ALBERT

Description: The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), by converting methane to bicarbonate which is then precipitated as extensive carbonate crusts, is an important methane sink in the Earth’s ocean systems. Here we employ a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the role of microorganisms in carbonate precipitation using biomarker analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. We examined two microbial mats from the Black Sea and found that one comprised carbonate in both aragonite and Mg calcite forms and most likely ANME-1 archaea, whereas the other contained only Mg calcite and most likely ANME-2 archaea. We conclude, as have others, that the different microbial communities could impart different influences on carbonate mineralogy and morphology. Although further research is needed, this is a contribution to our understanding of those relationships, which could prove critical in the interpretation of ancient sedimentary deposits.

Description: In several fields of cell biology, correlative microscopy is applied to compare the structure of objects at high resolution under the electron microscope with low resolution light microscopy images of the same sample. It is, however, difficult to prepare samples and marker systems that are applicable for both microscopic techniques for the same specimen at the same time. In our studies, we used microbial mats from Cold Seep communities for a simple and rapid correlative microscopy method. The mats consist of bacterial and archaeal microorganisms, coupling reverse methanogenesis to the reduction of sulfate. The reverse methanogenic pathway also generates carbonates that precipitate inside the mat and may be the main reason for the formation of a microbial reef. The mat shows highly differentiated aggregates of various organisms, tightly interconnected by extracellular polysaccharides. In order to investigate the role of EPS as adhesive mucilage for the biofilm and as a precipitation matrix for carbonate minerals, samples were embedded in a hydrophilic resin (Lowicryl K4 M). Sections were suitable for light as well as electron microscopy in combination with lectins, either labeled with a fluorescent marker or with colloidal gold. This allows lectin mapping at low resolution for light microscopy in direct comparison with a highly resolved electron microscopic image.

Description: Samples collected from the shelf-edge wedge using surface grab samples and the Jago submersible constrain the KwaZulu-Natal shelf-edge wedge to a late Pliocene age on the basis of the absence of Gephyrocapsa oceanica s.l. and Discoaster brouweri, and the presence of Calcidiscus macintyrei. This correlates with proposed Tertiary sea-level curves for southern Africa and indicates relative sea-level fall during the late Pliocene coupled with hinterland uplift. Exposed failure scarps in the upper portions of submarine canyons yield sediment samples of early Pleistocene ages, indicating the uppermost age of deposition of clinoform topsets exposed in the scarp walls. Partially consolidated, interbedded silty and sandy deposits of similar age outcrop in the thalweg of Leven canyon at a depth of 150 m. These sediments provide an upper age limit of the shelf-edge wedge of early Pleistocene, giving a sedimentation rate of this wedge of 162–309 m/Ma. The distribution of widespread basal-most Pleistocene sediments on the upper slope indicates that these sediments escaped major reworking during sea-level falls associated with Pleistocene glaciations and remain as relict upper slope veneers. The absence of more recent sediments suggests that this area has been a zone of sediment bypass or starvation since the early Pleistocene. Areas where younger sediments mantle deposits of early Pleistocene ages represent areas of offshore bedload parting, re-distributing younger Holocene sediment offshore and downslope.

Description: The four naturally-occurring radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra, 226Ra and 228Ra) were used to estimate the submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the Isola La Cura marsh area in the northern Venice Lagoon (Italy). By determining the radium contributors to the study area (river, coastal ocean and sediments) the radium excess in the lagoon water was quantified through a mass balance model. This radium excess is attributed to a submarine groundwater discharge source and represents the most important input of radium. Possible endmembers were considered from analysis of groundwater samples (subtidal and marsh piezometers, marsh wells and seepage meters) that were enriched in Ra by one to two orders of magnitude relative to surface waters. In particular, a permeable layer at 80 cm depth in the surrounding marsh is considered to be representative of the most likely SGD source, although similar radium activities were measured in other subtidal porewater samples collected in the Isola La Cura area. The estimated SGD flux to the study area ranged from 1 · 109 to 6 · 109 L·d− 1, the same order of magnitude as the overall riverine input to the lagoon (3 · 109 L·d− 1). A major fraction of this SGD flux is likely recirculated seawater, as evidenced by the endmember salinity. The water residence time of 2 days was estimated by both using the shortest-lived radium isotope and estimating the volume of water exchanged between the lagoon and the open sea during a tidal cycle (tidal prism approach). This SGD flux could be used to estimate the input of other chemical species (metals, nutrients, etc.) via SGD which might affect the Venice Lagoon ecosystem.

Description: There is increasing evidence that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in many areas represents a major source of dissolved chemical constituents to the coastal ocean. In Great South Bay, NY, previous studies have shown that the discharge of nutrients with SGD may cause harmful algal blooms. This study estimates SGD to Great South Bay during August 2006 by performing a mass balance for each of the dissolved Ra isotopes (224Ra, 223Ra, 228Ra, 226Ra). The budget indicates a major unknown source (between 30 and 60% of the total input) of Ra to the bay. This imbalance can be resolved by a flux of Ra-enriched groundwater on the order of 3.5–4.5 × 109 L d− 1, depending on the Ra isotope. The Ra-estimated SGD rates compare well with those previously estimated by models of flow that decreases exponentially away from shore. Compared to previous reports of fresh groundwater discharge to the bay, the Ra-estimated discharge must comprise approximately 90% recirculated seawater. The good agreement between Ra- and model-estimated flow rates indicates that the primary SGD endmember may be best sampled at shallow depths in the sediments a short distance bayward of the low tide line.

Description: Seasonal (Spring and Summer 2002) concentrations of dissolved (〈0.22 μm) trace metals (Ag, Al, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb), inorganic nutrients (NO3, PO4, Si), and DOC were determined in groundwater samples from 5 wells aligned along a 30 m shore-normal transect in West Neck Bay, Long Island, NY. Results show that significant, systematic changes in groundwater trace metal and nutrient composition occur along the flowpath from land to sea. While conservative mixing between West Neck Bay water and the groundwaters explains the behavior of Si and DOC, non-conservative inputs for Co and Ni were observed (concentration increases of 10- and 2-fold, respectively) and removal of PO4 and NO3 (decreases to about half) along the transport pathway. Groundwater-associated chemical fluxes from the aquifer to the embayment calculated for constituents not exhibiting conservative behavior can vary by orders of magnitude depending on sampling location and season (e.g. Co, 3.4 × 102– 8.2 × 103 μmol d−1). Using measured values from different wells as being representative of the true groundwater endmember chemical composition also results in calculation of very different fluxes (e.g., Cu, 6.3 × 103 μmol d−1 (inland, freshwater well) vs. 2.1 × 105 μmol d−1(seaward well, S = 17 ppt)). This study suggests that seasonal variability and chemical changes occurring within the subterranean estuary must be taken into account when determining the groundwater flux of dissolved trace metals and nutrients to the coastal ocean.

Description: A mass balance for the naturally-occurring radium isotopes (224Ra, 223Ra, 228Ra, and 226Ra) in Jamaica Bay, NY, was conducted by directly estimating the individual Ra contributions of wastewater discharge, diffusion from fine-grained subtidal sediments, water percolation through marshes, desorption from resuspended particles, and water exchange at the inlet. The mass balance revealed a major unknown source term accounting for 19–71% of the total Ra input, which could only be resolved by invoking a source from submarine groundwater. Shallow (〈 2 m depth) groundwater from permeable sediments in Jamaica Bay was brackish and enriched in Ra relative to surface bay waters by over two orders of magnitude. To balance Ra fluxes, a submarine groundwater input of 0.8 × 109–9.0 × 109 L d− 1 was required. This flux was similar for all four isotopes, with individual estimates varying by less than a factor of 2. Our calculated groundwater flux was 6- to 70-fold higher than the fresh groundwater discharge to the bay estimated by hydrological methods, but closely matched direct flow rates measured with seepage meters. This suggests that a substantial portion of the discharge consisted of recirculated seawater. The magnitude of submarine groundwater discharge varied seasonally, in the order: summer 〉 autumn 〉 spring. Chemical analyses suggest that the recirculated seawater component of submarine groundwater delivers as much dissolved nitrogen to the bay as the fresh groundwater flux.

Description: The Cretaceous is a special episode in the history of the Earth named for a unique rock type, chalk. Chalk is similar to modern deep-sea calcareous ooze and its deposition in epicontinental seas occurred as these areas became an integral part of the ocean. The shelf-break fronts that today separate inshore from open-ocean waters cannot have existed during the Late Cretaceous probably because the higher sea level brought the base of the wind-mixed Ekman layer above the sea floor on the continental margins. A second peculiarity of the Cretaceous is its warm equable climate. Tropical and polar temperatures were warmer than today. Meridional and ocean-continent temperature gradients were lower. The warmer climate was a reflection of higher atmospheric levels of greenhouse gasses, CO2 and possibly CH4, reinforced by higher water vapor content in response to the warmer temperatures. Most of the additional energy involved in the meridional heat transport system was transported as latent heat of vaporization of H20 by the atmosphere. Poleward heat transport may have been as much as 1 Petawatt (20%) greater than it is today. C3 plants provided for more efficient energy transport into the interior of the continents. Circulation of the Cretaceous ocean may have been very different from that of today. It is impossible for large areas of the modern ocean to become anoxic, but episodes of local anoxia occurred during the earlier Cretaceous and became regional to global during the middle of the Cretaceous. The present ocean structure depends on constant wind systems, which in turn depend on stability of the atmospheric pressure systems forced by polar ice. During most of the Cretaceous the polar regions were ice free. Without polar ice there were seasonal reversals of the high-latitude atmospheric pressure systems, resulting in disruption of the mid- and high latitude wind systems. Without constant mid-latitude westerly winds, there would be no subtropical and polar fronts in the ocean, no well-developed ocean pycnocline, and no tropical subtropical gyres dominating ocean circulation. Instead the ocean circulation would be accomplished through mesoscale eddies which could carry warmth to the polar regions. Greater knowledge and understanding of the Cretaceous is critical for learning how the climate system operates when one or both polar regions are ice free.

Description: The Upper Rhine Graben has two Plio-Quaternary depocentres usually interpreted as resulting from tectonic reactivation. The southern basin, near Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), contains up to 250 m of sediments. Beneath the younger alluvial deposits related to the current drainage system, a former river network deeply entrenched in the substratum reveals a very low regional base level of early Pleistocene age. The offset of channels at faults allows us to infer a Pleistocene reactivation of the syn-rift fault pattern and the estimation of slip rates. Maximum vertical movements along the faults have not exceeded 0.1 mm/yr since the middle Pleistocene. Current activity is concentrated along the westernmost faults. Morphologic markers indicate late Pleistocene reactivation of the Rhine River fault, and geophysical prospecting suggests a near-surface offset of young sedimentary deposits. The size of the fault segments potentially reactivated suggests that earthquakes with magnitude larger than Mw=6.3Mw=6.3 could be expected in the area with a return interval of about 8000 years. Extrapolated to the duration of the Plio-Pleistocene, the strain rate estimates reveal that the tectonic forcing may account for only one-third to one-half of the whole thickness of the Plio-Pleistocene sediments of the basin fill. Thus other processes must be invoked to understand the growth of the Plio-Pleistocene basin. Especially the piracy of the Rhine River to the north during the early Pleistocene could explain these effects.

Description: A liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous quantitation of seven compounds (safflor yellow A, puerarin, daidzein, ginsenosides (Rg(1), Rb(1), Rd), and notoginsenoside R(1)) in rat plasma samples with sufficient sensitivity to facilitate analysis of samples collected after an intravenous injection of Naodesheng. The plasma samples were subjected to protein precipitation with acetone, and analyzed using negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode with baicalin as an internal standard. Good linearity for all the seven compounds was observed. The intra- and inter-day precision of analysis was 〈15.0% for each compound, and the accuracy ranged from 90.0% to 109.0%. This quantitation method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of following intravenous injection of rats with Naodesheng

Description: European eel (Anguilla anguilla) elvers were intraperitoneally injected with different doses of 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiyphenyl (PCB77) to examine and characterize the inductive effect of coplanar PCBs on CYP1A1 gene expression in liver and gills by using a semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. The influence of PCB77 injection on transcription activity of the housekeeping gene glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was tested to determine its suitability as a reference gene for further quantitative gene expression analyses. Our results clearly indicate a significant dose-dependent increase in CYP1A1 gene expression in the gills of European eel, while in liver tissues a significant elevation in CYP1A1 gene expression was only detectable at highest contamination rates, indicating the potential of CYP1A1 differential gene expression analysis in gills as a biomarker for PCB contamination in eels. PCB77 contamination did not affect GAPDH transcription in gills but, at highest doses, resulted in a significant elevation in liver, speaking against GAPDH as a reference housekeeping gene after PCB exposure.

Description: This chapter describes a range of quantitative tools that can be applied to ultrathin sections of biological material. The transmission electron microscopy quantitative estimations are generally made on images taken of ultrathin sections, but the very first concern of any well designed study is the origin of these images. The distribution of gold labeling over an array of cellular structures displayed in ultrathin sections can be estimated in two main ways. A major use of profile data on ultrathin sections is in assessing gold particle labeling of cell components. The ultrathin sections are exposed to antibodies localized using particles of colloidal gold, and because the section presents the components to the gold labeling system it is crucial to follow the sampling scheme already outlined. This ensures an unbiased sample of cell components is contained in the sections and can gain access to the gold labeling system. Colloidal gold is particulate and can be quantified as a signal that represents the underlying component, and the two principal readouts of interest to cell biologists are the distribution and concentration of gold labeling. New methods have been developed to evaluate labeling distributions and labeling intensities by statistical means.

Description: Centropages typicus is one of the most common, abundant and best studied calanoid copepods in neritic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, which means it can provide useful information about the long-term dynamics of the Mediterranean epipelagic ecosystem. This paper presents the first comparative overview of the seasonal and long-term variability of C. typicus in different Mediterranean regions. This review is based on quantitative information from the published literature and novel data from five ongoing zooplankton time-series carried out in the Mallorca Island (Balearic Sea), the Bay of Villefranche (Ligurian Sea), the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea), the Gulf of Trieste (North Adriatic Sea), and the Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea). In most Mediterranean regions, C. typicus has a perennial occurrence, with peaks of abundance that reflect the succession of different generations. Throughout the Mediterranean, the annual cycle of C. typicus is characterized by minima in winter and major peaks in April–June, which is earlier than those observed in European Atlantic waters, where the peaks are more frequently recorded in summer and fall. In the regions investigated, the annual cycle shows remarkable similarities in terms of timing, but notable differences in the peak height; populations are far more abundant in coastal north-western regions and less abundant in the eastern basin. In the long-term, changes in C. typicus phenology observed in the Bay of Villefranche and in the Gulf of Naples are related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. In these two regions, the species responds to climate forcing similarly in terms of average seasonal patterns (bi-modal patterns in years of positive NAO, unimodal patterns in years of negative NAO) but oppositely in terms of quantity, indicating different influence of the NAO on the two regions. At decadal scales, C. typicus populations show high interannual variability with marked geographical differences. In some areas, the patterns are clearly characterized by alternate phases of higher and lower annual abundances, at higher frequency (mainly 1–2 years) in the Gulf of Naples, and lower frequency in the Saronikos Gulf (mainly 4–5 years) and in the Gulf of Trieste (mainly 5–6 years). Synchronous phases of increasing or decreasing abundance are discernable only for a few sites and short periods, for example from 1998 to 2000 in the Gulf of Naples, Gulf of Trieste and Saronikos Gulf. The regional differences observed in the long-term patterns of C. typicus populations suggest that the temporal dynamics of this species are significantly more affected by local conditions than by any possible common driving force acting at basin scale through teleconnections.

Description: Seven new fungal polyketides possessing linear pentaene structures ending in cyclic moieties were isolated from the mycelium extract of a marine sponge-derived Penicillium rugulosum. Feeding of C-13-labeled acetate and L-methionine was used to verify the polyketide origin of prugosene A1. It could also be shown that prugosenes B1 and C1 were formed from prugosene A1 by hydrolysis and decarboxylation of its oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane unit.

Description: Live (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera were investigated in surface sediment samples from the Okhotsk Sea to reveal the relationship between faunal characteristics and environmental parameters. Live benthic foraminifera were quantified in the size fraction 〉 125 µm in the upper 8 cm of replicate sediment cores, recovered with a multicorer at five stations along the Sakhalin margin, and at three stations on the southwestern Kamchatka slope. The stations are from water depths between 625 to 1752 m, located close or within the present Okhotsk Sea oxygen minimum zone, with oxygen levels between 0.3 and 1.5 ml l- 1. At the high-productivity and ice-free Kamchatka stations, live benthic foraminifera are characterized by maximal standing stocks (about 1700-3700 individuals per 50 cm2), strong dominance of calcareous species (up to 87-91% of total live faunas), and maximal habitat depths (down to 5.2-6.7 cm depth). Vertical distributions of total faunal abundances exhibit a clear subsurface maximum in sediments. At the Sakhalin stations, which are seasonally ice-covered and less productive, live benthic foraminifera show lower standing stocks (about 200-1100 individuals per 50 cm2), lower abundance of calcareous species (10-64% of total live faunas), and shallower habitat depths (down to 2.5-5.4 cm depth). Faunal vertical distributions are characterized by maximum in the uppermost surface sediments. It is suggested that 1) lower and strongly seasonal organic matter flux, caused by the seasonal sea ice cover and seasonal upwelling, 2) lower bottom water oxygenation (0.3-1.1 ml l- 1), and 3) more pronounced influence of carbonate undersaturated bottom water along the Sakhalin margin are the main factors responsible for the observed faunal differences. According to species downcore distributions and average living depths, common calcareous species were identified as preferentially shallow, intermediate and deep infaunal. Foraminiferal microhabitat occupation correlates with the organic matter flux and the depth of the oxygenated layer in sediments.

Description: Three ferromanganese crusts from the northeast, northwest and central Atlantic were re-dated using osmium (Os) isotope stratigraphy and yield ages from middle Miocene to the present. The three Os isotope records do not show evidence for growth hiatuses. The reconstructed Os isotope-based growth rates for the sections older than 10 Ma are higher than those determined previously by the combined beryllium isotope (10Be/9Be) and cobalt (Co) constant-flux methods, which results in a decrease in the maximum age of each crust. This re-dating does not lead to significant changes to the interpretation of previously determined radiogenic isotope neodymium, lead (Nd, Pb) time series because the variability of these isotopes was very small in the records of the three crusts prior to 10 Ma. The Os isotope record of the central Atlantic crust shows a pronounced minimum during the middle Miocene between 15 and 12 Ma, similar to a minimum previously observed in two ferromanganese crusts from the central Pacific. For the other two Atlantic crusts, the Os isotope records and their calibration to the global seawater curve for the middle Miocene are either more uncertain or too short and thus do not allow for a reliable identification of an isotopic minimum. Similar to pronounced minima reported previously for the Cretaceous/Tertiary and Eocene/Oligocene boundaries, possible interpretations for the newly identified middle Miocene Os isotope minimum include changes in weathering intensity and/or a meteorite impact coinciding with the formation of the Nördlinger Ries Crater. It is suggested that the eruption and weathering of the Columbia River flood basalts provided a significant amount of the unradiogenic Os required to produce the middle Miocene minimum.

Description: In this study we show how substantial gains towards the goals of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) can be achieved by different single-species management. We show that fishing has much less impact on stocks if fish are caught after they have reached the size (Lopt) where growth rate and cohort biomass are maximum. To demonstrate our point we compare the impact of three fishing scenarios on 9 stocks from the North Sea and the Baltic. Scenario (1) is the current fishing regime, scenario (2) is a new management regime proposed by the European Commission, aiming for maximum sustainable yield obtained from all stocks, and scenario (3) is set so that it achieves the same yield as scenario (2), albeit with fishing on sizes beyond Lopt. Results show that scenarios (2) and (3) are significant improvements compared to current fishing practice. However, scenario (3) consistently shows least impact on the stocks, with seven-fold higher biomass of demersal fishes and an age structure similar to an unfished stock. This allows juveniles and adults to better fulfil their ecological roles, a major step towards the goals of ecosystem-based fisheries management. We give examples where scenario (3) is practiced in successful fisheries. We present a new interpretation of the relative yield per recruit isopleth diagram with indication of a new target area for fisheries operating within the context of EBFM. We present a new expression of the relative biomass per recruit isopleth diagram, which supports our analysis. We conclude that size matters for precautionary and ecosystem-based fisheries management and present a list of additional advantages associated with fishing at Lopt.

Description: A technique for the analysis of data from a subsurface moored upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to determine ice coverage, draft and velocity is presented and applied to data collected in Marguerite Bay on the western Antarctic Peninsula shelf. This method provides sea-ice information when no dedicated upward-looking sonar (ULS) data are available. Ice detection is accomplished using windowed variances of ADCP vertical velocity, vertical error velocity, and surface horizontal speed. ADCP signal correlation and backscatter intensity were poor indicators of the presence of ice at this site. Ice draft is estimated using a combination of ADCP backscatter data, atmospheric and oceanic pressure data, and information about the thermal stratification. This estimate requires corrections to the ADCP-derived range for instrument tilt and sound speed profile. Uncertainties of ±0.20 m during midwinter and ±0.40 m when the base of the surface mixed layer is above the ADCP for ice draft are estimated based on: (a) a Monte Carlo simulation, (b) uncertainty in the sound speed correction, and (c) performance of the zero-draft estimate during times of known open water. Ice velocity is taken as the ADCP horizontal velocity in the depth bin specified by the range estimate.

Description: Segmentation along convergent margins controls earthquake magnitude and location, but the physical causes of segment boundaries, and their impact on earthquake rupture dynamics, are still poorly understood. One aspect of the 2004 and 2005 great Sumatra–Andaman earthquakes is their abrupt termination along a common boundary. This has led to speculation on the nature of the boundary, its origin and why it was not breached. For the first time the boundary has been imaged and, with newly acquired marine geophysical data, we demonstrate that a ridge on the subducting Indo-Australian oceanic crust may exert a control on margin segmentation. This suggests a lower plate influence on margin structure, particularly its segmentation. The ridge is masked by the sedimentary cover in the trench. Its most likely trend is NNE–SSW. It is interpreted as a fracture zone on the subducting oceanic plate. A ramp or tear along the eastern flank of the subducting fracture zone beneath Simeulue Island may be considered as an intensification factor in terms of rupture propagation barrier.

Description: Planktic foraminiferal census data, faunal sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and oxygen isotopic and lithic records from a site in the northeast Atlantic were analyzed to study the interglacial dynamics of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, a period thought to closely resemble the Holocene on the basis of orbital forcing. Interglacial conditions during MIS 11 persisted for approximately 26 ka. After the main deglacial meltwater processes ceased, a 10- to 12-ka-long transitional period marked by significant water mass circulation changes occurred before surface waters finally reached their thermal maximum. This SST peak occurred between 400 and 397 ka, inferred from the abundance of the most thermophilic foraminiferal species and was coincident with lowest sea level according to benthic isotope values. The ensuing stepwise SST decrease characterizes the overall climate deterioration preceding the increase in global ice volume by ∼ 3 ka. This cooling trend was followed by a more pronounced cold event that began at 388 ka, and that terminated in the recurrence of icebergs at the site around 382 ka. Because the water mass configuration of early MIS 11 evolved quite differently from that of the early Holocene, there is little evidence that MIS 11 can serve as an appropriate analogue for a future Holocene climate, despite the similarity in some orbital parameters.

Description: Variably altered dacite from the PACMANUS vent field in the eastern Manus back-arc basin, Papua New Guinea, was studied to determine the textural and mineralogical characteristics of hydrothermal alteration taking place in the immediate subsurface of this modern seafloor hydrothermal system. Detailed textural investigations show that fluid flow through the glassy dacite has been strongly controlled by the primary volcanic textures. Quench fractures and networks of interconnected perlitic cracks linking vesicles provided pathways for hydrothermal fluids flowing up to the seafloor. Hydrothermal alteration along these pathways resulted in the formation of pseudoclastic textures. Textural evidence suggests that alteration of the glassy dacite has not been sustained. The samples have been affected by incipient hydrothermal alteration that is typically not preserved in ancient volcanic-rock-hosted massive sulfide deposits. Interaction of the glassy dacite with hydrothermal fluids primarily resulted in the conversion of volcanic glass to dioctahedral smectite. Only minor amounts of trioctahedral smectite were formed. Destruction of the volcanic glass and the formation of smectite caused pronounced changes in the chemistry of the dacite samples, in particular a decrease in the SiO2 whole-rock content and the Na2O/K2O ratio. The two alkali elements behaved differently during hydrothermal alteration due to preferential incorporation of K into the interlayer position of the newly formed dioctahedral smectite. Smectite formation occurred under rock-dominated conditions although the addition of Mg was required to form trioctahedral smectite from the silicic volcanic glass. Primary plagioclase was resistant to hydrothermal alteration highlighting the fact that the destruction of volcanic glass and feldspar are not necessarily contemporaneous in massive sulfide forming hydrothermal systems. Incipient alteration of the glassy dacite close to the seafloor occurred at temperatures below 150 °C in an environment that allowed the development of steep temperature gradients. Comparison of the new data to the findings of deep drilling during ODP Leg 193 suggests that the smectite-rich alteration in the immediate subsurface of the PACMANUS hydrothermal vent field represents the low-temperature equivalent of illite- and chlorite-rich alteration associations forming in the upflow zones of the hydrothermal fluids in the deeper portion of the volcanic sequence.

Description: Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios were determined on a single species of planktonic foraminiferan, Globigerinoides ruber (white), collected from the Gulf of Eilat and cultured in seawater at five different salinities (32 to 44), five temperatures (18 to 30 °C) and four pH values (7.9 to 8.4). The Mg/Ca-temperature calibration of cultured G. ruber (with an exponential slope of 8 ± 3%/°C) agrees well with previously published calibrations from core-tops and sediment traps. However, the dependence of Mg/Ca on salinity (with an exponential slope of 5 ± 3%/psu) is also significant and should be included in the calibration equation. With this purpose, we calculated a calibration equation for G. ruber dependent on both temperature and salinity within the 95% confidence limits: Mg/Ca(mmol/mol)=exp[0.06(±0.02)*S(psu)+0.08(±0.02)*T(°C)−2.8(±1.0)],R2=0.95 The influence of pH on Mg/Ca ratios is negligible at ambient seawater pH (8.1 to 8.3). However, we observe a dominating pH control on shell Mg/Ca when the pH of seawater is lower than 8.0. Sr/Ca in G. ruber shows a significant positive correlation with average growth rate. Presumably, part of the variability in shell Sr/Ca in the geological record is linked to changes in growth rates of foraminifera as a response to changing environmental conditions.

Description: The early response gene IEX-1 plays a complex role in the regulation of apoptosis. Depending on the cellular context and the apoptotic stimulus, IEX-1 is capable to either enhance or suppress apoptosis. To further dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in the modulation of apoptosis by IEX-1, we analysed the molecular crosstalk between IEX-1 and the NF-kappa B pathway. Using GST-pulldown assays, a direct interaction of IEX-1 with the C-terminal region of the subunit RelA/p65 harbouring the transactivation domain of the NF-kappa B transcription factor was shown. This interaction negatively regulates RelA/p65 dependent transactivation as shown by GAL4-and luciferase assay and was confirmed for the endogenous proteins by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Using deletion constructs, we were able to map the C-terminal region of IEX-1 as the critical determinant of the interaction with RelA/p65. We could further show, that IEX-1 mediated NF-kappa B inhibition accounts for the reduced expression of the anti-apoptotic NF-kappa B target genes Bc1-2, Bcl-xL, cIAP1 and cIAP2, thereby sensitizing cells for apoptotic stimuli. Finally, ChIP-assays revealed that IEX-1 associates with the promoter of these genes. Altogether, our findings suggest a critical role of IEX-1 in the NF-kappa B dependent regulation of apoptotic responses. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Description: We investigated the controls of hydrography and of scavenging on the distribution of the particle reactive radionuclides 231Pa and 230Th in the water column and in surface sediments off Southwest Africa (Angola and Cape basins). Based on a vertical section of total 230Thex concentrations in the water column we show that small differences in the salinity between the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the Angola Basin and the NADW in the Cape Basin as well as the advection of NADW associated with the Namib Col Current are reflected in total 230Thex concentrations. These variable total concentrations are believed to reflect the flow path and mixing history of NADW with the NADW in the Angola Basin being relatively older and 230Th enriched compared to the NADW in the Cape Basin. In the area investigated we found high 231Paex/230Thex ratios (231Paex/230Thex 〉 0.093) in surface sediments at the continental margin and lower ones (231Paex/230Thex 〈 0.093) in the open ocean. Such a distribution is normally interpreted to result from high particle flux at ocean margins (boundary scavenging). However, the lack of any significant depletion of dissolved 230Th and 231Pa in the water column does not indicate extensive scavenging at the continental margin. High 231Paex/230Thex ratios are constrained to shallow waters depths (〈 2000 m) only and coincide with low fractionation between 231Pa and 230Th indicating that preferential scavenging of 231Pa on opal may have caused high 231Paex/230Thex ratios in the sediments. The observed close negative correlation (r2 = 0.82) between 231Paex/230Thex ratios in sediments and water depths is believed to reflect changes in the particle composition, i.e. a decrease in opal content with water depth. In the Angola and Cape basins the total 231Paex concentrations in NADW were the highest observed so far in the Atlantic Ocean, and they are attributed to the meridional export of 231Pa from the North Atlantic. This caused the average dissolved 231Pa/230Th in the Southeast Atlantic to be about a factor 2 higher when compared to the North Atlantic (Labrador Sea). These differences in the dissolved 231Pa/230Th were not reflected in 231Pa/230Th ratios of surface sediments because the fractionation is lower in the Labrador Sea compared to the Southeast Atlantic, i.e. fractionation counteracts changes in the dissolved 231Pa/230Th. This suggests that fractionation is more important for the determination of 231Paex/230Thex ratios in sediments than the meridional export of 231Pa from the North Atlantic.

Description: The main Marmara Fault exhibits numerous sites of fluid venting, observed during previous cruises and in particular with R.O.V. VICTOR during the MARMARASCARPS cruise (2002). Long CALYPSO cores were recovered near active vents and at reference sites during the MARMARA-VT cruise (2004), together with echosounder sub-bottom profiles (frequency of 3.5kHz). We compiled R.O.V. video observations from MARMARASCARPS cruise and show that all known seeps occur in relationship with strike-slip faults, providing pathways for fluid migration. Among the main active sites, a distinction is made between gas seeps and water seeps. At gas seeps, bubble emissions at the seafloor or disturbed echofacies on sounder profiles demonstrate the presence of free methane gas at a shallow depth within the sediment. Most cores displayed gas-related expansion, most intense for cores taken within the gas plumes. On the other hand. authigenic carbonate chimneys characterize the water seeps and visible water outflow was observed at two sites (in the Tekirdag and Central basins). The pore fluid chemistry data show that the water expelled at these sites is brackish water trapped in the sediment during lacustrine times (before 14 cal kyr BP), in relation with the paleoceanography in the Sea of Marmara. The chimney site in the Tekirdag Basin is located at the outlet of a canyon feeding a buried fan with coarse sandy turbidites. Pore fluid composition profiles indicate that the sand layers channel the brackish fluids laterally from the basin into the fault zone at less than 20 m depth. However, a deeper gas source cannot be excluded. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Description: Cephalopods are the largest, most active invertebrates and there is considerable evidence for their convergent evolution with fishes. However, most active cephalopods display standard and active metabolic rates that are several-fold higher than comparably sized fishes. Shifting habitat temperatures due to climate change will therefore affect a cephalopods energy metabolism much more than that of a fish. Prediction of the probable outcome of cephalopod-fish competition thus requires quantitative information concerning whole animal energetics and corresponding efficiencies. Migrating cephalopods such as squid and cuttlefish grow rapidly to maturity, carry few food reserves and have little overlap of generations. This "live fast, die young" life history strategy means that they require niches capable of sustaining high power requirements and rapid growth. This presentation aims to draw a bottom-up picture of the cellular basis of energy metabolism of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, from its molecular basis to whole animal energetics based on laboratory experiments and field data. We assessed the proportionality of standard vs active metabolic rate and the daily energetic requirements using field tracking data in combination with lab based respirometry and video analysis. Effects of environmental temperature on mitochondrial energy coupling were investigated in whole animals using in vivo 31P-NMR spectroscopy. As efficient energy turnover needs sufficient oxygen supply, also thermal effects on the blood oxygen-binding capacities of the respiratory pigment haemocyanin and the differential expression of its isoforms were investigated.Supported by NERC grant NERC/A/S/2002/00812.

Description: New high resolution carbon isotope stratigraphies from two basinal pelagic carbonate successions in northern Germany (Halle and Oerlinghausen, Münsterland Cretaceous Basin) resolve late Cenomanian to early Mid-Turonian carbon cycle variations at timescales of less than 100 kyr. Beside the major carbon isotope excursion of the late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic event (OAE 2), 11 small-scale distinct features are precisely resolved in the δ13C carbonate curve and related to boreal macrofossil zonations. The small-scale carbon isotope events correspond to secular δ13C carbonate variations identified previously in the English Chalk. The boreal high-resolution δ13C carbonate curve shows a detailed coincidence with two Tethyan δ13C curves from Italy, what demonstrates the interregional significance of the δ13C dates and allows their correlation within error limits of ± 40 kyr. Furthermore, the new δ13C curve enables the calibration of boreal and tethyan macro- and microfossil zonations. Accordingly, the Tethyan calcareous nannoplankton boundary NC13/NC14 corresponds to the boreal FO of C. woollgari, the index taxon for the Lower-Middle Turonian boundary. The cyclic appearance and the temporal spacing of the small-scale carbon isotope events suggest that orbital forcing exerted control on surface water productivity and organic matter preservation at the sea floor.

Description: Mineralogical and geochemical investigation of altered host rock samples from the Logatchev hydrothermal field reveal a large variety of alteration styles at this site. Serpentinization is most intense in former harzburgites and dunites varying between 90-95%, whereas gabbros are mostly rather fresh. A combination of serpentinization, interaction with hot hydrothermal fluids, melt/rock interaction, and low-temperature seafloor weathering lead to significant gains and losses of major and trace elements. Serpentinization within the Logatchev hydrothermal field proceeds mainly isochemical for the major elements, except for a loss of TiO2 and CaO. However, the concentration of the trace elements Cu, Nb, Ba, La, Sm, Eu, Th or U increases significantly in the serpentinites. Gabbroic intrusions act as a sink for MgO during alteration due to the formation of chlorite and serpentine after clinopyroxene. Interaction between gabbros and hydrothermal fluids leads to significant redistribution of SiO2, TiO2, CaO, and Na2O as well as numerous trace elements. The different styles of alteration and their associated element changes reveal that samples from the entire Logatchev field have been influenced by hydrothermal fluids to some degree. Therefore, the hydrothermal fluid-dominated alteration of the ultramafic oceanic crust is a sink for many trace elements which were provided by mafic intrusions and mobilized by hydrothermal fluids and melt-rock interaction, whereas the gabbros accumulate high amounts of Mg from the seawater. Summarized the alteration processes at Logatchev are a combination of serpentinization, melt/rock interaction of serpentinites and mafic intrusions, and low-temperature seafloor weathering. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Description: Permeabilities in the subducting slab appear to be too low and dihedral angles between fluid and relevant minerals too high to allow for porous flow, hence fluid channelization is critical for the understanding of subduction zone fluid fluxes. In this review we will outline how fluid channelization controls reaction rates and element redistributions during metamorphism of the subducting plate as well as trace element compositions of subduction-related fluids during flow. Channelized fluid flow predicts that from a rock point of view, most formerly subducted material will show only very limited evidence for fluid flow, consistent with the rarity of observed high fluid fluxes in subduction-related rocks. Aqueous fluid produced by dehydration reactions will not percolate through large rock volumes, but rather will be carried away from the dehydration sites by a veining network. Indeed evidence for significant aqueous-fluid fluxes have been found in high-pressure veins with adjacent selvages. In such selvages, large lithophile elements (LILE's) generally show the highest mobilities, followed by light (L) rare earth elements (REE) and then heavy (H) REE. Compared to high field strength elements (HFSE), even Th shows higher mobilities. From a fluid point of view, equilibrium between aqueous fluid and surrounding rock will only be approached at sites of fluid production and mineral reaction. However, this fluid can be significantly modified while moving upwards through a veining network where the wallrocks are out of equilibrium with the fluid. In a subducting slab, such reactive fluid flow can preferentially dissolve minerals and release their trace elements (e.g. Ba in phengite, Th and La in monazite). The degree of change in aqueous-fluid composition will depend on the amount of fluid–mineral surface interaction. The chemical exchange reactions will not be possible to model by trace element partition coefficients alone, instead future models need to incorporate kinetic parameters such as surface reaction rates.

Description: Controversy over the oxygen isotope composition of seawater began in the 1950's, since which time there has been no agreement over whether the oxygen isotope composition of the oceans has changed over time. Resolving this uncertainty would allow the δ18O values of demonstrably well preserved marine authigenic precipitates to be used to reconstruct surface climate trends back to early Archean times and would help towards a more quantitative description of Earth's global water cycle on geological time scales. Isotopic studies of marine carbonate and silica reveal a trend of increasing δ18O values with decreasing age since the Archean. This trend has been interpreted by some to reflect a progressive increase in seawater δ18O through time; however, it is generally accepted on the basis of ophiolite studies and theoretical considerations that seawater δ18O cannot change significantly because of the buffering effects of ocean crust alteration at mid-ocean ridges. As a result many alternative interpretations have been proposed, including meteoric alteration; warmer paleoclimates; higher seawater pH; salinity stratification and biased sampling. Here we review these interpretations in the light of an updated compilation of marine carbonate δ18O from around the world, covering the Phanerozoic and Precambrian rock records. Recent models of the geological water cycle demonstrate how long-term trends in chemical weathering and hydrothermal circulation can indeed influence the O-isotope composition of the global ocean to the extent necessary to explain the carbonate δ18O trend, with residual variation attributed to climatic fluctuations and post-depositional alteration. We present the further development of an existing model of the geological water cycle. In the model, seawater δ18O increased from about − 13.3‰ to − 0.3‰ over a period of 3.4 Ga, with average surface temperatures fluctuating between 10 °C to 33 °C, which is consistent with known biological constraints. Similar temperature variations are also obtained, although with higher starting seawater δ18O composition, when more conservative approaches are used that take into account the systematic effects of diagenetic alteration on mean calcite δ18O values. In contrast to much published opinion, the average δ18O value of ocean crust in the model remained relatively unchanged throughout all model runs. Invariable ophiolite δ18O values can, therefore, not be used as a definitive argument against changing seawater δ18O. The most likely explanation for the long-term trend in seawater δ18O invokes two stepwise increases in the ratio of high- to low-temperature fluid/rock interactions. An initial increase may have occurred close to the Archean–Proterozoic boundary, but a possibly more significant increase took place near the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic boundary. Possible explanations for extremely low seawater δ18O during the Archean include higher continental weathering rates caused by a combination of higher atmospheric pCO2 (necessarily combined with high CO2 outgassing rates), a greater abundance of relatively easily weathered volcanic rocks in greenstone belts and partial emergence of spreading ridges. The second increase may have been caused by the suppression of low-temperature overprinting of ocean crust alteration by the formation of a thick sediment cover on ridge flanks due to the emergence of shelly plankton at the beginning of the Phanerozoic. Postulated increases in spreading ridge depths since the Archean would also have enhanced the efficiency of vertical heat flux and changed the depth at which hydrothermal fluids boil, both of which would favour high- over low-temperature interactions with time.

Description: New discoveries of articulated partial skeletons of teleosts from Upper Turonian strata in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (BCB) are described. The infrequent occurrence of articulated skeletons is discussed and compared with comparable taxa from the same time-equivalent successions in southern England. The similarity suggests links between both regions during the Late Turonian. Some palaeoecological interpretations of the fishes are provided.

Description: Plankton ecosystems in the North Atlantic display strong regional and interannual variability in productivity and trophic structure, which cannot be captured by simple plankton models. Additional compartments subdividing functional groups can increase predictive power, but the high number of parameters tends to compromise portability and robustness of model predictions. An alternative strategy is to use property state variables, such as cell size, normally considered constant parameters in ecosystem models, to define the structure of functional groups in terms of both behaviour and response to physical forcing. This strategy may allow us to simulate realistically regional and temporal differences among plankton communities while keeping model complexity at a minimum. We fit a model of plankton and DOM dynamics globally and individually to observed climatologies at three diverse locations in the North Atlantic. Introducing additional property state variables is shown to improve the model fit both locally and globally, make the model more portable, and help identify model deficiencies. The zooplankton formulation exerts strong control on model performance. Our results suggest that the current paradigm on zooplankton allometric functional relationships might be at odds with observed plankton dynamics. Our parameter estimation resulted in more realistic estimates of parameters important for primary production than previous data assimilation studies. Property state variables generate complex emergent functional relationships, and might be used like tracers to differentiate between locally produced and advected biomass. The model results suggest that the observed temperature dependence of heterotrophic growth efficiency [Rivkin, R.B., Legendre, L., 2001. Biogenic carbon cycling in the upper ocean: effects of microbial respiration. Science 291 (5512) 2398–2400] could be an emergent relation due to intercorrelations among temperature, nutrient concentration and growth efficiency. A major advantage of using property state variables is that no additional parameters are required, such that differences in model performance can be directly related to model structure rather than parameter tuning.

Description: Sponges are the most basal metazoan organisms. As sessile filter feeders in marine or freshwater habitats, they often live in close association with phototrophic microorganisms. Active photosynthesis by the associated microorganisms has been believed to be restricted to the outer tissue portion of the sponge hosts. However, phototrophic microorganisms have also been detected in deeper tissue regions. In many cases they are found around spicules, siliceous skelettal elements of demosponges and hexactinellids. The finding of phototrophic organisms seemingly assembled around spicules led to the hypothesis of a siliceous light transmission system in sponges. The principle ability to conduct light was already shown for sponge derived, explanted spicules. However it was not shown until now, that in deed sponges have a light transmission system, and can harbour photosynthetically active microorganisms in deeper tissue regions. Here we show for the first time, that, as hypothesized 13 year ago, sponge spicules in living specimens transmit light into deeper tissue regions. Our results demonstrate that in opposite to the actual opinion, photosynthetically active microorganisms can also live in deeper tissue regions, and not only directly beneath the surface, when a light transmission system (spicules) is present. Our results show the possibility of massive or globular sponges being supplied with photosynthetic products or pathways throughout their whole body, implying not only a more important role of these endobioses. Our findings also elucidate the in-situ function of a recently more and more interesting biomaterial, which is unique not only for its mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Biosilica is of special interest for the possibility to produce it enzymatically under environmental conditions.

Description: During mass developments of Planktothrix rubescens, the biomass of this cyanobacterium was collected over a period of four consecutive years (2002–2005) from Lake Hallwilersee, Switzerland. To avoid any shifts in analytical separation and sensitivity, the biomasses were extracted with 60% aqueous methanol at the end of the investigation period and were analysed within 1 week by LC-ESMS. A new mass spectrometric method to quantify oligopeptides was introduced. The sum of all major molecular species (quasi-molecular ion, double charged ion, adducts, dimers and molecular ions that had lost a water molecule) rather than just the signal of the quasi-molecular ion was used to determine the total abundance of oligopeptides. This procedure has become necessary because the variable presence of inorganic ions and the varying conditions of the mass spectrometric source strongly affect the formation of the different molecular species. Several anabaenopeptins, oscillapeptins and planktocyclins were found. [Asp3, Dhb7]microcystin-RR was the major microcystin. The oligopeptide patterns were relatively stable over the investigation period of 4 years. In June 2005, a mass mortality of Daphnia was observed. The dead Daphnia, which floated on the surface of the lake, were collected and analysed for oligopeptides. Planktocyclin and planktocyclin sulfoxide, which belong to the major cyclic peptides in P. rubescens, were found in the carcasses of Daphnia, but microcystins were missing. Live zooplankton of the epilimnion was represented by both Daphnia and copepods, while the patches of dead zooplankter on the lake surface were free of copepods and contained only Daphnia. Protease inhibitors rather than microcystins are discussed as the major bioactive compounds for grazer defence of P. rubescens.

Description: The active continental margin off south-central Chile (36° to 40°S) is transitional between the tectonically erosive, empty-trench margin north of Juan Fernandez Ridge and the accretionary, trench-filled margin south of the Chile Triple Junction. The small width of the presently active accretionary wedge (maximum width of 25 to 50 km) argues for past phases of tectonic erosion. At present, this sector shows indications of contemporaneous accretion, subduction, and underplating of sediment, as well as readjustment of the slope by various mass-wasting processes. In this context, this study aims to examine the Neogene sedimentary processes on the continental margin from dredge samples recovered during R/V SONNE cruise SO161-5 within this transitional domain using lithology, sandstone petrology, shale mineralogy, and analysis of sedimentary structures. Our results yield that the principal transport of material occurs in high-energy turbidity currents and debris flows via submarine canyons deeply cutting the continental slope, whereas sediment on the shelf is transported by strong coast-parallel bottom currents and trapped by submarine canyons cutting into the shelf. A wide range of mass-wasting processes including slumping, debris flows, evolving to low-density turbidity currents and mud flows, rework the slope sediments. In contrast, thick undisturbed sequences of mostly hemipelagic sediments accumulate in active slope basins, which are largely protected from mass movements. XRD analyses revealed early diagenetic lithification and overall burial depths of up to ∼ 230 mbsf, suggesting a shallow-subsurface cycle of sedimentation, subsidence, diagenesis, uplift, erosion, and resedimentation. The composition of sandstones is dominated by volcanic rock fragments of Andean provenance. Along-strike modal changes reflect a southward increase in glacially denudation and rainfall, the combination of which caused more intense erosion of volcanic rocks and exposure, weathering and, as a result, increased fluvial transport of metamorphic and plutonic rocks to the sea.

Description: The free energy yield of microbial respiration reactions in anaerobic marine sediments must be sufficient to be conserved as biologically usable energy in the form of ATP. Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction (SRR) has a very low standard free energy yield of ΔG∘ = −33 kJ mol−1, but the in situ energy yield strongly depends on the concentrations of substrates and products in the pore water of the sediment. In this work ΔG for the AOM–SRR process was calculated from the pore water concentrations of methane, sulfate, sulfide, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in sediment cores from different sites of the European continental margin in order to determine the influence of thermodynamic regulation on the activity and distribution of microorganisms mediating AOM–SRR. In the zone of methane and sulfate coexistence, the methane-sulfate transition zone (SMTZ), the energy yield was rarely less than −20 kJ mol−1 and was mostly rather constant throughout this zone. The kinetic drive was highest at the lower part of the SMTZ, matching the occurrence of maximum AOM rates. The results show that the location of maximum AOM rates is determined by a combination of thermodynamic and kinetic drive, whereas the rate activity mainly depends on kinetic regulation.

Description: The Cape Verde Islands are located on a mid-plate topographic swell and are thought to have formed above a deep mantle plume. Wide-angle seismic data have been used to determine the crustal and uppermost mantle structure along a ~ 440 km long transect of the archipelago. Modelling shows that ‘normal’ oceanic crust, ~ 7 km in thickness, exists between the islands and is gently flexed due to volcano loading. There is no direct evidence for high density bodies in the lower crust or for an anomalously low density upper mantle. The observed flexure and free-air gravity anomaly can be explained by volcano loading of a plate with an effective elastic thickness of 30 km and a load and infill density of 2600 kg m− 3. The origin of the Cape Verde swell is poorly understood. An elastic thickness of 30 km is expected for the ~ 125 Ma old oceanic lithosphere beneath the islands, suggesting that the observed height of the swell and the elevated heat flow cannot be attributed to thermal reheating of the lithosphere. The lack of evidence for high densities and velocities in the lower crust and low densities and velocities in the upper mantle, suggests that neither a crustal underplate or a depleted swell root are the cause of the shallower than expected bathymetry and that, instead, the swell is supported by dynamic uplift associated with the underlying plume.

Description: Measurements of bromoform (CHBr3), diiodomethane (CH2I2), chloroiodomethane (CH2ICl) and bromoiodomethane (CH2IBr) were made in the water column (5–100 m depth) of the Southern Ocean within 0–40 km of the Antarctic sea ice during the ANTXX1/2 transect of the German R/V Polarstern, at five locations between 70–72°S and 9–11°W in the Antarctic spring/summer of 2003–2004. Some of the profiles exhibited a very pronounced layer of surface sea-ice meltwater, as evidenced by salinity minima and temperature maxima, along with surface maxima in concentrations of CHBr3, CH2I2, CH2ICl and CH2IBr. These results are consistent with in situ surface halocarbon production by ice algae liberated from the sea ice, although production within the sea ice followed by transport cannot be entirely ruled out. Additional sub-surface maxima in halocarbons occurred between 20 and 80 m. At a station further from shore and not affected by surface sea-ice meltwater, surface concentrations of CH2I2 were decreased whereas CH2ICl concentrations were increased compared to the stations influenced by meltwater, consistent with photochemical conversion of CH2I2 to CH2ICl, perhaps during upward mixing from a layer at ∼ 70 m enhanced in iodocarbons. Mean surface (5–10 m) water concentrations of halocarbons in these coastal Antarctic waters were 57 pmol l− 1 CHBr3 (range 44–78 pmol l− 1), 4.2 pmol l− 1 CH2I2 (range 1.7–8.2 pmol l− 1), 0.8 pmol l− 1 CH2IBr (range 0.2–1.4 pmol l− 1), and 0.7 pmol l− 1 CH2ICl (range 0.2–2.4 pmol l− 1). Concurrent measurements in air suggested a sea-air flux of bromoform near the Antarctic coast of between 1 and 100 (mean 32.3, median 10.4) nmol m− 2 day− 1 and saturation anomalies of 557–1082% (mean 783%, median 733%), similar in magnitude to global shelf values. In surface samples affected by meltwater, CH2I2 fluxes ranged from 0.02 to 6.1 nmol m− 2 day− 1, with mean and median values of 1.9 and 1.1 nmol m− 2 day− 1, respectively.

Description: Latent heat polynyas are regions generating strong ice formation, convection and extensive water mass formation. Here we report on the effects of these processes on resuspension of sediments and subsequent methane release from the seafloor and on the resulting excess methane concentration in surface water on a polar shelf during winter. The study is based on measurements of concentration and δ13C values of methane, water temperature, salinity, light transmission and sea ice data collected in March 2003 in Storfjorden, southern Svalbard. In winter, strong and persistent northeasterly winds create polynyas in eastern Storfjorden and cause ice formation. The resulting brine-enriched water cascades from the Storfjordbanken into the central depression thereby enhancing the turbulence near the seafloor. A distinct benthic nepheloid layer was observed reflecting the resuspension of sediments by the cascading dense bottom water. High concentrations of 13C-depleted methane suggest submarine discharge of methane with the resuspended sediments. As the source of the submarine methane, we propose recent bacterial methanogenesis near the sediment surface because of extremely high accumulation rates of organic carbon in Storfjorden. Convective mixing transports newly released methane from the bottom to the sea surface. This eventually results in an excess concentration in surface water with respect to the atmospheric equilibrium, and a sea-air flux of methane during periods of open water. When a new ice cover is formed, methane becomes trapped in the water column and subsequently oxidized. Thus, the residual methane is strongly enriched in 13C in relation to the δ13CCH4δ13CCH4 signature of atmospheric methane. Our results show that latent heat polynyas may induce a direct pathway for biogases like methane from sediments to the atmosphere through coupling of biogeochemical and oceanographic processes. Extrapolating these processes to all Arctic ocean polynyas, we estimate a transfer of CH4 between 0.005 and 0.02 Tg yr−1. This is not a large contribution but the fluxes from the polynyas are 20–200 times larger than the ocean average and the methane evasion process in polynyas is certainly one that can be altered under climate change.

Description: Residual flow, barotropic tides and internal (baroclinic) tides interact in a number of ways with kilometer-scale seafloor topography such as abyssal hills and seamounts. Because of their likely impact on vertical mixing such interactions are potentially important for ocean circulation and the mechanisms and the geometry of these interactions are a matter of ongoing studies. In addition, very little is known about how these interactions are reflected in the sedimentary record. This multi-year study investigates if flow/topography interactions are reflected in distributional patterns of the natural short-lived (half-life: 24.1 d) particulate-matter tracer 234Th relative to its conservative (non-particle-reactive) and very long-lived parent nuclide 238U. The sampling sites were downstream of, or surrounded by, fields of short seamounts and, therefore, very likely to be influenced by nearby flow/topography interactions. At the sampling sites between about 200 and 1000 m above the seafloor recurrent ‘fossil’ disequilibria were detected. ‘Fossil’ disequilibria are defined by clearly detectable 234Th/238U disequilibria (total 234Th radioactivity 〈238U radioactivity, indicating a history of intense particulate 234Th scavenging and particulate-matter settling from the sampled parcel of water) and conspicuously low particle-associated 234Th activities. ‘Fossil’ disequilibria were centered at levels in the water column that correspond to the average height of the short seamounts near the sampling sites. This suggests the ‘fossil’ disequilibria are formed on the seamount slopes. Moreover, the magnitude of the ‘fossil’ disequilibria suggests that the slopes of the short seamounts in the study region are characterized by particularly vigorous fluid dynamics. Since ‘fossil’ disequilibria already occurred at ∼O(1–10 km) away from the seamount slopes it is likely that these vigorous fluid dynamics rapidly decay away from the slopes on scales of O(1–10 km). These conclusions are supported by the horizontal distribution and magnitude of the modeled total (barotropic+baroclinic) tidal current velocities of the predominating tidal M2 constituent: on (near-)critical seamount slopes baroclinic tides lead to localized [∼O(1 km)] increases of the overall tidal current velocity by a factor of ∼ 2, thereby pushing the total current velocity well above the threshold for sediment erosion. The results of this and a previous study [Turnewitsch, R., Reyss, J.-L., Chapman, D.C., Thomson, J., Lampitt, R.S., 2004. Evidence for a sedimentary fingerprint of an asymmetric flow field surrounding a short seamount. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222(3–4), 1023–1036] show that kilometer-scale flow/topography interactions leave a marine geochemical imprint. This imprint may help develop new sediment proxies for the reconstruction of past changes of fluid dynamics in the deep sea, including residual and tidal flow. Sedimentary records controlled by kilometer-scale seafloor elevations are promising systems for the reconstruction of paleo-changes of deep-ocean fluid dynamics. For the sediment-based reconstruction of paleo-parameters other than physical oceanographic ones it may be advisable to avoid kilometer-scale topography altogether.

Description: Expedition 311 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to northern Cascadia recovered gas-hydrate bearing sediments along a SW–NE transect from the first ridge of the accretionary margin to the eastward limit of gas-hydrate stability. In this study we contrast the gas gas-hydrate distribution from two sites drilled ~ 8 km apart in different tectonic settings. At Site U1325, drilled on a depositional basin with nearly horizontal sedimentary sequences, the gas-hydrate distribution shows a trend of increasing saturation toward the base of gas-hydrate stability, consistent with several model simulations in the literature. Site U1326 was drilled on an uplifted ridge characterized by faulting, which has likely experienced some mass wasting events. Here the gas hydrate does not show a clear depth-distribution trend, the highest gas-hydrate saturation occurs well within the gas-hydrate stability zone at the shallow depth of ~ 49 mbsf. Sediments at both sites are characterized by abundant coarse-grained (sand) layers up to 23 cm in thickness, and are interspaced within fine-grained (clay and silty clay) detrital sediments. The gas-hydrate distribution is punctuated by localized depth intervals of high gas-hydrate saturation, which preferentially occur in the coarse-grained horizons and occupy up to 60% of the pore space at Site U1325 and 〉 80% at Site U1326. Detailed analyses of contiguous samples of different lithologies show that when enough methane is present, about 90% of the variance in gas-hydrate saturation can be explained by the sand (〉 63 μm) content of the sediments. The variability in gas-hydrate occupancy of sandy horizons at Site U1326 reflects an insufficient methane supply to the sediment section between 190 and 245 mbsf.

Description: The Sibao Orogen in South China is one of the poorest known Grenville-aged orogenic belts through which the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia assembled. We report here the first UV laser spot 40Ar/39Ar mica and SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages from a rare Grenville-aged metamorphic complex, the Tianli Schists, in the eastern Sibao Orogen. Our U–Pb zircon provenance ages indicate that the protolith of the Tianli Schists was a clastic sedimentary succession most likely derived from the Yangtze Block. The depositional age of the protolith is younger than 1530 Ma, as constrained by the youngest detrital zircon grains, but is older than 1040 Ma as constrained by the oldest 40Ar/39Ar muscovite ages. The Yangtze Block provenance for the Tianli Schists suggests that the Sibaoan ophiolitic complexes in northeastern Jiangxi, the ca. 970 Ma Xiwan adakitic granite intrusions, and the ca. 900 Ma(?) Xiwan blueschists, all to the northwest of the study region, were likely formed during the closure of a back-arc basin along the margin of the Yangtze Block. Our in situ UV laser 40Ar/39Ar results from S1 and S2 muscovites suggest that the Tianli Schists underwent metamorphism and deformation at 1042 ± 7 Ma to 1015 ± 4 Ma, the oldest known metamorphic event in the eastern Sibao Orogen. Muscovite/biotite cooling ages of ca. 968 ± 4 and 942 ± 8 Ma are recorded by deformed and recrystallised muscovite and biotite, respectively, indicating tectonic reactivation before 900 Ma, during the later stages of the Sibao Orogeny. Together with previous results from the western Sibao Orogen, our work suggests that the closure of the ocean between the Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks during the assembly of Rodinia was diachronous: ≥1000 Ma at the western Sibao Orogen and ca. 900 Ma at the eastern Sibao Orogen.

Description: Annonaceous acetogenins are a large class of naturally occurring polyketides exhibiting potent anticancer activities. Based on our previous discovery of AA005, a multi-ether mimic of natural acetogenins having potent antitumor activities and significant selectivity between normal cells and cancer cells, a new series of mimics containing a terminal lactam were designed, synthesized and evaluated. Bioactivity study against cancer cells shows that the N-methylated lactam-containing compounds 3, 4, and 5 exhibit comparable potencies to that of AA005, as well as the similar selectivity to cancer cells. Hydrocarbon-length effects of N-alkyl were further explored through synthesizing derivatives 24–26, and application of this derivation protocol to the fluorescent labeling was also investigated.

Description: The abundance, activity, and temperature response of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria were studied in permafrost-affected tundra soils of northeast Siberia. The soils were characterized by both a high accumulation of organic matter at the surface and high methane concentrations in the water-saturated soils. The methane oxidation rates of up to 835 nmol CH4 h−1 g−1 in the surface soils were similar to the highest values reported so far for natural wetland soils worldwide. The temperature response of methane oxidation was measured during short incubations and revealed maximum rates between 22 °C and 28 °C. The active methanotrophic community was characterized by its phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations and with stable isotope probing (SIP). Concentrations of 16:1ω8 and 18:1ω8 PLFAs, specific to methanotrophic bacteria, correlated significantly with the potential methane oxidation rates. In all soils, distinct 16:1 PLFAs were dominant, indicating a predominance of type I methanotrophs. However, long-term incubation of soil samples at 0 °C and 22 °C demonstrated a shift in the composition of the active community with rising temperatures. At 0 °C, only the concentrations of 16:1 PLFAs increased and those of 18:1 PLFAs decreased, whereas the opposite was true at 22 °C. Similarly, SIP with 13CH4 showed a temperature-dependent pattern. When the soils were incubated at 0 °C, most of the incorporated label (83%) was found in 16:1 PLFAs and only 2% in 18:1 PLFAs. In soils incubated at 22 °C, almost equal amounts of 13C label were incorporated into 16:1 PLFAs and 18:1 PLFAs (33% and 36%, respectively). We concluded that the highly active methane-oxidizing community in cold permafrost-affected soils was dominated by type I methanotrophs under in situ conditions. However, rising temperatures, as predicted for the future, seem to increase the importance of type II methanotrophs, which may affect methane cycling in northern wetlands.

Description: The mesozooplankton community, with special emphasis on calanoid copepods, was studied with respect to its species composition, abundance, vertical distribution and developmental structure during the “Ice Station POLarstern” (ISPOL) expedition to the ice-covered western Weddell Sea. Stratified zooplankton tows were carried out nine times between 1 December 2004 and 2 January 2005 with a multiple opening–closing net between 0 and 1000 m depth. Copepods were by far the most abundant taxon, contributing more than 94% of the total mesozooplankton. Numerical dominants were cyclopoid copepods, mostly Oncaea spp. A total of 66 calanoid copepod species were identified, but the calanoid copepod community was characterised by the dominance of only a few species. The most numerous species was Microcalanus pygmaeus, which comprised on average 70% of all calanoids. Calanoides acutus and Metridia gerlachei represented other abundant calanoid species contributing an average of 8% and 7%, respectively. All other species comprised less than 3%. The temporal changes in the abundance and population structure of M. pygmaeus and M. gerlachei were small while a shift in the stage frequency distribution of C. acutus was observed during the study: copepodite stage IV (C IV) dominated the C. acutus population with 48–50% during the first week of December, while C V comprised 48% in late December. C I and C II of C. acutus were absent in the samples, and males occurred only in very low numbers in greater depths. In M. gerlachei, C I was not found, whereas all developmental stages of M. pygmaeus occurred throughout the study. All three species showed migratory behaviour, and they occurred in upper water layers towards the end of the investigation. This vertical ascent was most pronounced in C. acutus and relatively weak in the other two species. In M. pygmaeus and M. gerlachei, copepodids were responsible for the upward migration in late December, while the vertical distribution of adults did not change. In C. acutus, all abundant developmental stages (C IV, C V and females) ascended to upper water layers. Almost exclusively (93%) medium- and semi-ripe females of C. acutus and M. gerlachei were found, and only 3–4% of the ovaries were ripe. The absence of C I and the low number of ripe females indicate that the main reproductive period had not started in C. acutus and M. gerlachei until the end of our study in early January. In contrast, the high portion of C I and C II of M. pygmaeus suggests that reproduction of this species had started in October–November and hence before the onset of the phytoplankton bloom in the water. The community structure did not differ between stations with one exception on 26 December, when the station was strongly influenced by the continental shelf.

Description: A wide variety of environmental records is necessary for analysing and understanding the complex Late Quaternary dynamics of permafrost-dominated Arctic landscapes. A NE Siberian periglacial key region was studied in detail using sediment records, remote sensing data, and terrain modelling, all incorporated in a geographical information system (GIS). The study area consists of the Bykovsky Peninsula and the adjacent Khorogor Valley in the Kharaulakh Ridge situated a few kilometres southeast of the Lena Delta. In this study a comprehensive cryolithological database containing information from 176 sites was compiled. The information from these sites is based on the review of previously published borehole data, outcrop profiles, surface samples, and our own field data. These archives cover depositional records of three periods: from Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. The main sediment sequences on the Bykovsky Peninsula consist of up to 50 m thick ice-rich permafrost deposits (Ice Complex) that were accumulated during the Late Pleistocene. They were formed as a result of nival processes around extensive snowfields in the Kharaulakh Ridge, slope processes in these mountains (such as in the Khorogor Valley), and alluvial/proluvial sedimentation in a flat accumulation plain dominated by polygonal tundra in the mountain foreland (Bykovsky Peninsula). During the early to middle Holocene warming, a general landscape transformation occurred from an extensive Late Pleistocene accumulation plain to a strongly thermokarst-dominated relief dissected by numerous depressions. Thermokarst subsidence had an enormous influence on the periglacial hydrological patterns, the sediment deposition, and on the composition and distribution of habitats. Climate deterioration, lake drainage, and talik refreezing occurred during the middle to late Holocene. The investigated region was reached by the post-glacial sea level rise during the middle Holocene, triggering thermo-abrasion of ice-rich coasts and the marine inundation of thermokarst depressions.

Description: Precipitation measurement by radar allows for areal rainfall determination with a high spatial and temporal resolution. However, hydrological applications require an accuracy of the precipitation quantification which cannot be obtained by today’s weather radar devices. The quality of the radar-derived precipitation can be significantly improved with the aid of ground measurements. In this paper, a complete processing pipeline for real-time radar precipitation determination using a modified statistical objective analysis method is presented. Thereby, several additional algorithms, such as a dynamical use of Z–R relationships, a bias correction and an advection correction scheme are employed. The performance of the algorithms is tested for several case studies. For an error analysis, an eight months data set of X-band radar scans and rain gauge precipitation measurements is used. We show a reduction in the radar–rain gauge RMS difference of up to 59% for the optimal combination of the different algorithms.

Description: Historic data from the Russian-American Hydrochemical Atlas of Arctic Ocean together with data from the TRANSDRIFT II 1994 and TUNDRA 1994 cruises have been used to assess the spatial and inter-annual variability of carbon and nutrient fluxes, as well as air–sea CO2 exchange in the Laptev and western East Siberian Seas during the summer season. Budget computations using summer data of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) gives that the Laptev Sea shelf is a net sink of DIP and DIN of 2.5×106, 23.2×106 mol d−1, respectively, while it is a net source of DIC (excluding air–sea exchange) of 1249×106 mol d−1. In the East Siberian Seas the budget computations give 0.5×106, −11.4×106 and −173×106 mol d−1 (minus being a sink) for DIP, DIN, and DIC, respectively. In summers, the Laptev Sea Shelf is net autotrophic while the East-Siberian Sea Shelf is net heterotrophic, and both systems are weak net denitrifying. The Laptev Sea Shelf takes up 2.1 mmol CO2 m−2 d−1 from atmosphere, whereas the western part of the East-Siberian Sea Shelf loose 0.3 mmol CO2 m−2 d−1 to the atmosphere. The variability of DIP, DIN and DIC fluxes during summer in the different regions of the Laptev and East Siberian Seas depends on bottom topography, river runoff, exchange with surrounding seas and wind field.

Description: Particulate matter in aquatic systems is an important vehicle for the transport of particulate organic carbon (POC). Its accurate measurement is of central importance for the understanding of marine carbon cycling. Previous work has shown that GF/F-filter-based bottle-sample-derived concentration estimates of POC are generally close to or higher than large-volume in-situ-pump-derived values (and in some rare cases in subzero waters are up to two orders of magnitude higher). To further investigate this phenomenon, water samples from the surface and mid-water Northeast Atlantic and the Baltic Sea were analyzed. Our data support a bias of POC concentration estimates caused by adsorption of nitrogen-rich dissolved organic material onto GF/F filters. For surface-ocean samples the mass per unit area of exposed filter and composition of adsorbed material depended on the filtered volume. Amounts of adsorbed OC were enhanced in the surface ocean (typically 0.5 μmol cm− 2 of exposed filter) as compared to the deep ocean (typically 0.2 μmol cm− 2 of exposed filter). These dependencies should be taken into account for future POC methodologies. Bottle/pump differences of samples that were not corrected for adsorption were higher in the deep ocean than in the surface ocean. This discrepancy increased in summer. It is shown that POC concentration estimates that were not corrected for adsorption depend not only on the filtered volume, true POC concentration and mass of adsorbed OC, but also on the filter area. However, in all cases we studied, correction for adsorption was important, but not sufficient, to explain bottle/pump differences. Artificial formation of filterable particles and/or processes leading to filterable material being lost from and/or missed by sample-processing procedures must be considered. It can be deduced that the maximum amounts of POC and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) that can be artificially formed per liter of filtered ocean water are ∼ 3–4 μM OC (5–10% of dissolved OC) and ∼ 0.2–0.5 μM ON (2–10% of dissolved ON), respectively. The relative sensitivities of bottle and pump procedures, and of surface- and deep-ocean material, to artificial particle formation and the missing/losing of material are evaluated. As present procedures do not exist to correct for all possible biasing effects due to artificial particle formation and/or miss/loss of filterable material, uncertainties of filtration-based estimates of POC concentrations need further testing. The challenge now is to further constrain the magnitude of the biasing effects that add to the adsorption effect to reduce the uncertainties of estimates of POC concentrations, inventories and fluxes in the ocean.

Description: Continuous Plankton Recorder data suggest that the Irminger Sea supports a major proportion of the surface-living population of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the northern North Atlantic, but there have been few studies of its population dynamics in the region. In this paper, we document the seasonal changes in the demographic structure of C. finmarchicus in the Irminger Sea from a field programme during 2001/2002, and the associations between its developmental stages and various apparent bio-physical zones. Overwintering stages were found widely at depth (〉500 m) across the Irminger Sea, and surviving females were widely distributed in the surface waters the following spring. However, recruitment of the subsequent generation was concentrated around the fringes of the Irminger Sea basin, along the edges of the Irminger and East Greenland Currents, and not in the central basin. In late summer animals were found descending back to overwintering depths in the Central Irminger Sea. The key factors dictating this pattern of recruitment appear to be (a) the general circulation regime, (b) predation on eggs in the spring, possibly by the surviving G0 stock, and (c) mortality of first feeding naupliar stages in the central basin where food concentrations appear to be low throughout the year. We compared the demographic patterns in 2001/2002 with observations from the only previous major survey in 1963 and with data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) surveys. In both previous data sets, the basic structure of G0 ascent from the central basin and G1 recruitment around the fringes was a robust feature, suggesting that it is a recurrent phenomenon. The Irminger Sea is a complex mixing zone between polar and Atlantic water masses, and it has also been identified as a site of sporadic deep convection. The physical oceanographic characteristics of the region are therefore potentially sensitive to climate fluctuations. Despite this, the abundance of C. finmarchicus in the region, as measured by the CPR surveys, appears not to have responded to climate factors linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation Index, in contrast with the stocks in eastern Atlantic areas. We speculate that this may because biological factors (production and mortality), rather than transport processes are the key factors affecting the population dynamics in the Irminger Sea.

Description: A 1.5 km long, 1 km wide and 70–80 m high carbonate mound was identified on the mid-slope region of the subduction accretionary sedimentary prism offshore Vancouver Island ∼ 3.5 km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 889 and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1327. Seabed-video images show the presence of seafloor carbonate as well as chemosynthetic communities. A high-resolution single channel seismic survey with close line spacing, recording coherent reflectivity down to about 400 m beneath the seafloor, provided acoustic images of this mound and of the gas hydrate bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) beneath it. The mound is interpreted to have developed as a structural topographic high in the hanging wall of a large reverse fault formed at the base of the current seaward slope. The fault zone provides pathways for fluids including gas to migrate to the seafloor where diagenetic carbonate forms and cements the near-surface sediments. To examine the thermal effect of possible upward fluid flow beneath the mound, heat flow at the mound and in the neighbouring region was calculated from the depth of the BSR below the seafloor. These data were combined with heat flow calculated over a broader region from previous multi-channel seismic data. Heat flow within the flattest portion of the surrounding 4 km by 8 km region averages ∼ 74 mW/m2. Taking this value to represent the regional or background heat flow, a simple 2D analytical method was used to calculate theoretical heat flow variations due to topography. Across the mound, most of the variability is explained by topographic effects, including a local 6 mW/m2 negative anomaly over the central mound and a large 20 mW/m2 positive anomaly over the mound steep side slope. However, just south of the mound, there is a 6–7 mW/m2 positive anomaly in a 2-km-long band that has predominantly flat seafloor. Most of this anomaly is probably unrelated to topographic effects, but rather likely due to warm upward fluid flow along faults or fracture zones.

Description: In the framework of the “Ice Station POLarstern” (ISPOL) expedition in the western Weddell Sea, two sediment traps were deployed at 10 and 70 m water depth under a drifting ice floe in December 2004. The amount and composition of the vertical particle flux under sea ice were determined during a period of 30 days in order to investigate the influence of biological processes in sea ice and on its underside on the flux. The total mass flux was dominated by diatoms, faecal material, and aggregates, and ranged from 95.28 to 197.67 mg m−2 d−1 at 10 m depth and from 51.54 to 55.34 mg m−2 d−1 at 70 m depth. A strong increase with time of the flux of chlorophyll equivalents, biogenic silica, and faecal material was recorded during the observation period, coincident with the increase in the concentration of chlorophyll a in the bottom ice layer above the trap array. The latter suggests a concomitant increase in the amount of food available for grazers, such as krill, in the bottom ice layer and on the underside of the ice floe, resulting in an increased downward transport of ice-algal material into the water column. The sinking faecal material was dominated by krill faecal strings and contained large amounts of diatom frustule debris, as well as intact diatom frustules, mainly of the species Fragilariopsis curta and F. cylindrus. Single pronounced flux events of Phaeocystis antarctica and aggregates were also observed early in the study period. Low POC/PON and biogenic silica/POC ratios of the sinking particulate matter suggest that the material collected in the traps was relatively fresh.

Description: In the framework of the R.V. Polarstern expedition “Ice station POLarstern” (ISPOL) spatial and temporal trends in composition, abundance and age structure of sea ice inhabiting copepods were investigated in the western Weddell Sea during the transition from the spring to the summer state. For the spatial scale, sea-ice coring was performed at six locations on a transect from the ice edge to the ice-drift station between 14 and 24 November 2004. The temporal changes were investigated in a time series study on a drifting sea-ice floe from 29 November to 30 December 2004. A relatively large number of copepod species (15) were found in the ice with a higher number at the time station (13) than at the transect (9). Drescheriella spp. was by far the most abundant taxon encountered in the sea ice throughout the present study (72–87%). On the transect, Idomene antarctica ranked second in abundance (7%) followed by Stephos longipes (2%) and Ectinosoma sp. (2%). In contrast, Diarthrode cf. lilacinus, which was not found on the transect, was the second most abundant species (11%) at the time station, followed by I. antarctica (9%), Ectinosoma sp. (6%) and S. longipes (1%). Naupliar stages dominated the populations of Drescheriella spp. and S. longipes both on the transect and during the time series. The Ectinosoma sp. population was dominated by nauplii only at the stations of the transect, while copepodite stages made up the largest fraction during the time series. Copepodids always predominated the I. antarctica populations, and it was the only species in which adults occurred in high densities contributing significantly to the abundance. Only Drescheriella spp. and S. longipes occurred throughout the sea-ice cores, while the occurrence of all other species was restricted to the bottom layer of the ice. The distribution of all species was very patchy and varied greatly between the sampling sites.

Description: Helicopter-borne and ground-based electromagnetic (EM) ice thickness and ruler-stick snow thickness measurements as well as ice-core analyses of ice temperature, salinity and texture were performed over a 5-week observation period between November 27, 2004, and January 2, 2005, on an ice floe in the western Weddell Sea at approximately 67°S, 55°W. The study was part of the Ice Station Polarstern (ISPOL) expedition of German research icebreaker R.V. Polarstern, investigating changes of physical, biological, and biogeochemical properties during the spring warming as a function of atmospheric and oceanic boundary conditions. The ice floe was composed of fragments of thin and thick first-year ice and thick second-year ice, with modal total thicknesses of 1.2–1.3, 2.1, and 2.4–2.9 m, respectively. This included modal snow thicknesses of 0.2–0.5 m on first-year ice and 0.75 m on second-year ice. During the observation period, snow thickness decreased by less than 0.2 m. There was hardly any ice thinning. Warming of snow and ice between 0.1 and 1.9 °C resulted in decreased ice salinity and increased brine volume. Direct current (DC) geoelectric and electromagnetic (EM) induction depth sounding were performed to study changes of electrical ice conductivity as a result of the observed ice warming. Bulk ice conductivity increased from to 37 to 97 mS/m. Analysis of conductivity anisotropy showed that the horizontal ice conductivity changed from 9 to 70 mS/m. These conductivity changes have only negligible effects on the thickness retrieval from EM measurements.

Description: The new macrolactams cebulactams A1 and A2 were isolated from an extract of the first obligate marine strain of the genus Saccharopolyspora. Their constitutionally identical structures, each bearing a six-membered cyclic ether as part of the macrocycle, and their relative configurations were elucidated by MS methods and by 1D and 2D NMR techniques.

Description: Extracts of cultures grown in liquid or on solid rice media of the fungal endophyte Ampelomyces sp. isolated from the medicinal plant Urospermum picroides exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity when tested in vitro against L5178Y cells. Chromatographic separation yielded 14 natural products that were unequivocally identified based on their 1H and 13C NMR as well as mass spectra and comparison with previously published data. Six compounds (2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11) were natural products. Both fungal extracts differed considerably in their secondary metabolites. The extract obtained from liquid cultures afforded a pyrone (2) and sulfated anthraquinones (7 and 9) along with the known compounds 1, 3, 6 and 8. When grown on solid rice medium the fungus yielded three compounds 4, 5 and 11 in addition to several known metabolites including 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14. Compounds 4, 8 and 10 showed the strongest cytotoxic activity against L5178Y cells with EC50 values ranging from 0.2-7.3microg/ml. Furthermore, 8 and 10 displayed antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Enterococcus faecalis at minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 12.5microg/ml and 12.5-25microg/ml, respectively. Interestingly, 6 and 8 were also identified as constituents of an extract derived from a healthy plant sample of the host plant U. picroides thereby indicating that the production of bioactive natural products by the endophyte proceeds also under in situ conditions within the host plant.

Description: Numerous marine demosponges serve as habitats to phylogenetically complex microbial communities, with population densities exceeding those of seawater by several orders of magnitude. 16S rRNA gene-based studies have enabled a detailed phylogenetic description of the microorganisms associated with sponges, whereas environmental genomics analyses are beginning to reveal insights into their metabolic and physiological properties. Additionally, metagenomic approaches provide access to functional genes and gene clusters, thereby paving the way for the heterologous expression of novel bioactive substances from microbial symbionts of marine invertebrates.

Description: A method for the quantification of heme b in marine phyto- and bacterioplankton is described. Heme b was extracted from filtered cells using a solution of 2.5% octyl (3-glucopyranoside in 0.02 M ammonium hydroxide. The extract was analysed by high performance liquid chromatography diode array spectrophotometry. Maximum absorbance for heme b was at 400 nm. Heme b was separated from other pigments using a polystyrene divinyl benzene stationary phase and a gradient elution programme with 0.1% (v:v) nonafluoropentanoic acid in water and 50:50 (v:v) isopropanol:acetonitrile as the mobile phases. Heme b was quantified using Fe (III) protoporphyrin IX chloride (hemin) standards. The detection limit, calculated from 3 X s.d. of the lowest standard was 0.08 pmol or 1.57 nM with a 50 mu L injection volume. The first data for heme b in marine phyto- and bacterioplankton are reported. Heme b contents are reported for the eukaryotes Thalassiosira weissflogii, Thalassiosira oceanica, Dunaliella tertiolecta and Emiliania huxleyi, and the prokaryotes Synechococcus WH8102, WH7803, RCC307, Erythrobacter litoralis, Roseobacter denitrificans and Vibrio natriegens. For T. weissflogii, T. oceanica, D. tertiolecta and E. huxleyi cellular heme b concentrations varied between 12 and 60 mu mol L-1 and chlorophyll a to heme b ratios varied between 216 and 309

Description: The Earth’s crust has played an important role in all aspects of this planet’s evolution. This chapter presents a review of our current understanding of the physical properties of the crust on a global basis. This understanding comes from extensive seismic measurements using many techniques, as well as nonseismic geophysics, including gravity, magnetic, geoelectric, and heat flow measurements. Seismic measurements include those that employ active (man-made) sources and those that use passive (naturally occurring) sources. Deep seismic reflection profiles provide a seismic image of the crust in twodimensions with a high (50–100 m) resolution. Local earthquake tomography can provide three-dimensional (3-D) seismic images at moderate (500–1000 m) resolution and higher, depending on the number and spacing of seismographs. Nonseismic methods provide estimates of crustal density, magnetic properties, conductivity and geotherms (temperature vs depth). The crust in deep ocean basins is 6–7 km thick and has a relatively uniform seismic velocity structure, but there are numerous oceanic regions with anomalous crustal structure, including mid-ocean ridges, trenches, volcanic islands, and oceanic plateaux. Ocean–continent passive margins are also highly variable in structure, and may be classified as volcanic versus nonvolcanic margins. Continental crust ranges in thickness from 16 to 80 km, and has a highly variable seismic velocity and density structure. The proportions of continental crust, by area, are 69% shield and platform (cratons), 15% old and young orogens, 9% extended (stretched) crust, 6 % magmatic arc, and 1% rifts. The weighted mean continental crustal thickness and average crustal velocity are 41 km (SD 6.2 km) and 6.45 km s−1 (SD 0.21 km s−1), respectively. A global geographic distribution of seismic data has made it possible to create global crustal models with cell sizes as small as 2 ° × 2 °. These models provide a complete description of seismic velocities and density within the crust and uppermost mantle, including, where present, ice, water, and sedimentary layers and the crystalline crust (parameterized in three layers, upper, middle and lower crust), and sub-Moho properties. The crust is the most intensely studied region of the Earth’s interior and consequently is the best understood in terms of its structure, composition, and evolution.

Description: The Narryer Terrane within the northwestern Yilgarn Craton contains the oldest crust in Australia. The Jack Hills greenstone belt is located within the southern part of the Narryer Terrane, and structures cutting it and surrounding rocks have been dated using the 40Ar/39Ar technique. The results show that east-trending, dextral, transpressive shearing was related to the 1830–1780 Ma Capricorn Orogeny, followed by further deformation and/or cooling between c. 1760 and 1740 Ma. These results confirm that major deformation has affected the northwestern part of the Yilgarn Craton in an intracratonic setting during the Proterozoic. Proterozoic structures have been interpreted to extend south beyond the Narryer Terrane into the northern part of the Youanmi Terrane (Murchison Domain), and include the Yalgar Fault, previously interpreted as the boundary between the Narryer and Youanmi Terranes. Terrane amalgamation pre-dated the emplacement of c. 2660 Ma granites in both terranes, and the current expression of the Yalgar Fault must represent a younger, reworked, post-amalgamation structure, possibly controlled by the tectonic boundary. However, new aeromagnetic and gravity imagery does not show the eastern part of the Yalgar Fault as a major structure. Its signature is more akin to a series of east- to east-northeast trending faults that are interpreted to be Proterozoic in age. This suggests that this part of the Yalgar Fault may not be a terrane boundary, and is possibly no older than Proterozoic. The 40Ar/39Ar dating also shows a younger, less intense deformation and/or cooling event at c. 1172 Ma.

Description: A 5-year-long time series of meridional transport below 1180 dbar—zonally integrated across a section spanning, the western basin of the tropical North Atlantic—is analyzed. It has been inferred from (i) zonally integrated meridional geostrophic transports derived from density and bottom pressure measurements at the end points of a 1000 km wide section bounded by the base of the western continental rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and (ii) mooring-based direct current meter measurements over the steep Lesser Antilles continental rise. The southward time mean transport of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) transport is 15.9 Sv. The vertical shear of the geostrophic transport profiles in the western and eastern part of the section each show two layers of maximum southward transport within the NADW. The transport time series reveals changes of 7.7 Sv rms at periods of 1 month and longer, at times showing changes of up to 40 Sv within a month's time. The baroclinic (internal) contribution of the geostrophic flow (relative to 4950 dbar), yields fluctuations of 6.6 Sv rms. Adding transports over the steep continental rise reduces the overall transport variability to 5.2 Sv rms. As a result of this reduction in shorter-period variability, the lower-frequency variability becomes more pronounced, part of which is expected to be linked to the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The transport variability is consistent with baroclinic Rossby waves (at periods between 3 and 9 months), dominating in the eastern and central part of the section, and with changes in deep western boundary current (DWBC) strength, DWBC re-circulation patterns and eddies that become important in the western part of the section. The reference-level (external) geostrophic transport variability displays long-wavelength (〉2000 km) fluctuations of 7.5 Sv rms on periods less than 2 weeks that are consistent with barotropic Rossby waves. Numerical model simulations imply that the observed zonally integrated deep transport changes in the western basin have moderate skill in sensing changes in the MOC and in meridional heat transport, and that a now implemented extension of the array's integration scale into the eastern basin of the Atlantic would substantially improve the performance of the array as an MOC observing system.

Description: The Mediterranean outflow water (MOW) paleocirculation during the last 50,000 years has been inferred from the grain-size distribution of contourite beds in core MD99-2341 from the Gulf of Cadiz (Southern Iberian Margin–Atlantic Ocean). Three main contourite facies are described. Their vertical succession defines two contourite sequences that reveal past variations of the MOW bottom-current velocity. A comparison of contourite sequences and the planktonic δ18O record of core MD99-2341 with the δ18O record from Greenland Ice Core GISP2 show a close correlation of sea-surface water conditions and deep-sea contouritic sedimentation in the Gulf of Cadiz with Northern Hemisphere climate variability on millennial timescales. A high MOW velocity prevailed during Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials, Heinrich events and the Younger Dryas cold climatic interval. The MOW velocity was comparatively low during the warm Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials, Bølling-Allerød and the Early Holocene. Rapid sea-level fluctuations on the order of 35 m during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 are considered to have exerted limiting controls on the MOW volume transport and thus positively modulated the MOW behaviour during the last 50 kyr.

Description: Determining the movement of marine animals is logistically difficult and is currently primarily based on VHF and satellite-tracking telemetry, GPS, acoustic telemetry, and geolocation, all of which have substantial limitations in accurately locating the fine-scale movements of these animals. A recent development—that of dead-reckoning—is being increasingly used to examine the fine-scale movement of animals underwater. The advantages and drawbacks of this approach are quite different to those incurred by the other methods. This paper considers the advances that deadreckoning can bring to the study of the often cryptic movement and behaviour of marine animals at sea. Methods used in determining position via dead-reckoning are presented and consideration is given to results derived from the use of deadreckoning on cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins and sea turtles; these are complemented by data on cormorants and albatrosses acquired using GPS systems. Suggestions are made as to how movement data derived from these devices can be analysed using indices that allow interpretation over a large variety of temporal and spatial scales.

Description: Total alkalinity (TA) is one of the few measurable quantities that can be used together with other quantities to calculate concentrations of species of the carbonate system (CO2, HCO3 −, CO32−, H+, OH−). TA and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) are conservative quantities with respect to mixing and changes in temperature and pressure and are, therefore, used in oceanic carbon cycle models. Thus it is important to understand the changes of TA due to various biogeochemical processes such as formation and remineralization of organic matter by microalgae, precipitation and dissolution of calcium carbonate. Unfortunately deriving such changes from the common expression for TA in terms of concentrations of on-conservative chemical species (HCO3 −, CO3 2 −, B(OH)4 −, H+, OH−, etc.) is rarely obvious. Here an expression for TA (TAec) in terms of the total concentrations of certain major ions (Na+, Cl−, Ca2+ etc.) and the total concentrations of various acid-base species (total phosphate etc.) is derived from Dickson's original definition of TA under the constraint of electroneutrality. Changes of TA by various biogeochemical processes are easy to derive from this so-called explicit conservative expression for TA because each term in this expression is independent of changes of temperature or pressure within the ranges normally encountered in the ocean and obeys a linear mixing relation. Further, the constrains of electroneutrality for nutrient uptake by microalgae and photoautotrophs are discussed. A so-called nutrient-H+-compensation principle is proposed. This principle in combination with TAec allows one to make predictions for changes in TA due to uptake of nutrients that are consistent with observations. A new prediction based on this principle is the change in TA due to nitrogen fixation followed by remineralization of organic matter and subsequent nitrification of ammonia which implies a significant sink of TA in tropical and subtropical regions where most of the nitrogen fixation takes place.

Description: Extreme hydrological events are often triggered by exceptional co-variations of the relevant hydrometeorological processes and in particular by exceptional co-oscillations at various temporal scales. Wavelet and cross wavelet spectral analysis offers promising time-scale resolved analysis methods to detect and analyze such exceptional co-oscillations. This paper presents the state-of-the-art methods of wavelet spectral analysis, discusses related subtleties, potential pitfalls and recently developed solutions to overcome them and shows how wavelet spectral analysis, if combined to a rigorous significance test, can lead to reliable new insights into hydrometeorological processes for real-world applications. The presented methods are applied to detect potentially flood triggering situations in a high Alpine catchment for which a recent re-estimation of design floods encountered significant problems simulating the observed high flows. For this case study, wavelet spectral analysis of precipitation, temperature and discharge offers a powerful tool to help detecting potentially flood producing meteorological situations and to distinguish between different types of floods with respect to the prevailing critical hydrometeorological conditions. This opens very new perspectives for the analysis of model performances focusing on the occurrence and non-occurrence of different types of high flow events. Based on the obtained results, the paper summarizes important recommendations for future applications of wavelet spectral analysis in hydrology.

Description: The element compositions Si, Ca and Al of up to 2 1.1 ka old sediments in about 10 in long cores from the southern basin of the Shaban and Kebrit deeps in the northern Red Sea allowed a classification of major sediment types in carbonate sands and -muds and siliceous oozes. A FeOOH-enriched sediment horizon and a few samples with high Zn values in the Kebrit core indicate a hydrothermal origin probably near the brine-sea water interface with subsequent transport of hydrothermal compounds into the deep sediments. High organic carbon contents up to 8.4% are positively correlated with the Ba concentrations, which suggests that high bioproductivity, and rapid deposition (C-14 dating suggests a sedimentation rate near 70 cm/ka) led to the formation of sapropelic sediments between 11.8 and 13.6 ka (Younger Dryas). Organic petrological observations showed that the sediment organic material largely consists of 〈20 gm-sized roundish fecal pellets (intimate mixtures of organic matter and inorganic constituents) and bituminite. Terrestrial organic matter (pollens of land plants, fusinite etc.) is very rare in the sediment cores from both deeps. Organic-geochemical investigations of kerogens and organic extracts show that a significant (hydrothermal) hydrocarbon production did not occur in near-surface sediments of the Shaban and Kebrit deeps. Rock Eval pyrolysis of kerogens characterised the organic matter to be of type II quality. The delta C-13 values of the kerogens from the most prominent sapropel in the Shaban deep indicate an enrichment of(C-12-rich) nutrients in the water column during postglacial sapropel formation in the Younger Dryas. The n-alkane spectra are dominated by short chain lengths between n-C-15 and n-C-25 Prevailing n-C-15 to n-C-25 alkanes in low mature sediments are indicative of algal and microbial source. Pristane/phytane ratios are generally low (〈 I to similar to 1) which suggests that anoxic conditions prevailed within the anaerobic brine-filled deeps for the whole time covered by the sediments. This again indicates that sapropel formation was caused by high bioproductivity in the northern Red Sea rather than episodic stagnation with better preservation of the organic matter. Long-chain alkenones and sterols are the dominating compounds of the lipid fraction. Cholesterol contents in the sediment cores reflect phases of eukaryotes production in the water column, whereas the positive correlations of dinosterol with TOC and the amounts of total extract suggests that the major organic carbon source in the northern Red Sea during postglacial high-productivity stages were dinoflagellates. Another important carbon source, however, is indicated by the occurrence of 22,29,30-trisnorhopan-21 -one (TNH). Although the formation of TNH from its precursors is not fully understood, this compound probably results from microbial. degradation of intact bacteriohopanepolyols (BHP), which can be used as indicators for bacterial abundances and phyla. TNH is most likely produced at the brine-sea water interface where sedimenting organic matter accumulates and, if the redoxcline corresponds to the density gradient, the organic matter is subjected to efficient aerobic bacterial degradation processes. However, during high bioproductivity stage (Younger Dryas) the redoxcline was probably higher in the water column and thus, a significant TNH production at the brine-sea water interface did not occur at times of sapropel formation in the northern Red Sea deeps. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Description: Through early lithification, cyanobacterial mats produced vast amounts of CaCO3 on Precambrian carbonate platforms (before 540 Myr ago). The superposition of lithified cyanobacterial mats forms internally laminated, macroscopic structures known as stromatolites. Similar structures can be important constituents of Phanerozoic carbonate platforms (540 Myr to present). Early lithification in modern marine cyanobacterial mats is thought to be driven by a metabolically-induced increase of the CaCO3 saturation state (XCaCO3 ) in the mat. However, it is uncertain which microbial processes produce the XCaCO3 increase and to which extent similar XCaCO3 shifts were possible in Precambrian oceans whose chemistry differed from that of the modern ocean. I developed a numerical model that calculates XCaCO3 in cyanobacterial mats and used it to tackle these questions. The model is first applied to simulate XCaCO3 in modern calcifying cyanobacterial mats forming at Highborne Cay (Bahamas); it shows that while cyanobacterial photosynthesis increases XCaCO3 considerably, sulphate reduction has a small and opposite effect on mat XCaCO3 because it is coupled to H2S oxidation with O2 which produces acidity. Numerical experiments show that the magnitude of the XCaCO3 increase is proportional to DIC in DIC-limited waters (DIC 〈 3–10 mM), is proportional to pH when ambient water DIC is not limiting and always proportional to the concentration of Ca2+ in ambient waters. With oceanic Ca2+ concentrations greater than a few millimolar, an appreciable increase in XCaCO3 occurs in mats under a wide range of environmental conditions, including those supposed to exist in the oceans of the past 2.8 Gyr. The likely lithological expression is the formation of the microsparitic stromatolite microtexture—indicative of CaCO3 precipitation within the mats under the control of microbial activity—which is found in carbonate rocks spanning from the Precambrian to recent. The model highlights the potential for an increase in the magnitude of the XCaCO3 shift in cyanobacterial mats throughout Earth’s history produced by a decrease in salinity and temperature of the ocean, a decrease in atmospheric pCO2 and an increase in solar irradiance. Such a trend would explain how the formation of the microsparitic stromatolite microtexture was possible as the XCaCO3 of the ocean decreased from the Paleoproterozoic to the Phanerozoic.

Description: Two biotic indices, ATZI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and Benthic Quality Index (BQI) have been recently introduced within the EC Water Framework Directive to assess the quality of marine habitats: both are based on sensitivity/tolerance classification and quantitative information on the composition of soft-bottom macrofauna. Their performance, especially with regard to sampling effort was assessed based on two data sets collected in Southern Baltic and one from the Gulf of Lions Mediterranean. AMBI was not affected by sampling effort but BQI was. Two modifications were proposed for BQI (i.e., BQI) (1) the removal of the scaling term (i.e., BQIW), and (2) the replacement of the scaling term by different scaling term (i.e., BQIES). Both modified BQIs were largely independent of sampling effort. Variability was slightly lower for BQIW than for BQIES. BQI was highly correlated with BQIW and with BQIES both in the Southern Baltic and in the Gulf of Lions. However, the proportions of stations, which were not attributed the same ecological quality status (EcoQ) when using BQI and its two modified forms were always high. Differences in ecological classification were mostly due to the scales used to infer EcoQ. Based on this study we recommend to use BQIES in future studies because it apparently constitutes the best compromise in (1) being independent of sampling effort, (2) limiting the variability in computation in relation with sampling effort, (3) being correlated with BQI and corresponding EcoQ.

Description: Precise U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotope tracing of zircon is combined with whole-rock geochemical and Sr and Nd isotope data in order to unravel processes affecting mafic to felsic calcalkaline magmas prior to and during their crystallization in crustal magma chambers along the southern border of Central Srednogorie tectonic zone in Bulgaria (SE Europe). ID-TIMS U–Pb dating of single zircons from felsic and mixed/mingled dioritic to gabbroic horizons of single plutons define crystallization ages of around 86.5–86.0, 85.0–84.5 and 82 Ma. Concordia age uncertainties are generally less than 0.3 Ma (0.35%–2σ), and as good as 0.08 Ma (0.1%), when the weighted mean 206Pb/238U value is used. Such precision allows the distinction of magma replenishment processes if separated by more than 0.6–1.0 Ma and when they are marked by newly saturated zircons. We interpret zircon dates from a single sample that do not overlap to reflect new zircon growth during magma recharge in a long-lived crustal chamber. Mingling/mixing of the basaltic magma with colder granitoid mush at mid- to upper-crustal levels is proposed to explain zircon saturation and fast crystallization of U- and REE-rich zircons in the hybrid gabbro. Major and trace-element distribution and Sr and Nd whole-rock isotope chemistry define island arc affinities for the studied plutons. Slab derived fluids and a sediment component are constrained as enrichment sources for the mantle wedge-derived magma, though Hf isotopes in zircon suggest crustal assimilation was also important. Inherited zircons, and their corresponding ε-Hf, from the hybrid gabbroic rocks trace the lower crust as possible source for enrichment of the mantle magma. These inherited zircons are about 440 Ma old with ε-Hf of − 7 at 82 Ma, whereas newly saturated concordant Upper Cretaceous zircons reveal mantle ε-Hf values of + 7.2 to + 10.1. The upper and middle crusts contribute in the generation of the granitoid rocks. Their zircon inheritance is Lower Palaeozoic or significantly older and crustal dominated with 82–85 Ma corrected ε-Hf values of − 28. The Cretaceous concordant zircons in the granitoids are mantle dominated with a ε-Hf values spreading from + 3.9 to + 7.

Description: The Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N) is an oceanic core complex marked by distinct variations in crustal architecture, deformation and metamorphism over distances of at least 5 km. We report Sr and Nd isotope data and Rare Earth Element (REE) concentrations of gabbroic and ultramafic rocks drilled at the central dome (IODP Hole 1309D) and recovered by submersible from the southern ridge of the massif that underlie the peridotite-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Systematic variations between the two areas document variations in seawater penetration and degree of fluid–rock interaction during uplift and emplacement of the massif and hydrothermal activity associated with the formation of Lost City. Homogeneous Sr and Nd isotope compositions of the gabbroic rocks from the two areas (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70261–0.70429 and εNd: + 9.1 to + 12.1) indicate an origin from a depleted mantle. At the central dome, serpentinized peridotites are rare and show elevated seawater-like Sr isotope compositions related to serpentinization at shallow crustal levels, whereas unaltered mantle isotopic compositions preserved in the gabbroic rocks attest to limited seawater interaction at depth. This portion of the massif remained relatively unaffected by Lost City hydrothermal activity. In contrast, pervasive alteration and seawater-like Sr and Nd isotope compositions of serpentinites at the southern wall (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70885–0.70918; εNd: − 4.7 to + 11.3) indicate very high fluid–rock ratios (~ 20 and up to 106) and enhanced fluid fluxes during hydrothermal circulation. Our studies show that Nd isotopes are most sensitive to high fluid fluxes and are thus an important geochemical tracer for quantification of water–rock ratios in hydrothermal systems. Our results suggest that high fluxes and long-lived serpentinization processes may be critical to the formation of Lost City-type systems and that normal faulting and mass wasting in the south facilitate seawater penetration necessary to sustain hydrothermal activity.

Description: The relation between acoustic sea-floor backscatter and seep distribution is examined by integrating multibeam backscatter data and seep locations detected by single-beam echosounder. This study is further supported by side-scan sonar recordings, high-resolution 5 kHz seismic data, pore-water analysis, grain-size analysis and visual sea-floor observations. The datasets were acquired during the 2003 and 2004 expeditions of the EC-funded CRIMEA project in the Dnepr paleo-delta area, northwestern Black Sea. More than 600 active methane seeps were hydroacoustically detected within a small (3.96 km by 3.72 km) area on the continental shelf of the Dnepr paleo-delta in water depths ranging from − 72 m to − 156 m. Multibeam and side-scan sonar recordings show backscatter patterns that are clearly associated with seepage or with a present dune area. Seeps generally occur within medium- to high-backscatter areas which often coincide with pockmarks. High-resolution seismic data reveals the presence of an undulating gas front, i.e. the top of the free gas in the subsurface, which domes up towards and intersects the sea floor at locations where gas seeps and medium- to high-backscatter values are detected. Pore-water analysis of 4 multi-cores, taken at different backscatter intensity sites, shows a clear correlation between backscatter intensity and dissolved methane fluxes. All analyzed chemical species indicate increasing anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) from medium- to high-backscatter locations. This is confirmed by visual sea-floor observations, showing bacterial mats and authigenic carbonates formed by AOM. Grain-size analysis of the 4 multi-cores only reveals negligible variations between the different backscatter sites. Integration of all datasets leads to the conclusion that the observed backscatter patterns are the result of ongoing methane seepage and the precipitation of methane-derived authigenic carbonates (MDACs) caused by AOM. The carbonate formation also appears to lead to a gradual (self)-sealing of the seeps by cementing fluid pathways/horizons followed by a relocation of the bubble-releasing locations.

Description: Extensive ROV-based sampling and exploration of the seafloor was conducted along an eroded transform-parallel fault scarp on the northeastern side of the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California to observe the nature of fluids venting from the seafloor, measure the record left by methane-venting on the carbonates from this area, and determine the association with gas hydrate. One gas vent vigorous enough to generate a water-column gas plume traceable for over 800 m above the seafloor was found to emanate from a ∼10-cm-wide orifice on the eroded scarp face. Sediment temperature measurements and topography on a sub-bottom reflector recorded in a transform-parallel seismic reflection profile identified a subsurface thermal anomaly beneath the gas vent. Active chemosynthetic biological communities (CBCs) and extensive authigenic carbonates that coalesce into distinct chemoherm structures were encountered elsewhere along the eroded transform-parallel scarp. The carbon isotopic composition of methane bubbles flowing vigorously from the gas vent (−53.6±0.8‰ PDB) is comparable to methane found in sediment cores taken within the CBCs distributed along the scarp (−51.9±8.1‰ PDB). However, the δ13C value of the CO2 in the vent gas (+12.4±1.1‰ PDB) is very distinct from those for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) (−35.8‰ to −2.9‰ PDB) found elsewhere along the scarp, including underneath CBCs. The δ13C values of the carbonate-rich sediments and rocks exposed on the seafloor today also span an unusually large range (−40.9‰ to +12.9‰ PDB) and suggest two distinct populations of authigenic carbonate materials were sampled. Unconsolidated sediments and some carbonate rocks, which have lithologic evidence for near-seafloor formation, have negative δ13C values, while carbonate rocks that clearly formed in the subsurface have positive δ13C values (up to +23.0‰) close to that measured for CO2 in the vent gas. There appears to be two carbon sources for the authigenic carbonates: (1) deeply-sourced, isotopically heavy CO2 (∼+12‰); and (2) isotopically light DIC derived from local anaerobic oxidation of methane at the sulfate–methane interface in the shallow subsurface. Addition of isotopically light methane-derived carbon at the seafloor may completely mask the isotopically heavy CO2 signature (+12.4‰) in the underlying sediments. Thus, the authigenic carbonates may have formed from the same methane- and carbon dioxide-bearing fluid, but under different migration and alteration conditions, depending on how it migrated through the sediment column.

Description: The Dalrymple Trough marks part of the transform plate boundary between India and Arabia in the northern Arabian Sea. Oblique extension is presently active across this portion of the boundary at a rate of a few millimetres per year, and seismic reflection profiles across the trough confirm that it is an extensional structure. We present new swath bathymetric and wide-angle seismic data from the trough. The bathymetric data show that the trough is bounded by a single, steep, 3-km-high scarp to the southeast and a series of smaller, en-echelon scarps to the northwest. Wide-angle seismic data show that a typical oceanic crustal velocity structure is present to the northwest, with a crustal thickness of ~ 6 km. There is an abrupt change in crustal thickness and velocity structure at the northwestern edge of the trough, and the trough itself is underlain by 12-km-thick crust interpreted as thinned continental crust. Therefore we infer that Dalrymple Trough is an unusual obliquely extending plate boundary at which continental crust and oceanic crust are juxtaposed. The extensional deformation is focused on a single major fault in the continental lithosphere, but distributed over a region ~ 60 km wide in the oceanic lithosphere

Description: Future warming is predicted to shift the Earth system into a mode with progressive increase and vigour of extreme climate events possibly stimulating other mechanisms that invigorate global warming. This study provides new data and modelling investigating climatic consequences and biogeochemical feedbacks that happened in a warmer world not, vert, similar 112 Myr ago. Our study focuses on the Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1b and explores how the Earth system responded to a moderate not, vert, similar 25,000 yr lasting climate perturbation that is modelled to be less than 1 °C in global average temperature. Using a new chronological model for OAE 1b we present high-resolution elemental and bulk carbon isotope records from DSDP Site 545 from Mazagan Plateau off NW Africa and combine this information with a coupled atmosphere–land–ocean model. The simulations suggest that a perturbation at the onset of OAE 1b caused almost instantaneous warming of the atmosphere on the order of 0.3 °C followed by a longer (not, vert, similar 45,000 yr) period of not, vert, similar 0.8 °C cooling. The marine records from DSDP Site 545 support that these moderate swings in global climate had immediate consequences for African continental supply of mineral matter and nutrients (phosphorous), subsequent oxygen availability, and organic carbon burial in the eastern subtropical Atlantic, however, without turning the ocean anoxic. The match between modelling results and stratigraphic isotopic data support previous studies [summarized in Jenkyns, H.C., 2003. Evidence for rapid climate change in the Mesozoic–Palaeogene greenhouse world. The Royal Society, 361: 1885–1916.] in that methane emission from marine hydrates, albeit moderate in dimension, may have been the trigger for OAE 1b, though we can not finally rule out alternative mechanisms. Following the hydrate mechanism a total of 1.15 × 1018 g methane carbon (δ13C = − 60 ‰), equivalent to about 10% to the total modern gas hydrate inventory, generated the δ13Ccarb profile recorded in the section. Modelling suggests a combination of moderate-scale methane pulses supplemented by continuous methane emission at elevated levels over not, vert, similar 25,000 yr. The proposed mechanism, though difficult to finally confirm in the geological past, is arguably more likely to occur in a warmer world and apparently perturbs global climate and ocean chemistry almost instantaneously. This study shows that, once set-off, this mechanism can maintain Earth's climate in a perturbed mode over geological time leading to pronounced changes in regional climate.

Description: New and published data on the composition of melt inclusions in olivine (Fo73–91) from volcanoes of the Kamchatka and northern Kurile Arc are used 1) to evaluate the combined systematics of volatiles (H2O, S, Cl, F) and incompatible trace elements in their parental magmas and mantle sources, 2) to constrain thermal conditions of mantle melting, and 3) to estimate the composition of slab-derived components. We demonstrate that typical Kamchatkan arc-type magmas originate through 5–14% melting of sources similar or slightly more depleted in HFSE (with up to ∼ 1 wt.% previous melt extraction) compared to MORB-source mantle, but strongly enriched in H2O, B, Be, Li, Cl, F, LILE, LREE, Th and U. Mean H2O in parental melts (1.8–2.6 wt.%) decreases with increasing depth to the subducting slab and correlates negatively with both ‘fluid-immobile’ (e.g. Ti, Na, LREE) and most ‘fluid-mobile’ (e.g. LILE, S, Cl, F) incompatible elements, implying that solubility in hydrous fluids or amount of water does not directly control the abundance of ‘fluid-mobile’ incompatible elements. Strong correlation is observed between H2O/Ce and B/Zr (or B/LREE) ratios. Both, calculated H2O in mantle sources (0.1–0.4%) and degrees of melting (5–14%) decrease with increasing depth to the slab indicating that the ultimate source of water in the sub-arc mantle is the subducting oceanic plate and that water flux (together with mantle temperature) governs the extent of mantle melting beneath Kamchatka. A parameterized hydrous melting model [Katz et al. 2003, G3, 4(9), 1073] is utilized to estimate that mantle melting beneath Kamchatka occurs at or below the dry peridotite solidus (1245–1330 °C at 1.5–2.0 GPa). Relatively high mantle temperatures (yet lower than beneath back-arc basins and ocean ridges) suggest substantial corner flow driven mantle upwelling beneath Kamchatka in agreement with numerical models implying non-isoviscous mantle wedge rheology. Data from Kamchatka, Mexico and Central America indicate that 〈 5% melting would take place beneath continental arcs without water flux from the subducting slab. A broad negative correlation appears to exist between crustal thickness and the temperature of magma generation beneath volcanic arcs with larger amounts of decompression melting occurring beneath thinner arc crust (lithosphere). In agreement with the high mantle temperatures, we observe a systematic change in the composition of slab components with increasing slab depth from solute-poor hydrous fluid beneath the volcanic front to solute-rich hydrous melt or supercritical liquid at deeper depths beneath the rear arc. The solute-rich slab component dominates the budget of LILE, LREE, Th and U in the magmas and originates through wet-melting of subducted sediments and/or altered oceanic crust at ≥ 120 km depth. Melting of the upper parts of subducting plates under water flux from deeper lithosphere (e.g. serpentinites), combined with high temperatures in the mantle wedge, may be a more common process beneath volcanic arcs than has been previously recognized.

Description: Two newly developed coring devices, the Multi-Autoclave-Corer and the Dynamic Autoclave Piston Corer were deployed in shallow gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico during research cruise SO174 (Oct–Nov 2003). For the first time, they enable the retrieval of near-surface sediment cores under ambient pressure. This enables the determination of in situ methane concentrations and amounts of gas hydrate in sediment depths where bottom water temperature and pressure changes most strongly influence gas/hydrate relationships. At seep sites of GC185 (Bush Hill) and the newly discovered sites at GC415, we determined the volume of low-weight hydrocarbons (C1 through C5) from nine pressurized cores via controlled degassing. The resulting in situ methane concentrations vary by two orders of magnitudes between 0.031 and 0.985 mol kg− 1 pore water below the zone of sulfate depletion. This includes dissolved, free, and hydrate-bound CH4. Combined with results from conventional cores, this establishes a variability of methane concentrations in close proximity to seep sites of five orders of magnitude. In total four out of nine pressure cores had CH4 concentrations above equilibrium with gas hydrates. Two of them contain gas hydrate volumes of 15% (GC185) and 18% (GC415) of pore space. The measurements prove that the highest methane concentrations are not necessarily related to the highest advection rates. Brine advection inhibits gas hydrate stability a few centimeters below the sediment surface at the depth of anaerobic oxidation of methane and thus inhibits the storage of enhanced methane volumes. Here, computerized tomography (CT) of the pressure cores detected small amounts of free gas. This finding has major implications for methane distribution, possible consumption, and escape into the bottom water in fluid flow systems related to halokinesis.

Description: Late Cenozoic back-arc mafic volcanism in the southern Puna plateau of Argentina offers insights into the state of the mantle under the world’s second largest continental plateau. Previous studies of the mafic magmas in this region proposed a scenario of mantle melting due to lithospheric delamination and/or steepening of the subducting slab. However, few of the centers have been precisely dated, which limits any geodynamic interpretation. We present results of laser incremental-heating 40Ar/39Ar dating of 22 back-arc centers in the southern Puna, with emphasis on the Salar de Antofalla region where volcanic activity was most intense. Three localities yielded ages between 7.3 and 7.0 Ma which, along with 2 previous 7 Ma ages, firmly establishes that back-arc activity began as early as late Miocene. Volcanism continued through the Pleistocene but the peak was in the early Pliocene. This result has important tectonic implications. If, as previously suggested, magma genesis is related to lithospheric delamination, this process was underway by the latest Miocene in the southern Puna. Furthermore, since the mafic back-arc volcanism is considered to mark a change in fault kinematics from compressional to transtensional, the new age constraints indicate that this change took place in the early Pliocene. The spatial and age distributions of the mafic centers indicate that magmatism began, and remained focussed in, a region between Salar de Antofalla and Cerro Galán. This concentration is probably structurally controlled, as it corresponds to the intersection of the NW–SE striking Archibarca lineament zone and the sets of NNE–SSW faults that run parallel to the Salar de Antofalla basin.

Description: The Vema Channel acts as a major conduit for the equatorward spreading of Antarctic Bottom Water between the Argentine and Brazil Basins. For almost two years the thermal stratification above its saddle depth (4660 m) – called Vema Sill – was recorded by moored thermistors and current meters. The lowest 490 m of the water column was instrumented to monitor the well-developed benthic boundary layer of Antarctic Bottom Water. The latter can be subdivided into Weddell Sea Deep Water on the sea bed and lower Circumpolar Deep Water above it. The data show fluctuations on various scales including periods, each about 1–2 weeks long, when the abyssal stratification virtually disappeared. Assuming a stable ratio between density and temperature, time series of bulk Richardson numbers are estimated from temperature and current shear data. The results suggest a potential for intermittent episodes of locally generated vertical mixing.

Description: High-resolution multi-frequency and multi-component seismic data were acquired at northern Hydrate Ridge in the accretionary complex of the Cascadia subduction zone to quantify the amount of hydrate and free gas in the sediment. We present a detailed local analysis of four component (4C) ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) data and show the importance of multi-frequency and shear wave data for determining hydrate reservoir properties. A detailed model of the elastic parameters at the bottom simulating reflector (BSR) is developed by using synthetic seismogram modelling. The main focus in this study is an amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) analysis of shear waves, which originate by PS-conversion at the BSR in 73 m below the seafloor (bsf). The AVO analysis enables the determination of the shear wave velocity above the BSR. A velocity of 400 m/s indicates that the presence of gas hydrate in the pore space significantly increases the shear modulus of the sediment above the BSR. Information about the attenuation and the shape of the BSR transition zone is obtained from the frequency-dependent reflection amplitudes of the BSR. The BSR is shown to be a gradual type transition zone of 1.5–2.5 m thickness. Average Q factors of Qp = 150 for P-waves and of Qs = 35 for S-waves are determined within the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). The low Qs factor points to a pronounced attenuation of S-waves in the uppermost sediments. From rock physics modelling, the hydrate concentration is estimated to vary locally between 3–12% of the pore space. Below the BSR, free gas concentrations of 0.5% and 8% are determined for homogeneous and patchy distributed gas, respectively.

Description: Deposits of coral-bearing, marine shell conglomerate exposed at elevations higher than 20 m above present-day mean sea level (MSL) in Bermuda and the Bahamas have previously been interpreted as relict intertidal deposits formed during marine isotope stage (MIS) 11, ca. 360–420 ka before present. On the strength of this evidence, a sea level highstand more than 20 m higher than present-day MSL was inferred for the MIS 11 interglacial, despite a lack of clear supporting evidence in the oxygen-isotope records of deep-sea sediment cores. We have critically re-examined the elevated marine deposits in Bermuda, and find their geological setting, sedimentary relations, and microfaunal assemblages to be inconsistent with intertidal deposition over an extended period. Rather, these deposits, which comprise a poorly sorted mixture of reef, lagoon and shoreline sediments, appear to have been carried tens of meters inside karst caves, presumably by large waves, at some time earlier than ca. 310–360 ka before present (MIS 9–11). We hypothesize that these deposits are the result of a large tsunami during the mid-Pleistocene, in which Bermuda was impacted by a wave set that carried sediments from the surrounding reef platform and nearshore waters over the eolianite atoll. Likely causes for such a megatsunami are the flank collapse of an Atlantic island volcano, such as the roughly synchronous Julan or Orotava submarine landslides in the Canary Islands, or a giant submarine landslide on the Atlantic continental margin.

Description: Four volcanic ash-bearing marine sediment cores and one ash-free reference core were examined during research cruise RV Meteor 54/2 offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica to investigate the chemical composition of pore waters related to volcanic ash alteration. Sediments were composed of terrigenous matter derived from the adjacent continent and contained several distinct ash layers. Biogenic opal and carbonate were only minor components. The terrigenous fraction was mainly composed of smectite and other clay minerals while the pore water composition was strongly affected by the anaerobic degradation of particulate organic matter via microbial sulphate reduction. The alteration of volcanic matter showed only a minor effect on major element concentrations in pore waters. This is in contrast to prior studies based on long sediment cores taken during the DSDP, where deep sediments always showed distinct signs of volcanic ash alteration. The missing signal of ash alteration is probably caused by low reaction rates and the high background concentration of major dissolved ions in the seawater-derived pore fluids. Dissolved silica concentrations were, however, significantly enriched in ash-bearing cores and showed no relation to the low but variable contents of biogenic opal. Hence, the data suggest that silica concentrations were enhanced by ash dissolution. Thus, the dissolved silica profile measured in one of the sediment cores was used to derive the in-situ dissolution rate of volcanic glass particles in marine sediments. A non-steady state model was run over a period of 43 kyr applying a constant pH of 7.30 and a dissolved Al concentration of 0.05 μM. The kinetic constant (AA) was varied systematically to fit the model to the measured dissolved silica-depth profile. The best fit to the data was obtained applying AA = 1.3 × 10−U9 mol of Si cm− 2 s− 1. This in-situ rate of ash dissolution at the seafloor is three orders of magnitude smaller than the rate of ash dissolution determined in previous laboratory experiments. Our results therefore imply that field investigations are necessary to accurately predict natural dissolution rates of volcanic glasses in marine sediments.

Description: Atmospheric deposition fluxes of soluble nutrients (N, P, Si, Fe, Co, Zn) to the tropical North Atlantic were determined during cruise M55 of the German SOLAS programme. Nutrient fluxes were highest in the east of the section along 10°N, owing to the proximity of source regions in West Africa and Europe, and lowest in the west, for both dry and wet deposition modes. In common with other recent studies, atmospheric P and Si inputs during M55 were strongly depleted relative to the stoichiometry of phytoplankton Fe, N, P and Si requirements. Atmospheric N inputs were equivalent to 0.1–4.7% of observed primary productivity during the cruise. Atmospheric nutrient supply was also compared to observed nitrogen fixation rates during M55. While atmospheric Fe supply may have been sufficient to support N fixation (depending on the relationship between our simple Fe leaching experiment and aerosol Fe dissolution in seawater), atmospheric P supply was well below the required rate. The stable nitrogen isotope composition of nitrate–N in aerosol and rain was also determined. Results of a simple model indicate that atmospheric deposition and nitrogen fixation introduce similar amounts of isotopically light nitrogen into surface waters of the study region. This implies that nitrogen isotope-based methods would overestimate nitrogen fixation here by a factor of 2, if atmospheric inputs were not taken into account.

Description: Mid-ocean ridges are vast features of all oceans but their fauna and ecological significance remain poorly understood. Ridge studies in recent decades were understandably biased in favour of the newly discovered chemosynthetic ecosystems. Investigations of photosynthesis-based systems and communities associated with ridges were scattered and few despite their much larger scale and significance for ocean productivity patterns and biogeography and for the management of human activities on the high seas. This knowledge gap was recognised by the Census of Marine Life (CoML) programme and led to the initiation of a dedicated field project on non-chemosynthetic systems and communities of a mid-ocean ridge. The present collection of articles highlights results from the project ‘Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the northern Mid-Atlantic’ (MAR-ECO), the CoML field project that aims to explore the diversity and distribution patterns of photosynthesis-based communities of mid-ocean ridges by a range of classical and new technologies and methods. In 2003–2005, comprehensive investigations were conducted on pelagic and epibenthic macro- and megafauna of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores. Several research vessels participated in the first field phase of the project, but the majority of the results were from a 2-month international expedition on the Norwegian vessels R.V. G.O. Sars and the chartered fishing vessel M.S. Loran in 2004. This introduction explains the background and goals of MAR-ECO, summarizes the strategies and sampling efforts, and briefly introduces future plans as the project enters a second field phase in 2007–2009.

Description: Mud volcanism in the Gulf of Cadiz occurs over a large area extending from the shelf to more than 3500 m water depth and is triggered by compressional stress along the European–African plate boundary, affecting a deeply faulted sedimentary sequence of locally more than 5 km thickness. The investigation of six active sites shows that mud volcano (MV) fluids, on average, are highly enriched in CH4, Li, B, and Sr and depleted in Mg, K, and Br. The purity of the fluids is largely controlled by the intensity of upward directed flow. Flow rates could be constrained by numerical modelling and vary between 〈0.05 and 15 cm yr−1. Application of δD–δ18O systematics identifies clay mineral dehydration, most likely within Mesozoic and Tertiary shales and marls, as the major source of fluids. Hence, Cl and Na in the pore fluids are mostly depleted below seawater values, following a general trend of dilution. However, deviations from this trend occur and are likely caused by the dissolution of halite in evaporitic deposits. Other secondary processes overprinting the original fluid composition may occur along the flow path, such as dissolution of anhydrite or gypsum and/or the formation of calcite and dolomite. Different sources of fluids are also indicated by variations in 87Sr/86Sr, which range from 0.7086 to 0.7099 at the different sites. Dehydration may be induced primarily by overburden and tectonic compression; however, very high concentrations of Li and B, specifically at Captain Arutyunov MV (CAMV) indicate additional leaching at temperatures above 150 °C, which could be explained by the injection of hot fluids along deep penetrating, major E–W strike–slip fault systems. This hypothesis is supported by the occurrence of generally thermogenic, but significantly CH4-enriched, light volatile hydrocarbon gases at CAMV which cannot be explained by shallow microbial methanogenesis. Li and Li/B ratios from different types of hot and cold vents are used to infer that high temperature signals seem to be preserved at various cold vent locations and indicate a closer coupling of both systems in continental margin environments than outlined in previous studies.

Description: Complete sediment subduction at the Costa Rica subduction zone makes this convergent margin an ideal place to investigate the effects of tectonic deformation in situ. We present a seismic reflection study along a line located 3 km landward of the Middle American Trench and oriented parallel to the strike of the décollement. The Ocean Bottom Hydrophone (OBH) seismic data include large offsets and incidence angles at the reflectors. We derive the P- and S-waves velocity distribution below the décollement using a P-wave analysis of amplitude with reflection angle. The investigation shows that there are unexpected large lateral velocity variations at a scale of only a few 100 m. The shear wave velocity in the uppermost subducted sediment varies between 300 and 700 m/s, while the variation of the compressional wave velocity is in a range of 1700 to 2000 m/s. The variation of the vP–vS ratio between 2.8 and 5.2 can only be explained by variations of the pore fluid pressure. The modelled velocities correspond to a normalised pore fluid pressure ratio λ* in the range between 0.02 and 0.93. The most reasonable explanation for these observations is the localised presence of fluids, which are released during diagenesis by smectite to illite transformation. During this process, which takes place in three discrete steps, the interlayer water of the smectite is added to the pore fluid and the permeability of the sediment is decreased. Both effects lead to the formation of small, overpressured cells.

Description: Bivalves, ostracods and foraminifers were studied in four AMS14C dated sediment cores from the Laptev Sea: one from the upper continental slope with a date of 15.8cal.ka in its basal part, and three from river palaeovalleys on the outer-middle shelf aging back to 12.7–11.2cal.ka. At the continental margin, high relative proportions of Cassidulina neoteretis, planktic foraminifers and ostracods with North Atlantic affinities provide evidence on past inflows of Atlantic-derived waters, whereas freshwater inputs, downslope sediment movements and ice rafting are documented by the presence of euryhaline, brackish-water and freshwater ostracods and low planktic/benthic ratio. Atlantic-derived subsurface waters reached the studied site by ca. 16cal.ka, i.e. prior to the establishment of the pathway across the Barents Sea shelf further west. The strongest Atlantic influence occurred prior to 12cal.ka and after 3cal.ka. A cold, low-nutrient marine environment with a coastal polynya setting is reconstructed for the time 16–14cal.ka, whereas between 12.7 and 11.2cal.ka freshwater influence reached its maximum during a time when the outer shelf was flooded and brackish-water assemblages inhabited the estuarine parts of palaeovalleys. Following the temporal and spatial pattern of sea-level rise, these fluvially affected assemblages rapidly transformed into shallow-marine faunas. After ca. 3.5–3cal.ka, well-pronounced changes in the benthic communities indicate a general climate cooling characterized by a more intensified surface and bottom water circulation regime.

Description: Global Nd–Hf isotope systematics can be mainly described with two linear arrays, the global silicate Earth array (“the terrestrial array”) and the global ferromanganese crust and nodule array (”the seawater array”). The offset between these two arrays provides evidence for the sources and mechanisms by which these elements are added to ocean water. However, the reason for this offset is under debate, with the two preferred hypotheses being (i) incongruent release of Hf during continental weathering and (ii) hydrothermal contribution of Hf to the seawater budget. Here we present new Nd and Hf isotope data on glacio-marine core-top sediments from around the perimeter of the Antarctic continent. The results range from εHf = − 30.0 to εHf = + 3.9 and εNd = − 21.3 to εNd = + 0.9, reflecting the large range of basement ages and lithologies around the Antarctic continent. In Nd–Hf isotope space, they confirm the systematic correlations found in rocks from other parts around the world and provide valuable insights into the previously underrepresented group of sediments with very old provenance. In this paper we revisit the cause for the offset of the seawater array from the terrestrial array using simple mass balance considerations. We use these calculations to test to what degree the seawater array could be a product of preferential weathering of “non-zircon portions” of the upper continental crust, implying retention of zircons in the solid residue of weathering. Lutetium–Hf and Sm–Nd evolution and mixing calculations show that the global seawater array can be generated with continental sources only. On the other hand, a predominantly hydrothermal origin of Hf in the ocean is not possible because the seawater Hf isotopic composition is significantly less radiogenic than hydrothermal sources, and requires a minimum fraction of 50% continental Hf. While hydrothermal sources may contribute some Hf to seawater, continental contributions are required to balance the budget.

Description: A synthesis of backscatter imagery coupled with a large 3D seismic dataset in the Lower Congo Basin (LCB) reveals a patchy distribution of features interpreted to be associated with fluid seepage from 300 m to 2500 m water depth. With the exception of one region of anomalous backscatter positive-relief mounds, all inferred seep sites occur in negative-relief pockmarks. The extensive 3D seismic dataset in the LCB offers a unique opportunity to study the plumbing system that is feeding surface cold seep systems, and in general, to reconstruct the relationship between tectonics and fluid flow in continental margins. The fluid seeps in the LCB are associated with morphologically, stratigraphically or tectonically controlled focused fluid flow. The integration of the geophysical datasets, backscatter imagery coupled to 3D seismic, clearly indicates that fluid seeps are not randomly distributed, but their seabed organization reflects 1) the location of the underlying structure (reservoir or trap) where the fluids are coming from, 2) the geometry and morphology of the reservoir/trap, and 3) the discontinuities in the sedimentary column along which fluids have migrated. In the LCB seafloor pockmarks are always associated with underlying tectonic structures (fault zones, salt diapirs, polygonal faults) or buried sedimentary bodies (turbiditic channels, erosional surfaces), whereas they never occur above sub-horizontal parallel-stratified fine-grained sediments. Even if triggering processes can not be clearly defined here, we propose a model of seafloor fluid seep organization, which represents a new tool for identifying the geometry of flow pathways and the underlying buried bodies where the fluids are originating from. This qualitative 3D model provides insight into the geohydrologic processes of continental margins.

Description: Glaciated continental shelves are characterised by large amphitheatre-like embayments between prominent cross-shelftroughs. The integration of swath bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data (3D, 2D) collected across the western Svalbard continental margin indicates how such embayments form. Although their bathymetric expression resembles headwall scarps of submarine slopefailures, the shelfembayments are the result of the interplay between sediment dynamics and transport underneath fast-moving ice streams in the cross-shelftroughs and the slower-moving parts of the ice sheets on the adjacent shallower shelf banks during full glacial conditions. This is supported by (1) the absence of major landslide deposits at their toe, (2) continuous prograding shelf deposition and (3) absence of landslide-related faulting. Instead, the seismic data suggest a depositional origin of the shelfembayments that is characterised by continuous sediment input at lower rates off a slow-moving ice mass in the centre of the embayment which is fringed by the lateral ice-stream ridges. These findings put into perspective the importance of submarine slopefailure on glaciated margins.

Description: A temporal seismic network recorded local seismicity along a 130 km long segment of the transpressional dextral strike-slip Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) in southern Chile. Seventy five shallow crustal events with magnitudes up to M(tief)w 3.8 and depths shallower than 25 km were observed in an 11-month period mainly occurring in different clusters. Those clusters are spatially related to the LOFZ, to the volcanoes Chaitén, Michinmahuida and Corcovado, and to active faulting on secondary faults. Further activity along the LOFZ is indicated by individual events located in direct vicinity of the surface expression of the LOFZ. Focal mechanisms were calculated using deviatoric moment tensor inversion of body wave amplitude spectra which mostly yield strike-slip mechanisms indicating a NE–SW direction of the P-axis for the LOFZ at this latitude. The seismic activity reveals the present-day activity of the fault zone. The recent M(tief)w 6.2 event near Puerto Aysén, Southern Chile at 45.4°S on April 21, 2007 shows that the LOFZ is also capable of producing large magnitude earthquakes and therefore imposing significant seismic hazard to this region.

Description: Increases in the production rate of cosmogenic radionuclides associated with geomagnetic excursions have been used as global tie-points for correlation between records of past climate from marine and terrestrial archives. We have investigated the relative timing of variations in 10Be production rate and the corresponding palaeomagnetic signal during one of the largest Pleistocene excursions, the Iceland Basin (IB) event (ca. 190 kyr), as recorded in two marine sediment cores (ODP Sites 1063 and 983) with high sedimentation rates. Variations in 10Be production rate during the excursion were estimated by use of 230Thxs normalized 10Be deposition rates and authigenic 10Be/9Be. Resulting 10Be production rates are compared with high-resolution records of geomagnetic field behaviour acquired from the same discrete samples. We find no evidence for a significant lock-in depth of the palaeomagnetic signal in these high sedimentation-rate cores. Apparent lock-in depths in other cores may sometimes be the result of lower sample resolution. Our results also indicate that the period of increased 10Be production during the IB excursion lasted longer and, most likely, started earlier than the corresponding palaeomagnetic anomaly, in accordance with previous observations that polarity transitions occur after periods of reduced geomagnetic field intensity prior to the transition. The lack of evidence in this study for a significant palaeomagnetic lock-in depth suggests that there is no systematic offset between the 10Be signal and palaeomagnetic anomalies associated with excursions and reversals, with significance for the global correlation of climate records from different archives.

Description: From the roots of a recently discovered Ancistrocladus taxon, with close affinities to Ancistrocladus congolensis regarding molecular ITS sequence data, six naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids, 5′-O-demethylhamatine (2), 5′-O-demethylhamatinine (3), 6-O-demethylancistroealaine A (4), 6,5′-O,O-didemethylancistroealaine A (5), 5-epi-6-O-methylancistrobertsonine A (6), and 5-epi-4′-O-demethylancistrobertsonine C (7), have been isolated, along with a likewise benzopyranone carboxylic acid, 8. The structural elucidation succeeded by chemical, spectroscopic, and chiroptical methods. Their bioactivities were tested against protozoan parasites causing severe tropical diseases. Furthermore, eight known related alkaloids were identified.

Description: The Loop Current mediating the oceanic heat and salt flux from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and its interference with the Mississippi River discharge are critical for both the regional climate in the Gulf of Mexico area and the water vapor transport towards high northern latitudes. We present a 400-kyr record of sea surface temperature and local surface salinity from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (IMAGES core MD02-2575) approximated from combined planktonic foraminiferal δ18O and Mg/Ca, which reflects the temporal dynamics of the Loop Current and its relationship to both varying Mississippi discharge and evolution of the Western Hemisphere Warm pool. The reconstructed sea surface temperature and salinity reveal glacial/interglacial amplitudes that are significantly larger than in the Western Hemisphere Warm pool. Sea surface freshening is observed during the extreme cool periods of Marine Isotope Stages 2, 8, and 10, caused by the strengthened Mississippi discharge which spread widely across the Gulf favored by the less established Loop Current. Interglacial and interstadial sea-surface conditions, instead, point to a strengthened, northward flowing Loop Current in line with the northward position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, allowing northeastern Gulf of Mexico surface hydrographic conditions to approach those of the Caribbean. At these times, the Mississippi discharge was low and deflected westward, promoted by the extended Loop Current. Previously described deglacial megadischarge events further to the west did not affect the northeastern Gulf of Mexico hydrography, implying that meltwater routing from the Laurentide Ice Sheet via the Mississippi River is unlikely to have affected Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.