Seawater carbonate chemistry, calcification, primary production and respiration of a temperate rhodolith Lithothamnion corallioides in a laboratory experiment

Coralline algae are considered among the most sensitive species to near future ocean acidification. We tested the effects of elevated pCO2 on the metabolism of the free-living coralline alga Lithothamnion corallioides ("maerl") and the interactions with changes in temperature. Specimens were collected in North Brittany (France) and grown for 3 months at pCO2 of 380 (ambient pCO2), 550, 750, and 1000 µatm (elevated pCO2) and at successive temperatures of 10°C (ambient temperature in winter), 16°C (ambient temperature in summer), and 19°C (ambient temperature in summer +3°C). At each temperature, gross primary production, respiration (oxygen flux), and calcification (alkalinity flux) rates were assessed in the light and dark. Pigments were determined by HPLC. Chl a, carotene, and zeaxanthin were the three major pigments found in L. corallioides thalli. Elevated pCO2 did not affect pigment content while temperature slightly decreased zeaxanthin and carotene content at 10°C. Gross production was not affected by temperature but was significantly affected by pCO2 with an increase between 380 and 550 µatm. Light, dark, and diel (24 h) calcification rates strongly decreased with increasing pCO2 regardless of the temperature. Although elevated pCO2 only slightly affected gross production in L. corallioides, diel net calcification was reduced by up to 80% under the 1,000 µatm treatment. Our findings suggested that near future levels of CO2 will have profound consequences for carbon and carbonate budgets in rhodolith beds and for the sustainability of these habitats.

(Table 1, page 146) Iron, manganese and nickel contents of 21 ferromanganese nodules from Combe D'Izame and Mont Peyroux, Montagne Noire

Ferromanganese nodules (equivalent to Recent manganese nodules) are described from the Upper Devonian griotte (red pelagic limestone) of the Montagne Noire (S. France) and the Cephalopodenkalk of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, West Germany. They occur as encrustations, commonly exhibiting colloform structures, around skeletal material and limestone clasts. The nodules are associated with encrusting foraminifera and a development in the sublittoral environment is envisaged. Chemically, the ferromanganese nodules are depleted in manganese relative to iron, compared with Recent nodules, a loss which is attributed to diagenetic migration of manganese. Electron probe studies show that manganese covaries positively with calcium, but negatively with iron and silicon. Diagenetic enrichment of hematite occurs in the griotte at hardground horizons where two periods of mineralization can be established. The Devonian ferromanganese nodules show that solution of nodules has not occurred on burial.

Massic magnetic susceptibility and CaCO3 content at the P. ohmi and T. hugii zones from the Rio Argos X.Ag-1 section, southeastern Spain

An orbital floating time scale of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition (Early Cretaceous) is proposed using high-resolution magnetic susceptibility measurements. Orbital tuning was performed on the Río Argos section (southeast Spain), the candidate for a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Hauterivian-Barremian transition. Spectral analyses of MS variations, coupled with the frequency ratio method, allow the recognition of precession, obliquity and eccentricity frequency bands. Orbitally-tuned magnetic susceptibility provides minimum durations for ammonite biozones. The durations of well-constrained ammonite zones are assessed at 0.78 myr for Pseudothurmannia ohmi (Late Hauterivian) and 0.57 myr for Taveraidiscus hugii (Early Barremian). These results are consistent with previous estimates from the other reference section (Angles, southeast France) and tend to show that the Río Argos section displays a complete succession for this time interval. They differ significantly from those proposed in the Geologic Time Scale 2008 and may help to improve the next compilation. The Faraoni Oceanic Anoxic Event, a key Early Cretaceous oceanographic perturbation occurring at the P. ohmi/P. catulloi subzone boundary has a duration estimated at 0.10-0.15 myr, which is similar to previous assessments.