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A compilation of data from several cruises between 1998 and 2013 was used to derive polynomial fits that estimate total alkalinity (AT) and total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) from measurements of salinity and temperature in the Mediterranean Sea surface waters. The optimal equations were chosen based on the 10-fold cross-validation results and revealed that second- and third-order polynomials fit the AT and CT data respectively. The AT surface fit yielded a root mean square error (RMSE) of ±10.6 μmol kg-1, and salinity and temperature contribute to 96% of the variability. Furthermore, we present the first annual mean CT parameterization for the Mediterranean Sea surface waters with a RMSE of ±14.3 μmol kg-1. Excluding the marginal seas of the Adriatic and the Aegean, these equations can be used to estimate AT and CT in case of the lack of measurements. The identified empirical equations were applied on the 0.25° climatologies of temperature and salinity, available from the World Ocean Atlas 2013. The 7-year averages (2005-2012) showed that AT and CT have similar patterns with an increasing eastward gradient. The variability is influenced by the inflow of cold Atlantic waters through the Strait of Gibraltar and by the oligotrophic and thermohaline gradient that characterize the Mediterranean Sea. The summer-winter seasonality was also mapped and showed different patterns for AT and CT. During the winter, the AT and CT concentrations were higher in the western than in the eastern basin. The opposite was observed in the summer where the eastern basin was marked by higher AT and CT concentrations than in winter. The strong evaporation that takes place in this season along with the ultra-oligotrophy of the eastern basin determines the increase of both AT and CT concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess seasonal and interranual variability in the export of particulate matter and its main constituents, sediment traps were deployed at five successive depths from February 2006 to March 2010 in the deepest basin of the Mediterranean (SE Ionian Sea, NESTOR site). The average total mass fluxes were 66, 58, 54, 34, and 52mg m-2 d-1, at 700, 1200, 2000, 3200, and 4300m, respectively. The interranual variability generally witnesses a gradual increase of fluxes during the experiment. The temporal variations of the mass flux showed similar seasonal signal at all sampling depths with higher values in spring--summer and lower in autumn--winter. Changes in the main constituents of the mass flux (organic carbon, carbonates, opal, and lithogenic matter) largely followed the same temporal variability with mass flux, revealing mechanisms of rapid vertical (top-down) transport from 700m down to 4300m-depth. Lateral inputs at the deepest trap are probably of importance, attributed to the influence of the deep Adriatic water, characterized by relatively higher turbidity than overlying water masses. The Ionian Sea displays high seasonal variability with maximum productivity rates observed during the late winter/spring convective mixing period. Our flux study proposes two additional processes, potentially of high importance for fuelling surface waters with nutrients at the NESTOR site: (1) the upwelling of intermediate waters in late spring-early summer, causing nutrient inputs in the surface layer which may lead to episodes of increased productivity, as witnessed by the organic carbon, carbonate, and opal fluxes in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers and (2) the influence of episodic dust input events, leading to enhanced fluxes of lithogenic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off the Methana peninsula (Saronikos Gulf, eastern Peloponnese peninsula) was used as a natural laboratory to assess potential effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores. Coccolithophore communities were therefore investigated in plankton samples collected during September 2011, September 2016 and March 2017. The recorded cell concentrations were up to ~50 x103 cells/l, with a high Shannon index of up to 2.8, along a pH gradient from 7.61 to 8.18, with values being occasionally <7. Numerous holococcolithophore species represented 60-90% of the surface water assemblages in most samples during September samplings. Emiliania huxleyi was present only in low relative abundances in September samples, but it dominated in March assemblages. Neither malformed nor corroded coccolithophores were documented. Changes in the community structure can possibly be related to increased temperatures, while the overall trend associates low pH values with high cell densities. Our preliminary results indicate that in long-termed acidified, warm and stratified conditions, the study of the total coccolithophore assemblage may prove useful to recognize the intercommunity variability, which favors the increment of lightly calcified species such as holococcolithophores., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.