The South American Advances in Submarine Canyons Studies and Their Link to the Ocean Decade

Submarine canyons have a relevant role in marine ecosystems. They are responsible for oceanographic conditions such as variability of temperature and salinity, sediment transport, nutrients, and even pollutants amongst marine areas. Submarine canyon studies have been growing and reaching prominence due to their importance in the Blue Economy. Initiatives to promote sustainable development for the ocean have been discussed in the Ocean Decade. Although canyons studies are increasing, how can we integrate these with the Ocean Decade outcomes? Thus, we aim to demonstrate an overview of the advances of submarine canyons studies and their link to the Ocean Decade for South America. We analyzed 160 studies divided into spatiotemporal analysis and study approaches according to the Ocean Decade outcomes. We discuss these articles, building a timeline and argumentative topics considering the advances, and discuss gaps to predict the future of submarine canyons studies in the Ocean Decade and Blue Economy context.

Morphological Significance and Relation of Ecosystems of Submarine Canyons off SW Taiwan

There are four shelf-incising submarine canyons off SW Taiwan. They are distributed along the active continental margin, which is periodically flushed by gravity flows. Shelf-incising canyons, such as Kaoping Canyon, may not only be affected by oceanographic conditions but also by extreme climate change due to the direct input of river sediment. In the canyons along the SW margin of Taiwan, strong sedimentary flows are reflected in highly abundant nutrient input and physical disturbances. The Kaoping Canyon possesses habitats that promote biodiversity but that are sensitive to environmental change. The aims of this study are to review the canyons along the SW margin of Taiwan and to present their geomorphological features and associated ecosystems.

Late Eocene–early Miocene evolution of the southern Australian subtropical front: a marine palynological approach

Improvements in our capability to reconstruct ancient surface-ocean conditions based on organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblages from the Southern Ocean provide an opportunity to better establish past position, strength and oceanography of the subtropical front (STF). Here, we aim to reconstruct the late Eocene to early Miocene (37–20 Ma) depositional and palaeoceanographic history of the STF in the context of the evolving Tasmanian Gateway as well as the potential influence of Antarctic circumpolar flow and intense waxing and waning of ice. We approach this by combining information from seismic lines (revisiting existing data and generating new marine palynological data from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1168A) in the western Tasmanian continental slope. We apply improved taxonomic insights and palaeoecological models to reconstruct the sea surface palaeoenvironmental evolution. Late Eocene–early Oligocene (37–30.5 Ma) assemblages show a progressive transition from dominant terrestrial palynomorphs and inner-neritic dinocyst taxa as well as cysts produced by heterotrophic dinoflagellates to predominantly outer-neritic/oceanic autotrophic taxa. This transition reflects the progressive deepening of the western Tasmanian continental margin, an interpretation supported by our new seismic investigations. The dominance of autotrophic species like Spiniferites spp. and Operculodinium spp. reflects relatively oligotrophic conditions, like those of regions north of the modern-day STF. The increased abundance in the earliest Miocene of Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus, typical for modern subantarctic zone (frontal) conditions, indicates a cooling and/or closer proximity of the STF to the site . The absence of major shifts in dinocyst assemblages contrasts with other records in the region and suggests that small changes in surface oceanographic conditions occurred during the Oligocene. Despite the relatively southerly (63–55∘ S) location of Site 1168, the rather stable oceanographic conditions reflect the continued influence of the proto-Leeuwin Current along the southern Australian coast as Australia continued to drift northward. The relatively “warm” dinocyst assemblages at ODP Site 1168, compared with the cold assemblages at Antarctic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1356, testify to the establishment of a pronounced latitudinal temperature gradient in the Oligocene Southern Ocean.

Sedimentary microplankton distributions are shaped by oceanographically connected areas

Having descended through the water column, microplankton in ocean sediments are representative for the ocean surface environment, where they originated from. Sedimentary microplankton is therefore used as an archive of past and present surface oceanographic conditions. However, these particles are advected by turbulent ocean currents during their sinking journey. So far, it is unknown to what extent this particle advection shapes the microplankton composition in sediments. Here we use global simulations of sinking particles in a strongly eddying global ocean model, and define ocean bottom provinces based on the particle surface origin locations. We find that these provinces can be detected in global datasets of sedimentary microplankton assemblages, demonstrating the effect provincialism has on the composition of sedimentary remains of surface plankton. These provinces explain the microplankton composition, together with e.g. ocean surface environment. Connected provinces have implications on the optimal spatial extent of microplankton sediment sample datasets that are used for palaeoceanographic reconstructions, and on the optimal spatial averaging of sediment samples over global datasets.

Evaluating Site Selection Criteria for Marine Cultivation in North Lombok Regency of Indonesia through GADA model

Identifying the requirements for selecting water locations for marine cultivation requires identifying and objectively selecting cultivation locations. The study aims to identify site selection criteria to develop marine cultivation in Indonesia’s North Lombok Regency, followed by their prioritization based on perceived significance. The selection criteria are through extensive review of literature, and are evaluated based on primary data. Grey Absolute Decision Analysis (GADA) model was used to evaluate the criteria. Comparative analysis with the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and TOPSIS methods confirmed the soundness of the results obtained through GADA. It was found that oceanographic conditions are most essential criterion for site selection for marine cultivation development. The results are important for marine cultivation businesses looking for suitable site in North Lombok Regency.

Observation and numerical modeling of physical oceanography in the Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan: preliminary results

The Indonesian government plans to move the capital city from Jakarta to Penajam Paser Utara (PPU) which is the upstream area of Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan. There are several activities in the planned new capital city that potentially affect the condition of land and marine ecosystems, including clearing new land for housing and agriculture as well as expanding mining and petroleum areas. Directly or indirectly, these activities could affect the oceanographic conditions of Balikpapan Bay. For this reason, in order to obtain an up-to-date picture of Balikpapan Bay, an oceanographic survey was conducted in early March 2020. In addition, to support the analysis of marine dynamics in these waters and their predictions in the future, numerical simulations of hydrodynamic modeling were also carried out. Oceanographic observations indicate significant water stratification in the area about 20 km from the mouth of the bay. This result is also well illustrated in the hydrodynamic model numerical simulation, where there is a water loop at the confluence between salt and fresh water masses from two rivers 18-20 km from the mouth of Balikpapan Bay. Keywords:The national capital city of IndonesiaBalikpapan BayPhysical oceanography ObservationCoastal and marine Ecosystem