Biological markers are organic compounds in geological samples with an unambiguous link to specific precursor molecules in living organisms. They provide information on the origin and depositional environment of fossil organic matter as well as about its thermal maturation caused by geothermal heat flow during burial. Petroleum and its refinery products carry this biomarker information into the...

BACKGROUND What are the determinant factors of community assemblies in the most diverse ecosystem in the ocean? Coral reefs can be divided in continental (i.e., reefs that develop on the continental shelf, including siliciclastic reefs) and oceanic (i.e., far off the continental shelf, usually on volcanic substratum); whether or not these habitat differences impose community-wide ecological div...

letter to the editor

More than 27 species of deep-sea corals have been identified off Atlantic Canada but their distributions are largely unknown. Bottom trawling is recognized as a threat to deep-sea corals in Atlantic Canada but the degree of damage has not been quantified. It is difficult to assess the level of conservation required for these organisms without basic information about their distribution. This stu...

The Sr, C, and N isotopic signatures of organic matter in sediments from the continental shelf facing the Orinoco Delta were measured to determine the contribution of sediments transported from the Amazon River by the coastal Guayana current and the sediments transported by the Orinoco River. Box core samples between 60 and 300 m water depth collected along 4 transects located eastwards to the ...

STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Risso's dolphin is distributed worldwide in tropical and temperate seas. Risso's dolphins generally have an oceanic range, and occur along the Atlantic coast of North America from Florida to eastern Newfoundland (Leatherwood et al. 1976; Baird and Stacey 1990). Off the northeast U.S. coast, Risso's dolphin is distributed along the continental shelf edge fro...