ALBERT

Description: A cyclonic cold-core eddy in the Northeast Atlantic of about 100 km in diameter at the sea surface was investigated in May 1985, approximately 3 wk after it had separated from the Polar Front. A strong thermocline, which was shallower but more pronounced than in the ambient water, separated a warm surface layer within the eddy from deeper cold water, while horizontal salinity gradients marked the boundary to the ambient water. The cold-core eddy could be distinguished from amblent Northeast Atlantic water in terms of its nutrient chemistry, phytoplankton species distribution and abundance, bacterial numbers and cell size. The surface layer of the eddy was distinct from deeper eddy water, and was characterized by high concentrations of chlorophyll a, total phytoplankton biomass, dinoflagellates and bacteria. At the eddy's margin diatoms were predominant. It is argued that the physical isolation of the eddy surface layer due to the formation of a shallow thermocline led to rapid utilisation of nutrients. This probably enabled the development of a dinoflagellate-dominated phytoplankton population and of organisms capable of heterotrophic regenerative processes.

Description: Sinking and sedimentation rates of a natural phytoplankton community were simultaneously measured during the course of a diatom winterkpring bloom in a 13m3 experimental mesocosm. Sinking rate was determined directly in settling columns and was calculated from sediment trap catches. The 2 methods yielded significantly different results. Whole-community as well as speciesspecific sinking rates varied over time. These variations were related to changes of the environmental conditions. Over a 26d study period, a total of 7.5g cm-' was collected in the sediment traps. Viable phytoplankton cells were the primary component of the sedimented matter while zooplankton fecal pellets contributed on average less than 10 %. Assuming the Redfield atomic ratio for the collected material, the amount of carbon which sedimented during the winterkpring bloom could be predicted from pre-bloom nutrient concentrations. The daily sedimentation rate varied considerably over time and displayed a characterisbc pattern. This pattern is evidently a function of both suspended phytoplankton biomass and the temporal variation in whole-community sinking rate.

Description: During the Anglo-German Antarctic expedition in February 1982 macroplankton was collected in the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula. Macroplankton compos~tions at 36 stations were compared and degrees of similarity submitted to hierarchical cluster analysis. Results demonstrate strong spatial heterogeneity, which could be attributed to the different water masses in this region. These dissimilarities demarcate 4 provinces, each characterized by a distinct macroplankton community: (l) The 'Oceanic Community' comprises the stations influenced by the Westwind Drift; oceanic forms are typical (e.g. the hyperiid amphipod Vibilia antarctica, and the polychaete Vanadis antarctica). (2) The 'Bellingshausen Water Community' is influenced by Bellingshausen Sea water and oceanic specles are scarce; large numbers of Antarctic krill Euphausja superba occur but shallow water forms are also abundant. (3) The 'Nentic Community' consists of stations in the shelf water of the southern Bransfield Strait; it is charactenzed by postlarvae of several fish species, and meroplanktonic larvae of benthic forms. Large krill concentrations, however, are also encountered. (4) A 'Transitional Community' exists in environments where various water masses mingle (e.g. at shelf slopes). This community lacks typical forms.

Description: Time-course measurements of 15N tracer kinetics in particulate organic and in N+4 pools from tropical and temperate regions were used to test several compartmental models describing the exchange of I5N tracer in microplankton communities. Several lines of evidence suggested the involvement of a third, dissolved pool, arbitrarily labelled dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Although the kinetic patterns of tracer movement were different between the tropical statlons and the temperate one, the same 3-compartmental model in which PON and DON can exchange material only through the intermediate of NH: gave the best fit. Only the transfer coefficients were modified. Results show that compartmental analysis is useful for the estimation of compartmental transfer rates and for testing the assumptions implicit in any given model.

Description: The process of biotope occupation by the anenome Metridium s en~l ein the absence of pelagic larvae has been investigated by an in situ monitoring experiment lasting from July 1981 to April 1982. This process is composed of several behavioral phases: dispersion of the anemones on the new substrate by h ~ g hlo comotory activity, colonization of the 'chosen' habltat by intensive asexual reproduction and finally, a stationary phase. One characteristic of the particular ecological situation in the Flensburg fjord (Western Baltic) seems to be the absence in M senile of sexual reproduction and larvae resulting in a mono- or oligoclonality of the Fjord population. This study shows that even if pelagic dispersal is missing, local dispersion and proliferation can be assured by locomotion and laceration.

Description: Large Protista of unknown taxonomic affinities are described from 3 species of coleoid squids, and are reported from many other species of cephalopods. The white to yellow-orange, ovoid cyst-like parasites are partially embedded within small pockets on the surface of the gills, often in large numbers. Except for a holdfast region on one side of the large end, the surface of the parasite is elaborated into low triangular plates separated by grooves. The parasites are uninucleate; their cytoplasm bears lipid droplets and presumed paraglycogen granules. Trichocysts, present in a layer beneath the cytoplasmic surface, were found by transmission electron microscopy to be of the dinoflagellate type. Further studies are needed to clarify the taxonomic position of these protists.

Description: A new species of giant unicellular parasite inhabiting the gills of squid hloroteuthis robusta is described from specimens collected from the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Hochbergia moroteuthensis gen. et sp. nov. belongs to a recently reported group of protistans whose taxonomic affinities are as yet unknown. Members of the group parasitize cephalopods and have a characteristic aspect: most of the body wall is raised into close-fitting triangular plates and there is a holdfast region, devoid of plates, by which the parasites attach to the host. H. moroteuthensis is the first species of the group to be named. The general form of the body, the precise number and arrangement of plates, and the morphology of the holdfast reglon are described.

Description: Analysis of stomach contents and predator-prey relations of 168 swordfish from the western North Atlantic Ocean is presented. The predominant food of swordfish is squid (82% by frequency of occurence) followed by fish (53%) consisting primarily of gladis, scombrids, butterfish, bluefish, and sand lance. Average food volume in stomach is 1% of average body weight. Estimates of daily ration range from 0.94% to 1,6% of avergae body weight, with yearly consumption ranging from 3.4 to 5.8 times average body weight per year. The prey biomass consumed by the sowrdfish population in the Georges Bank area is estimated to range from 2,100 to 11,000 mt over a residency time of 5 mo.

Description: The current geochronological state of the art for applying the radiocarbon (14C) method to deep-sea sediment archives lacks key information on sediment bioturbation. Here, we apply a sediment accumulation model that simulates the sedimentation and bioturbation of millions of foraminifera, whereby realistic 14C activities (i.e. from a 14C calibration curve) are assigned to each single foraminifera based on its simulation time step. We find that the normal distribution of 14C age typically used to represent discrete-depth sediment intervals (based on the reported laboratory 14C age and measurement error) is unlikely to be a faithful reflection of the actual 14C age distribution for a specific depth interval. We also find that this deviation from the actual 14C age distribution is greatly amplified during the calibration process. Specifically, we find a systematic underestimation of total geochronological error in many cases (by up to thousands of years), as well as the generation of age–depth artefacts in downcore calibrated median age. Even in the case of “perfect” simulated sediment archive scenarios, whereby sediment accumulation rate (SAR), bioturbation depth, reservoir age and species abundance are all kept constant, the 14C measurement and calibration processes generate temporally dynamic median age–depth artefacts on the order of hundreds of years – whereby even high SAR scenarios (40 and 60 cm kyr−1) are susceptible. Such age–depth artefacts can be especially pronounced during periods corresponding to dynamic changes in the Earth's Δ14C history, when single foraminifera of varying 14C activity can be incorporated into single discrete-depth sediment intervals. For certain lower-SAR scenarios, we find that downcore discrete-depth true median age can systematically fall outside the calibrated age range predicted by the 14C measurement and calibration processes, thus leading to systematically inaccurate age estimations. In short, our findings suggest the possibility of 14C-derived age–depth artefacts in the literature. Furthermore, since such age–depth artefacts are likely to coincide with large-scale changes in global Δ14C, which themselves can coincide with large-scale changes in global climate (such as the last deglaciation), 14C-derived age–depth artefacts may have been previously incorrectly attributed to changes in SAR coinciding with global climate. Our study highlights the need for the development of improved deep-sea sediment 14C calibration techniques that include an a priori representation of bioturbation for multi-specimen samples.