ALBERT

Description: Here we present results of the first comprehensive study of sulphur compounds and methane in the oligotrophic tropical West Pacific Ocean. The concentrations of dimethylsuphide (DMS), dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO), and methane (CH4), as well as various phytoplankton marker pigments in the surface ocean were measured along a north-south transit from Japan to Australia in October 2009. DMS (0.9 nmol/l), dissolved DMSP (DMSPd, 1.6 nmol/l) and particulate DMSP (DMSPp, 2 nmol/l) concentrations were generally low, while dissolved DMSO (DMSOd, 4.4 nmol/l) and particulate DMSO (DMSOp, 11.5 nmol/l) concentrations were comparably enhanced. Positive correlations were found between DMSO and DMSP as well as DMSP and DMSO with chlorophyll a, which suggests a similar source for both compounds. Similar phytoplankton groups were identified as being important for the DMSO and DMSP pool, thus, the same algae taxa might produce both DMSP and DMSO. In contrast, phytoplankton seemed to play only a minor role for the DMS distribution in the western Pacific Ocean. The observed DMSPp : DMSOp ratios were very low and seem to be characteristic of oligotrophic tropical waters representing the extreme endpoint of the global DMSPp : DMSOp ratio vs. SST relationship. It is most likely that nutrient limitation and oxidative stress in the tropical West Pacific Ocean triggered enhanced DMSO production leading to an accumulation of DMSO in the sea surface. Positive correlations between DMSPd and CH4, as well as between DMSO (particulate and total) and CH4, were found along the transit. We conclude that both DMSP and DMSO serve as substrates for methanogenic bacteria in the western Pacific Ocean.

Description: We developed a purge-and-trap system to measure CH_4 with high accuracy in the surface water and the water column of the Kiel Bight, close to the monthly time series station Boknis Eck. The small-scale variability of CH_4 was investigated from samples taken in the Baltic Sea during the two Alkor cruises AL510 and AL516 in the in early summer and autumn 2018 when two gas exchange experiments (GasEx) were carried out around the Boknis Eck time series station. This station has been sampled for CH_4 on a monthly basis since 2007.During the GasEx cruises, special emphasis was put on the sampling of the upper water column and the mixed layer, with high-resolution sampling to determine potential gas gradients within the mixed layer that are not captured with conventional sampling approaches. Water column CH_4 samples were collected from Niskin bottles mounted to a CTD-water-rosette-sampler, Dinghy samples were collected using an aquarium pump, Underway samples were taken from the ship's sea water supply. All samples were filled bubble-free into dark brown 20 mL glass vials by overflowing the approximate threefold volume and crimp-sealed with rubber stoppers and aluminium caps.

Description: We developed a purge-and-trap system to measure CH_4 with high accuracy in the surface water and the water column of the Kiel Bight, close to the monthly time series station Boknis Eck. The small-scale variability of CH_4 was investigated from samples taken in the Baltic Sea during the two Alkor cruises AL510 and AL516 in the in early summer and autumn 2018 when two gas exchange experiments (GasEx) were carried out around the Boknis Eck time series station. This station has been sampled for CH_4 on a monthly basis since 2007.During the GasEx cruises, special emphasis was put on the sampling of the upper water column and the mixed layer, with high-resolution sampling to determine potential gas gradients within the mixed layer that are not captured with conventional sampling approaches. Water column CH_4 samples were collected from Niskin bottles mounted to a CTD-water-rosette-sampler, Dinghy samples were collected using an aquarium pump, Underway samples were taken from the ship's sea water supply. All samples were filled bubble-free into dark brown 20 mL glass vials by overflowing the approximate threefold volume and crimp-sealed with rubber stoppers and aluminium caps.

Description: The database includes measurements of the trace gases carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) in seawater (in picomol per liter) and the marine boundary layer (parts per trillion, ppt). It consists of individual datasets compiled from published original data, digitalization from publications (pdf documents) and unpublished data. Only shipborne measurements or measurements from time series stations with a dominant marine signal are included. The database contains mainly surface ocean measurements, but few available profiles down to 〉1000 m are included as well. Temporal resolution ranges from 12 minutes to hourly or monthly intervals. The database includes the following metadata (if available): latitude, longitude, depth, time of sampling, meteorological and physical parameters, main reference, method, contributor(s). The database is intended to facilitate model evaluation and the identification of global patterns. Data in excel and txt-files are identical.

Description: A strong El Niño developed in early 2015. Measurements from a research cruise on the RV Sonne in October 2015 near the equator east of the Galapagos Islands and off the shelf of Peru, are used to investigate changes related to El Niño in the upper ocean in comparison with earlier cruises in this region. At the equator at 85°30' W, a clear temperature increase leading to lower densities in the upper 350 m, despite a concurrent salinity increase from 40 to 350 m, developed in October 2015. Lower nutrient concentrations were also present in the upper 200 m, and higher oxygen concentrations were observed between 40 and 130 m. Except for the upper 60 m at 2°30' S, however, there was no obvious increase in oxygen concentrations at sampling stations just north (1° N) and south (2°30' S) of the equator at 85°30' W. In the equatorial current field, the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) east of the Galapagos Islands almost disappeared in October 2015, with a transport of only 0.02 Sv in the equatorial channel between 1° S and 1° N, and a weak current band of 0.78 Sv located between 1° S and 2°30' S. Such near-disappearances of the EUC in the eastern Pacific seem to occur only during strong El Niño events. Off the Peruvian shelf at ~9° S, where the sea surface temperature (SST) was elevated, upwelling was modified, and warm, saline and oxygen rich water was upwelled. Despite some weak El Niño related SST increase at ~12 to 16° S, the upwelling of cold, low salinity and oxygen-poor water was still active at the easternmost stations at three sections at ~12° S, ~14° S and ~16° S, while further west on these sections a transition to El Niño conditions appeared. Although in early 2015 the El Niño was strong and in October 2015 showed a clear El Niño influence on the EUC, in the eastern tropical Pacific the measurements only showed developing El Niño water mass distributions. In particular the oxygen distribution indicated the ongoing transition from 'typical' to El Niño conditions progressing southward along the Peruvian shelf.

Description: In order to investigate production pathways of methyl iodide and controls on emissions from the surface ocean, a set of repeated in-vitro incubation experiments were performed over an annual cycle in the context of a time-series of in-situ measurements in Kiel Fjord (54.3 N, 10.1E). The incubation experiments revealed a diurnal variation of methyl iodide in samples exposed to natural light, with maxima during day time and losses during night hours. The amplitude of the daily accumulation varied seasonally and was not affected by filtration (0.2µm), consistent with a photochemical pathway for CH3I production. The methyl iodide loss rate during night time correlated with the concentration accumulated during daytime. Daily (24 hour) net production (Pnet) was similar in magnitude between in vitro and in situ mass balances. However, the estimated gross production (Pgross) of methyl iodide ranged from -0.07 to 2.24 pmol/day and were 5 times higher in summer than Pnet calculated from the in-situ study [Shi et al., 2014]. The large excess of Pgross over Pnet revealed by the in-vitro (incubation) experiments in summer is a consequence of large losses of CH3I by as-yet uncharacterized processes (e.g. biological degradation or chemical pathways other than Cl- substitution).