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Within the Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) density level, we study temporal changes in salinity, nutrients, oxygen and TTD (Transit Time Distribution) ages in the western (W) and eastern (E) subtropical gyre of the Indian Ocean (IO) from 1987 to 2002. Additionally, changes in Total Alkalinity (TA) and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) are evaluated between 1995 and 2002. The mechanisms behind the detected changes are discussed along with the results from a hindcast model run (Community Climate System Model). The increasing salinity and decreasing oxygen trends from 1960 to 1987 reversed from 1987 to 2002 along the gyre. In the W-IO a decreasing trend in TTD ages points to a faster delivery of SAMW, thus less biogenic matter remineralization, explaining the oxygen increase and noisier nutrients decrease. In the E-IO SAMW, no change in TTD ages was detected, therefore the trends in oxygen and inorganic nutrients relate to changes in the Antarctic Surface Water transported into the E-IO SAMW formation area. In the W-IO between 1995 and 2002, the DIC increase is equal or even less than the anthropogenic input as the reduction in remineralization contributes to mask the increasing trend. In the E-IO between 1995 and 2002, DIC decreases slightly despite the increase in the anthropogenic input. Differences in the preformed E-IO SAMW conditions would explain this behavior. Trends in the W and E IO SAMW are decoupled and related to different forcing mechanisms in the two main sites of SAMW formation in the IO, at 40°S–70°E and 45°S–90°E, respectively. 3

The seasonal and spatial variability of dissolved Barium (Ba) in the Amundsen Gulf, southeastern Beaufort Sea, was monitored over a full year from September 2007 to September 2008. Dissolved Ba displays a nutrient-type behavior: the maximum water column concentration is located below the surface layer. The highest Ba concentrations are typically observed at river mouths, the lowest concentrations are found in water masses of Atlantic origin. Barium concentrations decrease eastward through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Barite (BaSO4) saturation is reached at the maximum dissolved Ba concentrations in the subsurface layer, whereas the rest of the water column is undersaturated. A three end-member mixing model comprising freshwater from sea-ice melt and rivers, as well as upper halocline water, is used to establish their relative contributions to the Ba concentrations in the upper water column of the Amundsen Gulf. Based on water column and riverine Ba contributions, we assess the depletion of dissolved Ba by formation and sinking of biologically bound Ba (bio-Ba), from which we derive an estimate of the carbon export production. In the upper 50 m of the water column of the Amundsen Gulf, riverine Ba accounts for up to 15% of the available dissolved Ba inventory, of which up to 20% is depleted by bio-Ba formation and export. Since riverine inputs and Ba export occur concurrently, the seasonal variability of dissolved Ba in the upper water column is moderate. Assuming a fixed organic carbon to bio-Ba flux ratio, carbon export out of the surface layer is estimated at 1.8 ± 0.45 mol C m‑2 yr‑1. Finally, we propose a climatological carbon budget for the Amundsen Gulf based on recent literature data and our findings, the latter bridging the surface and subsurface water carbon cycles. International audience

Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. The project AstRoMap within the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP7) of the European Union 1.2. The European astrobiology environment and landscape in Europe 1.3. Setting the scene: timeline and astrobiology concepts 2. The Astrobiology Roadmap for Europe 3. Research Topic 1: Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems 3.1. State of the art 3.2. Key objectives 3.3. Approach to achieve the key objectives 3.4. European strengths and needs 4. Research Topic 2: Origins of Organic Compounds in Space 4.1. State of the art 4.2. Key objectives 4.3. Approach to achieve the key objectives 4.4. European strengths and needs 5. Research Topic 3: Rock-Water-Carbon Interactions, Organic Synthesis on Earth, and Steps to Life 5.1. State of the art 5.2. Key objectives 5.3. Approach to achieve the key objectives 5.4. European strengths and needs 6. Research Topic 4: Life and Habitability 6.1. State of the art 6.2. Key objectives 6.3. Approach to achieve the key objectives 6.4. European strengths and needs 7. Research Topic 5: Biosignatures as Facilitating Life Detection 7.1. State of the art 7.2. Key objectives 7.3. Approach to achieve the key objectives 7.4. European strengths and needs 8. Conclusions and Recommendations 8.1. Cross-cutting issues of relevance 8.2. Towards a better coordination of astrobiology research in Europe—the need for a pan-European platform Acknowledgments References Abbreviations Used Abstract The European AstRoMap project (supported by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme) surveyed the state of the art of astrobiology in Europe and beyond and produced the first European roadmap for astrobiology research. In the context of this roadmap, astrobiology is understood as the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the context of cosmic evolution; this includes habitability in the Solar System and beyond. The AstRoMap Roadmap identifies five research topics, specifies several key scientific objectives for each topic, and suggests ways to achieve all the objectives. The five AstRoMap Research Topics are • Research Topic 1: Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems• Research Topic 2: Origins of Organic Compounds in Space• Research Topic 3: Rock-Water-Carbon Interactions, Organic Synthesis on Earth, and Steps to Life• Research Topic 4: Life and Habitability• Research Topic 5: Biosignatures as Facilitating Life Detection It is strongly recommended that steps be taken towards the definition and implementation of a European Astrobiology Platform (or Institute) to streamline and optimize the scientific return by using a coordinated infrastructure and funding system. Key Words: Astrobiology roadmap—Europe—Origin and evolution of life—Habitability—Life detection—Life in extreme environments. Astrobiology 16, 201–243.

A new retrieval algorithm for the determination of aerosol properties using Multi‐AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX‐DOAS) measurements based on nonlinear optimal estimation is presented. Using simulated MAX‐DOAS measurements of the optical depth of the collision complex of oxygen (O4) as well as the variation of the intensity of diffuse skylight measured at different viewing directions and wavelengths, the capability of this measurement technique to derive the aerosol extinction profile as well as information on the phase function and single scattering albedo is demonstrated. The information content, vertical resolution and retrieval errors under various atmospheric conditions are discussed. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the assumption of a smooth variation of the aerosol properties between successive measurements can be used to improve the quality of the retrieval by applying a Kalman smoother. The results of these model studies suggest that the achievable precision of MAX‐DOAS measurements of the aerosol total optical depth is better than 0.01 and thus comparable with established methods of aerosol detection by Sun photometers (e.g., within the AERONET network) over a wide range of atmospheric conditions. Moreover, MAX‐DOAS measurements contain information on the vertical profile of the aerosol extinction, and can be performed with relatively simple, robust and self‐calibrating instruments.

The first swath bathymetry and side‐scan sonar imagery from the South Sandwich forearc reveals detailed seafloor morphology, tectonic fabric, and sedimentary features in an area where plate convergence is approximately normal to the trench. Simultaneously collected seismic reflection, gravity, and magnetic data provide information about the structure and composition of the forearc crust. Interpretation of these data together with the marine magnetic record of seafloor spreading in the east Scotia Sea back arc basin since 15 Ma has enabled quantitative estimation of sediment subduction and subduction erosion rates. Any accretionary prism present is constrained to be very small, extending 6 km or less from the trench. The contrast between this result and a time‐integrated estimate of potential accretionary prism volume suggests that >95% of the sediment which has entered the trench since 15 Ma has been subducted. The position of the South Sandwich island arc in relation to back arc magnetic lineations implies that the arc has migrated ∼70 km westward relative to the Sandwich plate since 15 Ma. Taking account of published observations concerning the typical geometric evolution of arc‐trench systems, the average rate of forearc slope retreat during this interval is inferred to be 3.1–4.7 km Myr−1. Gravity modeling suggests that the forearc crust averages ≤10 km in thickness within 110 km of the trench. For 10‐km‐thick forearc crust the rate of slope retreat implies an average rate of subduction erosion of forearc crust of 31–47 km3 km−1 Myr−1. At the present convergence rate of 74 km Myr−1 this erosion rate requires a 420–635 m thick layer of subducting material derived from the forearc crust. A time‐integrated estimate of the potential volume of forearc‐derived trench fill sediments subducted since 15 Ma implies that frontal erosion can only account for <40% of total subduction erosion. Therefore basal erosion must significantly exceed frontal erosion. The new data also provide insights concerning forearc strain regime and forearc basin evolution in the area studied. Extensional faulting near the trench slope break is probably caused by gravitational instability of the steep lower forearc slope. A lack of extensional strain indicators in the upper forearc and arc may be a consequence of the fact that the east Scotia Sea is a mature back arc basin contributing significant “ridge push” in the vicinity of the arc. The data reveal no evidence of arc‐parallel extension or of large serpentinite seamounts, as found in the Mariana forearc, and a causal link between these two observations is proposed. Seismic profiles across the forearc basin suggest that the balance between sediment accumulation and erosion is sensitive to changes in the elevation of the trench slope break. It is hypothesized that the basin is a dynamic feature which goes through repeated cycles of growth and destruction controlled by cyclic uplift and collapse of the trench slope break.

During a period of extremely quiet solar wind conditions from 8 to 10 March 1997, strong activity was observed by the Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars in the Antarctic premidnight ionosphere. This activity took the form of quasiperiodic flow bursts with ionospheric drift velocities exceeding 2 km s−1. Data from the Satellite Experiments Simultaneous with Antarctic Measurements (SESAME) automated geophysical observatories in Antarctica and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and Polar satellites are used with the radar data to study the convection flow in the southern polar ionosphere at the time of these flow bursts. The study shows that the bursts occurred with an approximate period of 12 min. Their direction was westward, and they were superimposed on a background westward flow. In the premidnight sector this is interpreted as a flow associated with dipolarization of the magnetotail tail field. There is a band of strong particle precipitation associated with the flow bursts. The location suggests that they occur deep in the magnetotail and cannot be associated with any lobe reconnection. They are at a latitude near the region where a viscously driven convection cell is expected to exist, and their sense is that of the return convection flow in such a cell. The results suggest that there is an internal magnetospheric mechanism for sporadic energy release in the magnetotail that need not be associated with changes in solar wind reconnection on the magnetopause.

We hypothesized that the optical plankton counter (OPC) senses particles in situ that are not collected by nets and analyzed in the laboratory. An OPC was deployed in situ between 1998 and 2004 in the mouth of a bongo net with 505‐μm‐mesh nets in the upper 210 m at stations in the California Current Region. Here we compare paired data sets from the OPC in situ and the OPC analysis in the laboratory of the simultaneously collected net samples for four seasons of 2 years. We restricted our analysis to particle sizes 1.26–6.35 mm equivalent spherical diameter (ESD), a size class shown from the lab OPC data to be retained efficiently by the net. On average, 4 (3) times more particles by number (volume) were sensed in situ by the OPC than sensed in net collections by the OPC in the lab. These values varied an order of magnitude among the eight cruises examined. Time of day, distance offshore, season, year, chlorophyll a concentration, and Brunt‐Väisälä frequency each explained significant variation in these differences. The excess of particles sensed in situ over that measured in the net samples was due primarily to smaller particles in the 1.26–6.35 mm ESD range. We infer that the particles measured by the OPC in situ but not in the lab were fragile and thus not collected by the net. We hypothesize that these fragile particles are primarily aggregates and abandoned houses of larvaceans.