Neogene and Pleistocene fossil brachiopods of the Eastern Islands. Current appointments.

[EN] Numerous specimens of fossil brachiopods have been found in the different fossiliferous outcrops of the Canary Islands. These fossils have been found in the deposits of Mio-Pliocene age of the eastern Canary Islands, described and illustrated in the work of Meco et ali. 2005 and in the outcrops interpreted as a tsunami deposits  in Piedra Alta, Lanzarote, belonging to the Marine Isotope Stage 11 dated to circa 330 ka. 4 species of fossil brachiopods have been identificated: Terebratula sinuous Brocchi 1814, Lacazella mediterranea Risso 1826 Terebratulina caputserpentis (Zbyszewski, 1957) and Thecidium cf . digitatum (Sowerby 1823). These fossils provides stratigraphic and paleoclimatic taxonomic information. Furthermore, in order to compare the fossil brachiopods with present in the Canary Island, a reference collection is defined with specimens obtained from marine sediment surveys at Gran Canaria, La Palma and El Hierro, identifying 3 species: Argyrotheca barrettiatia (Davidson, 1866), Megerlia truncata (Linaeus 1767 ) and Pajaudina atlantica (Logan 1988).

Impact of increasing pCO2 on marine potential respiratory activity

[EN]Due to the increasing atmospheric CO2, several on-going research programs, including the German-led KOSMOS GC14 experiment, are evaluating the impact of acidification on marine organisms, intent to predict their future. In the KOSMOS GC14 mesocosm experiment we assessed the effect of different CO2 concentrations on metabolism in microplankton (0.7-50µm size) and in biogenic particles harvested by sediment traps.