• European Marine Science
• 2014-2023close
• Collection close
• English close
• European Marine Science close

This dataset contains CCN concentrations at five supersaturation levels, averaged to 1 min time resolution, measured during the year-long Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition from October 2019 to September 2020. The measurements were performed in the Swiss container on the D-deck of Research Vessel Polarstern, using the model CCN-100 from Droplet Measurement Technologies (DMT, Boulder, USA). Detailed description of the measurement principle can be found in e.g. Roberts & Nenes (2005). The instrument was located behind an automated valve, which switched hourly between a total and an interstitial air inlet, with upper cutoff sizes of 40 and 1 µm respectively (Heutte et al., Submitted; Beck et al., 2022; Dada et al., 2022). The measurements were performed in 1-h cycles, with a 0.5 L/min sample flow and a 2 L/min make up flow, where the supersaturations 0.15, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 % were measured. The supersaturation of 0.15 % is measured for 20 min, as it takes longer to equilibrate, and the remaining supersaturations were measured for 10 min each. The instrument was calibrated in July 2019 before the campaign, and in March and April 2020 during the campaign. Based on the inter-variability of the calculated supersaturation levels during these calibrations, we can expect values ranging from 0.15-0.20, 0.20-0.25, 0.29-0.33, 0.43-0.5, 0.78-1.0 % for the nominal supersaturations of 0.15, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 %, respectively. The counting error for the CCNC is associated with the error in the optical counting of particles and is about 10 %. Data were removed during the cooling cycle (i.e., the time when the measurement cycle starts again and the temperature is cooled to set the lowest supersaturation), which corresponds roughly to the first 10 min of each hour (so 50 % of the 0.15 % supersaturation period). Additionally, the first minute of the transition between supersaturations was removed before averaging the data to 1 min time resolution. During some time periods, a difference pattern of mean and standard deviation of the measurements between even and odd hours was observed, most probably caused by a persistent pressure drop in the inlet lines, resulting in a proportional reduction of the concentration measurements. For correction, the 1-h arithmetic mean of interstitial inlet measurements and the mean of the two adjacent hours of total inlet measurements were subtracted, and the resulting difference was added as a constant to the data points of the interstitial inlet measurements. The dataset contains a pollution mask for local pollution (predominantly exhaust from the Research Vessel Polarstern) with 0 indicating clean, and 1 indicating polluted periods (Beck et al., 2022; Beck et al., 2022).

Topographic variation underpins a myriad of patterns and processes in hydrology, climatology, geography and ecology and is key to understanding the variation of life on the planet. A fully standardized and global multivariate product of different terrain features has the potential to support many large-scale basic research and analytical applications, however to date, such datasets are unavailable. Here we used the digital elevation model products of global 250 m GMTED2010 and near-global 90m SRTM4.1dev to derive a suite of topographic variables: elevation, slope, aspect, eastness, northness, roughness, terrain roughness index, topographic position index, vector ruggedness measure, profile/tangential curvature, first/second order partial derivative, and 10 geomorphological landform classes. We aggregated each variable to 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 km spatial grains using several aggregation approaches. While a cross-correlation underlines the high similarity of many variables, a more detailed view in four mountain regions reveals local differences, as well as scale variations in the aggregated variables at different spatial grains.

We present a baseline study of “living” (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera from fjords of South Georgia, including fjords with and without tidewater glaciers. Their distribution is analyzed in the light of new fjord water and sediment property data, including grain size and sorting, total organic carbon, total sulfur, and δ13C of bulk organic matter. Four well-defined foraminiferal assemblages are recognized. Miliammina earlandi dominates in the most restricted, near-shore and glacier-proximal habitats, Cassidulinoides aff. parkerianus in mid-fjord areas, and Globocassidulina aff. rossensis and an assemblage dominated by Ammobaculites rostratus, Reophax subfusiformis, and Astrononion echolsi in the outer parts of fjords. Miliammina earlandi can tolerate strong glacial influence, including high sedimentation rates in fjord heads and sediment anoxia, as inferred from sediment color and total organic carbon/sulfur ratios. This versatile species thrives both in the food-poor inner reaches of fjords that receive mainly refractory petrogenic organic matter from glacial meltwater, and in shallow-water coves where it benefits from an abundant supply of fresh, terrestrial and marine organic matter. A smooth-walled variant of C. aff. parkerianus, apparently endemic to South Georgia, is the calcareous rotaliid best adapted to inner fjord conditions characterized by moderate glacial influence and sedimentation rates and showing no preference for particular sedimentary redox conditions. The outer parts of fjords with clear, well-oxygenated bottom water, are inhabited by G. aff. rossensis. Ammobaculites rostratus, R. subfusiformis, and A. echolsi dominate in the deepest-water settings with water salinities ≥ 33.9 PSU and temperatures 0.2–1.4 °C, characteristic for Winter Water and Upper Circumpolar Deep Water.

Radar-detected internal layering contains information on past accumulation rates and patterns. In this study, we assume that the radar layers are isochrones, and use the layer stratigraphy in combination with ice-core measurements and numerical methods to retrieve accumulation information for the northern part of central Greenland. Measurements of the dielectric properties of an ice core from the NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) site, allow for correlation of the radar layers with volcanic horizons to obtain an accurate age of the layers. We obtain 100 a averaged accumulation patterns for the period 1311-2011 for a 300 by 350 km area encompassing the two ice-core sites: NEEM and NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project). Our results show a clear trend of high accumulation rates west of the ice divide and low accumulation rates east of the ice divide. At the NEEM site, this accumulation pattern persists throughout our study period with only minor temporal variations in the accumulation rate. In contrast, the accumulation rate shows more pronounced temporal variations (based on our centennial averages) from 170 km south of the NEEM site to the NGRIP site. We attribute this variation to shifts in the location of the high?low accumulation boundary away from the ice divide.

GPS track of albatros MD03i drifters with drag anchors in about 0.9m to 2.0m depth deployed during Havariekommando oil pollution combatting exercise in the offshore wind farm.

We report the levels of airborne individual PCB concentrations of gas and particle phases from the City of Chicago in 2009. Twenty-seven and 17 locations were sampled for gas and particle phases, respectively, where 141 and 46 gas and particle phases were collected. Total suspended particles (TSP) were also measured for the particle-phase samples. One hundred and seventy-one individual or coeluting congener PCBs are reported. Field blank masses for all 171 individual congeners for both gas (XAD-2) and particle (QFF) phases are included. Sample mass for all 171 individual congeners for both gas (XAD-2) and particle (QFF) phases are included. Deployment time and sampling flow are included. Final individual PCB congener concentrations, as well as ambient air temperature (K), wind speed (m/s), and TSP are included.

Methane (CH4) is a strong greenhouse gas known to have perturbed global climate in the past, especially when released in large quantities over short time periods from continental or marine sources. It is therefore crucial to understand and, if possible, quantify the individual and combined response of these variable methane sources to natural climate variability. However, past changes in the stability of greenhouse gas reservoirs remain uncertain and poorly constrained by geological evidence. Here, we present a record from the Congo fan of a highly specific bacteriohopanepolyol (BHP) biomarker for aerobic methane oxidation (AMO), 35-aminobacteriohopane-30,31,32,33,34-pentol (aminopentol), that identifies discrete periods of increased AMO as far back as 1.2 Ma. Fluctuations in the concentration of aminopentol, and other 35-aminoBHPs, follow a pattern that correlates with late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climate cycles, with highest concentrations during warm periods. We discuss possible sources of aminopentol, and the methane consumed by the precursor methanotrophs, within the context of the Congo River setting, including supply of methane oxidation markers from terrestrial watersheds and/or marine sources (gas hydrate and/or deep subsurface gas reservoir). Compound-specific carbon isotope values of -30 per mil to -40 per mil for BHPs in ODP 1075 and strong similarities between the BHP signature of the core and surface sediments from the Congo estuary and floodplain wetlands from the interior of the Congo River Basin, support a methanotrophic and likely terrigenous origin of the 35-aminoBHPs found in the fan sediments. This new evidence supports a causal connection between marine sediment BHP records of tropical deep sea fans and wetland settings in the feeding river catchments, and thus tropical continental hydrology. Further research is needed to better constrain the different sources and pathways of methane emission. However, this study identifies the large potential of aminoBHPs, in particular aminopentol, to trace and, once better calibrated and understood, quantify past methane sources and fluxes from terrestrial and potentially also marine sources.

Attempts have been made to study the entire growth history of a manganese nodule from the northern part of Peru Basin in the Pacific using radiochemical profiles of 230Th232Th, 227Th230Th, and 10Be9Be. Combined with the observations on Fe-Mn contents and textural variation, the radiochemical data indicate that the nodule grew more or less concentrically throughout most of its existence since it formed 1.5 my ago, receiving Mn from both bottom water and pore water. This condition appeared to have changed about 180 ky ago when the growth became asymmetric in that the top and bottom sides became fixed in their relative positions on the sea floor. Since then, the bottom side accreted with a fast rate of close to 200 mm/my, apparently fueled by the supply of diagenetically remobilized Mn in pore water from the sediment substrate. In the meantime, the top side accumulated at about 6 mm/my, a value which is in the normal range for deep-sea nodules having their Mn supplied from the hydrogenous source.

Under the EU Water Framework Directive, suspended sediment is omitted from environmental quality standards and compliance targets. This omission is partly explained by difficulties in assessing the complex dose-response of ecological communities. But equally, it is hindered by a lack of spatially distributed estimates of suspended sediment variability across catchments. In this paper, we demonstrate the inability of traditional, discrete sampling campaigns for assessing exposure to fine sediment. Sampling frequencies based on Environmental Quality Standard protocols, whilst reflecting typical manual sampling constraints, are unable to determine the magnitude of sediment exposure with an acceptable level of precision. Deviations from actual concentrations range between -35 and +20% based on the interquartile range of simulations. As an alternative, we assess the value of low-cost, suspended sediment sampling networks for quantifying suspended sediment transfer. In this study of the 362 km**2 upland Esk catchment we observe spatial patterns of sediment flux are consistent over the two year monitoring period, highlighting key contributing sub-catchments (e.g. Butter Beck - 1141 t/km**2/yr and Glaisdale Beck - 841 t/km**2/yr). The time-integrated samplers offer a feasible alternative to traditional infrequent and discrete sampling approaches for assessing spatio-temporal changes in contamination. In conjunction with a spatially distributed diffuse pollution model (SCIMAP), time-integrated sediment sampling is an effective means of identifying critical sediment source areas in the catchment, which can better inform sediment management strategies for pollution prevention and control.