Deepdive: Leveraging Pre-trained Deep Learning for Deep-Sea ROV Biota Identification in the Great Barrier Reef.

Understanding and preserving the deep sea ecosystems is paramount for marine conservation efforts. Automated object (deep-sea biota) classification can enable the creation of detailed habitat maps that not only aid in biodiversity assessments but also provide essential data to evaluate ecosystem health and resilience. Having a significant source of labelled data helps prevent overfitting and enables training deep learning models with numerous parameters.

Mineral carbonation of peridotite fueled by magmatic degassing and melt impregnation in an oceanic transform fault.

Most of the geologic CO entering Earth's atmosphere and oceans is emitted along plate margins. While C-cycling at mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones has been studied for decades, little attention has been paid to degassing of magmatic CO and mineral carbonation of mantle rocks in oceanic transform faults. We studied the formation of soapstone (magnesite-talc rock) and other magnesite-bearing assemblages during mineral carbonation of mantle peridotite in the St.

Changing surface ocean circulation caused the local demise of echinoid Scaphechinus mirabilis in Taiwan during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Abundant fossil specimens of Scaphechinus mirabilis, now occurring mostly in temperate waters, have been found in the Toukoshan Formation (Pleistocene) in Miaoli County, Taiwan. Environmental changes leading to its extirpation (local extinction) have thus far been elusive. Here, we reconstruct past environmental and oceanic conditions off northwest Taiwan by analyzing clumped isotopes, as well as stable oxygen isotopes, of well-preserved fossil echinoid tests collected from the Toukoshan Formation.

Geochronological and geochemical data from fracture-filling calcites from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees).

U-Pb dating using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), δC, δO, clumped isotopes and Sr/Sr analysis, and electron microprobe have been applied to fracture-filling calcites and host carbonates from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet, in the SE Pyrenees. These data are used to determine the type and origin of migrating fluids, the evolution of the palaeohydrological system and timing of fracturing during the emplacement of this thrust sheet, as described in the article "From hydroplastic to brittle deformation: controls on fluid flow in fold and thrust belts. Insights from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees)" - Marine and Petroleum Geology (2020).

Effects of oxygen plasma ashing treatment on carbonate clumped isotopes.

Rationale: For clumped isotope analysis (Δ ), hydrocarbon and organic molecules present an important contaminant that cannot always be removed by CO purification through a Porapak-Q trap. Low-temperature oxygen plasma ashing (OPA) is a quick and easy approach for treatment; however, the impact of this treatment on the original carbonate clumped isotope values has never been fully studied.

Methods: We tested the isotopic impact of OPA using three natural samples with a large range of initial Δ values.

Reducing contamination parameters for clumped isotope analysis: The effect of lowering Porapak™ Q trap temperature to below -50°C.

Rationale: Carbonate clumped isotope thermometry examines the thermodynamic preference of C- O bonds to form within the carbonate crystal lattice. The C O O isotopologue in analyte CO has a natural abundance of 44.4 ppm necessitating stringent purification procedures to remove contaminant molecules that may produce significant isobaric effects within range of the mass 47 isotopologue.

Community software for challenging isotope analysis: First applications of 'Easotope' to clumped isotopes.

Rationale: The measurement of complex isotope systems, notably the multiply substituted isotopologues of CO derived from carbonates, is challenging from a mass spectrometric point of view, but it is also time consuming and difficult from a data reduction and normalization perspective. Dedicated software often lags behind and currently limits fast, reliable and reproducible data analysis and inter-laboratory reproducibility.

Methods: We have developed new community software 'Easotope' using Java and the Eclipse framework.

Access to antigens related to anthrose using pivotal cyclic sulfite/sulfate intermediates.

Anthrose is the upstream terminal unit of the tetrasaccharide side chain from a major glycoprotein of Bacillus anthracis exosporium and is part of important antigenic determinants. A novel entry to anthrose-containing antigens and precursors is described. The synthetic route, starting from D(+)-fucose, makes use of intermediates featuring a cyclic sulfite or sulfate function which serves successively as a protecting and a leaving group.

Environmental precursors to rapid light carbon injection at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary.

The start of the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum--a period of exceptional global warming about 55 million years ago--is marked by a prominent negative carbon isotope excursion that reflects a massive input of 13C-depleted ('light') carbon to the ocean-atmosphere system. It is often assumed that this carbon injection initiated the rapid increase in global surface temperatures and environmental change that characterize the climate perturbation, but the exact sequence of events remains uncertain. Here we present chemical and biotic records of environmental change across the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary from two sediment sections in New Jersey that have high sediment accumulation rates.

The Palaeocene-Eocene carbon isotope excursion: constraints from individual shell planktonic foraminifer records.

The Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) is characterized by a global negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and widespread dissolution of seafloor carbonate sediments. The latter feature supports the hypothesis that the PETM and CIE were caused by the rapid release of a large mass (greater than 2000Gt C) of 12C-enriched carbon. The source of this carbon, however, remains a mystery.