Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) sightings and population estimates for the Canadian High Arctic 2002-2004

Aerial surveys of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) were conducted in the Canadian High Arctic during the month of August from 2002 to 2004. The surveys covered the waters of Barrow Strait, Prince Regent Inlet, the Gulf of Boothia, Admiralty Inlet, Eclipse Sound, and the eastern coast of Baffin Island, using systematic sampling methods. Fiords were flown along a single transect down the middle. Near-surface population estimates increased by 1.9%-8.7% when corrected for perception bias. The estimates were further increased by a factor of approximately 3, to account for individuals not seen because they were diving when the survey plane flew over (availability bias). These corrections resulted in estimates of 27 656 (SE = 14 939) for the Prince Regent and Gulf of Boothia area, 20 225 (SE = 7285) for the Eclipse Sound area, and 10 073 (SE = 3123) for the East Baffin Island fiord area. The estimate for the Admiralty Inlet area was 5362 (SE = 2681) but is thought to be biased. Surveys could not be done in other known areas of occupation, such as the waters of the Cumberland Peninsula of East Baffin, and channels farther west of the areas surveyed (Peel Sound, Viscount Melville Sound, Smith Sound and Jones Sound, and other channels of the Canadian Arctic archipelago). Despite these probable biases and the incomplete coverage, results of these surveys show that the summering range of narwhals in the Canadian High Arctic is vast. If narwhals are philopatric to their summering areas, as they appear to be, the total population of that range could number more than 60 000 animals. The largest numbers are in the western portion of their summer range, around Somerset Island, and also in the Eclipse Sound area. However, these survey estimates have large variances due to narwhal aggregation in some parts of the surveyed areas.

Vegetation, soil and site characteristics of samples taken along the Yamal Transet in 2007-2008

The overarching goal of the Yamal portion of the Greening of the Arctic project is to examine how the terrain and anthropogenic factors of reindeer herding and resource development combined with the climate variations on the Yamal Peninsula affect the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation change and how these changes are in turn affecting traditional herding of the indigenous people of the region. The purpose of the expeditions was to collect groundobservations in support of remote sensing studies at four locations along a transect that traverses all the major bioclimate subzones of the Yamal Peninsula. This data report is a summary of information collected during the 2007 and 2008 expeditions. It includes all the information from the 2008 data report (Walker et al. 2008) plus new information collected at Kharasavey in Aug 2008. The locations included in this report are Nadym (northern taiga subzone), Laborovaya (southern tundra = subzone E of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM), Vaskiny Dachi (southern typical tundra = subzone D), and Kharasavey (northern typical tundra = subzone C). Another expedition is planned for summer 2009 to the northernmost site at Belyy Ostrov (Arctic tundra = subzone B). Data are reported from 10 study sites - 2 at Nadym, 2 at Laborovaya, and 3 at Vaskiny Dachi and 3 at Kharasavey. The sites are representative of the zonal soils and vegetation, but also include variation related to substrate (clayey vs. sandy soils). Most of the information was collected along 5 transects at each sample site, 5 permanent vegetation study plots, and 1-2 soil pits at each site. The expedition also established soil and permafrost monitoring sites at each location. This data report includes: (1) background for the project, (2) general descriptions and photographs of each locality and sample site, (3) maps of the sites, study plots, and transects at each location, (4) summary of sampling methods used, (5) tabular summaries of the vegetation data (species lists, estimates of cover abundance for each species within vegetation plots, measured percent ground cover of species along transects, site factors for each study plot), (6) summaries of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and leaf area index (LAI) along each transect, (7) soil descriptions and photos of the soil pits at each study site, (8) summaries of thaw measurements along each transect, and (9) contact information for each of the participants. One of the primary objectives was to provide the Russian partners with full documentation of the methods so that Russian observers in future years could repeat the observations independently.

Biogeochemical measurements of sediments collected in the Black Sea during the MSM15/1 cruise in 2010

Biogeochemical measurements in sediment cores collected with a TV-MUC in the Black Sea during MSM15/1, Northwest Crimea (HYPOX Project), at water depths between 105-207 m. Sampling was performed along gradient of oxygen bottom water concentrations between oxic (150 µmol L-1), variable hypoxic (3-60 µmol L-1 O2) and anoxic, sulfidic conditions. concentrations of organic carbon (Corg) and nitrogen (N) were measured on finely powdered, freeze-dried subsamples of sediment using a using a Fisons NA-1500 elemental analyzer. For organic carbon determination samples were pre-treated with 12.5% HCl to remove carbonates. Chlorophyll a (chl a), phaeopigments (PHAEO) and chloroplastic pigment equivalents (CPE) was measured according to Schubert et al., (2005) and total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and single amino acid: ASP, GLU, SER, HIS, GLY, THR, ARG, ALA, TYR, MET, VAL, PHE, ILE, LEU, LYS following Dauwe et al., 1998.

Ex situ sulphate reduction rates of sediment at the rim of a vesicomyd clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench (dive 955)

Sediment samples were collected from the rim of a large vesicomyid clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench. Immediately after sample recovery onboard, the sediment core was sub-sampled for ex situ rate measurements. Sulfate reduction were measured ex situ by the whole core injection method with three replicates. We incubated the samples at in situ temperature (1.5°C) for 48 hours with carrier-free 35SO4 (dissolved in water, 50 kBq). Sediment was fixed 20 ml ZnAc solution (20%, w/v) for AOM or SR. Turnover rates were measured as previously described (Kallmeyer et al., 2004).

Ex situ sulphate reduction rates of sediment at the rim of a vesicomyd clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench (dive 957)

Sediment samples were collected from the rim of a large vesicomyid clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench. Immediately after sample recovery onboard, the sediment core was sub-sampled for ex situ rate measurements. Sulfate reduction were measured ex situ by the whole core injection method with three replicates. We incubated the samples at in situ temperature (1.5°C) for 48 hours with carrier-free 35SO4 (dissolved in water, 50 kBq). Sediment was fixed 20 ml ZnAc solution (20%, w/v) for AOM or SR. Turnover rates were measured as previously described (Kallmeyer et al., 2004).

Degradation of [14C]GlcDGD in the marine sediment by monitoring radioactivity in the aqueous and gas phase using liquid scintillation counting (LSC) techniques

An experiment was conceived in which we monitored degradation of GlcDGD. Independent of the fate of the [14C]glucosyl headgroup after hydrolysis from the glycerol backbone, the 14C enters the aqueous or gas phase whereas the intact lipid is insoluble and remains in the sediment phase. Total degradation of GlcDGD then is obtained by combining the increase of radioactivity in the aqueous and gaseous phases. We chose two different sediment to perform this experiment. One is from microbially actie surface sediment sampled in February 2010 from the upper tidal flat of the German Wadden Sea near Wremen (53° 38' 0N, 8° 29' 30E). The other one is deep subsurface sediments recovered from northern Cascadia Margin during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 311 [site U1326, 138.2 meters below seafloor (mbsf), in situ temperature 20 °C, water depth 1,828 m. We performed both alive and killed control experiments for comparison. Surface and subsurface sediment slurry were incubated in the dark at in situ temperature, 4 °C and 20 °C for 300 d, respectively. The sterilized slurry was stored at 20 °C. All incubations were carried out under N2 headspace to ensure anaerobic conditions. The sampling frequency was high during the first half-month, i.e., after 1, 2, 7, and 14 d; thereafter, the sediment slurry was sampled every 2 months. At each time point, samples were taken in triplicate for radioactivity measurements. After 300 d of incubation, no significant changes of radioactivity in the aqueous phase were detected. This may be the result of either the rapid turnover of released [14C] glucose or the relatively high limit of detection caused by the slight solubility (equivalent to 2% of initial radioactivity) of GlcDGD in water. Therefore, total degradation of GlcDGD in the dataset was calculated by combining radioactivity of DIC, CH4, and CO2, leading to a minimum estimate.

Occurrence of species-indicators and zooplankton biomass in the Barents Sea in September-October 1997

Samples of zooplankton were collected in the Barents Sea during cruise 11 of R/V Akademik Sergey Vavilov in September-October 1997. Three different sampling methods were used: 30 l bottle, Judey net, and BR net. More than 40 species of zooplankton were revealed. The greatest species diversity occurred in zones of junction of waters of different origin. Within the 100 m upper water layer zooplankton biomass was rather high: aver. 32 g/m**2. The highest biomass was observed in the northeastern part of the region under study and over the shelf of the Russkaya Gavan' Bay. The lowest biomass occurred in the southern part and in the region of the Gusinaya Banka. The average autumn value of zooplankton biomass in the 100 m upper layer (321 mg/m**3) slightly exceeded the multiannual average for the summer period (200 mg/m**3)

Ex situ sulphate reduction and methane oxidation rates of sediment at the rim of a vesicomyd clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench (dive 956)

Sediment samples were collected from the rim of a large vesicomyid clam colony in the Japan Deep Sea Trench. Immediately after sample recovery onboard, the sediment core was sub-sampled for ex situ rate measurements. Sulfate reduction and anaerobic oxidation of methane were measured ex situ by the whole core injection method with three replicate measurements for each method. We incubated the samples at in situ temperature (1.5°C) for 48 hours with either 14C-methane (dissolved in water, 2.5 kBq) or carrier-free 35S-sulfate (dissolved in water, 50 kBq). Sediment was fixed in 25 ml sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (2.5%, w/v) or 20 ml ZnAc solution (20%, w/v) for AOM or SR, respectively. Turnover rates were measured as previously described (Kallmeyer et al., 2004; Treude et al., 2003).