ALBERT

Description: New high-precision minor element analysis of the most magnesian olivine cores (Fo85–88) in fifteen high-MgO (Mg#66–74) alkali basalts or trachybasalts from the Quaternary backarc volcanic province, Payenia, of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone in Argentina displays a clear north-to-south decrease in Mn/Feol. This is interpreted as the transition from mainly peridotite-derived melts in the north to mainly pyroxenite-derived melts in the south. The peridotite–pyroxenite source variation correlates with a transition of rock compositions from arc-type to OIB-type trace element signatures, where samples from the central part of the province are intermediate. The southernmost rocks have, e.g., relatively low La/Nb, Th/Nb and Th/La ratios as well as high Nb/U, Ce/Pb, Ba/Th and Eu/Eu* = 1.08. The northern samples are characterized by the opposite and have Eu/Eu* down to 0.86. Several incompatible trace element ratios in the rocks correlate with Mn/Feol and also reflect mixing of two geochemically distinct mantle sources. The peridotite melt end-member carries an arc signature that cannot solely be explained by fluid enrichment since these melts have relatively low Eu/Eu*, Ba/Th and high Th/La ratios, which suggest a component of upper continental crust (UCC) in the metasomatizing agent of the northern mantle. However, the addition to the mantle source of crustal materials or varying oxidation state cannot explain the variation in Mn and Mn/Fe of the melts and olivines along Payenia. Instead, the correlation between Mn/Feol and whole-rock (wr) trace element compositions is evidence of two-component mixing of melts derived from peridotite mantle source enriched by slab fluids and UCC melts and a pyroxenite mantle source with an EM1-type trace element signature. Very low Ca/Fe ratios (~1.1) in the olivines of the peridotite melt component and lower calculated partition coefficients for Ca in olivine for these samples are suggested to be caused by higher H2O contents in the magmas derived from subduction zone enriched mantle. Well-correlated Mn/Fe ratios in the wr and primitive olivines demonstrate that the Mn/Fewr of these basalts that only fractionated olivine and chromite reflects the Mn/Fe of the primitive melts and can be used as a proxy for the amount of pyroxenite melt in the magmas. Using Mn/Fewr for a large dataset of primitive Payenia rocks, we show that decreasing Mn/Fewr is correlated with decreasing Mn and increasing Zn/Mn as expected for pyroxenite melts.

Description: Using outdoor mesocosms we investigated the relative importance of the direct and indirect (here: altered grazing) effects of seawater warming on benthic microalgae in a Baltic Sea Fucus vesiculosus (Phaeophyceae) system during the spring season. Seawater warming had a positive main effect on microalgal total biomass accrual and growth rate and on total mesograzer abundance and biomass. Moreover, under the existing resource-replete conditions in spring the direct positive effect of warming on microalgae was stronger than its indirect negative effect through enhanced grazing. The outcome of this study contrasts previous observations from the summer and winter season, where indirect effects of warming mediated by altered grazing were identified as an important driver of primary biomass in the Fucus system. In this context, the results from the spring season add mechanistic information to the overall understanding of the seasonal variability of climate change effects. They suggest that the relative importance of the underlying direct and indirect effective pathways of warming and the overall effect on the balance between production and consumption are influenced by the trophic state of the system, which in temperate regions is related to season.

Description: Nitrogen fixation — the reduction of dinitrogen (N2) gas to biologically available nitrogen (N) — is an important source of N for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial environments, N2-fixing symbioses involve multicellular plants, but in the marine environment these symbioses occur with unicellular planktonic algae. An unusual symbiosis between an uncultivated unicellular cyanobacterium (UCYN-A) and a haptophyte picoplankton alga was recently discovered in oligotrophic oceans. UCYN-A has a highly reduced genome, and exchanges fixed N for fixed carbon with its host. This symbiosis bears some resemblance to symbioses found in freshwater ecosystems. UCYN-A shares many core genes with the 'spheroid bodies' of Epithemia turgida and the endosymbionts of the amoeba Paulinella chromatophora. UCYN-A is widely distributed, and has diversified into a number of sublineages that could be ecotypes. Many questions remain regarding the physical and genetic mechanisms of the association, but UCYN-A is an intriguing model for contemplating the evolution of N2-fixing organelles.

Description: Anthropogenic atmospheric loading of CO2 raises concerns about combined effects of increasing ocean temperature and acidification, on biological processes. In particular, the response of appendicularian zooplankton to climate change may have significant ecosystem implications as they can alter biogeochemical cycling compared to classical copepod dominated food webs. However, the response of appendicularians to multiple climate drivers and effect on carbon cycling are still not well understood. Here, we investigated how gelatinous zooplankton (appendicularians) affect carbon cycling of marine food webs under conditions predicted by future climate scenarios. Appendicularians performed well in warmer conditions and benefited from low pH levels, which in turn altered the direction of carbon flow. Increased appendicularians removed particles from the water column that might otherwise nourish copepods by increasing carbon transport to depth from continuous discarding of filtration houses and fecal pellets. This helps to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and may also have fisheries implications.

Description: Horizontal starch gel electrophoresis was employed to investigate levels of genetic differentiation between 13 samples of the neritic squid species Loligo forbesi Steenstrup obtained from throughout the majority of its known geographical range. Six enzyme loci identified in a preliminary study as being polymorphic were screened for variation between samples. No significant differences in allele distribution were detected between any of the samples obtained from the Faroe Bank in the north to Lisbon in the south, suggesting that squid throughout this range in the vicinity of the continental shelf are able to maintain panmixia, and effectively belong to a single population sharing a common gene pool. No clinal variation in allele distribution was detected throughout this range, a result which complements the findings of a detailed morphological companion study of the same individuals. Comparison of this homogenous European continental shelf population with squid from the Azores revealed highly significant (P〈0.01) differences in allele distribution at five of the six polymorphic enzyme loci studied. A genetic identity value (I) equivalent to 0.93 over 33 loci was obtained. Analysis of F-statistics suggested migration rates between sites to be as low as one individual per five generations, a rate deemed insufficient under most models to prevent divergence by random genetic drift. The large distance and oceanic depths separating the Azores from continental Europe seem to present an effective barrier to gene flow to L. forbesi, a squid belonging to a family considered to be confined in distribution to relatively shallow, near coastal waters. The two populations of squid in the Azores and along the European continental shelf currently both ascribed to L. forbesi should therefore probably best be regarded as relative subspecies.

Description: Beak lengths (lower rostral length and upper rostral length) were taken for a sample of Moroteuthis ingens which were captured on the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. Beak lengths were plotted against both mantle length and wet weight to determine the relationship between these parameters for future use in biomass estimates in predator analysis. Although M. ingens is markedly sexually dimorphic, with females reaching 5 times the weight of males, there was no obvious sexual dimorphism in either lower or upper rostral length. This resulted in sex-specific relationships between both LRL and mantle length, LRL and weight; and URL and mantle length, and URL and weight. Males appeared to have a curvilinear relationship between beak length and mantle length and beak length and weight (even for log-transformed data). There was also considerable spread in the data in the plot between beak length and weight for females of similar weight. These characteristics of the data makes biomass estimates based on rostral length measurements for this species difficult. Other beak parameters may prove more useful for estimating biomass of M. ingens.

Description: Body size at sexual maturity, egg-size distributions, and potential reproductive output have been estimated for female and male squid, Loligo forbesi Steenstrup, off the west coast of Scotland. Two size modes at maturity were found in both sexes, but separation into size cohorts was more pronounced in males (180 and 350 mm mantle length, ML). Preliminary ageing studies based on statolith ring-counts suggest that these size modes are not due to different age groups at breeding. Females have a single size mode of mature eggs in the proximal oviduct, but may have at least two size modes of eggs within the ovary. This finding is interpreted as evidence of batch-spawning in this squid. There was a weak relationship between total egg numbers (range 1000 to 16000) and body size (range 196 to 318 mm ML) and between mature egg size and body size. Males showed a strong positive relationship between spermatophore length and body length but a weak relationship between total number of spermatophores and body size. The results are discussed in the context of flexibility of breeding strategies in the loliginids and variety of life-cycle patterns.

Description: This study assesses the potential of the tropical loliginid squid Photololigo sp. to lay multiple batches of eggs and examines changes in somatic growth during reproduction. Histological analysis of the ovary and the relative size of the oviduct to mantle weight and ovary weight were used to determine the potential for multiple spawning. Ovaries of mature females always had immature and mature oocytes present, suggesting that not all the oocytes were maturing simultaneously and that multiple batches of eggs were being produced. Furthermore, poor correlations of oviduct weight with body size and ovary weight indicated that mature oocytes were not accumulating in the oviduct for a single spawning event. Both these observations supported the hypothesis that Photololigo sp. has the potential to lay multiple batches of eggs throughout its life. Specific growth rates, length-weight relationships, relative growth of somatic and reproductive tissue and microscopic assessment of muscle tissue were compared between immature and mature females. Growth rates of immature females were almost twice as fast as those of mature females. Mature females also had no large muscle fibres present, suggesting that energy for reproduction was mobilised from the muscle tissue.

Description: Recent work has shown that glaciers are a globally significant source of the micronutrient Fe to the ocean. Polar regions are particularly susceptible to climate change and have been subject to pronounced warming in the past few decades. In response to this warming, the volume of glacial meltwater runoff from Greenland has increased. This meltwater has a relatively high particulate and dissolved Fe content. Seasonal Fe limitation of marine ecosystems has been found in parts of the North Atlantic, so it has been proposed that increasing fluxes of Fe rich meltwater from Greenland to the North Atlantic could alleviate this Fe limitation and thereby increase marine primary production. However, here we use a synthesis of biogeochemical and physical oceanography studies to suggest that the physical circulation around Greenland does not favour direct export of dissolved or particulate Fe from inshore to offshore waters. The Fe budget in surface waters of the North Atlantic may therefore be insensitive to increasing meltwater fluxes from Greenland.

Description: Nitrogen (N) is the major limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth and productivity in large parts of the world's oceans. Differential preferences for specific N substrates may be important in controlling phytoplankton community composition. To date, there is limited information on how specific N substrates influence the composition of naturally occurring microbial communities. We investigated the effect of nitrate ( math formula), ammonium ( math formula), and urea on microbial and phytoplankton community composition (cell abundances and 16S rRNA gene profiling) and functioning (photosynthetic activity, carbon fixation rates) in the oligotrophic waters of the North Pacific Ocean. All N substrates tested significantly stimulated phytoplankton growth and productivity. Urea resulted in the greatest (〉300%) increases in chlorophyll a (〈0.06 μg L−1 and ∼0.19 μg L−1 in the control and urea addition, respectively) and productivity (〈0.4 μmol C L−1 d−1 and ∼1.4 μmol C L−1 d−1 in the control and urea addition, respectively) at two experimental stations, largely due to increased abundances of Prochlorococcus (Cyanobacteria). Two abundant clades of Prochlorococcus, High Light I and II, demonstrated similar responses to urea, suggesting this substrate is likely an important N source for natural Prochlorococcus populations. In contrast, the heterotrophic community composition changed most in response to math formula. Finally, the time and magnitude of response to N amendments varied with geographic location, likely due to differences in microbial community composition and their nutrient status. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that changes in N supply would likely favor specific populations of phytoplankton in different oceanic regions and thus, affect both biogeochemical cycles and ecological processes.