Multiple pollutants stress the coastal ecosystem with climate and anthropogenic drivers.

Coastal ecosystem health is of vital importance to human well-being. Field investigations of major pollutants along the whole coast of China were carried out to explore associations between coastal development activities and pollutant inputs. Measurements of target pollutants such as PFAAs and PAHs uncovered notable levels in small estuary rivers.

Major threats of pollution and climate change to global coastal ecosystems and enhanced management for sustainability.

Coastal zone is of great importance in the provision of various valuable ecosystem services. However, it is also sensitive and vulnerable to environmental changes due to high human populations and interactions between the land and ocean. Major threats of pollution from over enrichment of nutrients, increasing metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and climate change have led to severe ecological degradation in the coastal zone, while few studies have focused on the combined impacts of pollution and climate change on the coastal ecosystems at the global level.

Developing human capital for successful implementation of international marine scientific research projects.

The oceans play a crucial role in the global environment and the sustainability of human populations, because of their involvement in climate regulation and provision of living and non-living resources to humans. Maintenance of healthy oceans in an era of increasing human pressure requires a high-level understanding of the processes occurring in the marine environment and the impacts of anthropogenic activities. Effective protection and sustainable resource management must be based, in part, on knowledge derived from successful research.

Asynchronous terrestrial and marine signals of climate change during Heinrich events.

Tropical regions have been reported to play a key role in climate dynamics. To date, however, there are uncertainties in the timing and the amplitude of the response of tropical ecosystems to millennial-scale climate change. We present evidence of an asynchrony between terrestrial and marine signals of climate change during Heinrich events preserved in marine sediment cores from the Brazilian continental margin.

Relevance of mangroves for the production and deposition of organic matter along tropical continental margins.

Mangroves are highly complex ecosystems occupying a major part of tropical coastlines. High primary productivity, efficient biological nutrient recyling and a permanent exchange with terrestrial and marine ecosystems are their common features. Despite the high production and export rates of leaf litter, mangrove detritus has been reported to be of minor importance in sustaining marine food webs.

Greenhouse gases in cold water filaments in the arabian sea during the southwest monsoon.

The distribution of partial pressure of carbon dioxide and the concentrations of nitrous oxide and methane were investigated in a cold water filament near the coastal upwelling region off Oman at the beginning of the southwest monsoon in 1997. The results suggest that such filaments are regions of intense biogeochemical activity which may affect the marine cycling of climatically relevant trace gases.http://link.

Variations of δ(15)N-Values and Hydrolyzable Amino Acids in Settling Particles in the Ocean.

Abstract The modification of nitrogen isotopic signals during particle sedimentation in the sea is of great interest for the use of sedimentary δ(15)N-values as a paleoceanographic tool. The effect of organic matter degradation on such modification was studied by analyzing nitrogen, hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and δ(15)N-values in a suit of marine settling particles collected from the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, by using time-series sediment traps, and in underlying sediments. The flux of settling particles showed temporal variations which are related to the monsoons, the major climatic feature of this marine region.

Chernobyl radionuclides in a Black Sea sediment trap.

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident released large quantities of vaporized radionuclides, and, to a lesser extent, mechanically released small (less than 1-10 micron) aerosol particles. The total release of radioactivity is estimated to be out of the order of 1-2 x 10(18) Bq (3-5 x 10(7) Ci) not allowing for releases of the xenon and krypton gases. The 137Cs releases of 3.