Description: This study presents a new in situ method to explore the impact of macrofauna on seafloor microtopography and corresponding microroughness based on underwater laser line scanning. The local microtopography was determined with mm-level accuracy at three stations colonised by the tubeworm Lanice conchilega offshore of the island of Sylt in the German Bight (south-eastern North Sea), covering approximately 0.5 m2 each. Ground truthing was done using underwater video data. Two stations were populated by tubeworm colonies of different population densities, and one station had a hydrodynamically rippled seafloor. Tubeworms caused an increased skewness of the microtopography height distribution and an increased root mean square roughness at short spatial wavelengths compared with hydrodynamic bedforms. Spectral analysis of the 2D Fourier transformed microtopography showed that the roughness magnitude increased at spatial wavelengths between 0.020 and 0.003 m independently of the tubeworm density. This effect was not detected by commonly used 1D roughness profiles but required consideration of the complete spectrum. Overall, the results reveal that new indicator variables for benthic organisms may be developed based on microtopographic data. An example demonstrates the use of local slope and skewness to detect tubeworms in the measured digital elevation model.

Description: This paper presents results of a multi-channel seismic reflection survey at Lake Van and provides constraints on the sedimentary evolution of the lake. The geophysical data of the lake confirm the existence of three physiographic provinces: a shelf, a slope, and a deep, relatively flat basin. The most prominent features identified on the shelf and slope are clinoforms, submerged channels, as well as closely spaced lake floor depressions, reflecting a highly variable lake-level history. The morphological depressions are interpreted as resulting from subaquatic erosion by channelized, sediment-laden currents into horizontally bedded fan sediments. Submerged channels on the eastern shelf are interpreted as meandering-slope channels, probably as a consequence of a lake-level fall that exposed the shelf area. Clinoforms on the Eastern fan may represent relict deltas formed during stationary or slightly rising lake-level intervals. Merging subsurface imaging interpretation with morphological studies of exposed sediments reveals lake-level fluctuations of several hundreds of meters during the past ca. *550 ka. The lake has three prominent basins (Tatvan, Deveboynu, and the Northern basin) separated by basement ridges (e.g., the Northern ridge). The seismic units in the Tatvan and Northern basins are dominated by alternations of wellstratified and chaotic reflections, while the Deveboynu basin subsurface consists mainly of chaotic units. The chaotic seismic facies are interpreted as mass-flow deposits, probably triggered by earthquakes and/or rapid lake-level fluctuations. The moderate-to-high-amplitude,well-stratified facies seen in the deeper parts of the basins are interpreted as lacustrine deposits intercalated with tephra layers. The occurrence of a clinoform in the deepest part of the lake suggests a major flooding stage of Lake Van more than *400 ka ago. Seismic profiles from the deepest part of the lake basin show remarkably uniform and continuous stratigraphic units without any major erosional feature following the flooding event, indicating that the lake was never completely dry afterward and therefore significantly older than previously suggested.