Sea level variations in the northwest Mediterranean during Roman times

Sea level variations in the northwest Mediterranean during Roman times

Oceanographic Abstracts 291 PASTORE M., 1972. Decapod Crustacea in Taranto's and Catania's seas and a discussion on a new species of Dromiidae (Deca...

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Oceanographic Abstracts

291

PASTORE M., 1972. Decapod Crustacea in Taranto's and Catania's seas and a discussion on a new species of Dromiidae (Decapoda, Brachyura)in the Mediterranean Sea. ThalassiaJugosl., 8 (1): 105.117. During systematic and faunistic investigation of the decapod Crustacea in the seas around Taranto and Catania, 74 species have been found. Of these species, 25 have been identified for the first time in these regions. They may be divided into the following groups: 3 species Penaeidae, 5 Caridea, 1 Macrura, 3 Anomura and 13 Brachyura. The total number of known species at present is 119. The recording ofDromidiopsis spinirostris (Miers, 188l) is new for the Mediterranean Sea. A detailed description of this species is given in the second part of the paper. PENN J.W., 1976. Tagging experiments with western king prawn, Penaeus latisulcatus Kishinouye. 11. Estimation of population parameters. Aust. J. mar. Freshwat. Res., 27 (2): 239-250. The toggle tagging method previously tested for suitability with adult western king prawns has been used in an intensive field trial in a previously unexploited population of prawns confined in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia. Approximately 12,000 tagged prawns, in three consecutive experiments, were released over a period of 3 months during which time the population was subjected to controlled fishing by a chartered trawler to simulate a commercial fishery. Using the catch-effort data and recaptures from the three releases, a number of methods of estimating population size have been evaluated. The Petersen estimates, selected as most appropriate, have been used to calculate instantaneous rates of natural and fishing mortality, and catchability coefficients during the experimental period. An apparent relationship between catchability and temperature has been discussed togethe r with other biological problems encountered in the use of prawn tag recapture data. PERKINS R. D. and C. 1. TSENTAS, 1976. Microbial infestation of carbonate substrates planted on the St. Croix shelf, West Indies. Bull. geoL Soc. Am., 87 (I1): 1615-1628. Carbonate substrates prepared from the shells of living organisms and inorganic calcite were planted on the St. Croix shelf and periodically harvested to determine the nature and extent of microbial infestation by endolithic organisms. Substrates, 1 to 10 mm in diameter, were mounted on plexiglass sheets and anchored at five sites at depths ranging from the intertidal to 30 m. Samples were harvested after exposure times ranging from 9 days to 18 months. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination of plastic-impregnated endoliths and their resultant microborings, in association with specimens isolated through acid dissolution of host substrates, formed the basis for this investigation. Blue-green algae were found to be the dominant microborers, and green algae were of secondary importance. Red algae and fungi were relatively scarce. In order of decreasing abundance, the following endolithic organisms were observed: Mastigocoleus testarum (blue-green alga), Plectonema terebrans (blue-green alga), Phaeophila engleri (green alga), Hyella sp. A (blue-green alga), Ostreobium brabantium (green alga), Calothrix sp. (blue-green alga), Ostreobium constrictum (green alga), moniliform fungus (?), Conchocelis stage of Porphyra sp. (red alga), Sc),tonema (blue-green alga), microboring sponge, reticulate fungus (?), and Hyella sp. B (blue-green alga). Initial infestation of planted substrates was detectable after exposure periods of as little as 9 days and heavy infestation within 2 to 4 months. Less than 10 percent of the grains exposed for 9 days were colonized by endoliths; after 4 months approximately 95 percent of the grains were colonized. The distributional patterns of microborers that infested substrates planted on the St. Croix shelf are believed to be environmentally controlled and may be applicable in the paleoecological analyses of ancient carbonates. PINET P. R., 1976. Morphology off northern Honduras, northwestern Caribbean Sea. Deep-Sea Res., 23 (9): 839-847. Over 5,500 km of sounding lines were used to construct a detailed bathymetric chart of the sea floor between Honduras and the southern Cayman Trough. The submarine morphology is related clearly to the tectonic setting. Complex transform faulting has ruptured the crust seaward of the Honduras continental margin into a series of deep grabens separated by irregular submarine ridges. Because of the proximity of the Cayman Trough, the western continental margin is a faulted platform characterized by an irregular shelf as narrow as 10 km and a steeply dipping slope; both shelf and slope have been modified substantially by the growth of thick reef masses. Further east, tectonism is reduced as a result of the divergent trends of the Cayman Trough and the Honduras continental margin. Consequently, the eastern margin sector is a depositional platform consisting mostly of a broad, smooth shelf and gentle slopes. Submarine erosion and local slumping have steepened the slope throughout the area. PIRAZZOLI P.A., 1976. Sea level variations in the northwest Mediterranean during Roman times. Science. 194 (4264): 519-521. Archeological remains indicate an average rise of sea level of 7.5 centimeters per 100 years from 300 B.C. to A.D. 150. At A.D. 0 mean sea level was about 0.5 meter below the present value. Eustatic fluctuations have not exceeded 0.15 meter.