Spectral analysis of zooplankton spatial heterogeneity

Continuous estimates were obtained of zooplankton abundance, chlorophyll fluorescence, and water temperature along 10-to 100-kilometer transects of the North Sea. Spectral analysis methods were applied to the data. The "patchiness" of the plankton was distributed over all the length scales resolved with no indication of a characteristic patch size. The relative intensity of the zooplankton patchiness was greater than that of the phytoplankton at all spatial scales, with this difference becoming progressively greater for finer-scale features. In the North Sea data, the concentrations of phytoplankton and zooplankton consistently showed negative spatial correlations.     

Crystalline ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase from spinach

Spinach fraction I protein (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxy genase, E.C. 4.1.1.39) was crystallized on both an analytical and a preparative scale by vapor diffusion with polyethylene glycol (molecular weight, 6000) used as the precipitant. The identity of the crystalline material with fraction I protein was shown by gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and immunological properties. The carboxylase and oxygenase activities copurify during crystallization, and the crystalline enzyme lacks copper and iron.     

Magnitude of shear stress on the san andreas fault: implications of a stress measurement profile at shallow depth

A profile of measurements of shear stress perpendicular to the San Andreas fault near Palmdale, California, shows a marked increase in stress with distance from the fault. The pattern suggests that shear stress on the fault increases slowly with depth and reaches a value on the order of the average stress released during earthquakes. This result has important implications for both long- and shortterm prediction of large earthquakes.     

Bees have rules

Honey bees frequently dance with some view of the sky, orienting themselves to the sun or natural patterns of polarized skylight. Three new conventions have been discovered in the dance language which are used in these circumstances to eliminate potential ambiguity in the dance message.