Reflecting the best current thinking and techniques in the field, here is a multi-disciplinary analysis of the dynamics and mechanisms of aquatic systems, using lakes as a point of departure. The contributors, all of whom are recognized world authorities, treat physical, chemical and biological processes such as transport and distribution of chemicals, aquatic surface chemistry, and geobiological cycles of trace elements, which can be applied to all-natural water systems--oceans, rivers and estuaries. Stresses explanation and dynamics rather than documentation.

The book presents recent research on marine ecology in different parts of the world. It aims to shed light on relevant topics for budding marine ecologists. The “blue soup” of Planet Earth, which comprises both biotic and abiotic components, is essential to keeping the wheel of civilization running. Four major ecosystem service categories have been identified within this context, namely provisioning services such as water, food, mangrove timber, honey, fish, wax, fuel wood, fodder and bioactive compounds from marine and estuarine flora and fauna; regulating services such as the regulation of climate, coastal erosion, coral bleaching and pollution; cultural services encompassing recreational (tourism), spiritual and other non-material benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient cycling and photosynthesis. These valuable services are obtained from various resources that must be conserved for the sake of humanity. This book presents data for each resource type, not just in the form of a simple description, but also through case studies that resulted from several research projects and pilot programs carried out in different parts of the world. Statistical tools were also used to critically analyze the influence of relevant hydrological parameters on the biotic community. Advanced research in marine and estuarine ecology is based on the use of sophisticated instruments, sampling precision, statistical tools, etc., which have also been highlighted in the book.

Understanding the transport processes in lakes and other aquatic systems is vitally important since much of the living biomass is transported by the water, along with nutrients, contaminants, suspended particles, and other materials important to biogeochemical processes. The hydrodynamic processes therefore determine the environmental conditions that affect the biogeochemistry. The physical processes that control the hydrodynamics of large lakes are complex, and depend on a balance of characteristics of the lake (geometry, stratification, etc.) and forcing conditions (meteorological, hydrological) that change over various spatial and temporal scales. Using data from several extensive field campaigns, including measurements of velocity and thermal structure at multiple locations over several seasons, an extensive set of CTD data, and a 15 year long bi-weekly water quality dataset at multiple locations, we analyze the physical forces controlling the dynamics of a large, narrow and deep lake, and the response of the lake to these forces. The study site is Cayuga Lake, the second largest of the Finger Lakes of central New York State, USA (latitude 43N). It is a long (60 km), narrow (less than 6 km) and deep (maximum 130 m) lake. The bathymetry at the south end of the lake slopes up to a shallow shelf, not unlike a coastal estuary, which receives discharges from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and on which sharp spatial and temporal gradients in water quality exist. The geometry of the lake and the prevailing winds in the region lead to the generation of large amplitude internal waves, which develop to be highly nonlinear. Shoaling of these waves on the southern shelf are shown to lead to the intermittent upwelling of hypolim- netic water on to the shelf, creating sharp spatial gradients in water quality (e.g., TP and chlorophyll-a concentrations) on the shelf. We analyze the internal wave field of the lake and the nonlinear processes associated with it, and the factors that lead to the sharp spatial gradients observed on the shelf. We show that a subtle balance of forces controls mixing and transport in the various regions of the lake and propose an explanation for a persistent anomaly in chlorophyll-a concentration observed in one region of the lake.