Ana Maria Martins

• Doctor Communitatis Europeae in "Ocean Sciences"
• Associate Professor at University of the Azores

Daily sea surface temperature (SST) data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer from 1982 to 2020 were used to study the spatiotemporal variability and climatology of SST in the Azores. In addition, the relationships between the SST anomaly (SSTA) and three climate index time series for the period 1982–2020 were investigated: the Oceanic...

Through infection and lysis of their coexisting bacterial hosts, viruses impact the biogeochemical cycles sustaining globally significant pelagic oceanic ecosystems. Currently, little is known of the ecological interactions between lytic viruses and their bacterial hosts underlying these biogeochemical impacts at ecosystem scales. This study focuse...

Through infection and lysis of their coexisting bacterial hosts, viruses impact the biogeochemical cycles sustaining globally significant pelagic oceanic ecosystems. Currently, little is known of the ecological interactions between lytic viruses and their bacterial hosts underlying these biogeochemical impacts at ecosystem scales. This study focuse...

MAGAL lays the foundations for a future constellation of small satellites carrying radar altimeters aiming to improve the understanding of ocean circulation variability at local, regional, and global scales. All necessary tools will be developed, including a new small, low-power altimeter payload and a miniaturized satellite platform, grounded on t...

The Madeira archipelago has a unique underwater landscape that is characterised by narrow shelves, steep slopes and a large submarine tributary system that boosts primary productivity in oligotrophic waters and thus offers a potential for hotspots of biodiversity. Despite this, there have been limited deep-water exploration activities with less tha...

Oceanic conditions determine food availability to seabirds and affect seabird reproductive parameters, such as breeding success, chick growth, and survival rates. In seabirds, juvenile survival at sea is positively correlated with body condition at fledging. In addition, in several seabird species, especially petrels and shearwaters (Order Procella...

Microplastics (MP) are defined as “any synthetic solid particle or polymeric matrix, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water”.

Artificial light pollution has demonstrable effects on the behavioural and population ecology of organisms in natural settings. In several seabird species, especially petrels and shearwaters (Order Procellariiformes), fledglings are disoriented and attracted to artificial lights during their maiden flights from their nests to the sea. Once grounded...

Plastics and other artificial materials pose new risks to health of the ocean. Anthropogenic debris travels across large distances and is ubiquitous in the water and on the shorelines, yet, observations of its sources, composition, pathways and distributions in the ocean are very sparse and inaccurate. Total amounts of plastics and other man-made...

Plastics and other artificial materials pose new risks to health of the ocean. Anthropogenic debris travels across large distances and is ubiquitous in the water and on the shorelines, yet, observations of its sources, composition, pathways and distributions in the ocean are very sparse and inaccurate. Total amounts of plastics and other man-made...

Maximenko et al. Integrated Marine Debris Observing System Plastics and other artificial materials pose new risks to the health of the ocean. Anthropogenic debris travels across large distances and is ubiquitous in the water and on shorelines, yet, observations of its sources, composition, pathways, and distributions in the ocean are very sparse an...

Three-quarters of all marine debris (MD) consists of plastic, a reflection of their worldwide use, production and waste mismanagement. Data on MD distributions can improve our ability to effectively reduce debris that escapes onto shorelines and the ocean. In this study, the Matrix Scoring Technique (Marine Strategy Framework Directive Technical Gr...

Marine phytoplankton account for approximately half of global primary productivity1, making their fate an important driver of the marine carbon cycle. Viruses are thought to recycle more than one-quarter of oceanic photosynthetically fixed organic carbon2, which can stimulate nutrient regeneration, primary production and upper ocean respiration2via...

Maritime “Awareness” is currently a top priority for Europe. “Awareness” sought either in regards of maritime security, border control against irregular immigration and safety of navigation while at the same time “awareness” sought in regards of the marine environment and climate change. “Awareness” is sought both for sea-basins of traditional inte...

Marine phytoplankton account for approximately half of global primary productivity, making their fate an important driver of the marine carbon cycle. Viruses are thought to recycle more than one-quarter of oceanic photosynthetically fixed organic carbon, which can stimulate nutrient regeneration, primary production and upper ocean respiration via l...

The iFADO project (Innovation in the Framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean) is a European project funded from ERDF funds of the INTERREG Atlantic Area Programme that will develop its activities during the period November 2018-2021. The project aims to create marine services at regional and subregional scale using the EU Atlantic Waters as a case stu...

Data collected during a 5-year monitoring program carried out midst summer along fixed-line transects in the northern Ligurian sea was used to inspect the variability in the presence and distribution of the Mediterranean fin whale in the Pelagos Sanctuary. The systematic and regular sampling design allowed direct yearly and monthly comparisons. The...

Data collected during a 5-year monitoring program carried out midst summer along fixed-line transects in the northern Ligurian sea was used to inspect the variability in the presence and distribution of the Mediterranean fin whale in the Pelagos Sanctuary. The systematic and regular sampling design allowed direct yearly and monthly comparisons. The...

The increase in atmospheric CO2 within the last century and its effect on climate change has urged the need for more research on the processes leading to carbon sequestration. In oceanic biogeochemistry, the ‘Biological Pump’ is the sum of a suite of biologically mediated processes transporting carbon from the euphotic zone to the ocean’s interior....

Oceanographic cruises have been conducted on the Condor seamount (SW Faial Island, Azores archipelago, NE Atlantic) since 2009 to collect in situ data and understand potential seamount effects on local biodiversity. Satellite data have been concurrently collected to infer the space-time upper-ocean optical property variability and the associated ph...

To understand the impact of the northwestern Azores Current Front (NW-AzC/AzF) system on HCO3--and N2-fixation activities and unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria (UCYN) distribution, we combined geochemical and biological approaches from the oligotrophic surface to upper mesopelagic waters. N2-fixation was observed to sustain 45-85% of the HCO3-...

Materials and Methods: During the DIAPICNA cruise (25 July-3 August 2011) aboard R.V. "NRP Dom Carlos I", five stations were sampled from 31.5°N-33.0°W to 36.2°N-33.9°W (Station A: 31°29'53''N, 33°00'01''W, 4360 m bottom depth (b.d.); Station B: 32°11'58''N, 33°00'01''W, 3740 m b.d.; Station C: 33°42'01''N, 32°59'57''W, 3324 m b.d.; Station D: 35°0...

(i) to map benthic communities inhabiting the seamounts of the Great Meteor Complex with the ROV Luso; (ii) identify new vulnerable marine ecosystems; (iii) collect biological and seawater samples; (iv) collect multibeam and backscatter data; (v) collect oceanographic data.

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a singl...

The Ocean is vast and of difficult access. Recent technological advances have brought us to a new era in ocean research (physical / biological / chemical / geological) one in which an Integrated network of Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS), involving strong developments in systems engineering and informatics, provides researchers with a continuous sci...

Ocean Colour (OC) algorithms and products have been mostly developed for the analysis of open ocean waters (i.e. Case 1 waters). Nevertheless, most of these algorithms are global. Therefore, it is urgent to develop regional algorithms for Case 1 waters with different bio optical properties and varied ocean circulation schemes. The area investigated...

Several international studies have been linking the distribution of cetaceans to basic environmental and remote sensing data, yet, in the Azores region these are still very scarce or even non-existent for some species. In this study, data on the distribution of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the waters around Faial and Pico islands (Az...

Several international studies have been linking the distribution of cetaceans to basic environmental and remote sensing data, yet, in the Azores region these are still very scarce or even non-existent for some species. In this study, data on the distribution of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the waters around Faial and Pico islands (Az...

Space Girls Space Women is composed of portraits of girls and women of different generations and nationalities who share their passion for space exploration and their perspectives of current space programs An exhibition of 70 photos 60 photos from 20 reportages produced by Sipa Press : girls drea- ming of stars, students who have chosen careers in...

Phytoplankton blooms are ephemeral events of exceptionally high primary productivity that regulate the flux of carbon across marine food webs [1–3]. Quantification of bloom turnover [4] is limited by a fundamental difficulty to decouple between physical and biological processes as observed by ocean color satellite data. This limitation hinders the...

Phytoplankton blooms are ephemeral events of exceptionally high primary productivity that regulate the flux of carbon across marine food webs [1, 2 and 3]. Quantification of bloom turnover [4] is limited by a fundamental difficulty to decouple between physical and biological processes as observed by ocean color satellite data. This limitation hinde...

Under the framework of North Atlantic Virus Infection of Coccolithophore Expedition (NaVICE; summer 2012, Azores to Iceland), we combined Level-2 MODIS/AQUA 1 km resolution Ocean Color imagery (PIC, Chl a, Rrs 547, Rrs 555), AVISO altimetry, and in situ oceanographic data (CTD, water measurements) to locate near-surface open ocean Emiliania huxleyi...

Under the framework of North Atlantic Virus Infection of Coccolithophore Expedition (NaVICE; summer 2012, Azores to Iceland), we combined Level-2 MODIS/AQUA 1 km resolution Ocean Color imagery (PIC, Chl a, Rrs 547, Rrs 555), AVISO altimetry, and in situ oceanographic data (CTD, water measurements) to locate near-surface open ocean Emiliania huxleyi...

The distribution of the poorly known Fraser’s dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser (Sarawak Mus J 7:478–503, 1956), is revised for the northern Atlantic (NA), with new records for temperate and subtropical oceanic islands. Fraser’s dolphins are reported for the first time in the Azores, from a pod of approximately 50 individuals observed in August 20...

Seamounts are common topographic features around the Azores archipelago (NE Atlantic). Recently there has been increasing research effort devoted to the ecology of these ecosystems. In the Azores, the mesozooplankon is poorly studied, particularly in relation to these seafloor elevations. In this study, zooplankton communities in the Condor seamoun...

Seamounts are common topographic features around the Azores archipelago (NE Atlantic). Recently there has been increasing research effort devoted to the ecology of these ecosystems. In the Azores, the mesozooplankon is poorly studied, particularly in relation to these seafloor elevations. In this study, zooplankton communities in the Condor seamoun...

Variability of Zooplankton Communities at Condor Seamount and surrounding areas

For the total 33222 km surveyed and 469 fin whale sightings recorded, 78% of the sightings pertained to the NW region, which encompassed 46% of the ALL region, while the remain were recorded for the NE region. ERs computed for the NW region shows a clear increasing trend, not evident in the NE due to high inter-annual variability (Fig. 2). Despite...

The Pelagos Sanctuary is a summer feeding ground for fin whales so it is a key area for the Mediterranean sea for the species. Several studies on the fin whale abundance estimations have been realized in the area but the dataset differences in temporal and spatial resolution make it difficult to compare in order to describe overall trends. To overc...

Seamounts are among the most common topographic features in the world ocean. Depending on their particular morphological traits, they can also be referred to as banks, knolls, guyots, mounds, or hills. Condor seamount is a linear volcano located in the Azores (northeast Atlantic), 35 km in length, 2-6 km wide, and of varied seafloor morphology. A s...

A new generation ocean circulation model 'The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS),' which has been specially designed for accurate simulation of regional ocean systems is used to construct a regional ocean circulation model for the Azores Region to study the meso-scale oceanic features along with the formation and dynamics of the Azores Current (...

Seamounts are considered to be "hotspots" of marine life but, their role in oceans primary productivity is still under discussion. We have studied the microbial community structure and biomass of the epipelagic zone (0-150 m) at two northeast Atlantic seamounts (Seine and Sedlo) and compared those with the surrounding ocean. Results from two cruise...

Integrated (0–150 m) average (SE) densities (cell cm−2) for the different plankton groups for Seine and Sedlo seamounts (excluding far-field stations) during November, March (only Seine) and July. NAF: Autotrophic nanoflagellates; NHF: Heterotrophic nanoflagellates; H-DNA HB: High-DNA Heterotrophic bacteria; L-DNA HB: Low-DNA Heterotrophic bacteria...

Probability of significance (P<0.05*; P>0.05: not significant) of the difference in the averaged biomass values between paired comparisons of different planktonic groups and the overall plankton community. (DOC)

Contribution (%) of each autotrophic planktonic group to total autotrophic biomass. (DOC)

Contribution (%) of each heterotrophic planktonic group to total heterotrophic biomass. (DOC)

Les travaux présentés ici concernent la détection par différentes approches méthodologiques de la fixation de N2, de la surface jusqu’à 200 m de profondeur, le long d’un transect Nord-Sud traversant le Front des Açores près de la Dorsale Médio-Atlantique (33°W, campagne DIAPICNA, été 2011). Des mesures de fixation de 15N2 couplées à l’incorporation...

Presently, there are already Indonesian coral reefs experiencing massive destruction caused by anthropogenic localscale sources (sedimentation, eutrophication) and/or natural climatic global-scale sources (temperature) which can inflict acute and/or chronic impacts on these ecosystems. This study was carried out with the aim of identifying possible...

Results from Trophodynamic studies of the CONDOR seamount are presented.

Results of Office of Naval Research (ONR)- and National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored collaborative coastal science experiments using underwater gliders were reported at the E.U./U.S. Baltic Sea conference in 2006. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recognized the parallel educational potential and issued a trans-Atlant...

Recent studies suggest that climate variability may act in the marine

Phytoplankton in the ocean is composed by unicellular organisms or small colonies that belong to considerably diverse groups (Raymont, 1980). The spatial and seasonal distribution of phytoplanktonic organisms on Condor seamount was studied based on 3 of the 5 scientific cruises that surveyed the seamount from July 2009 to November 2010. A total of...

Planktonic organisms have limited mobility and depend on the prevailing water currents. Zooplankton is a group of small animals that spend all or part of their life cycle in the plankton and may occupy several layers of the water column (Raymont, 1983). The spatial and temporal variation of the zooplankton in the Condor Seamount presented in this r...

seamount (Fig. 1), situated southwest of Faial island (Azores) and rising from 2000 m to 200 m depth, is known as a ground for intensive local fisheries. Observations (two oceanographic cruises and 2 moorings) during July-November 2009 show that the seamount dynamics is dominated by semidiurnal tides and near-bottom anticyclonic pattern (Fig. 2, bl...

Main objectives of this paper are to evaluate SeaWiFS, MODIS, and AVHRR satellite imagery performances against in situ data around two Northeast Atlantic seamounts, Sedlo and Seine. The temporal and spatial variability of satellite-derived near-surface chlorophyll a (Chl a) and sea surface temperature (SST) is also analysed. SeaWiFS tends to show g...

Main objectives of this paper are to evaluate SeaWiFS, MODIS, and AVHRR satellite imagery performances against in situ data around two Northeast Atlantic seamounts, Sedlo and Seine. The temporal and spatial variability of satellite-derived near-surface chlorophyll a (Chl a) and sea surface temperature (SST) is also analysed. SeaWiFS tends to show g...

We present here a collection of light microscope, and comparative scanning electron microscope, images of extant coccolithophores, sampled from various oceanic locations, and also from cultured strains. This series of images is intended to provide students and researchers interested in extant coccolithophore biology with an accessible means of iden...

We have studied the epipelagic (0–100 m) metabolic balance between gross and net community production (Pg, Pn) and community respiration (Rd) around two seamounts (Seine: 34°N, 14°W; Sedlo: 40°N, 27°W) located in the subtropical northeast Atlantic. We looked for local effects causing seamounts to increase community production and/or community respi...

This report presents the work performed during the survey “CONDOR_PAC_Ago09 - Oceanographic Component”, onboard R/V Arquipélago, between days 11th and 13th (the first), between 17th and 18th (the second) and on 20th of August 2009 (the third). This was the sixth survey with oceanography team participation in the framework of CONDOR project - Observ...

During years 2003 and 2004 both Sedlo and Seine Seamounts, lying in the area of influence of the Mediterranean water outflow in the Northeast Atlantic, were investigated in the framework of the EUfunded project OASIS. Analysis of CTD data shows that the levels of major variability in temperature and salinity were confined to the upper ocean layer,...

Mediterranean Water eddies (meddies) are thought to play an important climatic role. Nevertheless, their dynamics are not sufficiently known because of difficulties encountered in their observation. Though propagating below the main thermocline, a number of pieces of evidence of sea surface manifestation of meddies are collected. The present work i...