Mediterranean Sea level trends from long-period tide gauge time series

The main purpose of this study is to highlight, on the basis of statistical tests, the significant long-term changes of the Mediterranean Sea level, through the analysis of historical tide gauge records. In this framework, 14 tide gauge monthly series selected from the Permanent Service of the Mean Sea Level （PSMSL） database were used. The search for the presence or not of trends within these series, that have a temporal coverage from 59 to 142 years, was carried out using the Mann-Kendall test and the Sen''s slope estimator. The obtained results show that the Split Rt Marjana series are the only ones which does not exhibit a significant trend. The other 13 series show significant increasing trends. This result seems sufficient to suppose the presence, in the past century, of a new climatic phase on the scale of the Mediterranean basin, where the rising sea level is one of the consequences.     

Warm-Water Planktonic Foraminifera in Kara Sea Sediments

Oceanology - The article is devoted to research of warm-water planktonic foraminifera species in the Arctic. The fauna of planktonic and benthic foraminifera in the surface and subsurface layer of...     

黄渤海底栖纤毛虫分子多样性和生物地理学研究

对中国渤海、北黄海和南黄海三个海域底栖纤毛虫的分子多样性与生物地理学进行了研究。从底栖真核微生物18S rDNA的焦磷酸测序数据中提取出隶属于纤毛门的序列,并在此基础上分析了纤毛虫群落的阿尔法多样性和贝塔多样性。结果表明,纤毛虫操作分类单元的丰富度在渤海比北黄海和南黄海都高,但夏冬两季无显著差异。在所有检测的环境因子中,水体深度与阿尔法多样性的相关性最强。就纤毛虫群落组成上看,总体上旋唇纲的序列及操作分类单元丰富度均占优势地位（占比分别为77.0%和66.5%）;旋唇纲主要由环毛亚纲以及未能进一步分类的类群组成。底栖纤毛虫群落结构在三个海域之间显著不同,但夏冬两季无显著差异。从各主要类群的相对比例来看,唯有侧口纲的序列比例在三个区域间呈现显著的不同。偏门特尔分析表明,相对于地理距离和环境因子而言,水体深度在调控底栖纤毛虫群落结构中扮演者更为重要的角色。本研究同时也发现,超过60%的操作分类单元未能被进一步分类到纲或目级水平,约45%的操作分类单元与GenBank数据库中已描述种类的序列相似度低于或等于97%,表明在近海沉积物中可能存在大量待发现的纤毛虫类群或物种。本研究发现底栖纤毛虫阿尔法多样性从北黄海到南黄海降低的趋势,这一点与之前基于形态学方法的调查结果相似。然而,测序数据显示旋唇纲是最主要类群,而形态学调查表明前口纲和核残迹纲是主要类群。本文也探讨了可能造成分子与形态学研究结果差异的一些潜在原因。     

地中海的泥火山

最近在地中海东部海底发现了大量的泥火山。地质学家将顶部带有漏斗状火山口的并具有通向深部的管孔 ,并且可涌出混有泥质粘土质沉积物的水、气的大型圆锥形山丘称之为泥火山 ,有时伴有类同于一般火山的强烈的喷发。泥火山的产生是由于细粒岩石 (通常是富含死火山角砾岩和水的粘土 )受到强烈的挤压 ,粘土中还混有气态的硫化氢。这样的混合物形成半液态粥状物 ,以冒气泡的流质形态向上被压出。在多次重复的喷发过程中 ,海底形成了大量布满污泥、经常浸透了石油产物的地下圆丘和“烤饼”。我们发现 ,这种形成物经常可以在由俯冲作用产生的增生…     

北黄海浮游桡足类分类学多样性研究

根据2006-2007年在北黄海海域进行的4个航次浮游动物生态调查,结合1959年至今该海域的主要历史资料,建立了较全面的北黄海浮游桡足类主名录,计算了该海域浮游桡足类的分类学多样性指数,研究了分类学多样性的季节变化及平面分布,并根据平均分类差异指数(△+)对北黄海浮游桡足类群落稳定性进行了判断.结果显示,北黄海浮游桡足类共记录44种,隶属于4目、14科、21属;平均分类差异指数和分类差异变异指数(∧+)的理论平均值分别为82.2和334.4;调查期间4个航次浮游桡足类平均分类差异指数均高于北黄海总体桡足类的平均分类差异指数;分类多样性指数(△)冬季最高,秋季略高于春季,夏季最低;分类差异指数(△*)秋季最高,冬季次之,春季最低;平均分类差异指数夏、春季高于秋、冬季;各调查站位分类学多样性指数分布不均匀,这与黄海暖流以及黄海冷水团的存在有关;调查海区4个航次平均分类差异指数值均落在北黄海总体桡足类的95%置信漏斗曲线内,北黄海浮游桡足类群落稳定性较好.     

Petroleum hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean Sea: A mass balance

Over three quarters of a million tonnes of oil were estimated to be introduced annually into the Mediterranean Sea from land-based and open-sea discharges. This paper is a critical assessment of data available through 1983 on the distribution of petroleum-derived hydrocarbon residues and the biogeochemical processes controlling the transport and fate of organic contaminants in this regional sea ecosystem. Inputs, outputs and ecosystem partitioning or inventories are computed and a complete mass balance model is proposed. The approach raises several implications with respect to strategies for the sampling and analysis of organic contaminants in ocean ecosystems. The report also provides a basis on which to evaluate the effectiveness of recent discharge regulations in reducing pollution loads in the Mediterranean. The agreement between calculated fluxes, inventories and input time scales demonstrates the usefulness of organic contaminants as markers for the development of global and ocean flux models.     

黄海和东海的浮游桡足类 Ⅰ. 哲水蚤目

海洋浮游桡足类是浮游生物中的一个重要组成部分,由于它分布广,种类多,而且在数量上远超过其他浮游甲壳类,为许多经济鱼类的饵料基础,因此它对渔业生产具有重要意义。许多国家在发展海洋渔业和海洋生态学的同时,也都十分重视这一类群的调查研究。 关于黄海(包括渤海)和东海的浮游桡足类,过去已有一些零散的报导,但尚缺乏系统的调查。1888-1889年Giesbrecht曾记载过厦门的6种哲水蚤类。到本世纪的三十年代,国外学者又陆续做过一些工作,如1932年Mori发表了我国东海及台湾海峡的8种哲水蚤类。1933年Yamada在黄海南部记载了哲水蚤类5种, 1935年他又在东海及台湾记述了5种。1937年Mori发表了过去历年来的调查结果,对东海及台湾东、西两岸的桡足类有较详尽的报导,在115种中哲水蚤类占78种。1949年Sproston曾记载浙江舟山5种桡足类,其中有哲水蚤类2种。1949-1952年Chiba发表了有关黄、东海的浮游生物生态研究,曾记载哲水蚤类10种。1957年БродскИЙ在哲水蚤区系研究中提到分布于黄海的16种,东海北部的8种。1962-1963年Enomoto 在黄、东海鱼类饵料基础的研究中曾提过3种哲水蚤类。国内学者在解放以后,也作过一些工作：1955年沈嘉瑞描述了江苏奉贤哲水蚤类3种;1956年他与白雪娥记述烟台鲐渔场的桡足类22种,其中哲水蚤占11种;1955年郑重引用过张松踪和方金钏在厦内鉴定的(未发表)27种,其中有哲水蚤类23种。在这海区内,除同物异名外,以往学者总共记载了哲水蚤类103种左右。 本文的研究材料系根据：1951-1963年间在渤海、黄海西部以及辽宁、河北和山东沿岸采得的标本,和1956-1964年在江苏、浙江和福建沿海,以及东经125°以西的东海陆棚区以内所采到的标本。文中共记述了哲水蚤类134种,分隶于21科、47属,其中有8种新种,有39种为黄、东海区的首次记录。还必须提到,我们尚缺乏以往学者记载过的某些深水种(如Racovitzanus antarcticus, Metridia pacifica, Scottocalanus helenae,等)的记录,这些种类分布在东经125°以东的东海深水区,这有待于今后继续补充。本文主要依据Sars(1903)的分类系统,并参考БродскИЙ(1950)在哲水蚤分类上的修订意见而写成的。     

Managing Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is an important but not well managed fishery in the Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, management system is evaluated with information on stock status, resource rent, and total employment. The non-restrictive implementation of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) policies is found to be the institutional reason for its management failure, while the common-property and shared stock nature of this fishery is the fundamental reason. To address these major issues, policy schemes are proposed to help sustainably manage this valuable resource in the Mediterranean Sea.     

Mass balance of mercury in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Basin is rich in mercury from natural and anthropogenic sources. During an extensive research from 2002–2005, measurements of different mercury forms were carried out in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian research vessel Urania as a part of the Med Oceanor and MERCYMS projects funded by the EU Framework programme. Further on, transport and fate of mercury forms was simulated in water and air compartments by two different models, and an approximate coupling of both models was performed. The new 3-dimensional model PCFLOW3D was completed with the first version of a biogeochemical module which deals with various mercury species in dissolved and particulate forms. Exchange with the bottom and the atmosphere, methylation, demethylation, reduction and oxidation were taken into account. Based on the integrated hydrodynamic-atmospheric model and results of field measurements the mass balance of total mercury in the Mediterranean Sea was determined in order to estimate main sources and sinks and simulate future trends of mercury contamination in the Mediterranean. The following terms were taken into account: sources of mercury from major rivers and from point sources, exchange with the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea, estimated natural sources from geotectonic active areas in the sea, exchange with bottom sediments, and evasion to and deposition from the atmosphere.     

Post-convection spreading phase in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

This is a study about the spreading of newly formed deep waters following open ocean deep convection in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. The main results are from the SOFARGOS large scale float experiment initiated in 1994–1995. During the SOFARGOS project, CTD stations and Lagrangian observations of ocean currents were carried out in the Gulf of Lion from December 1994 to July 1995. Hydrological observations confirmed that deep water formation occurred very early during winter 1994–1995 (late December, early January) in conjunction with atmospheric cooling, deep convection penetrating down to 2000 m in the so-called Medoc area. Numerous eddies (both anticyclonic and cyclonic) drifted away from the convection area and advected newly formed deep waters far away from the source region. In particular, compact anticyclones appeared to be the most coherent (long-lived) eddies and capable of transporting newly formed Western Mediterranean Deep Waters several hundreds of kilometers away from the convection area. Characterized by an inner core of about 5 km in radius, these eddies are submesoscale features in the outer domain and appear as key elements of the open ocean convection processes. During their long journeys, these eddies interacted with larger scale features such as the Northern Boundary Current, the North Balearic Front, topographic Rossby waves, and Sardinian eddies. These interactions influenced the long-term behavior of the eddies (mean drift, composition) and represented an important part of (1) the spreading phase following deep convection and (2) the large scale thermohaline circulation.     

Baroclinic wind adjustment processes in the Mediterranean Sea

The wind-driven general circulation of the Mediterranean Sea is studied using a primitive equation model. The model uses a 0.25° horizontal resolution and eight or 16 levels in the vertical. The model uses the Mediterranean basin geometry, and the Strait of Gibraltar is closed. The vertical density structure is initialized with annual average data, and the temperature and salinity values are fixed at the surface to simulate perpetual annual mean conditions. The wind forcing consists of monthly mean climatological stresses.The results show that the general circulation of the Mediterranean Sea has a multiple time-scale character (seasonal excursions and steady state amplitudes are comparable) and it is composed by sub-basin scale gyres corresponding to the scale of the wind stress curl centers. The steady state circulation (annual mean average) is determined by a Sverdrup balacne modified by viscous effects.The unsteady vertically integrated transport circulation consists of sub-basin scale gyres similar to the steady state transport components, which amplify seasonally and the partial or total reversal of the currents in many subportions of the basin. The gyres can be stationary in position or propagating. This seasonal ocean response is partly constituted by Rossby modes due to the wind stress curl annual harmonic. The baroclinic circulation shows the seasonal shift of the North African Current from a position along the African coasts during winter to the center of the Balearic and Ionian basin during summer.     

Macrofauna Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Sea

Abstract. During two expeditions with RV ‘Meteor’ in summer 1993 and winter 1997/98 the structural and functional diversity of the benthic system of the highly oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean deep sea was investigated. The macrofauna communities were dominated by polychaetes even at the deepest stations. The fauna at shallow stations was dominated by surface deposit feeders, whereas subsurface deposit feeders and predators generally increased with depth. A high percentage of suspension‐feeding Porifera was found in the Levantine Basin. Mean abundance and number of taxa of both expeditions were significantly correlated to depth and distance to the nearest coast as well as to the total organic carbon (TOC) content in sediments. Numbers of taxa and abundance decreased generally with depth, although lowest numbers were not found at the deepest stations but in the extremely oligotrophic Levantine and Ierapetra Basin. Biomass measured during the second cruise was extremely low in the Ierapetra Basin and comparable to other extreme oligotrophic seas. The significant correlations found for TOC contents and macrofauna with distance to coast during both expeditions apparently reflect the role of hydrographically governed transport of organic matter produced in coastal regions into greater and extreme depths of the Mediterranean Sea. Seasonal differences in macrofauna communities due to seasonal differences in food supply were not found. However, recent large‐scale hydrographic changes (Eastern Mediterranean Transient, EMT) might change the oligotrophy and, thus, the structure of the benthic communities in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea.     

桑沟湾浮游纤毛虫丰度和生物量分布的季节变化

于2011年4、8、10月及2012年1月对桑沟湾进行了浮游纤毛虫丰度和生物量的季节调查。纤毛虫的平均丰度为(7 552±10 979)个/L,范围为408~61 667个/L;纤毛虫的平均生物量(以碳计)为(4.79±5.77)μg/L,范围为0.35~33.09 μg/L。无壳纤毛虫丰度和生物量主要分布在湾内,湾中和湾外丰度相对较低;砂壳纤毛虫丰度和生物量在盐度较高的海区总体较高,呈现朝向外海分布的趋势。纤毛虫丰度和生物量的高值区春季主要出现在湾的西北,夏季向湾中部迁移,秋季主要出现在湾的西南,冬季主要出现在湾的西部,高值区随季节大致呈顺时针迁移的趋势。纤毛虫的丰度春季最高,冬季最低;生物量夏季最高,冬季最低。无壳纤毛虫夏季粒级较大,冬季粒级较小;砂壳纤毛虫壳的平均口径夏季较大,秋季较小。共鉴定出砂壳纤毛虫8属27种,其中拟铃虫属(Tintinnopsis)种数最多。砂壳纤毛虫在纤毛虫总丰度中的比例平均为16.3%±21.9%,夏季最高(36.3%±27.8%),冬季最低(4.9%±5.9%)。纤毛虫丰度与温度、盐度、Chl a浓度及微微型真核浮游生物丰度均没有明显的相关性,但与蓝细菌及异养细菌丰度呈显著的正相关关系。     

Another description of the Mediterranean Sea outflow

Papers about the outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar assume that (i) it is composed of only two Mediterranean Waters (MWs), the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) and the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) from the eastern and western basins, respectively, (ii) both MWs are mixed near 6°W, hence producing a homogeneous outflow that is then split into veins, due to its cascading along different paths and to different mixing conditions with the Atlantic Water (AW).A re-analysis of 1985–1986 CTD profiles (Gibraltar Experiment) indicates two other MWs, the Winter Intermediate Water (WIW) from the western basin and the Tyrrhenian Dense Water (TDW) basically originated from the eastern basin. In the central Alboran subbasin, these four MWs are clearly differentiated, roughly lying one above the other in proportions varying from north to south. Proportions also vary with time, so that the outflow can be mostly of either eastern or western origin. While progressing westward, the MWs can still be differentiated and associated isopycnals tilt up southward as much as being, in the sill surroundings, roughly parallel to the Moroccan continental slope where the densest MWs are. The MWs at the sill are thus juxtaposed and they all mix with AW, leading to an outflow that is horizontally heterogeneous just after the sill (5°45′W) before progressively becoming vertically heterogeneous as soon as 6°15′W. There can be little LIW and/or no WMDW outflowing for a while.An analysis of new 2003–2008 time series from two CTDs moored (CIESM Hydro-Changes Programme) at the sill (270 m) and on the Moroccan shelf (80 m) confirms the juxtaposition of the MWs, their individual and generally intense mixing with AW, as well as the large temporal variability of the outflow composition. Only LIW and TDW were indicated at the sill while, on the shelf, only LIW, TDW sometimes denser there than 200 m below, and WMDW were indicated; but none of the MWs has been permanently outflowing at one or the other place.The available data can be analyzed coherently. Intermediate and deep MWs are formed in both basins in amounts that, although variable from year to year, allow their tracing up to the strait. Four major MWs circulate alongslope counterclockwise as density currents and as long as they are not trapped within a basin, which is necessarily the case for the deep MWs. In the Alboran, the intermediate MWs (WIW, LIW and upper-TDW) circulate in the north while the deep MWs (lower-TDW and WMDW) are uplifted, hence relatively motionless and mainly pushed away in the south. Since both the intermediate and deep MWs outflow at the sill, they are considered as light and dense MWs, the light–dense MWs interface possibly intersecting the AW–MWs interface in the sill surroundings. Considering an outflow east of the sill composed of only two (light–dense) homogeneous layers gives significant results. Across the whole strait, the outflow has spatial and temporal variabilities much larger than previously assumed. The MWs are superposed in the sea and lead at the sill to juxtaposed and vertically stratified suboutflows that will cascade independently before forming superposed veins in the ocean. These veins can have similar densities and hydrographic characteristics even if associated with different MWs, which accounts for the features permanency assumed up to now. The outflow structure downstream of the sill depends on its composition upstream and, more importantly, on that of AW in the sill surroundings where fortnightly and seasonal signals are imposed on the whole outflow.     

夏季南海北部沙壳纤毛虫种类组成及空间分布

2007年8月夏季中国科学院南海海洋研究所南海北部开放航次期间,在北纬18°-22°,东经107°-122°范围内使用＂实验三号＂科考船进行了水体中沙壳纤毛虫的采样研究,探讨了沙壳纤毛虫的空间分布和种类组成。在36个站位中共鉴定出24属44种沙壳纤毛虫,其中优势种为长形旋口虫Helicostomella longa和根突拟铃虫Tintinnopsis radix,沙壳纤毛虫丰度变化范围为0–2200cell/L,平均丰度为221cell/L,从沿岸向外海方向,沙壳纤毛虫种类和丰度逐渐减少,其中A1站丰度最高（2200cell/L）,种类数最多（10）。夏季南海北部沙壳纤毛虫丰度与叶绿素a呈显著正相关,而与温度相关性不明显。夏季南海北部的上升流和珠江冲淡水携带的营养盐刺激了浮游植物的生长,影响着南海北部沙壳纤毛虫的种类组成和空间分布。     

Seamont magnetism in the Ionian Sea,eastern Mediterranean

Several seamounts in the Ionian Sea, the largest unit in the eastern Mediterranean, have magnetic anomalies. The magnetization vectors of six of these seamounts have been calculated. These paleomagnetic data suggest that the Ionian Sea is composed of several crustal units which came to their present location from different directions. This implies that there has been relative motion in the past between various land masses around the Ionian Sea. The possibility that the Ionian Sea is composed of several crustal units is supported by observations of the magnetic field over the area which is of different character in the north and south. The major limitation in applying the paleomagnetic data into an evolutionary scheme is that all the seamounts in the Ionian Sea as well as its crust are undated.     

Socio-economic impacts of ocean acidification in the Mediterranean Sea

Ocean acidification appears as another environmental pressure associated with anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. This paper aims to assess the likely magnitude of this phenomenon in the Mediterranean region. This involves translating expected changes in ocean chemistry into impacts, first on marine and coastal ecosystems and then, through effects on services provided by these to humans, into socio-economic costs. Economic market and non-market valuation techniques are needed for this purpose. Important sectors affected are tourism and recreation, red coral extraction, and fisheries (both capture and aquaculture production). In addition, the costs associated with the disruption of ecosystem regulating services, notably carbon sequestration and non-use values will be considered. Finally, indirect impacts on other economic sectors will have to be estimated. The paper discusses the framework and methods to accomplish all of this, and offers a preliminary, qualitative overall assessment.     

Vertical export flux of metals in the Mediterranean Sea

We examined metal (Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) and particulate organic carbon (OC) concentrations of the marine vertical export flux at the DYFAMED time-series station in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. We present here the first data set of natural and anthropogenic metals from sediment trap moorings deployed at 1000 m-depth between 2003 and 2007 at the DYFAMED site. A highly significant correlation was observed between most metal concentrations, whatever the nature and emission source of the metal. Cu, Zn and Cd exhibit different behaviors, presumably due to their high solubility and complexation with organic ligands. The observed difference of atmospheric and marine fluxes in terms of temporal variability and elemental concentration suggests that dense water convection and primary production and not atmospheric deposition control the marine vertical export flux. This argument is strengthened by the fact that significant Saharan dust events did not result in concomitant marine vertical export fluxes nor did they generate significant changes in metal concentrations of trapped particles.     

西菲律宾海2万年以来浮游有孔虫壳体重量变化

为探讨2万年以来浮游有孔虫的壳体重量变化及其影响因素,对取自西菲律宾海MD06-3052岩芯的浮游有孔虫表层种Globigerinoides ruber进行壳体重量分析,基于氧同位素年龄模式,获得了2万年以来有孔虫传统壳体重量(WMS)和标准化壳体重量(WSN)变化特征。对比两种壳体重量指标,发现在本海区标准化壳体重量指标更为准确。结果表明,2万年以来,浮游有孔虫WSN具有不断变轻的趋势,整体表现为冰期时壳体重量较重,而全新世时壳体重量相对较轻的特征。末次冰盛期(Last Glacial Maximum,LGM)以来浮游有孔虫WSN变化曲线同大气CO2浓度变化曲线具有较好的相似性,推测在该海区控制壳体重量的主要因素为与全球大气CO2相关的表层海水的CO32–浓度。