The Eastern Mediterranean as a Laboratory Basin for the Assessment of Contrasting Ecosystems
The Eastern Mediterranean as a Laboratory Basin for the Assessment of Contrasting Ecosystems

Author: P.M. Malanotte-Rizzoli

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 552

ISBN-13: 9401147965

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This book is the outcome of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "The Eastern Mediterranean as a laboratory basin for the assessment of contrasting ecosystems" that was held in Kiev, Ukraine, March 23-27, 1998. The scientific rationale of the workshop can be summarized as follows. The Eastern Mediterranean is the most nutrient impoverished and oligotrophic large water body known. There is a well-defined eastward trend in nutrient ratios over the entire Mediterranean that starts at the Gibraltar Straits and, through the western basin, proceeds to the Ionian and Levantine Seas. Supply of nutrients to the entire Mediterranean is limited by inputs from the North Atlantic and various river systems along the sea. The unique feature of the Mediterranean is the presence of an eastward longitudinal trend in available nitrate/phosphate ratios. This apparently induces a west-to-east variation in the structure of the pelagic food web and trophic interactions. In this context the Mediterranean, and in particular its Eastern basin, provides probably a unique platform to explore the hypotheses related to the suggested phosphate-limitation on production and to the shift between "microbial" and "classical" modes of operation of the photic food web. The major exception of the overall oligotrophic nature of the Eastern Mediterranean is the highly eutrophic system of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Here, during the last two decades the discharges of the northern rivers (especially of the Po), together with municipal sewage, have led to a very marked increase of nutrients and subsequent imponent eutrophication events.

Effects of Trawling and Dredging on Seafloor Habitat
Effects of Trawling and Dredging on Seafloor Habitat

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-08-09

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 0309083400

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Concerns over the potential ecological effects of fishing have increased with the expansion of fisheries throughout the marine waters of the United States. Effects of Trawling and Dredging on Seafloor Habitat describes how assessment of fishing impacts depends on gear type, number and location of bottom tows, and the physical and biological characteristics of seafloor habitats. Many experimental studies have documented acute, gear-specific effects of trawling and dredging on various types of habitat. These studies indicate that low mobility, long-lived species are more vulnerable to towed fishing gear than short-lived species in areas where the seabed is often disturbed by natural phenomena. Trawling and dredging may also change the composition and productivity of fish communities dependent on seafloor habitats for food and refuge. The scale of these impacts depends on the level of fishing effort. This volume presents color maps of fishing effort for all regions with significant bottom trawl or dredge fisheries-the first time that such data has been assembled and analyzed for the entire nation.

Oceanography and Marine Biology, An Annual Review, Volume 40
Oceanography and Marine Biology, An Annual Review, Volume 40

Author: R. N. Gibson

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2002-08-29

Total Pages: 958

ISBN-13: 1134523149

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Interest in oceanography and marine biology and its relevance to global environmental issues continues to increase, creating a demand for authoritative reviews that summarize recent research. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review has catered to this demand since its foundation, by the late Harold Barnes, more than 40 years ago. It is an

Ocean Processes in Climate Dynamics
Ocean Processes in Climate Dynamics

Author: P.M. Malanotte-Rizzoli

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 9401108706

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One of the most crucial but still very poorly understood topics of oceanographic science is the role of ocean processes in contributing to the dynamics of climate and global change. This book presents a series of high level lectures on the major categories of ocean/atmosphere processes. Three of these major issues are the focus of the lectures: (1) air--sea interaction processes; (2) water mass formation, dispersion and mixing; (3) general circulation, with specific emphasis on the thermohaline component. Global examples in the world ocean are provided and discussed in the lectures. In parallel, the Mediterranean Sea is a laboratory basin in providing analogues of the above global processes relevant to climate dynamics. They include the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation with its own `conveyor belt'; intermediate and deep water mass formation and transformations, dispersion and mixing. No other book in the field provides a review of fundamental lectures on these processes, coupled with global examples and their Mediterranean analogues.

The Physical Oceanography of Sea Straits
The Physical Oceanography of Sea Straits

Author: L.J. Pratt

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 585

ISBN-13: 9400906773

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Suppose one were given the task of mapping the general circulation in an unfamiliar ocean. The ocean, like our own, is subdivided into basins and marginal seas interconnected by sea straits. Assuming a limited budget for this undertaking, one would do well to choose the straits as observational starting points. To begin with, the currents flowing from one basin to the next, over possibly wide and time-varying paths, are confined to narrow and stable routes within the straits. Mass, heat and chemical budgets for individual basins can be formulated in terms of the fluxes measured across the straits using a relatively small number of instruments. The confinement of the flow by a strait can also give rise to profound dynamical conse quences including choking or hydraulic control, a process similar to that by which a dam regulates the flow from a reservoir. The funneling geometry can lead to enhanced tidal modulation and increased velocities, giving rise to local instabilities, mixing, internal bores, jumps, and other striking hydraulic and fine scale phenomena. In short, sea straits repre sent choke points which are observationally and dynamically strategic and which contain a full range of fascinating physical processes.

The Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea

Author: Gianluca Eusebi Borzelli

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-03-10

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 111884761X

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Surface, intermediate, and deep-water processes and their interaction in time and space drive the major ocean circulation of the Mediterranean Sea. All major forcing mechanisms, such as surface wind forcing, buoyancy fluxes, lateral mass exchange, and deep convection determining the global oceanic circulation are present in this body of water. Deep and intermediate water masses are formed in different areas of the ocean layers and they drive the Mediterranean thermohaline cell, which further shows important analogies with the global ocean conveyor belt. The Mediterranean Sea: Temporal Variability and Spatial Patterns is a comprehensive volume that investigates the temporal and spatial variability patterns in the ocean basin. Volume highlights include: Discussions of state-of-the-art physical and biogeochemical properties of the Mediterranean Sea Multiple physical ocean circulation processes, both in time and spatial scales (basin, sub-basin, and mesoscale) How different regional phenomena in the sea influence the biogeochemistry of the basin and the ocean dynamics Spatio-temporal variability of the surface circulation in the western Mediterranean Deep-water variability and inter-basin interactions in the eastern Mediterranean Sea Understanding the link between global ocean circulation patterns and the global climate The Mediterranean Sea will be a valuable resource for geoscientists, oceanographers, and meteorologists.