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Shell Fragments (shell + fragment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

The barnacle and the building: a modern morality tale

INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2008
John S. BUCKERIDGE
Abstract A rare and almost complete barnacle fossil, previously described on the basis of two isolated shell fragments, was recently exposed in a limestone block on the outer wall of Melbourne's Old Magistrates' Courts in Victoria, Australia. These courts comprise one of the oldest and grandest buildings in Melbourne and because of this they have a heritage listing. As heritage-listed buildings are protected from alteration by law, and as removal of the fossil would be deemed "alteration", official permission had to be obtained to extract the specimen. This paper discusses the processes involved with extraction of a unique specimen from a protected building and provides an overview of the palaeontological significance of the fossil. Consideration is given to the likely fate of a fossil of this nature, situated a little below eye level on a busy city street, if it was left in situ; finally, the implications of designating a holotype from material removed from a building are assessed. [source]

Ionization-induced star formation , I. The collect-and-collapse model

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007
J. E. Dale
ABSTRACT We conduct smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of the ,collect-and-collapse' scenario for star formation triggered by an expanding H ii region. We simulate the evolution of a spherical uniform molecular cloud with an ionizing source at its centre. The gas in the cloud is self-gravitating, although the cloud is prevented from globally collapsing. We find that the shell driven by the H ii region fragments to form numerous self-gravitating objects. We repeat our calculations at four numerical resolutions to ensure that they are converged. We compare our results to the analytical model of Whitworth et al. and show that our simulations and the predictions of Whitworth et al. are in good agreement in the sense that the shell fragments at the time and radius predicted by Whitworth et al. to within 20 and 25 per cent, respectively. Most of the fragments produced in our two highest resolution calculations are approximately half the mass of those predicted by Whitworth et al., but this conclusion is robust against both numerical resolution and the presence of random noise (local fluctuations in density of a factor of ,2) in the initial gas distribution. We conclude that such noise has little impact on the fragmentation process. [source]

Settlement and Survival of the Oyster Crassostrea virginica on Created Oyster Reef Habitats in Chesapeake Bay

RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
Janet A. Nestlerode
Abstract Efforts to restore the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reef habitats in Chesapeake Bay typically begin with the placement of hard substrata to form three-dimensional mounds on the seabed to serve as a base for oyster recruitment and growth. A shortage of oyster shell for creating large-scale reefs has led to widespread use of other materials such as Surf clamshell (Spisula solidissima), as a substitute for oyster shell. Oyster recruitment, survival, and growth were monitored on intertidal reefs constructed from oyster and Surf clamshell near Fisherman's Island, Virginia, U.S.A. and on a subtidal Surf clamshell reef in York River, Virginia, U.S.A. At the intertidal reefs, oyster larvae settlement occurred at similar levels on both substrate types throughout the monitoring period but higher levels of post-settlement mortality occurred on clamshell reefs. The oyster shell reef supported greater oyster growth and survival and offered the highest degree of structural complexity. On the subtidal clamshell reef, the quality of the substrate varied with reef elevation. Large shell fragments and intact valves were scattered around the reef base, whereas small, tightly packed shell fragments paved the crest and flank of the reef mound. Oysters were more abundant and larger at the base of this reef and less abundant and smaller on the reef crest. The availability of interstitial space and appropriate settlement surfaces is hypothesized to account for the observed differences in oyster abundance across the reef systems. Patterns observed emphasize the importance of appropriate substrate selection for restoration activities to enhance natural recovery where an underlying habitat structure is destroyed. [source]