A 30-Year History of Tide and Current Measurements in Elkhorn Slough, California

Elkhorn Slough was first exposed to direct tidal forcing from the waters of Monterey Bay with the construction of Moss Landing Harbor in 1946. Elkhorn Slough is located mid-way between Santa Cruz and Monterey close to the head of Monterey Submarine Canyon. It follows a 10 km circuitous path inland from its entrance at Moss Landing Harbor. Today, Elkhorn Slough is a habitat and sanctuary for a wide variety of marine mammals, fish, and seabirds. The Slough also serves as a sink and pathway for various nutrients and pollutants. These attributes are directly or indirectly affected by its circulation and physical properties. Currents, tides and physical properties of Elkhorn Slough have been observed on an irregular basis since 1970. Based on these observations, the physical characteristics of Elkhorn Slough are examined and summarized. Elkhorn Slough is an ebb-dominated estuary and, as a result, the rise and fall of the tides is asymmetric. The fact that lower low water always follows higher high water and the tidal asymmetry produces ebb currents that are stronger than flooding currents. The presence of extensive mud flats and Salicornia marsh contribute to tidal distortion. Tidal distortion also produces several shallow water constituents including the M3, M4, and M6 overtides and the 2MK3 and MK3 compound tides. Tidal elevations and currents are approximately in quadrature; thus, the tides in Elkhorn Slough have some of the characters of a standing wave system. The temperature and salinity of lower Elkhorn Slough waters reflect, to a large extent, the influence of Monterey Bay waters, whereas the temperature and salinity of the waters of the upper Slough (>5 km from the mouth) are more sensitive to local processes. During the summer, temperature and salinity are higher in the upper slough due to local heating and evaporation. Maximum tidal currents in Elkhorn Slough have increased from approximately 75 to 120 cm/s over the past 30 years. This increase in current speed is primarily due to the change in tidal prism which has increased from approximately 2.5 to 6.2 x 106 m3 between 1956 and 1993. The increase in tidal prism is the result of both 3 rapid man-made changes to the Slough, and the continuing process of tidal erosion. Because of the increase in the tidal prism, the currents in Elkhorn Slough exhibit positive feedback, a process with uncertain consequences. [PDF contains 55 pages]

Reconstructing an 83-Year Time Series of Daily Sea Surface Temperature at Pacific Grove, California

Daily sea surface temperatures have been acquired at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California since January 20, 1919.This time series is one of the longest oceanographic records along the U.S. west coast. Because of its length it is well-suited for studying climate-related and oceanic variability on interannual, decadal, and interdecadal time scales. The record, however, is not homogeneous, has numerous gaps, contains possible outliers, and the observations were not always collected at the same time each day. Because of these problems we have undertaken the task of reconstructing this long and unique series. We describe the steps that were taken and the methods that were used in this reconstruction. Although the methods employed are basic, we believe that they are consistent with the quality of the data. The reconstructed record has values at every time point, original, or estimated, and has been adjusted for time-of-day variations where this information was available. Possible outliers have also been examined and replaced where their credibility could not be established. Many of the studies that have employed the Hopkins time series have not discussed the issue of data quality and how these problems were addressed. Because of growing interest in this record, it is important that a single, well-documented version be adopted, so that the results of future analyses can be directly compared. Although additional work may be done to further improve the quality of this record, it is now available via the internet. [PDF contains 48 pages]

The Circulation of Monterey Bay and Related Processes

(PDF contains 114 pages)

Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005

Background: The rising temperature of the world’s oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin. Methodology/Principal Findings: Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers’ field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles. Conclusions/Significance: Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate

A multi-basin seasonal streamflow model for the Sierra Nevada

Linear regression models are constructed to predict seasonal runoff by fitting streamflow to temperature, precipitation, and snow water content across a range of elevations. The models are quite successful in capturing the differences in discharge between different elevation watersheds and their interannual variations. This exercise thus provides insight into seasonal changes in streamflow at different elevation watersheds that might occur under a changed climate.

Winter climate variability and snowpack in the West

Snowpack is an important source of water supply in the western United States. This study examines the seasonal variability of an extensive history of snow observations over the western United States and Canada. It links variations in snowpack to variations in atmospheric circulation, surface temperature, and precipitation.

Record of cestode parasites from Penaeid prawns of Ratnagiri

Studies on the cestode parasites of commercially important prawns are few. So far only four species of larval cestodes have been recorded from penaeid prawns of Florida (Woodburn et al., 1957, Sparks and Mackin, 1957, Hutton et al, 1959 and Kruse, 1959). So far there are no records of larval cestodes from prawns of India. For the first time the authors have been able to collect six forms of larval cestodes from penaeid prawns of Ratnagiri.

Some bacteria isolated from marine plankton and mud

57 bacterial strains isolated from marine plankton and mud from the inshore waters of Cochin, are described. The flora of the plankton was dominated by chromogens while mud sample and failed to produce chromogens. The different strains are divided into five arbitrary groups for the convenience of description. The flora is similar to that of Mandapam (east coast) while it differed from the flora of Calicut (west coast) in the paucity of Bacillus and other spore formers.

Ecology and production in two sandy beaches of Goa. Part (A) Distribution of bacteria in Colva and Siridaon in relation to certain environmental parameters

Qualitative and quantitative studies on the bacterial flora of two beaches viz., Colva and Siridaon at high tide, mid-tide and low tide levels during the pre-monsoon period were made. Estimations of important nutrients, like inorganic phosphates and nitrates and organic carbon have been made and correlation with the bacterial counts is being attempted. Definite correlation between bacterial population and organic carbon is seen however, no correlation is observed between bacterial counts and other physicochemical parameters.

Bacteria in the inshore environment at Karwar and Vengurla

Qualitative and quantitative studies of the bacterial population in two stations, Karwar and Venguria, have been made for a period of eight months, which revealed the pattern of distribution to be almost similar to that from east coast and west coast.

Fish muscle structural proteins

Based on the differences in their physico-chemical properties proteins are broadly categorised as sarcoplasmic or fibrillar. The properties are important in fish technology. The authors review some of these physico-chemical properties of the proteins which have distinguished themselves as 'structural' or 'textural' proteins. As denaturation in these proteins caused by a variety of factors manifests itself in terms in the quality attributes of the product, relevant mechanisms have been particularly highlighted.

Studies on Thiobacilli spp. isolated from sandy beaches of Kerala

Occurrence, isolation and oxidative activity of Thiobacilli spp. from some sandy beaches of Kerala are reported. These organisms were encountered in polluted beaches and were dominant during monsoon in all the beaches.