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The present authors gained access to unpublished literature and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.