Length-weight relationships of commercially important marine fishes and shellfishes of the southern coast of Karnataka, India

The parameters of the length-weight relationship of the form W = aLb are presented for 51 species of commercially important marine fishes and shellfishes caught along the southern coast of Karnataka, India. Samples from commercial (trawl, purse seines, gill nets) and artisanal gears were taken during August 1999 to May 2001. The ‘b’ value ranged between 1.942 and 3.616 with a mean of 2.80, standard deviation of 0.32, and mode of 3.

Catches of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, by the Soviet Union and Other Nations in the Southern Ocean, 1947–1973

From 1947 to 1973, the U.S.S.R. conducted a huge campaign of illegal whaling worldwide. We review Soviet catches of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, in the Southern Ocean during this period, with an emphasis on the International Whaling Commission’s Antarctic Management Areas IV, V, and VI (the principal regions of illegal Soviet whaling on this species, south of Australia and western Oceania). Where possible, we summarize legal and illegal Soviet catches by year, Management Area, and factory fleet, and also include information on takes by other nations. Soviet humpback catches between 1947 and 1973 totaled 48,702 and break down as follows: 649 (Area I), 1,412 (Area II), 921 (Area III), 8,779 (Area IV), 22,569 (Area V), and 7,195 (Area VI), with 7,177 catches not currently assignable to area. In all, at least 72,542 humpback whales were killed by all operations (Soviet plus other nations) after World War II in Areas IV (27,201), V (38,146), and VI (7,195). More than one-third of these (25,474 whales, of which 25,192 came from Areas V and VI) were taken in just two seasons, 1959–60 and 1960–61. The impact of these takes, and of those from Area IV in the late 1950’s, is evident in the sometimes dramatic declines in catches at shore stations in Australia, New Zealand, and at Norfolk Island. When compared to recent estimates of abundance and initial population size, the large removals from Areas IV and V indicate that the populations in these regions remain well below pre-exploitation levels despite reported strong growth rates off eastern and western Australia. Populations in many areas of Oceania continue to be small, indicating that the catches from Area VI and eastern Area V had long-term impacts on recovery.

Cruises of the Albatross off San Diego and Other Parts of Southern California, 1889–1916

Between 1889 and 1916, the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross made numerous trips to waters off southern California, particularly in and near San Diego Bay. The typical pattern for many years was to conduct cruises in waters off the Pacific Northwest or Alaska in summer months and waters off southern California in winter months. The Albatross conducted the first depth soundings and benthic profiles for southern California waters and secured the first samples of many endemic marine animals of this region. Albatross collections formed the basis for numerous definitive monographs of invertebrates and vertebrates that were published in subsequent years. The Albatross anchored in San Diego Bay in 1894, conducting the first biological investigations of the bay, and returned to sample again in many subsequent years. The ship and its crew also examined Cortez and Tanner banks for exploitation potential and conducted the first biological investigations of southern California’s tuna stocks in 1915 and 1916.

Geocronologia U-Pb SHRIMP no Complexo Mantiqueira na região entre Juiz de Fora e Santos Dumont, sudeste de Minas Gerais

O Orógeno Ribeira representa um cinturão de dobramentos e empurrões, gerado no Neoproterozóico/Cambriano, durante a Orogênese Brasiliana, na borda sul/sudeste do Cráton do São Francisco e compreende quatro terrenos tectono-estratigráficos: 1) o Terreno Ocidental, interpretado como resultado do retrabalhamento do paleocontinente São Francisco, é constituído de duas escamas de empurrão de escala crustal (Domínios Andrelândia e Juiz de Fora); 2) o Terreno Oriental representa uma outra microplaca e abriga o Arco Magmático Rio Negro; 3) o Terreno Paraíba do Sul, que constitui-se na escama superior deste segmento da faixa; e 4) o Terreno Cabo Frio, cuja docagem foi tardia, ocupa pequena área no litoral norte do estado do Rio de Janeiro. Em todos os diferentes compartimentos do segmento central da Faixa Ribeira podem ser identificadas três unidades tectono-estratigráficas: 1) unidades pré-1,8 Ga. (ortognaisses e ortogranulitos do embasamento); 2) rochas metassedimentares pós-1,8 Ga; e 3) granitóides/charnockitóides brasilianos. O Complexo Mantiqueira é composto por ortognaisses migmatíticos, tonalíticos a graníticos, e anfibolitos associados, constitui o embasamento pré-1,8 Ga das rochas da Megasseqüência Andrelândia no domínio homônimo do Terreno Ocidental. Foram integrados 68 dados litogeoquímicos dentre ortognaisses e metabasitos do Complexo Mantiqueira. As rochas dessa unidade pertencem a duas séries distintas: série calcioalcalina (rochas intermediárias a ácidas); e série transicional (rochas básicas, ora de afinidade toleítica, ora alcalina). Com base em critérios petrológicos, análise quantitativa e em valores [La/Yb]N, verificou-se que o Complexo Mantiqueira é bastante heterogêneo, incluindo diversos grupos petrogeneticamente distintos. Dentre as rochas da série transicional, foram identificados 2 conjuntos: 1) rochas basálticas toleiíticas, com [La/Yb]N entre 2,13 e 4,72 (fontes do tipo E-MORB e/ou intraplaca);e 2) rochas basálticas de afinidade alcalina, com [La/Yb]N entre 11,79 e 22,78. As rochas da série calciolacalina foram agrupadas em cinco diferentes conjuntos: 1) ortognaisses migmatíticos quartzo dioríticos a tonalíticos, com [La/Yb]N entre 11,37 e 38,26; 2) ortognaisses bandados de composição quarzto diorítica a granodiorítica, com [La/Yb]N entre 4,35 e 9,28; 3) ortognaisses homogênos de composição tonalítica a granítica, com [La/Yb]N entre 16,57 e 38,59; 4) leucognaisses brancos de composição tonalítica/trondhjemítica a granítica, com [La/Yb]N entre 46,69 e 65,06; e 5) ortognaisse róseo porfiroclástico de composição tonalítica a granítica, com [La/Yb]N entre 82,70 e 171,36. As análises geocronológicas U-Pb SHRIMP foram realizadas no Research School of Earth Science (ANU/Canberra/Austrália). Foram obtidas idades paleoproterozóicas para as rochas das duas séries identificadas, interpretadas como a idade de cristalização dos protólitos magmáticos desses gnaisses e metabasitos. Os resultados obtidos mostram uma variação de idades de cristalização de 2139 35 a 2143,4 9,4, para as rochas da série transicional, e de 2126,4 8 a 2204,5 6,7, para aquelas da série calcioalcalina. Dentre todas as amostras estudadas, apenas a amostra JF-CM-516IV forneceu dados discordantes de idades arqueanas (292916 Ma), interpretados como dados de herança. Contudo, evidências dessa herança semelhantes a esta são observadas em outras amostras. Ambas as séries também apresentaram idades de metamorfismo neoproterozóico, no intervalo de 548 17 Ma a 590,5 7,7 Ma que é consistente com o metamorfismo M1 (entre 550 e 590 Ma), contemporâneo à colisão entre os Terrenos Ocidental e Oriental do setor central da Faixa Ribeira (Heilbron, 1993 e Heilbron et al., 1995).

Mapping southern Florida's shallow-water coral ecosystems: an implementation plan

The Southern Florida Shallow-water Coral Ecosystem Mapping Implementation Plan (MIP) discusses the need to produce shallow-water (~0-40 m; 0-22 fm) benthic habitat and bathymetric maps of critical areas in southern Florida and moderate-depth (~40-200 m; 22 -109 fm) bathymetric maps for all of Florida. The ~0-40 m depth regime generally represents where most hermatypic coral species are found and where most direct impacts from pollution and coastal development occur. The plan was developed with extensive input from over 90 representatives of state regulatory and management agencies, federal agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations involved in the conservation and management of Florida’s coral ecosystems. Southern Florida’s coral ecosystems are extensive. They extend from the Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys as far north as St Lucie Inlet on the Atlantic Ocean coast and Tarpon Springs on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Using 10 fm (18 m) depth curves on nautical charts as a guide, southern Florida has as much as 84 percent (30,801 sq km) of 36,812 sq km of potential shallow-water (<10 fm; <18 m) coral ecosystems the tropical and subtropical U.S. Moreover, southern Florida’s coral ecosystems contribute greatly to the regional economy. Coral ecosystem-related expenditures generated $4.4 billion in sales, income, and employment and created over 70,000 full-time and part-time jobs in the region during the recent 12-month periods when surveys were conducted.

Discovery of Late Cretaceous garnet two-pyroxene granulite in the southern Lhasa terrane, Tibet and its tectonic significances

The Lhasa terrane, located between the Bangonghu-Nujiang suture zone and the Indus-Yalung Tsangpo suture zone in the southern Tibetan Plateau, was considered previously as a Precambrian continental block. Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane is closely related to the subduction of the Tethys ocean and the collision between the Indian and European continents; so it is one of the keys to reveal the formation and evolution of the Tibetan plateau. The garnet two-pyroxene granulite which was found at the Nyingtri rock group of the southeastern Lhasa terrene consists of garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, labradorite, Ti-rich amphibolite and biotite, with a chemical composition of mafic rock. The metamorphic conditions were estimated to be at T = 747 similar to 834 degrees C and P = 0.90 similar to 1.35GPa, suggesting a formation depth of 45km. The zircon U-Pb dating for the garnet amphibolite and marble associated with the granulite give a metamorphic age of 85 similar to 90Ma. This granulite-facies metamorphic event together with a contemporaneous magmatism demonstrated that the southern Lhasa terrane has undergone an Andean-type orogeny at Late Mesozoic time.

Trace element composition of peridotites from the southern Mariana forearc: Insights into the geochemical effects of serpentinization and/or seafloor weathering

Peridotites from the southern Mariana forearc were sampled on the landward trench slope of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) subduction zone by dredging. These mantle wedge peridotites underwent hydration by fluid derived from a dehydrated descending slab, and later interacted with seawater after emplacement at or near the seafloor. This study investigates how these two different rock-fluid interaction processes influenced trace element distribution in the southern Mariana forearc peridotites. We measured trace element concentrations of peridotites from the southern Mariana forearc. The southern Mariana forearc peridotites are characterized by a distinct seawater-like REE pattern with an obvious negative Ce anomaly, and La shows good correlation with other REEs (except Ce). In addition, there is a great enrichment of U, Pb, Sr and Li elements, which show a distinct positive anomaly relative to adjacent elements in the multi-element diagram. For the seawater-like REE pattern, we infer that REEs are mainly influenced by seawater during peridotite-seawater interactions after their emplacement at or near the seafloor, by serpentinization or by marine weathering. Furthermore, the anomalous behavior of Ce, compared with other rare earth elements in these samples, may indicate that they have undergone reactions involving Ce (IV) when the peridotites interacted with seawater. Positive U, Pb, Sr and Li anomalies are inferred to be related to seawater and/or fluids released during dehydration of the subducting slab.

Water requirements as a bottleneck in the reintroduction of European roe deer to the southern edge of its range

Success rates of reintroduction programs are low, often owing to a lack of knowledge of site-specific ecological requirements. A reintroduction program of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus (L., 1758)) in a dry Mediterranean region in Israel provides an opportunity to study the bottleneck effect of water requirements on a mesic-adapted species. Four does were hand-reared and released in a 10 ha site consisting of an early succession scrubland and a mature oak forest. We measured daily energy expenditure (DEE) and water turnover (WTO) using the doubly labeled water technique during summer and winter. DEE was similar in the summer and winter, but there was a significant difference in WTO and in the source of gained water. In winter, WTO was 3.3 L/day, of which 67% was obtained from vegetation. In summer, WTO dropped to 2.1 L/day, of which only 20% was obtained from the diet and 76% was gained from drinking. When the water source was moved to a nonpreferred habitat, drinking frequency dropped significantly, but water consumption remained constant. In a dry Mediterranean environment, availability of free water is both a physiological contraint and a behavioral constraint for roe deer. This study demonstrates the importance of physiological and behavioral feasibility studies for reintroduction programs.

The vegetation and climate history of the last glacial cycle in a new pollen record from Lake Fimon (southern Alpine foreland, N-Italy)

The sediments of Like Fimon N Italy contain the first continuous archive of the Late Pleistocene environmental and climate history of the southern Alpine foreland We present here the detailed palynological record of the interval between Termination II and the List Glacial Maximum The age-depth model is obtained by radiocarbon dating in the uppermost part of the record Downward we con elated major forest expansion and contraction events to isotopic events in the Greenland Ice core records via a stepping-stone approach involving intermediate correlation to isotopic events dated by TIMS U/Th in Alpine and Apennine stalagmites and to pollen records from mime cores of the Iberian margin Modelled ages obtained by Bayesian analysis of deposition are thoroughly consistent with actual ages with maximum offset of +/- 1700 years Sharp expansion of broad-leaved temperate forest and of sudden water table rise mark the onset of the Last Interglacial after a treeless steppe phase at the end of penultimate glaciation This event is actually a two-step process which matches the two step rise observed in the isotopic record of the nearby Antro del Corchia stalagmite respectively dated to 132 5 +/- 2 5 and 129 +/- 1 5 ka At the interglacial decline mixed oak forests were replaced by oceanic mixed forests the latter persisting further for 7 ka till the end of the Eemian succession Warm-temperate woody species are still abundant at the Eemian end corroborating a steep gradient between central Europe and the Alpine divide at the inception of the last glacial After a stadial phase marked by moderate forest decline a new expansion of warm broad leaved forests interrupted by minor events and followed by mixed oceanic forests can be identified with the north-alpine Saint Germain I The spread of beech during the oceanic phase is a valuable circumalpine marker The subsequent stadial-interstadial succession lacking the telocratic oceanic phase is also consistent with the evidence at the north alpine foreland The Middle Wurmian (full glacial) is marked by persistence of mixed forests dominated by conifers but with significant lime and other broad leaved species A major Arboreal Pollen decrease is observed at modelled age of 38 7 +/- 0 5 ka (larch expansion and last occurrence of lime) which his been related to Heinrich Event 4 The evidence of afforestation persisting south of the Alps throughout most of MIS 3 contrasts with a boreal and continental landscape known for the northern alpine foreland pointing to a sharp rainfall boundary at the Alpine divide and to southern air circulation This is in agreement with the Alpine paleoglaciological record and is supported by the pressure and rainfall patterns designed by mesoscale paleoclimate simulations Strenghtening the continental high pressure during the full glacial triggered cyclogenesis in the middle latitude eastern Europe and orographic rainfall in the eastern Alps and the Balkanic mountains thus allowing forests development at current sea level altitudes (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Assessing Climate Effects on Railway Earthworks Using MASW

Many parts of the UK’s rail network were constructed in the mid-19th century long before the advent of modern construction standards. Historic levels of low investment, poor maintenance strategies and the deleterious effects of climate change have resulted in critical elements of the rail network being at significant risk of failure. The majority of failures which have occurred over recent years have been triggered by extreme weather events. Advance assessment and remediation of earthworks is, however, significantly less costly than dealing with failures reactively. It is therefore crucial that appropriate approaches for assessment of the stability of earthworks are developed, so that repair work can be better targeted and failures avoided wherever possible. This extended abstract briefly discusses some preliminary results from an ongoing geophysical research project being carried out in order to study the impact of climate or seasonal weather variations on the stability of a century old railway embankment on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire steam railway line in Southern England.

Holocene “turn-on” and evolution of the Southern Great Barrier Reef: Revisiting reef cores from the Capricorn Bunker Group

Extensive drilling of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in the 70s and 80s illuminated the main factors controlling reef growth during the Holocene. However, questions remain about: (1) the precise nature and timing of reef "turnon" or initiation, (2) whether consistent spatio-temporal patterns occur in the bio-sedimentologic response of the reef to Holocene sea-level rise then stability, and (3) how these factors are expressed in the context of the different evolutionary states (juvenile-mature-senile reefs). Combining 21 new C14-AMS and 146 existing recalibrated radiocarbon and U/Th ages, we investigated the detailed spatial and temporal variations in sedimentary facies and coralgal assemblages in fifteen cores across four reefs (Wreck, Fairfax, One Tree and Fitzroy) from the Southern GBR. Our newly defined facies and assemblages record distinct chronostratigraphic patterns in the cores, displaying both lateral zonation across the different reefs and shallowing upwards sequences, characterised by a transition from deep (Porites/faviids) to shallow (Acropora/Isopora) coral types. The revised reef accretion curves show a significant lag period, ranging from 0.7-2 ka, between flooding of the antecedent Pleistocene substrate and Holocene reef turn-on. This lag period and dominance of more environmentally tolerant early colonizers (e.g., domal Porites and faviids), suggests initial conditions that were unfavourable for coral growth. We contend that higher input of fine siliciclastic material from regional terrigenous sources, exposure to hydrodynamic forces and colonisation in deeper waters are the main factors influencing initially reduced growth and development. All four reefs record a time lag and we argue that the size and shape of the antecedent platform is most important in determining the duration between flooding and recolonisation of the Holocene reef. Finally, our study of Capricorn Bunker Group Holocene reefs suggests that the size and shape of the antecedent substrate has a greater impact on reef evolution and final evolutionary state (mature vs. senile), than substrate depth alone. 

Characteristics of Grass Pollen Seasons in Areas of Southern Spain and the United Kingdom

Spatial and temporal variations in daily grass pollen counts and weather variables are described for two regions with different bio-geographical and climatic regimes, southern Spain and the United Kingdom. Daily average grass pollen counts are considered from six pollen-monitoring sites, three in southern Spain (Ciudad Real, Córdoba and Priego) and three in the United Kingdom (Edinburgh, Worcester and Cambridge). Analysis shows that rainfall and maximum temperatures are important factors controlling the magnitude of the grass pollen season in both southern Spain and the United Kingdom, and that the strength and direction of the influence exerted by these variables varies with geographical location and time.

Our Past Betrays Us: Collective Memory, Homicide and Southern Lynching

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013