Light Attenuation by Limestone Rock and Its Constraint on the Depth Distribution of Endolithic Algae and Cyanobacteria

2001 ◽  
Vol 162 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Matthes ◽  
Sandra J. Turner ◽  
Douglas W. Larson
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle M. Morgan ◽  
Molly A. Moynihan ◽  
Nivedita Sanwlani ◽  
Adam D. Switzer

Turbid coral reefs experience high suspended sediment loads and low-light conditions that vertically compress the maximum depth of reef growth. Although vertical reef compression is hypothesized to further decrease available coral habitat as environmental conditions on reefs change, its causative processes have not been fully quantified. Here, we present a high-resolution time series of environmental parameters known to influence coral depth distribution (light, turbidity, sedimentation, currents) within reef crest (2–3 m) and reef slope (7 m) habitats on two turbid reefs in Singapore. Light levels on reef crests were low [mean daily light integral (DLI): 13.9 ± 5.6 and 6.4 ± 3.0 mol photons m–2 day–1 at Kusu and Hantu, respectively], and light differences between reefs were driven by a 2-fold increase in turbidity at Hantu (typically 10–50 mg l–1), despite its similar distance offshore. Light attenuation was rapid (KdPAR: 0.49–0.57 m–1) resulting in a shallow euphotic depth of <11 m, and daily fluctuations of up to 8 m. Remote sensing indicates a regional west-to-east gradient in light availability and turbidity across southern Singapore attributed to spatial variability in suspended sediment, chlorophyll-a and colored dissolved organic matter. Net sediment accumulation rates were ∼5% of gross rates on reefs (9.8–22.9 mg cm–2 day–1) due to the resuspension of sediment by tidal currents, which contribute to the ecological stability of reef crest coral communities. Lower current velocities on the reef slope deposit ∼4 kg m2 more silt annually, and result in high soft-sediment benthic cover. Our findings confirm that vertical reef compression is driven from the bottom-up, as the photic zone contracts and fine silt accumulates at depth, reducing available habitat for coral growth. Assuming no further declines in water quality, future sea level rise could decrease the depth distribution of these turbid reefs by a further 8–12%. This highlights the vulnerability of deeper coral communities on turbid reefs to the combined effects of both local anthropogenic inputs and climate-related impacts.


Author(s):  
Etie Ben Akpan

INTRODUCTIONSome marine endolithic algae grow well and are restricted to the strongly lit littoral and uppermost sublittoral environments. The wide depth ranging boring algae must however adapt to different light intensities. Whereas Eugomontia sacculata Kornmann is considered as a form adapted to high light intensity (Akpan, 1981), Ostreobium quekettii Bornet & Flahault and Conchocelis - a boring phase in the life cycle of red algae in the Porphyra and Bangia genera - are able to survive under low light conditions even though they thrive at depths with strong illuminations (Rooney & Perkins, 1972; Clokie & Boney, 1980). Sheath, Hellebust & Sawa (1977) have demonstrated that the Conchocelis of a Porphyra sp. can survive prolonged very dim light condition and probably remain in a ‘steady state’ without growth in the dark for a long time. This adaptation is important for those algae in the lower part of the photic zone because during winter, deep light penetration is hampered.


Author(s):  
S.F. Corcoran

Over the past decade secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has played an increasingly important role in the characterization of electronic materials and devices. The ability of SIMS to provide part per million detection sensitivity for most elements while maintaining excellent depth resolution has made this technique indispensable in the semiconductor industry. Today SIMS is used extensively in the characterization of dopant profiles, thin film analysis, and trace analysis in bulk materials. The SIMS technique also lends itself to 2-D and 3-D imaging via either the use of stigmatic ion optics or small diameter primary beams.By far the most common application of SIMS is the determination of the depth distribution of dopants (B, As, P) intentionally introduced into semiconductor materials via ion implantation or epitaxial growth. Such measurements are critical since the dopant concentration and depth distribution can seriously affect the performance of a semiconductor device. In a typical depth profile analysis, keV ion sputtering is used to remove successive layers the sample.


Author(s):  
S.J.B. Reed

Characteristic fluorescenceThe theory of characteristic fluorescence corrections was first developed by Castaing. The same approach, with an improved expression for the relative primary x-ray intensities of the exciting and excited elements, was used by Reed, who also introduced some simplifications, which may be summarized as follows (with reference to K-K fluorescence, i.e. K radiation of element ‘B’ exciting K radiation of ‘A’):1.The exciting radiation is assumed to be monochromatic, consisting of the Kα line only (neglecting the Kβ line).2.Various parameters are lumped together in a single tabulated function J(A), which is assumed to be independent of B.3.For calculating the absorption of the emerging fluorescent radiation, the depth distribution of the primary radiation B is represented by a simple exponential.These approximations may no longer be justifiable given the much greater computing power now available. For example, the contribution of the Kβ line can easily be calculated separately.


Author(s):  
P.-F. Staub ◽  
C. Bonnelle ◽  
F. Vergand ◽  
P. Jonnard

Characterizing dimensionally and chemically nanometric structures such as surface segregation or interface phases can be performed efficiently using electron probe (EP) techniques at very low excitation conditions, i.e. using small incident energies (0.5<E0<5 keV) and low incident overvoltages (1<U0<1.7). In such extreme conditions, classical analytical EP models are generally pushed to their validity limits in terms of accuracy and physical consistency, and Monte-Carlo simulations are not convenient solutions as routine tools, because of their cost in computing time. In this context, we have developed an intermediate procedure, called IntriX, in which the ionization depth distributions Φ(ρz) are numerically reconstructed by integration of basic macroscopic physical parameters describing the electron beam/matter interaction, all of them being available under pre-established analytical forms. IntriX’s procedure consists in dividing the ionization depth distribution into three separate contributions:


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 133-146
Author(s):  
PC González-Espinosa ◽  
SD Donner

Warm-water growth and survival of corals are constrained by a set of environmental conditions such as temperature, light, nutrient levels and salinity. Water temperatures of 1 to 2°C above the usual summer maximum can trigger a phenomenon known as coral bleaching, whereby disruption of the symbiosis between coral and dinoflagellate micro-algae, living within the coral tissue, reveals the white skeleton of coral. Anomalously cold water can also lead to coral bleaching but has been the subject of limited research. Although cold-water bleaching events are less common, they can produce similar impacts on coral reefs as warm-water events. In this study, we explored the effect of temperature and light on the likelihood of cold-water coral bleaching from 1998-2017 using available bleaching observations from the Eastern Tropical Pacific and the Florida Keys. Using satellite-derived sea surface temperature, photosynthetically available radiation and light attenuation data, cold temperature and light exposure metrics were developed and then tested against the bleaching observations using logistic regression. The results show that cold-water bleaching can be best predicted with an accumulated cold-temperature metric, i.e. ‘degree cooling weeks’, analogous to the heat stress metric ‘degree heating weeks’, with high accuracy (90%) and fewer Type I and Type II errors in comparison with other models. Although light, when also considered, improved prediction accuracy, we found that the most reliable framework for cold-water bleaching prediction may be based solely on cold-temperature exposure.


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