Late Quaternary stratigraphy of the northern Rockall trough and Faeroe-Shetland channel,northeast Atlantic Ocean

A late Quaternary deep-water stratigraphic framework has been established for the deep-water areas (>450m) of the northern Rockall Trough and Faeroe-Shetland Channel. Four stratigraphic units (1–4) are identified; these are primarily biostratigraphic units based on dinoflagellate cyst evidence. Unit 1 represents the late Weichselian glacial (pre-13 000 yr BP); unit 2 the Late Glacial Interstadial (11 000-13 000 yr BP); unit 3 is of Younger Dryas age (10 000-11 000 yr BP); and unit 4 represents the Holocene interglacial (post-10 000 yr BP). This stratigraphy is supported by the discovery of the mixed Vedde Ash (10 600 yr BP) and North Atlantic Ash zone 1, and the Saksunarvatn Ash (9000–9100 yr BP), concentrated in units 3 and 4 respectively. The sedimentology indicates that the oceanographic regime underwent a major change between the glacial and interglacial stages. This is marked by the onset of strong bottom current activity, allied to the restoration of overflow of the Norwegian Sea Deep Water into the North Atlantic, towards the end of the Younger Dryas Stadial. Despite intense bioturbation and bottom-current reworking the basic stratigraphic framework is maintained. Recognition of two volcanic ash markers enables correlation with established onshore and offshore sequences of marine and non-marine environments.     

Reconstruction of palaeoceanographic conditions in the South Atlantic Ocean at the last two Terminations based on calcareous dinoflagellate cysts

 Despite the increasing interest in the South Atlantic Ocean as a key area of the heat exchange between the southern and the northern hemisphere, information about its palaeoceanographic conditions during transitions from glacial to interglacial stages, the so-called Terminations, are not well understood. Herein we attempt to increase this information by studying the calcareous dinoflagellate cysts and the shells of Thoracosphaera heimii (calcareous cysts) of five Late Quaternary South Atlantic Ocean cores. Extremely high accumulation rates of calcareous cysts at the Terminations might be due to a combined effect of increased cyst production and better preservation as result of calm, oligotrophic conditions in the upper water layers. Low relative abundance of Sphaerodinella albatrosiana compared with Sphaerodinella tuberosa in the Cape Basin may be the result of the relatively colder environmental conditions in this region compared with the equatorial Atlantic Ocean with high relative abundance of S. albatrosiana. Furthermore, the predominance of S. tuberosa during glacials and interglacials at the observed site of the western Atlantic Ocean reflects decreased salinity in the upper water layer. Received: 9 November 1998 / Accepted: 26 October 1999     

福建省主要河口海湾沉积物中甲藻休眠孢囊分类学初步研究

通过对福建省厦门湾、闽江口海域、三沙湾三个主要河口海湾144个站位表层沉积物样品中甲藻休眠孢囊的系统分析,根据甲藻休眠孢囊的形状、外壁结构、颜色、表面修饰物等形态特征共鉴定出9属25种及不定种,并对各孢囊属种的特征进行了分类描述,其中有毒甲藻休眠孢囊2种,即Alexandrium minutun,A. tamarense, 有害种类4 种, 即Alexandrium affine,Lingulodiniumpolyedrum,Scrippsiella trochoide.通过对比表明Alexandrium affine,A. minutum,Diplopelta cf. parva,Polykrikos cf. schwartzii,Protoceratium reticulatum,Protoperidinium minutum,P.cf. minutum,P. cf. americanum以及Alexandrium sp.,Protoperidinium sp.1,P. sp.2等11种甲藻休眠孢囊为本次在福建省海域新发现的种,这些新发现的甲藻种类可能是近年来通过国际间往来的航运船只在我国沿岸海域排放压舱水或贝类引种带来的.     

Effects of ambient DIN:DIP ratio on the nitrogen uptake of harmful dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum and Prorocentrum donghaiense in turbidistat

The effects of varying nitrogen (N): phosphorus (P) ratios on the growth and N-uptake and assimilation of the harmful dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum and Prorocentrum donghaiense were examined in turbidistat culture experiments. Algal cultures were supplied with media containing PO34? in various concentrations to obtain a wide range of N:P ratios. Experiments to determine rates of N uptake and assimilation of different N sources (NO3?, NH4+, urea and glycine by P. minimum and NO3?, NH4+ by P. donghaiense) were conducted using 15N tracer techniques at each N:P ratio. The growth rates suggested nutrient limitation at both high and low N:P ratios relative to the Redfield ratio. On a diel basis, the growth of both species was regulated by the light-dark cycle, which may be a result of regulation of both light- dependent growth and light-independent nutrient uptake. Maximum growth rates of both species always occurred at the beginning of light phase. In P-rich medium (low N:P ratio), both species had higher N assimilation rates, suggesting N limitation. Low assimilation coefficients at high N:P ratios suggested P limitation of N uptake and assimilation. NO3? and NH4+ contributed more than 90% of the total N uptake of P. minimum. Reduced N sources were more quickly assimilated than NO3?. Highest average daily growth rates were recorded near an N:P ratio of 12 for both species. The N uptake rates of cultures at N:P ratios near Redfield ratio were more balanced with growth rates. The linkage between growth rates and N uptake/assimilation rates were conceptually described by the variation of cell N quota. The N:P ratios affect the N uptake and growth of Prorocentrum spp., and may regulate their bloom progression in eutrophic ecosystems.     

Peridinioid dinoflagellate cysts in a Holocene high-mountain lake deposit in Italy

This paper documents the discovery of peridinioid organic walled dinoflagellate cysts in Holocene sediments of the freshwater, low-alkalinity, high mountain Lake Nero di Cornisello (Adamello mountain range, Trentino, Italy). Among the three main cyst morphotypes found in the samples, the dominant one is acavate, with a smooth and light brown colored wall, with a clear conical shape, elongated with a pointy to rounded end in the antapical-ventral part, with the epicyst broader than the hypocyst and displays a typical peridinioid archeopyle. Comparison with data available in literature, besides pointing out the general scarcity of observations on dinocysts in lakes sediments, suggested a strong morphological similarity with the marine genus Brigantedinium. This finding pinpoints the need for more detailed studies on cysts in freshwater environments offering a new tool for paleoenvironmental interpretations.     

Phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the Antarctic polar frontal region during austral summer of 2009

The Antarctic polar front region in the Southern Ocean is known to be most productive. We studied the phytoplankton community structure in the Indian sector at this frontal location during late austral summer (February, 2009) onboard R/V Akademic Boris Petrov. We used the phytoplankton and microheterotrophs abundance, as also the associated physico-chemical parameters to explain the low phytoplankton abundance in the study region. This study emphasizes the shift of phytoplankton, from large (>10 μm) to small (<10 μm) size. The phytoplankton abundance appears to be controlled by physical parameters and by nutrient concentrations and also by the microheterotrophs (ciliates and dinoflagellates) which exert a strong grazing pressure. This probably reduces small (<10 μm) and large (>10 μm) phytoplankton abundance during the late austral summer. This study highlights the highly productive polar front nevertheless becomes a region of low phytoplankton abundance, due to community shifts towards pico-phytoplankton (<10 μm) during late austral summer.     

舟山港4艘商船压舱箱沉积物中甲藻孢囊种群结构的分析

为了解商船压舱箱沉积物在海洋水生生物入侵过程中扮演的潜在媒介作用,本文利用光学显微镜观察法,研究了停泊于我国舟山港4艘商船压舱箱沉积物中甲藻孢囊的种类组成、孢囊密度、香农-威纳指数(H′)和PSP原因种,并对甲藻孢囊种群结构进行了相关性分析。结果表明,鉴定出的甲藻孢囊隶属于5大类,共24种,4份样品中甲藻孢囊的种群结构各有差异,但均检测出能产生麻痹性贝毒(Paralytic Shellfish Poisons,PSP)的甲藻孢囊,如亚历山大藻Alexandriumspp.和链状裸甲藻Gymnodium catenatum。在4艘商船的压舱箱沉积物中均检测出有硅藻分布,其中在富成轮压舱箱沉积物中还检测出3种未知种孢囊。通过相关性分析可知,甲藻孢囊H′值与PSP甲藻孢囊密度占总甲藻孢囊密度的比率呈负相关。甲藻可以通过商船压舱箱沉积物为传播媒介,以孢囊形式来扩大其生物地理分布,提高甲藻物种多样性可有助于降低PSP甲藻的破坏风险。因此,有效处理船只压舱箱沉积物、积极保护当地海洋生物物种多样性,对于降低外来甲藻物种(特别是一些有毒有害种)的赤潮风险和保持当地海洋生态系统的平衡,具有十分重要的意义。     

Uptake of palytoxin‐like compounds by shellfish fed Ostreopsis siamensis (Dinophyceae)

Abstract

Greenshell? mussels (Perna canaliculus Gmelin), scallops (Pecten novaezealandiae Reeve), and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas Thunberg) were fed with a New Zealand strain of mass cultured Ostreopsis siamensis Schmidt (for 27 and 84 h and with 1.5 × 10⁶ or 8.6 × 10⁶ cells, respectively) under laboratory conditions. The microalgal cells contained 0.3 pg palytoxin equivalents cell^–1 (as determined by the haemolysis neutralisation assay (HNA) of Bignami (1993)) and extracts of these cells were toxic to mice after intraperitoneal injection. No palytoxin‐like material was detected either in the hepatopancreas or the muscle and roe of mussels fed O. siamensis. Oysters contained detectable amounts of toxin in hepatopancreas muscle, and roe while higher concentrations were present in the hepatopancreas of scallops. Extracts of control shellfish (tested biotoxin free and not fed O. siamensis) were toxic to mice, and there was no definitive evidence that feeding shellfish with O. siamensis at the levels employed in the present experiment increased the toxicity of shellfish tissue extracts to mice.     

有毒甲藻Coolia monotis Meunier的研究 Ⅰ.甲板形态

经NaClO解离处理,得到Cooliamonotis的甲板板式如下：Po,3’,7”,6c,6s,5”’,2””。电镜照片显示,其甲片表面光滑,分布有圆形或椭圆形的小孔,此外无其他纹饰。     

Abundance and distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in Xiamen Western Harbor

In a grid investigation, dinoflagellate cysts were collected from sediments in Xiamen Western Harbor in May of 2000, from which five species of cysts were identified: Alexandrium tamarensis, A. minutum, Lingulodinium polyedra, Gonyaulax scrippsae and Gymnodinium catenatum, account for about 21% in the species composition. The quanti-tative analysis of the sediments shows that the number of dinoflagellate cysts varies from 51 to 256 cysts/g of sediment, the highest value (>200 cysts/g) being recorded at the stations of the central part of the bay, while the lowest (<100 cysts/g) at the bay mouth. A good linear relationship is found between cyst amount and fine-grained sediments. Complex physiognomies on the seabed, topographty in the bay and weak water exchange are the main factors not only in cyst accumulation but also in their distribution pattern, and have resulted in the difference in cyst densities between the inner bay and the outer bay in the harbor.