Determination of particulate organic carbon (POC) in seawater: The relative methodological importance of artificial gains and losses in two glass-fiber-filter-based techniques

Particulate matter in aquatic systems is an important vehicle for the transport of particulate organic carbon (POC). Its accurate measurement is of central importance for the understanding of marine carbon cycling. Previous work has shown that GF/F-filter-based bottle-sample-derived concentration estimates of POC are generally close to or higher than large-volume in-situ-pump-derived values (and in some rare cases in subzero waters are up to two orders of magnitude higher). To further investigate this phenomenon, water samples from the surface and mid-water Northeast Atlantic and the Baltic Sea were analyzed. Our data support a bias of POC concentration estimates caused by adsorption of nitrogen-rich dissolved organic material onto GF/F filters. For surface-ocean samples the mass per unit area of exposed filter and composition of adsorbed material depended on the filtered volume. Amounts of adsorbed OC were enhanced in the surface ocean (typically 0.5 μmol cm^− 2 of exposed filter) as compared to the deep ocean (typically 0.2 μmol cm^− 2 of exposed filter). These dependencies should be taken into account for future POC methodologies. Bottle/pump differences of samples that were not corrected for adsorption were higher in the deep ocean than in the surface ocean. This discrepancy increased in summer. It is shown that POC concentration estimates that were not corrected for adsorption depend not only on the filtered volume, true POC concentration and mass of adsorbed OC, but also on the filter area. However, in all cases we studied, correction for adsorption was important, but not sufficient, to explain bottle/pump differences. Artificial formation of filterable particles and/or processes leading to filterable material being lost from and/or missed by sample-processing procedures must be considered. It can be deduced that the maximum amounts of POC and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) that can be artificially formed per liter of filtered ocean water are  3–4 μM OC (5–10% of dissolved OC) and  0.2–0.5 μM ON (2–10% of dissolved ON), respectively. The relative sensitivities of bottle and pump procedures, and of surface- and deep-ocean material, to artificial particle formation and the missing/losing of material are evaluated. As present procedures do not exist to correct for all possible biasing effects due to artificial particle formation and/or miss/loss of filterable material, uncertainties of filtration-based estimates of POC concentrations need further testing. The challenge now is to further constrain the magnitude of the biasing effects that add to the adsorption effect to reduce the uncertainties of estimates of POC concentrations, inventories and fluxes in the ocean.     

Can Jupiters be found by monitoring Galactic bulge microlensing events from northern sites?

In 1998 the EXPORT team monitored microlensing event light curves using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera on the IAC 0.8-m telescope on Tenerife to evaluate the prospect of using northern telescopes to find microlens anomalies that reveal planets orbiting the lens stars. The high airmass and more limited time available for observations of Galactic bulge sources make a northern site less favourable for microlensing planet searches. However, there are potentially a large number of northern 1-m class telescopes that could devote a few hours per night to monitor ongoing microlensing events. Our IAC observations indicate that accuracies sufficient to detect planets can be achieved despite the higher airmass.     

High Temporal Resolution Spectroscopic Observations of the Flare Star V1054 Oph

We present the results of a high temporal resolution spectroscopic monitoring of the flare (UV Cet type) star V1054 Oph (Wolf 630AB), classified as a dM3.5e visual binary system. Intermediate resolution spectra have been taken during four nights (2–5 April 2001) using the IDS spectrograph of the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain). The V1054 Oph spectra show very strong emission lines even in its quiescent state. The analysis of the temporal evolution of the observed emission lines (from H_β to H₁₁ and the Ca II H and K lines) reveals four strong flares and several weak flares. We have studied in detail the behaviour of the chromospheric lines during the different phases (pre-flare, impulsive and gradual decay) of these flares. The observed flares last from ～25 to 95 min. The equivalent width of the H_β line changes by a factor up to ～2.3. Broad wings and asymmetric (red-shifted) lines are observed as well.     

Constraints on the provenance of the uppermost allochthonous terrane of the NW Iberian Massif: inferences from detrital zircon U–Pb ages

ABSTRACT Insight into the origin and pre-orogenic palaeogeographical links of terranes involved in the assembly of collisional mountain belts is fundamental to the understanding of orogenic processes. Here we address the provenance and possible tectonic settings of the uppermost allochthonous terrane of the NW Iberian Variscan Belt through a 213-nm Laser Ablation ICP-MS study of U–Pb ages of detrital zircons. The age groups of zircons from greywackes in this terrane ( c . 480–610, 1900–2100, 2400–2500 Ma) and the lack of Mesoproterozoic zircons suggest an origin in a Neoproterozoic – Early Palaeozoic peri-Gondwanan realm along the periphery of the west African craton. It is further inferred that the greywackes were deposited in the periphery of a crustal unit that had been detached from the Gondwanan margin in relation to the opening of the Rheic ocean in Cambro-Ordovician times. This terrane was thrusted back upon the Gondwanan margin during the course of the Variscan collision and closure of the intervening ocean.     

Evidence for a differentiated crust in Solis Planum, Mars, from lithospheric strength and heat flow

Two independent sets of heat flow estimates provide constraints on the Hesperian-era surface and mantle heat flows, and the thickness of the heat-producing elements (HPE)-enriched upper crust, in the Solis Planum region of Mars. The calculations, which use the concentration of uppermost crust heat sources deduced from orbital gamma ray spectroscopy and soils geochemistry, are based on the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere and the minimum depth of faults underlying winkle ridges. We find that, for the majority of analyzed settings, the HPE-enriched crust is thinner than the whole crust thickness in this region (∼65 km). Thus, our results strongly support a differentiated martian crust.     

WSO-UV progress and expectations

The World Space Observatory Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) is the space mission that will grant access to the ultraviolet (UV) range in the post Hubble epoch. WSO-UV is equipped with instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy and it is fully devoted to UV astronomy. In this article, we outline the WSO-UV mission model and present the current status of the project.     

Deep-water Circulation: Processes & Products (16�C18 June 2010, Baiona): introduction and future challenges

Deep-water circulation is a critical part of the global conveyor belt that regulates Earth??s climate. The bottom (contour)-current component of this circulation is of key significance in shaping the deep seafloor through erosion, transport, and deposition. As a result, there exists a high variety of large-scale erosional and depositional features (drifts) that together form more complex contourite depositional systems on continental slopes and rises as well as in ocean basins, generated by different water masses flowing at different depths and at different speeds either in the same or in opposite directions. Yet, the nature of these deep-water processes and the deposited contourites is still poorly understood in detail. Their ultimate decoding will undoubtedly yield information of fundamental importance to the earth and ocean sciences. The international congress Deep-water Circulation: Processes & Products was held from 16?C18 June 2010 in Baiona, Spain, hosted by the University of Vigo. Volume 31(5/6) of Geo-Marine Letters is a special double issue containing 17 selected contributions from the congress, guest edited by F.J. Hernández-Molina, D.A.V. Stow, E. Llave, M. Rebesco, G. Ercilla, D. Van Rooij, A. Mena, J.-T. Vázquez and A.H.L. Voelker. The papers and discussions at the congress and the articles in this special issue provide a truly multidisciplinary perspective of interest to both academic and industrial participants, contributing to the advancement of knowledge on deep-water bottom circulation and related processes, as well as contourite sedimentation. The multidisciplinary contributions (including geomorphology, tectonics, stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleoceanography, physical oceanography, and deep-water ecology) have demonstrated that advances in paleoceanographic reconstructions and our understanding of the ocean??s role in the global climate system depend largely on the feedbacks among disciplines. New insights into the link between the biota of deep-water ecosystems and bottom currents confirm the need for this field to be investigated and mapped in detail. Likewise, it is confirmed that deep-water contourites are not only of academic interest but also potential resources of economic value. Cumulatively, both the congress and the present volume serve to demonstrate that the role of bottom currents in shaping the seafloor has to date been generally underestimated, and that our understanding of such systems is still in its infancy. Future research on contourites, using new and more advanced techniques, should focus on a more detailed visualization of water-mass circulation and its variability, in order to decipher the physical processes involved and the associations between drifts and other common bedforms. Moreover, contourite facies models should be better established, including their associations with other deep-water sedimentary environments both in modern and ancient submarine domains. The rapid increase in deep-water exploration and the new deep-water technologies available to the oil industry and academic institutions will undoubtedly lead to spectacular advances in contourite research in terms of processes, morphology, sediment stacking patterns, facies, and their relationships with other deep-marine depositional systems.