Chesapeake Bay

An appreciation of the extent to which invertebrate species may be exposed to such chemicals comes from considering the effects of complex mixtures. In the North Atlantic ecosystem alone, hundreds of pollutant chemicals have been identified. These include metals, synthetic and chlorinated organics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Over 300 aromatic hydrocarbons have been detected in some regions of the Chesapeake Bay, and high concentrations of PCBs have been... 

Helz, G. R. (1976). Trace element inventory for the Northern Chesapeake Bay with emphasis on the influence of man. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40, 573-580. 

Agricultural wastewaters (Kesterson Wildlife Refuge, Chesapeake Bay)... 

Torrents A, BG Anderson, S Bilboulian, WE Johnson, CJ Hapeman (1997) Atrazine photolysis mechanistic investigations of direct and nitrate-mediated hydroxyl radical processes and the influence of dissolved organic carbon from the Chesapeake Bay. Environ Sci Technol 31 1476-1482. 

The data considered are blank measurements made as part of a study of trace quantities of heavy metals dissolved in the water of the Chesapeake Bay (16). While obtaining and processing the Bay... 

Rattner BA, McGowan PC, Golden NH, Hatfield JS, Toschik PC, Lukei Jr RF, Hale RC, Schmitz-Afonso 1, Rice CP. 2004. Contaminant exposure and reproductive success of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting in Chesapeake Bay regions of concern. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 47 126-140. 

In the Delaware and Chesapeake estuaries (USA), uranium shows distinctly nonconservative behavior at salinities <5 (Sarin and Church 1994 Church et al. 1996). This was suggested to be due to sedimentary redox processes in the extensive salt marshes in the Delaware and Chesapeake bays. From mass balance calculations it was concluded that almost two-thirds of the uranium in the tidal waters were retained in the sediments. It was also suggested that, extrapolated globally, uranium removal in salt marshes and marine wetlands, including mangroves, are important sinks for U that may responsible for up to 50% of the total marine removal (Church et al. 1996). Removal of U is also observed within the Baltic Sea, related to the association of U with colloids (see Section 2.5). 

Reay WG, Gallagher DL, Simmons GM (1992) Groundwater discharge and its impact on surface water quality in a Chesapeake Bay inlet. Water Res Bull 28 1121-1134 Santschi PH, Li YH, Bell J (1979) Natural radionuclides in the water of Narragansett Bay. Earth Planet Sci Lett 45 201-213... 

The system was applied to the analysis of a series of water samples obtained from the Chesapeake Bay at both industrially polluted and relatively pristine sites. 

Furthermore we find that the catch of blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay shows a periodic variation of 10.7 years in agreement with the solar photocycle of... 

We analyze here two kinds of records indicative of climate change, the yearly record of wheat prices in four European countries since 1200 A.D., and the yield of blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay since 1920, as examples of mathematical treatments that could be used on other temporal records of commodities derivable from archives. 

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) catches in the Chesapeake Bay have been measured [64] for the years 1922-1976 A.D., see figure 20. We have made a Fourier transform of the yield in millions of pounds per year (1 million pounds = 454 metric tonnes) versus years into amplitude versus period in years, see figure 21 and find principle cyclic periods of 8.6, 10.7, and 18.0 years. 

Figure 20. Annual catch of blue crab measured in millions of pounds per year in the Chesapeake Bay, a.d. 1920-1976. Key ----> measured -----> predicted.

Figure 21. Fourier transform of annual catch of blue crab vs. time into amplitude vs. period in the Chesapeake Bay.

For comparison, the periods of enhanced blue crab yield, of maxima of air temperatures at Philadelphia (which is close to the Chesapeake Bay), of minima of rainfall at Philadelphia, and of enhanced tidal forces (leading to high tides) are listed in Table 5. The explanation we offer for the agreement among the periods so listed is that high tides wash nutrient into the surface waters of the Bay, and higher temperatures warm the surface waters, and minimum rainfall allows the surface waters to become more saline, all of which factors are salubrious for crab growth. 

Why temperatures and rainfall near Chesapeake Bay should be affected by variations of the tidal forces is not so clear. However the atmosphere and stratosphere are pulled away from the earth by tidal forces just as are the waters of the earth. These forces vary by as much as 10 percent during the tidal periods [67] resulting in density variations in the stratosphere with the same periods the consequent density variations may affect the relative rates of stratospheric chemical reactions, causing disturbances of temperature and rainfall on the ground with the tidal periodicities. 

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