Nitrogen fuelling of the pelagic food web of the Tropical Atlantic

We estimated the relative contribution of atmospheric Nitrogen (N) input (wet and dry deposition and N fixation) to the epipelagic food web by measuring N isotopes of different functional groups of epipelagic zooplankton along 23°W (17°N-4°S) and 18°N (20-24°W) in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic. Results were related to water column observations of nutrient distribution and vertical diffusive flux as well as colony abundance of Trichodesmium obtained with an Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP5). The thickness and depth of the nitracline and phosphocline proved to be significant predictors of zooplankton stable N isotope values. Atmospheric N input was highest (61% of total N) in the strongly stratified and oligotrophic region between 3 and 7°N, which featured very high depth-integrated Trichodesmium abundance (up to 9.4×104 colonies m-2), strong thermohaline stratification and low zooplankton delta15N (~2 per mil). Relative atmospheric N input was lowest south of the equatorial upwelling between 3 and 5°S (27%). Values in the Guinea Dome region and north of Cape Verde ranged between 45 and 50%, respectively. The microstructure-derived estimate of the vertical diffusive N flux in the equatorial region was about one order of magnitude higher than in any other area (approximately 8 mmol m-2 d 1). At the same time, this region received considerable atmospheric N input (35% of total). In general, zooplankton delta15N and Trichodesmium abundance were closely correlated, indicating that N fixation is the major source of atmospheric N input. Although Trichodesmium is not the only N fixing organism, its abundance can be used with high confidence to estimate the relative atmospheric N input in the tropical Atlantic (r2 = 0.95). Estimates of absolute N fixation rates are two- to tenfold higher than incubation-derived rates reported for the same regions. Our approach integrates over large spatial and temporal scales and also quantifies fixed N released as dissolved inorganic and organic N. In a global analysis, it may thus help to close the gap in oceanic N budgets.

Fluid compositions and mineralogy of precipitates from Mid Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents at 4°48'S

The effect of volcanic activity on submarine hydrothermal systems has been well documented along fast- and intermediate-spreading centers but not from slow-spreading ridges. Indeed, volcanic eruptions are expected to be rare on slow-spreading axes. Here we report the presence of hydrothermal venting associated with extremely fresh lava flows at an elevated, apparently magmatically robust segment center on the slow-spreading southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 5°S. Three high-temperature vent fields have been recognized so far over a strike length of less than 2 km with two fields venting phase-separated, vapor-type fluids. Exit temperatures at one of the fields reach up to 407°C, at conditions of the critical point of seawater, the highest temperatures ever recorded from the seafloor. Fluid and vent field characteristics show a large variability between the vent fields, a variation that is not expected within such a limited area. We conclude from mineralogical investigations of hydrothermal precipitates that vent-fluid compositions have evolved recently from relatively oxidizing to more reducing conditions, a shift that could also be related to renewed magmatic activity in the area. Current high exit temperatures, reducing conditions, low silica contents, and high hydrogen contents in the fluids of two vent sites are consistent with a shallow magmatic source, probably related to a young volcanic eruption event nearby, in which basaltic magma is actively crystallizing. This is the first reported evidence for direct magmatic-hydrothermal interaction on a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge.

Raw data of SCADCP (self-contained Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) from three moorings in the Eastern Weddell Sea, 2005-2008

The success of any efforts to determine the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems depends on understanding in the first instance the natural variations, which contemporarily occur on the interannual and shorter time scales. Here we present results on the environmental controls of zooplankton distribution patterns and behaviour in the eastern Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean. Zooplankton abundance and vertical migration are derived from the mean volume backscattering strength (MVBS) and the vertical velocity measured by moored acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), which were deployed simultaneously at 64°S, 66.5°S and 69°S along the Greenwich Meridian from February, 2005, until March, 2008. While these time series span a period of full three years they resolve hourly changes. A highly persistent behavioural pattern found at all three mooring locations is the synchronous diel vertical migration (DVM) of two distinct groups of zooplankton that migrate between a deep residence depth during daytime and a shallow depth during nighttime. The DVM was closely coupled to the astronomical daylight cycles. However, while the DVM was symmetric around local noon, the annual modulation of the DVM was clearly asymmetric around winter solstice or summer solstice, respectively, at all three mooring sites. DVM at our observation sites persisted throughout winter, even at the highest latitude exposed to the polar night. Since the magnitude as well as the relative rate of change of illumination is minimal at this time, we propose that the ultimate causes of DVM separated from the light-mediated proximal cue that coordinates it. In all three years, a marked change in the migration behaviour occurred in late spring (late October/early November), when DVM ceased. The complete suspension of DVM after early November is possibly caused by the combination of two factors: (1) increased availability of food in the surface mixed layer provided by the phytoplankton spring bloom, and (2) vanishing diurnal enhancement of the threat from visually oriented predators when the illumination is quasi-continuous during the polar and subpolar summer. Zooplankton abundance in the water column, estimated as the mean MVBS in the depth range 50-300 m, was highest end of summer and lowest mid to end winter on the average annual cycle. However, zooplankton abundance varied several-fold between years and between locations. Based on satellite and in situ data of chlorophyll and sea ice as well as on hydrographic measurements, the interannual and spatial variations of zooplankton mean abundance can be explained by differences in the magnitude of the phytoplankton spring bloom, which develops during the seasonal sea ice retreat. Whereas the vernal ice melt appears necessary to stimulate the blooming of phytoplankton, it is not the determinator of the blooms magnitude, its areal extent and duration. A possible explanation for the limitation of the phytoplankton bloom in some years is top-down control. We hypothesise that the phytoplankton spring development can be curbed by grazing when the zooplankton had attained high abundance by growth during the preceding summer.

Hydrocarbons in water, suspended matter, and bottom sediments of the White Sea

Data are presented on concentration and composition of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HC) in water, suspended matter (collected with a Juday net and by a separator), and in bottom sediments of the White Sea. It was found that during the last years the level of aliphatic HC concentrations in waters of the White Sea (aver. 18 µg/l) practically did not change and was comparable with average concentrations in shelf areas of the World Ocean. In water and bottom sediments distribution of HC is determined by discharge of river marginal filters. Here sedimentation of the bulk of anthropogenic HC occurs. That is why a grain-size controlling factor is not active in the zone of the river depocenter (in particular, of the North Dvina River). The same reasons most probably may explain differences in degree of geochemical relationships between contents of TOC and HC in suspended matter and bottom sediments. After passing through marginal filters natural HC are dominant in all migration forms.

(Table 2) Major and trace elements in black smoker particulates

We present geochemical data of black smoker particulates filtered from hydrothermal fluids with seawater-dilutions ranging from 0-99%. Results indicate the dominance of sulphide minerals (Fe, Cu, and Zn sulphides) in all samples taken at different hydrothermal sites on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Pronounced differences in the geochemistry of the particles between Logatchev I and 5°S hydrothermal fields could be attributed to differences in fluid chemistry. Lower metal/sulphur ratios (Me/H2S < 1) compared to Logatchev I result in a larger amount of particles precipitated per liter fluid and the occurrence of elemental sulphur at 5°S, while at Logatchev I Fe oxides occur in larger amounts. Systematic trends with dilution degree of the fluid include the precipitation of large amounts of Cu sulphides at a low dilution and a pronounced drop with increasing dilution. Moreover, Fe (sulphides or oxides) precipitation increases with dilution of the vent fluid by seawater. Geochemical reaction path modeling of hydrothermal fluid-seawater mixing and conductive cooling indicates that Cu sulphide formation at Logatchev I and 5°S mainly occurs at high temperatures and low dilution of the hydrothermal fluid by seawater. Iron precipitation is enhanced at higher fluid dilution, and the different amounts of minerals forming at 5°S and Logatchev I are thermodynamically controlled. Larger total amounts of minerals and larger amounts of sulphide precipitate during the mixing path when compared to the cooling path. Differences between model and field observations do occur and are attributable to closed system modeling, to kinetic influences and possibly to organic constituents of the hydrothermal fluids not accounted for by the model.

Grain size distribution and bulk chemistry of eolian dust

Atmospheric dust samples collected along a transect off the West African coast have been investigated for their physical (grain-size distribution), mineralogical, and chemical (major elements) composition. On the basis of these data the samples were grouped into sets of samples that most likely originated from the same source area. In addition, shipboard-collected atmospheric meteorological data, modeled 4-day back trajectories for each sampling day and location, and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aerosol index data for the time period of dust collection (February-March 1998) were combined and used to reconstruct the sources of the groups of dust samples. On the basis of these data we were able to determine the provenance of the various dust samples. It appears that the bulk of the wind-blown sediments that are deposited in the proximal equatorial Atlantic Ocean are transported in the lower level (>~900 hPa) NE trade wind layer, which is a very dominant feature north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). However, south of the surface expression of the ITCZ, down to 5°S, where surface winds are southwesterly, we still collected sediments that originated from the north and east, carried there by the NE trade wind layer, as well as by easterly winds from higher altitudes. The fact that the size of the wind-blown dust depends not only on the wind strength of the transporting agent but also on the distance to the source hampers a direct comparison of the dust's size distributions and measured wind strengths. However, a comparison between eolian dust and terrigenous sediments collected in three submarine sediment traps off the west coast of NW Africa shows that knowledge of the composition of eolian dust is a prerequisite for the interpretation of paleorecords obtained from sediment cores in the equatorial Atlantic.

Raw data of SCADCP (self-contained Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) from three moorings in the Eastern Weddell Sea in 2005

Ten-month time series of mean volume backscattering strength (MVBS) and vertical velocity obtained from three moored acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) deployed from February until December 2005 at 64°S, 66.5°S and 69°S along the Greenwich Meridian were used to analyse the diel vertical zooplankton migration (DVM) and its seasonality and regional variability in the Lazarev Sea. The estimated MVBS exhibited distinct patterns of DVM at all three mooring sites. Between February and October, the timing of the DVM and the residence time of zooplankton at depth were clearly governed by the day-night rhythm. Mean daily cycles of the ADCP-derived vertical velocity were calculated for successive months and showed maximum ascent and descent velocities of 16 and -15 mm/s. However, a change of the MVBS pattern occurred in late spring/early austral summer (October/November), when the zooplankton communities ceased their synchronous vertical migration at all three mooring sites. Elevated MVBS values were then concentrated in the uppermost layers (<50 m) at 66.5°S. This period coincided with the decay of sea ice coverage at 64°S and 66.5°S between early November and mid-December. Elevated chlorophyll concentrations, which were measured at the end of the deployment, extended from 67°S to 65°S and indicated a phytoplankton bloom in the upper 50 m. Thus, we propose that the increased food supply associated with an ice edge bloom caused the zooplankton communities to cease their DVM in favour of feeding.

Physical oceanography and processed 2 minutes-averaged continuous VM-ADCP profiles during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXVIII/3

The physical and biological carbon pumps in the different hydrographic and biogeochemical regimes of the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean are controlled by a series of coupled physical, chemical and biological processes and a project named Eddy-Pump was designed to study them. The Eddy Pump field campaign was carried out during RV Polarstern Cruise ANT-XXVIII/3 between January and March 2012. Particular emphasis was laid on the differences which occur along the axis of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) with its associated mesoscale eddy field. The study sites were selected in order to represent (1) the central ACC with its regular separation in different frontal jets, investigated by a meridional transect along 10°E; (2) a large-scale bloom west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which lasted several months with conspicuous chlorophyll-poor waters to its immediate east studied by a three-dimensional mesoscale survey centred at 12°40'W; and (3) the Georgia Basin north of the island of South Georgia, which regularly features an extended and dense phytoplankton bloom, was investigated by a mesoscale survey centred at 38°12'W. While Eddy-Pump represents an interdisciplinary project by design, we here focus on describing the variable physical environment within which the different biogeochemical regimes developed. For describing the physical environment we use measurements of temperature, salinity and density, of mixed-layer turbulence parameters, of dynamic heights and horizontal current vectors, and of flow trajectories obtained from surface drifters and submerged floats. This serves as background information for the analyses of biological and chemical processes and of biogeochemical fluxes addressed by other papers in this issue. The section along 10°E between 44°S and 53°S showed a classical ACC structure with well-known hydrographic fronts, the Subantarctic Front (SAF) at 46.5°S, the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) split in two, at 49.25°S and 50.5°S, and the Southern Polar Front (SPF) at 52.5°S. Each front was associated with strong eastward flows. The West Mid-Atlantic Ridge Survey showed a weak and poorly resolved meander structure between the APF and the SPF. During the first eight days of the survey the oceanographic conditions at the Central Station at 12°40'W remained reasonably constant. However after that, conditions became more variable in the thermocline with conspicuous temperature inversions and interleavings and also a decrease in temperature in the surface layer. At the very end of the period of observation the conditions in the thermocline returned to being similar to those observed during the early part of the period with however the mixed layer temperature raised. The period of enhanced thermohaline variability was accompanied by increased currents. The Georgia Basin Survey showed a very strong zonal jet at its northern edge which connects to a large cyclonic meander that itself joins an anticyclonic eddy in the southeastern quadrant. The water mass contrasts in this survey were stronger than in the West Mid-Atlantic Ridge Survey, but similar to those met along 10°E with the exception that the warm and saline surface water typical of the northern side of the SAF was not covered by the Georgia Basin Survey. Mixed layers found during Eddy-Pump were typically deep, but varied between the three survey areas; the mean depths and standard variations of the mixed layer along the 10°E were 77.2±24.7 m, at the West Mid-Atlantic Ridge 66.7±17.7 m, and in the Georgia Basin 36.8±10.7 m.

Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from DSDP Site 26, Leg 4 (Core 4-26-1)

Site 26 was selected on the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between 15°N and 5°S is offset to the east nearly 4000 kilometers through a series of fracture zones. One of the most prominent of these is the Vema Fracture Zone, a narrow east-west trending trough which cuts through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at latitude 11°N.