Oceanography Commons^™

The Linkage Between Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (Ucdw) And Phytoplankton Assemblages On The West Antarctic Peninsula Continental Shelf, Barbara B. Prézelin, Eileen E. Hofmann, Claudia Mengelt, John M. Klinck

OES Faculty Publications

Intrusion of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), which was derived from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), onto the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) shelf region in January 1993 provided a reservoir of nutrient-rich, warmer water below 150 m that subsequently upwelled into the upper water column. Four sites, at which topographically-induced upwelling of UCDW occurred, were identified in a 50 km by 400 km band along the outer WAP continental shelf. One additional site at which wind-driven upwelling occurred was also identified. Diatom-dominated phytoplankton assemblages were always associated with a topographically-induced upwelling site. Such phytoplankton communities were not detected at any …

Biochemical Composition Of Particles And Dissolved Organic Matter Slong An Estuarine Gradient: Sources And Implications For Dom Reactivity, Antonio Mannino, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

The chemical composition of high molecular weight dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) was examined along the salinity gradient of the Delaware Estuary. DOM was collected and fractionated by tangential-flow ultrafiltration into 1-30 kDa (HDOM; high molecular weight) and 30 kDa to 0.2 μm (VHDOM; very high molecular weight) and compared to particles collected in parallel. Polysaccharides comprised 12-43% of particulate organic carbon (POC), 30-56% of VHDOM carbon, and 7.5-19% of HDOM carbon. Hydrolyzable amino acids comprised 17-38% of POC, 5.4-12% of VHDOM carbon, and 1.5-4.2% of HDOM carbon. Only 7-43% of dissolved organic nitrogen in VHDOM …

The Effects Of Light And Nitrate Levels On The Relationship Between Nitrate Reductase Activity And (No3-)-N-15 Uptake: Field Observations In The East China Sea, Chin-Chang Hung, George T. F. Wong, Kom-Kee Liu, Fuh-Kwo Shiah, Gwo-Ching Gong

OES Faculty Publications

Nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and ¹⁵NO₃- uptake (NU) were determined in the East China Sea and the adjoining Kuroshio in May 1996, at six stations covering a range of hydrographic conditions: the nutrient-rich and fresher plume of Changjiang Diluted Water along the Chinese coast, the nutrient-rich upwelling Kuroshio Subsurface Water at the shelf edge northeast of Taiwan, the oligotrophic Kuroshio Surface Water and the mixing zones among these water masses on the shelf. The values of NRA in the surface mixed layer ranged between 16 and 0.1 nM-N h^-1, whereas those of NU ranged between …

Intraspecific Variation In The Selenium Requirement Of Different Geographic Strains Of The Toxic Dinoflagellate Gymnodinium Catenatum, Martina A. Doblin, Susan I. Blackburn, Gustaaf M. Hallegraeff

OES Faculty Publications

The requirement for selenium (IV) was assessed in five strains of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum Graham, representing three populations from Tasmania (Australia), as well as one each from Japan and Spain. Strains were grown in nutrient-enriched sea water medium with 10^-9 M selenium added as selenite (H₂SeO₃), or with no added selenium, and monitored for growth and cell yield. Strains exhibited different selenium (Se) requirements, as evidenced by (i) a decrease in exponential growth rate (10-20%) and cell yield (up to 80%) (Japanese strain); (ii) a decrease in cell yield only (Tasmania Derwent Estuary …

Can An Optical Plankton Counter Produce Reasonable Estimates Of Zooplankton Abundance And Biovolume In Water With High Detritus?, X. Zhang, M. Roman, A. Sanford, H. Adolf, C. Lascara, R. Burgett

CCPO Publications

The Optical Plankton Counter (OPC) has been used in oceanic and fresh waters to estimate zooplankton abundance and biovolume. However, it is not clear whether the OPC can produce accurate estimates of zooplankton abundance and biovolume in waters with high detritus. In order to test the capability of the OPC to estimate zooplankton abundance and biovolume in Chesapeake Bay, two sets of laboratory experiments were conducted using water with high detritus concentrations collected from the upper Choptank estuary of Chesapeake Bay and laboratory cultured Artemia. Our results suggest that the OPC is able to produce accurate estimates of zooplankton biovolume …

Department Of Fisheries Annual Report Highlights 1999 - 2000, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Department of Fisheries Annual Reports

1999/2000 has marked a 'sea change' in fisheries management throughout Australia towards the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). This is a dynamic concept with an evolving framework that requires a balancing of social, economic and environmental considerations.

The principles of ESD - of using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of fisheries, now and in the future, can be increased - are vital in a state, national and international context for Fisheries WA and its clients. Having fisheries that are governed under ESD principles is …

Estuarine Relationships Between Zooplankton Community Structure And Trophic Gradients, Gyung Soo Park, Harold G. Marshall

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Zooplankton and water quality parameters were investigated at eight mesohaline stations in the lower Chesapeake Bay and Elizabeth River from January through December 1994 to identify the changes of zooplankton community structure with increased eutrophication. The total micro- and mesozooplankton biomass decreased with the increase of eutrophication. However, the relative proportion of microzooplankton increased with increased eutrophication. Within highly eutrophied waters, the small oligotrichs (m) and rotifers dominated the total zooplankton biomass (as carbon). However, tintinnids, copepod nauplii and mesozooplankton significantly decreased with the increase of eutrophication. These patterns were consistent throughout the seasons and had significant relationships statistically. These …

Fall 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Summer 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report No. 111 - Sea Temperature Variability Off Western Australia 1990 To 1994, Alan Pearce, Mark Rossbach, Marion Tait, Rhys Brown

Fisheries Research Reports

Analysis of temperature data from coastal waters between Shark Bay and Cape Mentelle has shown the main features of temporal and spatial variability in temperature along the Western Australian coastline. Three distinct periods of variability emerge: the annual cycle (peak temperatures generally in January-February and troughs in July-August), a few-day (weatherrelated) cycle, and the diurnal pattern.

Summer temperatures range from 24° C (South Passage) to 19° C (Cape Mentelle), and winter temperatures from 21° C (South Passage) to 16° C (Marmion). Mean annual temperature ranges (winter minimum to summer maximum) are between 3° C (South Passage) and 7° C (Alkimos), …

Nitrate Reductase Activity, Nitrate Uptake And Iodine Speciation In The Marine Environment, Chin-Chang Hung

OES Theses and Dissertations

The present method for the determination of new production (NP) by measuring the uptake of added ¹⁵NO₃^– suffers from a number of limitations. In an attempt to improve this situation, this research examined the possibility of estimating ¹⁵NO₃– uptake by measuring the activity of nitrate reductase (NRA). In addition, because it has long been suspected that the biological reduction of IO₃^– to I^– may be mediated by nitrate reductase (NR), this research investigated the ability of NR to catalyze the reduction of iodate to iodide.

An improved method for the determination …

Spring 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Production Of Copper-Complexing Ligands In Response To Elevated Concentrations Of Copper In Marine Synechococcus Spp., Arunsri Chatkaeomorakot Brown

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Synechococcus spp. (marine cyanobacteria) are extremely sensitive to copper toxicity and can produce high-affinity ligands of unknown structure which form complexes with free cupric ion. These ligands may contribute to the biological control of the levels of free cupric ions in surface seawater. Synechococcus spp. are known to produce metallothioneins (MT) in response to cadmium and zinc stress. In the present study the hypothesis that marine Synechococcus produce MT in response to copper was tested. Three marine Synechococcus spp. i.e., PCC 7001, PCC 73109, and PCC 7003, were exposed to different concentrations of CUSO 4 for various time periods. Size …

Benthic Community Analysis Of Hog Island Bay, Virginia, David James Lewis

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The benthic infaunal macroinvertebrate communities of Hog Island Bay of the Virginia Eastern Shore were quantitatively sampled at 30 locations on August 31 and September 1, 1995. The primary objectives of this study were: (1) to characterize the subtidal macroinfaunal benthic communities of Hog Island Bay, (2) to examine relationships between abiotic factors and the macroinfaunal communities and (3) to characterize the environmental condition of the system using the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) (Weisburg et al. 1997) and the EMAP Benthic Index for the Virginian Province (Strobel et al. 1995).

The ecological condition of Hog Island Bay appears …

Winter 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of External Nutrient Sources On Marine Phytoplankton In An Eastern Shore Sea-Side Estuary, Claudette Lajoie Jenkins

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Eastern Shore of Virginia (Greens Creek) as well as a large portion of the North Atlantic coastline is characterized by estuarine systems not dominated by large river systems. Instead, small freshwater creeks influence many coastal systems yet little information has been documented on their ecological significance. The focus of this research is to identify the biogeochemical and physical interactions within an estuarine water-column and understand the importance of freshwater sources in governing phytoplankton production. The hypothesis of this research is that increases in external nutrient loading into Greens Creek will not result in an increase in primary production. The …

Resource Allocation And Sucrose Mobilization In Light Limited Eelgrass Zostera Marina, Teresa Alcoverro, Richard C. Zimmerman, Donald G. Kohrs, Randall S. Alberte

OES Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the ability of Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) to balance the daily photosynthetic deficit by mobilization of carbon reserves stored in below-ground tissues during a period of extreme winter light limitation. A quantitative understanding of the mobilization process and its limitations is essential to the development of robust models predicting minimum light levels required to maintain healthy seagrass populations. Plants were grown in running seawater tanks under 2 light regimes. One treatment was provided with 2 h irradiance-saturated photosynthesis (H_sat) to produce severe Light Limitation, while control plants were grown under 7 h H_sat, …

Comparative Study Of Selenium Requirements Of Three Phytoplankton Species: Gymnodinium Catenatum, Alexandrium Minutum (Dinophyta) And Chaetoceros Cf. Tenuissimus (Bacillariophyta, Martina A. Doblin, Susan I. Blackburn, Gustaaf M. Hallegraeff

OES Faculty Publications

This study investigated the selenium (Se) requirements of three phytoplankton species which commonly bloom in southern Australian estuaries. The present study showed that the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum Graham had an obligate requirement for Se (IV) in culture. After two transfers (~ 4 weeks ≈ 7 generations) in Se-deficient seawater medium, this phytoplankton species exhibited a decline in growth rate (25%) and biomass yield (90%), while complete cessation of cell division occurred under prolonged (8 weeks ≈ 12 generations) Se starvation. Addition of 10^-9-10^-7 M H₂SeO₃ to nutrient-enriched seawater medium resulted in increased G.catenatum …

Limitation Of Algal Growth By Iron Deficiency In The Australian Subantarctic Region, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio, David A. Hutchins, Philip W. Boyd, F. Brian Griffiths, A. Clive Crossley, Thomas W. Trull, Bernard Queguiner

OES Faculty Publications

In March 1998 we measured iron in the upper water column and conducted iron- and nutrient-enrichment bottle-incubation experiments in the open-ocean Subantarctic region southwest of Tasmania, Australia. In the Subtropical Convergence Zone (∼42°S, 142°E), silicic acid concentrations were low (< 1.5μM) in the upper water column, whereas pronounced vertical gradients in dissolved iron concentration (0.12-0.84 nM) were observed., presumably reflecting the interleaving of Subtropical and Subantarctic waters, and mineral aerosol input. Results of a bottle-incubation experiment performed at this location indicate that phytoplankton growth rates were limited by iron deficiency within the iron-poor layer of the euphotic zone. In the Subantarctic water mass (∼46.8°S, 142°E), low concentrations of dissolved iron (0.05-0.11nM) and silicic acid (< 1μM) were measured throughout the upper water column, and our experimental results indicate that algal growth was limited by iron deficiency. These observations suggest that availability of dissolved iron is a primary factor limiting phytoplankton growth over much of the Subantarctic Southern Ocean in the late summer and autumn.

Infectious Necrotizing Enteritis And Mortality Caused By Vibrio Carachariae In Summer Flounder Paralichthys Dentatus During Intensive Culture, Bruno Soffientino, Todd Gwaltney, David R. Nelson, Jennifer L. Specker, Michael Mauel, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

An epizootic causing mortality among cultured summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus occurred in summer of 1998 at a land-based facility on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA. The disease, flounder infectious necrotizing enteritis (FINE), was characterized by reddening around the anal area, distended abdomens filled with opaque serosanguineous fluid, enteritis and necrosis of the posterior intestine. In extreme cases of the disease, the posterior intestine was detached from the anus and was observed coming out the vent. The intestine of individuals that recovered from the dsease ended in a blind-sac; the abdomens of these fish were distended, due to food and water …

Modeling The Effects Of Doliolids On The Plankton Community Structure Of The Southeastern Us Continental Shelf, A. G. Edward Haskell, Eileen E. Hofmann, Gustav-Adolf Paffenhofer, Peter G. Verity

CCPO Publications

A model of the lower trophic levels that consists of a system of coupled ordinary differential equations was developed to investigate the time-dependent behavior of doliolid populations associated with upwelling features on the outer southeastern US continental shelf. Model equations describe the interactions of doliolids with two phytoplankton size fractions, five copepod developmental stages and a detrital pool. Additional equations describe nitrate and ammonia. Model dynamics are based primarily upon data obtained from field and laboratory experiments for southeastern US continental shelf plankton populations. Variations on a reference simulation, which represents average upwelling conditions without doliolids, were carried out to …

The Cause And Consequence Of Ontogenetic Changes In Social Aggregation In New Zealand Spiny Lobsters, Mark J. Butler Iv, Alistair B. Macdiarmid, John D. Booth

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ontogenetic changes in the behavior, spatial distribution, or habitat use of a species are presumably adaptations to ecological forces that differ in their effect on various life stages. The New Zealand rock lobster Jasus edwardsii is one of several species of spiny lobster that exhibits dramatic ontogenetic shifts in sociality and spatial distribution, and we tested whether such changes are adaptive. We first surveyed several natural populations of J. edwardsii to document size-specific differences in aggregation. To determine if chemical cues discharged by conspecifics promote aggregation of certain ontogenetic stages, we tested the responsiveness of lobsters of 3 ontogenetic stages …

Absorption Efficiencies And Biochemical Fractionation Of Assimilated Compounds In The Cold Water Appendicularian Oikopleura Vanhoeffeni, Alexander B. Bochdansky, Don Deibel, Richard B. Rivkin

OES Faculty Publications

Using Ge-68:C-14 dual-labeling, we investigated the absorption efficiency of diatom carbon for the cold water appendicularian Oikopleura vanhoeffeni. The absorption efficiency of bulk carbon (mean = 67%) was not influenced by body size or ingestion rate. For the first time for a pelagic tunicate, food and feces were fractionated into their major biochemical constituents (i.e., low-molecular-weight compounds, lipid, protein, and polysaccharide), allowing calculation of absorption efficiencies for each fraction. Low-molecular-weight compounds and proteins were preferentially absorbed over lipids and polysaccharides. However, predicted C:N ratios of the fecal pellets of O. vanhoeffeni were in the lower range of C:N ratios …

Accurate Classification Of Juvenile Weakfish Cynoscion Regalis To Estuarine Nursery Areas Based On Chemical Signatures In Otoliths, Simon R. Thorrold, Cynthia M. Jones, Peter K. Swart, Timothy E. Targett

OES Faculty Publications

We investigated the ability of trace element and isotopic signatures in otoliths to record the nursery areas of juvenile (young-of-the-year) weakfish Cynoscion regalis from the east coast of the USA. Juvenile C. regalis were captured with otter trawls at multiple sites in Doboy Sound (Georgia), Pamlico Sound (North Carolina), Chesapeake Bay (Virginia), Delaware Bay (Delaware) and Peconic Bay (New York), from July to September 1996. One sagittal otolith from each specimen was assayed for Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), while delta 13 C and delta 18 O values from the other sagittal …

Spring 1998, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Modeling Environmental Effects On Msx Prevalence And Intensity In Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Populations, Michelle Christine Paraso

OES Theses and Dissertations

An oyster population model coupled with a model for Haplosporidium nelsoni, the causative agent of the oyster disease MSX, was used with salinity time-series constructed from Delaware River flow measurements to study environmentally-induced variations in the annual cycle of this disease. Simulations with this model were designed to investigate the effect of increased or decreased spring freshwater discharge, the timing of high freshwater runoff, the presence or absence of a fall or late spring phytoplankton bloom, and the occurrence of a warm winter on MSX prevalence and intensity in Delaware Bay oyster populations. Model simulations for the lower Bay site …

Fall 1998, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Age, Growth, And Mortality Of Black Drum, Pogonias Cromis, In The Chesapeake Bay Region, Cynthia M. Jones, Brian Wells

OES Faculty Publications

We used otolith ageing to describe the population dynamics of black drum, Pogonias cromis, collected over a three-year period from the Chesapeake Bay region's commercial and recreational fisheries. Black drum average age, total length, and weight were 26 years, 109.5 cm, and 22.1 kg respectively. The oldest fish was 59 years and fish older than 50 years were present in the catch from 1990 to 1992. Growth in length slowed by age 20, whereas growth in weight did not slow until age 45. A von Bertalanffy growth function was fitted to our data (L(infinity) = 117.3 cm, …

The Biogeochemical Cycling Of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen In Estuarine Sediments, David J. Burdige, Shilong Zheng

OES Faculty Publications

Benthic fluxes and pore-water profiles of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon (DON and DOC, respectively) were determined in seasonal studies at contrasting sites in Chesapeake Bay. Pore-water dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations were elevated over bottom-water values, generally increased with depth, and ranged from 15 to similar to 160 μM for DON and ~200-2000 μM for DOC. Pore-water DOM concentrations and the C:N ratio of this material showed spatial (depth) and temporal changes that varied among the sites studied. These trends appeared to be related to differences in the types of sediment organic matter (SOM) undergoing remineralization, as well as …

Iron In Ice Cores From Law Dome, East Antarctica: Implications For Past Deposition Of Aerosol Iron, R. Edwards, Peter N. Sedwick, Vin Morgan, C. F. Boutron, S. Hong

OES Faculty Publications

Total-dissolvable iron has been measured in sections of three ice cores from Law Dome, East Antarctica, and the results used to calculate atmospheric iron deposition over this region during the late Holocene and to provide a preliminary est. of aerosol iron deposition during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Ice-core sections dating from 56-2730 BP (late Holocene) and ∼18 000 BP (LGM) were decontaminated using trace-metal clean techniques, and total-dissolvable iron was determined in the acidified meltwaters by flow-injection analysis. Our results suggest that the atmospheric iron flux onto the Law Dome region has varied significantly over time-scales ranging from seasonal …