ALBERT

Description: The guest-exchange method (or replacement) for methane production from gas hydrates has recently received attention because it can be used for both carbon dioxide sequestration and methane production. The structure of gas hydrates is maintained as a structure I (sI) hydrate while methane molecules are exchanged with carbon dioxide. In this study, CH4 + CO2 mixed gas hydrates were examined under terahertz light at various temperatures to simulate CH4–CO2 exchange reactions. Each gas hydrate composition examined was a representative composition at each step of the exchange reaction. The molecular composition was also accurately analyzed by gas chromatography. Refractive indices calculated by the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) of gas hydrate samples were correlated to the guest composition, and this novel method was proven to be used to quantify the extent of replacement via optical constant. Furthermore, changes in the water framework from the sI hydrate to ice using THz-TDS were investigated with an increasing temperature. Overall, this study reveals the process of guest exchange and phase transition from a gas hydrate to ice via the optical properties in the terahertz region, and it offers a powerful tool in gas hydrate production.

Description: Marine researchers continue to create large quantities of benthic images e.g., using AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles). In order to quantify the size of sessile objects in the images, a pixel-to-centimeter ratio is required for each image, often indirectly provided through a geometric laser point (LP) pattern, projected onto the seafloor. Manual annotation of these LPs in all images is too time-consuming and thus infeasible for nowadays data volumes. Because of the technical evolution of camera rigs, the LP's geometrical layout and color features vary for different expeditions and projects. This makes the application of one algorithm, tuned to a strictly defined LP pattern, also ineffective. Here we present the web-tool DELPHI, that efficiently learns the LP layout for one image transect/collection from just a small number of hand labeled LPs and applies this layout model to the rest of the data. The efficiency in adapting to new data allows to compute the LPs and the pixel-to-centimeter ratio fully automatic and with high accuracy. DELPHI is applied to two real-world examples and shows clear improvements regarding reduction of tuning effort for new LP patterns as well as increasing detection performance.

Description: Atmospheric deposition is a major source of trace metals in marine surface waters and supplies vital micronutrients to phytoplankton, yet measured aerosol trace metal solubility values are operationally defined, and there are relatively few multi-element studies on aerosol-metal solubility in seawater. Here we measure the solubility of aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) from natural aerosol samples in seawater over a 7 days period to (1) evaluate the role of extraction time in trace metal dissolution behavior and (2) explore how the individual dissolution patterns could influence biota. Dissolution behavior occurs over a continuum ranging from rapid dissolution, in which the majority of soluble metal dissolved immediately upon seawater exposure (Cd and Co in our samples), to gradual dissolution, where metals dissolved slowly over time (Zn, Mn, Cu, and Al in our samples). Additionally, dissolution affected by interactions with particles was observed in which a decline in soluble metal concentration over time occurred (Fe and Pb in our samples). Natural variability in aerosol chemistry between samples can cause metals to display different dissolution kinetics in different samples, and this was particularly evident for Ni, for which samples showed a broad range of dissolution rates. The elemental molar ratio of metals in the bulk aerosols was 23,189Fe: 22,651Al: 445Mn: 348Zn: 71Cu: 48Ni: 23Pb: 9Co: 1Cd, whereas the seawater soluble molar ratio after 7 days of leaching was 11Fe: 620Al: 205Mn: 240Zn: 20Cu: 14Ni: 9Pb: 2Co: 1Cd. The different kinetics and ratios of aerosol metal dissolution have implications for phytoplankton nutrition, and highlight the need for unified extraction protocols that simulate aerosol metal dissolution in the surface ocean.

Description: In Ammassalik, in southeast Greenland, downslope winds can reach hurricane intensity and represent a hazard for the local population and environment. They advect cold air down the ice sheet and over the Irminger Sea, where they drive large ocean–atmosphere heat fluxes over an important ocean convection region. Earlier studies have found them to be associated with a strong katabatic acceleration over the steep coastal slopes, flow convergence inside the valley of Ammassalik, and—in one instance—mountain wave breaking. Yet, for the general occurrence of strong downslope wind events, the importance of mesoscale processes is largely unknown. Here, two wind events—one weak and one strong—are simulated with the atmospheric Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model with different model and topography resolutions, ranging from 1.67 to 60 km. For both events, but especially for the strong one, it is found that lower resolutions underestimate the wind speed because they misrepresent the steepness of the topography and do not account for the underlying wave dynamics. If a 5-km model instead of a 60-km model resolution in Ammassalik is used, the flow associated with the strong wind event is faster by up to 20 m s−1. The effects extend far downstream over the Irminger Sea, resulting in a diverging spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the heat fluxes. Local differences in the heat fluxes amount to 20%, with potential implications for ocean convection.

Description: We perform eddy-resolving and high-vertical-resolution numerical simulations of the circulation in an idealized equatorial Atlantic Ocean in order to explore the formation of the deep equatorial circulation (DEC) in this basin. Unlike in previous studies, the deep equatorial intraseasonal variability (DEIV) that is believed to be the source of the DEC is generated internally by instabilities of the upper ocean currents. Two main simulations are discussed: Solution 1, configured with a rectangular basin and with wind forcing that is zonally and temporally uniform; and Solution 2, with realistic coastlines and with an annual cycle of wind forcing varying zonally. Somewhat surprisingly, Solution 1 produces the more realistic DEC: The large-vertical-scale currents (Equatorial Intermediate Currents or EICs) are found over a large zonal portion of the basin, and the small-vertical-scale equatorial currents (Equatorial Deep Jets or EDJs) form low-frequency, quasi-resonant, baroclinic equatorial basin modes with phase propagating mostly downward, consistent with observations. We demonstrate that both types of currents arise from the rectification of DEIV, consistent with previous theories. We also find that the EDJs contribute to maintaining the EICs, suggesting that the nonlinear energy transfer is more complex than previously thought. In Solution 2, the DEC is unrealistically weak and less spatially coherent than in the first simulation probably because of its weaker DEIV. Using intermediate solutions, we find that the main reason for this weaker DEIV is the use of realistic coastlines in Solution 2. It remains to be determined, what needs to be modified or included to obtain a realistic DEC in the more realistic configuration.

Description: A yet unexplained drift of (some) oxygen optodes during storage/transport and thus significant deviations from factory/laboratory calibrations have been a major handicap for autonomous oxygen observations. Optode drift appears to be systematic and is predominantly a slope effect due to reduced oxygen sensitivity. A small contribution comes from a reduced luminophore lifetime, which causes a small positive offset. A reliable in situ reference is essential to correct such a drift. Traditionally, this called for a ship-based reference cast, which poses some challenges for opportunistic float deployments. This study presents an easily implemented alternative using near-surface/in-air measurements of an Aanderaa optode on a 10-cm stalk and compares it to the more traditional approaches (factory, laboratory, and in situ deployment calibration). In-air samples show a systematic bias depending on the water saturation, which is likely caused by occasional submersions of the standard-height stalk optode. Linear regression of measured in-air supersaturation against in-water supersaturation (using ancillary meteorological data to define the saturation level) robustly removes this bias and thus provides a precise (0.2%) and accurate (1%) in situ correction that is available throughout the entire instrument’s lifetime.

Description: White Plague Disease (WPD) is implicated in coral reef decline in the Caribbean and is characterized by microbial community shifts in coral mucus and tissue. Studies thus far have focused on assessing microbial communities or the identification of specific pathogens, yet few have addressed holobiont response across metaorganism compartments in coral disease. Here, we report on the first metatranscriptomic assessment of the coral host, algal symbiont, and microbial compartment in order to survey holobiont structure and function in healthy and diseased samples from Orbicella faveolata collected at reef sites off Puerto Rico. Our data indicate holobiont-wide as well as compartment-specific responses to WPD. Gene expression changes in the diseased coral host involved proteins playing a role in innate immunity, cytoskeletal integrity, cell adhesion, oxidative stress, chemical defense, and retroelements. In contrast, the algal symbiont showed comparatively few expression changes, but of large magnitude, of genes related to stress, photosynthesis, and metal transport. Concordant with the coral host response, the bacterial compartment showed increased abundance of heat shock proteins, genes related to oxidative stress, DNA repair, and potential retroelement activity. Importantly, analysis of the expressed bacterial gene functions establishes the participation of multiple bacterial families in WPD pathogenesis and also suggests a possible involvement of viruses and/or phages in structuring the bacterial assemblage. In this study, we implement an experimental approach to partition the coral holobiont and resolve compartment- and taxa-specific responses in order to understand metaorganism function in coral disease.

Description: Predictability on seasonal time scales over the North Atlantic–Europe region is assessed using a seasonal prediction system based on an initialized version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM). For this region, two of the dominant predictors on seasonal time scales are El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events. Multiple studies have shown a potential for improved North Atlantic predictability for either predictor. Their respective influences are however difficult to disentangle, since the stratosphere is itself impacted by ENSO. Both El Niño and SSW events correspond to a negative signature of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which has a major influence on European weather. This study explores the impact on Europe by separating the stratospheric pathway of the El Niño teleconnection. In the seasonal prediction system, the evolution of El Niño events is well captured for lead times of up to 6 months, and stratospheric variability is reproduced with a realistic frequency of SSW events. The model reproduces the El Niño teleconnection through the stratosphere, involving a deepened Aleutian low connected to a warm anomaly in the northern winter stratosphere. The stratospheric anomaly signal then propagates downward into the troposphere through the winter season. Predictability of 500-hPa geopotential height over Europe at lead times of up to 4 months is shown to be increased only for El Niño events that exhibit SSW events, and it is shown that the characteristic negative NAO signal is only obtained for winters also containing major SSW events for both the model and the reanalysis data.

Description: Classical theory concerning theEliassen–Palmrelation is extended in this study to allowfor a unified treatment of midlatitude inertia–gravity waves (MIGWs), midlatitude Rossby waves (MRWs), and equatorial waves (EQWs). A conservation equation for what the authors call the impulse-bolus (IB) pseudomomentum is useful, because it is applicable to ageostrophic waves, and the associated three-dimensional flux is parallel to the direction of the group velocity of MRWs. The equation has previously been derived in an isentropic coordinate system or a shallow-water model. The authors make an explicit comparison of prognostic equations for the IB pseudomomentum vector and the classical energy-based (CE) pseudomomentum vector, assuming inviscid linear waves in a sufficiently weak mean flow, to provide a basis for the former quantity to be used in an Eulerian time-mean (EM) framework. The authors investigate what makes the three-dimensional fluxes in the IB and CE pseudomomentum equations look in different directions. It is found that the two fluxes are linked by a gauge transformation, previously unmentioned, associated with a divergence-form wave-induced pressure L. The quantity L vanishes for MIGWs and becomes nonzero for MRWs and EQWs, and it may be estimated using the virial theorem. Concerning the effect of waves on the mean flow, L represents an additional effect in the pressure gradient term of both (the three-dimensional versions of) the transformed EM momentum equations and the merged form of the EMmomentumequations, the latter of which is associated with the nonacceleration theorem.

Description: [in “State of the Climate in 2014” : Special Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Vol. 96, No. 7, July 2015]

Description: Atmospheric deposition contributes potentially significant amounts of the nutrients iron, nitrogen and phosphorus (via mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosols) to the oligotrophic tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Transport pathways, deposition processes and source strengths contributing to this atmospheric flux are all highly variable in space and time. Atmospheric sampling was conducted during 28 research cruises through the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) over a 12 year period and a substantial dataset of measured concentrations of nutrients and trace metals in aerosol and rainfall over the region was acquired. This database was used to quantify (on a spatial- and seasonal-basis) the atmospheric input of ammonium, nitrate, soluble phosphorus and soluble and total iron, aluminium and manganese to the ETNA. The magnitude of atmospheric input varies strongly across the region, with high rainfall rates associated with the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone contributing to high wet deposition fluxes in the south, particularly for soluble species. Dry deposition fluxes of species associated with mineral dust exhibited strong seasonality, with highest fluxes associated with winter-time low-level transport of Saharan dust. Overall (wet plus dry) atmospheric inputs of soluble and total trace metals were used to estimate their soluble fractions. These also varied with season and were generally lower in the dry north than in the wet south. The ratio of ammonium plus nitrate to soluble iron in deposition to the ETNA was lower than the N:Fe requirement for algal growth in all cases, indicating the importance of the atmosphere as a source of excess iron.

Description: This review is intended to highlight recent exciting advances in the study of distal (〉100 km from the source) tephra and cryptotephra deposits and their potential application for volcanology. Geochemical correlations of tephra between proximal and distal locations have extended the geographical distribution of tephra over tens of millions square kilometers. Such correlations embark on the potential to reappraise volume and magnitude estimates of known eruptions. Cryptotephra investigations in marine, lake and ice-core records also give rise to continuous chronicles of large explosive eruptions many of which were hitherto unknown. Tephra preservation within distal ice sheets and varved lake sediments permit precise dating of parent eruptions and provide new insight into the frequency of eruptions. Recent advances in analytical methods permit an examination of magmatic processes and the evolution of the whole volcanic belts at distances of hundreds and thousands of kilometers from source. Distal tephrochronology has much to offer volcanology and has the potential to significantly contribute to our understanding of sizes, recurrence intervals and geochemical make-up of the large explosive eruptions.

Description: Warming and acidification of the oceans as a consequence of increasing CO2-concentrations occur at large scales. Numerous studies have shown the impact of single stressors on individual species. However, studies on the combined effect of multiple stressors on a multi-species assemblage, which is ecologically much more realistic and relevant, are still scarce. Therefore, we orthogonally crossed the two factors warming and acidification in mesocosm experiments and studied their single and combined impact on the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus associated with its natural community (epiphytes and mesograzers) in the Baltic Sea in all seasons (from April 2013 to April 2014). We superimposed our treatment factors onto the natural fluctuations of all environmental variables present in the Benthocosms in so-called delta-treatments. Thereby we compared the physiological responses of F. vesiculosus (growth and metabolites) to the single and combined effects of natural Kiel Fjord temperatures and pCO2 conditions with a 5 °C temperature increase and/or pCO2 increase treatment (1100 ppm in the headspace above the mesocosms). Responses were also related to the factor photoperiod which changes over the course of the year. Our results demonstrate complex seasonal pattern. Elevated pCO2 positively affected growth of F. vesiculosus alone and/or interactively with warming. The response direction (additive, synergistic or antagonistic), however, depended on season and daylength. The effects were most obvious when plants were actively growing during spring and early summer. Our study revealed for the first time that it is crucial to always consider the impact of variable environmental conditions throughout all seasons. In summary, our study indicates that in future F. vesiculosus will be more affected by detrimental summer heat-waves than by ocean acidification although the latter consequently enhances growth throughout the year. The mainly negative influence of rising temperatures on the physiology of this keystone macroalga may alter and/or hamper its ecological functions in the shallow coastal ecosystem of the Baltic Sea.

Description: We investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure of up to 6000 dbar on Aanderaa and Sea-Bird oxygen optodes both in the laboratory and in the field. The overall pressure response is a reduction in the O2 reading by 3 – 4 % per 1000 dbar which is closely linear with pressure and increases with temperature. Closer inspection reveals two superimposed processes with opposite effect: an O2-independent pressure response on the luminophore which increases optode O2 readings and an O2-dependent change in luminescence quenching which decreases optode O2 readings. The latter process dominates and is mainly due to a shift in the equilibrium between sensing membrane and sea water under elevated pressures. If only the dominant O2-dependent process is considered, Aanderaa and Sea-Bird optodes differ in their pressure response. Compensation of the O2-independent process, however, yields a uniform O2 dependence for Aanderaa optodes with standard foil and fast-response foil as well as Sea-Bird optodes. A new scheme to calculate optode O2 from raw data is proposed to account for the two processes. The overall uncertainty of the optode pressure correction amounts to 0.3 % per 1000 dbar, mainly due to variability between sensors.

Description: Global change has caused a worldwide increase in reports of Vibrio-associated diseases with ecosystem-wide impacts on humans and marine animals. In Europe, higher prevalence of human infections followed regional climatic trends with outbreaks occurring during episodes of unusually warm weather. Similar patterns were also observed in Vibrio-associated diseases affecting marine organisms such as fish, bivalves and corals. Basic knowledge is still lacking on the ecology and evolutionary biology of these bacteria as well as on their virulence mechanisms. Current limitations in experimental systems to study infection and the lack of diagnostic tools still prevent a better understanding of Vibrio emergence. A major challenge is to foster cooperation between fundamental and applied research in order to investigate the consequences of pathogen emergence in natural Vibrio populations and answer federative questions that meet societal needs. Here we report the proceedings of the first European workshop dedicated to these specific goals of the Vibrio research community by connecting current knowledge to societal issues related to ocean health and food security.

Description: The upper tropical Atlantic Ocean has markedly warmed since the 1960s. It has been shown that this warming was not due to local heat fluxes, and that the trade winds that drive the coastal and equatorial upwelling have intensified rather than weakened. Remote forcing might thus have played an important role. Here model experiments are used to investigate the contribution from an increased inflow of warm Indian Ocean water through Agulhas leakage. A high-resolution hindcast experiment with interannually varying forcing for the time period 1948 to 2007, in which Agulhas leakage increases by about 45% from the 1960s to the early 2000s, reproduces the observed warming trend. To tease out the role of Agulhas leakage, a sensitivity experiment designed to only increase Agulhas leakage is used. Compared to a control simulation it shows a pronounced warming in the upper tropical Atlantic Ocean. A Lagrangian trajectory analysis confirms that a significant portion of Agulhas leakage water reaches the upper 300m of the tropical Atlantic Ocean within two decades, and that the tropical Atlantic warming in the sensitivity experiment is mainly due to water of Agulhas origin. Therefore, it is suggested that the increased trade winds since the 1960s favor upwelling of warmer subsurface waters, which in parts originate from the Agulhas, leading to higher SSTs in the tropics

Description: Implantable endovascular devices such as bare metal, drug eluting, and bioresorbable stents have transformed interventional care by providing continuous structural and mechanical support to many peripheral, neural, and coronary arteries affected by blockage. Although effective in achieving immediate restoration of blood flow, the long-term re-endothelialization and inflammation induced by mechanical stents are difficult to diagnose or treat. Here we present nanomaterial designs and integration strategies for the bioresorbable electronic stent with drug-infused functionalized nanoparticles to enable flow sensing, temperature monitoring, data storage, wireless power/data transmission, inflammation suppression, localized drug delivery, and hyperthermia therapy. In vivo and ex vivo animal experiments as well as in vitro cell studies demonstrate the previously unrecognized potential for bioresorbable electronic implants coupled with bioinert therapeutic nanoparticles in the endovascular system.

Description: The shrinking-core model of the formation of gas hydrates from ice spheres with well-defined geometry gives experimental access to the gas permeation in bulk hydrates which is relevant to their use as energy storage materials, their exploitation from natural resources, as well as to their role in flow assurance. Here we report on a new approach to model CO2 clathration experiments in the temperature range from 230 to 272 K. We develop a comprehensive description of the gas permeation based on the diffusion along the network of polyhedral cages, some of them being empty. Following earlier molecular dynamics simulation results, the jump from a cage to one of its empty neighbors is assumed to proceed via a “hole-in-cage-wall” mechanism involving water vacancies in cage walls. The rate-limiting process in the investigated temperature range can be explained by the creation of water-vacancy-interstitial pairs. The gas diffusion leads to a time-dependent cage filling which decreases across the hydrate layer with the distance from the particle surface. The model allows a prediction of the time needed for a complete conversion of ice spheres into clathrate as well as the time needed for a full equilibration of the cage fillings. The findings essentially support our earlier results obtained in the framework of a purely phenomenological permeation model in terms of the overall transformation kinetics, yet it provides for the first time insight into the cage equilibration processes. The diffusion of CO2 molecules through bulk hydrate is found to be about three to four times faster in comparison with the CH4 case.

Description: Variations in the global tropospheric zonal mean zonal wind ([U]) during boreal winter are investigated using Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Functions applied to monthly means. The first two modes correspond to the Northern and Southern Annular Mode and modes 3 and 4 represent variability in the tropics. One is related to El Niño Southern Oscillation and the other has variability that is highly correlated with the time series of [U] at 150 hPa between 5°N and 5°S ([U150]E) and is related to activity of the Madden-Julian Oscillation. The extratropical response to [U150]E is investigated using linear regressions of 500 hPa geopotential height onto the [U150]E time series. We make use of reanalysis data and of the ensemble mean output from a relaxation experiment using the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts model in which the tropical atmosphere is relaxed towards reanalysis data. The regression analysis reveals that a shift of the Aleutian low and a wave train across the North Atlantic are associated with [U150]E. We find that the subtropical waveguides and the link between the North Pacific and North Atlantic are stronger during the easterly phase of [U150]E. The wave train over the North Atlantic is associated with Rossby wave sources over the subtropical North Pacific and North America. Finally, we show that a linear combination of both [U150]E and the Quasi Biennial Oscillation in the lower stratosphere can explain the circulation anomalies of the anomalously cold European winter of 1962/63 when both were in an extreme easterly phase.

Description: To investigate the influence of atmospheric model resolution on the representation of daily precipitation extremes, ensemble simulations with the atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM5 at different horizontal (T213 to T31) and vertical (L31 to L19) resolutions and forced with observed sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentrations have been carried out for 01/1982 - 09/2010. All results have been compared with the highest resolution, which has been validated against observations. Resolution affects both the representation of physical processes and the averaging of precipitation across grid boxes. The latter, in particular, smoothes out localized extreme events. These effects have been disentangled by averaging precipitation simulated at the highest resolution to the corresponding coarser grid. Extremes are represented by seasonal maxima, modeled by the generalized extreme value distribution. Effects of averaging and representation of physical processes vary with region and season. In the tropical summer hemisphere, extreme precipitation is reduced by up to 30% due to the averaging effect, and a further 65% owing to a coarser representation of physical processes. Towards mid- to high latitudes, the latter effect reduces to 20%; in the winter hemisphere it vanishes towards the poles. A strong drop is found between T106 and T63 in the convection dominated tropics. At the lowest resolution, northern hemisphere winter precipitation extremes, mainly caused by large scale weather systems, are in general represented reasonably well. Coarser vertical resolution causes an equatorward shift of maximum extreme precipitation in the tropics. The impact of vertical resolution on mean precipitation is less pronounced; for horizontal resolution it is negligible.

Description: Sulfurimonas species are commonly isolated from sulfidic habitats and numerous 16S rRNA sequences related to Sulfurimonas species have been identified in chemically distinct environments, such as hydrothermal deep-sea vents, marine sediments, the ocean’s water column, and terrestrial habitats. In some of these habitats, Sulfurimonas have been demonstrated to play an important role in chemoautotrophic processes. Sulfurimonas species can grow with a variety of electron donors and acceptors, which may contribute to their widespread distribution. Multiple copies of one type of enzyme (e.g., sulfide:quinone reductases and hydrogenases) may play a pivotal role in Sulfurimonas’ flexibility to colonize disparate environments. Many of these genes appear to have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer which has promoted adaptations to the distinct habitats. Here we summarize Sulfurimonas’ versatile energy metabolisms and link their physiological properties to their global distribution.

Description: Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and its biological conversion in marine sediments, largely controlled by anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), is a crucial part of the global carbon cycle. However, little is known about the role of iron oxides as an oxidant for AOM. Here we provide the first field evidence for iron-dependent AOM in brackish coastal surface sediments and show that methane produced in Bothnian Sea sediments is oxidized in distinct zones of iron- and sulfate-dependent AOM. At our study site, anthropogenic eutrophication over recent decades has led to an upward migration of the sulfate/methane transition zone in the sediment. Abundant iron oxides and high dissolved ferrous iron indicate iron reduction in the methanogenic sediments below the newly established sulfate/methane transition. Laboratory incubation studies of these sediments strongly suggest that the in situ microbial community is capable of linking methane oxidation to iron oxide reduction. Eutrophication of coastal environments may therefore create geochemical conditions favorable for iron-mediated AOM and thus increase the relevance of iron-dependent methane oxidation in the future. Besides its role in mitigating methane emissions, iron-dependent AOM strongly impacts sedimentary iron cycling and related biogeochemical processes through the reduction of large quantities of iron oxides.

Description: Viruses play important roles in microbial ecology and some infectious diseases, but relatively little is known about the concentrations, sources, transformation, and fate of viruses in the atmosphere. We have measured total airborne concentrations of virus-like and bacterium-like particles (VLPs between 0.02 and 0.5 μm in size and BLPs between 0.5 and 5 μm) in nine locations: a classroom, a daycare center, a dining facility, a health center, three houses, an office, and outdoors. Indoor concentrations of both VLPs and BLPs were ∼105 particles m–3, and the virus:bacteria ratio was 0.9 ± 0.1 (mean ± standard deviation across different locations). There were no significant differences in concentration between different indoor environments. VLP and BLP concentrations in outdoor air were 2.6 and 1.6 times higher, respectively, than in indoor air. At the single outdoor site, the virus:bacteria ratio was 1.4.

Description: Many aspects of the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere at the mesoscale (on the order of 20–100 km) remain unknown. While recent observations from the Southern Ocean revealed that circular fronts associated with oceanic mesoscale eddies leave a distinct imprint on the overlying wind, cloud coverage, and rain, the mechanisms responsible for explaining these atmospheric changes are not well established. Here the atmospheric response above mesoscale ocean eddies is investigated utilizing a newly developed coupled atmosphere–ocean regional model [Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling–Regional Ocean Modelling System (COSMO-ROMS)] configured at a horizontal resolution of ~10 km for the South Atlantic and run for a 3-month period during austral winter of 2004. The model-simulated changes in surface wind, cloud fraction, and rain above the oceanic eddies are very consistent with the relationships inferred from satellite observations for the same region and time. From diagnosing the model’s momentum balance, it is shown that the atmospheric imprint of the oceanic eddies are driven by the modification of vertical mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer, rather than secondary flows driven by horizontal pressure gradients. This is largely due to the very limited ability of the atmosphere to adjust its temperature over the time scale it takes for an air parcel to pass over these mesoscale oceanic features. This results in locally enhanced vertical gradients between the ocean surface and the overlying air and thus a rapid change in turbulent mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer and an associated change in the vertical momentum flux.

Description: This study examines the role of processes transporting tracers across the Polar Front (PF) in the depth interval between the surface and major topographic sills, which this study refers to as the “PF core.” A preindustrial control simulation of an eddying climate model coupled to a biogeochemical model [GFDL Climate Model, version 2.6 (CM2.6)– simplified version of the Biogeochemistry with Light Iron Nutrients and Gas (miniBLING) 0.1° ocean model] is used to investigate the transport of heat, carbon, oxygen, and phosphate across the PF core, with a particular focus on the role of mesoscale eddies. The authors find that the total transport across the PF core results from a ubiquitous Ekman transport that drives the upwelled tracers to the north and a localized opposing eddy transport that induces tracer leakages to the south at major topographic obstacles. In the Ekman layer, the southward eddy transport only partially compensates the northward Ekman transport, while below the Ekman layer, the southward eddy transport dominates the total transport but remains much smaller in magnitude than the near-surface northward transport. Most of the southward branch of the total transport is achieved below the PF core, mainly through geostrophic currents. This study finds that the eddy-diffusive transport reinforces the southward eddy-advective transport for carbon and heat, and opposes it for oxygen and phosphate. Eddy-advective transport is likely to be the leading-order component of eddy-induced transport for all four tracers. However, eddy-diffusive transport may provide a significant contribution to the southward eddy heat transport due to strong along-isopycnal temperature gradients.