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Momarsat 2022 cruise report: summary of dives and operations, and position of moorings and observation infrastructures and sampling locations

Impact of Local Iron Enrichment on the Small Benthic Biota in the deep Arctic Ocean The study assesses the impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota (bacteria, meiofauna) together with environmental parameters indicating the input of food at the deep seafloor. To evaluate the hypothesis that abundance, distribution, and diversity of the small benthic biota varies in relation to a local input of structural steel at the seabed, we analyzed sediment samples and the associated infauna along a short transect with increasing distance to an iron source, i.e., corroding steel weights of a free-falling observational platform (bottom-lander), lying on the seafloor for approximately seven years. Iron-enriched surface sediments in the vicinity of the bottom-weight left in summer 2008 after a short-term deployment of a bottom-lander in 2433 m water depth at the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observation HAUSGARTEN in eastern parts of the Fram Strait were sampled on 28th July 2015 using push-corer (PC) handled by the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) QUEST 4000 (MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, Germany) during Dive 369 from board RV Polarstern. The block-shaped steel bottom-weights (30 x 30 x 6 cm) were sitting about half of the height sunken into the seafloor and thus, almost not affecting near-bottom currents. During sampling in 2015, the plates were largely corroded. Surface sediments around the plates had an orange-red color with a gradient of decreasing color intensity with increasing distance from the source, i.e., the bottom weight. A total of eight push-corer samples (PC1-8) were taken at approx. regular distances (on average every 18 cm) along a short transect (about 1.5 m) crossing the iron gradient. Push-corers PC1-4 retrieved sediment from heavily impacted sediments, while samples taken from push-corers PC5-8 were visually indistinguishable from background sediments in the wider area. After recovery of the ROV, sediment cores (8 cm in diameter, and 20-25 cm in height) were sub-sampled using plastic syringes with cut-off anterior ends for meiofauna and nematode communities as well as for environmental parameters. The position specified in the data sets (longitude / latitude) refers to the position of the ROV.

This dataset explores the variability in glacial-interglacial surface hydrography in the western Indian Ocean across the middle to late Pleistocene. Here, we provide 1kyr resolution Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperatures and surface oxygen isotope ratios of seawater (ice volume corrected) as proxy for surface palaeo-salinity from surface dwelling foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber from International Ocean Discovery Program core site U1476 located in the Mozambique Channel, which we use in combination with other records to create Indian Ocean sea surface salinity and sea surface temperature stacks. The data show increases in sea surface temperature and salinity during glaciation, with maximum temperature and salinity occurring at glacial maxima, prior to global deglaciations as indicated by benthic oxygen isotopes, a proxy for global ice volume. Lead-lag analyses were conducted using cross-spectral analysis between sea surface temperatures, salinity, and benthic oxygen isotopes. In parallel, sea-to-land pixel ratios from the ANICE-SELEN model across the Indonesian Archipelago show changes in land surfacing in the Indonesian archipelago due to globally sinking sea levels. The increase in surface temperature and salinification at U1476 occurs at the same time as major land surfacing in the Indonesian Archipelago suggesting a mechanistical link between land surfacing due to global sea level lowering, and changes in Indian Ocean surface hydrography that appears to be a resulting reduction in the considerably fresher Indonesian throughflow entering the Indian Ocean.

The tropical Angolan upwelling system is a highly productive ecosystem with a distinct seasonal cycle in surface temperature and primary production. The lowest sea surface temperature, strongest cross-shore temperature gradient, and maximum productivity occur in austral winter when seasonally prevailing upwelling favorable winds are weakest. A multi cruise dataset of microstructure profiles collected between 2013 and 2022 in the tropical Angolan upwelling system was used to analyze the importance of mixing for cooling of the mixed layer. The data were collected during six cruises on board of the R/V Meteor. The results show that cooling due to turbulent heat fluxes at the base of the mixed layer is an important cooling term. This turbulent cooling, that is strongest in shallow shelf regions, is capable of explaining the observed negative cross-shore temperature gradient.

Permeable sandy sediments play essential roles in the coastal ocean's organic matter (OM) turnover and nutrient cycling. Here we collected the North Sea sands around the island of Sylt, Germany (August 2020), and incubated them using flow-through reactors to investigate the biogeochemical processes during the transition of redox conditions. This dataset included the changes of major parameters (O2, Mn, Fe, P, SO42-, NH4+, NO3-, DIC, pH, etc.) during the anoxic incubation of these sands. This is a supplemental dataset for the following peer-reviewed publication (doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161168).

This document will form the basis for the EuropaBON virtual workshop on EBV workflows (22-24 February 2023) and for developing the co-design of the European Biodiversity Observation Network.

During RV Alkor cruise AL543 (23.08.2020 – 28.08.2020), CTDs were deployed and multiple corers (MUC) were retrieved at 11 stations in Kiel Bight in the western Baltic Sea. Water column samples were collected for the analyses of nutrient (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and silica) concentrations using an autoanalyzer and oxygen concentrations by Winkler titration. The pore water was extracted from the MUCs and analyzed onboard for ammonia, phosphate, silica and dissolved ferrous iron (photometry), chloride and sulfate (ion chromatography) as well as total alkalinity (titration). The data and samples collected during AL543 will be used to investigate (i) the impact of coastal erosion on sedimentary processes and (ii) how the interplay of benthic and pelagic processes determine the distribution of trace elements and their isotopes in the water column.

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.

The XRD data has been gained from pulverized and homogenized samples of every 5 cm by KOPRI personal at KOPRI and University of Tromsoe sampling parties. XRD raw measurements were run at Crystallography, Geosciences, University of Bremen in 2018-2020. Measurement conditions: Philips X'Pert Diffractometer, Cu radiation, fixed divergence, secoundary Ni filter, 3-85 ° 2theta, 0.0016° step size, 100 sec calculated step time. XRD mineral assemblage determination were subsequently gained through the QUAX full pattern quantitative determination software (see Vogt et al. 2002 at Pangaea methods wiki). The software allows for differentiation of all minerals. Here, the Fe-oxides and hydroxides were in the focus of the research manuscript. A QXRD investigation allows for not only identification of mineral content but also for detailing authigenic vs. allochthonous minerals, transport of detrital input to the sediment core and the interpretation of the transport processes and the local environment as well as the paleoceanographic reconstruction of the region. Sediment ages are given through the below mentioned data sets. A series of fjord surface sediments were collected from various Svalbard fjord systems during expeditions of RV Helmer Hanssen from UiT The Arctic University of Norway between 2012 and 2019 (Fig. 1). Four gravity cores were retrieved along a 150 km long N‒S transect from the continental shelf off northern Svalbard to the innermost Wijdefjorden: core HH17-1085-GC (hereafter 1085; 80.27°N, 16.21°E, 322 m water depth; continental shelf), HH17-1094-GC (hereafter 1094; 79.74°N, 15.42°E, 148 m water depth; fjord mouth), HH17-1100-GC (hereafter 1100; 79.30°N, 15.78°E, 112 m water depth; central fjord), and HH17-1106-GC (hereafter 1106; 79.00°N, 16.21°E, 160 m water depth; inner fjord)

The mucus covers the fish's body, working as a protective barrier. Besides physical protection, mucus provides molecules that protect the fish from pathogens damaging 1,2. These include antimicrobial peptides secreted in the mucus, which play an essential role in defense against microbial pathogens since these belong to the innate immune system2,3. In this study, two adult Halobatrachus didactylus individuals were captured from the wild in Sesimbra. Then, mucus collection was performed by scraping the dorsal-lateral body of the fish with a sponge. Our objective was the identification of new peptides with bioactive potential in mucus samples by chromatography analysis. Size exclusion highperformance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) analysis performed on mucus samples from the two individuals revealed a similar profile with an intense highlight peak which resulted in a distribution of about 775 Dalton. With interest in that peak, the two mucus samples were pooled for fractionation by SEC. The resulting fraction was analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS) to identify the most probable peptide sequences. Identification from databases did not provide reliable results, indicating a lack of information on the matrix analyzed. We resorted to de novo sequencing with good results using PEAKS Studio software. Five identified peptides were selected according to their bioactivities predicted in silico. Furthermore, the five identified peptides were synthesized, and the molecular size was validated by SE-HPLC analysis. Overall, this chromatographic approach enabled the identification of promising peptides, which bioactivities will be evaluated in vitro in future work.