Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Chesapeake Bay Wave Climate : Wolf Trap Wave Station, Report And Summary Of Wave Observations November 6, 1989 Through August 2, 1990, John D. Boon, D. A. Hepworth, F. H. Farmer

Reports

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Soil and Water Conservation, has identified as one of its major goals the systematic study of hydrodynamic processes that affect recreational, shoreline and benthic resources in the coastal zone of the Commonwealth. In pursuit of that goal, a long-term study of the wave climate in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay was initiated in 1988 with support from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration through the Coastal Zone Management Program administered by the Virginia Council on the Environment (Grant No. NA89AA-D-CZ134).

Plankton Transport Patterns And Residence Times Around A Tall Seamount: Simulation Results, Dorlisa Louise Hommel

OES Theses and Dissertations

A semi-spectral primitive equation circulation model was used to simulate flow over an isolated gaussian seamount. Model configuration was such that a Taylor Cap was generated in the flow over the seamount. Arrays of 100 drifters were released in the simulated flow fields at several depths (50, 100, 200, and 400 m) both upstream and over the seamount. For several experiments vertical behaviors were imposed on the drifters to simulate zooplankton migration patterns. The drifter simulations extended for three months. Drifter transport patterns were determined by the initial release position of the drifter relative to the Taylor Cap as well …

A Three-Dimensional Environmental Fluid Dynamics Computer Code : Theoretical And Computational Aspects, John M. Hamrick

Reports

This report describes and documents the theoretical and computational aspects of a three-dimensional computer code for environmental fluid flows. The code solves the three-dimensional primitive variable v1ertically hydrostatic equations of motion for turbulent flow in a coordinate system which is curvilinear and orthogonal in the horizontal plane and stretched to follow bottom topography and free surface displacement in the vertical direction which is aligned with the gravitational vector. A second moment turbulence closure scheme relates turbulent viscosity and diffusivity to the turbulence intensity and a turbulence length scale. Transport equations for the turbulence intensity and length scale as well as …

Temporal And Spatial Variations In Chesapeake Bay Water Quality: A Video Data Report, Sarah E. Rennie, Bruce Neilson

Reports

Over the past two years we have been developing computer programs to investigate various scientific visualization techniques as applied to estuarine data. The original impetus was to be able to visualize the results of the three-dimensional hydrodynamic model under development at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary (VIMS). We quickly recognized the superior ability of certain graphic approaches, especially pseudocolor animation, to efficiently transmit a tremendous amount of information to the viewer, allowing the scientist to gain an insight into the dynamics of the data not otherwise available. We decided to apply this technique to …

Water Quality In Chesapeake Bay : Virginia Portion, Water Year 1988 : A Report To The Virginia Water Control Board, Kevin Curling, Bruce Neilson

Reports

The purpose of this report is to characterize water quality conditions during the 1988 water year, October 1987 through September 1988. For the most part, the information is provided in graphical format. Only data for the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay is included. No data analysis or interpretation is included, since this is the stated purpose of several other reports. This report will be useful to both scientists and managers who need ready access to some portion of the data on a regular basis. With this report it is possible to quickly examine seasonal patterns, compare conditions at two stations, …

Some Solutions To A Lens Model With Applications To Warm-Core Eddies, Juping Liu

OES Theses and Dissertations

A model of lens-shaped anticyclonic eddies based on nonlinear shallow water equations is developed. The model is a three-layer fluid and allows for one asymmetric mode as well as specified environmental flows. The solution scheme is a polynomial expansion of the field variables. When inserted into the hydrographic equations, the expansion yields eight first-order differential equations for the time dependent amplitudes. This system of ordinary differential equations is numerically tractable. As long as the initial values meet the requirement of elliptical structure and the prescribed external force is tolerable for the initial values, the numerical solutions are stable. Numerical solutions …

The Growth And Bioenergetics Of Callinectes Sapidus Larvae And The Effects Of Diet Quality On Larval Physiology, James J. Pletl

OES Theses and Dissertations

Food quality, especially ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), can affect the physiology and metabolic efficiency of larvae of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. These affects may correlate with success in development and juvenile recruitment.

Larvae were exposed to two diets differing quantitatively in ω3 PUFA and respiration, excretion, growth, and feeding rates were measured for each larval stage and the megalopal stage. The energy partitioned to molts and specific dynamic action was also measured. T

he ω3 PUFA enriched diet resulted in a lower respiration rate when compared to the unsupplemented diet, but there was little differences in excretion …

Ring Dynamics In The Western Gulf Of Mexico, Adolphe W. Indest

OES Theses and Dissertations

The interaction of a recently-formed Loop Current ring and a fossil ring is studied using observations and a two-layered eddy-resolving general circulation model of the Gulf of Mexico. This interaction is investigated by following the evolution of volume, energy, potential vorticity, angular momentum and enstrophy within a model ring as it moves westward and encounters a fossil ring along the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. By comparing the model results with drifter and hydrographic data several new insights into ring/ring and ring/slope interactions are seen. A Loop Current ring may merge with a fossil ring along the slope. …

Factors Affecting The Kinetics Of Light Intensity Adaptation In Marine Phytoplankton, Chunzhi Guo

OES Theses and Dissertations

It has been suggested that the recent light history of phytoplankton and the kinetics of photoadaptation can be used to provide information about the vertical mixing processes in the upper mixed layer. To be useful as a parameter in a model of photoadaptation and vertical mixing, the response of a photoadaptive variable to changes in growth irradiance must be monotonic, significant, and comparable in time rate scale to mixing processes. Previous studies of photoadaptation kinetics have focused on the response of phytoplankton to changes in light intensity under continuous illumination. This dissertation attempts to elucidate the effects of light:dark cycle, …

Transport Of Hypoxic Waters: An Estuary-Subestuary Exchange, A. Y. Kuo, K. Park

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Hypoxic or anoxic conditions in the subpycnocline water of Chesapeake Bay persist throughout the summer. The effect on the dissolved oxygen concentration in the deep basin of the lower Rappahannock River, a subestuary on the western side of the bay, was studied with an observational program. The data indicate that in the lower portion of the water column the subtidal (or residual) current was directed into the subestuary most of the time. The mass fluxes of salt and dissolved oxygen into the subestuary through a point near the estuarine bottom at the river mouth were calculated for tidal and subtidal …

A Numerical Study Of The Variability And The Separation Of The Gulf Stream, Induced By Surface Atmospheric Forcing And Lateral Boundary Flows, Tal Ezer, George L. Mellor

CCPO Publications

A primitive equation model is used to study the effects of surface and lateral forcing on the variability and the climatology of the Gulf Stream system. The model is an eddy-resolving, coastal ocean model that includes thermohaline dynamics and a second-order turbulence closure scheme to provide vertical mixing. The surface forcing consists of wind stress and heat fluxes obtained from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS). Sensitivity studies are performed by driving the model with different forcing (e.g., annual versus zero surface forcing or monthly versus annual forcing). The model climatology, obtained from a five-year simulation of each case, is …

Effects Of Wind, Density, And Bathymetry On A One-Layer Southern Ocean Model, John M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

Steady solutions from a one-layer, wind-driven, primitive equation model are analyzed to determine the importance of wind forcing, pressure gradient force due to the climatological density distribution and bottom form drag on circulation in the Southern Ocean. Five simulations are discussed: three wind-forced simulations, with differing bathymetry (flat bottom, 15% bathymetry, and full bathymetry), one case with full bathymetry forced with the density-induced pressure force, and one case with full bathymetry forced by both wind and density-induced pressure gradients. The simulations presented here confirm the previous speculation (Munk and Palmen, 1951) that form drag is effective in balancing the driving …

Juvenile Pelagic Fish Communities In The Mattaponi And Pamunkey Rivers, Virginia, Steffany Dawson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Survival Of Juvenile Queen Conch, Strombus Gigas, In Natural Habitats: Impact Of Prey, Predator And Habitat Features, Livingston Sinclair Marshall Jr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this dissertation, I experimentally examine predation-induced mortality upon juvenile queen conch, Strombus gigas, and assess the importance of select habitat predator and conch characteristics affecting predation intensity. Experiments were conducted during the summer and early fall of 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1991 in seagrass beds and adjacent sand flats near Lee Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. These experiments indicate that various factors act interactively to produce habitat-specific mortality rates in queen conch due to predation. These include (1) habitat type, whereby seagrass beds offer some protection; (2) local population dynamics, such that populated seagrass beds appear to enhance conch …

A Comparison Of Grow-Out Methods For The Bay Scallop, Argopecten Irradians Irradians, At Two Sites In Virginia, Mark J. Brotman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Role Of Habitat Features And Chemical Cues In Substrate Selection By Blue Crab Megalopae: Evidence From Laboratory Experiments, Bruce Clare Layman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Survival And Abundance Of Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster: Effects Of Shelter Size And Geographic Location, Jonathon Daniel Mintz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Benthic Fluxes Of Dissolved Organic Carbon In Oceanic And Sedimentary Carbon Cycling, Davd J. Burdige, Marc J. Alperin, Juliana Homstead, Christopher S. Martens

OES Faculty Publications

Benthic fluxes (sediment-water exchange) of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) represent a poorly quantified component of sedimentary and oceanic carbon cycling. In this paper we use pore water DOC data and direct DOC benthic flux measurements to begin to quantitatively examine this problem. These results suggest that marine sediments represent a significant source of DOC to the oceans, as a lower limit of the globally-integrated benthic DOC flux is comparable in magnitude to riverine inputs of organic carbon to the oceans. Benthic fluxes of DOC also appear to be similar in magnitude to other sedimentary processes such as organic carbon oxidation …

Molecular And Physiological Responses Of Diatoms To Variable Levels Of Irradiance And Nitrogen Availability: Growth Of Skeletonema Costatum In Simulated Upwelling Conditions, G. Jason Smith, Richard C. Zimmerman, Randall S. Alberte

OES Faculty Publications

Molecular mechanisms that drive metabolic acclimation to environmental shifts have been poorly characterized in phytoplankton. In this laboratory study. the response of light- and N-limited Skeletonema costatum cells to an increase in light and NO₃ availability was examined. C assimilation was depressed relative to N assimilation early in enrichment, and the photosynthetic quotient (O₂: CO₂) increased, consistent with the shunting of reducing equivalents from CO₂ fixation to NO₃- reduction. The concomitant increase in dark respiration was consistent with the increased energetic demand associated with macromolecular synthesis. The accelerations of N-specific rates of …

An Investigation Of The Late Pleistocene Paleochannel Systems In The Continental Shelf, South Of Chesapeake Bay Mouth, Ziqiang Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Generic Identification And Patterns Of External Pigment In Larval Gobies (Pisces: Gobiidae) From The Belize Barrier Reef, Elizabeth D. Maddox

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of The Carbon And Nitrogen Densities Of The Marine Heterotrophic Flagellate Paraphysomonas Sp, Yongsik Sin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Taxonomy Of Larval Blennioidei Of Belize, Central America, Martin Ray Cavalluzzi

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Allozyme Analysis Of Billfish Population Structure, Lee W. Morgan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Intentional Introductions Of Non-Indigenous Species: A Case Study Of Policy And Management Affecting Crassostrea Gigas, Gwynne D. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Spiny Lobster Recruitment In South Florida: Quantitative Experiments And Management Implications, Mark J. Butler Iv, William F. Herrnkind

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding recruitment and identifying factors critical to that process are imperative if adult spiny lobster Panulirus argus stocks are to be conserved and properly managed. The goal of our research has been to obtain ecological information linking inshore postlarval spiny lobster recruitment to later life stages, thereby providing the basic framework for assessing and predicting adult stock. Since 1983, we have investigated various aspects of spiny lobster recruitment including: postlarval time-to-metamorphosis, postlarval/juvenile habitat selection and selection cues, postlarval/juvenile crypticity and susceptibility to predation, juvenile food preference and emigration, juvenile sociality, and the effect of habitat degradation (i.e., siltration) on postlarval/juvenile …

Diapycnal Mixing And Mass Transfer In Western Boundary Currents, Jose Luis Pelegri Llopart

OES Theses and Dissertations

The distribution of nutrient flux in five sections across the Gulf Stream (from the Florida Straits of 35°W) is characterized by an intense core, centered at the depth of the 26.8 σ_t isopycnal surface. This 'Nutrient Stream' transports nutrients of O(10³ kmol s^-1} of nitrate and proportional amounts of other nutrients. Water mass and nutrient balances of nine isopycnal layers reveal significant diapycnal mixing between upper-thermocline and surface waters in the sector of the Stream between the Florida Straits and the Mid-Atlantic Bight. A two-box model of the nutrient-depleted surface layers (σ_t < 26.8) and the nutrient-rich thermocline layers (26.8< σ_t < 27.5) shows upward one-way transfer and two-way exchange, both at a a rate at about 1.m²s …

Development And Standardization Of A Short-Term Assay For Evaluating Polluted Estuarine And Coastal Environments: The Medaka Embryo-Larval Assay, Michael Frederick Helmstetter

OES Theses and Dissertations

The eggs of the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) were employed in a number of studies to develop a routine, standardized assay which can assess the acute and sublethal impacts of individual toxicants and complex mixtures. The eggs of this Cyprinodont minnow were topically treated with each toxicant or mixture dissolved in membrane permeable dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent. Nine chemicals were initially evaluated with two, pentachlorophenol (PCP) and tributyltin chloride (TBTCl), subsequently selected for extensive evaluations of salinity tolerance and the accuracy of the topical exposure method for representing a typical immersion exposure. The amount of material actually penetrating the eggs was …

Distribution Of Foraminifera And Pollen In Coastal Depositional Environments Of The Southern Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, U.S.A., Han Jun Woo

OES Theses and Dissertations

The coastal zone of the southern Delmarva Peninsula exhibits a wide variety of barrier island system subenvironments. This study investigates whether 20 a priori subenvironments can be distinguished from each other on the basis of abiotic environmental variables, pollen assemblages, living foraminiferal populations, and total (living plus dead) foraminiferal assemblages.

The physical data collected from the coastal zone were subjected to canonical variate analysis which discriminated 83% of the stations in 19 groups. These groups were clustered into two internally overlapping sets which represented the inside and outside of the inlet.

Twenty-two pollen types were found in low-energy marsh and …