ALBERT

Description: The influential predatory role of the lobate comb jellyfish Mnemiopsis leidyi has largely been attributed to the generation of a hydrodynamically silent feeding current to entrain and initiate high encounter rates with prey. However, for high encounter rates to translate to high ingestion rates, M. leidyi must effectively capture the entrained prey. To investigate the capture mechanisms, we recorded and quantified, using three-dimensional videography, the outcome of encounter events with slow swimming Artemia prey. The auricles, which produce the feeding current of M. leidyi, were the primary encounter structures, first contacting 59% of the prey in the feeding current. Upon detection, the auricles manipulated the Artemia to initiate captures on the tentillae, which are coated with sticky cells (colloblasts). Using this mechanism of sensory-scanning to capture prey entrained in the feeding current, M. leidyi uses a similar foraging strategy to that of feeding-current foraging copepods. As such, M. leidyi has a higher capture efficiency than do medusae, contributing to the greater predatory effect of M. leidyi in both its endemic and invasive ecosystems.

Description: The Arctic Ocean faces multiple environmental changes induced by climate change on both global and regional scale. In addition to global changes in seawater temperature and pH, Arctic waters receive organic matter enrichment due to increasing pelagic primary production, enhanced sea ice melting and increasing terrestrial carbon loads. We experimentally tested individual and combined effects of warming, acidification and organic matter amendment on growth, biomass production and extracellular enzyme activities of bacterioplankton in Fram Strait during early summer. Results reveal pH optima of 6.7–7.6 for extracellular leucine-aminopeptidase and below pH 6.0 for beta-glucosidase in the West Spitsbergen Current. These optima well below the current seawater pH imply increasing hydrolytic activity with ongoing ocean acidification. However, the new synthesis of extracellular enzymes during 4-d incubations obscured the biochemical pH effects. Elevated temperature and carbohydrate supply had strongly interactive effects on bacterial biomass production in both Atlantic Water of the West Spitsbergen Current and Polar Water of the East Greenland Current. Activation energies ranged from 45 kJ mol−1 to 52 kJ mol−1 at in situ substrate concentration, while substantially higher values of 122–174 kJ mol−1 could be estimated from incubations with carbohydrate addition. The net loss of total amino acids in carbohydrate-amended incubations was significantly reduced at elevated temperature in all experiments, suggesting enhanced de novo synthesis. Our findings show that the complexity of combined effects must be considered to better assess the potential of climate change to alter biogenic carbon and energy fluxes in marine systems.

Description: Carbon uptake and partitioning of two globally abundant diatom species, Thalassiosira weissflogii and Dactyliosolen fragilissimus, was investigated in batch culture experiments under four conditions: ambient (15 degrees C, 400 atm), high CO2 (15 degrees C, 1000 atm), high temperature (20 degrees C, 400 atm), and combined (20 degrees C, 1000 atm). The experiments were run from exponential growth into the stationary phase (six days after nitrogen depletion), allowing us to track biogeochemical dynamics analogous to bloom situations in the ocean. Elevated CO2 had a fertilizing effect and enhanced uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) by about 8% for T. weissflogii and by up to 39% for D. fragilissimus. This was also reflected in higher cell numbers, build-up of particulate and dissolved organic matter, and transparent exopolymer particles. The CO2 effects were most prominent in the stationary phase when nitrogen was depleted and CO2(aq) concentrations were low. This indicates that diatoms in the high CO2 treatments could take up more DIC until CO2 concentrations in seawater became so low that carbon limitation occurs. These results suggest that, contrary to common assumptions, diatoms could be highly sensitive to ongoing changes in oceanic carbonate chemistry, particularly under nutrient limitation. Warming from 15 to 20 degrees C had a stimulating effect on one species but acted as a stressor on the other species, highlighting the importance of species-specific physiological optima and temperature ranges in the response to ocean warming. Overall, these sensitivities to CO2 and temperature could have profound impacts on diatoms blooms and the biological pump.

Description: The Water and Global Change (WATCH) forcing datasets have been created to support the use of hydrological and land surface models for the assessment of the water cycle within climate change studies. They are based on 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) or ECMWF interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim) with temperatures (among other variables) adjusted such that their monthly means match the monthly temperature dataset from the Climatic Research Unit. To this end, daily minimum, maximum, and mean temperatures within one calendar month have been subjected to a correction involving monthly means of the respective month. As these corrections can be largely different for adjacent months, this procedure potentially leads to implausible differences in daily temperatures across the boundaries of calendar months. We analyze day-to-day temperature fluctuations within and across months and find that across-months differences are significantly larger, mostly in the tropics and frigid zones. Average across-months differences in daily mean temperature are typically between 10% and 40% larger than their corresponding within-months average temperature differences. However, regions with differences up to 200% can be found in tropical Africa. Particularly in regions where snowmelt is a relevant player for hydrology, a few degrees Celsius difference can be decisive for triggering this process. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures are affected in the same regions, but in a less severe way.

Description: We present the first set of dissolved silicon isotope data in seawater (delta Si-30(Si(OH)4)) from the East China Sea, a large and productive marginal sea significantly influenced by the Kuroshio Current and freshwater inputs from the Changjiang (Yangtze River). In summer (August 2009), the lowest surface delta Si-30(Si(OH)4) signatures of +2.1 parts per thousand corresponding to the highest Si(OH)(4) concentrations (similar to 30.0 mu mol L-1) were observed nearshore in Changjiang Diluted Water. During advection on the East China Sea inner shelf, surface delta Si-30(Si(OH)4) increased rapidly to +3.2 parts per thousand while Si(OH)(4) became depleted, indicating increasing biological utilization of the Si(OH)(4) originating from the Changjiang Diluted Water. This is also reflected in the water column profiles characterized by a general decrease of delta Si-30(Si(OH)4) and an increase of Si(OH)(4) with depth on the East China Sea mid-shelf and slope. In winter (December 2009-January 2010), however, the delta Si-30(Si(OH)4) was nearly constant at +1.9 parts per thousand throughout the water column on the East China Sea shelf beyond the nearshore, which was a consequence of enhanced vertical mixing of the Kuroshio subsurface water. Horizontal admixture of Kuroshio surface water, which is highly fractionated in Si isotopes, was observed only beyond the shelf break. Significant seasonal differences in delta Si-30(Si(OH)4) were detected in the surface waters beyond the Changjiang Diluted Water-influenced region on the East China Sea shelf, where the winter values were similar to 1.0 parts per thousand lower than those in summer, despite the same primary Si(OH)(4) supply from the Kuroshio subsurface water during both seasons. This demonstrates significantly higher biological consumption and utilization of Si(OH)(4) in summer than in winter.

Description: Global change leads to a multitude of simultaneous modifications in the marine realm among which shoaling of the upper mixed layer, leading to enhanced surface layer light intensities, as well as increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration are some of the most critical environmental alterations for phytoplankton. In this study, we investigated the responses of growth, photosynthetic carbon fixation and calcification of the coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa oceanica to elevated inline image (51 Pa, 105 Pa, and 152 Pa) (1 Pa ≈ 10 μatm) at a variety of light intensities (50–800 μmol photons m−2 s−1). By fitting the light response curve, our results showed that rising inline image reduced the maximum rates for growth, photosynthetic carbon fixation and calcification. Increasing light intensity enhanced the sensitivity of these rate responses to inline image, and shifted the inline image optima toward lower levels. Combining the results of this and a previous study (Sett et al. 2014) on the same strain indicates that both limiting low inline image and inhibiting high inline image levels (this study) induce similar responses, reducing growth, carbon fixation and calcification rates of G. oceanica. At limiting low light intensities the inline image optima for maximum growth, carbon fixation and calcification are shifted toward higher levels. Interacting effects of simultaneously occurring environmental changes, such as increasing light intensity and ocean acidification, need to be considered when trying to assess metabolic rates of marine phytoplankton under future ocean scenarios.

Description: The most effective way to manage species transfers is to prevent their introduction via vector regulation. Soon, international ships will be required to meet numeric ballast discharge standards using ballast water treatment (BWT) systems, and ballast water exchange (BWE), currently required by several countries, will be phased out. However, there are concerns that BWT systems may not function reliably in fresh and/or turbid water. A land-based evaluation of simulated ‘BWE plus BWT’ versus ‘BWT alone’ demonstrated potential benefits of combining BWE with BWT for protection of freshwater ecosystems. We conducted ship-based testing to compare the efficacy of ‘BWE plus BWT’ versus ‘BWT alone’ on voyages starting with freshwater ballast. We tested the hypotheses that there is an additional effect of ‘BWE plus BWT’ compared to ‘BWT alone’ on the reduction of plankton, and that taxa remaining after ‘BWE plus BWT’ will be marine (low risk for establishment at freshwater recipient ports). Our study found that BWE has significant additional effect on the reduction of plankton, and this effect increases with initial abundance. As per expectations, ‘BWT alone’ tanks contained higher risk freshwater or euryhaline taxa at discharge, while ‘BWE plus BWT’ tanks contained mostly lower risk marine taxa unlikely to survive in recipient freshwater ecosystems.

Description: The effect of submarine carbon dioxide (CO2) vents on seawater carbonate chemistry have been determined using hydrographical and marine carbonate data obtained from two submarine hydrothermal vent fields, as well as a reference station, all near the Jan Mayen Island in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. We have shown that one can successfully determine the excess carbon that enters the seawater from the vents by applying a modified version of a back-calculation technique, which is traditionally used to study the invasion of excess atmospheric CO2 in the surface ocean. As a result of this excess carbon, total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) in the seawater surrounding the vents was on average 12 μmol kg−1 (1-30 μmol kg−1) higher compared to samples obtained from a reference station outside the venting areas. The observed excess CT was most significant between 100 m and 200 m but was noticeable in all depths with the exception of the upper 10-20 m. The absence of a venting CO2 signal in the surface water and the realism of the results are discussed. We believe the present method is promising for monitoring (detection and quantification) of CO2 leakage into the water column due to its high sensitivity and readiness for automation.

Description: High quality, reference measurements of chemical and physical properties of seawater are of great importance for a wide research community, including the need to validate models and attempts to quantify spatial and temporal variability. Whereas data precision has been improved by technological advances, the data accuracy has improved mainly by the use of certified reference materials (CRMs). However, since CRMs are not available for all variables, and use of CRMs does not guarantee bias-free data, we here present a recently developed Matlab toolbox for performing so-called secondary quality control on oceanographic data by the use of crossover analysis. This method and how it has been implemented in this toolbox is described in detail. This toolbox is developed mainly for use by sea-going scientists as a tool for quickly assessing possible bias in the measurements that can-hopefully-be remedied during the expedition, but also for possible post-cruise adjustment of data to be consistent with previous measurements in the region. The toolbox, and reference data, can be downloaded from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC): http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/oceans/2nd_QC_Tool_V2/.

Description: Methane-dominated natural gas hydrate deposits have been considered as a potential hydrocarbon resource and as long-term storage reservoirs for the anthropogenic greenhouse gas CO2 via CH4–CO2–N2 replacement in gas hydrates. In this study, N2-hydrates of structure type I (sI) were formed, characterized, and quantified in terms of N2 cage occupancies using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Pure sI CH4- and N2-hydrates with known cage occupancies were used to calibrate the relative Raman quantification factors (F-factors) of N2 to its H2O framework and to CH4 in sI hydrate phase. The F-factors of CO2/CH4, CO2/H2O, and CH4/H2O in the hydrate cavities were corrected for the presence of ice Ih. Using these empirical ratios of F-factors, the absolute cage occupancies, the bulk guest composition, and hydration number of gas hydrates containing CH4, CO2, N2, and C2H6 molecules can now be determined by Raman spectroscopy without additional thermodynamic assumptions. In this way, one can gain insight into details of the gas composition in mixed hydrates, for example, during the N2-assisted CH4–CO2 exchange reaction, as well as into the preference of certain gas species for small or large cages.