(Table 2) Oxygen isotopic of composition of Pliocene to late Pleistocene planktonic foraminifera of the Mediterranean Sea

Stable isotopic and micropaleontological studies were made of selected sapropels (organic-rich sediments) deposited in the Mediterranean Sea during the last 5.0 m.y. to determine the processes responsible for their formation. Distinct isotopic and faunal changes occur across sapropels of late Pleistocene, early Pleistocene and latest Pliocene age, while smaller isotopic changes and more stable faunal assemblages are associated with the early and mid-late Pliocene sapropels. The large d18O depletions and euryhaline fauna associated with latest Pliocene-Pleistocene sapropels supports a density stratification model with a low salinity surface layer. In contrast, early Pliocene and mid-late Pliocene sapropels appear to have been formed as the result of sluggish circulation and low oxygen contents in bottom waters of the eastern Mediterranean due to the stable, warm climatic conditions of that time period.

Sr- and Nd-isotopic composition of bulk lithogenic sediments from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Table 1)

In order to characterize the provenance of lithogenic surface sediments from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS), residual (leached) fraction of 34 surface samples have been analysed for their 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios. The sample locations bracket all important entrances of riverine suspended matter into the EMS as well as all sub-basins of the EMS. The combined analyses of these two isotope ratios provide a precise characterization of the lithogenic fraction of surface sediments and record their dilution towards the central sub-basins. We reconstruct provenance and possible pathways of riverine dispersal and current redistribution, assuming more or less homogenous isotopic signatures and flux rates of the eolian fraction over the EMS. Lithogenic sediments entering the Ionian Sea from the Calabrian Arc and the Adriatic Sea are characterized by high 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios and low epsilon-Nd(0) values (average 87Sr/86Sr=0.718005 and epsilon-Nd(0)=-11.06, n=5). Aegean Sea terrigenous sediments show an average ratio of 87Sr/86Sr=0.713089 (n=5) and values of epsilon-Nd(0)=-7.89 (n=5). The Aegean isotopic signature is traceable up to the southwest, south, and southeast of Crete. The sediment loads entering the EMS via the Aegean Sea are low and spread out mainly through the Strait of Casos (east of Crete). Surface sediments from the eastern Levantine Basin are marked by the highest epsilon-Nd(0) values (-3.3, n=6) and lowest 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios (average 0.709541, n=6), reflecting the predominant input of the Nile sediment. The influence of the Nile sediment is traceable up to the NE-trending, eastern flank of the Mediterranean Ridge. The characterization of the modern riverine dispersal and eolian flux, based on isotope data, may serve as a tool to reconstruct climate-coupled variations of lithogenic sediment input into the EMS.

Plants, people, and paleoecology : biotic communities and aboriginal plant usage in Illinois /

Includes index.

Tide Tables, Europe and West Coast of Africa, Including Mediterranean Sea

1951-1957 isued as its Serial no.733, etc

Concentrations of floating plastic debris in northwestern Mediterranean Sea measured in summer 2013 during Expeditions MED cruise

Floating plastic debris sampled in surface waters of northwestern Mediterranean Sea during summer 2013. Geographical coordinates and dates of sampling are available in the dataset.

Concentrations of major and minor constituents of samples from the lower end of the cores from the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Table 2)

The pore water chemistry of mud volcanoes from the Olimpi Mud Volcano Field and the Anaximander Mountains in the eastern Mediterranean Sea have been studied for three major purposes: (1) modes and velocities of fluid transport were derived to assess the role of (upward) advection, and bioirrigation for benthic fluxes. (2) Differences in the fluid chemistry at sites of Milano mud volcano (Olimpi area) were compiled in a map to illustrate the spatial heterogeneity reflecting differences in fluid origin and transport in discrete conduits in near proximity. (3) Formation water temperatures of seeping fluids were calculated from theoretical geothermometers to predict the depth of fluid origin and geochemical reactions in the deeper subsurface. No indications for downward advection as required for convection cells have been found. Instead, measured pore water profiles have been simulated successfully by accounting for upward advection and bioirrigation. Advective flow velocities are found to be generally moderate (3-50 cm/y) compared to other cold seep areas. Depth-integrated rates of bioirrigation are 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than advective flow velocities documenting the importance of bioirrigation for flux considerations in surface sediments. Calculated formation water temperatures from the Anaximander Mountains are in the range of 80 to 145 °C suggesting a fluid origin from a depth zone associated with the seismic decollement. It is proposed that at that depth clay mineral dehydration leads to the formation and advection of fluids reduced in salinity relative to sea water. This explains the ubiquitous pore water freshening observed in surface sediments of the Anaximander Mountain area. Multiple fluid sources and formation water temperatures of 55 to 80 °C were derived for expelled fluids of the Olimpi area.

Age determination and paleotemperatures of western Mediterranean Sea sediments

Sea surface temperature (SST) profiles over the last 25 kyr derived from alkenone measurements are studied in four cores from a W-E latitudinal transect encompassing the Gulf of Cadiz (Atlantic Ocean), the Alboran Sea, and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (western Mediterranean). The results document the sensitivity of the Mediterranean region to the short climatic changes of the North Atlantic Ocean, particularly those involving the latitudinal position of the polar front. The amplitude of the SST oscillations increases toward the Tyrrhenian Sea, indicating an amplification effect of the Atlantic signal by the climatic regime of the Mediterranean region. All studied cores show a shorter cooling phase (700 years) for the Younger Dryas (YD) than that observed in the North Atlantic region (1200 years). This time diachroneity is related to an intra-YD climatic change documented in the European continent. Minor oscillations in the southward displacement of the North Atlantic polar front may also have driven this early warming in the studied area. During the Holocene a regional diachroneity propagating west to east is observed for the SST maxima, 11.5-10.2 kyr B.P. in the Gulf of Cadiz, 10-9 kyr B.P. in the Alboran Sea, and 8.9-8.4 kyr B.P. in the Thyrrenian Sea. A general cooling trend from these SST maxima to present day is observed during this stage, which is marked by short cooling oscillations with a periodicity of 730±40 years and its harmonics.

(Table 2) Radiocarbon dating on cold-water corals collected in the Mediterranean Sea

This study presents newly obtained coral ages of the cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata collected in the Alboran Sea and the Strait of Sicily (Urania Bank). These data were combined with all available Mediterranean Lophelia and Madrepora ages compiled from literature to conduct a basin-wide assessment of the spatial and temporal occurrence of these prominent framework-forming scleractinian species in the Mediterranean realm and to unravel the palaeo-environmental conditions that controlled their proliferation or decline. For the first time special focus was placed on a closer examination of potential differences occurring between the eastern and western Mediterranean sub-basins. Our results clearly demonstrate that cold-water corals occurred sparsely in the entire Mediterranean during the last glacial before becoming abundant during the Bølling-Allerød warm interval, pointing to a basin-wide, almost concurrent onset in (re-)colonisation after ~13.5 ka. This time coincides with a peak in meltwater discharge originating from the northern Mediterranean borderlands which caused a major reorganisation of the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. During the Younger Dryas and Holocene, some striking differences in coral proliferation were identified between the sub-basins such as periods of highly prolific coral growth in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Younger Dryas and in the western basin during the Early Holocene, whereas a temporary pronounced coral decline during the Younger Dryas was exclusively affecting coral sites in the Alboran Sea. Comparison with environmental and oceanographic data revealed that the proliferation of the Mediterranean corals is linked with enhanced productivity conditions. Moreover, corals thrived in intermediate depths and showed a close relationship with intermediate water mass circulation in the Mediterranean sub-basins. For instance, reduced Levantine Intermediate Water formation hampered coral growth in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during sapropel S1 event as reduced Winter Intermediate Water formation did in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean (Alboran Sea) during the Mid-Holocene. Overall, this study clearly demonstrates the importance to consider region-specific environmental changes as well as species-specific environmental preferences in interpreting coral chronologies. Moreover, it highlights that the occurrence or decline of cold-water corals is not controlled by one key parameter but rather by a complex interplay of various environmental variables.

Effects of vessel traffic on relative abundance and behaviour of cetaceans : the case of the bottlenose dolphins in the Archipelago de La Maddalena, north-western Mediterranean sea

Acknowledgements This study was part of the Tursiops Project of the Dolphin Research Centre of Caprera, La Maddalena. Financial and logistical support was provided by the Centro Turistico Studentesco (CTS) and by the National Park of the Archipelago de La Maddalena. We thank the Natural Reserve of Bocche di Bonifacio for the support provided during data collection. The authors thank the numerous volunteers of the Caprera Dolphin Research Centre and especially Marco Ferraro, Mirko Ugo, Angela Pira and Maurizio Piras whose assistance during field observation and skills as a boat driver were invaluable.

Alkenones in the Mediterranean Sea

Time-series of downward alkenone fluxes have been investigated at 200 m depth over a one year sediment trap experiment, in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Alkenone flux maxima occurred in autumn and to a lesser extent in May, during the spring bloom. Temperature estimates calculated from the UK'37 index revealed that alkenone producers preferentially develop in subsurface waters (at about 50 m) in spring, whereas the autumn alkenone production occurred upper in the water column (around 30 m). Examination of the core-top UK'37 index values at various sites of the Northwestern Mediterranean basin, suggested that the spring bloom period do not significantly imprint the temperatures recorded in the sediments. The sedimentary temperature estimates would rather reflect annually integrated SST, with a major influence of the autumnal post-bloom development of the coccolithophores in the euphotic zone.