ALBERT

Description: Studies on the Mediterranean Undercurrent in the Gulf of Cádiz showed that bacterial abundance and biomass as well as heterotrophic activity were higher in the water of Mediterranean origin in 500–800 m depth than in the adjacent Atlantic water. Upwelling processes off Mauretania and Portugal were accompanied by high bacterial numbers (bacterial plate counts) in the mixed surface layer. Changes in the qualitative composition of the bacterial flora in the waters off West Africa and in the Arabian Gulf were explained by the introduction of dust from desert regions into the sea by aeolian transport. In the Western Baltic migration of fish was detected by the presence of special bacteria, which normally live on or in these animals. Regions with complex hydrographic structures such as the Western and Central Baltic Sea revealed interesting relationships between bacteriological abundance and activity on the one hand and characteristic physical and chemical properties, such as origin, salinity and O2/H2S‐content, on the other. The importance of bacteriological variables for the characterization of different water bodies is discussed.

Description: A detailed study of paleoclimatic proxy data (stable isotopes, planktonic foraminiferal census data, carbonate content, and Ice Rafted Detritus (IRD)) in the surface sediments of the Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Seas (GIN-seas) shows that different proxies are closely related to the surface water masses, to the position of oceanic fronts and to the sea ice extent. Both stable isotopes, foraminifers and sedimentological data differentiate between Polar water with extensive sea ice cover, Arctic water with only seasonal sea ice cover, and warm Atlantic water. The fronts that border these surface water masses are also well defined. Polar water is characterized by lower carbon and oxygen isotope values than Arctic water, and a slightly lower content of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral in the Polar Front region. Carbonate content is low and IRD input is high in Polar waters. Arctic water has highest carbon and oxygen isotope values, and is completely dominated by N. pachyderma sin. The Arctic Front is reflected by a clear isotopic gradient and by a strong switch from N. pachyderma sin. dominance to Globigerina quinqueloba dominance. Atlantic Water is defined by lower carbon and oxygen isotope values and by dominance of N. pachyderma dextral and increased amounts of Globigerina bulloides. The results have implications for paleoceanographic reconstructions of cold environments and point to the possibility of better defining sea ice margins and convective regions as well as frontal positions in past high latitude oceans. Applying these results to the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas indicates more dynamic and less sea ice covered surface conditions in the GIN-seas than in earlier reconstructions.

Description: Early Tertiary lithospheric breakup between Eurasia and Greenland was accompanied by a transient (∼3 m.y.) igneous event emplacing both the onshore flood basalts of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province (NAVP) and huge extrusive complexes along the continent‐ocean transition on the rifted continental margins. Seismic data show that volcanic margins extend 〉2600 km along the early Eocene plate boundary, in places underlain by high‐velocity (7.2–7.7 km/s) lower crustal bodies. Quantitative calculations of NAVP dimensions, considered minimum estimates, reveal an areal extent of 1.3×106 km2 and a volume of flood basalts of 1.8×106 km3, yielding a mean eruption rate of 0.6 km3/yr or 2.4 km3/yr if two‐thirds of the basalts were emplaced within 0.5 m.y. The total crustal volume is 6.6×106 km3, resulting in a mean crustal accretion rate of 2.2 km3/yr. Thus NAVP ranks among the world's larger igneous provinces if the volcanic margins are considered. The velocity structure of the expanded crust seaward of the continent‐ocean boundary differs from standard oceanic and continental crustal models. Based on seismic velocities this “volcanic margin” crust can be divided into three units of which the upper unit corresponds to basaltic extrusives. The regionally consistent velocity structure and geometry of the crustal units suggest that the expanded crust, including the high‐velocity lower crust which extends some distance landward of the continent‐ocean boundary, was emplaced during and subsequent to breakup. The volcanic margin crust was formed by excess melting within a wide zone of asthenospheric upwelling, probably reflecting the interaction of a mantle plume and a lithosphere already extending.

Description: The effects of a floating fish farm in Kiel Fjord, Western Baltic, have been studied in the summer 1991 by underwater video, sediment and benthos samples. Significant alterations of the benthos and sediment geochemistry as compared to control stations were documented. The sediment under the farm is anoxic, organically enriched (1.5 to 3.5 fold), covered by sulfur bacteria, and almost free of benthic macro fauna. Rates of decay of organic carbon and oxygen uptake (derived from porewater profiles) are high and account for 100–150 mmol m‐2 d‐1 in summer.

Description: Nicht leicht haben es die Vertreter einer wenig beschriebenen Terordnung, nach denen wir diesmal fragen. Birgt doch ihr Parasitendasein mit mehrfachem Wirtswechsel in den Weiten der Ozeane nicht wenige Gefahren.

Description: Changes in permeability and porosity during shortening deformation of Carrara marble and hot-pressed calcite aggregates were measured under high pressure at room temperature using argon as pore fluid. At effective pressures of 30 and 50 MPa, the permeability of Carrara marble increased by up to 2 orders of magnitude with less than 2% strain during which the connected porosity increased by only 0.005. The permeability increased more slowly with further strain up to 18%, during which the connected porosity increased by a further 0.05 to 0.06. At effective pressures of 100 MPa to 200 MPa, these effects were much less marked. In hot-pressed calcite aggregates, deformed at an effective pressure of 50 MPa, the permeability increased by about 2 orders of magnitude after about 12% strain and an increase in connected porosity of about 0.03. Microstructural studies indicate that, in the coarse-grained Carrara marble specimens, both transgranular and grain boundary cracks are present after room temperature deformation. For a given strain, the average length and the linear density of transgranular cracks decrease with increasing effective pressure. In fine-grained, hot-pressed calcite aggregates, dilatancy is mainly due to opening of grain boundary cracks. The very marked increase in permeability with small strain at low effective pressure can be correlated with the proliferation of connected microcracks of relatively large apertures, deduced on the basis of theoretical models.