(Table 1) Concentration of pollutants in hair of East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus)

Hair sampled from 96 East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) over the periods 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 was analyzed for cortisol as a proxy to investigate temporal patterns of environmental stress. Cortisol concentration was independent of sex and age, and was found at significantly higher (p<0.001) concentrations in historical hair samples (1892-1927; n = 8) relative to recent ones (1988-2009; n = 88). In addition, there was a linear time trend in cortisol concentration of the recent samples (p< 0.01), with an annual decrease of 2.7%. The recent hair samples were also analyzed for major bioaccumulative, persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There were no obvious POP related time trends or correlations between hair cortisol and hair POP concentrations. Thus, polar bear hair appears to be a relatively poor indicator of the animal's general POP load in adipose tissue. However, further investigations are warranted to explore the reasons for the temporal decrease found in the bears' hair cortisol levels.

Physical properties nd chemistry of igneous rocks from the Pigafetta and East Mariana Basins

Physical properties of basalts from Ocean Drilling Program Sites 800 and 801 in the Pigafetta Basin and Site 802 in the East Mariana Basin, including porosity, wet-bulk density, grain density, compressional wave velocity, and thermal conductivity, were measured aboard JOIDES Resolution during Leg 129. The ranges for the properties are large, as typified by the velocity, which varies from 3.46 to 6.59 km/s. Extensively altered basalts immediately above and below a silicified hydrothermal deposit (60-69 m sub-basement depth) at Site 801 display the highest porosity, and lowest bulk density, velocity, and thermal conductivity, whereas the slightly altered rocks from Site 802 and the lowermost part of Site 801 represent the other extreme in physical properties variations. In order to better establish the relationship between physical properties and alteration of the rocks, the compressional wave velocities were compared with results from major and trace elemental analyses and petrographic examination of select samples. For the Leg 129 basalts, velocity displays a generally consistent decrease with increasing K2O, H2O+, loss on ignition, and Rb contents and the value of Fe3+/FeT and decreasing concentrations of SiO2, FeOT, CaO, MgO, and MnO. These trends are consistent with trends documented for the progressive alteration of oceanic crust and indicate that on a laboratory sample scale, basalt alteration is largely responsible for the variation of the physical properties of basalts sampled at Sites 800, 801, and 802.

Abb. 3 Change of altitude in the EGIG-West-East-profile

The members of the two International Glaciological Greenland Expeditions (EGIG) in 1959 and 1968 determined the altitudes in the West-East-profile by levelling. The comparison of these two measurements gives evidence of the change of altitudes and of the surface-waves. The ways of measurement and of analysis are described here. The graphic representation of the result is discussed here in connexion with the possible causes.

(Table 2) Organochlorine concentrations in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from East Greenland 1999-2001

Persistent organochlorine (OC) contaminants (PCBs, DDTs, chlordanes (CHLs), dieldrin, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), chlorobenzenes (CBzs)) were determined in adipose tissue of 92 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) sampled between 1999 and 2001 in central East Greenland (69°00'N to 74°00'N). OC data were presented from subadults (S: females: <5 years and males: <6 years), adult females (F: >=5 years) and adult males (M: >=6 years). Summed chlorobiphenyl (SumCBs) concentrations (41 congeners including co-eluters), SumCHLs and SumDDTs were the dominant classes of OCs. SumCBs concentrations were found to be 6470, 8240 and 9100 ng/g lipid weight (lw) i subadults, adult females and adult males, respectively. The corresponding figures were: 2010 (S), 2220 (F) and 1710 (M) ng/ g lw for SumCHLs and 462 (S), 462 (F) and 559 (M) ng/g lw for SumDDTs. The dominant CB congeners were CB153 (32.3%), CB180 (21.4%), CB170 (12.2%) and CB138 (11.0%). The metabolite p,p'-DDE (88.2%) dominated the SumDDTs, while oxychlordane was the dominant (57.1%) CHL-related compound. Concentrations of SumCBs, SumCBzs, SumDDTs, mirex and dieldrin were highest in adult males, whereas concentrations of SumHCHs were lower than in adult females but not than those in subadults. Adult females had the lowest concentrations of SumCBzs, mirex and dieldrin. Concentrations of SumCHLs were lowest in adult males, intermediate in subadults and highest in adult females. SumCB, SumHCH and SumCHL concentrations showed high seasonal variability in adult females but remained relatively constant in adult males and subadults. In general, the OC levels in females appeared to be highest in March and lowest in January or September. Concentrations of SumCBzs and dieldrin showed seasonal variability in all three groups, with a maximum in March in adult females. SumCBz concentrations in adult males and subadults of both sexes peaked in April-July, and dieldrin concentrations peaked in April-July in subadults, but not until August in adult males. SumDDT concentrations increased from January to a maximum in April-July for subadults and in August for adults. Temporal trends within the last decade were examined by comparing the present data to the concentrations reported in samples from 1990 from the same region. SumCB, p,p'-DDE and SumHCH concentrations in 1999-2001 were 22.1%, 66.3% and 39.3% lower than the 1990 concentrations, respectively. in contrast, SumCHL and dieldrin concentrations showed differences amongst sex and age groups in the temporal trends, where present concentrations are between 24.4% to 69.3% and 27.0% to 69.0% lower, respectively, relative to the 1990 levels. However, power analysis suggested that firm conclusions could not be drawn regarding the general time trend based on these two sampling periods. The range of half-lives of the various OC classes were estimated to lie between 4.5 and 20.6 years depending on the age and sex groups considered.

(Table 1) Concentration of organohalogenated compounds in clean and contaminated hair of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from East Greenland

In this pilot study, we report on levels of persistent organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs) in hair of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from East Greenland sampled between 1999 and 2001. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the validation of polar bear hair as a non-invasive matrix representative of concentrations and profiles in internal organs and blood plasma. Because of low sample weights (13-140 mg), only major bioaccumulative OHCs were detected above the limit of quantification: five polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (CB 99, 138, 153, 170 and 180), one polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congener (BDE 47), oxychlordane, trans-nonachlor and ß-hexachlorocyclohexane. The PCB profile in hair was similar to that of internal tissues (i.e. adipose, liver, brain and blood), with CB 153 and 180 as the major congeners in all matrices. A gender difference was found for concentrations in hair relative to concentrations in internal tissues. Females (n = 6) were found to display negative correlations, while males (n = 5) showed positive correlations, although p-values were not found significant. These negative correlations in females may reflect seasonal OHC mobilisation from periphery adipose tissue due to, for example, lactation and fasting. The lack of significance in most correlations may be due to small sample sizes and seasonal variability of concentrations in soft tissues. Further research with larger sample weights and sizes is therefore necessary to draw more definitive conclusions on the usefulness of hair for biomonitoring OHCs in polar bears and other fur mammals.

Counts of harpacticoid copepods associated with cold-water coral substrates obtained from several Belgica cruises, Porcupine Seabight (North-East Atlantic)

The influence of microhabitat type on the diversity and community structure of the harpacticoid copepod fauna associated with a cold-water coral degradation zone was investigated in the Porcupine Seabight (North-East Atlantic). Three substrate types were distinguished: dead fragments of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa, skeletons of the glass sponge Aphrocallistes bocagei and the underlying sediment. At the family level, it appears that coral fragments and underlying sediment do not harbour distinctly diVerent assemblages, with Ectinosomatidae, Ameiridae, Pseudotachidiidae, Argestidae and Miraciidae as most abundant. Conclusions on assemblage structure and diversity of the sponge skeletons are limited as only two samples were available. Similarity analysis at species level showed a strong variation in the sediment samples, which did not harbour a distinctly different assemblage in opposition to the coral and sponge samples. Several factors (sediment infill on the hard substrates, mobility of the copepods, limited sample sizes) are proposed to explain this apparent lack of a distinct difference between the microhabitats. Coral fragments and sediment were both characterised by high species diversity and low species dominance, which might indicate that copepod diversity is not substantially influenced by hydrodynamic stress. The additive partitioning of species diversity showed that by adding locations species richness was greatly enhanced. The harpacticoid community in the cold-water coral degradation zone is highly diverse and includes 157 species, 62 genera and 19 families. Information from neighbouring soft-bottom regions is necessary to assess whether total species diversity is increased by the presence of these complex habitatproviding substrates.