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1.
长江口及邻近海域细颗粒沉积物中重金属的空间分布及沉积通量 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
长江每年输送大量的泥沙进入东海,其中细颗粒沉积物具有搬运距离远、扩散范围大的特点,成为示踪河口及近海沉积物源汇过程的良好载体。本文基于采自长江口及邻近海域的44个表层沉积物样品,分析了细颗粒组分中重金属的空间分布和沉积通量,探讨了重金属来源和搬运沉积过程。研究表明:长江口及邻近海域细颗粒沉积物中Cu、Cr、Ni、V和Zn含量、沉积通量的空间分布具有高度的相似性,总体表现为长江口及浙闽沿岸高,向外急剧降低;该区细颗粒沉积物中的重金属主要来自长江,入海后向两个方向扩散,其一为向西南方向扩散,沉积于内陆架泥质区;其二是向东的跨陆架输送,沉积于长江冲淡水影响的海域。从长江口向西南方向的输送和沉积是长江入海重金属最重要的汇。 相似文献
2.
冲绳海槽中南部不同环境表层沉积物质来源 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
对冲绳海槽中南部3种不同沉积环境(东海外陆架、东海陆坡和冲绳海槽)表层沉积物进行了稀土等元素地球化学分析,结果显示,冲绳海槽和陆坡表层沉积物具有与台湾物质来源类似的稀土元素配分模式,La/Sm-Gd/Yb散点图也显示海槽和陆坡沉积物主要分布在台湾物源端元区,表明冲绳海槽中南部海槽和陆坡表层沉积物主要来源于台湾,而外陆架沉积物明显的重稀土亏损与大陆河流(特别是长江、黄河)沉积物来源较为一致。为进一步判断外陆架表层沉积物来源,对外陆架沉积物重矿物进行分析鉴定,结果显示,外陆架沉积物重矿物以普通角闪石-绿帘石-石榴石-赤褐铁矿为组合特征,与长江沉积物重矿物组成特征类似,其明显缺乏台湾河流来源的典型重矿物锆石、黄河来源典型重矿物云母、浙闽沿岸来源典型重矿物磁铁矿,说明台湾、黄河和浙闽沿岸并非研究区外陆架表层沉积物主要物源。根据以往测年等研究成果,研究区外陆架沉积物年代较老,应为古长江物质经东海现代环流体系不断改造而成。 相似文献
3.
The Barcelona continental shelf is part of a 6–20 km wide canyon-bounded shelf located off the city of Barcelona (NE Spain). This study integrates newly acquired high-resolution single channel seismic reflection profiles and available lithological information of the Barcelona shelf to describe its late Quaternary architecture and the role of global glacio-eustatic fluctuations and local factors in its development.
Four major sequence boundaries are identified throughout the seismic dataset. They are tentatively correlated with the four last 4th order (100–120 ka) high-amplitude late Quaternary glacio-eustatic lowstands. Most of the stratigraphic record is formed by falling stage systems tracts with forced-regressive deposits, which confers a general progradational vertical stacking pattern. Transgressive systems tracts are represented by continuous units confined directly off river sources and on previously eroded surfaces. Stillstand deposits are difficult to recognize in the available dataset. The uppermost seismic unit corresponds to the Holocene shore-parallel Besos and Llobregat joint prodelta affected by the prevailing south-westward circulation.
The general architecture of the late Quaternary Barcelona shelf deposits is determined by global glacio-eustatic cycles. However, the lateral variability of the seismic units depends largely on local factors such as (i) the position of sediment sources (essentially the Llobregat River); (ii) differential subsidence and, especially, sediment compaction; (iii) erosive processes such as canyon incision, mass wasting or wave base dynamics; and (iv) underlying geomorphic restrictions. 相似文献
4.
《Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers》2000,47(3):343-366
Deep slope currents and particulate matter concentrations were studied on the Barcelona continental margin in and around the Foix submarine canyon from May 1993 to April 1994. This year-long moored experiment revealed that near-bottom slope currents are strongly influenced by the bottom topography, being oriented along isobaths and along the canyon axis. The deep slope current fluctuations are controlled by the local inertial motion (18.3 h) and also by low-frequency oscillations at periods of 6–10 days, related to the passage of atmospheric pressure cells. Particulate matter concentrations recorded during the experiment do not show a clear seasonal variability, except outside the canyon, where significant peaks of particulate matter concentrations were recorded only during the winter-fall deployment. In addition, the temporal evolution of suspended particulate matter concentration is not linked to changes in the cross-slope or along-slope current components and did not show a clear relationship with river avenues or wave storm events. This suggests that suspended particulate matter exported from the shelf is dispersed on the slope by advective processes, which attenuate the signal of the shelf-slope sediment transfer. Mean particulate matter concentrations differed among sampling sites, but the magnitude of the mean horizontal suspended particle flux reflects a quite similar value in the whole study area, ranging from 2.53 to 4.05 mg m−2 s−1. These horizontal suspended particle fluxes are 27 (canyon head) to 360 (open slope) times higher than the settling particle fluxes measured at the same sampling sites, indicating that the suspended particulate transport on the Barcelona continental slope dominates over the settling particle fluxes, even inside the Foix submarine canyon. 相似文献
5.
陆架区沉积物中重金属研究的基本方法及其应用 总被引：24，自引：0，他引：24
陆架区沉积物接纳了来自河流、大气、生物、火山等各种途径的颗粒物，是重金属汇集的场所，反映了一定时间内的环境变化特征。本文分析了沉积物中重金属的来源，探讨了沉积物中重金属研究的基本方法：总量分析方法、元素赋存形态、归一化法及重金属的生物毒性等。并探讨了目前沉积物中重金属研究仍存在的问题。 相似文献
6.
The input of river-borne sediments to the New Zealand continental shelf has been calculated for all the major rivers and basins in New Zealand. South Island yields 284 ± 40 × 106 tonnes per year of sediment from a land area of 152 977 km2 and North Island yields 105 ± 9·4 × 106 tonnes per year from a land area of 114 621 km2. Particularly high discharges are noted off the west coast of South Island and east coast of North Island and result in higher offshore sedimentation there. The data are compatible with measured sedimentation rates on the New Zealand continental shelf. The specific sediment yield from South Island is amongst the highest previously recorded. 相似文献
7.
《Marine Geology》2005,216(4):239-247
The Ayeyarwady continental shelf is a complex sedimentary system characterized by large sediment influx (> 360 million ton/yr), a wide shelf (> 170 km), a strong tidal regime (7 m maximum tidal range), and incised by the Martaban Canyon. Grain size distribution on the Ayeyarwady shelf reveals three distinct areas in terms of sediment texture (i) a near-shore mud belt in the Gulf of Martaban and adjacent inner shelf (ii) outer shelf relict sands and (iii) mixed sediments with varying proportions of relict sand and modern mud in the Martaban Canyon. The bulk of the terrigenous sediment discharged by the Ayeyarwady River is displaced eastwards by a combination of tidal currents and clockwise flowing SW monsoon current and deposited in the Gulf of Martaban resulting in shoaling of its water depths. Part of the sediment discharge reaches the deep Andaman Sea via the Martaban Canyon and the rest is transported westward into the Bay of Bengal by the counter-clockwise flowing NE monsoon currents. 相似文献
8.
Nepheloid layer dynamics in the northern Portuguese shelf 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
A. Oliveira J. Vitorino A. Rodrigues J. M. Jouanneau J. A. Dias O. Weber 《Progress in Oceanography》2002,52(2-4)
A general hydrographic and nephelometric survey of the NW Portuguese continental shelf and upper slope was undertaken, under winter and spring conditions. The nepheloid layer dynamics along the shelf during three cruises were controlled, principally by the following factors: (a) the hydrography of the shelf-slope waters, i.e. the nepheloid layers followed isopycnals and water masses; (b) prevalence of upwelling or downwelling circulation over the shelf; (c) dispersion of material by river discharge (mainly the Douro river); (d) resuspension of mid-shelf fine deposits induced by swell; (e) peculiar morphology with the presence of Porto Canyon and outer shelf rock outcrops.The general circulation controls the seaward extension of the nepheloid layers. In winter, under dominant downwelling conditions, an intense bottom nepheloid layer (BNL) was observed on the shelf, due to river borne particle supply and remobilization of mid-shelf muddy sediments (depth ≈100 m). In this period the BNL increased in thickness to the top of the slope, following the isopycnals. Near the shelf-break the BNL detached to form intermediate nepheloid layers (INL). Small INLs appear deeper in some areas of the slope. A surface nepheloid layer (SNL) appears in the surface water over the shelf and slope. In spring, biological particles mainly contribute to the SNL, which is separated from the BNL by a zone of clear water. In winter the SNL is restricted to the inner shelf where there are high inputs of fluvial particles.Downwelling circulation probably induces transport of shelf particles to deeper waters in the BNL. In spring, the predominant circulation was southward (upwelling), the water column was highly stratified, and dispersion of particles in the SNL was offshore. 相似文献
9.
A sedimentological and bathymetric study of the Minho-Galicia Shelf shows a strong contrast between a southern shelf region with a thin partially relict cover of sands and gravel, and a northern region where fine-grained sediments predominate. This contrast is explained through differences in the sediment supply, the oceanographic environment (storms and ocean currents) and the morphology of the shelf which results from its underlying tectonic framework.Most sediment is supplied to the Galicia-Minho Shelf by river discharges onto the Minho Shelf, particularly that from the Douro River. In the northern part of the shelf the Galician Rías act as sediment traps rather than sediment suppliers. The bulk of the sediment washes out of the rivers during episodic storm events. While most of the coarse sediments remain deposited close to the coast, the fine-grained material is exported to the outer areas of the shelf. Subsequently, coarse sediments close to the coast are transported southwards by the littoral drift. Whereas the fine-grained material is frequently resuspended through the action of the large swells who influence reaches deep into the water. This frequent resuspension has a long-term sorting effect on the sediments. Furthermore, resuspended sediments on the middle and outer regions of the shelf are transported northwards by a poleward flowing bottom current.As a consequence of the differential transport of coarse sediments to the south, and of the fine-grained sediments to the north, the outer reaches of the Minho Shelf are relatively poor in recent sediments. In many areas relict sediments as well as features associated with ancient coastlines and river mouths, still appear as seabed features. In contrast, the northern regions of the shelf are covered by a thin veneer of fine-grained material that smooth other most of these fossil features.The fine-grained sediment fractions (mostly very fine sands to coarse silts) are deposited in two large mud patches, the Douro and the Galicia Mud Patches, which are situated at water depths of around 100–120 m. These two mud patches are both controlled by the local hydrodynamics and morphology. The Beiral de Viana, to the west of the Douro Mud Patch is a plateau, up to 20 m high lying parallel to the shelf-break and is a morphological expression of an underlying horst system. This plateau acts as a barrier that prevents the drift of some of the fine-grained material to the west, out over the shelf-break and the continental slope. The Galicia Mud Patch is situated on the eastern part of the Galician Shelf to the north of the Douro Mud Patch. It is situated near the extension of the Porto–Tomar fault, which results in the shelf being usually steep in this region, down to a depth of about 100 m. West of this area the slope is much more gentle. Northward transport of the sediment is strongly reduced by the E–W trending outcrops of plutonic and metamorphic rocks. 相似文献
10.
《Oceanologica Acta》2003,26(4):421-433
Shelf-slope exchanges and budgets of organic and inorganic nutrients are calculated for the Gulf of Lion continental margin in the northwestern Mediterranean. Computations are based on data from three seasonal marine surveys performed in March 1998, June 1998 and January 1999 in the framework of the French Programme National d’Environnement Côtier. A Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone type box model is used to calculate the advective exchanges between the shelf and the adjacent open sea and to estimate the budgets of non-conservative elements (DIP, DIN, DOP, DON, DOC, POC, PON, POP). These budgets consider river discharges, urban sewage supply, atmospheric deposition, and fluxes at the water-sediment and shelf-slope interfaces. Uncertainties on the fluxes and budgets are estimated to assess the robustness of the results with respect to the spatial variability of the system. Results indicate that shelf-slope exchanges by mixing predominate with respect to the major input terms (river discharge and sediment release). Budgets for inorganic nutrients, that show a strong concentration gradient between the shelf and the slope waters, are significantly different from zero and indicate an excess of these elements in the shelf water. For all surveys, these surpluses suggest (i) that the whole shelf system is autotrophic (1.6–4.3 × 103 mol C s–1) and acts as a sink of CO2, and (ii) that it is a site of net denitrification (119 mol N s–1) and acts as a sink of N2. Average shelf-slope fluxes of dissolved and particulate organic elements generally indicate an export to the open sea. However, the large uncertainty on these fluxes yields budgets for the shelf not significantly different from zero. 相似文献
11.
Continental shelf systems are highly dynamic sedimentary environments, where sediments from biogenic production as well as
from terrigenous sources are redistributed in the shelf depositional system, and partly exported off the shelf to the slope
and the deep sea. The Golfe d’Arguin (Mauritania, NW Africa) is dominated by such redistribution processes, involving clastic
silt imported as dust from the Sahara desert and biogenic carbonates of marine origin. Indeed, surface-sediment grain size
and mineralogy show a clear north–south partitioning of sediment type. Fine material is winnowed from the northern part of
the gulf, and transported toward the southern part off the Banc d’Arguin, where coarse silt settles on the outer shelf and
upper slope, at least down to 600 m water depth. Particles of the fine silt fraction, estimated in terms of eolian material
collected aboard the research vessel, are thought to be exported further offshore as they correspond to grain sizes previously
reported from adjacent deep-sea sediments. These findings suggest that the interpretation of dust records from the continental
slope and rise off NW Africa must consider reworking and partitioning processes active on the Mauritanian shelf. 相似文献
12.
Heavy metals in Changjiang estuarine and offshore sediments: responding to human activities 总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2
DONG Aiguo ZHAI Shikui Matthias Zabel YU Zenghui ZHANG Huaijing LIU Feifei 《海洋学报(英文版)》2012,31(2):88-101
The Changjiang (Yangtze) estuarine and offshore sediments were analyzed for total heavy metals concentrations and chemical fractions.Distributions of heavy metals show typical banded diffusion pattern,with high concentrations near the river mouth and following a decreasing trend in the offshore direction.According to chemical fractions,Fe/Mn oxide fraction is the major non-residual fraction in the Changjiang estuarine and offshore sediments.Higher percentage of non-residual fraction of Pb implies that,the industrial contaminations transported via the atmosphere and river input,may affect the non-residual fraction of heavy metals.Over past fifteen years,the concentration of Pb normalizing to Al presents significant increasing trend,corresponding to the effect of human activities.By comparison of heavy metals fractions in 2003 to 2006,it has been realized that increasing water and sediment may cause a higher percentage non-residual fraction of Cu in the southern part of offshore muddy sediments. 相似文献
13.
Bauxitic red-mud slurry, discharged by an aluminium processing factory on the shelf of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, is used as a tracer to examine sediment transport and dispersion processes in a tectonically active deep basin.
The Gulf of Corinth is a silled elongate basin with a maximum depth of 860 m; it is characterised by high seismicity. The red mud is discharged through a pipeline at a depth of 100 m, where it forms an extensive deposit.
Grab sampling has shown that the red mud extends over the slope and the abyssal plain up to a distance of 17 km from the mouth of the pipeline. It forms small scattered sheet-like deposits of up to 3 cm in thickness. The structures observed in the scattered patches of the red mud, which in some places are overlain by a thin veneer of grey/olive green (natural) sediments, suggest that the red mud is transported from the shelf to the abyssal plain by gravitative sediment flows. The flows are triggered by earthquakes.
Granulometric and geochemical analyses of the red-mud samples show that the red mud, during its transport from the shelf to the abyssal plain, is subjected to mixing with the surrounding sediments. A different mixing ratio is determined, however, by reference to the various trace metals (Fe, Ni, Co, Pb). 相似文献
14.
K. B. Lewis 《新西兰海洋与淡水研究杂志》2013,47(3):183-208
Sediments from the seabed off the eastern side of the North Island, New Zealand, are divided into 12 facies on the basis of grain size and mineralogy of the sand fraction. The facies are grouped into three types; modern detrital sediments, relict detrital sediments, and non‐detrital sediments. The sediments are described in terms of a modified Wentworth grain‐size scale and a modified Folk sediment classification. The modern detrital sediments range from fine sand near the shore to clayey fine silt on the lower slope. At most places they are bimodal, probably because floes and single grains are deposited together. The relict detrital sediments, which include sands and gravels, occur where deposition is slow on the inner continental shelf and near the shelf edge. Those near the shelf edge include Last Glacial sandy muds that have been winnowed and mixed with Holocene volcanic ash and glauconite. The non‐detrital sediments, which contain forarninifera, volcanic ash, and glauconite, but no detrital sand, occur on anticlinal ridges on the continental slope. In places they overlie muddier sediment deposited during the last glaciation when the sources of river‐borne detritus were nearer than at present and when mud was deposited more rapidly on the ridges than at present. 相似文献
15.
G. Ercilla D. Casas F. Estrada J.T. Vázquez J. Iglesias M. García M. Gómez J. Acosta J. Gallart A. Maestro-González 《Marine Geology》2008,247(1-2):61-83
Multibeam bathymetry, high (sleeve airguns) and very high resolution (parametric system-TOPAS-) seismic records were used to define the morphosedimentary features and investigate the depositional architecture of the Cantabrian continental margin. The outer shelf (down to 180–245 m water depth) displays an intensively eroded seafloor surface that truncates consolidated ancient folded and fractured deposits. Recent deposits are only locally present as lowstand shelf-margin deposits and a transparent drape with bedforms. The continental slope is affected by sedimentary processes that have combined to create the morphosedimentary features seen today. The upper (down to 2000 m water depth) and lower (down to 3700–4600 m water depth) slopes are mostly subject to different types of slope failures, such as slides, mass-transport deposits (a mix of slumping and mass-flows), and turbidity currents. The upper slope is also subject to the action of bottom currents (the Mediterranean Water — MW) that interact with the Le Danois Bank favouring the reworking of the sediment and the sculpting of a contourite system. The continental rise is a bypass region of debris flows and turbidity currents where a complex channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) of the Cap Ferret Fan develops.The recent architecture depositional model is complex and results from the remaining structural template and the great variability of interconnected sedimentary systems and processes. This margin can be considered as starved due to the great sediment evacuation over a relatively steep entire depositional profile. Sediment is eroded mostly from the Cantabrian and also the Pyrenees mountains (source) and transported by small stream/river mountains to the sea. It bypasses the continental shelf and when sediment arrives at the slope it is transported through a major submarine drainage system (large submarine valleys and mass-movement processes) down to the continental rise and adjacent Biscay Abyssal Plain (sink). Factors controlling this architecture are tectonism and sediment source/dispersal, which are closely interrelated, whereas sea-level changes and oceanography have played a minor role (on a long-term scale). 相似文献
16.
冲绳海槽北端表层沉积物过渡元素地球化学特征 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
利用原子吸收和等离子发射光谱等方法,对冲绳海槽北端184个表层沉积物中的Al和过渡元素(Ti、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、Cu、Zn和Zr)进行了化学分析。结果表明,由于受生源碎屑稀释作用的影响,过渡元素在陆架砂质区含量较低,其分布呈北西-南东向舌状延伸;由于细粒组分的增加,在陆架细粒沉积区和海槽区过渡元素含量较高。Mn主要在海槽区富集,在陆架和陆坡区变化不大。除了Mn之外,Al和其他过渡元素均呈明显正相关。Al/Ti比值与陆壳平均值接近,说明二者主要来源于陆源碎屑。Mn/Fe比值与邻近海区沉积物类似,但在陆架区CaO含量大于20%的沉积物和海槽区沉积物中相对较高,这分别是生物富集作用和自生沉积的结果。过渡元素富集因子分析结果表明,研究区过渡元素部分来自于黄河、部分来自于长江物质。 相似文献
17.
渤海中部表层沉积物中重金属赋存相态及来源 总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0
近年来由于环渤海经济圈的快速发展,渤海接受了来自周边河流、沿岸排污及海上油气开采所产生的大量的重金属等污染物质,使得渤海的生态环境系统面临前所未有的压力。本文采用电感耦合等离子质谱仪（ICP-MS）对采自渤海中部的25个表层沉积物样品中的Cu、Co、Ni、Zn、Pb、Cr、Cd等重金属元素的含量和赋存相态进行了分析,探讨了重金属分布规律、污染状况及来源。研究结果表明,Cu、Co、Ni、Zn、Cr在渤海湾的近岸区域和渤海中部泥质区有较高的含量,而Pb和Cd则在整个研究区的含量都较高;表层沉积物中Cu、Co、Ni、Zn、Cr主要以残渣态形式存在,而Pb和Cd则具有较高的非残渣态含量;生态风险评价结果表明该区表层沉积物未受到Co、Ni、Cr的污染,Cu、Zn、Pb和Cd则为未污染-中等程度污染。重金属元素Co、Ni、Cr以自然来源为主,在沉积物中的分布主要受沉积物物质组成的影响,而Cu、Zn、Pb,尤其是Cd,则受到了人类活动的显著影响。黄河沉积物是研究区表层沉积物中重金属的主要来源,影响范围涵盖了本区大部分区域,但在研究区的北端受到滦河来源物质的影响,渤海湾和研究区中部则受到海河物质和大气沉降来源重金属的一定影响。 相似文献
18.
《African Journal of Marine Science》2013,35(1):147-161
The hypothesis that continental shelf ecosystems export a major fraction of the carbon produced by the phytoplankton during the spring bloom was tested during the Shelf Edge Exchange Processes (SEEP) experiment off the north-east coast of the United States in 1984. The total benthic standing stocks in terms of organic carbon (macrofauna, meiofauna and bacteria) have been estimated in the SEEP area. Their preponderance on the continental shelf was partial evidence that little organic matter escapes to the upper continental slope. Measurements of the metabolism of the biota allowed calculation of turnover times of organic detritus and the total biota. The turnover time of detritus increased as grain size decreased, suggesting that fine-grained deposits contain mostly refractory, non-reactive compounds, especially on the deep slope. Turnover times of the total biota were about the same in the coarse- as in the fine-grained shelf deposits, but a far larger fraction of the turnover was attributed to the bacteria in the fine sediments. On average, about 25 per cent of the primary production appeared to be utilized by the aerobic benthos on the continental shelf in the SEEP area. The role of anaerobes at depth in the sediments remains uncertain. This study, along with a review of other recent work, leads to the conclusion that only a small fraction of continental shelf phytodetritus is exported across a distinct shelf-slope hydrographic frontal system. What is not consumed in the spring is utilized on the shelf during the ensuing stratified season. More open ended ecosystems may export production more readily. 相似文献
19.
Current velocity and suspended sediment concentration measurements at anchor stations in the downstream extremity of the Gironde estuary indicate that during periods of high river discharge, a significant amount of suspended sediment is transported out of the estuary onto the adjacent continental shelf. The vertical profile of the residual (non-tidal) suspended sediment flux is similar to that of the residual current velocity, with a net upstream flux near the bottom and an overlying seaward-directed transport. The overall, depth-integrated result is a net seaward transport of suspended sediment out of the estuary. It appears that this net seaward transport varies directly with tidal amplitude.Aerial photography and water sampling indicate that during high river inflow, the downstream extremity of the turbidity maximum extends onto the continental shelf at ebb tide. The tidal and coastal current patterns of the inlet and inner shelf induce a northward transport of the turbid estuarine water, and at each tidal cycle, a certain amount of suspended sediment leaves the estuary; part of this sediment is deposited in a silt and clay zone on the continental shelf. 相似文献
20.
Sediment samples were collected at stations along cross-shelf transects in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, during two cruises in 1984 and 1985. Station depths ranged from 11 to 285 m. Sediment chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from 0·06 to 1·87 μg g−1 sediment (mean, 0·55), or 2·6–62·0 mg m2. Areal sediment chlorophyll a exceeded water column chlorophyll a a at 16 of 17 stations, especially at inshore and mid-shelf stations. Sediment ATP concentrations ranged from 0 to 0·67 μg g−1 sediment (mean, 0·28). Values for both biomass indicators were lowest in the depth range including the shelf break (50–99 m). Organic carbon contents of the sediments were uniformly low across the shelf, averaging 0·159% by weight. Photography of the sediments revealed extensive patches of microalgae on the sediment surface.Our data suggest that viable benthic microalgae occur across the North Carolina continental shelf. The distribution of benthic macroflora on the North Carolina shelf indicates that sufficient light and nutrients are available to support primary production out to the shelf break. Frequent storm-induced perturbations do not favour settling of phytoplankton, an alternative explanation for the presence of microalgal pigments in the sediments. Therefore, we propose that a distinct, productive benthic microflora exists across the North Carolina continental shelf. 相似文献