This study aimed at assessing the role of ubiquitous (non-Escherichia coli) Enterobacteriaceae in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance through the urban water cycle. Enterobacteriaceae isolated from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (111 isolates), urban water streams (33 isolates) and drinking water (123 isolates) were compared in terms of: (i) genera distribution, (ii) resistanc...

Deep water samples (ca. 4,200 m) were taken from two hydrologically-similar sites around the Crozet islands with highly contrasting surface water productivities. Site M5 was characteristic of high productivity waters (high chlorophyll) whilst site M6 was subject to a low productivity regime (low chlorophyll) in the overlying waters. Samples were incubated for three weeks at 4 °C at in-situ and ...

Tidal forcing and its fortnightly variation are known to be one of the main regulating agents of physical and biogeochemical signatures in the Strait of Gibraltar and surrounding areas. Samples obtained during spring and neap tides in the region were analyzed to determine the influence of this tidal variation on the submesoscale distribution of water masses and biological elements. During sprin...

In response to warming climate, methane can be released to Arctic Ocean sediment and waters from thawing subsea permafrost and decomposing methane hydrates. However, it is unknown whether methane derived from this sediment storehouse of frozen ancient carbon reaches the atmosphere. We quantified the fraction of methane derived from ancient sources in shelf waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a reg...

Despite the high abundance of Archaea in the global ocean, their metabolism and biogeochemical roles remain largely unresolved. We investigated the population dynamics and metabolic activity of Thaumarchaeota in polar environments, where these microorganisms are particularly abundant and exhibit seasonal growth. Thaumarchaeota were more abundant in deep Arctic and Antarctic waters and grew thro...

[1] Surface waters in upwelling regions are thought to be nutrient rich and hence inhibit nitrogen fixation (diazotrophy) because diazotrophs can preferentially assimilate nitrate and ammonia instead of expending energy to fix dinitrogen. We found average nitrogen fixation rates to be two to seven times higher in the surface waters of the upwelling region of the eastern equatorial Atlantic than...

The European Commission Water Framework Directive (WFD) was established 16 years ago and forms the current basis for monitoring surface waters and groundwater in Europe. This legislation resulted in a necessary adaptation of the monitoring networks and programs for rivers, lakes, and transitional and coastal waters to the requirements of the WFD at German and European levels. The present study ...

Irrigated agriculture has expanded greatly in the water-rich U.S. northern lake states during the past half century. Source water there is usually obtained from glacial aquifers strongly connected to surface waters, so irrigation has a potential to locally decrease base flows in streams and water levels in aquifers, lakes, and wetlands. During the nascent phase of the irrigation expansion, wate...

The coupling between the thermohaline, chemical and biological variables on the northeast continental shelf of the Gulf of Cádiz was determined during the Emigas I survey in summer 2006. Samples were collected to chemically characterize the different water types and to analyze the chlorophyll a distribution. Four different water masses were identified: North Atlantic Central Water (NACW), Surfa...

Changes of the isotopic composition of water within the water cycle provide a recognizable signature, relating such water to the different phases of the cycle. The isotope fractionations that accompany the evaporation from the ocean and other surface waters and the reverse process of rain formation account for the most notable changes. As a result, meteoric waters are depleted in the heavy isot...