24 research outputs found
Coastal Upwelling Supplies Oxygen-Depleted Water to the Columbia River Estuary
Low dissolved oxygen (DO) is a common feature of many estuarine and shallow-water
environments, and is often attributed to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment from
terrestrial-fluvial pathways. However, recent events in the U.S. Pacific
Northwest have highlighted that wind-forced upwelling can cause naturally
occurring low DO water to move onto the continental shelf, leading to
mortalities of benthic fish and invertebrates. Coastal estuaries in the Pacific
Northwest are strongly linked to ocean forcings, and here we report observations
on the spatial and temporal patterns of oxygen concentration in the Columbia
River estuary. Hydrographic measurements were made from transect (spatial
survey) or anchor station (temporal survey) deployments over a variety of wind
stresses and tidal states during the upwelling seasons of 2006 through 2008.
During this period, biologically stressful levels of dissolved oxygen were
observed to enter the Columbia River estuary from oceanic sources, with minimum
values close to the hypoxic threshold of 2.0 mg Lâ1. Riverine
water was consistently normoxic. Upwelling wind stress controlled the timing and
magnitude of low DO events, while tidal-modulated estuarine circulation patterns
influenced the spatial extent and duration of exposure to low DO water. Strong
upwelling during neap tides produced the largest impact on the estuary. The
observed oxygen concentrations likely had deleterious behavioral and
physiological consequences for migrating juvenile salmon and benthic crabs.
Based on a wind-forced supply mechanism, low DO events are probably common to
the Columbia River and other regional estuaries and if conditions on the shelf
deteriorate further, as observations and models predict, Pacific Northwest
estuarine habitats could experience a decrease in environmental quality
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The proportion of remineralized nitrate on the ice-covered eastern Bering Sea shelf evidenced from the oxygen isotope ratio of nitrate
We present measurements of nitrate and its natural abundance oxygen isotope composition (18O/16O) in the water column of the broad and shallow eastern Bering Sea shelf in the late winter and early spring of 2007 and 2008. In both years, nitrate concentrations showed a characteristic decrease, from 25â”M at the slope to â€5â”M inshore. The 18O/16O ratio of nitrate (ÎŽ18ONO3 versus SMOW) also decreased from 3.2â° at the slope to 1.5â° inshore in 2007 and to as low as â1â° inshore in 2008, indicating that nitrate inshore was nitrified at least once since having been entrained as nitrate from the slope. The shoreward decrease was less pronounced in 2007 due to 18O enrichment of nitrate from incident phytoplankton assimilation in the iceâcovered water column, whereas little to no algal growth in the water column was evident in 2008. By comparing the ÎŽ18O of nitrate to that of ambient water in spring 2008, we estimate the fraction of nitrate that was remineralized in situ rather than recently advected from the slope. These estimates indicate that 20%â100% of the nitrate in winter water of the middle and inner shelves derives from regeneration directly on the shelf rather than from the seasonal entrainment of slope waters, with recycling being the dominant mode of seasonal nitrate recharge from the 70âm isobath shoreward. These observations indicate substantial nutrient recycling on the shallow shelf, which has direct implications for the extent of fixed N loss to benthic denitrification and the fertility of the eastern shelf
Beyond Community Engagement: Transforming dialogues in art, education and the cultural sphere
This book reconsiders fundamental questions about relationships between community engagement, art and education within cultural spheres. Transdisciplinary chapters bring together researchers as âinsider-practitionersâ to challenge assumptions and offer new insights about practice, engagement and possibilities for transformation. The chapters reflect both localised projects and international perspectives on ecologies of practice as a key marker of the mobility of ideas as well as social mobility. Addressing socially engaged, informal pedagogy re-examines the aesthetic possibilities of social capital in the public domain. Re-considering contributions of education and research through transfer of knowledge and expertise across small social collectives, partnerships and larger institutional agencies is a growing practice. Examining equity and types of participation alongside issues of local and global significance is emergent in new, pop-up and continuing communities. Gauging social impact through case studies is an important project within the tertiary sector to ensure that critically reflexive visual research methodologies gain currency within contemporary neo-liberal funding and educational agendas. In the current milieux we ask, is all engagement transformative, educative, sustainable and linked to democratizing principles that address civic agendas? Re-imagining sites/situations of learning, culture and place as âpractice encountersâ utilises practices relevant for educators and practitioners. Applications of ecology, practice architectures and site ontologies inform broader social challenges. Conceiving arts-based research as a network, prioritises transitions and becomings to re-conceptualise the significance of relationships within local/global connectivity. Linking professional networks and agencies to adaptive communities, creates an expanded field of real world creative partnerships to enable changing pedagogies