ALBERT

Description: Some current meter data obtained from a mooring at 2450 m water depth near the continental slope off Portugal are presented. The mean currents at five levels with observations are northward. Mean speeds in the core of the Mediterranean Water exceed speeds at shallower levels by 2 to 3 cm/sec, indicating advection connected to this specific water mass. The current variability is dominated by semi-diurnal tidal components. Normal mode analysis reveals a predominant mode of order 2, representing 48% of the total kinetic tidal energy. Results for the barotropic tidal component are in good agreement with earlier predictions for this area. The motion at higher frequencies ω in the internal gravity wave band can be well described by a ω-2 power law for the energy density spectrum. This result is consistent with earlier observations in other parts of the ocean.

Description: Continuous temperature and salinity profiles from the NE-Atlantic frequently show a double-maxima straucture within the depth range of the Mediterranean outflow. Two explanations for this special thermohaline stratification con be found in literature: a) The density of the outflow is varied by different outflow channels with unequal mixing properties. b) In the Strait of Gibraltar two different outflowing water types are produced by tidal currents. in both cases the different water masses spread in different density levels in the Atlantic. Data presented here indicate that the bimodal straucture must be caused primarily by tidal currents at the source. Two-layered outflowing Mediterranean water was observed even before a splitting of the under-current in the Gulf of Cádiz takes place. The variability of the double-maxima can be explained by varying outflow rates in the source region rather than by a steady influence of the bottom topography.

Description: Data on the N2O contents of marine air and sea water from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean are presented. The N2O content of marine air is rather constant. The data are in accordance with earlier measurements. The sea water down to depths greater than 1,000 meters is considerably supersaturated with N2O with respect to air. Supersaturation values obtained from surface water allow the conclusion that part of the North Atlantic acts as a net source of atmospheric N2O.

Description: The expedition "Auftrieb '72" was conducted in the NW African Upwelling Region off the Banc d' Arguin and included two geological profiles off Cap Blanc and off Villa Cisneros. R.V. "Meteor" and R.V. "Planet", the research plane "Canberra" and the tourist vessel M.S. "Regina Maris" participated in the expedition. Several components added up to a coordinated programme of different disciplines: Current meter moorings, large-scale oceanography and intensive studies of frontal zones were the task of R.V. "Planet". Medium-scale oceanography, chemistry and various disciplines of marine biology were performed with R.V. "Meteor", while the airplane and M.S. "Regina Maris" supplied background oceanographic information for the whole programme. The work done with R.V. "Meteor" is reported here. lt has been organised in three sections: Cruise section I. Nutrient dynamics in upwelling water bodies, in continuation of the work done during the "Roßbreiten-Expedition 1970". Cruise section II. Circulation in an upwelling system, including direct measurements of the vertical velocity; mixing processes in an upwelling system. Cruise section III. Sediment and benthos in areas of strong and weak upwelling. The approach to the study of these processes varied according to the problem. During cruise section I a number of drift experiments similar to the experiment conducted during the "Roßbreiten-Expedition 1970" was performed, consisting of a regular station programme at a freely drifting buoy which served for marking a patch of upwelling water. Cruise section II consisted of repeated sections in the vicinity of the vertical current meters and the current meter moorings. Cruise section III concentrated on two profiles perpendicular to the coast off Cap Blanc and Villa Cisneros.

Description: During "Meteor" cruise 23 in spring 1971 intensive investigations of the Mediterranean outflow in the Gulf of Cádiz were carried out. In order to give a budget of the inflow and outflow numerous CTD-stations were taken. The observations also included six moored current meter arrays deployed in the known outflow channels. The considerations given here are based mainly on three hydrographic sections, current meter records averaged over one month, and geological observations from the bed forms beneath the Mediterranean undercurrent. The results show that the outflow essentially is determined by the bathymetry of the area. At least four separate outflow channels could be confirmed. The volumentric transport rates of three of them were calculated. These channels are the northerly near shelf branch (0.40 · 106 m3 sec-1), the main branch (1.39 · 106 m3 sec-1 in southwesterly direction, and an intermediate branch (0.24 · 106 m3 sec-l) found between both. In a static box model the progressive mixing of 0.95 · 106 m3 sec-1 pure Mediterranean Water with 1.97 · 106 m3 sec-1 North Atlantic Central Water is demonstrated.

Description: The tropical circulation exhibits a prominent two-layer structure in the vertical: a moist-unstable lower layer (the "trade layer") with an ITCZ-ward directed mass transport, and a stable upper layer. The aerolo�gical measurements of the German research vessel "Meteor" in Nov.-Dec. 1965 over the Eastern Atlantic (19° W) show that this mean structure is valid even in actual meridional sections, if disturbances are absent. It follows that vertical averages over each of the two layers are appropriate to characterize the tropical atmosphere. In this paper only the trade layer is studied. Its upper boundary is defined by (a) the vertical minimum of static energy; (b) the vertical extreme value of various physical quantities such as temperature and humidity gradients; ( c) constant surfaces of a quantity c which proved useful for the data evaluations. All these definitions are more or less equivalent. The boundary surface is permeable for vertical property transports which are parameterized in terms of the hot tower- and subsidence-process (RIEHL & MALKUS). It is not possible, however, to calculate these fluxes, since meridional profiles of the horizontal mass and energy transport divergence cannot be inferred from the "Meteor" data. The main results are: (1) the static energy surface (a) is always parallel to, but systematically several 100 meters above, the surfaces (b ). (2) The sea surface pressure is practically independent of the trade layer thickness. (3) The components of the horizontal transport of momentum and energy are practically uncorrelated in the vertical; this demonstrates the Hadley-like character of the trade layer. (5) Water vapour plays with 〉 50% contribution the dominant role in the horizontal energy transport. ( 6) In the diabatic forcing function the flux of latent heat across the sea surface contributes the biggest part.These results show that vertically integrated two-layer models represent the gross features of the tropical circulation. Such formulations are thus a good approach towards simple and straightforward models for numerical experiments.

Description: The size distribution of sulphate containing particles over the North Atlantic was determined for particles with radii larger than 0.18 µm. It is compared with the size distributions of the total aerosol, the hygroscopic and the insoluble parts in the maritime aerosol. From mass concentrations of sulphate and sodium, it can be concluded that only a fraction of sulphate originates from the ocean. The sulphate mass distribution separated into its sea salt sulphate and excess sulphate components is compared with a continental distribution.

Description: This paper describes measurements from shortwave radiation radiosonde ascents done at the Atlantische Expedition 1969. Using the results from a total of 67 ascents mean components of the shortwave radiation budget of the atmospheric layer between the ocean surface and the top of the ascent are discussed. The influence of clouds on the radiation balance is shown by dividing the ascents in classes of cloudiness and cloud altitude. Thereby the albedo of the ocean surface is increasing with increasing amount of cloudiness. Similar the albedo of the troposphere increases involving an increased heating rate of the atmospheric layer.

Description: This paper presents the components of the radiation balance and the balance itself, which are measured from "Meteor" during A TEX from January 1 to March 2, 1969 in the Atlantic Ocean. For "Planet", also engaged in ATEX, measurements of the global radiation are shown for the period of February 4 to February 28, 1969. From the results obtained by "Meteor" the albedo of the sea surface has been calculated and is presented for two exemplary days.

Description: The CaC03-contents and the fractions 〉 40 μm have been analysed from 5 kastenloten, one piston core and two kastengreifer taken between Senegal and Cape Verde Islands. Numerous benthonic and planktonic organisms and different terrigenous components have been distinguished. The four cores off Senegal reach middle Würm sediments; cores 29 and 72 (see Fig. 1) reach the V-zone and core 31 the X-zone (Eem); the two kastengreifer contain sediments of Holocene age. Correlation of the cores has been made (see Fig. 8). Holocene sedimentation rates decrease from the shallow cores (6-11 cm/1000 years) to the deep-sea (1-2 cm/1000 years) (see Table 2). The following climatic variations could be deduced from the sediments off the Senegal (Fig. 9): during Holocene climate was in general as today, the Senegal river transporting fine grained material to the sea. The upper Würm was arid with no river influence but with red dune sand transported to the continental slope. During middle Würm the climate was humid again. The deep-sea cores (Fig. 10) have been influenced by eolian material from arid regions during glacial and interglacial periods, indicated by relatively high "Wüstenquarz-numbers". However, during Würm "Wüstenquarz-numbers" are higher than during Holocene and Eem, indicating that more intensely red coloured sediment was exposed to wind activity on the continent during this period. Varying amounts of terrigenous material and CaC03-contents indicate varying wind strengths (lower in Holocene and Eem than during Würm). The boundary between humid and arid Würm climate was at approximately 20° N. Influence of upwelling is difficult to establish in the sediments off Senegal, because river influence, while increasing fertility also dilutes the diatoms which are typical for upwelling. High amounts of organic carbon, low plankton/benthos ratios of foraminifers and low plankton foraminifer/radiolarian ratios in Holocene sections might be interpreted as influenced by upwelling. Turbidites occur in cores 72 and 31 and at the Holocene/Pleistocene boundary of core 29. Their composition indicates provenance from the continental shelf of the Cape Verde Islands for core 31 and the continental shelf and slope off Senegal for core 72. Volcanic material, rare in the normal pelagic sediment of core 31 is more frequent in the turbidites. Nests in core 45 show an enrichment of shells, mainly pteropods, benthonic molluscs and vertebrate debris compared to the surrounding sediment. Their mode of formation is not clear.

Description: Plankton pump samples and plankton tows (size fractions between 0.04 mm and 1.01 mm) from the eastern North Atlantic Ocean contain the following shell- and skeleton-producing planktonic and nectonic organisms, which can be fossilized in the sediments: diatoms, radiolarians, foraminifers, pteropods, heteropods, larvae of benthic gastropods and bivalves, ostracods, and fish. The abundance of these components has been mapped quantitatively in the eastern North Atlantic surface waters (Fig. 4) in October - December 1971. More ash (after ignition of the organic matter, consisting mostly of these components) per cubic meter of water is found close to land masses (continents and islands) and above shallow submarine elevations than in the open ocean. Preferred biotops of planktonic diatoms in the region described are temperate shallow water and tropical coastal upwelling areas. Radiolarians rarely occur close to the continent, but are abundant in pelagic warm water masses, even near islands. Foraminifers are similar to the radiolarians, rarer in the coastal water mass of the continent than in the open ocean or off oceanic islands. Their abundance is highest outside the upwelling area off NW Africa. Molluscs generally outnumber planktonic foraminifers, implying that the carbonate cycle of the ocean might be influenced considerably by these animals. The molluscs include heteropods, pteropods, and larvae of benthic bivalves and gastropods. Larvae of benthic molluscs accur more frequently close to continental and island margins and above submarine shoals (in this case mostly guyots) than in the open ocean. Their size increases, but they decrease in number with increasing distance from their area of origin. Ostracods and fish have only been found in small numbers concentrated off NW Africa. All of the above-mentioned components occur in higher abundances in the surface watet than in subsurface waters. They are closely related to the hydrography of the sampled watet masses (here defined through temperature measutements). Relatively warm water masses of the southeastern branches of the Gulf Stream system transport subtropical and southern temperate species to the Bay of Biscay, relatively cool water masses of the Portugal and Canary Currents carry transitional faunal elements along the NW African coast southwards to tropical regions. These mix in the northwest African upwelling area with tropical faunal elements which are generally assumed to live in the subsurface water masses and which probably have been transported northwards to this area by a subsurface counter current. The faunas typical for tropical surface water masses are not only reduced due to the tongue of cool water extending southwards along the coast, but they are also removed from the coastal zone by the upwelling subsurface water masses carrying their own shell and skeleton assemblages. Tropical water masses contain much more shelland skeleton-producing plankters than subtropical and temperate ones. The climatic conditions found at different latitudes control the development and intensity of separate continental coastal water mass with its own plankton assemblages. Extent of this water mass and steepness of gradients between the pelagic and coastal environment limit the occurrence of pelagic plankton close to the continental coast. A similar water mass in only weakly developed off oceanic islands.

Description: 54 miliolid species of 129 samples from the Persian Gulf have been described and illustrated. Some of the most common species have been plotted in depth frequency diagrams, important groups proportionally in triangular diagrams. The fequency of most species generally increases with water depth, with decreasing sedimentation rate and increasing grain size, respectively and has maximum values at water depths between 50 and 75 m. The frequency of some species decreases with water depth. A consideration of the proportions of three selected groups gives an indication of water depth. Text-fig. 19 summarizes the results in a block diagram.

Description: Living and dead benthic Foraminifera of 26 sediment surface samples from the East Atlantic continental margin (off Portugal) are studied. The stations are located on two profiles off Cape Mondego and off Cape Sines, ranging in water depth from 45 to 3905 meters. The highest values of standing crop are on the shelf (200 m) (up to 420 specimens/10 cm3). Below 1000 m watet depth standing crop is low (5-24 specimens/10 cm3). 151 species and species groups are distinguished; 41 species are described and partly illustrated. The Figures 13-18 show the relative frequencies and the depth distributions (living and dead) of the most important species. Most of the living species do occur in a wide depth range. Faunal depth boundaries are at 50/100 m, at 600/800 m, and at 1000 m (Fig. 19). Results published from the North Atlantic and the East Mediterranean do not differ from those obtained in samples off Portugal. The Mediterranean outflow probably does not influence the benthic foraminiferal fauna off Portugal. Depth of water (e. g. hydrostatic pressure) or another factor being controlled by depth (e. g. limitation of food supply) seems to be the most important factor of the benthic foraminiferal distribution.

Description: Six soft sediment cores, up to and over 9 m in length, and additional surface samples were selected for study of their planktonic foraminifera to provide information on the Holocene and Pleistocene stratigraphy of the West African continental margin south of the present boundary of the Sahara. The material was collected mainly by the German research vessel "Meteor" during Cruise 25 in 1971. One piston core has been selected from the material provided by the Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse project of thc U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ship "Discoverer"). The residues larger than 160 microns were determined, counted and statistically evaluated (Fig. 11 ). Stratigraphical correlations with trans-Atlantic regions are given by the occurrence of Truncorotaloides hexagonus and Globorotalia tumida flexuosa which mark the last interglacial stage (Fig. 2). According to the climatic record the two deep-sea cores extend down to the V-zone, considered here as equivalent to the Mindel-Riss-interglacial time, as there are three distinctly warm and two cold periods indicated in the cores by planktonic foraminiferal faunas. Z-zone = Holocene is present in all cores, Y-zone = Würmian glacial can be divided into five sections, three cold and two warm stages; the X-zone can be divided into three warm stages, separated by two cool periods. The earliest warm stage is indicated to be the warmest one. There are excellent correlations to the Camp century ice core from Greenland, to the Mediterranean, to the Carribbean and to the tropical Atlantic as weil as to the Barbados stages (Fig. 27). The W-zone was correlated to the Riss-glacial. V-zone is a warm period, the upper limit of which being not sufficiently defined, which contains also some cool sections. Increasing sedimentation rates from the deep-sea to the upper slope reveal climatic and regional details in Holocene and Late Pleistocene history of the continental margin. These were based mainly on different parameters of planktonic foraminiferal thanatocoenoses (Figs. 2-10, 15- 26) which are the main components of the size fraction 〉 160 microns of the pelagic cores. They become increasingly diluted by other faunal and terrigeneous components with decreasing slope depths (Figs. 11, 14). Estimates of absolute abundances (Fig. 14), ranging from 25000 specimens/gm of sediment in the deep sea to less than 100, indicate various sedimentary processes at the continental margin. An ecological correlation by dominant species (Fig. 15) is possible. Readily computed temperature indices of different scales (Figs. 20-26) are presented which indicate, for instance, three distinctly cold sections within the last glacial and several warm sections within the last interglacial time. These are used for estimates of sedimentation rates. During cold periods sedimentation rates are higher than during warmer periods. Stratigraphie correlation and faunal record, combined with absolute abundances and sedimentation rates, indicated that in the deep sea turbidity currents not only cause high sedimentation rates for short periods of time, but also that material is occasionally eroded. Effects of upwelling may be detected in the surface sediment samples as well as in late Pleistocene and early Holocene samples of the slope by planktonic foraminiferal data which are not influenced by sedimentary processes.

Description: 1. Three species of Crustacea Decapoda Reptantia are recorded from the Iberian deep sea basin, which belong all to Munidopsis. 2. A species highly characteristic of this basin was newly described under the name Munidopsis thieli. 3. For investigations on zoogeography of deep sea areas ultraabyssal species should be used.

Description: 1. Nine species of Crustacea Decapoda Reptantia were collected during cruise 26 of R. V. "Meteor". 2. Subspecific status is given to Ilia nucleus spinosa and Ilia nucleus nucleus and discussed in some detail. Both taxa were referred to as independent species up to this time. 3. The intermediate faunal character of the Mauretanian province is proved by the example of Cap Blanco. Further investigation is of need for getting complete evidence on the fauna of that area.

Description: Four new species of the genus Sphaerolaimus BASTIAN, 1865 are described: S. crassicanda sp. nov., S. ibericus sp. nov., S. hadalis sp. nov., S. peruanus sp. nov. These nematodes from the deep-sea were collected during cruise 8 of R. V. "Meteor" in the Iberian Deep-Sea in depths between 1311 m and 1944 m and during cruise 11 of R. V. "Anton Bruun" in the Peru-Trench in depths between 500 and 6300 m. A key to the genus is provided.

Description: Some Tardigrades were collected during the 1964/1965 R. V. "Meteor" cruise in the Indian Ocean. Thirty-nine specimens were gathered by H. THIEL from deep sea stations ranging from 1630 to 4690 m. These specimens included the types of a new family of Arthrotardigrada: the Coronarctidae, a preliminary description of which was given by RENAUD-MORNANT (1974). A complementary and detailed description of adults and larvae is given hereby and an attempt is made to insert this new family in the phylogenetical series of the order Heterotardigrada. A new genus of Halechiniscidae is established with the description of the type-species Euclavarctus thieli n. g., n. sp. The genus Pleocola CANTACUZÈNE, 1951 is recorded from two different stations and P. conifera n. sp. is described. The problem of the distribution of Tardigrada in abyssal depths is discussed on account of the occurrence of Coronarctus in both Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, and of the new record of the genus Pleocola in deep water.

Description: The meiofauna of the deep sea areas (800-5500 m) between Madeira and Lisbon was quantitatively investigated during the "Meteor" cruises in 1970 and 1971. With respect to numbers and biomass the meiofauna (especially nematodes and harpacticoid copepods) of the investigated areas is relatively poor averaging about 66,000 individuals per m2 and 34 mg per m2 wet weight biomass (polychaetes and foraminifera excluded). Regional differences are more pronounced in the investigated areas than differences due to depths. A comparison with the results of other authors from other areas confirms the regional variations in the meiofauna abundance of the deep sea.

Description: Among the gastropod material taken by R. V. "Meteor" on the Great Meteor Bank during the seamount cruises in 1967, a new cymatiid species was found, resembling very closely the recently discovered Gyrineum louisae LEWIS, 1974 from off Hawaii. The new species - regarded as a sibling species to G. louisae - is described under the name Gyrineum atlanticum. Some comments are made on the validity of the genus Gyrineum LINK, 1807 and the zoogeography of the closely related species is discussed.