Description: From the establishment of proper cultivation conditions of phototrophic sulfur bacteria 50 years ago up to today significant improvements have been made to systematically treat the phototrophic green and purple sulfur bacteria and identify them in environmental communities. Important steps for these improvements were first of all the description of a large number of pure cultures representing a proper fraction of environmental diversity, their correct taxonomic treatment and the clear definition of the taxa. Further important steps were the establishment of a phylogenetics-based taxonomy supported by 16S rRNA gene sequences and the demonstration of congruence between phylogenies based on 16S rRNA genes and functional genes. The formation of a large database of fmoA genes of green sulfur bacteria and of pufLM genes of purple sulfur bacteria and their obvious phylogenetic congruence with the 16S rRNA gene enabled detailed studies of environmental communities of these bacteria and the recognition of species and genera in natural habitats. The comprehensive studies of selected habitats yielded promising results and demonstrated the potential of this approach for the systematic characterization of environmental communities.

Description: 17-20 May 2011 Fort de Vaise, 25 Boulevard de Saint Exupery, Lyon, France

Description: Small to meso-scale distribution of Baltic cod (Gadus morhua L.) as resolved by hydroacoustics: Habitat preferences, environmental limits, and resulting implications for stock development

Description: The Copenhagen Diagnosis is a summary of the global warming peer reviewed science since 2007. Produced by a team of 26 scientists led by the University of New South Wales Climate Research Centre, the Diagnosis convincingly proves that the effects of global warming have gotten worse in the last three years. It is a timely update to the UN’s Intercontinental Panel on Climate Change 2007 Fourth Assessment document (IPCC AR4). The report places the blame for the century long temperature increase on human factors and says the turning point ";must come soon";. If we are to limit warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial values, global emissions must peak by 2020 at the latest and then decline rapidly. The scientists warned that waiting for higher levels of scientific certainty could mean that some tipping points will be crossed before they are recognized. By 2050 we will effectively need to be in a post-carbon economy if we are to avoid unlivable temperatures.

Description: The overview of the 20-years joint Russian-German multidisciplinary researches in the Arctic are represented in this article. Data were obtained during numerous marine and terrestrial expeditions, all-year-round measurements and observations. On the basis of modern research methods including satellite observation, radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating of the Arctic sea sediments, isotope, biochemical and other methods, the new unique records were obtained. Special emphasis devoted to the latest data concerning modern sea-ice, ocean and sedimentation processes, evolution of the permafrost and paleoenvironments in the Laptev Sea System.

Description: Projekt Nr.: RUS 10/002: POMOR – Deutsch-Russischer Masterstudiengang für angewandte Meeres- und Polarwissenschaften. Laufzeit 01.05.2010 bis 31.12.2011.

Description: Cruise SO210 with RV SONNE to the active continental margin off Chile was conducted by shiptime exchange with RV METEOR. Funds for mobilizing the research team were provided by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in conjunction with the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 574 of the University of Kiel. In the first years, the SFB 574 investigated the pathways and fluxes of volatiles through the erosive subduction zone off Central America. For comparison, the studies were extended to the accretionary margin off Central Chile. Cruise SO210 is the last cruise conducted in the framework of SFB 574 and based on investigations of previous SFB-cruises on the RVs VIDAL GORMAZ and JAMES COOK. The first leg of cruise SO210 was dedicated to long gravity coring for volcanic ash layers from the erruptive Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) of the Andes that were either deposited as fallouts onto the incoming Nazca Plate or transported down the slope and across the Chile Trench. Eight gravity cores of 12 m length were retrieved seaward of the Chile Channel on the outer rise of the Nazca Plate. The second goal for coring was the description and dating of previously mapped submarine landslides as well as retrieval of slide-related material for geo-technical experiments. As the deployment frame for long coring had to be removed on the second leg we continued coring for mass-wasting and geochemistry with short cores. Ten gravity cores of 3 or 6 m barrel length were retrieved upslope of slides, the glide plane and redeposited material downslope of the slide evacuation area. This sampling activity was supported by detailed acoustic surveys with Parasound and multibeam to remap critical areas for mass wasting in search for events, e.g. triggered by the recent Mw 8.8 Maule Earthquake, such as flanks of submarine canyons or previously detected submarine slides and to fill data gaps in the existing bathymetric data. The major activity of the entire cruise was dedicated to the search and detailed sampling of manifestations of fluid discharge activity on the Chilean forearc. A total of 11 deployments with the video sled OFOS and 12 dives by the ROV KIEL 6000 were conducted for ground-truthing of information which indicated possible seep activity and has been obtained during previous cruises to the Chilean forearc. In five working areas we found manifestations of fluid discharge. In these areas the survey was followed by an intense sampling of bottom water, sediments, carbonates, mega and meiofauna and the deployment of instrumentation on the seafloor. The goal of these deployments was to measure in situ seabed methane emission rates and associated fluxes of sulfide and major electron acceptors such as oxygen at seep sites along the Chilean margin and to understand its controls. This was accompanied by CTD casts to trace oxygen and the fate of methane discharge in the water column. Sediment cores obtained by multicorer or ROV were used for the geochemical characterization of the pore water and microbiological studies which include turnover rate measurements, molecular studies, flow through experiments and sampling of active sediments. Authigenic carbonates obtained by TV-Grab or ROV were sampled for fauna, biomarker studies and investigations to reconstruct the growth structures, calcification processes and fluid-pathway systematic. The sampling of sediments and carbonates recovered a unique fauna with 79 different taxa, several of them appear to be species new to science.

Description: The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 307 was proposed to obtain evidence for understanding the origin and evolution of a 155 m high deepwater carbonate mound in the Porcupine Seabight. The major aim of this study is the reconstruction of environmental parameters using well-developed paleoceanographic proxies derived from calcareous tests and skeletons of benthic organisms based on sediment cores from this expedition. In particular, this study uses different archives such as scleractinian cold-water corals and calcitic foraminifers. The second chapter (published in Marine Geology 2011) reports on a high-resolution record of the mound base. Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes measured in several benthic and planktonic foraminifers as well as sortable silt analyses document the start-up phase of coral growth. Mound initiation and further development coincide with the intensification of Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) characterized by oceanographic conditions favourable for rapid cold-water coral growth. Furthermore excursions in foraminiferal δ13C values and increased flow conditions indicate erosional intervals, which overprinted probably diagenetically the original geochemical signals. The third chapter (to be submitted to Geology), also based on sediments from the mound base, shows that these ecosystems only thrive under specific oceanographic conditions. Based on core material, not only from Challenger Mound (IODP Expedition 307) but also from the Propeller Mound, we reconstructed paleo-seawater densities from oxygen isotope ratios in benthic foraminifera. Results clearly indicate results demonstrate that cold-water coral mound development occurred when a density window of sigma-theta (σΘ) = 27.35–27.55 kg m-3 was present in the ambient bottom water. Therefore we conclude that seawater density is reflecting one of the major controlling factors favoring mound growth and highlights the sensitivity of these ecosystems to environmental changes. The fourth chapter (submitted to Earth Planetary Science Letters) demonstrates the use of paleotemperature proxies in the scleractinian reef building cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. Temperature calibrations are based on L. pertusa samples from temperature range of 5.9°- 13.65°C originating from the European continental margin and the Mediterranean Sea. 
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 Results could not confirm earlier findings of Rüggeberg et al. (2008) that δ88/86Sr in Lophelia skeleton is positively correlated with temperature and may serve as a potential paleotemperature proxy. Results rather show that δ88/86Sr is inversely correlated with temperature in samples from the North Atlantic. However, this temperature effect appears to be superimposed by changes in the ocean carbonate system. Furthermore, this sample set of L. pertusa clearly shows the temperature dependency of elemental ratios such as Mg/Li and Sr/Ca. The Mg/Li ratio may serve as a new paleotemperature proxy in scleractinian cold- water corals, whereas the Sr/Ca ratio needs more detailed research. The fifth chapter (to be submitted) focuses on the long-term controlling mechanisms of cold- water coral mound growth in the Porcupine Seabight. Here, different paleo-proxies such as Mg/Ca, δ13C and δ18O in foraminifera and Mg/Li, Ba/Ca and U/Ca in cold-water coral L. pertusa were used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental parameters. Based on existing and additional age determinations (87Sr/86Sr, Th/U) previous findings were supported. However, our data point to an earlier mound initiation at ~3 Ma coincidently with the intensification of the Mediterranean Ouflow Water (MOW). Foraminiferal temperature records reveal that early mound development occurred in glacial and interglacial conditions, whereas the recent mound decline was caused by high amplitude excursions of the last interglacial/glacial cycles. In particular, coral Mg/LiLophelia temperatures indicate that coral growth occurred within a temperature range of 8 to 10°C, comparable to the recent measured settings in the Porcupine Seabight. Hence, results imply that the variations in intermediate water masses (Mediterranean Outflow Water, Eastern North Atlantic Water,) are the main trigger for mound growth and decline in the Porcupine Seabight. Moreover prior to the mid-Pleistocene rapid Challenger Mound growth benefited from a stable boundary layer between the MOW and the Eastern North Atlantic Water (ENAW) at which organic matter and nutrients settled on.