Reconnaissance of the geology and ground-water resources of Columbia County, Florida

The Floridan aquifer was found to be principal source of ground water in the area, containing artesian water in the northern part of Columbia County, and being recharged in the southern part of the county. A few wells in the northern part of the county tap water present in sediments that lie above the Floridan aquifer. These shallow waters are generally high in iron and tannic acid. The details on the geology and hydrology necessary to conserve and utilize the water available to the residents of Columbia County are presented in this study. (PDF contains 86 pages)

Food habits of Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) off the coast of New England

Although the Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) is one of the most common dolphins off New England, little has been documented about its diet in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Current federal protection of marine mammals limits the supply of animals for investigation to those incidentally caught in the nets of commercial fishermen with observers aboard. Stomachs of 62 L. acutus were examined; of these 62 individuals, 28 of them were caught by net and 34 were animals stranded on Cape Cod. Most of the net-caught L. acutus were from the deeper waters of the Gulf of Maine. A single stomach was from the continental slope south of Georges Bank. At least twenty-six fish species and three cephalopod species were eaten. The predominant prey were silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), spoonarm octopus (Bathypolypus bairdii), and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus). The stomach from a net-caught L. acutus on the continental slope contained 7750 otoliths of the Madeira lanternfish (Ceratoscopelus maderensis). Sand lances (Ammodytes spp.) were the most abundant (541 otoliths) species in the stomachs of stranded L. acutus. Seasonal variation in diet was indicated; pelagic Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) was the most important prey in summer, but was rare in winter. The average length of fish prey was approximately 200 mm, and the average mantle length of cephalopod prey was approximately 50 mm.

Reconstructed drought history, north-central Great Basin, 1600-1982 [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Tree-ring chronologies, developed from cores from Pinyon pines growing on climatically sensitive sites in the north-central Great Basin, have been used to reconstruct precipitation and drought histories of the area from A.D. 1600 to 1982. Analysis of these hydrologic time series helps to place current climatic conditions into the perspective of the past 383 years (since 1600). ... The years 1934 and 1959 were the first and fourth driest while 1934 had the lowest July Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) of the reconstructed records. Nevertheless, the decade of the 1930's is only the seventh driest since 1600; the decade 1953-1962 ranks as the second driest. The driest non-overlapping decade since 1600 was 1856-1865. Interestingly, the second wettest decade was 1932-1941. An examination of 30-year mean precipitation data shows that the driest 30-year period was 1871-1900; 1931-1960 ranks as the fourth driest. The current 30-year period (1951-1980) ranks twelfth.

Tunas and tuna fisheries of the World: an annotated bibliography, 1930-1953

This bibliography attempts to list, with descriptive annotations and a subject index, important literature published between 1930 and 1953 dealing with the tunas and their fisheries in all parts of the world. It is thus a continuation of Corwin's (1930) work, which extended with similar scope through 1929, and an extension of Shimada's (1951), which was limited to the biology of Pacific tunas. The tunas with which it deals are those fishes customarily so-called in commercial parlance and usually classified in the genera Thunnus, Neothunnus, Parathunnus, Germo, Katsuwonus, Euthynnus and Auxis and their various synonyms. All aspects of the biology of the tunas are dealt with, as are descriptions and histories of all types of tuna fisheries, commercial and exploratory tuna fishing methods and results, fishing gear, catch statistics, and fishery management, but processing technology, economics and marketing, folklore, and purely literary references have been excluded.

Lethal Parasites in Oysters from Coastal Georgia with Discussion of Disease and Management Implications

Extensive mortalities of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, occurred from 1985 through 1987 in coastal waters of Georgia. Fluid thioglycolate cultures of oysters collected from 16 of 17 locations revealed infections by the apicomplexan parasite Perkinsus marinus. An ascetosporan parasite, Haplosporidium nelsoni, was also observed in histopathological examination of oysters from 4 of the locations. While the range of H. nelsoni currently is recognized as the east coast of the United States from Maine to Florida, this is the first report of the parasite in Georgia waters. This paper documents the occurrence of these two lethal parasites in oysters from coastal waters of Georgia, along with potential disease and management implications. Results of an earlier independent and previously unpublished survey are also discussed which document the presence of P. marinus in Georgia as early as 1966.

Evolution of the tectogene concept, 1930-1965

The tectogene, or crustal downbuckle, was proposed in the early 1930s by F.A. Vening Meinesz to explain the unexpected belts of negative gravity anomalies in island arcs. He attributed the isostatic imbalance to a deep sialic root resulting from the action of subcrustal convection currents. Vening Meinesz's model was initially corroborated experimentally by P.H. Kuenen, but additional experiments by D.T. Griggs and geological analysis by H.H. Hess in the late 1930s led to substantial revision in detail. As modified, the tectogene provided a plausible model for the evolution of island arcs into alpine mountain belts for another two decades. Additional revisions became necessary in the early 1950s to accommodate the unexpected absence of sialic crust in the Caribbean and the marginal seas of the western Pacific. By 1960 the cherished analogy between island arcs and alpine mountain belts had collapsed under the weight of the detailed field investigations by Hess and his students in the Caribbean region. Hess then incorporated a highly modified form of the tectogene into his sea-floor spreading hypothesis. Ironically, this final incarnation of the concept preserved some of the weaker aspects of the 1930s original, such as the ad hoc explanation for the regular geometry of island arcs.

A report on the fisheries of Uganda investigated by the Cambridge Expedition to the East African Lakes, 1930-31

There was very little previous information to use as a basis for work on Lakes Edward and George, but fortunately the region had been mapped in some detail by the Uganda-Congo Boundary Commission of 1906-08. This map served as a satisfactory foundation, but the western Congo shoreline of Lake Edward was inserted only by a dotted line, and a number of inaccuracies, particularly with regard to the islands and littoral of L. George, came to light during our survey.

Larval development of Micippa platipes Ruppell, 1930, reared under laboratory conditions (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majidae)

The ovigerous female of Micippa platipes Ruppell, 1830, captured from Buleji (Karachi, Pakistan) on February 7, 1993 and was kept under the laboratory conditions. On February 27, 1993 larvae were hatched in prezoeal stage. The presoeal stage of M. platipes passed through two zoeal stages within three to five days at room temperature (17-20C). The larvae are described, illustrated and compared with the larval account of Micippa thalia (Herbst, 1803) given by Kurata, 1969.

On the little known species of threadfin breams Nemipterus mesoprion (Bleeker) and Nemipterus delagoae (Smith)

Among the fish species of the family Nemipteridae, the two little known species, namely, Nemipterus mesoprion (Bleeker) and Nemipterus delagoae (Smith) are recorded from the Cochin waters. Nemipterus mesoprion is a new distributional record from the west coast of India. N. delagoae is described with adequate numbers of specimen for the first time from Indian waters. Moreover, the results of the present study show that the colour of the viscera, the number of pyloric caeca and the gill rakers can also be used for the diagnosis of the species of the genus Nemipterus. The affinity of the above species with other related species of the genus Nemipterus and their geographical distribution are presented.