Depth limit for reef building corals in the Au’au Channel, S.E. Hawaii

In this paper, the relationship between reef building (accretion) and depth in an optimal inter-island channel environment in Hawaii is analyzed. For accretion, the growth rate of Porites lobata is used as a proxy for the reef community, because it is the most abundant and dominant species of reef building coral in Hawaii. Optimal growth of P. lobata occurs at a depth of 6 m, below which both growth rate and abundance decrease with increasing depth. A lower depth limit for this species is found at about 80–100 m, yet reef accretion ceases at ~50 m depth. Below 50 m, rates of bio-erosion of colony holdfasts equal or exceed the growth of basal attachments, causing colonies to detach from the bottom. Continued bio-erosion further erodes and dislodges colonies leading to their breakdown and ultimately to the formation of coralline rubble and sand. Thus, within this channel environment in Hawaii, a threshold for reef building exists at ~ 50 m depth, where coral accretion is interrupted by bio-erosion. Conceptually viewed, this depth horizon is analogous to a vertical Darwin Point, although quite narrow in space and time. More importantly, it explains the history of reef morphology in the Au’au Channel where a chronological hiatus exists at a depth near 50 m. This hiatus separates shallower modern growth (about 100 years or less) from the deeper reef which is all due to accretion during the early Holocene or Pleistocene epochs.     

Use of passages across a canal by wild mammals and related mortality

From 1993–1998, we monitored a 24.1-km long concrete water canal in northern Spain for drowned mammals. Along the canal, 14 concrete bridges and 9 small bridges permitted crossing by humans and livestock. Our objective was to test whether those bridges could be used as passages for wild animals to prevent drowning. We used tracks recorded in sand on bridges to identify species passing. Of the bridges, 65% were used by wild mammals; the 9 small bridges accounted for 57% of crossings by wild animals. Wild and domestic canids (Canis lupus, C.l. domesticus, Vulpes vulpes) were the main users (85%), followed by wild ungulates (mainly wild boar, Sus scrofa) at 71% of the crossings. Proximity to a mountain slope did not increase crossing in deer species, but did not hinder wild boars, foxes and wolves from doing so. Up to 88.1% of the wild mammalian species selected passages that were close to scrubland or forest. Of the drowned animals observed, 70% were dogs and livestock. More roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) drowned than other species, and 73% drowned between April and October. Throughout the year, 6.5% of wild boars fell into the canal . Foxes were the main species crossing the canal, but accounted for only 2.1% of drowned species. We recommend that the following action should be taken to reduce drowning: (1) bridges that are simpler and rustic in design should be constructed and (2) water catchments should be dug into the forest to provide water, so that animals do not need to use the canal as a water source or need to cross it to reach the river.     

Drowning of a Lower Jurassic carbonate platform: Jbel Bou Dahar, High Atlas, Morocco

Summary The high-plateau of the Jbel Bou Dahar, situated in the Central and Eastern High Atlas of Morocco, represents a Lower Jurassic carbonate platform that drowned at the beginning of the Toarcian. Three phases of platform evolution can be distinguished: During thepre-drowning phase (upper Sinemurian— upper Pliensbachian) the platform interior facies reflects a restricted-marine lagoonal environment, protected by scattered buildups and cemented debris at the platform margin. Upper and mid-slope are dominated by coarse-grained, poorly sorted limestones, deposited through debris flows during sea-level lowstands. Sea-level highstand deposits occur at the toe of slope and are formed by an alternation of fine-grained litho- and bioclastic pack- to grainstones (turbidites), marls and mud- to wackestones (hemipelagic oozes). A condensed section, reflecting an abrupt and fundamental environmental change along the entire platform, characterises thedrowning phase (upper Pliensbachian— lower Toarcian). Within the platform interior densely packed biosparites represent the switch to high-energy environments, causing erosion of the former pre-drowning lagoonal sediments. These erosional products were redeposited on the platform slope, leading to the formation of coarse-grained non-skeletal sparites and micrites. Both platform interior and slope successions show a series of cyclic variations in sediment composition that could have been triggered by small-scale sea-level fluctuations. In contrast to the abrupt facies change at the pre-drowning —drowning boundary, the transition to thepost-drowning phase (lower Toarcian—Aalenian) is gradual. During this phase, biopelmicrites and pure micrites were deposited in all platform sections, followed by the deposition of calcistiltites. The facies point to quiet-water conditions below storm-wave base and display a uniform deep-marine sedimentation. This analysis shows that the drowning of the Jbel Bou Dahar carbonate platform was caused by abrupt and fundamental changes in the shallow-water realm. After exposure of the platform, these changes prevented the carbonate factory from re-establishing itself and made it impossible for the platform to keep up with the subsequent rise in sea level. These local changes were probably triggered by high-frequency sealevel variations in combination with regional or even worldwide changes in ocean circulation patterns.     

海水淹溺致大鼠急性肺损伤模型的建立

目的：建立海水淹溺肺损伤（SWD-ALl）的大鼠模型,为SWD—ALl的基础及救治研究提供平台。方法：128只健康SD大鼠随机分为4组,即对照（CG）组和海水灌注（SGI、SG2、SG4）组（分别气管内注入1、2、4mL／kg海水）。观察大鼠气管内海水灌注后症状以及各组呼吸频率、心率、动脉血气、肺湿／干重r~（W／D）,留取肺组织病理标本观察病变。结果：与对照组比较,海水灌注组大鼠心率、呼吸频率明显加快,气道有白色泡沫渗出物,口唇发绀,肺部满布湿罗音。动脉血气分析氧分压（PaO2）和二氧化碳分压（Pa—CO2）显著降低（P〈0．01）;SGl、SG2组30min测氧合指数（Pa02／FiO2）低于300mmHg,之后逐渐升高至接近正常,SG4组各时间点测PaOJFi02得均在300mmHg以下;各组间比较,SG4组肺组织湿／干重比（W／D）明显高于其他组（P〈0．01）。肺组织病理观察,光镜下肺间质水肿,肺泡隔断裂,大量的红细胞及炎性细胞浸润。结论：经气管内灌注海水4mL／kg,可成功建立海水淹溺急性肺损伤的动物模型。     

Ecological controls on geometries of carbonate platforms: Miocene/Pliocene shallow-water microfaunas and carbonate biofacies from the Queensland Plateau (NE Australia)

Summary The Miocene and Pliocene of three ODP Leg 133 sites (812, 813, 814) record the biofacies evolution prior and during the partial drowning of the Queensland Plateau carbonate platform. Four major skeletal assemblages occur in the succession. The first, middle Miocene assemblage consists of a tropical chlorozoan association. The second assemblage, which records warm-temperate depositional conditions, lacks aragonitic skeletal elements. It is dominated by foraminifera and bryozoans. The third skeletal association (uppermost Lower Pliocene) contains green algae, foraminifera, and bryozoans. The last skeletal association is pelagic (ooze) and mainly consists of planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton. The middle Miocene depositional geometry in the analysed transect of drill sites is that of a carbonate bank with a well-defined rim and a flank. During the late Miocene and early Pliocene carbonate ramps formed. Upper Miocene and lower Pliocene deposits in the drill holes are rich in large benthic foraminifera. Combination of micropaleontological with seismic data allows the reconstruction of a curve of relative sea level for the Tortonian and Messinian. The long term trend of relative sea level is characterised by a rise punctuated by four short term falls.Lepidocyclina (Nephrolepidina) rutteni is described from the Australian faunal province for the first time.     

Support for vicariant origins of the New Zealand Onychophora

Aim The distribution of Onychophora across the southern continents has long been considered the result of vicariance events. However, it has recently been hypothesized that New Zealand was completely inundated during the late Oligocene (25–22 Ma) and therefore that the entire biota is the result of long-distance dispersal. We tested this assumption using phylogenetic and molecular dating of DNA sequence data from Onychophora. Location New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile (South America). Methods We obtained DNA sequence data from the nuclear genes 28S and 18S rRNA to reconstruct relationships among species of Peripatopsidae (Onychophora). We performed molecular dating under a Bayesian relaxed clock model with a range of prior distributions using the rifting of South America and South Africa as a calibration. Results Our phylogenetic trees revealed that the New Zealand genera Ooperipatellus and Peripatoides, together with selected Australian genera (Euperipatoides, Phallocephale and an undescribed genus from Tasmania), form a monophyletic group that is the sister group to genera from Chile (Metaperipatus) and South Africa (Peripatopsis and Opisthopatus). The relaxed clock dating analyses yielded mean divergence times from 71.3 to 78.9 Ma for the split of the New Zealand Peripatoides from their Australian sister taxa. The 0.95 Bayesian posterior intervals were very broad and ranged from 24.5 to 137.6 Ma depending on the prior assumptions. The mean divergence of the New Zealand species of Ooperipatellus from the Australian species Ooperipatellus insignis was estimated at between 39.9 and 46.2 Ma, with posterior intervals ranging from 9.5 to 91.6 Ma. Main conclusions The age of Peripatoides is consistent with long-term survival in New Zealand and implies that New Zealand was not completely submerged during the Oligocene. Ooperipatellus is less informative on the question of continuous land in the New Zealand region because we cannot exclude a post-Oligocene divergence. The great age of Peripatoides is consistent with a vicariant origin of this genus resulting from the rifting of New Zealand from the eastern margin of Gondwana and supports the assumptions of previous authors who considered the Onychophora to be a relict component of the New Zealand biota.