Small Autonomous Landers for Studying the Community Ecology of Nearshore Submarine Canyons

Small Autonomous Landers for Studying the Community Ecology of Nearshore Submarine Canyons
Author: Ashley Nicoll
Publisher:
Total Pages: 85
Release: 2021
Genre:
ISBN:

Nearshore submarine canyons are unique features that bring the deep sea close to shore, potentially functioning as highways connecting shallow and deep-sea ecosystems. To study their ecology, we developed two autonomous lander systems: a 2-sphere Picolander for exploratory deployments ( 3 days) and a 3-sphere Nanolander for longer deployments ( 1 week). Both landers were outfitted with a camera and lights system and a ZebraTech environmental sensor and collected paired physical and biological time series. Eleven lander deployments were completed ranging in length from 1-13 days at depths of 90-500 m, allowing assessment of how seafloor community diversity and composition changed with depth and time of day. We found that communities at 100 and 500 m were distinct from all other depths while the 300 m community was transitional between these depths and had the highest diversity, despite unexpectedly high turbidity. Additionally, we recorded clear diurnal patterns in fishes deeper than 300 m, as well as vertical migration of larval flatfish. This study also aimed to document the number and area of small submarine canyons off the coast of California and determine the extent of government protection of both large and small canyons. Small canyons were defined as features with a minimum depth of 200 m and incised 100 m into the slope. Applying this, 23 small canyons were identified, with features concentrated on the Central and Southern coast. By area, 27% of large canyons and 23% of small canyons were protected, with the inshore reaches of canyons receiving more protection than offshore. Because landers collect paired biological and physical data in hard to access areas, they may serve as powerful tools to inform management of these poorly studied deep-water habitats.

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents
Author: G. Shanmugam
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 613
Release: 2020-10-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128225742

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents: Downslope and Alongslope Processes and Deposits focuses solely on important downslope and alongslope processes. The book provides clear definitions and characteristics based on soil mechanics, fluid mechanics and sediment concentration by volume. It addresses Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows, Grain Flows, Liquefied/Fluidized Flows, and Turbidity Currents, Density plumes, Hyperpycnal Flows, the Triggering Mechanisms of Downslope Processes, Bottom Currents, and Soft-Sediment Deformation Structures. The mechanics of each process are described in detail and used to provide empirically-driven categories to help recognize these deposits it the rock record. Case studies clearly illustrate of the problems inherent in recognizing these processes in the rock record, and potential solutions are provided alongside future avenues of research. An appendix also provides step-by-step guidance in describing and interpreting sediments. - Comprehensively addresses modern downslope and alongslope processes, including definitions and mechanisms - Provides key criteria for the recognition of depositional facies in the rock record - Includes case studies to illustrate each downslope and alongslope process - Identifies key problems and potential solutions for future research - Uses pragmatic, empirical, data-driven interpretations to revise conventional facies models

Exploration of the Seas

Exploration of the Seas
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2003-11-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309166802

In the summer of 1803, Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a journey to establish an American presence in a land of unqualified natural resources and riches. Is it fitting that, on the 200th anniversary of that expedition, the United States, together with international partners, should embark on another journey of exploration in a vastly more extensive region of remarkable potential for discovery. Although the oceans cover more than 70 percent of our planet's surface, much of the ocean has been investigated in only a cursory sense, and many areas have not been investigated at all. Exploration of the Seas assesses the feasibility and potential value of implementing a major, coordinated, international program of ocean exploration and discovery. The study committee surveys national and international ocean programs and strategies for cooperation between governments, institutions, and ocean scientists and explorers, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in these activities. Based primarily on existing documents, the committee summarizes priority areas for ocean research and exploration and examines existing plans for advancing ocean exploration and knowledge.

The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment

The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment
Author: United Nations
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 978
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1108298842

The World Ocean Assessment - or, to give its full title, The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment - is the outcome of the first cycle of the United Nations' Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. The Assessment provides vital, scientifically-grounded bases for the consideration of ocean issues, including climate change, by governments, intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental agencies and all other stakeholders and policymakers involved in ocean affairs. Together with future assessments and related initiatives, it will support the implementation of the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly its ocean-related goals. Moreover, it will also form an important reference text for marine science courses.

Statistical Ecology

Statistical Ecology
Author: Linda J. Young
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 581
Release: 2013-04-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1475728298

Covering a wide range of disciplines, this book explains the formulae, techniques, and methods used in field ecology. By providing an awareness of the statistical foundation for existing methods, the book will make biologists more aware of the strengths and possible weaknesses of procedures employed, and statisticians more appreciative of the needs of the field ecologist. Unique to this book is a focus on ecological data for single-species populations, from sampling through modeling. Examples come from real situations in pest management, forestry, wildlife biology, plant protection, and environmental studies, as well as from classical ecology. All those using this book will acquire a strong foundation in the statistical methods of modern ecological research. This textbook is for late undergraduate and graduate students, and for professionals.

Stylasteridae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata) of the New Caledonian Region

Stylasteridae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata) of the New Caledonian Region
Author: Stephen D. Cairns
Publisher: French National Museum Natural History
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-02-15
Genre: Benthic animals
ISBN: 9782856537671

Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos is a series dedicated to the inventory and description of the deep-sea fauna of the world, with special emphasis on their most extensive--but remote and least-explored--habitats: the Indo-West Pacific. Growing out of marine expeditions undertaken by the French National Museum of Natural History and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, the series continues to present many new, strange, and sometimes colorful invertebrates. The present volume presents results from recent expeditions within the New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone, reporting ninety-eight species (including fifty-seven new species) of corals from the Stylasteridae family and one new calcified species of hydrozoa from the family Hydractiniidae. Including numerous seamounts, submarine ridges, and small islands, New Caledonia's deep-sea benthos are ideal habitat for stylasterids, making it the most species-rich marine region in the world for this taxon.

Advances in Cephalopod Science: Biology, Ecology, Cultivation and Fisheries

Advances in Cephalopod Science: Biology, Ecology, Cultivation and Fisheries
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2014-05-26
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0128003200

Advances in Cephalopod Science: Biology, Ecology, Cultivation and Fisheries—volume 67 in the Advances in Marine Biology series—addresses major themes of growing research interest in the field of cephalopod research. The book is composed of four chapters incorporating the latest advances in biology, ecology, life cycles, cultivation, and fisheries of cephalopods. Each chapter is written by a team of internationally recognized authorities to reflect recent findings and understanding. The book represents a breakthrough contribution to the field of cephalopod science. Advances in Marine Biology was first published in 1963 under the founding editorship of Sir Frederick S. Russell, FRS. Now edited by Michael P. Lesser, with an internationally renowned editorial board, the serial publishes in-depth and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of topics that appeal to postgraduates and researchers in marine biology, fisheries science, ecology, zoology, and biological oceanography. Eclectic volumes in the series are supplemented by thematic volumes on such topics as the biology of calanoid copepods. - Covers cephalopod culture - Covers environmental effects on cephalopod population dynamics - Covers biology, ecology and biodiversity of deep-sea cephalopods - Covers life stage transitions in successful cephalopod life strategies

Physics of Tsunamis

Physics of Tsunamis
Author: Boris Levin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2008-10-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402088566

Till the very end of the twentieth century tsunami waves (or ‘waves in a harbour’, translated from Japanese) were considered an extremely rare and exotic natural p- nomenon, originating in the ocean and unexpectedly falling upon the seaside as gigantic waves. The 26th of December 2004, when tsunami waves wiped out, in a single day, more than 250,000 human lives, mourned in many countries, turned out to be a tragic date for all mankind. The authors of this book, who have studied tsunami waves for many years, - tended it to be a systematic exposition of modern ideas concerning • The mechanisms of tsunami wave generation • The peculiarities of tsunami wave propagation in the open ocean and of how waves run-up beaches • Methods for tsunami wave registration and the operation of a tsunami warning system • The mechanisms of other catastrophic processes in the ocean related to the se- mic activity of our planet The authors considered their main goal to be the creation of book prese- ing modern knowledge of tsunami waves and of other catastrophes in the ocean to scienti?c researchers and specialists in geophysics, oceanography, seismology, hydroacoustics, geology, geomorphology, civil and seaside engineering, postgr- uate students and students of relevant professions.

Marine Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050

Marine Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050
Author: Jianhai Xiang
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2010-08-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642053467

As one of the eighteen field-specific reports comprising the comprehensive scope of the strategic general report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this sub-report addresses long-range planning for developing science and technology in the field of marine science. They each craft a roadmap for their sphere of development to 2050. In their entirety, the general and sub-group reports analyze the evolution and laws governing the development of science and technology, describe the decisive impact of science and technology on the modernization process, predict that the world is on the eve of an impending S&T revolution, and call for China to be fully prepared for this new round of S&T advancement. Based on the detailed study of the demands on S&T innovation in China's modernization, the reports draw a framework for eight basic and strategic systems of socio-economic development with the support of science and technology, work out China's S&T roadmaps for the relevant eight basic and strategic systems in line with China's reality, further detail S&T initiatives of strategic importance to China's modernization, and provide S&T decision-makers with comprehensive consultations for the development of S&T innovation consistent with China's reality. Supported by illustrations and tables of data, the reports provide researchers, government officials and entrepreneurs with guidance concerning research directions, the planning process, and investment. Founded in 1949, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the nation's highest academic institution in natural sciences. Its major responsibilities are to conduct research in basic and technological sciences, to undertake nationwide integrated surveys on natural resources and ecological environment, to provide the country with scientific data and consultations for government's decision-making, to undertake government-assigned projects with regard to key S&T problems in the process of socio-economic development, to initiate personnel training, and to promote China's high-tech enterprises through its active engagement in these areas.