ALBERT

Description: Carbonate precipitates on mounds and along tectonic scarps off the Costa Rica margin are manifestations of subduction-induced dewatering. The long-term dewatering history is recorded in mineralogical, petrological and isotope signals of carbonates recovered from these sites. The carbonates are strongly depleted in δ13C (−11 to −53‰ PDB) and enriched in δ18O (+4 to +8‰ PDB). Thermogenic methane and biogenic methane were identified as sources of the carbon. Chemoherm carbonates and seepage-associated carbonates formed in a focused flow regime have lighter δ13C values, while others formed in a more diffusive flow regime have slightly enriched C isotope values. Three fluid components were inferred based on the calculation of equilibrium δ18O: clay dehydration water, gas hydrate water and seawater. Calculated equilibrium δ18O values of carbonates from different down-core depths as well as from different precipitation stages show that the δ18O of the precipitating fluid is progressively depleted with time. Dolostones showing a methane-C source and a well constrained O-isotope signature are thought to have formed at depth in the sediment and subsequently became exhumed. Glauconitic sandstones cemented by methane-derived carbonate provide evidence that fluid and solid material have been expelled by the mud volcano.

Description: We examined the thermoregulatory behaviour (TRB) of roosting Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in north central Chile during summer and winter, when ambient temperatures (Ta) are most extreme. Each body posture was considered to represent a particular TRB, which was ranked in a sequence that reflected different degrees of thermal load and was assigned an arbitrary thermoregulatory score. During summer, birds exhibited eight different TRBs, mainly oriented to heat dissipation, and experienced a wide range of Ta (from 14 to 31°C), occasionally above their thermoneutral zone (TNZ, from 2 to 30°C), this being evident by observations of extreme thermoregulatory responses such as panting. In winter, birds exhibited only three TRBs, mainly oriented to heat retention, and experienced a smaller range of Ta (from 11 to 18°C), always within the TNZ, even at night. The components of behavioural responses increased directly with the heat load which explains the broader behavioural repertoire observed in summer. Since penguins are primarily adapted in morphology and physiology to cope with low water temperatures, our results suggest that behavioural thermoregulation may be important in the maintenance of the thermal balance in Humboldt penguins while on land.

Description: We quantified the nitrogen and enzyme hydrolyzable amino acid (EHAA) concentrations of sediments prior to and after corals sloughed, ingested, and egested sediments layered onto their surfaces, for the three coral species Siderastrea siderea, Agaricia agaricites, and Porites astreoides in Jamaica. The percent nitrogen of the sediments egested by all three species was lower than in the sediments available to the corals. Additionally, the sediments sloughed (not ingested) by A. agaricites and P. astreoides were lower in percent nitrogen, while the sediments sloughed by S. siderea had the same percent nitrogen as that of the available sediments. The percent nitrogen of the sediments sloughed and egested by P. astreoides showed significant negative and positive relationships, respectively, to increasing sediment loads, while the percent nitrogen of the sediments sloughed and egested by both S. siderea and A. agaricites showed no relationship to sediment load. EHAA concentrations were not significantly different between the sloughed and available sediments but were significantly lower in the sediments egested by S. siderea and A. agaricites (EHAA concentrations were not measured for P. astreodies sediment fractions). Comparisons of the nitrogen and EHAA concentrations in the sloughed and egested sediments to what was available prior to coral processing show that maximum ingestion was between 0.1 and 0.2 µg N µg−1 coral N cm−2 and between 0.5 and 0.6 µg EHAA·cm−2. Maximum assimilation efficiencies were estimated to be 30–60% of the available nitrogen. The data show that corals ingest and alter the nitrogen concentration of particles that land on their surfaces. The corals’ abilities to process these sediments, and the sediments’ possible contributions to coral nutrition, are discussed based on these results.

Description: A numerical model of the Atlantic Ocean was used to study the low-frequency variability of meridional transports in the North Atlantic. The model shows a behaviour similar to those used in previous studies, and the temporal variability of certain variables compares favourably to observed time series. By changing the depth and width of the sills between the subpolar North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas, the mean horizontal and overturning circulation as well as some water mass properties are modified significantly. The reaction of meridional oceanic transports to atmospheric forcing fluctuations remains, however, unchanged. The critical role of the surface heat flux retroaction term for the meridional heat transport in stand-alone ocean models is discussed. The experiments underline the role of atmospheric variability for fluctuations of the large-scale ocean circulation on time scales from years to decades, and they support the hypothesis that the mean overturning strength is controlled by the model representation of the density of the overflow water masses.

Description: Seismic reflection data document for the first time the existence of a BSR in a limited area west of the Dnieper Canyon in the northwestern Black Sea. Seismic wide-angle data suggest that gas hydrates occupy in average 15±2% of the pore space in a zone of 100 m in thickness. A conservative quantification of the amount of methane associated with this gas hydrate occurrence is about 12±3×1011 m3 (0.6±0.2 Gt of methane carbon). Conductive heat flow deduced from the BSR depth is in the range of 21±6 to 55±15 mW m−2.

Description: Sponges (phylum Porifera) are sessile marine filter feeders that have developed efficient defense mechanisms against foreign attackers such as viruses, bacteria, or eukaryotic organisms. Protected by a highly complex immune system, as well as by the capacity to produce efficient antiviral compounds (e.g., nucleoside analogues), antimicrobial compounds (e.g., polyketides), and cytostatic compounds (e.g., avarol), they have not become extinct during the last 600 million years. It can be assumed that during this long period of time, bacteria and microorganisms coevolved with sponges, and thus acquired a complex common metabolism. It is suggested that (at least) some of the bioactive secondary metabolites isolated from sponges are produced by functional enzyme clusters, which originated from the sponges and their associated microorganisms. As a consequence, both the host cells and the microorganisms lost the ability to grow independently from each other. Therefore, it was—until recently—impossible to culture sponge cells in vitro. Also the predominant number of “symbiotic bacteria” proved to be nonculturable. In order to exploit the bioactive potential of both the sponge and the “symbionts,” a 3D-aggregate primmorph culture system was established; also it was proved that one bioactive compound, avarol/avarone, is produced by the sponge Dysidea avara. Another promising way to utilize the bioactive potential of the microorganisms is the cloning and heterologous expression of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism, such as the polyketide synthases.

Description: Polyclonal antibodies that recognize the two subunits AmoA and AmoB of the ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) were applied to identify ammonia-oxidizing bacteria by immunofluorescence (IF) labeling in pure, mixed, and enriched cultures. The antibodies against the AmoA were produced using a synthetic peptide of the AmoA of Nitrosomonas eutropha, whereas the antibodies against the AmoB had been developed previously is against the whole B-subunit of the AMO [Pinck et al. (2001) Appl Environ Microbiol 67:118–124]. Using IF labeling, the AmoA antibodies were specific for the detection of all species of the genus Nitrosomonas. In contrast, the antiserum against AmoB labeled all genera of ammonia oxidizers of the β-subclass of Proteobacteria (Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Nitrosolobus, and Nitrosovibrio). The fluorescence signals of the AmoA antibodies were spread all over the cells, whereas the signals of the AmoB antibodies were associated with the cytoplasmic membranes. The specificity of the reactions of the antisera with ammonia oxidizers were proven in pure and mixed cultures, and the characteristic IF labeling and the morphology of the cells enabled their identification at the genus level. The genus-specific IF labeling could be used to identify ammonia oxidizers enriched from various habitats. In enrichment cultures of natural sandstone, cells of the genera Nitrosomonas, Nitrosovibrio, and Nitrosospira were detected. Members of the genus Nitrosovibrio and Nitrosolobus were most prominent in enriched garden soil samples, whereas members of the genus Nitrosomonas dominated in enriched activated sludge. The antibodies caused only slight background fluorescence on sandstone and soil particles compared to oligonucleotide probes, which could not be used to detect ammonia oxidizers on these materials because of strong nonspecific fluorescence.

Description: Durch Vermittlung von Jörn Thiede gelangte das Geologenarchiv in den Besitz eines Videobands von einem Fernsehinterview mit Rosenqvist (auch gelegentlich Rosenquist), das Elen Roaldset (E.R.) im Geologischen Institut der Universität Oslo am 8.September 1988 führen konnte. Es umfasst den gesamten Lebenslauf und die wichtigsten wissenschaflichen Leistungen dieses aussergewöhnlichen Geologen und Mineralogen. Er wurde in Wien am 17. Mai 1916 geboren, kam aber mit seinen Eltern schon 1917 nach Oslo, wo er am 8. Oktober 1994 starb (K. Bjørlykke 1995). Im Folgenden sollen aus dem Interview nur seine wegweisenden Untersuchungen der Quicktone, seine fachliche Vielseitigkeit, sein gesellschaftliches Engagement und seine schwierigen Erfahrungen mit Deutschland herausgegriffen werden. Das in der Landessprache geführte Gespräch wurde von Geir Ebelfoff und Lars Erik Kastilan ins Deutsche transkribiert.

Description: Portable and automated field screening equipment would be very effective in assessing contamination due to explosives at many defense sites. A droplet based microfluidic lab-on-a-chip utilizing electrowetting has been presented for fully automated detection of TNT. Microliter droplets of TNT in DMSO and KOH in water are reacted on a chip in a programmed way. The same platform has integrated colorimetric detection. The detection of TNT is linear in the range of 12.5–50 µg/mL.

Description: The effect of microrelief and vegetation on methane (CH4) emission was investigated in a wet polygonal tundra of the Lena Delta, Northern Siberia (72.37N, 126.47E). Total and plant-mediated CH4 fluxes were measured by closed-chamber techniques at two typical sites within a low-centred polygon. During the study period, total CH4 flux averaged 28.0 ± 5.4 mg m−2 d−1 in the depressed polygon centre and only 4.3 ± 0.8 mg m−2 d−1 at the elevated polygon rim. This substantial small-scale spatial variability of CH4 emission was caused by strong differences of hydrologic conditions within the microrelief of the polygon, which affected aeration status and organic matter content of the soils as well as the vegetation cover. Beside water table position, the vegetation cover was a major factor controlling CH4 emission from polygonal tundra. It was shown that the dominant vascular plant of the study area, Carex aquatilis, possesses large aerenchyma, which serve as pathways for substantial plant-mediated CH4 transport. The importance of plant-mediated CH4 flux was strongly influenced by the position of the water table relative to the main root horizon. Plant-mediated CH4 transport accounted for about two-thirds of the total flux in the wet polygon centre and for less than one-third of the total flux at the moist polygon rim. A clipping experiment and microscopic-anatomical studies suggested that plant-mediated CH4 transport via C. aquatilis plants is driven only by diffusion and is limited by the high diffusion resistance of the dense root exodermes.

Description: From cell cultures of Suberites domuncula was isolated a bacterial strain, SDC-1, which was identified by 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis as an α-Proteobacterium of the genus Ruegeria. The occurrence of the strain in sponge cell culture could be explained by its resistance to the antibiotics used in the isolation of sponge cell cultures or by the preservation of SDC-1 by host sponge cells. The fatty acid composition of SDC-1 is characterized by branched C-12 methyl fatty acids. Two new and 8 known cyclic dipeptides were isolated and characterized from the fermentation broth of SDC-1. Cyclodipeptides are one of the families of cell-cell signaling compounds and may have some role to play in sponge-bacteria interactions.

Description: Culture pelleting and morphology has a strong influence on process productivity and success for fungal and filamentous bacterial cultures. This impact is particularly evident with early phase secondary metabolite processes with limited process definition. A compilation of factors affecting filamentous or pelleting morphology described in the literature indicates potential leads for developing process-specific control methodologies. An evaluation of the factors mediating citric acid production is one example of an industrially important application of these techniques. For five model fungal and filamentous bacterial processes in an industrial fermentation pilot plant, process development strategies were developed and effectively implemented with the goal of achieving reasonable fermentation titers early in the process development cycle. Examples of approaches included the use of additives to minimize pelleting in inoculum shake flasks, the use of large-volume frozen bagged inoculum obtained from agitated seed fermentors, and variations in production medium composition and fermentor operating conditions. Results were evaluated with respect to productivity of desired secondary metabolites as well as process scalability. On-line measurements were utilized to indirectly evaluate the cultivation impact of changes in medium and process development. Key laboratory to pilot plant scale-up issues also were identified and often addressed in subsequent cultivations.

Description: Hydroacoustic methods are particularly suitable for investigations of the occurrence, cyclicity and amount of bubbles released at cold seeps without disturbing them. Experiments with a horizontally looking single beam transducer (40 and 300 kHz) directed towards artificially produced bubbles show that the backscattering strength of the bubbles increases with the gas flux rate independently of the bubble radii distribution. It is demonstrated that an acoustic system can be calibrated in such a way that gas flux rates of bubble-size spectra, as observed at natural seeps, can be directly related to the echo level of a known, acoustically insonified volume. No system-specific parameters have to be known except the beam width.

Description: The distribution of platinum group elements (PGE) in Cu- and Zn-rich samples from the Roman Ruins and Satanic Mills vent sites in the PACMANUS hydrothermal field (Papua New Guinea) was studied and compared to that from selected ancient volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. Samples from the Satanic Mills site are enriched in Pd and Rh when compared to samples from Roman Ruins and reach highest values in active and inactive Cu-rich black smoker chimneys and chalcopyrite-cemented dacite breccias (up to 356 ppb Pd and up to 145 ppb Rh). A significant positive correlation was established between Cu and Pd and Rh in samples from both vent sites. Comparisons of chondrite normalized patterns and values of Pd/Pt and Pd/Ir ratios in Cu-rich sulfides and probable source rocks (felsic volcanic rocks/MORB) along with the evidence for a magmatic component in the PACMANUS hydrothermal system indicate that leaching of back-arc volcanic rocks together with addition of magmatic volatiles to the convecting hydrothermal system was the most important factor for PGE enrichment at PACMANUS and likely at some PGE-enriched ancient VMS deposits.

Description: The Greens Creek polymetallic massive sulphide deposit is hosted in a typical polyphase deformed lower greenschist facies orogenic setting. The structure of the host rocks is well constrained, exhibiting a series of three superimposed ductile deformations followed by two brittle episodes. The ore is found both in fold hinges where early-formed depositional features are preserved and in fold limbs where primary features are typically strongly modified or obliterated. Samples from both settings have been investigated using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) coupled with forescatter orientation contrast (OC) imaging in order to observe the effects of deformation and lower greenschist facies metamorphism on pyrite. Results suggest that colloform pyrite may preserve information relevant to palaeoenvironment, that apparently simple textures are generally more complex, and that pyrite can deform plastically by dislocation glide and creep processes at lower temperatures and/or strain rates than generally accepted. This analysis indicates that EBSD and OC imaging provide powerful tools for observing textural relationships in pyrite that are not shown by more traditional methods. They should become routine tools for pyrite texture analysis.

Description: Pelado, Guespalapa, and Chichinautzin monogenetic scoria cones located within the Sierra del Chichinautzin Volcanic Field (SCVF) at the southern margin of Mexico City were dated by the radiocarbon method at 10,000, 2,800–4,700, and 1,835 years b.p., respectively. Most previous research in this area was concentrated on Xitle scoria cone, whose lavas destroyed and buried the pre-Hispanic town of Cuicuilco around 1,665±35 years b.p. The new dates indicate that the recurrence interval for monogenetic eruptions in the central part of the SCVF and close to the vicinity of Mexico City is 〈2,500 years. If the entire SCVF is considered, the recurrence interval is 〈1,700 years. Based on fieldwork and Landsat imagery interpretation a geologic map was produced, morphometric parameters characterizing the cones and lava flows determined, and the areal extent and volumes of erupted products estimated. The longest lava flow was produced by Guespalapa and reached 24 km from its source; total areas covered by lava flows from each eruption range between 54 (Chichinautzin) and 80 km2 (Pelado); and total erupted volumes range between 1 and 2 km3/cone. An average eruption rate for the entire SCVF was estimated at 0.6 km3/1,000 years. These findings are of importance for archaeological as well as volcanic hazards studies in this heavily populated region.

Description: Several epibiotic species reduce starfish (Asterias rubens) preference for the blue mussel Mytilus edulis in the Baltic. The aim of this study was to reveal whether this associational resistance was caused by structural or chemical aspects of the different epibionts. To assess structural epibiont effects, an in situ experiment was conducted with unfouled mussels and mussels equipped with artificial epibionts ('dummies') exposed to natural predation by A. rubens. The chemically inert dummies closely matched the structural properties of the locally common epibionts Balanus improvisus (barnacle), Ceramium strictum (red alga), Halichondria panicea (sponge), and Laomedea flexuosa (hydrozoan). Starfish fed indiscriminately in all treatments. Chemical effects of epibionts on the attractiveness of mussels for A. rubens were investigated by incorporating freeze-dried epibionts or mussel tissue into Phytagel pellets at natural concentrations. Starfish were allowed to choose among these structurally similar but chemically different prey items in an in vitro experiment. The predators exhibited significant preferences among the food pellets, which closely matched their preferences for corresponding natural mussel-epibiont associations. Thus, chemical aspects of epibionts appear to play a larger role in this associational resistance than do structural aspects. Implications of these indirect interactions for benthic communities are discussed.

Description: Late Holocene volcanic activity at Ruapehu has been characterizedby the generation of small (〈105 m3) to very large (〉107 m3) lahars and repeated,small to medium (VEI 1-3) tephra-producing eruptions. The Onetapu Formation groupsall lahar deposits that accumulated during the last 2,000 years on the southeastern Ruapehu ring plain. The andesitic tephras are grouped within the Tufa Trig Formation and are intercalated within the laharic sequence. By correlating these two formations with new radiocarbon ages obtained on interbedded paleosols, we reconstruct a detailed volcanic history of Ruapehu for this period. Clast assemblages identified in the laharic sequences record thelithologies of synchronous tephras and rocks within the source region. These assemblages suggest a strong genetic link between the development of Crater Lake, the variation in eruptivestyles, and the production of lahars. Lahar-triggering mechanisms include: (1) flank collapse ofhydrothermally altered and unstable portions of the cone; (2) phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions favoring the generation of snow-rich slurries and hyperconcentrated stream flows; (3) suddenCrater Lake rim collapse, releasing large amounts of water inducing debris flows; and (4) eruptions that generate large volumes of tephra on snow-covered slopes, later remobilized by heavy rain. Two major lahars in the Onetapu sequence had a volume≥ 4 × 107 m3, roughly 1 to 2 orders of magnitude larger than the 1953event leading to the Tangiwai disaster (151 casualties). One of these lahars crossed over a lowinterfluve currently separating the Whangaehu River from a stream feeding the Tongariro River,sometime since peat accumulated between AD 1400 and AD 1660. A repetition of such a large-scaleevent would have devastating consequences on the infrastructure, economy and environment withinthe distal areas of the two catchments. The 1995–1996 eruptions were a timely reminder ofthe hazards posed by the volcano.

Description: Polymetallic sulfide-sulfate mineralization enriched in Pb-Ag-As-Sb-Hg occurs in the Bransfield Strait, a late Tertiary-Quaternary marginal basin close to the Antarctic Peninsula. The mineralization is associated with bimodal volcanism and pelagic and volcaniclastic sediment in rifted continental crust. Hydrothermal precipitates have been recovered from two shallow (1,050–1,000 m water depth) submarine volcanoes (Hook Ridge and Three Sisters) in the Central Bransfield Strait. Mineralization at Hook Ridge consists of polymetallic sulfides, massive barite, and pyrite and marcasite crusts in semilithified pelagic and volcaniclastic sediment. Native sulfur commonly infills void space and cements the volcaniclastic sediment. The polymetallic sulfides are dominated by sphalerite with minor galena, enargite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and traces of orpiment cemented by barite and opal-A. The presence of enargite at Hook Ridge, the abundance of native sulfur, and the low Fe content of sphalerite indicate a high sulfur activity of the hydrothermal fluids responsible for mineralization. The sulfur isotopic composition of Hook Ridge precipitates documents the complexity of the sulfur sources in this hydrothermal system with variable influence of biological activity and possibly magmatic contributions. Homogenization temperatures and salinities of fluid inclusions in barite and opal-A suggest that boiling may have affected the hydrothermal fluids during their ascent. The discovery of massive barite-silica precipitates at another shallow marine volcano (Three Sisters volcano) attests to the potential for hydrothermal mineralization at other volcanic edifices in the area. The characteristics of the mineralization in the Bransfield Strait with rifting of continental crust, the presence of bimodal volcanism, including highly evolved felsic volcanic rocks, the association with sediments, and the Pb-Ag-As-Sb-Hg enrichment are similar to the setting of massive sulfide deposits in the Okinawa Trough, and distinct from those of sediment-dominated hydrothermal systems such as Escanaba Trough, Middle Valley, and Guaymas Basin. The geological setting of the Bransfield Strait is also broadly similar to that of some of the largest volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in the ancient record, such as the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

Description: We present evidence for the origin of the Lyngen Gabbro of the Ordovician Lyngen Magmatic Complex in Troms, Northern Norway. The two magmatic suites of the Lyngen Gabbro strike parallel NNE-SSW, and have distinct magmatic signatures. We define these signatures by using major and trace-element analyses together with selected major- and trace-element mineral analyses and 143Nd/144Nd-isotope whole-rock analyses of gabbroic to tonalitic plutonic rocks from seven detailed cross-sections from this large gabbro-complex. The Western suite of the Lyngen Gabbro precipitated from magma that may have been derived from the same system as the associated volcanic rocks. The gabbros have high An-content (An〉90) of their plagioclases relative to co-existing mafic minerals. Together with somewhat high ɛNd(t) values (+6), this implies that the parental magmas were hydrous tholeiites similar to those found in back arc basins today. The Eastern suite, on the other hand, consist of cumulates that were precipitated from melts resembling those of ultra-depleted high-Ca boninitic magmas found in fore-arcs. Extremely high-An plagioclases (An〉95) co-exist with evolved mafic minerals and oxides, and the ɛNd(t) values are lower (+4) than in the Western suite. The Eastern suite has no volcanic counterpart, but dikes intersecting the suites have compositions that possibly represent its parental magma. The oceanic Rypdalen Shear Zone generally separates the two suites in the north, but several non-tectonic transitions from boninitic to tholeiitic signatures southwards advocate that the magmatism happened concurrently. The magmatic proximity between the suites, the hydrous magmatism and the absence of a silicic or calc-alkaline mature arc section, suggests that the Lyngen Gabbro formed in the Iapetus Ocean under conditions presently found in incipient arcs later emplaced as outer arc highs.

Description: Rising atmospheric CO2 and deliberate CO2 sequestration in the ocean change seawater carbonate chemistry in a similar way, lowering seawater pH, carbonate ion concentration and carbonate saturation state and increasing dissolved CO2 concentration. These changes affect marine plankton in various ways. On the organismal level, a moderate increase in CO2 facilitates photosynthetic carbon fixation of some phytoplankton groups. It also enhances the release of dissolved carbohydrates, most notably during the decline of nutrient-limited phytoplankton blooms. A decrease in the carbonate saturation state represses biogenic calcification of the predominant marine calcifying organisms, foraminifera and coccolithophorids. On the ecosystem level these responses influence phytoplankton species composition and succession, favouring algal species which predominantly rely on CO2 utilization. Increased phytoplankton exudation promotes particle aggregation and marine snow formation, enhancing the vertical flux of biogenic material. A decrease in calcification may affect the competitive advantage of calcifying organisms, with possible impacts on their distribution and abundance. On the biogeochemical level, biological responses to CO2 enrichment and the related changes in carbonate chemistry can strongly alter the cycling of carbon and other bio-active elements in the ocean. Both decreasing calcification and enhanced carbon overproduction due to release of extracellular carbohydrates have the potential to increase the CO2 storage capacity of the ocean. Although the significance of such biological responses to CO2 enrichment becomes increasingly evident, our ability to make reliable predictions of their future developments and to quantify their potential ecological and biogeochemical impacts is still in its infancy.

Description: The most important archive of Earth’s climate change through geologic history is the sedimentary rock record. Rhythmic sedimentary alternations are usually interpreted as a consequence of periodic variations in the orbital parameters of the Earth. This interpretation enables the application of cyclostratigraphy as a very precise chronometer, when based on the assumption that orbital frequencies are faithfully recorded in the sedimentary archive. However, there are numerous uncertainties with the application of this concept. Particularly in carbonates, sediment properties such as mineralogical composition and fossil associations are severely altered during post-depositional alteration (diagenesis). We here point out that the assumption of a 1:1 recording of orbital signals in many cases is questionable for carbonate rhythmites. We use computer simulations to show the effect of diagenetic overprint on records of orbital signals in the carbonate record. Such orbital signals may be distorted in terms of frequency, amplitude, and phase by diagenetic processes, and cycles not present in the insolation record may emerge. This questions the routine use of carbonate rhythmites for chronostratigraphic dating

Description: Copepoda (Calanus finmarchicus n=1,722, Paraeuchaeta norvegica n=1,955), Hyperiidae (n=3,019), Euphausiacea (Meganyctiphanes norvegica n=4,780), and the fishes Maurolicus muelleri (n=500) and Pollachius virens (n=33) were collected in the Norwegian Deep (northern North Sea) during summer 2001 to examine the importance of pelagic invertebrates and vertebrates as hosts of Anisakis simplex and their roles in the transfer of this nematode to its final hosts (Cetaceans). Third stage larvae (L3) of A. simplex were found in P. norvegica, M. muelleri and P. virens. The prevalence of A. simplex in dissected P. norvegica was 0.26%, with an intensity of 1. Prevalences in M. muelleri and P. virens were 49.6% and 100.0%, with mean intensities of 1.1–2.6 (total fish length ≥6.0–7.2) and 193.6, respectively. All specimens of C. finmarchicus and M. norvegica examined were free of anisakid nematode species and no other parasites were detected. P. norvegica, which harboured the third stage larvae, is the obligatory first intermediate host of A. simplex in the investigated area. Though there was no apparent development of larvae in M. muelleri, this fish can be considered as the obligatory second intermediate host of A. simplex in the Norwegian Deep. However, it is unlikely that the larva from P. norvegica can be successfully transmitted into the cetacean or pinniped final hosts, where they reach the adult stage. An additional growth phase and a second intermediate host is the next phase in the life cycle. Larger predators such as P. virens serve as paratenic hosts, accumulating the already infective stage from M. muelleri. The oceanic life cycle of A. simplex in the Norwegian Deep is very different in terms of hosts and proposed life cycle patterns of A. simplex from other regions, involving only a few intermediate hosts. In contrast to earlier suggestions, euphausiids have no importance at all for the successful transmission of A. simplex in the Norwegian Deep. This demonstrates that this nematode is able to select definite host species depending on the locality, apparently having a very low level of host specificity. This could explain the wide range of different hosts that have been recorded for this species, and can be seen as the reason for the success of this parasite in reaching its marine mammal final hosts in an oceanic environment.

Description: Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods and philosophies were trialed in a volcanic risk management planning and awareness activity for Savo Island, a historically highly destructive volcano in the Solomon Islands. Through a combination of methods we tried to combine the roles of facilitators and educators, and to involve the input of all stakeholders (from community to national government) in the process of volcanic risk management. The PRA approach was an ideal way to address the fundamental differences in outlook, education, needs, and roles of individuals and groups involved or affected. It was also an important catalyst to Savo island- or community-based planning initiatives, which are arguably the most important step toward the preparedness of the 2500 inhabitants of the island for any future destructive volcanic activity. We adapted almost every tenet of the PRA philosophy through inexperience, self-perceived importance and desire to combine both scientific and traditional views for Savo volcanic risk management planning. Nevertheless, what emerged from our experiences was an idea of how fundamentally well suited many PRA approaches are to initiating dialogue within diverse stakeholder groups, and deriving combined scientific/geologic and local/community risk assessments and mitigation action plans. The main challenge remaining includes increasing the involvement or voice of less powerful community members (women, youth, non-landowners) in risk management decision-making in such male-dominated hierarchical societies.

Description: A planar problem of nonlinear transverse oscillations of the surface (warm) front of a finite width is considered within the framework of a reduced-gravity model of the ocean. The source of oscillations is the departure of the front from its geostrophic equilibrium. When the current velocity is linear in the horizontal coordinate and the front's depth is quadratic in this coordinate, the problem is reduced to a system of four ordinary differential equations in time. As a result, the solution is obtained in a weakly nonlinear approximation and strongly nonlinear oscillations of the front are studied by numerically solving this system of equations by the Runge-Kutta method. The front's oscillations are always superinertial. Nonlinearity can lead to a decrease or increase in the oscillation frequency in comparison with the linear case. The oscillations are most intense when the current velocity is disturbed in the direction of the front's axis. A weakly nonlinear solution of the second order describes the oscillations very accurately even for initial velocity disturbances reaching 50% of its geostrophic value. An increase in the background-current shear leads to the damping of oscillations of the front's boundary. The amplitude of oscillations of the current velocity increases as the intensity of disturbances increases, and it is relatively small if background-current shears are small or large.

Description: Coccolithophores first became significant participants in the carbonate cycle in the Jurassic, but throughout the Jurassic they were largely restricted to shelf and epeiric sea environments. They spread into the open ocean in the Cretaceous, and with this became a major factor in governing the carbonate cycle in the sea. With the development of dissolution-resistant forms, such as Watznaueria barnesae, the coccolithophores perturbed the carbonate system and switched the major site of carbonate deposition from shallow seas to the deep ocean. Several major evolutionary steps in the development of the coccolithophores have forced further changes in the carbon cycle, favoring the deep sea as a site of carbonate deposition. Samples of recent coccolith assemblages from bottom sediments differ from those of living coccolithophores in surface waters. Many of the coccoliths of more delicate species, particularly holococcoliths, are dissolved in the water column or at the sediment surface and are only rarely preserved as fossils. They, along with the pteropods, form an important part of the shallow carbonate cycle. There appears to be a continuous gradation in the level of susceptibility of coccoliths to dissolution, from forms that dissolve in the near-saturated waters of the surface ocean to those that are among the most dissolution-resistant forms of calcite. This continuous dissolution spectrum is in contrast to the planktic foraminifera, in which dissolution of the tests also occurs in a sequence, but through a much more restricted depth range, the lysocline. Whereas the order of dissolution of planktic foraminifera follows their habitat, with warm-water species being most susceptible and cold-water forms most resistant to dissolution, the order of dissolution of coccoliths appears to be related to phylogeny. The steepness of the coccolith carbonate dissolution gradient appears to have changed over time. In the Oligocene almost pure nannofossil carbonate oozes devoid of terrigenous material were widespread, perhaps reflecting unusual climatic conditions on land. The overall effect of coccolithophore evolution has been to move carbonate deposition to the deep sea, where coccolith oozes accumulate on ocean crust and will ultimately be subducted. Only a fraction of the carbon in the subducted carbonate is returned to the surface through volcanic activity. If their activity were to continue for several hundreds of millions of years the coccolithophores would remove much of the carbon from the surface of the Earth to be emplaced in the mantle.

Description: Gas emissions from mud volcanoes on Sakhalin Island and water-column gas flares arising from cold seeps in the Okhotsk Sea appear to be related. They are likely activated by tectonic movements along the transform plate boundary separating the Okhotsk Sea Plate from the Eurasian and Amur plates. Gas vents (flares) and methane anomalies occur in the waters offshore Sakhalin Island, along with NE-SW-trending mounds and fluid escape structures on the seafloor. The intersection of the NE-striking transverse faults on land with the Central Sakhalin and Hokkaido-Sakhalin shear zones apparently determines the sites of mud volcanoes, a pattern that continues offshore where the intersection with the East Sakhalin and West Derugin shear zones determines the sites of the submarine gas vents.

Description: Methane investigations carried out in the Okhotsk Sea show that the methane flux from the earth’s interior into the water column increased during periods of seismo-tectonic activity between 1988 and 2002. In this case, methane gas hydrates found on the northeast Sakhalin slope may have decomposed due to a reactivation of fault zones. Methane emissions in the Okhotsk Sea generally can be divided into two forms. Firstly, methane vents from decomposing gas hydrates and/or free gas exist below gas hydrate saturated sediments via fault zones, venting into the water column with high bubble concentrations that were recorded by echosounding. These hydro-acoustic anomalies were named “flares”. Methane concentration inside these flares reached 10,000–20,000 nl/l (background methane concentrations in the Okhotsk Sea are less than 90–100 nl/l). Secondly, methane migrates as seepage into the water column from oil- and gas-bearing sedimentary source rocks on the eastern Sakhalin shelf, without showing acoustic anomalies in the water column, probably by filtration and diffusion processes. In these areas methane concentration reached 500–3,000 nl/l. In seismo-tectonically active regions, like the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea, many new flares were observed. Their distribution and orientation are usually controlled by fault zones (East Sakhalin Shear Zone in the Okhotsk Sea).

Description: The ingestion of two size classes of natural particulate matter (PM) and the uptake of the associated nitrogen by four species of scleractinian corals was measured using the stable isotopic tracer 15N. PM collected in sediment traps was split into 〈63 and 〉105 µm size fractions and labeled with (15N-NH4)2SO4. Siderastrea radians, Montastrea franksi, Diploria strigosa, and Madracis mirabilis were incubated in flow chambers with the labeled PM in suspension (〈63 µm), or deposited onto coral surfaces (〉105 µm). Ingestion was detected for all four species (98–600 µg Dry wt. cm–2 h–1), but only for D. strigosa was any difference detected between suspended and deposited PM. Only the three mounding species, S. radians, M. franksi, and D. strigosa showed uptake of suspended and deposited particulate nitrogen (PN); whereas, the branched coral M. mirabilis had no measurable PN uptake. Only coral host tissues were enriched with 15N, with no tracer detected in the symbiotic zooxanthellae. Uptake rates ranged from as low as 0.80 µg PN cm–2 h–1 in S. radians to as high as 13 µg PN cm–2 h–1 in M. franksi. M. franksi had significantly higher uptake rates than S. radians (ANOVA, p〈0.05), while D. strigosa had a statistically similar uptake rate compared to both species. These results are the first to compare scleractinian ingestion of nitrogen associated with suspended and deposited particulate matter, and demonstrate that the use of PM as a nitrogen source varies with species and colony morphology.

Description: As part of an ongoing research program aiming at monitoring molecular changes in the tissues and metabolite trafficking in the hydrosphere of algae subjected to chemical stresses, we are discussing the various analytical techniques that have been employed to characterize, and sometimes to quantity these metabolites. High-field multinuclear and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies are powerful tools for metabolite characterization from extracts and in vivo, but quantification and kinetic aspects show some limitations. Modern MS (mass spectrometry) is extremely useful for fingerprinting samples against databases and when dealing with very low concentrations of metabolites, the limitations being set by the type of chromatographic separation and mode of detection coupled with the mass spectrometer. Regarding chemical communication, optimization in terms of resolution and efficiency of hydrosphere chemical analysis can theoretically be achieved in a system which integrates (i) a multiparametric incubation chamber, (ii) a gasphase or a liquid-phase separation system and (iii) mass spectrometer(s) equipped with one or two detectors responding to the analytical and quantitative needs. This text reviews some of the techniques that have been employed in various types of plant metabolic studies, which may serve as a basis towards an integrative analytical strategy directly applicable to the metabolomics of selected marine macrophytes.

Description: Instrumental climate records are too short to resolve the full range of decadal- to multidecadal-scale natural climate variability. Massive annually banded corals from the tropical and subtropical oceans provide a paleoclimatic archive with a clear seasonal resolution, documenting past variations in water temperature, hydrologic balance, and ocean circulation. Recent coral-based paleoclimatic research has focused mainly on the tropics, providing important implications on the past variability of the El Niño—Southern Oscillation phenomenon and decadal tropical climate variability. New records from some of the rare subtropical/mid-latitude locations of coral growth were shown to reflect aspects of dominant modes of Northern Hemisphere climate variability, e.g., the North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation. These natural climatic modes have important socio-economic impacts owing to their large-scale modulation of droughts, floods, storms, snowfall, and fish stocks. Coral records from key locations provide the opportunity to assess recent shifts of these modes with respect to the natural climate variability of the pre-instrumental period. Providing a better understanding of their dynamics, coral records, together with records derived from other paleoclimatic archives, are essential for a better predictability of future climate.

Description: The bioavailability of nutrients represents one of the most important factors controlling the strength of the biological carbon pump and ultimately the impact of ocean biology on atmospheric CO2. Among those nutrients, the macro-nutrients nitrate (NO 2 - ) and phosphate (PO 4 -3 ) play a particularly important role in limiting biological productivity as evidenced by their often near complete exhaustion in surface waters. As near surface NO 2 - concentrations are generally somewhat lower than those of PO 4 -3 relative to the demand by phytoplankton, biological oceanographers have argued historically that NO 2 - rather than PO 4 -3 is the primary macro-nutrient controlling phytoplankton productivity[Smith, 1984; Codispoti, 1989; Tyrrell, 1999] . Geologists, in contrast, regarded PO 4 -3 as the primary controlling macronutrient[Codispoti, 1989]. They argued that while NO 2 - may indeed be the limiting factor at any given location and time, PO 4 -3 is truly the limiting factor on geological time-scales, because the biologically mediated fixation of the much more abundant dinitrogen gas (N2) into organic nitrogen is alleviating the scarcity of bioavailable nitrogen (Figure 1). Phosphate on the other hand, does not have such a biologically mediated source (Figure 1). It is therefore the geologically controlled balance between the riverine (and atmospheric) input of PO 4 -3 and its burial on the sea-floor that ultimately controls marine biological productivity. Tyrrell [ 1999] provided a synthesis of these two views by identifying NO 2 - as the proximate nutrient, while giving PO 4 -3 the role of being the ultimate nutrient.

Description: Changes in the protein, lipid, glycogen, cholesterol and energy contents, total amino acid and fatty acid profiles of Octopus vulgaris and O. defilippi tissues (gonad, digestive gland and muscle) during sexual maturation (spermatogenesis and oogenesis) were investigated. Both species showed an increase of amino acids and protein content in the gonad throughout sexual maturation (namely in oogenesis), but allocation of these nitrogen compounds from the digestive gland and muscle was not evident. The major essential amino acids in the three tissues were leucine, lysine and arginine. The major non-essential amino acids were glutamic acid, aspartic acid and alanine. With respect to carbon compounds, a significant increasing trend (P〈0.05) in the lipid and fatty acid contents in the three tissues was observed, and, consequently, there was also little evidence of accumulated lipid storage reserves being used for egg production. It seems that for egg production both Octopus species use energy directly from food, rather than from stored products. This direct acquisition model contrasts with the previous model for Octopus vulgaris proposed by O’Dor and Wells (1978: J Exp Biol 77:15–31). Most of saturated fatty acid content of the three tissues was presented as 16:0 and 18:0, monounsaturated fatty acid content as 18:1 and 20:1 and polyunsaturated fatty acid content as arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3). Though cholesterol is an important precursor of steroid hormones, this sterol content exhibited variations that do not seem to be related with the maturation process. Moreover, significant differences (P〈0.05) were obtained between genders, suggesting that perhaps there is a greater physiological demand for cholesterol during spermatogenesis than oogenesis. If the component sterols of octopus are of a dietary origin, considerable variation in the cholesterol content between species might be expected on the basis of the sterol composition of their prey. The glycogen reserves increased significantly in the gonad and decreased significantly (P〈0.05) in the digestive gland and muscle of O. vulgaris (these trends were not evident in O. defilippi). Glycogen may play an important role in the maturation process and embryogenesis of these organisms, because carbohydrates are precursors of metabolic intermediates in the production of energy. It was evident that sexual maturation had a significant effect upon the gonad energy content, but the non-significant energy variation (P〉0.05) in the digestive gland and muscle revealed no evidence that storage reserves are transferred from tissue to tissue. The biochemical composition of digestive gland and muscle may not be influenced by sexual maturation, but rather by other biotic factors, such as feeding activity, food availability, spawning and brooding.

Description: Benthic divers are dependent on local resources and may therefore adopt different foraging strategies to cope with their energetic requirements in varying situations. We investigated the diet of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) at Kerguelen Islands, comparing its spatial and temporal variations with the general prey distribution. The study was conducted at four sites over 2 years. In total, 212 stomach contents were collected over the entire breeding season. The diet was composed mainly of neritic fish and crustaceans, with important spatial and seasonal variations. Fish dominated the diet at localities facing the open sea (from 38.0% to 94.6% by mass), whereas crustaceans dominated at the more protected site (84.3% by mass). Fish were more abundant in the winter diet and Euphausia vallentini, the major crustacean species, was more abundant in the summer diet. No inter-year variations were detected. These results are consistent with local prey availability, and highlight the large plasticity of the gentoo penguin diet and foraging behaviour.

Description: Within the Southern Ocean, Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt) and southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina Linnaeus) forage mainly on fish and cephalopods. From what is known of their diets, the proportion of fish is greatest in toothfish diet. When foraging at-sea for squid, elephant seals and toothfish most often co-occur over continental shelves and submarine plateaux surrounding sub-Antarctic land masses within the Southern Ocean. I used traditional (non-molecular) techniques to compare the squid diet of these two predators. Of the 21 squid species identified, 10 were common to the diets of both predators. One species, Gonatus antarcticus, dominated (61%) the biomass of squid consumed by toothfish, but was of little importance to the elephant seals (2.3%). By contrast, Martialia hyadesi was the most important single species to the elephant seals’ diet (29%), but it contributed 1% to the toothfish diet. Onychoteuthids (Kondakovia longimana, Moroteuthis ingens and Morotenthis knipovitchi) were important to both predators’ diets. The median sizes of five cephalopod species (Slosarczykovia circumantarctica, Galiteuthis glacialis, Gonatus antarcticus, Moroteuthis ingens and Moroteuthis knipovitchi) which were common to both the seal and toothfish diets, were significantly larger in the toothfish stomachs than in the elephant-seal stomachs. Percent similarity indices for the squids that overlapped both diets were in some cases as high as 100%. However, after between-species differences in prey size consumption were accounted for, the similarities fell to between 20 and 50%. These results indicate that the strength of the trophic interaction between the seals and the fish might be weaker than previously thought. The consumption of significantly different-sized squid can also be used to suggest spatial (vertical) foraging separation of these two predators because there is evidence for ontogenetic change in the size of squid species with depth; older, and thus larger, squids live deeper than smaller individuals of the same species.

Description: Recent evidence suggests that, contrary to what was believed previously, most Loligo spp. females spawn multiple times and do not die immediately following a single spawning event. The present study used sustained focal observations of male/female pairs of the opalescent inshore squid Loligo opalescens Berry to examine the structure and behavior of near-bottom spawning groups. The study was carried out in a small area (10 km2) of Monterey Bay, California (36°36.1′N; 121°53.4′W), at depths of 25–45 m, using video cameras mounted on remotely operated vehicles. Behavioral observations were made primarily during daylight hours over known spawning beds in April and November 2000, and August 2001. Squid formed large aggregations in the water column where pairing occurred. Most commonly, only small numbers of active spawners were found at the substrate depositing egg capsules, and the mean operational sex ratio in the spawning groups was 1.87 males:1 female (range=1.0–8.5), although the ratio fluctuated rapidly as roving lone males joined and departed from the small spawning groups. On average, females (n=40) deposited 2.67 capsules (range 2–7) per focal observation at an average interval of 8.47 min between depositions (n=67). Following deposition of the capsules, females broke away from their consort males and jetted upwards to rejoin large schools located many meters above the substrate. Egg-capsule deposition was often interrupted by lone males seeking a mate, or by the approach of predators including fish and marine mammals. The results suggest that most of the communal egg beds in southern Monterey Bay are built up slowly through daily intermittent spawning, not in large “big bang” reproductive events as often depicted for L. opalescens.

Description: This study examined the diet of Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, from an active breeding colony at Cape Shirreff (62°28′S, 60°48′W), Livingston Island, South Shetland Archipelago, Antarctica. It analysed faecal samples from five consecutive years (1997–2001) and length distribution of krill taken by trawl nets in the vicinity of Livingston Island. Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, was the most frequent prey item, followed by several myctophid species (Gymnoscopelus nicholsi, Electrona antarctica and Electrona carlsbergi), squid and penguin remains. From 1998 to 2001, a modal progression in krill size was evident, suggesting that A. gazella was depending on a strong krill cohort, at least over the study period. Analysis of size distribution and size selectivity of krill preyed upon by fur seals suggests a preference for larger krill (〉34 mm), despite the broader size range of preys items available.

Description: The age and habitat of the giant squid, Architeuthis sanctipauli Velain, 1877, were determined based on isotopic analyses of the statoliths of three female specimens captured off Tasmania, Australia, between January and March 1996. Assuming that the aragonite of the statoliths formed in equilibrium with seawater, δ18O analyses indicated that the squid lived at temperatures of 10.5–12.9°C, corresponding to average depths of 125–250 m and maximum depths of 500 m. The capture records indicated that these squid may have occasionally ranged still deeper, to as much as 1000 m. All the statoliths were labeled with bomb 14C (Δ14C=+22.9‰ to +44.6‰), consistent with the depths inferred from δ18O. A thin section through one of the statoliths revealed 351 growth increments grouped into check-ring structures every 10–16 increments. A model for statolith growth and the pattern of temporal change in Δ14C in the water column was used to estimate the ages of the three specimens. These estimates were very sensitive to the choice of depth range over which Δ14C values were integrated. Assuming that the capture depths represented the maximum habitat depths of these individuals, the calculations suggested an age of 14 years or less. More refined age estimates require a better understanding of the variation of Δ14C and temperature with depth in the areas in which the squids live.

Description: The size selectivity of a trammel net for herded oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana in Tateyama Bay, Chiba Prefecture, was estimated by comparison between the mantle length frequency distributions of oval squid caught by a trammel net and by a set net. The measured mesh sizes of the inner net of the trammel net and of the final section of the set net were 85.3 and 11.3 mm, respectively. In the trammel net fishery where oval squid are herded into the net, most of the oval squid are caught in the bag-shaped inner net. Hence, the logistic function was employed for the size selectivity curve of the trammel net. The ‘share each length's catch total’ (SELECT) model was implemented for the estimation of the selectivity curve. The size selectivity r(l) of the trammel net for the oval squid was expressed as a logistic function of the mantle length l: r(l)=exp (-18.57+0.88 l)/[1+exp (-18.57+0.88 l)]. From these logistic parameter estimates, the 50% selection mantle length and selection range (L75-L25) were calculated as 21.07 and 2.49 cm, respectively. The selection probability of oval squid whose mantle girth was equivalent to the mesh perimeter of the inner net was 0.09. Accordingly, oval squid of a girth smaller than the mesh perimeter were likely to pass through the mesh to escape from the net.

Description: In an enclosure study in Schöhsee, a small mesotrophic lake in Northern Germany, the impact of copepods and daphniids on the seston community was studied. In general, these two guilds differ in their feeding behaviour. Copepods actively select their food, with a preference for larger particles, whereas most cladocerans are unselective filter-feeders. In this study we investigate how the impact of the two different grazers affects zooplankton growth. We combine results obtained in the laboratory with results measured in situ in the enclosures. Copepods and cladocerans were cultured on seston from enclosures that were inhabited by density gradients of copepods or daphniids. We observed that Daphnia grew faster on seston that was pre-handled by copepods than on seston that was pre-handled by daphniids, and that somatic growth decreased with increasing densities of daphniids in the enclosures. In contrast, we observed no differences in development rates for copepods grown on the different media. The population growth rates of Daphnia in the Daphnia treatments were determined in the enclosures. Growth differences in both somatic- and population growth of Daphnia were correlated to food quality aspects of the seston. In the laboratory we found that Daphnia growth was correlated with several fatty acids. The strongest regression was with the concentration of 20:4ω3 (r2= 0.37). This particular fatty acid also showed the highest correlation with growth after normalisation of the fatty acids to the carbon content of the enclosures (r2= 0.33). On the other hand, in the enclosure the population growth correlated most to the particulate nitrogen content (r2= 0.78) and only to the N:C ratio, when normalised to carbon (r2= 0.51).

Description: Ambae Island is the largest of Vanuatu’s active volcanoes. It is also one of the nation’s potentially most dangerous, with 60 million m3 of lake-water perched at over 1340 m in the summit caldera and over the active vent. In 1995, small phreatic explosions, earthquake swarms and heightened gas release led to calls for evacuation preparation and community volcanic hazard awareness programs for the ~9500 inhabitants. Differences in perspective or world-view between the island dwellers adhering to traditional beliefs (Kastom) and external scientists and emergency managers led to a climate of distrust following this crisis. In an attempt to address these issues, rebuild dialogue and respect between communities, outside scientists and administrators, and move forward in volcanic hazard education and planning for Ambae, we adapted and applied Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approaches. Initial gender-segregated PRA exercises from two representative communities provided a mechanism for cataloguing local traditional viewpoints and hazard perceptions. Ultimately, by combining elements of these viewpoints and perceptions with science-based management structures, we derived volcanic hazard management guidelines, supported by an alert system and map that were more readily accepted by the test communities than the earlier “top-down” plans imposed by outside governmental and scientific agencies. The strength of PRA approaches is that they permit scientists to understand important local perspective issues, including visualisations of volcanic hazards, weaknesses in internal and external communication systems, and gender and hierarchy conflicts, all of which can hinder community emergency management. The approach we describe has much to offer both developing and industrialised communities that wish to improve their awareness programs and mitigative planning. This approach should also enhance communication and understanding between volcanologists and the communities they serve.

Description: Concentrations of a cyanobacterial toxin, nodularin, were measured in the Baltic Sea in 1998 and 1999. Statistical associations of nodularin concentrations with environmental factors were tested by multiple regression analysis. To reveal the toxin-producing organism, colonies of Aphanizomenon and filaments of Nodularia were picked and analyzed for peptide toxins. It was also investigated whether there was an association with zooplankton and Nodularia. All the measured seston samples contained nodularin, but other toxins were not detected by the HPLC analysis. In both years, the highest nodularin concentrations were found at the surface water layer. The nodularin concentrations were positively correlated with silicate concentrations in water. High concentrations of silica in surface water may indicate recent upwelling, which in turn renders surface water rich in nutrients. This upwelling is likely to intensify cyanobacterial growth and toxin production, which may explain this rather unexpected result. The picked Aphanizomenon colonies did not contain nodularin and the dissolved nodularin concentrations were below detection limit. Thus it was concluded that most of the nodularin was bound to Nodularia cells. The abundances of zooplankton (copepods, rotifers, and cladocerans) were unrelated to Nodularia, but were positively associated with Aphanizomenon.

Description: A system is presented which uses a Hall sensor and an adjacent magnet, attached close to the cloaca of penguins, to record defecation, respiration and heart rates for both free-living birds and those in captivity. The output of the Hall sensor depends on a magnetic field, the strength of which is influenced in the presented scenario by the proximity of the magnet, which varies with movement of the cloaca. The elasticity of the cloaca results in minute, but perceptible, movements associated with the heart, respiration and defecation, although placement of the magnet and sensor is critical, and not all parameters can be measured all of the time. The system, incorporating a logger that can record at frequencies of 50 Hz, was tested on 17 captive and 4 freeliving Magellanic penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus, in Argentina. It showed increased defecation rate associated with feeding, the expected trends in bradycardia and tachycardia associated with diving, and appeared to record some movement of air sacs associated with breathing. The concept of measuring minute changes in relative exterior body positions as a cue to internal processes may be important in future studies for both free-living and captive animals, particularly since it is non-invasive and relatively easy to deploy.

Description: In the literature, an inconsistency exists between estimates of biotically-effected carbon export inferred from large-scale geochemical studies (Jenkins 1982; 47 gC m−2 a−1) and local measurements of turbulent nutrient supply (Lewis et al. 1986; 4 gC m−2 a−1) in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic. Nutrient supply to the upper ocean by turbulent mixing is reexamined using local standard oceanographic measurements and high-resolution vertical profiles of nutrients averaged over a large region directly comparable to that investigated by Jenkins (1982).

Description: The marine microcopepod family Oncaeidae in the Red Sea has been the subject of comprehensive ecological studies over the past 15 years, providing for the first time insights into their community structure, vertical distribution and feeding ecology. Owing to taxonomic problems in species identification, however, many of the earlier ecological results were based on provisionally named species or morphotypes. A recent, ongoing taxonomic study of Red Sea Oncaeidae resulted in a considerable increase in the estimated numbers of species, since many of the species had not been described before. The present paper focuses on the potential significance of an improved taxonomic resolution of oncaeids with respect to various ecological aspects in this area, such as indicator species, community analysis and vertical distribution. The progress in our knowledge of the diversity of Red Sea Oncaeidae is summarized, including latest findings on the taxonomy and zoogeography of very small species (〈0.5 mm), and the importance of sibling species in the family is pointed out. The south–north gradient in species diversity of Oncaeidae within the Red Sea appears to be greater than previously assumed, since several of the newly described species were restricted to the southern part. The number of endemic species among Red Sea oncaeids is very low, however, most of the new species being also recorded outside the Red Sea. New quantitative data on the abundance and vertical distribution of selected oncaeid siblings obtained during a recent cruise in the northern Red Sea are provided to exemplify the changes in the knowledge of oncaeid community structure attributable to the improved taxonomic resolution. The potential ecological importance of a more differentiated consideration of oncaeid species in marine microcopepod communities is discussed

Description: Based on coupled modelling evidence we argue that topographically-induced modifications of the large-scale atmospheric circulation during the last glacial maximum may have led to a reduction of the westerlies, and a slowdown of the Pacific subtropical gyre as well as to an intensification of the Pacific subtropical cell. These oceanic circulation changes generate an eastern North Pacific warming, an associated cooling in the Kuroshio area, as well as a cooling of the tropical oceans, respectively. The tropical cooling pattern resembles a permanent La Niña state which in turn forces atmospheric teleconnection patterns that lead to an enhancement of the subtropical warming by reduced latent and sensible cooling of the ocean. In addition, the radiative cooling due to atmospheric CO2 and water vapor reductions imposes a cooling tendency in the tropics and subtropics, thereby intensifying the permanent La Niña conditions. The remote North Pacific response results in a warming tendency of the eastern North Pacific which may level off the effect of the local radiative cooling. Hence, a delicate balance between oceanic circulation changes, remotely induced atmospheric flux anomalies as well local radiative cooling is established which controls the tropical and North Pacific temperature anomalies during the last glacial maximum. Furthermore, we discuss how the aftermath of a Heinrich event may have affected glacial temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

Description: Stratigraphy is the fundament for the establishment and clarification of numerous questions in geology. The problem of the stratification of fossil sediments played a decisive role in the past, and continues to do so today. If one wishes to gain insight regarding the nature of the formation of today’s deposits, and avoid serious errors in the comparison of the same, one must, of necessity, first concern oneself with the sequence of recent sediment layers.

Description: The REE-Ti silicate chevkinite has been recognised previously in Miocene ignimbrites from Gran Canaria, and in correlative offshore syn-ignimbrite turbidites. We have estimated the partition coefficients of REE, Y, Zr and Nb for chevkinite and co-existing peralkaline rhyolitic (comendite) glass using synchrotron-XRF-probe analyses (SYXRF) in order to evaluate the role of this mineral in the REE budget of felsic peralkaline magmas. The Zr/Nb ratio of the chevkinite is 1.55–1.7, strongly contrasting with Zr/Nb of 6.5 in the associated glass. Zr shows a three-fold enrichment in chevkinite relative to the residual melt, whereas Nb is enriched by a factor 〉10. The enrichment of Ce and La in chevkinite is even more significant, namely 19 wt(%) Ce and 12 wt(%) La, compared to 236 ppm Ce and 119 ppm La in the glass. Chevkinite/glass ratios are 988±30 for La, 806±30 for Ce, 626±30 for Pr, 615±40 for Nd, 392±50 for Sm, 225±30 for Eu, 142±25 for Gd, 72±20 for Dy. For trace elements, we derived KdTE of 74±25 for Y, 〉8 for Hf, 〉50 for Th, 15±5 for Nb and 3.55±0.4 for Zr. Mineral/glass ratios for co-existing titanite are 28±10 for La, 86±20 for Ce, 98±30 for Pr, 134±35 for Nd, 240±50 for Sm, 50±20 for Eu, 96±25 for Gd, 82±25 for Dy, 99±30 for Y, 45±10 for Nb and 3±0.5 for Zr. Based on these data, the removal of only 0.05 wt% of chevkinite from a magma with initially 300 ppm Ce would deplete the melt by 93 ppm to yield 207 ppm Ce in the residual liquid. Chevkinite thus appears, when present, to be the controlling mineral within the LREE budget of evolved peralkaline magmas.

Description: Savo Island is the 6-km-diameter emergent summit of an andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano, rising from the Iron Bottom Sound, 35 km NW of Honiara, Solomon Islands. Savo has erupted at least three times within recorded history and the 3,000 inhabitants maintain extensive oral traditions of past events. Through description and interpretation of the volcaniclastic sequences on the island, in conjunction with historical accounts and oral traditions, we reconstruct the eruptive processes on Savo. Block-and-ash flow (BAF) deposits are volumetrically dominant on the island within three main depositional environments: near-vent sequences, thick medial channel sequences and distal fan sequences. The deposits comprise universally non-vesicular and highly porphyritic (40–70% phenocrysts), high-silica andesite and dacite clasts. These appear to have been derived from collapsing lava domes during an 1560–1570 a.d. eruption. However, eyewitness descriptions and crater morphology suggest that similar deposits formed from dome explosions or collapses of eruption columns during later eruptions (1830–1840a.d.).Thehigh-sodiummagmas(ca.5–7wt% Na2O) apparently crystallised and strongly degassed prior to eruption. Shallow explosions were possibly caused by entrapment of magmatic gases beneath a dome or conduit plug of highly crystalline, near solid magma. Repeated sealing of the vent may have been due to inward collapse of the highly altered rocks of the surrounding hydrothermal system; these rocks probably were saturated due to contemporaneous high intensity rainfall events. BAFs were hot enough to char vegetation and attain aligned clast TRM (thermal remnant magnetism) up to 3 km from the vent, many being accompanied by ash-cloud surges. Changes with distance in the BAF deposits appear mostly dependent on flow confinement and are limited to an overall decrease in thickness and maximum clast size, and an increased definition of weak planar fabrics. In distal fan sequences, there is strong evidence for syn- and posteruptive redeposition of primary deposits. Since the Savo population is concentrated on coastal volcaniclastic fans, we consider the greatest volcanic risk to life is from BAFs, associated ash-cloud surges and lahars. Hence, the main channels and fans are designated as the highest of three relative hazard zones on a simple map prepared to aid local education and planning initiatives on Savo.

Description: Tephra fallout layers and volcaniclastic deposits, derived from volcanic sources around and on the Papuan Peninsula, form a substantial part of the Woodlark Basin marine sedimentary succession. Sampling by the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 180 in the western Woodlark Basin provides the opportunity to document the distribution of the volcanically-derived components as well as to evaluate their chronology, chemistry, and isotope compositions in order to gain information on the volcanic sources and original magmatic systems. Glass shards selected from 57 volcanogenic layers within the sampled Pliocene–Pleistocene sedimentary sequence show predominantly rhyolitic compositions, with subordinate basaltic andesites, basaltic trachy-andesites, andesites, trachy-andesites, dacites, and phonolites. It was possible to correlate only a few of the volcanogenic layers between sites using geochemical and age information apparently because of the formation of strongly compartmentalised sedimentary realms on this actively rifting margin. In many cases it was possible to correlate Leg 180 volcanic components with their eruption source areas based on chemical and isotope compositions. Likely sources for a considerable number of the volcanogenic deposits are Moresby and Dawson Strait volcanoes (D’Entrecasteaux Islands region) for high-K calc-alkaline glasses. The Dawson Strait volcanoes appear to represent the source for five peralkaline tephra layers. One basaltic andesitic volcaniclastic layer shows affinities to basaltic andesites from the Woodlark spreading tip and Cheshire Seamount. For other layers, a clear identification of the sources proved impossible, although their isotope and chemical signatures suggest similarities to south-west Pacific subduction volcanism, e.g. New Britain and Tonga– Kermadec island arcs. Volcanic islands in the Trobriand Arc (for example, Woodlark Island Amphlett Islands and/ or Egum Atoll) are probable sources for several volcaniclastic layers with ages between 1.5 to 3 Ma. The Lusancay Islands can be excluded as a source for the volcanogenic layers found during Leg 180. Generally, the volcanogenic layers indicate much calc-alkaline rhyolitic volcanism in eastern Papua since 3.8 Ma. Starting at 135 ka, however, peralkaline tephra layers appear. This geochemical change in source characteristics might reflect the onset of a change in geotectonic regime, from crustal subduction to spreading, affecting the D’Entrecasteaux Islands region. Initial 143Nd/144Nd ratios as low as 0.5121 and 0.5127 for two of the tephra layers are interpreted as indicating that D’Entrecasteaux Islands volcanism younger than 2.9 Ma occasionally interacted with the Late Archean basement, possibly reflecting the mobilisation of the deep continental crust during active rift propagation.

Description: This chapter deals with the discovery of sorbicillactone A, as an illustrative example of the fruitful cooperation within BIOTECmarin — its isolation and chemical characterization, and its biological activities. Sorbicillactone A was isolated from a strain of Penicillium chrysogenum cultured from a sample of the Mediterranean sponge Ircinia fasciculata; it possesses a unique bicyclic lactone structure, seemingly derived from sorbicillin. Among the numerous known sorbicillin-derived structures, it is the first found to contain nitrogen and thus the first representative of a novel type of ‘sorbicillin alkaloids’, apparently originating from a likewise remarkable biosynthesis. Furthermore, the compound exhibits promising activities in several mammalian and viral test systems, in particular a highly selective cytostatic activity against murine leukemic lymphoblasts (L5178y) and the ability to protect human T cells against the cytopathic effects of HIV-1. These properties qualify sorbicillactone A or one of its derivatives for animal and (hopefully) also future therapeutic human trials.

Description: The recent application of molecular microbial ecology tools to sponge-microbe associations has revealed a glimpse into the biodiversity of these microbial communities, that is considered just ‘the tip of the iceberg’. This chapter provides an overview over these new findings with regard to identity, diversity and distribution patterns of sponge-associated microbial consortia. The sponges Aplysina aerophoba (Verongida), Rhopaloeides odorabile (Dicytoceratida) and Theonella swinhoei (Lithistida) were chosen as model systems for this review because they have been subject to both, cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent approaches. A discussion of the microbial assemblages of Halichondria panicea is presented in the accompanying chapter by Imhoff and Stöhr. Considering that a large fraction of sponge-associated microbes is not yet amenable to cultivation, an emphasis has been placed on the techniques centering around the 16S rRNA gene. A section has been included that covers the potential of sponge microbial communities for drug discovery. Finally, a ‘sponge-microbe interaction model’ is presented that summarizes our current understanding of the processes that might have shaped the community structure of the microbial assemblages within sponges.

Description: The aim of this study was to isolate bacteria that are resistant to the strong antimicrobial metabolites characteristic of Aplysina aerophoba. For this purpose, bacterial isolation was performed on agar plates to which sponge tissue extract had been added. Following screening for antifungal and antimicrobial activities, 5 strains were chosen for more detailed analyses. 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing revealed that all isolates belonged to the genus Bacillus, specifically B. subtilis and B. pumilus. Using a combination of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization mass spectrometry typing of whole cells and antimicrobial bioassays against selected reference strains, the bioactive metabolites were identified as lipopeptides.

Description: In order to assess the stability of the microbial community of the sponge Aplysina cavernicola under in situ conditions, sponges were transplanted from their original location (〉40 m depth) to shallower, more light-exposed sites (7–15 m depth). Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the microbial community remained visually unchanged and free of cyanobacteria over the experimental time period of 3 months. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified partial 16S rRNA gene sequences allowed a distinction between the variable and permanent fraction of the bacterial community. Comparative sequence analysis of four variable DGGE bands revealed high sequence similarity to representatives of the Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria and the phylum Bacteroidetes, which have been recovered previously from Mediterranean seawater as clone sequences or by cultivation. Seven (out of 12) permanent DGGE bands showed high sequence similarity to a sponge-specific, monophyletic 16S rRNA gene sequence cluster within the Acidobacteria division, and to a sequence cluster of uncertain affiliation. These sequence clusters represent members of a common microbial community that is shared among distantly related sponges from different, non-overlapping geographic regions. Four additional permanent DGGE bands showed high sequence similarity to a Betaproteobacterium, Burkholderia cepacia, which is not typically known as a marine bacterium. High-performance liquid chromatography analyses of sponge tissues revealed no changes in metabolite pattern, indicating that these compounds are expressed constitutively irrespective of the variations resulting from the transplantation experiment.

Description: We present new data on mineralogical, major and trace element compositions of lavas from the northernmost segment of the Kolbeinsey Ridge (North Kolbeinsey Ridge, NKR). The incompatible element enriched North Kolbeinsey basalts lie on a crystal fractionation trend which differs from that of the other Kolbeinsey segments, most likely due to higher water contents (~0.2%) in the NKR basalts. The most evolved NKR magmas erupt close to the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone, implying increased cooling and fractionation of the ascending magmas. Mainly incompatible element-enriched basalts, as well as some slightly depleted lavas, erupt on the NKR. They show evidence for mixing between different mantle sources and magma mixing. North Kolbeinsey Ridge magmas probably formed by similar degrees of melting to other Kolbeinsey basalts, implying that no lateral variation in mantle potential temperature occurs on the spreading axis north of the Iceland plume and that the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone does not have a cooling effect on the mantle. Residual garnet from deep melting in garnet peridotite or from enriched garnet pyroxenite veins does not play a role. The incompatible element-enriched source has high Ba/La and Nb/Zr, but must be depleted in iron. The iron-depleted mantle is less dense than surrounding mantle and leads to the formation of the North Kolbeinsey segment and its shallow bathymetry. The enriched NKR source formed from a relatively refractory mantle, enriched by a small degree melt rather than by recycling of enriched basaltic crust. The depleted mantle source resembles the mantle of the Middle Kolbeinsey segment with a depletion in incompatible elements, but a fertile major element composition.

Description: Geochemical properties of gas hydrate accumulation associated with an active gas vent on the continental slope offshore northeast Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk have been investigated. The pore water chemistry data suggest that the gas hydrates (GHs) were formed in an environment of upward-migrating fluid combined with a mechanism of pore water segregation. The upward infiltration of water enriched mainly by Cl− and K+ species appears to occur on the background of earlier diagenesis processes within the gas vent sediments. The GHs were formed from water with chlorinity ranging from 530 to 570 mM. The δ18O and δD of GH water varied from −1.4 to −1.8‰ and from −13 to −18‰, respectively, representing a mix of seawater and infiltrating fluid water. A complex interaction of pore water, water of ascending fluid and segregated pore water during hydrate formation is also supported by water content measurements and observed gas hydrate structure. The direction of segregated water is opposite to upward fluid migration. Decreasing activity of the gas vent is inferred by comparing the present top of the recovered hydrate layer with previous observations.

Description: The metazoan parasites and stomach contents of the small-sized demersal fishes Agonus cataphractus, Buglossidium luteum, Callionymus lyra and Rhinonemus cimbrius were studied and analysed. The fishes were captured using various sampling gears at 12 stations in the central North Sea. A total of 16 metazoan parasite species were isolated: six adult Digenea, three larval and adult Cestoda, four larval and adult Nematoda and three larval and adult Crustacea. With nine parasites species each, A. cataphractus and R. cimbrius harboured the highest parasite diversity, while B. luteum and C. lyra hosted only six and five parasite species, respectively. Eighteen new hosts and four new locality records were established. No Myxozoa, Monogenea or Acanthocephala were found. Most of the detected parasites showed a wide geographical range and a low host-specificity. The composition of the parasite fauna differed between the fish species, in accordance with their different feeding behaviours. The diet of bentho-pelagic feeders ( A. cataphractus, R. cimbrius) was more diverse in comparison with the more specialised benthic feeders ( C. lyra, B. luteum). This correlated with the lower diversity of heteroxenic parasites within both small-sized benthic fish species.

Description: Triassic calciturbidites were studied in a 100-m long core and nearby outcrops of the basinal Buchenstein Formation to determine composition and thickness variations. The quantity of recognized turbidite sediment relative to background sediment changes from 15% (by volume) in the lower part to 60% in the upper part, reflecting the steady progradation of nearby platforms. The composition of the sand fraction of 214 turbidites was point-counted in thin sections. Micrite peloids (average 23%) and lithoclasts (16%) are by far the most dominant constituents. They are interpreted as two different varieties of in-situ precipitated micrite (automicrite), which probably formed under the influence of microbes and constitute the principal building material of the adjacent platforms. Platform-derived skeletal grains amount to only 0.5%. Variations in turbidite composition were quantified using Spearman's rank correlation and cluster analysis. The most significant compositional variations seem to be related to hydrodynamic sorting in the turbidity currents and to the gradual shift from distal to more proximal turbidites in the core as the platforms prograded basinward. Cluster analysis of the 214 samples shows a major subdivision into micrite and sparite dominated turbidites. Clusters associated with micrite-dominated turbidites are enriched in Radiolaria and thin-shelled bivalves, whereas the clusters related to sparite-dominated turbidites show an abundance of lithoclasts. This subdivision seems strongly related to sorting effects in a turbidity current. Point-counting of turbidites in nearby outcrops revealed a lateral variation in composition. Proximal turbidites are sparite-dominated and enriched in lithoclasts, distal portions are chiefly micrite with an open-ocean biota (thin-shelled bivalves, Radiolaria). This differentiation resembles the vertical change in composition of thick turbidite beds, and is attributed to different settling rates of the various grains in the turbidity current. There is no indication that turbidite composition fluctuated significantly under the influence of sea-level fluctuations. This is not surprising because the dominant automicrite facies of the platforms only migrates laterally, but does not change much during sea-level cycles.

Description: Recent studies have suggested that sea surface temperature (SST) is an important source of variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Here, we deal with four basic aspects contributing to this issue: (1) we investigate the characteristic time scales of this oceanic influence; (2) quantify the scale-dependent hindcast potential of the NAO during the twentieth century as derived from SST-driven atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) ensembles; (3) the relevant oceanic regions are identified, corresponding SST indices are defined and their relationship to the NAO are evaluated by means of cross spectral analysis and (4) our results are compared with long-term coupled control experiments with different ocean models in order to ensure whether the spectral relationship between the SST regions and the NAO is an intrinsic mode of the coupled climate system, involving the deep ocean circulation, rather than an artefact of the unilateral SST forcing. The observed year-to-year NAO fluctuations are barely influenced by the SST. On the decadal time scales the major swings of the observed NAO are well reproduced by various ensembles from the middle of the twentieth century onward, including the negative state in the 1960s and part of the positive trend afterwards. A six-member ECHAM4-T42 ensemble reveals that the SST boundary condition affects 25% of total decadal-mean and interdecadal-trend NAO variability throughout the twentieth century. The most coherent NAO-related SST feature is the well-known North Atlantic tripole. Additional contributions may arise from the southern Pacific and the low-latitude Indian Ocean. The coupled climate model control runs suggest only the North Atlantic SST-NAO relationship as being a true characteristic of the coupled climate system. The coherence and phase spectra of observations and coupled simulations are in excellent agreement, confirming the robustness of this decadal-scale North Atlantic air–sea coupled mode.

Description: In this study, progradation and the subsequent retrogradation of a late Paleocene isolated carbonate platform (Galala Mountains, Eastern Desert, Egypt) is demonstrated by variations of distinct facies associations from the platform margin in the north to the hemipelagic basin in the south. A combination of a sea-level drop and tectonic uplift at around 59 Ma (calcareous nannofossil biozone NP5) favored the initiation of the carbonate platform. From this time onwards, the facies distribution along the platform–basin transect can be subdivided into five facies belts comprising nine different facies associations. Their internal relationships and specific depositional settings are strongly coupled with the Maastrichtian–Paleocene seafloor topography, which resulted from local tectonic movements. Patch reefs and reef debris were deposited at the platform margin and the horizontally bedded limestones on the upper slope. Slumps and debris flows were stored on the lower slope. In the subhorizontal toe-of-slope facies belt, mass-flow deposits pass into calciturbidites. Further southwards in the basin, only hemipelagic marls were deposited. Between 59 and 56.2 Ma (NP5–NP8), the overall carbonate platform system prograded in several pulses. Distinct changes in facies associations from 56.2 to 55.5 Ma (NP9) resulted from rotational block movements. They led to increased subsidence at the platform margin and a coeval uplift in the toe-of-slope areas. This resulted in the retrogradation of the carbonate platform. Furthermore the patch-reef and reef-debris facies associations were substituted by the larger foraminifera shoal association. The retrogradation is also documented by a significant decrease in slump and debris-flow deposits on the slope and calciturbidites at the toe of slope.

Description: A total of 37 juvenile Etmopterus spinax from the Norwegian Deep were examined for stomach contents and metazoan ecto- and endoparasites. These squaliform elasmobranchs were caught by benthopelagic net in May 2001 at a depth of 194–214 m. The euphausiid Meganyctiphanes norvegica and the teleost Maurolicus muelleri were the principal prey organisms. With increasing total length of E. spinax, the frequency of Meganyctiphanes norvegica prey decreased and that of M. muelleri increased. Seven different metazoan parasite species were found: adult Monogenea (2), larval and adult Cestoda (3), and larval Nematoda (2). The predominant parasites were an unidentified monocotylid monogenean and the cestode Aporhynchus norvegicus, with respective prevalences of infestation of 83.8% and 81.1%. The sites of infestation were the gills (Squalonchocotyle spinacis, Monogenea), nasal cavities (Monocotylidae indet.), body cavity (Lacistorhynchus tenuis, Cestoda), stomach wall and organs of the body cavity (Anisakis simplex, Nematoda), and stomach and spiral valve (A. norvegicus and Pseudophyllidea indet., Cestoda; Hysterothylacium aduncum, Nematoda). No other metazoan parasite taxa were found, and the musculature was free of parasites. Five new host and three new locality records were established. M. muelleri seems to be an important intermediate host for the endoparasitic nematodes which were found, with E. spinax serving as a paratenic host. E. spinax also serves as an intermediate host for the trypanorhynch cestode L. tenuis, and as the definitive host for the two monogeneans and the trypanorhynch A. norvegicus. The latter uses Meganyctiphanes norvegica as the second intermediate host in the Norwegian Deep. The relationship between the feeding ecology, habitat, and vagility of E. spinax and the resulting parasite fauna is discussed.

Description: Volcanic gases such as SO2, H2S, HCl and COS emitted during explosive eruptions significantly affect atmospheric chemistry and therefore the Earth's climate. We have evaluated the dependence of volcanic gas emission into the atmosphere on altitude, latitude, and tectonic setting of volcanoes and on the season in which eruptions occurred. These parameters markedly influence final stratospheric gas loading. The latitudes and altitudes of 360 active volcanoes were compared to the height of the tropopause to calculate the potential quantity of volcanic gases injected into the stratosphere. We calculated a possible stratospheric gas loading based on different volcanic plume heights (6, 10, and 15 km) generated by moderate-scale explosive eruptions to show the importance of the actual plume height and volcano location. At a plume height of 15 km for moderate-scale explosive eruptions, a volcano at sea level can cause stratospheric gas loading because the maximum distance to the tropopause is 15–16 km in the equatorial region (0–30°). Eruptions in the tropics have to be more powerful to inject gas into the stratosphere than eruptions at high latitudes because the tropopause rises from ca. 9–11 km at the poles to 15–16 km in the equatorial region (0–30°N and S). The equatorial region is important for stratospheric gas injection because it is the area with the highest frequency of eruptions. Gas injected into the stratosphere in equatorial areas may spread globally into both hemispheres.

Description: A new system is presented for assessing the movement of animal limbs including, after suitable calibration, quantification of limb stroke frequency and amplitude, which may be used to derive limb angular velocity and acceleration. The system is based on use of an archival unit logging data from a Hall sensor, itself set to sense magnetic-field strength at frequencies of up to 30 Hz. Typically, the Hall sensor is placed on the animal body adjacent to the limb being monitored, while a small magnet is glued to the limb. Changes in limb position result in variation of the magnetic-field strength perceived by the sensor. Captive trials were successfully performed on a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), an Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) and a hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), as well as on 18 free-living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus). The unit performed well in almost all cases, illustrating that stroke frequency was relatively invariant in any species tending, however, to be higher in smaller animals and showing that the primary variance was manifest in stroke amplitude. As an example of the utility of the system, the importance of buoyancy was demonstrated in the penguins, which had longer glide phases and lower flipper beat amplitudes at greater depths, because body air was compressed, which reduced upthrust. The small size of the system (ca. 25 g in air) makes it suitable for a wide range of marine vertebrates. Potential problems of system sensitivity, the suitability of particular recording frequencies and the value of appropriate calibration are discussed.

Description: The scientific community is engaged in a lively debate over whether and how venting from the gas-hydrate reservoir and the Earth’s climate is connected. The various scenarios which have been proposed are based on the following assumptions: the inventory of methane gas-hydrate deposits is locally enormous, the stability of marine gas-hydrate deposits can easily be perturbed by temperature and pressure changes, enough methane can be released from these deposits to contribute adequate volumes of this isotopically distinct greenhouse gas to alter the composition of oceanic or atmospheric methane reservoirs, and the mechanisms exist for the transfer of methane from deeper geologic reservoirs to the ocean and/or atmosphere. However, some potential transfer mechanisms have been difficult to evaluate. Here, we consider the possibility of marine slumping as a mechanism to transfer methane carbon from gas hydrates within the seafloor into the ocean and atmosphere. Our analyses and field experiments indicate that large slumps could release volumetrically significant quantities of solid gas hydrates which would float upwards in the water column. Large pieces of gas hydrate would reach the upper layers of the ocean before decomposing, and some of the methane would be directly injected into the atmosphere.

Description: Metastable intermediate Na–K mica represents a product of hydrothermal alteration in volcanic rocks from the alteration halo of the Waterloo massive sulfide deposit, Australia. The XRD pattern of this solid solution between paragonite and muscovite is characterized by a rational series of basal reflections with d values intermediate between the end members. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the intermediate Na–K mica forms thick stacks that belong to a two-layer polytype. Na-rich intermediate Na–K mica typically occurs together with paragonite whereas K-rich intermediate Na–K mica is intergrown with muscovite. The intermediate Na–K mica is interpreted to have formed as a result of the incomplete transformation of K-rich mica to Na-rich mica through dissolution and recrystallization processes driven by compositional changes of the hydrothermal fluids interacting with the volcanic rocks. Alteration must have proceeded under non-equilibrium conditions because the composition of the solid solution falls into the miscibility gap separating paragonite and muscovite.

Description: Mineralogical and chemical characteristics of reworked suevite material recovered from Graupensand deposits (Grimmelfingen Formation, North Alpine Foreland Basin, Middle Miocene) are identical to those recorded in Ries suevite. 40Ar/39Ar laser probe analyses of two glass particles from Graupensand components and of a glass fragment from the Ries suevite yielded ages ranging between 14.3 and 14.4 Ma, identical within analytical uncertainties. Hitherto, the Ries impact event was dated at 15 Ma (conventional K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar methods) whereas the Graupensande have been placed into the Ottnangian (around 18.5 Ma), on the basis of mammal biostratigraphy. Small sample masses involved in laser probe technique allowed rigorous preselection of highly pure glass particles, thus reducing possible age determination errors through partly molten (or even unmolten) mineral fragments from the Variscan crystalline basement. Our results reconfirm previous statements considering the Graupensande as reworked products of the Ries impact ejecta blanket, thus placing the age of the Grimmelfingen Formation into the Badenian (of Middle Miocene) rather than into the Ottnangian (Early Miocene).

Description: A new microplate assay for Ca(2+)-induced platelet aggregation as detected by Giemsa dye was used to screen marine invertebrate samples from the Philippines for inhibitors of human platelet aggregation. Out of 261 crude methanol extracts of marine sponges and tunicates, 25 inhibited aggregation at 2 mg/ml. Inhibition of agonist-induced aggregation in an aggregometer was used to confirm results of the microplate assay and to determine the specific mode of inhibition of 2 samples. The marine sponge Xestospongia sp. yielded a xestospongin/araguspongine-type molecule that inhibited collagen-induced aggregation by 87% at 2 micro g/ml, and epinephrine-induced aggregation by 78% at 20 micro g/ml, while the marine sponge Aplysina sp. yielded 5,6-dibromotryptamine, which inhibited epinephrine-induced aggregation by 51% at 20 micro g/ml. In this study we have found that the microplate assay is a simple, inexpensive, yet useful preliminary tool to qualitatively screen a large number of marine samples for antiplatelet aggregation activity.

Description: The massive sulfide deposits of the Kristineberg area, Sweden, occur within a 2- to 3-km-thick succession of felsic volcaniclastic rocks belonging to the Skellefte Group. The volcanic pile is intruded by a synvolcanic Jorn-type granitoid (Viterliden intrusive complex) and is overlain by a thick sequence of metasedimentary rocks (Vargfors Group). Mineralization occurs at two main stratigraphic levels, at the base of the felsic volcanic succession and at the contact with the metasedimentary rocks of the Vargfors Group. The Kristineberg Cu–Zn mine is the largest deposit (approximately 21Mt) and occurs at the base of the volcanic pile, close to the contact with the Viterliden intrusive complex. Four smaller deposits (Ravliden, Ravlidmyran, Horntrask and Nyliden) occur along the upper ore horizon. These deposits are thought to be related to a late intrusive phase of the Viterliden complex which cuts the altered volcanic rocks at the Kristineberg deposit. Within an area of about 50km 2 surrounding the Kristineberg deposit, felsic volcanic rocks between the two ore horizons are affected by extensive albite-destructive alteration (sodium depletion) and development of chlorite and muscovite (strong co-enrichment in magnesium and potassium). The Kristineberg deposit is enveloped by a large and partly transposed quartz–chlorite alteration zone, approximately 2km in diameter, and a distal but coherent pyrite–quartz–muscovite alteration zone extending as far as 4km from the deposit. Chlorite(talc) in the mine area is notably magnesium-rich and contains anomalous F, Ba, Zn and Mn. High fluorine is also present in coexisting muscovite and phlogopite. The magnesium-rich chlorite alteration contrasts sharply with the iron enrichment observed in many other felsic, volcanic-hosted Precambrian massive sulfide deposits. This may indicate fixation of iron by large amounts of pyrite in the section or entrainment of large amounts of seawater in the hydrothermal upflow zones. Kyanite is developed locally in the chlorite-rich pipe at Kristineberg in response to regional thermal metamorphism of highly aluminous alteration in the immediate foot-wall rocks. Spectacular, andalusite-bearing quartz–muscovite schists and quartz–biotite–cordierite schists also occur where the altered felsic volcanic rocks are intruded by the late Revsund granite. However, similar metamorphic mineral growth is not observed where the volcanic rocks at the contact are less altered. Deposits near the top of the felsic volcanic succession are characterized by magnesium-rich chlorite alteration in the foot wall and proximal calc-silicate assemblages (dolomite, calcite, tremolite, garnet, margarite) where the host sedimentary rocks are carbonate-rich. In general, the calc-silicate alteration is restricted to the immediate hanging wall and zones lateral to the deposits and does not represent a regionally extensive exploration target. The two main ore horizons in the Kristineberg area are not linked by any obvious discordant structures or alteration zones. However, mineral-chemical studies highlight several possible fluid flow pathways leading from the Kristineberg deposit to the Ravliden ore horizon, more than 2km upsection. Overprinting regional metamorphic minerals have inherited the hydrothermal signature of the ore-related alteration. Electronic Supplementary Material is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00126-002-0299-y. On that page (frame on the left side), a link takes you directly to the supplementary material.

Description: The Late Archean Blake River Group is a thick succession of predominantly mafic volcanic rocks within the southern zone of the Abitibi greenstone belt. It contains a number of silicic volcanic centers of different size, including the large Noranda volcanic complex, which is host to 17 past-producing volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. The Noranda complex consists of a 7- to 9-km-thick succession of bimodal mafic and felsic volcanic rocks erupted during five major cycles of volcanism. Massive sulfide formation coincided with a period of intense magmatic activity (cycle III) and the formation of the Noranda cauldron. Hydrothermal alteration in these rocks is interpreted to reflect large-scale hydrothermal fluid flow associated with rapid crustal extension and rifting of the volcanic complex. The alteration includes abundant albite, chlorite, epidote and quartz (silicification), which exhibit broad stratigraphic and structural control and correlate with previously mapped whole-rock oxygen isotope zonation. The Mine Sequence volcanic rocks are characterized by abundant iron-rich chlorite (Fe/Fe+Mg 〉0.5), hydrothermal amphibole (ferroactinolite) and coarse-grained epidote of clinozoisite composition (10wt% Fe 2O 3) lacking the clinozoisite solid solution. Alteration in the Mine Sequence volcanic rocks persists along strike well beyond the limits of the main ore deposits (as far as several tens of kilometers) and can be readily distinguished from greenschist facies metamorphic assemblages at a regional scale. The lack of similar alteration in the pre-cauldron sequences is consistent with limited 18O-depletion and suggests that the early history of the volcanic complex did not support large-scale, high-temperature fluid flow in these rocks. Comparisons with a much smaller, barren volcanic complex in nearby Ben Nevis township reveal important differences in the alteration mineralogy between volcanoes of different size, with implications for area selection during regional-scale mineral exploration. The Ben Nevis Complex consists of a 3- to 4-km-thick succession of mafic, intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks centered on a small subvolcanic intrusion. Alteration of the volcanic rocks comprises mainly low-temperature assemblages of prehnite, pumpellyite, magnesium-rich chlorite (Fe/Fe+Mg 10wt% Fe 2O 3) and calcite. Actinolite magnetite alteration occurs proximal to the intrusive core of the complex, but the limited extent of this alteration indicates only local high-temperature fluid circulation adjacent to the intrusion. A distal zone of carbonate alteration is located 4–6km from the center of the volcano. Although iron-bearing carbonates are present locally within this zone, the absence of siderite argues against a high-temperature origin for this alteration. These observations do not offer positive encouragement for the existence of a fossil geothermal system of sufficient size or intensity to have produced a large massive sulfide deposit.

Description: The presence and the different functional aspects of cytokine-related molecules in invertebrates are described. Cytokine-like factors affect immune functions, such as cell motility, chemotaxis, phagocytosis and cytotoxicity. In particular, cell migration shows a species-specific effect for IL-1α and TNF-α and a dose-correlated effect for IL-8, PDGF-AB and TGF-β1. Apart from some exceptions, the phagocytic effect increases significantly at all the concentrations tested and with all the species used. PDGF-AB, TGF-β1 and IL-8 provoke conformational changes in mollusk immunocytes, involving the signaling transduction pathways of phosphatidylinositol and cAMP. PDGF-AB and TGF-β1 partially inhibit the induced programmed cell death in an insect cell line, and the survival effect is mediated by the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase, PKA and PKC. The exogenous administration of these growth factors in an invertebrate wound repair model showed that they are able to control the wound environment and promote the repair process by accelerating the coordinated activities involved. Moreover, IL-1α, IL-2 and TNF-α are able to induce nitric oxide synthase. PDGF-AB and TGF-β1 provoke an increase in neutral endopeptidase-24.11 (NEP)-like activity in membrane preparations from mollusk immunocytes, while NEP deactivates the PDGF-AB- and TGF-β1-induced cell shape changes. Cytokines are also involved in invertebrate stress response in a manner extremely similar to that in vertebrates. Several studies suggest the existence on the mollusk immunocyte membrane of an ancestral receptor capable of binding both IL-2 and CRH. Furthermore, the competition found between CRH and a large number of cytokines supports the idea that invertebrate cytokine receptors show a certain degree of promiscuity. The multiple functions of cytokines detected in invertebrates underline another characteristic of mammalian cytokines, i.e. their great pleiotropicity. Altogether, the studies on the function of the invertebrate humoral factors show a close overlapping with those found in vertebrates, and the hypothesized missing correlation between invertebrate and vertebrate cytokine genes that is emerging from the limited molecular biology data present in literature might represent a very peculiar strategy followed by Nature in the evolution of cytokines.

Description: The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the definition of reference conditions, i.e. pristine conditions, for all surface waters. As the present state of Danish coastal waters cannot be referred to as pristine, reference conditions have to be assessed by analysis of historical data or by the use of models. Using Randers Fjord as an example, the aim of this work was i) to demonstrate possibilities and restrictions of assessing reference conditions by historical data and by modelling; and ii) to demonstrate how ecological conditions have changed along with eutrophication. The ample historical data from Randers Fjord allowed us to assess reference conditions with respect to benthic macrophytes and benthic fauna. Models of varying complexity enabled us to assess reference conditions for nutrients, chlorophyll a, Secchi depth, and eelgrass. We conclude that models can be a useful supplement to assess reference conditions, though they are presently restricted by the lack of quantitative links between eutrophication and species composition.

Description: The effects of culture density on growth and survival of juvenile cuttlefish were tested. Groups of 1, 3 and 5 hatchlings were placed in small containers with bottom surface of 80 cm2, obtaining individual densities of 125, 375 and 625 cuttlefish m−2, respectively. Additionally, groups of 5 hatchlings were placed in containers with 2 different bottom areas (80 and 240 cm2), providing culture densities of 625 and 42 cuttlefish m−2, respectively. A total of 120 hatchlings were used and experiments lasted for 40 days. No differences were found in growth between any of the densities tested throughout the experiment until 35 days old. After this, cuttlefish placed in isolation grew significantly larger. A second experiment was conducted in a flow through system, using two rectangular tanks with bottom surface of 0.5 m2. Two groups of 25 cuttlefish hatchlings were used in this experiment, which lasted for 40 days. Both groups were fed live juvenile shrimp (Crangon crangon) during the first 5 days. Afterwards, one group was fed live fish fry of different species, while the other continued to be fed shrimp. After day 10 and until the end of the experiment, hatchlings fed shrimp grew significantly larger than those fed fish fry. Survival of hatchlings fed shrimp or fish fry after 40 days was of 100% and 68%, respectively. Total protein content of both prey types was similar. Therefore, the higher polar lipid content, especially due to the higher phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine levels observed in the shrimp, compared to fish fry could possibly be one of the major factor to explain the significantly higher growth rates for S. officinalis juveniles fed shrimp. Also, the percentage of polar lipids in the shrimp (47.4%) was closer to the one of juvenile cuttlefish (38.1%) than the composition of polar lipids in fish fry (10.4%). This could also be an important factor to explain the poor growth and survival obtained when feeding fish fry to the cuttlefish.

Description: The winter diet and foraging range of gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua, were studied at Kidney Cove, Falkland Islands. The mean wet mass of the 56 stomach-content samples collected from May to October was 32.7±47.4 g. The diet consisted generally of cephalopods, crustaceans and fish, as well as two other molluscs. Among the six cephalopod species identified, the commercially fished Patagonian squid, Loligo gahi, had the highest abundance and was also the main prey by reconstituted mass (53% of the total reconstituted mass). Lobster krill, Munida gregaria, one of five species of crustaceans, was the most abundant prey species by frequency of occurrence and by number (68% and 60%, respectively). Rock cod, Patagonotothen ramsayi, accounted for the majority of the fish diet with 34% of the total reconstituted mass. Most prey species identified in the winter diet were also abundant diet components during the breeding season. However, the known biology of the prey species and their rate of digestion indicated that, in winter, adults may forage further offshore than during the breeding season. This assumption was supported by the results obtained from two birds satellite-tracked during the study period. Both birds remained mainly in inshore waters and returned frequently ashore, but one penguin foraged up to 276 km from the coast. The differences in the foraging behaviour of the two birds were reflected in significant differences with regard to time spent underwater, distance travelled per day and calculated travelling speed. Furthermore, the progress of cohorts of L. gahi over the winter is consistent with results from life-cycle studies in this region and suggests that birds have been foraging in the feeding grounds of L. gahi.

Description: Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPDs) were applied in a cephalopod population study. Samples of the squid Moroteuthis ingens taken from around the Falkland Islands and Macquarie Island were used to test a null hypothesis that M. ingens forms a single, panmictic population in the Southern Ocean. Six of the 8 arbitrary RAPD primers screened produced a total of 30 reproducible polymorphic bands. Analysis of RAPD allele frequencies demonstrated high levels of variation between individuals but little variation between two sample sites. Although the differentiation between the two sites was low, subtle population structure was detected and the null hypothesis was rejected. The implications of low genetic differentiation between the two sites are briefly discussed in terms of possible egg and paralarval drift facilitated via the circumpolar current.

Description: Dietary composition of the onychoteuthid squid Moroteuthis ingens at the Falkland Islands was related to predator size, as shown by stomach contents and fatty-acid analyses. Comparisons were made between two size classes of squid: those of mantle length 〈200 mm and those of mantle length 〉200 mm. Smaller squid had frequently consumed crustaceans and cephalopods; fish were of secondary importance. Larger squid consumed mostly fish and moderate amounts of cephalopods, but had rarely consumed crustaceans. These findings were supported by comparisons drawn between digestive-gland fatty-acid profiles and the fatty-acid profiles of potential prey species. Fatty-acid analyses indicated that the crustaceans Euphausia lucens, Munida gregaria and Themisto gaudichaudii were important prey items of smaller squid, whereas stomach content and fatty-acid analyses indicated that Gymnoscopelus nicholsi of around 100 mm standard length represented much of the fish prey of larger squid.

Description: The diet of black-browed albatrosses was studied at Gonzalo Island, Diego Ramirez, Chile, during the early chick-rearing periods of 2000, 2001, and 2002. Diet composition was determined by sampling chick-stomach contents during January and February of each year. Reconstituted meal mass was similar throughout the study, with diet being dominated by fish in all 3 years. Overall, the main items taken were the fishes Macruronus magellanicus (66–89% by mass) and Micromesistius australis (2.6–3.7% by mass), which are both fisheries-related species, and the squid Martialia hyadesi (8–20% by mass). The distribution of the prey species indicates that black-browed albatrosses obtained the bulk of their food over the South American continental shelf, but also foraged at the Antarctic Polar Front. The prevalence in the diet of fish species discarded from fishing operations, and the presence of fish hooks and fish bait species, indicate a strong association with fisheries in southern Chile.

Description: The giant Australian cuttlefish Sepia apama Gray, 1849 annually forms a massive and unique spawning aggregation in northern Spencer Gulf, South Australia, which has attracted commercial fishing interests in recent years. However, many basic life-history characteristics of S. apama are unknown, and anecdotal evidence suggests that there is more than one species. The present study assessed the population structure and species status of S. apama using data from allozyme electrophoresis, microsatellite loci, nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial COXIII gene, multivariate morphometrics and colour patterns. Analyses of allozyme and microsatellite allele frequencies revealed two very divergent but geographically separated populations consisting of specimens from the east coast and southern Australia. However, the presence of a heterozygote in a putative contact zone between the east coast and southern Australia suggested that these populations were not reproductively isolated. Mitochondrial haplotypes seem to have introgressed further north into the contact zone than have nuclear alleles. Differences in colour patterns that previously had been attributed anecdotally to different geographic populations were, in fact, correlated with sexual dimorphism. These data are most consistent with S. apama being one species the populations of which were geographically isolated in the past (historical vicariance) and have come into secondary contact. Comparison of microsatellite allele frequencies among four South Australian samples indicated significant deviations from panmixia. South Australian samples were also reliably diagnosed by means of multivariate morphometrics. Significant differences in mantle length were observed among populations.

Description: The culture of Sepia officinalis hatchlings and juveniles at different densities and enriched environments was investigated. Experiments were conducted to determine effects of culture density and the use of a substrate on growth and survival. Experiment I studied the effect of three different densities (52, 515 and 1544 hatchlings m−2). Experiment II tested the effects of the enriched environment, using a sandy bottom with pvc shelters. Experiment III tested the effects of density on growth, survival, feeding rates and food conversions. Cuttlefish were fed live grass shrimp at rates of 20% body weight per day (BW d−1). Grass shrimp (Palaemonetes varians) was supplied ad libitum as food in all experiments. In experiment I, growth was different between the three densities, with highest growth for density of 515 hatchlings m−2. IGR was of 8.8, 9.6 and 9.2% BW d−1 for the three densities tested, respectively. Both groups of experiment II had similar growth. IGR was of 10.1 and 9.7% BW d−1 for enriched and non-enriched environments, respectively. Densities of 10, 45 and 120 juvenile m−2 were used in experiment III. Significant differences in feeding rates were only found between densities of 10 and 120 cuttlefish m−2 during the last week. Results indicate that culture of cuttlefish hatchlings could be done in a non-enriched environment, with densities not exceeding 500 hatchlings m−2 and minimum bottom areas of about 600 cm2. Densities of 120 juveniles m−2 in a minimum area of about 1083 cm2 should be considered for juveniles between 5 and 25 g.

Description: The characteristics and habitat of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) are typical of fish that accumulate high concentrations of mercury. In this study, mercury determinations were made on samples of muscle tissue from Macquarie Island toothfish and the Southern Ocean deepwater warty squid (Moroteuthis ingens). The analysis of mercury in the biological tissues was made by cold vapour-atomic absorption spectrometry following acid digestion. Performance of the analytical procedure was assessed by analysis of certified reference material (DORM-2, dogfish muscle). Mercury concentrations of 16 Macquarie Island toothfish ranged from 0.12 mg kg–1 (550 g, 381 mm TL) to 0.59 mg kg–1 (6,100 g, 823 mm TL), with a mean concentration of 0.33±0.12 mg kg–1. A significant correlation was found between mercury and either toothfish weight or total length. The fish analysed were juveniles, which suggests that larger individuals would have higher mercury concentrations well exceeding food standard code limits for mercury in fish (typically 0.5 mg kg–1). Warty squid, also from around Macquarie Island, had a low mean mercury concentration of 0.086 mg kg–1 in mantle tissue; no significant correlation existed between mercury concentration and either squid mantle length or total weight. It is postulated that the squid have a mechanism, possibly involving the digestive gland, that prevents bioaccumulation of mercury in the mantle, and presumably other body tissues.

Description: The zone of continental margins is most important for the ocean’s productivity and nutrient budget and connects the flow of material from terrestrial environments to the deep-sea. Microbial processes are an important “filter” in this exchange between sediments and ocean interior. As a consequence of the variety of habitats and special environmental conditions at continental margins an enormous diversity of microbial processes and microbial life forms is found. The only definite limit to microbial life in sedimentary systems of continental margins appears to be high temperatures in the interior earth or in fluids rising from the interior. Many of the catalytic capabilities which microorganisms possess are still only incompletely explored and appear to continuously expand as new organisms are discovered. Recent discoveries at continental margins such as the microbial life in the deep sub-seafloor, microbial utilization of hydrate deposits, highly specialized microbial symbioses and the involvement of microbial processes in the formation of carbonate mounds have extended our understanding of the Earth’s bio- and geosphere dramatically. The aim of this paper is to identify important scientific issues for future research on microbial life in sedimentary environments of continental margins.

Description: The population structure of the California market squid Loligo opalescens was studied for the Channel Islands region off Southern California between June 1998 and March 2000. During this time Californian waters were exposed to an extraordinary El Niño event that was possibly the most dramatic change in oceanographic conditions that occurred last century. There was then a rapid transition to record cool La Niña conditions. Statolith increments were used to determine age parameters and increment periodicity was validated for the first 54 days of life. Based on statolith increment counts, the oldest males and females were 257 and 225 days respectively and individuals matured as young as 129 and 137 days respectively. No distinct hatching period was detected. There was a general trend of increasing body size throughout the study period. Squid that hatched and grew through the El Niño were strikingly smaller and had slower growth rates compared to squid that grew through the La Niña. This was related to oceanography and associated productivity. There was a positive correlation between squid mantle length and upwelling index and a negative correlation between mantle length and sea temperature. The 'live-fast die-young' life history strategy of squid makes them ideal candidates for following the effects of the dramatic changes in oceanographic conditions off California. We propose that squid can serve as ecosystem recorders and productivity integrators over time and space and are useful organisms to tie oceanography to biology.

Description: Females of Tremoctopus violaceus, Argonauta argo and Ocythoe tuberculata in the Aegean Sea have larger eggs than specimens from the western Mediterranean and open ocean; the most probable reason is a shift in the reproductive strategies of Argonautoidea from the Aegean Sea toward the K-side, because of the high stability of this habitat in contrast to the unstable high seas. Potential fecundity of T. violaceus is 100,000–300,000; batch fecundity is 10,000–30,000, but at the beginning and at the end of spawning the batches are smaller. In A. argo potential fecundity is at least 85,000, with batch fecundity of some 2,000–4,000 eggs. The potential fecundity of small, mature O. tuberculata was 300,000 eggs. T. violaceus is an "intermittent terminal spawner", whereas both A. argo and O. tuberculata are "continuous spawners".

Description: This study explored the spawning dynamics of southern calamary (Sepioteuthis australis) by estimating small-scale temporal and spatial variability in egg production in an area known to attract spawning aggregations. Surveys of the seagrass beds (Amphibolis antarctica) over 14 months determined the timing and location of egg deposition, as well as estimating total egg production and loss of deposited egg masses from the spawning grounds. Egg laying in the inshore seagrass beds occurred predominantly during the austral spring and early summer. Egg production at one location (Hazards Bay) was very similar between the two years, but at the second location (Coles Bay) egg production was threefold less during the second summer. There was considerable spatial variability in egg production among seagrass beds within a kilometre of each other as well as within 10 km. Variability in the use of seagrass beds by the squid during each summer could not be attributed to differences in seagrass density or vegetation cover. Losses of deposited egg masses in the A. antarctica beds were detected on two occasions. On the first occasion the loss was correlated with storms; however, the second and smaller loss of egg masses was not correlated with storm activity. Information about the spatial and temporal patterns of egg production was used to make recommendations about the use of fishing closures to protect spawning adults from over-fishing.

Description: Cephalopods play an important role in the diet of many predators of the Southern Ocean. We investigated the cephalopod component of the diet of the wandering albatross, during breeding at South Georgia, from 269 boluses containing more than 34,000 beaks (corresponding to 19,452 individual cephalopods), collected between 1989 and 1999, and assessed the inter-annual variability of the cephalopod species, the level of scavenging on cephalopods by wandering albatrosses and the relationships between cephalopod availability and wandering albatross breeding parameters (breeding period, breeding success, fledging period, fledging success, egg mass and chick mass). We also proposed possible foraging areas of wandering albatrosses based on the cephalopods eaten. The cephalopod component of the diet of wandering albatrosses was relatively stable over the 11 years of the study. By number of lower beaks, three species predominated in the cephalopod component of the diet: Kondakovia longimana (29.5% of the total number of lower beaks; family Onychoteuthidae), Taonius sp. (20.4%; family Cranchiidae) and Histioteuthis sp. B (19.5%; family Histioteuthidae). K. longimana was consistently the predominant cephalopod species by mass in every year of the study (range 60.2–88.7% of mass contribution to diet). A minimum estimate of 30% of the number of cephalopods scavenged corresponded to 85% of the total mass of the cephalopods that contributed to the diet. Wandering albatrosses fed consistently more on "Antarctic" cephalopods than on "sub-Antarctic" or "subtropical" cephalopods in all years of the study, suggesting that Antarctic waters are an important foraging area for wandering albatrosses. Although some significant correlations between cephalopod abundance and wandering albatross breeding parameters existed (e.g. correlation between Taonius sp. by number and fledging success), none included K. longimana. When comparing groups of variables (using canonical analysis), no correlations were found between the most important cephalopod species (by number and by mass), total mass of squid consumed, cephalopod diversity index (H) for each year, and wandering albatross breeding parameters. This may reflect the possibility that other components in the diet (e.g. fish and carrion) are more important or, more likely, that the consistency across years of the wandering albatross breeding performance indicates that it is well buffered against fluctuations in prey availability.

Description: The diet of non-breeding male Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, was investigated at the Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula, by the analysis of 31 and 149 scats collected from January to March 1998 and 2000, respectively. Overall, fish and krill, followed by penguins and squids, were the most frequent prey and constituted the bulk of the diet. The importance of the remaining taxa represented in the samples (octopods, gastropods, bivalves, isopods, polychaetes and poriferans) was negligible. Among fish, channichthyids constituted the bulk of the diet, with Chionodraco rastrospinosus and Chaenodraco wilsoni, followed by the nototheniid, Pleuragramma antarcticum, being the main prey. The myctophid, Electrona antarctica, was the most frequent and numerous fish prey. The results are discussed and compared with those reported for the South Shetland Islands, the closest area for which similar information is available.

Description: Rotifers, one of the smallest metazoans, are only seldom found in marine environments. Surprisingly, we discovered high abundances of at least two new species of rotifers settling in anoxic and highly sulphidic sediments associated with shallow gas hydrates (GH) at the southern crest of Hydrate Ridge off Oregon, NE Pacific, in a water depth of about 780 m. At basins adjacent to Hydrate Ridge, 1,285–2,304 m deep, we found rotifers co-occurring with the sulphide-oxidising bacteria Thioploca sp.

Description: A new concept based on analysis of dive depth data was developed to help estimate prey consumption in ten free-ranging Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) that were brooding chicks. By simultaneously analysing the undulations in the dive depth profile (measured by time-depth recorders, TDRs) and beak opening (obtained from the recently developed intra-mandibular angle sensors, IMASEN), it was possible to determine the proportions of the undulations in the dive profile that resulted (or not) in prey capture. This methodology allowed the number of prey consumed to be estimated with a mean error of 10±6% using TDR data alone. If the mean mass of prey is known, then the overall mass of prey consumed per unit time can be determined. Additionally, the method allows estimation of the depth at which prey is taken and thus indicates how penguins exploit the water column. Due to its simplicity, the proposed methodology has applications for other Spheniscus penguin species and should be considered for other marine endotherm divers that show undulations in the dive depth profile.