Mesoscale physical processes and zooplankton transport-retention in the northern Norwegian shelf region

Northern Norwegian shelf regions are highly productive, supporting fisheries rich in commercially important species such as cod, herring and capelin. It has been long recognized that the mesoscale jets, meanders and eddies associated with interactions between the North Atlantic Current, Norwegian Coastal Current and regional bottom topographic features such as troughs, banks and shelfbreaks play important roles in transporting and retaining zooplankton. To investigate zooplankton distributions and their correspondence with the physical fields, three large-scale surveys with mesoscale resolutions on physical and biological fields were conducted in northern Norwegian shelf regions between latitudes 68°15′N and 70°15′N in springs of 2000–2002. Survey results provide insights into the relationships between zooplankton distributions and the physical features such as fronts, the Norwegian Coastal Current and eddies related to topographic features. The physical and biological data are integrated and analyzed focusing on water types, estimation of geostrophic currents from direct current measurements, along-shelf transport of zooplankton, and retention of zooplankton by the mesoscale meander–eddy over a typical bank area on the shelf. The estimated mean transport in the upper 100 m on the shelf in the survey region is approximately 6.4×10³ tonnes wet weight day⁻¹ northward. High zooplankton abundances were found over both Malangsgrunnen and Sveinsgrunnen banks. The specific accumulation rate from northward–southward transport in the upper 100 m over Malangsgrunnen was approximately 0.08 day⁻¹, while variable currents with an offshore gradient of zooplankton abundance over Sveinsgrunnen implies an offshore dispersion of coastal-originated zooplankton cohort.     

TiO2 exsolution from garnet by open-system precipitation: evidence from crystallographic and shape preferred orientation of rutile inclusions

We investigated rutile needles with a clear shape preferred orientation in garnet from (ultra) high-pressure metapelites from the Kimi Complex of the Greek Rhodope by electron microprobe, electron backscatter diffraction and TEM techniques. A definite though complex crystallographic orientation relationship between the garnet host and rutile was identified in that Rt[001] is either parallel to Grt<111> or describes cones with opening angle 27.6° around Grt<111>. Each Rt[001] small circle representing a cone on the pole figure displays six maxima in the density plots. This evidence together with microchemical observations in TEM, when compared to various possible mechanisms of formation, corroborates a precipitate origin. A review of exchange vectors for Ti substitution in garnet indicates that rutile formation from garnet cannot occur in a closed system. It requires that components are exchanged between the garnet interior and the rock matrix by solid-state diffusion, a process we refer to as “open-system precipitation” (OSP). The kinetically most feasible reaction of this type will dominate the overall process. The perhaps most efficient reaction involves internal oxidation of Fe²⁺ to Fe³⁺ and transfer from the dodecahedral to the octahedral site just vacated by $ {\text{Ti}}^{ 4+ }: 6\,{\text{M}}^{ 2+ }_{ 3} {\text{TiAl}}\left[ {{\text{AlSi}}_{ 2} } \right]{\text{O}}_{ 1 2} + 6\,{\text{M}}^{ 2+ }_{ 2, 5} {\text{TiAlSi}}_{ 3} {\text{O}}_{ 1 2} = 10\,{\text{M}}^{ 2+ }_{ 3.0} {\text{Al}}_{ 1. 8} {\text{Fe}}_{0. 2} {\text{Si}}_{ 3} {\text{O}}_{ 1 2} + {\text{M}}^{2+} + 2 {\text{e}}^{-} + 1 2\,{\text{TiO}}_{ 2} . $ OSP is likely to occur at conditions where the transition of natural systems to open-system behaviour becomes apparent, as in the granulite and high-temperature eclogite facies.     

Erwiderung zu dem Aufsatz von Dr. Georgi: Das neue Absolut-Pyrheliometer von Prof. K. Wegener

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Crooked line, rough topography: advancing towards the correct seismic image

Seismic exploration in mountainous areas imposes serious compromises on both acquisition and processing. Access restrictions usually result in profiles that are not straight and are not recorded along the true dip direction (if there is a true dip direction!). Processing constraints often result in very poor approximate corrections for elevations and for deviations from a straight line. Most fundamentally, 2D acquisition and processing assumes that the earth is 2D; this assumption is often seriously violated in mountainous areas. While we cannot efficiently correct 2D seismic data for the effects of a fully 3D subsurface, we can improve the data quality in thrust areas where the assumption of 2D subsurface variation is reasonable. We do this in a series of small steps, which improves the accuracy of several approximations made in processing 2D land data.     

Cladocora caespitosa bioconstructions in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve (Spain,NW Mediterranean): distribution,size structure and growth

Today, living banks of the coral Cladocora caespitosa appear to be restricted to a few Mediterranean locations and are threatened by the escalating impacts affecting coastal areas. In this study the exceptional occurrence of the Mediterranean coral C. caespitosa in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve (NW Mediterranean, Spain) is characterised in terms of spatial distribution, cover area, colony size and growth rates. The coral colonies form beds and banks in rocky bottoms within a semi‐enclosed bay that offers both hydrodynamic protection and high water exchange. The spatial distribution of the C. caespitosa colonies, from 5 to 27 m depth, is highly aggregated, depending on sea‐floor morphology and showing up to 80% of substrate coverage. The annual corallite growth rates obtained through the alizarin red staining method and x‐ray image analysis are similar, and range between 2.55 ± 0.79 mm and 2.54 ± 0.81 mm, respectively. The exceptional nature of these bioconstructions is due to their cumulative cover area, which is comparable in size to the largest C. caespitosa bioconstructions described to date in Mljet National Park (Croatia, Adriatic Sea).     

Die Diabasvorkommen des Amazonasgebietes und das Problem des Intrusionsmechanismus

Zusammenfassung Unter Bezug auf die beobachteten großräumigen Diabasvorkommen im Gebiet des Amazonasbeckens wird der Versuch unternommen, den Intrusionsmechanismus basaltischer Schmelzen prinzipiell zu erklären. Es läßt sich zeigen, daß das Problem der Magmenbewegung von dem der Magmaentstehung nicht zu trennen ist. Beide bedürfen der Anwendung sowohl hydrostatischer als auch hydrodynamischer Gesetzmäßigkeiten.Die Beachtung der hydrostatischen Gesichtspunkte erfordert einerseits eine Herdlage in den oberen Teilen des Erdmantels, wo aber andererseits die Entstehung der Schmelze aus thermischen Gründen nicht ohne Konvektionsströmungen denkbar ist.Die Annahme eines konvektiven Zirkulationssystems im Mantel, dessen Auswirkung gelegentlich durch Schweremessungen beobachtbar sein können, beantwortet viele wichtige offene Fragen im Problemkreis des Intrusionsmechanismus basischer Gesteine.

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Basing on huge occurrence of diabase in the Amazon basin, a limited distribution of which is dealt with in this paper, an outline of the principal mechanism of intrusions of basaltic magma is attempted. Apparently, the problem of movement of magma is not allowed to be regarded without that of its origin. Both, movement and origin, are subjected to hydrostatical and hydrodynamical laws.The application of the hydrostatics demands the source of magma to be in the upper parts of the earth's mantle. In this location, however, temperature seems to be insufficient to originate melted basaltic rocks unless thermical convection takes place.The postulation of a vertical system of circulation in the mantle, the effects of which sometimes may be recognized by gravity measurements, solves some important problems of the mechanism of intrusion. In this way, among other things, the deep lying mass of higher density along the center of the Amazon basin may be determined as to triassic-jurassic age.

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Résumé Considérant la présence de diabases en grande quantité dans le bassin de l'Amazone, l'auteur tente d'interpréter dans son principe le mécanisme d'intrusion des liquides basaltiques. Il semble que le problème du mouvement du magma ne peut pas être séparé de celui de son origine. Tous deux doivent être soumis à des lois hydrostatiques et hydrodynamiques.La considération du point de vue hydrostatique donne à penser que la source du magma se trouve dans la partie supérieure du manteau terrestre où cependant, pour des raisons thermiques, on ne peut penser à la formation de liquides magmatiques sans courants de convection.L'hypothèse d'un système de circulation convective dans le manteau, dont les effets ont parfois été observés par des mesures de gravité, apporte une solution à quelques problèmes concernant le mécanisme d'intrusion. Dans cet ordre d'idées, la masse profonde de forte densité située dans le centre du bassin de l'Amazone peut être rapportée au Triasique-Jurassige.

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Die Veröffentlichung der vorliegenden Arbeit erfolgt mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Petróleo Brasileiro, S. A. (Petrobrás) sowie der Gesellschaft für praktische Lagerstättenforschung GmbH (Prakla). Beiden Gesellschaften sei dafür an dieser Stelle aufrichtig gedankt!