The spatial distributions of (1) surface sediment characteristics (D0.5, Sediment Surface Area (SSA), Particulate Organic Carbon (POC), Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Phaeophytin-a (Phaeo-a), Total and Enzymatically Hydrolyzable Amino Acids (THAA, EHAA), δ13C) and (2) sediment profile image (apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity (aRPD), numbers and depths of biological traces) characteristics were quantified based on the sampling of 32 stations located within the West Gironde Mud Patch (Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic) in view of (1) assessing the spatial structuration of a temperate river-dominated ocean margin located in a high-energy area, (2) disentangling the impacts of hydrodynamics and bottom trawling on this structuration, and (3) comparing the West Gironde Mud Patch with the Rhône River Prodelta (located in a low-energy area). Results support the subdivision of the West Gironde Mud Patch in a proximal and a distal part and show (1) the existence of depth gradients in surface sedimentary organics characteristics and bioturbation within the distal part; (2) no evidence for a significant effect of bottom trawling, as opposed to Bottom Shear Stress, on the West Gironde Mud Patch spatial structuration; and (3) major discrepancies between spatial structuration in the West Gironde Mud Patch and the Rhône River Prodelta, which were attributed to differences in tidal regimes, sedimentation processes, and local hydrodynamics, which is in agreement with current river-dominated ocean margin typologies.

This dataset gathers data used to infer the trophic structure and functioning of fish assemblages in the Eastern English Channel, the Bay of Biscay and the Gulf of Lions : - Biomass data, resulting from accoustic monitoring for pelagic species, or bottom trawling for demersal species, after extrapolation based on stratification scheme - Individual C and N isotopic ratios, length and mass, for all individuals considered - Individual energetic density values

Survival was recorded at the endpoint for all batches of each group (2n-control, 2n-wild, 2n-commercial, 2nR, 3nR and 3n-commercial). Similarly, initial and final yield were recorded, corresponding to the total weight of the live oysters at deployment and at the endpoint. Finally, shell length and total weight for individually recorded at reception and at the endpoint.

The West Gironde Mud Patch (WGMP) is a 420-km2 mud belt in the Bay of Biscay, located 25 km off the mouth of the Gironde estuary. This clay-silt feature of 4 m in thickness extends between 30 and 75m water depth, surrounded by the sands and gravels that cover the North Aquitaine continental shelf. Interface cores were collected during JERICOBent-1 cruise (October 2016; Deflandre (2016) doi.org/10.17600/16010400) along two cross-shelf transects for a total of 9 sites. Each sediment core was carefully extruded every 0.5 cm from the top core to 4 cm and every 1 cm below until the core bottom. The sediment layers were used to determine dry bulk density, grain size and selected radioisotope activities (210Pb, 226Ra, 137Cs, 228Th, K).

Particularly suited to the purpose of measuring the sensitivity of benthic communities to trawling, a trawl disturbance indicator (de Juan and Demestre, 2012, de Juan et al. 2009) was proposed based on benthic species life history traits to evaluate the sensibility of mega- and epifaunal community to fishing pressure known to have a physical impact on the seafloor (such as dredging and bottom trawling). The selected biological traits were chosen as they determine vulnerability to trawling: mobility, fragility, position on substrata, average size and feeding mode that can easily be related to the fragility, recoverability and vulnerability ecological concepts. Life history traits of species have been defined from the BIOTIC database (MARLIN, 2014) and from information given by Le Pape et al. (2007), Brindamour et al. (2009) and Garcia (2010). For missing life history traits, additional information from literature has been considered. The five categories retained are life history functional traits that were selected based on the knowledge of the response of benthic taxa to trawling disturbance (de Juan and Demestre, 2012). They reflect respectively the possibility to avoid direct gear impact, to benefit from trawling for feeding, to escape gear, to get caught by the net and to resist trawling/dredging action, each of these characteristics being either advantageous or sensitive to trawling. Then, to allow quantitative analysis, a score was assigned to each category: from low vulnerability (0) to high vulnerability (3). The five categories scores were then summed for each taxon (the highly vulnerable taxon could reach the maximum score is 15) and this value may be considered as a species index of sensitivity to trawling disturbance. The scores of 812 taxa commonly found in bottom trawl by-catch in the southern North Sea, English Channel and north-western Mediterranean were described.

Since 2004, the Service facility SNAPO-CO2 (Service National d’Analyse des Paramètres Océaniques du CO2) housed by the LOCEAN laboratory (Paris, France) has been in charge for the analysis of Total Alkalinity (AT) and Total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) of seawater samples on a series of cruises or ships of opportunity conducted in different regions in the frame of French projects. More than 44000 observations are synthetized in this work. Sampling was performed either from CTD-Rosette casts (Niskin bottles) or collected from the ship’s seawater supply (intake at about 5m depth). After completion of each cruise, discrete samples were returned back at LOCEAN laboratory and stored in a dark room at 4 °C before analysis generally within 2-3 months after sampling (sometimes within a week).  AT and CT were analyzed simultaneously by potentiometric titration using a closed cell (Edmond, 1970). Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) provided by Pr. A. Dickson (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, USA) were used to calibrate the measurements. The same instrumentation was used for underway measurements during OISO cruises (https://doi.org/10.18142/228) and OISO AT-CT data for 1998-2018 in the South Indian Ocean added in this synthesis. The synthesis is organized in two files (one for Global ocean and the Coastal Zones, one for the Mediterranean Sea) with the same format: Cruise name, Ship name, day, month, year, hour, minute, second, latitude, longitude, depth, AT (µmol/kg), Flag-AT, CT (µmol/kg), Flag-CT, Temperature (°C), Flag-Temp, Salinity (PSU), Flag-Salinity, nsample/cruise, nsample on file, sampling method.

Ifremer conducts numerous fisheries surveys dedicated to benthic and demersal populations (commercial / non-commercial fishes and invertebrates). For several years, in application of the ecosystem approach, all benthic invertebrate fauna collected in fishing gear has been systematically monitored: megabenthic invertebrates captured have been sorted, identified, counted and weighted. All these surveys are based on fixed or random stratified sampling strategy with varying intensity depending on the covered survey area. These data are stored, in historical access-based databases or for the most recent years in the centralised “Harmonie” database held in the Ifremer Fishery Information Systeme (SIH). The species nomenclature used was standardized using WoRMS database. Taxa caught at least once a year are listed for each monitoring area on the basis of already available data series. In order to facilitate the identification of individuals sampled on board vessels and to improve the training of onboard scientists, the present work aims to define the minimum level of identification for each of them. The analysis identifies taxa that appears recurrently on available historical series or gathers them on less precise taxonomic levels if this is not the case, which may indicate potential identification difficulties. The following procedure was used: all taxa expressed at the species level were first aggregated at genus level if they occurred less 90% of the years over the available time series. For MEDITS, EPIBENGOL and ORHAGO, the occurrence threshold was set to 70% and to only 50% for NOURMONT because the datasets were less than 10 years long. Then to be kept at that taxonomic level, a given genus had to be observed over 90% of the time (for example over at least 9 years if the dataset contains 10 years). Otherwise it was iteratively regrouped into a higher taxonomic level (family, order, class, division) following the same criteria (Foveau et al, 2017). For instance, for the NOURSEINE survey, this resulted into the aggregation of the 103 origin taxa into 35 taxonomic groups. The name of the final taxon after data processing represents the minimum level of identification defined by the analysis. However, these results are very theoretical. This is why they were sent to scientists who embark regularly in order to refine the level of taxonomic identification with field experience. The first dataset is composed of 8 tables relevant to the different vessel surveys. The first column of each table represents the permanent code of the taxon in the Ifremer taxonomic referential, the second the systematic number and the third the species abbreviated code. The other columns are the different taxonomic levels of the taxon. The minimum level of identification at sea defined by the data processing appears in blue. The level determined by feedback of scientist’s field experience, which is the one to use at sea, appears in green. The second dataset summaries the results detailed in the first table and indicates directly for each taxon identified to far, the minimum level of identification required for the benthic invertebrates by-catch of each fisheries surveys studied.

The upper branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays a critical role in ocean circulation and climate change, yet its variability during the last glacial period is poorly documented. Here, we investigate the northward-flowing Glacial Eastern Boundary Current (GEBC) in the North Atlantic, known today as the European Slope Current, and representing the easternmost portion of the upper branch of the AMOC. Based on flow speed (sortable silt, XRF) and radiogenic/stable isotopic records, we show that Dansgaard-Oeschger (D/O) interstadials (stadials) correspond to a faster (weaker) GEBC during the ~50-15 ka period. This, by analogy to present-day conditions, suggests enhanced (reduced) strength of the subpolar gyre and, by extension, of northern-sourced water production and AMOC during D-O interstadials (stadials). Concomitant fluctuations of both the European Ice Sheet and the GEBC between ~30 and 17 ka suggest an active role of the upper branch of AMOC in the poleward transport of heat and freshwater to the northern North Atlantic, with direct impacts on deep water formation and AMOC strength. Our GEBC reconstruction is the first physical (non-chemical) record documenting dynamic upper AMOC variability at high resolution in the eastern basin of the North Atlantic. Together with the deep North Atlantic records of northern-sourced water export, they confirm the central role of the AMOC in the generation of abrupt climate changes.

Key physico-chemical parameters (salinity, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen) were measured in surface water during longitudinal transects in the Loire and Gironde estuaries in summers 2017 and 2018. This objective of this work was to determine the distribution of the dissolved oxygen and to detect potential severe desoxygenation. The transects were scheduled in order to begin the measurements at high tide from a site located upstream of an area where severe deoxygenation have been already been reported. Then, the transect was realised by sailing at low speed downstream with a multiparameter probe SAMBAT, maintained at 0.5 m below the surface, that collected a measurement every 2 minutes.

Questions: Invasiveness depends in part on the ability of exotic species to either exclude native dominants or to fill an empty niche. Comparisons of niches and effects of closely related native and invasive species enable the investigation of this topic. Does Spartina anglica invade European salt marshes through competitive exclusion of the native Spartina maritima or due to the occurrence of an empty ecological niche in highly anoxic conditions? Location: The Arcachon Bay (France). Methods: At three intertidal levels, we quantified competitive response and effect abilities of the two species through a cross-transplantation removal experiment. We also compared at three intertidal levels the biomass, root/shoot ratio, productivity and environmental conditions (elevation, salinity, potential redox and soil moisture) of salt marsh communities dominated by the exotic Spartina anglica or the native Spartina maritima. Results: Both established species showed similar biotic resistance to the invasion of the other species, but the exotic showed important intraspecific facilitation for growth. Species had similar niches and total biomass along a gradient of anoxic conditions, but the exotic had a much higher root/shoot ratio and productivity than the native. Owing to its rhizome density, the exotic showed a high ability to increase sediment oxygenation, likely to explain its important intraspecific facilitation. Conclusions: Our results showed that the invasion success of S. anglica cannot be explained by the competitive exclusion of the native or by its ability to fill an empty niche along a gradient of anoxia. Its behaviour as a self-facilitator invasive engineer is very likely to explain its rapid spread in the Bay and biotic resistance to the colonization of other congeneric species when established in dense patches. Additionally, we suggest that physical disturbance in the marsh communities dominated by the native S. maritima may disrupt its biotic resistance against the invasion of S. anglica.