The control of the production process of phytoplankton by the physical structure of the aquatic environment with special reference to its optical properties

This tutorial was designed for nonbiologists requiring an introduction to the nature and general timescales of phytoplankton responses to physical forcing in aquatic environments. As such, an effort was made to highlight biological markers which might assist in identifying, measuring and/or validating physical processes controlling the variability in the distribution, abundance, composition and activity of phytoplankton communities. Given the recent advances in environmental optics and remote sensing capabilities, a special emphasis was placed on the nature and utility of phytoplankton optical properties in current bio-optical modelling efforts to predict temporal and spatial variability in phytoplankton productivity and growth.     

Eocene high pressure metamorphism in the Penninic units of the Tauern Window (Eastern Alps): evidence from40Ar−39Ar dating and petrological investigations

The⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar degassing spectra of white micas and amphiboles from three tectonic units of the central Tauern Window (Pennine basement and cover in the Eastern Alps) have been measured. White micas are classified as (1) pre-Alpine low-Si relic micas with an age value of 292 Ma, variously disturbed by the Alpine metamorphism; (2) Alpine phengitic micas of variable composition with an age between 32 and 36 Ma; (3) Alpine low-Si micas with a maximum age of 27 Ma. We attribute the higher Alpine ages to a blueschist facies event, whereas the lower age reflects the late cooling of the nappe pile. Blueschist facies phengites from the basement (Lower Schieferhülle) and the tectonic cover (Upper Schieferhülle) crystallized at a temperature below the closure temperature (T _c) for argon diffusion in white mica and record ages of 32 to 36 Ma. At the same time a thin, eclogite facies unit (Eclogite Zone) was thrust between the Lower and the Upper Schieferhülle and cooled from eclogite facies conditions at about 600°C at 20 kbar to blueschist facies conditions at 450°C or even 300°C at >10 kbar. Eclogite facies phengites closed for argon diffusion and record cooling ages, coinciding with the crystallization ages in the hanging and the footwall unit. Amphibole age spectra (actinolite, glaucophane, barroisite) are not interpretable in terms of geologically meaningful ages because of excess argon.     

Lead isotopic evidence for evolutionary changes in magma-crust interaction,Central Andes,southern Peru

Lead isotopic measurements were made on Andean igneous rocks of Jurassic to Recent age in Moquegua and Tacna Departments, southernmost Peru, to clarify the petrogenesis of the rocks and, in particular, to investigate the effect of crustal thickness on rock composition. This location in the Cordillera Occidental is ideal for such a study because the ca. 2 Ga Precambrian basement rocks (Arequipa massif) have a distinct Pb isotopic signature which is an excellent tracer of crustal interaction, and because geomorphological research has shown that the continental crust was here thickened drastically in the later Tertiary.Seven samples of quartz diorites and granodiorites from the Ilo and Toquepala intrusive complexes, and seven samples of Toquepala Group subaerial volcanics were analyzed for Pb isotopic compositions. The plutonic rocks range in age from Jurassic to Eocene; the volcanic rocks are all Late Cretaceous to Eocene. With one exception, the Pb isotopic ratios are in the ranges ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 18.52–18.75, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.58–15.65, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 38.53–38.74. The data reflect very little or no interaction with old continental material of the Arequipa massif type.Lead from four Miocene Huaylillas Formation ash-flow tuffs, two Pliocene Capillune Formation andesites and five Quaternary Barroso Group andesites has lower ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb than that in the pre-Miocene rocks, but relatively high ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 18.16–18.30, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.55–15.63, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 38.45–38.90). Tilton and Barreiro [9] have shown that contamination by Arequipa massif granulites can explain the isotopic composition of the Barosso Group lavas, and the new data demonstrate that this effect is evident, to varying degrees, in all the analysed Neogene volcanic rocks. The initial incorporation of such basement material into the magma coincided with the Early Miocene uplift of this segment of the Cordillera Occidental [32], and thus with the creation of a thick crustal root. The data strongly imply a relationship between crustal thickness and degree of crustal contamination of magmas in this area, but a rigorous relationship is not yet established.     

Man and climate in the Maya lowlands

A 15-m sedimentary core from Lake Salpeten provides the first complete Holocene sequence for the lowlying Peten District, Guatemala. Today, Lake Salpeten is a brackish, calcium sulfate lake near saturation surrounded by tropical semievergreen forest. The basal pollen record depicts sparse juniper scrub surrounding a lake basin that held ephermal pools and halophytic marshes. The lake rapidly deepened to > 27 m in the early Holocene and may have been meromictic, because nearly 2 m of gypsum “mush” was deposited. Mesic forests were quickly established and persisted until the Maya entered the district 3000 yr ago and caused extensive deforestation. Any climatic information contained in the pollen record of the Maya period is thus masked, but a regional pollen sequence linked to the archaeological record is substantiated because environmental disturbance was pervasive. Local intensification of occupation and population growth are seen as an increased deposition of pollen of agricultural weeds and colluviation into the lake, while the Classic Maya collapse is marked by a temporary decline in Compositae pollen. Effects of perturbations induced by the Maya persist in the pollen and limnetic record 400 yr after the Spanish conquest.     

Effets combinés de la pêche et de l'eutrophisation sur la perche (Perca fluviatilis L.) dans les eaux vaudoises du Léman

Catches of perch have strongly decreased in Lake of Geneva from 1975 to 1981. This decrease was attributed to the impact of overfishing, enhanced by the accelerated growth of perch. Therefore, too many perches were captured before their first reproduction and the stocks of reproducers were strongly reduced. Furthermore, adverse meteorological conditions occurred probably during several periods of reproduction. The accelerated growth of perch was attributed to the combined effects of increasing eutrophication (more food available) and of overfishing (decreased perch density in the shoals).      

Lead isotopic compositions of South Sandwich Island volcanic rocks and their bearing on magmagenesis in intra-oceanic island arcs

Pb isotope ratios have been measured in 12 volcanic rocks from the South Sandwich Islands. The ranges are ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{= 18.51–18.66;}{}^{207}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{= 15.55–15.64;}{}^{208}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{= 38.42–38.64}$. In ${}^{207}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{-}{}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ and ${}^{208}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{-}{}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ correlation diagrams, the South Sandwich data plot distinctly above the fields for ocean ridge basalts, and yield trends showing apparent mixing with a sedimentary end member similar to South Atlantic pelagic sediments as reported by Chow and Patterson (1962) and this study. Armstrong and Cooper (1971) have likewise shown that volcanics from the Lesser Antilles show mixing trends with North Atlantic sediments in Pb isotope correlation diagrams. The North Atlantic sediments have distinctly higher ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ and ${}^{208}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ ratios compared to the South Atlantic sediments. The parallel relationships between sediments and volcanic island arc rocks of the North and South Atlantic provide strong evidence for a component of Pb from subducted sediments in the lavas of the west Atlantic basin. In contrast to these data, lavas from the Mariana Arc in the western Pacific show little or no component of Pb from pelagic sediments. The reason for the different behaviors in the two settings is speculative.     

Ice core evidence for secular variability and 200-year dipolar oscillations in atmospheric circulation over East Antarctica during the Holocene

Two Holocene ice core records from East Antarctica (Vostok and EPICA-Dome C) were analysed for dust concentration and size distribution at a temporal resolution of 1 sample per ~50 years. A series of volcanic markers randomly distributed over the common part of the ice cores (from 9.8 to 3.5 kyear BP) ensures accurate relative dating (±33 years). Dust-size records from the two sites display oscillations structured in cycles with sub-millennial and secular scale frequencies that are apparently asynchronous. The power spectra of the composite sum (Σ) of the two dust-size records display spectral energy mostly for 150- to 500-year periodicities. On the other hand, the 200-year band is common to both records and the 200 year components of the two sites are out-of-phase (100-year lead or lag) over ~5.5 kyear, a phenomenon also reflected by a significant (>99% conf. lev.) band in the power spectra of the composite difference (Δ) of the two size records. During long-range transport, mineral dust originating from the Southern Hemisphere continents is graded to a variable extent depending on the altitude and duration of atmospheric transport. Relatively coarse dust is associated with air mass penetration from the middle–lower troposphere and conversely relatively fine dust with upper troposphere air masses or the influence of subsidence over the Antarctic plateau, a hypothesis already proposed for the changes that occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene transition (Delmonte et al. 2004b). Moreover, we assume that the overall fluctuation of air mass advection over Antarctica depends on the meridional pressure gradient with respect to low latitudes, i.e. the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO). We therefore suggest a regional variability in atmospheric circulation over East Antarctica. The 150–500 year power spectrum of the composite (Σ) parameter represents the long term variability of the AAO, imprinted by secular internal oscillations probably related to the southern ocean-climatic system. On the other hand, the Δ dust composite parameter suggests a persistent atmospheric dipole over East Antarctica delivering coarser (finer) dust particles alternatively to Vostok and Dome C regions with a bi-centennial periodicity. Indeed, a seesaw phenomenon in dust size distribution was already observed at three East Antarctic sites during the last deglaciation (Delmonte et al. 2004b) and was interpreted as a progressive reduction of the eccentricity of the polar vortex with respect to the geographic south pole. Interestingly, the Δ parameter shows a pronounced 200-year oscillation mode, throwing new light on the unresolved question of a possible relationship between climate and solar activity.