(Table 2) Concentrations of persistant organic pollutants in the yolk of glaucous gull eggs, Bjørnøya, Svalbard archipelago

It is largely unknown if and how persistent organic pollutants (POPs) affect the transfer of maternal hormones to eggs. This occurs despite an increasing number of studies relating environmental conditions experienced by female birds at the time of egg formation to maternal hormonal effects. Here we report the concentrations of maternal testosterone, 17beta-estradiol and major classes of POPs (organochlorines, brominated flame retardants and metabolically-derived products) in the yolk of unincubated, third-laid eggs of the glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), a top-predator in the Arctic marine environment. Controlled for seasonal and local variation, positive correlations were found between the concentrations of certain POPs and testosterone. Contaminant-related changes in the relative concentrations of testosterone and 17beta-estradiol were also observed. In addition, yolk steroid concentrations were associated with contaminant profiles describing the proportions of different POPs present in the yolk. Eggs from nests in which two sibling eggs hatched or failed to hatch differed in POP profiles and in the relative concentrations of testosterone and 17beta-estradiol. Although the results of this correlative study need to be interpreted with caution, they suggest that contaminant-related changes in yolk steroids may occur, possibly affecting offspring performance over and above toxic effects brought about by POPs in eggs.

Documentation of sediment cores during SONNE Expedition SO228 from the western tropical Pacific

The core descriptions (chapter 7) summarize the most important results of the analysis of each sediment core following procedures applied during ODP/IODP expeditions. All cores were opened, described, and color-scanned. In the core descriptions the first column displays the lithological data that are based on visual analysis of the core and are supplemented by information from binocular and smear slide analyses. The sediment classification largely follows ODP/IODP convention. Lithological names consist of a principal name based on composition, degree of lithification, and/or texture as determined from visual description and microscopic observations. In the structure column the intensity of bioturbation together with individual or special features (turbidites, volcanic ash layers, plant debris, shell fragments, etc.) is shown. The hue and chroma attributes of color were determined by comparison with the Munsell soil color charts and are given in the color column in the Munsell notation. A GretagMacbethTM Spectrolino spectrophotometer was used to measure percent reflectance values of sediment color at 36 wavelength channels over the visible light range (380-730 nm) on all of the cores. The digital reflectance data of the spectrophotometer readings were routinely obtained from the surface (measured in 1 cm steps) of the split cores (archive half). The Spectrolino is equipped with a measuring aperture with folding mechanism allowing an exact positioning on the split core and is connected to a portable computer. The data are directly displayed within the software package Excel and can be controlled simultaneously. From all the color measurements, for each core the red/blue ratio (700 nm/450 nm) and the lightness are shown together with the visual core description. The reflectance of individual wavelengths is often significantly affected by the presence of minor amounts of oxyhydroxides or sulphides. To eliminate these effects, we used the red/blue ratio and lightness.

Controls of sediment dynamics on the Galician slope reconstructed from three sediment cores (GeoB11035-1, GeoB130206-1, GeoB13071-1)

Controls of sediment dynamics at the Galician continental slope (NW Iberia) during the past 30 ka were reconstructed from three new gravity cores (GeoB11035-1, 130206-1, 13071-1) based on sedimentological (e.g. sortable silt, IRD), micropalaeontological (e.g. coccoliths), geochemical (AMS 14C, XRF) and geophysical (e.g. magnetic susceptibility) diagnostics. The data are consistent with existing regional knowledge that, during marine isotope stages 3-1, variations in detrital input, marine productivity and sea level were the essential drivers of sediment availability on the slope, whereas deep-water current velocities controlled sediment deposition: (1) the period prior to 30 cal ka BP is characterized by minor but systematic variations in various proxies which can be associated with D-O cycles; (2) between 30 and 18 cal ka BP, high detrital input and steady slope-parallel currents led to constant sedimentation; (3) from the LGM until 10 cal ka BP, the shelf-transgressive sea-level rise increased the detrital particle flux; sedimentation was influenced by significantly enhanced deep-water circulation during the Bølling/Allerød, and subsequent slowing during the Younger Dryas; (4) an abrupt and lasting change to hemipelagic sedimentation at ca. 10 cal ka BP was probably due to Holocene warming and decelerated transgression; (5) after 5 cal ka BP, additional input of detrital material to the slope is plausibly linked to the evolution of fine-grained depocentres on the Galician shelf, this being the first report of this close shelf-slope sedimentary linkage off NW Iberia. Furthermore, there is novel evidence of the nowadays strong outer shelf Iberian Poleward Current becoming established at about 15.5 cal ka BP. The data also demonstrate that small-scale morphologic features and local pathways of sediment export from the neighbouring shelf play an important role for sediment distribution on the NW Iberian slope, including a hitherto unknown sediment conduit off the Ría de Arousa. By implication, the impact of local morphology on along- and down-slope sediment dynamics is more complex than commonly considered, and deserves future attention.

An environmental magnetic study, sedimentological and numerical methods around Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand

Magnetic iron minerals are widespread and indicative sediment constituents in estuarine, coastal and shelf systems. We combine environmental magnetic, sedimentological and numerical methods to identify magnetite-enriched placer-like zones in a complex coastal system and delineate their formation mechanisms. Magnetic susceptibility and remanence measurements on 245 surficial sediment samples collected in and around Tauranga Harbour, the largest barrier-enclosed tidal estuary of New Zealand, reveal several discrete enrichment zones controlled by local hydrodynamic conditions. Active magnetite enrichment takes place in tidal channels, which feed into two coast-parallel nearshore magnetite-enriched belts centered at water depths of 6-10 m and 10-20 m. A close correlation between magnetite content and magnetic grain size was found, where higher susceptibility values are associated within coarser magnetic crystal sizes. Two key mechanisms for magnetite enrichment are identified. First, tide-induced residual currents primarily enable magnetite enrichment within the estuarine channel network. A coast-parallel, fine sand magnetite enrichment belt in water depths of less than 10 m along the barrier island has a strong decrease in magnetite content away from the southern tidal inlet and is apparently related to active coast-parallel transport combined with mobilizing surf zone processes. A second, less pronounced, but more uniform magnetite enrichment belt at 10-20 m water depth is composed of non-mobile, medium-coarse-grained relict sands, which have been reworked during post-glacial sea level transgression. We demonstrate the potential of magnetic methods to reveal and differentiate coastal magnetite enrichment patterns and investigate their formative mechanisms.

Environmental characteristics and gas composition of Lost Hammer, Canadian Arctic

We report the first microbiological characterization of a terrestrial methane seep in a cryo-environment in the form of an Arctic hypersaline (~24% salinity), subzero (-5 C), perennial spring, arising through thick permafrost in an area with an average annual air temperature of -15 C. Bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA gene clone libraries indicated a relatively low diversity of phylotypes within the spring sediment (Shannon index values of 1.65 and 1.39, respectively). Bacterial phylotypes were related to microorganisms such as Loktanella, Gillisia, Halomonas and Marinobacter spp. previously recovered from cold, saline habitats. A proportion of the bacterial phylotypes were cultured, including Marinobacter and Halomonas, with all isolates capable of growth at the in situ temperature (-5 C). Archaeal phylotypes were related to signatures from hypersaline deep-sea methane-seep sediments and were dominated by the anaerobic methane group 1a (ANME-1a) clade of anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea. CARD-FISH analyses indicated that cells within the spring sediment consisted of ~84.0% bacterial and 3.8% archaeal cells with ANME-1 cells accounting for most of the archaeal cells. The major gas discharging from the spring was methane (~50%) with the low CH4/C2 + ratio and hydrogen and carbon isotope signatures consistent with a thermogenic origin of the methane. Overall, this hypersaline, subzero environment supports a viable microbial community capable of activity at in situ temperature and where methane may behave as an energy and carbon source for sustaining anaerobic oxidation of methane-based microbial metabolism. This site also provides a model of how a methane seep can form in a cryo-environment as well as a mechanism for the hypothesized Martian methane plumes.

Biogenic and environmental fluctuations of temperature and pH in a novel mesocosm concept ("Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms") April 2013 to September 2014

The Kiel Outdoor Benthocosm infrastructure (Kiel, Germany,N 54°19.8'; E 010°09.0') allows combining natural in-situ fluctuations on all environmental variables with the controlled manipulation of treatment factors. The environmental fluctuations are admitted by a continuous flow-through of fjord water. The treatment is applied by delta-treatments which shift the mean of target variables (temperature and pH in this case) while maintaining the frequency and amplitude of natural fluctuations. The data presented here show the treatment levels and the continuously logged temperature and pH conditions in the experimental tanks. The dynamics of temperature and pH are driven by (i) in situ variability, (ii) the treatments imposed and (iii) the biology of the biota in the tanks. These contained macroalgal communities with associated mesograzers, mussels, and sea stars. The data set comprised 5 experimental runs: spring experiment (4.4.-19.6.2013), summer experiment 1 (4.7.-17.9.2013), autumn experiment (10.10-17.12.2013), winter experiment (16.1. - 1.4.2014), summer experiment 2 (10.7. - 26.9.2014).

Biological and environmental time series obtained from Point B, Bay of Villefranche

Ecological succession provides a widely accepted description of seasonal changes in phytoplankton and mesozooplankton assemblages in the natural environment, but concurrent changes in smaller (i.e. microbes) and larger (i.e. macroplankton) organisms are not included in the model because plankton ranging from bacteria to jellies are seldom sampled and analyzed simultaneously. Here we studied, for the first time in the aquatic literature, the succession of marine plankton in the whole-plankton assemblage that spanned 5 orders of magnitude in size from microbes to macroplankton predators (not including fish or fish larvae, for which no consistent data were available). Samples were collected in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (Bay of Villefranche) weekly during 10 months. Simultaneously collected samples were analyzed by flow cytometry, inverse microscopy, FlowCam, and ZooScan. The whole-plankton assemblage underwent sharp reorganizations that corresponded to bottom-up events of vertical mixing in the water-column, and its development was top-down controlled by large gelatinous filter feeders and predators. Based on the results provided by our novel whole-plankton assemblage approach, we propose a new comprehensive conceptual model of the annual plankton succession (i.e. whole plankton model) characterized by both stepwise stacking of four broad trophic communities from early spring through summer, which is a new concept, and progressive replacement of ecological plankton categories within the different trophic communities, as recognised traditionally.