PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT SITE, AND THE CONTENT DOES NOT REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION.
The neurotoxic amino acid, domoic acid (DA), is naturally produced by marine phytoplankton and presents a significant threat to the health of marine mammals, seabirds and humans via transfer of the toxin through the foodweb. In humans, acute exposure causes a neurotoxic illness known as amnesic shellfish poisoning characterized by seizures, memory loss, coma and … Read more
In the Gulf of Maine area (GoMA), as elsewhere in the ocean, the organisms of greatest numerical abundance are microbes. Viruses in GoMA are largely cyanophages and bacteriophages, including podoviruses which lack tails. There is also evidence of Mimivirus and Chlorovirus in the metagenome. Bacteria in GoMA comprise the dominant SAR11 phylotype cluster, and other … Read more
Over the past two decades China has become the largest global consumer of fertilizers, which has enhanced river nutrient fluxes and caused eutrophication and hypoxia in the Yangtze (Changjiang) large river delta-front estuary (LDE). In this study, we utilized plant pigments, lignin-phenols, stable isotopes (?13C and ?15N) and foraminiferal microfossils in 210Pb dated cores to … Read more
Numerical experiments are conducted to investigate how axial winds affect stratification and circulation in the partially mixed estuary of Chesapeake Bay. In the absence of rotational effects, stratification in the estuary decreases following both down?estuary and up?estuary winds, but stratification experiences larger reduction and takes longer to recover under up?estuary winds. In the presence of … Read more
In the stratified rotating estuary of Chesapeake Bay, the Ekman transport drives a counterclockwise lateral circulation under down?estuary winds and a clockwise lateral circulation under up?estuary winds (looking into estuary). The clockwise circulation is about twice as strong as the counterclockwise circulation. Analysis of the streamwise vorticity equation reveals a balance among three terms: titling … Read more
In-situ observations and a coupled bio-physical model were used to study the germination, initiation, and development of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Alexandrium fundyense bloom in 2006. Hydrographic measurements and comparisons with GOM climatology indicate that 2006 was a year with normal coastal water temperature, salinity, current and river runoff conditions. A. fundyense cyst abundance … Read more
Simulation models coupling physics to biological processes in the ocean are central to many current programs. Ocean physical models have approached a high level of sophistication; the physical relationships are canonical, and modern computational technology for fluid mechanics has advanced steadily for two generations or more. The complexity of biological processes in the ocean presents … Read more
This study explores the cycling of phosphorus (P) in the euphotic zone following upwelling in northeastern Monterey Bay (the Red Tide Incubator region) of coastal California, with particular emphasis on how bacteria and phytoplankton that form harmful algal blooms mediate and respond to changes in P availability. In situ measurements of nutrient concentrations, phytoplankton community … Read more
Nearly one hundred New England lobstermen have installed temperature sensors on their traps to record hourly values at fixed locations since 2001. These moorings are distributed primarily along the shelf edge in the northern Mid-Atlantic Bight and along the entire western edge of the Gulf of Maine in a range of water depths (1300m). Variability … Read more
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) cause significant economic and ecological damage worldwide. Despite considerable efforts, a comprehensive understanding of the factors that promote these blooms has been lacking, because the biochemical pathways that facilitate their dominance relative to other phytoplankton within specific environments have not been identified. Here, biogeochemical measurements showed that the harmful alga Aureococcus … Read more