Short-term under-ice variability of prokaryotic plankton communities in coastal Antarctic waters (Cape Hallett, Ross Sea)

During the 2006 Italian Antarctic expedition a diel sampling was performed close to Cape Hallett (Ross Sea) during the Austral summer. Under-ice seawater samples (4 m) were collected every 2 h for 28 h in order to estimate prokaryotic processes' variability and community structure dynamics. Prokaryotic and viral abundances, exoenzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, chitinase, lipase, alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase), prokaryotic carbon production (³H-leucine incorporation) and community structure (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis – DGGE fingerprints) were analysed. Results showed that the diel variability of the prokaryotic activity followed a variation in salinity, probably as a consequence of the periodical thawing of sea ice (driven by solar radiation and air temperature cycles), while negligible variation in viral and prokaryotic abundances occurred. The Bacterial and Archaeal community structures underwent an Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) temporal shift from the beginning to the end of the sampling, while Flavobacteria-specific primers highlighted high variations in this group possibly related to sea ice melting and substrate release.     

Upper Cretaceous trench deposits of the Neo-Tethyan subduction zone: Jiachala Formation from Yarlung Zangbo suture zone in Tibet,China

The history of convergence between the India and the Asia plates, and of their subsequent collision which triggered the Himalayan orogeny is recorded in the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone. Exposed along the southern side of the suture, turbidites of the the Jiachala Formation fed largely from the Gangdese arc have long been considered as post-collisional foreland-basin deposits based on the reported occurrence of Paleocene-early Eocene dinoflagellate cysts and pollen assemblages. Because magmatic activity in the Gangdese arc continued through the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, this scenario is incompatible with U-Pb ages of detrital zircons invariably older than the latest Cretaceous. To solve this conundrum, we carried out detailed stratigraphic, sedimentological, paleontological, and provenance analyses in the Gyangze and Sajia areas of southern Tibet,China. The Jiachala Formation consists of submarine fan deposits that lie in fault contact with the Zongzhuo Formation.Sandstone petrography together with U-Pb ages and Hf isotope ratios of detrital zircons indicate provenance from the Gangdese arc and central Lhasa terrane. Well preserved pollen or dinoflagellate cysts microfossils were not found in spite of careful research, and the youngest age obtained from zircon grain was ～84 Ma. Based on sedimentary facies, provenance analysis and tectonic position, we suggest that the Jiachala Formation was deposited during the Late Cretaceous(~88–84 Ma) in the trench formed along the southern edge of Asia during subduction of Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.     

Contrasting patterns in the abundance of fish communities targeted by fishers on two coral reefs in southern Mozambique

Coastal populations of maritime countries in eastern Africa rely on fish as a primary source of protein, but baseline information on the abundance of fish communities on these coastlines is often lacking. We used baited remote underwater video stations to compare the abundance and diversity of reef fishes targeted by fishing at two sites in southern Mozambique, one at Lighthouse Reef within the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and the other to the south at San Sebastian Reef on the San Sebastian Peninsula. Fish that are known targets of fisheries (mostly small-scale and artisanal) had an abundance that was almost three-times greater at San Sebastian Reef (80.22 ind. h^–1 [SE 18.00]) than at Lighthouse Reef (29.70 ind. h^–1 [SE 8.91]). Similarly, there was greater mean species richness at San Sebastian Reef (38.74 species h^–1 [SE 2.79]) than at Lighthouse Reef (25.37 species h^–1 [SE 3.66]). The main drivers of targeted fish abundance were habitat and depth, with shallow (<15 m) and mixed reef areas having the greatest abundance and richness. More sampling was done over sand habitat at Lighthouse Reef, which likely led to the lower abundance and species richness observed at this site; however, that finding could also be attributable to the fact that protection is provided to only a section of available coral reef habitat in a small area. Nevertheless, fish community structure was comparable between the sites, with similar proportions of carnivores (78–81%), herbivores (12–14%) and omnivores (7–8%). Our findings highlight the variation in species abundance and assemblages of coral-reef fish targeted by fishing in Mozambique and emphasise the importance of localised environmental variables as a driver of these patterns. To ensure maximum protection of Lighthouse Reef fish communities, we recommend an extension of the no-take zone to include the entire reef complex.     

Determining Biogenic Silica in Marine Samples by Tracking Silicate and Aluminium Concentrations in Alkaline Leaching Solutions

This study introduces an alkaline leaching technique for the simultaneous analysis of biogenic silica and aluminium in sediments. Measuring aluminium facilitates the discrimination between silica from the biogenic (BSiO₂) and the non-biogenic fraction, because it originates almost solely from the lithogenic phase. The method was tested using fine-grained silicagel, standard clay minerals, artificial sediments, and natural samples ranging from fresh diatoms to aged sediment from different depositional settings. To determine the BSiO₂ content, four different models each describing the dissolution curves, but of increasing complexity, were applied and for each different type of sample the optimum model was selected on the basis of F-test statistics. For mixtures of silicagel and clay minerals, the contribution of Si from the dissolution of clay was negligible compared to Si originating from silicagel. For natural samples with high clay content, complex dissolution curves were observed and single-phase first order dissolution was the exception. This deviation from `ideal' behavior could only be recognized because of high-resolution sampling, especially in the first 20 minutes of the experiment. For most of the samples, the distinction between the biogenic silica fraction and the silica originating from dissolution of clays could be made on the basis of the Si/Al ratios and reactivity constants of the dissolving phases calculated with the models. Clay minerals typically dissolve slowly at a Si/Al ratio close to 1–2, depending on the type of clay mineral. In contrast, biogenic silica displays a wide range of reactivities and Si/Al ratios. Fresh biogenic silica from the water column usually has a high reactivity and a low Al content. Aged biogenic silica from the sediments has a lower reactivity, but Si/Al ratios as low as 5 were found. The method as described here therefore presents an accurate method to analyze biogenic silica in marine sediments with a relatively high clay mineral content.     

Prey and plastic ingestion of Pacific Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis rogersii) from Monterey Bay,California

Marine plastic pollution affects seabirds, including Pacific Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii), that feed at the surface and mistake plastic for prey or incidentally ingest it. Direct and indirect health issues can result, including satiety and possibly leading to inefficient foraging. Our objective was to examine fulmar body condition, identify cephalopod diet to species, enumerate and weigh ingested plastic, and determine if prey number and size were correlated with ingested plastics in beach-cast fulmars wintering in Monterey Bay California (2003, n = 178: 2007, n = 185). Fulmars consumed mostly Gonatus pyros, G. onyx, and G. californiensis of similar size for both years. We found a significant negative correlation between pectoral muscle index and average size of cephalopod beaks per stomach; a significant increase in plastic categories between 2003 and 2007; and no significant correlation between number and mass of plastic compared with number and size of prey for either year.     

Stress and temperature in the bending lithosphere as constrained by experimental rock mechanics

Summary. Previous attempts to deduce the stress distribution in the bending lithosphere near a consuming plate margin have relied on the observed bathymetry and an assumed constitutive relation for lithospheric behaviour, e.g. perfectly elastic, viscous/perfectly plastic, or elastic perfectly plastic. From the point of view of rock mechanics, each of these approximations fails to describe one or more of several basic phenomena, including brittle failure of rock, temperature dependence of elasticity, and temperature and/or strain rate dependence of ductile behaviour. In order to formulate a more realistic constitutive relation, a limiting yield strength curve, which is primarily a function of temperature, is constructed from data from brittle failure and ductile flow experiments. The moments which can be supported by plates with this constitutive behaviour are compared to the moments calculated from bathymetric profiles. The comparison indicates that moments required by the bathymetric data are consistent with moments supported by plates with experimentally determined constitutive laws as extrapolated to geologically reasonable temperatures and strain rates. The stresses developed in such models are required to reach values greater than 100 MPa† in the depth range 25–45 km. Geotherms necessary for strength curves consistent with moments calculated from the bathymetric data match those derived from heat flow data for the Aleutian, Bonin, Mariana and Tonga trenches. Of the trenches studied, only the geotherm inferred from the Kuril trench data is significantly different, perhaps implying that the Kuril plate is weaker than the others. The strength curves show that as a first approximation it is better to assume that bending moment is independent of curvature of the plate than to assume that bending moment and curvature are linearly related.     

The Planktonic foraminifera <Emphasis Type="Italic">Globigerinoides eoconglobatus</Emphasis> n. sp. in a glacial–interglacial context: IODP359 Sites U1467 and U1468

Here we define a new morphospecies of planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides eoconglobatus n. sp., identified from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 359 samples from drift deposits of the Maldives, Inner Sea. Through biostratigraphic analysis, we infer it may be the direct ancestor of Globigerinoides conglobatus evolving from Globigerinoides obliquus in the Late Miocene (Subzone M13a). Globigerinoides eoconglobatus n. sp. can be distinguished from G. conglobatus through both its morphological traits and stable isotopic signature (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) in pre-adult and adult specimens. The most defining characteristic being its aperture height (AH). A variance in adult stable isotopic signals shows a possible difference in life strategies, possibly related to symbionts (presence/absence or concentration) and/or depth habitat. This work also tentatively shows G. eoconglobatus n. sp. and G. conglobatus abundances are linked to glacial–interglacial stages. Its low abundances and similarities to its descendent Globigerinoides conglobatus has likely accounted for it being unreported, until present, in both modern and fossil studies.     

Predation Risk Experienced by Mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in Intertidal and Subtidal Salt Marsh Habitats

It is often presumed that salt marshes provide a predation refuge for small fishes, but predation risks have rarely been compared in intertidal and subtidal habitats, making the importance of salt marshes as a predation refuge speculative. We measured relative survival of tethered mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) in four habitats in a salt marsh?Ctidal creek system: unvegetated and vegetated intertidal areas and the subtidal creek at high and low tide. At high tide, mummichog in the intertidal zone had significantly higher survival than in the subtidal creek in June through August. Survival rates in unvegetated and vegetated intertidal habitats were not significantly different, suggesting that higher intertidal survival was due to less abundant predators compared with the creek, rather than predators being less effective in vegetation. The lower predation risk experienced by mummichog in the intertidal marsh suggests that access to intertidal habitats will be important for production of small estuarine fishes.     

A single-crystal neutron and X-ray diffraction study of pezzottaite, Cs(Be2Li)Al2Si6O18

The chemical composition and the crystal structure of pezzottaite [ideal composition Cs(Be₂Li)Al₂Si₆O₁₈; space group: ${\it{R}} \overline{\text{3}} $ c, a?=?15.9615(6) ?, c?=?27.8568(9) ?] from the type locality in Ambatovita (central Madagascar) were investigated by electron microprobe analysis in wavelength dispersive mode, thermo-gravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray (at 298?K) and neutron (at 2.3?K) diffraction. The average chemical formula of the sample of pezzottaite resulted ^Cs1,Cs2(Cs_0.565Rb_0.027K_0.017)_Σ0.600 ^Na1,Na2(Na_0.101Ca_0.024)_Σ0.125Be_2.078Li_0.922 ^Al1,Al2(Mg_0.002Mn_0.002Fe_0.003Al_1.978)_Σ1.985 ^Si1,Si2,Si3(Al_0.056Si_5.944)_Σ6O₁₈·0.27H₂O. The (unpolarized) IR spectrum over the region 3,800–600?cm^?1 was collected and a comparison with the absorption bands found in beryl carried out. In particular, two-weak absorption bands ascribable to the fundamental H₂O stretching vibrations (i.e. 3,591 and 3,545?cm^?1) were observed, despite the mineral being nominally anhydrous. The X-ray and neutron structure refinements showed: (a) a non-significant presence of aluminium, beryllium or lithium at the Si1, Si2 and Si3 sites, (b) the absence (at a significant level) of lithium at the octahedral Al1, Al2 and Al3 sites and (c) a partial lithium/beryllium disordering between tetrahedral Be and Li sites.