ALBERT

Description: The Ships Of Opportunity Program in the Mediterranean Sea was established at the end of 1999, in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Pilot Project (MFS-PP). Many improvements have been made in data collection, transmission and management. Calibration of selected XBTs and a comparison of XBTs vs. CTDs during some research cruises have assured the quality of the data. Transmission now allows receiving data in full resolution by using GSM or satellite telecommunication services; management is offering access to high quality data and view services. The effects of technological and methodological improvements in the observing system are assessed in terms of capability to represent the most important circulation features. The improved methodologies have been tested during the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Toward Environmental Prediction (MFS-TEP) – Targeted Operational Period (MFS-TOP), lasting from September 2004 to February 2005. In spite of the short period of measurements, several important aspects of the Mediterranean Sea circulation have been verified, such as eddies and gyres in the various sub-basins, and dense water formation processes in some of them (vertical homogeneous profiles of about 13°C down to ~800 m in the Provencal, and of about 14.9°C down to ~300 m in the Levantine have allowed defining an index of dense water formation).

Description: During the period 1998–2000, the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project, aiming to build a forecasting system for the physical state of the sea, has been carried out. A ship-of-opportunity programme sampled the Mediterranean upper ocean thermal structure by means of eXpendable Bathy-Thermographs (XBTs), along seven tracks, from September 1999 to May 2000. The tracks were designed to detect some of the main circulation features, such as the stream of surface Atlantic water flowing from the Alboran Sea to the Eastern Levantine Basin. The cyclonic gyres in the Liguro-Provenal Basin, the southern Adriatic and Ionian Seas and the anticyclonic gyres in the Levantine Basin were also features to be detected. The monitoring system confirmed a long-term persistence of structures (at least during the entire observing period), which were previously thought to be transient features. In particular, in the Levantine Basin anticyclonic Shikmona and Ierapetra Gyres have been observed during the monitoring period. In order to identify the major changes in the thermal structures and the dynamical implications, the XBT data are compared with historical measurements collected in the 1980s and 1990s. The results indicate that some thermal features are being restored to the situation that existed in the 1980s, after the changes induced by the so-called "Eastern Mediterranean Transient". Key words. Oceanography: physical (eddies and mesoscale processes; general circulation; instruments and techniques)

Description: Four surveys of the Huelva Estuary in southwest Spain and its sources, the Tinto and the Odiel Rivers, were carried out between 1996 and 1998. The surveys investigated the impact of metalliferous mining of sulfide-rich ores in the catchment area on metal speciation, metal concentrations in a macrophyte, and phytoplankton diversity and abundance. Chemical speciation measurements in the lower Tinto Estuary showed that metals were predominantly electrochemically labile (>99 of total dissolved Cu, Co, and Ni at 10 μM Cu, 424 nM Co, and 500 nM Ni, S = 28). Concentrations of Cu complexing ligands and free cupric ions Cu2+ in the Gulf of Cádiz ranged between 5.3 and 38 nM and 0.2-7.9 pM, respectively, with conditional stability constants of the ligands of log K′CuL = 11.7-12.6. At enhanced dissolved Cu concentrations in the lower Huelva Estuary, Cu complexing ligands were saturated with Cu, resulting in nanomolar Cu2+, which increased upstream. Metal tissue concentrations of the macrophyte Blindingia marginata were high, and a clear relationship between dissolved labile Cu and macrophyte tissue Cu concentrations was observed. A low biodiversity was observed in the Huelva system (Shannon-Wiener indices (H) typically 〈0.2). Nevertheless, the maximum biomass was observed in the lower Tinto Estuary, which showed high labile metal and nutrient concentrations and a low biodiversity (H 〈 0.02), thereby suggesting adaptation through evolutionary processes of the phytoplankton community to the harsh conditions. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

Description: Nutrient (nitrate, phosphate, silica) and dissolved metal (Al, Cu, As, Cd, Ni, Zn, Fe, U) distributions were studied in the mixing zones of the Tinto and Odiel rivers which drain the South Iberian pyrite belt. Phosphate distribution is strongly influenced by discharges from the fertiliser industry, especially in the Tinto mixing zone. The increase of silica content in this zone is related to a release of biogenic silica from diatoms. Nitrate concentrations which are influenced by urban and industrial effluents showed an important maximum in the early stages of mixing in the Tinto (as do the metals). Compared to the Odiel river, the metal concentrations in the Tinto river reached higher values in relation to more intensive mining activities. Dissolved Fe, Mn, Al, Cu, Cd and Zn concentrations were correlated in the mixing zones of both rivers. This suggests that they have the same source and are subjected to the same controlling processes in the estuary. A maximum concentration for these metals was observed in the early stage of mixing in the Tinto and reflects a decrease of redox in a low pH (〈3) environment. Downstream in the Odiel system, metals showed a slight removal. Dissolved uranium, present at a low level (0.05 μmol l-1) in the rivers, is introduced by the phosphate fertiliser industry in the estuary and trapped in sedimentation areas. As a consequence, waters of the Gulf of Cadiz have a U content similar to that of the open seawater. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: Inorganic arsenic and phosphate distributions have been studied in the acidic mixing zone of the Tinto river in November 1996, June 1997, and April 1998. This mixing zone receives high inputs of As, PO4/3- and Fe in relation with acid mine drainage and run-off from phosphogypsum waste. In the early stage of mixing the dissolution of detritic Fe phases (pyrite and oxides) releases Fe and As to water. This process is counterbalanced by removal due to precipitation of Fe-oxides and Fe-organic complexes and algae fixation. In autumn, the amount of algae is negligible and a release of As, Fe and PO4/3- to the dissolved phase was observed. As a consequence, high As and PO4/3- concentrations are registered in the water (up to 43 nM for As and 330 μM for PO4/3-). In spring, the removal dominates in relation with high algae productivity. As a result As and PO4/3- are depleted in the dissolved phase in spring compared to autumn and high concentrations of As (up to 1530 μg g-1 and 700 μg g-1 in June and in April, respectively) were observed in the suspended particulate matter. In autumn dissolved As is correlated with Fe whilst in spring As behaves in a similar way as PO4/3-. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Inorganic arsenic and phosphate distributions have been studied in the acidic mixing zone of the Tinto river in November 1996, June 1997, and April 1998. This mixing zone receives high inputs of As, PO43- and Fe in relation with acid mine drainage and run-off from phosphogypsum waste. In the early stage of mixing the dissolution of detritic Fe phases (pyrite and oxides) releases Fe and As to water. This process is counterbalanced by removal due to precipitation of Fe-oxides and Fe-organic complexes and algae fixation. In autumn, the amount of algae is negligible and a release of As, Fe and PO43- to the dissolved phase was observed. As a consequence, high As and PO43- concentrations are registered in the water (up to 43 nM for As and 330 μM for PO43-). In spring, the removal dominates in relation with high algae productivity. As a result As and PO43- are depleted in the dissolved phase in spring compared to autumn and high concentrations of As (up to 1530 μg g-1 and 700 μg g-1 in June and in April, respectively) were observed in the suspended particulate matter. In autumn dissolved As is correlated with Fe whilst in spring As behaves in a similar way as PO43-.

Description: The Ships Of Opportunity Program in the Mediterranean Sea was established at the end of 1999, in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Pilot Project (MFS-PP). Many improvements have been made in data collection, transmission and management. Calibration of selected XBTs and a comparison of XBTs vs. CTDs during some research cruises have assured the quality of the data. Transmission now allows receiving data in full resolution by using GSM or satellite telecommunication services; management is offering access to high quality data and view services. The effects of technological and methodological improvements in the observing system are assessed in terms of capability to represent the most important circulation features. The improved methodologies have been tested during the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Toward Environmental Prediction (MFS-TEP) – Targeted Operational Period (MFS-TOP), lasting from September 2004 to February 2005. In spite of the short period of measurements, several important aspects of the Mediterranean Sea circulation have been verified, such as eddies and gyres in the various sub-basins, and dense water formation processes in some of them (vertical homogeneous profiles of about 13°C down to ~800 m in the Provençal, and of about 14.9°C down to ~300 m in the Levantine have allowed defining an index of dense water formation).

Description: R/V Hespe ´rides occupied the World Ocean Circulation Experiment SR1b repeat section across the Scotia Sea in February 1995, February 1996, and February 1998. On each cruise the same set of 21 hydrographic stations with characteristic spacing 〈20 nautical miles was visited. The results of the three surveys display a characteristic zonation of water masses in the region, which is defined by four hydrographic fronts. The net geostrophic transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) across SR1b, computed with reference to the deepest common depth of each pair of adjacent stations, is similar in all three cruises, 144 Sv in February 1995, 131 Sv in February 1996, and 134 Sv in February 1998, and compares well with earlier computations of the ACC transport across Drake Passage. A close comparison of the vertical distributions of water properties on SR1b reveals changes in the structure of the ACC that are linked to undersampled current mesoscale activity, as suggested by infrared satellite images contemporary to the cruises. The most remarkable features are several ‘‘hydrographic discontinuities’’ observed in the Antarctic Zone south of the Southern ACC Front (SACCF), which are believed to be signatures of eddies produced east of the Shackleton Fracture Zone. The paper further addresses the different contribution of each ACC zonal band to the net geostrophic transport across SR1b on each Hespe ´rides occupation.

Description: Published