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Structure of the continental margin of Liberia, West Africa

Geophysical surveys made by R/V Unitedgeo I (USGS–IDOE Cruise Leg 5), combined with earlier surveys and available geologic information, provide the basis for interpreting the structure of the continental margin of Liberia. This area lies at the junction of the Americas and Africa in published reconstructions of Gondwanaland prior to the opening of the North and South Atlantic in Jurassic and Creta
Authors
John C. Behrendt, John Schlee, James M. Robb, M. Katherine Silverstein

Effects of low dietary levels of methyl mercury on mallard reproduction

Mallard ducks were fed a control diet or a diet containing 0.5 ppm or 3 ppm mercury (as methylmercury dicyandiamide). Health of adults and reproductive success were studied. The dietary level of 3 ppm mercury had harmful effects on reproduction, although it did not appear to affect the health of the adults during the 12 months of dosage. Ducks that were fed the diet containing 0.5 ppm mercury rep
Authors
G. Heinz

Organochlorine residues in brown pelican eggs: Relation to reproductive success

This study was conducted to determine the influence of residues of organochlorine pollutants on reproductive success in the brown pelican. A sample egg was taken from each of 93 marked nests in the nesting colony in South Carolina. Periodic visits were made to determine the fate of marked nests. Each sample egg was analysed for residues of organochlorine pollutants. Nest success in the brown pelic
Authors
L. J. Blus, B.S. Neely, A. A. Belisle, R. M. Prouty

Plasma enzyme activities in coturnix quail fed graded doses of DDE, polychlorinated biphenyl, malathion, and mercuric chloride

Male Coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were fed diets for 12 weeks containing graded levels of DDE, polychlorinated biphenyl (Aroclor 1254), malathion, and mercuric chloride. Birds were bled prior to exposure and at 2, 4 and 12 weeks, and the plasma used to measure the activities of creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, cholinesterase, fructose-diphosphate aldolase, and lactate de
Authors
M. P. Dieter

The literature of the California black rail

Few birds have remained so little known as the California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus). Although first collected in 1859 or before and reported in 1874 (Ridgway 1874), its life history, distribution, and status have remained so obscure that even a sight record of the bird is deemed worthy of a report in some ornithological publications. Because degradation and loss of freshwate
Authors
Sanford R. Wilbur

Karyotypic analyses of twenty-one species of molossid bats (Molossidae: Chiroptera)

Examination of 135 specimens representing 21 species from seven genera of the family Molossidae revealed diploid numbers ranging from 34 to 48. Seventeen species from six genera have diploid numbers of 48. Geographic variation and polymorphism were found only in Eumops glaucinus. Chromosomal variation within the family is presumed to be primarily due to changes in diploid number resulting from Rob
Authors
J. W. Warner, James L. Patton, Alfred Gardner, Robert J. Baker

Interstitial water studies on small core samples, Leg 22

Interstitial waters from Leg 22 in the Indian Ocean revealed two unique results: Site 214, on the Ninetyeast Ridge, penetrated through a 30-meter sequence of fine-grained basalt and reentered hard, silty clay containing carbonate skeletal debris. Such a basalt layer may well have been impervious and extensive enough to seal off underlying (fossil) seawater of Paleocene age. However, except for a m
Authors
Frank T. Manheim, Lee S. Waterman, Frederick L. Sayles

Diffusimetry (diffusion constant estimation) on sediment cores by resistivity probe

Measurement of formation factor (ratio of rock resistivity to interstitial water resistivity) from sediment cores provides an indirect measurment of the tortuosity of the fluid channels in the sediments. From these measurements one can estimate the diffusion coefficient of the sediment with depth. The F (formation factor) values for Indian Ocean sediments varied from 1.6 for a clayey diatom ooze h
Authors
Frank T. Manheim, Lee S. Waterman

Structure and development of the southern Moroccan continental shelf

The structure of the continental shelf off southern Morocco was studied by means of 2,100 km of seismic reflection profiles, magnetic and bathymetric surveys, and dredge samples. The research area lies off four geologic divisions adjacent to the coast: the Atlas Mountains; the Souss Trough; the Anti-Atlas Mountains; and the Aaiun Basin. The continental shelf, along with the western Atlas Mountains
Authors
William P. Dillon

Geophysical evidence for the intersection of the St Paul, Cape Palmas and Grand Cess fracture zones with the continental margin of Liberia, West Africa

PUBLISHED reconstructions of Gondwana continent1 (Fig. la) show a gap in fit near the junction of the Americas and Africa. To study this critical area, the Unitedgeo I made geophysical measurements and collected rock samples across the continental margin of Liberia (USGS-IDOE cruise leg 5) in November 1971. Figure Ib indicates the location of the 5,400 km of ship track on a generalised bathymetric
Authors
John C. Behrendt, J. Schlee, James M. Robb