ALBERT

Description: WHILE ammonites and all other ectocochleate cephalopods became extinct, nautiloids survived relatively unchanged from the Ordovician, suggesting that they are unusually well adapted to their niche. Here we obtain high-resolution tracks of Nautilus positions and depths, combined with telemetered jet pressures, which clarify both its lifestyle and economics. Nautilus is more active in nature than in captivity1, but its energy costs are lower than projected2,3. Viewing Nautilus as 'vertic', rather than benthic, resolves this contradiction. Records show that the cost of transport is the same in any direction within a vertical plane. Living on a reef face swept by a lateral current means that vertical movements4,5 sample large areas for chemical trails. A detected trail can be followed upcurrent in the slow-moving boundary layer, but no effort is wasted on horizontal movement without good prospects for food; long-range movements are downcurrent and made by drifting. Once fed, a Nautilus can reduce its energy costs by moving to deeper, cooler waters, where a single meal can last for months.

Description: There has been concern about recent temperature trends and the future effects of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere1,2; but instrumental records only cover a few decades to a few centuries and it is essential that proxy data sources, such as pollen spectra from peats and lake sediments, be carefully interpreted as climate records. Several workers have shown statistically significant associations between the modern pollen rain and climatic parameters, an approach that by-passes the recognition of pollen/vegetation units. Statistically defined equations that associate abiotic and biotic elements are called transfer functions. We report here on the application of transfer function equations to nine middle and late Holocene peat and lake sediment sequences from northern Canada (Fig. 1).

Description: THE vestimentiferan tubeworm Riftia pachyptila is found around hydrothermal vent areas in the deep sea. Intracellular bacterial chemoautotrophic symbionts use the oxidation of sulphide from the effluent of the vents as an energy source for CO2 fixation. They apparently provide most or all of the nutritional requirements for their gutless hosts1–5. This kind of symbiosis has since been found in many other species from various other phyla from other habitats6–9. Here we present results that the bacteria of R. pachyptila may cover a significant fraction of their respiratory needs by the use of nitrate in addition to oxygen. Nitrate is reduced to nitrite, which may be the end product (nitrate respiration)10 or it may be further reduced to nitrogen gas (denitrification)11. This metabolic trait may have an important role in the colonization of hypoxic habitats in general by animals with this kind of symbiosis.

Description: THE supply of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is not considered to limit oceanic primary productivity1, as its concentration in sea water exceeds that of other plant macronutrients such as nitrate and phosphate by two and three orders of magnitude, respectively. But the bulk of oceanic new production2 and a major fraction of vertical carbon flux is mediated by a few diatom genera whose ability to use DIG components other than CO2, which comprises 〈 1% of total DIC3, is unknown4. Here we show that under optimal light and nutrient conditions, diatom growth rate can in fact be limited by the supply of CO2. The doubling in surface water pCO2 levels since the last glaciation from 180 to 355 p.p.m.5,6 could therefore have stimulated marine productivity, thereby increasing oceanic carbon sequestration by the biological pump.

Description: Analysis of aeolo-marine dust deposits in the subtropical eastern Atlantic enables the strength of the major wind patterns during the late Quaternary to be evaluated and gives an insight into the climate of North Africa.

Description: Tracking a balloon with a single ship-based theodolite, is a method which has been used for a long time to determine the wind profile over the sea. There are two main sources of error: (a) the incorrect estimate of the height of the balloon and (b) the pitch and roll motions of the ship. In this paper the effects of both errors are investigated. The ship's motion is simulated with use of a transformation from a fixed (earth) to a moving (ship) coordinate system. Some examples are presented to illustrate the magnitude of these effects.

Description: During the 1971 "Meteor" survey of the Mediterranean Outflow, seven current meter moorings were deployed and several hydrographic stations executed. The time series data from almost all the current meters revealed a solitary increase in temperature with an amplitude of ≃ 1 °C and a duration of 2-4 days. The present analysis of the event shows that it was due to a thickening of the Mediterranean Outflow and an increase in the volume transport. The origin of the event is traced to the source of the Outflow from where it propagated with a speed of 16 cm s-1. Coinciding with the time at which the event passed the Strait of Gibraltar, the cross channel water level difference revealed an anomalous variation of about 8-cm amplitude and 3-day duration. Through conversion the magnitude of this fluctuation is now shown to simply a significant increase in the Outflow volume transport. An investigation of the reigning meteorological conditions indicates that, simultaneously, an impulse of water in the Alboran Sea was transported westwards by the wind. Through a qualitative and quantitative approach, the atmospheric forcing of the Western Mediterranean is thus linked to a large variation in the Outflow structure.

Description: On a cruise from the eastern into the western Mediterranean Sea in November/December 1978 a total of 126 samples were collected from 8 vertical profiles and 7 coastal stations for trace metal analysis. The sampling, processing and analysis was performed under strict "clean room" conditions. The concentration of the open-sea samples are close to oceanic results gathered under similar conditions. The grand averages from all profiles ( ± st. dev. of the individual samples) of 0.40 ± 0.16 µg l-1 Zn, 17.4 ± 7.4 ng l-1 Cd, 0.21 ± 0.07 µg l-1 Cu, 0.21 ± 0.13 µg l-1 Mn and 0.25 ± 0.09 μg l-1 Fe indicate that a "metal problem" does not exist in the open Mediterranean. A biologically mediated depletion in surface waters or correlation with nutrients have not been observed under the conditions established on this cruise. This is probably due to low primary production and seasonal advection processes prevailing in this sea. The data for manganese show generally higher values in the surface layer (0-75 m) than in deep waters. This could evidently proved in the nearshore profile indicating a terrigenous source for manganese.

Description: In general the natural aerosol reacts very sensitively to the change of relative humidity. This behaviour could be observed from August to September during the Atlantic "Meteor" -Expedition 1965, but not during the periods January to May 1969 and July to August 1974. There are some reasons for the assumption that this is an effect of organic material in the surfaces of the particles. But we do not know if this is an effect of different seasons or of increasing pollution of the atmospheric aerosol.

Description: Five reflection seismic profiles from the borderland between Messina Abyssal Plain and Malta Ridge (= Medina Rise), recorded during "Meteor" cruise no. 50 in 1978, are described. The subbottom/bottom structures are interpreted as a pattern of broad grabens and intercalated SW-NE striking narrow horsts. Within the grabens great thicknesses of Messinian evaporites as well as of Quaternary turbiditic sediments, depending on the respective differential sinking, were accumulated. Some of the horsts rise above the surrounding seafloor. Ontop of the horsts, being mainly composed of pre-Messinian series, only little or no evaporites at all were deposited. The cover of Quaternary sediments depends on the position of the horst with respect to the seafloor. The thickness of Pliocene sediments is constant within the whole studied area. The authors conclude from the observations that the pattern of horsts and grabens acted already during Messinian time producing the variable thickness of the evaporite layer. The relative movements between grabens and horsts as well as a general sinking of the whole area must have acted also in Pliocene and Quaternary time.

Description: Three sediment cores from the continental shelf and slope off NW Africa (Banc d'Arguin; 52 m, 665 m, and 973 m water depth) have been investigated by means of a coarse fraction analysis. The two shallower cores have been deposited during less than 10,000 years, the deeper one during the last 36,000 years. The Holocene sedimentation (〈 4000 years) in the deeper part of core 79 from the edge of the Banc d'Arguin is strongly influenced by reworking of Late Glacial dune sands and biogenic particles from shallower water (〈 40 m), as well as eroding current influence. A decrease in grain size of silicate material and a decrease in lateral supply, correlated to a doubling of accumulation rates in the upper part of the core, indicates a more autochthonous sedimentation with less sorting influence in the youngest Holocene. In core 86 from 665 m water depth a turbidite consisting mainly of silicate sand and silt separates two layers of autochthonous Holocene sediments. This turbidite shows a complete bioturbational mixing, only at its bottom the original bedding can be detected. Gradational changes in sediment composition indicate the decreasing admixture of allochthonous material from the bottom of the turbidite in 300 cm to about 140 (100) cm core depth. The depth of provenance of the allochthonous material can be assumed in 100-300 m water depth as indicated by various biogenous particles. Small amounts of shallow water particles in the autochthonous layers indicate a supply from shallow water, which probably occurred by the mechanism of "particle by particle supply". None of the three cores indicates upwelling influence, although oceanographers found intense upwelling in the area of the Banc d'Arguin. The Holocene climate in that area probably has been arid, small variations in terrigenous matter composition and grain size in the Early Holocene might be due to decreased wind strength or to an increase in rain fall. The Peak Glacial section (14,000-22,000 y.B.P.) of the deepest core 88 indicates a very much intensified eolian silt supply and an additional bottom supply of quartz sand. In the interval 22,000-36,000 y.B.P. wind strength decreased, but probably no increase in humidity occurred. So this area in about 19° 40' N had an arid climate in the Late Holocene and in the Peak Glacial. The fragmentation of planktonic foraminifers and the abundance of aragonitic tests of pteropods in core 88 indicate an Early Holocene (8330 y.B.P.) preservation spike. Two minima in fragmentation correlated to maxima in pteropod content at about 15,700 and 21,000 y.B.P. are correlated to maxima in shallow water supply and thus do not reflect preservation conditions, but only lateral supply from the carbonate dissolution minimum zone in about 300 m water depth.

Description: 86 sediment cores retrieved from water depths greater than 500 m off NW Africa between 12° and 28° N, were investigated by means of X-ray radiographs. Biogenic sedimentary structures occupy more than 90% of the examined area of sediment sections with the remaining 2% being turbidites and 8% slump masses. More than 20 types of lebensspuren can be distinguished. Most of them correspond to ichnogenera known from the fossil record: Chondrites, Corophioides, Helminthopsis, Lophoctenium, Planolites, Scolicia, Skolithos) Teichichnus) Thalassinoides) Trichichnus and Zoophycos. The observations are "uniformitarian" with respect to the lebensspuren encountered. Nevertheless, fossil counterparts to our sediments are not known, because (i) similar sedimentation processes at present are restricted to small areas, (ii) all of them are situated on passive continental margins, which are rarely preserved in the fossil record, and (iii) biogenic structures in silty marlstones are normally not very conspicuous in the fossil state. The sediments are highly bioturbated; in most cases biogenic reworking occurs repeatedly. The behaviour of the infaunal organisms and thus the formation of lebensspuren depends from the nutrient supply: In sediments with Corg greater than 2% only biodeformational structures are observed, while with Corg lower than 2% lebensspuren predominate. The lebensspuren inventory was found to be systematically arranged in a number of "bioturbation levels" below the sediment surface. With increasing sediment depth, a higher specialisation in the behaviour of the fauna is observed. Moreover, in each group of lebensspuren, the diameter decreases. The following levels are established: i. Level with biologically homogenized sediment, ii. Scolicia level (tubes, 2-4 cm diameter), iii. Planolites level tubes, 1 cm diameter), iv. level with small burrows of Chondrites) Helminthopsis (tube systems, 1-3 mm diameter) and spreiten burrows of Corophioides) Lophoctenium) and Teichichnus, v. Zoophycos level (spreiten burrows). With increasing water depth, the thickness of the bioturbated sediment decreases from 80 cm at 500 m to 40-60 cm at 2000 m and 15-25 cm at 4750 m. Based on the levels, biogenic sedimentary structures are grouped into "associations" having ecological significance. The following associations are established: (1) biodeformational association dominating in sediments with Corg greater than 2% ; (2) Scolicia association, (3) Planolites association [(2) and (3) depend on the sediment grain size: (2) in sediments with high content of silicate particles 〉 20 μm, (3) in sediments with clay content 〉 50%] ; ( 4) Vertical spreiten association, (5) Chondrites association, (6) Zoophycos association [( 4) through ( 6) predominate in glacial sediments, (4) in water depth about 1000 m, (5) below 1000 m, and (6) between 2000 and 4000 m]. The formation of different biogenic sedimentary structures and thus the distribution of lebensspuren associations depends on the environmental conditions. Generally, the diversity of lebensspuren is higher in glacial than interglacial sediments. This phenomenon is attributed to a higher rate of Corg accumulation and preservation in glacial sediments, possibly because of changes in the circulation of water masses. The sediments become mixed in different style by different lebensspuren types. Because biogenic reworking is - as a rule - repeated several times, the vertical mixing effect is considerable, though difficult to estimate. Stratigraphic resolution is optimal in core sections with Scolicia, where vertical mixing is restricted. Here stratigraphic resolution reaches an accuracy of about 200-300 years where the sedimentation rate is 10-20 cm/1000 years.

Description: The terrigenous sediment proportion of the deep-sea sediments from off Northwest Africa has been studied in order to distinguish between the aeolian and the fluvial sediment supply. The present and fossil Saharan dust trajectories were recognized from the distribution patterns of the aeolian sediment. The following time slices have been investigated: Present, 6,000, 12,000 and 18,000 y.B.P. Futhermore, the quantity of dust deposited off the Saharan coast has been estimated. For this purpose, 80 surface sediment samples and 34 sediment cores have been analysed. The stratigraphy of the cores has been achieved from oxygen isotopic curves, 14 C-dating, foraminiferal transfer temperatures, and carbonate contents. Silt sized biogenic opal generally accounts for less than 2% of the total insoluble sediment proportion. Only under productive upwelling waters and off river mouths, the opal proportion exceeds 2% significantly. The modern terrigenous sediment from off the Saharan coast is generally characterized by intensely stained quartz grains. They indicate an origin from southern Saharan and Sahelian laterites, and a zonal aeolian transport in midtropospheric levels, between 1.5 and 5.5 km, by "Harmattan" Winds. The dust particles follow large outbreaks of Saharan air across the African coast between 15° and 21° N. Their trajectories are centered at about 18° N and continue further into a clockwise gyre situated south of the Canary Islands. This course is indicated by a sickle-shaped tongue of coarser grain sizes in the deep-sea sediment. Such loess-sized terrigenous particles only settle within a zone extending to 700 km offshore. Fine silt and clay sized particles, with grain sizes smaller than 10-15 μm, drift still further west and can be traced up to more than 4,000 km distance from their source areas. Additional terrigenous silt which is poor in stained quartz occurs within a narrow zone off the western Sahara between 20° and 27° N only. It depicts the present dust supply by the trade winds close to the surface. The dust load originates from the northwestern Sahara, the Atlas Mountains and coastal areas, which contain a particularly low amount of stained quartz. The distribution pattern of these pale quartz sediments reveals a SSW-dispersal of dust being consistent with the present trade wind direction from the NNE. In comparison to the sediments from off the Sahara and the deeper subtropical Atlantic, the sediments off river mouths, in particular off the Senegal river, are characterized by an additional input of fine grained terrigenous particles (〈 6 μm). This is due to fluvial suspension load. The fluvial discharge leads to a relative excess of fine grained particles and is observed in a correlation diagram of the modal grain sizes of terrigenous silt with the proportion of fine fraction (〈 6 μm). The aeolian sediment contribution by the Harmattan Winds strongly decreased during the Climatic Optimum at 6,000 y.B.P. The dust discharge of the trade winds is hardly detectable in the deep-sea sediments. This probably indicates a weakened atmospheric circulation. In contrast, the fluvial sediment supply reached a maximum, and can be traced to beyond Cape Blanc. Thus, the Saharan climate was more humid at 6,000 y.B.P. A latitudinal shift of the Harmattan driven dust outbreaks cannot be observed. Also during the Glacial, 18,000 y.B.P., Harmattan dust transport crossed the African coast at latitudes of 15°-20° N. Its sediment load increased intensively, and markedly coarser grains spread further into the Atlantic Ocean. An expanded zone of pale-quartz sediments indicates an enhanced dust supply by the trade winds blowing from the NE. No synglacial fluvial sediment contribution can be recognized between 12° and 30° N. This indicates a dry glacial climate and a strengthened atmospheric circulation over the Sahelian and Saharan region. The climatic transition phase, at 12,000 y.B.P., between the last Glacial and the Interglacial, which is comparable to the Allernd in Europe, is characterized by an intermediate supply of terrigenous particles. The Harmattan dust transport was weaker than during the Glacial. The northeasterly trade winds were still intensive. River supply reached a first postglacial maximum seaward of the Senegal river mouth. This indicates increasing humidity over the southern Sahara and a weaker atmospheric circulation as compared to the Glacial. The accumulation rates of the terrigenous silt proportion (〉 6 μm) decrease exponentially with increasing distance from the Saharan coast. Those of the terrigenous fine fraction (〈 6 μm) follow the same trend and show almost similar gradients. Accordingly, also the terrigenous fine fraction is believed to result predominantly from aeolian transport. In the Atlantic deep-sea sediments, the annual terrigenous sediment accumulation has fluctuated, from about 60 million tons p.a. during the Late Glacial (13,500-18,000 y.B.P., aeolian supply only) to about 33 million tons p.a. during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (6,000-9,000 y.B.P., mainly fluvial supply), when the river supply has reached a maximum, and to about 45 million tons p.a. during the last 4,000 years B.P. (fluvial supply only south of 18° N).