Post‐Glacial immigration of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) into the Baltic Sea*

At the end of the Pleistocene, environmental conditions in the Baltic Basin were affected by the melting glaciers and the resultant freshwater bodies. In contrast to various seal species, there is no subfossil evidence of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) from the early Holocene stages of the Baltic Basin. This article is an attempt to clarify the colonization of the harbour porpoise into the Baltic Sea and to reveal the ecological background of this process. All published Holocene subfossil records from the porpoise in the Baltic region were sought and supplemented with those from museums and zoological collections; 148 records document the porpoise's occurrence. The earliest records of the harbour porpoise date from the time between 9600 and 7000 cal. yr BP and originate from the early and middle Mesolithic coastal settlements of the Maglemose and Kongemose culture during the early Littorina stage. Around 7500–5700 cal. yr BP, the porpoise is recorded frequently at many localities from late Mesolithic (Ertebølle culture) and Neolithic in the coastal areas of the western Baltic Sea, as well as for the first time in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. Since 4000 cal. yr BP, P. phocoena has only been recorded in the western Baltic. We suggest that immigration and dispersion of P. phocoena into the Baltic Sea was connected with the Littorina transgression beginning around 9000 cal. yr BP. The continuous influx of seawater and the associated ecological changes led to a new, very species‐rich, fish community and adequate living conditions for the harbour porpoise.     

Phosphorus recycling and burial in Baltic Sea sediments with contrasting redox conditions

In this study, redox-dependent phosphorus (P) recycling and burial at 6 sites in the Baltic Sea is investigated using a combination of porewater and sediment analyses and sediment age dating (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs). We focus on sites in the Kattegat, Danish Straits and Baltic Proper where present-day bottom water redox conditions range from fully oxygenated and seasonally hypoxic to almost permanently anoxic and sulfidic. Strong surface enrichments of Fe-oxide bound P are observed at oxic and seasonally hypoxic sites but not in the anoxic basins. Reductive dissolution of Fe-oxides and release of the associated P supports higher sediment-water exchange of PO₄ at hypoxic sites (up to ∼800 μmol P m⁻² d⁻¹) than in the anoxic basins. This confirms that Fe-bound P in surface sediments in the Baltic acts as a major internal source of P during seasonal hypoxia, as suggested previously from water column studies. Most burial of P takes place as organic P. We find no evidence for significant authigenic Ca-P formation or biogenic Ca-P burial. The lack of major inorganic P burial sinks makes the Baltic Sea very sensitive to the feedback loop between increased hypoxia, enhanced regeneration of P and increased primary productivity. Historical records of bottom water oxygen at two sites (Bornholm, Northern Gotland) show a decline over the past century and are accompanied by a rise in values for typical sediment proxies for anoxia (total sulfur, molybdenum and organic C/P ratios). While sediment reactive P concentrations in anoxic basins are equal to or higher than at oxic sites, burial rates of P at hypoxic and anoxic sites are up to 20 times lower because of lower sedimentation rates. Nevertheless, burial of reactive P in both hypoxic and anoxic areas is significant because of their large surface area and should be accounted for in budgets and models for the Baltic Sea.     

Late Holocene palaeoproductivity changes: a multi‐proxy study in the Norwegian Trench and the Skagerrak,North Sea

To detect climatic linkages between the Baltic Sea, the Skagerrak and the Nordic Seas, we present multi‐proxy reconstructions covering the last 4500 years from three sediment cores taken in the Skagerrak and along the SW Norwegian margin. Foraminiferal assemblages at all three sites show a distinct change at c. 1700 years BP, associated with a transition from absence and rare occurrence of Brizalina skagerrakensis during c. 4500–2300 years BP to its subsequent abundance increase, suggesting a stronger influence of nutrient‐rich water‐masses during the last c. 1700 years. Increased nutrient availability, which probably stimulated higher primary productivity, is further supported by an increase in diatoms, total organic carbon and benthic foraminiferal species indicative of high productivity and carbon fluxes during the last c. 1700 years as compared to c. 4500–2300 years BP. The amplitude of the B. skagerrakensis signal is largest in the central Skagerrak and gradually becomes smaller towards the Norwegian Sea suggesting that the dominant source of the nutrient‐rich water was the brackish outflow from the Baltic Sea. The generally lower abundances of planktonic foraminifera since c. 1700 years BP support the hypothesis of less saline surface water conditions in the Skagerrak. These results agree with other studies, which suggest a stronger Baltic outflow over the last 1700 years coinciding with a general cooling, increased wintertime westerlies bringing more winter precipitation to northern Europe, increased river runoff and higher frequency of floods. The increase in outflow also occurs during deposition of laminated sediments in the deep Baltic Sea. Leakage of dissolved inorganic phosphorus from anoxic sediments, as well as enhanced erosion due to deforestation in combination with higher runoff from Norway, coastal upwelling and more vigorous frontal dynamics may all have contributed to higher nutrient availability within the adjacent Skagerrak during the last 1700 years BP as compared to c. 4500–2300 years BP, when low productivity prevailed in the study area.     

Darss Sill as a biological border in the fossil record of the Baltic Sea: evidence from diatoms

Biostratigraphical and palaeoecological analyses of cores along a transect from Femer Belt to the Arkona Basin reveal that North Sea waters began to enter the western Baltic Sea between 8600 and 8400 calibrated years BP. Studies of diatoms indicate that Mecklenburg Bay was characterised by slightly brackish-water conditions between 8400 and 8000 cal. years BP. At around 8000 cal. years BP increasing salinity is indicated by a strong dominance of the diatoms Paralia sulcata and Dimeregramma minor. Some centuries later another diatom assemblage appeared and became dominant in Mecklenburg Bay. This assemblage includes Hyalinella lateripunctata and Pravifusus hyalinus species typical of shallow water areas along the Atlantic coast today. At this time the first marine molluscs made their appearance. The oldest shell of a marine mollusc found in our material is dated to 7600 cal. years BP. The associated assemblage that includes adult specimens of the gastropod Aporrhais pespelicani indicates higher salinities than today.During the Littorina Sea stage a marine diatom flora with P. sulcata, Catenula adhaerens and D. minor crossed the Darss Sill and became widely distributed in the Arkona Basin, Pomeranian Bay and the Baltic Sea proper. In contrast, taxa indicative of the Hyalinella lateripunctata/P. hyalinus assemblage are only found west of the Darss Sill in Femer Belt and Mecklenburg Bay. Apparently, the Darss Sill threshold has been acting as an important salinity border from around 7800 cal. years BP until today.     

Early Last Interglacial palaeoenvironments in the western Baltic Sea: benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity

Knudsen, K. L., Jiang, H., Kristensen, P., Gibbard, P. L. & Haila, H. 2011: Early Last Interglacial palaeoenvironments in the western Baltic Sea: benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00206.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Stable isotopes from benthic foraminifera, combined with diatom assemblage analysis and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity reconstructions, are used for the interpretation of changes in bottom‐ and surface‐water conditions through the early Eemian at Ristinge Klint in the western Baltic Sea. Correlation of the sediments with the Eemian Stage is based on a previously published pollen analysis that indicates that they represent pollen zones E2–E5 and span ～3400 years. An initial brackish‐water phase, initiated c. 300 years after the beginning of the interglacial, is characterized by a rapid increase in sea‐surface and sea‐bottom salinity, followed by a major increase at c. 650 years, which is related to the opening of the Danish Straits to the western Baltic. The diatoms allow estimation of the maximum sea‐surface salinity in the time interval of c. 650–1250 years. After that, slightly reduced salinity is estimated for the interval of c. 1250–2600 years (with minimum values at c. 1600–2200 years). This may be related to a period of high precipitation/humidity and thus increased freshwater run‐off from land. Together with a continuous increase in the water depth, this may have contributed to the gradual development of a stratified water column after c. 1600 years. The stratification was, however, particularly pronounced between c. 2600 and 3400 years, a period with particularly high sea‐surface temperature, as well as bottom‐water salinity, and thus a maximum influence of Atlantic water masses. The freshwater run‐off from land may have been reduced as a result of particularly high summer temperatures during the climatic optimum.     

A New Mantispid-Like Species of Rhachiberothinae(Neuroptera:Berothidae)from Baltic Amber,with a Critical Review of the Fossil Record of the Subfamily

<正>Whalfera wiszniewskii sp.nov.is described from the Late Eocene Baltic amber.The genus Whalfera is considered as the only fossil genus confidently assigned to the Rhachlberothinae.Others previously placed in this subfamily belong to Paraberothinae(except perhaps for Oisea).The Late Eocene/present Rhachiberothinae and the Cretaceous Paraberothinae are considered to be the subfamilies of Berothidae.     

Holocene environmental history of the Ångermanälven Estuary,northern Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea has experienced a complex geological history, with notable swings in salinity driven by changes to its connection with the Atlantic and glacio‐isostatic rebound. Sediments obtained during International Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 allow the study of the effects of these changes on the ecology of the Baltic in high resolution through the Holocene in areas where continuous records had not always been available. Sites M0061 and M0062, drilled in the Ångermanälven Estuary (northern Baltic Sea), contain records of Holocene‐aged sediments and microfossils. Here we present detailed records of palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental changes to the Ångermanälven Estuary inferred from diatom, palynomorph and organic‐geochemical data. Based on diatom assemblages, the record is divided into four zones that comprise the Ancylus Lake, Littorina Sea, Post‐Littorina Sea and Recent Baltic Sea stages. The Ancylus Lake phase is initially characterized as oligotrophic, with the majority of primary productivity in the upper water column. This transition to a eutrophic state continues into the Initial Littorina Sea stage. The Initial Littorina Sea stage contains the most marine phase recorded here, as well as low surface water temperatures. These conditions end before the Littorina Sea stage, which is marked by a return to oligotrophic conditions and warmer waters of the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Glacio‐isostatic rebound leads to a shallowing of the water column, allowing for increased benthic primary productivity and stratification of the water column. The Medieval Climate Anomaly is also identified within Post‐Littorina Sea sediments. Modern Baltic sediments and evidence of human‐induced eutrophication are seen. Human influence upon the Baltic Sea begins c. 1700 cal. a BP and becomes more intense c. 215 cal. a BP.     

Extent,age and dynamics of Marine Isotope Stage 3 glaciations in the southwestern Baltic Basin

Houmark‐Nielsen, M. 2010: Extent, age and dynamics of Marine Isotope Stage 3 glaciations in the southwestern Baltic Basin. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00136.x. ISSN 0300‐9483 The southwestern Baltic region is known as a major crossroad for the expansion of Pleistocene glaciers from the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS). At the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 25–20 kyr BP), steady‐flowing inter‐stream glaciers expanded radially from the major ice divide over central Scandinavia. During the subsequent deglaciation phase (20–15 kyr BP), streaming ice was flowing through the Baltic gateway onto the North European lowland. The lithology and directional ice‐flow properties of pre‐LGM till formations of Baltic provenance in Denmark (the Ristinge till and Klintholm till) suggest that the ice‐sheet dynamics during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 glacier expansion were similar to those for the post‐LGM advances. Increasing geological evidence indicates that glaciers extended onto the Circum‐Baltic lowlands during MIS 3. Reconstructions of flow paths and estimates of the basal ice‐sheet coupling in Denmark suggest that southward flow of the SIS through the Baltic was probably the result of ice streaming. Despite methodological uncertainties, available OSL and ¹⁴C dates indicate that glaciers advanced at least twice during the mild second half of the Middle Weichselian (c. 75–25 kyr BP), most probably in connection with Dansgaard‐Oeschger (D‐O) events 14–13 (54–46 kyr BP) and 8–5 (35–30 kyr BP). The chronology and dynamics of glacier expansion in the southwestern Baltic in response to long‐term cooling trends, the contemporary presence of a low Arctic biota in large parts of Scandinavia and of possible leads or lags in relation to North Atlantic climate changes during MIS 3 are discussed.     

Process length variation in cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum,from surface sediments of the Baltic–Kattegat–Skagerrak estuarine system: a regional salinity proxy

Mertens, K. N., Dale, B., Ellegaard, M., Jansson, I.‐M., Godhe, A., Kremp, A. & Louwye, S. 2010: Process length variation in cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum, from surface sediments of the Baltic–Kattegat–Skagerrak estuarine system: a regional salinity proxy. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00193.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Results are presented from a regional comparison of average process length variation in cysts of Protoceratium reticulatum and Lingulodinium polyedrum, extracted from surface sediments in the Skagerrak–Kattegat–Baltic estuarine system, with the environmental variables of seawater temperature and salinity. Although too few cysts of Lingulodinium polyedrum were recovered from the sediments to make reliable correlations, cysts of Protoceratium reticulatum were well represented, and average process length was correlated significantly with both salinity and temperature. Owing to dominant summer surface production, and regional covariation between salinity and density, we propose the use of the significant correlation with summer sea surface salinity (SSS_summer) by the equation SSS_summer=3.16 × average process length ?0.84 (R²=0.8). Application of this equation down‐core in Limfjord (northern Denmark) shows its usefulness as a regional palaeosalinity proxy.     

An illustrated key and (palaeo)ecological primer for Postglacial to Recent Ostracoda (Crustacea) of the Baltic Sea

Frenzel, P., Keyser, D. & Viehberg, F.A. 2010: An illustrated key and (pala6e6o)ecological primer for Postglacial to Recent Ostracoda (Crustacea) of the Baltic Sea. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 567–575. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00135.x. ISSN 0300‐9483 This synopsis of Baltic Sea brackish water Ostracoda gives an overview of all known Recent species for the first time. It also includes Holocene taxa now extinct in the area. There are 131 species, two of which are recorded only from Yoldia stage (Preboreal) sediments. The illustrated key is based exclusively on valve morphology, providing a taxonomical base for geoscience and biological studies using ostracods from the Baltic Sea area. A list of ecological tolerances and preferences as well as the latitudinal distribution of all species is intended as a reference for palaeoenvironmental analyses. Salinity, temperature and oxygen tolerance values as well as preferences for latitudinal distribution, water depth and energy, habitat and substrate are given. The data are based on quantitative sampling in the southern, central and western Baltic Sea and on information gained from literature.     

A New Species Group in the Genus Tanytarsus van der Wulp(Diptera:Chironomidae)Based on a Fossil Record from Baltic Amber

<正>A new fossil chironomid,Tanytarsus serafini,found in Baltic amber is described and illustrated based on adult males.The new species and similar extant species of the genus Tanytarsus van der Wulp are compared. Due to several distinct characters of wing,legs and hypopygium,a new species group for Tanytarsus serafini is proposed,and its diagnostic features are evaluated.     

Lake Mullsjön - a key site for understanding the final stage of the Baltic Ice Lake east of Mt. Billingen

The deglaciation pattern at Mt. Billingen, within the Middle Swedish end moraine zone, and its relationship with dramatic water level changes in the Baltic Ice Lake is a classic topic of Swedish Quaternary Geology. Based on data west of Mt. Billingen, the authors (in two earlier papers) presented a stratigraphic model associated with this subject. This study is an attempt to test the model east of Mt. Billingen, i.e. inside the Baltic Ice Lake itself. Lake Mullsjon is situated 30 km southeast of the drainage area of the Baltic Ice Lake and within the final drainage zone. About 8 m of Late Weichselian sediments (mostly varved clay) were recovered from the lake and analysed from different stratigraphic viewpoints, including lithology, grainsize, varve chronology, and pollen. These analyses show that the site was deglaciated in the later part of the Allerød Chronozone. Shortly thereafter the first drainage of the Baltice Ice Lake took place but without isolating Lake Mullsjon. After a short period of disturbed sedimentation varved clay continued to form as the glacier receded for another 120 varve years until the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling, as registered both in the pollen and in the varve stratigraphies. After c. another 120 varve years our analyses suggest that the Baltic Ice Lake was dammed once again. About 230 varve years of further ice readvance followed west of Mt. Billingen, while the ice margin in the east was more or less stationary. Rapid melting set in, at first producing coarse varves, but soon the clay was thin-varved and fine. This continued for 140 varve years until suddenly the lake became isolated. At this isolation thick beds of silty-sandy deposits were deposited on the lake floor. The isolation is dated to 10,400–10,500 ¹⁴C years B.P., which corresponds to the assumed age of the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. It was also isolated at the same time as lakes (on the same isobase) situated 20 m lower, but west of Mt. Billingen, were raised above sea level. This strongly suggests that Lake Mullsjön was isolated as an effect of the drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. Significant differences between the clay-varve and the ¹⁴C chronologies are also presented.     

A Late Pleistocene marine clay succession at Kriegers Flak,westernmost Baltic,southern Scandinavia

In the Baltic Sea south of Skåne county in southern Sweden, an over- consolidated marine clay succession on the northeastern slope of Kriegers Flak was observed in shallow seismic data as a unit overlain by younger Weichselian sediments. Two cores were taken from the clay succession. The Foraminifera present were predominantly of two species, Elphidium excavatum and Elphidium albiumbilicatum, reflecting deposition under arctic– boreal conditions. Stable oxygen isotope analyses were performed on foraminiferal tests, and the results show extremely light δ¹⁸O values ranging between −11‰ and −12‰. The cause of these extreme values is uncertain but may result from the high influence of meltwater. Brackish conditions are also indicated by the tolerance for low salinity shown by the Foraminifera. Radiocarbon dating shows an infinite age >40000 yr BP. The pollen flora seems mainly to have been redeposited, which makes interpretation difficult. The sea may have entered the Baltic basin during periods with high eustatic levels, an isostatic downloading of the crust, or a combination of both. It is suggested that the deposition of the overconsolidated marine clay succession occurred in the Late Saalian, Early Eemian or Early Weichselian. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in the inflow of saline water into the Bornholm Basin (SW Baltic Sea) during the past 7100 years – evidence from benthic foraminifera record

The Baltic Sea (~393 000 km²) is the largest brackish sea in the world and its hydrographic and environmental conditions are strongly dependent on the frequency of saline water inflows from the North Sea. To improve our understanding of the natural variability of the Baltic Sea ecosystem detailed reconstructions of past saline water inflow changes based on palaeoecological archives are needed. Here we present a high‐resolution study of benthic foraminiferal assemblages accompanied by sediment geochemistry (loss on ignition, total organic carbon) and other microfossil data (ostracods and cladocerans) from a well‐dated 8‐m‐long gravity core taken in the Bornholm Basin. The foraminiferal diversity in the core is low and dominated by species of Elphidium. The benthic foraminiferal faunas in the central Baltic require oxic bottom water conditions and salinities >11–12 PSU. Consequently, shell abundance peaks in the record reflect frequent saline water inflow phases. The first appearance of foraminiferal tests and ostracods in the investigated sediment core is dated to c. 6.9 cal. ka BP and attributed to the first inflows of saline and oxygenated bottom waters into the Bornholm Basin during the Littorina Sea transgression. The transgression terminated the Ancylus Lake phase, reflected in the studied record by abundant cladocerans. High absolute foraminiferal abundances are found within two time intervals: (i) c. 5.5–4.0 cal. ka BP (Holocene Thermal Maximum) and (ii) c. 1.3–0.75 cal. ka BP (Medieval Climate Anomaly). Our data also show three intervals of absent or low saline water inflows: (i) c. 6.5–6.0 cal. ka BP, (ii) c. 3.0–2.3 cal. ka BP and (iii) c. 0.5–0.1 cal. ka BP (Little Ice Age). Our study demonstrates a strong effect of saline and well‐oxygenated water inflows from the Atlantic Ocean on the Baltic Sea ecosystem over millennial time scales, which is linked to the major climate transitions over the last 7 ka.     

Surface salinity and nutrient variations during the Littorina Stage in the Fårö Deep,Baltic Sea

Early to late Holocene sediments from core F80, Fårö Deep, Baltic Sea, are investigated for their palynomorph composition and dinoflagellate cyst record to map variations in sea‐surface‐water salinity and palaeoproductivity during the past 6000 years. The F80 palynomorph assemblages are subdivided into four Assemblage Zones (AZs) named A to D. The transition from the stratigraphically oldest AZ A to B reflects a marked increase in palaeoproductivity and a gradual increase in surface‐water salinity over the ～1500 years between the Initial Littorina (former Mastogloia Sea Stage) and Littorina Sea Stage. A period with maximum sea‐surface salinity is recorded within the overlying AZ C from 7200 to 5200 cal. a BP, where the process length of Operculodinium centrocarpum indicates that average salinities were probably the highest (～15–17 versus 7.5 psu today) since the last glaciation. The change from AZ C to D correlates with a shift from laminated to non‐laminated sediments, and the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages suggest that the surface‐ and the deep‐water environment altered from c. 5250 cal. a BP, with less productivity in the surface water and more oxygenated conditions in the deep water. Here we demonstrate that past regional changes in surface salinity, primary productivity and deep‐water oxygenation status in the Baltic Sea can be traced by mapping overall palynomorph composition, dinoflagellate cyst assemblages and variations in the process length of O. centrocarpum in relation to periods of laminated/non‐laminated sedimentation and proportion of organic‐matter in the sediments. An understanding of past productivity changes is particularly important to better understand present‐day environmental changes within the Baltic Sea region.     

Near-surface earthquakes in the Baltic shield, notably Sweden

A recent series of Swedish earthquakes at a focal depth not exceeding 2–3 km, the largest with I_O = V + (MSK scale) andM_L = 3.2 shows that relatively strong seismic activity can occur in the uppermost part of the Baltic Shield. During the last 15 years several near-surface earthquakes have occurred in this region, as indicated by recorded Rg-waves and/or macroseismic data. Many events are located along the coast of central Sweden, suggesting a seismic belt of minor, near-surface activity, which should be considered in connection with the radioactive waste storage in the Swedish bedrock. The appearance of Rg, common in seismic records of explosions and rockbursts, is not a sufficient discriminator between artificial events and earthquakes.     

Late Holocene Baltic Sea outflow changes reconstructed using C37:4 content from marine cores

The Baltic Sea is an intra‐continental brackish water body. Low saline surface water, the so‐called Baltic outflow current, exits the Baltic Sea through the Kattegat into the Skagerrak. Ingressions of saline oxygen‐rich bottom water enter the Baltic Sea basins via the narrow and shallow Kattegat and are of great importance for the ecological and ventilation state of the Baltic Sea. Over recent decades, progress has been made in studying Holocene changes in saline water inflow. However, reconstructions of past variations in Baltic Sea outflow changes are sparse and hampered because of the lack of suitable proxies. Here, we used the relative proportion of tetra‐unsaturated C₃₇ ketones (C_37:4 %) in long‐chain alkenones produced by coccolithophorids as a proxy for outflowing Baltic Sea water in the Skagerrak. To evaluate the applicability of the proxy, we compared the biomarker results with grain‐size records from the Kattegat and Mecklenburg Bay in addition to previously published salinity reconstructions from the Kattegat over the last 5000 years. All Skagerrak records showed an increase in C_37:4 % that is accompanied by enhanced bottom water currents in the Kattegat and western Baltic Sea over the past 3500 cal. a BP, indicating an increase in Baltic Sea outflow. This probably reflects higher precipitation in the Baltic Sea catchment area owing to a re‐organization of North Atlantic atmospheric circulation with an increased influence of wintertime Westerlies over the Baltic catchment from the mid‐ to the late Holocene.     

Nutrient dynamics in the Pomeranian Bay (southern Baltic): Impact of the Oder River outflow

The Pomeranian Bay is a coastal region fed by the Oder River, one of the seven largest Baltic rivers, whose waters flow through a large and complex estuarine system before entering the bay. Nutrients (NO₃ ⁻, NO₂ ⁻, NH₄ ⁺, Ntot, PO₄ ³⁻, P_tot, DSi), chlorophylla concentrations, oxygen content, salinity, and temperature were measured in the Pomeranian Bay in nine seasonally distributed cruises during 1993–1997. Strong spatial and temporal patterns were observed and they were governed by: the seasonally variable riverine water-nutrient discharges, the seasonally variable uptake of nutrients and their cycling in the river estuary and the Bay, the character of water exchange between the Pomeranian Bay and the Szczecin Lagoon, and the water flow patterns in the Bay that are dominated by wind-driven circulation. Easterly winds resulted in water and nutrient transport along the German coastline, while westerly winds confined the nutrient rich riverine waters to the Polish coast and transported them eastward beyond the study area. Two water masses, coastal and open, characterized by different chemical and physical parameters and chla content were found in the Bay independently of the season. The role of the Oder estuary in nutrient transformation, as well as the role of temperature in transformation processes is stressed in the paper. The DIN:DIP:DSi ratio indicated that phosphorus most probably played a limiting role in phytoplankton production in the Bay in spring, while nitrogen did the same in summer. During the spring bloom, predominated by diatoms, the DSi:DIN ratio dropped to 0.1 in the coastal waters and to 0.6 in the open bay waters, pointing to silicon limitation of diatom growth, similar to what is being observed in other Baltic regions.     

Geological,petrologic, isotopic,and geochemical constraints of geodynamic models simulating formation of the archean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite associations in ancient cratons

The geological setting, geochemistry, and Nd isotopic systematics of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiortite (TTG) series in ancient cratons are considered. It is shown that the TTG series were formed from ∼4.2 to 2.6 Ga ago in the oldest continental cores; many TTG series do not reveal chronological links to greenstone belts. This follows from the evolution of the Slave Craton in the Canadian Shield, the Vodlozero Craton in the Baltic Shield, and the Pilbara and Yilgarn cratons in the Australian Shield, where greenstone associations postdated TTG series. As has been established at the Baltic Shield, the primary melts of the Mesoarchean TTG associations were formed at a shallower depth (P < 15 kbar) compared to the Neoarchean TTG, likely, due to the increasing thickness of the continental crust beneath the Baltic Shield over time.