Oceanography and Marine Biology, Vol. 22

701 Pages·1984·5.6 MB·English

by  Harold Barnes (ed.), Margaret Barnes (ed.)

OCEANOGRAPHY AND
MARINE BIOLOGY
AN ANNUAL REVIEW
Volume 22
HAROLD BARNES, Founder Editor
MARGARET BARNES, Editor
The Dunstaffnage Marine Research Laboratory
Oban, Argyll, Scotland
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS
FIRST PUBLISHED 1984
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. All
rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose
of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright Act, 1956, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, electrical,
chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright
owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.
© Aberdeen University Press 1984
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Oceanography and marine biology.—Vol. 22
1. Oceanography—Periodicals 2. Marine
biology—Periodicals
551.46′005 GC1
ISBN 0-203-40062-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-70886-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-08-030392-7 (Print Edition)
CONTENTS
page
PREFACE v
Currents in the Eastern Irish Sea 2
M.J.HOWARTH
Emergence of Optical Instrumentation for measuring Biological 47
Properties
CLARICE M.YENTS AND CHCHARLES S.YENTSCH
Mixing and Plankton: an Interdisciplinary Theme in Oceanography 90
P.TETT AND A.EDWARDS
Effects of Physical Processes on Planktonic Ecosystems in the Coastal 116
Ocean
KENNETH L.DENMAN AND THOMAS M.POWELL
Manganese in the Marine Environment 164
G.P.GLASBY
Heavy Metals and Coral Reefs 192
L.S.HOWARD AND B.E.BROWN
Ecological Energetics from Total Lipid and Total Protein: Fact and 210
Artifact using a Gravimetric Method for Lipid and a Biuret Method for
Protein c.c.
E.HOPKINS, J.V. SEIRING, O.NYHOLMEN AND
A.HERMANNSEN
Biochemical Metabolic Regulatory Responses of Marine Invertebrates 263
to Natural Environmental Change and Marine Pollution
JOHN BLACKSTOCK
Aspects of Flowering and Pollination in Marine Angiosperms 317
J.M.PETTITT
Feeding in the Chaetognatha 350
DAVID L.FEIGENBAUM AND ROBERT C.MARIS
iv
Ecophysiology of Marsupial Development and Reproduction in 417
Mysidacea (Crustacea)
KARL J.WITTMANN
Competition between Marine Organisms: Ecological and Evolutionary 458
Implications
G.M.BRANCH
AUTHOR INDEX 628
SYSTEMATIC INDEX 666
SUBJECT INDEX 675
PREFACE
Manuscripts continue to be submitted to this series of Annual Reviews. The
desire to publish in it must reflect its importance and value to marine scientists in
general. Many experts are still willing, and even anxious, to accept invitations to
contribute articles. This is all very gratifying to me as the editor and to the
publishers; it ensures the continuation of the Series.
As always, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the help of all the contributors and
their willingness to accede to editorial requests. I am especially grateful for the
help and advice of many colleagues including, in particular, Drs A.D.Ansell,
R.N.Gibson. and T.H.Pearson.
OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE
BIOLOGY
AN ANNUAL REVIEW
Volume 22
Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev., 1984, 22, 11–53
Margaret Barnes, Ed.
Aberdeen University Press

CURRENTS IN THE EASTERN IRISH SEA
M.J.HOWARTH
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Bidston Observatory,
Birkenhead, Merseyside L43 7RA, U.K.
INTRODUCTION
Since 1952 low level liquid waste from the British Nuclear Fuels Limited
nuclear re-processing plant at Windscale (now called Sellafield), Cumbria, U.K.
has been discharged into the Irish Sea. The chemical composition and the
amount of the waste has varied over the years as the plant being operated at
Windscale has changed and as the number and types of nuclear reactors in the
U.K. have changed. Monthly or annual limits, in Curies, of the quantity which
may be discharged for each radionuclide are specified by the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of the Environment. More
details are given by Mauchline (1980), Smith, Parker & Kirby (1980), and an
annual report on radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles,
the most recent of which is for 1980 (Hunt, 1982).
Most of the radionuclides in the waste have half-lives of less than a few days
and are discharged in small amounts—causing a small increase in radioactivity in
the vicinity of the outfall. A few, however, have half-lives of a year or longer and
so have the potential to increase the level of radioactivity or toxicity over a large
region. The manner of their movement depends on whether they are in solution or
particulate form on leaving the outfall. Only a few radionuclides stay in solution;
examples are most compounds of strontium 90 and caesium 134 and 137. These
either move with the currents or become trapped in the interstitial water in the
sediments. Most radionuclides, however, descend to the sea floor as colloids or
particles; examples are compounds of ruthenium 106, of cerium 144, and of
highly toxic plutonium 238, 239, 240, 241 and americium 241. These
radionuclides are adsorbed by the sediments by several different processes
depending on the chemical composition of the sea water, sediment, and
radionuclides. Since most of these processes are surface-area dependent the
radionuclides are attracted to the fine sediment-silts and muds (Hetherington &
CURRENTS IN EASTERN IRISH SEA 3
Jefferies, 1974). Unless the sediments are disturbed, for instance by fast tidal or
wave orbital currents or by bioturbation, this radioactivity decreases
exponentially with depth into the sediment. In contrast, the radioactivity from
soluble radionuclides decreases more slowly with depth since the interstitial
water frequently penetrates tens of centimetres. Whether a radionuclide stays in
solution or is in particulate form depends on its chemical composition, for
instance plutonium in some forms is particulate and in others is soluble. Most of
the plutonium released from Sellafield appears to be particulate (Nelson &
Lovett, 1981).
About 103–104 m3/day of effluentis discharged from the outfall, which is 20 m
below chart datum and 2 km from the shore at Sellafield. Since the effluent is
composed mainly of fresh water, which is less dense than sea water, initially it
rises towards the sea surface (Mauchline, 1980). The transport of the long-lived
radionuclides away from the outfall is determined by the currents in the Irish Sea,
either directly or indirectly via dispersion and sediment transport. Those in
solution can be transported a long way—caesium 137 from Sellafield, which
forms a significant proportion of the waste, has been detected in the North Sea,
Baltic Sea and along the Norwegian coast (Kautsky, Jefferies & Steele, 1980;
Kautsky, 1981; Kautsky & Murray, 1981) and plutonium and americium from
Sellafield have been detected in the water column in the North Minch, 600 km
away (Livingston & Bowen, 1977). Net sediment transport not only depends on
the currents but also on the nature of the sediment (whether it is cohesive, like
mud, or non-cohesive, like sand) and on whether the transport process is by bed-
load or in suspension. There is no accepted theory for predicting sediment
transport in the sea and very few in situ observations. Most transport processes
are almost certainly non-linear and hence the net sediment transport will depend
on the tidal currents (as will the initial dispersion).
This paper reviews the present knowledge of tidal and low frequency currents
in the eastern Irish Sea (see p. 23 and 28, respectively) to form the basis for
understanding and predicting the distributions of radionuclides there. In turn,
these will provide feedback to improve comprehension of the Irish Sea’s
dynamics. The background is given on pages 12–17 by describing briefly the
salient features of the physical oceanography of the Irish Sea and on pages 18–23
by commenting on measuring currents with recording currents meters and on
predicting them with numerical models, two techniques which, over the last 15
years, have greatly increased our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics
of the Irish Sea.
PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Detailed descriptions of the physical oceanography of the Irish Sea are given by
Bowden (1955, 1980). A brief account is given here concentrating on the region
near Sellafield and excluding tides and currents.