Gotzon Basterretxea

... Deep-Sea Res., 22: 251-263. Prinsenberg SJ. WL Wilmot and M. Ramay. - 1974. ... 1991. Barotropic and baroclúiic tidai cur-rents in the eastern basins of the North Atlantic. J. Geophy. Res., 96: 22,259-22.27 1. CHLOROPHYLL INCREASE DUE TO Ih'TERNAL WAVES 97

Continental shelf waters have limited capacity to store absorbed and river-discharge carbon and associated biogenic elements. Consequently, all but a small fraction of these received elements must either be exported to the open sea or buried in sediments. As regards to its transport from the shelf to the open ocean, the presence of energetic fronts along many continental margins, which

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the study of the interactions between distant parts of the atmosphere and how local areas respond in front of global scale climatic patterns. Although these climatic patterns are usually concentrated in certain areas over the ocean, they generate slowly varying atmospheric perturbations that propagate away and produce large scale spatial

In this study we analyse the influence of environmental factors on settlement and recruitment of Diplodus sargus in shallow rocky habitats of Minorca. We compare the variability in settlement and post-settler population dynamics in two areas, north and south, with different wind regimes and ocean dynamics. During 2012, settlement was measured by direct visual census of fish juveniles throughout the settlement and recruitment period (April-July) at three coves located in each area. The settlement pattern was similar at the three nearby coves but notable differences were observed among areas, which were attributed to differences in environmental forcing. A decline in settlement was observed in the north coves in response to a storm with winds exceeding 10 m/s, waves above 3 m and alongshore flow enhancement. We did not observe significant variations in post-settler growth between the two areas. Thus, population dynamics were mainly regulated by variations in juvenile mortality. Mortal...

ABSTRACT The size structure of phytoplankton reveals relevant information on the structure and response of aquatic systems to environmental drivers. To estimate the phytoplankton size distribution, we combined simultaneous particle size measurements obtained with a laser in situ scattering and transmissometry instrument (LISST) and fluorescence profiles using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). We tested the performance of this method with a series of synthetic laboratory samples generated by mixing cultured phytoplankton cells and natural sediments with grain sizes within the size range of phytoplankton. Our results revealed that the method yields reliable estimation of the algal fraction allowing the discrimination of phytoplankton size distribution when algal cells constitute >25% of total suspended particulate matter. Uncertainties arise in very turbid waters and when samples are composed of two phytoplankton species with very different contribution to chlorophyll in terms of cell size. Application of the proposed method in a survey of 37 stations carried out in Palma Bay (Mediterranean Sea) effectively represented the patterns of four main size fractions dominating coastal phytoplankton biomass, demonstrating the utility of the method. Compared to previous published methods, the proposed method is more robust because it is not impeded by the presence of non-algal components.

ABSTRACT The oil spill from Prestige tanker and its effects on the Spanish coasts showed the need of adequate protocols and contingency plans in order to take appro- priate actions and responses to minimize the impacts on the environment. The deficiencies of Spanish ocea- nography also appeared such as for example the lack of an operational system to predict the oil spill trajec- tories, an essential tool to manage and optimize the cleaning tasks. However, research teams from national research centers (Universities, CSIC, IEO) were able to establish and coordinate a prediction system, only two weeks after the ship sank. Taking as starting point the system created to predict the Prestige oil spill tra- jectories, we analyze here the present and future of operational oceanography in Spain, present the needs to really establish an Operational Forecasting System, in particular in the Mediterranean Sea, and discuss the need to adequately know the processes that determine the circulation in an ocean area, as an essential ele- ment for adequate forecasting.

Preliminary results of geochemical tracers indicated that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is prevalent around the Mallorca coast, Spain; SGD would be an important source of trace metals and phosphorus to the coastal ocean. During September 2006, vented benthic chambers (a.k.a. seepage meters) were used at four diverse sites along the coast (Es Caragol, Porto Colom, Santa Ponça and Sóller) to

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the study of the interactions between distant parts of the atmosphere and how local areas respond in front of global scale climatic patterns. Although these climatic patterns are usually concentrated in certain areas over the ocean, they generate slowly varying atmospheric perturbations that propagate away and produce large scale spatial

ABSTRACT In this work we analyse the distribution of floatable debris around the Balearics (Spain) during the summer of 2005 (June-September). Litter abundance and distribution was obtained from the registers of 40 cleaning-ships operating daily around the archipelago. A total of 133.671 Kg. of debris was collected in the coastal waters of Mallorca, and the main component was wood. Different scenarios of litter dispersal are analysed at selected coastal bays depending on wind direction. Keywords: Balearics, Mediterranean Sea, floating debris, cleaning, wind effect, tourism. 1 Introduction The economy of the Balearic Islands is based on the tourism sector, and tourism activities are mainly related to the recreational use of the coast. Preserving the quality of the coastal waters is, consequently, a major objective of the local government. As part of the maintenance activities carried out in the coastal environment, 40 cleaning boats sweep the 1,400 km of coastline, collecting floating debris during high tourism season (June to September). This marine litter program requires a strong human effort and an expenditure exceeding 3.5 M€. Cleaning activities are paralleled by a scientific program aimed to detect the origin and distribution of marine debris. It is believed that scientifically based

... Emilio García-Ladona1, Jordi Font1, Evilio del Río1, Agustí Julià1, Jordi Salat1, Oscar Chic1,Alejandro Orfila2, Alberto Alvarez2, Gotzon Basterretxea2, Gonzalo Vizoso2, Oreste Piro2, Joaquin Tintoré2 ... REFERENCES Barton ED, Inall ME, Sherwin TJ and R. Torres, (2001). ...

... Gotzon Basterretxea1,*, Antoni Jordi1, Esther Garcés2, Silvia Anglès2, Albert Reñé2 ... with a frequency of 8 Hz using a Nortek Vector acoustic doppler velocity meter (ADV). ... Mete-orological conditions during the experiment were reg-istered at Palma Airport, located some 20 km ...