exploring rough surfaces. The various lengths of the antennular setae, coupled with the disposition of the segments, enable the cyprid to cover a wide swath of substratum during exploratory walking. A new terminology is proposed for cyprid antennular setae, which will form a basis for future comparative and functional studies of cirripede settlement.

Description: Data from New Zealand and northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, indicate that the Cambrian Takaka Terrane intra-oceanic arc/backarc assemblage and the Bowers Terrane intra-oceanic arc/back-arc assemblage were accreted to the Gondwana margin by the Late Cambrian. Compelling similarities between the arc rocks and the immediate post-arc sediments firmly place the two regions in the same tectonic framework and imply close paleogeographic proximity. Currently, the Ross Orogen is thought to be the result of sinistral oblique convergence with west-directed subduction, and accretion of the arc assemblages is attributed to closure of backarc basins. Syntectonic fluvial conglomerates in both regions attest to the development of fluvial systems draining both the accreted arc and the contemporaneous continental margin arc. Trilobite faunas indicate that fluvial sedimentation commenced earlier in New Zealand than in northern Victoria Land. In the context of the widely accepted sinistral oblique convergence model, these data suggest an original position for New Zealand to the south of northern Victoria Land, probably in the region of the southern Ross Sea.

Description: The regional dust model system LM-MUSCAT-DES was developed in the framework of the SAMUM project. Using the unique comprehensive data set of near-source dust properties during the 2006SAMUMfield campaign, the performance of the model system is evaluated for two time periods in May and June 2006. Dust optical thicknesses, number size distributions and the position of the maximum dust extinction in the vertical profiles agree well with the observations. However, the spatio-temporal evolution of the dust plumes is not always reproduced due to inaccuracies in the dust source placement by the model. While simulated winds and dust distributions are well matched for dust events caused by dry synoptic-scale dynamics, they are often misrepresented when dust emissions are caused by moist convection or influenced by small-scale topography that is not resolved by the model. In contrast to long-range dust transport, in the vicinity of source regions the model performance strongly depends on the correct prediction of the exact location of sources. Insufficiently resolved vertical grid spacing causes the absence of inversions in the model vertical profiles and likely explains the absence of the observed sharply defined dust layers.

Description: Screening for pathogenic micro-organisms is an essential component of translocation-based conservation management. While there are some data on pathogens in New Zealand passerines, little is known about the distribution and prevalence of pathogens infecting New Zealand Psittaciformes. We conducted a survey for pathogens of the vulnerable New Zealand endemic red-crowned parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae in two wild populations (Little Barrier Island and Raoul Island), and in a translocated population (Tiritiri Matangi Island). A total of 101 cloacal samples were tested for Salmonella and Yersinia. Of these, 82 samples were also tested for Campylobacter. None of these microorganisms were detected. Although our sampling effort was insufficient to detect a low prevalence of Campylobacter, modelling of minimum detectable prevalence of Salmonella and Yersinia indicates that these micro-organisms would have been detected if present as common or chronic conditions of red-crowned parakeets at these sites.

Description: Cephalopods play a significant role in coastal and oceanic ecosystems, both as consumers of invertebrates and small fish and as the prey of some fish, seabirds and marine mammals and other large predators. Approximately 30 species of cephalopod have been recorded in the north-eastern Atlantic and adjacent waters, including 18 teuthid (squid), seven sepiolid (bobtail), three sepiid (cuttlefish) and 10 octopod (octopus) species. A number of these are exploited commercially and support important target and by-catch fisheries in Western Europe. During the past decade, annual landings of cephalopods from the north-eastern Atlantic (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea [ICES] area) have ranged from 40,000 to 55,000 t, including substantial catches of long-fin (loliginid) squid (7000–11,000 t per annum), short-fin (ommastrephid) squid (3000–10,000 t), cuttlefish (including sepiolids; 16,000–24,000 t) and octopods (12,000–18,000 t). The most important exploited species in the north-eastern Atlantic are Eledone cirrhosa, Illex coindetii, Loligo forbesi, Loligo vulgaris, Octopus vulgaris, Todarodes sagittatus, Todaropsis eblanae and Sepia officinalis. Other species including Alloteuthis subulata, Gonatus fabricii and certain sepiolids, appear to be abundant and may be marketable. Cephalopods tend to rapidly concentrate heavy metals and other toxic substances in their tissues and this plays an important role in the bioaccumulation of these pollutants in marine predators as well as having implications for human consumption. High levels of cadmium and mercury are often recorded in cephalopod tissues. Another important environmental issue concerns the potential impact of widespread human activity on cephalopod spawning areas, particularly bottom-fishing operations but also shipping, and oil exploration and production. In contrast to many finfish species that spawn annually over a number of years, most cephalopods live only 1–2 yr and die after spawning. Therefore, failure to reproduce and recruit adequately in any given year may seriously impact the long-term viability of cephalopod stocks. Climate change is expected to have a significant effect on many species in the north-eastern Atlantic. This review provides a detailed account of the zoogeography, biology and ecology of cephalopods in the north-eastern Atlantic, on a species-by-species basis. Important economic, ecological and conservation issues affecting cephalopods in this area are also discussed

Description: The SAMUM field campaign in southern Morocco in May/June 2006 provides valuable data to study the emission, and the horizontal and vertical transports of mineral dust in the Northern Sahara. Radiosonde and lidar observations show differential advection of air masses with different characteristics during stable nighttime conditions and up to 5-km deep vertical mixing in the strongly convective boundary layer during the day. Lagrangian and synoptic analyses of selected dust periods point to a topographic channel from western Tunisia to central Algeria as a dust source region. Significant emission events are related to cold surges from the Mediterranean in association with eastward passing upper-level waves and lee cyclogeneses south of the Atlas Mountains. Other relevant events are local emissions under a distinct cut-off low over northwestern Africa and gust fronts associated with dry thunderstorms over the Malian and Algerian Sahara. The latter are badly represented in analyses from the European Centre for Medium–Range Weather Forecasts and in a regional dust model, most likely due to problems with moist convective dynamics and a lack of observations in this region. This aspect needs further study. The meteorological source identification is consistent with estimates of optical and mineralogical properties of dust samples.

Description: Barnacle cypris larvae respond to many cues when selecting a settlement site. The settlement of over a million larvae on tiles of different textures, orientations and densities of incumbent settlers was measured on the rocky intertidal at Great Cumbrae, Scotland. Half of the tiles were replaced every tide whereas the others simultaneously accumulated settlers. Factor effects varied on each tide, and converged in the accumulating deployment. Increasing incumbent density led to net loss of settlement, which was less probable on the textures on which fastest settlment occurred ('very fine'), and more probable on those on which settlement was slowest ('smooth'). More settlement occurred on down-facing orientations during daylight and vice versa. Cue ranks were non-linear, so a path analysis model quantified the relative influence of each factor. Gregariousness was the most influential cue measured, although unmeasured factors had greater effects, highlighting the complexity of settlement influences in this species.

Description: Fluorescence excitation-emission matrices showed the spectral signature of dissolved organic matter (DOM) downstream in the River Tet at all seasons corresponding to humic substances with maximum fluorescence emission em=420-460nm for excitations of ex=340-360nm and the occasional presence of tryptophan, tracer of anthropogenic pressure, spectroscopically identified by ex/em=310/350nm. A factorial discriminant analysis, performed using the parameters selected (ex/em pairs of wavelength), succeeded in a better discrimination of seasons than stations, and clearly showed the presence of two fluorophores. Fluorophore 1, with two absorption bands: ex=260-320nm and 330-390nm for em=440-500nm, and Fluorophore 2, with one absorption band: ex=300-360nm for em=410nm, which are attributed to humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA), respectively. Variations of DOM relative contents downstream in the River Tet, according to seasons and stations, showed high amounts of DOM (pedogenic character) along the river in the humid period, with the highest value obtained in the mountain section. In contrast, in summer, the DOM contents were low (aquagenic character). Moreover, DOM presents a relatively constant composition with a percentage of FA ranging from 40% at the mountain station to 48% at the mouth river, whatever the season.

Description: Since early 2008, an increasing number of countries have ratified an international treaty to ban the application of antifouling (AF) coatings based on organotin compounds (eg tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin). As a result, the demand for environmentally friendly, non-toxic or low-toxicity AF compounds and technologies (green AF agents) has become an urgent reality. Marine coatings based on Cu2O and various other biocides have a negative impact on the environment and they must eventually be replaced by new, effective, and environmentally friendly AF compounds. This mini-review describes important AF compounds discovered from a variety of organisms from 2004 until mid 2009, and discusses recent and general trends in the discovery of AF compounds. Finally, a perspective on the future of AF compound development is presented. The discussion is aimed at updating scientists and engineers on the current challenges facing AF research.

Description: The presented study assessed the heavy metal contamination risk in a former sludge deposit field of the River Ruhr in Essen, Germany. Therefore, the temporal and spatial distribution in soils and plants, chemical fractionation, mobilization potential, and transfer characteristics have been investigated. Soil samples, roots and shoots of rushes (Juncus sp.), and stem wood disks of willows (Salix sp.) were analyzed for Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, and Cd. Plant available and mobile heavy metal portions have been determined using a sequential extraction procedure. The results show that the soils and the rushes are highly contaminated, although there is a considerable decrease compared to initial concentrations some 20 years ago. The willows show only small heavy metal enrichment. pH induced mobilization potential in soil is high for Cd, Zn and Ni. Additionally, these elements contain high portions of plant-available fractions. High transfer rates from soil to roots and very high rates from roots to shoots of rushes have been determined for Cd and Zn, indicating an accumulation of these elements in shoots of rushes. The rushes reflect the temporal and spatial heavy metal distribution in soil and might thus be used as a bioindicator or for phytoremediation.

Description: Draft regulations for prospecting and exploration of polymetallic sulphides in the “Area” are currently being considered for implementation by the International Seabed Authority. This paper examines possible models for allocation of lease blocks for exploration and the proposed schedule for relinquishing blocks during the exploration phase. One model for granting of exploration licenses under the proposed regulations involves contiguous lease blocks, similar to that being considered for nodules and crusts; another model involves non-contiguous blocks. An analysis of the occurrence and distribution of known polymetallic sulphides in 32 training areas shows that the regulations for prospecting and exploration of crusts likely cannot be applied equally to polymetallic sulphides.

Description: A wide variety of terrestrial biomass feed stocks have been identified as suitable candidates for fractionation and conversion into biofuels. In particular, microalgae have been promoted as a future source of transportation fuels primarily because of their stated potential to produce up to 10 times more oil per acre than traditional biofuel crops. Their ability to grow relatively fast, be harvested on a daily basis, and grown in earthen ponds or closed photobioreactors that occupy marginal or poor crop lands using salt or brackish water, are often referenced. When these attractive traits are coupled with the potential to concomitantly harvest valuable co‐products such as biopolymers, proteins, and animal feeds, one can see why microalgae are often touted as biotechnology's “green gold”. The development of large‐scale microalgae farms, however, has been slowed by limitations in downstream processing technology. For example, traditional methods to dewater, extract, and recover bio‐oil from oil‐seeds possess little utility for microalgae. The extreme requirement of dewatering poses tremendous hurdles for any technology processing biofuels from microalgae. To further complicate matters, identifying the most appropriate paths for appropriate extraction technology depends heavily on the microalgal species and its cultivation status, both of which are highly characterized for higher plants as compared to microalgae. In this review we discuss existing extraction methodologies as they have and can be applied to microalgae. Commentary is provided on their potential as a unit operation that exists within the framework of an industrial‐scale microalgal cultivation process that extends from the production of biomass in photobioreactors to the fractionation of the recovered bio‐oil.

Description: Cephalopods are increasingly acknowledged as an ecologically important group in Chilean ecosystems, but are also one of their less-known biogeographic components. Notably, this group is represented virtually exclusively by non-endemic species, although we hypothesized that their distribution over the coast should be constrained by similar physical determinants to those affecting endemic taxa. We thus present a first evaluation of the latitudinal patterns of diversity and distribution of cephalopod species in Chile, based on geographical data obtained from a review of the available literature. We constructed presence–absence binary matrices of coastal and oceanic species in 20 latitudinal units (2°), for then calculating the respective similarity matrices to obtain a distribution dendrogram using hierarchical cluster analysis (UPGM). The original binary matrices were resampled performing 1000 stochastic reassignments to calculating the 95th percentile as the criterion to identify significant clusters. Statistical comparisons between distributional groupings were performed using ANOSIM. We recorded 86 cephalopods in Chile, including oceanic (71) and coastal (15) species. Species richness showed two major breaks at 30° S and 42° S, and decreased toward higher latitudes. Cephalopod species showed well-defined endpoints of distribution within the Chilean coast, differentiating three main biogeographical units: northern (18–30° S), central (30–42° S) and southern (42–56° S) areas. Biogeographical patterns of cephalopod species in Chile showed no particular difference with those already described for most Chilean taxa. The marked distribution breaks of cephalopods at 30° and 42° S suggest that external forcing and physical factors other than temperature gradients may strongly constrain their dispersal.

Description: Symptoms characteristic of wasting disease, thought to result from infection by protozoan pathogens (i.e. Labyrinthula spp.), are a common phenomenon affecting seagrass species worldwide. However relatively little is known about factors that control the survival and success of Labyrinthula in part due to the difficulty associated with quantifying the growth of this organism. Here we describe a simple and inexpensive method for measuring growth of Labyrinthula in liquid culture that takes into consideration both cell density and areal spread. The technique allows for examination of the effects of both abiotic and biotic factors on the growth of Labyrinthula apart from its seagrass host, separating the effects of environmental condition on the host from their effects on the pathogen.