Short scale (6 h) temporal variation of sinking fluxes of planktonic and terrigeneous lipids at 200m in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Drifting sediment trap experiments were carried out at high temporal frequency in the northwestern Mediterranean in the course of the DYNAPROC2 campaign, every 6 h at 200m depth. Molecular biomarkers were analyzed in selected subsets of consecutive samples. Fluxes of n-alkanes, long-chain alkenones, sterols and steroid ketones show high variability between consecutive 6-hsamples, comparable in range to seasonnal variability. n-Alkane export ranges from 1.4 to 29.7 μgm-2 d-1, fluxes of C 37 alkenones varies from 0 to 14.2 μgm-2 d -1. Fluxes of sterols, steroid ketones and C30 alkane diol, respectively range from 31 to 377, 2.2 to 46 and 0.3 to 9.3 μgm -2 d-1. The Biomarker 10 composition is consistent with reworked algal and zooplanktonic organic matter with a remarkable refractory character. After a rain event ensuing the intrusion of coastal water at the study site, the relative signature of higher plant increases and corresponds to higher export fluxes of long-chain odd n-alkanes. Most phytoplanktonic biomarkers show concurrent variability in fluxes. Linear correlations between fluxes of distinct 15 biomarkers and between fluxes of biomarkers and flux of total carbon suggest that the short term temporal variability of export fluxes depends primarily on physical constrains exerted by carrier particle dynamics. Linear correlation of their carbon-normalized concentrations explained a lower part of the variance, indicating that short-term variability in particle composition is a secondary driver of flux timing. At the end of summer strat20 ification, export fluxes account for ca. 1% of the primary productivity. In this studied situation, biomarkers have a long residence time in the water column before they are exported at 200 m. Biomarkers exported at 200m may thus record processes averaged over a larger period than the sampling frequency. For instance, phytoplanktonic biomarker composition of sinking particles fails to reflect the community changes occur25 ring over the 4 weeks of study. At higher time resolution, the diel variability in primary productivity is not recorded by biomarker fluxes either. The coupling between primary productivity and biomarker export shows significant changes on time scales of days and even of 6 h. © Author(s) 2009

Modeling estimates of the global emission of dimethylsulfide under enhanced greenhouse conditions

16 pages, 10 figures, 2 tablesWe have used a marine food-web model, an atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (GCM), and an empirical dimethylsulfide (DMS) algorithm to predict the DMS seawater concentration and the DMS sea-to-air flux in 10° latitude bands from 70°N to 70°S under contemporary and enhanced greenhouse conditions. The DMS empirical algorithm utilizes the food-web model predictions of surface chlorophyll and the GCM's simulation of oceanic mixed layer depth. The food-web model was first calibrated to contemporary climate conditions using satellite-derived chlorophyll data and meteorological forcings. For the climate change simulations, the meteorological forcings were derived from a transient simulation of the CSIRO Mark 2 GCM, using the IPCC/IS92a radiative forcing scenario to the period of equivalent CO2 tripling (2080). The globally integrated DMS flux perturbation is predicted to be + 14%; however, we found strong latitudinal variation in the perturbation. The greatest perturbation to DMS flux is simulated at high latitudes in both hemispheres, with little change predicted in the tropics and sub-tropics. The largest change in annual integrated flux (+ 106%) is simulated in the Southern Hemisphere between 50°S and 60°S. At this latitude, the DMS flux perturbation is most influenced by the GCM-simulated changes in the mixed layer depth. The results indicate that future increases in stratification in the polar oceans will play a critical role in the DMS cycle and climate change. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical UnionThese activities are sponsored by NASA's Mission to Planet Earth Program (http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)Peer Reviewe

Field-derived Henry's law constants for polychlorinated biphenyls in oceanic waters

Accurate knowledge of Henry's law constants (Kaw) is very important for fate and transport studies of organic chemicals. Here field-derived Kaw values for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (PCBs 28, 49, 52, 118, 138, 149, and 153) were determined in the open Atlantic Ocean, at locations where air and seawater were assumed to be at equilibrium. Field-based Kaw values were derived from air and seawater samples simultaneously collected at these locations, and their relationship with temperature was determined. The average field-derived Kaw for PCBs 28, 49, 52, 118, and 138 was generally 2–3 times higher than laboratory-derived values reported in the literature. Possible causes of differences between the field and the laboratory data may be attributed to differences between pure water and seawater and the use of much higher persistent organic pollutant concentrations in laboratory studies compared to that of the remote ocean. Field-derived Kaw values for PCB 149 and PCB 153 were up to 10 times higher than literature values. The comparison of field- and laboratory-derived Kaw shows that their temperature dependence is not significantly different (95% confidence) from those reported in the literature.Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) on persistent organic pollutants at Lancaster University and the Spanish Ministry of Science and innovation through the MIMOSA and ATOS projects.Peer reviewe

Out of Thin Air: Microbial Utilization of Atmospheric Gaseous Organics in the Surface Ocean

8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01566Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC) is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrated. Yet, the final fate of the bulk of the atmospheric GOC entering the surface ocean is unknown. Our data show experimental evidence of efficient use of atmospheric GOC by marine prokaryotes at different locations in the NE Subtropical Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. We estimate that between 2 and 27% of the prokaryotic carbon demand was supported by GOC with a major fraction of GOC inputs being consumed within the mixed layer. The role of the atmosphere as a key vector of organic carbon subsidizing marine microbial metabolism is a novel link yet to be incorporated into the microbial ecology of the surface ocean as well as into the global carbon budgetThis is a contribution to projects RODA (CTM2004-06842-CO3-02), and ATOS (POL2006-00550/CTM) projects, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and project THRESHOLDS funded by the 6 Framework Programme of the European Union. JA was supported by a “Ramón y Cajal” research fellowship from the Spanish Government.Peer Reviewe

Rain amplification of persistent organic pollutants

Scavenging of gas- and aerosol-phase organic pollutants by rain is an efficient wet deposition mechanism of organic pollutants. However, whereas snow has been identified as a key amplification mechanism of fugacities in cold environments, rain has received less attention in terms of amplification of organic pollutants. In this work, we provide new measurements of concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), organophosphate esters (OPEs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in rain from Antarctica, showing high scavenging ratios. Furthermore, a meta-analysis of previously published concentrations in air and rain was performed, with 46 works covering different climatic regions and a wide range of chemical classes, including PFAS, OPEs, PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine compounds, polybromodiphenyl ethers, and dioxins. The rain–aerosol (KRP) and rain–gas (KRG) partition constants averaged 105.5 and 104.1, respectively, but showed large variability. The high field-derived values of KRG are consistent with adsorption onto the raindrops as a scavenging mechanism, in addition to gas–water absorption. The amplification of fugacities by rain deposition was up to 3 orders of magnitude for all chemical classes and was comparable to that due to snow. The amplification of concentrations and fugacities by rain underscores its relevance, explaining the occurrence of organic pollutants in environments across different climatic regions.Postprint (published version

Integrated Modeling of Fate and Effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems

In this report, an integrated model including fate of contaminants and ecological models it is presented. The model has been developed in the framework of the Thresholds project for analysing the effects of contaminants at ecosystem level. The fate model was already presented in D2.6.2 where the major families of POPs (PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAHs and PBDEs) were implemented. In this work a simple ecological model has been incorporated in the fate model and coupled with it in terms of organic matter. The model allows estimating the environmental concentrations of POPs and the main fluxes between compartments, i.e. air/water/sediments and organisms. In addition the model has been validated for PAHs based on experimental data available in literature and it is now used to analyse NERI’s mesocosm experiments where combined effects of nutrients and contaminants are assessed. Furthermore, the model is being validated with other contaminants families as the experimental results from Thresholds campaigns are starting to be available.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Thresholds of Contaminants: A Synthesis

A fundamental problem in ecotoxicology is the prediction of long term population and ecosystem-level effects of contaminant exposure based on dose response data of few individuals obtained over a short time period. In addition, environmental fluctuations will always affect significantly the population/ecosystem resilience. However, these fluctuations are not taken into account under dose-response experiments on individuals. In the Thresholds project we have analyzed some of these questions by using experiments, data analysis tools and modelling approaches. Several important finding may be summarized as follows: 1 Molecular level effects are detected even at concentrations that did not affect the macroscopic end point studied, i.e. growth rate. 2 Natural populations are more sensitive that populations in cultures. 3 There are differences for the same species at different environments, e.g. Mediterranean, Black Seas and Atlantic Ocean. 4 The environmental conditions and the time of release of the contaminant cause a variability of the response at ecosystem level that can reach 50%. 5 At the actual level of knowledge it is difficult to assess if the legal approach, based on the precautionary principle, is over or under conservative, when considering molecular and its long term effects, the combined effects of mixtures and the environmental fluctuations that affect all ecosystems. 6 A similar colour code to the one adopted for biological quality elements should be adopted for the definition of EQS, with values higher than the EQS as orange (poor). This will allow assessing contamination trends and an early detection of a chemical contamination problems. 7 In aquatic environments ecosystem experience the combined effects of mixtures. Ecotoxicological risk assessment should be performed taking this aspect into account. However, with the amount of new chemicals being produced and the detection limits required it is clear that new integrated indicators are necessary. Limiting the levels of certain chemicals in the environment is one step to improve ecosystem health but alone it will not prevent further deterioration. 8 Due to practical limitations, knowledge on ecotoxicology is only available for a small fraction of the anthropogenic chemical pressure. The importance of this simplification has not been comprehensibly assessed and introduce uncertainty in the appropriate outcome of current legislation and managing practices.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Ocean-atmosphere exchange of organic carbon and CO2 surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula

Exchangeable organic carbon (OC) dynamics and CO2 fluxes in the Antarctic Peninsula during austral summer were highly variable, but the region appeared to be a net sink for OC and nearly in balance for CO2. Surface exchangeable dissolved organic carbon (EDOC) measurements had a 43±3 (standard error, hereafter SE) μmol CL-1 overall mean and represented around 66% of surface non-purgeable dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Antarctic waters, while the mean concentration of the gaseous fraction of organic carbon (GOCH′-1) was 46±3 SE μmol C L -1. There was a tendency towards low fugacity of dissolved CO 2 (fCO2-w) in waters with high chlorophyll a (Chl a) content and high fCO2-w in areas with high krill densities. However, such relationships were not found for EDOC. The depth profiles of EDOC were also quite variable and occasionally followed Chl a profiles. The diel cycles of EDOC showed two distinct peaks, in the middle of the day and the middle of the short austral dark period, concurrent with solar radiation maxima and krill night migration patterns. However, no evident diel pattern for GOC H′-1 or CO2 was observed. The pool of exchangeable OC is an important and active compartment of the carbon budget surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula and adds to previous studies highlighting its importance in the redistribution of carbon in marine environments. © Author(s) 2014.This is a contribution of both Aportes Atmosféricos de Carbono Orgánico y Contaminanates al océano Polar (ATOS) and the Spanish component of the Synoptic Antarctic Shelf-Slope Interactions study (ESASSI), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science under the scope of the International Polar Year (IPY). Maria Ll. Calleja was funded by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC, grant JAEDOC030) and cofounded by the Fondo Social Europeo (FSO)Peer Reviewe

Cambio Global. Impacto de la Actividad Humana sobre el Sistema Tierra

Esta obra, dirigida al público en general y elaborada por un equipo interdisciplinar, aborda con un lenguaje claro y asequible pero sin renunciar al rigor científico, el complejo problema del cambio global, un desafío de dimensiones colosales para la humanidad. El cambio global se define en esta obra como el conjunto de cambios en los procesos fundamentales que definen el funcionamiento de la biosfera derivados de la actividad humana. Los autores describen las múltiples dimensiones del cambio global, sus causas y sus consecuencias. Se describe la transformación de la superficie del planeta Tierra por la actividad humana y sus impactos sobre los ciclos del agua, los elementos y el sistema climático, incluyendo la introducción de miles de compuestos químicos sintéticos en la biosfera. Esta exposición pretende despejar la confusión que el aluvión de noticias e informaciones, a veces contradictorias, genera en la sociedad. Los autores prestan particular atención a la definición de las estrategias de adaptación y mitigación que los distintos actores de la sociedad, desde ciudadanos a políticos, pueden desplegar para minimizar el impacto del cambio global, animándoles al mismo tiempo a aprovechar las oportunidades que estos cambios pueden conllevar