Digital Commons Network^™

Defining The Leading Edge Of The Marine – Non-Marine Transition In The Pee Dee Basin: Influences, And Dynamic Parameters Of A Highly Dynamic System, Nicole Mchugh

Honors Theses

Among estuaries, there is a large block of co-dependent and independent variables shaping habitat and environmental conditions within a critical area. Historical data proxies and indexes from seven different stations were assessed to consider temporal and spatial variability of the marine and non-marine transition along the South Carolina Pee Dee River Basin. Historical datasets from the upper reaches of Winyah Bay and lower section of the Pee Dee River basin were compiled along with shorter termed deployments of a new instrument station installed near Georgetown, SC. This area is representative of the marine-non-marine transition in drowned river mouth estuaries. Water …

Physiological Responses To Hypoxia In Juvenile Flatfishes, Juliana Cornett

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Estuaries serve numerous important ecosystem roles, including providing critical nursery habitat for juvenile fish. However, due to eutrophication and climate change, estuaries experience highly variable dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and hypoxic conditions. Though hypoxia negatively impacts juvenile fish, there are physiological compensatory mechanisms fish may utilize to mitigate its effects. This study examines the effects of hypoxia on two ecologically and economically important flatfish species in Elkhorn Slough on California’s central coast: juvenile English sole, Parophrys vetulus, and juvenile speckled sanddabs, Citharichthys stigmaeus. I measured metabolic rate, ventilation rate, and hematocrit, as well as biochemical indicators of hypoxia …

Environmental Influence On Size Frequency Distributions Of The Pacific Blue Mussel (Mytilus Trossulus) In Two Glacially Inlfuenced Estuaries, Amy Dowling

Marine Biology

The Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) is a foundation species in high-latitude intertidal and estuarine systems that can create complex habitats, provide sediment stability, serve as food for top predators, and act as connectors between the water column and the benthos. M. trossulus also makes an ideal model species to assess biological responses to environmental variability, as its size frequency distributions can be influenced by the environment in which it lives. Size frequency distributions can provide valuable information about ecological systems that are experiencing environmental change (e.g., increased global temperatures). M. trossulus populations in high latitude estuaries receive freshwater runoff …

Cbe Waves Newsletter: December 2021, Various

Newsletters

• The Economic Value of America's Estuaries
• How Little We Know: Humans and Recreation on the California Coast
• Checking in On Ocean-Based Solutions
• Build Back Better and the Ocean Climate Action Plan
• Student Alice McGown attended COP26 with one focused message: Leave It In The Ground
• Transatlantic Blue Economy Initiative
• Student Mary Patenburg contributes to two WWF articles
• Visualizing the Three- Dimensional Footprint of Ocean Uses
• DIVE-An Inspiring Journey through California's Marine Protected Areas with Virtual Reality
• Celebrating Ten Years at the Center for the Blue Economy

Iron Geochemistry Across An Estuary-To-Coastal Gradient, Lissett G. Diaz

Honors Theses

Iron is a ubiquitous earth element that participates in biogeochemical processes that occur in marine sediments. Microorganisms utilize iron for many purposes, including cell growth, conserving energy, and for maintaining metabolic activity. In coastal sedimentary settings, understanding the redox reactions involving ferric iron, Fe³⁺, and ferrous iron, Fe²⁺, in its solid phase and pore-water phases, respectively, enable an appreciation of biogeochemical transformations occurring in the coastal zone. In this study, iron concentrations in sediment of ranging permeability were determined at four stations marking an estuary-coast transition zone in Singleton Swash in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The …

Influence Of Environmental Attributes On Intertidal Community Structure In Glacial Estuaries, Mary K. Mccabe

Marine Biology

High-latitude coastal environments are experiencing dramatic changes due to climate warming. Increased glacier discharge rates modulate downstream environmental conditions in coastal watersheds. These fast-changing environments are predicted to influence the structure of nearshore marine communities. Here, rocky intertidal community structure, recruitment of key organisms, and environmental correlates were examined at nine watersheds in two regions (Kachemak Bay and Lynn Canal) that bookend the Gulf of Alaska, which were separated by approximately 1000km. Each watershed was part of a gradient in each of the regions that spanned 0-60% glacial coverage. Percent cover, biomass surveys, and recruitment of intertidal organisms, along with …

Integrated Estuary Governance, Mary Jane Angelo, J.W. Glass

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Estuaries are complex, dynamic ecosystems that play a critical role in supporting crucial economic industries, such as commercial fishing and tourism, and providing the resources necessary to sustain coastal communities. A range of anthropogenic environmental stressors are threatening the health of estuaries throughout the world. Traditional top-down single resource focused environmental regulatory approaches have proved inadequate to protect and restore estuarine systems. In recent years, scientific and legal academics, as well as policymakers, have called for more holistic participatory approaches to addressing environmental challenges. Drawing on the literature on ecosystem management, integrated water resources management, collaborative governance, and adaptive management, …

Bridging Data Gaps For Strategic Conservation Of Gulf Of Mexico Coastal Region Landscapes, Andrew Challen Shamaskin

Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf Coast Region (GCR) of the United States holds immense ecological and cultural value. However, constant environmental changes, from sea-level rise and hurricanes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, threaten many of the values that define the region. Additionally, recent financial settlements from civil and criminal penalties of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have created an unprecedented opportunity to fund conservation throughout the region. With such a large area of interest (over 700,000 km2) and so many conservation priorities throughout the GCR, there is a great need to strategize which lands are most efficacious for conservation to …

Pollen-Vegetation Relationships In Upper Tampa Bay, Jaime E. Zolik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological and environmental studies reveal prehistoric human-environmental interactions and resolve baseline conditions for estuaries. Paleoecological proxies, such as pollen, aid archeologists in investigating past vegetation dynamics and human impacts. An issue with collecting this information today is that most present-day estuaries in Tampa Bay have been succeeded by mangrove communities and do not represent baseline vegetation dynamics. This is believed to be the consequences of widespread mosquito ditching. As a result of this, the once complex mangrove, salt marsh, juncus marsh, salt prairie, and coastal upland mosaics were converted to monodominant mangrove forests. Upper Tampa Bay (UTB) park contains some …

Identifying Nitrogen Source And Seasonal Variation In A Black Mangrove (Avicennia Germinans) Communityof The South Texas Coast, Ashley Elizabeth Murphy, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) stands in south Texas grow in association with other autotrophic organisms including herbaceous halophytes and cyanobacterial mats. Despite the relevant ecosystem services provided by this coastal plant community, limited information exists on its functioning, in particular as it pertains to nutrient dynamics, namely nitrogen (N). Nitrogen stable isotopes were used to assess potential N sources for plant growth in this community. Plant tissue (leaves), cyanobacteria, and sediment were sampled once every season for one year. Total N in A. germinans (2.6 %) and associated saltwort (Batis maritima) (2.1 %) was higher than in cyanobacteria (0.6 %), …

Classic Article: Gravitational Circulation In Straits And Estuaries, Donald V. Hansen, Maurice Rattray Jr.

Journal of Marine Research

A coupled set of partial differential equations and associated boundary conditions is written to describe circulation and salt-flux processes for estuaries in which turbulent mixing results primarily from tidal currents. Similarity solutions, motivated by characteristic salinity distributions observed in estuaries, are obtained for this set of equations and are compared with observational data. The circulation is separated into modes analogous to the barotropic, baroclinic, and Ekman modes of oceanic circulation. The salinity distribution, although coupled to the velocity distribution, is found to vary independently of it as well. The theoretical results are discussed in regard to: (i) correlation between the …

Editor's Commentary: On Properties Of Seawater Defined By Temperature, Salinity, And Pressure, Kenneth H. Brink

Journal of Marine Research

A classical, and highly productive, approach to studying hydrographic data in the ocean is to use T–S (Temperature–Salinity) analysis. This is a convenient methodology that allows definition of water mass types and quantification of mixing. Information about temperature, salinity and pressure (depth) can further be used to calculate the water’s density...

Classic Article: A Bathythermograph, Athelstan F. Spilhaus

Journal of Marine Research

In the study of the homogeneous layer in the ocean, Rossby and Montgomery (1935) found it desirable to have an instrument which would provide a continuous record of temperature against pressure in the surface layers of the ocean. A preliminary instrument named an “oceanograph” was constructed and used during the summer of 1934. The manifold uses to which such an instrument could be put presaged a widespread employment of the apparatus. This, however, did not come about because of certain inherent difficulties in Rossby’s design. The record was made on a large smoked foil, and thus entailed the attachment of …

Editor's Commentary: On The Process Of Upwelling, Kenneth H. Brink

Journal of Marine Research

Although Harald Sverdrup is now probably best known for his work on basin-scale ocean circulation, his interests were remarkably diverse, and included continental shelf processes. As a coastal oceanographer, I can’t resist highlighting this contribution to the coastal upwelling literature. A relatively simple data set is exploited here, consisting of cross-shelf sections taken near Point Conception, California...

Observations Of Nonlinear Momentum Fluxes Over The Inner Continental Shelf, Thomas P. Connolly, Steven J. Lentz

Journal of Marine Research

Nonlinear momentum fluxes over the inner continental shelf are examined using moored observations from multiple years at two different locations in the Middle Atlantic Bight. Inner shelf dynamics are often described in terms of a linear alongshore momentum balance, dominated by frictional stresses generated at the surface and bottom. In this study, observations over the North Carolina inner shelf show that the divergence of the cross-shelf flux of alongshore momentum is often substantial relative to the wind stress during periods of strong stratification. During upwelling at this location, offshore fluxes of alongshore momentum in the surface layer partially balance the …

Editor's Commentary: Control Of Salinity In An Estuary By A Transition, Kenneth H. Brink, Harlow G. Farmer

Journal of Marine Research

In 1900, Martin Knudson (Knudson 1900; Burchard et al. 2018) considered the salt and volume fluxes for a steady-state estuary. He arrived at very useful relationships between the flux of fresh water coming in from upstream compared to the output salinity and volume flux. While these relations are fundamental and extremely useful, they do not close the problem. Rather, there is always one more piece of information needed; for example, to know the flux of brackish water onto the shelf, you still have to know the outflow salinity...

Classic Article: On Properties Of Seawater Defined By Temperature, Salinity, And Pressure, George Veronis

Journal of Marine Research

Hydrographic station data, consisting principally of temperature and salinity determinations, have been used by physical oceanographers to develop a climatological picture of the distribution of these quantities in the oceans of the world. Density as determined by Knudsen's formula, taken together with hydrostatic and geostrophic dynamics, also provides a crude picture of oceanic flow. However, the data probably contain substantially more information than has been derived from them in the past.The quantity that is orthogonal to potential-density curves in the θS plane is suggested as a useful variable to complement the information contained in potential density. The derivation of …

Nitrogen Cycling In Muddy Sediments Of Great Peconic Bay, Usa: Seasonal N Reaction Balances And Multi-Year Flux Patterns, Stuart Waugh, Robert C. Aller

Journal of Marine Research

To better understand the capacity of sediments to serve as both source and sink of nitrogen (N) and to identify any evidence of evolving changes in sedimentary N cycling, N₂ production, N remineralization, and N₂ fixation were studied over a multi-year period (2010–2015) in bioturbated mud of Great Peconic Bay, a temperate northeastern U. S. estuary. Benthic fluxes and rates of organic matter remineralization were measured using in situ and ex situ incubations. Net annual NH⁺ ₄, NO–₃/NO–₂, and N₂–N fluxes (μ = 1.1, 0.03, and 1.2 mmol m ^{–2 …}

Density And Size-Dependent Bioturbation Effects Of The Infaunal Polychaete Nephtys Incisa On Sediment Biogeochemistry And Solute Exchange, Emma Michaud, Robert C. Aller, Qingzhi Zhu, Christina Heilbrun, Georges Stora

Journal of Marine Research

The impact of bioturbation on the geochemistry of aquatic sediments is known to depend on the benthic infauna species that are present. However, burrowing and activity patterns of each species may also change during the different stages of a life cycle. In this study, we examined the effects of four size classes of the polychaete Nephtys incisa on burrow networks and sediment biogeochemistry. In our experimental aquaria, the total biovolume (~ biomass) of Nephtys was kept constant, but different age classes were introduced, so the size and abundance varied between treatments. Despite differences in the geometry of burrow networks (due …

Upwelling Velocity And Ventilation In The Western South China Sea Deduced From Cfc-12 And Sf6 Observations, Weimin Wang, Peng Huang, Hengxiang Deng, Mian Chen, Minggang Cai, Zhiyou Jing, Shihao Luo, Xuehong Zheng, Chunhui Wang, Hongwei Ke

Journal of Marine Research

This study presents observations of the transient tracers CFC-12 and SF₆ in the western South China Sea during the fall of 2015. A CFC-12 maximum was discovered in the western South China Sea at the subsurface layer (150–200 m), which could be traced back to the North Pacific Tropical Water. The transit time distribution approach was used to estimate the ventilation time in this area. The constrained Δ /Γ ratio of 0.5 was obtained using CFC-12/SF₆ tracer pair. This ratio is lower than the empirical unit ratio of one as used for previous estimates. Waters in the northern …

Editor's Commentary: A Bathythermograph, Kenneth H. Brink

Journal of Marine Research

In this classic, Athelstan Spilhaus reports on his progress on a prototype of the mechanical bathythermograph, a project that C.-G. Rossby encouraged him to pursue. Although now most often seen in museums or on movie sets (they look a bit like rockets), bathythermographs were extremely influential from the later 1930s into the 1950s. These remarkable, durable instruments allowed continuous traces of temperature versus depth (previously measured as bottle temperatures at typically 50-m separations), and so opened up an entirely new vision of what ocean thermal structure actually looks like. Spilhaus further provides some actual data...

Classic Article: On The Process Of Upwelling, H. U. Sverdrup

Journal of Marine Research

The phenomenon of upwelling which is present along many coasts has been discussed from various points of view. A general explanation of the phenomenon has been given by application of Ekman’s theory of wind driven currents (Thorade 1909; McEwen 1912), and emphasis has been put on the velocity of the vertical motion (McEwen 1934) or on the depth from which water is brought to the surface (Sverdrup 1930; Gunther 1936). Defant (1936) has discussed the horizontal and vertical motion and the distribution of density within the region of upwelling off the coast of southwest Africa, but his analysis is based …

Integrated Estuary Governance, Mary Jane Angelo, J.W. Glass

UF Law Faculty Publications

Estuaries are complex, dynamic ecosystems that play a critical role in supporting crucial economic industries, such as commercial fishing and tourism, and providing the resources necessary to sustain coastal communities. A range of anthropogenic environmental stressors are threatening the health of estuaries throughout the world. Traditional top-down single resource focused environmental regulatory approaches have proved inadequate to protect and restore estuarine systems. In recent years, scientific and legal academics, as well as policymakers, have called for more holistic participatory approaches to addressing environmental challenges. Drawing on the literature on ecosystem management, integrated water resources management, collaborative governance, and adaptive management, …

Editor's Commentary: Gravitational Circulation In Straits And Estuaries, Kenneth H. Brink, Maurice Rattray Jr.

Journal of Marine Research

For decades, people understood the rudiments of how idealized estuaries work: fresh water flows outward above saltier water that intrudes into the estuary. At the same time, mixing smooths out contrasts, so that the ultimate shallow outflow water is much saltier that the upstream riverine inflow had been. But, this vision is qualitative, so that it is hard to predict or diagnose flow structures or the outflow salinity. Hansen and Rattray provided a major step forward in an age before any sophisticated numerical models could deal simultaneously with the many competing effects...

Classic Article: Control Of Salinity In An Estuary By A Transition, Henry Stommel, Harlow G. Farmer

Journal of Marine Research

A theoretical reason is developed to explain why the mouth of a vertically stratified estuary should act as a constraint on the amount of salt water available for mixing in the estuary. Flume experiments designed to test this idea are described. The effect of tides on the control action and application to various estuaries is discussed.

A Global Analysis Of Complexity–Biodiversity Relationships On Marine Artificial Structures, Elisabeth M.A. Strain, Peter D. Steinberg, Maria Vozzo, Emma L. Johnston, Marco Abbiati, Moises A. Aguilera, Laura Airoldi, J. David Aguirre, Gail Ashton, Maritina Bernardi, Paul Brooks, Benny K.K. Chan, Chee B. Cheah, Su Yin Chee, Ricardo Coutinho, Tasman Crowe, Adam Davey, Louise B. Firth, Clarissa Fraser, Mick E. Hanley, Stephen J. Hawkins, Kathleen E. Knick, Edward T.C. Lau, Kenneth M.Y. Leung, Connor Mckenzie, Catriona Macleod, Sandisiwe Mafanya, Francesco P. Mancuso, Luciana V.R. Messano, Lais P.D. Naval-Xavier, Terrence P.T. Ng, Kathryn A. O'Shaughnessy, Paula Pattrick, Mathew J. Perkins, Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, Francesca Porri, Donald J. Ross, Gregory Ruiz, Ido Sella, Rochelle Seitz, Raviv Shirazi, Martin Thiel, Richard C. Thompson, Jean C. Yee, Chela Zabin, Melanie J. Bishop

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Aim: Topographic complexity is widely accepted as a key driver of biodiversity, but at the patch-scale, complexity–biodiversity relationships may vary spatially and temporally according to the environmental stressors complexity mitigates, and the species richness and identity of potential colonists. Using a manipulative experiment, we assessed spatial variation in patch-scale effects of complexity on intertidal biodiversity. Location: 27 sites within 14 estuaries/bays distributed globally. Time period: 2015–2017. Major taxa studied: Functional groups of algae, sessile and mobile invertebrates. Methods: Concrete tiles of differing complexity (flat; 2.5-cm or 5-cm complex) were affixed at low–high intertidal elevation on coastal defence structures, and the …

Algal Coverage Detection And Classification Using Envi: Correlation With Dissolved Oxygen Levels In Elkhorn Slough, Ca, Jason Dawson

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Estuaries are exposed to varying stressors, whether they be physical, chemical, or environmental. The most notable of stressors is eutrophication of coastal and inland ecosystems. This is a result of increased supply of nutrients fueling production within the system. One outcome of this increased nutrient load to the system is that of algal blooms. These blooms can impact the aesthetic appearance and degrade the quality of health of the system. Many of these coastal zones and waterways are critical habitats for many biological (some endangered) species and serve as recreational areas for human populations. Elkhorn Slough, California is one of …

On The Mutual Adjustment Of Pressure And Velocity Distributions In Certain Simple Current Systems, C.-G. Rossby

Journal of Marine Research

The writer (Rossby 1936) recently advanced the hypothesis that the horizontal pressure gradients observed in the current systems of the atmosphere and the ocean to a large extent must be interpreted as reactions to the Coriolis’ forces impressed upon these systems by the rotation of the earth. Observational support for this point of view was found in the fact that both the temperature-salinity and oxygen-salinity correlation curves obtained from stations on both sides of the Gulf Stream in the region between Nova Scotia and Bermuda are very nearly identical, even though the individual isotherms may drop as much as 700 …

Editor's Commentary: Relation Between Variations In The Intensity Of The Zonal Circulation Of The Atmosphere And The Displacements Of The Semi Permanent Centers Of Action, C.-G. Rossby

Journal of Marine Research

Rossby waves! Beta-plane! Here Carl-Gustav Rossby, motivated by observations of weather patterns that move upstream relative to the dominant mid-latitude eastward wind flow, formulates a com-pletely novel linearized theory to account for the tendency for large-scale disturbances to move westward and smaller-scale disturbances to move eastward relative to the winds.

Classic Article: On The Oxidation Of Organic Matter In Marine Sediments By Bacteria, Selman A. Waksman, Margaret Hotchkiss

Journal of Marine Research

The question as to whether the organic matter in the sea bottom is inert or is available as a nutrient for the bottom fauna and bottom-inhabiting bacteria is a problem of special interest in the cycle of life in the sea. A number of marine animals, making up the benthos or the bottom fauna, must depend upon this organic matter for their nutrition while the sea bottom also harbors an extensive bacterial population which require the energy to be derived from various nutrient elements for cell synthesis and respiration...