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Three high resolution multicore records have been collected at three sites in the western Mediterranean with a MC400-Multicorer system during the MedSeA cruise (Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a changing climate) on 2 May to 2 June 2013 onboard the R/V Angeles Álvarino. Core MedSeA-S3-c1 was retrieved in the Alboran basin (Lat. 36.0746° N, Long. 04.11040° W) at a water depth of 1137 m, with a core length of 33 cm. Core MedSeA-S23-c1 was recovered at a water depth of 1156 m in the Balearic basin offshore Barcelona (Lat. 41.1121° N, Long. 2.38200° E) with a core length of 43 cm. MedSeA-S7-c2 was collected at the Strait of Sicily (Lat. 37.7080° N, Long. 12.40553° E) at a water depth of 263 m, with a core length of 46.5 cm. All three cores have been analyzed for changes in size normalized weight (SNW) and stable carbon isotopes (δ13C), measured in planktic foraminiferal clacite shells of the two species Globigerina bulloides and Globigerinoides elongatus. Boron (δ11B) isotopes have been measured in tests of Globigerinoides elongatus at the Alboran site, and in Globigerinoides ruber albus at the Strait of Sicily. Complementary data for the Strait of Sicily record has been obtained, including a 210Pb based age depth model, sea surface temperatures (SST), alkenone concentrations and planktic foraminiferal assemblage changes. The Strait of Sicily record (MedSeA-S7-c2) covers around the last 200 a, describing environmental changes throughout the Industrial Era (IE) at high temporal resolution. The Alboran (MedSeA-S3-c1) and Balearic Sea (MedSeA-S23-c1) records spanning the last about 1 ka at lower temporal resolution, displaying oceanographic changes throughout the transition from the pre-industrial era to present, as discussed in (Pallacks et al., 2021; doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103549). Data has been collected to investigate the response of marine calcifiers to the combined effects of climate change stressors on decadal to centennial timescales, caused by anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

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Ten innovative EU projects to build ocean observation systems that provide input for evidence-based management of the ocean and the Blue Economy, have joined forces in the strong cluster ‘Nourishing Blue Economy and Sharing Ocean Knowledge’. Under the lead of the EuroSea project, the group published a joint policy brief listing recommendations for sustainable ocean observation and management. The cooperation is supported by the EU Horizon Results Booster and enables the group to achieve a higher societal impact. The policy brief will be presented to the European Commission on 15 October 2021. The ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface and provides us with a diverse set of ecosystem services that we cannot live without or that significantly improve our quality of life. It is the primary controller of our climate, plays a critical role in providing the air we breathe and the fresh water we drink, supplies us with a large range of exploitable resources (from inorganic resources such as sand and minerals to biotic resources such as seafood), allows us to generate renewable energy, is an important pathway for world transport, an important source of income for tourism, etc. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) evaluates the Blue Economy to currently represent 2.5% of the world economic value of goods and services produced, with the potential to further double in size by 2030 (seabed mining, shipping, fishing, tourism, renewable energy systems and aquaculture will intensify). However, the overall consequences of the intensification of human activities on marine ecosystems and their services (such as ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, sea level rise, changing distribution and abundance of fish etc.) are still poorly quantified. In addition, on larger geographic and temporal scales, marine data currently appear fragmented, are inhomogeneous, contain data gaps and are difficult to access. This limits our capacity to understand the ocean variability and sustainably manage the ocean and its resources. Consequently, there is a need to develop a framework for more in-depth understanding of marine ecosystems, that links reliable, timely and fit-for-purpose ocean observations to the design and implementation of evidence-based decisions on the management of the ocean. To adequately serve governments, societies, the sustainable Blue Economy and citizens, ocean data need to be collected and delivered in line with the Value Chain of Ocean Information: 1) identification of required data; 2) deployment and maintenance of instruments that collect the data; 3) delivery of data and derived information products; and 4) impact assessment of services to end users. To provide input to the possible future establishment of such a framework, ten innovative EU projects to build user-focused, interdisciplinary, responsive and sustained ocean information systems and increase the sustainability of the Blue Economy, joined forces in a strong cluster to better address key global marine challenges. Under the lead of the EuroSea project, the group translated its common concerns to recommendations and listed these in the joint policy brief ‘Nourishing Blue Economy and Sharing Ocean Knowledge. Ocean Information for Sustainable Management.’. Following up on these recommendations will strengthen the entire Value Chain of Ocean Information and ensure sound sustainable ocean management. In this way, the 10 projects jointly strive to achieve goals set out in the EU Green Deal, the Paris Agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the United Nations 2021-2030 Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Ocean Development. Toste Tanhua (GEOMAR), EuroSea coordinator: “It was great to collaborate with these other innovative projects and make joint recommendations based on different perspectives and expertise.”

Coccolithophores are globally important marine calcifying phytoplankton that utilize a haplo-diplontic life cycle. The haplo-diplontic life cycle allows coccolithophores to divide in both life cycle phases and potentially expands coccolithophore niche volume. Research has, however, to date largely overlooked the life cycle of coccolithophores and has instead focused on the diploid life cycle phase of coccolithophores. Through the synthesis and analysis of global scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coccolithophore abundance data (n=2534), we find that calcified haploid coccolithophores generally constitute a minor component of the total coccolithophore abundance (≈ 2 %–15 % depending on season). However, using case studies in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, we show that, depending on environmental conditions, calcifying haploid coccolithophores can be significant contributors to the coccolithophore standing stock (up to ≈30 %). Furthermore, using hypervolumes to quantify the niche of coccolithophores, we illustrate that the haploid and diploid life cycle phases inhabit contrasting niches and that on average this allows coccolithophores to expand their niche by ≈18.8 %, with a range of 3 %–76 % for individual species. Our results highlight that future coccolithophore research should consider both life cycle stages, as omission of the haploid life cycle phase in current research limits our understanding of coccolithophore ecology. Our results furthermore suggest a different response to nutrient limitation and stratification, which may be of relevance for further climate scenarios. Our compilation highlights the spatial and temporal sparsity of SEM measurements and the need for new molecular techniques to identify uncalcified haploid coccolithophores. Our work also emphasizes the need for further work on the carbonate chemistry niche of the coccolithophore life cycle.

Three high resolution multicore records from two western Mediterranean Sea regions (Alboran and Balearic basins) have been analyzed for sea surface temperature (SST), coccolithophore and planktic foraminiferal abundance changes. Age-depth models at both sites were developed by a combination of 210Pb and 14C dating techniques, describing high sedimentation rates at both study sites, covering the time interval from the Medieval climate anomaly to present. Alkenone derived SST of core MedSeA-S3-c1 and MedSeA-S23-c3 are in good agreement with other results, tracing temperature changes through the Common Era (CE) and show a clear warming emergence at about 1850 CE. Analysis of relative abundance of calcareous nannoplankton assemblages (coccolithophores) was done on core MedSeA-S3-c1 (150 µm. Both cores show opposite abundance fluctuations of planktic foraminiferal species (Globigerina bulloides, Globorotalia inflata and Globorotalia truncatulinoides). The relative abundance changes of Globorotalia truncatulinoides plus Globorotalia inflata describe the intensity of deep winter mixing in the Balearic basin. In the Alboran Sea, Globigerina bulloides and Globorotalia inflata instead respond to local upwelling dynamics. Our data suggests that planktic foraminiferal abundance and species changes in the western Mediterranean Sea is already affected by accelerated anthropogenic warming, overprinting natural cycles in this region.

This dataset presents the fire proxies levoglucosan, black carbon and ammonium measured in the RECAP ice core, in coastal East Greenland. The datasets cover a period of 5000 years and are averaged in 20 years bins. Raw concentrations of levoglucosan, black carbon and ammonium are also provided. Levoglucosan has been determined using high performance liquid chromatography/negative ion electrospray ionization – tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/(-)ESI-MS/MS). Black carbon has been measured using a BC analyzer connected to the Continuous Flow Analysis system. Ammonium (NH4+) has been measured by fluorescence within the Continuous Flow Analysis setup.

From 2003 to 2013, the Ancona section of CNR-IRBIM (formerly part of CNR-Institute of Marine Science) runned the "Fishery Observing System" (FOS) program aimed at using Italian fishing vessels as Vessels Of Opportunity (VOOs) for the collection of scientifically useful datasets (Falco et al. 2007). Some commercial fishing vessels, targetting small pelagic species in the northern and central Adriatic Sea, were equipped with an integrated system for the collection of information on catches, position of the fishing operation, depth and water temperature during the haul, producing a great amount of data that demonstrated to be helpful both for oceanographic and fishery biology purposes (Carpi et al. 2015; Aydo?du et a. 2016; Sparnocchia et al. 2016; Lucchetti et al. 2018). In 2012, thanks to the participation to some national and international projects (e.g. SSD-Pesca, EU-FP7 JERICO etc.), CNR started the development of a new modular "Fishery & Oceanography Observing System" (FOOS; Patti et al. 2013). New sensors for oceanographic and meteorological data allow nowadays the FOOS to collect more parameters, with higher accuracy and to send them directly to a data center in near real time (Martinelli et al. 2016; Sparnocchia et al. 2017). Furthermore, the FOOS is a multifunction system able to collect various kind of data from the fishing operations and also to send back to the fishermen useful information (e.g. weather and sea forecasts, etc.) through an electronic logbook with an ad hoc software embedded. The new FOOS installed on various kind of fishing vessels targetting different resources, allowed a spatial extension of the monitored areas in the Mediterranean Sea (Patti et al. 2013). CNR-IRBIM implemented the "AdriFOOS" observational system, by installing the FOOS on some commercial fishing boats operating in the Adriatic Sea. Since then the datacenter based in Ancona receives daily data sets of environmental parameters collected along the water column and close to the sea bottom (eg. temperature, salinity, etc.), together with GPS haul tracks, catch amounts per haul, target species sizes and weather information. Some temperature and salinity measurements acquired by the FOOS in the Adriatic Sea from January 2014 to March 2015 were published within the JERICO project and some oxygen and fluorescence profiles obtained in 2017 within the NEXOS project. The dataset here presented contains 14803 depth/temperature profiles collected by 10 vessels of the AdriFOOS fleet in the period 2012-2020. All the profiles were subjected to quality control.Data are flagged according the L20 (SEADATANET MEASURAND QUALIFIER FLAGS).

In this paper we provide an overview of new knowledge on oxygen depletion (hypoxia) and related phenomena in aquatic systems resulting from the EU-FP7 project HYPOX ("In situ monitoring of oxygen depletion in hypoxic ecosystems of coastal and open seas, and landlocked water bodies", http://www.hypox.net). In view of the anticipated oxygen loss in aquatic systems due to eutrophication and climate change, HYPOX was set up to improve capacities to monitor hypoxia as well as to understand its causes and consequences. Temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of hypoxia were analyzed in field studies in various aquatic environments, including the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, Scottish and Scandinavian fjords, Ionian Sea lagoons and embayments, and Swiss lakes. Examples of episodic and rapid (hours) occurrences of hypoxia, as well as seasonal changes in bottom-water oxygenation in stratified systems, are discussed. Geologically driven hypoxia caused by gas seepage is demonstrated. Using novel technologies, temporal and spatial patterns of water-column oxygenation, from basin-scale seasonal patterns to meter-scale sub-micromolar oxygen distributions, were resolved. Existing multidecadal monitoring data were used to demonstrate the imprint of climate change and eutrophication on long-term oxygen distributions. Organic and inorganic proxies were used to extend investigations on past oxygen conditions to centennial and even longer timescales that cannot be resolved by monitoring. The effects of hypoxia on faunal communities and biogeochemical processes were also addressed in the project. An investigation of benthic fauna is presented as an example of hypoxia-devastated benthic communities that slowly recover upon a reduction in eutrophication in a system where naturally occurring hypoxia overlaps with anthropogenic hypoxia. Biogeochemical investigations reveal that oxygen intrusions have a strong effect on the microbially mediated redox cycling of elements. Observations and modeling studies of the sediments demonstrate the effect of seasonally changing oxygen conditions on benthic mineralization pathways and fluxes. Data quality and access are crucial in hypoxia research. Technical issues are therefore also addressed, including the availability of suitable sensor technology to resolve the gradual changes in bottom-water oxygen in marine systems that can be expected as a result of climate change. Using cabled observatories as examples, we show how the benefit of continuous oxygen monitoring can be maximized by adopting proper quality control. Finally, we discuss strategies for state-of-the-art data archiving and dissemination in compliance with global standards, and how ocean observations can contribute to global earth observation attempts.

The present study provides new knowledge about the so far largely unexplored Coral Patch seamount which is located in the NE Atlantic Ocean half-way between the Iberian Peninsula and Madeira. For the first time a detailed hydroacoustic mapping (MBES) in conjunction with video surveys (ROV, camera sled) were performed to describe the sedimentological and biological characteristics of this sub-elliptical ENE-WSW elongated seamount. Video observations were restricted to the southwestern summit area of Coral Patch seamount (water depth: 560–760 m) and revealed that this part of the summit is dominated by exposed hard substrate, whereas soft sediment is just a minor substrate component. Although exposed hardgrounds are dominant for this summit area and, thus, offer suitable habitat for settlement by benthic organisms, the benthic megafauna shows rather scarce occurrence. In particular, scleractinian framework-building cold-water corals are apparently rare with very few isolated and small-sized live occurrences of the species Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata. In contrast, dead coral framework and coral rubble are more frequent pointing to a higher abundance of cold-water corals on Coral Patch during the recent past. This is even supported by the observation of fishing lines that got entangled with rather fresh-looking coral frameworks. Overall, long lines and various species of commercially important fish were frequently observed emphasising the potential of Coral Patch as an important target for fisheries that may have impacted the entire benthic community. Hydroacoustic seabed classification covered the entire summit of Coral Patch and its northern and southern flanks (water depth: 560–2660 m) and revealed extended areas dominated by mixed and soft sediments at the northern flank and to a minor degree at its easternmost summit and southern flank. Nevertheless, these data also predict most of the summit area to be dominated by exposed bedrock which would offer suitable habitat for benthic organisms. By comparing the locally restricted video observations and the broad-scale monitoring of a much larger and deeper seafloor area as derived by hydroacoustic seabed classification, it becomes obvious that habitat information obtained by in situ sampling may provide a rather scattered pattern about the entire seamount ecosystem. Solely with a combination of both methods, a satisfactory approach to describe the diverse characteristics of a seamount ecosystem can be derived which is in turn indispensable for future scientific monitoring campaigns as well as management and conservation purposes.

Changes in marine net primary productivity (PP) and export of particulate organic carbon (EP) are projected over the 21st century with four global coupled carbon cycle-climate models. These include representations of marine ecosystems and the carbon cycle of different structure and complexity. All four models show a decrease in global mean PP and EP between 2 and 20% by 2100 relative to preindustrial conditions, for the SRES A2 emission scenario. Two different regimes for productivity changes are consistently identified in all models. The first chain of mechanisms is dominant in the low- and mid-latitude ocean and in the North Atlantic: reduced input of macro-nutrients into the euphotic zone related to enhanced stratification, reduced mixed layer depth, and slowed circulation causes a decrease in macro-nutrient concentrations and in PP and EP. The second regime is projected for parts of the Southern Ocean: an alleviation of light and/or temperature limitation leads to an increase in PP and EP as productivity is fueled by a sustained nutrient input. A region of disagreement among the models is the Arctic, where three models project an increase in PP while one model projects a decrease. Projected changes in seasonal and interannual variability are modest in most regions. Regional model skill metrics are proposed to generate multi-model mean fields that show an improved skill in representing observation-based estimates compared to a simple multi-model average. Model results are compared to recent productivity projections with three different algorithms, usually applied to infer net primary production from satellite observations.