Distribution and characteristics of marine habitats in a subpolar bay based on hydroacoustics and bed shear stress estimates—Potter Cove,King George Island,Antarctica

Marine habitats worldwide are increasingly pressurized by climate change, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. Well-studied areas in front of rapidly retreating tidewater glaciers like Potter Cove are representative for similar coastal environments and, therefore, shed light on habitat formation and development on not only a local but also regional scale. The objective of this study was to provide insights into habitat distribution in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica, and to evaluate the associated environmental processes. Furthermore, an assessment concerning the future development of the habitats is provided. To describe the seafloor habitats in Potter Cove, an acoustic seabed discrimination system (RoxAnn) was used in combination with underwater video images and sediment samples. Due to the absence of wave and current measurements in the study area, bed shear stress estimates served to delineate zones prone to sediment erosion. On the basis of the investigations, two habitat classes were identified in Potter Cove, namely soft-sediment and stone habitats that, besides influences from sediment supply and coastal morphology, are controlled by sediment erosion. A future expansion of the stone habitat is predicted if recent environmental change trends continue. Possible implications for the Potter Cove environment, and other coastal ecosystems under similar pressure, include changes in biomass and species composition.     

New 1982 — 1990 photometry of λ Andromedae and its 11-year cycle

We present photoelectric photometry of λ And never before published, obtained between February 1982 and December 1990 at 29 different observatories. Then we combine it with all other photometry available to us (previously published, contained in the I.A.U. Commission 27 Archives, and obtained with the Vanderbilt 16-inch automatic telescope but not yet published), to yield a 14.8-year data base. Analysis reveals a long-term cycle in mean brightness, with a full range of 0^m.15 and a period of 11.4 ± 0.4 years. Because most of our new photometry was concentrated in the 1983-84 observing season, we analyze that one well-defined light curve with a two-spot model. Spot A keeps a 0^m.04 amplitude throughout four rotation cycles whereas the amplitude of spot B diminishes from 0^m.09 down almost to 0^m.03. The spot rotation periods were 55^d.9 ± 0^d.6 and 520^d.8 ± 1^d.0, respectively.     

Zur Toxizität von Butonat,Trichlorfon und Dichlorvos gegenüber Escherichia coli und Enterobacter aerogenes

Butonat, Trichlorfon und Dichlorvos sind für Escherichia coli und Enterobacter aerogenes erst in relativ hohen Konzentrationen akut toxisch. Eine negative Beeinflussung der Wachstunisrate tritt im Konzentrationsbereich ≧1000 mg 1⁻¹ (Butonat, Trichloifon) bzw. ≧250 mg 1⁻¹ (Dichlorvos) ein. Bis zu diesen Konzentrationsbereichen werden die Wirkstoffe durch die Bakterien inaktiviert bzw. metabolisiert. Die Bestimmung der Wachstunisrate erfolgt über den Sauerstoffverbrauch der Kultur im SAPROMAT AP 12. Die Wirkstoffkonzentrationen werden dünnschichtchromatographisch analysiert.     

Ein Wachstums- und ein Rekristallisationsgefüge von Bleiglanz aus einer rheinischen Lagerstätte

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 3 Diagrammen.     

Yaxcopoil-1 and the Chicxulub impact

CSDP core Yaxcopoil-1 was drilled to a depth of 1,511 m within the Chicxulub crater. An organic-rich marly limestone near the base of the hole (1,495 to 1,452 m) was deposited in an open marine shelf environment during the latest Cenomanian (uppermost Rotalipora cushmani zone). The overlying sequence of limestones, dolomites and anhydrites (1,495 to 894 m) indicates deposition in various carbonate platform environments (e.g., sabkhas, lagoons). A 100-m-thick suevite breccia (894–794 m) identifies the Chicxulub impact event. Above the suevite breccia is a dolomitic limestone with planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicative of Plummerita hantkeninoides zone CF1, which spans the last 300 ky of the Maastrichtian. An erosional surface 50 cm above the breccia/dolomite contact marks the K/T boundary and a hiatus. Limestones above this contact contain the first Tertiary planktic foraminifera indicative of an upper P. eugubina zone P1a(2) age. Another hiatus 7 cm upsection separates zone P1a(2) and hemipelagic limestones of planktic foraminiferal Zone P1c. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages of Zone Plc to P3b age are present from a depth of 794.04 up to 775 m. The Cretaceous carbonate sequence appears to be autochthonous, with a stratigraphic sequence comparable to late Cretaceous sediments known from outside the Chicxulub crater in northern and southern Yucatan, including the late Cenomanian organic-rich marly limestone. There is no evidence that these sediments represent crater infill due to megablocks sliding into the crater, such as major disruption of sediments, chaotic changes in lithology, overturned or deep dipping megablocks, major mechanical fragmentation, shock or thermal alteration, or ductile deformation. Breccia units that are intercalated in the carbonate platform sequence are intraformational in origin (e.g., dissolution of evaporites) and dykes are rare. Major disturbances of strata by the impact therefore appear to have been confined to within less than 60 km from the proposed impact center. Yaxcopoil-1 may be located outside the collapsed transient crater cavity, either on the upper end of an elevated and tilted horst of the terrace zone, or even outside the annular crater cavity. The Chicxulub site thus records a large impact that predates the K/T boundary impact and mass extinction.     

Use of biliary PAH metabolites as a biomarker of pollution in fish from the Baltic Sea

During field campaigns of the BEEP project (Biological Effects of Environmental Pollution in Marine Coastal Ecosystems) in 2001-2002, metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in bile samples from three fish species, flounder (Platichthys flesus), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and eelpout (Zoarces viviparus), from four separate areas in the Baltic Sea. Two determination methods were applied: fixed wavelength fluorescence (FF) for pyrene-type metabolites and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC). There was a good correlation between the FF method and 1-OH pyrene determined by HPLC. Normalisation of the FF data for absorbance at 380 nm or bile protein concentrations greatly increased variance in one third and decreased it in two thirds of the cases and resulted in a loss of significant differences (protein normalisation) between the sampling stations, but normalisation of the HPLC data had little effect on the results. The biliary PAH metabolite content was usually higher in males than in females. In perch and eelpout the biliary PAH contents were at similar levels, whereas in flounder the levels were lower. The sampling areas arranged in decreasing order of biliary PAH contents were: Wismar Bay > Gulf of Gdansk > Lithuanian coast > Kvadofj?rden (reference area). It is concluded that FF with un-normalised data is a reliable and simple method for monitoring purposes and only one sex of a selected species should be used.     

Ein metamorphes Erzgefüge

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

iTRAQ-based proteomic profiling of the marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) gonad exposed to BDE-47

A recent study demonstrated that 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) may have an adverse effect on the reproduction in marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma), but the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the protein expression profiles of male and female gonads of O. melastigma exposed to dietary BDE-47 at two dosages (0.65 and 1.30 μg/g/day, respectively) for 21 days. Extracted proteins were labeled with iTRAQ and analyzed on a MALDI TOF/TOF analyzer, as results, 133 and 144 unique proteins were identified in testis and ovary, respective, and they exerted dose- and sex-dependent expression patterns. In testis, among the 42 differentially expressed proteins; down-regulation of histone variants and parvalbumins implicated BDE-47 may disrupt the spermatogenesis and induce sterility in fishes. In ovary, 38 proteins were differentially expressed; the elevation of vitellogenins and apolipoprotein A–I expression indicated BDE-47 acts as an estrogen-mimicking compound and led to reproductive impairment in O. melastigma.     

Sex-specific biochemical and histological differences in gonads of sea urchins (Psammechinus miliaris) and their response to phenanthrene exposure

Female and male individuals of the same species often differ with respect to their susceptibility to toxicant stress. In the present study, sea urchins (Psammechinus miliaris) of both sexes were exposed to high (150 μg L?1) and environmentally relevant (5 μg L?1) concentrations of phenanthrene over 10 days. While food intake was significantly decreased following exposure to 150 μg L?1 phenanthrene, histological indices (lipofuscin accumulation, fibrosis, oocyte atresia), energetic status (energy charge, sum adenylates, AMP/ATP ratio) as well as ascorbate levels in the gonads showed either little or no effect upon phenanthrene exposure. However, most parameters (vitamin C, energy charge, sum adenylates, AMP/ATP ratio, ATP and ADP concentrations, lipofuscin content, fibrosis) significantly differed between male and female animals. This study illustrates the difficulties to identify toxic injury in reproductive tissue as it may be superimposed by gametogenesis and spawning of gametes.