Recording old oceans centre tag.
Wellington hosts international deepsea coral symposium
Deepsea coral scientists from around the world will gather in Wellington later this year to attend the Fourth International Deepsea Coral Symposium. The event, hosted by NIWA, runs from December 1–5 2008.
Huge undersea landslide discovered in Cook Strait
Scars, indicating large-scale slope failures, are clearly visible at a depth of around 140 m in Cook Strait.
Undersea mapping in Cook Strait has revealed detail of massive rock movements around a huge canyon, Nicholson Canyon, less than 15 km from Wellington Airport.
Using state-of-the-art multibeam equipment, scientists have discovered that the canyon walls are very steep. The over-300 m high walls have clearly visible scars indicating a large-scale slope collapse or landslide.
Modelling the early life of Antarctic toothfish
Top: Modelled representation of where Antarctic toothfish spawn.
Bottom: The predicted distribution of eggs and larvae after two years, as they drift with ocean currents away from the spawning grounds.
Antarctic toothfish are found exclusively in waters between 600 S and the Antarctic continent.
Argo deployment reaches new milestones
Dr Drew Lohrer setting up benthic chambers on Waitemata Harbour sandflats. (Photo: Luca Chiaroni, NIWA)
Worldwide, there is growing recognition of the services nature provides that effectively sustain life and business on our planet. NIWA research is highlighting the vital services provided by estuarine ecosystems and the threats they face.
Estuaries act as filters and recyclers: processing nutrients, contaminants, and sediments that are washed off the land.
Bringing the harbour back to life
Postgraduate student Peter Wilson (left) and Dr Kay Vopel measuring microprofiles. (Photo: John Zeldis, NIWA)
Coastal sediment acts as a biogeochemical reactor, breaking down organic matter through microbial activity and chemical processes, and releasing nutrients.
Land-use change and sedimentation
Simulations showing the spread of fine sediment in Whaingaroa Harbour over 5 hours, after heavy rain.
Sedimentation of estuaries and inshore environments is a serious environmental issue in some areas around New Zealand’s coastline.
Mahia’s nuisance sediment
Eroding cliffs – a possible sediment source on Mahia Peninsula. (Photo: Sheryl Miller, NIWA)
Mahia Peninsula, at the northern end of Hawke’s Bay, is renowned for its beautiful beaches and spectacular surf. But sedimentation is a big problem on some parts of the coast. The water is clouded by fine mud, and nearshore marine habitats such as rocky reefs are blanketed in sediment.
Identifying emerging contaminants of concern
Household waste at the landfill: one source of emerging contaminants of concern.
Of mud, mangroves, and radioisotopes
Mangroves advancing in the Firth of Thames. (Photo: Andrew Swales, NIWA)
Many of New Zealand’s estuaries are becoming muddier, as sediment washes into them from rivers and stormwater drains and accumulates, rather than being dispersed by tides. Mangrove swamps are a feature of some of our muddy estuaries, and the Firth of Thames is a good example of a place where mangroves and mud are steadily accumulating.
Death of a thousand cuts - ecosystem disturbance
Intertidal flats of Mahurangi Harbour. (Photo: Jane Halliday, NIWA)
‘The problem that resource managers face in trying to protect coastal environments is that damage is like death of a thousand cuts – it is often the result of many different small disturbances, the effects of which accumulate over time.’ So says NIWA scientist Simon Thrush, who is leading a long-term project on ecological disturbance modelling at NIWA.
Most environmental threats come in the form of some sort of disturbance to natural ecosystems.
