Anundance of phytoplankton at time series station DYNAPROC

A general study of biogeochemical processes (DYNAPROC cruise) was conducted in May 1995 at a time-series station in the open northwestern Mediterranean Sea where horizontal advection was weak. Short-term variations of the vertical distributions of pico- and nanophytoplankton were investigated over four 36-h cycles, along with parallel determinations of metabolic CO2 production rates and amino acid-containing colloid (AACC) concentrations at the chlorophyll maximum depth. The vertical (0-1000-m depth) distributions of (i) AACC, (ii) suspended particles and (iii) metabolic CO2 production rate were documented during the initial and final stages of these 36-h cycles. This study was concerned with diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton, which provided periodic perturbations. Accordingly, the time scale of the experimental work varied from a few hours to a few days. Although all distributions exhibited a periodic behaviour, AACC distributions were generally not linked to diel vertical migrations. In the subsurface layer, Synechococcus made the most abundant population and large variations in concentration were observed both at day and at night. The corresponding integrated (over the upper 90 m) losses of Synechococcus during one night pointed to a potential source of exported organic matter amounting to 534 mg C/m**2. This study stresses the potential importance of organic matter export from the euphotic zone through the daily grazing activity of vertically migrating organisms, which would not be accounted for by measurements at longer time scales. The metabolic CO2 production exhibited a peak of activity below 500 m that was shifted downward, apparently in a recurrent way and independently of the vertical distributions of AACC or of suspended particulate material. To account for this phenomenon, a 'sustained wave train» hypothesis is proposed that combines the effect of the diel superficial faecal pellet production by swarming migrators and the repackaging activity of the nonmigrating midwater populations. Our results confirm the recent finding that the particulate compartment is not the major source of the observed instantaneous remineralisation rate and shed a new light on the fate of organic matter in the aphotic zone.

Geochemistry and petrology of basalts from Celebes Sea

Major-, trace-, and rare-earth element analyses are presented from a suite of basaltic rocks from the basement of the Celebes Sea. The major elements and trace-elements were determined by X-ray fluorescence techniques, and the rare-earth elements were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Compositionally the Celebes Sea basalts are very similar to typical normal mid-ocean ridge basalts, such as those described from the Indian Ocean triple junction. Petrogenetic modeling shows that all of the basalts analyzed can be formed by 10% to 20% partial melting of a light rare-earth element-depleted spinel lherzolite followed by fractional crystallization of mixtures of olivine, Plagioclase, and iron oxide. The Celebes Sea is interpreted as a fragment of the basement of the Jurassic Argo abyssal plain trapped during the Eocene to the north of Australia.

Geochemistry of carbon at DSDP Leg 60 Holes

The 11 frozen cores from the Mariana Trough area from Holes 452 through 455, 459B, 460, and 460A are characteristically low in organic carbon (less than 0.2%) and contain a predominance of n-alkanes within the saturates fraction. There is no odd-predominance of n-alkanes as is typical of immature recent sediments. However, recent sediments containing immature organic matter with normal distributions of n-alkanes {OEP1 approximately equal to 1) are characteristic of sediments derived from purely marine sources (Brooks, 1970; Powell and McKirdy, 1973; Tissot et al., 1975). This type of sediment is very rare. However, at least one case where an immature sediment contains an OEP of near 1 has been reported in samples similar to those reported herein - that is, the Cariaco Trench (Hunt, 1979).

Properties of seawater (pH total scale) from a Satlantic SeaFET instrument mounted on the continuous surface water sampling system during the Tara Oceans expedition 2009-2013

The Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2013) sampled the world oceans on board a 36 m long schooner, collecting environmental data and organisms from viruses to planktonic metazoans for later analyses using modern sequencing and state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Tara Oceans Data are particularly suited to study the genetic, morphological and functional diversity of plankton. The present data set provides continuous pH measurements made during 2013 expedition with a Satlantic SeaFET instrument that was connected to the flowthrough system. Data calibration was performed according to Bresnahan et al. (2014) (using spectrophotometric pH measurements on discrete samples (Clayton and Byrne 1993). pH_internal values were taken to calibrate the data (rather than pH_external) because of the better calibration coefficient (there was no trend associated with it). The equations of Clayton and Byrne (1993) was used to compute pH from the measured absorbance values at the temperature of measurement. The data was converted to in situ temperature using the "CO2-sys" program which can be downloaded from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/co2sys/.

Vertical profiles of environmental parameters measured on discrete water samples collected with Niskin bottles during the Tara Oceans expedition 2009-2013

The present data publication provides permanent links to original and updated versions of validated data files. The data files include properties of seawater, particulate matter and dissolved matter that were measured from discrete water samples collected with Niskin bottles during the 2009-2013 Tara Oceans expedition. Properties include pigment concentrations from HPLC analysis (10 depths per vertical profile, 25 pigments per depth), the carbonate system (Surface and 400m; pH (total scale), CO2, pCO2, fCO2, HCO3, CO3, Total alkalinity, Total carbon, OmegaAragonite, OmegaCalcite, and dosage Flags), nutrients (10 depths per vertical profile; NO2, PO4, N02/NO3, SI, quality Flags), DOC, CDOM, and dissolved oxygen isotopes. The Service National d'Analyse des Paramètres Océaniques du CO2, at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, determined CT and AT potentiometrically (Edmond 1970; DOE 1994) on samples preserved according to Dickson et al. (2007). More than 250 vertical profiles of these properties were made across the world ocean. DOC, CDOM and dissolved oxygen isotopes are available only for the Arctic Ocean and Arctic Seas (2013).

Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from DEEPSONDE Expedition stations near the East Pacific Rise

Basalts from the base of a small seamount on ~1.5-m.y.-old crust west of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 9°N are intermediate in chemical and isotopic composition between light-rare-earth-element-depleted tholeiite (normal midocean ridge basalt (MORB)) and alkali basalt. Like oceanic alkali basalt, these rocks contain significantly more Ba, K, P, Sr, Ti, U, and Zr than normal MORB. Since the absolute abundances of these elements are still well below alkali basalt levels, the label transitional is adopted for these basalts. A series of fractionated MORB also occurs in this area, northwest of the Siqueiros Fracture Zone - Transform Fault. The normal tholeiites are either olivine-plagioclase or plagioclase-clinopyroxene phyric, while the transitional basalts are spinel-olivine phyric. Fractional crystallization quantitatively accounts for the chemical variability of the tholeiitic series but not for the transitional basalts. The tholeiitic series probably evolved in a crustal magma chamber ~4 km below the crest of the East Pacific Rise. 143Nd/144Nd and other chemical data suggest that the large-ion-lithophile-enriched transitional basalts may represent a hybrid of normal MORB and Siqueiros area alkali basalt. Incompatible element plots of K, P, and U indicate possible derivation of the transitional basalts by magma mixing. Magma mixing of unfractionated normal MORB and Siqueiros alkali basalt has been quantified. Derivation of the transitional basalts from a 1:1 mixture is supported by all available chemical data, including Cr, Cu, Nd, Ni, Sm, Sr, U, and V. This magma mixing apparently occurred at ?<~30 km depth within a few tens of kilometers from the EPR axis. These Siqueiros area EPR transitional basalts are compared with Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) transitional basalts from the Iceland and Azores areas. The Siqueiros area basalts reflect a profound chemical and isotopic heterogeneity in the upper mantle, similar to that found along the MAR. Unlike the MAR, the EPR shows no evidence of plumelike bulges and associated large-scale outpourings of nonnormal MORB resulting from these mantle heterogeneities. Siqueiros alkali basalt and MORB, as well as transitional basalt and MORB, were recovered from single dredge hauls. Such close spatial and temporal proximity of the inferred mantle sources places severe constraints on geometric and physicochemical upper mantle models.

(Table 1) Salinity and dissolved organic carbon concentration of marine water (ANT-XIX/2) and mangrove porewater (Brazil)

The chemical structure of refractory marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) is still largely unknown. Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR-MS) was used to resolve the complex mixtures of DOM and provide valuable information on elemental compositions on a molecular scale. We characterized and compared DOM from two sharply contrasting aquatic environments, algal-derived DOM from the Weddell Sea (Antarctica) and terrigenous DOM from pore water of a tropical mangrove area in northern Brazil. Several thousand molecular formulas in the mass range of 300-600 Da were identified and reproduced in element ratio plots. On the basis of molecular elemental composition and double-bond equivalents (DBE) we calculated an average composition for marine DOM. O/C ratios in the marine samples were lower (0.36 ± 0.01) than in the mangrove pore-water sample (0.42). A small proportion of chemical formulas with higher molecular mass in the marine samples were characterized by very low O/C and H/C ratios probably reflecting amphiphilic properties. The average number of unsaturations in the marine samples was surprisingly high (DBE = 9.9; mangrove pore water: DBE = 9.4) most likely due to a significant contribution of carbonyl carbon. There was no significant difference in elemental composition between surface and deep-water DOM in the Weddell Sea. Although there were some molecules with unique marine elemental composition, there was a conspicuous degree of similarity between the terrigenous and algal-derived end members. Approximately one third of the molecular formulas were present in all marine as well as in the mangrove samples. We infer that different forms of microbial degradation ultimately lead to similar structural features that are intrinsically refractory, independent of the source of the organic matter and the environmental conditions where degradation took place.

Floral and faunal characteristics and content of photosynthetic pigment in soils of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Although soil algae are among the main primary producers in most terrestrial ecosystems of continental Antarctica, there are very few quantitative studies on their relative proportion in the main algal groups and on how their distribution is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Such knowledge is essential for understanding the functioning of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. We therefore analyzed biological soil crusts from northern Victoria Land to determine their pH, electrical conductivity (EC), water content (W), total and organic C (TC and TOC) and total N (TN) contents, and the presence and abundance of photosynthetic pigments. In particular, the latter were tested as proxies for biomass and coarse-resolution community structure. Soil samples were collected from five sites with known soil algal communities and the distribution of pigments was shown to reflect differences in the relative proportions of Chlorophyta, Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta in these sites. Multivariate and univariate models strongly indicated that almost all soil variables (EC, W, TOC and TN) were important environmental correlates of pigment distribution. However, a significant amount of variation is independent of these soil variables and may be ascribed to local variability such as changes in microclimate at varying spatial and temporal scales. There are at least five possible sources of local variation: pigment preservation, temporal variations in water availability, temporal and spatial interactions among environmental and biological components, the local-scale patchiness of organism distribution, and biotic interactions.