According to the classical plume hypothesis, mantle plumes are localized upwellings of hot, buoyant material in the Earth’s mantle. They have a typical mushroom shape, consisting of a large plume head, which is associated with the formation of voluminous flood basalts (a Large Igneous Province) and a narrow plume tail, which generates a linear, age-progressive chain of volcanic edifices (a hotspot track) as the tectonic plate migrates over the relatively stationary plume. Both plume heads and tails reshape large areas of the Earth’s surface over many tens of millions of years. However, not every plume has left an exemplary record that supports the classical hypothesis. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to study how specific hotspots have created the crustal thickness pattern attributed to their volcanic activities. Using regional geodynamic models, the main chapters of this thesis address the challenge of deciphering the three individual (and increasingly complex) Réunion, Iceland, and Kerguelen hotspot histories, especially focussing on the interactions between the respective plume and nearby spreading ridges. For this purpose, the mantle convection code ASPECT is used to set up three-dimensional numerical models, which consider the specific local surroundings of each plume by prescribing time-dependent boundary conditions for temperature and mantle flow. Combining reconstructed plate boundaries and plate motions, large-scale global flow velocities and an inhomogeneous lithosphere thickness distribution together with a dehydration rheology represents a novel setup for regional convection models. The model results show the crustal thickness pattern produced by the plume, which is compared to present-day topographic structures, crustal thickness estimates and age determinations of volcanic provinces associated with hotspot activity. Altogether, the model results agree well with surface observations. Moreover, the dynamic development of the plumes in the models provide explanations for the generation of smaller, yet characteristic volcanic features that were previously unexplained. Considering the present-day state of a model as a prediction for the current temperature distribution in the mantle, it cannot only be compared to observations on the surface, but also to structures in the Earth’s interior as imaged by seismic tomography. More precisely, in the case of the Réunion hotspot, the model demonstrates how the distinctive gap between the Maldives and Chagos is generated due to the combination of the ridge geometry and plume-ridge interaction. Further, the Rodrigues Ridge is formed as the surface expression of a long-distance sublithospheric flow channel between the upwelling plume and the closest ridge segment, confirming the long-standing hypothesis of Morgan (1978) for the first time in a dynamic context. The Réunion plume has been studied in connection with the seismological RHUM-RUM project, which has recently provided new seismic tomography images that yield an excellent match with the geodynamic model. Regarding the Iceland plume, the numerical model shows how plume material may have accumulated in an east-west trending corridor of thin lithosphere across Greenland and resulted in simultaneous melt generation west and east of Greenland. This provides an explanation for the extremely widespread volcanic material attributed to magma production of the Iceland hotspot and demonstrates that the model setup is also able to explain more complicated hotspot histories. The Iceland model results also agree well with newly derived seismic tomographic images. The Kerguelen hotspot has an extremely complex history and previous studies concluded that the plume might be dismembered or influenced by solitary waves in its conduit to produce the reconstructed variable melt production rate. The geodynamic model, however, shows that a constant plume influx can result in a variable magma production rate if the plume interacts with nearby mid-ocean ridges. Moreover, the Ninetyeast Ridge in the model is created by on-ridge activities, while the Kerguelen plume was located beneath the Australian plate. This is also a contrast to earlier studies, which described the Ninetyeast Ridge as the result of the Indian plate passing over the plume. Furthermore, the Amsterdam-Saint Paul Plateau in the model is the result of plume material flowing from the upwelling toward the Southeast Indian Ridge, whereas previous geochemical studies attributed that volcanic province to a separate deep plume. In summary, the three case studies presented in this thesis consistently highlight the importance of plume-ridge interaction in order to reconstruct the overall volcanic hotspot record as well as specific smaller features attributed to a certain hotspot. They also demonstrate that it is not necessary to attribute highly complicated properties to a specific plume in order to account for complex observations. Thus, this thesis contributes to the general understanding of plume dynamics and extends the very specific knowledge about the Réunion, Iceland, and Kerguelen mantle plumes.

Studies investigating the effect of increasing CO2 levels on the phosphorus cycle in natural waters are lacking although phosphorus often controls phytoplankton development in many aquatic systems. The aim of our study was to analyse effects of elevated CO2 levels on phosphorus pool sizes and uptake. The phosphorus dynamic was followed in a CO2-manipulation mesocosm experiment in the Storfjarden (western Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea) in summer 2012 and was also studied in the surrounding fjord water. In all mesocosms as well as in surface waters of Storfjarden, dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentrations of 0.26aEuro-+/- aEuro-0.03 and 0.23aEuro-+/- aEuro-0.04aEuro-A mu molaEuro-L-1, respectively, formed the main fraction of the total P-pool (TP), whereas phosphate (PO4) constituted the lowest fraction with mean concentration of 0.15aEuro-A +/- aEuro-0.02 in the mesocosms and 0.17aEuro-A +/- aEuro-0.07aEuro-A mu molaEuro-L-1 in the fjord. Transformation of PO4 into DOP appeared to be the main pathway of PO4 turnover. About 82aEuro-% of PO4 was converted into DOP whereby only 18aEuro-% of PO4 was transformed into particulate phosphorus (PP). PO4 uptake rates measured in the mesocosms ranged between 0.6 and 3.9aEuro-nmolaEuro-L(-1)aEuro-h(-1). About 86aEuro-% of them was realized by the size fraction < aEuro-3aEuro-A mu m. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) uptake revealed that additional P was supplied from organic compounds accounting for 25-27aEuro-% of P provided by PO4 only. CO2 additions did not cause significant changes in phosphorus (P) pool sizes, DOP composition, and uptake of PO4 and ATP when the whole study period was taken into account. However, significant short-term effects were observed for PO4 and PP pool sizes in CO2 treatments > aEuro-1000aEuro-A mu atm during periods when phytoplankton biomass increased. In addition, we found significant relationships (e.g., between PP and Chl a) in the untreated mesocosms which were not observed under high fCO(2) conditions. Consequently, it can be hypothesized that the relationship between PP formation and phytoplankton growth changed with CO2 elevation. It can be deduced from the results, that visible effects of CO2 on P pools are coupled to phytoplankton growth when the transformation of PO4 into POP was stimulated. The transformation of PO4 into DOP on the other hand does not seem to be affected. Additionally, there were some indications that cellular mechanisms of P regulation might be modified under CO2 elevation changing the relationship between cellular constituents.

In the arable soil landscape of hummocky ground moraines, an erosion-affected spatial differentiation of soils can be observed. Man-made erosion leads to soil profile modifications along slopes with changed solum thickness and modified properties of soil horizons due to water erosion in combination with tillage operations. Soil erosion creates, thereby, spatial patterns of soil properties (e.g., texture and organic matter content) and differences in crop development. However, little is known about the manner in which water fluxes are affected by soil-crop interactions depending on contrasting properties of differently-developed soil horizons and how water fluxes influence the carbon transport in an eroded landscape. To identify such feedbacks between erosion-induced soil profile modifications and the 1D-water and solute balance, high-precision weighing lysimeters equipped with a wide range of sensor technique were filled with undisturbed soil monoliths that differed in the degree of past soil erosion. Furthermore, lysimeter effluent concentrations were analyzed for dissolved carbon fractions in bi-weekly intervals. The water balance components measured by high precision lysimeters varied from the most eroded to the less eroded monolith up to 83 % (deep drainage) primarily caused due to varying amounts of precipitation and evapotranspiration for a 3-years period. Here, interactions between crop development and contrasting rainfall interception by above ground biomass could explain differences in water balance components. Concentrations of dissolved carbon in soil water samples were relatively constant in time, suggesting carbon leaching was mainly affected by water fluxes in this observation period. For the lysimeter-based water balance analysis, a filtering scheme was developed considering temporal autocorrelation. The minute-based autocorrelation analysis of mass changes from lysimeter time series revealed characteristic autocorrelation lengths ranging from 23 to 76 minutes. Thereby, temporal autocorrelation provided an optimal approximation of precipitation quantities. However, the high temporal resolution in lysimeter time series is restricted by the lengths of autocorrelation. Erosion-induced but also gradual changes in soil properties were reflected by dynamics of soil water retention properties in the lysimeter soils. Short-term and long-term hysteretic water retention data suggested seasonal wettability problems of soils increasingly limited rewetting of previously dried pore regions. Differences in water retention were assigned to soil tillage operations and the erosion history at different slope positions. The threedimensional spatial pattern of soil types that result from erosional soil profile modifications were also reflected in differences of crop root development at different landscape positions. Contrasting root densities revealed positive relations of root and aboveground plant characteristics. Differences in the spatially-distributed root growth between different eroded soil types provided indications that root development was affected by the erosion-induced soil evolution processes. Overall, the current thesis corroborated the hypothesis that erosion-induced soil profile modifications affect the soil water balance, carbon leaching and soil hydraulic properties, but also the crop root system is influenced by erosion-induced spatial patterns of soil properties in the arable hummocky post glacial soil landscape. The results will help to improve model predictions of water and solute movement in arable soils and to understand interactions between soil erosion and carbon pathways regarding sink-or-source terms in landscapes.