ALBERT

Description: In brackish water the variety of marine and freshwater parasite species is considerably reduced. The distribution in brackish water of most marine endoparasites is restricted by the salinity tolerance of their hosts, most of the parasite species are more tolerant than their hosts. The influence of salinity and temperature on nine species has been examined; first stage larvae of Contracaecum aduncum develop in 0-32‰ salinity; Cryptocotyle lingua proved to be infective at salinities down to 4‰. The greatest resistance was found in Anisakis larvae from herring Clupea harengus, which survived for more than half a year. Parasites in the fish intestines appear to be unaffected by changing water salinities, as the osmolarity in the intestines stays nearly constant. Marine ectoparasites (Acanthochondria depressa, Lepeophtheirus pectoralis) survive about three times longer than freshwater species (Piscicola geometra, Argulus foliaceus) when salinity is 16‰. High temperature increases the effects of adverse salinities on parasites. There is evidence that none of these ecto-parasitic species can develop within the range of 7-20‰ salinity.

Description: The effects of hydrostatic pressure and dissolved oxygen concentration on oxygen consumption rates were examined in the mesopelagic, vertically migrating squid Histioteuthis heteropsis from southern California offshore waters. Elevated hydrostatic pressure (to 136 atm) had no significant effects on oxygen consumption rates at 5°C. Lox oxygen concentrations (〈0.5 ml O2 liter -1) depressed rates of oxygen consumption. These findings suggest that biosis may be necessary to supply the total nergy needs of this species at daytime depths in the oxygen minumum layer off southern California.

Description: Oceanographic measurements by groups from the Federal Republic of Germany contributed mainly to the C-Scale Experiment (centered at 9° N, 23° W) and the Equatoria1 Experiment. In this paper the data are presented that were obtained from the moorings F 1 and F 2 in the C-area. After a short discussion of instrument problems, data processing and statistical analysis, the data are presented graphically as time series, progressive vector diagrams, frequency distributions and spectra of horizontal kinetic energy and of temperature variance.

Description: The results of measurements on currents and stratification obtained by FRV "Anton Dohrn" during the GATE-Equatorial Experiment are presented in graphical form. Remarks on data processing arid errors involved are made accordingly.

Description: We report, numerically and in graphical form, measured tritium concentrations from five hydrographic stations in the North Atlantic. Fairly homogeneous concentrations are observed in a surface layer typically 400 m deep. In the thermocline, concentrations decrease steadily down to the a σθ = 27.3 density horizon, and are more variable further down. The tritium in the lower part of the thermocline originates from the Subarctic Intermediate Water and the Mediterranean Water. There is a relative tritium maximum associated with the Mediterranean Water on the easternmost station of the section. In the deep water (σθ 〉 27.8), concentrations east of the Midatlantic Ridge are close to the limit of detection down to 2500 m, and undetectable further down, while west of the ridge tritium is found throughout the water column. The deep water tritium is associated with the deep-water advective cores of Arctic origin. The present tritium data can serve as northern boundary values in attempts to use tritium in studies of the North Atlantic main thermocline dynamics. The present data together with data from the literature point to a general division of the North Atlantic main thermocline into two layers separated by an isopycnal surface near σθ = 27.3.

Description: During the international "Overflow-Expedition" 1973 on R.V. "Meteor" oxygen concentrations in surface layers were measured in order to determine the oxygen gradients within the First two meters and to add some informations to the mechanisms of oxygen exchange at the air-sea interface. These investigations may be interesting also with regard to long-term-observations of the oxygen distribution in the Atlantic, especially the problem of the A.O.U. (apparent oxygen utilization) determination. To measure oxygen gradients a special sampler was built which is able to take water samples each 20 cm of the First 2 meters. These data were supplemented by further samples down to 150 m, taken by conventional water samplers, from which samples were also taken to measure N2/02-relations. By comparing these relations with theoretical relations in air-saturated water the influence of biological production and consumption on the oxygen contents in water could be estimated. A simple glass apparatus was built to extract gas from the water samples, and hereafter the N2/02-relations were determined by mass spectrometry. Most distributions of the oxygen anomaly show a negative oxygen balance which varies largely, probably due to strong mixing processes in the Iceland-Färö ridge area. The distribution of surface oxygen saturation values are of two different types. The values of the stations 260, 262 and 270 stem from mixed water and show homogeneous supersaturations, as can be found instantly when whitecaps appear. The values of 9 other stations are from water, sampled during calm periods which has been mixed and supersaturated before. They show a decreasing oxygen saturation towards the sea surface and often undersaturation in the upper decimeters up to 98% and even 91%. So at the air-sea interface even less initial oxygen saturation than 100% can be found after supersaturation during heavy weather periods.

Description: Records of currents and temperature on the upper edge of the continental slope off Sierra Leone show a significant energy peak between 0.3 and 2 cph in the bottom near layer. The fluctuations of temperature and velocity are interpreted as internal waves over a critical bottom slope. Since they seem to receive their energy mainly from the barotropic tide, the phenomenon is of interest in the dissipation cascade of tidal waves. The high frequency current amplitudes are occasionally strong enough to affect sediment deposition and related benthic processes. Inspection of current meter records from other regions of the NW-African continental slope reveal the similar effect of intensified bottom current fluctuations.

Description: This paper presents a compilation of the data sets obtained by CTDs and profiling current meters on board the ships "Meteor" and "Planet" during GATE in the B- and C-Scale Areas (7°-10 °N, 22°-25°W, June 17 to September 24, 1974). The bulk of the CTD data is displayed in the form of isopleths. Selected sets of profiles, outlining special phenomena observed, and profiles of the mean and standard deviation of temperature and salinity are given additionally. Besides examples of actual current profiles, isopleths of the 25 hour mean current components, and isopleths of the vertical shear are presented. The mean current components and their standard deviations are also displayed. Time series presented are suitable for comparison with moored current measurements. The presentation of the data is preceded by a summary of the editing procedures and by a discussion of the data quality.

Description: One main point of our atmospheric-electric measurements over the Atlantic Ocean 1973 was the investigation of the air-earth current density above the sea. In addition to direct measurements at the water surface with a floating net, we calculated the air-earth current density from the electric field and the air conductivity measured simultaneously on board of the ship and during particular ascents in the free atmosphere. During all five ascents the air-earth current density did not change with altitude. For pure maritime air-conditions, the mean air-earth current density was found to be 2.9 pA/m2. The mean hourly air-earth current density over the Atlantic shows nearly the same 24-hour pattern as measured by COBB (1977) at the South Pole at the same time. When dust-loaden air masses of African origin reached the ship as well as under continental influence the mean air-earth current density was reduced to 2.1pA/m2. The global 24-hour pattern was modified by this continental influences. Finally, it is shown that the values of the air conductivity measured on board R. V. "Meteor" during our earlier expeditions have been influenced by the exhaust of the ship and must therefore be corrected. With this correction, our new mean values of the air-earth current density over the Atlantic are 2.6 pA/m2 in 1965 and 2.0 pA/m2 in 1969. From all measurements, the global air-earth current is estimated to be about 1250 A.

Description: The fluxes of momentum, heat, and water vapour have been obtained by the aerodynamic profile method. Within the frame work of GATE variation of fluxes with disturbed conditions are of special interest. The time traces of surface layer parameters repeatedly showed definite instationarities marked by a sudden drop of temperature by a few degrees centigrade. For these pronounced instationarities, equilibrium state of the profiles was regained after a few minutes, in agreement with scale considerations. For fluxes properly nondimensionalized in terms of surface layer parameters, no systematic deviations have been found under disturbed conditions compared with undisturbed conditions. Due to systematic variations of parameters, the energy exchange between sea and atmosphere was enhanced by about 30 % under disturbed conditions. From the above evidence it is concluded that for larger scale investigations reliable determination of fluxes from surface layer mean variables is possible.

Description: The Aitken particle size distribution in background aerosols was measured with a newly developed Diffusion Analyzer System. The measuring system and the inversion method is discussed critically. The several hundreds of measurements indicate that several maxima in the size distribution are present. Particles as small as 10-3 µm in radius are constantly observed. Measurements of other authors indicate similar results.

Description: Size distributions of Aitken nuclei were measured in the middle and western part of the North Atlantic between 38 through 22° N and 36 through 63° W. The apparatus comprised diffusion batteries and an especially designed condensation nuclei counter. The measurements cover the size range from about 3·10-1 through to 1·10-5 cm aerodynamically equivalent particle radius. There are some indications on the trend of particle numbers above 1·10-5 cm but no reliable number distributions. The size spectra were bimodal in the north eastern part of the cruise. Closer to the Caribbean the contribution of very small particles was enhanced and the peaks shifted to larger sizes to a certain extent.

Description: On board of the German research vessels "Meteor" and "Anton Dohrn" the components of shortwave and longwave radiation budgets have been measured over the Fladenground area during a short period in 1975 (13.-19. August) and the Fladenground-Experiment (FLEX, 25 March 1976-13 June 1976). The data show that in spring and in the beginning of summer, when the ocean water is still cool, the daily incident solar radiation exceeds the net thermal radiation loss of the water to the atmosphere. In August, however, the water emission has increased to such a level that on disturbed days the daily mean radiation balance is negative. The monthly averages of the radiation budget and the global radiation derived from the shipborn measurements agree surprisingly well with those derived by several authors from climatological data. A simple scheme has been developed to parameterize the global radiation with respect to the observed cloudiness.

Description: The Th content of the sediment samples from "Meteor" core 12310 (3080 m water depth, off NW Africa) on a carbonate-free basis lies around the average of 12.4 ppm and is similar to the average content of the earth crust. On the contrary, uranium was found to be up to 3.5-fold enriched in the core section between 60 and 330 cm (within the Würm Glacial) where reducing conditions occur, due to deposition of authigenic uranium (9 µg/cm2 1000 yrs.). The authigenic uranium content is correlated to the organic matter content (U/Corg ratio = 6 · 10-4). On the basis of the uranium content of the oxidized section uranium was split into a detritic and an authigenic component and the amount of supported ionium was calculated. From the profile of the specific I0.excess act1v1ty Io-total - Io-supported) with depth, average sedimentation rates of 3.3 ± 0.6 cm/1000 yrs. for the warmer stages and of 5 ± 1 cm/1000 yrs. for the cooler periods were estimated.

Description: A rapid procedure for Io (Th230) dating of sediments with accumulation rates in the range of several cm/1000 years is described. Studying of large sample populations with very small Io-excess activity is possible as the counting time (around 1500 min/sample) are 2 to 5 times shorter than with the standard Io-excess method. Improved sensitivity of the Io-excess measurement is achieved by: 1) extraction (~90%) of the authigenic Io-excess with EDTA, with minor leaching (~30%) of the allogenic Th232 and Io-supported, 2) processing samples as large as 10 g or more. The procedure was applied to sediments from the Caribbean (V 12-122) and from the Ionian Sea (22M48 and 17M17). In the case of the standard core V 12-122 our results are in good agreement with previous time-consuming Io determinations. The resulting average accumulation rates of 2.0 ± 0.3 cm/1000 years for the Ionian Sea cores are close to the average derived from magnetic reversal studies of a nearby core.

Description: A preliminary study was carried out on the ostracode fauna obtained from marine sediments off the Sahara Desert. The ostracodes are divided into two distinct associations: Association A - shallow water (100-483 m); Association B - deep water (470-2859 m). The deep water association differs from that of the shallow water by its low diversity and by the predominance of somewhat larger "blind" ostracodes in it. The depth of the boundary between the two associations corresponds closely to the general universally recognized 500 m boundary, below which psychrospheric conditions prevail and dictate the appearance of typical deepwater ostracode fauna.