ALBERT

Beschreibung: Food supply is one of the main factors driving cold-water corals (CWC) distribution, which often concentrate on ridges where local near-bed turbulence/strong currents enhance food availability. However, efficiency in food capture is strongly dependent on current velocity. Moreover, seawater temperature may also affect feeding success, since polyp contraction or nematocyst function could be slower at temperatures below the natural thermal range of a species. The non-reef forming CWC Dendrophyllia cornigera occurs in areas at temperatures from 11 to 17 °C, but is apparently absent from most CWC reefs at temperatures constantly below 11 °C. This study thus aimed to assess if a reduction in feeding capacity may contribute to understand the absence of this CWC from strictly cold environments. The efficiency of D. cornigera to capture meso- and macrozooplankton was assessed under different flow speeds (2, 5 and 10 cm s − 1) and temperatures (8, 12, and 16 °C). Flow speeds did not significantly affect the capture of mesozooplankton, whereas capture of macrozooplankton was significantly enhanced with increasing flow speed. Both meso- and macrozooplankton captures were not significantly affected by temperature in D. cornigera. Overall, this CWC species is efficient in capturing zooplankton under a larger range of flow velocities than the widespread CWC Lophelia pertusa, whose capture efficiency significantly decreased from low to high flow speeds. Even if temperature does not directly affect the capture rates of D. cornigera, it may still influence the feeding capacity of this CWC since the capture rates at 8 °C were always in the lowest range of the observed values at each flow speed, and corals maintained at 8 °C required a much longer time to fully expand their polyps once they were placed in the incubation chambers, than corals maintained at 12 and 16 °C.

Beschreibung: Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is an important component of chemical fluxes in the coastal ocean. The composition of SGD is influenced by biogeochemical reactions that take place within the subterranean estuary (STE), the subsurface mixing zone of fresh and saline groundwaters. The STE is characterized by redox gradients that affect the speciation and mobility of redox-sensitive elements (RSEs). We examined the distributions and behavior of the RSEs Mo, U, V, and Cr within the larger redox framework of a shallow STE and evaluated the source-sink function of the STE for these elements. We found that the advection of water through the STE and the apparent respiration of organic matter drives the formation of a “classic” redox sequence typically observed in diffusion-dominated fine-grained sediments. High concentrations of dissolved organic matter (up to 2.9 mM) lead to extensive sulfide production (up to 1.8 mM) within 3 m of the surface. Both Mo and U are quantitatively removed as oxic surface waters mix into ferruginous and sulfidic zones. Molybdenum removal appears to occur where sulfide concentrations exceed ~ 11 μM, a previously reported threshold for quantitative formation of highly particle-reactive thiomolybdate species. Uranium removal apparently occurs via reduction and formation of insoluble phases or sorption to sediments. It is not clear how readily sequestered metals may be returned to solution, but SGD may be an important sink in the marine budget for both Mo and U. In contrast, both V and Cr show non-conservative addition across the salinity mixing gradient. Increases in pH appear to promote dissolution of V from minerals within the shallow aquifer, and mobilization may also be associated with dissolved organic matter. Chromium enrichment is associated with higher dissolved organic matter and is likely due to the formation of soluble Cr-organic complexes. Fluxes of these elements were constrained using SGD volume fluxes, determined using radium isotopes as well as direct discharge measurements by Lee-type seepage meters, and concentrations in directly-sampled seepage (Mo: − 0.21 to − 7.7 μmol m− 2 day− 1; U: − 0.02 to − 0.6 μmol m− 2 day− 1; V: 0.05 to 2.0 μmol m− 2 day− 1; Cr: 0.12 to 4.4 μmol m− 2 day− 1).

Beschreibung: The Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic Transvaal Supergroup in South Africa contains the well-preserved stromatolitic Campbellrand-Malmani carbonate platform, which was deposited in shallow seawater shortly before the 2.40–2.32 Ga Great Oxidation Event (GOE). This platform is composed of alternating stromatolitic carbonates and mudstones and is a prominent candidate for (isotope-) geochemical mapping to investigate the appearance of very small amounts of free oxygen that accumulated in shallow waters preceding the GOE. Mo isotopes in sedimentary archives are widely used as a proxy for redox-changes in modern and ancient environments and recent evidence suggests that oxy-molybdate (MoO42−) is directly transferred from ocean water to inorganic carbonates with negligible fractionation, thus reflecting oceanic Mo isotope signatures. In this study we analyzed major and trace element compositions as well as Mo isotopic compositions of carbonate and mudstone samples from the KMF-5 drill core. Geochemical indicators, such as Fe and Mn concentrations and Fe-to-Mn abundance ratios reveal the preservation of some geochemical indicators despite the widespread silicification and dolomitization of the platform. Heavy δ30Si values of silicified carbonates between 0.53 and 2.35‰ point to Si precipitation from surface water during early diagenesis rather than to a later hydrothermal overprint. This assessment is supported by the frequent observation of rip-up structures of silica (chert) layers within the entire sedimentary succession. The δ98Mo values of whole rock samples throughout the Malmani-Campbellrand platform range between −0.82 and +1.40‰, similar to values reported for deeper slope carbonates from the Griqualand West area, but variations are independent from lithology or depositional water depth. These large variations in δ98Mo values indicate molybdenum redox cycling and thus the presence of free oxygen in the atmosphere-ocean system at that time, in agreement with earlier Mo isotopic studies on Campbellrand carbonates and shales. A similar range in δ98Mo values for carbonates between +0.40 and +0.87‰, however, was also found on the hand specimen scale, indicating the danger of a sample bias on the Mo isotopic stratigraphy of this carbonate platform. Results of previously unpublished adsorption experiments of Mo on CaCO3 clearly indicate that the Mo inventory of Malmani-Campbellrand carbonates was not only influenced by primary adsorption from seawater, but to a much larger degree by secondary processes during early diagenesis, which also affected the Mo isotopic composition of the samples on a local scale. Our results indicate that Mo concentrations and isotopic compositions in ancient stromatolitic carbonates were subject to redox changes within microbial mats and within the soft sediment during early diagenesis and later lithification, and as such cannot be used to quantitatively reconstruct the amount of free atmospheric oxygen or its fluctuations through Earth's history. Nevertheless, we interpret our heavy Mo isotopic signatures from carbonates as a minimum value for Neoarchean seawater and reinforce the assumption that free atmospheric oxygen built up a heavy oceanic Mo reservoir at that time.

Beschreibung: The March 13th 1888 collapse of Ritter Island in Papua New Guinea is the largest known sector collapse of an island volcano in historical times. One single event removed most of the island and its western submarine flank, and produced a landslide deposit that extends at least 70 km from the headwall of the collapse scar. We have mapped and described the deposits of the debris avalanche left by the collapse using full-coverage multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar backscatter intensity mapping, chirp seismic-reflection profiles, TowCam photographs of the seafloor and samples from a single dredge. Applying concepts originally developed on the 1980 Mount St. Helens collapse landslide deposits, we find that the Ritter landslide deposits show three distinct morphological facies: large block debris avalanche, matrix-rich debris avalanche and distal debris flow facies. Restoring the island's land and submarine topography we obtained a volume of 4.2 km3 for the initial collapse, about 75% of which is now forming the large block facies at distances less than 12 km from the collapse scar. The matrix-rich facies volume is unknown, but large scale erosion of the marine sediment substrate yielded a minimum total volume of 6.4 km3 in the distal debris flow and/or turbidite deposits, highlighting the efficiency of substrate erosion during the later history of the landslide movement. Although studying submarine landslide deposits we can never have the same confidence that subaerial observations provide, our analysis shows that well-exposed submarine landslide deposits can be interpreted in a similar way to subaerial volcano collapse deposits, and that they can in turn be used to interpret older, incompletely exposed submarine landslide deposits. Studying the deposits from a facies perspective provides the basis for reconstructing the kinematics of a collapse event landslide; understanding the mechanisms involved in its movement and deposition; and so providing key inputs to tsunami models.

Beschreibung: The Mediterranean mid-littoral zone is inhabited by two sympatric chthamalid barnacles: Chthamalus stellatus and Euraphia depressa, C. stellatus extends from the high midtidal zone, above the algal belt, to the supra-littoral fringe, E. depressa is restricted to the uppermost intertidal levels in wave-beaten places and to cryptic habitats lower on the shore within the belt of C. stellatus. Previous studies have suggested that the reason for the fragmented distribution pattern of E. depressa is competitive displacement by the sympatric C. stellatus, following random settlement. This hypothesis is in agreement with the common model of zonation suggested by Connell that lower distribution limits are determined by biotic factors (competition and predation), while upper limits are set by physical factors. It is hard to test the validity of this model for this barnacle pair since the early ontogenetic stages of the species are morphologically indistinguishable, hindering our ability to understand distribution processes. Using 16S mtDNA as a genetic marker in a multiplex PCR system, cyprids and spats were individually identified. Settlement and recruitment rates were assessed using settlement plates, and the effect of post-settlement processes was tested with transplantation of settlers between zones. Results showed different strategies in each species: settlement of E. depressa was habitat-specific, while settlement of C. stellatus was random. Shifting individuals of C. stellatus to the high and cryptic zones resulted in high mortality; however, exposing juveniles of E. depressa that settled in artificially cryptic low shore habitat to C. stellatus presence had no effect on their survival. These finding do not agree with the formerly suggested hypothesis that zonation is mainly determined by post-settlement factors, and that the interspecies boundary is determined by interspecific competition, implying that competition model cannot be adapted to Mediterranean intertidal zonation and that other models, dominated by physical enforcement and pre-settlement recruitment-limiting factors, may prevail in this ecosystem.

Beschreibung: We present whole rock 187Os/188Os data for the most mafic lavas along the Lesser Antilles arc (MgO = 5–17 wt.%) and for the subducting basalt and sediments. 187Os/188Os ratios vary from 0.127 to 0.202 in the arc lavas. Inverse correlations between 187Os/188Os and Os concentrations and between 187Os/188Os and indices of differentiation such as MgO suggests that assimilation, rather than source variation, is responsible for the range of Os isotopic variation observed. 87Sr/86Sr, La/Sm and Sr/Th are also modified by assimilation since they all correlate with 187Os/188Os. The assimilant is inferred to have a MORB-like 87Sr/86Sr with high Sr (〉700 ppm), low light on middle and heavy rare earth elements (L/M-HREE; La/Sm ∼2.5) and 187Os/188Os 〉 0.2. Such compositional features are likely to correspond to a plagioclase-rich early-arc cumulate. Given that assimilation affects lavas that were last stored at more than 5 kbar, assimilation must occur in the middle-lower crust. Only a high MgO picrite from Grenada escaped obvious assimilation (MgO = 17% wt.%) and could reflect mantle source composition. It has a very radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr (0.705) but a 187Os/188Os ratio that overlaps the mantle range (0.127). 187Os/188Os and 87Sr/88Sr ratios of the sediments and an altered basalt from the subducting slab vary from 0.18 to 3.52 and 0.708 to 0.714. We therefore suggest that, unlike Sr, no Os from the slab was transferred to the parental magmas. Os may be either retained in the mantle wedge or even returned to the deep mantle in the subducting slab.

Beschreibung: Seismic anisotropy is common within the Earth's solid interior, in the crust, in the mantle, and in the inner core. Elastic anisotropy leads to direction-dependent wave velocities, shear-wave splitting, and polarization anomalies in both surface waves and body waves. We review the basic theory and the latest developments in modeling methods for seismic-wave propagation in anisotropic media. From mineral alignment to fine-layering effects and from mid-oceanic ridges and subduction zones to sutured continental terranes, we summarize the seismological observations that can be related to elastic anisotropy, the mechanisms proposed to explain it, and the geodynamic constraints that it offers.

Beschreibung: The geochemical composition of foraminiferal tests is a valuable archive for the reconstruction of paleo-climatic, -oceanographic and -ecological changes. However, dissolution of biogenic calcite and precipitation of inorganic calcite (overgrowth and recrystallization) at the seafloor and in the sediment column can potentially alter the original geochemical composition of the foraminiferal test, biasing any resulting paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The δ11B of planktic foraminiferal calcite is a promising ocean pH-proxy but the effect of diagenesis is still poorly known. Here we present new δ11B, δ13C, δ18O, Sr/Ca and B/Ca data from multiple species of planktic foraminifera from time-equivalent samples for two low latitude sites: clay-rich Tanzanian Drilling Project (TDP) Site 18 from the Indian Ocean containing well-preserved (‘glassy’) foraminifera and carbonate-rich Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 865 from the central Pacific Ocean hosting recrystallized (‘frosty’) foraminifera. Our approach makes the assumption that environmental conditions were initially similar at both sites so most chemical differences are attributable to diagenesis. Planktic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C records show offsets in both relative and absolute values between the two sites consistent with earlier findings that these isotopic ratios are strongly influenced by diagenetic alteration. Sr/Ca and B/Ca ratios in planktic foraminiferal calcite are also offset between the two sites but there is little change in the relative difference between surface and deep dwelling taxa. In contrast, δ11B values indicate no large differences between well-preserved and recrystallized foraminifera suggesting that despite extensive diagenetic alteration the δ11B of biogenic calcite appears robust, potentially indicative of a lack of free exchange of boron between pore fluids and the recrystallizing CaCO3. Our finding may remove one potential source of uncertainty in δ11B based pH reconstructions and provide us with greater confidence in our ability to reconstruct pH in the ancient oceans from at least some recrystallized foraminiferal calcite. However, further investigations should extend this approach to test the robustness of our findings across a range of taphonomies, ages and burial settings.

Beschreibung: Climate models are potentially useful tools for addressing human dispersals and demographic change. The Arabian Peninsula is becoming increasingly significant in the story of human dispersals out of Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Although characterised largely by arid environments today, emerging climate records indicate that the peninsula was wetter many times in the past, suggesting that the region may have been inhabited considerably more than hitherto thought. Explaining the origins and spatial distribution of increased rainfall is challenging because palaeoenvironmental research in the region is in an early developmental stage. We address environmental oscillations by assembling and analysing an ensemble of five global climate models (CCSM3, COSMOS, HadCM3, KCM, and NorESM). We focus on precipitation, as the variable is key for the development of lakes, rivers and savannas. The climate models generated here were compared with published palaeoenvironmental data such as palaeolakes, speleothems and alluvial fan records as a means of validation. All five models showed, to varying degrees, that the Arabia Peninsula was significantly wetter than today during the Last Interglacial (130 ka and 126/125 ka timeslices), and that the main source of increased rainfall was from the North African summer monsoon rather than the Indian Ocean monsoon or from Mediterranean climate patterns. Where available, 104 ka (MIS 5c), 56 ka (early MIS 3) and 21 ka (LGM) timeslices showed rainfall was present but not as extensive as during the Last Interglacial. The results favour the hypothesis that humans potentially moved out of Africa and into Arabia on multiple occasions during pluvial phases of the Late Pleistocene.

Beschreibung: Carbonates are widespread at methane and petroleum seeps and are often precipitated as consequence of an alkalinity increase due to the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) or, less often reported, of higher hydrocarbons. These carbonates are taphonomic windows into Earth's history, because they excellently protect the in situ formed microbial signatures (e.g. lipid biomarkers) from diagenetic destruction. A complication for paleoreconstructions, however, is that seep carbonates also encapsulate variable amounts of allochthonous organic matter, sometimes even completely obscuring authigenic microbial signatures. Seep carbonates from the Holocene Black Sea, the Pleistocene Enza River and the Pliocene San Lorenzo (both Northern Apennines, Italy) provide hints to better understand (i) the importance of processes other than AOM for the formation of seep carbonates and (ii) the controls of allochthonous and autochthonous contribution of biomarkers to organic matter in seep carbonates. Biomarker distributions in different parts of a Black Sea carbonate clearly demonstrate that high allochthonous organic matter is entrapped if AOM carbonates are formed intrasedimentary, particularly if methane supply is relatively low and external organic matter input high. High allochthonous contributions were also found in the biomarker inventory of ancient seep carbonates from the Italian Northern Apennines (Enza River and San Lorenzo) pointing at their precipitation within the sediment. Specific and complex conditions were indicated from our data for the Enza River location. Carbonate facies and particularly biomarker compositions, with abundant signatures of sulfate reducing bacteria, suggest that sulfate reduction using alkaline, and eventually sulfate- and higher hydrocarbon-enriched fluids triggered the growth of these seep carbonates. Our and other data suggest that this process has to be more considered if interpreting seep settings, particularly where microbial processes rely on rising fluids from deep petroleum reservoirs.