Issue 10 Volume 41 May 16, 2003

years 1990-93, measurements were made at 15-minute intervals with electronic sensors located approximately one meter
above the substrate in approximately six meters of water (at mean water level). During March and April of 1991 and 1992,
salinity and temperature also were measured with a self-contained system floating one meter below the surface of the water.
Sections of the data set were selected to illustrate influences of tidal currents, weather events, and seasonal and interannual
variations in climate on salinity, temperature, and water levels at this location. The edited data are provided on high-density
disks in comma-delimited, ASCII text files.
NTIS
Salinity; Geological Surveys; Surface Water; Oceanography; Tides; Water Temperature
20030037154 Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX, Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA
Deepwater Program: Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope Habitats and Benthic Ecology. Interim Report -
Year 2
Rowe, G. T.; Kennicutt, M. C.; Dec. 2002; 166 pp.; In English
Report No.(s): PB2003-102983; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A08, Hardcopy
This report provides a summary of the progress to date at the end of the second year of the program. At this stage of the
program, sample analyses are in progress with only partial data sets finalized. The program is on schedule and planning is in
progress for the final years field program which includes a major extension of the sampling and analysis efforts into the deepest
regions of the southern Gulf of Mexico. Increasing exploration and exploitation of fossil hydrocarbon resources in the
deep-sea prompted the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior to support an investigation of the
structure and function of the assemblages of organisms that live in association with the sea floor in the deep-sea. The program,
Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos or DGoMB, is studying the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) continental slope from water
depths of 300 meters on the upper continental slope out to greater than 3,000 meters water depth seaward of the base of the
Sigsbee and Florida Escarpments. The study is focused on areas that are the most likely targets of future resource exploration
and exploitation. However, to develop a Gulfwide perspective of deep-sea communities, sampling in areas beyond those
thought to be potential areas for exploration has been included in the study design.
NTIS
Continental Shelves; Ecology; Marine Biology; Ocean Bottom; Gulf Of Mexico; Deep Water
20030037181 Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA
Speciation and Fate of Trace Metals in Estuarine Sediments Under Reduced and Oxidized Conditions, Seaplane
Lagoon, Alameda Naval Air Station
Carroll, S.; O’Day, P. A.; Esser, B.; Randall, S.; Oct. 18, 2002; 46 pp.
Report No.(s): DE2002-15002130; UCRL-JC-150548; No Copyright; Avail: Department of Energy Information Bridge
We have identified important chemical reactions that control the fate of metalcontaminated estuarine sediments if they are
left undisturbed (in situ) or if they are dredged. We combined information on the molecular bonding of metals in solids from
X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) with thermodynamic and kinetic driving forces obtained from dissolved metal
concentrations to deduce the dominant reactions under reduced and oxidized conditions. We evaluated the in situ geochemistry
of metals (cadmium, chromium, iron, lead, manganese and zinc) as a function of sediment depth (to 100 cm) from a 60-year
record of contamination at the Alameda Naval Air Station, California.
NTIS
Chemical Reactions; Sediments; Trace Elements; Metals
51
LIFE SCIENCES (GENERAL)
Includes general research topics related to plant and animal biology (non-human); ecology; microbiology; and also the origin,
development, structure, and maintenance of animals and plants in space and related environmental conditions. For specific topics in life
sciences see categories 52 through 55.
20030032367 California Univ., San Francisco, CA, USA
Membrane-Based Functions in the Origin of Cellular Life
Wilson, Michael A.; [2003]; 17 pp.; In English; Original contains black and white illustrations
Contract(s)/Grant(s): NCC2-1126; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy
How simple membrane peptides performed such essential proto-cellular functions as transport of ions and organic matter
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