ALBERT

Description: Investigations indicate that the Iceland Ice Sheet was reduced in size during MIS 3 but readvanced to the shelf break at the LGM. Retreat occurred very rapidly around 15 k–16 k cal. yr BP. By contrast, the margin of the ice sheet on the East Greenland shelf, north of the Denmark Strait, was at or close to the shelf break during MIS 3 and 2 and retreat starting ∼17 k cal. yr BP. Quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis of the 〈2 mm sediment fraction was undertaken on 161 samples from Iceland and East Greenland diamictons, and from cores on the slopes and margins of the Denmark Strait. Weight% mineralogical data are used in a principal component analysis to differentiate sediments derived from the two margins. The first two PC axes explain 52% of the variance. These associations are used to characterise sediments as being affiliated with (a) Iceland, (b) East Greenland or (c) mixed. The contribution from Iceland becomes prominent during MIS 2. The extensive outcrop of early Tertiary basalts on East Greenland between 68° and 71° N is an alternative source for basaltic clasts and North Atlantic sediments with εNd(0) values close to ±0.

Description: The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), by converting methane to bicarbonate which is then precipitated as extensive carbonate crusts, is an important methane sink in the Earth’s ocean systems. Here we employ a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the role of microorganisms in carbonate precipitation using biomarker analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. We examined two microbial mats from the Black Sea and found that one comprised carbonate in both aragonite and Mg calcite forms and most likely ANME-1 archaea, whereas the other contained only Mg calcite and most likely ANME-2 archaea. We conclude, as have others, that the different microbial communities could impart different influences on carbonate mineralogy and morphology. Although further research is needed, this is a contribution to our understanding of those relationships, which could prove critical in the interpretation of ancient sedimentary deposits.

Description: In several fields of cell biology, correlative microscopy is applied to compare the structure of objects at high resolution under the electron microscope with low resolution light microscopy images of the same sample. It is, however, difficult to prepare samples and marker systems that are applicable for both microscopic techniques for the same specimen at the same time. In our studies, we used microbial mats from Cold Seep communities for a simple and rapid correlative microscopy method. The mats consist of bacterial and archaeal microorganisms, coupling reverse methanogenesis to the reduction of sulfate. The reverse methanogenic pathway also generates carbonates that precipitate inside the mat and may be the main reason for the formation of a microbial reef. The mat shows highly differentiated aggregates of various organisms, tightly interconnected by extracellular polysaccharides. In order to investigate the role of EPS as adhesive mucilage for the biofilm and as a precipitation matrix for carbonate minerals, samples were embedded in a hydrophilic resin (Lowicryl K4 M). Sections were suitable for light as well as electron microscopy in combination with lectins, either labeled with a fluorescent marker or with colloidal gold. This allows lectin mapping at low resolution for light microscopy in direct comparison with a highly resolved electron microscopic image.

Description: Samples collected from the shelf-edge wedge using surface grab samples and the Jago submersible constrain the KwaZulu-Natal shelf-edge wedge to a late Pliocene age on the basis of the absence of Gephyrocapsa oceanica s.l. and Discoaster brouweri, and the presence of Calcidiscus macintyrei. This correlates with proposed Tertiary sea-level curves for southern Africa and indicates relative sea-level fall during the late Pliocene coupled with hinterland uplift. Exposed failure scarps in the upper portions of submarine canyons yield sediment samples of early Pleistocene ages, indicating the uppermost age of deposition of clinoform topsets exposed in the scarp walls. Partially consolidated, interbedded silty and sandy deposits of similar age outcrop in the thalweg of Leven canyon at a depth of 150 m. These sediments provide an upper age limit of the shelf-edge wedge of early Pleistocene, giving a sedimentation rate of this wedge of 162–309 m/Ma. The distribution of widespread basal-most Pleistocene sediments on the upper slope indicates that these sediments escaped major reworking during sea-level falls associated with Pleistocene glaciations and remain as relict upper slope veneers. The absence of more recent sediments suggests that this area has been a zone of sediment bypass or starvation since the early Pleistocene. Areas where younger sediments mantle deposits of early Pleistocene ages represent areas of offshore bedload parting, re-distributing younger Holocene sediment offshore and downslope.

Description: The four naturally-occurring radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra, 226Ra and 228Ra) were used to estimate the submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the Isola La Cura marsh area in the northern Venice Lagoon (Italy). By determining the radium contributors to the study area (river, coastal ocean and sediments) the radium excess in the lagoon water was quantified through a mass balance model. This radium excess is attributed to a submarine groundwater discharge source and represents the most important input of radium. Possible endmembers were considered from analysis of groundwater samples (subtidal and marsh piezometers, marsh wells and seepage meters) that were enriched in Ra by one to two orders of magnitude relative to surface waters. In particular, a permeable layer at 80 cm depth in the surrounding marsh is considered to be representative of the most likely SGD source, although similar radium activities were measured in other subtidal porewater samples collected in the Isola La Cura area. The estimated SGD flux to the study area ranged from 1 · 109 to 6 · 109 L·d− 1, the same order of magnitude as the overall riverine input to the lagoon (3 · 109 L·d− 1). A major fraction of this SGD flux is likely recirculated seawater, as evidenced by the endmember salinity. The water residence time of 2 days was estimated by both using the shortest-lived radium isotope and estimating the volume of water exchanged between the lagoon and the open sea during a tidal cycle (tidal prism approach). This SGD flux could be used to estimate the input of other chemical species (metals, nutrients, etc.) via SGD which might affect the Venice Lagoon ecosystem.

Description: There is increasing evidence that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in many areas represents a major source of dissolved chemical constituents to the coastal ocean. In Great South Bay, NY, previous studies have shown that the discharge of nutrients with SGD may cause harmful algal blooms. This study estimates SGD to Great South Bay during August 2006 by performing a mass balance for each of the dissolved Ra isotopes (224Ra, 223Ra, 228Ra, 226Ra). The budget indicates a major unknown source (between 30 and 60% of the total input) of Ra to the bay. This imbalance can be resolved by a flux of Ra-enriched groundwater on the order of 3.5–4.5 × 109 L d− 1, depending on the Ra isotope. The Ra-estimated SGD rates compare well with those previously estimated by models of flow that decreases exponentially away from shore. Compared to previous reports of fresh groundwater discharge to the bay, the Ra-estimated discharge must comprise approximately 90% recirculated seawater. The good agreement between Ra- and model-estimated flow rates indicates that the primary SGD endmember may be best sampled at shallow depths in the sediments a short distance bayward of the low tide line.

Description: The Cretaceous is a special episode in the history of the Earth named for a unique rock type, chalk. Chalk is similar to modern deep-sea calcareous ooze and its deposition in epicontinental seas occurred as these areas became an integral part of the ocean. The shelf-break fronts that today separate inshore from open-ocean waters cannot have existed during the Late Cretaceous probably because the higher sea level brought the base of the wind-mixed Ekman layer above the sea floor on the continental margins. A second peculiarity of the Cretaceous is its warm equable climate. Tropical and polar temperatures were warmer than today. Meridional and ocean-continent temperature gradients were lower. The warmer climate was a reflection of higher atmospheric levels of greenhouse gasses, CO2 and possibly CH4, reinforced by higher water vapor content in response to the warmer temperatures. Most of the additional energy involved in the meridional heat transport system was transported as latent heat of vaporization of H20 by the atmosphere. Poleward heat transport may have been as much as 1 Petawatt (20%) greater than it is today. C3 plants provided for more efficient energy transport into the interior of the continents. Circulation of the Cretaceous ocean may have been very different from that of today. It is impossible for large areas of the modern ocean to become anoxic, but episodes of local anoxia occurred during the earlier Cretaceous and became regional to global during the middle of the Cretaceous. The present ocean structure depends on constant wind systems, which in turn depend on stability of the atmospheric pressure systems forced by polar ice. During most of the Cretaceous the polar regions were ice free. Without polar ice there were seasonal reversals of the high-latitude atmospheric pressure systems, resulting in disruption of the mid- and high latitude wind systems. Without constant mid-latitude westerly winds, there would be no subtropical and polar fronts in the ocean, no well-developed ocean pycnocline, and no tropical subtropical gyres dominating ocean circulation. Instead the ocean circulation would be accomplished through mesoscale eddies which could carry warmth to the polar regions. Greater knowledge and understanding of the Cretaceous is critical for learning how the climate system operates when one or both polar regions are ice free.

Description: The Upper Rhine Graben has two Plio-Quaternary depocentres usually interpreted as resulting from tectonic reactivation. The southern basin, near Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), contains up to 250 m of sediments. Beneath the younger alluvial deposits related to the current drainage system, a former river network deeply entrenched in the substratum reveals a very low regional base level of early Pleistocene age. The offset of channels at faults allows us to infer a Pleistocene reactivation of the syn-rift fault pattern and the estimation of slip rates. Maximum vertical movements along the faults have not exceeded 0.1 mm/yr since the middle Pleistocene. Current activity is concentrated along the westernmost faults. Morphologic markers indicate late Pleistocene reactivation of the Rhine River fault, and geophysical prospecting suggests a near-surface offset of young sedimentary deposits. The size of the fault segments potentially reactivated suggests that earthquakes with magnitude larger than Mw=6.3Mw=6.3 could be expected in the area with a return interval of about 8000 years. Extrapolated to the duration of the Plio-Pleistocene, the strain rate estimates reveal that the tectonic forcing may account for only one-third to one-half of the whole thickness of the Plio-Pleistocene sediments of the basin fill. Thus other processes must be invoked to understand the growth of the Plio-Pleistocene basin. Especially the piracy of the Rhine River to the north during the early Pleistocene could explain these effects.

Description: European eel (Anguilla anguilla) elvers were intraperitoneally injected with different doses of 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiyphenyl (PCB77) to examine and characterize the inductive effect of coplanar PCBs on CYP1A1 gene expression in liver and gills by using a semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. The influence of PCB77 injection on transcription activity of the housekeeping gene glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was tested to determine its suitability as a reference gene for further quantitative gene expression analyses. Our results clearly indicate a significant dose-dependent increase in CYP1A1 gene expression in the gills of European eel, while in liver tissues a significant elevation in CYP1A1 gene expression was only detectable at highest contamination rates, indicating the potential of CYP1A1 differential gene expression analysis in gills as a biomarker for PCB contamination in eels. PCB77 contamination did not affect GAPDH transcription in gills but, at highest doses, resulted in a significant elevation in liver, speaking against GAPDH as a reference housekeeping gene after PCB exposure.

Description: This chapter describes a range of quantitative tools that can be applied to ultrathin sections of biological material. The transmission electron microscopy quantitative estimations are generally made on images taken of ultrathin sections, but the very first concern of any well designed study is the origin of these images. The distribution of gold labeling over an array of cellular structures displayed in ultrathin sections can be estimated in two main ways. A major use of profile data on ultrathin sections is in assessing gold particle labeling of cell components. The ultrathin sections are exposed to antibodies localized using particles of colloidal gold, and because the section presents the components to the gold labeling system it is crucial to follow the sampling scheme already outlined. This ensures an unbiased sample of cell components is contained in the sections and can gain access to the gold labeling system. Colloidal gold is particulate and can be quantified as a signal that represents the underlying component, and the two principal readouts of interest to cell biologists are the distribution and concentration of gold labeling. New methods have been developed to evaluate labeling distributions and labeling intensities by statistical means.

Description: Live (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera were investigated in surface sediment samples from the Okhotsk Sea to reveal the relationship between faunal characteristics and environmental parameters. Live benthic foraminifera were quantified in the size fraction 〉 125 µm in the upper 8 cm of replicate sediment cores, recovered with a multicorer at five stations along the Sakhalin margin, and at three stations on the southwestern Kamchatka slope. The stations are from water depths between 625 to 1752 m, located close or within the present Okhotsk Sea oxygen minimum zone, with oxygen levels between 0.3 and 1.5 ml l- 1. At the high-productivity and ice-free Kamchatka stations, live benthic foraminifera are characterized by maximal standing stocks (about 1700-3700 individuals per 50 cm2), strong dominance of calcareous species (up to 87-91% of total live faunas), and maximal habitat depths (down to 5.2-6.7 cm depth). Vertical distributions of total faunal abundances exhibit a clear subsurface maximum in sediments. At the Sakhalin stations, which are seasonally ice-covered and less productive, live benthic foraminifera show lower standing stocks (about 200-1100 individuals per 50 cm2), lower abundance of calcareous species (10-64% of total live faunas), and shallower habitat depths (down to 2.5-5.4 cm depth). Faunal vertical distributions are characterized by maximum in the uppermost surface sediments. It is suggested that 1) lower and strongly seasonal organic matter flux, caused by the seasonal sea ice cover and seasonal upwelling, 2) lower bottom water oxygenation (0.3-1.1 ml l- 1), and 3) more pronounced influence of carbonate undersaturated bottom water along the Sakhalin margin are the main factors responsible for the observed faunal differences. According to species downcore distributions and average living depths, common calcareous species were identified as preferentially shallow, intermediate and deep infaunal. Foraminiferal microhabitat occupation correlates with the organic matter flux and the depth of the oxygenated layer in sediments.

Description: Three ferromanganese crusts from the northeast, northwest and central Atlantic were re-dated using osmium (Os) isotope stratigraphy and yield ages from middle Miocene to the present. The three Os isotope records do not show evidence for growth hiatuses. The reconstructed Os isotope-based growth rates for the sections older than 10 Ma are higher than those determined previously by the combined beryllium isotope (10Be/9Be) and cobalt (Co) constant-flux methods, which results in a decrease in the maximum age of each crust. This re-dating does not lead to significant changes to the interpretation of previously determined radiogenic isotope neodymium, lead (Nd, Pb) time series because the variability of these isotopes was very small in the records of the three crusts prior to 10 Ma. The Os isotope record of the central Atlantic crust shows a pronounced minimum during the middle Miocene between 15 and 12 Ma, similar to a minimum previously observed in two ferromanganese crusts from the central Pacific. For the other two Atlantic crusts, the Os isotope records and their calibration to the global seawater curve for the middle Miocene are either more uncertain or too short and thus do not allow for a reliable identification of an isotopic minimum. Similar to pronounced minima reported previously for the Cretaceous/Tertiary and Eocene/Oligocene boundaries, possible interpretations for the newly identified middle Miocene Os isotope minimum include changes in weathering intensity and/or a meteorite impact coinciding with the formation of the Nördlinger Ries Crater. It is suggested that the eruption and weathering of the Columbia River flood basalts provided a significant amount of the unradiogenic Os required to produce the middle Miocene minimum.

Description: In this study we show how substantial gains towards the goals of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) can be achieved by different single-species management. We show that fishing has much less impact on stocks if fish are caught after they have reached the size (Lopt) where growth rate and cohort biomass are maximum. To demonstrate our point we compare the impact of three fishing scenarios on 9 stocks from the North Sea and the Baltic. Scenario (1) is the current fishing regime, scenario (2) is a new management regime proposed by the European Commission, aiming for maximum sustainable yield obtained from all stocks, and scenario (3) is set so that it achieves the same yield as scenario (2), albeit with fishing on sizes beyond Lopt. Results show that scenarios (2) and (3) are significant improvements compared to current fishing practice. However, scenario (3) consistently shows least impact on the stocks, with seven-fold higher biomass of demersal fishes and an age structure similar to an unfished stock. This allows juveniles and adults to better fulfil their ecological roles, a major step towards the goals of ecosystem-based fisheries management. We give examples where scenario (3) is practiced in successful fisheries. We present a new interpretation of the relative yield per recruit isopleth diagram with indication of a new target area for fisheries operating within the context of EBFM. We present a new expression of the relative biomass per recruit isopleth diagram, which supports our analysis. We conclude that size matters for precautionary and ecosystem-based fisheries management and present a list of additional advantages associated with fishing at Lopt.

Description: A technique for the analysis of data from a subsurface moored upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to determine ice coverage, draft and velocity is presented and applied to data collected in Marguerite Bay on the western Antarctic Peninsula shelf. This method provides sea-ice information when no dedicated upward-looking sonar (ULS) data are available. Ice detection is accomplished using windowed variances of ADCP vertical velocity, vertical error velocity, and surface horizontal speed. ADCP signal correlation and backscatter intensity were poor indicators of the presence of ice at this site. Ice draft is estimated using a combination of ADCP backscatter data, atmospheric and oceanic pressure data, and information about the thermal stratification. This estimate requires corrections to the ADCP-derived range for instrument tilt and sound speed profile. Uncertainties of ±0.20 m during midwinter and ±0.40 m when the base of the surface mixed layer is above the ADCP for ice draft are estimated based on: (a) a Monte Carlo simulation, (b) uncertainty in the sound speed correction, and (c) performance of the zero-draft estimate during times of known open water. Ice velocity is taken as the ADCP horizontal velocity in the depth bin specified by the range estimate.

Description: Segmentation along convergent margins controls earthquake magnitude and location, but the physical causes of segment boundaries, and their impact on earthquake rupture dynamics, are still poorly understood. One aspect of the 2004 and 2005 great Sumatra–Andaman earthquakes is their abrupt termination along a common boundary. This has led to speculation on the nature of the boundary, its origin and why it was not breached. For the first time the boundary has been imaged and, with newly acquired marine geophysical data, we demonstrate that a ridge on the subducting Indo-Australian oceanic crust may exert a control on margin segmentation. This suggests a lower plate influence on margin structure, particularly its segmentation. The ridge is masked by the sedimentary cover in the trench. Its most likely trend is NNE–SSW. It is interpreted as a fracture zone on the subducting oceanic plate. A ramp or tear along the eastern flank of the subducting fracture zone beneath Simeulue Island may be considered as an intensification factor in terms of rupture propagation barrier.

Description: Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios were determined on a single species of planktonic foraminiferan, Globigerinoides ruber (white), collected from the Gulf of Eilat and cultured in seawater at five different salinities (32 to 44), five temperatures (18 to 30 °C) and four pH values (7.9 to 8.4). The Mg/Ca-temperature calibration of cultured G. ruber (with an exponential slope of 8 ± 3%/°C) agrees well with previously published calibrations from core-tops and sediment traps. However, the dependence of Mg/Ca on salinity (with an exponential slope of 5 ± 3%/psu) is also significant and should be included in the calibration equation. With this purpose, we calculated a calibration equation for G. ruber dependent on both temperature and salinity within the 95% confidence limits: Mg/Ca(mmol/mol)=exp[0.06(±0.02)*S(psu)+0.08(±0.02)*T(°C)−2.8(±1.0)],R2=0.95 The influence of pH on Mg/Ca ratios is negligible at ambient seawater pH (8.1 to 8.3). However, we observe a dominating pH control on shell Mg/Ca when the pH of seawater is lower than 8.0. Sr/Ca in G. ruber shows a significant positive correlation with average growth rate. Presumably, part of the variability in shell Sr/Ca in the geological record is linked to changes in growth rates of foraminifera as a response to changing environmental conditions.

Description: The early response gene IEX-1 plays a complex role in the regulation of apoptosis. Depending on the cellular context and the apoptotic stimulus, IEX-1 is capable to either enhance or suppress apoptosis. To further dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in the modulation of apoptosis by IEX-1, we analysed the molecular crosstalk between IEX-1 and the NF-kappa B pathway. Using GST-pulldown assays, a direct interaction of IEX-1 with the C-terminal region of the subunit RelA/p65 harbouring the transactivation domain of the NF-kappa B transcription factor was shown. This interaction negatively regulates RelA/p65 dependent transactivation as shown by GAL4-and luciferase assay and was confirmed for the endogenous proteins by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Using deletion constructs, we were able to map the C-terminal region of IEX-1 as the critical determinant of the interaction with RelA/p65. We could further show, that IEX-1 mediated NF-kappa B inhibition accounts for the reduced expression of the anti-apoptotic NF-kappa B target genes Bc1-2, Bcl-xL, cIAP1 and cIAP2, thereby sensitizing cells for apoptotic stimuli. Finally, ChIP-assays revealed that IEX-1 associates with the promoter of these genes. Altogether, our findings suggest a critical role of IEX-1 in the NF-kappa B dependent regulation of apoptotic responses. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Description: We investigated the controls of hydrography and of scavenging on the distribution of the particle reactive radionuclides 231Pa and 230Th in the water column and in surface sediments off Southwest Africa (Angola and Cape basins). Based on a vertical section of total 230Thex concentrations in the water column we show that small differences in the salinity between the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the Angola Basin and the NADW in the Cape Basin as well as the advection of NADW associated with the Namib Col Current are reflected in total 230Thex concentrations. These variable total concentrations are believed to reflect the flow path and mixing history of NADW with the NADW in the Angola Basin being relatively older and 230Th enriched compared to the NADW in the Cape Basin. In the area investigated we found high 231Paex/230Thex ratios (231Paex/230Thex 〉 0.093) in surface sediments at the continental margin and lower ones (231Paex/230Thex 〈 0.093) in the open ocean. Such a distribution is normally interpreted to result from high particle flux at ocean margins (boundary scavenging). However, the lack of any significant depletion of dissolved 230Th and 231Pa in the water column does not indicate extensive scavenging at the continental margin. High 231Paex/230Thex ratios are constrained to shallow waters depths (〈 2000 m) only and coincide with low fractionation between 231Pa and 230Th indicating that preferential scavenging of 231Pa on opal may have caused high 231Paex/230Thex ratios in the sediments. The observed close negative correlation (r2 = 0.82) between 231Paex/230Thex ratios in sediments and water depths is believed to reflect changes in the particle composition, i.e. a decrease in opal content with water depth. In the Angola and Cape basins the total 231Paex concentrations in NADW were the highest observed so far in the Atlantic Ocean, and they are attributed to the meridional export of 231Pa from the North Atlantic. This caused the average dissolved 231Pa/230Th in the Southeast Atlantic to be about a factor 2 higher when compared to the North Atlantic (Labrador Sea). These differences in the dissolved 231Pa/230Th were not reflected in 231Pa/230Th ratios of surface sediments because the fractionation is lower in the Labrador Sea compared to the Southeast Atlantic, i.e. fractionation counteracts changes in the dissolved 231Pa/230Th. This suggests that fractionation is more important for the determination of 231Paex/230Thex ratios in sediments than the meridional export of 231Pa from the North Atlantic.

Description: The main Marmara Fault exhibits numerous sites of fluid venting, observed during previous cruises and in particular with R.O.V. VICTOR during the MARMARASCARPS cruise (2002). Long CALYPSO cores were recovered near active vents and at reference sites during the MARMARA-VT cruise (2004), together with echosounder sub-bottom profiles (frequency of 3.5kHz). We compiled R.O.V. video observations from MARMARASCARPS cruise and show that all known seeps occur in relationship with strike-slip faults, providing pathways for fluid migration. Among the main active sites, a distinction is made between gas seeps and water seeps. At gas seeps, bubble emissions at the seafloor or disturbed echofacies on sounder profiles demonstrate the presence of free methane gas at a shallow depth within the sediment. Most cores displayed gas-related expansion, most intense for cores taken within the gas plumes. On the other hand. authigenic carbonate chimneys characterize the water seeps and visible water outflow was observed at two sites (in the Tekirdag and Central basins). The pore fluid chemistry data show that the water expelled at these sites is brackish water trapped in the sediment during lacustrine times (before 14 cal kyr BP), in relation with the paleoceanography in the Sea of Marmara. The chimney site in the Tekirdag Basin is located at the outlet of a canyon feeding a buried fan with coarse sandy turbidites. Pore fluid composition profiles indicate that the sand layers channel the brackish fluids laterally from the basin into the fault zone at less than 20 m depth. However, a deeper gas source cannot be excluded. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Description: Cephalopods are the largest, most active invertebrates and there is considerable evidence for their convergent evolution with fishes. However, most active cephalopods display standard and active metabolic rates that are several-fold higher than comparably sized fishes. Shifting habitat temperatures due to climate change will therefore affect a cephalopods energy metabolism much more than that of a fish. Prediction of the probable outcome of cephalopod-fish competition thus requires quantitative information concerning whole animal energetics and corresponding efficiencies. Migrating cephalopods such as squid and cuttlefish grow rapidly to maturity, carry few food reserves and have little overlap of generations. This "live fast, die young" life history strategy means that they require niches capable of sustaining high power requirements and rapid growth. This presentation aims to draw a bottom-up picture of the cellular basis of energy metabolism of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, from its molecular basis to whole animal energetics based on laboratory experiments and field data. We assessed the proportionality of standard vs active metabolic rate and the daily energetic requirements using field tracking data in combination with lab based respirometry and video analysis. Effects of environmental temperature on mitochondrial energy coupling were investigated in whole animals using in vivo 31P-NMR spectroscopy. As efficient energy turnover needs sufficient oxygen supply, also thermal effects on the blood oxygen-binding capacities of the respiratory pigment haemocyanin and the differential expression of its isoforms were investigated.Supported by NERC grant NERC/A/S/2002/00812.

Description: Mineralogical and geochemical investigation of altered host rock samples from the Logatchev hydrothermal field reveal a large variety of alteration styles at this site. Serpentinization is most intense in former harzburgites and dunites varying between 90-95%, whereas gabbros are mostly rather fresh. A combination of serpentinization, interaction with hot hydrothermal fluids, melt/rock interaction, and low-temperature seafloor weathering lead to significant gains and losses of major and trace elements. Serpentinization within the Logatchev hydrothermal field proceeds mainly isochemical for the major elements, except for a loss of TiO2 and CaO. However, the concentration of the trace elements Cu, Nb, Ba, La, Sm, Eu, Th or U increases significantly in the serpentinites. Gabbroic intrusions act as a sink for MgO during alteration due to the formation of chlorite and serpentine after clinopyroxene. Interaction between gabbros and hydrothermal fluids leads to significant redistribution of SiO2, TiO2, CaO, and Na2O as well as numerous trace elements. The different styles of alteration and their associated element changes reveal that samples from the entire Logatchev field have been influenced by hydrothermal fluids to some degree. Therefore, the hydrothermal fluid-dominated alteration of the ultramafic oceanic crust is a sink for many trace elements which were provided by mafic intrusions and mobilized by hydrothermal fluids and melt-rock interaction, whereas the gabbros accumulate high amounts of Mg from the seawater. Summarized the alteration processes at Logatchev are a combination of serpentinization, melt/rock interaction of serpentinites and mafic intrusions, and low-temperature seafloor weathering. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: New discoveries of articulated partial skeletons of teleosts from Upper Turonian strata in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (BCB) are described. The infrequent occurrence of articulated skeletons is discussed and compared with comparable taxa from the same time-equivalent successions in southern England. The similarity suggests links between both regions during the Late Turonian. Some palaeoecological interpretations of the fishes are provided.

Description: Plankton ecosystems in the North Atlantic display strong regional and interannual variability in productivity and trophic structure, which cannot be captured by simple plankton models. Additional compartments subdividing functional groups can increase predictive power, but the high number of parameters tends to compromise portability and robustness of model predictions. An alternative strategy is to use property state variables, such as cell size, normally considered constant parameters in ecosystem models, to define the structure of functional groups in terms of both behaviour and response to physical forcing. This strategy may allow us to simulate realistically regional and temporal differences among plankton communities while keeping model complexity at a minimum. We fit a model of plankton and DOM dynamics globally and individually to observed climatologies at three diverse locations in the North Atlantic. Introducing additional property state variables is shown to improve the model fit both locally and globally, make the model more portable, and help identify model deficiencies. The zooplankton formulation exerts strong control on model performance. Our results suggest that the current paradigm on zooplankton allometric functional relationships might be at odds with observed plankton dynamics. Our parameter estimation resulted in more realistic estimates of parameters important for primary production than previous data assimilation studies. Property state variables generate complex emergent functional relationships, and might be used like tracers to differentiate between locally produced and advected biomass. The model results suggest that the observed temperature dependence of heterotrophic growth efficiency [Rivkin, R.B., Legendre, L., 2001. Biogenic carbon cycling in the upper ocean: effects of microbial respiration. Science 291 (5512) 2398–2400] could be an emergent relation due to intercorrelations among temperature, nutrient concentration and growth efficiency. A major advantage of using property state variables is that no additional parameters are required, such that differences in model performance can be directly related to model structure rather than parameter tuning.

Description: Sponges are the most basal metazoan organisms. As sessile filter feeders in marine or freshwater habitats, they often live in close association with phototrophic microorganisms. Active photosynthesis by the associated microorganisms has been believed to be restricted to the outer tissue portion of the sponge hosts. However, phototrophic microorganisms have also been detected in deeper tissue regions. In many cases they are found around spicules, siliceous skelettal elements of demosponges and hexactinellids. The finding of phototrophic organisms seemingly assembled around spicules led to the hypothesis of a siliceous light transmission system in sponges. The principle ability to conduct light was already shown for sponge derived, explanted spicules. However it was not shown until now, that in deed sponges have a light transmission system, and can harbour photosynthetically active microorganisms in deeper tissue regions. Here we show for the first time, that, as hypothesized 13 year ago, sponge spicules in living specimens transmit light into deeper tissue regions. Our results demonstrate that in opposite to the actual opinion, photosynthetically active microorganisms can also live in deeper tissue regions, and not only directly beneath the surface, when a light transmission system (spicules) is present. Our results show the possibility of massive or globular sponges being supplied with photosynthetic products or pathways throughout their whole body, implying not only a more important role of these endobioses. Our findings also elucidate the in-situ function of a recently more and more interesting biomaterial, which is unique not only for its mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Biosilica is of special interest for the possibility to produce it enzymatically under environmental conditions.

Description: During mass developments of Planktothrix rubescens, the biomass of this cyanobacterium was collected over a period of four consecutive years (2002–2005) from Lake Hallwilersee, Switzerland. To avoid any shifts in analytical separation and sensitivity, the biomasses were extracted with 60% aqueous methanol at the end of the investigation period and were analysed within 1 week by LC-ESMS. A new mass spectrometric method to quantify oligopeptides was introduced. The sum of all major molecular species (quasi-molecular ion, double charged ion, adducts, dimers and molecular ions that had lost a water molecule) rather than just the signal of the quasi-molecular ion was used to determine the total abundance of oligopeptides. This procedure has become necessary because the variable presence of inorganic ions and the varying conditions of the mass spectrometric source strongly affect the formation of the different molecular species. Several anabaenopeptins, oscillapeptins and planktocyclins were found. [Asp3, Dhb7]microcystin-RR was the major microcystin. The oligopeptide patterns were relatively stable over the investigation period of 4 years. In June 2005, a mass mortality of Daphnia was observed. The dead Daphnia, which floated on the surface of the lake, were collected and analysed for oligopeptides. Planktocyclin and planktocyclin sulfoxide, which belong to the major cyclic peptides in P. rubescens, were found in the carcasses of Daphnia, but microcystins were missing. Live zooplankton of the epilimnion was represented by both Daphnia and copepods, while the patches of dead zooplankter on the lake surface were free of copepods and contained only Daphnia. Protease inhibitors rather than microcystins are discussed as the major bioactive compounds for grazer defence of P. rubescens.

Description: The free energy yield of microbial respiration reactions in anaerobic marine sediments must be sufficient to be conserved as biologically usable energy in the form of ATP. Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction (SRR) has a very low standard free energy yield of ΔG∘ = −33 kJ mol−1, but the in situ energy yield strongly depends on the concentrations of substrates and products in the pore water of the sediment. In this work ΔG for the AOM–SRR process was calculated from the pore water concentrations of methane, sulfate, sulfide, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in sediment cores from different sites of the European continental margin in order to determine the influence of thermodynamic regulation on the activity and distribution of microorganisms mediating AOM–SRR. In the zone of methane and sulfate coexistence, the methane-sulfate transition zone (SMTZ), the energy yield was rarely less than −20 kJ mol−1 and was mostly rather constant throughout this zone. The kinetic drive was highest at the lower part of the SMTZ, matching the occurrence of maximum AOM rates. The results show that the location of maximum AOM rates is determined by a combination of thermodynamic and kinetic drive, whereas the rate activity mainly depends on kinetic regulation.

Description: The Cape Verde Islands are located on a mid-plate topographic swell and are thought to have formed above a deep mantle plume. Wide-angle seismic data have been used to determine the crustal and uppermost mantle structure along a ~ 440 km long transect of the archipelago. Modelling shows that ‘normal’ oceanic crust, ~ 7 km in thickness, exists between the islands and is gently flexed due to volcano loading. There is no direct evidence for high density bodies in the lower crust or for an anomalously low density upper mantle. The observed flexure and free-air gravity anomaly can be explained by volcano loading of a plate with an effective elastic thickness of 30 km and a load and infill density of 2600 kg m− 3. The origin of the Cape Verde swell is poorly understood. An elastic thickness of 30 km is expected for the ~ 125 Ma old oceanic lithosphere beneath the islands, suggesting that the observed height of the swell and the elevated heat flow cannot be attributed to thermal reheating of the lithosphere. The lack of evidence for high densities and velocities in the lower crust and low densities and velocities in the upper mantle, suggests that neither a crustal underplate or a depleted swell root are the cause of the shallower than expected bathymetry and that, instead, the swell is supported by dynamic uplift associated with the underlying plume.

Description: Residual flow, barotropic tides and internal (baroclinic) tides interact in a number of ways with kilometer-scale seafloor topography such as abyssal hills and seamounts. Because of their likely impact on vertical mixing such interactions are potentially important for ocean circulation and the mechanisms and the geometry of these interactions are a matter of ongoing studies. In addition, very little is known about how these interactions are reflected in the sedimentary record. This multi-year study investigates if flow/topography interactions are reflected in distributional patterns of the natural short-lived (half-life: 24.1 d) particulate-matter tracer 234Th relative to its conservative (non-particle-reactive) and very long-lived parent nuclide 238U. The sampling sites were downstream of, or surrounded by, fields of short seamounts and, therefore, very likely to be influenced by nearby flow/topography interactions. At the sampling sites between about 200 and 1000 m above the seafloor recurrent ‘fossil’ disequilibria were detected. ‘Fossil’ disequilibria are defined by clearly detectable 234Th/238U disequilibria (total 234Th radioactivity 〈238U radioactivity, indicating a history of intense particulate 234Th scavenging and particulate-matter settling from the sampled parcel of water) and conspicuously low particle-associated 234Th activities. ‘Fossil’ disequilibria were centered at levels in the water column that correspond to the average height of the short seamounts near the sampling sites. This suggests the ‘fossil’ disequilibria are formed on the seamount slopes. Moreover, the magnitude of the ‘fossil’ disequilibria suggests that the slopes of the short seamounts in the study region are characterized by particularly vigorous fluid dynamics. Since ‘fossil’ disequilibria already occurred at ∼O(1–10 km) away from the seamount slopes it is likely that these vigorous fluid dynamics rapidly decay away from the slopes on scales of O(1–10 km). These conclusions are supported by the horizontal distribution and magnitude of the modeled total (barotropic+baroclinic) tidal current velocities of the predominating tidal M2 constituent: on (near-)critical seamount slopes baroclinic tides lead to localized [∼O(1 km)] increases of the overall tidal current velocity by a factor of ∼ 2, thereby pushing the total current velocity well above the threshold for sediment erosion. The results of this and a previous study [Turnewitsch, R., Reyss, J.-L., Chapman, D.C., Thomson, J., Lampitt, R.S., 2004. Evidence for a sedimentary fingerprint of an asymmetric flow field surrounding a short seamount. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222(3–4), 1023–1036] show that kilometer-scale flow/topography interactions leave a marine geochemical imprint. This imprint may help develop new sediment proxies for the reconstruction of past changes of fluid dynamics in the deep sea, including residual and tidal flow. Sedimentary records controlled by kilometer-scale seafloor elevations are promising systems for the reconstruction of paleo-changes of deep-ocean fluid dynamics. For the sediment-based reconstruction of paleo-parameters other than physical oceanographic ones it may be advisable to avoid kilometer-scale topography altogether.

Description: Myrionecta rubra, a ubiquitous planktonic ciliate, has received much attention due to its wide distribution, occurrence as a red tide organism, and unusual cryptophyte endosymbiont. Although well studied in coastal waters, M. rubra is poorly examined in the open ocean. In the Irminger Basin, North Atlantic, the abundance of M. rubra was 0–5 cells/ml, which is low compared with that found in coastal areas. Distinct patchiness (100 km) was revealed by geostatistical analysis. Multiple regression indicated there was little relationship between M. rubra abundance and a number of environmental factors, with the exception of temperature and phytoplankton biomass, which influenced abundance in the spring. We also improve on studies that indicate distinct size classes of M. rubra; we statistically recognise four significantly distinct width classes (5–16, 12–23, 18–27, 21–33 μm), which decrease in abundance with increasing size. A multinomial logistic regression revealed the main variable correlated with this size distribution was ambient nitrate concentration. Finally, we propose a hypothesis for the distribution of sizes, involving nutrients, feeding, and dividing of the endosymbiont.

Description: Expedition 311 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to northern Cascadia recovered gas-hydrate bearing sediments along a SW–NE transect from the first ridge of the accretionary margin to the eastward limit of gas-hydrate stability. In this study we contrast the gas gas-hydrate distribution from two sites drilled ~ 8 km apart in different tectonic settings. At Site U1325, drilled on a depositional basin with nearly horizontal sedimentary sequences, the gas-hydrate distribution shows a trend of increasing saturation toward the base of gas-hydrate stability, consistent with several model simulations in the literature. Site U1326 was drilled on an uplifted ridge characterized by faulting, which has likely experienced some mass wasting events. Here the gas hydrate does not show a clear depth-distribution trend, the highest gas-hydrate saturation occurs well within the gas-hydrate stability zone at the shallow depth of ~ 49 mbsf. Sediments at both sites are characterized by abundant coarse-grained (sand) layers up to 23 cm in thickness, and are interspaced within fine-grained (clay and silty clay) detrital sediments. The gas-hydrate distribution is punctuated by localized depth intervals of high gas-hydrate saturation, which preferentially occur in the coarse-grained horizons and occupy up to 60% of the pore space at Site U1325 and 〉 80% at Site U1326. Detailed analyses of contiguous samples of different lithologies show that when enough methane is present, about 90% of the variance in gas-hydrate saturation can be explained by the sand (〉 63 μm) content of the sediments. The variability in gas-hydrate occupancy of sandy horizons at Site U1326 reflects an insufficient methane supply to the sediment section between 190 and 245 mbsf.

Description: The abundance, activity, and temperature response of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria were studied in permafrost-affected tundra soils of northeast Siberia. The soils were characterized by both a high accumulation of organic matter at the surface and high methane concentrations in the water-saturated soils. The methane oxidation rates of up to 835 nmol CH4 h−1 g−1 in the surface soils were similar to the highest values reported so far for natural wetland soils worldwide. The temperature response of methane oxidation was measured during short incubations and revealed maximum rates between 22 °C and 28 °C. The active methanotrophic community was characterized by its phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations and with stable isotope probing (SIP). Concentrations of 16:1ω8 and 18:1ω8 PLFAs, specific to methanotrophic bacteria, correlated significantly with the potential methane oxidation rates. In all soils, distinct 16:1 PLFAs were dominant, indicating a predominance of type I methanotrophs. However, long-term incubation of soil samples at 0 °C and 22 °C demonstrated a shift in the composition of the active community with rising temperatures. At 0 °C, only the concentrations of 16:1 PLFAs increased and those of 18:1 PLFAs decreased, whereas the opposite was true at 22 °C. Similarly, SIP with 13CH4 showed a temperature-dependent pattern. When the soils were incubated at 0 °C, most of the incorporated label (83%) was found in 16:1 PLFAs and only 2% in 18:1 PLFAs. In soils incubated at 22 °C, almost equal amounts of 13C label were incorporated into 16:1 PLFAs and 18:1 PLFAs (33% and 36%, respectively). We concluded that the highly active methane-oxidizing community in cold permafrost-affected soils was dominated by type I methanotrophs under in situ conditions. However, rising temperatures, as predicted for the future, seem to increase the importance of type II methanotrophs, which may affect methane cycling in northern wetlands.

Description: The mesozooplankton community, with special emphasis on calanoid copepods, was studied with respect to its species composition, abundance, vertical distribution and developmental structure during the “Ice Station POLarstern” (ISPOL) expedition to the ice-covered western Weddell Sea. Stratified zooplankton tows were carried out nine times between 1 December 2004 and 2 January 2005 with a multiple opening–closing net between 0 and 1000 m depth. Copepods were by far the most abundant taxon, contributing more than 94% of the total mesozooplankton. Numerical dominants were cyclopoid copepods, mostly Oncaea spp. A total of 66 calanoid copepod species were identified, but the calanoid copepod community was characterised by the dominance of only a few species. The most numerous species was Microcalanus pygmaeus, which comprised on average 70% of all calanoids. Calanoides acutus and Metridia gerlachei represented other abundant calanoid species contributing an average of 8% and 7%, respectively. All other species comprised less than 3%. The temporal changes in the abundance and population structure of M. pygmaeus and M. gerlachei were small while a shift in the stage frequency distribution of C. acutus was observed during the study: copepodite stage IV (C IV) dominated the C. acutus population with 48–50% during the first week of December, while C V comprised 48% in late December. C I and C II of C. acutus were absent in the samples, and males occurred only in very low numbers in greater depths. In M. gerlachei, C I was not found, whereas all developmental stages of M. pygmaeus occurred throughout the study. All three species showed migratory behaviour, and they occurred in upper water layers towards the end of the investigation. This vertical ascent was most pronounced in C. acutus and relatively weak in the other two species. In M. pygmaeus and M. gerlachei, copepodids were responsible for the upward migration in late December, while the vertical distribution of adults did not change. In C. acutus, all abundant developmental stages (C IV, C V and females) ascended to upper water layers. Almost exclusively (93%) medium- and semi-ripe females of C. acutus and M. gerlachei were found, and only 3–4% of the ovaries were ripe. The absence of C I and the low number of ripe females indicate that the main reproductive period had not started in C. acutus and M. gerlachei until the end of our study in early January. In contrast, the high portion of C I and C II of M. pygmaeus suggests that reproduction of this species had started in October–November and hence before the onset of the phytoplankton bloom in the water. The community structure did not differ between stations with one exception on 26 December, when the station was strongly influenced by the continental shelf.

Description: Precipitation measurement by radar allows for areal rainfall determination with a high spatial and temporal resolution. However, hydrological applications require an accuracy of the precipitation quantification which cannot be obtained by today’s weather radar devices. The quality of the radar-derived precipitation can be significantly improved with the aid of ground measurements. In this paper, a complete processing pipeline for real-time radar precipitation determination using a modified statistical objective analysis method is presented. Thereby, several additional algorithms, such as a dynamical use of Z–R relationships, a bias correction and an advection correction scheme are employed. The performance of the algorithms is tested for several case studies. For an error analysis, an eight months data set of X-band radar scans and rain gauge precipitation measurements is used. We show a reduction in the radar–rain gauge RMS difference of up to 59% for the optimal combination of the different algorithms.

Description: Continuous Plankton Recorder data suggest that the Irminger Sea supports a major proportion of the surface-living population of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the northern North Atlantic, but there have been few studies of its population dynamics in the region. In this paper, we document the seasonal changes in the demographic structure of C. finmarchicus in the Irminger Sea from a field programme during 2001/2002, and the associations between its developmental stages and various apparent bio-physical zones. Overwintering stages were found widely at depth (〉500 m) across the Irminger Sea, and surviving females were widely distributed in the surface waters the following spring. However, recruitment of the subsequent generation was concentrated around the fringes of the Irminger Sea basin, along the edges of the Irminger and East Greenland Currents, and not in the central basin. In late summer animals were found descending back to overwintering depths in the Central Irminger Sea. The key factors dictating this pattern of recruitment appear to be (a) the general circulation regime, (b) predation on eggs in the spring, possibly by the surviving G0 stock, and (c) mortality of first feeding naupliar stages in the central basin where food concentrations appear to be low throughout the year. We compared the demographic patterns in 2001/2002 with observations from the only previous major survey in 1963 and with data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) surveys. In both previous data sets, the basic structure of G0 ascent from the central basin and G1 recruitment around the fringes was a robust feature, suggesting that it is a recurrent phenomenon. The Irminger Sea is a complex mixing zone between polar and Atlantic water masses, and it has also been identified as a site of sporadic deep convection. The physical oceanographic characteristics of the region are therefore potentially sensitive to climate fluctuations. Despite this, the abundance of C. finmarchicus in the region, as measured by the CPR surveys, appears not to have responded to climate factors linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation Index, in contrast with the stocks in eastern Atlantic areas. We speculate that this may because biological factors (production and mortality), rather than transport processes are the key factors affecting the population dynamics in the Irminger Sea.

Description: In the framework of the “Ice Station POLarstern” (ISPOL) expedition in the western Weddell Sea, two sediment traps were deployed at 10 and 70 m water depth under a drifting ice floe in December 2004. The amount and composition of the vertical particle flux under sea ice were determined during a period of 30 days in order to investigate the influence of biological processes in sea ice and on its underside on the flux. The total mass flux was dominated by diatoms, faecal material, and aggregates, and ranged from 95.28 to 197.67 mg m−2 d−1 at 10 m depth and from 51.54 to 55.34 mg m−2 d−1 at 70 m depth. A strong increase with time of the flux of chlorophyll equivalents, biogenic silica, and faecal material was recorded during the observation period, coincident with the increase in the concentration of chlorophyll a in the bottom ice layer above the trap array. The latter suggests a concomitant increase in the amount of food available for grazers, such as krill, in the bottom ice layer and on the underside of the ice floe, resulting in an increased downward transport of ice-algal material into the water column. The sinking faecal material was dominated by krill faecal strings and contained large amounts of diatom frustule debris, as well as intact diatom frustules, mainly of the species Fragilariopsis curta and F. cylindrus. Single pronounced flux events of Phaeocystis antarctica and aggregates were also observed early in the study period. Low POC/PON and biogenic silica/POC ratios of the sinking particulate matter suggest that the material collected in the traps was relatively fresh.

Description: In the framework of the R.V. Polarstern expedition “Ice station POLarstern” (ISPOL) spatial and temporal trends in composition, abundance and age structure of sea ice inhabiting copepods were investigated in the western Weddell Sea during the transition from the spring to the summer state. For the spatial scale, sea-ice coring was performed at six locations on a transect from the ice edge to the ice-drift station between 14 and 24 November 2004. The temporal changes were investigated in a time series study on a drifting sea-ice floe from 29 November to 30 December 2004. A relatively large number of copepod species (15) were found in the ice with a higher number at the time station (13) than at the transect (9). Drescheriella spp. was by far the most abundant taxon encountered in the sea ice throughout the present study (72–87%). On the transect, Idomene antarctica ranked second in abundance (7%) followed by Stephos longipes (2%) and Ectinosoma sp. (2%). In contrast, Diarthrode cf. lilacinus, which was not found on the transect, was the second most abundant species (11%) at the time station, followed by I. antarctica (9%), Ectinosoma sp. (6%) and S. longipes (1%). Naupliar stages dominated the populations of Drescheriella spp. and S. longipes both on the transect and during the time series. The Ectinosoma sp. population was dominated by nauplii only at the stations of the transect, while copepodite stages made up the largest fraction during the time series. Copepodids always predominated the I. antarctica populations, and it was the only species in which adults occurred in high densities contributing significantly to the abundance. Only Drescheriella spp. and S. longipes occurred throughout the sea-ice cores, while the occurrence of all other species was restricted to the bottom layer of the ice. The distribution of all species was very patchy and varied greatly between the sampling sites.

Description: Helicopter-borne and ground-based electromagnetic (EM) ice thickness and ruler-stick snow thickness measurements as well as ice-core analyses of ice temperature, salinity and texture were performed over a 5-week observation period between November 27, 2004, and January 2, 2005, on an ice floe in the western Weddell Sea at approximately 67°S, 55°W. The study was part of the Ice Station Polarstern (ISPOL) expedition of German research icebreaker R.V. Polarstern, investigating changes of physical, biological, and biogeochemical properties during the spring warming as a function of atmospheric and oceanic boundary conditions. The ice floe was composed of fragments of thin and thick first-year ice and thick second-year ice, with modal total thicknesses of 1.2–1.3, 2.1, and 2.4–2.9 m, respectively. This included modal snow thicknesses of 0.2–0.5 m on first-year ice and 0.75 m on second-year ice. During the observation period, snow thickness decreased by less than 0.2 m. There was hardly any ice thinning. Warming of snow and ice between 0.1 and 1.9 °C resulted in decreased ice salinity and increased brine volume. Direct current (DC) geoelectric and electromagnetic (EM) induction depth sounding were performed to study changes of electrical ice conductivity as a result of the observed ice warming. Bulk ice conductivity increased from to 37 to 97 mS/m. Analysis of conductivity anisotropy showed that the horizontal ice conductivity changed from 9 to 70 mS/m. These conductivity changes have only negligible effects on the thickness retrieval from EM measurements.

Description: The new macrolactams cebulactams A1 and A2 were isolated from an extract of the first obligate marine strain of the genus Saccharopolyspora. Their constitutionally identical structures, each bearing a six-membered cyclic ether as part of the macrocycle, and their relative configurations were elucidated by MS methods and by 1D and 2D NMR techniques.

Description: Extracts of cultures grown in liquid or on solid rice media of the fungal endophyte Ampelomyces sp. isolated from the medicinal plant Urospermum picroides exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity when tested in vitro against L5178Y cells. Chromatographic separation yielded 14 natural products that were unequivocally identified based on their 1H and 13C NMR as well as mass spectra and comparison with previously published data. Six compounds (2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11) were natural products. Both fungal extracts differed considerably in their secondary metabolites. The extract obtained from liquid cultures afforded a pyrone (2) and sulfated anthraquinones (7 and 9) along with the known compounds 1, 3, 6 and 8. When grown on solid rice medium the fungus yielded three compounds 4, 5 and 11 in addition to several known metabolites including 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14. Compounds 4, 8 and 10 showed the strongest cytotoxic activity against L5178Y cells with EC50 values ranging from 0.2-7.3microg/ml. Furthermore, 8 and 10 displayed antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Enterococcus faecalis at minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 12.5microg/ml and 12.5-25microg/ml, respectively. Interestingly, 6 and 8 were also identified as constituents of an extract derived from a healthy plant sample of the host plant U. picroides thereby indicating that the production of bioactive natural products by the endophyte proceeds also under in situ conditions within the host plant.

Description: The Narryer Terrane within the northwestern Yilgarn Craton contains the oldest crust in Australia. The Jack Hills greenstone belt is located within the southern part of the Narryer Terrane, and structures cutting it and surrounding rocks have been dated using the 40Ar/39Ar technique. The results show that east-trending, dextral, transpressive shearing was related to the 1830–1780 Ma Capricorn Orogeny, followed by further deformation and/or cooling between c. 1760 and 1740 Ma. These results confirm that major deformation has affected the northwestern part of the Yilgarn Craton in an intracratonic setting during the Proterozoic. Proterozoic structures have been interpreted to extend south beyond the Narryer Terrane into the northern part of the Youanmi Terrane (Murchison Domain), and include the Yalgar Fault, previously interpreted as the boundary between the Narryer and Youanmi Terranes. Terrane amalgamation pre-dated the emplacement of c. 2660 Ma granites in both terranes, and the current expression of the Yalgar Fault must represent a younger, reworked, post-amalgamation structure, possibly controlled by the tectonic boundary. However, new aeromagnetic and gravity imagery does not show the eastern part of the Yalgar Fault as a major structure. Its signature is more akin to a series of east- to east-northeast trending faults that are interpreted to be Proterozoic in age. This suggests that this part of the Yalgar Fault may not be a terrane boundary, and is possibly no older than Proterozoic. The 40Ar/39Ar dating also shows a younger, less intense deformation and/or cooling event at c. 1172 Ma.

Description: A 5-year-long time series of meridional transport below 1180 dbar—zonally integrated across a section spanning, the western basin of the tropical North Atlantic—is analyzed. It has been inferred from (i) zonally integrated meridional geostrophic transports derived from density and bottom pressure measurements at the end points of a 1000 km wide section bounded by the base of the western continental rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and (ii) mooring-based direct current meter measurements over the steep Lesser Antilles continental rise. The southward time mean transport of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) transport is 15.9 Sv. The vertical shear of the geostrophic transport profiles in the western and eastern part of the section each show two layers of maximum southward transport within the NADW. The transport time series reveals changes of 7.7 Sv rms at periods of 1 month and longer, at times showing changes of up to 40 Sv within a month's time. The baroclinic (internal) contribution of the geostrophic flow (relative to 4950 dbar), yields fluctuations of 6.6 Sv rms. Adding transports over the steep continental rise reduces the overall transport variability to 5.2 Sv rms. As a result of this reduction in shorter-period variability, the lower-frequency variability becomes more pronounced, part of which is expected to be linked to the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The transport variability is consistent with baroclinic Rossby waves (at periods between 3 and 9 months), dominating in the eastern and central part of the section, and with changes in deep western boundary current (DWBC) strength, DWBC re-circulation patterns and eddies that become important in the western part of the section. The reference-level (external) geostrophic transport variability displays long-wavelength (〉2000 km) fluctuations of 7.5 Sv rms on periods less than 2 weeks that are consistent with barotropic Rossby waves. Numerical model simulations imply that the observed zonally integrated deep transport changes in the western basin have moderate skill in sensing changes in the MOC and in meridional heat transport, and that a now implemented extension of the array's integration scale into the eastern basin of the Atlantic would substantially improve the performance of the array as an MOC observing system.

Description: Through early lithification, cyanobacterial mats produced vast amounts of CaCO3 on Precambrian carbonate platforms (before 540 Myr ago). The superposition of lithified cyanobacterial mats forms internally laminated, macroscopic structures known as stromatolites. Similar structures can be important constituents of Phanerozoic carbonate platforms (540 Myr to present). Early lithification in modern marine cyanobacterial mats is thought to be driven by a metabolically-induced increase of the CaCO3 saturation state (XCaCO3 ) in the mat. However, it is uncertain which microbial processes produce the XCaCO3 increase and to which extent similar XCaCO3 shifts were possible in Precambrian oceans whose chemistry differed from that of the modern ocean. I developed a numerical model that calculates XCaCO3 in cyanobacterial mats and used it to tackle these questions. The model is first applied to simulate XCaCO3 in modern calcifying cyanobacterial mats forming at Highborne Cay (Bahamas); it shows that while cyanobacterial photosynthesis increases XCaCO3 considerably, sulphate reduction has a small and opposite effect on mat XCaCO3 because it is coupled to H2S oxidation with O2 which produces acidity. Numerical experiments show that the magnitude of the XCaCO3 increase is proportional to DIC in DIC-limited waters (DIC 〈 3–10 mM), is proportional to pH when ambient water DIC is not limiting and always proportional to the concentration of Ca2+ in ambient waters. With oceanic Ca2+ concentrations greater than a few millimolar, an appreciable increase in XCaCO3 occurs in mats under a wide range of environmental conditions, including those supposed to exist in the oceans of the past 2.8 Gyr. The likely lithological expression is the formation of the microsparitic stromatolite microtexture—indicative of CaCO3 precipitation within the mats under the control of microbial activity—which is found in carbonate rocks spanning from the Precambrian to recent. The model highlights the potential for an increase in the magnitude of the XCaCO3 shift in cyanobacterial mats throughout Earth’s history produced by a decrease in salinity and temperature of the ocean, a decrease in atmospheric pCO2 and an increase in solar irradiance. Such a trend would explain how the formation of the microsparitic stromatolite microtexture was possible as the XCaCO3 of the ocean decreased from the Paleoproterozoic to the Phanerozoic.

Description: Precise U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotope tracing of zircon is combined with whole-rock geochemical and Sr and Nd isotope data in order to unravel processes affecting mafic to felsic calcalkaline magmas prior to and during their crystallization in crustal magma chambers along the southern border of Central Srednogorie tectonic zone in Bulgaria (SE Europe). ID-TIMS U–Pb dating of single zircons from felsic and mixed/mingled dioritic to gabbroic horizons of single plutons define crystallization ages of around 86.5–86.0, 85.0–84.5 and 82 Ma. Concordia age uncertainties are generally less than 0.3 Ma (0.35%–2σ), and as good as 0.08 Ma (0.1%), when the weighted mean 206Pb/238U value is used. Such precision allows the distinction of magma replenishment processes if separated by more than 0.6–1.0 Ma and when they are marked by newly saturated zircons. We interpret zircon dates from a single sample that do not overlap to reflect new zircon growth during magma recharge in a long-lived crustal chamber. Mingling/mixing of the basaltic magma with colder granitoid mush at mid- to upper-crustal levels is proposed to explain zircon saturation and fast crystallization of U- and REE-rich zircons in the hybrid gabbro. Major and trace-element distribution and Sr and Nd whole-rock isotope chemistry define island arc affinities for the studied plutons. Slab derived fluids and a sediment component are constrained as enrichment sources for the mantle wedge-derived magma, though Hf isotopes in zircon suggest crustal assimilation was also important. Inherited zircons, and their corresponding ε-Hf, from the hybrid gabbroic rocks trace the lower crust as possible source for enrichment of the mantle magma. These inherited zircons are about 440 Ma old with ε-Hf of − 7 at 82 Ma, whereas newly saturated concordant Upper Cretaceous zircons reveal mantle ε-Hf values of + 7.2 to + 10.1. The upper and middle crusts contribute in the generation of the granitoid rocks. Their zircon inheritance is Lower Palaeozoic or significantly older and crustal dominated with 82–85 Ma corrected ε-Hf values of − 28. The Cretaceous concordant zircons in the granitoids are mantle dominated with a ε-Hf values spreading from + 3.9 to + 7.

Description: The Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N) is an oceanic core complex marked by distinct variations in crustal architecture, deformation and metamorphism over distances of at least 5 km. We report Sr and Nd isotope data and Rare Earth Element (REE) concentrations of gabbroic and ultramafic rocks drilled at the central dome (IODP Hole 1309D) and recovered by submersible from the southern ridge of the massif that underlie the peridotite-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Systematic variations between the two areas document variations in seawater penetration and degree of fluid–rock interaction during uplift and emplacement of the massif and hydrothermal activity associated with the formation of Lost City. Homogeneous Sr and Nd isotope compositions of the gabbroic rocks from the two areas (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70261–0.70429 and εNd: + 9.1 to + 12.1) indicate an origin from a depleted mantle. At the central dome, serpentinized peridotites are rare and show elevated seawater-like Sr isotope compositions related to serpentinization at shallow crustal levels, whereas unaltered mantle isotopic compositions preserved in the gabbroic rocks attest to limited seawater interaction at depth. This portion of the massif remained relatively unaffected by Lost City hydrothermal activity. In contrast, pervasive alteration and seawater-like Sr and Nd isotope compositions of serpentinites at the southern wall (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70885–0.70918; εNd: − 4.7 to + 11.3) indicate very high fluid–rock ratios (~ 20 and up to 106) and enhanced fluid fluxes during hydrothermal circulation. Our studies show that Nd isotopes are most sensitive to high fluid fluxes and are thus an important geochemical tracer for quantification of water–rock ratios in hydrothermal systems. Our results suggest that high fluxes and long-lived serpentinization processes may be critical to the formation of Lost City-type systems and that normal faulting and mass wasting in the south facilitate seawater penetration necessary to sustain hydrothermal activity.

Description: The relation between acoustic sea-floor backscatter and seep distribution is examined by integrating multibeam backscatter data and seep locations detected by single-beam echosounder. This study is further supported by side-scan sonar recordings, high-resolution 5 kHz seismic data, pore-water analysis, grain-size analysis and visual sea-floor observations. The datasets were acquired during the 2003 and 2004 expeditions of the EC-funded CRIMEA project in the Dnepr paleo-delta area, northwestern Black Sea. More than 600 active methane seeps were hydroacoustically detected within a small (3.96 km by 3.72 km) area on the continental shelf of the Dnepr paleo-delta in water depths ranging from − 72 m to − 156 m. Multibeam and side-scan sonar recordings show backscatter patterns that are clearly associated with seepage or with a present dune area. Seeps generally occur within medium- to high-backscatter areas which often coincide with pockmarks. High-resolution seismic data reveals the presence of an undulating gas front, i.e. the top of the free gas in the subsurface, which domes up towards and intersects the sea floor at locations where gas seeps and medium- to high-backscatter values are detected. Pore-water analysis of 4 multi-cores, taken at different backscatter intensity sites, shows a clear correlation between backscatter intensity and dissolved methane fluxes. All analyzed chemical species indicate increasing anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) from medium- to high-backscatter locations. This is confirmed by visual sea-floor observations, showing bacterial mats and authigenic carbonates formed by AOM. Grain-size analysis of the 4 multi-cores only reveals negligible variations between the different backscatter sites. Integration of all datasets leads to the conclusion that the observed backscatter patterns are the result of ongoing methane seepage and the precipitation of methane-derived authigenic carbonates (MDACs) caused by AOM. The carbonate formation also appears to lead to a gradual (self)-sealing of the seeps by cementing fluid pathways/horizons followed by a relocation of the bubble-releasing locations.

Description: The Dalrymple Trough marks part of the transform plate boundary between India and Arabia in the northern Arabian Sea. Oblique extension is presently active across this portion of the boundary at a rate of a few millimetres per year, and seismic reflection profiles across the trough confirm that it is an extensional structure. We present new swath bathymetric and wide-angle seismic data from the trough. The bathymetric data show that the trough is bounded by a single, steep, 3-km-high scarp to the southeast and a series of smaller, en-echelon scarps to the northwest. Wide-angle seismic data show that a typical oceanic crustal velocity structure is present to the northwest, with a crustal thickness of ~ 6 km. There is an abrupt change in crustal thickness and velocity structure at the northwestern edge of the trough, and the trough itself is underlain by 12-km-thick crust interpreted as thinned continental crust. Therefore we infer that Dalrymple Trough is an unusual obliquely extending plate boundary at which continental crust and oceanic crust are juxtaposed. The extensional deformation is focused on a single major fault in the continental lithosphere, but distributed over a region ~ 60 km wide in the oceanic lithosphere

Description: Late Cenozoic back-arc mafic volcanism in the southern Puna plateau of Argentina offers insights into the state of the mantle under the world’s second largest continental plateau. Previous studies of the mafic magmas in this region proposed a scenario of mantle melting due to lithospheric delamination and/or steepening of the subducting slab. However, few of the centers have been precisely dated, which limits any geodynamic interpretation. We present results of laser incremental-heating 40Ar/39Ar dating of 22 back-arc centers in the southern Puna, with emphasis on the Salar de Antofalla region where volcanic activity was most intense. Three localities yielded ages between 7.3 and 7.0 Ma which, along with 2 previous 7 Ma ages, firmly establishes that back-arc activity began as early as late Miocene. Volcanism continued through the Pleistocene but the peak was in the early Pliocene. This result has important tectonic implications. If, as previously suggested, magma genesis is related to lithospheric delamination, this process was underway by the latest Miocene in the southern Puna. Furthermore, since the mafic back-arc volcanism is considered to mark a change in fault kinematics from compressional to transtensional, the new age constraints indicate that this change took place in the early Pliocene. The spatial and age distributions of the mafic centers indicate that magmatism began, and remained focussed in, a region between Salar de Antofalla and Cerro Galán. This concentration is probably structurally controlled, as it corresponds to the intersection of the NW–SE striking Archibarca lineament zone and the sets of NNE–SSW faults that run parallel to the Salar de Antofalla basin.

Description: The Vema Channel acts as a major conduit for the equatorward spreading of Antarctic Bottom Water between the Argentine and Brazil Basins. For almost two years the thermal stratification above its saddle depth (4660 m) – called Vema Sill – was recorded by moored thermistors and current meters. The lowest 490 m of the water column was instrumented to monitor the well-developed benthic boundary layer of Antarctic Bottom Water. The latter can be subdivided into Weddell Sea Deep Water on the sea bed and lower Circumpolar Deep Water above it. The data show fluctuations on various scales including periods, each about 1–2 weeks long, when the abyssal stratification virtually disappeared. Assuming a stable ratio between density and temperature, time series of bulk Richardson numbers are estimated from temperature and current shear data. The results suggest a potential for intermittent episodes of locally generated vertical mixing.

Description: Four volcanic ash-bearing marine sediment cores and one ash-free reference core were examined during research cruise RV Meteor 54/2 offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica to investigate the chemical composition of pore waters related to volcanic ash alteration. Sediments were composed of terrigenous matter derived from the adjacent continent and contained several distinct ash layers. Biogenic opal and carbonate were only minor components. The terrigenous fraction was mainly composed of smectite and other clay minerals while the pore water composition was strongly affected by the anaerobic degradation of particulate organic matter via microbial sulphate reduction. The alteration of volcanic matter showed only a minor effect on major element concentrations in pore waters. This is in contrast to prior studies based on long sediment cores taken during the DSDP, where deep sediments always showed distinct signs of volcanic ash alteration. The missing signal of ash alteration is probably caused by low reaction rates and the high background concentration of major dissolved ions in the seawater-derived pore fluids. Dissolved silica concentrations were, however, significantly enriched in ash-bearing cores and showed no relation to the low but variable contents of biogenic opal. Hence, the data suggest that silica concentrations were enhanced by ash dissolution. Thus, the dissolved silica profile measured in one of the sediment cores was used to derive the in-situ dissolution rate of volcanic glass particles in marine sediments. A non-steady state model was run over a period of 43 kyr applying a constant pH of 7.30 and a dissolved Al concentration of 0.05 μM. The kinetic constant (AA) was varied systematically to fit the model to the measured dissolved silica-depth profile. The best fit to the data was obtained applying AA = 1.3 × 10−U9 mol of Si cm− 2 s− 1. This in-situ rate of ash dissolution at the seafloor is three orders of magnitude smaller than the rate of ash dissolution determined in previous laboratory experiments. Our results therefore imply that field investigations are necessary to accurately predict natural dissolution rates of volcanic glasses in marine sediments.

Description: Mid-ocean ridges are vast features of all oceans but their fauna and ecological significance remain poorly understood. Ridge studies in recent decades were understandably biased in favour of the newly discovered chemosynthetic ecosystems. Investigations of photosynthesis-based systems and communities associated with ridges were scattered and few despite their much larger scale and significance for ocean productivity patterns and biogeography and for the management of human activities on the high seas. This knowledge gap was recognised by the Census of Marine Life (CoML) programme and led to the initiation of a dedicated field project on non-chemosynthetic systems and communities of a mid-ocean ridge. The present collection of articles highlights results from the project ‘Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the northern Mid-Atlantic’ (MAR-ECO), the CoML field project that aims to explore the diversity and distribution patterns of photosynthesis-based communities of mid-ocean ridges by a range of classical and new technologies and methods. In 2003–2005, comprehensive investigations were conducted on pelagic and epibenthic macro- and megafauna of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores. Several research vessels participated in the first field phase of the project, but the majority of the results were from a 2-month international expedition on the Norwegian vessels R.V. G.O. Sars and the chartered fishing vessel M.S. Loran in 2004. This introduction explains the background and goals of MAR-ECO, summarizes the strategies and sampling efforts, and briefly introduces future plans as the project enters a second field phase in 2007–2009.

Description: Bivalves, ostracods and foraminifers were studied in four AMS14C dated sediment cores from the Laptev Sea: one from the upper continental slope with a date of 15.8cal.ka in its basal part, and three from river palaeovalleys on the outer-middle shelf aging back to 12.7–11.2cal.ka. At the continental margin, high relative proportions of Cassidulina neoteretis, planktic foraminifers and ostracods with North Atlantic affinities provide evidence on past inflows of Atlantic-derived waters, whereas freshwater inputs, downslope sediment movements and ice rafting are documented by the presence of euryhaline, brackish-water and freshwater ostracods and low planktic/benthic ratio. Atlantic-derived subsurface waters reached the studied site by ca. 16cal.ka, i.e. prior to the establishment of the pathway across the Barents Sea shelf further west. The strongest Atlantic influence occurred prior to 12cal.ka and after 3cal.ka. A cold, low-nutrient marine environment with a coastal polynya setting is reconstructed for the time 16–14cal.ka, whereas between 12.7 and 11.2cal.ka freshwater influence reached its maximum during a time when the outer shelf was flooded and brackish-water assemblages inhabited the estuarine parts of palaeovalleys. Following the temporal and spatial pattern of sea-level rise, these fluvially affected assemblages rapidly transformed into shallow-marine faunas. After ca. 3.5–3cal.ka, well-pronounced changes in the benthic communities indicate a general climate cooling characterized by a more intensified surface and bottom water circulation regime.

Description: A temporal seismic network recorded local seismicity along a 130 km long segment of the transpressional dextral strike-slip Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) in southern Chile. Seventy five shallow crustal events with magnitudes up to M(tief)w 3.8 and depths shallower than 25 km were observed in an 11-month period mainly occurring in different clusters. Those clusters are spatially related to the LOFZ, to the volcanoes Chaitén, Michinmahuida and Corcovado, and to active faulting on secondary faults. Further activity along the LOFZ is indicated by individual events located in direct vicinity of the surface expression of the LOFZ. Focal mechanisms were calculated using deviatoric moment tensor inversion of body wave amplitude spectra which mostly yield strike-slip mechanisms indicating a NE–SW direction of the P-axis for the LOFZ at this latitude. The seismic activity reveals the present-day activity of the fault zone. The recent M(tief)w 6.2 event near Puerto Aysén, Southern Chile at 45.4°S on April 21, 2007 shows that the LOFZ is also capable of producing large magnitude earthquakes and therefore imposing significant seismic hazard to this region.

Description: Increases in the production rate of cosmogenic radionuclides associated with geomagnetic excursions have been used as global tie-points for correlation between records of past climate from marine and terrestrial archives. We have investigated the relative timing of variations in 10Be production rate and the corresponding palaeomagnetic signal during one of the largest Pleistocene excursions, the Iceland Basin (IB) event (ca. 190 kyr), as recorded in two marine sediment cores (ODP Sites 1063 and 983) with high sedimentation rates. Variations in 10Be production rate during the excursion were estimated by use of 230Thxs normalized 10Be deposition rates and authigenic 10Be/9Be. Resulting 10Be production rates are compared with high-resolution records of geomagnetic field behaviour acquired from the same discrete samples. We find no evidence for a significant lock-in depth of the palaeomagnetic signal in these high sedimentation-rate cores. Apparent lock-in depths in other cores may sometimes be the result of lower sample resolution. Our results also indicate that the period of increased 10Be production during the IB excursion lasted longer and, most likely, started earlier than the corresponding palaeomagnetic anomaly, in accordance with previous observations that polarity transitions occur after periods of reduced geomagnetic field intensity prior to the transition. The lack of evidence in this study for a significant palaeomagnetic lock-in depth suggests that there is no systematic offset between the 10Be signal and palaeomagnetic anomalies associated with excursions and reversals, with significance for the global correlation of climate records from different archives.

Description: From the roots of a recently discovered Ancistrocladus taxon, with close affinities to Ancistrocladus congolensis regarding molecular ITS sequence data, six naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids, 5′-O-demethylhamatine (2), 5′-O-demethylhamatinine (3), 6-O-demethylancistroealaine A (4), 6,5′-O,O-didemethylancistroealaine A (5), 5-epi-6-O-methylancistrobertsonine A (6), and 5-epi-4′-O-demethylancistrobertsonine C (7), have been isolated, along with a likewise benzopyranone carboxylic acid, 8. The structural elucidation succeeded by chemical, spectroscopic, and chiroptical methods. Their bioactivities were tested against protozoan parasites causing severe tropical diseases. Furthermore, eight known related alkaloids were identified.

Description: The Loop Current mediating the oceanic heat and salt flux from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and its interference with the Mississippi River discharge are critical for both the regional climate in the Gulf of Mexico area and the water vapor transport towards high northern latitudes. We present a 400-kyr record of sea surface temperature and local surface salinity from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (IMAGES core MD02-2575) approximated from combined planktonic foraminiferal δ18O and Mg/Ca, which reflects the temporal dynamics of the Loop Current and its relationship to both varying Mississippi discharge and evolution of the Western Hemisphere Warm pool. The reconstructed sea surface temperature and salinity reveal glacial/interglacial amplitudes that are significantly larger than in the Western Hemisphere Warm pool. Sea surface freshening is observed during the extreme cool periods of Marine Isotope Stages 2, 8, and 10, caused by the strengthened Mississippi discharge which spread widely across the Gulf favored by the less established Loop Current. Interglacial and interstadial sea-surface conditions, instead, point to a strengthened, northward flowing Loop Current in line with the northward position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, allowing northeastern Gulf of Mexico surface hydrographic conditions to approach those of the Caribbean. At these times, the Mississippi discharge was low and deflected westward, promoted by the extended Loop Current. Previously described deglacial megadischarge events further to the west did not affect the northeastern Gulf of Mexico hydrography, implying that meltwater routing from the Laurentide Ice Sheet via the Mississippi River is unlikely to have affected Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Description: In summer 1996, a tracer release experiment using sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) was launched in the intermediate-depth waters of the central Greenland Sea (GS), to study the mixing and ventilation processes in the region and its role in the northern limb of the Atlantic overturning circulation. Here we describe the hydrographic context of the experiment, the methods adopted and the results from the monitoring of the horizontal tracer spread for the 1996–2002 period documented by ∼10 shipboard surveys. The tracer marked “Greenland Sea Arctic Intermediate Water” (GSAIW). This was redistributed in the gyre by variable winter convection penetrating only to mid-depths, reaching at most 1800 m depth during the strongest event observed in 2002. For the first 18 months, the tracer remained mainly in the Greenland Sea. Vigorous horizontal mixing within the Greenland Sea gyre and a tight circulation of the gyre interacting slowly with the other basins under strong topographic influences were identified. We use the tracer distributions to derive the horizontal shear at the scale of the Greenland Sea gyre, and rates of horizontal mixing at ∼10 and ∼300 km scales. Mixing rates at small scale are high, several times those observed at comparable depths at lower latitudes. Horizontal stirring at the sub-gyre scale is mediated by numerous and vigorous eddies. Evidence obtained during the tracer release suggests that these play an important role in mixing water masses to form the intermediate waters of the central Greenland Sea. By year two, the tracer had entered the surrounding current systems at intermediate depths and small concentrations were in proximity to the overflows into the North Atlantic. After 3 years, the tracer had spread over the Nordic Seas basins. Finally by year six, an intensive large survey provided an overall synoptic documentation of the spreading of the tagged GSAIW in the Nordic Seas. A circulation scheme of the tagged water originating from the centre of the GS is deduced from the horizontal spread of the tracer. We present this circulation and evaluate the transport budgets of the tracer between the GS and the surroundings basins. The overall residence time for the tagged GSAIW in the Greenland Sea was about 2.5 years. We infer an export of intermediate water of GSAIW from the GS of 1 to 1.85 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) for the period from September 1998 to June 2002 based on the evolution of the amount of tracer leaving the GS gyre. There is strong exchange between the Greenland Sea and Arctic Ocean via Fram Strait, but the contribution of the Greenland Sea to the Denmark Strait and Iceland Scotland overflows is modest, probably not exceeding 6% during the period under study.

Description: Late Cretaceous (66.2 ± 0.5 Ma amphibole and 66.7 ± 0.2 Ma phlogopite 40Ar/39Ar ages) nephelinitic volcanic rocks from Godzilla Seamount in the eastern North Atlantic (34°N latitude) have trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf-isotope compositions similar to the Enriched Mantle I (EM-I) endmember, except for their low 207Pb/204Pb relative to 206Pb/204Pb ratios (206Pb/204Pbin = 17.7, 207Pb/204Pbin = 15.34) plotting below the Northern Hemisphere Reference Line on the uranogenic Pb isotope diagram. O isotope data on amphibole separates are mantle-like (δ18O = 5.6–5.8‰). Age and location of the isolated Godzilla Seamount, however, preclude it from being derived from the Madeira or Canary hotspots, making a lower-mantle origin unlikely. Therefore we propose derivation from a shallow (lithospheric/asthenospheric) melting anomaly. As observed in mid-ocean-ridge and ocean-island basalts, there is a systematic decrease of 207Pb/204Pb ratios (and Δ7/4) in the individual EM-I endmember type localities towards northern latitudes with Godzilla lying on the extension of this trend. This trend is mirrored in ultra-potassic volcanic rocks such as lamproites and kimberlites, which reflect the composition of enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Therefore, a global pattern in 207Pb/204Pb ratios and Δ7/4 is suggested. The geochemical composition of EM-I endmember type localities, including Godzilla lavas, and the enriched (DUPAL) anomaly in the southern hemisphere could reflect derivation from ancient, metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle. We propose a two-stage model to explain the trace element and isotopic composition of the EM-I mantle endmember localities worldwide: 1) during the early history of the Earth, subcontinental lithosphere was metasomatized by melts from subducted slabs along convergent margins generating high μ (238U/204Pb) sources, and 2) as the Earth cooled, hydrous fluids replaced hydrous melts as the main slab component metasomatizing the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (generating EM-I sources with lower μ). In accordance with this model, the global variations in 207Pb/204Pb ratios and Δ7/4 could reflect geographic differences in μ and/or the age at which the transition from stages 1 to 2 took place in the Archaean lithosphere. The model would require a re-definition of the EM-I endmember to low 206Pb/204Pb, high 208Pb/204Pb (positive Δ8/4) but variable 207Pb/204Pb (positive and negative Δ7/4).

Description: Hydrothermal emission of mantle helium appears to be directly related to magma production rate, but other processes can generate methane and hydrogen on mid-ocean ridges. In an on-going effort to characterize these processes in the South Atlantic, the flux and distribution of these gases were investigated in the vicinity of a powerful black smoker recently discovered at 8°17.9' S, 13°30.4' W. The vent lies on the shoulder of an oblique offset in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and discharges high concentrations of methane and hydrogen. Measurements during expeditions in 2004 and 2006 show that the ratio of CH4 to 3He in the neutrally buoyant plume is quite high, 4 × 108. The CTD stations were accompanied by velocity measurements with lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers (LADCP), and from these data we estimate the methane transport to have been 0.5 mol s− 1 in a WSW-trending plume that seems to develop during the ebb tidal phase. This transport is an order of magnitude greater than the source of CH4 calculated from its concentration in the vent fluid and the rise height of the plume. From this range of methane fluxes, the source of 3He is estimated to be between 0.14 and 1.2 nmol s− 1. In either case, the 3He source is significantly lower than expected from the spreading rate of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. From the inventory of methane in the rift valley adjacent to the vent, it appears that the average specific rate of oxidation is 2.6 to 23 yr− 1, corresponding to a turnover time between 140 and 16 days. Vertical profiles of methane in the surrounding region often exhibited Gaussian-like distributions, and the variances appear to increase with distance from the vent. Using a Gaussian plume model, we obtained a range of vertical eddy diffusivities between 0.009 and 0.08 m2m2 s− 1. These high values may be due to tidally driven internal waves across the promontory on which the vent is located.

Description: To better understand recruitment variability in small pelagic fish like sprat, it is important to know when during the extended spawning season the successful recruits are predominantly produced and which environmental factors determine potential survival windows. Here, we inferred the temporal origin of 2-year classes (2002–2003) of western and central Baltic sprat by means of otolith microstructure analysis, and found that in both years recruits mainly originated from the summer months June and July. In both years, this period coincided with temperature conditions in the surface layer of 〉12 °C and peak seasonal abundance of the largest copepod stages of Acartia spp., the major prey item of sprat larvae. The peaks in seasonal sprat egg abundance, however, occurred in April 2002 and March 2003 and therefore about 1–2 months earlier than the long-term mean spawning peak of sprat in this area (end of May/beginning of June). We hypothesize that increased temperatures in the bottom layer of the Baltic, where the pre-spawning sprat stock concentrates during winter months, potentially caused this shift in sprat spawning patterns, although early spring temperatures and feeding conditions in upper water layers were still unfavourable for larval survival. Sprat recruitment, however, was comparatively strong in both 2002 and 2003, suggesting that summer born individuals had high enough survival rates to compensate for the spawning shift, possibly due to high summer temperatures, limited dispersion, and low predation mortalities by Baltic cod as the major predator of sprat. Recruits were on average younger in 2003 than 2002, yet length distributions in October were almost identical, likely because a period of substantially higher temperatures in July/August 2003 promoted faster initial (larval) growth of survivors. Given the strength of the 2003 year class, in spite of lower overall prey concentrations in 2003 than 2002 in the study area, our findings appear to emphasise the paramount importance of summer temperatures as the recruitment determinant in Baltic sprat

Description: Free or hydrate-bound gas in the seafloor has been of scientific, ecologic and economic interest for many years because it predominantly contains high concentrations of low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons. A prerequisite of accurate quantifications of gases in sediments is to preserve pressure and temperature close to the in situ conditions during recovery. Here we introduce two new sediment coring devices that allow for the recovery of near-surface gas- and gas-hydrate-bearing sediments and subsequent investigations using several different techniques such as visualisation by computerized tomography, quantitative degassing, and sediment and porewater analyses. The first coring tool, the Multiple Autoclave Corer (MAC), resembles a standard multiple corer in terms of applications, size and core length of about 55 cm. The second tool, the Dynamic Autoclave Piston Corer (DAPC), is similar to a piston corer in application and size and enables one to take cores of up to 2.5 m length. Both focus on the investigation of near-surface sediments, which are most strongly affected by changes in bottom-water temperature and hydrostatic pressure, which in turn influence continental slope stability. Some results from recent offshore applications show the potential of these tools.

Description: Within the eastern tropical oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific basin vast oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) exist in the depth range between 100 and 900 m. Minimum oxygen values are reached at 300–500 m depth which in the eastern Pacific become suboxic (dissolved oxygen content 〈4.5 μmol kg−1) with dissolved oxygen concentration of less than 1 μmol kg−1. The OMZ of the eastern Atlantic is not suboxic and has relatively high oxygen minimum values of about 17 μmol kg−1 in the South Atlantic and more than 40 μmol kg−1 in the North Atlantic. About 20 (40%) of the North Pacific volume is occupied by an OMZ when using 45 μmol kg−1 (or 90 μmol kg−1, respectively) as an upper bound for OMZ oxygen concentration for ocean densities lighter than σθ 〈 27.2 kg m−3. The relative volumes reduce to less than half for the South Pacific (7% and 13%, respectively). The abundance of OMZs are considerably smaller (1% and 7%) for the South Atlantic and only ∼0% and 5% for the North Atlantic. Thermal domes characterized by upward displacements of isotherms located in the northeastern Pacific and Atlantic and in the southeastern Atlantic are co-located with the centres of the OMZs. They seem not to be directly involved in the generation of the OMZs. OMZs are a consequence of a combination of weak ocean ventilation, which supplies oxygen, and respiration, which consumes oxygen. Oxygen consumption can be approximated by the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU). However, AOU scaled with an appropriate consumption rate (aOUR) gives a time, the oxygen age. Here we derive oxygen ages using climatological AOU data and an empirical estimate of aOUR. Averaging oxygen ages for main thermocline isopycnals of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean exhibit an exponential increase with density without an obvious signature of the OMZs. Oxygen supply originates from a surface outcrop area and can also be approximated by the turn-over time, the ratio of ocean volume to ventilating flux. The turn-over time corresponds well to the average oxygen ages for the well ventilated waters. However, in the density ranges of the suboxic OMZs the turn-over time substantially increases. This indicates that reduced ventilation in the outcrop is directly related to the existence of suboxic OMZs, but they are not obviously related to enhanced consumption indicated by the oxygen ages. The turn-over time suggests that the lower thermocline of the North Atlantic would be suboxic but at present this is compensated by the import of water from the well ventilated South Atlantic. The turn-over time approach itself is independent of details of ocean transport pathways. Instead the geographical location of the OMZ is to first order determined by: (i) the patterns of upwelling, either through Ekman or equatorial divergence, (ii) the regions of general sluggish horizontal transport at the eastern boundaries, and (iii) to a lesser extent to regions with high productivity as indicated through ocean colour data.

Description: A high-resolution authigenic Nd isotope record has been extracted from the Fe–Mn oxyhydroxide fraction of drift sediments along the Blake Ridge in the North Atlantic. These sediments facilitate reconstruction of the timing and extent of major hydrographic changes in the western North Atlantic since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This is one of the few locations where sediments were deposited in the major flow path of the Western Boundary Undercurrent (WBUC), which transports North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) southward at the present day. The hydrodynamic setting, however, also causes problems. Authigenic Nd isotope compositions similar to the typical present-day NADW εNd value of − 13.5 ± 0.5 were only extracted from sediments located within the main water body of the WBUC coinciding with the highest along slope current velocity below 3200 m water depth. Above this depth the authigenic Nd-isotopic composition is more radiogenic than measured in a nearby seawater profile and appears to be influenced by downslope and lateral sediment redistribution. Our data suggest that these radiogenic signals were formed at shallow depths in Florida current waters, compromising the recorded ambient deep water Nd isotope signal in the Blake Ridge Fe–Mn oxyhydroxide coatings from intermediate depths during the Holocene and the deglaciation. The unradiogenic Nd-isotopic composition typical of present-day NADW is not detectable along the Blake Ridge for any water depth during the LGM. Unlike the deglacial and Holocene sections, the intermediate core from 1790 m water depth did not experience significant sediment focusing during the LGM, in accord with the higher current velocities at this depth, suggesting that at this site an ambient LGM bottom water Nd isotope signal was recorded. Assuming this to be correct, our results indicate that the εNd of the shallower glacial equivalent of NADW, the Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water (GNAIW) may have been as radiogenic as − 9.7 ± 0.4. Since the authigenic Nd isotope compositions of the Holocene and the deglacial sections of the intermediate depth sediment core were biased towards a shallow water signal, this first determination of a GNAIW εNd for the LGM will have to be corroborated by results from other locations and archives. The LGM and deglacial sediments below 3400 m water depth bear no evidence of an ambient deep water εNd as unradiogenic as − 13.5. Although the deep core sites also experienced enhanced degrees of sediment focusing before the Younger Dryas, the εNd values of between − 11 and − 10 are more readily explained in terms of increased presence of Southern Source Waters. If this is the case, the change to Nd-isotopic compositions that reflect a modern circulation pattern, including the presence of Lower NADW, only occurred after the Younger Dryas.

Description: We present a high-resolution (∼ 60–110 yr) multi-proxy record spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3 from IMAGES Core MD01-2378 (13°04.95′ S and 121°47.27′ E, 1783 m water depth), located in the Timor Sea, off NW Australia. Today, this area is influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which drives monsoonal winds during austral summer and by the main outflow of the Indonesian Throughflow, which represents a key component of the global thermohaline circulation system. Thus, this core is ideally situated to monitor the linkages between tropical and high latitude climate variability. Benthic δ18O data (Planulina wuellerstorfi) clearly reflect Antarctic warm events (A1–A4) as recorded by the EPICA Byrd and Dronning Maud Land ice cores. This southern high latitude signal is transferred by deep and intermediate water masses flowing northward from the Southern Ocean into the Indian Ocean. Planktonic δ18O shows closer affinity to northern high latitudes planktonic and ice core records, although only the longer-lasting Dansgaard–Oeschger warm events, 8, 12, 14, and 16–17 are clearly expressed in our record. This northern high latitude signal in the surface water is probably transmitted through atmospheric teleconnections and coupling of the Asian–Australian monsoon systems. Benthic foraminiferal census counts suggest a coupling of Antarctic cooling with carbon flux patterns in the Timor Sea. We relate increasing abundances of carbon-flux sensitive species at 38–45 ka to the northeastward migration of the West Australian Current frontal area. This water mass reorganization is also supported by concurrent decreases in Mg/Ca and planktonic δ18O values (Globigerinoides ruber white).

Description: The Storegga Slide, which occurred ∼8100 years ago, is one of the world's largest and best studied exposed submarine landslides. In this study we use novel geomorphometric techniques to constrain the submarine mass movements that have shaped the north-eastern Storegga Slide, understand the link between different forms of failure, and propose a revised development model for this region. According to this model, the north-eastern part of the Storegga Slide has developed in four major events. The first event (event 1) was triggered in water depths of 1500–2000 m. In this event, the surface sediments were removed by debris flows and turbidity currents, and deposited in the Norwegian Sea Basin. Loading of the seabed by sediments mobilised by the debris flows and turbidity currents resulted in the development of an evacuation structure. Loss of support associated with this evacuation structure, reactivation of old headwalls and seismic loading activated spreading in the failure surface of event 1 up to the main headwall (event 2). In some areas, spreading blocks have undergone high displacement and remoulding. Parts of the spreading morphology and the underlying sediment have been deformed or removed by numerous debris flows and turbidity currents (event 3). We suggest that the higher displacement and remoulding of the spreading blocks, and their removal by debris flows and turbidity currents, was influenced by increased pore pressures, possibly due to gas hydrate dissolution/dissociation or by lateral variability in the deposition of contourite drifts in palaoeslide scars. The fourth event entailed a large, blocky debris flow that caused localised compression and transpressive shearing in the southern part of the spreading area.

Description: We use new swath bathymetry data acquired during the RV Sonne cruise GEOPECO and complement them with swath data from adjacent regions to analyse the morphotectonics of the Peruvian convergent margin. The Nazca plate is not covered with sediments and therefore has a rough surface along the entire Peruvian trench. The styles of roughness differ significantly along the margin with linear morphological features trending in various directions, most of them oblique to the trench and roughness magnitudes of a few to several hundred meters. The lower slope is locally very rough and at the verge of failure throughout the entire Peruvian margin, as a result of subduction erosion causing the lower slope to over-steepen. Using curvature attributes to quantitatively examine the morphology in the Yaquina and Mendaña areas revealed that the latter shows a larger local roughness both seaward and landward of the trench. However, the amplitude of morphological roughness is larger in the Yaquina area. We identified a 125 km2 large slump on the Lima middle slope. Morphometric dating suggests an age of 74500 years within 35 to 40% error. Estimated incision rates on the upper slope are between 0.1 and 0.3 mm per year suggesting that landscape evolution on the Peruvian submarine continental slope is similarly slow than that in the Atacama desert.

Description: The submerged section of the North Anatolian fault within the Marmara Sea was investigated using acoustic techniques and submersible dives. Most gas emissions in the water column were found near the surface expression of known active faults. Gas emissions are unevenly distributed. The linear fault segment crossing the Central High and forming a seismic gap – as it has not ruptured since 1766, based on historical seismicity, exhibits relatively less gas emissions than the adjacent segments. In the eastern Sea of Marmara, active gas emissions are also found above a buried transtensional fault zone, which displayed micro-seismic activity after the 1999 events. Remarkably, this zone of gas emission extends westward all along the southern edge of Cinarcik basin, well beyond the zone where 1999 aftershocks were observed. The long term monitoring of gas seeps could hence be highly valuable for the understanding of the evolution of the fluid-fault coupling processes during the earthquake cycle within the Marmara Sea.

Description: High-resolution seismic experiments, employing arrays of closely spaced, four-component ocean-bottom seismic recorders, were conducted at a site off western Svalbard and a site on the northern margin of the Storegga slide, off Norway to investigate how well seismic data can be used to determine the concentration of methane hydrate beneath the seabed. Data from P-waves and from S-waves generated by P–S conversion on reflection were inverted for P- and S-wave velocity (Vp and Vs), using 3D travel-time tomography, 2D ray-tracing inversion and 1D waveform inversion. At the NW Svalbard site, positive Vp anomalies above a sea-bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) indicate the presence of gas hydrate. A zone containing free gas up to 150-m thick, lying immediately beneath the BSR, is indicated by a large reduction in Vp without significant reduction in Vs. At the Storegga site, the lateral and vertical variation in Vp and Vs and the variation in amplitude and polarity of reflectors indicate a heterogeneous distribution of hydrate that is related to a stratigraphically mediated distribution of free gas beneath the BSR. Derivation of hydrate content from Vp and Vs was evaluated, using different models for how hydrate affects the seismic properties of the sediment host and different approaches for estimating the background-velocity of the sediment host. The error in the average Vp of an interval of 20-m thickness is about 2.5%, at 95% confidence, and yields a resolution of hydrate concentration of about 3%, if hydrate forms a connected framework, or about 7%, if it is both pore-filling and framework-forming. At NW Svalbard, in a zone about 90-m thick above the BSR, a Biot-theory-based method predicts hydrate concentrations of up to 11% of pore space, and an effective-medium-based method predicts concentrations of up to 6%, if hydrate forms a connected framework, or 12%, if hydrate is both pore-filling and framework-forming. At Storegga, hydrate concentrations of up to 10% or 20% were predicted, depending on the hydrate model, in a zone about 120-m thick above a BSR. With seismic techniques alone, we can only estimate with any confidence the average hydrate content of broad intervals containing more than one layer, not only because of the uncertainty in the layer-by-layer variation in lithology, but also because of the negative correlation in the errors of estimation of velocity between adjacent layers. In this investigation, an interval of about 20-m thickness (equivalent to between 2 and 5 layers in the model used for waveform inversion) was the smallest within which one could sensibly estimate the hydrate content. If lithological layering much thinner than 20-m thickness controls hydrate content, then hydrate concentrations within layers could significantly exceed or fall below the average values derived from seismic data.

Description: Overpressures measured with pore pressure penetrometers during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 308 reach 70% and 60% of the hydrostatic effective stress (View the MathML sourceλ*=(u−uh)(σvh')) in the first 200 meters below sea floor (mbsf) at Sites U1322 and U1324, respectively, in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, offshore Louisiana. High overpressures are present within low permeability mudstones where there have been multiple, very large, submarine landslides during the Pleistocene. Beneath 200 mbsf at Site U1324, pore pressures drop significantly: there are no submarine landslides in this mixture of mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone. The penetrometer measurements did not reach the in situ pressure at the end of the deployment. We used a soil model to determine that an extrapolation approach based on the inverse of square route of time (View the MathML source1/t) requires much less decay time to achieve a desirable accuracy than an inverse time (1/t) extrapolation. Expedition 308 examined how rapid and asymmetric sedimentation above a permeable aquifer drives lateral fluid flow, extreme pore pressures, and submarine landslides. We interpret that the high overpressures observed are driven by rapid sedimentation of low permeability material from the ancestral Mississippi River. Reduced overpressure at depth at Site U1324 suggests lateral flow (drainage) whereas high overpressure at Site U1322 requires inflow from below: lateral flow in the underlying permeable aquifer provides one mechanism for these observations. High overpressure near the seafloor reduces slope stability and provides a mechanism for the large submarine landslides and low regional gradient (2°) offshore from the Mississippi delta.

Description: Ca isotope fractionation during inorganic calcite formation was experimentally studied by spontaneous precipitation at various precipitation rates (1.8 〈 log R 〈 4.4 μmol/m2/h) and temperatures (5, 25, and 40 °C) with traces of Sr using the CO2 diffusion technique. Results show that in analogy to Sr/Ca [see Tang J., Köhler S. J. and Dietzel M. (2008) Sr2+/Ca2+ and 44Ca/40Ca fractionation during inorganic calcite formation: I. Sr incorporation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta] the 44Ca/40Ca fractionation during calcite formation can be followed by the Surface Entrapment Model (SEMO). According to the SEMO calculations at isotopic equilibrium no fractionation occurs (i.e., the fractionation coefficient αcalcite-aq = (44Ca/40Ca)s/(44Ca/40Ca)aq = 1 and Δ44/40Cacalcite-aq = 0‰), whereas at disequilibrium 44Ca is fractionated in a primary surface layer (i.e., the surface entrapment factor of 44Ca, F44Ca 〈 1). As a crystal grows at disequilibrium, the surface-depleted 44Ca is entrapped into the newly formed crystal lattice. 44Ca depletion in calcite can be counteracted by ion diffusion within the surface region. Our experimental results show elevated 44Ca fractionation in calcite grown at high precipitation rates due to limited time for Ca isotope re-equilibration by ion diffusion. Elevated temperature results in an increase of 44Ca ion diffusion and less 44Ca fractionation in the surface region. Thus, it is predicted from the SEMO that an increase in temperature results in less 44Ca fractionation and the impact of precipitation rate on 44Ca fractionation is reduced. A highly significant positive linear relationship between absolute 44Ca/40Ca fractionation and the apparent Sr distribution coefficient during calcite formation according to the equation Δ44/40Cacalcite-aq=(−1.90±0.26)·logDSr−2.83±0.28is obtained from the experimental results at 5, 25, and 40 °C. Thus, Sr partitioning during calcite formation directly reflects Ca isotopic fractionation, independent of temperature, precipitation rate, and molar (Sr/Ca)aq ratio of the aqueous solution. If the (Sr/Ca)aq ratio is constant, Δ44/40Cacalcite-aq values can be directly followed by the Sr content of the precipitated calcite. A (Sr/Ca)aq ratio close to that of modern seawater yields the equation ... [View the MathML source]... Our experimental results indicate that neither precipitation rate nor temperature dominantly controls Ca isotope fractionation. However, Ca isotopes and Sr content of inorganic calcite comprise an excellent environmental multi-proxy in natural and applied systems.

Description: The electron backscattering diffraction technique (EBSD) was used to analyze bulging recrystallization microstructures from naturally and experimentally deformed quartz aggregates, both of which are characterized by porphyroclasts with finely serrated grain boundaries and grain boundary bulges set in a matrix of very fine recrystallized grains. For the Tonale mylonites we investigated, a temperature range of 300–380 °C, 0.25 GPa confining pressure, a flow stress range of ~ 0.1–0.2 GPa, and a strain rate of ~ 10− 13 s− 1 were estimated. Experimental samples of Black Hills quartzite were analyzed, which had been deformed in axial compression at 700 °C, 1.2–1.5 GPa confining pressure, a flow stress of ~ 0.3–0.4 GPa, a strain rate of ~ 10− 6 s− 1, and to 44% to 73% axial shortening. Using orientation imaging we investigated the dynamic recrystallization microstructures and discuss which processes may contribute to their development. Our results suggest that several deformation processes are important for the dismantling of the porphyroclasts and the formation of recrystallized grains. Grain boundary bulges are not only formed by local grain boundary migration, but they also display a lattice misorientation indicative of subgrain rotation. Dynamic recrystallization affects especially the rims of host porphyroclasts with a hard orientation, i.e. with an orientation unsuitable for easy basal slip. In addition, Dauphiné twins within porphyroclasts are preferred sites for recrystallization. We interpret large misorientation angles in the experimental samples, which increase with increasing strain, as formed by the activity of fluid-assisted grain boundary sliding.

Description: We consider the nonlinear dynamics of a long-term copepod (small crustaceans) time series sampled weekly in the Mediterranean sea from 1967 to 1992. Such population dynamics display a high variability that we consider here in an interdisciplinary study, using tools borrowed from the field of statistical physics. We analyse the extreme events of male and female abundances, and of the total population, and show that they both have heavy tailed probability density functions (pdf). We provide hyperbolic fits of the form p(x) ∼ 1/xμ+1, and estimate the value of μ using Hill’s estimator. We then study the ratio of male to female abundances, compared to the female abundances. Using conditional probability density functions and conditional averages, we show that this ratio is independent of the female density, when the latter is larger than a given threshold. This property is very useful for modelization. We also consider the product of male to female abundances, which can be ecologically related to the encounters. We show that this product is extremely intermittent, and link its pdf to the female pdf.

Description: Chemical changes associated with the rehydration of dry eclogites to form blueschists were studied to obtain information about the chemistry of the fluids infiltrating during this retrograde metamorphic overprint. The studied eclogites of the Tian Shan were formed during Carboniferous subduction of pillow basalts that show typical ocean island basalt geochemical signatures. The retrograde P–T path is characterised by decompression associated with cooling, typical for fragments of a subducting slab that are ascending in the cool and hydrated subduction channel. The fluids infiltrating the eclogites are interpreted to represent dehydration fluids of the down going slab that ascended to the overlying subduction channel. The rehydration of the eclogites proceeded from the pillow margins producing two concentric shells consisting of glaucophane-dominated blueschists (inner shell) and phengite–ankerite blueschists (outer shell) replacing omphacite and garnet of the eclogite. Mass-balance calculations based on major and trace element compositions of eclogites and blueschists point to high element mobility during fluid infiltration and associated metamorphic reactions. Blueschists show lower contents of REE, Y, Sr, Pb, U, P, Ca, Na, Al and Si compared to eclogites, indicating a loss of these elements, but they show higher contents of volatiles, Mg, transition metals and LILE, indicating a gain of these elements. The chemical changes point to a composition of the infiltrating fluid that has an affinity to fluids derived from serpentinites, i.e. with low concentrations in Si, Al, Ca and Na and high concentrations in Mg, Co and Ni. The gain of Cu, Mn, Zn and LILE in the blueschists points to an addition of a sediment-derived component in the serpentinite-derived fluid. The pronounced enrichment of K2O and of Ba at constant Ba/Th ratios in the blueschists resembles those of island arc basalts derived from a fluid-enriched source. The low element load of the fluid equilibrated with Mg-rich mélange zones induces the mobility of most of the elements during the eclogite–blueschist transformation to compensate for disequilibrium between the mafic rock and the infiltrating fluid. The associated volume loss enhances the fluid infiltration into the eclogite interior. Increasing precipitation rates and/or diminishing diffusion rates for element removal brought the eclogite–blueschist transformation to an end, which resulted in the preservation of eclogite in the pillow cores.

Description: The neodymium concentration, CNd, and isotopic composition, eNd, in seawater have been determined in the water column at five sites in the Barents Sea–Fram Strait area where most of the water exchange between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic takes place. In the main Arctic Ocean inflow branch across the Barents Sea the concentration and isotopic composition (CNd = 15.5 pmol/kg and eNd = -10.8) are similar to those reported for the northeastern Nordic Seas, which is consistent with this region being a source area for the Arctic inflow. Due to the addition of Nd from Svalbard shelf sediments, the CNd in the surface waters above 150 m, in the Fram Strait inflow branch is higher by a factor of 2 and the eNd is shifted to lower values (-11.8). In the stratified Nansen Basin, where cold low salinity water overlies warmer Atlantic water the CNd and eNd do not vary with the vertical temperature–salinity structure but are essentially constant and similar to those of the Atlantic inflow throughout the entire water column, down to 3700 m depth, which indicates that the Nd is to a large extent of Atlantic origin. Compared to the Atlantic inflow water, the Nd in the major Arctic Ocean outflow, the Fram Strait, show higher CNd in the surface waters above 150 m, and a higher eNd (-9.8) throughout the entire water column down to 1300 m depth. Sources for the more radiogenic Nd isotopic composition in deep water of the Fram Strait outflow most likely involve boundary exchange with sediments on the shelf and slope as the water passes along the Canadian archipelago. River water is a possible source in the surface water but it also seems likely that Pacific water Nd, modified by interactions on the shelf, is an important component in the Fram Strait surface outflow. Changes in the relative proportions of inflow of river water and flow of Pacific water through the Arctic Ocean could thus influence the isotopic composition of Nd in the North Atlantic.

Description: In recent years several studies have shown that inducible resistance is ubiquitous in brown algae. However, while many studies on terrestrial plants identified eliciting signals and the response cascade to resistance, the knowledge on inducible marine macroalgal defense is lagging far behind and is often restricted to the mere recognition of its presence. This study is the first to accurately quantify the temporal dynamics, i.e. the time lag of induction and relaxation, of antifeeding defense in a marine macroalga, Fucus vesiculosus, from the Baltic Sea. Time lag of induction and reduction of induced feeding resistance were assessed via feeding assays, because the identities of defensive compounds are still unknown. Our results demonstrate that F vesiculosus induced defense 10-14 days after the onset of grazing by the isopod Idotea baltica. Defenses were relaxed within 2-4 days after cessation of grazing. Thus, defense seems to be deployed sparingly and just long enough to avoid substantial loss of tissue. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: The primary objective of this research is to understand the underlying mechanisms of the time-varying flux of carbon in the Sargasso Sea. To address this objective, a one-dimensional multi-component lower trophic level ecosystem model that includes detailed algal physiology as well as nutrient cycles is used at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS, 31∘40′N31∘40′N, 64∘10′W64∘10′W) site. In this model autotrophic growth is represented by three algal groups and the cell quota approach is used to estimate algal growth and nutrient uptake. This model is tested and evaluated for year 1998 using the bimonthly BATS cruise data. Results show that phosphorus and dissolved organic matter (DOM) are necessary compartments to correctly simulate organic elemental cycles at the BATS site. Model results show that autotrophic eukaryotes and cyanobacteria (i.e. Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus) are the most abundant algal groups and are responsible for 63% and 33% of carbon production in the region, respectively. Sensitivity analyses show that the annual contribution of nitrogen fixation and atmospheric nitrogen deposition to new production is approximately 9% and 3%, respectively. However, the recycled nitrogen and phosphorus are important components of the ecosystem dynamics because sustained growth of algal groups depends on remineralized nutrients which accounts for 75% of the annual carbon production. Nutrient uptake and remineralization stoichiometry can play an important role in determining the surface ocean nutrient distribution. Model results suggest phosphate limitation even during the spring bloom. Phosphate may thus limit the growth of all algal groups throughout the year.

Description: The trophic position of Calanus finmarchicus in the Trondheim Fjord in 2004 was determined through stable isotope analyses. Wild specimens were sampled monthly in the fjord and δ13C and δ15N signatures of the developmental stages from CIII to adults were measured. There were statistically significant differences in the δ13C and δ15N signatures of three identified groups: overwintered parental generation, developing new generation and new generation preparing for overwintering. C. finmarchicus individuals raised in a laboratory on a pure algal diet (Dunaliella tertiolecta and Isochrysis galbana) provided stable isotope signatures for purely herbivorous copepods. With these signatures as comparison, the trophic position of C. finmarchicus in the Trondheim Fjord in 2004 was determined as trophic level 2.4, thus indicating omnivory under natural conditions. Additionally, our data suggest that seasonal differences in the δ13C signatures of C. finmarchicus are due to the varying lipid content of the different developmental stages.

Description: Drill cores obtained from Lake Petén Itzá, Petén, Guatemala, contain a ∼85-kyr record of terrestrial climate from lowland Central America that was used to reconstruct hydrologic changes in the northern Neotropics during the last glaciation. Sediments are composed of alternating clay and gypsum reflecting relatively wet and dry climate conditions, respectively. From ∼85 to 48 ka, sediments were dominated by carbonate clay indicating moist conditions during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5a, 4, and early 3. The first gypsum layer was deposited at ∼48 ka, signifying a shift toward drier hydrologic conditions and the onset of wet–dry oscillations. During the latter part of MIS 3, Petén climate varied between wetter conditions during interstadials and drier states during stadials. The pattern of clay–gypsum (wet–dry) oscillations during the latter part of MIS 3 (∼48–23 ka) closely resembles the temperature records from Greenland ice cores and North Atlantic marine sediment cores and precipitation proxies from the Cariaco Basin. The most arid periods coincided with Heinrich Events when cold sea surface temperatures prevailed in the North Atlantic, meridional overturning circulation was reduced, and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) was displaced southward. A thick clay unit was deposited from 23 to 18 ka suggesting deposition in a deep lake, and pollen accumulated during the same period indicates vegetation consisted of a temperate pine-oak forest. This finding contradicts previous inferences that climate was arid during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) chronozone (21±2 ka). At ∼18 ka, Petén climate switched from moist to arid conditions and remained dry from 18 to 14.7 ka during the early deglaciation. Moister conditions prevailed during the warmer Bolling–Allerod (14.7–12.8 ka) with the exception of a brief return to dry conditions at ∼13.8 ka that coincides with the Older Dryas and meltwater pulse 1A. The onset of the Younger Dryas at 12.8 ka marked the return of gypsum and hence dry conditions. The lake continued to precipitate gypsum until ∼10.3 ka when rainfall increased markedly in the early Holocene.

Description: Vertical profiles of chlorophyll concentration and phytoplankton biomass at ALOHA (HOT) are analyzed for the time period 1988 to 2004. Two different methods are applied: in the standard approach the data are averaged over depth horizons and in the alternative approach the profiles are shifted to the depth of the deepest subsurface maximum before averaging. The results show that the latter is the only meaningful way to look at vertical distribution patterns of both chlorophyll and phytoplankton in the oligotrophic ocean. In particular, a pronounced subsurface maximum of phytoplankton biomass appears only if this depth-adjustment method is used. Otherwise the vertical displacement of the subsurface biomass due to changes in the subsurface light field masks the actual signal: the thickness of the subsurface maximum is overestimated and the maximum is reduced. The results of this study have far-reaching consequences for the interpretation of the large number of profiles of chlorophyll and phytoplankton in the oligotrophic ocean. The absence of a subsurface biomass maximum might not be necessarily a result of photoacclimation but of inadequate analyses combined with coarse vertical resolution

Description: This study revisits the kinematics and tectonics of Central America subduction, synthesizing observations of marine bathymetry, high-resolution land topography, current plate motions, and the recent seismotectonic and magmatic history in this region. The inferred tectonic history implies that the Guatemala–El Salvador and Nicaraguan segments of this volcanic arc have been a region of significant arc tectonic extension; extension arising from the interplay between subduction roll-back of the Cocos Plate and the ~ 10–15mm/yr slower westward drift of the Caribbean plate relative to the North American Plate. The ages of belts of magmatic rocks paralleling both sides of the current Nicaraguan arc are consistent with long-term arc-normal extension in Nicaragua at the rate of ~ 5–10mm/yr, in agreement with rates predicted by plate kinematics. Significant arc-normal extension can ‘hide’ a very large intrusive arc-magma flux; we suggest that Nicaragua is, in fact, the most magmatically robust section of the Central American arc, and that the volume of intrusive volcanism here has been previously greatly underestimated. Yet, this flux is hidden by the persistent extension and sediment infill of the rifting basin in which the current arc sits. Observed geochemical differences between the Nicaraguan arc and its neighbors which suggest that Nicaragua has a higher rate of arc-magmatism are consistent with this interpretation. Smaller-amplitude, but similar systematic geochemical correlations between arc-chemistry and arc-extension in Guatemala show the same pattern as the even larger variations between the Nicaragua arc and its neighbors.

Description: Small (50e200 nm), calcium phosphate (apatite)-covered organic particles called nanobacteria or calcifying nanoparticles (CNP) seem to be ubiquitous in kidney stones and are thought to be involved in stone formation. Although initial claims that these particles are the smallest known life forms have been somewhat softened, much controversy remains as to their involvement in kidney stone formation as well as in other pathological calcifications. I suggest that such particles are non-living and may be formed during the normal living activities of bona-fide bacteria which inhabit the kidneys. This hypothesis is based on previous observations that bacteria immersed in a supersaturated fluid produce organic globules which calcify when released to the surrounding fluid, forming CNP-like particles. The possibility that this process is responsible for the formation of CNP associated with pathological calcifications deserves greater scrutiny.

Description: Recent discoveries demonstrate that the chemistry of arsenic in sulfidic waters is much more complex that previously believed. One implication is that all earlier thermodynamic data on stabilities of As thioanions require revision. Previously used experimental approaches for determining As thioanion stabilities may be inadequate to deal with the full range of complexity. Here we use computational as well as empirical information to construct a provisional model for equilibrium As thioanion distributions in sulfidic waters. Whereas previous authors have argued for either As(III) or As(V) thioanions, the new model predicts that both are important and can occur simultaneously under commonly encountered pH and ΣS−II conditions. At the order of magnitude level, the model reasonably predicts the solubility of As2S3 in sulfidic solutions, provides tentative peak assignments for published Raman spectroscopic data and plausibly accounts for how sulfide modifies the bacterial toxicity of As. The model yields a thermodynamic justification for how sulfide, which is usually regarded as a reducing agent, can counter-intuitively drive oxidation of As(III) to As(V), as has been observed both in the laboratory and in the field. Despite its uncertain accuracy, the model serves as a useful source of new, testable hypotheses about As geochemistry and highlights crucial experimental data needs.

Description: This chapter summarizes the efforts to use naturally occurring U- and Th-decay series nuclides as tracers of ocean circulation/mixing in open-ocean and coastal environments. The decay-series isotopes that have been exploited for ocean mixing studies are the four radium isotopes (226Ra, 228Ra, 224Ra, and 223Ra), 222Rn, and 227Ac. In addition, particle-reactive radionuclides (230Th, 231Pa, and 210Pb) have been used to constrain basin-wide water residence or ventilation times. Isotopes of radium, 222Rn, and 227Ac have been used to trace mixing and circulation in the ocean because of their relatively high solubility in seawater and suitable half-lives. 226Ra has a suitable radioactive mean-life, ∼2,300y, for large-scale oceanic mixing studies. The small-scale temporal and spatial variability generally associated with coastal mixing processes accentuates the integrating power of the 228Ra tracer. Along with the three other radium isotopes of the “radium quartet,” 228Ra is steadily input to coastal waters by desorption and diffusion from shelf, estuarine, and/or marsh sediments and through submarine groundwater discharge. Water close to the shore thus has a continual supply of these Ra isotopes despite their short decay lives. Produced in seawater by the decay of 226Ra, 222Rn in the ocean has activities equal to those of 226Ra except in regions of the air–sea and sediment–sea interfaces. Exceptionally high apparent vertical mixing has been observed in deep-ocean passages, where the interplay between strong bottom water flows, manganese nodule occurrence, and high standing crop of excess 222Rn is much in evidence. Several studies have explored the use of 227Ac for tracing basin-wide circulation and mixing on decadal time-scales. The potential of 227Ac as a tracer appears to lie chiefly in assessing diapycnal mixing in the deep sea.

Description: A visible tephra horizon in the NGRIP ice core has been identified by geochemical analysis as the Fugloyarbanki Tephra, a widespread marker horizon in marine cores from the Faroe Islands area and the northern North Atlantic. An age of 26 740 ± 390 yr b2k (1s uncertainty) is derived for this tephra according to the new Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05) based on multiparameter counting of annual layers. Detection of this tephra for the first time within the NGRIP ice core provides a key tie-point between marine and ice-core records during the transition between MIS 3 and 2. Identification of this volcanic event within the Greenland records demonstrates the future potential of using tephrochronology to precisely correlate palaeoarchives in widely separated localities that span the last glacial period, as well as providing a potential method for examining the extent of the radiocarbon marine reservoir effect at this time.

Description: This study focuses on the Carboniferous sediments of the Karawanken Mountains (Austria/Slovenia) to identify possible source areas and their geotectonic setting. Provenance analyses have been applied using petrographical and geochemical approaches what also lead to an evaluation of the used methods. Within the Hochwipfel Formation five stratigraphic related petrofacies groups can be defined using the sandstone component inventory. Homogenous provenance results based on major element and trace element data suggest an active continental margin/continental island arc with probably an intraplate signature. Provenance analyses of light minerals point to source areas with basement rocks (mainly metamorphic), arc material and sedimentary rocks. In combination, the rapid and highly variable change of provenance signatures within the stratigraphic succession of the petrofacies types excludes a single provenance in the western part of the Karawanken Mountains. Additionally, changes in composition of the individual petrofacies groups correlate with the stratigraphy in the eastern part. Varying contents of garnet, chromite, hornblende and epidote, within the sedimentary succession of the Hochwipfel sandstones, can partly be attributed to geodynamical changes in the hinterland. The chemical compositions of garnets, tourmalines, and chromites, confirm the results of both geochemistry and sediment petrography. In a quantitative approach based on petrography we can see an equal mixture of all source areas, whereas quantification with a geochemical approach results in c. 11% of material that can be attributed to a passive continental margin source, 28 to 37% to an active continental margin, c. 44% to a magmatic arc setting and 16 to 19% to an oceanic within-plate source area. The resulting model for the geodynamical setting of the Hochwipfel basin during the Late Palaeozoic can be best explained by a forearc basin in the eastern part and various pull-apart basins in the western part, connected through bypasses, at the continental margin of Gondwana and the Palaeotethys. As an additional outcome this study clarifies, that geochemically derived provenance results, based on bulk-rock and mineral composition, recognize best complex geodynamical settings and a mixture of sources since they incorporate best the provenance significant lithic components. On the other hand it points out that an application of additional petrological approaches does not necessarily lead to further information and an elimination of errors but could be essential to define general information of the investigated stratigraphy, like the correlation of deposits with stratigraphy (petrofacies groups).

Description: Zooxanthellate scleractinian corals are known as archives for temporal variations of climate variables, such as sea surface temperature, salinity or productivity. The use of azooxanthellate cold-water corals as potential archives for intermediate water mass properties and climate variability was tested recently. However, the correlation of established proxies such as delta O-18 and delta C-13 with temperature is difficult since there is no direct temperature equation applicable as in shallow-water corals. Other temperature proxies such as Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca and U/Ca are influenced by the complex microstructure of the aragonite skeleton, the rate of calcification, and other vital effects observed for coral species. For the first time we show that the stable strontium isotope ratio delta Sr-88/86 incorporated in the skeletons of the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa portrays the ambient seawater temperature. The temperature sensitivity from live samples collected along the European continental margin covering a temperature range from 6 degrees to 10 degrees C is 0.026 +/- 0.003%omicron/degrees C (2 sigma standard error) which is a sensitivity similar to the tropical shallow-water coral record of Pavona clavata. This indicates a similar fractionation process of strontium for both, zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate corals. For coral aragonite the delta Sr-88/86 ratio may serve as a new paleo-temperature proxy and introduces new perspectives in paleoceanography with respect to intermediate water dynamics.

Description: We compare several statistical routines that may be used to calculate delta O-18 and SSS from paired coral Sr/Ca and delta O-18 measurements. Typically, the delta O-18(coral)-SST relationship is estimated by linear regression of coral delta O-18 vs. SST. If this method is applied, evidence should be given that at a particular site SST and SSS do not co-vary. In the tropical oceans, SST and delta O-18(sw) (SSS) often co-vary, and this will bias the estimate of the regression slope of delta O-18(coral)-SST. Using a stochastic model, we show that covariance leads to a bias in the coefficients of the univariate regression equations. As the slope of the delta O-18(coral)-SST relationship has known, we propose to insert this value for gamma(1) in the regression models. This requires that the constants of the regression equations are removed. To omit the constants, we propose to center the regression equations (i.e., to remove the mean values from the variables). The statistical error propagation is calculated to assess our ability to resolve past variations in delta O-18(sw) (SSS). At Tahiti, we find that the combined analytical uncertainties of coral delta O-18 and Sr/Ca equal the amplitude of the seasonal cycle of delta O-18(sw) (SSS). Therefore, we cannot resolve the seasonal cycle of SSS at Tahiti. At Timor, the error of reconstructed delta O-18(sw) (SSS) is lower than the magnitude of seasonal variations of delta O-18(sw) (SSS), and the seasonal cycle of delta O-18(sw) (SSS) can be resolved. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Description: Melt inclusions in olivine are source of unique information about primitive mantle melts. Here we report results of an experimental study aimed at evaluating the ability of olivine to isolate chemically melt inclusions from the host magma after their entrapment. We demonstrate that nearly ‘dry’ melt inclusions from Galapagos Plateau basalt can gain up to 2.5 wt.% of water if they are placed for 2 days in a water-bearing melt at 200 MPa and 1140 °C. The major element composition of melt inclusions also changed significantly, as a result of a re-equilibration with the olivine host mineral, whereas no significant changes were detected for incompatible trace elements. Our results indicate that inclusions in olivine can rapidly and selectively exchange water with the matrix melt, probably, through combination of proton diffusion and molecular water transport along dislocations in olivine. The fast water transport explains element fractionation, which is not predictable from the theory of magmatic processes. An efficient re-equilibration of melt inclusions with matrix melt can explain the decoupling of water and incompatible trace elements (e.g., H2O vs. K2O) reported for suites of primitive inclusions from mid-ocean-ridge setting and island arcs. Rare cases of well preservation of initial water content in suites of co-genetic inclusions imply very short residence time (a few hours) of the olivine phenocrysts in magma with contrasting water content during fractionation and transport to the surface and rapid quenching upon eruption

Description: Chemoherm carbonates, as well as numerous other types of methane seep carbonates, were discovered in 2004 along the passive margin of the northern South China Sea. Lithologically, the carbonates are micritic containing peloids, clasts and clam fragments. Some are highly brecciated with aragonite layers of varying thicknesses lining fractures and voids. Dissolution and replacement is common. Mineralogically, the carbonates are dominated by high magnesium calcites (HMC) and aragonite. Some HMCs with MgCO3 contents of between 30–38 mol%–extreme-HMC, occur in association with minor amounts of dolomite. All of the carbonates are strongly depleted in δ13C, with a range from − 35.7 to − 57.5‰ PDB and enriched in δ18O (+ 4.0 to + 5.3‰ PDB). Abundant microbial rods and filaments were recognized within the carbonate matrix as well as aragonite cements, likely fossils of chemosynthetic microbes involved in carbonate formation. The microbial structures are intimately associated with mineral grains. Some carbonate mineral grains resemble microbes. The isotope characteristics, the fabrics, the microbial structure, and the mineralogies are diagnostic of carbonates derived from anaerobic oxidation of methane mediated by microbes. From the succession of HMCs, extreme-HMC, and dolomite in layered tubular carbonates, combined with the presence of microbial structure and diagenetic fabric, we suggest that extreme-HMC may eventually transform into dolomites. Our results add to the worldwide record of seep carbonates and establish for the first time the exact locations and seafloor morphology where such carbonates formed in the South China Sea. Characteristics of the complex fabric demonstrate how seep carbonates may be used as archives recording multiple fluid regimes, dissolution, and early transformation events.

Description: Upwelling is a typical phenomenon of the Baltic Sea. Because the Baltic Sea is a semi- enclosed basin, winds from favorable directions blowing predominately parallel to the coast cause upwelling leading to vertical displacement of the water body and mixing. During the thermal stratified period, upwelling can lead to a strong sea-surface temperature drop of more than 10 °C changing drastically the thermal balance and stability conditions at the sea-surface. Upwelling can play a key role in replenishing the euphotic zone with the nutritional components necessary for biological productivity when the surface layer is depleted of nutrients. Consequently, it has been found out that in such areas where upwelling lifts phosphorus-rich deep water to the surface, the N/P ratio becomes low which favors the blooming of nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae. The rapid temperature decrease during such events was recognized and documented a long time ago when temperature measurements became available. Thus, the study of the upwelling process has a long tradition. However, although the importance of upwelling has generally been accepted for the Baltic Sea, no general review of upwelling exists. The objective of this paper is a comprehensive review of the upwelling process, its dynamics and reflections to ecosystem processes in the Baltic Sea using all relevant literature which will help to close the gaps of present knowledge and some recommendations for future work are outlined accordingly.

Description: During segment-scale studies of the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), 7–12° S, we found evidence in the water column for high-temperature hydrothermal activity, off-axis, east of Ascension Island. Extensive water column and seafloor work using both standard CTD and deep submergence AUV and ROV deployments led to the discovery and sampling of the “Drachenschlund” (“Dragon Throat”) black smoker vent at 8°17.87′ S/13°30.45′ W in 2915 m water depth. The vent is flanked by several inactive chimney structures in a field we have named “Nibelungen”. The site is located 6 km south of a non-transform offset between two adjacent 2nd-order ridge-segments and 9 km east of the presently-active, northward-propagating A2 ridge-segment, on a prominent outward-facing fault scarp. Both vent-fluid compositions and host-rock analyses show this site to be an ultramafic-hosted system, the first of its kind to be found on the southern MAR. The thermal output of this single vent, based on plume rise-height information, is estimated to be 60 ± 15 MW. This value is high for a single “black smoker” vent but small for an entire field. The tectonic setting and low He content of the vent fluids imply that high-temperature off-axis venting at “Drachenschlund” is driven not by magmatic processes, as at the majority of on-axis hydrothermal systems, but by residual heat “mined” from the deeper lithosphere. Whether this heat is being extracted from high-temperature mantle peridotites or deep crustal cumulates formed at the “duelling” non-transfrom offset is unclear, in either case the Drachenschlund vent provides the first direct observations of how cooling of deeper parts of the lithosphere, at least at slow-spreading ridges, may be occurring.

Description: High frequency sampling was performed in daylight hours along a 35 km transect in the Ligurian Sea to investigate the upper layer zooplankton distribution during the spring phytoplankton bloom. The results show detailed spatial structure and biomass of key zooplankton functional groups, copepods, salps and krill larvae, within the different water masses characterizing this region. Although observed values of total copepod biomass distribution were rather constant along the transect, species-specific patterns were observed in the copepod spatial distribution. The larger species Calanus helgolandicus, as well as Centropages typicus, Oithona spp., and Oncaea spp., were associated with the frontal zone. However, Acartia spp. had a scattered distribution, and Clausocalanus/Paracalanus did not have a clear pattern. In addition, krill larvae were concentrated in the frontal area and salps had a scattered pattern. The cross-shore zooplankton distribution appeared strongly influenced by both the Northern Ligurian current governing inshore waters, which acts as a major flushing forcing, and the Ligurian front, which governs offshore waters and may act as retention area for zooplankton.