• Biogeosciences
• DOI 10.5194/bg-9-2111-2012
• 12 June 2012

Understanding the ocean carbon cycle requires a precise assessment of phytoplankton biomass in the oceans. In terms of numbers of observations, satellite data represent the largest available data set. However, as they are limited to surface waters, they have to be merged with in situ observations.

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• Biogeosciences
• DOI 10.5194/bg-9-1985-2012
• 4 June 2012

Suspended sediment (SS) and organic matter in rivers can harm brown trout Salmo trutta by affecting the health and fitness of free swimming fish and by causing siltation of the riverbed. The temporal and spatial dynamics of sediment, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) during the brown trout spawning season in a small river of the Swiss Plateau were assessed and C isotopes as well as the C/N atomic ratio were used to distinguish autochthonous and allochthonous sources of organic matter in SS loads.

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• Biogeosciences
• DOI 10.5194/bg-9-1661-2012
• 9 May 2012

Dissolved black carbon (DBC) is a significant component of the oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool. In the current study, the photo-lability of DBC, DOC and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM; ultraviolet-visible absorbance) were determined over the course of a 28 day irradiation of North Atlantic Deep Water under a solar simulator.

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• Solid Earth
• DOI 10.5194/se-3-87-2012
• 12 March 2012

We propose the hypothesis that natural selection, acting on the specificity or preference for CO₂ over O₂ of the enzyme rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase), has controlled the CO₂:O₂ ratio of the atmosphere since the evolution of photosynthesis and has also sustained the Earth’s greenhouse-set surface temperature.

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• Solid Earth
• DOI 10.5194/se-3-43-2012
• 14 February 2012

High-resolution tomographic images of the crust and upper mantle in and around the area of the 2011 Iwaki earthquake (M 7.0) and the Fukushima nuclear power plant are determined by inverting a large number of high-quality arrival times with both the finite-frequency and ray tomography methods. The similar structures under the Iwaki source area and the Fukushima nuclear power plant suggest that the security of the nuclear power plant site should be strengthened to withstand potential large earthquakes in the future.

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