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Marine environmental pollution, 1. Hydrocarbons
Marine PollutionBulletin
Gulf Oil (Mainly) Marine EnvironmentalPollution, 1. Hydrocarbons. R. A. Geyer (ed.). Elsevier, Amsterdam (Oceanography Series No. 27A), 1980. 591 pp. ISBN 0 A.A.A.--41847--4. Price $117.00. This substantial volume covers the topic of hydrocarbons in the marine environment from the original and ongoing formation of petroleum and methane, through the incidence and local effects of natural seeps, the determination of hydrocarbons in seawater or sediments, the 'fingerprinting' of residues and their microbial degradation, to the effects of offshore drilling and the explosion of the tanker Sansinena at a Los Angeles oilterminal. The ecological influence of natural seeps (whether of oil, gas or brine) and discharges of drilling mud are dealt with at sufficient length to place the book amongst a rather short list of standard texts on these topics although, on the other hand, it scarcely refers to tanker shipping, marine terminals or coastal refineries as sources of pollution, except in the particular incident already listed. Apart from a chapter on possible oil-pollution problems in Arctic waters it is also very heavily biased towards the Gulf of Mexico, with 16 authors from institutions in Texas, 6 from Florida and one from Mississippi out of a total of 41. Fortunately, this gives it the advantage of providing detailed contributions on such habitats as coral reefs, lagoons and tropical marshes which, until comparatively recently, have not received sufficient attention by comparison with temperate coastal features. In the general organization of contributions and, more obviously, in his preface, the editor seems to be motivated by the desire to demonstrate that hydrocarbon pollution of seas and coasts is of little significance and that related human activities are of minimal importance as a source of such pollution, compared with natural phenomena. Of course, this is a perfectly reasonable argument to present, supported here (as regards offshore drilling) by the point that the solubility of barium salts in seawater and levels generally reported around platforms (from which they are discharged as an important constituent of muds) are many times lower than permitted in drinkingwater. Indeed, it is stated that a concentration of the major constituents of drilling mud sufficient to bring about a 50°7o kill could not be achieved in tank tests (on the other hand, it was not possible to determine accurately a concentration of mud which does not have some detectable effect on the more sensitive species of coral). My main objection is that Dr Geyer presents points favourable to his contention in rather too positive a way and takes a definition of pollution which seems conveniently restricted to this purpose. He is clearly as irritated as the rest of us by the more exaggerated accusations of Ecologists and Conservationists (spelt with capitals) but allows this to detract somewhat from the scientific objectivity of certain passages. The book contains a mass of interesting original material although, as in most multi-author works on a restricted topic, it is occasionally hard to remember in which of several possible chapters a particular piece of information was 318
given. The index may be of little help in this: it is of adequate length but has an eccentric layout. Algae, for example, are listed under " B i o t a " but not in their rightful alphabetical place, whereas corals appear under C but not as biota. This is doubly confusing, since many reefs referred to are of coralline algae! Under "Bacteria, aerobic" can also be found aerobic benthic fauna, aerobic communities (of macro-invertebrates), aerobic respiration and aerobic zones; none of these occur under A. With over 500 pages devoted to marine oil pollution, one scarcely expects to find 'oil' or 'pollution' in the index. Surprisingly, both are there, but each with only one page-reference- although, under 'Toxicity' there is a page-long column on various aspects of oil pollution. Amongst the original papers there are several useful reviews, which seem likely to remain up-to-date for some time to come: nearly one-half of the 800-odd references date from the last five years and three-quarters of them from the last ten. An overall American bias occasionally leads to imbalance: for example, the survey of world-wide research on the fate and effects of marine oil pollution which forms Chapter 11 seems to show that such work in the U.K. did not expand between 1973 and 1976, as is shown especially for the U . S . A . - but this is due largely to the restricted definition used for project funding. At a more trivial level, the term 'chocolate mousse' (as a description of thick water-in-oil emulsions) is credited to Canevari (1969) when the (U.K.) Cabinet Office report of 1967 on the Torrey Canyon spill mentioned that it was already in general use. The otherwise admirable glossary of units uses only U.S. gallons, without any indication that a significantly larger Imperial unit exists. The standard of printing and production is generally high. The smooth paper, a pleasure to the fingertips, gives a sharp image even of half-tone photographs without too much irritating reflection, although some of the diagrams have been reduced nearly to the point of illegibility. This reviewer was rather put out to find one of his own photographs included (on p. 76), credited only to the publisher of the journal in which it first appeared - but was later mollified to note an adequate reference to his publications in the bibliography. The detailed but restricted coverage of the book and its high price will confine ambitions of personal ownership to specialists in the field, who will themselves readily detect errors and omissions such as those indicated above. Few are serious enough to limit its usefulness for occasional reference in more general libraries. I thus recommend it, with some reservations about its misleadingly broad title. A. NELSON-SMITH
Mysids and Euphausiids Advances in Marine Biology Vol. 18. Edited by J. H. S. Blaxter, Sir F. Russell and Sir M. Yonge. Academic Press, London, 1980. ISBN 012 026 118 9. Price £38.60, $89.00. This volume is entirely concerned with the biology of two orders of decapod Crustacea; the Mysidacea and the Euphausiacea, and is by a single author, Dr J. Mauchline. Both orders are natant, with similar body forms which are related to their pelagic habit, but belong to different groups, namely the Peracarida and Eucarida, respectively. The two orders
Gulf Oil (Mainly) Marine EnvironmentalPollution, 1. Hydrocarbons. R. A. Geyer (ed.). Elsevier, Amsterdam (Oceanography Series No. 27A), 1980. 591 pp. ISBN 0 A.A.A.--41847--4. Price $117.00. This substantial volume covers the topic of hydrocarbons in the marine environment from the original and ongoing formation of petroleum and methane, through the incidence and local effects of natural seeps, the determination of hydrocarbons in seawater or sediments, the 'fingerprinting' of residues and their microbial degradation, to the effects of offshore drilling and the explosion of the tanker Sansinena at a Los Angeles oilterminal. The ecological influence of natural seeps (whether of oil, gas or brine) and discharges of drilling mud are dealt with at sufficient length to place the book amongst a rather short list of standard texts on these topics although, on the other hand, it scarcely refers to tanker shipping, marine terminals or coastal refineries as sources of pollution, except in the particular incident already listed. Apart from a chapter on possible oil-pollution problems in Arctic waters it is also very heavily biased towards the Gulf of Mexico, with 16 authors from institutions in Texas, 6 from Florida and one from Mississippi out of a total of 41. Fortunately, this gives it the advantage of providing detailed contributions on such habitats as coral reefs, lagoons and tropical marshes which, until comparatively recently, have not received sufficient attention by comparison with temperate coastal features. In the general organization of contributions and, more obviously, in his preface, the editor seems to be motivated by the desire to demonstrate that hydrocarbon pollution of seas and coasts is of little significance and that related human activities are of minimal importance as a source of such pollution, compared with natural phenomena. Of course, this is a perfectly reasonable argument to present, supported here (as regards offshore drilling) by the point that the solubility of barium salts in seawater and levels generally reported around platforms (from which they are discharged as an important constituent of muds) are many times lower than permitted in drinkingwater. Indeed, it is stated that a concentration of the major constituents of drilling mud sufficient to bring about a 50°7o kill could not be achieved in tank tests (on the other hand, it was not possible to determine accurately a concentration of mud which does not have some detectable effect on the more sensitive species of coral). My main objection is that Dr Geyer presents points favourable to his contention in rather too positive a way and takes a definition of pollution which seems conveniently restricted to this purpose. He is clearly as irritated as the rest of us by the more exaggerated accusations of Ecologists and Conservationists (spelt with capitals) but allows this to detract somewhat from the scientific objectivity of certain passages. The book contains a mass of interesting original material although, as in most multi-author works on a restricted topic, it is occasionally hard to remember in which of several possible chapters a particular piece of information was 318
given. The index may be of little help in this: it is of adequate length but has an eccentric layout. Algae, for example, are listed under " B i o t a " but not in their rightful alphabetical place, whereas corals appear under C but not as biota. This is doubly confusing, since many reefs referred to are of coralline algae! Under "Bacteria, aerobic" can also be found aerobic benthic fauna, aerobic communities (of macro-invertebrates), aerobic respiration and aerobic zones; none of these occur under A. With over 500 pages devoted to marine oil pollution, one scarcely expects to find 'oil' or 'pollution' in the index. Surprisingly, both are there, but each with only one page-reference- although, under 'Toxicity' there is a page-long column on various aspects of oil pollution. Amongst the original papers there are several useful reviews, which seem likely to remain up-to-date for some time to come: nearly one-half of the 800-odd references date from the last five years and three-quarters of them from the last ten. An overall American bias occasionally leads to imbalance: for example, the survey of world-wide research on the fate and effects of marine oil pollution which forms Chapter 11 seems to show that such work in the U.K. did not expand between 1973 and 1976, as is shown especially for the U . S . A . - but this is due largely to the restricted definition used for project funding. At a more trivial level, the term 'chocolate mousse' (as a description of thick water-in-oil emulsions) is credited to Canevari (1969) when the (U.K.) Cabinet Office report of 1967 on the Torrey Canyon spill mentioned that it was already in general use. The otherwise admirable glossary of units uses only U.S. gallons, without any indication that a significantly larger Imperial unit exists. The standard of printing and production is generally high. The smooth paper, a pleasure to the fingertips, gives a sharp image even of half-tone photographs without too much irritating reflection, although some of the diagrams have been reduced nearly to the point of illegibility. This reviewer was rather put out to find one of his own photographs included (on p. 76), credited only to the publisher of the journal in which it first appeared - but was later mollified to note an adequate reference to his publications in the bibliography. The detailed but restricted coverage of the book and its high price will confine ambitions of personal ownership to specialists in the field, who will themselves readily detect errors and omissions such as those indicated above. Few are serious enough to limit its usefulness for occasional reference in more general libraries. I thus recommend it, with some reservations about its misleadingly broad title. A. NELSON-SMITH
Mysids and Euphausiids Advances in Marine Biology Vol. 18. Edited by J. H. S. Blaxter, Sir F. Russell and Sir M. Yonge. Academic Press, London, 1980. ISBN 012 026 118 9. Price £38.60, $89.00. This volume is entirely concerned with the biology of two orders of decapod Crustacea; the Mysidacea and the Euphausiacea, and is by a single author, Dr J. Mauchline. Both orders are natant, with similar body forms which are related to their pelagic habit, but belong to different groups, namely the Peracarida and Eucarida, respectively. The two orders