ALBERT

Description: Two notions, Ocean Space and the Anthropocene, are discussed. The first is occasionally used in legal and governance literature, and in the media. The Anthropocene, however, is widely applied in the global change research community and the media. The notion of ocean space stands for a holistic, system science approach combined with 4D thinking from the ocean, and the processes within it, towards the land. Ocean space is in fact a social-ecological concept that deals with sustainability challenges which are the consequence of the complex interactions between humans and the marine environment on all scales. Ocean space is, on a human scale, impressively large. On a planetary scale, however, it is insignificant, although it has been an ancient feature of the Earth for the last four billion years or so. Yet, ocean space is a critical player in the Earth System; it is central to climate regulation, the hydrological and carbon cycles and nutrient flows, it balances levels of atmospheric gases, it is a source of raw materials vital for medical and other uses, and a sink for anthropogenic pollutants. The notion also encompasses issues such as exploration, adventure, science, resources, conservation, sustainability, etc., and should be an innovative and attractive outreach instrument for the media. Finally, it marks the fundamental change in ocean exploration in the twenty-first century in which ocean-observing systems, and fleets of robots, are routinely and continuously providing quality controlled data and information on the present and future states of ocean space. Advocates of the notion of the Anthropocene argue that this new epoch in geological time, commenced with the British industrial revolution. To date, the Anthropocene has already been subdivided into three stages. The first of these coincides with the beginning of the British industrial revolution around 1800. This transition quickly transformed a society which used natural energy sources into one that uses fossil fuels. The present high-energy society of more than seven billion people mostly with highly improved living standards and birth rates, and a global economy, is the consequence. The downside of this development comprises intensive resource and land use as well as large-scale pollution of the (marine) environment. The first stage of the Anthropocene ended abruptly after the Second World War when a new technology push occurred, leading to the second stage: ‘the Great Acceleration’ (1945-2015) followed by the third: ‘Stewards of the Earth’. Here it is concluded that the notion of the Anthropocene reflects a hierarchical or individualistic perspective, often leading to a ‘business as usual’ management style, and ‘humanises’ the geological time scale. The use of this notion is not supported. However, it is already very popular in the media. This again might lead to overestimating the role of humans in nature, and might facilitate an even more destructive attitude towards it, through the application of geo-engineering. The latter could be opening another Pandora's box. Instead we should move to a more sustainable future in which human activities are better fine tuned to the environment that we are part of. In this respect, transition management is an interesting new paradigm.

Description: Twelve species of favositids are described. They are derived from silicified boulders found in Pliocene (?) deposits of the Island of Sylt, Germany. Paleofavosites is the dominant genus in this material. Two new species are described, viz. Paleofavosites oekentorpi and Favosites schuddebeursi.

Description: Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world (1.8 million km2 of land, 3.1 million km2 of sea, plus a 200 miles Exclusive Economic Zone covering some 2.7 million km2). Its population, ranking number four on the world list, amounts to more than 216 million people. Marine related programmes are given a high priority in Indonesia. During the last two decades the government has carried out a concerted effort in marine capacity building through bilateral, regional and international co-operation. This effort included increasing man-power development, expanding and improving research facilities, establishing a national marine data centre, improving co-operation within the Indonesian marine science community, and international co-operation. The bilateral agreement with The Netherlands for the implementation of the Snellius II Programme (1982-1987) laid the intellectual basis for the Indonesian marine science capability. The necessary research vessels were obtained through bilateral cooperation with France and Norway. At present Indonesia operates: (1) a network of tide gauges and current meter stations, (2) two satellite ground stations, (3) tropical radar wind profiling stations, (4) a network of marine pollution stations, (5) eight ocean-going, coastal and fisheries research vessels, and (6) twelve Seawatch monitoring buoys. The present commitment to maritime affairs is reflected in the establishment of a new Ministry for Maritime Exploration and Fisheries in which are brought together at a policy making and co-ordinating level, most aspects of sustainable use of Indonesia\xe2\x80\x99s ocean space. It is expected that, in the near future, Indonesia will play a major role in marine affairs in the western Pacific region. This paper provides a review of Indonesian experience in developing a national marine capability and the catalysing role of the Snellius II Programme in this.

Description: The facies represent five depositional environments: a beach, a fore-shore, a surf, a shallow marine current, and an off-shore environment. The diversity and colony shape of tabulates in facies IV is related to discrete physical and biological factors. The succession of facies reflects a transgressive sequence. Land was situated in the north-west.

Description: An outline is given of reef development in Gotland, Sweden, during the time when the Visby (Llandovery) and H\xc3\xb6gklint (Wenlock) Beds were deposited together with a sketch of the palaeoecology in the time during which the Hemse and Hamra-Sundre (Ludlow) Beds were formed. Variation is described in the tabulates Favosites hisingeri Edwards & Haime, F. obliquus (Sokolov), F. gothlandicus Lamarck, F. forbesi Edwards & Haime, Syringolites kunthianus (Lindstr\xc3\xb6m), and Alveolites suborbicularis Lamarck. In order to clarify ecophenotypic variation of corallite size in tabulates, the corallite area and three different corallite diameters were measured. Although the corallite area is more related to the shape of the organism that lived in a corallite, comparison of the several parameters revealed that measuring of a corallite diameter can be applied in such species from which ecophenotypic variation is known. However, the current limitation of variability in corallite diameters within defined morphospecies often is far too narrow, and does not allow for ecophenotypic variation. As a consequence, the number of morphospecies established since Sokolov (1950) is unrealistically large in the F. forbesi group as well as in others. Variability in F. hisingeri is influenced to a high degree by the environment. The characteristic (genetically controlled?) pattern of larger corallites between smaller ones in F. forbesi is hardly influenced by ecological factors. Variation in thickness of the wall, in distance between the tabulae and in intensity of the development of the septal structures is mainly determined by the environment.