Teresa Radziejewska – författare

The book presents the first comprehensive description of parts of the Mid-Atlantic ridge subject to a contract for polymetallic sulphide exploration between the International Seabed Authority and the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Poland. The state-of-the-art of the study area presented here takes into account a variety of aspects, including hydrological and meteorological conditions, hydrography, optical properties of water, seafloor morphology, geology, sediments and sedimentation processes, pelagic environment and its biocoenosis, benthic organisms, seabed communities, deep-sea environmental protection, as well as many other. Also, the research methods and tools are enumerated, and the studies advised for the future are outlined. The Atlantic seabed area described in this monograph is situated near the central part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), one of the major geological formations on Earth, featuring - like other mid-oceanic ridges - active and inactive hydrothermal vent fields with their unusual and unique ecosystems. The commercial interest in MAR exploration is due to the deposits of massive polymetallic sulphides, formed as a result of hydrothermal fluid precipitation. 

This is the first comprehensive science-based textbook on the biology and ecology of the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s largest brackish water bodies. The aim of this book is to provide students and other readers with knowledge about the conditions for life in brackish water, the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its environmental problems and management. It highlights biological variation along the unique environmental gradients of the brackish Baltic Sea Area (the Baltic Sea, Belt Sea and Kattegat), especially those in salinity and climate. 

pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#262626">The first part of the book presents the challenges for life processes and ecosystem dynamics that result from the Baltic Sea’s highly variable recent geological history and geographical isolation. The second part explains interactions between organisms and their environment, including biogeochemical cycles, patterns of biodiversity, genetic diversity and evolution, biological invasions and physiological adaptations. In the third part, the subsystems of the Baltic Sea ecosystem – the pelagic zone, the sea ice, the deep soft sea beds, the phytobenthic zone, the sandy coasts, and estuaries and coastal lagoons – are treated in detail with respect to the structure and function of communities and habitats and consequences of natural and anthropogenic constraints, such as climate change, discharges of nutrients and hazardous substances. Finally, the fourth part of the book discusses monitoring and ecosystem-based management to deal with contemporary and emerging threats to the ecosystem’s health.