No description available.

No description available.

A multidisciplinary western Beaufort Sea Ecological Cruise (WEBSEC) was conducted from August 15 to September 20, 1971. During the cruise, one hundred ninety-nine 0.1 m² Smith-McIntyre grabs samples were taken at forty stations located on the continental shelf and slope of the western Beaufort Sea. The Gammaridean Amphipoda and Cumacea collected were sorted and identified. Each sample was analyzed for the number of species and specimens within those groups. The data for all samples at each station were pooled to obtain station data; these were analyzed for abundance, diversity at each station, and similarity between stations. Environmental parameters including sediment data, temperature, salinity and organic carbon content measured during the same cruise were also analyzed for each station. The diversity indices chosen were the Simpson index (SDI) and the Shannon-Wiener index (H'[subscript e]). The results obtained show a e relatively high diversity and animal density in the outer continental shelf, but low diversity values on the inner continental shelf and slope. The lowest SDI value obtained is 0.43 at 2572 m depth. The SDI values on the outer continental shelf are higher than 0.9 and compare well with values obtained in more temperate regions. The similarity between stations is low, and the percentage of rare species found is high. This indicates a patchy distribution of the Amphipoda and Cumacea fauna. The variability of the processes affecting the benthic environment of the western Beaufort Sea suggest that more intensive and seasonal studies are necessary in order to understand the seasonal as well as the annual variation of the infauna of the western Beaufort Sea. / Graduation date: 1976

Thesis (M.S. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Radko, Timour. Second Reader: Schoenstadt, Arthur. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on February 01, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Double diffusion, inverse model, 4/3 Flux Law. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). Also available in print.

Sea ice drift and associated forcing mechanisms within the Beaufort Sea are examined within the context of a mechanically weakening Arctic ice pack. Extensive in situ observations of ice drift, ice mass balance and surface winds are supplemented by remotely sensed and modeled data to analyse the forcing of sea ice motion. First we analyse the anomalous export of 13.4 x 103 km2 of sea ice through the Bering Strait during winter 2011-2012. The event highlights a tendency towards increased ice transport through the Bering Strait since 2008 as a result of climate induced weakening of the arctic ice pack. Secondly, as part of the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment we analyse the seasonal evolution of ice drift in the Beaufort Sea during Spring as the ice pack transitions from mechanically strong conditions in late winter to weak summer conditions that foster free drift and thus increased ice drift speeds.

No description available.

No description available.

Isopoda are crustaceans which possess seven pairs of legs of about equal size, are flattened dorsoventrally and have no carapace. The thoracic limbs are without exopodites, pleopods are modified for respiration and the antennual exopodite is absent or minute. The isopods are a large group and exhibit much variety. They vary in size from two or three millimeters to several centimeters. A giant deep-sea form, Bathynomus giganteus, from the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean, attains a length of 30 cm. and width of about 10 cc. The natural habitat of isopods is in salt and fresh water or in moist situations in the case of most terrestrial forms. They have been found in warm springs and subterranean streams (Richardson, 1905). [...]

Original print version missing pages 130-133 (appendix B and Appendix C)

A B S T R A C T The rocks of the Beaufort Group of South Africa record a remarkably complete depositional sequence incorporating a rich fossil tetrapod succession from the mid-Permian to mid-Triassic. This represents one of the best preserved ecological assemblages of pre-mammalian terrestrial tetrapods documenting the stem lineages of both mammals and dinosaurs. For more than a century large collections of fossils from the Beaufort Group have been built up at various museums in South Africa. With the co-operation of all the South African museums curating collections of Karoo fossils, a single standardised database has been compiled for the fossils collected from the Beaufort Group as well as a GIS system incorporating all the South African databases of fossil records. Major problems which had to be overcome related largely to the non-standardised nature of different databases, locality, and taxonomic information. Particularly problematic was entering ambiguous and vague locality information onto the GIS database, so that it would still be useful for qualitative evaluation. The created GIS database is a useful analytical tool, but requires streamlining to make it accessible to all users. Completion of the foundation phase of the GIS database has highlighted problems which need to be addressed in the future to make the database an effective tool for research purposes.