Bibliothèque de L'IMIST/CNRST

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Section 1. Introduction. Marine research in the Basque Country: an historical perspective / A. Rallo and Á. Borja -- Human activities along the Basque coast during the last two centuries: geological perspective of recent anthropogenic impact on the coast and its environmental consequences / A. Cearreta, M.J. Irabien and A. Pascual -- Section 2. Geography and oceanography. Geology and palaeoceanography / A. Pascual ... [and others] -- Climate and meteorology, variability and its influence on the ocean / J.I. Usabiaga ... [and others] -- Sediment supply, transport and deposition: contemporary and Late Quaternary evolution / Ad. Uriarte ... [and others] -- Marine dynamics / M. González ... [and others] -- Hydrography of the southeastern Bay of Biscay / V. Valencia ... [and others] -- Section 3. Chemical oceanography and water quality. Main characteristics of the water masses / V. Valencia and J. Franco -- Contaminants in estuarine and coastal waters / Ma. J. Belzunce ... [and others] -- Microbiological quality / J. Bald ... [and others] -- Section 4. Sediment characteristics, quality and chemistry. Characteristics of estuarine and marine sediments / Ad. Uriarte, Ma. J. Belzunce and O. Solaun --Contaminants in sediments / Ma. J. Belzunce ... [and others] -- Section 5. Biomonitoring. Biomonitoring of heavy metals and organic compounds, at the tissue-organism level / Á. Borja ... [and others] -- Biomonitoring of environmental pollution along the Basque coast, using molecular, cellular and tissue-level biomarkers: an integrative approach / I. Marigómez ... [and others] -- Section 6. Communities and ecology. Bacterioplankton and phytoplankton communities / E. Orive ... [and others] -- Zooplankton communities / F. Villate ... [and others] -- Ichthyoplankton assemblages / L. Motos ... [and others] -- Benthic communities, biogeography and resource management / Á. Borja ... [and others] -- Coastal fisheries and demersal estuarine fauna / L. Arregi ... [and others] -- Seabird populations / J. Franco ... [and others] -- Biodiversity and conservation of wildlife and natural habitats / R. Castro ... [and others] -- Recovery of benthic communities, in polluted systems / J.M. Gorostiaga ... [and others] -- Section 7. Overall assessment. Overall assessment, human impacts and quality status / J. Franco, Á. Borja and V. Valencia -- Conclusions: notes on a research agenda for the region / M. Collins and Á. Borja.

Description based on print version record.

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 '