Marine pollution damage in Australia: implementing the Bunker Oil Convention 2001 and the Supplementary Fund Protocol 2003

The grounding of the bulk carrier Pasha Bulker on Nobbys beach, Newcastle in June 2007 has again highlighted the risk from shipping posed to Australia’s extensive and environmentally fragile coastline. Whilst a pollution incident was averted in this case, spills from shipping in other states (such as the Nakhodka spill off Japan in 1997, the Prestige spill off France in 1999, the Erika spill off Spain in 2003 and the Hebei Spirit spill of South Korea in 2007), have required the constant monitoring and updating of the international regulatory regimes designed to prevent such incidents occurring and to provide compensation when they nevertheless do occur. Two recent additions to this international regulatory system are the Protocol on the Establishment of a Supplementary Fund for Oil Pollution Damage 2003, (the “Supplementary Fund Protocol 2003”) and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage 2001 (“the Bunker Oil Convention 2001”). In 2008, Australia gave effect to these instruments, enacting the Supplementary Fund Protocol via the Protection of the Sea Legislation Amendment Act 2008 (Cth), while the Bunker Oil Convention is given effect through the Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage) Act 2008 (Cth), and the Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability For Bunker Oil Pollution Damage) (Consequential Amendments) Act 2008 (Cth). The purpose of this article is to analyse these international instruments, describe how they came about, and explain the Australian implementation of them. In particular, consideration is given to the question of limitation of liability, especially the relationship between bunker pollution claims and the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC) 1976, as amended in 1996

Bunker Cave stalagmites: an archive for central European Holocene climate variability

Holocene climate was characterised by variability on multi-centennial to multi-decadal time scales. In central Europe, these fluctuations were most pronounced during winter. Here we present a record of past winter climate variability for the last 10.8 ka based on four speleothems from Bunker Cave, western Germany. Due to its central European location, the cave site is particularly well suited to record changes in precipitation and temperature in response to changes in the North Atlantic realm. We present high-resolution records of δ18O, δ13C values and Mg/Ca ratios. Changes in the Mg/Ca ratio are attributed to past meteoric precipitation variability. The stable C isotope composition of the speleothems most likely reflects changes in vegetation and precipitation, and variations in the δ18O signal are interpreted as variations in meteoric precipitation and temperature. We found cold and dry periods between 8 and 7 ka, 6.5 and 5.5 ka, 4 and 3 ka as well as between 0.7 and 0.2 ka. The proxy signals in the Bunker Cave stalagmites compare well with other isotope records and, thus, seem representative for central European Holocene climate variability. The prominent 8.2 ka event and the Little Ice Age cold events are both recorded in the Bunker Cave record. However, these events show a contrasting relationship between climate and δ18O, which is explained by different causes underlying the two climate anomalies. Whereas the Little Ice Age is attributed to a pronounced negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, the 8.2 ka event was triggered by cooler conditions in the North Atlantic due to a slowdown of the thermohaline circulation

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This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Ventilation and cave air PCO2 in the Bunker-Emst Cave System (NW Germany): implications for speleothem proxy data

Cave air pCO2 (carbon dioxide partial pressure) is, along with drip rate, one of the most important factors controlling speleothem carbonate precipitation. As a consequence, pCO2 has an indirect but important control on speleothem proxy data (e.g., elemental concentrations, isotopic values). The CO2 concentration of cave air depends on CO2 source(s) and productivity, CO2 transport through the epikarst and karst zone, and cave air ventilation. To assess ventilation patterns in the Bunker-Emst Cave (BEC) System, we monitored the pCO2 value approximately 100 m from the lower entrance (Bunker Cave) at bi-hourly resolution between April 2012 and February 2014. The two entrances of the BEC system were artificially opened between 1860?1863 (Emst Cave) and 1926 (Bunker Cave). Near-atmospheric minimum pCO2dynamics of 408 ppmv are measured in winter, and up to 811 ppmv are recorded in summer. Outside air contributes the highest proportion to cave air CO2, while soil, and possibly also ground air, provide a far smaller proportion throughout the whole year. Cave air pCO2 correlates positively with the temperature difference between surface and cave air during summer and negatively in winter, with no clear pattern for spring and autumn. Dynamic ventilation is driven by temperature and resulting density differences between cave and surface air. In summer, warm atmospheric air is entrained through the upper cave entrance where it cools. With increasing density, the cooled air flows toward the lower entrance. In winter, this pattern is reversed, due to cold, atmospheric air entering the cave via the lower entrance, while relatively warm cave air rises and exits the cave via the upper entrance. The situation is further modulated by preferential south-southwestern winds that point directly on both cave entrances. Thus, cave ventilation is frequently disturbed, especially during periods with higher wind speed. Modern ventilation of the BEC system-induced by artificially openings-is not a direct analogue for pre-1860 ventilation conditions. The artificial change of ventilation resulted in a strong increase of ?13Cspeleothem values. Prior to the cave opening in 1860, Holocene ?13Cspeleothem values were significantly lower, probably related to limited ventilation due to the lack of significant connections between the surface and cave. Reduced ventilation led to significantly higher pCO2 values, minimal CO2 degassing from drip water and low kinetic isotope fractionation. Both modern and fossil speleothem precipitation rates are driven by water supply and carbonate saturation, and not by cave air pCO2. Today, pCO2 variability is too small to affect carbonate precipitation rates and the same is likely true for pCO2 variability prior to artificial opening of the cave. Thus, fossil speleothems from BEC System are likely more sensitive to temperature and infiltration dynamics. The Bunker-Emst Cave System, therefore, represents different ventilation patterns and their influence on speleothem proxy data in an exemplary manner, and it may serve as a template for other cave systems

Assessment of Pelagic Food Webs in Mendums Pond, NH

This study focused on the relationship between plankton in Mendums Pond, NH. A grazing experiment was conducted to determine the effect of zooplankton on the phytoplankton population. The phytoplankton were largely composed of net plankton (75 %) and this fraction was dominated by cyanobacteria (84.5 %) even though this was a slightly acidic system. Data indicated that the mean body length of zooplankton increased with depth. The average body length of Daphnia ranged from 1.4 mm in the epilimnion to 1.9 mm in the hypolimnion. Copepods followed a similar trend increasing in average body length from 0.85 mm to 0.95 mm. The high numbers of cyanobacteria and copepods resulted in a 17.92 % day-1 grazing rate indicating that almost 18 % of the total lake water was filtered every day by the zooplankton. This also suggests that the phytoplankton are reproducing at a higher rate than they are being consumed by grazers. This may raise concerns about the future diversity of the food web as cyanobacteria reproduce and become more dominant in this system

Aerated bunker discharge of fine dilating powders

The discharge rate of coarse powders (mean particle size 500 ¿m) from bunkers without aeration can be described by both empirical relations and theoretical models. In the case of small particles the discharge rate is largely overestimated. As the powder dilates during flow a negative pressure gradient develops near the hopper outlet, inducing an air flow into the hopper. This extra drag force decreases the discharge rate for fine particles. Aeration of the hopper through a porous cone section will create an opposite pressure gradient, and thereby increase the discharge rate. The aim of this investigation was to incorporate the dilation in an ad hoc way into the model of Altiner in order to improve its predictive power. To test the modified model we carried out experiments with a fluid catalytic cracking powder to study its discharge as a function of aeration. As the improved model needs a dilation parameter as input, the local bulk density was measured during flow at the outlet and at the bin/hopper junction using gamma-ray absorption. At the bin/hopper junction the bulk density was found to be independent of the discharge rate and equal to the bulk density at minimum fluidisation. At the outlet the bulk density goes through a maximum when the amount of aeration gas is increased. Without aeration gas a large dilation, i.e. a 15¿35% lower bulk density, was observed. With these data the model predictions improved from 600% overestimation error to 25¿90% underestimation for pure gravity discharge, and from 100% to 0¿20% error for aerated discharge. However, the bulk density at the outlet cannot be predicted from the powder compressibility, as it seems to depend on dilation at fluidisation