The Mediterranean Sea is generally described as an oligotrophic area where primary productivity is limited to a few coastal environments with nutrient-enriched fluvial input. However, several studies have revealed that the hydrology of the western Mediterranean has major seasonal productive patterns linked either to significant riverine input or to seasonal upwelling cells. This study aims to: i) discuss organic microfossils (i.e. pollen and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, as well as other non-pollen palynomorphs) from two different productive areas of the western Mediterranean Sea, and ii) examine the importance of the interconnections between marine and continental influences responsible for modern palynomorph distributions. Based on 25 samples from the Gulf of Lion (GoL) and Algerian Margin, this study key findings are: i) that GoL marine productivity is driven by the combination of discharges from the Rhône River and seasonal upwelling mechanisms, ii) that the strong productive pattern of the northern African coast is driven by water density front mixings and related upwellings. These two patterns are discussed in the light of major links that provide a better understanding of the signatures of marine and continental bio-indicators. The dinocyst Lingulodinium machaerophorum can be considered as a tracer of Rhône River plume influence in the GoL. Brigantedinium taxa are shown to be upwelling-sensitive in both studied areas. Typical differences in vegetation across the north–south climate gradient in the western Mediterranean Basin are highlighted by the larger ratio of Euro-Siberian to Mediterranean pollen taxa in the northern sector. Synoptic maps also illustrate the complex interactions of environmental drivers determining the distributions of continental and marine palynomorphs in the western Mediterranean Sea.

In order to better characterize the genetic diversity of Cetaceans and especially the common Dolphin from the Bay of Biscay, sequences from the mitochondrial Cytochrome B region were obtained from water samples acquired close to groups of dolphins.

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 biological 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. The five categories retained are functional traits that were selected based on the knowledge of the response of benthic taxa to trawling disturbance (de Juan et al., 2009). 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. To expand this approach to that proposed by Certain et al. (2015), the protection status of certain species was also indicated. To enable quantitative analysis, a score was assigned to each category: from low sensitivity (0) to high sensitivity (3). Biological traits of species have been defined, from the BIOTIC database (MARLIN, 2014) and from information given by Garcia (2010), Le Pape et al. (2007) and Brind’Amour et al. (2009). For missing traits, additional information from literature has been considered. The protection status of each taxa was also scored: Atlantic species listed in OSPAR List of Threatened and/or Declining Species and Habitats (https://www.ospar.org/work-areas/bdc/species-habitats/list-of-threatened-declining-species-habitats) and Mediterranean species listed in Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (FAO, 2018 and Oceana, 2017) were scored 3 and other species were scored 1. The scores of 1085 taxa commonly found in bottom trawl by-catch in the southern North Sea, English Channel and north-western Mediterranean were described.

Raw reads for the assembly of Gambusia holbrooki genome.

The upper ocean pycnocline (UOP) monthly climatology is based on the ISAS20 ARGO dataset containing Argo and Deep-Argo temperature and salinity profiles on the period 2002-2020. Regardless of the season, the UOP is defined as the shallowest significant stratification peak captured by the method described in Sérazin et al. (2022), whose detection threshold is proportional to the standard deviation of the stratification profile. The three main characteristics of the UOP are provided -- intensity, depth and thickness -- along with hydrographic variables at the upper and lower edges of the pycnocline, the Turner angle and density ratio at the depth of the UOP. A stratification index (SI) that evaluates the amount of buoyancy required to destratify the upper ocean down to a certain depth, is also included. When evaluated at the bottom of the UOP, this gives the upper ocean stratification index (UOSI) as discussed in Sérazin et al. (2022). Three mixed layer depth variables are also included in this dataset, including the one using the classic density threshold of 0.03 kg.m-3, along with the minimum of these MLD variables. Several statistics of the UOP characteristics and the associated quantities are available in 2°×2° bins for each month of the year, whose results were smoothed using a diffusive gaussian filter with a 500 km scale. UOP characteristics are also available for each profile, with all the profiles sorted in one file per month.

This dataset provides detections of fronts derived from high resolution remote sensing SST observations by SEVIRI L3C from OSISAF over Western Europe region. The data are available through HTTP and FTP; access to the data is free and open. In order to be informed about changes and to help us keep track of data usage, we encourage users to register at: https://forms.ifremer.fr/lops-siam/access-to-esa-world-ocean-circulation-project-data/ This dataset was generated by OceanDataLab and is distributed by Ifremer / CERSAT in the frame of the World Ocean Circulation (WOC) project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Serveur wms du projet CHARM II

French Zostera Marina et Zostera Noltei abundance data are collected during monitoring surveys on the English Channel / Bay of Biscay coasts. Protocols are impletmented in the Water Framework Directive. Data are transmitted in a Seadatanet format (CDI + ODV) to EMODnet Biology european database. 35 ODV files have been generated from period 01/01/2004 to 31/12/2021 for Z. Marina and from 01/01/2011 to 31/12/2021 for Z. Noltei.  

The ESA Sea State Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project has produced global multi-sensor time-series of along-track satellite altimeter significant wave height data (referred to as Level 4 (L4) data) with a particular focus for use in climate studies. This dataset contains the Version 3 Remote Sensing Significant Wave Height product, gridded over a global regular cylindrical projection (1°x1° resolution), averaging valid and good measurements from all available altimeters on a monthly basis (using the L2P products also available). These L4 products are meant for statistics and visualization. The altimeter data used in the Sea State CCI dataset v3 come from multiple satellite missions spanning from 2002 to 2021 ( Envisat, CryoSat-2, Jason-1, Jason-2, Jason-3, SARAL, Sentinel-3A), therefore spanning over a shorter time range than version 1.1. Unlike version 1.1, this version 3 involved a complete and consistent retracking of all the included altimeters. Many altimeters are bi-frequency (Ku-C or Ku-S) and only measurements in Ku band were used, for consistency reasons, being available on each altimeter but SARAL (Ka band).

This dataset provides surface Stokes drift as retrieved from the wave energy spectrum computed by the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH-III (r), under NOAA license, discretized in wave numbers and directions and the water depth at each location. It is estimated at the sea surface and expressed in m.s-1. WAVEWATCH-III (r) model solves the random phase spectral action density balance equation for wavenumber-direction spectra. Please refer to the WAVEWATCH-III User Manual for fully detailed description of the wave model equations and numerical approaches. The data are available through HTTP and FTP; access to the data is free and open. In order to be informed about changes and to help us keep track of data usage, we encourage users to register at: https://forms.ifremer.fr/lops-siam/access-to-esa-world-ocean-circulation-project-data/ This dataset was generated by Ifremer / LOPS and is distributed by Ifremer / CERSAT in the frame of the World Ocean Circulation (WOC) project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).