ALBERT

Description: Im nördlichen Bereich der Provinz Kantabrien (Nordspanien) wurden Sedimente der "Mittelkreide" (Oberalb und Cenoman) unter stratigraphischen, faziellen und sedimentologi sehen Gesichtspunkten bearbeitet. Strukturell gehört die Region zum Nordkantabrischen Becken (NCB), dessen Einsenkung mit tektonischen Bewegungen im mittleren Valangin beginnt. Das NCB ist eines der zahlreichen Sedimentbecken, die sich infolge des mesozoischen Riftings und Spreadings in der Biscaya auf dem iberischen Nordschelf bilden. Strukturgeologisch zeigt das NCB eine E/W-Ausrichtung zwischen zwei Hochgebieten im S und N (Cabuemiga-Rücken und Liencres-Hoch), die als "Santillana-Achse" bezeichnet wird. Im W grenzt das NCB an das Paläozoikum des Asturischen Massivs. Östlich Santander wird es strukturell und faziell durch die N/S-streichende Rio-Miera-Flexur vom hochsubs identen Basko-Kantabrischen Becken abgetrennt. Die Sedimentation im NCB wird stark von tektonischen Ereignissen im sich bildenden Biscaya-Ozeans beeinflußt, durch welche die Strukturierung der Schichtenfolge in sedimentäre Megasequenzen erfolgt. Im Alb und Cenoman können folgende Megasequenz-Grenzen erkannt werden, durch welche die Megasequenzen des Alb und Cenoman definiert werden: • Santander-Tectoevent (Cenoman/Turon-Grenzbereich) • Vraconian Tectoevent (hohes Oberalb) • "Mittelalb-Ereignis" ("break-up unconformity", [?hohes] Unteralb). Das Mittelalb-Ereignis fuhrt im Arbeitsgebiet zum Zerbrechen der faziell wenig differenzierten Urgon-Karbonatplattformen des Clansay (Oberapt/Unteralb) in ostvergente Kippschollen. In den entstehenden N/S-orientierten Halbgräben werden im Mittelaib fluvio-deltaische Klastika abgelagert, während auf den Hochschollen eine Verkarstung erfolgt. Im tiefen Oberalb initiiert ein transgressiver Puls die weit verbreitete Ablagerung mariner Sedimente im NCB. Dieses transgressive Ereignis ist in ganz Iberien nachzuweisen. Im Laufe des Oberalb kommt es zu einem Onlap mariner Sedimente auch auf den ehemals emergenten Hochschollen und zu einem Ausgleich des durch das Mittelalb-Ereignis erzeugten Paläoreliefs. Durch weit verbreitete Emersion des NCB's infolge tektonischer Bewegungen im oberen Oberalb (Vraconian Tectoevent) wird die sedimentäre Megasequenz des Alb beendet. Die sedimentäre Megasequenz des Cenoman beginnt im Alb/Cenoman-Grenzbereich mit der Progradation deltaischer Klastika. Die im NCB der Santillana-Achse folgend von W nach E kanalisiert werden. Dieses "Santillana-Delta" mündet im Bereich Galizano/Langre östlich Santander in das Basko-Kantabrische Becken und verzahnt sich dort mit den Prodelta-Sedimenten des Valmaseda-Deltas ("Schwarzer Flysch" der Bilbao-Region). Die differentielle Subsidenz im NCB in Folge des Vraconian Tectoevents wird von den Delta-Sedimenten ausgeglichen. Im tiefen Untercenoman (untere Mantelliceras mantelli-Zone) gestaltet eine bedeutende transgressive Faziesentwicklung das gesamte NCB in einen vollmarinen, karbonatisch dominierten Ablagerungsraum um. Dieser transgressive Puls dürfte mit der "Untercenoman-Transgression" sensu lato korrelieren. Im Cenoman können folgende Ammoniten-Biozonen erkannt werden: • Obercenoman: Eucalycoceras pentagonum-Zone, und Metoicoceras geslinianum-Zone [pars] • Mittel cenoman: [Cunningtoniceras inerme-Zone], Acanthoceras rhotomagense-Zone und A. jukesbrownei-Zone • Untercenoman: Mantelliceras mantelli-Zone und M. dixoni-Zone. Das höchste Obercenoman (oberer Teil der geslinianum-Zone und die Neocardioceras juddii-Zone) fehlt im NCB. In der oberen mantelli-Zonc des NCB etabliert sich in weiten Bereichen die flachmarine Karbonat-Fazies der Altamira-Plattform, die sich östlich der Rio-Miera-Flexur mit mächtigen Beckensedimenten (Mergel, Knollenkalke, Kalk/Mergel-Rhythmite) verzahnt. Im Mittel- bis unteren Obercenoman wird die Altamira-Plattform in drei Schritten von E nach W "ertränkt". Die prominenten Drowning-Unconformities (mineralisierte Hartgründe mit Ammoniten) werden dabei stufenweise nach W jünger. Im Obercenoman (pentagonum-Zono) ist die gesamte Altamira-Plattform ertränkt und weite Teile des NCB werden in die Beckensedimentation einbezogen. Die Ablagerungsgeschichte des Cenoman wird durch das Santander-Tectoevent in der oberen geslinianum-Zonc beendet, infolgedessen weite Teile des NCB trockenfallen. Selbst in hochsubsidenten Beckenprofilen ist der Cenoman/Turon-Grenzbereich durch eine Schicht lücke gekennzeichnet. Die fazielle Entwicklung der cenomanen Megasequenz ist durch die schubweise voranschreitende ("pulsierende") Cenoman-Transgression geprägt. Insgesamt können im Cenoman sechs Sequenzgrenzen (SB's) erkannt werden, durch die die Ablagerungssequenzen DS Ce I bis VI definiert werden. Ihre stratigraphischen Positionen sind: • SB Ce VI = obere geslinianum-Zonc • SB Ce V = Wende Mittel/Obercenoman • SB Ce IV = basale jukesbrownei-Zone • SB Ce III = hohe dixoni-Zone • SB Ce II = obere mantelli-Zone • SB Ce I = untere mantelli-Zone. Im regionalen Vergleich zeigt sich für das Cenoman eine gute Übereinstimmung mit sequentiellen Gliederungen aus dem Basko-Kantabrischen Raum. Überregionale Vergleiche dokumentieren, daß viele der Meeresspiegel-Bewegungen im Cenoman (z.B. SB Ce III, mfz in der rhotomagense-Zone, SB Ce IV, HST in der pentagonum-Zone) über weite Entfernungen korreliert werden können und wahrscheinlich eustatische Signale darstellen. Die Korrelation mit der "globalen Meeresspiegel-Kurve" (Exxon Chart) ist schlecht. Betrachtet man die im Cenoman im NCB abgelagerten Sedimente als "2nd-order cycle", so zeigt sich ein übergeordneter transgressiver Trend mit einem maximalen Onlap im Obercenoman innerhalb der mfz von DS Ce VI (pentagonum-Zone). Das NCB zeigt im Oberalb und Cenoman im biogeographischen Vergleich starke tethyale Einflüsse. Das Turrilites scheuchzerianus/Neohibolites ultimus-Evert. im tiefen Mittelcenoman des NCB korreliert in bio-, sequenz- und Isotopen-stratigraphischer Hinsicht mit dem Actinocamax primus-Event NW-Europas, womit eine eventstratigraphische Anbindung an das "temperierte" Cenoman erreicht werden kann.

Description: Mid-Cretaceous (Upper Albian and Cenomanian) sediments in the northern part of the province of Cantabria (northern Spain) were investigated with the emphasis on stratigraphical and sedimentological aspects. Structurally, the area belongs to the North Cantabrian Basin (NCB), the depositional history of which started with distensional tectonic movements in the Mid-Valanginian. The NCB is one of the numerous sedimentary basins which developed on the north Iberian continental margin in consequence of the rifting and spreading in the Bay of Biscay during Mesozoic times. It is a gulf-like basin with an E/W-elongation ("Santillana axis"). In the south and in the north the NCB is bordered by the Cabuemiga Ridge and the Liencres High, respectively. To the west, the NCB is bordered by the Palaeozoic Asturian Massif; in the east, the N/S-trending Rio Miera Flexure forms a structural boundary to the strongly subsiding Basco-Cantabrian Basin. The depositional history of the NCB was strongly influenced by tectonic events which can be related to the evolving Biscay Ocean. These tectoevents give rise to a gross subdivison of the succession into sedimentary megasequences. Three tectonically induced megasequence boundaries can be recognized in the Albian and Cenomanian, defining the Albian and Cenomanian megasequences: • Santander-Tectoevent (Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval) • Vraconian Tectoevent (late Late Albian) • "Middle Albian event" (break-up unconformity, [?late] Early Albian). The "Middle Albian event" caused a disintegration of the widespread Urgonian Clansay platforms (Late Aptian/Early Albian) into a palaeo-relief of eastward-dipping tilted blocks. In the N/S trending halfgrabens, fluvio-deltaic clastics were deposited during the Middle Albian, whereas the exposed tilted block crests were karstified. A strong transgressive pulse flooded the NCB in the early part of the Late Albian, giving rise to the widespread deposition of marine Upper Albian sediments. This transgressive event can also be recognised in southern Iberia and Portugal. During the later part of the Late Albian, the emergent crestal areas of the tilted blocks were onlapped by marine sediments, resulting in the filling-up of the Middle Albian palaeo-relief. Tectonic movements in the latest Albian (Vraconian tectoevent), causing emergence in wide parts of the NCB, terminated the Albian Megasequence. The Cenomanian megasequence started in the Albian/Cenomanian boundary interval with progradation of deltaic clastics, which were channelized (following the Santi liana-axis) into an eastward direction. This "Santillana Delta" flowed into the Basco-Cantabrian Basin east of Santander, where an interfingering with the prodeltaic sediments of the Valmaseda Delta ("Black Flysch" of the Bilbao area) took place. The differential subsidence in the NCB due to the Vraconian tectoevent was compensated by the deltaic sedimentation. In the lower part of the Mantelliceras mantelli Zone, a transgressive pulse flooded the NCB and led to the deposition of marine, predominantly calcareous sediments. This transgressive event is thought to correlate with the "Early Cenomanian transgression" sensu lato. In the Cenomanian succession of the NCB, the following ammonite zones can be recognized: • Late Cenomanian: Eucalycoceras pentagonum Zone and Metoicoceras geslinianum Zone [pars] • Middle Cenomanian: [Cunningtoniceras inerme Zone], Acanthoceras rhotomagense Zone and A. jukesbrownei Zone • Early Cenomanian: Mantelliceras mantelli Zone and M. dixoni-Zone. The upper part of the Upper Cenomanian (upper part of the geslinianum Zone and the Neocardioceras juddii Zone) is missing in the NCB. In the upper part of the mantelli Zone, deposition of the shallow marine carbonate sediments of the Altamira Platform became established over large areas of the NCB. In the strongly subsiding area east of the Rio Miera Flexure, thick successions of basinal sediments (marls, nodular limestones, marl/limestone rhythmites) were deposited contemporaneously. During the Middle to early Late Cenomanian, the Altamira Platform was drowned in three successive steps from east to west. The developing drowning unconformities (condensed, mineralized hardgrounds with ammonites) young towards the west, resulting in a backstepping of the Altamira Platform. In the Late Cenomanian (pentagonum Zone), all former sites of shallow marine carbonate deposition were drowned. The depositional history of the Cenomanian was terminated in the higher part of the geslinianum Zone when tectonic movements of the Santander tectoevent caused widespread emersion of the NCB. The resulting Cenomanian/Turonian boundary hiatus can be recognized both in the condensation horizons on top of the submerged platform as well as in the basinal successions. The facies development of the Cenomanian Megasequence is dominated by the pulsatory nature of the "Cenomanian transgression". Within the Cenomanian succession of northern Cantabria, six sequence boundaries can be recognized, which define six depositional (3rd-order) sequences (DS Ce I - VI). The stratigraphic positions of the sequence boundaries (SB) are as follows: • SB Ce VI = upper geslinianum Zone • SB Ce V = Middle/Late Cenomanian boundary interval • SB Ce IV = basal jukesbrownei Zone • SB Ce III = upper dixoni Zone • SB Ce II = upper mantelli Zone • SB Ce I = lower mantelli Zone. Comparison of this sequential subdivision with regional cycle charts from the Basco-Cantabrian area reveals good agreement, whereas correlation with the "global sea-level curve" (Exxon Chart) is poor. The extent to which many of the sea-level events in the Cenomanian (e.g. SB Ce III, mfz within the rhotomagense Zone, SB Ce IV, HST in the pentagonum Zone) can be correlated between basins elsewhere in Europe and Tunisia suggests that they were probably of eustatic nature. Considering the Cenomanian Megasequence as a "2nd-order cycle", an overall transgressive trend occurs throughout the Cenomanian; maximum coastal onlap was reached during the maximum flooding of DS Ce VI (pentagonum Zone). Palaeobiogeographically, the NCB shows strong tethyan affinities in the Late Albian and Cenomanian. The Turrilites scheuchzerianus/Neohibolites ultimus event in the early Middle Cenomanian permits a correlation with the Actinocamax primus event of the temperate Cenomanian of northern Europe by means of bio-, sequence and isotope stratigraphy.

Description: Los sedimentos del Cretácico medio (Albiense superior/Cenomaniense) en la parte septentrional de la Provincia de Cantabria han sido estudiados, centrándose en aspectos estratigráficos y sedimentolögicos. El área de estudio pertenece estructural mente a la Cuenca Norcantábrica (NCB), cuya historia depositional comenzó con movimientos tectónicos distensivos en el Valanginiense medio. La NCB es una de las numerosas cuencas sedimentarias que se desarrollaron en el margen continental norteibérico como consecuencia del "rifting" y apertura del golfo de Vizcaya durante el Mesozoico. Es una cuenca con forma de golfo con una elongatión E/W ("Eje de Santillana"). Los límites septentrional y meridional de la NCB son el "Liencres High" y el Escudo de Cabuemiga respectivamente. Hacia el Oeste, la NCB queda confinada por el Macizo Paleozoico Asturiano; en el Este, el límite estructural conocido como Flexión del Río Miera de dirección N/S, la separa de la Cuenca Vasco-cantábrica mucho más subsidente. La historia deposicional de la NCB estuvo fuertemente influenciada por eventos tectónicos que pueden ser relacionados con la evolution del oceano de Vizcaya. Estos tectoeventos dieron lugar a una gruesa subdivision de la sucesión en megasecuencias sedimentarias. Tres límites de megasecuencias, que están inducidos por la tectónica, pueden ser reconocidos en el Albiense y Cenomaniense, definiendo respectivamente las megasecuencias albienses y cenomanienses: • Tectoevento de Santander (intervalo límite del Cenomaniense/Turoniense) • Tectoevento Vraconiense (Albiense superior tardío) • "Evento del Albiense medio" (discordancia de ruptura, Albiense inferior [?tardio]). El "Evento del Albiense medio" causo una desintegración de las plataformas urgonianas clansayenses (Aptiense superior/Albiense inferior), que estaban muy extendidas en paleorelieves de bloques basculados hacia el Este. Se produjo durante el Albiense medio una sedimentatión clástica fluvio-deltaica en los semi-grabenes, de dirección N/S, mientras que las cimas expuestas de los bloques basculados sufrieron procesos de karstificatión. Un fuerte pulso transgresivo inundó la NCB al comienzo del Albiense superior, dando lugar al depósito de sedimentos marinos en el Albiense superior due alcanzaron una muy amplia extensión. Durante la parte superior del Albiense superior las crestas de los bloques basculados fueron recubiertas por sedimentos marinos, indicando el equilibrio del paleorelieve en el Albiense medio. Los procesos tectónicos al final del Albiense superior (Tectoevento Vraconiense), que causaron la emersión de amplias zonas de la NCB, terminan la megasecuencia albiense. La megasecuencia cenomaniense comenzó en el limite Albiense/Cenomaniense con la progradatión de material clástico deltaico que fue canalizado (siguiendo el Eje de Santillana) hacia el Este. Dicho delta ("Delta de Santillana") discurria al Este de Santander hacia la Cuenca Vasco-cantabrica, interfiriendo con los sedimentos de prodelta del Delta de Valmaseda ("Flysch Negro"). En la parte inferior de la zona de Mantelliceras mantelli, un pulso transgresivo inundó la NCB y permitió el depósito de sedimentos marinos, predominantemente calcáreos. Este evento transgresivo puede ser correlacionado con la "transgresión del Cenomaniense initial" sensu lato. En la sucesion Cenomaniense de la NCB pueden ser reconocidas las siguientes zonas: • Cenomaniense superior: Zona de Eucalycoceras pentagonum y la Zona de Metoicoceras geslinianum [pars] • Cenomaniense medio: [Zona de Cunningtoniceras inerme], Zona de Acanthoceras rhotomagense y Zona de A. jukesbrownei • Cenomaniense inferior: Zona de Mantelliceras mantelli y Zona de M. dixoni. La parte superior del Cenomaniense superior (parte superior de la zona de M. geslinianum y la Zona de Neocardioceras judii) está ausente en la NCB. Los sedimentos marino-someros de naturaleza carbonatada de la "Plataforma de Altamira" comenzaron a depositarse en amplias zonas de la NCB en la parte superior de la zona de mantelli. Al Este de la Flexión de Río Miera, en un área fuertemente subsidente, fueron depositadas contemporáneamente potentes sucesiones de sedimentos de cuenca (margas, calizas nodulares y ritmitas de marga/caliza). Durante el Cenomaniense medio hasta la base del Cenomaniense superior, la Plataforma de Altamira fue inundada desde el Este al Oeste en tres intervalos sucesivos. El desarrollo de discordancias de inundatión ("drowning unconformities" = series condensadas, "hardgrounds" mineralizados con ammonites) resultan más recientes hacia el Oeste, concluyendo en un basculamiento hacia atrás de la Plataforma de Altamira. En el Cenomaniense superior (Zona de pentagonum) todos los anteriores lugares caracterizados por el depósito de carbonates marino-someros fueron anegados. La historia deposicional del Cenomaniense acabó en la parte alta de la zona de geslinianum, cuando movimientos tectonicos del Tectoevento de Santander causaron la emersión generalizada de la NCB. El hiato resultante puede ser reconocido en los horizontes condensados a techo de las plataformas sumergidas e igualmente en las sucesiones de cuenca. El desarrollo de facies del Cenomaniense está dominado por el carácter de pulsos que tuvo la "transgresión cenomaniense". Seis límites de secuencia pueden reconocerse dentro de la sucesión cenomaniense del norte de Cantabria, los cuales definen seis secuencias deposicional es de tercer orden (DS Ce I-VI). La positión estratigráfica de los límites de secuencia (SB) son los siguientes: • SB Ce VI = parte superior de la Zona de geslinianum • SB Ce V = intervalo límite del Cenomaniense medio/superior • SB Ce IV = base de la Zona de jukesbrawnei • SB Ce III = parte superior de la Zona de dixoni • SB Ce II = parte superior de la Zona de mantelli • SB Ce I = parte inferior de la Zona de mantelli. Una comparación de esta subdivisión secuencial con las tablas de ciclos regionales del reino vasco-cantábrico revela una buena correlatión, mientras que la correlatión con la "tabla global" ("Exxon chart") es pobre. La correlatión entre varias cuencas sugiere una causa eustática para los numerosos eventos de cambios del nivel del mar en el Cenomaniense (por ejemplo SB Ce III, mfz dentro de la Zona de rhotomagense, SB Ce IV, HST en la Zona de pentagonum). Considerando la megasecuencia del Cenomaniense como un "ciclo de segundo orden", una tendencia transgresiva general ocurrió a lo largo del Cenomaniense, el máxirno "onlap" costero fue alcanzado durante la máxima inundatión de la DS Ce VI (Zona de pentagonum). Desde el punto de vista paleobiogeográfico, la NCB muestra fuertes afinidades tethyales en el Albiense superior y el Cenomaniense. El "Evento de Turrilites scheuchzerianus/Neohibolites ultimus" al comienzo del Cenomaniense medio permite una correlation con el "Evento de Actinocamax primus" del Cenomaniense de la Provincia templada norteuropea.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Die Stammesgeschichte der Ordnung Ptenoglossa (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) wird anhand von 179 rezenten und fossilen Arten bis ins Paläozoikum zurückverfolgt. Ihre rezenten Überfamilien, die Cerithiopsoidea, Triphoroidea und Janthinoidea ernähren sich karnivor. Eine kollabral berippte Larvalschale stellt in den rezenten Überfamilien den ursprünglichen Zustand dar und ist die aussagekräftigste schalenmorphologische Symplesiomorphie. Dies erweist sich durch Radulauntersuchungen und den Fossilbericht. Cerithiopsoidea und Triphoroidea fressen Schwämme und bilden gemeinsam mit den mesozoischen Protorculidae ein Monophylum. Die Janthinoidea fressen Coelenteraten. Sie sind nahe mit den mesozoischen Zygopleuridae verwandt. Die Stammlinien der Schwamm- und Coelenteratenfresser waren schon in der Trias getrennt. Die Zygopleuroidea (Zygopleuridae, Pseudozygopleuridae und Protorculidae) sind folglich ein Parataxon. In allen drei Familien der Zygopleuroidea kommt die kollabral berippte Larvalschale vor und repräsentiert den ursprünglichen Zustand. Die paläozoischen Pseudozygopleuridae stellen wahrscheinlich die Schwestergruppe der rezenten und mesozoischen Ptenoglossa dar. Arten der Pseudozygopleuridae mit planktotropher und nicht planktotropher Frühontogenese können biometrisch getrennt werden. Die Abgrenzung nicht planktotropher Pseudozygopleuridae von den devonischen bis karbonischen Palaeozygopleuridae ist schwierig, weil letztere anhand eines nicht planktotrophen Protoconchs definiert wurden. Mit Hilfe von Protoconchvermessungen ist es jedoch meist möglich, beide Gruppen zu trennen. Die Außengruppe der Ptenoglossa sind die Cerithimorpha, die im Paläozoikum durch die Acanthonematidae und die Murchisoniidae repräsentiert werden. Die paläozoischen Acanthonematidae werden neu gefaßt und enthalten nun unter anderem die Gattungen Orthonema, Palaeostylus, Cerithioides und Knightella. Sie zeichnen sich durch einen heliciformen Protoconch aus, der sich grundsätzlich von dem der Pseudozygopleuridae (Ptenoglossa) unterscheidet. Mithin ist der Protoconch der Pseudozygopleuridae die wesentliche schalenmorphologische Apomorphie der Ptenoglossa. 30 Arten werden neu beschrieben (siehe Anhang A), davon 2 rezente, 8 aus dem Tertiär, 1 aus der Kreide, 13 aus der Trias, 1 aus dem Perm und 5 aus dem Karbon. Turritella hybrida MONSTER non DESHAYES erhält den neuen Namen Zygopleura hybridissima nom. nov. 5 neue Gattungen werden errichtet: Antiphora n. Gen. (Triphoroidea, Tertiär), Eorex n. gen. (Triphoroidea, Tertiär), Atorcula n. gen. (Protorculidae, Trias), Azyga n. gen. (Zygopleuridae, Trias) und Stiazyga n. gen. (Zygopleuridae, Trias). Ampezzopleurinae n. subfam. wird als Unterfamilie der Zygopleuridae WENZ errichtet. Nystiellinae CLENCH & TURNER erhält Familienstatus (Nystiellidae). Die Untergattung Cerithiopsis (Vatopsis) GRÜNDEL wird zur Gattung erhoben und von den Cerithiopsidae zu den Eumetulidae transferiert. Tembrockia GRÜNDEL wird von den Cerithiopsidae zu den Eumetulidae transferiert. Variseila DOCKERY wird von den Triforidae JOUSSEAUME zu den Eumetulidae GOLIKOV & STAROBOGATOV transferiert. Ampezzopleura BANDEL wird von den Protorculidae BANDEL zu den Zygopleuridae WENZ transferiert. Zygopleura tenuis (MÜNSTER) sensu Zardini wird als neue nominelle Art Ampezzopleura tenuis BANDEL betrachtet, für die ein Lectotyp hinterlegt wird. Teutonica SCHRÖDER wird von den Cerithiopsidae zu den Zygopleuridae transferiert. Orthonema MEEK & WORTHEN wird von den Turritellidae LOVÉN zu den Acanthonematidae WENZ zurücktransferiert. Palaeostylus MANSUY wird von den Procerithiidae COSSMANN zu den Acanthonematidae transferiert. Knightella LONGSTAFF wird von den Pseudozygopleuridae KNIGHT zu den Acanthonematidae transferiert. Cerithioides HAUGHTON wird von den Murchisoniidae zu den Acanthonematidae WENZ transferiert. Die systematische Stellung einiger weiterer Taxa wird kritisch hinterfragt. Etliche Arten werden anderen Gattungen zugeordnet (siehe Anhang A "comb. nov.").

Description: The phylogeny of the order Ptenoglossa (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) is traced back into the Paleozoic by studying 179 Recent and fossil species. The Recent superfamilies Cerithiopsoidea, Triphoroidea und Janthinoidea are carnivorous. A larval shell with collabral ribs represents the plesiomorphic state in the Recent superfamilies and it is the most informative symplesiomorphy that concerns to the shell morphology. Evidence for that is given by the radula morphology and the fossil record. Cerithiopsoidea and Triphoroidea feed on sponges and form a clade with the Mesozoic family Protorculidae. The Janthinoidea feed on coelenterates. They are closely related to the Mesozoic family Zygopleuridae. The stem lines of sponge eaters and coelenterate eaters have been separated from each other at least since the Triassic. Thus, the superfamily Zygopleuroidea (Zygopleuridae, Pseudozygopleuridae and Protorculidae) is a parataxon. In all three families of the Zygopleuroidea a larval shell with collabral ribs occurs and represents the plesiomorphic state. The Paleozoic Pseudozygopleuridae are presumably the sister-group of the Recent and the Mesozoic Ptenoglossa. Species of the Pseudozygopleuridae with planktotrophic and non-planktotrophic larval development can be separated from each other by measuring their protoconchs. The separation of non-planktotrophic Pseudozygopleuridae from Devonian and Carboniferous species of the Palaeozygopleuridae is difficult because Palaeozygopleuridae were defined by a non-planktotrophic protoconch, whereas Pseudozygopleuridae were defined by a larval shell of the planktotrophic type. But in most cases it is possible to identify the species by protoconch measurements. The outgroup of the Ptenoglossa are the Cerithimorpha which are represented in the Paleozoic by the families Acanthonematidae and Murchisoniidae. The Paleozoic Acanthonematidae are newly defined and contain genera like Orthonema, Palaeostylus, Cerithioides and Knightella. They have a heliciform protoconch which is fundamentally different from the protoconch of the pseudozygopleurids (Ptenoglossa). The protoconch of the Pseudozygopleuridae is the essential apomorphy concerning the shell of the Ptenoglossa. 30 species are described as new (see Anhang A), 2 of which are Recent, 8 are from the Tertiary, 1 from the Cretacous, 13 from the Triassic, 1 from the Permian and 5 from the Carboniferous. Turritella hybrida MÜNSTER non DESHAYES gets the new name Zygopleura hybridissima nom. nov. 5 new genera are erected: Antiphora n. gen. (Triphoroidea, Tertiary), Eorex n. gen. (Triphoroidea, Tertiary), Atorcula n. gen. (Protorculidae, Triassic), Azyga n. gen. (Zygopleuridae, Triassic) and Striazyga n. gen. (Zygopleuridae, Triassic). Ampezzopleurinae n. subfam. is erected as subfamily of the Zygopleuridae. Nystiellinae CLENCH & TURNER is raised on family level (Nystiellidae). The subgenus Cerithiopsis (Vatopsis) GRÜNDEL is raised on genus level and is transferred from Cerithiopsidae H. & A. ADAMS to Eumetulidae GOLIKOV & STAROBOGATOV. Tembrockia GRÜNDEL is transferred from Cerithiopsidae to Eumetulidae. Variseila DOCKERY is transferred from Triforidae JOUSSEAUME to Eumetulidae. Ampezzopleura BANDEL is transferred from Protorculidae BANDEL to Zygopleuridae WENZ. Zygopleura tenuis (MÜNSTER) sensu Zardini is deemed to be the new nominal species Ampezzopleura tenuis BANDEL (type species of Ampezzopleura) for which a lectotype is designated. Teutonica SCHRÖDER is transferred from Cerithiopsidae to Zygopleuridae. Orthonema MEEK & WORTHEN is retransferred from Turritellidae LOVÉN to Acanthonematidae WENZ. Palaeostylus MANSUY is transferred from Procerithiidae COSSMANN to Acanthonematidae. Knightella LONGSTAFF is transferred from Pseudozygopleuridae KNIGHT to Acanthonematidae. Cerithioides HAUGHTON is transferred from Murchisoniidae KOKEN to Acanthonematidae WENZ. The systematic position of several other taxa has been critically revised. The generic position of several species is changed (see Anhang A "comb. nov.").

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Klaus Bandel & Thorsten Kowalke: Systematic value of the larval shell of fossil and modern Vanikoridae, Pickworthiidae and the genus Fossarus (Caenogastropoda, Mollusca) … 3 ; R. Thomas Becker: Eine neue und älteste Glatziella (Clymeniida) aus dem höheren Oberdevon des Nordsauerlandes (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge) … 31 ; Glenn G. Rechner: Eine Dinoflagellaten-Zysten-Vergesellschaftung des tieferen Rupelium (Unter-Oligozän) aus transgressiven Ablagerungen nördlich von Altenhausen in Sachsen-Anhalt (Blatt 3733, Erxleben) … 43 ; Joachim Gründel: Zur Kenntis einiger Gastropoden-Gattungen aus dem französischen Jura und allgemeine Bemerkungen zur Gastropodenfauna aus dem Dogger Mittel- und Westeuropas … 69 ; Joachim Gründel: Heterostropha (Gastropoda) aus dem Dogger Norddeutschlands und Nordpolens. I. Mathildoidea (Mathildidae) … 131 ; Joachim Gründel: Heterostropha (Gastropoda) aus dem Dogger Norddeutschlands und Nordpolens. III. Opisthobranchia … 177 ; C. M. Hampton & J. E. Rae: Genesis of the fossiliferous Pleistocene Hima Limestone, western Uganda, as indicated by its isotopic composition … 225 ; Helmut Keupp: Anomal kiellose Hildoceratidae (= „Subfamilie Monestierinae SAPUNOV 1965“): Ursache taxonomischer Konfusionen (Ammonoidea, Toarcium) … 233 ; Helmut Keupp: Paläopathologische Analyse einer „Population“ von Dactylioceras athleticum (SIMPSON) aus dem Unter-Toarcium von Schlaifhausen/Oberfranken … 243 ; Rolf Kohring: Eischalen neognather Vögel aus dem mitteleozänen Geiseltal (Deutschland) … 269 ; Rolf Kohring: Eggshell Structure as Evidence in Avian Systematics - Preliminary Results … 281 ; Jürgen Kriwet: Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Fischfauna des Oberjura (unteres Kimmeridgium) der Kohlengrube Guimarota bei Leiria, Mittel-Portugal: 2. Neoselachii (Pisces, Elasmobranchii) ... 293 ; Thomas Schlüter: Validity of the Paratrichoptera - an extinct Insect Order related to the Mecoptera, Diptera, Trichoptera or Lepidoptera? Suggestions based on discoveries in the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation of South Africa … 303 ; Rolf Kohring: Bibliographie 1996, Institut für Paläontologie, Freie Universität Berlin … 313 ;

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Inhaltsübersicht : Helmut Keupp & Daria Ivanova: Calcareous dinoflagellate cysts from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of the Western Forebalkan, Bulgaria … 3-31 ; Helmut Keupp & Rolf Kohring: Kalkige Dinoflagellatenzysten aus dem Obermiozän (NN 11 ) W von Rethimnon (Kreta) … 33-53 ; Dimitris Frydas, Helmut Keupp & Spyridon M. Bellas: Biostratigraphical research in Late Neogene marine deposits of the Chania Province, western Crete, Greece … 55-67 ; Glenn Fechner: "Microforaminiferal" lining taphonomy: A cautionary note … 69-81 ; Uwe Gloy & Rolf Kohring: Py-GC-Analysen an einem fossilen Harz aus dem Oberen Jura (Grube Guimarota/Portugal) … 83-88 ; Joachim Gründel: Truncatelloidea (Littorinimorpha, Gastropoda) aus dem Lias und Dogger Deutschlands und Nordpolens … 89-119 ; Helmut Keupp, Martin Röper & Adolf Seilacher: Paläobiologische Aspekte von syn vivo-besiedelten Ammonoideen im Plattenkalk des Ober-Kimmeridgiums von Brunn in Ostbayern … 121-145 ; Nikolaus Malchus: Identification of larval bivalve shells by means of simple statistics … 147-160 ; Carsten Helm, John W.M. Jagt & Manfred Kutscher: Early Campanian ophiuroids from the Hannover area (Lower Saxony, Northern Germany) … 161-173 ; Christian Neumann: New spatangoid echinoids (Echinodermata) from the Upper Cretaceous of Jordan: taxonomy and phylogenetic importance … 175-189 ; Oldrich Fejfar und Daniela C. Kalthoff: Aberrant cricetids (Platacanthomyines, Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Miocene of Eurasia … 191-206 ; Thekla Pfeiffer: Sexualdimorphismus, Ontogenie und innerartliche Variabilität der pleistozänen Cervidenpopulationen von Dama dama geiselana Pfeiffer 1998 und Cervus elaphus L. (Cervidae, Mammalia) aus Neumark-Nord (Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland) … 207-313 ; Beiträge zur Baikal-Rift-Forschung : MJ. Kuzmin et al.: Climatic events in Siberia during upper Brunhes according to the Lake Baikal sedimentary record … 315-323 ; S. K. Krivonogov et al.: The prospects of GIS use in investigation of the Baikal area … 325-328 ; Y. Masuda et al.: Perspective Studies of Freshwater Sponges in Lake Baikal … 329-332 ; Oleg A. Timoshkin: Biology of Lake Baikal: „White Spots“ and Progress in Research … 333-348 ; Bibliographie : Uwe Gloy: Bibliographie 1997, Institut für Paläontologie, FU Berlin … 349-352 ;

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Kalkdinoflagellaten-Floren aus dem Alb der Forschungsbohrung Kirchrode II (Niedersächsisches Becken). Im Vordergrund stand die Frage nach der bisher wenig bekannten Ökologie dieser Phytoplankton-Gruppe zur Zeit ihrer maximalen Blüte. Dazu wurden die Zysten-Vergesellschaftungen qualitativ und halb-quantitativ untersucht und Diversitätsanalysen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit lithologischen und paläontologischen Daten der an der Untersuchung des Bohrkerns beteiligten Arbeitsgruppen verglichen. Es konnten 37 Morphospezies kalkiger Dinoflagellaten-Zysten nachgewiesen werden. Gemeinsam mit den Morphospezies des Profils Kirchrode I erhöht sich damit die Gesamtzahl der im Alb des Niedersächsischen Beckens nachgewiesenen Taxa auf 45. Das weltweit früheste Auftreten der Unterordnung Pithonelloideae konnte für das frühe Mittel-Alb (Hoplites dentatus-Zone) belegt werden. Außerdem konnte erstmals die Verbreitung der Fuettererelloideae für die Unterkreide sicher dokumentiert werden. Aufgrund unterschiedlicher ökologischer Umweltansprüche konnten 4 typische Kalkdinoflagellaten-Gesellschaften unterschieden werden. Die Zusammensetzung der Zystenvergesellschaftungen wird in erster Linie von Nährstoffreichtum, Salinität und Temperatur des Oberflächenwassers kontrolliert. Gemeinsam mit den neu interpretierten Kalkdinoflagellaten-Vergesellschaftungen des Profils Kirchrode I (KEUPP 1995) reflektieren die Vergesellschaftungen für das Unter- und Mittel-Alb einen Meeresspiegelanstieg bei gleichzeitiger Nährstoffverarmung und Erwärmung. Für das Ober-Alb kann ein Meeresspiegelhöchststand (maximale Pelagizität) und anschließende rasche Regression postuliert werden. Daten anderer Fossilgruppen (Coccolithophoriden, Foraminiferen, Radiolarien) untermauern diese Interpretation. Die Palökologie der Unterkretazischen Orthopithonelloideae wird neu interpretiert. In der späten Unterkreide sind sie nicht, wie bisher angenommen, pelagisch, sondern im Gegenteil an trophische, neritische und vermutlich auch kühlere Oberflächenwasser-Bedingungen gebunden. Innerhalb der grobkristallinen Vertreter der Pirumella loeblichi-Gruppe nimmt P. loeblichi aufgrund abweichender ökologischer Ansprüche (Präferenz für stagnierende und nährstoffreichere Beckenbedingungen) eine Sonderstellung ein. Es konnten 6 Migrationsereignisse tethyaler Zysten nachgewiesen werden, die vermutlich transgressive Impulse widerspiegeln. Die auf diese Fossilgruppe erstmals angewendeten Methoden der Diversitäts- und Häufigkeitsanalysen haben sich als geeignet erwiesen, Wechselwirkungen zwischen fossilen Kalkdinoflagellatenzysten und ihrer Umwelt aufzuzeigen.

Description: Subject of this study are the calcareous dinoflagellates cysts of the drilling core Kirchrode II (Albian, central Lower Saxony Basin, Northwest Germany). The purpose of this investigation is to give answers to the question of the poorly understood palaeoecology of this important phytopankton group at the time of its maximum radiation. Cyst assemblages were examined qualitatively and semi-quantitatively. Diversity analyses of the cyst assemblages were carried out as well. The results were compared with other lithological and palaeontological data of the drilling core. 37 morphotaxa were identified. Together with the morphospecies recorded from the uppermost Upper Albian of the drilling core Kirchrode I (KEUPP 1995), the number of documented taxa in the Albian of the Lower Saxonian Basin increases to 45 taxa. The first appearance date of the suborder Pithonelloidae is recognised in the lower Middle-Albian (Hoplites dentatus-zone). Moreover, the distribution of the Fuettererelloideae in the Lower Cretaceous is documented for the first time. The taxonomic compositions of the cyst assemblages change through time. Due to their different ecological preferences, 4 typical cysts-assemblages were recognised. The composition of the assemblages was controlled chiefly by nutrient availability, salinity and temperature of the surface water-masses. Together with the re-examined cyst-assemblages of the drilling-core Kirchrode I, the assemblages reflect a sea level rise during the Early and Middle Albian, together with simultaneous warming and nutrient decrease. A postulated sea level highstand (maximum pelagicity) in the Late Albian is followed by a rapid regression in the upper dispar-zone. Data from other plankton groups (coccolithophorids, foraminiferes and radiolarians) support this interpretation. The palaeoecology of the Early Cretaceous Orthopithonelloideae is newly interpreted. They were not, as supposed until now, components of the pelagic realm. On the contrary, their distribution reflects neritic, nutrient-rich and probably cool surface-water masses. Within the Obliquipithonelloids with coarse-crystalline body walls, Pirumella loeblichi holds an exceptional position with respect to its deviating ecology (preference for stagnant and nutrient-rich basin conditions). 6 distinct migration-events of cysts with tethyal origin were recognised. These events are probably related to transgressive pulses. The methods of community and diversity analyses, used for the first time for this little known phytoplankton group, are a powerful tool for the analyses of paleoecological distribution patterns of the group and can be used for paleooceanic basin interpretation.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Contents ; List of Contributors ; Introduction ; I. General Problems of Sponge Biology. S. M. Efremova: Once more on the position among Metazoa - Gastrulation and germinal layers of sponges ; N. N. Marfenin: Sponges viewed in the light of up-to-date conception on coloniality ; A. V. Ereskovsky & G. P. Korotkova: The reasons of sponge sexual morphogenesis peculiarities II. Developmental Biology of Sponges. O. M. Ivanova-Kazas: Analysis of the sponges ontogeny at sexual reproduction ; R. P. Anakina: The cleavage specifity in embryos of the Barents Sea sponge Leucosolenia complicata Montagu (Calcispongiae, Calcaronea) ; L. V. Ivanova: New data about morphology and metamorphosis of the spongillid larvae (Porifera, Spongillidae). 1. Morphology of the free-swimming larvae ; L. V. Ivanova: New data about morphology and metamorphosis of the spongillid larvae (Porifera, Spongillidae). 2. The metamorphosis of the spongillid larvae ; L. V. Ivanova & V. V. Semenov: Feeding habits of the larvae of sponges ; N. A. Sizova & A. V. Ereskovsky: Ultrastructural peculiarities of the early embryogenesis in a White Sea sponge Halisarca dujardini (Demospongiae, Dendroceratida) ; III. Ecology of Sponges. R. P. Anakina & E. I. Slepian: Spiculas' malformations of freshwater sponges as indicators of water environment in St. Petersburg City ; A. S. Plotkin & A. V. Ereskovsky: Ecological aspects of asexual reproduction of the White Sea sponge Polymastia mammillaris (Demospongiae, Tetractinomorpha) in Kandalaksha Bay ; I. S. Smirnov & V. M. Koltun: Symbiosis of the antarctic sponge genus lophon (Porifera) and ophiuroid genus Ophiurolepis (Ophiuroidea, Echinodermata) ; IV. Palaeontology and Systematics. L. V. Bolshakova: Stromatoporoids - the fossil sponges ; E. V. Veinberg, 0. M. Khlystov, S. S. Vorobyova, E. G. Kornakova, 0. V. Levina, S. M. Efremova, & M. A. Grachev: Distribution of sponge spicules in sediments of the underwater Akademichesky ridge of Lake Baikal ; K. R. Tabachnik & C. Levi: Amphidiscophoran Hexasterophora (Part I & II) ;

Description: conference

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Von den bisher weitgehend unbearbeiteten, Oberkretazischen Gesteinsfolgen im Raum Santander (Provinz Kantabrien, Spanien) wurde der Zeitabschnitt Turon bis Unter-Coniac lithologisch, sedimentologisch sowie stratigraphisch (Bio-, Event-, Sequenzstratigraphie) detailliert bearbeitet. Die Sedimente eines gemischten, siliziklastisch/karbonatischen Systemes wurden in einem, durch starke synsedimentäre Tektonik geprägten, E-W-streichenden Meeresraum abgelagert, der nach Westen graduell in die flachmarine Asturianische Kreide überging und im Süden durch den, aus paläozoischem Basement bestehendenden Cabuemiga Rücken begrenzt war. Im Norden markierte das Liencres Hoch die Grenze. Dieser Sedimentationsraum repräsentierte einen eigenständigen Beckenbereich, für den die Bezeichnung Nordkantabrisches Becken (NKB) eingeführt wird. Das NKB entstand in der Unterkreide (Valangin/Hauterive) durch Blockrotation an E-W-streichenden Lineamenten. Strukturell trennt die N-S-streichende Rio Miera-Flexur im Osten das NKB vom Basko-Kantabrischen Becken. Proximale Sedimente sind durch das Auftreten von (glaukonitischen) Knollenkalken charakterisiert. Die eher distalen Ablagerungsräume zeichnen sich durch zyklische Kalk/Mergel-Wechselfolgen aus. Während regressiver Phasen treten Allochthonite auf (Calciturbidite). Im bearbeiteten Zeitraum Turon und Unter-Coniac führen möglicherweise fünf Phasen verstärkter differentieller Subsidenz (tektonische Aktivitätsphasen ?) zu Reliefakzentuierung und, damit einhergehend, zur Umgestaltung des Sedimentationsraumes. Besonders ein Ereignis im Unter-Coniac (deformis-Zone) kann offensichtlich in weiten Teilen Europas erkannt werden. Die biostratigraphische Gliederung wird mit Ammoniten und im höheren Ober-Turon und Unter-Coniac mit Inoceramen durchgeführt. Das basale Unter-Turon fehlt. Die Sedimentation setzt vermutlich erst in der höchsten devonense-Zvne des unteren Unter-Turon ein. Das obere Unter-Turon ist durch die Zone des Mammites nodosoides gekennzeichnet. Das Mittel-Turon kann in die Zonen des Kamerunoceras turoniense, Romaniceras kallesi, Romaniceras ornatissimum und Romaniceras deverianum untergliedert werden. Im Ober-Turon werden Faunenzonen ausgehalten (Assemblage Zones). Es können (in aufsteigender Reihenfolge) die AZ des Subprionocyclus neptuni/ Romaniceras deverianum, die AZ des Mytiloides incertus/Subprionocyclus neptuni und die AZ des Mytiloides scupini/Prionocyclus germari erkannt werden. Das Unter-Coniac wird in eine untere Zone des Cremnoceramus rotundatus und eine obere Zone des Cremnoceramus deformis unterteilt. Zehn Bio-Events und Akmen werden erkannt und auf ihr Potential für die regionale wie überregionale Korrelation geprüft. Dies sind das Mytiloides-Akme [Unter-Turon (?)]; das K. turoniense/Mytiloides-Event (turoniense-Zone), das R. kallesi-Event (kallesi-Zone), das R. ornatissimum-Event (ornatissimum-Zone), das R. Deverianum-Event (neptuni/deverianum- AZ), das Mytiloides incertus/Mieraster leskei (klein)-Event (incertus/neptuni-AZ), das M. Leskei (groß)-Event (scupini/germari-AZ), das Sternotaxis plana-Event (scupini/ germari- AZ), das Didymotis I-Event (scupini/ germari-AZ) und das Didymotis II-Event (Turon/Coniac-Grenze). Für eine Korrelation nach Deutschland oder England eignen sich besonders das turoniense/ Mytiloides-Event, das deverianum-Event sowie das incertus/leskei (klein)- und leskei (groß)-Event. Das plana-Event kann vermutlich nach Norddeutschland korreliert werden. Sechs sedimentäre Sequenzgrenzen (SB) werden im Zeitraum Turon bis Unter-Coniac erkannt und datiert. SB Tu 1 liegt vermutlich im Unter-Turon und kann wegen eines ausgeprägten Hiatus im Cenoman/Turon-Grenzbereich datiert werden. Die stratigraphischen Positionen der folgenden Sequenzgrenzen können wie folgt datiert werden: SB Tu 2: obere turoniense-Zone (Mittel-Turon), SB Tu 3: deverianum-Zont (höchstes Mittel-Turon), SB Tu 4: Top neptuni/deverianum- AZ (Ober-Turon), SB Tu 5: untere scupini/ germari-AZ (Ober-Turon), SB Co 1: höhere deformis-Zone des Unter-Coniac. Die Sedimentationszyklen werden als "3rd order cycles" sensu Haq et al. (1988) interpretiert. Die stratigraphische Position der Sequenzen werden unter kurzer Diskussion der jeweiligen regionalen Biostratigraphie mit sequentiellen Gliederungen für Tunesien, Spanien, Frankreich, Südengland und Deutschland (Westfalen, Niedersachsen, Sachsen) mit nur mäßigem Erfolg verglichen. Die "global cycle chart" erweist sich als Standard für untauglich. Schlüsselwörter: Nordkantabrien, Spanien, Nordkantabrisches Becken, Turon, Unter-Coniac, tektono-sedimentäre Entwicklung, Biostratigraphie, Eventstratigraphie, Sequenzstratigraphie, überregionaler Vergleich.

Description: The Lower Turonian to Lower Coniacian succession of the Upper Cretaceous series from the Santander area (Cantabria, Spain) was investigated in detail by means of lithology, bio-, event and sequence stratigraphy. The sediments of a mixed, siliciclastic/calcareous system were deposited in an E-W trending basin that was bordered to the South by the palaeozoic Cabuemiga High. The northern boundary formed the Liencres High, a palaeo-structure that had its position in the Bay of Biscay not far away from the present day shoreline. Towards the West, a connection to the shallower, Asturian Cretaceous basins existed. For this individual basin the term "North Cantabrian Basin" is suggested herein. It developed during the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian/Hauterivian) as a result of block rotation along E-W trending major faults. The NCB is structurally separated from the Basco-Cantabrian Basin by the N-S trending Rio Miera Flexure in the East. Proximal sediments are characterized by (glauconitic) nodular to massively bedded limestones. In distal environments, marl/limestone alternations accumulated. During phases of regression, allochthonites with only limited geographic extent were shed into the basin. Within the Turonian to Early Coniacian, five phases of accelerated, differential subsidence (tectonic phases ?) were recognized. Especially the Early Coniacian movement (deformis Zone) can be observed in wide parts of Europe. Biostratigraphic subdivision is mainly based on ammonites, and, in the Late Turonian and Early Coniacian, on inoceramids. Lower Lower Turonian strata are missing and sedimentation started presumably in the upper part of the Watinoceras devonense Zone of the early Early Turonian. The late Early Turonian is represented by the Mammites nodosoides Zone. The Middle Turonian can be subdivided into the zones of (in ascending order) Kamerunoceras turoniense, Romaniceras kallesi, Romaniceras ornatissimum, and Romaniceras deverianum. The Late Turonian is subdivided into assemblage zones (AZ). These are (in ascending order) the AZ of Subprionocyclus neptuni/Romaniceras deverianum, the AZ of Mytiloides incertus/Subprionocyclus neptuni and the AZ of Mytiloides scupini/Prionocyclus germari. The latter correlates with the scupini Zone of Germany. The Early Coniacian is characterized by a zone of Cremnoceramus rotundatus and a higher zone of Cremnoceramus deformis. Ten events are recognized and dated. These are the Mytiloides-acme [Lower Turonian (?)], the Kamerunoceras turoniense/Mytiloides event (turoniense Zone), the Romaniceras kallesi event (kallesi Zone), the Romaniceras ornatissimum event (ornatissimum Zone), the Romaniceras deverianum event (neptuni/deverianum AZ), the Mytiloides incertus/Micraster leskei (small) event (incertus/neptuni the Micraster leskei (large) event (scupini/germari AZ), the Sternotaxis plana event (scupini/germari AZ), the Didymotis I event (scupini/germari KL) and the Didymotis II event (Turonian/Coniacian boundary). These events can, to some extent, be used for interbasinal correlation. Especially the turoniense/Mytiloides, the deverianum, the plana and the Didymotis events can be correlated to northern Germany. The incertus/leskei (small) and the leskei (large) events can be traced to England. Six sedimentary sequence boundaries (SB) were recognized and dated. These are: SB Tu I : Lower Turonan, SB Tu 2: late turoniense Zone, SB Tu 3: deverianum Zone, SB Tu 4: top neptuni/deverianum KL, SB Tu 5: early scupini/germari AZ, SB Co 1: late deformis Zone. The sedimentary sequencec, delimited by the SBs, are interpreted to represent 3rd order cycles sensu Haq et al. (1988). The position of the sequences is (based on a brief discussion of the reginal biostratigraphic subdivisions) compared with cycle charts from Tunisia, Spain, France, southern England, and Germany (Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Saxony) with only limited results. The "global" cycle chart appears to be not helpful for detailed sequence correlation and should be abandoned as a standard.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: At the beginning of Late Jurassic both the Lochen (LA) and the Cracow areas (CA) were palaeotopographic highs in an epicontinental basin located at the stable northern margin of the Tethyan Ocean. The topographically high position of the LA was probably caused by intensive carbonate production which proceeded on a small sea-floor bulge located close to the boundary between middle and lower parts of the low-angle carbonate ramp. Lack of deep structural control of this rise caused prograding facial unification during the Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian and led to gradual disappearance of the LA individuality in relation to the neighbouring areas. The topographical high of the CA resulted from anomalously low subsidence rate in comparison to the adjacent areas which has lasted at least for the whole Oxfordian. Low subsidence directly gave rise to the development of a barrier (so-called Cracovian Platform) which separated the interior basin in the north from the deeper parts of the basin in the south. Topography of the Polish part of epicontinental basin along the Czestochowa-Cracow line corresponds to the low-gradient rimmed carbonate shelf which graded laterally (to the northeast and east) into the low-angle carbonate ramp. Stratigraphic subdivision of Upper Jurassic strata is very precise in the LA and rather poor in the CA due to scarcity of ammonites in the massive facies which predominates in the latter area. However, ammonite fauna from both areas belongs to the same German-Polish Submediterranean Subprovince which allows to attempt the correlation of lithologies and determination of factors which controlled deposition. Both the studied areas show distinct differences in the development of carbonate buildups. In the LA the main components of carbonate buildups during whole Oxfordian and the Early Kimmeridgian were siliceous sponges and microbolites whilst in the CA the flourishing growth of microbolites and gradual decline of siliceous sponges domination took place during the Late Oxfordian. The sediment was initially diversified into the two varieties: that formed by siliceous sponges and the microbolites incipient rigid framework, and the soft mud. In such carbonate buildups stromatactis cavities might have developed even in early diagenesis due to internal erosion of the soft mud. The principal reason of the internal erosion was turbulent water flow through the sediment. However, in generally low-energy sedimentary environments such flow could be triggered by submarine gravity flows or strong bottom currents. Pseudonodular textures encountered in carbonate buildups in both the areas resulted from shallow-burial diagenesis. During the burial diagenesis some parts of the sediment has been disintegrated under the pressure of overlying strata owing to the existing open spaces and different susceptibility to compaction showed by the incipient rigid framework and the soft sediment. Deposition in the LA was controlled mainly by sea-level pulses and ecological factors. In the CA principal control was provided by subsidence rate supported by synsedimentary tectonics, sea-level changes and ecological factors. All these controlling factors were variable in time which provoked changes in carbonate production rates from intensive, aggradational growth of the buildups to drowning of the carbonate ramp and rimmed shelf. The drowning of carbonate ramp on which the LA was located took place at the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian break. It is documented by spectacular development of redeposited pelagites of skeletal-calciturbidites type with abundant fragments of Saccocoma sp. which have appeared for the first time in mass quantities in the Upper Jurassic. By analogy, it can be inferred that in the CA similar Saccocoma-calciturbidites prove the drowning of rimmed shelf related to the same trangressive event at the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian break.

Description: Zu Beginn des Ober-Jura waren das Lochengebiet (Schwäbische Alb) und der Raum Krakau (Südpolen) übereinstimmend Hochgebiete eines epikontinentalen Beckens auf dem passiven nördlichen Schelf der Tethys. Die topographische Hochposition des Lochengebietes war vermutlich durch eine hohe Karbonat-Produktion bedingt, welche auf einer schmalen submarinen Schwelle nahe dem Übergangsbereich zwischen unterem und mittlerem Abschnitt einer flach geneigten Karbonatrampe erfolgte. Während des Oxfordiums und Kimmeridgiums war die Lochenschwelle tektonisch inaktiv und ermöglichte einen zunehmenden Faziesausgleich mit den benachbarten Gebieten und führte dadurch zu einer successiven Aufgabe ihrer individuellen Entwicklung. Die Hochposition der Krakau-Region resultierte aus ihrer im Vergleich zur Umgebung ungewöhnlich geringen Subsidenzrate, welche mindestens während des gesamten Oxfordiums anhielt. Die geringe Subsidenz war unmittelbare Ursache für die Entwicklung einer Barriere (die sogenannte Krakau-Plattform), welche das seichtere Innenschelf-Becken im Norden von den tieferen Beckenanteilen im Süden trennte. Die Topographie des polnischen Anteils dieses epikontinentalen Beckens entsprach entlang der Czestochowa-Krakau-Linie einem „low-gradient rimmed carbonate shelf, der nach Nordosten und Osten lateral in eine flache Karbonatrampe überging. Die stratigraphische Gliederungsmöglichkeit der Ober-Jura-Schichfolge ist im Lochengebiet gut und feinauflösend, in der Krakau-Region dagegen, in der die Massenfazies vorherrscht, aufgrund der selteneren Ammonitenfunde zum Teil problematisch. Ungeachtet dessen, gehören die Ammoniten-Vergesellschaftungen beider Regionen derselben deutsch-polnischen, submediterranen Faunensubprovinz an und ermutigen zu einer Korrelation beider lithologischer Abfolgen und einer vergleichenden Abstraktion der Steuermechanismen für die Sedimentation. Beide Gebiete zeigen deutliche Unterschiede in der Entwicklung von karbonatischen Buildups. Im Lochen-Gebiet stellen während des Oxfordiums und Unter-Kimmeridgiums Kieselschwämme und Mikrobolithe die Hauptkomponenten der Riffstrukturen, während in der Krakau-Region die Bedeutung der Mikrobolithe und Kieselschwämme während des Ober-Oxfordiums successive abnimmt. Ursprünglich erfolgte eine Differenzierung der Riffstrukturen in einen autochthonen Hartsubstrat-Anteil, in dem Kieselschwämme und Mikrobolithe eine rigides Gerüst stellten, und in schlammiges Weichsubstrat. Innerhalb der Riffkörper konnten sich wohl frühdiagenetisch durch die interne Erosion der Schlamm-Anteile Stromatactis-Gefüge bilden. Grundsätzlich kann eine solche interne Erosion auf turbulente Porenwasserströme zurückgeführt werden. In den vorliegenden sedimentären Stillwasser-Milieus könnte ein solcher Porenwasserstrom durch submarine Schuttströme oder starke Bodenströmungen ausgelöst worden sein. Pseudonodulare Strukturen, wie sie in den Buildups beider Untersuchungsgebiete angetroffen wurden, werden durch eine flache Versenkungsdiagenese erklärt. Während dieser Vorgänge wurden unter dem Druck der Sedimentauflast aufgrund des vorhandenen, offenen Porenraumes und der unterschiedlichen Kompaktion von primär zementierten Riffkalken und des mergeligen Weichsubstrates Karbonatanteile gelöst. Das Sedimentationsgeschehen wurde in der Lochen-Region vor allem durch Meeresspiegel-Schwankungen und ökologische Parameter beeinflußt. In der Krakau-Region konnte als hauptsächlicher Kontrollfaktor die Subsidenzrate erkannt werden, in deren Gefolge synsedimentäre Tektonik, Änderungen von Meeresspiegel und der ökologischen Faktoren einhergingen. Veränderungen dieser Steuerfaktoren in der Zeit beeinflußten jeweils die Rate der Karbonatproduktion von intensiv (Aggradation der Buildups) bis zum Ertrinken der Karbonatrampe bzw. des Schelfrandes. Das Abtauchen der Karbonatrampe setzte in der Lochen-Region an der Oxfordium-Kimmeridgium-Wende ein. Es wird durch eine auffällige sedimentäre Entwicklung dokumentiert: Resedimentation pelagischer Kalke (skeletal calciturbidites), die häufig Saccocoma-Reste enthalten. Erste Massenvorkommen von Saccocoma treten in der Erdgeschichte im Oberjura auf. Ähnliche Saccoco/na-Kalkturbidite an der Oxfordium-Kimmeridgium-Grenze markieren in der Krakau-Region das Abtauchen des „rimmed shelf. Sie können auf dasselbe transgressive Ereignis zurückgeführt werden.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: The present study considered calcareous nannofossils from material represented by outcrops of Flysch successions of the External Hellenides belt in the area of the Ionian Zone (I.Z.), northwestern Greece. The studied outcrops are located in Epirus mainland and the Ionian island Korfu. Three subdivisions have been traditionally in literature distinguished in the I.Z., the Internal, Middle and External (moving from east to the west), each of which was subsequently recognized in the Flysch deposits as well. Aim of the study was, a refinement of the current biostratigraphic resolution of the area through detailed taxonomic descriptions and consequently, a reliably better correlation of the investigated sedimentary deposits with the help of calcareous nannofossils. The biostratigraphic data were also processed semiquentitatively (frequency variations and distributions), in order to accurately determine important biohorizons. For this purpose, the nannofossils were studied under the LM and the SEM, from ten closely sampled sections representing clastic sequences of all the three subdivisions of the I.Z. The investigated sections are situated at about 39° northern mid latitudes, a fact which resulted to mixed nannoflora assemblages of low and high latitudes character. The sections are namely: Elatos, Korfovouni (Internal I.Z. subdivision), Kato Despotiko, Strouga Goumenou and Ekklisia (Middle I.Z. subdivision), lower and upper Argyrotopos, National Road, Monos and Anacharavi (External I.Z. subdivision). They were found to range in age from the latest Eocene to the Early Miocene. Based on the systematic palaeontology, 107 species of calcareous nannofossils were observed and documented in the studied material. Among them, a new species Rhabdosphaera epirotica sp. nov. was described, and four recombinations were proposed. Moreover, two calcareous dinoflagellate cysts, Cervisiella saxea and Obliquipithonella sp. were reported for the first time from the I.Z. in Greece. Despite the mid latitude palaeogeographic position of the sections, all the conventional calcareous nannofossil zonal markers for the Oligocene and Early Miocene were recorded, although some in fewer abundances than in low latitudes. Improving the biostratigraphic reliability, a new zonational scheme was here developed and proposed for the Oligocene to Early Miocene interval. It was mainly established on use of redefined biohorizons and composed of five zones and five subzones following below: 1. Latest Eocene: Ericsonia formosa Partial-range Zone, 2. Oligocene: llselithina fusa / Ericsonia formosa Concurrent-range Zone, Ericsonia formosa-Reticulofenestra umbilicus/R. hillae Interval Zone, Cyclicargolithus abisectus Partial-range Zone, including the subzones: Rhabdosphaera spp. Interval Subzone, and Sphenolithus predistentus Interval Subzone, Reticulofenestra scissura Interval Zone, including the Sphenolithus delphix Abundance Subzone, and 3. Earliest Miocene: Triquetrorhabdulus spp. Partial-range Subzone Sphenolithus conicus Interval Subzone. Based on a new biohorizon of the absolute First Occurrence (FO) of llselithina fusa, the Eocene/Oligocene (E/O) boundary was identified in the lower part of the Argyrotopos section. On the absence of disc-shaped discoasters, the I. fusa biohorizon represented a better approximation of the boundary, which was clearly correlated with the other studied sections of the three subdivisions of the I.Z. The Oligocene/Miocene (O/M) boundary was identified in the Monos section located in the Plataria syncline (External I.Z.), but Early Miocene strata were recorded in the Middle I.Z. as well. This boundary was placed at the Last Common Occurrence (LCO) biohorizon of the Reticulofenestra scissura. Moreover, six associate bioevents were reported near the O/M boundary, among them the highest occurrence of I. fusa, located above the boundary, in the Anacharavi section of Korfu island (western part of the External I.Z.). For the first time were evaluated reworked together with „autochton“ taxa of calcareous nannofossils in Greece. Maximum diversity values along each of the studied sections, have shown increased reworking and erosional processes in the Internal subdivision of the I.Z. than in the Middle and the External ones. This is interpreted to be connected with the higher tectonic instability along the Pindos thrust to the east, in relation to the central and western parts of the Ionian basin mainly during the Oligocene.

Description: Die der vorliegenden Arbeit zugrundeliegenden kalkigen Nannofossilien stammen von Flyschabfolgen der Externen Helleniden (Ionische Zone) Nordwest-Griechenlands.So wurden in die Untersuchung Aufschlüsse des Festlandes in Epirus und der Ionischen Insel Korfu aus dem stratigraphischen Intervall vom obersten Eozän bis zum untersten Miozän einbezogen. Die Ionische Zone (I.Z.) wird traditionell von Osten nach Westen in die Interne, Mittlere und Externe Subzone unterteilt. Diese Einteilung läßt sich auch auf die Flyschablagerungen übertragen. Ziel der Arbeit ist eine Verfeinerung der bestehenden Biostratigraphie durch detaillierte taxonomische Beschreibungen, um damit eine bessere Korrelation der untersuchten Ablagerungen mit Hilfe der kalkigen Nannofossilien zu erreichen. Mit einer halbquantitativen Erfassung der biostratigraphischen Daten (Häufigkeitsvariation und -Verteilung) gelingt es darüberhinaus, einzelne Biohorizonte genauer zu definieren. Zu diesem Zwecke wurde das kalkige Nannoplankton von zehn eng-beprobten Profilen aus klastischen Abfolgen aller drei Subzonen der I. Z. unter dem Licht- und Elektronenmikroskop (REM) untersucht. Die Profile im einzelnen sind: Elatos und Korfovouni (Interne Subzone), Kato Despotiko, Strouga Goumenou und Ekklisia (Mittlere Subzone), Unter bzw. Ober Argyrotopos, National Road, Monos und Anacharavi (Externe Subzone). Zur Ablagerungszeit befanden sich die untersuchten Profile in einer nördlichen Paläobreite um 39°, was zu einer gemischten Nannoflora aus charakteristischen Vertretern niedriger und höherer Breiten führte. In dem untersuchten Material konnten insgesamt 107 Spezies von kalkigem Nannoplankton gefunden und dokumentiert werden. Die Art Rhabdosphaera epirotica nov. sp.wird neu beschrieben und vier Rekombinationen werden vorgeschlagen. Darüberhinaus konnten zwei kalkige Dinoflagellatenzysten Cervisiella saxea und Obliquipithonella sp. zum ersten Mal in der I.Z. nachgewiesen werden. Trotz der paläogeographischen Position der Profile in mittleren Paläobreitenbereich konnten alle konventionellen Zonenleitformen des kalkigen Nannoplanktons für das Oligozän und das Untermiozän gefunden werden, einige davon jedoch in geringerer Häufigkeit als in den niedrigeren Breiten. Durch die Verbesserung der biostratigraphischen Genauigkeit wird hier ein neues mediterranes Zonenschema für das Oligozän und das Untermiozän entwickelt, das im wesentlichen auf neu definierten Biohorizonten basiert. Es enthält fünf Zonen und fünf Subzonen: 1. Jüngstes Eozän: Ericsonia formosa Partial-range Zone, 2. Oligozän: llselithina fusa/Ericsonia formosa Concurrent-range Zone, Ericsonia formosa-Reticulofenestra umbilicus/R. hillae Interval Zone, Cyclicargolithus abisectus Partial-range Zone, gegliedert in den Subzonen: Rhabdosphaera spp. Interval Subzone, und Sphenolithus predistentus Interval Subzone, Reticulofenestra scissura Interval Zone, die eine Subzone enthält: Sphenolithus delphix Abundance Subzone, und 3. Ältestes Miozän: Triquetrorhabdulus spp. Partial-range Subzone Sphenolithus conicus Interval Subzone. Mit dem ersten Auftreten (FO) von llselithina fusa wird ein neuer Biohorizont definiert, mit dem die Grenze Eozän/Oligozän (E/O) in dem unteren Teil des Argyrotopos-Profils nachgewiesen wird. Trotz der Abwesenheit von scheibenförmigen Discoasteriden läßt sich nun diese Grenze mit dem I. fusa-Biohorizont besser fassen und kann eindeutig mit den Profilen in den beiden anderen Subzonen der I.Z. korreliert werden. Die Oligozän/Miozän-Grenze (O/M) konnte im Monos-Profil der Plataria-Synklinale (Externe I.Z.) charakterisiert werden. Untermiozän ließ sich aber auch in der Mittleren Subzone nachweisen. Die Grenze O/M ist durch das letzte Vorkommen (LCO) von Reticulofenestra scissura bestimmt. Sechs assoziierte Bioevents fallen in diesen Grenzbereich, darunter im Anacharavi-Profil der Insel Korfu (Westteil der Externen Subzone) das jüngste Vorkommen von I. fusa, unmittelbar über der Grenze O/M. Zum erstem Mal für Griechenland konnten aufgearbeitete Taxa von kalkigen Nannofossilien zusammen mit den autochthonen Taxa nachgewiesen werden. Ein Vergleich der maximalen Diversitätswerte in den untersuchten Profilen zeigt eine signifikant höhere Aufarbeitungsrate in der Internen Subzone gegenüber der Mittleren und Externen Subzonen. Dieser Umstand dürfte mit der höheren tektonischen Instabilität entlang der Pindos-Decken-Front im Osten des Arbeitsgebietes Zusammenhängen.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Mit einer dreidimensionalen Vorwärtsmodellierung von Dichtestrukturen der Kruste und des oberen Mantels im Gebiet von 12°-35°S und 57°-79°W wird der regionale Trend des Schwerefelds und gleichzeitig das Geoid am aktiven Kontinentalrand Südamerikas zwischen 20° S und 29°S erklärt. Das Dichtemodell umfaßt die abtauchende Nazca-Platte, Teile des südamerikanischen Kratons, den Asthenosphärenkeil zwischen Unter- und Oberplatte und die Kruste der Zentralanden. Eine Vielzahl externer geowissenschaftlicher Randbedingungen schränkt die Dichteverteilung ein. Die Strukturierung der zentralandinen Kruste im Modell orientiert sich hauptsächlich an den Ergebnissen der Refraktionsseismik. Zur Ermittlung der Krustendichten wird eine druck- und temperaturabhängige Geschwindigkeits-Dichte-Beziehung (S. Sobolev) zur Anwendung gebracht. Neben der bekannten Berechnung der Schwerewirkung dreidimensionaler Dichteverteilungen erlaubt eine neuentwickelte Berechnung des Schwerepotentials nun auch die Modellierung des Geoids. Das Einbeziehen eines Referenzdichtemodells ermöglicht die Anpassung der berechneten Felder an die beobachteten Felder bei gleichzeitiger Verwendung von Absolutdichten. Verschiedene Dichtekontraste der abtauchenden Nazca-Platte gegenüber dem umgebenden Mantel sowie mögliche Dichtekontraste innerhalb des Slab, die sich aus Phasenumwandlungen der gesteinsbildenden Minerale ergeben, werden behandelt und ihre einzelnen Beiträge zum Schwerefeld und Geoid der zentralen Anden berechnet. Mit dem fertigen Gesamtmodell wird die Zusammensetzung des Schwerefeldes und des Geoids am aktiven Kontinentalrand Südamerikas analysiert und ihre Hauptbeiträge dargestellt. Die im Modell enthaltenen Strukturen erklären das regionale Schwerefeld und das Geoid vollständig. Daraus folgt, daß aus tieferliegenden Dichteinhomogenitäten, beispielsweise an der Grenze vom oberen zum unteren Mantel oder im unteren Mantel aufgrund einer möglichen isostatischen “in situ”-Kompensation keine weiteren Beiträge zu erwarten sind. Das Schwereminimum wird hauptsächlich durch eine bis auf 65km verdickte Kruste erklärt. Die Schweremaxima in der Küstenkordillere werden durch den Beitrag des Slab und eine Zone erhöhter Dichte in mittlerer Krustentiefe verursacht. Eine anomale VΡ-ρ-Beziehung unter dem rezenten Arc läßt dort partielle Aufschmelzung vermuten. Eine Untersuchung des Schwimmgleichgewichts des Modells ergibt isostatische Unterkompensation (= Massenüberschuß) im Bereich der Küstenkordillere und der Ostkordillere sowie isostatischen Ausgleich bis leichte Überkompensation im Bereich der Westkordillere und des Altiplano bzw. der Puna.

Description: A three-dimensional foreward modelling of the density structures of the crust and the upper mantle in the region between 12°-35°S and 57°-79°W explains both the regional trend of the gravity field and the geoid at the active continental margin of South America from 20°S to 29°S. The density model comprises the downgoing Nazca plate, parts of the South American craton, the asthenospheric wedge between lower and upper plate, and the crust of the Central Andes. A large number of external geoscientific boundary conditions constrains the density distribution. The Central Andean crust of the model is structured according to the results of refraction seismic studies. A pressure and temperature dependent velocity- density relation (S. Sobolev) is applied to determine densities within the crust. Apart from the well known calculation of the gravity effect of three-dimensional density distributions, a recently developped calculation of the gravity potential now allows the modelling of the geoid. Using absolute densities, the fitting of the calculated fields to the observed fields is realized by the application of a reference density model. Several density contrasts of the subducting Nazca plate against the surrounding mantle and possible density contrasts inside the slab resulting from mineral phase transitions are discussed and their particular contributions to the Central Andean gravity field and the geoid are calculated. Using the complete model, the composition of the gravity field and the geoid at the active continental margin of South America is analyzed and the main contributions are visualized. The model structures explain both regional gravity field and geoid completely. This implies that density inhomogeneities at greater depth than presented in the model, e. g. at the interface between the upper and the lower mantle or in the lower mantle are not expected to have effects at the surface due to possible isostatic “in situ” compensation. The gravity minimum is generally explained by a crust thickened to 65 km maximum. The gravity highs in the Coastal Cordillera are caused by the contribution of the slab and a zone of increased density in mid crustal layers. An anomalous VΡ-ρ- relation beneath the recent arc implies partial melt. The investigation of the isostatic state of the density model results in isostatic undercompensation (= mass surplus) in the region of the Coastal Cordillera und the Eastern Cordillera, and isostatic equilibrium to slight overcompensation in the Altiplano/Puna region.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Den eigentlichen Anwendungen geophysikalischer Modelliertechniken und Bearbeitungsmethoden geht im Verlauf dieser Arbeit eine umfassende Evaluierung und Kompilierung einer Flächendeckenden Datenbasis zwischen 20° und 26°S sowie 62° und 74°W aus gravimetrischen Daten voran. Untersuchungen des Magnetfeldes beschränken sich auf den Bereich der Nazca-Platte. Dabei werden alle verfügbaren Datensätze einbezogen, wozu neben Satelliten-altimetrisch gewonnenen Schweredaten auch Datensätze südamerikanischer Partner-Institutionen gehören. Ziel dieser Vorarbeiten ist die Erstellung eines homogenen nach Qualitätsmerkmalen unterschiedenen Schweredatensatzes, welcher den ozeanischen und den kontinentalen Bereich des Meßgebietes zwischen 20° und 26°S des Arbeitsgebietes beinhaltet. Im folgenden dient die gravimetrische und magnetische Datenbasis als Vergleichsdatensatz für die Modellierung von Dichteinhomogenitäten und Magnetisierungskontrasten. Randbedingungen aus anderen geowissenschaftlichen Teilbereichen wie der Seismik (grenzt die Geometrie- und Dichtevariationen ein), der Petrologie (Phasenübergänge, Gesteinsmetamorphosen) und Geologie (Strukturelle Grenzen) dienen der maximalen Einschränkung von Dichtedomänen und magnetisierten Bereichen. Das lokale 3D-Modell des Kontinentalrandes mit angrenzender Nazca-Platte erklärt die im Magnet-und Schwerefeld beobachteten Anomalien und zeigt die besondere Bedeutung der subduzierten Lithosphäre der Nazca-Platte auf. Neben dieser statischen Modellierung werden im Schwerefeld enthaltene Informationen über die Rigidität der aneinander grenzenden ozeanischen und kontinentalen Lithosphärenplatten extrahiert. Mit einem 3D-Kohärenzverfahren, welches erstmalig in den Zentralen Anden angewendet wird, werden Bereiche mit unterschiedlicher Festigkeit abgegrenzt. Durch die Einbeziehung von ’’Surface- und Subsurface Load” wird die hochauflösende Kohärenz-Analyse verbessert, gegenüber 2D- Verfahren ohne Berücksichtigung von ’’Subsurface Loads”. Eine Vergleichsstudie der Rigiditätsverteilung mit ähnlich regionalen Charakteristika der Lithosphärenplatten, wie etwa dem geothermischen Gradienten führt zu vergleichbaren Aussagen und bestätigt den großen Einfluß der subduzierten Nazca-Platte auf das gesamte aktive System in Bezug auf das Schwerefeld, das Thermische- und das Spannungsregime. Bereiche mit hohem Oberflächen-Wärmefluß korrelieren mit geringer Rigidität. Demzufolge finden sich die höchsten Rigiditätswerte im Forearc und östlichen Backarc und die niedrigsten in der Westkordillere. Schließlich wird auf der Basis der Analyse isostatischer Restfelder mit und ohne Berücksichtigung des Schweresignals der Nazca-Platte, der isostatische Zustand der kontinentalen Lithosphäre untersucht. Dabei werden zusätzlich, neben Modellgeometrien, Dichten und Rigiditäten auch geotektonische Regionen unterschieden. Isostatische Unterkompensation wird demnach in der Küstenkordillere und der Ostkordillere beobachtet. Der Bereich des Hochplateaus der Zentralen Anden befindet sich in isostatischem Gleichgewicht.

Description: The actual application of geophysical modelling and processing techniques in this thesis is preceded by a comprehensive evaluation and compilation of a Database covering the area from 20° and 26°S to 62° and 74°W with gravimetric and magnetic data. Research of the magnetic field is constrained to the Nazca-Plate oceanic area. In addition to altimétrie satellite gravity data all other available gravity data has been included in the database, e.g. datasets provided by our south american partner institutions. The aim of these preparatory works is the preparation of a uniform dataset which distinguishes data according to quality features. In further progress, this gravimetric and magnetic database is utilized to compare the Signals caused by density inhomogeneities and magnetization contrasts to measured data. Boundary conditions from other geophysical disciplines like seismics (restricting geometry and density variations), petrology (Phasetransitions, Metamorphic reactions) and geology (structural boundaries) lead to a maximum limitation of density and magnetic domains. The local 3D-model of the continent-ocean transition zone with the boundaring Nazca-plate explains the observed anomalies and highlights the particular meaning of the subducting Nazca-plate. Beside this static modelling information about the rigidity of the contacting oceanic and continental lithospheres which is contained in the gravity field is extracted. The utilization of a new 3D-coherence method, which is applied for the first time in the central Andes, enables to divide regions of different rigidity. The incorporation of surface and subsurface loads implies a higher spacial resolution in opposition to 2D-methods not regarding subsurface loads. A comparative study of the distribution of rigidity and similar more regional parameters controlling the rigidity of the lithosphere leads to compareable results and confirms the importance of the subducting Nazca-plate on the active system, in terms of the gravity field, the geothermal- and stress regime. Regions characterized by high surface heatflow correspond to low rigidity. The highest values for flexural rigidity are to be found in the forarc and eastern backarc, the lowest in the active volcanic front, the western cordillera. Finally an analysis of isostatic residual fields, again taking into account the gravity signal of the subducting Nazca-plate reveals different isostatic conditions for different parts of the surveyed continental lithosphere. Apart from model geometries, densities and rigidities geotectonic regions are distinguished. Isostatic undercompensation is observed in the coastal and eastern cordillera; whereas the andean plateaus in the central Andes can be considered as isostatically compensated.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Eine für die Zentralanden erstellte geowissenschaftliche Datenbank erfaßt die umfangreichen Forschungsergebnisse des SFB 267 wie auch externe Datensätze in Form eines zentral verwalteten Dateisystems. Ein Datenkatalog, welcher seit Mitte 1996 auch im World Wide Web (WWW, URL: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~data) verfügbar ist, bietet einen Überblick über die aktuelle Datenbasis und erleichtert den allgemeinen Zugriff auf die einzelnen Datensätze. Vorgestellt werden ferner verschiedene Methoden zur Analyse raumbezogener Daten aus Bereichen der Statistik (streifen-gemittelte Topographieprofile, Standardabweichung, Korrelationen, Fraktale) , Bildverarbeitung (direktionale Richtungsfilter) , Geomorphometrie (Neigung und Vertikalwölbung) und Numerik (Horizontalgradienten, FFT). Die Anwendung dieser Verfahren bezüglich einer regionalen Strukturierung wird am Beispiel der für die Zentralanden flächendeckend vorliegenden Topographie und Schwerefelder getestet und mit den aus langjährigen Untersuchungen in den Anden zur Verfügung stehenden Forschungsergebnissen verglichen. Endogene und exogene Prozesse spiegeln sich in den topographischen Erscheinungsformen wider. Insbesondere mit Hilfe der geomorphometrischen Analyse und der FFT-Filterung lassen sich für die morphostrukturellen Einheiten typische Merkmale sehr gut herausarbeiten. Auch mit einer einfachen Statistik (streifen-gemittelte Topographieprofile, Berechnung von Minimum, Mittelwert, Maximum und Standardabweichung einzelner Untersuchungsgebiete) können für die ausgewählten Gebiete charakteristische Unterschiede ermittelt werden. Im Hinblick auf die Topographie unterscheidet sich bei allen Untersuchungsmethoden am Westrand der Zentralanden der hyperaride Norden im Bereich der Atacama Wüste deutlich vom weniger trockenen Süden. Studien zur fraktalen Geometrie der Geländeoberfläche zeigen, daß sich die andine Topographie skaleninvariant verhält und tektonische wie klimatische Einflüsse sich in der geometrischen Variation der Geländeoberfläche widerspiegeln. Morphologisch zergliederte Zonen, wie das durch starke Verkürzungen gekennzeichnete Subandin oder der Südwestrand der Zentralanden, weisen im Vergleich zur fraktalen Dimension des Gesamtgebietes eine höhere fraktale Dimension auf, während das hyperaride Gebiet im Bereich der Atacama Wüste durch einen vergleichsweise niedrigen Wert gekennzeichnet ist. Mit der direktionalen Lineamentverstärkung, z.T. aber auch mit anderen Methoden wie etwa der Darstellung der Neigungsrichtung, werden die wichtigsten Störungszonen (z.B. das Atacama- oder das Präkordilleren-Störungssystem) weitestgehend erfaßt. Auf dem Pazifik bilden sich - sowohl bei der geomorphometrischen Untersuchung wie auch bei der Lineamenterkennung - entlang der Peru-Chile-Tiefseerinne die im CINCA Experiment beobachteten morphologisch-tektonischen Charakteristika (Reichert et al., 1997), wie z.B. die Blocktektonik innerhalb einer ca. 50 km breiten, westlich der Tiefseerinne verlaufenden Zone, ab. Gravimetrische Lineamente, die aus den maximalen Horizontalgradienten im Schwerefeld abgeleitet werden, weisen auf abrupte, laterale Dichteänderungen hin, sind jedoch in den Zentralanden nur in Einzelfällen mit den an der Oberfläche anstehenden lithologischen Einheiten oder Störungszonen korrelierbar. Die zweidimensionale Korrelation im moving window Verfahren hat sich als nützliches Instrument zur Analyse von sich gegenseitig beeinflussenden, raumverteilten Datensätzen erwiesen. Die Wahl der Fenstergröße erlaubt, zwischen einer regionalen und einer eher lokalen Analyse zu differenzieren; mit Hilfe einer geeigneten Visualisierung lassen sich die Beziehungen zwischen den Variablen schnell erfassen. Die räumlich differenzierte, quantitative Analyse der Korrelation zwischen Schwerefeld und Topographie in den Zentralanden zeigt, daß nicht nur die Bouguer-Anomalie sondern auch das isostatische Restfeld stark negativ mit der Geländehöhe korreliert.

Description: A geoscientific database was established for the area of the Central Andes, which includes information about past and current research conducted within the frame of the ’SFB 267 - Deformation Processes in the Andes’ (Berlin, Potsdam) as well as data from external sources. The catalogue, which since 1996 is also available on the Web (WWW, URL: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~data/ provides a general view of the database architecture and contents, and facilitates common and easy access to singular sets of data. In addition, various methods for the analysis of spatial data from disciplines such as statistics (swath-averaged topographic profiles, standard deviation, correlation, fractals), digital image processing (directional filtering), geomorphometry (inclination and vertical doming) and numerical methods (horizontal gradient, Fast Fourier Transformation [FFT]) are presented in this thesis. Application of these techniques for structural analysis on a regional scale was tested for the Central Andes, for which topographic coverage is complete, as well as for associated gravity fields, and compared with information generated during long term investigations in the Andes. Endogenous and exogenous processes are mirrored in topographic forms and landscapes. Characteristic features of morphostructural units are particularly well characterized when employing geomorphometric analyses and FFT filter techniques. Even simple statistical methods (swath-averaged topographic profiles, calculation of minimum, mean, maximum and standard deviation) for selected areas allow recognition of specific features and characteristic variations. As far as topography is concerned, distinct differences between the hyperarid northern portion of the western Central Andes (Atacama Desert) and lesser arid southern sectors are evident for all methods employed. Studies of the surface fractal geometry show an invariance of scale of the Andean topography. Structural and climatic influences are mirrored in geometric variations of the landscape. Morphologically intensely structured portions, like the Subandean ranges, characterized by pronounced crustal shortening, or the southwestern margin of the Central Andes are marked by a higher fractal dimension, when compared to the entire area studied, whereas the hyperarid portion of the Atacama Desert is characterized by a lower fractal dimension. Directional lineament enhancement, but other methods such as areal inclination detection as well, allow to accentuate major zones of structural weakness, such as the Atacama and Precordilleran fault systems. Both, geomorphometric investigations and lineament recognition, enhance morpho-structural features such as block-faulting of oceanic lithosphere along the Peru-Chile deep sea trench in a 50 km wide sector to the west of the subduction zone, and verify results gathered during the CINCA experiment (Reichert et al., 1997). Gravimetric lineaments, derived from maximum horizontal gradients in gravity fields of the Central Andes, point to abrupt lateral density variations, but can only occasionally be correlated with outcropping lithologic units or fault zones. The two dimensional correlation using the moving average technique has proven to be useful for analysis of mutually influencing and spatially arranged data sets. Selection of a proper window size allows to differentiate between analyses on regional resp. local scales. Employing proper visualization, relations between variables are easily detectable. A spatially differentiated and quantitative analysis of the relationship between gravity field and topography in the Central Andes shows a strong negative correlation of altitude with Bouguer anomaly and isostatic residual field.

Description: http://www.cms.fu-berlin.de/sfb/sfb267/results/data_catalogue/index.html

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Schweremessungen im Hochgebirge erfordern eine genaue Bestimmung der topographischen Reduktion für die Berechnung der Bouguer-Anomalie. Von besonderer Wichtigkeit ist hierbei die optimale Approximation der Erdoberfläche durch geometrisch einfache Geländemodelle und die Kenntnis der Gesteinsdichteverteilung im Untersuchungsgebiet. Mit modernen Reduktionsverfahren ist es möglich, topographische Effekte zu verringern oder zu eliminieren und somit die Genauigkeit der Bouguer-Anomalie zu erhöhen. Anhand der verfügbaren Literatur wird eine Übersicht über bislang entwickelte Verfahren zur Berechnung der topographischen Reduktion gegeben. Hierbei handelt es sich um Verfahren, bei denen die Gestalt des Geländes zumeist durch unterschiedliche Modellvorstellungen (Quader, Kreisringsegmente) approximiert wird. Ein weiteres Problem ist die korrekte Berücksichtigung der Reduktionsdichte innerhalb des Untersuchungsgebietes. Darauf aufbauend wird ein Reduktionsverfahren entwickelt, das eine optimale Anpassung der Topographie durch die Triangulation aller Höheninformationen erlaubt bei gleichzeitiger Berücksichtigung von lateral variierenden Gesteinsdichteverteilungen, sog. Dichteprovinzen im Vergleich zum Standarddichteansatz. Die Höheninformationen bestehen aus einer Kombination von exakten Punkthöhen der Gravimeterstationen, den Höhenwerten aus hochauflösenden digitalen Höhenmodellen (DHM) und sonstigen Höhendaten. Durch eine Dreiecksvermaschung aller Höhenpunkte entsteht eine triangulierte irreguläre Netzwerk-Struktur (TIN). Die Geländereduktion für eine Station erhält man durch Summierung der Schwerewirkung aller Polyeder, deren Grundfläche aus ebenen Dreiecken im Stationsniveau und deren Deckflächen aus geneigten Flächen der Geländeapproximation bestehen. Die Berechnung der Schwerewirkung erfolgt durch eine analytische Lösung des auftretenden Volumenintegrals des Polyeders. Bei dieser Polyeder-Methode entfällt außerdem die klassische Einteilung des Geländes in unterschiedliche Entfernungszonen. Aufgrund des Rechenalgorithmus gehört das Polyeder- Verfahren zu den stationsunabhängigen Reduktions verfahren. Die Anwendung des Verfahrens erfolgt an Schweremessungen aus den Zentralen Anden in Südamerika zwischen 19°-29° S und 60°-71° W. Als Datengrundlage dienen ca. 15 000 Schwerestationen und das hochauflösende 30”x30” Höhenmodell ’GTOPO30’ des USGS. Mit einem modifizierten Nettleton-Verfahren werden erstmalig mittlere Reduktionsdichtewerte aus Bouguer-Schwerewerten für den zentralen Andenbereich bestimmt. Die Verwendung von diesen Dichtemodellen stellt den Versuch dar, die Schweredaten mit einer lateral variierenden DichteVerteilung neu zu interpretieren. Es ist deshalb nur als ein erster Ansatz zu verstehen, weil die derzeit verfügbare Dichtedatenbasis im Untersuchungsgebiet noch nicht ausreichend gut ist. Mit dem Polyeder- Verfahren steht ein moderner und flexibler Rechenalgorithmus zur Verfügung, der in idealer Weise alle notwendigen Höhen- und Gesteinsdichteinformationen zur optimalen Berechnung der topographischen Reduktion in der Gravimetrie verwendet.

Description: Gravimetric measurements in high mountains need an exact determination of the topographic reduction for the calculation of the Bouguer-Anomaly. The optimum representation of the shape of the earth’s relief by simple geometric ground models and the knowledge of the rock density distribution in the examined area is very important. It is possible to reduce or eliminate topographic effects by modern reduction procedures and to increase the exactness of the Bouguer- Anomaly. The available literature so far about this topic gives a survey about the developed procedure of calculating the topographic reduction. These procedures deal with the approximation of the ground condition by different model proceedings. Another problem is the correct consideration of the reduction density in the explored area. Based on this a new method for calculating the topographic reduction at each gravity station with a simultaneous consideration of variable rock density distribution, which are called density provinces, is developed. This method bases on the approximation of the terrain by polyhedrons. The source of the terrain model consists of digital elevation models (DEM), the heights of the gravity station themselves and perhaps other heights. Next step is the triangulation of the data and the result of it is a network of triangulation facets (TIN). The triangulated topography and the reference surface of the gravity surface built a polyhedron by which gravity attraction can be calcuated immediately and exactly and in an analytical form to each gravity station in the area. This procedure is called polyhedron-method and it belongs to the station-independent reduction procedures. The approximation of the topography in the triangulation facets avoids a classical division of the surroundings into different distance zones. The application of this procedure is carried out in gravity measurements of the Central Andes in South America between 19°-29°S and 60°-71°W. The data source includes 15 000 gravity stations and a 30-arc second digital elevation model ’GTOPO30’ of South America from the USGS. The first medium reduction density values taken from the Bouguer gravity values are fixed for the Central Andes by a modified Nettleton-procedure. That is only to understand as the first attempt. The momentary available density data basis in the explored area is still not satisfying. A new modern and flexible polyhedron method which ideally uses all necessary elevation information about the topography to provide higher accuracy for the terrain reduction process than it was possible before is now available.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: Subduktionszonen gehören zu den geologisch aktivsten Regionen der Erde. Viele der Prozesse in diesen Zonen laufen unter der Beteiligung von Fluiden ab und führen zu Aufschmelzung und Vulkanismus. Der Parameter der Absorption seismischer Wellen in der Erde (Kruste, Mantel) wird entscheidend von Größen wie der Temperatur, der Porosität, dem Umgebungsdruck oder der Sättigung mit wässrigen Fluiden oder (partiellen) Schmelzen gesteuert. Er eignet sich demnach hervorragend zur Untersuchung des Zustandes von Kruste und Erdmantel und den Prozessen in einer Subduktionszone. Für die Absorptionsuntersuchungen in der Subduktionszone in den westlichen Zentralen Anden standen die Daten der beiden seismologischen Experimente PISCO ’94 und ANCORP ’96 zur Verfügung. Diese Projekte wurden vom Sonderforschungsbereich 267 ’’Deformationsprozesse in den Anden”, der Freien Universität Berlin und dem GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam finanziert und gemeinsam mit südamerikanischen Partnern durchgeführt. So wurden in den Jahren 1994 und 1996/97 für jeweils rund 3 Monate seismologische Stationsnetze in Nord-Chile und Süd-Bolivien betrieben, die weite Bereiche des forearc und des magmatischen Bogens sowie Teile des Altiplano zwischen 21° und 24° S umfaßten. Sie registrierten eine große Anzahl überwiegend lokaler Ereignisse aus der Wadati-Benioff-Zone. Für die Absorptionsuntersuchungen konnten insgesamt 904 Ereignisse mit 11.738 P-Phasen des PISCO ’94-Experiments bzw. 686 Ereignisse mit 10.544 P-Phasen des ANCORP ’96- Experiments verwendet werden. Die Berechnung der Absorption der einzelnen Strahlen erfolgte (automatisch) aus den Amplitudenspektren der P-Wellen Einsätze. Es wurde ein Frequenzband von 3 bis maximal 30 Hz analysiert, in dem ein frequenzunabhängiger Qualitätsfaktor Q angenommen wurde. Dabei kamen zwei unterschiedliche Methoden, Spektralverhältnisse und Spektralinversion, zur Anwendung, um der prinzipiellen Schwierigkeit der Trennung von Quell- und Weg-Effekten zu begegnen und Annahmen beispielsweise über die Quellfunktion zu überprüfen. Eine Spektralinversion nach individuellen t*-Operatoren und Plateauwerten und einer für ein Beben gemeinsamen Eckfrequenz konnte erfolgreich angewendet werden. Die so bestimmten Absorptionswerte (t*-Operatoren) wurden für eine damped least squares-Inversion zur Berechnung der dreidimensionalen Absorptionsstruktur im Untergrund verwendet. Das raytracing wurde dabei in den dreidimensionalen Geschwindigkeitsmodellen durchgeführt, um den genauen Strahlverlauf zu berücksichtigen. Die errechneten Modelle erlauben einen detaillierten Einblick in die Subduktionszone der Zentralen Anden. Der Bereich unterhalb des arcs zwischen 21,5° und 24° S ist geprägt von einer prominenten Anomalie geringer Q-Werte, die von der Kruste bis in den oberen Mantel reicht. Große Stationskorrekturen der Stationen im arc und dem Altiplano deuten auf eine Erstreckung bis an die Oberfläche hin. Die krustale Absorption verläuft deckungsgleich mit der Verbreitung des rezenten Vulkanismus. Südlich von 22° S verläuft die Absorptionsanomalie bis in eine Tiefe von 250 km genau oberhalb der abtauchenden Nazca-Platte. Nördlich von 22° S scheint die starke Absorption auf den Bereich oberhalb von ca. 100 km begrenzt. In diesem nördlichen Bereich, in dem generell eine geringere Absorption verzeichnet wird, korrespondiert diese Zone mit dem dort angesiedelten Beben-cluster in ca. 100 km Tiefe; nördlich von 21° S verliert sie sich. Der forearc zeigt sich als relativ homogene, gering absorbierende Struktur mit Q-Werten um 1000; die abtauchende Platte weist ebenfalls hohe Q-Werte auf. Bedingt durch die Lage der Absorptionsanomalien relativ zu den seismologischen Netzen und die damit verbundene geringere Durchstrahlung war eine detaillierte Untersuchung der Auflösung der Modelle notwendig. Dazu wurden die aus der Modellresolutionsmatrix abgeleiteten Größen wie die spread-function berücksichtigt, aber auch synthetische Tests an Modellen mit oszillierenden Strukturen (Schachbrettmustern) und ’’realistischen” Untergrundmodellen vorgenommen. Sie zeigen, daß große Bereiche des forearcs und arcs in den Modellen sehr gut aufgelöst werden. Die gefundenen Anomalien lassen sich unter verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten diskutieren. Die ausgeprägte krustale Absorption unter großen Teilen der Westkordillere läßt sich mit der schon früher abgeleiteten Präsenz partieller Schmelzen erklären. Sie korreliert sehr gut mit der Verteilung des rezenten Vulkanismus, erniedrigten Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeiten, einem erhöhten vp/vs-Verhältnis, z.T. extrem erhöhten elektrischen Leitfähigkeiten und Bereichen, für die anomale Geschwindigkeits-Dichte Relationen angenommen werden müssen. Variationen innerhalb dieser krustalen Anomalien weisen auf eine unterschiedlich ausgeprägte Durchdringung mit partiellen Schmelzen hin. Die Anomalien im oberen Mantel deuten auf ein unterschiedliches Vordringen der heißen Asthenosphäre unter den magmatischen Bogen hin. Darüber hinaus können sie als Bereiche partieller Schmelzen und Fluide interpretiert werden, die Dehydratisierungs- und Hydratisierungsprozesse in dieser Subduktionszone widerspiegeln.

Description: Subduction zones are among the geologically most active regions of the world. Many processes in these zones take place under the influence of fluids and lead to the generation of melts and volcanism. Attenuation of seismic waves in crust and mantle depends strongly on parameters like temperature, porosity, confining pressure or saturation with hydrous fluids or partial melts. Therefore, this parameter is perfectly suited to examine the state of the crust and mantle in subduction zones. For the attenuation studies in the subduction zone of the western Central Andes datasets of two seismological experiments, PISCO ’94 and ANCORP ’96, were used. These projects were financed by the Collaborative Research Center 267 ’’Deformation Processes in the Andes”, the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam and the Department of Geophysics of the Free University of Berlin and were executed in cooperation with partners from South America. In 1994 and 1996/97 two temporary seismological networks were installed in northern Chile and southern Bolivia covering large areas of the forearc, the magmatic arc and the Altiplano between 21° and 24° S. They monitored a large number of earthquakes predominantly situated in the Wadati-Benioff zone. From the PISCO ’94 and ANCORP ’96 datasets 904 events with 11.738 attenuation values respectively 686 events with 10.544 values could be used for the tomography. Whole-path attenuation was (automatically) determined from the amplitude spectra of the F- waves. In a frequency-band between 3 and 30 Hz a frequency-independent Quality-factor Qp was assumed. In order to separate source- and path-effects two different methods were applied, spectral inversion, and spectral ratios relative to a constant reference station. The spectral inversion for individual C-operators and plateau-values and a single source corner frequency for all observations of an event was applied successfully. In a damped least squares approach the t*-operators were inverted for the three-dimensional attenuation structure. To account for the spatial distribution of both velocity and attenuation raytracing was performed in the three-dimensional velocity structure previously derived by simultaneous inversions of travel-time data. The obtained models allow a detailed insight into the subduction zone of the Central Andes. Crust and mantle of the forearc and subducting slab are generally characterized by low attenuation (Qp 〉 1000). Beneath the Western Cordillera, the recent magmatic arc, a prominent attenuation anomaly is found (Qp 〈 100). This anomaly reaches from the uppermost crust down to the upper mantle at a depth of 250 km. North-South variations can be seen: The western flank of the crustal attenuation anomaly is congruent to the curved course of the volcanic front. North of 21° S the attenuation is less developed and dies out north of 20° S. A deeper zone of high attenuation is resolved between 22° and 24° S directly above the subducting slab. In the northern part of the study area the low-Qp-zone penetrates westwards in the forearc-mantle. Due to the irregular ray-coverage of the model a detailed analysis of the resolution was necessary. Both, formal analysis of the model resolution matrix (e.g. via spread-function) and tests with synthetic models including checkerboard and ’’realistic” attenuation models were executed. They show that large areas of the models beneath forearc and arc are well resolved. The anomalies found in the tomographic models can be interpreted in several ways. The prominent crustal attenuation beneath the Western Cordillera can be explained by partial melts previously proposed by others. The anomaly correlates well with the distribution of recent volcanism, reduced seismic velocities, reduced electrical resistivity and regions for which anomalous velocity-density relations must be assumed. Variations within the anomaly point towards the irregular distribution of partial melting beneath the volcanic arc. The anomalies within the upper mantle may map the distribution of hot asthenosphere material. Furthermore, they may be interpreted in terms of subduction-related dehydration- and hydration processes.

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird - basierend auf externmorphologischen Kriterien von Brachiopodengehäusen aus dem spongiolithischen süddeutschen Oberjura - eine ökologische Interpretation von Brachiopodenassoziationen vorgestellt und diese mit nicht verschwammten Vorkommen unter Verwendung verschiedener methodischer Ansätze verglichen. Aus insgesamt elf brachiopodenführenden Lokalitäten unterschiedlicher stratigraphischer und fazieller Niveaus wurden die generell bevorzugt auftretenden Wuchsformen ermittelt, zu Standardmorphotypen zusammengefaßt und mit digitalisierten Abbildungen aus vorhergehenden Bearbeitungen ökologisch verglichen. [ …] [ … Tabelle 1. Stratigraphie, Fazies und dominierende Externmorphologie der Brachiopodengehäuse (Standardmorphotyp) in den untersuchten Lokalitäten.] Die Analysen ergaben, daß mit Hilfe des Verlaufs der dorsalen Umrißlinie, dem Verlauf der Frontalkommissur und untergeordnet der Foramengröße eine hinreichende Interpretation des Environments hinsichtlich Substratbeschaffenheit, Hydrodynamik und Bathymetrie erfolgen kann. Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse sind: a) Die Brachiopoden der süddeutschen Spongiolithfazies zeigen im Vergleich mit je einer Fauna aus einer schwach verschwammten Schichtfazies, einer Korallenfazies und einer oolithischen Mergelkalkfazies grundlegende Unterschiede in der äußeren Morphologie ihrer Gehäuse, b) In mergeldominierten Lokalitäten sind die Sphärizitätsindizes der Gehäuse deutlich höher als in der Korallenfazies, c) Reduzierte Werte des Dicken / Breiten - Verhältnisses scheinen ein Indiz für weichere Substrate zu sein, d) Im zeitlichen Verlauf (Oxfordium bis Unter-Tithonium) nehmen die Werte der Sphärizitätsindizes der Brachiopodengehäuse ab. e) Die Amplituden der Frontalkommissuren von Brachiopoden aus dem Moundbereich sind höher als diejenigen aus der Korallenfazies, f) Das Mengenverhältnis von terebratuliden zu rhynchonelliden Brachiopoden läßt Rückschlüsse auf das dominierende Substrat in den Moundbereichen zu. Ein quantitatives Übergewicht rhynchonellider Brachiopoden geht mit einem mergelreichen, stillen Tieferwasserenvironment einher, während die kalkdominierten Flachwasserbereiche mit erhöhter Hydrodynamik bevorzugt von Terebratuliden besiedelt werden, g) Untergeordnet wird ein Substratwechsel durch die Foramengröße und -position angezeigt. Große mesothyridide Foramina kennzeichnen meist Festsubstrate. Kleine hypothyridide Foramina sind eher für allomikritische Bereiche charakteristisch, h) Brachiopoden der koralligenen Fauna zeichnen sich durch Asymmetrien der Frontalkommissur (Rhynchonellida) und Asymmetrien in der dorsalen Umrißlinie aus (Terebratulida). Die artikulaten Brachiopoden aus den untersuchten „Riff-Ablagerungen scheinen hinsichtlich ihrer Morphologie und faunistischen Komposition von den kontrollierenden Bildungsfaktoren (besonders Sedimentationsrate, Substratbeschaffenheit und Hydrodynamik) der Schwamm- und Korallenassoziationen, beeinflußt worden zu sein. Die in den jeweiligen Aufschlüssen dominierenden Brachiopoden-Morphotypen reflektieren wenigstens statistisch die Bildungsbedingungen.

Description: Data on brachiopods in spongolites from the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany were collected in order to establish associations based on paleoenvironmental parameters and compare these results to similar fauna across a range of depositional paleoenvironments. Fossils were sampled and their dominant growth morphotypes identified from 11 localities representing different ages and facies of the Upper Jurassic in the Franconian and Swabian Alb. These growth morphotypes were compared to standard morphotypes and to biometric data of modern brachiopods gleaned from the literature. Through statistical analysis, it was found that the mode of commissure line and in part the diameter of the foraminae correlate well with substrate types and hydrodynamic to bathymetric paleoconditions. General results include: a) the external morphology of brachiopods from spongolites is significantly different from that of brachiopods from well-bedded limestone containing few to no sponges but corals and oolites, b) within a mostly marl substrate, the sphericity index of brachiopod shells is much larger than for shells in coral-bearing rocks, c) width to length ratios of shells are less for softer substrates indicating possible use as an index for substrate consistency, d) from the Lower Oxfordian to the Tithonian, the sphericity index of shells in general decreases, e) amplitudes of the frontal commissure line of brachiopods found within spongolite build-ups are much larger than those from coral-bearing rocks, f) Terebratulidae to Rhynchonellida biometric relations may be used as an index for judging the “quality” of the paleoenvironment; rhynchonellid brachiopods were dominantly found in marly, deeper paleoenvironments, whereas carbonate sediments deposited under shallow, high energy, water paleoconditions were colonized by terebratulid brachiopods, g) the size and position of foraminae are linked to the substrate type; brachiopods with larger mesothyrid foraminae are found associated with hard substrates while smaller hypothyrid foraminae in soft carbonate sediment areas, h) brachiopods from coral rocks are characterized by their asymmetric growth in form (Terebratulida) and of their frontal commissure (Rhychonellida). In general, brachiopods from reefal deposits appeared to have been directly influenced morphologically by paleoecologic factors, such as sedimentation rate, substrate type, and water energy levels. The dominant standard morphotype of brachiopods appears to correlate in a statistically significant way with the interpreted depositional circumstances at each locality. Due to here presented morphological data of brachiopodes from the Upper Jurassic of Southern Germany, associations of brachiopodes in spongiolites are interpreted palecologically and compared to similar faunae from other depositional environments. From 11 localities of different stratigraphical age and facies in the Franconian and Swabian Alb the dominant growth morphotypes are presented and abstracted to so-called „standard morphotypes“. The latter are compared to biometrical data of modern brachiopodes, mainly extracted from literature data. Interpreting the mathematical analyses it can be concluded that the dorsal outline, the mode of commissur line and partially the diameter of the foraminae can be used as indicator of substrates, hydrodynamical and paleobathymetrical conditions. The main results are: a) External morphology of brachiopodes from spongiolites exhibits strong differences in contrast to brachiopodes from well-bedded limestones with few or no sponges, to coral-bearing strata and to oolithic limestones, b) In localities, where marls have been predominantly deposited, the sphericity index is much larger than in the coral-bearing rocks, c) Reduced relations of width and length can be tentatively used as index for soft substrates, d) From the Lower Oxfordian to the Tithonian the sphericity index becomes smaller, e) Amplitudes of the frontal commissur line from brachiopodes of spongiolitic buildups are much higher than from brachiopodes in coral-bearing rocks, f) Quantitative relations from Terebratulidae to Rhynchonellida can be used as index for quality of substrates. Rhynchonellid brachiopodes are dominating marly, deeper environments, whereas carbona-tic sediments deposited under shallow water conditions with higher water energy are dominated by terebratulid brachiopodes. g) Changes of substrates are indicated by the size and position of foraminae. Larger mesothyrid foraminae characterize hard substrates, smaller hypothyrid foraminae are typically developed in allomicritic areas, h) Brachiopodes from coralligene rocks are characterized by their asymmetrical growth of form (Terebratulida) and of their frontal commissure (Rhynchonellida). Generally, brachiopodes from reefal deposits have been influenced morphologically by ecologically controlling factors such as the sedimentation rate, the substrate, and the water energy levels. The dominating standard morphotypes of brachiopodes in each locality reflect at least statistically the former depositional environments. (Translation: Dr. Elizabeth H. Gierlowski-Kordesch, Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio University)

Description: thesis

Description: DFG, SUB Göttingen

Description: The book presents multivariate statistical methods useful in geological analysis. The essential distinction between multivariate analysis as applied to full-space data (measurements on lengths, heights, breadths etc.) and compositional data is emphasized with particular reference to geochemical data. Each of the methods is accompanied by a practically oriented computer program and backed up by appropriate examples. The computer programs are provided on a compact disk together with trial data-sets and examples of the output. An important feature of this book is the graphical system developed by Dr. Savazzi which is entitled Graph Server.

Description: The sea-ice export out of the central Arctic through the Fram Strait is a key variable in the Arctic climate system. Satellite data provide the only basis for mapping ice features with a high spatial and temporal resolution in polar regions. An automatic drift algorithm has been employed and optimized to monitor the sea-ice drift velocity in the Greenland Sea with AVHRR data. The combination of the ice drift and the spatial ice distribution provides an insight into the ice transport processes along the coast of Greenland. The combination with sea-ice thickness measurements allows an estimation of the spatial distribution of the sea-ice mass flux. The seasonal and spatial variability of the mass flux allows further predictions of the meridional melting and freezing processes along the East Greenland Current. This investigation covers the years 1993 and 1994. Seasonal and spatial distributions of the sea-ice drift were derived. The derived absolute values in this study are in good agreement with estimates proposed by other authors.

Description: Benthic foraminifera and surface sediments were analyzed from 23 box-core and core-top samples from 250 to 3600 m depth at the southern Portuguese continental margin between 37 and 38 °N. This area is affected by the MOW which flows northwards along the slope between 600 and 1500 m waterdepth. Sediment structures, grain-size distribution and clay mineral assemblages of surface sediments indicate active winnowing in the upper part of the MOW, and deposition of the fine fraction near its lower boundary. R-mode cluster analyses of foraminiferal census data from the 〉 250 μm fraction revealed four associations. The ‘Shelf Edge Association’ occurs on glauconitic shelf and upper slope sands down to 268 m. The ‘Upper Slope Association’ is recognized between 498 and 1300 m where sand-silt-clays to clayey silts are encountered. The ‘Lower Slope Association’ is found between 1405 and 2985 m and differs markedly from assemblages below 3000 m (‘Deep Water Association’) where the near-surface sediments are soft hemipelagic clays. The ‘Boundary Layer Association’ shows no significant depth limits but abundance maxima both in the density interface above the MOW and in the interval of decreasing turbulence below it. The boundaries of the ‘Shelf Edge’ and ‘Upper Slope Association’ correspond to these hydrographic boundary layers whereas the boundary between ‘Lower Slope’ and ‘Deep Water Assemblage’ is related to threshold values of nutrient flux to the benthic community. Examination of hard-substrates reveals 27 different species of epibenthic foraminifera. Six of these, the ‘Epibenthos Group’, were found attached to elevated substrates only within the MOW. Above the MOW, elevated substrates were inhabited by different species, whilst below the MOW they were not used by any epibenthic foraminifers. Evidently, the hydrodynamic environment of the MOW current provides an ecological niche which is efficiently used by opportunistic suspension feeders. The ‘Epibenthos Group’ is more abundant in the middle part of the study area between 37 °20′ and 37 °40′N where the sand content of surface sediments is also higher. Both indicate an enhanced sediment-water interaction in this area which results from an obstruction of the MOW flow by the ‘Principes d'Avis’ basement spur.

Description: During the ARCTIC '91 expedition aboard RV Polarstern (ARK VIII/3) to the Central Arctic Ocean, a box corer sample on the Gakkel Ridge at 87 degrees N and 60 degrees E yielded a layer of sand-sized, dark brown volcanic glass shards at the surface of the sediment core. These shards have been investigated by petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical and radiogenic isotope methods. The nearly vesicle-free and aphyric glass shards bear only minute microphenocrysts of magnesiochromite and olivine (Fo(88-89)). Most glasses are fresh, although some show signs of incipient low-temperature alteration. From their shapes and sizes, the glass shards most likely formed by spalling of glassy rinds of a nearby volcanic outcrop. Geochemically, the glasses are relatively unfractionated tholeiites with E-MORB trace element compositions. Thus, they are quite similar to the previously investigated ARK IV/3-11-370-5 basalts from 86 degrees N. The Nd and Sr isotopic ratios of PS 2167-2 glasses are significantly lower than for ARK IV/3-11-370-5 basalts and suggest an isotopically heterogeneous mantle source of Gakkel Ridge MORE between 86 degrees and 87 degrees N. The positive Delta-8/4 Pb value (similar to 16) and high Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio (0.70270), found for PS 2167-2 glasses are similar to that of ARK IV/3-11-370-5 basalts and show the influence of the DUPAL isotopic anomaly in the high Arctic mantle. These results argue against the presence of an 'anti-DUPAL anomaly' in the mantle below the North Pole region and simple models of whole-mantle convection.

Description: High-resolution Nd- and Pb-isotope time series for the last 8 Myr are reported for four Atlantic ferromanganese crusts, dated by 10Be/9Be chronology. These are compared to new high-resolution and high-precision Pb-isotope time series and recently published Nd-isotope time series for two previously studied crusts from the NW Atlantic Ocean. These records allow a more detailed examination of Atlantic deepwater variability over the time period of intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG). Changes in the Pb-isotope time series started after 3 Ma, but were most dramatic over the last 1.8 Myr, coinciding with changes of Pb-isotopes in the Arctic Ocean. This latter change post-dates the intensification of NHG at 3.1 to 2.5 Ma and reflects an increase in the input of material eroded from the Archean Shield of Canada and Greenland. Shifts in Nd- and Pb-isotope compositions in a crust from the Blake Plateau occur before ∼5 Ma and most prominent at ∼8 Ma suggest that water masses from either the Pacific or Southern Ocean influenced the isotope composition of this crust. The relatively high εNd values around 8 Ma recorded by the Blake Plateau crust are explained by a contribution of eastward flowing Pacific water through the Panama Gateway into the Caribbean Sea. This high εNd signal decreased between 8 and 5 Ma suggesting that the supply of Pacific water into the Caribbean became restricted. This is earlier than the Caribbean seawater salinity increase at 4.2 Ma deduced from δ18O data, and may indicate that there was only a surface water connection between the Caribbean and Pacific between ∼5 and 4.2 Ma. The closure of the Panama Gateway to intermediate and deep water exchange (〉200 m depth) apparently occurred much earlier than the intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation at 3.1–2.5 Ma, and cannot therefore have been a direct cause of this climatic change, but may, as recently argued, only have been a necessary precondition

Description: Mixed methane–sulfide hydrates and carbonates are exposed as a pavement at the seafloor along the crest of one of the accretionary ridges of the Cascadia convergent margin. Vent fields from which methane-charged, low-salinity fluids containing sulfide, ammonia, 4He, and isotopically light CO2 escape are associated with these exposures. They characterize a newly recognized mechanism of dewatering at convergent margins, where freshening of pore waters from hydrate destabilization at depth and free gas drives fluids upward. This process augments the convergence-generated overpressure and leads to local dewatering rates that are much higher than at other margins in the absence of hydrate. Discharge of fluids stimulates benthic oxygen consumption which is orders of magnitude higher than is normally found at comparable ocean depths. The enhanced turnover results from the oxidation of methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia by vent biota. The injection of hydrate methane from the ridge generates a plume hundreds of meters high and several kilometers wide. A large fraction of the methane is oxidized within the water column and generates δ13C anomalies of the dissolved inorganic carbon pool.

Description: Water samples from surface and bottom waters of two bights of the Baltic Sea were analysed for dissolved and/or particulate concentrations of Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, in addition to the main oceanographic variables, at 27 stations during six cruises between February 1990 and July 1992. The metal values show distinct regional differences, with maximum concentrations at the near-shore stations, The levels of total Hg exhibit a significant negative relationship with salinity. In surface layers, seasonal differences due to biogenic uptake of elements could not be detected for any of the dissolved metals. In bottom waters, however, summer-time concentrations of a number of metals are in clear excess of winter levels either due to diffusion of metals (Go, Fe, Mn) from the sediments under low-oxygen or anaerobic conditions, or due to mineralization processes (Cd, Zn) of recently sedimented biogenic particulates. With the exception of Fe and Pb, the particulate fractions are of minor importance, with slight variabilities between the seasons only. The K-D values (ratio between metal concentrations in the particulate and dissolved fractions) decrease by more than two orders of magnitude in the order Fe-Pb-Mn-Co-Zn-Cd-Cu-Ni. Finally, the results are discussed with regard to a trace metal monitoring programme in the area.

Description: The gene coding for the anion-specific porin of the halophilic eubacterium Ectothiorhodospira (Ect.) vacuolata was cloned and sequenced, the first such gene so analyzed from a purple sulfur bacterium. It encodes a precursor protein consisting of 374 amino acid (aa)-residues including a signal peptide of 22-aa residues. Comparison with aa sequences of porins from several other members of the Proteobacteria revealed little homology. Only two regions showed local homology with the previously sequenced porins of Neisseria species, Comamonas acidovorans, Bordetella pertussis, Alcaligenes eutrophus, and Burkholderia cepacia. Genomic Southern blot hybridization studies were carried out with a probe derived from the 5′ end of the gene coding for the porin of Ect. vacuolata. Two related species, Ect. haloalkaliphila and Ect. shaposhnikovii, exhibited a clear signal, while the extremely halophilic bacterium Halorhodospira (Hlr.) halophila (formerly Ect. halophila) did not show any cross-hybridization even at low stringency. This result is in good accordance with a recently proposed reassignment within the family Ectothiorhodospiraceae, which included the separation of the extremely halophilic species into the new genus Halorhodospira.

Description: Controversy surrounding the mechanisms and controls on argon diffusion in K-feldspar has led us to undertake direct diffusion measurements on a crystal with simple microtextures, over a range of temperatures. Measurements of argon diffusion profiles in a gem-quality iron-rich orthoclase heated in a cold seal apparatus, have been undertaken in situ using an ultra-violet laser ablation microprobe (UVLAMP) technique. The results agree very closely with the previously determined bulk values for Benson Mines orthoclase (activation energy ( E)=43.8±1 kcal mol -1) and vacuum furnace cycle-heating studies of K-feldspars ( E=46±6 kcal mol -1). However, instead of defining a single activation energy ( E) and diffusion coefficient ( Do), the data yield two sets of parameters: a low-temperature (550-720°C) array with an E of 47.2±2.5 kcal mol -1 (198.2±10.5 kJ mol -1) and a Do of 0.0374 +0.1123-0.0281 cm 2 s -1, and a high-temperature (725-1019°C) array with an E of 63.8±3.4 kcal mol -1 (268.0±14.3 kJ mol -1) and a Do of 55.0 +225.5-44.2 cm 2 s -1. The new results closely reproduce two sets of apparent activation energies previously measured in cycle-heating studies of Madagascar K-feldspar (40±3 and 57±3 kcal mol -1). Previous interpretations of the two arrays have included multiple domains with variable activation energies and fast track diffusion. However, the UV depth profile analyses indicate simple diffusion to the grain surface and importantly, diffusion radii calculated by combining the UVLAMP and cycle-heating data, are the same as the physical grain sizes used in the experiments, around 1 mm. Vacuum furnace stepped heating experiments on slowly cooled K-feldspars have been interpreted as showing diffusion radii of around 6 μm and indicate complex populations of sub-grains. This study indicates that Madagascar K-feldspar and thus probably all gem-quality K-feldspars act as single diffusion domains and that short-circuit (or pipe) diffusion was not an important loss mechanism. An apparent diffusion compensation relationship in the stepped heating data for Madagascar K-feldspar implies that similar relationships seen in other K-feldspars are a result of a range of diffusion mechanisms.

Description: Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of the polar planktic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral from sediment cores of the Norwegian Sea reveal several anomalous 13C and δ18O depletions in the surface water during the last glacial to interglacial transition and during the later Holocene. The depletions that are observed between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the end of the main deglacial phase were caused by massive releases of freshwater from thawing icebergs, which consequently resulted in a stratification of the uppermost surface water layer and a non-equilibrium between the water below and the atmosphere. At ~8.5 ka (14C BP) this strong iceberg melting activity ceased as defined by the cessation of the deposition of ice-rafted detritus. After this time, the dominant polar and subpolar planktic foraminiferal species rapidly increased in numbers. However, this post-deglacial evolution towards a modern-type oceanographic environment was interupted by a hitherto undescribed isotopic event (~7–8 ka) which, on a regional scale, is only identified in eastern Norwegian Sea surface water. This event may be associated with the final pulse of glacier meltwater release from Fennoscandia, which affected the onset of intensified coastal surface water circulation off Norway during a time of regional sea-level rise. All these data indicate that surface water changes are an integral part of deglacial processes in general. Yet, the youngest observed change noted around 3 ka gives evidence that such events with similar effects occur even during the later Holocene when from a climatic point of view relativelystable conditions prevailed.

Description: Sediment proxy data from the Norwegian, Greenland, and Iceland seas (Nordic seas) are presented to evaluate surface water temperature (SST) differences between Holocene and Eemian times and to deduce from these data the particular mode of surface water circulation. Records from planktic foraminiferal assemblages, CaCO3 content, oxygen isotopes of foraminifera, and iceberg-rafted debris form the main basis of interpretation. All results indicate for the Eemian comparatively cooler northern Nordic seas than for the Holocene due to a reduction in the northwardly flow of Atlantic surface water towards Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean. Therefore, the cold polar water flow from the Arctic Ocean was less influencial in the southwestern Nordic seas during this time. As can be further deduced from the Eemian data, slightly higher Eemian SSTs are interpreted for the western Iceland Sea compared to the Norwegian Sea (ca. south of 70°N). This Eemian situation is in contrast to the Holocene when the main mass of warmest Atlantic surface water flows along the Norwegian continental margin northwards and into the Arctic Ocean. Thus, a moderate northwardly decrease in SST is observed in the eastern Nordic seas for this time, causing a meridional transfer in ocean heat. Due to this distribution in SSTs the Holocene is dominated by a meridional circulation pattern. The interpretation of the Eemian data imply a dominantly zonal surface water circulation with a steep meridional gradient in SSTs.

Description: Abundance, biofacies and ATP content of benthic foraminifera (〉63 μm) were studied in the Northeast Water (NEW) Polynya (77–81°N, 5–17°W) over the ice-free summer, 1993, to investigate how a polynya system might influence the underlying benthic community. In the living assemblage, distinguished by Rose Bengal staining, over 60 taxa could be identified. The biofacies identified was similar to that of other Arctic shelf habitats. Foraminifera were counted in 3 size fractions (63–125 μm, 125–250 μm and 〉250 μm), with 65% of the foraminifera occurring in the smallest size fraction (63–125 μm). Total abundances (〉63 μm) in the uppermost 1 cm averaged approximately 200 ind/10 cm3 and declined down-core, as did the number of species. Abundances and species composition correlated positively with sediment chlorophyll and ATP content, with maxima occurring in the shallower northern regions of the polynya, suggesting a general dependence on food. Foraminera biomass was estimated to be 0.1-0.3 g Corg/m2. Abundances, biomass and ATP content were comparable to ice-free, deep-sea regions in the Norwegian Sea. Temporal changes observed over a 2 month period at one location were difficult to distinguish from spatial and analytical variability. Contrary to expectations, growth was unpronounced at the community and at a species level, implying either a delayed response of the benthic foraminiferal community to food inputs from the overlying water column or the presence of biological limitations other than food, such as predation.

Description: The present literature on biologically mediated fluxes from the benthic nepheloid layer (BNL) across the sediment-water interface into the sediment and vice versa is reviewed. The processes involved are categorised according to direct bioresuspension and biodeposition, i.e. direct interception of the animal with particles, and those effects, which are indirectly created by benthic organisms, e.g., changes of physical properties in the sediments, constructions like tubes and pits and the corresponding changes in hydrodynamic conditions. It is concluded that benthic organisms significantly increase the flux of particles across the interface and that the physically created fluxes are easily modified by a factor of 2 and more.

Description: The widespread view that scleractinian corals in cold and deep waters of high latitudes are slow growing organisms that do not form reefs is challenged by the discovery of a huge coral reef over 13 km in length, 10 to 35 m in height and up to 300 m in width formed by the coral Lophelia pertusa in water depths of 270 to 310 m at 64°N on the Sula Ridge, Mid-Norwegian Shelf. Cruises in 1994, 1995 and manned submersible operations in May 1997 provide data and observations from which the structure and development of the Sula Ridge coral reef have been determined. The Fennoscandian icesheet retreated from the Mid-Norwegian shelf prior to 12,000 years before present and modern oceanographic conditions were established at 8000 years before present. Coral growth since that time has resulted in a large deep-water shelf reef for which recent stable isotopic studies have demonstrated high growth rates for these azooxanthellate cold-water corals. Information on the geometry of deep-water coral reefs and their environmental controls is still fragmentary, controversial and raises issues of conservation in this area of active fishing and oil exploration. This paper reports on the discovery of what is probably one of the largest deep-water coral reefs existing in the northeast Atlantic and indicates that its siting is due to post-glacial structures (iceberg plough marks), events (the second Storegga Slide) and local conditions on the seafloor. Surprisingly, reef accumulation rates on the Sula Ridge are comparable with those measured on tropical coral reefs.

Description: The late Quaternary sedimentary history of the continental margin off Portugal was reconstructed from sediment gravity cores. Hemipelagic sedimentation (lithofacies A) was dominant during glacial times. It was interrupted periodically by deposition of shelf- and upper-slope-derived silty and sandy terrigenous material by dilute turbidity currents (lithofacies B and C), ice-rafted debris during distinct periods of breakdown of North Atlantic ice sheets (Heinrich events, lithofacies D) and large amounts of pteropods (lithofacies F). Settling of biogenic particulate material (lithofacies E) prevailed during the Holocene, when sea level and sea surface temperatures were high and terrigenous shelf-input was low. Downslope transport was dominant on the northern part of the Portuguese margin, culminating in frequent turbidity current transport between 35 and 70 ka. This may be due to a humid climate and a high fluvial input. Pteropod muds are confined to cores south of 41°N. Prominent peaks in pteropod concentration were radiocarbon dated at 17.8 and 24.6 ka. Layers rich in ice-rafted debris (IRD) were found along the entire margin. The base of these layers have been dated at 13.6–15.9 14C ka, 21.0–22.0 14C ka, 33.8 14C ka and ±64.5 ka, which correspond well with the ages of Heinrich events 1, 2, 4 and 6 in the central North Atlantic. Heinrich events 0 (10.5 ka), 3 (27 ka) and 5 (50 ka) rarely influenced sedimentation on the Portuguese slope. A mineralogical study of the IRD within Heinrich layers suggests that most icebergs were derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay area through the Labrador Current and the Canary Current and flowed in a southward direction along the margin. IRD from European ice sheets may have been mixed in during Heinrich event 6. On their way along the margin the icebergs lost much of their sediment load due to melting of the ice in a progressively warmer climate. The southernmost latitude studied (37°N) may be close to the southeastern extension of iceberg transport during Heinrich events.

Description: Quenched tholeiitic glasses and glassy rims of tholeiitic lava flows and pillow lavas from the neovolcanic rift zone on Iceland (Reykjanes and Hengill fissure swarms) contain olivine phenocrysts (Fo87–91) with abundant primary glass inclusions. These inclusions and host glasses were analyzed by ion microprobe for boron concentrations and isotopic compositions. Inclusions are believed to represent primary or near-primary mantle melts that have not been modified at shallow levels. Boron concentrations and B/K ratios in these melt inclusions are highly variable (0.18–1.35 ppm B, B/K = 2.8 × 10−4−6.1 × 10−3), whereas their δ11B values are nearly constant (−11.3, Full-size image (〈1 K)). This indicates that the Icelandic mantle is likely to have a constant boron isotope composition similar to that previously proposed for the primitive mantle (Full-size image (〈1 K)). The Hengill host glasses are characterized by low concentrations of B (0.26–0.42 ppm) and δ11B values similar to melt inclusions (−11.3, Full-size image (〈1 K)). In contrast, the Reykjanes host glasses have higher δ11B values (∼ −3‰) at the same relatively low concentrations of B (0.43–0.44 ppm), which are likely to be due to interactions of the ascending magmas with the crustal rocks hydrothermally altered at low temperatures by seawater-derived fluids. Boron concentrations and B/K ratios in melt inclusions and matrix glasses correlate with TiO2, K2O and P2O5 contents, and La/Sm)n ratios. Boron contents recalculated on the basis of melt inclusion compositions for the Icelandic mantle are slightly different for the Reykjanes and Hengill areas (0.21, 1σn ± 0.05 and 0.13, 1σn ± 0.03 ppm B, respectively). This is likely to reflect the presence of zones within the Icelandic mantle variously enriched and/or depleted in boron of similar isotopic composition.

Description: Iron speciation was determined in hemiplegic sediments from a high productivity area to investigate systematically the early diagenetic reactivity of Fe. A combination of various leaching agents (1 M HCI, dithionite buffered in citrate/acetic acid, HF/H2SO4, acetic Cr(II)) was applied to sediment and extracted more than 80% of total Fe. Subsequent Fe species determination defined specific mineral fractions that are available for Fe reduction and fractions formed as products of Fe diagenesis. To determine the Fe speciation of (sheet) silicates we explored an extraction procedure (HF/H2SO4) and verified the procedure by application to standard rocks. Variations of Fe speciation of (sheet) silicates reflect the possible formation of Fe-bearing silicates in near surface sediments. The same fraction indicates a change in the primary input at greater depth, which is supported by other parameters. The Fe(II)/ Fe(III) -ratio of total sediment determined by extractions was compared with Mössbauer-spectroscopy ] at room temperature and showed agreement within 10%. M6ssbauer-spectroscopy indicates the occurrence of siderite in the presence of free sulfide and pyrite, supporting the importance of microenvironments during mineral formation. The occurrence of other Fe(II) bearing minerals such as ankerite (Ca-, Fe-, Mg-carbonate) can be presumed but remains speculative.

Description: Oxygen isotope analyses of marine diatoms were performed in two independent ways. Stepwise fluorination of hydrous opal-A results in plateau δ180 values representing the isotopic composition of the silica frame oxygen. A method of controlled isotope exchange before silica dehydration also produces reliable results, although the exchangeability of the silica was variable. Consequently, a calibration of the isotope exchange method using the results from stepwise fluorination experiments is very useful (and sometimes essential) in order to select a water vapor of an appropriate isotopic composition to be used for equilibration. Sediment diatom samples Ethmodiscus rex and Thalassiothrix longissima from the Antarctic and the North Atlantic Ocean, respectively, show strong 180 enrichments of 46.8 and 44.1‰, which are caused by large isotope fractionation occurring at the low temperature prevailing during silica-water isotope exchange reactions. However, phytoplankton samples from surface waters of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea (Antarctica) have δ180 values between 30.4 and 35.0‰. Thus, the true silica-water isotopic fractionation is approximately 3 to 10‰ lower than the temperature-dependent silica-water equilibrium published in the literature for sedimentary diatoms. Our results indicate that successive isotope exchange reactions of diatomaceous silica with ambient seawater and/or pore water determine the isotope values of diatoms in sediments.

Description: In situ oxygen fluxes were measured at vent sites in the Aleutian trench at a water depth of almost 5000 m using a TV-guided benthic flux chamber. The flux was 2 orders of magnitude greater than benthic oxygen fluxes in areas unaffected by venting on the continental margin off Alaska. Porewater profiles taken from the surface sediment below a vent site showed high concentrations of sulfide, methane, and ammonia. The reduced carbon and nitrogen compounds are transported to the vent site by fluids expelled from deeper anoxic sediment layers by the forces of plate convergence. The tectonically driven fluid flow was determined from the biochemical turnover in vent communities and was found to be 3.4 ± 0.5 m yr−1. A model was used to quantify the transport of silica, Ca2+, and sulfate via diffusion, advection, and bioirrigation through the surface sediments of a vent site. A nonlocal mixing coefficient of 20–30 yr−1 was determined by fitting the model curves to the measured porewater profiles showing that the transport of solutes within the near-surface sediments and across the sediment-water interface is dominated by the activity of the vent fauna. Sulfate-containing oceanic bottom water and methane-rich vent fluids were mixed below the clam colony to produce sulfide and a CaCO3 precipitate. The vent biota shape their immediate environment and control the sediment-water exchange and the benthic fluxes at vent sites. The oxygen consumption at vent sites is a major sink for oxygen at the study area.

Description: A combined 3-D physical oceanographic model and a field sampling program was performed in July and August 1994 to investigate the potential drift of larval Baltic cod from the center of spawning effort in the Bornholm Basin, Baltic Sea. The goal of this exercise was to predict the drift trajectories of cod larvae in the Bornholm Basin, thereby aiding in the development of future sampling programs as well as the identification of processes influencing larval retention/dispersion in the Bornholm Basin. Distributions of variables (T, S and larval distribution) were obtained utilizing a three-dimensional eddy-resolving baroclinic model of the Baltic Sea based on the Bryan-Cox-Semtner code. Larval drift was simulated by the incorporation of a passive tracer into the model utilized to represent individual cod larvae. Additionally, simulated Lagrangian drift trajectories are presented. For model purposes, initial fields of temperature, salinity and cod larvae concentration for the Bornholm Basin were constructed by objective analysis using observations taken during a research survey in early July, 1994. Outside the Bornholm Basin generalized hydrographic features of the Baltic Sea were utilized with the baroclinic model forced by wind data for the whole Baltic taken from the Europa-Modell (EM) of the German weather service, Offenbach. Verification of simulations was performed by comparison with field measurements of hydrographic variables and ADCP derived current measurements taken during the surveys. In general, most of the hydrographic features observed during the second research cruise are correctly simulated, with variations mainly attributed to the prescribed initial conditions outside the Bornholm Basin. Results from larval sampling during the second cruise could not entirely confirm the modeled larval distributions due to the low numbers of larvae captured. However, the modeled results based on the agreement of the flow fields and hydrographic properties with observed features suggest that predictions of larval distributions can be made with a high degree of confidence if appropriate larval behaviours are included in the simulations.

Description: The dating of polymetamorphic rocks with the U-Pb zircon method often results in discordant data. Thus a new technique combining cathodoluminescence imaging (CL) and thermal ion mass spectrometry (TIMS) measurements was developed. Cathodoluntinescence-controlled UPb dating (CLC-method) works with bisected zircons and was successfully applied to the multistage S-type granitoids of the Swiss Silvretta nappe. CLC-method enables the resolution of the different anatectic events and later major overprints (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian) and gives information about the protolith (Archaean) of the investigated gneisses. This is achieved by conventional UPb dating of selected grains, recovered from the SEM (scanning electron microscope) mounts after cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging. Applying this new combination of two established techniques yields geologically meaningful UPb zircon ages even for complex polymetamorphic rocks.

Description: The possibilities of defining and computing an approximately neutral density variable are reexamined in this paper. There are three desirable properties that a neutral density variable should possess. Firstly, the isosurfaces of this variable should coincide with (approximately) neutral surfaces. This would facilitate the analysis of hydrographic data on the most appropriate mixing and spreading surfaces. Secondly, the horizontal gradients of the neutral density should agree with the gradients of the in situ density, and thirdly the vertical gradient of the neutral density variable should be proportional to the static stability of the water column. A density variable that approximates the latter two properties can be used in ocean circulation models based on layer coordinates, and would reduce substantial errors in present isopycnal models due to the use of a potential density variable. No variable can possess all the three properties simultaneously. The variable γn introduced by Jackett and McDougall (1997, J. Phys. Oceanogr. 27, 237–263) satisfies the first of the properties exactly but is not designed for the use in models. Based on climatological data in the North Atlantic, an alternative neutral density variable ν̃(S, Θ) is defined, which is shown to approximate the two gradient criteria much better than any potential density. We suggest that this neutral density variable may be useful in isopycnal ocean models as an alternative to potential density, since it could significantly reduce errors in thermal wind relation and vertical stability

Description: Particle flux data have been collated from the literature representing most areas of the open ocean to determine regional trends in deep water flux and its seasonal variability. Organic carbon flux data normalised to a depth of 2000 m exhibits a range of an order of magnitude in areas outside the polar domains (0.38 to 4.2 g/m2/y). In polar regions the range is wider (0.01–5.9 g/m2/y). Latitudinal trends are not apparent for most components of the flux although calcite flux exhibits a poleward decrease. Limited data from polar regions show fluxes of opaline silica not significantly higher than elsewhere. The variability of flux over annual cycles was calculated and expressed as a Flux Stability Index (FSI) and the relationship between this and vertical flux of material examined. Somewhat surprisingly there is no significant relationship between FSI and fluxes of dry mass, organic carbon, inorganic carbon or opaline silica. At each site, net annual primary production was determined using published satellite derived estimates. There is a negative but weak relationship between FSI and the proportion of primary production exported to 2000 m (e2000 ratio). The most variable of the non-polar environments export to 2000 m about twice as much of the primary production as the most stable ones. Polar environments have very low e2000 ratios with no apparent relationship to FSI. At primary production levels below 200 g C/m2/y there is a positive correlation between production and organic carbon flux at 2000 m but above this level, flux remains constant at about 3.5g C/m2/y. A curve derived to describe this relationship was applied to estimates of annual primary production in each of 34 of the open ocean biogeochemical provinces proposed by Longhurst et al. (1995). Globally, open ocean flux of organic carbon at 2000 m is 0.34 Gt/yr which is 1% of the total net primary production in these regions. This flux is nearly equally divided between the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans. The Indian and Arctic oceans between them only contribute 5% to the total. The eight planktonic climatological categories proposed by Longhurst (1995) provide a most useful means of examining the data on flux and its variability. A characteristic level of FSI was found in each category with highest levels in the tropics and lowest levels in the Antarctic. There is also a characteristic level of export ratio in each category with the highest in monsoonal environments (1.7%) and the lowest in Antarctica (0.1%)

Description: Since large, homogeneous dielectric particles have positive asymmetry parameters even when they are densely packed, it has been hypothesized that negative asymmetry parameters retrieved with Hapke's phenomenological model of bidirectional reflectance result from a complicated internal structure of planetary regolith particles. This paper tests that hypothesis by theoretically computing asymmetry parameters for isolated and densely packed composite spherical particles with size typical of regolith grains. It is assumed that the wavelength of the scattered light is much smaller than the particle size, and that particles are filled with large numbers of small inclusions. The computations show that it is essentially impossible to make asymmetry parameters of planetary regolith particles even slightly negative by filling the particles with large numbers of internal inclusions in the form of voids and/or grains with a refractive index substantially different from that of the host medium. Asymmetry parameters are positive even for densely packed composite particles with no internal absorption and extreme values of the internal scattering coefficient. Furthermore, they are sharply increased by even modest absorption inside composite particles, by reducing the refractive index contrast between the inclusions and the host particles, and/or by decreasing the packing density. Thus, the negative asymmetry parameters retrieved with Hapke's model need another explanation rather than assuming that they are real and are the result of a complicated internal structure of regolith particles. Besides the opposition-effect term, Hapke's model is nothing more than an approximate solution of the radiative transfer equation which inherently violates the energy conservation law. Therefore, the negative asymmetry parameters are likely to be numerical artefacts resulting from the approximations made in the model.

Description: Oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns varied considerably during the Tertiary and Quaternary and influenced the geochemical cycles of elements in seawater. We report the first resolution lead and neodymium isotopic record of such changes at a high time resolution in two depths profiles from a hydrogenous FeMn crust. The crust, Va13-2, is located in the central Pacific (146°W, 9°25′N, 4830 m) and has previously been dated by 230Th and 10Be. The first profile was drilled with a sample time resolution of ∼3 kyr and allows evaluation of short-term changes to lead and neodymium sources to central Pacific seawater over the last 400 kyr (marine δ18O stages 2 to 11). Longer-term changes were monitored at lower time resolution in a second profile to an age of 10 Ma. Short-term variations in lead and neodymium isotope ratios are resolved in the high resolution profile (0 to 400 kyr). Superimposed on the short-term variations is a secular decrease in Full-size image (〈1 K) ratios beginning at ∼130 kyr in marine δ18O stage 5, implying a change in the lead sources to the central Pacific. Lead and neodymium isotopic compositions indicate an increased influence from Central American eolian sources to Pacific seawater at this time. Lead isotopes are found to be statistically more variable during interglacial than glacial periods. These observations are supported by the greater eolian dust fluxes found in sediment cores from the equatorial Pacific during interglacial stages. The most important paleoceanographic event of the last 10 Ma to affect Pacific seawater was the closure of the Panama gateway. Changes in lead and neodymium isotopes in Val3-2 during the last 10 Ma occurred along with gradual closure of the Panama straits. However, these changes did not occur in tandem: while neodymium isotope ratios increase between 10 and 8 Ma, lead isotope ratios remain constant. In contrast, the period 7 to 1 Ma is marked by a secular increase in lead isotope ratios but nearly constant neodymium. These changes are consistent with a source of radiogenic lead and neodymium conveyed by the Circumpolar Current into the Pacific, rather than by the Panama gateway, and involve 20 to 40% Southern Component Water (SCW) input of lead and neodymium. Modelling of lead and neodymium isotopic mixing between the different water masses involved in generating Pacific deep waters lead us to the following conclusions: (1) Small variations in the strength and composition of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) have a relatively minor effect on the amounts of lead and neodymium from SCW contributing to the Pacific and (2) an enhanced SCW flow with an open isthmus of Panama, as suggested by General Circulation Models (GCM), requires a corresponding reduction in NADW Pb and Nd contributions to SCW. The general agreement between the isotopic compositions of surface layers of Mn nodules, integrated over such long time intervals, and those of present-day bottom waters at their respective locations show that the present-day ocean circulation pattern has dominated through the Pleistocene. Our study of Mn crust Va13-2 shows that shorter-term changes in lead and neodymium isotope ratios can be resolved, provided that such crusts are sampled at an appropriate time resolution.

Description: To investigate patch selectivity in aspidochirotide holothurians, individuals of five species (Holothuria (Halodeima) atra Jäger, H. (H.) edulis Lesson, H. (Microthele) nobilis Selenka, Stichopus chloronotus Brandt and S. variegatus Semper) were subjected to multiple choice experiments. As a food source, sediments were pre-cultivated in petri dishes under different light and nutrient regimes. This resulted in four sediment treatments with different levels of microalgal biomass (measured as chlorophyll a and phaeophytin concentrations). Only two sediment treatments were used for experiments with H. nobilis and S. variegatus. The sediments were offered simultaneously to individual holothurians (six per experiment), and the weights of the sediment in each petri dish at the start and after 48 h were used to calculate a selection index together with confidence intervals for each food type. In experiments with H. atra and H. edulis, the animals exhibited no preference for any food type. In contrast, S. chloronotus significantly selected sediments with the highest contents of microalgae and avoided the sediment with the lowest pigment concentrations. These results were supported by field collections of sediments found directly underneath holothurians. Sediment underneath H. edulis did not differ from the average sediment of the habitat, while H. atra was found on sediments only slightly higher in chlorophyll a. Chlorophyll a concentrations underneath S. chloronotus were distinctly higher than in the adjacent sediment and that underneath H. atra. H. nobilis showed only a weak preference for sediments with higher pigment concentrations in aquarium experiments, and no patch selectivity in this species was found in the field. Stichopus variegatus exhibited a very distinct patch selectivity towards sediments with more nutritional value in both aquaria experiments and field measurements. Thus members of the genus Holothuria had no, or only a weak, tendency to select their food source, whereas both Stichopus species appeared to carefully select the sediment patch to feed on.

Description: Precise strontium isotope ratios, combined with chemical analyses and sedimentological information, are used to monitor the water sources and the evolution of the Dead Sea and its late Pleistocene precursor, Lake Lisan (70-18 kyr B.P.). The materials analyzed include bulk aragonite, water-leached soluble salts, and residual aragonite and gypsum from the Lisan Formation in the Perazim Valley (near the SW shore of the Dead Sea). The residual aragonite and the associated soluble salts display systematic fluctuations in 17Sr86Sr ratios between 0.70803 and 0.70806 and from 0.70805 to 0.70807, respectively. In individual soluble salt-residual aragonite pairs, the soluble salt displays a higher 87Sr86Sr ratio. Gypsum samples yield 17Sr86Sr ratios similar to the soluble salts from adjacent layers in the section. This shows that, in individual samples, the source of Sr in aragonite was distinct from that in soluble salts and the gypsum. The sterility of the Lisan sediments, their strictly nonbioturbated fine lamination, and their high content of chloride salts indicate that Lake Lisan was a saline, or even hypersaline water body. In the absence of alternative sources of HCO3− and S042− the abundance of primary aragonite and gypsum in the Lisan column reflects an import of very large volumes of freshwater into the otherwise saline lake, resulting in a density stratification of this water body. The history of the upper water layer and that of the lower brine is reflected in the chemical and strontium isotope composition of the aragonite and in that of the associated soluble salts and in the gypsum samples, respectively. Whereas the bicarbonate and much of the Ca2+ required for aragonite crystallization were supplied by the freshwater, the complementary Ca2+ (and Sr 2+) were added by the lower brine. The upper water layer of Lake Lisan acted as a SO42− capacitor during the lake's rise periods. It was removed therefrom, as prominent gypsum beds, upon climatic-induced (drier period) mixing or even complete overturn of the lake. The evolution of Lake Lisan took place between two distinct modes. The first was characterized by an extensive supply of freshwater and resulted in a rise of the lake's level, a (density) layered structure, and precipitation of aragonite. The second mode was marked by a diminishing freshwater input, resulting in mixing or complete overturn of its water, and precipitation of gypsum. These two modes reflect the climatic evolution of the region in the late Pleistocene which fluctuated between drier and wetter periods. The transition to the Holocene is accompanied by the dry up of Lake Lisan and its contraction to the present Dead Sea.

Description: In an extended deep-sea study the response of the benthic community to seasonally varying sedimentation rates of organic matter were investigated at a fixed abyssal site in the NE Atlantic (BIOTRANS station or JGOFS station L2 at 47°N–20°W, water depth 〉4500 m) on four legs of METEOR expedition 21 between March and August 1992. The vertical flux at 3500 m depth and temporal variations in the chloroplastic pigment concentration, a measure of phytodetritus deposition, and of total adenylates and total phospholipids, measures of benthic biomass, and of activity of hydrolytic enzymes were observed. The flux patterns in moored sediment traps of total chlorophyll, POC and total flux showed an early sedimentation peak in March/April 1992, followed by low fluxes in May and intermediate ones from June to August. Thus 1992 differed from other years, in which one large flux peak after the spring phytoplankton bloom was observed. Unusually high concentrations of chloroplastic pigments were consistently observed in March 1992, reflecting the early sedimentation input. At the same time biomass of small benthic organisms (bacteria to meiobenthos) and activity of hydrolytic enzymes were higher compared to values from March 1985 and from the following months in 1992. In May and August 1992 pigment concentrations and biomass and activity parameters in the sediment were lower than during previously observed depositions of phytodetrital matter in summer. The data imply that the deep ocean benthic community reacts to small sedimentation events with transient increases in metabolic activity and only small biomass production. The coupling between pelagic and benthic processes is so close that interannual variability in surface water production is “mirrored” by deep-sea benthic processes.

Description: This is the first detailed investigation of the distribution and ecology of living (stained) shallow water (0–6 m) foraminifera along the Skagerrak–Kattegat coast, eastern North Sea. A total of 25 species (13 agglutinated; 12 calcareous) are common in the 169 sediment surface samples which were collected from 27 geographic areas. The sediment grain size and total organic carbon (TOC) content are strongly variable and the salinity and temperature ranges were 10–31‰ and 9–30°C, respectively, at the time of sampling (July to October) but temperatures down to freezing occur during the winter. The species are divided into six environmental categories of which the first five comprise euryhaline and the sixth essentially stenohaline taxa: (1) species associated only with marsh plants, (2) species basically, but not entirely, associated with marsh plants, (3) species basically, but not entirely, restricted to non-marsh areas, (4) species solely recorded in non-marsh intertidal to subtidal environments, (5) species restricted to subtidal areas, (6) species basically living in the most open marine areas. In this region, marshes have a patchy distribution and they are small and compressed due to low tidal ranges (〈40 cm). Balticammina pseudomacrescens (not reported here before) lives in the most elevated, landward, terrestrial parts of marshes and thus defines the uppermost limit of the influence of marine water. However, the marshes are generally dominated by Jadammina macrescens and Miliammina fusca at the landward and seaward sides, respectively. Jadammina macrescens is observed living epiphytically on decaying Carex leaf debris. The most widely distributed euryhaline species are Elphidium williamsoni, Miliammina fusca, Ammonia beccarii, and Haynesina germanica. The former two are common only in sediments with a mud content less than about 60%, whereas the latter two are common even in sediments with 〉80% mud. Ammoscalaria runiana is common only in coarse-grained sediments (〈20% mud) with low TOC (≤0.7%). There are no marked biogeographic boundaries within the Skagerrak–Kattegat area but 10 of the 25 commonly occurring species have not been reported from the adjacent Baltic Sea, probably partly due to the brackish character of the water there. The southern limits of distribution of the northern species, Elphidium albiumbilicatum, Ammotium cassis, and Ophthalmina kilianensis, are in the Kattegat–Baltic Sea.

Description: Although much of the deep sea is physically tranquil, some regions experience near-bottom flows that rework the surficial sediment. During periods of physical reworking, animals in the reworked layer risk being suspended, which can have both positive and negative effects. Reworking can also change the sediment in ecologically important ways, so the fauna of reworked sites should differ from that of quiescent locations. We combined data from two reworked, bathyal sites on the summit of Fieberling Guyot (32°27.631′N, 127°49.489′W; 32°27.581′N, 127°47.839′W) and compared the results with those of more tranquil sites. We tested for differences in the following parameters, which seemed likely to be sensitive to the direct or indirect effects of reworking: (1) the vertical distribution of the meiofauna in the sea bed, (2) the relative abundance of surface-living harpacticoids, (3) the proportion of the fauna consisting of interstitial harpacticoids, (4) the ratio of harpacticoids to nematodes. We found that the vertical distributions of harpacticoid copepods, ostracods, and kinorhynchs were deeper on Fieberling. In addition, the relative abundance of surface-living harpacticoids was less, the proportion of interstitial harpacticoids was greater, and the ratio of harpacticoids to nematodes was greater on Fieberling. These differences between Fieberling and the comparison sites suggest that physical reworking affects deep-sea meiofauna and indicate the nature of some of the effects.

Description: The percentage of the structural Fe(II) in clay minerals that is readily oxidized to Fe(III) upon contact with atmospheric oxygen was determined across the downcore tan–green color change in Peru Basin sediments. This latent fraction of reactive Fe(II) was only found in the green strata, where it proved to be large enough to constitute a deep reaction layer with respect to the pore water O2 and NO3−. Large variations were detected in the proportion of the reactive Fe(II) concentration to the organic matter content along core profiles. Hence, the commonly observed tan–green color change in marine sediments marks the top of a reactive Fe(II) layer, which may represent the major barrier to the movement of oxidation fronts in pelagic subsurface sediments. This is also demonstrated by numerical model simulations. The findings imply that geochemical barriers to pore water oxidation fronts form diagenetically in the sea floor wherever the stage of iron reduction is reached, provided that the sediments contain a significant amount of structural iron in clay minerals.

Description: Pelitic schists from the lower garnet to lower staurolite zones from the Rangeley, Perry Mountain, and Smalls Falls formations of western Maine were analyzed for major elements, trace elements, and neodymium isotopes. These formations were derived from highlands created during the Taconian orogeny, deposited into a trough, and metamorphosed during subsequent orogenic events. Most major and trace element abundances relative to Al2O3 were statistically identical between zones of the same formation, as well as between formations. Although the average major element composition of these formations are the same, there are systematic variations in some elements. Notably, plots of SiO2 vs. Al2O3 and K2O vs. Al2O3 suggest that most of the variation could be produced by mixing of a fairly constant ratio of clay minerals and feldspar with varied amounts of quartz due to sorting in the sedimentary system. Different amounts of these minerals should not influence the shape of the REE patterns of the metapelites, but higher amounts of quartz and feldspar may dilute the REEs and most elemental abundances of the clay minerals and lead to lower elemental abundances. The major difference between the samples within the Perry Mountain Formation are different LREE and MREE abundances relative to Al2O3 which are not correlated to differences in major element or other trace element abundances relative to Al2O3. The samples in the Perry Mountain with higher LREE and MREE abundances have, for example, 42.3 ± 8.3 ppm, and those with low abundances have 5.6 ± 3.6 ppm. The samples with the high REE abundances of the Perry Mountain Formation are similar in abundances and REE patterns to those of the Rangeley and Smalls Falls formations typical of mudstones derived from granitoids. Another difference between the low and high REE abundance samples are the calculated Tdm model ages. The high REE abundance samples of the Perry Mountain Formation show Tdm similar to the samples of the Rangeley Formation, with ages of about 1.7–1.8 Ga. The Perry Mountain samples with low REE abundances, however, give unrealistically old Tdms between 2.5 and 5.3 Ga. These unrealistically old Tdms are due to the relatively high Sm/Nd ratios (compared to crustal values) which are characteristic of samples of the Perry Mountain Formation with lower REE abundances. We therefore suggest that these samples may be indicators for open system behavior of the neodymium isotopic system. The timing of this disturbance of the neodymium isotope system is difficult to determine and cannot be tied to weathering or a definite postdepositional event. The complexities of the data suggest more than one resetting event. The most likely event that could have produced much of the movement of the LREEs and MREEs could have been due to small scale migration between anoxic hemipelagites and turbidite mudstones during diagenesis, but some migration may have continued during metamorphism in order to reconcile the neodymium isotopic data.

Description: A coulometrically-based SOMMA system for the determination of total dissolved carbon dioxide (TCO2) in a continuous mode was designed and tested at sea. The new continuous technique approached the same high accuracy and reliability associated with prior discrete TCO2 measurements. During three cruises encompassing more than 19 weeks and 6000 continuous TCO2 measurements none of the three different systems tested exhibited any hardware-related failures. We found that coulometer cell lifetimes can greatly exceed prior expectations with many of the titration cells in the continuous mode remaining accurate for up to 72 h at carbon ages exceeding 50 mg C. We suggest a practical definition based on the CRM analyses for changing coulometer cells in the continuous mode. Systematic deviations of the SOMMA pipette volume from a theoretical temperature dependence were identified both from field data comparisons and pipette calibrations. Hence pipettes should be kept at constant temperature or they must be gravimetrically calibrated over the expected temperature range. Comparison of the continuous TCO2 data together with simultaneously measured additional CO2 system parameters showed that the refitted “Mehrbach” dissociation constants for carbonic acid best-represent fCO2 when calculated from TCO2 and alkalinity over a wide range of sea-surface temperatures and salinities. Some remaining systematic differences of calculated–measured fCO2 of up to 9 μatm likely reflect uncertainty in the temperature-dependence of the “Mehrbach” constants as well as possible uncertainty in the alkalinity–salinity relationship used to estimate alkalinity in the consistency checks.

Description: An unrealistically high-salinity maximum is found to develop in a high-resolution model of the north and equatorial Atlantic below the shallow halocline in the Gulf of Guinea. The spurious water mass with salinities too high by as much as 1 psu is formed when the vertical advection is treated by the standard central-differencing advection scheme. The problem is considerably reduced either by increasing the vertical resolution of the numerical grid, or by switching to a higher-order upwind-weighted scheme for vertical advection. This note stresses the need for a careful consideration of vertical discretization even in typical high-resolution ocean general circulation models (OGCMs). Particular attention is needed for studying heat and salt budgets or transports of biogeochemical tracers.

Description: Data on the carbonate system of the Northwestern Indian Ocean obtained on a cruise of F.S. Meteor during SW monsoon in July/August 1995 were compared with those of George et al. [George, M.D., Kumar, M.D., Naqvi, S.W.A., Banerjee, S., Narvekar, P.V., de Sousa, S.N., Jayakumar, D.A., 1994. A study of the carbon dioxide system in the northern Indian Ocean during premonsoon. Mar. Chem. 47, 243–254] collected during intermonsoon. In general, deep water values agreed well between the two expeditions. Surface waters, however, showed a substantial increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) in the coastal regions due to strong upwelling in the SW monsoon. This was also accompanied by very high CO2 partial pressures in surface waters. The north–south gradients in vertical profiles of the measured parameters in the Arabian Sea are discussed by comparing profiles from the oligotrophic equatorial region with those from the highly productive central Arabian Sea. The effect of denitrification on regenerated CT and AT is minor, with contributions of 〈9 and 〈8 μmol kg−1, respectively, to the total amount regenerated also utilizing oxygen. The dissolution of biogenic carbonates is discussed; different approaches to define the depth, where the dissolution starts (lysocline(s), carbonate critical depth (CCrD)), are compared together with the calculation of saturation depth from carbonate concentrations. It is shown, that small differences in measured CT and AT (found between our data and those measured during GEOSECS) and different calculation approaches to the CO2 system (different dissociation constants for species involved and taking into account phosphate and silicate concentrations) can produce pronounced differences in the calculated saturation depths. However, CT and AT data suggest substantial dissolution of biogenic carbonate in the water column even above the calcite lysocline, irrespective of the procedures followed to calculate this horizon.

Description: High biogenic silica (BSi) concentrations (maximum: 11.7μmoll−1) were recorded during late November at the southern border of the Polar Frontal region (PFr). Position of the BSi maximum at depth suggested the occurrence of a sinking diatom population. By contrast, siliceous biomass was low (BSi 〈0.6 μmol l−1) in the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) despite a sea-ice retreat of 200 km during the study period. Diatoms released from the receding ice were not actively growing. The Permanently Open Ocean Zone also showed very low BSi biomass (〈0.5μmol l−1) and appeared as an area where phytoplankton are not dominated by siliceous organisms, especially in its middle part where BSi/POC (particulate organic carbon) molar ratios ranged between 0.04 and 0.06 at 53°S, from surface to 200 m depth. At the southern border of the PFZ, the bloom coincided with an area of high lithogenic silica concentrations probably of aeolian origin. In addition, BSi/POC molar ratios measured in the PFZ were the highest ever recorded in the surface waters of the Southern Ocean (maximum: 1.75). This could be due to the presence of heavily silicified diatoms such as Fragilariopsis kerguelensis or also could reflect the more rapid recycling of POC as compared to BSi. Within the bloom area BSi concentrations were positively correlated to pyrophaeophytin pigments, possibly indicating the occurrence of a senescent diatom population. High concentrations of BSi (〉 1.5 μmol Si 1−1) extended to 200 m between 49°S and 51°S. Numerous empty frustules also were observed, suggesting significant sedimentation of siliceous particles between 49°S and 51°S. Estimates of the BSi production of the Polar Frontal region are derived from 14C primary production and appropriate BSi/POC ratios, and implications for the total annual production of BSi for the Southern Ocean are discussed.

Description: We compare the time series of major element geochemical and Pb- and Nd-isotopic composition obtained for seven hydrogenous ferromanganese crusts from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans which cover the last 60 Myr. Average crust growth rates and age-depth relationships were determined directly for the last about 10 Myr using Be-10/Be-9 profiles. In the absence of other information these were extrapolated to the base of the crusts assuming constant growth rates and constant initial Be-10/Be-9 ratios due to the lack of additional information. Co contents have also been used previously to estimate growth rates in Co-rich Pacific and Atlantic seamount crusts (Puteanus and Halbach, 1988). A comparison of Be-10/Be-9- and Co-based dating of three Co-rich crusts supports the validity of this approach and confirms the earlier chronologies derived from extrapolated Be-10/Be-9-based growth rates back to 60 Ma. Our data show that the flux of Co into Co-poor crusts has been considerably lower. The relationship between growth rate and Co content for the Co-poor crusts developed from these data is in good agreement with a previous study of a wider range of marine deposits (Manheim, 1986). The results suggest that the Co content provides detailed information on the growth history of ferromanganese crusts, particularly prior to 10-12 Ma where the Be-10-based method is not applicable. The distributions of Pb and Nd isotopes in the deep oceans over the last 60 Myr are expected to be controlled by two main factors: (a) variations of oceanic mixing patterns and flow paths of water masses with distinct isotopic signatures related to major paleogeographic changes and (b) variability of supply rates or provenance of detrital material delivered to the ocean, linked to climate change (glaciations) or major tectonic uplift. The major element profiles of crusts in this study show neither systematic features which are common to crusts with similar isotope records nor do they generally show coherent relationships to the isotope records within a single crust. Consequently, any interpretation of time series of major element concentrations of a single crust in terms of paleoceanograghic variations must be considered with caution. This is because local processes appear to have dominated over more basin wide paleoceanographic effects. In this study Co is the only element which shows a relationship to Pb and Nd isotopes in Pacific crusts. A possible link to changes of Pacific deep water properties associated with an enhanced northward advection of Antarctic bottom water from about 14 Ma is consistent with the Pb but not with the Nd isotopic results. The self-consistent profiles of the Pb and Nd isotopes suggest that postdepositional diagenetic processes in hydrogenous crusts, including phosphatization events, have been insignificant for particle reactive elements such as Pb, Be, and Nd. Isotope time series of Pb and Nd show no systematic relationships with major element contents of the crusts, which supports their use as tracers of paleo-seawater isotopic composition

Description: Variations of intensity and composition of biogenic particle flux at the northern boundary of the present PolarFrontal Zone in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean are indicators of major changes of paleoenvironmentalconditions on glacial/interglacial time scales during the Late Quaternary. In order to estimate those pastchanges, sediment accumulation patterns of two piston cores, one from just north and one just south of thepresent day position of the Subantarctic Front were reconstructed. Using the 230Thex method large contributionsof laterally supplied material were quantified and used to correct sediment accumulation rates. During the lastglacial focussing of biogenic opal-dominated material exceeded the original contribution from the surfacewater above by a maximum factor of 8.7. The initial activity ratio of 231Paex/230Thex was used as tracer forbiogenic particle flux and composition and indicates that during the glacial stages 2 and 4 the area of high opalproductivity was situated above the location of the southern core whereas the northern core has not beenreached by this northward shift during the last 130 kyr as shown by the pattern of focussing-corrected bulkaccumulation rates. If the position of the Antarctic Polar Front has remained at the northern boundary of thehigh opal productivity area during the last 130 kyr, the results suggest that was located exactly between thetwo core sites during glacial stages 2 and 4. A two-box modeling approach involving particle flux and boundaryscavenging intensity of 231Pa was applied to estimate the possible range of the 231Paex/230Thex ratio recordedin Southern Ocean sediments. Previous estimates on the export of 231Pa from the Atlantic into the SouthernOcean are corroborated but the model suggests a low sensitivity of the 231Paex/230Thex ratio in Southern Oceansediments to variations of the residence time of North Atlantic Deep Water in the Atlantic Ocean.

Description: Small-scale features of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) along a meridional section at 6°W between the Polar Front and the ACC-Weddell Gyre Boundary Front are discussed using data collected during the austral spring cruise ANT X/6 of R. V. Polarstern organized within the framework of the European IGBP-JGOFS (Southern Ocean). The section covered three distinct fronts, namely the Polar Front, the Southern Polar Front (also Southern ACC Front), and the ACC-Weddell Gyre Boundary Front. Physical measurements during repeated transects over a period of 6 weeks in October/November revealed a large variability in the Polar Frontal region, indicating meandering and eddy shedding. The positions of the Southern Polar Front and the ACC-Weddell Gyre Boundary Front were observed to be far more stable than that of the Polar Front. A possible reconstruction of the meandering flow field near the Polar Front, based upon the physical observations, is presented. Details in the flow field coincide with the spatial distribution of a number of biological parameters such as phytoplankton biomass and species, and photosynthetic pigments. Although a causal relationship between them is likely, biomass enhancement cannot be understood simply in terms of macronutrients from deeper layers entering the euphotic zone, as substantiated for other oceanic frontal regions, because macronutrients do not limit phytoplankton blooms. This process, however, can be important for the micronutrient iron. Evidence is presented that the Antarctic Zone of the ACC can be subdivided into a number of spheres of influence related to the fronts. Interleaving of water is apparent between positions within such a region, but not between the regions.

Description: The Foundation Seamounts form a 1400 km-long chain on the Pacific plate from 32 °S, 127 °W to the Pacific-Antarctic spreading axis at 38 °S, 111 °W. Previously only known from sparse single-beam echosoundings and satellite altimetry, we present here the first multibeam bathymetric survey and geological sampling results. We confirm that the submarine topography correlates with the altimetry, and that the chain is volcanic rather than tectonic or microcontinental in origin. The chain can be divided up morphologically and geochemically into three section: (1) west of 125 °W large flat-topped volcanoes composed of incompatible-element depleted lavas ( ≈ 1) of a near-ridge origin with little or no plume influence, (2) between 125 and 115 °W true intraplate volcanoes with incompatible element enrichment ( 〉 1.9) generated over the Foundation plume, (3) east of 115 °W E-W-trending volcanic ridges with compositions ( 2.0-0.3) suggestive of interaction between the plume and the Pacific-Antarctic spreading axis. On the spreading axis moderate incompatible element enrichments ( ≈0.8, cf. ≈ 0.3 outside the Foundation area) also suggest plume influence. It appears that the activity of the Foundation plume in the last few million years has (1) significantly waned and (2) become wholly channeled towards the spreading axis. The Foundation plume may be in the process of “dying”.

Description: Tens of thousands of synthetic substances are in existence today and hundreds of new compounds are being introduced every year. Because of the complexity of the physico-chemical interactions between pollutants and the marine environment, the potential toxicity of contaminants can be assessed adequately only by means of bioassays with living organisms. From a practical point of view, a bioassay needs to be sensitive and scientifically valid, yield rapid results at moderate cost, and the organism in question must be readily available. Ecotoxicological bioassays with bivalve embryos and larvae fulfil these criteria better than most other tests. They have increasingly come into use during the past three decades and are now commonly employed to ascertain the biological effects of pure chemicals, as well as to determine the quality of effluents, coastal waters and sediments sampled in the field. There do not appear to be very great differences between bivalve species with regard to larval sensitivity to toxicants. The principal species for bioassays are oysters (Crassostrea gigas and C. virginica), and mussels (Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis). Bioassays are conducted with gametes and larvae of ail ages: sperm and unfertilized eggs, embryos, young D-larvae, intermediate umboned larvae, and pediveligers towards the end ofthe pelagic period. Embryos are usually the most sensitive stage. Recent advances now also permit bioassays on metamorphosing pediveligers, a method particularly suited to investigate the effects of adsorbate-contaminated surfaces. There are various criteria for the assessment oftoxic effects, including embryogenesis success (abnormalities), larval growth, mortality, physiology (e.g. feeding or swimming activity), and metamorphosis success. Chronic toxicity studies may be carried out over periods ofseveral weeks, but larval rearing in the laboratory requires considerable effort (e.g. cultivation of algal food). The method of choice for investigations of acute toxicity and for routine monitoring studies is the embryo bioassay because it is very sensitive, relatively simple, and produces results within 24 or 48 hours. The data obtained by different investigators are often difficult to compare, however, because of differences in methodology. There is no firmly established procedure, and further simplification and standardization of techniques is required. In bioassays with a single pollutant, the effective toxic concentration may span several orders of magnitude, depending on bioassay procedures, larval stage and choice of response. Tributyl-tin (TBT) is the most toxic compound ever bioassayed with bivalve larvae, with effective concentrations (EC50) as low as a few nanograms per litre (i.e. 10−3 ppb). Heavy metals (particularly mercury, silver and copper) are next in order of toxicity, with EC50 values between a few micrograms per litre (ppb) and several hundred ppb. Chlorine and some organochlorine pesticides may also have EC50 values of less than 100 ppb, while detergents and petroleum products are generally less toxic

Description: Sensitivities of cirrus cloud radiative forcing as well as solar albedo and infrared emittances to ice crystal size spectrum and ice crystal shape were examined using a coupled cloud-radiation model. The single- and bi-modal crystal size distribution were considered and simulated based on field measurements. Optical parameters of ice crystals shaped as hexagonal columns and random polycrystals (being frequently found in cirrus clouds) were calculated with a ray-tracing method. Both solar and infrared cirrus radiative forcing are influenced by the pattern of crystal size spectra. The net radiative forcing is lower for bi-modal than for single-modal spectra. The solar radiative forcing of cirrus cloud is reduced by nonspherical ice crystals, due to larger albedo effects of nonspherical crystals compared to those of equivalent spherical crystals. Moreover, this reduction in solar radiative forcing by random polycrystals is even larger than that by hexagonal column crystals. The cloud radiative forcing, solar albedo and infrared emittance are changed significantly as the mean crystal size approaches the smaller size end. Furthermore, net cloud radiative forcing is positive in most cirrus cases. Exceptions are cirrus clouds with a large number (〉107 m−3) of small (mean maximum dimension 〈30 μm) ice crystals and cirrus clouds with bi-modal crystal size distribution and large particle size for the second maximum peak.

Description: Colonization of new habitats, which have been established as a result of a catastrophic disturbance of the environment, is one of the characteristic repetitive events throughout the Phanerozoic. In recent years, much attention has been paid to investigations focusing on biological recovery of benthic habitats severely disturbed by human activity. In order to improve our environmental and stratigraphical interpretations of such events, we need a more thorough understanding of the processes involved in colonization by one of the most abundant and useful fossil groups, the benthic foraminifera. The present review focuses on processes governing benthic foraminiferal dispersion and colonization patterns in modern environments. For benthic foraminifera, the only active dispersal mechanism is through self-locomotion on or within the sediment and this is considered to be efficient over short distances only. Several passive dispersal methods have been suggested but two seem to be of more general importance. These are dispersal through release and transport of embryonic juveniles and passive suspension and transport of various growth stages. Both are probably important for most benthic foraminifera but the former is likely to be the main mechanism for attached, tubular and larger foraminifera, which are not easily entrained at a later life stage. The latter seems to be a more important dispersion mechanism for benthic foraminifera than previously realized. The colonization rate of soft-bottom substrates is closely related to the hydraulic regime in, and the transit time from, the source area inhabited by species capable of colonizing the new habitat (as long as food and other environmental characteristics are not limiting factors). The transit time depends on the speed of the transporting medium and the distance from the source area. There seems to be two end-processes which can operate during the colonization, depending on whether physically induced or biological processes are allowed to dominate. They are characterized by different colonization patterns. In high energy environments (bottom current velocities often 〉20 cm/s), a short transit time may cause the major components of the nearest ambient seafloor assemblages to colonize the new habitat within days. In this case the colonization is simply through a physical transfer of parts of the source community to the new habitat, allowing no time for pioneer, opportunistic assemblages to develop. In low energy environments (bottom current velocities generally 〈10 cm/s), the transit time is long for most species. Here, colonization follows the classic metazoan successional pattern with an initial, high abundance pioneer assemblage strongly dominated by small opportunists followed by development of assemblages with increasing numbers of specialized species and recovery can take from one to several years. Initial lack of food (e.g., volcanic ash) or `hostile' substrate properties (e.g., recently reoxygenated or severely contaminated sediments) may delay colonization by months or even years. Small, infaunal species (both calcareous and agglutinated) are among the first and most successful colonizers of soft bottom habitats from shallow waters to the deep sea. Throchospiral agglutinated taxa are among the most abundant colonizers on deep sea hard substrates.

Description: The Skagerrak basin is a deep water extension of the North Sea. It is of particular interest as an analogue for past epicontintal shelf basins because it presents environmental contrasts with the adjacent shelf seas. In this study the distribution patterns of benthic foraminifera have been used to infer taphonomic and oceanographic processes. Only by separating living from dead assemblages is it possible to interpret taphonomic changes. The transport of foraminiferal tests to the Danish slope is inferred from the presence there of dead exotic tests whose provenance is considered to be from the south. The abundance of detrital organic matter on the Danish slope is likewise inferred to be sourced from the same direction. Thus, the Danish slope is interpreted to be a depositional sink. Apart from transport, another taphonomic process is the dissolution of calcareous tests. This is clearly demonstrated both by the fragility of some tests as viewed under the microscope and by the disparity between the composition of the living and dead factor associations. In the deep basin in particular, the two predominantly calcareous living associations are replaced by a single predominantly agglutinated dead association due to carbonate dissolution. The Danish slope of the Skagerrak Basin is demonstrated to be an area of high benthic fertility. This is based on the high density of living (stained) benthic foraminifera (comparable with that of the Mississippi delta), particularly the abundance of Stainforthia fusiformis, an opportunistic species, and tubular agglutinated forms. The fertility is linked with the high abundance of particulate organic matter here. Previous regional studies have focused on total (living plus dead) distributions of 〉 100 or 〉 125 μm sized foraminifera. These factor assemblages are distinct from the 〉63 μm living and dead associations described here.

Description: Data from the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean are used to investigate the habitat and conditions under which the polar planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.) calcifies. The vertical distribution of δ18O values of net-sampled speciments, together with their abundances and proportion of calcification, are compared with δ18O values from both water samples and foraminiferal tests from core-top sediments. Within the Nansen Basin the average depth of habitat of N. pachyderma (sin.) changes from about 150 m in the southern part to about 80 m in the northern. The average depth of calcification, however, in both regimes varies between 100 and 200 m water depth. δ18O data from net sampled N. pachyderma (sin.) are directly reflected in the core-top sediment data, but compared to equilibrium calcite δ18O values derived from measurements of the ambient water, a consistent offset of about 1‰ over all depth intervals is observed. While in the southern part of the Nansen Basin advection through Fram Strait of planktic foraminifers from further south may play a role, the data from the northern part of the Nansen Basin give clear evidence that the observed offset in δ18O values is caused by a vital effect of N. pachyderma (sin.).

Description: The excretion of siderophores and the reduction of organic iron-complexes at the cell surface are common reactions of terrestrial plants, fungi and bacteria in response to low availability of iron. However, there is much less evidence for the use of these strategies by marine phytoplankton. It has been argued that siderophore excretion is inefficient in an aquatic environment due to rapid diffusion. This study examines how diffusion and chemical reactions in the microenvironment of a phytoplankton cell influence the efficiency of both strategies to increase the bioavailability of iron and to reduce iron stress. A numerical model of the cell surroundings is presented that calculates the concentration distribution for different iron species and allows to study the effect of siderophores or surface reductases. It calculates the efficiency of these mechanisms, defined as the quotient between the increase in iron uptake rate and the excretion rate of siderophores or electrons, needed to obtain this increase. The dependence of this efficiency on rates of iron coordination reactions, on diffusivity, and on the kinetics of iron uptake is discussed with the aid of some analytical calculations.

Description: Laboratory feeding experiments were conducted to elucidate size-relationships in the seastar-mussel (Asterias rubens-Mytilus edulis) predator-prey interaction. This is one of the most well-known predator-prey relationships in marine benthic ecology and the dependence of seastar feeding rates and prey size selection are crucial for modelling. Moreover, the hypothesis should be tested that large individuals of M. edulis enjoy a size-refuge from seastar predation in the Baltic sea. Ingestion rates showed an allometric relationship to seastar size. They increased slightly more than cubically (b = 3.62) with the linear size of the seastars and slightly more than linearly (b = 1.27) with the body mass of the seastars. Somatic growth rates were linearly related to ingestion rates. Larger seastars tended to eat larger mussels. This relationship was significant for the largest size of mussels eaten and for the mean size of mussels eaten, but not for the minimal size. Size selection of seastars did not depend on the spatial arrangement of mussel sizes relative to the initial position of the seastars in the aquarium. Mussels of 〉 48 mm in length are safe from predation by the largest seastars found in the western Baltic sea.

Description: The (87)Rb/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios of Laptev Sea sediments, of Arctic Ocean sediments and of suspended particulate matter (SPM) from Siberian rivers (Lena and Khatanga) form 'pseudo-isochrons' due to grain-size separation processes which are referred to as 'Lena Mixing Envelope' (LME) and as 'Flood Basalt Envelope' (FBE). At the land-ocean transition the reduction of the particle velocity causes a deposition of coarser grained material and the contact with saline water enhances a precipitation of finer-grained material. The coarse-grained material is enriched in Sr showing less radiogenic (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios whereas fine grained material is depleted in Sr relative to Rb showing more radiogenic (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios, The experimentally determined spread of the (87)Rb/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios as a function of grain size in one sediment sample is on the same order as the natural spread of the (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios observed in all samples from the Arctic Ocean. Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) for the Lena river SPM tend to confirm previous observations that chemical alteration is negligible in the Arctic environment. Thus, these 'pseudo-isochrons' reflect an average age and the average isotope composition in the river drainage area. Calculated apparent ages from the FBE reflect the age of the Siberian flood basalt of about 220 Ma and the initial ratio of 0.707(1) reflects their mantle origin. The age calculated from the LME of about 125 Ma reflects accidentally the Jurassic and Cretaceous age of the sediments drained by the Lena river and the initial ratio of 0.714(1) reflects the crustal origin of their source rocks. Comparison of geographical locations reveals that all samples from the eastern Laptev Sea (east of 120 degrees E) fall along the LME whereas all samples from the western Laptev Sea (west of 120 degrees E) fall between LME and FBE. Mixing calculations based on (143)Nd/(144)Nd measurements, not influenced by grain size, show that about 75% of the western Laptev Sea sediments originate from the Lena drainage area whereas about 25% of the sediments are delivered from the Siberian flood basalt province. Sediments from the central Arctic Ocean are isotopically related to the Lena drainage area and the Siberian flood basalt province. However, sediments from the Arctic Ocean margins close to Novaya Semlya, Greenland, the Fram Strait and Svalbard originate from sources not yet identified. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: The effect of the supply of chlorinated biphenyls by the river Oder into some adjacent areas of Baltic Sea was studied in nine sediment cores and in 10 suspended matter samples. Congener-specific analysis was carried out on 28 individual chlorobiphenyls (CBs). ∑CB concentrations in suspension ranged from 2.4 pg dm-3 in the southern Bornholm Basin to 986 pg dm-3 in the Achterwasser. ∑CB contents in surface sediment decreased with increasing distance from the river mouth. Highest contents were found in the Oderhaff (18 ng g-1 dw) decreasing to 2 ng g-1 dw in the Bornholm Basin. The ∑CB contents generally decreased more or less regularly with increasing depth. The compositions of the CB mixtures in surficial sediment and suspension samples were rather similar, suggesting a common source. Compositions of the CB mixtures in the sediment cores showed distinct differences. These may reflect variations in source strength over time. Mass balance considerations on the basis of the 28 CBs resulted in an estimation of a total storage of approximate 733±158 kg ∑CBs in the Oderhaff, Achterwasser, Greifswalder Bodden, Oder Rinne, Arkona Basin and Bornholm Basin in the past 65 years, covering the time period since CBs were first produced. Based on river data about 500 kg of ∑CBs were supplied during this time by river Oder, that may thus be the major source of these compounds for the southern Baltic Sea.

Description: Individual chlorinated biphenyls (CBs) and chlorinated pesticides (p,p′-DDT and metabolites, HCHs and HCB) were determined in blubber samples of 40 harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) of different age and sex from the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Greenland coastal waters. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were analysed in a selected group of animals. ΣCB concentrations (medians) in North Sea immature specimens were similar (14.9 μg/g lipid) to those from the Baltic Sea (17.0 μg/g lipid) and exceeding those in Greenland specimens by an order of magnitude (1.3 μg/g lipid). The median concentrations (μg/g lipid) of HCB, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDD and γ-HCH were in the order Greenland〈North Sea〈Baltic Sea. The highest concentrations of α-HCH (0.14 μg/g lipid) were found in the Greenland population, and p,p′-DDT was detected only in this group. The North Sea and Baltic Sea populations were identified as distinctly separate on the basis of levels and compositions of these contaminants. The ecological risk associated with dioxin-like toxicity was dominated by the CB congeners 118 and 170; the PCDD/Fs were playing only a minor role.

Description: Progress in marine chemistry has been driven by improved sampling and sample handling techniques, and developments in analytical chemistry. Consequently, during the last 20 years our understanding of marine trace metal biogeochemistry has improved a great deal. Stripping voltammetric techniques (anodic stripping voltammetry and adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry) have made an important contribution to this understanding. The selectivity and extremely low detection limits have made stripping voltammetry a widely used technique for trace metal speciation and trace metal distribution measurements in seawater. Stripping voltammetry is very suitable for ship-board and in-situ applications because of the portability, low cost and capability for automation of the voltammetric instrumentation. Future developments in stripping voltammetry can be expected in the field of stand-alone submersible voltammetric analysers, capable of continuous trace metal measurements. Future applications of stripping voltammetry can be found in the interactions between trace metal speciation and growth and the functioning of organisms in pristine and metal polluted marine waters. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.

Description: The distribution of trace metals was determined in coastal waters around England during cruises in December 1993 (CH108), October 1994 (CH115), January 1995 (CH117) and April 1995 (CH118). Cu and Ni distributions were pronouncedly influenced by mixing of river waters with seawater during CH108 coinciding with seasonally enhanced freshwater inputs, but less so during the subsequent cruises. These seasonal variations indicate the importance of processes other than conservative mixing on the distributions of Cu and Ni: benthic and atmospheric inputs, removal by biological uptake and particle scavenging. This paper is one of the first to report on coastal dissolved Cr distributions. Non-conservative behaviour was observed for Cr (CH108), with generally low concentrations which were attributed to particle scavenging. Dissolved Zn exhibited a non-conservative behaviour during the spring and late summer cruises, suggesting that processes other than mixing between water masses was influencing its behaviour. Co showed non-conservative behaviour during the late summer cruise (CH115), which was attributed to the influence of benthic inputs and particle scavenging on its distribution.

Description: The chemical speciation of Cu, Ni, and Cr and the dissolved and unfiltered concentrations of Mo, Ti, Co, Fe, Mn, and Zn were determined in the water column of a lake with a seasonally anoxic hypolimnion (Esthwaite Water, Cumbria, UK) during three surveys in the summer of 1991. Cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) with ligand competition was used for this speciation study. The metal data, in conjunction with physical and nutrient data, were used to assess the biogeochemical processes controlling the distribution and speciation of the trace metals in the lake and their seasonal variation. Thermodynamic calculations were used to assess the dissolved trace metal speciation and the saturation state of metal-sulphide phases. The development of anoxia in the lake had an important influence on the redox speciation of dissolved Cr, with Cr(III) forming the major Cr species under anoxic conditions. Cobalt showed enhanced concentrations in the hypolimnion during anoxia, coinciding with enhanced Fe and Mn levels. Dissolved Cu, Ni, and Zn concentrations in the hypolimnion decreased during anoxia, which could possibly be explained by particle scavenging (iron sulphides) and a decline in hypolimnetic supply as the season develops. Regeneration processes of sunken organic detritus on the sediment-water interface were the most likely causes for enhanced hypolimnetic concentrations of Ni, Cu, and Zn, during periods when the lake was completely oxic. Substantial organic Ni and Cu complexation was observed in Esthwaite Water, which was attributed to the eutrophic character of the lake. Between 25 and 80 of the dissolved Ni in Esthwaite Water was strongly complexed by natural ligands. The highest proportions of Ni complexation were observed in the epilimnion and hypolimnion, with a minimum in the thermocline. Strong Cu complexing ligands were observed in the lake, with dissolved ligand concentrations between 6.8 and 29.4 nM and conditional stability constants between 10 11.1 and 10 14.4. More than 94 of the dissolved Cu in Esthwaite Water was complexed by the natural ligands. Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Description: The chemical speciation of dissolved Cr and Ni was measured onboard ship in the western Mediterranean Sea using cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) during the winter of 1992 and summer of 1993. Vertical profiles for dissolved Cr(III) in the water column showed concentrations between 0 and 1.4 nM, with highest concentrations in the surface layer, possibly caused by photochemical conversion of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) during summer periods and by atmospheric inputs during winter periods. Enhanced Cr(III) levels also were encountered in the deeper Mediterranean waters and were attributed to mineralisation of sinking biological material and diffusion from sediments. Dissolved Cr(VI) concentrations ranged between 2 and 3 nM, and total dissolved Cr concentrations between 2 and 3.5 nM. Lowest concentrations of total Cr and Cr(VI) occurred in the surface Atlantic waters and highest levels in the deeper Mediterranean waters. Total dissolved Ni concentrations ranged between 1.5 and 5 nM. Between 10 and 20 of the total dissolved Ni in the western Mediterranean appeared to be strongly organically complexed. Both labile and total dissolved Ni concentrations were lower in the surface Atlantic waters than in the Mediterranean deeper waters Little difference was observed between the data sets for winter and summer, indicating that the influence of seasonal changes on the speciation of Ni was small. A clear nutrient-like behaviour was not apparent for Ni and Cr, and their vertical and horizontal distributions were mainly determined by physical processes. Dissolved budget results for Cr and Ni for the Valdivia and Discovery (data in parentheses) cruises of -572 (55) and -439 (369) t yr-1 were calculated, indicating that the dissolved budgets for these elements were well balanced. The budget deficits and surpluses for dissolved Cr and Ni were small compared to the mass fluxes involved in the calculation of the mass balances.

Description: Two new neo-clerodane type diterpenoids, teulolin A (15,16-epoxy-6,7,18,19-tetrahydroxy-neo-cleroda-3(4),13(16),14-trien-20, 12(S)-olide, 1) and teulolin B (15,16-epoxy-3α, 6,7,18,19-tetrahydroxy-neo-cleroda-4(18),13(16),14- trien-20,12(S)-olide, 2) were isolated from the aerial parts of Teucrium polium. The structures of 1-2 were proposed on the basis of extensive NMR experiments and molecular modeling studies

Description: Nutrient (nitrate, phosphate, silica) and dissolved metal (Al, Cu, As, Cd, Ni, Zn, Fe, U) distributions were studied in the mixing zones of the Tinto and Odiel rivers which drain the South Iberian pyrite belt. Phosphate distribution is strongly influenced by discharges from the fertiliser industry, especially in the Tinto mixing zone. The increase of silica content in this zone is related to a release of biogenic silica from diatoms. Nitrate concentrations which are influenced by urban and industrial effluents showed an important maximum in the early stages of mixing in the Tinto (as do the metals). Compared to the Odiel river, the metal concentrations in the Tinto river reached higher values in relation to more intensive mining activities. Dissolved Fe, Mn, Al, Cu, Cd and Zn concentrations were correlated in the mixing zones of both rivers. This suggests that they have the same source and are subjected to the same controlling processes in the estuary. A maximum concentration for these metals was observed in the early stage of mixing in the Tinto and reflects a decrease of redox in a low pH (〈3) environment. Downstream in the Odiel system, metals showed a slight removal. Dissolved uranium, present at a low level (0.05 μmol l-1) in the rivers, is introduced by the phosphate fertiliser industry in the estuary and trapped in sedimentation areas. As a consequence, waters of the Gulf of Cadiz have a U content similar to that of the open seawater. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: Sorption of trace metals by suspended particulate matter (SPM) in estuarine systems has important implications for the fate of dissolved metals in these waters. This paper describes the development of a single extraction procedure for SPM-associated trace metals, using a ligand competition approach with EDTA as the added complexing ligand. The use of EDTA allows the determination of available particulate trace metals using well defined constraints with respect to the competition for trace metals between EDTA and the particles. Incubation experiments showed that equilibrium times between EDTA and particulate material of 72h were required to reach equilibrium for most of the metals studied (Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni, Co, Al, Fe, Pb and Mg). Optimum conditions included a 0.05M EDTA concentration and the use of an extractant: particulate matter ratio of 200:1 (v:w). Kinetic calculations on data from the incubation experiments were used to calculate the apparent stability constants (K(MeS)) for the metal-particulate matter interaction and indicated values ranging from 10-2.1 for K(MgS) to 10-13.5 for K(CuS). Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.

Description: In Eckernfoerde Bay in the western Baltic, an enclosed basin with organic-rich mud, acoustic turbidity has been observed since 1952. To investigate the relationships between acoustic properties and free gas we developed a method for rapid sub-sampling of gravity cores to determine the total methane content. From temperature measurements, determinations of the salinity of the pore water and data from the literature, saturation limits were calculated for each core. It is demonstrated that there is a certain amount of free gas in the mud of Eckernfoerde Bay but subbottom depths of the oversaturation and of the acoustic turbidity do not correspond. The existence of free gas implies the existence of bubbles in the sediment which are regarded to be responsible for the acoustic turbidity. Bubble sizes observed by X-ray computed tomography while still under in situ pressure and temperature vary between 1 and 10 mm equivalent diameter. The distribution of bubbles is discontinuous, occurring in depth zones from 2 to 20 cm thickness.

Description: Résumé Quatre sites ont été forés dans le talus volcanoclastique sous-marin de l'île volcanique de Gran Canaria au cours du Leg ODP 157. La sédimentation du talus enregistre l'évolution volcanique de l'île. Les grandes phases éruptives s'expriment clairement par d'importants apports clastiques contemporains au niveau du talus. En revanche, les périodes d'inactivité volcanique se traduisent par des taux de sédimentation très faibles. II est possible ainsi d'établir un découpage volcanostratigraphique à partir des sédiments marins. Abstract Four sites have been drilled in the submarine volcaniclastic apron of the volcanic island of Gran Canaria during the ODP Leg 157. The volcaniclastic submarine apron reflects the volcanological evolution of the island. The main volcanic phases are recorded in the sedimentation by an important contemporaneous clastic influx on the apron. However, periods of volcanic quiescence are characterized by very weak sedimentation rates. Consequently, it is possible to establish a volcanostratigraphy from the sedimentary record of the apron.

Description: On April 25, 1998, a spill at the Los Frailes mine in southern Spain resulted in a very high input of metals (including Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Tl and Zn) into the river Guadiamar. Calculations indicate that the discharges into the Guadiamar of Cu (5100t), Pb (24,700t), Zn (26,200t) and Ag (138t, based on mud only) were higher than the annual production by the Los Frailes mine for Ag and Pb, and ca. two times less for Cu and Zn. For many metals, the increase in concentration in the affected river (Guadiamar), 2days after the initial discharge, was by several orders of magnitude. However, 6months after the incident, no evidence of the spill could be observed in the plume of the river (Guadalquivir) which discharged the mine waters into the coastal waters of the Gulf of Cadiz. This observation can possibly be explained by low rainfall, natural metal removal processes in the river and estuarine environments and by human interventions. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. On April 25, 1998, a spill at the Los Frailes mine in southern Spain resulted in a very high input of metals (including Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Tl and Zn) into the river Guadiamar. Calculations indicate that the discharges into the Guadiamar of Cu (5100 t), Pb (24,700 t), Zn (26,200 t) and Ag (138 t, based on mud only) were higher than the annual production by the Los Frailes mine for Ag and Pb, and ca. two times less for Cu and Zn. For many metals, the increase in concentration in the affected river (Guadiamar), 2 days after the initial discharge, was by several orders of magnitude. However, 6 months after the incident, no evidence of the spill could be observed in the plume of the river (Guadalquivir) which discharged the mine waters into the coastal waters of the Gulf of Cadiz. This observation can possibly be explained by low rainfall, natural metal removal processes in the river and estuarine environments and by human interventions.

Description: The compositionally zoned San Juan eruption on La Palma emanated from three eruptive centers located along a north–south-trending rift zone in the south of the island. Seismic precursors began weakly in 1936 and became strong in March 1949, with their foci progressing from the north of the rift zone towards its south. This suggests that magma ascended beneath the old Taburiente shield volcano and moved southward along the rift. The eruption began on June 24, 1949, with phreatomagmatic activity at Duraznero crater on the ridgetop (ca. 1880 m above sea level), where five vents erupted tephritic lava along a 400-m-long fissure. On June 8, the Duraznero vents shut down abruptly, and the activity shifted to an off-rift fissure at Llano del Banco, located at ca. 550 m lower elevation and 3 km to the northwest. This eruptive center issued initially tephritic aa and later basanitic pahoehoe lava at high rates, producing a lava flow that entered the sea. Two days after basanite began to erupt at Llano del Banco, Hoyo Negro crater (ca. 1880 m asl), located 700 m north of Duraznero along the rift, opened on July 12 and produced ash and bombs of basanitic to phonotephritic composition in violent phreatomagmatic explosions (White and Schmincke, 1999). Llano del Banco and Hoyo Negro were simultaneously active for 11 days and showed a co-variance of their eruption rates indicating a shallow hydraulic connection. On July 30, after 3 days of quiescence at all vents, Duraznero and Hoyo Negro became active again during a final eruptive phase. Duraznero issued basanitic lava at high rates for 12 h and produced a lava flow that descended towards the east coast. The lava contains ca. 1 vol.% crustal and mantle xenoliths consisting of 40% tholeiitic gabbros from the oceanic crust, 35% alkaline gabbros, and 20% ultramafic cumulates. The occurrence of xenoliths almost exclusively in the final lava is consistent with their origin by wall-rock collapse at depth near the end of the eruption. The volcanic evolution of the 1949 eruption is typical of La Palma eruptions generally. Considerable shallow magma migration prior to and during eruption is manifested by strong seismicity, intense faulting, and the almost unpredictable opening of specific vents which can be spaced three or more km apart.

Description: Processes generating block and ash flows by gravitational dome collapse (Merapi-type pyroclastic flow) were observed in detail during the 1990–1995 eruption of Unzen volcano, Japan. Two different types were identified by analysis of video records and observations during helicopter flights. Most of the block and ash flows erupted during the 1991–1993 exogenous dome growth stage initially involved crack propagation due to cooling and flowage of the dome lava lobes. The mass around the crack became unstable, locally decreasing in tensile strength. Finally, a slab separated from the lobe front, fragmented progressively from the base to the top within a few seconds, and became a block and ash flow. Rock falls immediately followed, in response to local instability of the lobe front. Clasts in these rock falls fragmented and merged with the preceding flow. In contrast, block and ash flows during the endogenous dome growth stage in 1994 were generated due to local bulge of the dome. Unstable lava blocks collapsed and subsequently fragmented to produce block and ash flows.

Description: Inhomogeneities caused by end restraint and insufficient drainage during conventional compression triaxial tests are analysed by a numerical method. A finite element model is presented to simulate the testing procedure. The soil-platen interaction is represented by contact elements which allow frictional sliding between contacting nodes. The soil mass is represented by the modified Cam clay model. Coupled hydro-mechanical analyses are carried out in order to simulate both drained and undrained tests. The distributions of stresses and strains in the specimen for different end conditions are compared with the ideal case where no end restraint exists, in order to find representative measuring positions in the sample. Different rates of axial strain are tested in order to study the inhomogeneities caused by insufficient drainage during drained tests. Simulated results show that both end restraint and insufficient drainage can cause the barrel-shape deformation of the specimen. Stress-strain and strength properties based on global measurements are not a good representation of the true material behaviour of one single soil element at constitutive level.

Description: The Coastal Batholith of central Chile between 31 and 34°S represents a locus of long-lived (c. 200 Ma) plutonic activity. It is composed of four plutonic complexes: Santo Domingo, Limarı́, Papudo–Quintero and Illapel. These complexes, which occur as north-trending discontinuous belts that decrease in age eastward, were emplaced during four major episodes of arc magmatism. The Santo Domingo Complex (Carboniferous) comprises hornblende–biotite bearing tonalites and granodiorites with abundant mafic enclaves, and enclave-free granites. The association of enclave-bearing granitoids and enclave-free granites resulted from different degrees of mixing of crustal- and mantle-derived magmas. The Limarı́ Complex (Lower Jurassic) is a bimodal association of crustal leucogranites and mantle-derived gabbros. The lithology of the Papudo–Quintero Complex (Middle Jurassic) varies from hornblende–pyroxene diorite to biotite granite. The main rock types, namely tonalites and granodiorites, commonly contain mafic enclaves. The granitoids and the enclaves have remarkably similar REE patterns and are similar in Sr–Nd isotope composition, which suggest that they represent a cogenetic suite of mantle origin. The Illapel Complex (Cretaceous) consists of hornblende bearing tonalites, trondhjemites and granodiorites that resemble the rocks of TTG suites. The εNd values and initial ratios (Sri) for the mafic rocks of the Carboniferous Complex (εNd: −2.0 and −3.5; Sri: c. 0.7057) differ markedly from those of the Mesozoic mafic rocks (εNd: +1.9 to +5.4; Sri: 0.7033 to 0.7039), the Cretaceous rocks being the most depleted with regard to Sr–Nd. A change from Carboniferous lithosphere-dominated sources to Mesozoic asthenosphere-dominated sources of the magmas that started in the Early Jurassic is recognized. Slab components can be recognized in the source of the Cretaceous rocks. The crustal source of the Lower Jurassic leucogranites was more isotopically depleted and refractory than that of the Carboniferous granites. On the other hand, no crustal participation in the origin of the Middle Jurassic and Cretaceous felsic granitoids is recognized; they are differentiated from mantle-derived magmas. Progressive removal of old lithospheric mantle during the Mesozoic due to a process of lithospheric delamination would explain the profound change in the subcrustal source, as well as the melting and modification towards a more refractory nature of the continental crust.

Description: A distinct porcellanite layer from the Southwest Indian Ridge intercalated in Pleistocene diatom ooze was studied using nondestructive physical property measurements and sedimentological data. This bed was sampled by two piston cores at a water depth of 2615 m. The 3–5 cm thick porcellanite layer appears in the cores at a depth of 6.03 m (Core PS2089-2) and 7.73 m (Core PS2089-1) below the seafloor. Due to its characteristic physical properties the porcellanite bed can be detected with core measurements, and its distribution and lateral extent mapped with echosounding. The physical index properties, wet bulk density and electrical resistivity, increase significantly across this bed. Magnetic susceptibility is used to compare the lithological units of both cores and to distinguish whether resistivity anomalies are caused by a higher amount of terrigenous components or by the presence of porcellanite. The porcellanite has the special characteristic to affect a positive anomaly in resistivity but not in susceptibility. Most marine sediments, in contrast, show a positive correlation of magnetic susceptibility versus electrical resistivity; therefore a combination of electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility logs yields a definite detection of the porcellanite bed. Images from the X-ray CT survey indicate that the porcellanite is lithified and brittle and fragmented when the piston corer penetrated the bed.

Description: Resolving the time–space (and compositional) evolution of volcanism along long-lived South Atlantic hotspot trails is important to understanding the connection between hotspot volcanism and mantle plumes. 40Ar/39Ar ages are reported here for rocks dredged from a line of five individual seamounts along an ∼290 km northeast to southwest line extending from the vicinity of Saint Helena Island, and also for Circe Seamount. These seamounts were created in a midplate setting and could have formed rapidly (≤1 Myr). The St. Helena Seamount ages reveal a remarkably linear migration rate of volcanism of 20±1 mm/yr for at least the past 19 Myr, which is interpreted as the absolute motion of the African plate. Because this is much slower than estimated for earlier African plate migration it also represents the first evidence based on seamount ages for a significant deceleration (∼33%) of the African plate since at least 19 Ma. However, this change could have occurred as early as 30 Ma when the limited data for the Tristan/Gough hotspot chain are also considered. This deceleration supports a relationship between African plate speed and the upsurge of hotspot volcanism on the African continent at ∼25 Ma. We suggest that the increased number of oceanic African hotspots between ∼19 and 30 Ma points to a link also between major changes in plate motion and the onset and continuation of oceanic hotspot volcanism. Our study supports the assumption that chains of individual, rapidly (?) formed seamounts have considerably more potential of providing clear insights into how mantle plumes interact with overriding lithosphere than do those consisting of uninterrupted, more massive lines of hotspot volcanism.

Description: Based on remote-sensing data and an expedition during August-September 1993, the importance of the Laptev Sea as a source area for sediment-laden sea ice was studied. Ice-core analysis demonstrated the importance of dynamic ice-growth mechanisms as compared to the multi-year cover of the Arctic Basin. Ice-rafted sediment (IRS) was mostly associated with congealed frazil ice, although evidence for other entrainment mechanisms (anchor ice, entrainment into freshwater ice) was also found. Concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in patches of dirty ice averaged at 156 g m(-3) (standard deviation sigma = 140 g m(-3)), with a background concentration of 5 g m(-3). The potential for sediment entrainment over the broad, shallow Laptev Sea shelf during fall freeze-up was studied through analysis of remote-sensing data and weather-station records for the period 1979-1994. Freeze-up commences on 26 September (sigma = 7 d) and is completed after 19 days (sigma = 6 d). Meteorological conditions as well as ice extent prior to and during freeze-up vary considerably, the open-water area ranging between 107 x 10(3) and 447 x 10(3) km(2). Ice motion and transport of IRS were derived from satellite imagery and drifting buoys for the period during and after the expedition (mean ice velocities of 0.04 and 0.05 m s(-1), respectively). With a best-estimate sediment load of 16 t km(-2) (ranging between 9 and 46 t km(-2)), sediment export from the eastern Laptev Sea amounts to 4 x 10(6) t yr(-1), with extremes of 2 x 10(6) and 11 x 10(6) t yr(-1). Implications for the sediment budget of the Laptev shelf, in particular with respect to riverine input of SPM, which may be of the same order of magnitude, are discussed.

Description: This review is based on the author's own data and all available published data (mostly Russian and Japanese) on the ecology, biogeography and role in the ecosystem of gonatid squids in the northern North Pacific. For the best studied species, Berryteuthis magister, information is given on size, horizontal and vertical distribution, diel and ontogenetic vertical migrations, maturation, mating, spawning, fecundity, population structure, age, growth, life cycle, horizontal migrations, underwater behaviour, food and feeding, and predators. The assessed biomass and its interannual dynamics and the fisheries importance are also covered. For other, less studied, species of the genera Berryteuthis (B. anonychus), Gonatopsis (three species) and Gonatus (seven species) all available ecological and biogeographical data are included. All species are compared according to their size, horizontal and vertical distribution, spawning habitats, diel vertical migrations and gelatinous degeneration associated with maturation. The “ecological individuality” of each species is evaluated. It is shown that each occupies its own ecological niche but these niches overlap to different degrees. The history of niche divergence in North Pacific gonatids during the Neogene-Pleistocene period is briefly reviewed. Common features are described of the horizontal and vertical distribution, relative abundance and biomass of North Pacific gonatids in general. Their roles in the ecosystem, as predators, prey, competitors and hosts of parasites is evaluated. The total biomass of gonatid squids in the whole subarctic North Pacific and the Russian Far Eastern seas is estimated as approximately 15–20 million t. They contribute some 10–15% of the total production of mesopelagic cephalopods in the World Ocean. Their yearly food consumption is assessed at 100–200 million t. The life cycle of gonatids is shorter and their P/B-coefficient much higher than that of subarctic mesopelagic fishes. As a result, though the squid biomass (calculations for the Okhotsk Sea) is less than 10% of the total mesopelagic fish and squid population, they form 58–67% of annual total fish and squid production. Thus gonatid squids have an important place in the ecosystem of the northern North Pacific and the Far Eastern seas of Russia.

Description: The distribution at sea of seabirds was studied in the North-East Water (NEW) polynya, Greenland, during transect counts in the summers of 1991, 1992 and 1993 on board the ice-breaking RVs Polarstern and Polar Sea. Data collected within the polynya ‘box’ (78–82°N; 5–18°W) concern observations of 8000 birds counted during 1350 half-hour counts. Distribution is presented as density (N/km2) and calculated daily food intake. Five bird species were selected for discussion, representing more than 95% of the total numbers encountered: Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea), Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) and Ross's Gull (Rhodostethia rosea). For these species, densities are comparable in the NE Greenland polynya and in other European Arctic seas. The main difference is the absence in NEW of the species playing the main role in Arctic seas: Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) and Little Auk (Alle alle). In the absence of fish-eating birds and of birds consuming zooplankton in the water column, the NEW polynya ecosystem is thus dominated by surface feeders and, closer to the coast, by benthic feeders like eiders, Somateria mollissima and S. spectabilis, and walrus, Odobenus rosmarus. The density and daily food intake for all seabirds are one order of magnitude lower in the polynya than in the Arctic seas. The distribution and abundance of seabirds in the NEW polynya seems to reflect a very low density of pelagic fish and Zooplankton in the water column, while Zooplankton must be present at ‘normal’ concentrations in the upper layer.

Description: Diet and feeding habits of the short-finned squid Illex argentinus were studied from the analysis of 729 stomachs of juveniles, subadults and adults caught with trawls on the continental shelf and slope off southern Brazil (26 °35′S–34 °31′S) from 1981 to 1992. Food, in different degrees of digestion, was found in 363 stomachs (49.8%). Feeding activity occurred at day and night and seemed to be most intense at dusk and early night. The proportion of stomachs with food increased with size and sexual maturity. Fish occurred in 43.8%, cephalopods in 27.5% and crustaceans in 18.7% of the stomachs with food. Identified prey included the fish Diaphus dumerilii, Maurolicus muelleri and Merluccius hubbsi, the cephalopods I. argentinus, Loligo sanpaulensis, Spirula spirula, Semirossia tenera and Eledone gaucha and the crustaceans Oncaea media and Euphausia sp. The occurrence of fish increased with squid size, but both cephalopods and crustaceans were equally important for all sizes. Cannibalism was observed at all sizes. The overall low proportion of stomachs with food, the high rate of cannibalism and the low frequency of occurrence of crustaceans for the juveniles and subadults in all seasons, but particularly in the summer and autumn, may reflect a limited availability of food in the region. If this is true, the main nursery grounds for the spawners off southern Brazil are likely to be off the Rio de La Plata Front or in the offshore confluence between the Brazil and Malvinas Currents, where primary and secondary production is higher than off southern Brazil.

Description: This paper presents data on the diet of the squid, Loligo vulgaris (Lamarck, 1799) from the south coast of Portugal (Algarve) and from the Saharan Bank (Central-East Atlantic). A total of 964 squid was collected from the Algarve coast, between March 1993 and October 1994, from bottom trawling. An additional sample of 70 stomachs was obtained in the Algarve coast from the hand jigging fishery during 1991 and 1992. In the Saharan Bank, 848 squid were obtained, between June 1993 and January 1994, with bottom trawling. Stomachs with contents for trawled squid from the Algarve coast, and the Saharan Bank represented 28.1% and 40.8%, respectively. Fish was always the main component of the diet in both regions, representing 88.6% of the total weight of the prey found in the stomachs, for the Algarve coast, and 70.9% for the Saharan Bank. The occurrence percentage and the percentage in number indicated that Trachurus trachurus and fish belonging to the family Gobiidae were the most frequent fish found in the Algarve samples, while flatfish were the most common fish in the Saharan Bank samples. Loligo vulgaris was the dominant cephalopod found in the stomachs for both regions. No differences in the diet were found between males and females. The comparison between immature and mature squid showed that the importance of fish was higher in mature squid, for both regions. The squid captured from the Algarve coast by bottom trawling (at greater depths and offshore) fed primarily on fish, while those captured with hand jigging (inshore, at lower depths) contained an important percentage of crustaceans.

Description: Cephalopods are highly visual animals; the importance of chemical perception to these complex mollusks is less well understood. In this experiment, ventilation rate was used to measure the perception of chemical stimuli by cultured juvenile cuttlefish. The test tank had opaque sides and top to visually isolate the cuttlefish. A clear bottom permitted direct observation of funnel movements associated with ventilation. Cuttlefish cannot see beneath them when resting on the bottom; trials began once cuttlefish had remained calmly on the bottom for at least 15 min. The chemical stimulus was placed in a tank located upstream from the test tank containing a single cuttlefish; the cuttlefish's ventilation cycles were measured by direct observation. Ventilation rate increased significantly after exposure to ink from a conspecific, water containing food, water containing a conspecific, novel seawater and water that had contained sea turtles, potential predators. Results were obtained despite any background chemicals remaining within the closed sea water system, suggesting findings are probably robust to the conditions cuttlefish would normally experience in the ocean. Results are consistent with those obtained using visual stimuli and extend previous research indicating that cephalopods are capable of using chemical cues to detect salient environmental features.

Description: Residue levels of persistent organochlorines in deep-sea organisms collected from Suruga Bay, Japan, were determined. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were the predominant group of organochlorines ranging in concentrations from 380 to 2800 ng g−1 on a lipid weight basis. DDTs (DDT and its metabolises) were the next most abundant organochlorine compounds followed by CHLs (chlordane compounds), HCHs (hexachlorocyclo-hexanes) and HCB (hexachlorobenzene). In comparison with coastal shallow water organisms, higher concentrations of HCHs were found in deep-sea organisms, while no significant difference was noted for other organochlorines. Organochlorine residue levels in Suruga Bay were comparatively lower than those in other deep-sea organisms reported elsewhere. The deep-sea organisms showed no consistent trend between organochlorine concentrations and food chain relationships. Lipid-dependent accumulation of organochlorines by equilibrium partitioning may be attributable to this residue pattern. Among DDT compounds, p,p′-DDE was the highest in most deep-sea organisms. Trans-nonachlor and β-HCH were the major constituents of CHLs and HCHs, respectively, in these organisms.

Description: Longitudinal sections of statoliths were observed by light microscopy on 237 individuals (158–510 mm mantle length, ML) of Ommastrephes bartrami, obtained from the North Pacific (26 °–46 °N, 143 °E–149 °W) during 1991–1994. The width of each increment sharply decreased from 5–7 μm to about 1–2 μm between the 80th and 100th increment, with a transition zone where increments were inconspicuous. ML-age relationships were linear, and slope and intercept values differed by geographic area, hatch season and sex. Overall growth rates (mm day−1) were generally higher in females (1.1–2.5) than in males (1.1–2.1). Since these values were similar to the growth rates of four individuals which were tagged and recaptured (0.8–2.4), the increments were assumed to be formed daily. The growth rate was highest for individuals hatched in summer, followed by those hatched in spring. Growth rate obtained by length-based methods may be underestimated. The hatch dates of neon flying squid are almost year-round, and the life span is likely 1 year since mature individuals were 7–10 months old.

Description: A total of 6171 specimens of Octopus mimus was collected from the commercial small-scale fishery in northern Chilean waters (off Iquique) between January 1991 and March 1992. The animals were grouped by sex, size and month for modal progression analysis (MPA). Total length of the animals ranged from 24 (66 g) to 107 cm (4358 g) for males and from 28 (63 g) to 115 cm (3714 g) for females. There were no significant differences in the length–weight relationship between sexes except in summer. The size structure of the exploited population of O. mimus is rather complex and MPA indicated six sub-annual cohorts for males and five for females. Instantaneous relative growth rate (G) in total body weight varied from 0.29% to 1.37% d−1 and from 0.23% to 1.78% d−1 for males and females, respectively. Seasonality and water temperature affected G in both sexes. Differences in G among sub-annual cohorts within the same season were found and it was observed that G tended to decrease with size.

Description: Basic biological parameters of cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, in the English Channel are described from samples of commercial and research vessel landings made between April 1994 and September 1995. There was a significant difference between the length–weight relationship of male and female cuttlefish. Growth of both sexes was rapid and seasonal during the last 12 months of life. Males grew faster than females, and reached larger overall lengths and weights. Most males reached maturity before the start of their second winter, although the testis continued to develop until spawning took place the following spring. Female maturation began later and was more prolonged such that it was completed towards the end of the second winter. Adults of both sexes spawned after the second winter between late March and July. Commercial landings data showed spawning cuttlefish initially arrived on inshore grounds in the western Channel, but slightly later and in greater numbers on the inshore grounds of the middle and eastern Channel. The weight and value of cuttlefish landings made by UK vessels in the Channel increased greatly between the mid 1980s and the mid 1990s such that cuttlefish are now a major part of the earnings for several fisheries. The most important fisheries were the offshore beam trawls, and inshore otter trawls and nets. The exploitation pattern of each fishery is described from quarterly samples of commercial landings taken between April 1994 and March 1996. Each exploitation pattern is shown to be a function of the region fished, the catching gear employed, and the growth and migrations of the cuttlefish population. Some implications for stock management are discussed.

Description: Distribution of elements in statoliths of squid Loligo vulgaris reynaudii d'Orbigny, 1845 was studied, using the true elemental imaging system (Dynamic Analysis) of the NAC nuclear microprobe. The analysis revealed various patterns of Ca and Sr distributions. The biological interpretation of the most frequent pattern is linked with the role of Sr in the statolith deposition process. Other patterns are linked with the technique used and the specific characteristics of the sample. Traces of other elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, Pb) were also found. Likewise, their presence may have the biological interpretation (Zn, Cu and Br), or is an artefact linked to the methods and conditions of sample preparation and/or analysis. Methodical aspects of using proton backscattering for PIXE X-ray yield corrections are also discussed.

Description: NA and protein concentrations, and the RNA to protein ratio, were measured in four species of cephalopods, to evaluate sources of variation and the potential for using RNA concentration and the RNA to protein ratio as growth indices. In field samples of Loligo forbesi and Eledone cirrhosa, RNA concentrations and the RNA to protein ratio were higher in immature animals than in mature animals. In Loligo forbesi, values were also higher in males than in females and higher in smaller individuals than in large individuals. Both these trends are consistent with expected differences in growth rate, i.e. RNA is higher in faster growing animals. Mature female Eledone cirrhosa, a species in which the female is larger and presumably grows faster, had higher RNA concentrations than mature males. However, no such difference between the sexes was seen for immature E. cirrhosa or Todarodes sagittatus. Methods for transport and maintenance of Loligo forbesi in captivity in the Azores are described. Many of the captive squid showed poor growth and survival but results from these animals nevertheless confirmed that RNA concentrations were higher in males than in females and higher in animals with smaller gonads than in animals with large gonads. Higher protein concentrations were found in males than in females, and protein concentration was also positively correlated with feeding rate and digestive gland indices. Octopus vulgaris held in captivity grew rapidly and consistently and RNA concentrations were lower in bigger animals than in smaller animals. Neither experiment provided direct support for the hypothesis that RNA concentration or the RNA to protein ratio is directly related to growth rate. Systematic variation in protein concentration, e.g. in relation to recent feeding, leads us to suggest that protein concentration (mg/g fresh body weight) is likely to provide a more reliable index than the RNA to protein ratio.

Description: Laboratory rearing of 19 Octopus mimus from 40 to 589 g at 20.1±1.8°C (September to December 1991) provided information on the growth pattern and variation in instantaneous relative growth rate (G) of this Chilean littoral octopus. The three smallest specimens (ranging from 40 to 49.8 g) attained an average weight of 558 g in 70 days. Growth of this species had two phases. Growth was exponential during the first 40 days of culture with an average G of 5.33%. It slowed and became logarithmic when the animals attained weights ranging from 326.6 to 439 g. Instantaneous relative growth rate decreased from 2.25% to 0.99% during the logarithmic phase. A similar pattern was found for the 16 larger specimens (61.4–406.4 g initial weight). The change in growth pattern observed between the exponential and logarithmic phases occurred at body weights ranging from 326.6 to 454.2 g. No differences in growth were found between sexes in O. mimus. The growth pattern of this species is discussed and compared to other small-egged octopus species raised in captivity.

Description: Results are presented from particle flux studies using sediment trap and current meter moorings along a transect at the European continental margin at 49°N within the EU-funded Ocean Margin Exchange (OMEX) project. Two moorings were placed, at the mid- and outer slope in water depths of 1500 and 3660 m, with traps at 600 and 1050 m and at 580, 1440 and 3220 m, respectively. Residual currents at the mid-slope follow the slope contour, whereas seasonal off-slope flow was registered at the outer slope. At 600 m on the slope fluxes are similar to those in the abyssal North Atlantic. The flux of all components (bulk dry weight, particulate organic and inorganic carbon, lithogenic matter and opal) increased with water depth. Highest fluxes were recorded at 1440 m at the outer slope, where off-slope residual currents mediate particle export. The injection of biogenic and lithogenic particles below the depth of winter mixing results in the export of particles from shallower waters. Calculated lateral fluxes of particulate organic carbon exceed the primary flux by over a factor of 2 at 1440 m on the outer slope. Estimated lateral fluxes of suspended particulate matter in the water column and intermediate nepheloid layers at the outer slope are potentially large compared to sinking fluxes measured by sediment traps. A comparison is made of particle flux at three continental margin sites and two sites in the adjacent open North Atlantic, from which it is seen that bulk and organic matter flux increases exponentially with proximity to the shelf break. The percentage contribution of particulate organic carbon to biogenic fluxes increases from a mean of 5.7% in the abyssal N. Atlantic to 13.9% at the continental margins