| 1. |
- Baltar, Federico, et al.
(författare)
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Mesoscale variability modulates seasonal changes in the trophic structure of nano- and picoplankton communities across the NW Africa-Canary Islands transition zone
- 2009
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 83:1-4, s. 180-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The variability of picoplankton and nanoplankton autotrophic (A) and heterotrophic (H) communities was studied along a zonal gradient extending from the NW African shelf to 500 km offshore in two contrasting seasons of the year: early spring (spring) and summer (summer). Plankton abundance was significantly higher in summer than in spring. In particular, heterotrophic prokaryotes (HP) and Prochlorococcus (Proc) were an order of magnitude more abundant in summer, presumably due to a higher loading of dissolved organic matter and higher temperatures. The average ratio of A to H biomass was lower during the summer. Over the African shelf, picoplankton was lowest during summer, while both the autotrophic and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (ANF and HNF) showed the highest abundances. In contrast, in spring, the highest abundance of Picoeukaryotes (PE) and Synechococcus (Syn) was found over or close to the shelf. The offshore sampling sections intersected a complex area of strong mesoscale variability, which affected the plankton distribution. In summer, the entrainment of an upwelling filament around a cyclonic eddy provoked the increase of HP and Syn abundances by about one order of magnitude over the surrounding waters, while PE were more abundant over the core of the eddy (probably due to nutrient pumping). In spring, HP and Syn were more abundant at the boundaries of an anticyclonic eddy and in the filament (where PE also increased). Proc abundance increased up to one order of magnitude in the core of the eddy and in the eddy-oceanic waters front. ANF and HNF showed the highest abundances in the filament and the eddy. in summary, although seasonality affects the background variability in microplankton communities, the mesoscale variability found in the Canary Islands transition zone strongly modulates the patterns of distribution, abundances and changes in community structure, altering the A to H ratio and concomitantly playing a key role modifying the carbon pathways within the food web in the region.
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| 2. |
- Bergström, Ulf
(författare)
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Spatio-temporal dynamics of cod nursery areas in the Baltic Sea
- 2017
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611. ; 155, s. 28-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study the drift of eastern Baltic cod larvae and juveniles spawned within the historical eastern Baltic cod spawning grounds was investigated by detailed drift model simulations for the years 1971-2010, to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of environmental suitability in the nursery areas of juvenile cod settlement. The results of the long-term model scenario runs, where juvenile cod were treated as simulated passively drifting particles, enabled us to find strong indications for long-term variations of settlement and potentially the reproduction success of the historically important eastern Baltic cod nursery grounds. Only low proportions of juveniles hatched in the Arkona Basin and in the Gotland Basin were able to settle in their respective spawning ground. Ocean currents were either unfavorable for the juveniles to reach suitable habitats or transported the juveniles to nursery grounds of neighboring subdivisions. Juveniles which hatched in the Bornholm Basin were most widely dispersed and showed the highest settlement probability, while the second highest settlement probability and horizontal dispersal was observed for juveniles originating from the Gdansk Deep. In a long-term perspective, wind-driven transport of larvae/juveniles positively affected the settlement success predominately in the Bornholm Basin and in the Bay of Gdansk. The Bornholm Basin has the potential to contribute on average 54% and the Bay of Gdansk 11% to the production of juveniles in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, transport of juveniles surviving to the age of settlement with origin in the Bornholm Basin contributed on average 13 and 11% to the total settlement in the Arkona Basin and in the Gdansk Deep, respectively. The time-series of the simulated occupied juvenile cod habitat in the Bornholm Basin and in the Gdansk Deep showed a similar declining trend as the Fulton's K condition factor of demersal 1-group cod, which may confirm the importance of oxygen-dependent habitat availability and its effect on density dependence as a process relevant for recruitment success. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Brüchert, Volker, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrogen sulphide and methane emissions on the central Namibian shelf
- 2009
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 83:1-4, s. 169-179
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydrogen sulphide occurs frequently in the waters of the inner shelf coastal upwelling area off central Namibia. The area affected coincides with hatching grounds of commercially important pelagic fish, whose recruitment may be severely affected by recurring toxic sulphidic episodes. Both episodic biogenic methane gas-driven advective and molecular diffusive flux of hydrogen sulphide have been implicated as transport mechanisms from the underlying organic-matter-rich diatomaceous mud. To test hypotheses on the controls of hydrogen sulphide transport from the sediments on the inner Namibian shelf, water column and sediment data were acquired from four stations between 27 and 72 m water depth over a 3 year long period. On 14 cruises, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, methane, and total dissolved sulphide were determined from water column samples, and pore water dissolved methane, total dissolved sulphide, biomass of benthic sulphide-oxidising bacteria Beggiatoa and Thiomargarita, and bacterial sulphate reduction rates were determined from sediment cores. Superimposed on a trend of synchronous changes in water column oxygen and nutrient concentrations controlled by regional hydrographic conditions were asynchronous small-scale variations at the in-shore stations that attest to localized controls on water column chemistry. Small temporal variations in sulphate reduction rates determined with 35S-labeled sulphate do not support the interpretation that variable emissions of sulphide and methane from sediments are driven by temporal changes in the degradation rates of freshly deposited organic matter. The large temporal changes in the concentrations of hydrogen sulphide and the co-occurrence of pore water sulphate and methane support an interpretation of episodic advection of methane and hydrogen sulphide from deeper sediment depths – possibly due to gas bubble transport. Effective fluxes of hydrogen sulphide and methane to the water column, and methane and sulphide concentrations in the bottom waters were decoupled, likely due to the activity of sulphide-oxidising bacteria. While the causal mechanism for the episodic fluctuations in methane and dissolved sulphide concentrations remains unclear, this data set points to the importance of alternating advective and diffusive transport of methane and hydrogen sulphide to the water column.
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| 4. |
- Brunnegård, Jenny, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Nitrogen cycling in deep-sea sediments of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, NE Atlantic
- 2004
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611. ; 63:4, s. 159-181
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rates of transformation, recycling and burial of nitrogen and their temporal and spatial variability were investigated in deep-sea sediments of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP), NE Atlantic during eight cruises from 1996 to 2000. Benthic fluxes of ammonium (NH4) and nitrate (NO3) were measured in situ using a benthic lander. Fluxes of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and denitrification rates were calculated from pore water profiles of DON and NO3, respectively. Burial of nitrogen was calculated from down core profiles of nitrogen in the solid phase together with C-14-based sediment accumulation rates and dry bulk density. Average NH4 and NO3-effluxes were 7.4 +/- 19 mumol m(-2) d(-1) (n = 7) and 52 +/- 30 mumol m(-2) d(-1) (n = 14), respectively, during the period 1996-2000. During the same period, the DON-flux was 11 +/- 5.6 mumol m(-2) d(-1) (n = 5) and the denitrification rate was 5.1 +/- 3.0 mumol m(-2) d(-1) (n = 22). Temporal and spatial variations were only found in the benthic NO3 fluxes. The average burial rate was 4.6 +/- 0.9 mumol m(-2) d(-1). On average over the sampling period, the recycling efficiency of the PON input to the sediment was similar to94% and the burial efficiency hence similar to6%. The DON flux constituted similar to14% of the nitrogen recycled, and it was of similar magnitude as the sum of burial and denitrification. By assuming the PAP is representative of all deep-sea areas, rates of denitrification, burial and DON efflux were extrapolated to the total area of the deep-sea floor (>2000 m) and integrated values of denitrification and burial of 8 +/- 5 and 7 +/- 1 Tg N year(-1), respectively, were obtained. This value of total deep-sea sediment denitrification corresponds to 3-12% of the global ocean benthic denitrification. Burial in deep-sea sediments makes up at least 25% of the global ocean nitrogen burial. The integrated DON flux from the deep-sea floor is comparable in magnitude to a reported global riverine input of DON suggesting that deep-sea sediments constitute an important source of DON to the world ocean. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Casini, Michele
(författare)
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Climate variability drives anchovies and sardines into the North and Baltic Seas
- 2012
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611. ; 96, s. 128-139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) are southern, warm water species that prefer temperatures warmer than those found in boreal waters. After about 40 years of absence, they were again observed in the 1990s in increasing quantities in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Whereas global warming probably played a role in these northward migrations, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the contraction of the subpolar gyre were important influences. Sardine re-invaded the North Sea around 1990, probably mainly as a response to warmer temperatures associated with the strengthening of the NAO in the late 1980s. However, increasing numbers of anchovy eggs, larvae, juveniles and adults have been recorded only since the mid-1990s, when, particularly, summer temperatures started to increase. This is probably a result of the complex dynamics of ocean-atmosphere coupling involving changes in North Atlantic current structures, such as the contraction of the subpolar gyre, and dynamics of AMO. Apparently, climate variability drives anchovies and sardines into the North and Baltic Seas. Here, we elucidate the climatic background of the return of anchovies and sardines to the northern European shelf seas and the changes in the North Sea fish community in the mid-1990s in response to climate variability. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Chambault, Philippine, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of oceanographic features on the foraging behavior of the olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea along the Guiana coast
- 2016
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 142, s. 58-71
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The circulation in the Western Equatorial Atlantic is characterized by a highly dynamic mesoscale activity that shapes the Guiana continental shelf. Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting in French Guiana cross this turbulent environment during their post-nesting migration. We studied how oceanographic and biological conditions drove the foraging behavior of 18 adult females, using satellite telemetry, remote sensing data (sea surface temperature, sea surface height, current velocity and euphotic depth), simulations of micronekton biomass (pelagic organisms) and in situ records (water temperature and salinity). The occurrence of foraging events throughout migration was located using Residence Time analysis, while an innovative proxy of the hunting time within a dive was used to identify and quantify foraging events during dives. Olive ridleys migrated northwestwards using the Guiana current and remained on the continental shelf at the edge of eddies formed by the North Brazil retroflection, an area characterized by low turbulence and high micronekton biomass. They performed mainly pelagic dives, hunting for an average 77% of their time. Hunting time within a dive increased with shallower euphotic depth and with lower water temperatures, and mean hunting depth increased with deeper thermocline. This is the first study to quantify foraging activity within dives in olive ridleys, and reveals the crucial role played by the thermocline on the foraging behavior of this carnivorous species. This study also provides novel and detailed data describing how turtles actively use oceanographic structures during post-nesting migration.
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| 7. |
- Cunliffe, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Sea surface microlayers : A unified physicochemical and biological perspective of the air-ocean interface
- 2013
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 109, s. 104-116
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The sea surface microlayer (SML) covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface and is the boundary layer interface between the ocean and the atmosphere. This important biogeochemical and ecological system is critical to a diverse range of Earth system processes, including the synthesis, transformation and cycling of organic material, and the air-sea exchange of gases, particles and aerosols. In this review we discuss the SML paradigm, taking into account physicochemical and biological characteristics that define SML structure and function. These include enrichments in biogenic molecules such as carbohydrates, lipids and proteinaceous material that contribute to organic carbon cycling, distinct microbial assemblages that participate in air-sea gas exchange, the generation of climate-active aerosols and the accumulation of anthropogenic pollutants with potentially serious implications for the health of the ocean. Characteristically large physical, chemical and biological gradients thus separate the SML from the underlying water and the available evidence implies that the SML retains its integrity over wide ranging environmental conditions. In support of this we present previously unpublished time series data on bacterioneuston composition and SML surfactant activity immediately following physical SML disruption; these imply timescales of the order of minutes for the reestablishment of the SML following disruption. A progressive approach to understanding the SML and hence its role in global biogeochemistry can only be achieved by considering as an integrated whole, all the key components of this complex environment.
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| 8. |
- Dudarev, Oleg, et al.
(författare)
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East Siberian Sea : Interannual heterogeneity of the suspended particulate matter and its biogeochemical signature
- 2022
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 208
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The East Siberian Sea (ESS) is the largest, shallowest and most icebound Arctic marginal sea. It receives substantial input of terrigenous material and climate-vulnerable old organic carbon from both coastal erosion and rivers draining the extensive permafrost-covered watersheds. This study focuses on the interannual variability and spatial distribution of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the surface and bottom waters of the ESS during the ice-free period in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. We report on the composition and variability of particulate organic carbon (POC), total nitrogen (TN), POC/TN ratios, carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) and provide estimates of the contribution of terrestrial organic carbon (terrOC) based on the δ13C isotopic values.The results show that interannual SPM distribution and elemental-isotopic characteristics of POC differ significantly between the western biogeochemical province (WBP; West of 165oE) and the eastern biogeochemical province (EBP; East of 165oE) of the ESS. The SPM mean concentration in the WBP is almost an order of magnitude higher than in the EBP. From west-to-east of the ESS, SPM tends to become more depleted in δ15N, while the δ13C becomes isotopically heavier. This trend can be explained by a shift in organic matter sources from terrigenous origin (erosion of the coastal ice complex and riverine POC) to becoming dominantly from marine plankton.The maximum contribution of terrOC to POC reached 99% in parts of the WBP, but accounts for as low as 1% in parts of the EBP. At the same time, the type of atmospheric circulation and its associated regime of both water circulation and ice transport control a displacement of the semi-stable biogeochemical border between WBP and EBP to the east or to the west if compared to its long-term average position near 165oE. Our multi-year investigation provides a robust observational basis for better understanding of the transport and fate of terrigenous material upon entering the ESS shelf waters. Our results also provide deeper insights into the interaction in the land-shelf sea system of the largest shelf sea system of the World Ocean, the East Siberian Arctic Shelf system.
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| 9. |
- Fonseca, Gustavo, et al.
(författare)
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Variation in nematode assemblages over multiple spatial scales and environmental conditions in Arctic deep seas
- 2010
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611. ; 84:3-4, s. 174-184
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although the comparison of relevant scales of variation is a prerequisite for understanding processes structuring benthic communities, deep-sea studies have traditionally examined spatial patterns of distribution of assemblages along a single scale or environmental gradient. A multiple-scale approach identifying which spatial-scale and associated environmental gradient is the most important in structuring the deep-sea benthos has never been attempted. To answer this question this study merged three independent data sets of nematodes from the Arctic deep seas. The data set included 300 samples and covered both margins of the Arctic Seas (Greenland and Norway–Spitsbergen, ca. 103 km distant apart), seven degrees of latitude (72–79°N), 2700 m depth differences (656–3350 m), horizontal distances between cores (20 cm) and vertical distances within the uppermost sediment layers (1–5 cm). Results showed that for abundance (N) and generic composition, differences between margins (M) and between cores (C) were the most important sources of variability, followed by water depth (D), vertical distribution within the sediment (VD) and latitude (L). For species and genera diversity, measured as ES(50) and EG(50), the order was slightly different. For species, C was the most important source of variability, followed by D, M and L, while for genera VD was the most important. Relationships between environmental variables and the fauna were highly dependent on scale indicating that, at least for the deep-sea environment, we cannot predict the structure of nematode assemblages by scaling up or down results obtained on one or another scale. The only consistent pattern across different spatial scales was that higher abundances were associated with higher number and lower turnover of species. This raises the hypothesis that the most abundant species are also the most widespread and that abundance is the best predictor of nematode diversity patterns in deep-sea ecosystems.
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| 10. |
- Gasol, Josep M., et al.
(författare)
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Mesopelagic prokaryotic bulk and single-cell heterotrophic activity and community composition in the NW Africa-Canary Islands coastal-transition zone
- 2009
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 83, s. 189-196
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mesopelagic prokaryotic communities have often been assumed to be relatively inactive in comparison to those from epipelagic waters, and therefore unresponsive to the presence of nearby upwelled waters. We have studied the zonal (shelf-ocean), latitudinal, and depth (epipelagic-mesopelagic) variability of microbial assemblages in the NW Africa-Canary Islands coastal-transition zone (CTZ). Vertical profiles of bacterial bulk and single-cell activity through the epi- and mesopelagic waters were combined with point measurements of bacterial respiration, leucine-to-carbon conversion factors and leucine-to-thymidine incorporation ratios. The overall picture that emerges from our study is that prokaryotes in the mesopelagic zone of this area are less abundant than in the epipelagic but have comparable levels of activity. The relationship between prokaryotes and heterotrophic nanoflagellates, their main predators, remains constant throughout the water column, further contradicting the assumption that deep ocean bacterial communities are mostly inactive. Both bulk and single-cell activity showed clear differences between stations, with higher mesopelagic activities closer to the shelf or affected by upwelling features. We also tested whether differences in microbial function between stations could be related to differences in bacterial community structure, and conclude that bacterial communities are very similar at similar depths in the deep ocean, even if the stations present order-of-magnitude differences in bacterial function.
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