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Magnetic reversals and mass extinctions
OLR (1985) 32 (9)
F. General
the phenomenal books and papers (several collected as the Robinson-Treitel Reader) which formalized the long-distance, and synergistic exchanges of the academic, Enders Robinson, then at the Uppsala University, and the industrial scientist, Treitel, at Amoco. Proubasta is a staff writer for The Leading Edge. (fcs)
F370. Multidisciplinary scientific studies (general interest) 85:5335 HoUigan, P.M., R.D. Pingree and G.T. Mardell, 1985. Oceanic solitons, nutrient pulses and phytoplankton growth. Nature, Lond., 314(6009): 348-350. The first evidence from a deep (4000 m) oceanic environment is presented for nutrient mixing by large soliton-like internal waves, generated more than a day before at the shelf edge. Observations were made in the Bay of Biscay, where the nitrate level is considered to be a major factor regulating the standing stock and productivity of phytoplankton in surface water during the summer months (as in other areas of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean). Mar. Biol. Assoc., Citadel Hill, Plymouth PLI 2PB, UK. 85:5336 Laevastu, T., 1984. The effects of temperature anomalies on the fluctuation of fish stocks. Rapp. P.-v. ReSun. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185: 214-225. Positive seasonal anomalies in winter and negative seasonal anomalies in summer cause the largest direct effects on stocks. Biomass of the forage fishes changes inversely with changes in predator biomass. Changes due to identical seasonal temperature anomalies and climatic changes are different in different geographic regions, largely due to different acclimatization temperatures. Modest climatic temperature changes can cause considerable change in the biomass of some species while affecting some other species relatively little. NMFS, NW and Alaska Fish. Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA. $5:5337 Meincke, J., L. Otto, A.J. Lee and R.R. Dickson (eds.), 1984. Hydrobiulogical variability in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas. Papers presented to Jens Smed on the occasion of his retirement. Rapp. P.-v. R~un. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185:296pp; 22 papers.
777
The first 18 of the 22 papers deal with a diversity of topics including: a review of the activities of the ICES Hydrography Committee; the international Baltic observation program; physical processes and variability in coastal areas and the open ocean (temperature, salinity, circulation and exchange, light-scattering); regional oceanography; and the effects of temperature fluctuations on fish stocks. Papers 19-21 are review papers from a minisymposium on the effects of climatic variations on plankton and fish stocks. The last paper is the text of a special lecture on the implications for fisheries of oceanic heterogeneity. (mjj) 85:5338 Negi, J.G. and R.K. Tiwari, 1984. Periodicities of palaeomagneticintensity and palaeoclimtic variations: a Walsh spectral approach. Earth planet. Sci. Lefts, 70(1):139-147. The Walsh power spectral technique has been applied to the non-sinusoidal palaeoclimatic and palaeomagnetic intensity variation records of the last 1.2 Myr. The analysis reveals, in the case of palaeomagnetic variations, statistically significant peaks centered around 150, 60 and 24 kyr. The palaeoclimatic spectrum, however, indicates only two significant peaks of 60 and 24 kyr. The identical periodicities in both phenomena may suggest a causal link between the geomagnetic intensity variations and climatic changes. Theor. Geophys. Gr., Natl. Geophys. Res. Inst., Hyderabad 500007 A.P., India. 85:5339 Olson, D.B. and R.H. Backus, 1985. The concentrating of organisms at fronts: a cold-water fish and a warm-core Gulf Stream ring. J. mar. Res., 43(1):113-137. In April 1982, very small numbers of the mesopelagic myctophid Benthosema glaciale were observed in a 2-month old warm core ring. By June, abundance at the frontal zone was about 5 times, and in the ring center about 2 times, greater than in adjacent slope water. A simple advection/diffusion model based on the assumption that a fish swims randomly in the horizontal and maintains its preferred depth in the vertical could account for the observed concentrations. MPO/RSMAS, Univ. of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA. (mwf) 85:5340 Raup, D.M., 1985. Magnetic reversals and mass extinctions. Nature, Lond., 314(6009)'341-343. Previous analyses of the time distribution of reversals of the Earth's magnetic field have yielded mixed
778
F. General
results. In this study of the reversal record of the past 165 Myr, a stationary periodicity of 30 Myr emerges (superimposed on the non-stationarities already established by others), which predicts pulses of increased reversal activity centered at 10, 40, 70,...Myr BP. Dept. of the Geophys. Sci., Univ. of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. 85:5341 Shepherd, J.G., J.G. Pope and R.D. Cousens, 1984. Variations in fish stocks and hypotheses concerning their links with climate [N Atlantic].
Rapp. P.-v. R~un. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185:255-267. Variations found in time series of recruitment to fisheries are described and the extent to which some part may be attributed to large-scale effects is discussed. Explanations of the variability in terms of environmental factors are reviewed; various hypotheses for the mechanisms linking climatic factors to recruitment are classified and critically discussed. M A F F , Dir. of Fish. Res., Fish. Lab., Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK. 85:5342 Yentsch, C.S. and D.A. Phinney, 1985. Rotary motions and convection as a means of regulating primary production in warm core rings. J. geophys. Res., 90(C2):3237-3248.
Two mechanisms are important in regulating primary production and hence the abundance of phytoplankton in warm core tings. The first, anticyclogenesis, is associated with the rotary motion of tings since the resultant geostrophic forces are believed to be the basis for nutrient enrichment. Phytoplankton in this peripheral region experience a near steady state growth closely coupled with the rotational velocity of the ring. The second mechanism is that phytoplankton in the ring center rely on seasonal changes in mixed layer depth due to convection and stabilization. This process regulates the mean light energy and equalizes the nutrient distribution over the water column. Growth in populations at ring center occurs as pulses, responding to changes in the depth of the mixed layer. Bigelow Lab. for Ocean Sci., McKown Point, West Boothbay Harbor, ME, USA.
F380. Advances in science, reviews (general interest) 85:5343 Bishop, C.T., 1985. Electronic publishing: to be or not to be. Commentary. Q. Rev. Biol., 60(1):43-52.
OLR (1985) 32 (9)
'The important fact is that the working documents of scientists are hard copies of papers that can be read, scanned, flipped, carried around from desk, to lab, to home, and spread out on a working surface for comparison, annotation and cross-referencing.' There is no question that computers can assist in, and may even come to dominate, manuscript preparation, peer review, other editorial operations, and typesetting, but these are in contrast to exclusively on-line or electronic distribution and access, for this end-step is not nearly so amenable to computer methods as the others are. Bishop is Editor-in-Chief, Research Journals, NRCC, Ottawa, ON K I A OR6, Canada. (fcs) 85:5344 Dickinson, Eric, 1985. [Brownian particles are] Devoid of sense and motion. Chem. Br., 21(3): 259-261.
Brownian particles include such diverse chemical entities as micelles, macromolecules and biological cells--to name but three. While Brownian motion determines the kinetics of many physico-chemical processes, the study of Brownian motion as such has not historically been a prominent concern of chemists. This situation may be changing following recent theoretical and experimental developments. Dept. of Food Sci., Univ. of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. 85:5345 Futuyma, D.J., 1985. Evolution as fact and theory. Bios, t i l t biol. Soc., 56(1):3-13.
While the centennial of Darwin's death was the occasion of much celebration in his honor, the battle of the Creationists was reaching a fevered pitch. It is even rumored that (for purely pragmatic reasons) the NSF is suggesting that the word 'evolution' be avoided in the titles of grant applications. (Even if not true, the perception that benefit might accrue from such a course is indicative of the extent to which neomedieval ideologies are thought to pervade certain areas of American political thought in the 1980's.) One weapon of the Creationists has been to capitalize on the debates concerning the modes and mechanisms of evolution (i.e. its theory), as if such debate implied doubt as to the existence of evolution (i.e. its fact). This essay concentrates on those differences at a level understandable to an interested layman. The existence of evolution as fact 'has simply not been at [serious scientific] issue for the last 80 years or more,' even while the theory of how evolution occurs is currently a 'subject of intense dispute' in a manner no different from that marking the progress of any incompletely understood scientific proposition. Dept. of Ecol. and Evol., SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. (fcs)
F. General
the phenomenal books and papers (several collected as the Robinson-Treitel Reader) which formalized the long-distance, and synergistic exchanges of the academic, Enders Robinson, then at the Uppsala University, and the industrial scientist, Treitel, at Amoco. Proubasta is a staff writer for The Leading Edge. (fcs)
F370. Multidisciplinary scientific studies (general interest) 85:5335 HoUigan, P.M., R.D. Pingree and G.T. Mardell, 1985. Oceanic solitons, nutrient pulses and phytoplankton growth. Nature, Lond., 314(6009): 348-350. The first evidence from a deep (4000 m) oceanic environment is presented for nutrient mixing by large soliton-like internal waves, generated more than a day before at the shelf edge. Observations were made in the Bay of Biscay, where the nitrate level is considered to be a major factor regulating the standing stock and productivity of phytoplankton in surface water during the summer months (as in other areas of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean). Mar. Biol. Assoc., Citadel Hill, Plymouth PLI 2PB, UK. 85:5336 Laevastu, T., 1984. The effects of temperature anomalies on the fluctuation of fish stocks. Rapp. P.-v. ReSun. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185: 214-225. Positive seasonal anomalies in winter and negative seasonal anomalies in summer cause the largest direct effects on stocks. Biomass of the forage fishes changes inversely with changes in predator biomass. Changes due to identical seasonal temperature anomalies and climatic changes are different in different geographic regions, largely due to different acclimatization temperatures. Modest climatic temperature changes can cause considerable change in the biomass of some species while affecting some other species relatively little. NMFS, NW and Alaska Fish. Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA. $5:5337 Meincke, J., L. Otto, A.J. Lee and R.R. Dickson (eds.), 1984. Hydrobiulogical variability in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas. Papers presented to Jens Smed on the occasion of his retirement. Rapp. P.-v. R~un. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185:296pp; 22 papers.
777
The first 18 of the 22 papers deal with a diversity of topics including: a review of the activities of the ICES Hydrography Committee; the international Baltic observation program; physical processes and variability in coastal areas and the open ocean (temperature, salinity, circulation and exchange, light-scattering); regional oceanography; and the effects of temperature fluctuations on fish stocks. Papers 19-21 are review papers from a minisymposium on the effects of climatic variations on plankton and fish stocks. The last paper is the text of a special lecture on the implications for fisheries of oceanic heterogeneity. (mjj) 85:5338 Negi, J.G. and R.K. Tiwari, 1984. Periodicities of palaeomagneticintensity and palaeoclimtic variations: a Walsh spectral approach. Earth planet. Sci. Lefts, 70(1):139-147. The Walsh power spectral technique has been applied to the non-sinusoidal palaeoclimatic and palaeomagnetic intensity variation records of the last 1.2 Myr. The analysis reveals, in the case of palaeomagnetic variations, statistically significant peaks centered around 150, 60 and 24 kyr. The palaeoclimatic spectrum, however, indicates only two significant peaks of 60 and 24 kyr. The identical periodicities in both phenomena may suggest a causal link between the geomagnetic intensity variations and climatic changes. Theor. Geophys. Gr., Natl. Geophys. Res. Inst., Hyderabad 500007 A.P., India. 85:5339 Olson, D.B. and R.H. Backus, 1985. The concentrating of organisms at fronts: a cold-water fish and a warm-core Gulf Stream ring. J. mar. Res., 43(1):113-137. In April 1982, very small numbers of the mesopelagic myctophid Benthosema glaciale were observed in a 2-month old warm core ring. By June, abundance at the frontal zone was about 5 times, and in the ring center about 2 times, greater than in adjacent slope water. A simple advection/diffusion model based on the assumption that a fish swims randomly in the horizontal and maintains its preferred depth in the vertical could account for the observed concentrations. MPO/RSMAS, Univ. of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA. (mwf) 85:5340 Raup, D.M., 1985. Magnetic reversals and mass extinctions. Nature, Lond., 314(6009)'341-343. Previous analyses of the time distribution of reversals of the Earth's magnetic field have yielded mixed
778
F. General
results. In this study of the reversal record of the past 165 Myr, a stationary periodicity of 30 Myr emerges (superimposed on the non-stationarities already established by others), which predicts pulses of increased reversal activity centered at 10, 40, 70,...Myr BP. Dept. of the Geophys. Sci., Univ. of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. 85:5341 Shepherd, J.G., J.G. Pope and R.D. Cousens, 1984. Variations in fish stocks and hypotheses concerning their links with climate [N Atlantic].
Rapp. P.-v. R~un. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 185:255-267. Variations found in time series of recruitment to fisheries are described and the extent to which some part may be attributed to large-scale effects is discussed. Explanations of the variability in terms of environmental factors are reviewed; various hypotheses for the mechanisms linking climatic factors to recruitment are classified and critically discussed. M A F F , Dir. of Fish. Res., Fish. Lab., Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK. 85:5342 Yentsch, C.S. and D.A. Phinney, 1985. Rotary motions and convection as a means of regulating primary production in warm core rings. J. geophys. Res., 90(C2):3237-3248.
Two mechanisms are important in regulating primary production and hence the abundance of phytoplankton in warm core tings. The first, anticyclogenesis, is associated with the rotary motion of tings since the resultant geostrophic forces are believed to be the basis for nutrient enrichment. Phytoplankton in this peripheral region experience a near steady state growth closely coupled with the rotational velocity of the ring. The second mechanism is that phytoplankton in the ring center rely on seasonal changes in mixed layer depth due to convection and stabilization. This process regulates the mean light energy and equalizes the nutrient distribution over the water column. Growth in populations at ring center occurs as pulses, responding to changes in the depth of the mixed layer. Bigelow Lab. for Ocean Sci., McKown Point, West Boothbay Harbor, ME, USA.
F380. Advances in science, reviews (general interest) 85:5343 Bishop, C.T., 1985. Electronic publishing: to be or not to be. Commentary. Q. Rev. Biol., 60(1):43-52.
OLR (1985) 32 (9)
'The important fact is that the working documents of scientists are hard copies of papers that can be read, scanned, flipped, carried around from desk, to lab, to home, and spread out on a working surface for comparison, annotation and cross-referencing.' There is no question that computers can assist in, and may even come to dominate, manuscript preparation, peer review, other editorial operations, and typesetting, but these are in contrast to exclusively on-line or electronic distribution and access, for this end-step is not nearly so amenable to computer methods as the others are. Bishop is Editor-in-Chief, Research Journals, NRCC, Ottawa, ON K I A OR6, Canada. (fcs) 85:5344 Dickinson, Eric, 1985. [Brownian particles are] Devoid of sense and motion. Chem. Br., 21(3): 259-261.
Brownian particles include such diverse chemical entities as micelles, macromolecules and biological cells--to name but three. While Brownian motion determines the kinetics of many physico-chemical processes, the study of Brownian motion as such has not historically been a prominent concern of chemists. This situation may be changing following recent theoretical and experimental developments. Dept. of Food Sci., Univ. of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. 85:5345 Futuyma, D.J., 1985. Evolution as fact and theory. Bios, t i l t biol. Soc., 56(1):3-13.
While the centennial of Darwin's death was the occasion of much celebration in his honor, the battle of the Creationists was reaching a fevered pitch. It is even rumored that (for purely pragmatic reasons) the NSF is suggesting that the word 'evolution' be avoided in the titles of grant applications. (Even if not true, the perception that benefit might accrue from such a course is indicative of the extent to which neomedieval ideologies are thought to pervade certain areas of American political thought in the 1980's.) One weapon of the Creationists has been to capitalize on the debates concerning the modes and mechanisms of evolution (i.e. its theory), as if such debate implied doubt as to the existence of evolution (i.e. its fact). This essay concentrates on those differences at a level understandable to an interested layman. The existence of evolution as fact 'has simply not been at [serious scientific] issue for the last 80 years or more,' even while the theory of how evolution occurs is currently a 'subject of intense dispute' in a manner no different from that marking the progress of any incompletely understood scientific proposition. Dept. of Ecol. and Evol., SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. (fcs)