Description: Collaborations between artists and ocean scientists are becoming increasingly frequent. As the UN Ocean Decade (2021-2030) stresses the importance of engaging with the public, there is a growing interest in using art as a tool for communication as well as for scientific exploration and experimentation. This mini-review charts the current academic research on art-science collaborations and the ocean, focusing on literature where artists and scientists work together to produce something based on scientific research. The study finds that these relationships are never apolitical, are complex and develop differently depending on each project. In sum the paper will highlight that although the academic literature is limited, its diversity has the potential to reach numerous academic disciplines and that focusing on process and engagement should be a direction for further research to help broaden the academic reach of these important oceanic knowledges.

Description: 〈jats:p〉In many of the Pacific Islands, local communities have long-held cultural and spiritual attachments to the sea, in particular to species and specific marine areas, processes, habitats, islands, and natural seabed formations. Traditional knowledge, customary marine management approaches and integrated relationships between biodiversity, ecosystems and local communities promote conservation and ensure that marine benefits are reaped in a holistic, sustainable and equitable manner. However, the interaction between local traditional knowledge, contemporary scientific approaches to marine resource management and specific regulatory frameworks has often been challenging. To some extent, the value of community practices and customary law, which have provided an incentive for regional cooperation and coordination around ocean governance, is acknowledged in several legal systems in the Pacific and a number of regional and international instruments, but this important connection can be further enhanced. In this article we present a science-based overview of the marine habitats that would be affected by deep seabed mining (DSM) along with an analysis of some traditional dimensions and cultural/societal aspects of marine resource management. We then assess whether the applicable legal frameworks at different levels attach sufficient importance to these traditional dimensions and to the human and societal aspects of seabed (mineral) resource management in the region. On the basis of this analysis, we identify best practices and formulate recommendations with regard to the current regulatory frameworks and seabed resource management approaches. Indeed, the policies and practices developed in the Pacific could well serve as a suitable model elsewhere to reconcile commercial, ecological, cultural and social values within the context of deep sea mineral exploitation in addition to sustaining the Human Well-being and Sustainable Livelihoods (HWSL) of the Pacific communities and the health of the Global Ocean.〈/jats:p〉

Description: Present day system Earth research utilizes the tool ‘Scientific Drilling’ to access samples and to monitor deep Earth processes that cannot be tackled by other scientific means. Unlike most laboratory experiments or computer modelling, drilling projects are massive field endeavours requiring intense collaboration of researchers with engineers and service providers. In the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, ICDP, more than seventy drilling projects have been conducted, from multiyear big research programs to short, smallscale deployments such as lake drilling projects. ICDP has supported these projects not only through grants covering field-related costs, but also through a variety of scientific-technical services and support, as well as active help in data management, outreach and publication. These services are described in this booklet. Due to its instructional character, we call it the ICDP Primer.

Description: This brochure is designed for scientists and engineers of upcoming drilling projects and explains the key steps and important challenges in planning and executing continental scientific drilling.

Description: This brochure is designed for scientists and engineers of upcoming drilling projects and explains the key steps and important challenges in planning and executing continental scientific drilling.

Description: Zooplankton plays a major role in ocean food webs and biogeochemical cycles, and provides major ecosystem services as a main driver of the biological carbon pump and in sustaining fish communities. Zooplankton is also sensitive to its environment and reacts to its changes. To better understand the importance of zooplankton, and to inform prognostic models that try to represent them, spatially-resolved biomass estimates of key plankton taxa are desirable. In this study we predict, for the first time, the global biomass distribution of 19 zooplankton taxa (1-50 mm Equivalent Spherical Diameter) using observations with the Underwater Vision Profiler 5, a quantitative in situ imaging instrument. After classification of 466,872 organisms from more than 3,549 profiles (0-500 m) obtained between 2008 and 2019 throughout the globe, we estimated their individual biovolumes and converted them to biomass using taxa-specific conversion factors. We then associated these biomass estimates with climatologies of environmental variables (temperature, salinity, oxygen, etc.), to build habitat models using boosted regression trees. The results reveal maximal zooplankton biomass values around 60°N and 55°S as well as minimal values around the oceanic gyres. An increased zooplankton biomass is also predicted for the equator. Global integrated biomass (0-500 m) was estimated at 0.403 PgC. It was largely dominated by Copepoda (35.7%, mostly in polar regions), followed by Eumalacostraca (26.6%) Rhizaria (16.4%, mostly in the intertropical convergence zone). The machine learning approach used here is sensitive to the size of the training set and generates reliable predictions for abundant groups such as Copepoda (R2 ≈ 20-66%) but not for rare ones (Ctenophora, Cnidaria, R2 〈 5%). Still, this study offers a first protocol to estimate global, spatially resolved zooplankton biomass and community composition from in situ imaging observations of individual organisms. The underlying dataset covers a period of 10 years while approaches that rely on net samples utilized datasets gathered since the 1960s. Increased use of digital imaging approaches should enable us to obtain zooplankton biomass distribution estimates at basin to global scales in shorter time frames in the future.

Description: 〈jats:p〉Human activities in coastal areas have intensified over the last 200 years, impacting also high-latitude regions such as the Baltic Sea. Benthic foraminifera, protists often with calcite shells (tests), are typically well preserved in marine sediments and known to record past bottom-water conditions. Morphological analyses of marine shells acquired by microcomputed tomography (µCT) have made significant progress toward a better understanding of recent environmental changes. However, limited access to data processing and a lack of guidelines persist when using open-source software adaptable to different microfossil shapes. This study provides a post-data routine to analyze the entire test parameters: average thickness, calcite volume, calcite surface area, number of pores, pore density, and calcite surface area/volume ratio. A case study was used to illustrate this method: 3D time series (i.e., 4D) of 〈jats:italic〉Elphidium clavatum〈/jats:italic〉 specimens recording environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea entrance from the period early industrial (the 1800s) to present-day (the 2010 s). Long-term morphological trends in the foraminiferal record revealed that modern specimens have ∼28% thinner tests and ∼91% more pores than their historic counterparts. However, morphological variability between specimens and the BFAR (specimens cm〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 yr〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉) in 〈jats:italic〉E. clavatum〈/jats:italic〉 were not always synchronous. While the BFAR remained unchanged, morphological variability was linked to natural environmental fluctuations in the early industrial period and the consequences of anthropogenic climate change in the 21st century. During the period 1940–2000 s, the variations in BFAR were synchronous with morphological variability, revealing both the effects of the increase in human activities and major hydrographic changes. Finally, our interpretations, based on 〈jats:italic〉E. clavatum〈/jats:italic〉 morphological variations, highlight environmental changes in the Baltic Sea area, supporting those documented by the foraminiferal assemblages.〈/jats:p〉

Description: This report documents the drilling operations of the Early Jurassic Earth System and Timescale scientific drilling project (JET, ICDP Project: 5065). The wells 5065_1_A, 5065_1_B, 5065_1_A were drilled in 2019-2021 with the support of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Alternatively, the site is known as Prees 2 (Holes A – C). Prees 1 was a nearby hydrocarbon exploration well drilled by Trend Petroleum in 1972–1973. The project aims to construct a fully integrated and astronomically calibrated timescale for the Early Jurassic, a time in Earth history during which important physical, chemical, and biological elements of the modern Earth system were initiated. The JET drilling campaign supplements the earlier Llanbedr (Mochras Farm) borehole (1967 – 1969) in NW Wales – usually known as Mo-chras – which recovered a 1.3 km thick succession comprising the Rhaetian (Upper Triassic), Hettangian, Sinemurian, Pliensbachian and Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) stages (Woodland, 1971; Hesselbo et al., 2013). Using the combined framework of Prees and Mochras, internal and ex-ternal forcing factors on the Earth system will be documented and quantified for major palaeo-environmental events, such as the Late Triassic mass extinction and the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, and for the more stable ‘background’ state.

Description: Plastic production and plastic waste have increased to such an extent that it has become globally ubiquitous. Recent research has highlighted that it has also invaded remote Polar Regions including the Arctic, where it is expected to accumulate over time due to transport from distant sources, rising local anthropogenic activities and increasing fragmentation of existing ocean plastics to microplastics (plastic items 〈5 mm). While a growing body of research has documented microplastics in the atmosphere, cryosphere, sea surface, water column, sediments and biota, contamination levels on Arctic beaches are poorly known. To fill this knowledge gap, we engaged citizen scientists participating in tourist cruises to sample beach sediments during shore visits on Svalbard, Norway. Following drying, sieving, and visual inspection of samples under a binocular microscope, putative plastic particles ≥1 mm were analysed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Plastic particles ≥1 mm were found in two out of 53 samples from 23 beaches (mean: 196.3 particles kg−1 and 147.4 particles L−1). These pollution levels could be due to our focus on plastic particles ≥1 mm as well as the relatively small sample sizes used during this initial phase of the project. In addition, the coarse substrate on most beaches might retain fewer plastic particles. The two samples with plastic particles ≥1 mm contained six polyester-epoxide particles and 4920 polypropylene fibres. The latter likely originated from a fishing net and points to possibly accelerated plastic fragmentation processes on Arctic beaches. Since fisheries-related debris is an important source of plastic on Svalbard, a build-up of microplastic quantities can be expected to burden Arctic ecosystems in addition to climate change unless efficient upstream action is taken to combat plastic pollution.

Description: In July 2007 GFZ hosted ILP’s first Potsdam Conference, titled “Frontiers in Integrated Solid Earth Sciences”. The results of this meeting were presented in an over 400 pages large Springer book, the first volume of a new series on the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). In October 2010 ILP’s Second Potsdam Conference took place, entitled “Solid Earth – Basic Science for the Human Habitat”, again in Potsdam. More than 70 scientists from more than 20 states worldwide came together and shared their results, ideas and visions. This time, in September 2015, ILP’s 35th birthday was the motivation for “Celebrating Excellence in Solid Earth Sciences”. Together with more than 50 scientists, members of the ILP Task Forces and Coordinating Committees, the ILP bureau and ILP’s office came together for three days in September.