Edited by
A. Borja, Department of Oceanography, AZTI, Pasaia, Spain
M. Collins, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, UK
Description
Against a background of extensive multi-disciplinary oceanographic investigations over a number of years, together with the long-term
establishment of a Society and Institute, extensive information is available from studies undertaken in the estuarine and coastal waters
of the Basque Country.
The present authors gained access to unpublished literature and reports which, together with a synthesis
of internationally-refereed papers, provide a series of scientific overviews of particular subject areas. Teams of researchers (from
Basque Institutes and Universities) combine to present the present 'state of knowledge', within a global context, of processes ranging
from sub-seabed to air-sea interaction - incorporating data on the associated biology (including fisheries) and pollutant sources and
levels. The latter are compared with regional, national and European legislation. The volume is divided into various sections: Introduction;
Geography and Oceanography; Chemical Oceanography and Water Quality; Sediment Characteristics, Quality and Chemistry; Biomonitoring;
Communities and Ecology; and Overall Assessment.
The topics covered include: an historical review of marine research; the impact
of human activities, during past centuries; geology, geomorphology and sediments; climate and meteorology; marine dynamics; hydrography;
water mass characteristics; contaminants in the waters; microbiological quality; sedimentological characteristics; contaminants in sediments;
biomonitoring of heavy metals and organic components, at tissue organism level and using cellular and molecular biomarkers; bacterioplankton
and phytoplankton communities; zooplankton communities; benthic communities; seabirds; biodiversity and conservation; recovery of benthic
communities; the polluted systems; and assessment of human impacts. On the basis of these syntheses, future challenges for marine research
in the Basque Country are identified, in terms of a 'Research Agenda'.
This comprehensive text, relating to estuarine, coastal
and oceanographic processes at wide-ranging spatial and temporal scales in the southern Bay of Biscay, will be of interest to researchers,
engineers and legislators - on a regional basis and within a world-wide perspective.
Included in series
Elsevier Oceanography Series
Audience:
Academics, graduate students, researchers and legislators in oceanography and marine sciences.
