Late Devonian rifting in the central North Sea: Evidence from altered felsic volcanic rocks in the Embla oil field

In the Embla oil field on the northern flank of the Mid North Sea High, the central North Sea, multiple quartz porphyric volcanic beds at ca. 4600 m depth form part of a volcano-sedimentary interval above the Caledonian basement as interpreted from seismic data. Zircon U–Pb laser ablation ICPMS date one bed to 374 ± 3 Ma, indicating that the volcanic rocks and interbedded sediments are early Famennian and correlate to the Buchan Formation. The volcanic rocks have been extensively clay and carbonate altered in a near-surface environment, but high field strength element data show that the protoliths were alkali rhyolites, yielding intra-plate signatures in tectonic discrimination diagrams. Famennian quartz porphyric volcanic rocks have also been reported from well A17-1 on the southern flank of the Mid North Sea High. The Famennian volcanism on the northern and southern flanks testify to an active magmatic environment in the central North Sea in the early Famennian, supporting the existence of a late Devonian proto-Central Graben rift extending northwards into the central North Sea. The rift is likely an early example of strain localisation to a zone of reduced crustal strength along the Caledonian suture between Avalonia and Baltica.     

Thickness of the mixed bottom layer in the Northern Atlantic

The thickness of the mixed bottom boundary layer (BBL) has been analyzed based on the CTD data at transoceanic sections in abyssal waters of the Northern Atlantic. The measurements were carried out at two transoceanic sections approximately along 48° N (ASV-99) and 5° N (AI-2000) in 1999 and 2000. These data, and the WOCE data obtained at four zonal sections (AR7E and AR12 along 57° N, AR01 along 24.5° S, and A06 along 7.5° N), were used for the calculation of the statistical characteristics of the BBL??s thickness H _B . The probability distribution function F(H _B ) was close to lognormal. The mean value ??H _B ?? at different latitudes was in the range from 30 to 60 m. The averaged BBL thickness = 46.1 m. The BBL??s thickness was about 1% of the ocean??s depth D; the ratio H _B /D was the minimum (0.8%) near the equator and increased up to 1.6% in the polar latitudes.     

Estimation of methane fluxes from bottom sediments of Lake Baikal

Methane bubble fluxes in gas flares from bottom sediments in Lake Baikal were estimated for the first time using hydroacoustic methods. Earlier work has demonstrated the occurrence of gas seeps both inside and outside of areas where bottom simulating reflectors were identified in seismic profiles. Fluxes ranged from 14 to 216 tons per year, with the flux for the entire area of the central and southern basins ranging from 1,400 to 2,800 tons per year. Comparison with other water bodies showed that fluxes from the most intensive Baikal flares were similar to those in the Norwegian and Okhotsk seas. Gas hydrates decompose at the lower boundary of the gas hydrate stability zone due to sedimentation. Calculation of the amount of methane produced due to sedimentation gave a total of between 2,600 and 14,000 tons per year for the central and southern basins of the lake. Based on rough estimation, the total flux from shallow- and deep-water gas seeps is similar to the amount of methane produced due to sedimentation. This suggests that gas hydrates possibly occupy much more than 10?% of the pore volume near the base of the gas hydrate stability zone, or that there are other reasons for gas hydrate dissociation and bubble flux from these bottom sediments.     

Results of monitoring of the changes in the hydrochemical structure of the central and Southern Caspian Sea over 1995–2005

The results of decennial monitoring of the Caspian Sea were summarized, which allowed revealing the “pumping” of nutrients from the euphotic layer to deepwater depressions of the Central and Southern Caspian Sea. In parallel, in the deepwater depressions, growth of hypoxia to values of 0.2–0.5 ml O₂/l proceeds. In 2006, hydrogen sulfide was registered in the near-bottom layer of the South Caspian Sea Basin. It is shown that the transformation of the hydrochemical structure was directed towards the conditions observed at the times of Bruevich (1933–1934), but no complete coincidence has yet been reached.     

Argo floats revealing bimodality of large-scale mid-depth circulation in the North Atlantic

Analysis of Argo float trajectories at 1 000 m and temperature at 950 m in the North Atlantic between November 2003 and January 2005 demonstrates the existence of two different circulation modes with fast transition between them. Each mode has a pair of cyclonic - anticyclonic gyres. The difference is the location of the cyclonic gyre. The cyclonic gyre stretches from southeast to northwest in the first mode and from the southwest to the northeast in the second mode. The observed modes strongly affect the heat and salt transport in the North Atlantic. In particular, the second mode slows down the westward transport of the warm and saline water from the Mediterranean Sea.     

The role of water mass dynamics in controlling bacterial abundance and production in the middle Adriatic Sea

Month-to-month fluctuations in the abundance of bacteria and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) and bacterial production, as well as various chemical (nutrients, oxygen) and physical (salinity, temperature) parameters were analysed at a station located in the open middle Adriatic Sea during one decade (1997-2006). Being influenced by both coastal waters and open Adriatic circulation in the surface layer, and by the deep Adriatic water masses in the deep layers (100 m), this station is quite suitable for detecting the environmental changes occurring in the open Adriatic Sea with respect to the circulation of its water masses and their long-term changes and anomalies. Multivariate methods were used to identify seasonal and inter-annual changes of the investigated parameters, associating observed changes to the changes in Adriatic water masses and circulation regimes. The analyses showed that bacterial abundance and production were controlled by different water mass dynamics during 1997-2001 compared to 2002-2006 period, particularly noticeable in different seasonal patterns of biological parameters. The interplay between North Adriatic Dense Water (NAdDW) and Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) resulted in a change in the available nutrients (NAdDW is poor in orthophosphates), and as a consequence different bacterial abundance and production. A few periods were examined in detail, such as 2004, when LIW inflow was particularly strong and was accompanied by an increase of bacterial and HNF abundances, as well as of bacterial production.     

The ecology and phylogeny of cyanobacterial symbionts in sponges

Cyanobacteria have flexible photosynthetic apparatus that allows them to utilise light at very low levels, making them ideal symbionts for a wide range of organisms. Sponge associations with cyanobacteria are common in all areas of the world, but little is known about them. Recent research has revealed new cyanobacterial symbionts that may be host specific and two major clades, ' Candidatus Synechococcus spongiarum ' and Oscillatoria spongeliae , that occur in widely separated geographic locations in unrelated sponge hosts. These clades may represent a cluster of closely related symbiont species, or may be single species that are maintained by periods of horizontal transmission over large distances. Erroneous assumptions regarding the importance of cyanobacterial symbionts to the survival of individual sponges or species may arise from cyanosponges being deemed to be phototrophic or mixotrophic without studies of their photophysiology. This review brings together recent and past research on cyanobacterial associations with sponges, including their biogeography, phylogeny, host specificity, and ecology.