Vasilios Lykousis’s research while affiliated with Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and other places

Sediment transport processes from the slopes to the deep basins were studied in the southern Cretan margin (Eastern Mediterranean) by means of swath bathymetry, seismic reflection (airgun) profiling, and gravity coring. Mud/silt turbidites, developed in structureless or laminated patterns, appear to dominate the continental slope and the 2700–3600-m deep depressions of Samaria, Messara, and Gortys. These deposits are the result of successive mass transport events and turbidity currents. Over-steepening caused by strike–slip shearing associated with extensional tectonic activity in the shallow crustal levels, shaking due to significant seismic activity, and the presence of weak sediment layers are responsible for frequent triggering of slope failures and the subsequent formation of turbidity currents on the Gavdos slope. On the Cretan slope, sediments channeled as turbidity currents through canyons proved to be the major delivery mechanism, together with debris flows. Subordinate contributions of hemipelagic sediments occur only in the Messara basin. Moreover, steep non-incised slope areas and slope-confined canyons of the Gavdos slope were found to provide comparable sediment contribution with the fluvially connected canyons of the Cretan slope.

MARINE-EO is a Research and Development project using a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) mechanism with the scope to develop innovative beyond the state-of-the-art downstream applications which meet the demand of maritime authorities and stakeholders, leveraging on the existing services and other products from the Copernicus portfolio. More specifically, MARINE-EO aims to meet the procurers’ demands in the thematic areas of Marine monitoring and Maritime security. In this study we present the consultation three-step-procedure, which was designed and launched in order to define the services to be procured and developed within MARINE-EO project, with focus on the set of features addressing Marine monitoring (called SATOCEAN). These features deal with information on ocean parameters’ variability in time and space, best probable fishing areas, fish farm locations, water quality and sea ice extent for safe navigation and maritime operations. The EO-based services, mainly related to satellites and Copernicus Sentinel missions, aim to be established in the areas of Mediterranean, Atlantic and Arctic, by adapting Copernicus data and information on the marine environment. Upon the completion of this consultation procedure, three SATOCEAN feature services and use-case scenarios were finally proposed to be procured and developed: i) Marine environmental status in hot spots (in Gulfs and Marine Protected Areas), ii) Detection of fish farms threats (in aquaculture sites), and iii) Detection of vessels and icebergs in the Arctic Sea.

MARINE-EO is a Research and Development project using a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) mechanism with the scope to develop innovative beyond the state-of-the-art downstream applications which meet the demand of maritime authorities and stakeholders, leveraging on the existing services and other products from the Copernicus portfolio. More specifically, MARINE-EO aims to meet the procurers’ demands in the thematic areas of Marine monitoring and Maritime security. In this study we present the consultation three-step-procedure, which was designed and launched in order to define the services to be procured and developed within MARINE-EO project, with focus on the set of features addressing Marine monitoring (called SATOCEAN). These features deal with information on ocean parameters’ variability in time and space, best probable fishing areas, fish farm locations, water quality and sea ice extent for safe navigation and maritime operations. The EO-based services, mainly related to satellites and Copernicus Sentinel missions, aim to be established in the areas of Mediterranean, Atlantic and Arctic, by adapting Copernicus data and information on the marine environment. Upon the completion of this consultation procedure, three SATOCEAN feature services and use-case scenarios were finally proposed to be procured and developed: i) Marine environmental status in hot spots (in Gulfs and Marine Protected Areas), ii) Detection of fish farms threats (in aquaculture sites), and iii) Detection of vessels and icebergs in the Arctic Sea.

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 interest like the Mediterranean and the Atlantic as well as for basins currently trending like the Arctic. MARINE-EO teams up a group of 5 maritime authorities (the buyers’ group) and a group of 4 prestigious scientific and technical organizations with significant experience in EO and maritime matters (the technical advisors) to achieve the following objectives: (1) Develop, test and validate two set of demand-driven EO-based services which cover Marine Monitoring and Security Copernicus thematic areas, adopted on open standards, bringing incremental or radical innovations in the field of maritime awareness and leveraging on the existing Copernicus Services and other products from the Copernicus portfolio, (2) Propose a set of “support” / “envelop” services which will better integrate the above mentioned EO and Copernicus-enabled services to the operational logic and code of conduct. Such services shall also bring “closer” the demand side (Public Authorities - PAs) with the EO data providers (Copernicus - contributing missions) and EO data experts and analysts (Service providers/ industry and SMEs) creating a dynamic environment for a single digital market to grow, (3) Strengthen transnational collaboration in maritime awareness sector by facilitating knowledge transfer and optimization of resources for the public authorities which, participate in the buyers group. Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) is a powerful tool to tackle these three points under one single joint initiative, and this is why MARINE-EO is in an excellent position to reinforce future capabilities.

ROUSAKIS G, KYRIKOU S, RATOPOULOU M, TRIANTAPHYLLOU M, DIMIZA M, BOULOUBASSI I, GOGOU A, KAPSIMALIS V, LYKOUSIS V

Recent compilations of Mediterranean 2k paleoclimate archives (Luterbacher et al., 2012, MedClivar Book) stressed the lack of high-resolution/ continuous marine records. The two new high-resolution sea surface temperature (SSTs) time-series presented here from the shallow coastal shelf sediments of the Gulf of Lions and deeper ocean one of the Aegean Sea using alkenone paleothermometry, are thus an important contribution. SST values are roughly 2°C warmer in the Eastern than Western Mediterranean sites in agreement with our knowledge of the production pattern of the main alkenone producer Emiliania huxleyi in the two basins. Both SST-record reveal significant variability of cool/warm intervals, corresponding to the continental European and Northern Hemisphere climatic variability. While distant from each other, SSTs at the two sites show some degree of similarity: increasing SSTs from ~ 600 to 1300 AD followed by a significant cooling till the early 1600's marking the onset of an outstanding warm period reaching values similar to present day. After a sharp decrease ending around 1700 yrs AD, the last three centuries indicate gradually rising SSTs by about 1°C/100 yrs. To our knowledge the latter feature has been undocumented in North Atlantic cores but often observed in paleoclimate reconstructions of the European climate, though with different regional timing and amplitude. This unexpected finding may reflect feedbacks from the surrounding land-masses contributing to "continentalize" the Mediterranean climate. Another notable feature is the short-lived abrupt cooling in the Aegean record between 1816 and 1824 yr AD, possibly expressing the surface water cooling subsequent to the Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815 yrs AD. * We acknowledge financial support from MEDECOS (Marin-ERA, EU/FP6) Project and the Greek General Secretary of Research and Technology. Luterbacher J, Garcia-Herrera R, Allan R, Alvarez-Castro BG, Benito G, Booth J, Büntgen U, Colombaroli D, Davis B, Esper J, Felis T, Fleitmann D, Frank D, Gallego D, Gonzalez-Rouco FJ, Goosse H, Kiefer T, Macklin MG, Montagna P, Newmann L, Rath V, Ribera P, Roberts N, Silenzi S, Tinner W, Valero-Garces B, van der Schrier G, Vanniere B, Wanner H, Werner JP, Willett G, Xoplaki E, Zerefos CS, Zorita E (2012) A review of 2000 years of paleoclimatic evidence in the Mediterranean. In: Lionello, P. (Ed.), The Climate of the Mediterranean region: From the Past to the Future. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 87-185.

We investigated 16S rRNA gene diversity at a high sediment depth resolution (every 5 cm, top 30 cm) in an active site of the Kazan mud volcano, East Mediterranean Sea. A total of 242 archaeal and 374 bacterial clones were analysed, which were attributed to 38 and 205 unique phylotypes, respectively (>=98% similarity). Most of the archaeal phylotypes were related to ANME-1, -2 and -3 members originating from habitats where anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) occurs, although they occurred in sediment layers with no apparent AOM (below the sulphate depletion depth). Proteobacteria were the most abundant and diverse bacterial group, with the Gammaproteobacteria dominating in most sediment layers and these were related to phylotypes involved in methane cycling. The Deltaproteobacteria included several of the sulphate-reducers related to AOM. The rest of the bacterial phylotypes belonged to 15 known phyla and three unaffiliated groups, with representatives from similar habitats. Diversity index H was in the range 0.56-1.73 and 1.47-3.82 for Archaea and Bacteria, respectively, revealing different depth patterns for the two groups. At 15 and 20 cm below the sea floor, the prokaryotic communities were highly similar, hosting AOM-specific Archaea and Bacteria. Our study revealed different dominant phyla in proximate sediment layers.

We investigated the distribution of organic carbon (TOC) and bulk organic d13Corg values in two cores from the Aegean Sea and one from the Libyan Sea, eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) with a focus on the timing and regional expression of sapropel S1 deposition in the early Holocene. Our data indicate that the onset of S1 occurred earlier in the Libyan Sea (�9.8 kyr BP) than in the Aegean Sea (�8.9 kyr BP), implying that dysoxia/anoxia started earlier in the deeper sites of the EMS than in the shallower sites in the Aegean Sea. Accumulation rates of organic matter (OM) during the S1 period have a clear decreasing gradient from north to south, with higher values in the Aegean Sea and TOC contents higher in the deep basin. The three sedimentary sequences exhibit d13Corg values that fall within the range of algal OM (�25‰ to �20‰). Shifts to lighter d13Corg values within sapropel intervals in the Aegean sites can be interpreted as the result of elevated marine production, enhanced inflow of light terrestrial dissolved inorganic carbon and/or of the shoaling of the pycnocline, along with the presence of a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) during the S1 period.

We investigated 16S rRNA gene diversity at a high sediment depth resolution (every 5 cm, top 30 cm) in an active site of the Kazan mud volcano, East Mediterranean Sea. A total of 242 archaeal and 374 bacterial clones were analysed, which were attributed to 38 and 205 unique phylotypes, respectively (> or = 98% similarity). Most of the archaeal phylotypes were related to ANME-1, -2 and -3 members originating from habitats where anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) occurs, although they occurred in sediment layers with no apparent AOM (below the sulphate depletion depth). Proteobacteria were the most abundant and diverse bacterial group, with the Gammaproteobacteria dominating in most sediment layers and these were related to phylotypes involved in methane cycling. The Deltaproteobacteria included several of the sulphate-reducers related to AOM. The rest of the bacterial phylotypes belonged to 15 known phyla and three unaffiliated groups, with representatives from similar habitats. Diversity index H was in the range 0.56-1.73 and 1.47-3.82 for Archaea and Bacteria, respectively, revealing different depth patterns for the two groups. At 15 and 20 cm below the sea floor, the prokaryotic communities were highly similar, hosting AOM-specific Archaea and Bacteria. Our study revealed different dominant phyla in proximate sediment layers.