ALBERT

Description: The energy consumption of Adélie penguins while at rest in water (8.4 W·kg-1 at 4°C) or swimming below the surface was determined using a 21 m long canal fitted with respiration chambers at each end. Penguins chose to swim 86% of the time at speeds recorded in nature. Cost of transport was lowest (7.9 J·kg-1·m-1) at 1.7–2.3 m·s-1, corresponding to a power input of 15.8 W·kg-1, and only 50% as high as previously reported. Assuming a muscle efficiency of 0.25, propulsion efficiency is 0.4 and overall efficiency is 0.1. Calculated food requirements vary between 1060 g krill per adult and foraging trip at the beginning of the breeding season and 2500 g at the period of highest demand, prior to crèching of the chicks.

Description: A large-scale trawl survey in August 1989 and data from other surveys indicate that the mesopelagic zone (depth 200-500m) of the Sea of Okhotsk is most densely populated with squids, wit maximum catches of more than 500kg/h. The greatest concentrations occur above the continental slope, particularly in the northern TINRO basin and off the southwestern coast of Kamchatka, adjoining the most productive regions of the sea. Five squid associations are distinguished in terms of the makeup of the catches.

Description: The areas of marine pollen deposition are related to the pollen source areas by aeolian and fluvial transport regimes, whereas wind transport is much more important than river transport. Pollen distribution patterns ofPinus, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, and Asteraceae Tubuliflorae trace atmospheric transport by the northeast trades. Pollen transport by the African Easterly Jet is reflected in the pollen distribution patterns of Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae Tubuliflorae, andMitracarpus. Grass pollen distribution registers the latitudinal extension of Sahel, savannas and dry open forests. Marine pollen distribution patterns of Combretaceae-Melastomataceae,Alchornea, andElaeis reflect the extension of wooded grasslands and transitional forests. Pollen from the Guinean-Congolian/Zambezian forest and from the Sudanian/Guinean vegetation zones mark the northernmost extension of the tropical rain forest.Rhizophora pollen in marine sediments traces the distribution of mangrove swamps. Only near the continent, pollen ofRhizophora, Mitracarpus, Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, and pollen from the Sudanian and Guinean vegetation zones are transported by the Upwelling Under Current and the Equatorial Under Current, where those currents act as bottom currents. The distribution of pollen in marine sediments, reflecting the position of major climatic zones (desert, dry tropics, humid tropics), can be used in tracing climatic changes in the past.

Description: The present study demonstrates that a distinct land-associated community of mesopelagic micronekton exists around the Hawaiian Islands. This “mesopelagic-boundary community” replaces the oceanic mesopelagic community over bottom depths of approx 400 to 700 m and includes about 14 species of fishes, 5 of shrimps and 4 of squids. Similar species of the mesopelagic micronekton have been reported in association with other landmasses at the boundary between the oceanic mesopelagic realm and upper continental or island slopes. These species may form a cosmopolitan “mesopelagic-boundary community” which shows regional differences in taxonomic composition, abundance and diversity. Boundary communities, with populations which are both tightly constrained geographically and relatively accessible to shore-based research programs, offer unique opportunities for studying biological processes of the mesopelagic realm and the interactions between neritic and oceanic populations. Data is presented from three midwater and two neuston sampling projects undertaken around the main Hawaiian Islands between 1987 and 1989; additional evidence from the literature is also discussed.

Description: A seabird and mammal census was carried out in the north-eastern Weddell Sea during the austral winter of 1986. The German research icebreaker Polarstern operated in heavy pack ice along the Greenwich Meridian between the northern sea ice boundary and the Antarctic coast. Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus), minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), Antarctic petrels (Thalassoica antarctica) and snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) were found to be more abundant in the vicinity of the submarine Maud Rise, about 700 km north of the continental margin, than in other areas of substantial ice cover traversed during that cruise. The aggregations of birds and mammals are expected to reflect aggregations of their principal food, krill (Euphausia superba) wintering underneath the ice cover. The distribution pattern of krill predators coincides with the course of a warm water belt upwelling near Maud Rise. This upwelling could induce local ice melting which in turn may result in an increased release of sea ice algae.

Description: Using bacteria that tolerate fairly high sodium sulphate concentrations and reduce sulphate and a coarse clay with buffering properties as solid electrolytes, biological fuel cells have been developed for providing electrical energy discontinuously. The biological active anodes, which accumulate fuel, contained a metal hydroxide catalyst that was converted during the biological process into a metal sulphide catalyst and functioned in a solidified aqueous electrolyte that contained sodium sulphate. The active carbon or titanium cathodes employed were activated with cobalt oxide spinels, molybdenum/vanadium compounds or metal chelates. When employed in continuous service for discontinuous energy consumption, fuel cells were capable of being operated with humus constituents or sugar waste as fuel over a period of 5 years without malfunction and maintenance. Positive results were achieved in the purification of waste-water with a modified type of fuel cell in which the production of energy was not dominant.

Description: This paper describes (i) the Recent distribution pattern of various types of carbonate sediments in Troms county (northern Norway), and (ii) the onset of carbonate sedimentation after the final deglaciation of the Fennoscandian ice-shield. The distribution of major facies belts is strongly dependent on hydrographic and topographic constraints. The main bulk of carbonate deposits is derived from maerl-producing coralline algal biotopes that are restricted to the photic zone of waveprotected areas and influenced by tidal currents. Furthermore, extended mollusc and echinoderm-rich arenites are present in the area investigated. In deeper subtidal areas, terrigenous sediments of Late Weichselian to Early Holocene age are preserved. However, these are strongly influenced by later winnowing processes, generating a coquina lag deposit that serves as a secondary hardground for a diverse fouling community. The Holocene facies successions can be seen in several raised outcrops, containing the transition from glacigenic to Recent non-glacigenic depositional conditions. Autochthonous radiocarbon dated rhodolith banks, which mark the onset of carbonate sedimentation, yielded surprisingly young ages of 5,500 YBP. Around 5,500 YBP, present-day oceanographic and climatic conditions had already been firmly established. This time-lag can be explained with the behaviour of postglacial sea level fluctuations in the area. From 10,000 their cooperation in this project. We address our sincere thanks specifically to Prof. T.O. Vorren, Dr. M. Hald, Dr. B. Gulliksen, Dr. J. Hansen, Dr. J.J. Møller, Dr. E. Thomsen, and Dr. G. Corner for their dedicate help in organizing our field trips in Troms and for extensive scientific discussions. Special thanks to capitain K. Bendiksen for his patience and professional skill while operating the vessel ‘OTTAR’ in the skerry area even under bad weather conditions. S. Rasmussen and G. Ellingsen assisted during the cruises and very kindly introduced us to the Norwegian way of life. Special thanks to the two reviewers (Prof. Dr. W.-Ch. Dullo and anonymus) for their critical but constructive remarks. J. Welling and Dr. M. Kaminski improved the language of the final version of the manuscript. This project is part of the German Science Foundation’s main research program ‘Globale und regionale Steuerungsprozesse biogener Sedimentation”. Financial support was kindly provided by the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (He 1671/1-1, 2).

Description: The Jurassic carbonate series of the Lechtal and Allgäu Nappes in the central part of the Northern Calcareous Alps reflect formation of orogen-parallel structures with swells and basins. Regional facies patterns display the morphologies of the various depositional environments. During the Middle Jurassic, an elongated swell evolved parallel to the overall structural strike in the central part of Lechtal Nappe, while in the southern part a basin started to subside. This configuration reflects the initial stage of rotational block faulting on the southern continental margin of the Tethys. Similar structural and facies settings were also established in the northern part of the Lechtal Nappe and in the southern Allgäu Nappe. Synsedimentary tectonics induced a variety of downslope sediment mass movements and increased facies differentiation on the slopes. In the upper section of the middle Jurassic sequences red nodular limestones with frequent intercalations of intraformational breccias and conglomerates indicate downslope sediment movements. During the Oxfordian, the Tethyan-wide deposition of radiolarites also covered the basin in the southern Lechtal Nappe. Contemporaneous deposition of pelagic radiolarian-bearing limestones dominated on the slope of the surrounding northern swell, while its peak was covered by a shallow water carbonate facies, e.g. a specific pseudopeloid and oolithic facies, which was also injected downslope into the pelagic facies. The Oxfordian to Tithonian section reveals a characteristic pelagic carbonate facies succession, e.g. with Protoglobigerina facies at the base, followed by aSaccocoma facies and a calpionellids facies on top. In the northern Lechtal Nappe and in the Allgäu Nappe various similar radiolarite basins with intersected swells were discovered.