Seasonality and selectivity in the feeding ecology and reproductive biology of deep-sea bathyal holothurians

Chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments were determined from the gut sediments of five species of bathyal holothurian in the NE Atlantic, sampled shortly after the spring/summer phytoplankton bloom in 2001 and prior to the spring bloom in 2002. Three species, Laetmogone violacea, Paroriza pallens and Bathyplotes natans, sampled within a similar depth range (900–1100 m) in the summer of 2001 showed significant differences in their chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment concentrations. This suggests they may select for slightly different components from the available food resource. Four species sampled in early spring 2002, Laetmogone violacea, Paroriza pallens, Benthogone rosea and Benthothuria funebris, also had significant differences in their pigment concentrations. These species were sampled over a wider depth range (1000–3100 m) showing a bathymetric trend in pigment concentrations. There was a distinct seasonal change in the composition and concentration of the pigments, linked to a reduction in the availability of fresh organic material during autumn and winter periods.Ovarian tissue was also examined. The carotenoid pigments found in the ovary also occurred in the OM ingested by the holothurians. The dominant gonadal carotenoid pigments were β-carotene, echinenone and zeaxanthin. The potential for using these carotenoids to gain a competitive advantage through selectivity of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment biomarkers are discussed in relation to competition for food resources by deposit-feeders. The results were also compared with selectivity in abyssal species.     

Eastern and Western Poor Cod (Trisopterus minutus capelanus) Populations in the Mediterranean Sea: Evidence from Allozyme and Minisatellite Loci

Abstract. Nine allozyme and two minisatellite loci were used to investigate potential genetic differentiation among three samples of Mediterranean poor cod, Trisopterus minutus capelanus, from the Gulf of Lion, the Tuscan Archipelago and the Aegean Sea. Both types of markers showed consistent results, with F_ST values of 0.0262 and 0.0296 (P < 0.0015, after Bonferroni correction for multiple tests) for allozymes and minisatellites, respectively. Allele frequency heterogeneity tests between pairs of samples showed a clear separation between the two western Mediterranean samples (Gulf of Lion, Tuscan Archipelago) and the eastern one (Aegean Sea). The results indicate that at least two reproductively isolated populations of poor cod occur in the Mediterranean.     

ENSO variability and the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) encompasses variability in both the eastern and western tropical Pacific. During the warm phase of ENSO, the eastern tropical Pacific is characterized by equatorial positive sea surface temperature (SST) and negative sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies, while the western tropical Pacific is marked by off-equatorial negative SST and positive SLP anomalies. Corresponding to this distribution are equatorial westerly wind anomalies in the central Pacific and equatorial easterly wind anomalies in the far western Pacific. Occurrence of ENSO has been explained as either a self-sustained, naturally oscillatory mode of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system or a stable mode triggered by stochastic forcing. Whatever the case, ENSO involves the positive ocean–atmosphere feedback hypothesized by Bjerknes. After an El Niño reaches its mature phase, negative feedbacks are required to terminate growth of the mature El Niño anomalies in the central and eastern Pacific. Four requisite negative feedbacks have been proposed: reflected Kelvin waves at the ocean western boundary, a discharge process due to Sverdrup transport, western Pacific wind-forced Kelvin waves, and anomalous zonal advections. These negative feedbacks may work together for terminating El Niño, with their relative importance being time-dependent.ENSO variability is most pronounced along the equator and the coast of Ecuador and Peru. However, the eastern tropical Pacific also includes a warm pool north of the equator where important variability occurs. Seasonally, ocean advection seems to play an important role for SST variations of the eastern Pacific warm pool. Interannual variability in the eastern Pacific warm pool may be largely due to a direct oceanic connection with the ENSO variability at the equator. Variations in temperature, stratification, insolation, and productivity associated with ENSO have implications for phytoplankton productivity and for fish, birds, and other organisms in the region. Long-term changes in ENSO variability may be occurring and are briefly discussed. This paper is part of a comprehensive review of the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific.     

Detection of Temperature-Dependent Spectral Variation on the Asteroid Eros and New Evidence for the Presence of an Olivine-Rich Silicate Assemblage

Data obtained by the near-infrared spectrometer carried by the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft show that the spectral properties of the asteroid Eros vary with temperature. The manner in which they vary demonstrates that the mineral olivine is a major constituent of the surface. The near-IR temperature-dependent spectral properties of Eros in the northern hemisphere, and for two individual regions on the surface, show clear evidence of the presence of the mineral olivine and are a close match to the temperature-spectral behavior of LL-type ordinary chondrite meteorites. While the presence of other olivine-rich meteorites cannot be excluded, H-type ordinary chondrites are clearly too pyroxene-rich to be permitted as a major surface component of Eros. The results of the thermal-spectral analysis are consistent with results from analysis of conventional reflectance spectra of the asteroid and contribute unambiguous detection of olivine to the understanding of the surface composition of Eros.     

Pelagic-Benthic Coupling in the Nordic Seas: The Role of Episodic Events

Abstract. The consequences of the following episodic phenomena for the pelagic-benthic coupling in the Nordic Seas are illustrated: (1) Advection of water masses between fjords and shelf environments, (2) freshwater run-off and vertical stability, (3) dynamics of the marginal ice zone in the central and northern Barents Sea and the Polar Ocean, (4) drift patterns of sinking particles along the North Norwegian coast, (5) advection of zooplankton into subarctic fjords and the southern Barents Sea, zooplankton overwintering and composition, and (6) transport of organic particulate matter from the Barents Sea shelf. It is shown that physical processes in the north-eastern North Atlantic and Polar Ocean can be strongly variable on time scales of days to decades. They have a significant influence on the dynamics of pelagic-benthic coupling. The physical oceanography influences the vertical and horizontal particle flux not only directly (mixing, advection, up- and down-welling), but also indirectly through its impact on the biota (for example radiation, wind, ice cover, freshwater run-off and overwintering, advection and retention of zooplankton). Understanding pelagic-benthic coupling at high latitudes depends even more on a best possible understanding of the physical oceanography and the time scales involved than elsewhere.     

A multifrequency study of possible relic lobes in giant radio sources

We present low-frequency observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope of three giant radio sources (GRSs: J0139+3957, J0200+4049 and J0807+7400) with relaxed diffuse lobes which show no hotspots and no evidence of jets. The largest of these three, J0200+4049, exhibits a depression in the centre of the western lobe, while J0139+3957 and J0807+7400 have been suggested earlier by Klein et al. and Lara et al., respectively, to be relic radio sources. We estimate the ages of the lobes. We also present Very Large Array observations of the core of J0807+7400, and determine the core radio spectra for all three sources. Although the radio cores suggest that the sources are currently active, we explore the possibility that the lobes in these sources are due to an earlier cycle of activity.     

The relationship between star formation rate and radio synchrotron luminosity at 0 < z < 2

We probe the relationship between star formation rate (SFR) and radio synchrotron luminosity in galaxies at  0 < z < 2  within the northern Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic survey (SWIRE) fields, in order to investigate some of the assumptions that go into calculating the star formation history of the Universe from deep radio observations. We present new 610-MHz Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of the European Large-Area ISO Survey-North 2 (ELAIS-N2) field, and using this data, along with previous GMRT surveys carried out in the ELAIS-N1 (North 1) and Lockman Hole regions, we construct a sample of galaxies which have redshift and SFR information available from the SWIRE survey. We test whether the local relationship between SFR and radio luminosity is applicable to   z = 2  galaxies, and look for evolution in this relationship with both redshift and SFR in order to examine whether the physical processes which lead to synchrotron radiation have remained the same since the peak of star formation in the Universe. We find that the local calibration between radio luminosity and star formation can be successfully applied to radio-selected high-redshift, high-SFR galaxies, although we identify a small number of sources where this may not be the case; these sources show evidence for inaccurate estimations of their SFR, but there may also be some contribution from physical effects such as the recent onset of starburst activity, or suppression of the radio luminosity within these galaxies.     

Cost-effective infrastructure in a multi-antenna telescope layout

The future Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope is an interferometer array that will use a variety of collector types, including approximately 2500 dishes distributed with separations up to a few thousand kilometres, and about 250 aperture array (AA) stations located within 200 km of the core. The data rates associated with each individual collector are vast: around 10 GBytes/s for each dish and 2 TBytes/s for an AA station. As each of these must be connected directly to a central correlator, designing a cost-effective cabling and trenching infrastructure presents a great engineering challenge. In this paper we discuss approaches to performing this optimisation. In graph theory, the concept of a minimum spanning tree (MST) is equivalent to finding the minimum total trench length joining a set of n arbitrary points in the plane. We have developed a set of algorithms which optimise the infrastructure of any given telescope layout iteratively, taking into consideration not only trenching but also cabling and jointing costs as well. Solutions for few example configurations of telescope layout are presented. We have found that these solutions depend significantly on the collectors’ output data rates. When compared to a “traditional” MST-based approach which minimises trenching costs only, our algorithms can further reduce total costs by up to 15–20%. This can influence greatly the SKA infrastructure related costs.     

TNOs are Cool: A Survey of the Transneptunian Region

Over one thousand objects have so far been discovered orbiting beyond Neptune. These trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) represent the primitive remnants of the planetesimal disk from which the planets formed and are perhaps analogous to the unseen dust parent-bodies in debris disks observed around other main-sequence stars. The dynamical and physical properties of these bodies provide unique and important constraints on formation and evolution models of the Solar System. While the dynamical architecture in this region (also known as the Kuiper Belt) is becoming relatively clear, the physical properties of the objects are still largely unexplored. In particular, fundamental parameters such as size, albedo, density and thermal properties are difficult to measure. Measurements of thermal emission, which peaks at far-IR wavelengths, offer the best means available to determine the physical properties. While Spitzer has provided some results, notably revealing a large albedo diversity in this population, the increased sensitivity of Herschel and its superior wavelength coverage should permit profound advances in the field. Within our accepted project we propose to perform radiometric measurements of 139 objects, including 25 known multiple systems. When combined with measurements of the dust population beyond Neptune (e.g. from the New Horizons mission to Pluto), our results will provide a benchmark for understanding the Solar debris disk, and extra-solar ones as well.