ALBERT

Description: Permafrost warming has the potential to amplify global climate change, because when frozen sediments thaw it unlocks soil organic carbon. Yet to date, no globally consistent assessment of permafrost temperature change has been compiled. Here we use a global data set of permafrost temperature time series from the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost to evaluate temperature change across permafrost regions for the period since the International Polar Year (2007–2009). During the reference decade between 2007 and 2016, ground temperature near the depth of zero annual amplitude in the continuous permafrost zone increased by 0.39 ± 0.15 °C. Over the same period, discontinuous permafrost warmed by 0.20 ± 0.10 °C. Permafrost in mountains warmed by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C and in Antarctica by 0.37 ± 0.10 °C. Globally, permafrost temperature increased by 0.29 ± 0.12 °C. The observed trend follows the Arctic amplification of air temperature increase in the Northern Hemisphere. In the discontinuous zone, however, ground warming occurred due to increased snow thickness while air temperature remained statistically unchanged.

Description: Arctic warming was more pronounced than warming in midlatitudes in the last decades making this region a hotspot of climate change. Associated with this, a rapid decline of sea-ice extent and a decrease of its thickness has been observed. Sea-ice retreat allows for an increased transport of heat and momentum from the ocean up to the tropo- and stratosphere by enhanced upward propagation of planetary-scale atmospheric waves. In the upper atmosphere, these waves deposit the momentum transported, disturbing the stratospheric polar vortex, which can lead to a breakdown of this circulation with the potential to also significantly impact the troposphere in mid- to late-winter and early spring. Therefore, an accurate representation of stratospheric processes in climate models is necessary to improve the understanding of the impact of retreating sea ice on the atmospheric circulation. By modeling the atmospheric response to a prescribed decline in Arctic sea ice, we show that including interactive stratospheric ozone chemistry in atmospheric model calculations leads to an improvement in tropo-stratospheric interactions compared to simulations without interactive chemistry. This suggests that stratospheric ozone chemistry is important for the understanding of sea ice related impacts on atmospheric dynamics.

Description: The oxygen isotope composition of speleothems is a widely used proxy for past climate change. Robust use of this proxy depends on understanding the relationship between precipitation and cave drip water δ18O. Here, we present the first global analysis, based on data from 163 drip sites, from 39 caves on five continents, showing that drip water δ18O is most similar to the amount-weighted precipitation δ18O where mean annual temperature (MAT) is 〈 10 °C. By contrast, for seasonal climates with MAT 〉 10 °C and 〈 16 °C, drip water δ18O records the recharge-weighted δ18O. This implies that the δ18O of speleothems (formed in near isotopic equilibrium) are most likely to directly reflect meteoric precipitation in cool climates only. In warmer and drier environments, speleothems will have a seasonal bias toward the precipitation δ18O of recharge periods and, in some cases, the extent of evaporative fractionation of stored karst water.

Description: Stable water isotopes are employed as hydrological tracers to quantify the diverse implications of atmospheric moisture for climate. They are widely used as proxies for studying past climate changes, e.g., in isotope records from ice cores and speleothems. Here, we present a new isotopic dataset of both near-surface vapour and ocean surface water from the North Pole to Antarctica, continuously measured from a research vessel throughout the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans during a period of two years. Our observations contribute to a better understanding and modelling of water isotopic composition. The observations reveal that the vapour deuterium excess within the atmospheric boundary layer is not modulated by wind speed, contrary to the commonly used theory, but controlled by relative humidity and sea surface temperature only. In sea ice covered regions, the sublimation of deposited snow on sea ice is a key process controlling the local water vapour isotopic composition.

Description: Time-resolved satellite gravimetry has revolutionized understanding of mass transport in the Earth system. Since 2002, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has enabled monitoring of the terrestrial water cycle, ice sheet and glacier mass balance, sea level change and ocean bottom pressure variations, as well as understanding responses to changes in the global climate system. Initially a pioneering experiment of geodesy, the time-variable observations have matured into reliable mass transport products, allowing assessment and forecast of a number of important climate trends, and improvements in service applications such as the United States Drought Monitor. With the successful launch of the GRACE Follow-On mission, a multi-decadal record of mass variability in the Earth system is within reach.

Description: 25.08.-01.09.2019

Description: 02.09. bis 06.09.2019

Description: Umweltsensoren von GEOMAR und HZG wurden offenbar gewaltsam entfernt. 03.09.2019/Kiel. Im Dezember 2016 installierten das GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel und das Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht in einem Sperrgebiet am Ausgang der Eckernförder Bucht ein Observatorium für Umweltmessungen am Meeresboden. Offenbar wurden die zwei, je 550 und 220 Kilogramm schweren Gestelle am 21. August mit großer Kraft von ihrer Position entfernt. Die Forscher fanden nur noch das zerfaserte Landanschlusskabel. Jetzt hoffen GEOMAR und HZG auf Hinweise, um die wertvollen Geräte zurückzuerhalten.

Description: 02.09.-08.09.2019

Description: M159 (29.10. – 20.11.2019) 2. Wochenbericht vom 10. November 2019

Description: (21th-25th October 2019)

Description: M159 (29.10. – 20.11.2019) 3. Wochenbericht vom 17. November 2019

Description: M159 (29.10. – 20.11.2019) 1. Wochenbericht vom 3. November 2019

Description: 02.12.19 - 08.12.19

Description: Dates of Cruise: 16.04. – 29.04.2018 Areas of Research: Physical, chemical, biological and fishery oceanography Port Calls: Visby, Sweden, 21. - 22.04.2018

Description: Dates of Cruise: 15.05. – 30.05.2018 Areas of Research: Physical, chemical, biological and fishery oceanography Port Calls: Riga. Latvia, 22.05.2018

Description: DIPLANOAGAP (Distribution of plastics in the North Atlantic garbage patch), 17.08.-24.08.2019

Description: 18.-30.9.2019 The overall objective of this practical for students is to investigate the ecological role of gelatinous plankton in the Baltic Sea food webs and alongside the salinity gradient. To demonstrate the temporal as well as spatial variation of pelagic communities such as bacteria-, phyto and zooplankton as well as in the benthic food webs, different food web tracers will be used. Main focus here is therefore to obtain qualitative and quantitative sample sets of gelatinous zooplankton to investigate their distinct role on bentho-pelagic processes. Over the last several decades, a significant increase of both frequency and severity of jellyfish (JF) blooms were reported worldwide. Blooms of these organisms can extend for thousands of square kilometers, with drastic consequences and economic losses. When JF outbreak, they will not only affect the pelagic community by direct feeding on fish larvae, fish eggs or competing for the prey with bigger fishes, but only serve as organic matter source for benthic systems via sinking to the sea floor. Due to the scarcity of data on the potential role of gelatinous zooplankton from only few locations in the Baltic Sea, there is only a limited understanding on the role of JF in the bentho-pelagic food web of the Baltic Sea. A quantitative and qualitative assessment of gelatinous zooplankton in the BS systems and their functioning with regard to salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea , are now urgently needed to better account for the role of gelatinous zooplankton in the future of the system. Applicant and working group have performed this student research/educational cruise with the specific focus on jellyfish ecology every year and on a regular basis since 2013. During this two-week cruise students will perform the compulsory „Practical at Sea“. The general goal is to survey and characterize the temporal and special distribution of bacterial, phyto-, zooplankton and macroplankton specially jellyfish in Skagerrak and Baltic Sea

Description: Poseidon 533 – AIMAC (Atmosphere–ocean–island-biogeochemical interactions in the Macaronesian Archipelagos) investigated the influence of the Cape Verdes, the Canary Islands, and Madeira on the physics, chemistry and biology of the surrounding subtropical North- East Atlantic ocean. The air – sea exchange of halocarbons from marine sources impact tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, and therewith air quality and human health. High oceanic and atmospheric concentrations of iodinated, brominated and chlorinated methanes are often found near coastlines. In particular, bromoform (CHBr3) was recently detected at unexpectedly high concentrations in seawater of subtropical coasts, e.g. at Miami and Tenerife beaches. Bromoform is produced naturally from macro algae and phytoplankton and is the major marine vector of organic bromine to the atmosphere. Together with dibromomethane (CH2Br2), it is the main contributor to natural stratospheric bromine, involved in ozone depletion. Bromoform is also a major product during disinfection of seawater for many industrial and recreational purposes and during desalination processes. While the bromoform production from phytoplankton generally leads to picomolar concentrations in seawater, macroalgal production yields nanomolar concentrations and disinfection processes involving seawater can increase concentrations to micromolar levels. The latter has led to the occasional application of this compound as tracer for the effluents of power plants and wastewater discharges. Other disinfection by-products (DBP) in the effluents can lead to unfavorable effects on the environment and human health. As bromoform shows large concentrations in urbanized and industrialized regions, the elevated concentrations at many coasts may have a major and increasing contribution to the global budget.. We hypothesize, that populated coastlines show elevated bromoform concentrations from disinfection activities, related to the amount of population and industrial activities. Coastal alongshore currents may additionally trap the compound inshore. Therefore, bromoform can be a good tracer of the terrestrial and anthropogenic signal in the island mass effect, which describes the increase in nutrients and biological productivity in the surrounding water masses of an island. POS533 investigated the bromoform distribution in ocean and atmosphere in the subtropical East Atlantic and the islands of Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and the Cape Verde Archipelago, considering physical and biogeochemical parameters, phytoplankton distribution and carbon chemistry. During the cruise new scientific tools where applied, to differentiate between the islands natural and anthropogenic interactions with ocean and atmosphere. The measurements deliver the first comprehensive biogeochemical data set of phytoplankton, microbiology, trace gases, carbon, oxygen and nutrient cycling from this region close the islands in exchange with the open ocean. Despite the novel knowledge, current climate chemistry and chemical transport models used to understand the anthropogenic signal of marine halocarbon emissions and their effects on tropospheric oxidation and stratospheric ozone will benefit from the expedition's dataset.

Description: 09.12.19 - 16.12.19

Description: 18/2/2019-24/2/2019

Description: R.V. Poseidon cruise no. 522 Dates, Ports: 10.04.2018 (Catania, Italy) – 29.04.2018 (Malaga, Spain) Research subject: Tephrostratigraphy of tsunami-related deposits at Stromboli Chief Scientist: Dr. Armin Freundt, GEOMAR, Kiel Number of Scientists: 11 Project: Stromboli tsunamis

Description: 09.09. bis 12.09.2019

Description: In early 2017 we deployed eight KOSMOS [a] mesocosm units (53 m^3 each) close to ‘Isla San Lorenzo’ about 4.5 nm off-shore the Peruvian coastline (-12.0554667°, -077.2347667°). The aim of the study was to improve our mechanistic understanding of processes controlling plankton productivity, organic matter export, and particle stoichiometry in the coastal upwelling system off Peru. About 40 days into the study, Inca terns (Larosterna inca) – an abundant sea bird species in the region – discovered the mesocosms as suitable resting places. The birds were able to start and land on the very small areas lacking anti-bird spikes that were installed on the mesocosm roofs. Resting on the flotation frames as well as the opening of the mesocosm bags, they defecated into the enclosed water columns, adding new nutrients to the system. This orni-eutrophication from day 40 to 50 triggered intense phytoplankton blooms in the uppermost part of the enclosures where light was plentiful. This video illustrates the fertilizing effect of Inca tern defecation on phytoplankton communities during our mesocosm study in the upwelling system off Peru. [a] Kiel Off-Shore Mesocosms for Ocean Simulations

Description: 23.09. - 27.09.2019

Description: The reformed Common Fisheries Policy of the EU, in force since 2014, stipulates that overfishing by the fleets of its member states has to end latest in the year 2020. This study examines exploitation and status of 119 stocks fished by 20 countries in the Northeast Atlantic. In the year 2018, about 40% of the stocks were still subject to overfishing (F 〉 Fmsy), about 34% of the stocks were outside safe biological limits (B 〈 Bpa) and about 68% of the stocks were too depleted to produce maximum sustainable yields (B 〈 Bmsy). Reduction in the number of overfished stocks has stalled, possible because of an agreement between the European Commission (EC) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), its advisory body for total allowed catches (TACs), wherein the EC requests ICES to give TAC advice leading to overfishing for many stocks. As a result, it is unlikely that overfishing will end in the Northeast Atlantic in 2020.

Description: Abstract Legal requirement in Europe asks for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) in European seas, including considerations of trophic interactions and minimization of negative impacts of fishing on food webs and ecosystem functioning. Focusing on the interaction between fisheries and ecosystem components, the trophic model presented here shows for the first time the “big picture” of the western Baltic Sea (WBS) food web by quantifying structure and flows between all trophic elements and the impact of fisheries that were and are active in the area, based on best available recent data. Model results show that fishing pressures exerted on the WBS since the early nineties of the past century forces not only top predators such as harbour porpoises and seals but also cod and other demersal fish to heavily compete for fish as food and to cover their dietary needs by shifting to organisms lower in the trophic web, mainly to benthic macrofauna and / or search for suitable prey in adjacent ecosystems such as Kattegat, Skagerrak, central Baltic Sea and North Sea. While common sense implementations of EBFM have been proposed, such as fishing all stocks below Fmsy and reducing fishing pressure even further for forage fish such as herring and sprat, few studies compared such fishing to alternative scenarios. Different options for EBFM, with regards to recovery of depleted stocks and sustainable future catches, are presented here based on the WBS ecosystem model, the legal framework given by the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) of the European Union. The model explores four legally valid future fishery scenarios: 1) business as usual, 2) maximum sustainable fishing (F = Fmsy), 3) half of Fmsy, and 4) EBFM with F = 0.5 Fmsy for forage fish and F = 0.8 Fmsy for other fish. In addition, a “No-fishing” scenario demonstrates, that neither individual stocks nor the whole system would collapse when all fishing activities from 2017 on would cease. Simulations show that “Business as usual” would perpetuate low 2016 catches from depleted stocks in an unstable ecosystem where endangered species may be lost. In contrast, an “EBFM” scenario - with herring and sprat fished at 0.5 Fmsy level and cod and other stocks fished at 0.8 Fmsy level - allows the recovery of all stocks with strongly increased catches close to the maximum (at Fmsy) for cod and flatfish and catches similar to the 2016 level for herring and sprat but with strongly reduced fishing effort. Model and methodology presented here are considered suitable to assess MSFD Criterion D4C2 in the WBS.

Description: 4/2/2019 – 24/2/2019, Mindelo (Republic of Cape Verde) – Mindelo (Republic of Cape Verde) DeepC-Jelly We proposed to test the hypothesis that large gelatinous macrozooplankton (e.g. tunicates, hydrozoans) are a significant carbon storage in midwater, and a vector for carbon from midwater to the ocean floor in Cape Verde. To test this hypothesis, we studied 1) the distribution, diversity and abundance of gelatinous organisms in the epi-, meso-, and bathypelagic zone, 2) their role in transporting carbon through the pelagic foodweb to the seafloor and 3) their behavior and associations. We worked in the coastal deep sea off Santo Antão and Fogo as well as in the open ocean at the time series station CVOO and an eddy. A manned submersible was used for mesopelagic surveys, to document the behaviour and associations of deep-sea organisms and to collect living specimens. We performed pelagic video transects, discrete net sampling, and eDNA sampling down to 3000 m. ADCP and CTD transects allowed a detailed reconstruction of the effect of the islands on currents and productivity. To quantify the carbon flux of pelagic foodfalls, we also surveyed the seafloor. Sample and video analysis is still in progress, but first results indicate the impact of the pelagic tunicate Pyrosoma atlanticum, which is an upwelling-favored species largely absent from the oligotrophic open ocean, in the nearshore regions of Cape Verde as well as in the cyclonic eddy sampled. It was also observed on the seafloor and resembles a food source and a habitat in the water column and in the benthos. Specimens of pelagic fauna were collected that allow new species descriptions. New records and a new species for the region were also observed during benthic surveys. The cruise was documented in various outreach activities including national television in Cabo Verde.

Description: “Praktikum auf See” is a cruise planned for master students of the biological oceanography at GEOMAR-Kiel. The main purpose of the expedition is to engage students in the real ocean science and exposing them to the “research-life on the sea”. We are going to sample for different fauna and flora of the central and easterly Baltic to be able to track biodiversity changes along the salinity gradient. This year’s cruise is combined with the sampling for the Horizon 2020 Project “GoJelly” in which samples for ecological studies of gelatinous zooplankton will be taken (www.gojelly.eu).

Description: F.K. Littorina Cruise No.: L19-04 Date of cruise: 06.05. - 10.05.2019 Areas of research: Public relations and Aquarium West Shore Port Calls: Grenå DK (07.05. - 08.05. & 08.05 – 09.05.2019)

Description: The RV Poseidon cruise 523 (POS523) is the second cruise to the work area as part of the observational program of the TRR 181 'Energy Transfers in Atmosphere and Ocean', and focussed on the energy transfer by low-mode internal waves. The goals of the cruise were to recover and redeploy a mooring to record the temporal variability of the internal wave field and associated energy fluxes, and to use time series CTD/LADCP/microstructure stations to assess locally the temporal variability of mixing, dissipation, and internal wave fluxes. The region south of the Azores in the east Atlantic is ideally suited for this kind of process study, because it is an area of a strong internal tide signal radiating away from the islands. The cruise track is located south of a chain of seamounts in a tidal beam formed by constructive interference of internal tides, and crosses the critical latitude for parametric subharmonic instability (PSI). During the cruise, we collected time series of CTD/LADCP and microstructure between 36 h and 52 h length on 5 stations in up to 4600 m water depth along the tidal beam between 29°20’N and 32°N latitude. In total 64 CTD/LADCP casts and 18 microstructure data sets were measured. The mooring equipped with current meter/temperature logger pairs and acoustic Doppler current profiler was successfully recovered and later redeployed along the track at 30°29’N, 30°12’W in a water depth of 4500 m (to be retrieved in 2019). All anticipated goals of the cruise were accomplished.

Description: 15.05 – 30.05.2019 The AL522 cruise extended a long-term data series on (eco-)system composition and functioning of the Baltic Sea, with a focus on the deeper basins. The series has been collected in similar form since 1986. A key characteristic of the cruise is the integration of oceanographic and biological information to enhance understanding of environmental and (fish) population fluctuations, and evolutionary processes in this system. The resulting data- and sample sets support ongoing projects in the Research Unit Marine Evolutionary Ecology at GEOMAR, as well as the EU Horizon 2020 project GoJelly and several international collaborations. The spatial focus lay on the Bornholm Basin as most important spawning area of Baltic cod, but also included the Western Baltic Sea, Arkona and Gotland Basin, Gdansk Deep, and Stolpe Trench. Specific investigations included a detailed hydrological survey (oxygen, salinity, temperature) of the cruise area, plankton surveys (zoo- and ichthyplankton including gelatinous plankton, with the goal to determine the composition and the abundance and vertical and horizontal distribution of species, and to take samples for later measurements of nutritional condition), and pelagic fishery hauls. The latter served to determine stock structure, gonadal maturation, stomach contents, and egg production of sprat and cod, and to sample tissue and otolith samples for individual-level genetic and ecological analyses of cod. The abundance and distribution of fishes in the cruise area was also assessed with hydroacoustic methods. Additional cruise components were: (i) cod gonad and liver sampling for fecundity + parasite studies, (ii) vertically resolved plankton sampling for studies of plankton phenology (iii) depth-resolved sampling of microplastic using an neuston sledge (iv) sampling and experimental work of photosynthesis rates of different phytoplankton fractions (v) eDNA filter sampling to compare with traditional net based methods.

Description: Understanding how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to global warming relies on knowledge of how it has behaved in the past. The use of numerical models, the only means to quantitatively predict the future, is hindered by limitations to topographic data both now and in the past, and in knowledge of how subsurface oceanic, glaciological and hydrological processes interact. Incorporating the variety and interplay of such processes, operating at multiple spatio-temporal scales, is critical to modeling the Antarctic’s system evolution and requires direct observations in challenging locations. As these processes do not observe disciplinary boundaries neither should our future research.

Description: Natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises a broad range of dissolved organic molecules in aquatic systems and is among the most complex molecular mixtures known. Here we show, by comparing detailed structural fingerprints of individual molecular formulae in DOM from a set of four marine and one freshwater environments, that a major component of DOM is molecularly indistinguishable in these diverse samples. Molecular conformity was not only apparent by the co-occurrence of thousands of identical molecular formulae, but also by identical structural features of those isomers that collectively represent a molecular formula. The presence of a large pool of compounds with identical structural features in DOM is likely the result of a cascade of degradation processes or common synthetic pathways that ultimately lead to the formation of a universal background, regardless of origin and history of the organic material. This novel insight impacts our understanding of long-term turnover of DOM as the underlying mechanisms are possibly universal.

Description: Traditionally, the description of microorganisms starts with their isolation from an environmental sample. Many environmentally relevant anaerobic microorganisms grow very slowly, and often they rely on syntrophic interactions with other microorganisms. This impedes their isolation and characterization by classic microbiological techniques. We developed and applied an approach for the successive enrichment of syntrophic hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms from environmental samples. We collected samples from microbial mat-covered hydrothermally heated hydrocarbon-rich sediments of the Guaymas Basin and mixed them with synthetic mineral medium to obtain sediment slurries. Supplementation with defined substrates (i.e., methane or butane), incubation at specific temperatures, and a regular maintenance procedure that included the measurement of metabolic products and stepwise dilutions enabled us to establish highly active, virtually sediment-free enrichment cultures of actively hydrocarbon-degrading communities in a 6-months to several-years' effort. Using methane as sole electron donor shifted the originally highly diverse microbial communities toward defined mixed cultures dominated by syntrophic consortia consisting of anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea (ANME) and different sulfate-reducing bacteria. Cultivation with butane at 50 °C yielded consortia of archaea belonging to Candidatus Syntrophoarchaeum and Candidatus Desulfofervidus auxilii partner bacteria. This protocol also describes sampling for further molecular characterization of enrichment cultures by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and transcriptomics and metabolite analyses, which can provide insights into the functioning of hydrocarbon metabolism in archaea and resolve important mechanisms that enable electron transfer to their sulfate-reducing partner bacteria.

Description: The construction of high capacity data sharing networks to support increasing government and commercial data exchange has highlighted a key roadblock: the content of existing Internet-connected information remains siloed due to a multiplicity of local languages and data dictionaries. This lack of a digital lingua franca is obvious in the domain of human food as materials travel from their wild or farm origin, through processing and distribution chains, to consumers. Well defined, hierarchical vocabulary, connected with logical relationships—in other words, an ontology—is urgently needed to help tackle data harmonization problems that span the domains of food security, safety, quality, production, distribution, and consumer health and convenience. FoodOn (http://foodon.org) is a consortium-driven project to build a comprehensive and easily accessible global farm-to-fork ontology about food, that accurately and consistently describes foods commonly known in cultures from around the world. FoodOn addresses food product terminology gaps and supports food traceability. Focusing on human and domesticated animal food description, FoodOn contains animal and plant food sources, food categories and products, and other facets like preservation processes, contact surfaces, and packaging. Much of FoodOn’s vocabulary comes from transforming LanguaL, a mature and popular food indexing thesaurus, into a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) OWL Web Ontology Language-formatted vocabulary that provides system interoperability, quality control, and software-driven intelligence. FoodOn compliments other technologies facilitating food traceability, which is becoming critical in this age of increasing globalization of food networks.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 1287, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6.

Description: Warm subtropical-origin Atlantic water flows northward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the Nordic Seas, where it relinquishes heat to the atmosphere and gradually transforms into dense Atlantic-origin water. Returning southward along east Greenland, this water mass is situated beneath a layer of cold, fresh surface water and sea ice. Here we show, using measurements from autonomous ocean gliders, that the Atlantic-origin water was re-ventilated while transiting the western Iceland Sea during winter. This re-ventilation is a recent phenomenon made possible by the retreat of the ice edge toward Greenland. The fresh surface layer that characterises this region in summer is diverted onto the Greenland shelf by enhanced onshore Ekman transport induced by stronger northerly winds in fall and winter. Severe heat loss from the ocean offshore of the ice edge subsequently triggers convection, which further transforms the Atlantic-origin water. This re-ventilation is a counterintuitive occurrence in a warming climate, and highlights the difficulties inherent in predicting the behaviour of the complex coupled climate system.

Description: Support for this work was provided by the Norwegian Research Council under Grant agreement no. 231647 (L.H. and K.V.), the Bergen Research Foundation under Grant BFS2016REK01 (K.V.), and the Centre for Climate Dynamics at the Bjerknes Centre through the FRESHWATER project (K.V.). Additional funding was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation grants P2EZP2162267 and P300P2174307 (L.P.), the National Science Foundation grant OCE-1558742 (M.A.S.), the Norway Fulbright Foundation (K.V.), the Canada Fulbright Foundation (G.W.K.M.), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (G.W.K.M.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4917, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23167-y.

Description: Intertidal inhabitants are exposed to the 24-hour solar day, and the 12.4 hour rising and falling of the tides. One or both of these cycles govern intertidal organisms’ behaviour and physiology, yet little is known about the molecular clockworks of tidal rhythmicity. Here, we show that the limpet Cellana rota exhibits robust tidally rhythmic behaviour and gene expression. We assembled a de-novo transcriptome, identifying novel tidal, along with known circadian clock genes. Surprisingly, most of the putative circadian clock genes, lack a typical rhythmicity. We identified numerous tidally rhythmic genes and pathways commonly associated with the circadian clock. We show that not only is the behaviour of an intertidal organism in tune with the tides, but so too are many of its genes and pathways. These findings highlight the plasticity of biological timekeeping in nature, strengthening the growing notion that the role of ‘canonical’ circadian clock genes may be more fluid than previously thought, as exhibited in an organism which has evolved in an environment where tidal oscillations are the dominant driving force.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 8128, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26484-4.

Description: The kakapo is a critically endangered, herbivorous parrot endemic to New Zealand. The kakapo hindgut hosts a dense microbial community of low taxonomic diversity, typically dominated by Escherichia fergusonii, and has proven to be a remarkably stable ecosystem, displaying little variation in core membership over years of study. To elucidate mechanisms underlying this robustness, we performed 16S rRNA gene-based co-occurrence network analysis to identify potential interactions between E. fergusonii and the wider bacterial community. Genomic and metagenomic sequencing were employed to facilitate interpretation of potential interactions observed in the network. E. fergusonii maintained very few correlations with other members of the microbiota, and isolates possessed genes for the generation of energy from a wide range of carbohydrate sources, including plant fibres such as cellulose. We surmise that this dominant microorganism is abundant not due to ecological interaction with other members of the microbiota, but its ability to metabolise a wide range of nutrients in the gut. This research represents the first concerted effort to understand the functional roles of the kakapo microbiota, and leverages metagenomic data to contextualise co-occurrence patterns. By combining these two techniques we provide a means for studying the diversity-stability hypothesis in the context of bacterial ecosystems.

Description: This work was supported by funding from the Department of Conservation (DOC) as well as a University of Auckland Faculty Research Development Fund grant (9841 3626187) to MWT, and a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship to DWW.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 7363, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25565-8.

Description: Satellite-tracking of mature white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) has revealed open-ocean movements spanning months and covering tens of thousands of kilometers. But how are the energetic demands of these active apex predators met as they leave coastal areas with relatively high prey abundance to swim across the open ocean through waters often characterized as biological deserts? Here we investigate mesoscale oceanographic variability encountered by two white sharks as they moved through the Gulf Stream region and Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the vicinity of the Gulf Stream, the two mature female white sharks exhibited extensive use of the interiors of clockwise-rotating anticyclonic eddies, characterized by positive (warm) temperature anomalies. One tagged white shark was also equipped with an archival tag that indicated this individual made frequent dives to nearly 1,000 m in anticyclones, where it was presumably foraging on mesopelagic prey. We propose that warm temperature anomalies in anticyclones make prey more accessible and energetically profitable to adult white sharks in the Gulf Stream region by reducing the physiological costs of thermoregulation in cold water. The results presented here provide valuable new insight into open ocean habitat use by mature, female white sharks that may be applicable to other large pelagic predators.

Description: This work was supported by the WHOI Ocean Life Institute and awards from NASA and NSF.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2398, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04809-1.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 10610, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28871-3.

Description: Foraminifera in sediments exposed to gas-hydrate dissociation are not expected to have cellular adaptations that facilitate inhabitation of chemosynthesis-based ecosystems because, to date, there are no known endemic seep foraminifera. To establish if foraminifera inhabit sediments impacted by gas-hydrate dissociation, we examined the cellular ultrastructure of Melonis barleeanus (Williamson, 1858) from the Vestnesa gas hydrate province (Arctic Ocean, west of Svalbard at ~79 °N; ~1200-m depth; n = 4). From sediments with gas hydrate indicators, living M. barleeanus had unusual pore plugs composed of a thick, fibrous meshwork; mitochondria were concentrated at the cell periphery, under pore plugs. While there was no evidence of endosymbioses with prokaryotes, most M. barleeanus specimens were associated with what appear to be Type I methanotrophic bacteria. One foraminifer had a particularly large bolus of these microbes concentrated near its aperture. This is the first documented instance of bona fide living M. barleeanus in gas-hydrate sediments and first documentation of a foraminifer living in close association with putative methanotrophs. Our observations have implications to paleoclimate records utilizing this foundational foraminiferal species.

Description: JMB was funded by a WHOI Independent Study Award (Mellon Grant), with partial support from NSF grant OCE-1634469. GP and CAGE 15-2 cruise were supported by the Research Council of Norway through CAGE Center for Excellence in Arctic Gas Hydrate Environment and Climate project 223259 and NORCRUST (project number 255150).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2809, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05253-x.

Description: Voltage-sensing (VSD) and cyclic nucleotide-binding domains (CNBD) gate ion channels for rapid electrical signaling. By contrast, solute carriers (SLCs) that passively redistribute substrates are gated by their substrates themselves. Here, we study the orphan sperm-specific solute carriers SLC9C1 that feature a unique tripartite structure: an exchanger domain, a VSD, and a CNBD. Voltage-clamp fluorimetry shows that SLC9C1 is a genuine Na+/H+ exchanger gated by voltage. The cellular messenger cAMP shifts the voltage range of activation. Mutations in the transport domain, the VSD, or the CNBD strongly affect Na+/H+ exchange, voltage gating, or cAMP sensitivity, respectively. Our results establish SLC9C1 as a phylogenetic chimaera that combines the ion-exchange mechanism of solute carriers with the gating mechanism of ion channels. Classic SLCs slowly readjust changes in the intra- and extracellular milieu, whereas voltage gating endows the Na+/H+ exchanger with the ability to produce a rapid pH response that enables downstream signaling events.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 14955, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33021-w.

Description: Glomeruli are the functional units of olfactory information processing but little remains known about their individual unit function. This is due to their widespread activation by odor stimuli. We expressed channelrhodopsin-2 in a single olfactory sensory neuron type, and used laser stimulation and simultaneous in vivo calcium imaging to study the responses of a single glomerulus to optogenetic stimulation. Calcium signals in the neuropil of this glomerulus were representative of the sensory input and nearly identical if evoked by intensity-matched odor and laser stimuli. However, significantly fewer glomerular layer interneurons and olfactory bulb output neurons (mitral cells) responded to optogenetic versus odor stimuli, resulting in a small and spatially compact optogenetic glomerular unit response. Temporal features of laser stimuli were represented with high fidelity in the neuropil of the glomerulus and the mitral cells, but not in interneurons. Increases in laser stimulus intensity were encoded by larger signal amplitudes in all compartments of the glomerulus, and by the recruitment of additional interneurons and mitral cells. No spatial expansion of the glomerular unit response was observed in response to stronger input stimuli. Our data are among the first descriptions of input-output transformations in a selectively activated olfactory glomerulus.

Description: Funded by the World Class Institute/National Research Foundation of Korea (KRF: WCI 2009-003) and NIH: DC005259 and NS099691 grants.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15517, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33610-9.

Description: Subduction zones impose an important control on the geochemical cycling between the surficial and internal reservoirs of the Earth. Sulphur and carbon are transferred into Earth’s mantle by subduction of pelagic sediments and altered oceanic lithosphere. Release of oxidizing sulphate- and carbonate-bearing fluids modifies the redox state of the mantle and the chemical budget of subduction zones. Yet, the mechanisms of sulphur and carbon cycling within subduction zones are still unclear, in part because data are typically derived from arc volcanoes where fluid compositions are modified during transport through the mantle wedge. We determined the bulk rock elemental, and sulphur and carbon isotope compositions of exhumed ultramafic and metabasic rocks from Syros, Greece. Comparison of isotopic data with major and trace element compositions indicates seawater alteration and chemical exchange with sediment-derived fluids within the subduction zone channel. We show that small bodies of detached slab material are subject to metasomatic processes during exhumation, in contrast to large sequences of obducted ophiolitic sections that retain their seafloor alteration signatures. In particular, fluids circulating along the plate interface can cause sulphur mobilization during several stages of exhumation within high-pressure rocks. This takes place more pervasively in serpentinites compared to mafic rocks.

Description: This project was supported by NSF-EAR grant 1324566 to E.M.S. and B.C.G., and NSF EAR award 1250470 to M.J.C. We acknowledge support by the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Fund of the Freie Universität Berlin.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 3077, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05574-x.

Description: Paleoclimate reconstructions are only as good as their chronology. In particular, different chronological assumptions for marine sediment cores can lead to different reconstructions of ocean ventilation age and atmosphere−ocean carbon exchange history. Here we build the first high-resolution chronology that is free of the dating uncertainties common in marine sediment records, based on radiocarbon dating twigs found with computed tomography scans in two cores from the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP). With this accurate chronology, we show that the ventilation ages of the EEP thermocline and intermediate waters were similar to today during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation, in contradiction with previous studies. Our results suggest that the glacial respired carbon pool in the EEP was not significantly older than today, and that the deglacial strengthening of the equatorial Pacific carbon source was probably driven by low-latitude processes rather than an increased subsurface supply of upwelled carbon from high-latitude oceans.

Description: The lab work at NOSAMS was supported by Ocean Ventures Fund from WHOI and an NOSAMS graduate internship granted to N.Z

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15219, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33283-4.

Description: This Article corrects an error in Equation 1

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15740, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33640-3.

Description: Hurricanes passing over the ocean can mix the water column down to great depths and resuspend massive volumes of sediments on the continental shelves. Consequently, organic carbon and reduced inorganic compounds associated with these sediments can be resuspended from anaerobic portions of the seabed and re-exposed to dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water column. This process can drive DO consumption as sediments become oxidized. Previous studies have investigated the effect of hurricanes on DO in different coastal regions of the world, highlighting the alleviation of hypoxic conditions by extreme winds, which drive vertical mixing and re-aeration of the water column. However, the effect of hurricane-induced resuspended sediments on DO has been neglected. Here, using a diverse suite of datasets for the northern Gulf of Mexico, we find that in the few days after a hurricane passage, decomposition of resuspended shelf sediments consumes up to a fifth of the DO added to the bottom of the water column during vertical mixing. Despite uncertainty in this value, we highlight the potential significance of this mechanism for DO dynamics. Overall, sediment resuspension likely occurs over all continental shelves affected by tropical cyclones, potentially impacting global cycles of marine DO and carbon.

Description: Support for J. Moriarty was provided by the USGS Mendenhall Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2864, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05313-2.

Description: The mechanisms of transfer of crustal material from the subducting slab to the overlying mantle wedge are still debated. Mélange rocks, formed by mixing of sediments, oceanic crust, and ultramafics along the slab-mantle interface, are predicted to ascend as diapirs from the slab-top and transfer their compositional signatures to the source region of arc magmas. However, the compositions of melts that result from the interaction of mélanges with a peridotite wedge remain unknown. Here we present experimental evidence that melting of peridotite hybridized by mélanges produces melts that carry the major and trace element abundances observed in natural arc magmas. We propose that differences in nature and relative contributions of mélanges hybridizing the mantle produce a range of primary arc magmas, from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline. Thus, assimilation of mélanges into the wedge may play a key role in transferring subduction signatures from the slab to the source of arc magmas.

Description: This project was supported by the WHOI Ocean Exploration Institute (OEI) 27071178 to V.L.R.; Previous related projects were supported by NSF EAR-1348063 and WHOI OEI to H.R.M.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Cell Death and Disease 9 (2018): 663, doi:10.1038/s41419-018-0704-9.

Description: The poor regenerative capacity of descending neurons is one of the main causes of the lack of recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). Thus, it is of crucial importance to find ways to promote axonal regeneration. In addition, the prevention of retrograde degeneration leading to the atrophy/death of descending neurons is an obvious prerequisite to activate axonal regeneration. Lampreys show an amazing regenerative capacity after SCI. Recent histological work in lampreys suggested that GABA, which is massively released after a SCI, could promote the survival of descending neurons. Here, we aimed to study if GABA, acting through GABAB receptors, promotes the survival and axonal regeneration of descending neurons of larval sea lampreys after a complete SCI. First, we used in situ hybridization to confirm that identifiable descending neurons of late-stage larvae express the gabab1 subunit of the GABAB receptor. We also observed an acute increase in the expression of this subunit in descending neurons after SCI, which further supported the possible role of GABA and GABAB receptors in promoting the survival and regeneration of these neurons. So, we performed gain and loss of function experiments to confirm this hypothesis. Treatments with GABA and baclofen (GABAB agonist) significantly reduced caspase activation in descending neurons 2 weeks after a complete SCI. Long-term treatments with GABOB (a GABA analogue) and baclofen significantly promoted axonal regeneration of descending neurons after SCI. These data indicate that GABAergic signalling through GABAB receptors promotes the survival and regeneration of descending neurons after SCI. Finally, we used morpholinos against the gabab1 subunit to knockdown the expression of the GABAB receptor in descending neurons. Long-term morpholino treatments caused a significant inhibition of axonal regeneration. This shows that endogenous GABA promotes axonal regeneration after a complete SCI in lampreys by activating GABAB receptors.

Description: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund 2007–2013 (Grant number: BFU2014-56300-P) and Xunta de Galicia (Grant number: GPC2014/030). D.R.-S. was supported by a fellowship from EMBO (Ref.: 7010) to carry out a short-term stay at the laboratory of JRM. A.B.-I. was supported by a grant from the Xunta de Galicia (Grant number: 2016-PG008) and a grant from the crowdfunding platform Precipita (FECYT; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; grant number 2017-CP081).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2431, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3.

Description: Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater helium isotope ratios at the front of the Ice Shelf cavity. The localization of mantle helium to glacial meltwater reveals that volcanic heat induces melt beneath the grounded glacier and feeds the subglacial hydrological network crossing the grounding line. The observed transport of mantle helium out of the Ice Shelf cavity indicates that volcanic heat is supplied to the grounded glacier at a rate of ~ 2500 ± 1700 MW, which is ca. half as large as the active Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland. Our finding of a substantial volcanic heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its hydrologic interaction with the marine margins, and its potential role in the future stability of the WAIS.

Description: This research was supported by the NSF Antarctic program through Award #1341630.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 11997, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30091-8.

Description: The abundance of organic carbon (OC) in vegetation and soils (~2,600 PgC) compared to carbon in the atmosphere (~830 PgC) highlights the importance of terrestrial OC in global carbon budgets. The residence time of OC in continental reservoirs, which sets the rates of carbon exchange between land and atmosphere, represents a key uncertainty in global carbon cycle dynamics. Retention of terrestrial OC can also distort bulk OC- and biomarker-based paleorecords, yet continental storage timescales remain poorly quantified. Using “bomb” radiocarbon (14C) from thermonuclear weapons testing as a tracer, we model leaf-wax fatty acid and bulk OC 14C signatures in a river-proximal marine sediment core from the Bay of Bengal in order to constrain OC storage timescales within the Ganges-Brahmaputra (G-B) watershed. Our model shows that 79–83% of the leaf-waxes in this core were stored in continental reservoirs for an average of 1,000–1,200 calendar years, while the remainder was stored for an average of 15 years. This age structure distorts high-resolution organic paleorecords across geologically rapid events, highlighting that compound-specific proxy approaches must consider storage timescales. Furthermore, these results show that future environmental change could destabilize large stores of old - yet reactive - OC currently stored in tropical basins.

Description: We acknowledge funding support from the Agouron Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (K.L.F), the US National Science Foundation (Awards: OCE-1333387 and OCE-13333826), the Investment in Science Fund given primarily by WHOI Trustee and Corporation Members, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Award: 200020_163162).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 13478, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31175-1.

Description: Agricultural intensification offers potential to grow more food while reducing the conversion of native ecosystems to croplands. However, intensification also risks environmental degradation through emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrate leaching to ground and surface waters. Intensively-managed croplands and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use are expanding rapidly in tropical regions. We quantified fertilizer responses of maize yield, N2O emissions, and N leaching in an Amazon soybean-maize double-cropping system on deep, highly-weathered soils in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Application of N fertilizer above 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1 increased maize yield and N2O emissions only slightly. Unlike experiences in temperate regions, leached nitrate accumulated in deep soils with increased fertilizer and conversion to cropping at N fertilization rates 〉80 kg N ha−1, which exceeded maize demand. This raises new questions about the capacity of tropical agricultural soils to store nitrogen, which may determine when and how much nitrogen impacts surface waters.

Description: This project was supported by grants from NSF (DEB-1257944, DEB-1257391, DEB1457017, EF-1541770, EF-1655432, EF-1519342, IOS-1660034, IOS-1457662, and EAR-1739724) to M. Macedo, C. Neill, and M.T. Coe.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 10140, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28455-1.

Description: Haynesina germanica, an ubiquitous benthic foraminifer in intertidal mudflats, has the remarkable ability to isolate, sequester, and use chloroplasts from microalgae. The photosynthetic functionality of these kleptoplasts has been demonstrated by measuring photosystem II quantum efficiency and O2 production rates, but the precise role of the kleptoplasts in foraminiferal metabolism is poorly understood. Thus, the mechanism and dynamics of C and N assimilation and translocation from the kleptoplasts to the foraminiferal host requires study. The objective of this study was to investigate, using correlated TEM and NanoSIMS imaging, the assimilation of inorganic C and N (here ammonium, NH4+) in individuals of a kleptoplastic benthic foraminiferal species. H. germanica specimens were incubated for 20 h in artificial seawater enriched with H13CO3− and 15NH4+ during a light/dark cycle. All specimens (n = 12) incorporated 13C into their endoplasm stored primarily in the form of lipid droplets. A control incubation in darkness resulted in no 13C-uptake, strongly suggesting that photosynthesis is the process dominating inorganic C assimilation. Ammonium assimilation was observed both with and without light, with diffuse 15N-enrichment throughout the cytoplasm and distinct 15N-hotspots in fibrillar vesicles, electron-opaque bodies, tubulin paracrystals, bacterial associates, and, rarely and at moderate levels, in kleptoplasts. The latter observation might indicate that the kleptoplasts are involved in N assimilation. However, the higher N assimilation observed in the foraminiferal endoplasm incubated without light suggests that another cytoplasmic pathway is dominant, at least in darkness. This study clearly shows the advantage provided by the kleptoplasts as an additional source of carbon and provides observations of ammonium uptake by the foraminiferal cell.

Description: This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 200021_149333) and was part of the CNRS EC2CO-Lefe project ForChlo. It was also supported by the Region Pays de la Loire (Post-doc position of TJ, on FRESCO project) as well as the WHOI Robert W. Morse Chair for Excellence in Oceanography and The Investment in Science Fund at WHOI.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 13556, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31710-0.

Description: In mammals, a complex array of oral sensors assess the taste, temperature and haptic properties of food. Although the representation of taste has been extensively studied in the gustatory cortex, it is unclear how the somatosensory cortex encodes information about the properties of oral stimuli. Moreover, it is poorly understood how different oral sensory modalities are integrated and how sensory responses are translated into oral motor actions. To investigate whether oral somatosensory cortex processes food-related sensations and movements, we performed in vivo whole-cell recordings and motor mapping experiments in rats. Neurons in oral somatosensory cortex showed robust post-synaptic and sparse action potential responses to air puffs. Membrane potential showed that cold water evoked larger responses than room temperature or hot water. Most neurons showed no clear tuning of responses to bitter, sweet and neutral gustatory stimuli. Finally, motor mapping experiments with histological verification revealed an initiation of movements related to food consumption behavior, such as jaw opening and tongue protrusions. We conclude that somatosensory cortex: (i) provides a representation of the temperature of oral stimuli, (ii) does not systematically encode taste information and (iii) influences orofacial movements related to food consummatory behavior.

Description: This work was supported by the Marine Biological Laboratory, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Neurocure.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 3500, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05804-2.

Description: Subduction zone magmas are more oxidised on eruption than those at mid-ocean ridges. This is attributed either to oxidising components, derived from subducted lithosphere (slab) and added to the mantle wedge, or to oxidation processes occurring during magma ascent via differentiation. Here we provide direct evidence for contributions of oxidising slab agents to melts trapped in the sub-arc mantle. Measurements of sulfur (S) valence state in sub-arc mantle peridotites identify sulfate, both as crystalline anhydrite (CaSO4) and dissolved SO42− in spinel-hosted glass (formerly melt) inclusions. Copper-rich sulfide precipitates in the inclusions and increased Fe3+/∑Fe in spinel record a S6+–Fe2+ redox coupling during melt percolation through the sub-arc mantle. Sulfate-rich glass inclusions exhibit high U/Th, Pb/Ce, Sr/Nd and δ34S (+ 7 to + 11‰), indicating the involvement of dehydration products of serpentinised slab rocks in their parental melt sources. These observations provide a link between liberated slab components and oxidised arc magmas.

Description: We acknowledge financial support by the Australian Research Council (DE120100513 and DP120104240) and the ESRF for beam time (EC1061 and ES238).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 9478, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26948-7.

Description: Tidal wetlands produce long-term soil organic carbon (C) stocks. Thus for carbon accounting purposes, we need accurate and precise information on the magnitude and spatial distribution of those stocks. We assembled and analyzed an unprecedented soil core dataset, and tested three strategies for mapping carbon stocks: applying the average value from the synthesis to mapped tidal wetlands, applying models fit using empirical data and applied using soil, vegetation and salinity maps, and relying on independently generated soil carbon maps. Soil carbon stocks were far lower on average and varied less spatially and with depth than stocks calculated from available soils maps. Further, variation in carbon density was not well-predicted based on climate, salinity, vegetation, or soil classes. Instead, the assembled dataset showed that carbon density across the conterminous united states (CONUS) was normally distributed, with a predictable range of observations. We identified the simplest strategy, applying mean carbon density (27.0 kg C m−3), as the best performing strategy, and conservatively estimated that the top meter of CONUS tidal wetland soil contains 0.72 petagrams C. This strategy could provide standardization in CONUS tidal carbon accounting until such a time as modeling and mapping advancements can quantitatively improve accuracy and precision.

Description: Synthesis efforts were funded by NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS; NNH14AY67I), USGS LandCarbon and the Smithsonian Institution. J.R.H. was additionally supported by the NSF-funded Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network while completing this manuscript (DEB-1655622). J.M.S. coring efforts were funded by NSF (EAR-1204079). B.P.H. coring efforts were funded by Earth Observatory (Publication Number 197).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Communications Biology 1 (2018): 177, doi:10.1038/s42003-018-0183-7.

Description: The oceans are warming and coral reefs are bleaching with increased frequency and severity, fueling concerns for their survival through this century. Yet in the central equatorial Pacific, some of the world’s most productive reefs regularly experience extreme heat associated with El Niño. Here we use skeletal signatures preserved in long-lived corals on Jarvis Island to evaluate the coral community response to multiple successive heatwaves since 1960. By tracking skeletal stress band formation through the 2015-16 El Nino, which killed 95% of Jarvis corals, we validate their utility as proxies of bleaching severity and show that 2015-16 was not the first catastrophic bleaching event on Jarvis. Since 1960, eight severe (〉30% bleaching) and two moderate (〈30% bleaching) events occurred, each coinciding with El Niño. While the frequency and severity of bleaching on Jarvis did not increase over this time period, 2015–16 was unprecedented in magnitude. The trajectory of recovery of this historically resilient ecosystem will provide critical insights into the potential for coral reef resilience in a warming world.

Description: Funding for this study was provided by National Science Foundation awards OCE 1537338, OCE 1605365, and OCE 1031971 to A.L.C., and the Robertson Foundation to A.L.C., National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships to T.M.D. and A.E.A., and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship to H.E.R.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 17437, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35309-3.

Description: During recent years, rapid seasonal growth of macroalgae covered extensive areas within the Yellow Sea, developing the world’s most spatially extensive “green tide”. The remarkably fast accumulation of macroalgal biomass is the joint result of high nitrogen supplies in Yellow Sea waters, plus ability of the macroalgae to optionally use C4 photosynthetic pathways that facilitate rapid growth. Stable isotopic evidence shows that the high nitrogen supply is derived from anthropogenic sources, conveyed from watersheds via river discharges, and by direct atmospheric deposition. Wastewater and manures supply about half the nitrogen used by the macroalgae, fertiliser and atmospheric deposition each furnish about a quarter of the nitrogen in macroalgae. The massive green tides affecting the Yellow Sea are likely to increase, with significant current and future environmental and human consequences. Addressing these changing trajectories will demand concerted investment in new basic and applied research as the basis for developing management policies.

Description: This work was supported by the State Key Project of Research and Development Plan (2016YFC1402106).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 5179, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07346-z.

Description: Sunlight is the dominant control on phytoplankton biosynthetic activity, and darkness deprives them of their primary external energy source. Changes in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton communities over diel light cycles and attendant consequences for carbon and energy flux in environments remain poorly elucidated. Here we use lipidomic data from the North Pacific subtropical gyre to show that biosynthesis of energy-rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton during the day and their subsequent consumption at night drives a large and previously uncharacterized daily carbon cycle. Diel oscillations in TAG concentration comprise 23 ± 11% of primary production by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton representing a global flux of about 2.4 Pg C yr−1. Metatranscriptomic analyses of genes required for TAG biosynthesis indicate that haptophytes and dinoflagellates are active members in TAG production. Estimates suggest that these organisms could contain as much as 40% more calories at sunset than at sunrise due to TAG production.

Description: This work was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation, and is a contribution of the Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology (SCOPE award # 329108, B.A.S.V.M.). K.W.B. was further supported by the Postdoctoral Scholarship Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & U.S. Geological Survey.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 4702, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07076-2.

Description: The orbital-scale timing of South Asian monsoon (SAM) precipitation is poorly understood. Here we present new SST and seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) records from the Bay of Bengal, the core convective region of the South Asian monsoon, over the past 1 million years. Our records reveal that SAM precipitation peaked in the precession band ~9 kyrs after Northern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima, in phase with records of SAM winds in the Arabian Sea and eastern Indian Ocean. Precession-band variance, however, accounts for ~30% of the total variance of SAM precipitation while it was either absent or dominant in records of the East Asian monsoon (EAM). This and the observation that SAM precipitation was phase locked with obliquity minima and was sensitive to Southern Hemisphere warming provides clear evidence that SAM and EAM precipitation responded differently to orbital forcing and highlights the importance of internal processes forcing monsoon variability.

Description: This study was partly funded by the German Science Foundation, DFG, IODP Priority Program (grant HA 5751/3-1).

Description: Conduit geometry affects magma ascent dynamics and, consequently, the style and evolution of volcanic eruptions. However, despite geological evidences support the occurrence of conduit widening during most volcanic eruptions, the factors controlling conduit enlargement are still unclear, and the effects of syn-eruptive variations of conduit geometry have not been investigated in depth yet. Based on numerical modeling and the application of appropriate stability criteria, we found out a strong relationship between magma rheology and conduit stability, with significant effects on eruptive dynamics. Indeed, in order to be stable, conduits feeding dacitic/rhyolitic eruptions need larger diameters respect to their phonolitic/trachytic counterparts, resulting in the higher eruption rates commonly observed in dacitic/rhyolitic explosive events. Thus, in addition to magma source conditions and viscosity-dependent efficiency for outgassing, we suggest that typical eruption rates for different magma types are also controlled by conduit stability. Results are consistent with a compilation of volcanological data and selected case studies. As stability conditions are not uniform along the conduit, widening is expected to vary in depth, and three axisymmetric geometries with depth-dependent radii were investigated. They are able to produce major modifications in eruptive parameters, suggesting that eruptive dynamics is influenced by syn-eruptive changes in conduit geometry.

Description: Published

Description: 4125

Description: 5V. Processi eruttivi e post-eruttivi

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4494, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22758-z.

Description: Six velocity sections straddling Cape Hatteras show a deep counterflow rounding the Cape wedged beneath the poleward flowing Gulf Stream and the continental slope. This counterflow is likely the upper part of the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Hydrographic data suggest that the equatorward flow sampled by the shipboard 38 kHz ADCP comprises the Upper Labrador Sea Water (ULSW) layer and top of the Classical Labrador Sea Water (CLSW) layer. Continuous DWBC flow around the Cape implied by the closely-spaced velocity sections here is also corroborated by the trajectory of an Argo float. These findings contrast with previous studies based on floats and tracers in which the lightest DWBC constituents did not follow the boundary to cross under the Gulf Stream at Cape Hatteras but were diverted into the interior as the DWBC encountered the Gulf Stream in the crossover region. Additionally, our six quasi-synoptic velocity sections confirm that the Gulf Stream intensified markedly at that time as it approached the separation point and flowed into deeper waters. Downstream increases were observed not only in the poleward transport across the sections but also in the current’s maximum speed.

Description: This research was supported by NSF through OCE-1558521 and OCE-1332667 and by a grant from North Carolina to the Renewable Ocean Energy Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 660, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02984-9.

Description: Efforts to estimate the physical and economic impacts of future climate change face substantial challenges. To enrich the currently popular approaches to impact analysis—which involve evaluation of a damage function or multi-model comparisons based on a limited number of standardized scenarios—we propose integrating a geospatially resolved physical representation of impacts into a coupled human-Earth system modeling framework. Large internationally coordinated exercises cannot easily respond to new policy targets and the implementation of standard scenarios across models, institutions and research communities can yield inconsistent estimates. Here, we argue for a shift toward the use of a self-consistent integrated modeling framework to assess climate impacts, and discuss ways the integrated assessment modeling community can move in this direction. We then demonstrate the capabilities of such a modeling framework by conducting a multi-sectoral assessment of climate impacts under a range of consistent and integrated economic and climate scenarios that are responsive to new policies and business expectations.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 3926, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22313-w.

Description: Despite concerted international effort to track and interpret shifts in the abundance and distribution of Adélie penguins, large populations continue to be identified. Here we report on a major hotspot of Adélie penguin abundance identified in the Danger Islands off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). We present the first complete census of Pygoscelis spp. penguins in the Danger Islands, estimated from a multi-modal survey consisting of direct ground counts and computer-automated counts of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Our survey reveals that the Danger Islands host 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins, more than the rest of AP region combined, and include the third and fourth largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world. Our results validate the use of Landsat medium-resolution satellite imagery for the detection of new or unknown penguin colonies and highlight the utility of combining satellite imagery with ground and UAV surveys. The Danger Islands appear to have avoided recent declines documented on the Western AP and, because they are large and likely to remain an important hotspot for avian abundance under projected climate change, deserve special consideration in the negotiation and design of Marine Protected Areas in the region.

Description: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Dalio Foundation, Inc. through the Dalio Explore Fund, which provided all the financing for the Danger Island Expedition. We would like to thank additional support for analysis from the National Science Foundation (NSF PLR&GSS 1255058 - H.J.L. and P.M.; NSF PLR 1443585 – M.J.P.) and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NNX14AC32G; H.J.L. and M.S.). Geospatial support for the analysis of high resolution satellite imagery provided by the Polar Geospatial Center under NSF PLR awards 1043681 & 1559691.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 115, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-00091-1.

Description: Mutations in Fused in Sarcoma/Translocated in Liposarcoma (FUS) cause familial forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive axonal degeneration mainly affecting motor neurons. Evidence from transgenic mouse models suggests mutant forms of FUS exert an unknown gain-of-toxic function in motor neurons, but mechanisms underlying this effect remain unknown. Towards this end, we studied the effect of wild type FUS (FUS WT) and three ALS-linked variants (G230C, R521G and R495X) on fast axonal transport (FAT), a cellular process critical for appropriate maintenance of axonal connectivity. All ALS-FUS variants impaired anterograde and retrograde FAT in squid axoplasm, whereas FUS WT had no effect. Misfolding of mutant FUS is implicated in this process, as the molecular chaperone Hsp110 mitigated these toxic effects. Interestingly, mutant FUS-induced impairment of FAT in squid axoplasm and of axonal outgrowth in mammalian primary motor neurons involved aberrant activation of the p38 MAPK pathway, as also reported for ALS-linked forms of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). Accordingly, increased levels of active p38 MAPK were detected in post-mortem human ALS-FUS brain tissues. These data provide evidence for a novel gain-of-toxic function for ALS-linked FUS involving p38 MAPK activation.

Description: We are grateful for funding from NIH/NINDS (R01 NS078145, R01 NS090352, and R21 NS091860 to D.A.B., R01 NS066942A and R21 NS096642 to G.M., R01NS023868 and R01NS041170 to S.T.B.), the ALS Therapy Alliance/CVS Pharmacy (to D.A.B. and G.M.) and the ALS Association (to C.F. and J.M.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 1124, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03134-x.

Description: The ocean’s role in global climate change largely depends on its heat transport. Therefore, understanding the oceanic meridional heat transport (MHT) variability is a fundamental issue. Prevailing observational and modeling evidence suggests that MHT variability is primarily determined by the large-scale ocean circulation. Here, using new in situ observations in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic Ocean and an eddy-resolving numerical model, we show that energetic mesoscale eddies with horizontal scales of about 10–100 km profoundly modulate MHT variability on time scales from intra-seasonal to interannual. Our results reveal that the velocity changes due to mesoscale processes produce substantial variability for the MHT regionally (within sub-basins) and the subpolar North Atlantic as a whole. The findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms for poleward heat transport variability in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean, a key region for heat and carbon sequestration, ice–ocean interaction, and biological productivity.

Description: J.Z. was financially supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI, with funding provided by the Ocean and Climate Change Institute. This work was also supported by the US National Science Foundation (OCE-1258823 and OCE-1634886), as well as by China’s national key research and development projects (2016YFA0601803), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41521091 and U1606402), the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (2015ASKJ01), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (201424001 and 201362048).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 742, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18757-1.

Description: In mammals, spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to dramatic losses in neurons and synaptic connections, and consequently function. Unlike mammals, lampreys are vertebrates that undergo spontaneous regeneration and achieve functional recovery after SCI. Therefore our goal was to determine the complete transcriptional responses that occur after SCI in lampreys and to identify deeply conserved pathways that promote regeneration. We performed RNA-Seq on lamprey spinal cord and brain throughout the course of functional recovery. We describe complex transcriptional responses in the injured spinal cord, and somewhat surprisingly, also in the brain. Transcriptional responses to SCI in lampreys included transcription factor networks that promote peripheral nerve regeneration in mammals such as Atf3 and Jun. Furthermore, a number of highly conserved axon guidance, extracellular matrix, and proliferation genes were also differentially expressed after SCI in lampreys. Strikingly, ~3% of differentially expressed transcripts belonged to the Wnt pathways. These included members of the Wnt and Frizzled gene families, and genes involved in downstream signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of Wnt signaling inhibited functional recovery, confirming a critical role for this pathway. These data indicate that molecular signals present in mammals are also involved in regeneration in lampreys, supporting translational relevance of the model.

Description: We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institutes of Health (R03NS078519 to OB; R01GM104123 to JJS; R01NS078165 to JRM), The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and The Marine Biological Laboratory, including the Charles Evans Foundation Research Award, the Albert and Ellen Grass Foundation Faculty Research Award, and The Eugene and Millicent Bell Fellowship Fund in Tissue Engineering.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 266, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4.

Description: Because microbial plankton in the ocean comprise diverse bacteria, algae, and protists that are subject to environmental forcing on multiple spatial and temporal scales, a fundamental open question is to what extent these organisms form ecologically cohesive communities. Here we show that although all taxa undergo large, near daily fluctuations in abundance, microbial plankton are organized into clearly defined communities whose turnover is rapid and sharp. We analyze a time series of 93 consecutive days of coastal plankton using a technique that allows inference of communities as modular units of interacting taxa by determining positive and negative correlations at different temporal frequencies. This approach shows both coordinated population expansions that demarcate community boundaries and high frequency of positive and negative associations among populations within communities. Our analysis thus highlights that the environmental variability of the coastal ocean is mirrored in sharp transitions of defined but ephemeral communities of organisms.

Description: This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1441943) to M.F.P. and the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-SC0008743) to M.F.P. and E.J.A. A.M.M.-P. was partially supported by the Ramon Areces foundation through a postdoctoral fellowship. D.J.M. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1314642) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1P01ES021923-01) through the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 121, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02504-1.

Description: Sediments in deep ocean trenches may contain crucial information on past earthquake history and constitute important sites of carbon burial. Here we present 14C data on bulk organic carbon (OC) and its thermal decomposition fractions produced by ramped pyrolysis/oxidation for a core retrieved from the 〉7.5 km-deep Japan Trench. High-resolution 14C measurements, coupled with distinctive thermogram characteristics of OC, reveal hemipelagic sedimentation interrupted by episodic deposition of pre-aged OC in the trench. Low δ13C values and diverse 14C ages of thermal fractions imply that the latter material originates from the adjacent margin, and the co-occurrence of pre-aged OC with intervals corresponding to known earthquake events implies tectonically triggered, gravity-flow-driven supply. We show that 14C ages of thermal fractions can yield valuable chronological constraints on sedimentary sequences. Our findings shed new light on links between tectonically driven sedimentological processes and marine carbon cycling, with implications for carbon dynamics in hadal environments.

Description: This study is supported by Doc.Mobility Fellowship (P1EZP2_159064) (R.B.) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). This work is also supported by SNF “CAPS-LOCK” project 200021_140850 (T.I.E.), by SNSF grant (133481) (M.S.), and Austrian Science Foundation (P 29678-N28) (M.S.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4547, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22732-9.

Description: The assembly of membranous extensions such as microvilli and cilia in polarized cells is a tightly regulated, yet poorly understood, process. Peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), a membrane enzyme essential for the synthesis of amidated bioactive peptides, was recently identified in motile and non-motile (primary) cilia and has an essential role in ciliogenesis in Chlamydomonas, Schmidtea and mouse. In mammalian cells, changes in PAM levels alter secretion and organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Here we show that lack of Pam in zebrafish recapitulates the lethal edematous phenotype observed in Pam−/− mice and reveals additional defects. The pam−/− zebrafish embryos display an initial striking loss of microvilli and subsequently impaired ciliogenesis in the pronephros. In multiciliated mouse tracheal epithelial cells, vesicular PAM staining colocalizes with apical actin, below the microvilli. In PAM-deficient Chlamydomonas, the actin cytoskeleton is dramatically reorganized, and expression of an actin paralogue is upregulated. Biochemical assays reveal that the cytosolic PAM C-terminal domain interacts directly with filamentous actin but does not alter the rate of actin polymerization or disassembly. Our results point to a critical role for PAM in organizing the actin cytoskeleton during development, which could in turn impact both microvillus formation and ciliogenesis.

Description: This study was supported by grants DK032949 (to BAE and REM), DK044464 (to JDG) and GM051293 (to SMK) from the National Institutes of Health.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 12 (2018): 1-16, doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.187.

Description: The rock-hosted subseafloor crustal aquifer harbors a reservoir of microbial life that may influence global marine biogeochemical cycles. Here we utilized metagenomic libraries of crustal fluid samples from North Pond, located on the flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a site with cold, oxic subseafloor fluid circulation within the upper basement to query microbial diversity. Twenty-one samples were collected during a 2-year period to examine potential microbial metabolism and community dynamics. We observed minor changes in the geochemical signatures over the 2 years, yet the microbial community present in the crustal fluids underwent large shifts in the dominant taxonomic groups. An analysis of 195 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were generated from the data set and revealed a connection between litho- and autotrophic processes, linking carbon fixation to the oxidation of sulfide, sulfur, thiosulfate, hydrogen, and ferrous iron in members of the Proteobacteria, specifically the Alpha-, Gamma- and Zetaproteobacteria, the Epsilonbacteraeota and the Planctomycetes. Despite oxic conditions, analysis of the MAGs indicated that members of the microbial community were poised to exploit hypoxic or anoxic conditions through the use of microaerobic cytochromes, such as cbb3- and bd-type cytochromes, and alternative electron acceptors, like nitrate and sulfate. Temporal and spatial trends from the MAGs revealed a high degree of functional redundancy that did not correlate with the shifting microbial community membership, suggesting functional stability in mediating subseafloor biogeochemical cycles. Collectively, the repeated sampling at multiple sites, together with the successful binning of hundreds of genomes, provides an unprecedented data set for investigation of microbial communities in the cold, oxic crustal aquifer.

Description: This work was supported by NSF OCE1062006 to JAH and NSF OCE1061827 to BTG. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation sponsored most of the observatory components at North Pond through grant GBMF1609. The Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) (OCE-0939564), a National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Centers of Excellence also supported the participation of CGW, JAH and BJT.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 209, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02105-y.

Description: Correction to: Nature Communications 8:172 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00197-0; Article published online: 2 August 2017

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 305, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02701-y.

Description: Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01229-5, Article published online 07 November 2017

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 12 (2018): 237–252, doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.165.

Description: Temperate coastal marine environments are replete with complex biotic and abiotic interactions that are amplified during spring and summer phytoplankton blooms. During these events, heterotrophic bacterioplankton respond to successional releases of dissolved organic matter as algal cells are lysed. Annual seasonal shifts in the community composition of free-living bacterioplankton follow broadly predictable patterns, but whether similar communities respond each year to bloom disturbance events remains unknown owing to a lack of data sets, employing high-frequency sampling over multiple years. We capture the fine-scale microdiversity of these events with weekly sampling using a high-resolution method to discriminate 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons that are 〉99% identical. Furthermore, we used 2 complete years of data to facilitate identification of recurrent sub-networks of co-varying microbes. We demonstrate that despite inter-annual variation in phytoplankton blooms and despite the dynamism of a coastal–oceanic transition zone, patterns of microdiversity are recurrent during both bloom and non-bloom conditions. Sub-networks of co-occurring microbes identified reveal that correlation structures between community members appear quite stable in a seasonally driven response to oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions.

Description: PLB is supported by the European Research Council Advanced Investigator grant ABYSS 294757 to Antje Boetius. AF-G is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Blue Growth: Unlocking the potential of Seas and Oceans) under grant agreement no. (634486) (project acronym INMARE). This study was funded by the Max Planck Society. Further support by the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (CSP COGITO) and DFG (FOR2406) is acknowledged by HT (TE 813/2-1) and RA (Am 73/9-1).

Description: Investigating deep water column biodiversity and ecology of the Cape Verde Islands Weekly report 14/2/2018-21/2/2018

Description: Diese Broschüre und die gleichnamige Ausstellung befassen sich mit der Entwicklung des Echolots, für das der Kieler Physiker und Unternehmer Alexander Behm im Jahr 1913 das erste Patent erhielt. Erfahren Sie mehr über die Geschichte der Tiefenmessung im Ozean – von den ersten Handloten im alten Ägypten über die dampfgetriebenen Lotmaschinen des 19. Jahrhunderts, der Entwicklung der ozeanischen Tiefenkarten bis hin zur heutigen Vermessung des Meeresbodens mit modernen Fächerecholoten.

Description: Investigating deep water column biodiversity and ecology of the Cape Verde Islands Weekly report 21/2/2018-1/3/2018

Description: AtlantOS aims to improve ocean observing by strengthening international collaboration, sharing of ocean observing and by promoting engagement and innovation. The vision is to create together with the ocean community a coordinated, efficient, sustainable and purposeful system.

Description: This git repository contains all the scripts needed to reproduce our results from the study "Inter-chromosomal coupling between vision and pigmentation genes during genomic divergence" from raw data to figures. It contains all scripts referenced within the materials & methods section. Related datasets are deposited at ENA (raw sequencing data, acession nr. PRJEB27858) and dryad (genome annotation & genotypes, doi:10.5061/dryad.pg8q56g).

Description: Laufzeit des Vorhabens: 01.01.2014-31.12.2017 : Berichtszeitraum: 01.01.2014-31.12.2017

Description: 15th July - 26th July, 2018, Cuxhaven - Kiel

Description: Projekt im Rahmen des BMBF-Aufrufs "Förderung von Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhaben zum Thema Kipppunkte, Dynamik und Wechselwirkungen von sozialen und ökologischen Systemen (BioTip)" : Projektlaufzeit: 1. Juni 2017 bis 31. Mai 2018

Description: Laufzeit des Vorhabens: 01.07.2016 bis 30.06.2018, Berichtszeitraum: 01.07.2016 bis 30.06.2018

Description: Physical, chemical, biological research and fishery oceanography This multidisciplinary cruise extended a long-term data series on (eco-)system composition and functioning of the Baltic Sea, with a focus on the deeper basins. The series has been collected in similar form since 1986. A key characteristic of the cruise is the integration of oceanographic and biological information to enhance understanding of environmental and (fish) population fluctuations, and evolutionary processes in this system. The resulting datasets and samples feed into the EU projects BONUS BLUEWEBS and Horizon 2020 GoJelly, and the US NSF project "Evolutionary Responses to Global Change in Salinity and Temperature". The spatial focus lay on the Bornholm Basin as most important spawning area of Baltic cod, but also included the Western Baltic Sea, Arkona and Gotland Basin, Gdansk Deep, and Stolpe Trench. Specific investigations included a detailed hydrological survey (oxygen, salinity, temperature) of the Bornholm Basin, plankton surveys (zoo- and ichthyplankton, with the goal to determine the composition and the abundance and vertical and horizontal distribution of species, and to take samples for later measurements of nutritional condition), and pelagic fishery hauls for clupeid and gadoid fish. The latter served to determine stock structure, gonadal maturation, stomach contents, and egg production of sprat and cod, and to sample tissue and otolith samples for individual-level genetic and ecological analyses of cod. The abundance and distribution of fishes in the cruise area was also assessed with hydroacoustic methods. Additional cruise components were: (i) cod gonad sampling for fecundity studies and liver sampling for parasite studies. (ii) vertically resolved phytoplankton and zooplankton sampling for studies of plankton phenology. (iii) in-depth sampling of planktonic food webs for dietary tracer work. (iv) copepode Eurytemora affinis sampling along the salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea for the study of local adapations.