ALBERT

Description: An abrupt lithofacies change between calcareous shale and noncalcareous shale occurs in strata deposited in the mid-Cretaceous Greenhorn Seaway in the southeastern corner of Montana. The facies were correlated lithostratigraphically using bentonites and calcarenites. The lithocorrelations were then refined using ammonites, foraminifera, and calcareous nannofossils. Twenty-five time slices were defined within the upper middle and lower upper Cenomanian strata. Biofacies analysis indicate that lithofacies changes record the boundary or oceanic front between two water masses with distinctly different paleoceanographic conditions. One water mass entered the seaway from the Arctic and the other from the Gulf of Mexico/Tethys. The microfauna and microflora permit interpretation of the environmental conditions in each water mass. At times when the front was near vertical, the two water masses were of the same density but of different temperatures and salinities.

Description: The zonal monsoon circulation south of India/Sri Lanka is a crucial link for the exchange between the northeastern and the northwestern Indian Ocean. The first direct measurements from moored stations and shipboard profiling on the seasonal and shorter‐period variability of this flow are presented here. Of the three moorings deployed from January 1991 to February 1992 along 80°30′E between 4°11′N and 5°39′N, the outer two were equipped with upward looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) at 260‐m depth. The moored and shipboard ADCP measurements revealed a very shallow structure of the near‐surface flow, which was mostly confined to the top 100 m and required extrapolation of moored current shears toward the surface for transport calculations. During the winter monsoon, the westward flowing Northeast Monsoon Current (NMC) carried a mean transport of about 12 Sv in early 1991 and 10 Sv in early 1992. During the summer monsoon, transports in the eastward Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC) were about 8 Sv for the region north of 3°45′N, but the current might have extended further south, to 2°N, which would increase the total SMC transport to about 15 Sv. The circulation during the summer was sometimes found to be more complicated, with the SMC occasionally being separated from the Sri Lankan coast by a band of westward flowing low‐salinity water originating in the Bay of Bengal. The annual‐mean flow past Sri Lanka was weakly westward with a transport of only 2–3 Sv. Using seasonal‐mean ship drift currents for surface values in the transport calculations yielded rather similar results to upward extrapolation of the moored profiles. The observations are compared with output of recent numerical models of the Indian Ocean circulation, which generally show the origin of the zonal flow past India/Sri Lanka to be at low latitudes and driven by the large‐scale tropical wind field. Superimposed on this zonal circulation is local communication along the coast between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea

Description: The effect of midlatitude and tropical internal wave variability on current profile measurements is investigated and quantified to yield practical error estimates. First, a data set of Pegasus current profiles from the tropical Atlantic (6°S to 6°N) is analyzed for their rms down/up differences, which are compared with predictions from Garrett‐Munk type internal wave theory and with statistics derived from current meter moorings in the same region. The agreement in terms of amplitudes and vertical distribution proves that most of those differences are due to internal waves and not instrumental errors. Nonetheless, this is the noise of the measurements, if low‐frequency motions are sought, and the errors can thus be quantified using the same internal wave theories. At midlatitudes the error variance is the usual 44(N/3 cph) cm2/s2 with some latitude dependence, and the effect of averaging in the vertical or summing several profiles (e.g., up and down) is estimated. The same is done for equatorial situations, where construction of a crude equatorial frequency spectrum for internal waves yields 77(N/3 cph)cm2/s2 for the error variance. Again, error reduction due to averaging is estimated.

Description: In laboratory investigations of the gas-phase OH initiated oxidation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS: CH3SCH3) at room temperature the formation of SO2, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO: CH3SOCH3), and OCS have been observed. A yield of 0.7±0.2% S was measured for OCS. These new results represent a hitherto unknown and quite considerable in situ atmospheric source of OCS. Based on the global DMS source strength as given in the literature and provided that the results from the laboratory study are valid under atmospheric conditions we estimate a contribution in the range 0.10 to 0.28 Tg (OCS) yr−1 from the gas-phase atmospheric photooxidation of DMS to the global OCS budget.

Description: The accuracy of the Darcy velocity, flux, and stream function computed from lowest-order, triangle-based, control volume and mixed finite element approximations to the two-dimensional pressure equation is considered. The control volume finite element method, similar to integrated finite difference methods and analogous to the interpolation of Galerkin finite element results over “control volumes,” is shown to yield a conservative velocity field and smooth streamlines. The streamlines and fluxes through the system computed with the control volume finite element approach are compared to those computed from the mixed finite element method, which approximates the pressure and velocity variables separately. It is shown that for systems with only moderate degrees of heterogeneity, the control volume finite element method is the more computationally efficient alternative; i.e., it provides more accurate flow results for a given number of unknowns. For more variable or discontinuous permeability fields, by contrast, such as sand/shale systems, the mixed finite element method is shown to approximate flow variables more accurately and more realistically than the control volume method with the same number of unknowns.

Description: Open-ocean deep convection is a littleunderstood process occurring in winter in remote areas under hostile observation conditions, for example, in the Labrador and Greenland Seas and near the Antarctic continent. Deep convection is a crucial link in the “Great Ocean Conveyor Belt” [Broecker, 1991], transforming poleward flowing warm surface waters through atmosphere-oceaninteraction into cold equatorward flowing water masses. Understanding its physics, interannual variations, and role in the global thermohaline circulation is an important objective of climate change research. In convection regions, drastic changes in water mass properties and distribution occur on scales of 10–100 km. These changes occur quickly and are difficult to observe with conventional oceanographic techniques. Apart from observing the development of the deep-mixed patch of homogeneous water itself, processes of interest are convective plumes on scales 〈1 km and vertical velocities of several cm s−1 [Schott et al., 1994] that quickly mix water masses vertically, and instability processes at the rim of the convection region that expedite horizontal exchanges of convected and background water masses [e.g., Gascard, 1978].

Description: The effect of dissolution from particulates into the supernatant solution in sediment trap sample cups has been measured for fatty acids. A mooring array with time series sediment traps was deployed in the northeast Atlantic Ocean (59°N, 21°W) for 14 months. Selected representative samples from the trap at 2200 m (poisoned with NaN3) were analyzed for total and free fatty acids in both the solution and particulate phase by means of gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry with an ion trap detector. The flux contribution of the dissolved total fatty acids (∑ DTFA) was found to be between 15 and 75% of the total flux (∑ TTFA, sum of the fluxes of total fatty acids in both particles and supernatants). Dissolved free fatty acids (∑ DFFA) represented 25–88% of the total flux of free fatty acids (∑ TFFA). Absolute concentrations of total and free fatty acids in both compartments are discussed in terms of the processes controlling the distribution between the two phases, for example, readsorption. Sample handling, poisoning, bacterial activity, and swimmers may also affect fatty acid distribution. Flux data (sum of particulate and dissolved fluxes) are presented for individual fatty acids. Also, the degree of dissolution of individual fatty acids is shown for one sample (dissolved fraction ranging between 16 and 98% of total flux).

Description: Biogenic particle fluxes from highly productive surface waters, boundary scavenging, and hydrothermal activity are the main factors influencing the deposition of radionuclides in the area of the Galapagos microplate, eastern Equatorial Pacific. In order to evaluate the importance of these three processes throughout the last 100 kyr, concentrations of the radionuclides 10Be, 230Th, and 231Pa, and of Mn and Fe were measured at high resolution in sediment samples from two gravity cores KLH 068 and KLH 093. High biological productivity in the surface waters overlying the investigated area has led to 10Be and 231Pa fluxes exceeding production during at least the last 30 kyr and probably the last 100 kyr. However, during periods of high productivity at the up welling centers off Peru and extension of the equatorial high-productivity zone, a relative loss of 10Be and 231Pa may have occurred in these sediment cores because of boundary scavenging. The effects of hydrothermal activity were investigated by comparing the 230Thex concentrations to the Mn/Fe ratios and by comparing the fluxes of 230Th and 10Be which exceed production. The results suggest an enhanced hydrothermal influence during isotope stages 4 and 5 and to a lesser extent during isotope stage 1 in core KLH 093. During isotope stages 2 and 3, the hydrothermal supply of Mn was deposited elsewhere, probably because of changes in current regime or deep water oxygenation. A strong increase of the Mn/Fe ratio at the beginning of climatic stage 1 which is not accompanied by an increase of the 230Thex concentration is interpreted to be an effect of Mn remobilization and reprecipitation in the sediment.

Description: The distribution of living (rose bengal stained) deep-sea benthic foraminifera was determined in the upper 20 cm of sediments of eight Soutar box cores taken from two depth transects (510-4515 m) in the thermospheric (〉 10°C) Sulu Sea. Despite the uniformity of bottom water temperatures, salinities, and dissolved oxygen levels below 1000 m, significant faunal differences exist at different depths in the low-oxygen (∼1.25 mL/L below 1000 m) basin. The shallowest site (510 m) is dominated (〉 10% of the calcareous fauna) by Cibicidoides, Uvigerina, (〉 150 µm) and Bolivina (〉 63 µm), while Siphonina is codominant with Cibicidoides and Uvigerina in the 1005-m core. The 2000-m cores are dominated by Cibicidoides, Gyroidinoides, and Oridorsalis, while Cibicidoides bradyi and Oridorsalis umbonatus dominate the 3000- and 4000-m cores. Infaunal assemblages of Valvulineria mexicana are found in the sediments of the 4515-m core. Relatively low bottom water oxygen values do not necessarily yield "typical low-oxygen taxa" such as Bolivina, Uvigerina, Chilostomella, Bulimina, and Globobulimina. Changes in the abundances of these taxa in fossil assemblages have been used as indicators of changes in ancient bottom water oxygen levels but may instead reflect organic carbon contents of the sediments. An examination of the vertical distributions of foraminiferal assemblages from the 〉 63-µm and 〉 150-µm fractions reveals that taxa have microhabitat preferences similar to those observed in other regions. Taxa found in the upper 0- to 1-cm interval (epifaunal) include Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and Hoeglundina elegans, while taxa such as Chilostomella and Globobulimina reach maximum abundances in subsurface sediments and have infaunal microhabitat preferences. Cibicidoides bradyi and O. umbonatus live in sediment depths from 0- to 4-cm and have transitional preferences with both epifaunal and infaunal occurrences. Intrageneric differences in test morphologies, including pore distribution, rounded peripheries, and variable spire height, are observed in Cibicidoides and Gyroidinoides and are suggested to be related to microhabitat preferences. Vertical distributions of a number of taxa found in both the 63- to 150-µm and 〉 150-µm fractions are similar, suggesting that juveniles and adults live under similar microhabitat conditions. Ontogenetic changes in microhabitat preferences of most species are not observed in this study and therefore would not be expected to account for isotopic vital effects reported for some taxa in previous studies.

Description: Sources of near-surface oceanic variability in the central North Atlantic are identified from a combined analysis of climatology, surface drifter, and Geosat altimeter data as well as eddy-resolving math formula and math formula Community Modeling Effort North Atlantic model results. Both observational and numerical methods give a consistent picture of the concentration of mesoscale variability along the mean zonal flow bands. Three areas of high eddy energy can be found in all observational data sets: the North Equatorial Current, the North Atlantic Current, and the Azores Current. With increasing horizontal resolution the numerical models give a more realistic representation of the variability in the first two regimes, while no improvement is found with respect to the Azores Current Frontal Zone. Examination of the upper ocean hydrographic structure indicates baroclinic instability to be the main mechanism of eddy generation and suggests that the model deficiencies in the Azores Current area are related to deficiencies in the mean hydrographic fields. A linear instability analysis of the numerical model output reveals that instability based on the velocity shear between the mixed layer and the interior is also important for the generation of the mid-ocean variability, indicating a potential role of the mixed layer representation for the model. The math formula model successfully simulates the northward decrease of eddy length scales observed in the altimeter data, which follow a linear relationship with the first baroclinic Rossby radius. An analysis of the eddy-mean flow interaction terms and the energy budget indicates a release of mean potential energy by downgradient fluxes of heat in the main frontal zones. At the same time the North Atlantic Current is found to be supported by convergent eddy fluxes of zonal momentum.

Description: During three measurement campaigns on the Baltic and North Seas, atmospheric and dissolved methane was determined with an automated gas chromatographic system. Area-weighted mean saturation values in the sea surface waters were 113 ± 5% and 395 ± 82% (Baltic Sea, February and July 1992) and 126 ± 8% (south central North Sea, September 1992). On the bases of our data and a compilation of literature data the global oceanic emissions of methane were reassessed by introducing a concept of regional gas transfer coefficients. Our estimates computed with two different air-sea exchange models lie in the range of 11-18 Tg CH4 yr-1. Despite the fact that shelf areas and estuaries only represent a small part of the world's ocean they contribute about 75% to the global oceanic emissions. We applied a simple, coupled, three-layer model to numerically simulate the time dependent variation of the oceanic flux to the atmosphere. The model calculations indicate that even with increasing tropospheric methane concentration, the ocean will remain a source of atmospheric methane.

Description: Biogenic particle fluxes from highly productive surface waters, boundary scavenging, and hydrothermal activity are the main factors influencing the deposition of radionuclides in the area of the Galapagos microplate, eastern Equatorial Pacific. In order to evaluate the importance of these three processes throughout the last 100 kyr, concentrations of the radionuclides 10Be, 230Th, and 231Pa, and of Mn and Fe were measured at high resolution in sediment samples from two gravity cores KLH 068 and KLH 093. High biological productivity in the surface waters overlying the investigated area has led to 10Be and 231Pa fluxes exceeding production during at least the last 30 kyr and probably the last 100 kyr. However, during periods of high productivity at the up welling centers off Peru and extension of the equatorial high-productivity zone, a relative loss of 10Be and 231Pa may have occurred in these sediment cores because of boundary scavenging. The effects of hydrothermal activity were investigated by comparing the 230Thex concentrations to the Mn/Fe ratios and by comparing the fluxes of 230Th and 10Be which exceed production. The results suggest an enhanced hydrothermal influence during isotope stages 4 and 5 and to a lesser extent during isotope stage 1 in core KLH 093. During isotope stages 2 and 3, the hydrothermal supply of Mn was deposited elsewhere, probably because of changes in current regime or deep water oxygenation. A strong increase of the Mn/Fe ratio at the beginning of climatic stage 1 which is not accompanied by an increase of the 230Thex concentration is interpreted to be an effect of Mn remobilization and reprecipitation in the sediment.

Description: The current status of the Sverdrup theory for the initiation of plankton blooms is examined. A prescription is given for the computation of the Sverdrup critical depth, using recently-published algorithms for mixed-layer primary production and a generalised loss term. Using no further information, the intrinsic rate of increase of phytoplankton biomass in the mixed layer can also be found. This rate, compared against the local frequency of storm occurrence, provides an alternative criterion for the initiation of blooms. The Eulerian (bulk property) methods used to derive these results are contrasted with the Lagrangian Ensemble method. The Lagrangian approach provides one avenue to the elaboration of the Sverdrup criterion to include the effect of processes with characteristic timescales small compared to one day. The incidence of blooms in the apparent absence of vertical stratification is reviewed: it is concluded that these observations do not undermine the basic logic of the Sverdrup theory. However, they do provoke interest in a re-examination of the feedbacks between the physical and biological dynamics in the mixed layer: an example is given. Finally, suggestions are made for further work in this subject area.

Description: The main water masses in the northern Barents Sea are surface water, Arctic water, transformed Atlantic water, and cold bottom water. Using summer data from 1981 and 1982, the formation, distribution, modification and circulation of these water masses are discussed. Recent estimates show that about 2 Sv of Atlantic water enters the Barents Sea by the North Cape Current, balanced by a similar outflow through the strait between Novaya Zemlya and Frans Josef Land. Passing through the Barents Sea, Atlantic-derived water is modified by interaction with other water masses as well as with the atmosphere, and the end products are believed to be important contributors to the hydrographic structure of the Arctic Ocean.

Description: Satellite-derived (Geosat altimetry) sea surface height anomalies for the period November 1986 to September 1989 were investigated in order to extract the dominant modes of climate variability in the tropical Pacific. We applied the technique of principal oscillation patterns and computed associated wind stress patterns for each mode. Four modes were identified. The first mode has a time scale of about 3 months and can be identified with the first baroclinic equatorial Kelvin wave mode, which is excited by intraseasonal wind variations over the western equatorial Pacific. The second mode has a time scale of about 6 months and describes the semiannual cycle in the tropical Pacific sea level. Equatorial wave dynamics appears to be crucial for this mode also. The third mode is the annual cycle which shows evidence of off-equatorial Rossby wave propagation. The fourth mode is associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. The ENSO mode is found to be consistent with the “delayed action oscillator” scenario.

Description: From March 11 to April 5,1994, the German research vessel Sonne mapped the largely uncharted offshore areas of the Tabarto-Feni island chain in the New Ireland Basin of Papua, New Guinea. The Epithermal Deposits Southwestern Pacific Ocean (EDISON) cruise was organized as part of a multidisciplinary program to study the regional tectonic setting of the Tabar-to-Feni chain, to document recent submarine volcanism, and to investigate seafloor hydrothermal activity on the submerged flanks of the volcanos. The New Ireland Basin occupies a forearcposition with respect to the formerly active Manus-Kilinailau arc-trench system and hosts a series of Pliocene to recent alkaline volcanos that are built on rifted Miocene sedimentary basement. Several of the volcanos have large, high-level porphyry stocks, and several have active geothermal systems, including gold-depositing hot springs and the giant Ladolam gold deposit on the island of Lihir.

Description: We report on a Pb‐Nd‐Sr isotope and rare earth study of Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR) basalt glasses collected across the equatorial fracture zones from 7°S to 5°N (65 stations). The 1600‐km‐long profile reveals two mixing zones in the mantle that are isotopically distinct but cover the same range of (La/Sm)n ratios (0.3–2), with a gradational boundary between the Romanche and the Chain fracture zones. The potential mantle temperature profile inferred from Na2O content is also quite distinct. The north zone is dominated by a major, La/Sm and HIMU type Pb isotope anomaly centered at 1.7°N±300 km, which is flanked by two zones mildly radiogenic in Pb but depleted in light REE. A kinematic and evolutionary model describing the dispersion and interaction of the Sierra Leone plume with the asthenosphere and the MAR in the last 75 m.y. is proposed for this zone, which includes St. Paul and St. Peter's Rocks. In contrast, over the south zone the isotope/geochemical profiles are well correlated at all length scales and opposite in sign from the inferred potential mantle temperature profile and mean percent fusion. Broad negative gradients are observed between the Romanche and the Charcot fracture zones, superimposed by spikelike anomalies at the intersection with the eastern part of the Romanche and Chain transform faults, where cold plate edge effects prevail. The heterogeneous mantle model of Sleep [1984] and Langmuir and Bender [1984] is applicable to this zone, that is the volatile and radiogenic Pb‐rich lumps are preferentially melted during mantle decompression and passively sampled. The lumps may reflect the early dispersion of the St. Helena or Ascension mantle plumes under a thick lithosphere, followed by redistribution due to intense shearing, continental lithosphere delamination, and secondary mantle convection. The presence of a depleted asthenosphere unpolluted by plumes along the 400‐km‐long MAR segment between the Charcot and Ascension fracture zones is also apparent in the data.

Description: Early Tertiary lithospheric breakup between Eurasia and Greenland was accompanied by a transient (∼3 m.y.) igneous event emplacing both the onshore flood basalts of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province (NAVP) and huge extrusive complexes along the continent‐ocean transition on the rifted continental margins. Seismic data show that volcanic margins extend 〉2600 km along the early Eocene plate boundary, in places underlain by high‐velocity (7.2–7.7 km/s) lower crustal bodies. Quantitative calculations of NAVP dimensions, considered minimum estimates, reveal an areal extent of 1.3×106 km2 and a volume of flood basalts of 1.8×106 km3, yielding a mean eruption rate of 0.6 km3/yr or 2.4 km3/yr if two‐thirds of the basalts were emplaced within 0.5 m.y. The total crustal volume is 6.6×106 km3, resulting in a mean crustal accretion rate of 2.2 km3/yr. Thus NAVP ranks among the world's larger igneous provinces if the volcanic margins are considered. The velocity structure of the expanded crust seaward of the continent‐ocean boundary differs from standard oceanic and continental crustal models. Based on seismic velocities this “volcanic margin” crust can be divided into three units of which the upper unit corresponds to basaltic extrusives. The regionally consistent velocity structure and geometry of the crustal units suggest that the expanded crust, including the high‐velocity lower crust which extends some distance landward of the continent‐ocean boundary, was emplaced during and subsequent to breakup. The volcanic margin crust was formed by excess melting within a wide zone of asthenospheric upwelling, probably reflecting the interaction of a mantle plume and a lithosphere already extending.

Description: Reflection seismic and borehole geophysical data place important constraints on the subsurface geometry of the Sudbury Structure, which is the site of the world's largest Ni‐Cu camp. Seismic reflections can be traced from outcrop within the Sudbury North Range to about 4.5 km depth beneath the center of the Sudbury Basin, where the layer thickens abruptly from 1 to 3 km. Further south the North Range norite can be followed to about 10 km depth beneath the South Range. Borehole studies show systematic variations of p‐ and s‐wave velocity, Poisson's ratio and density within the Igneous Complex. Quartz‐rich granophyre is distinguished from the norite and footwall rocks by relatively low Poisson's ratios (0.20–0.23 versus 0.23–0.25). These changes in physical rock properties define an important subdivision of the Igneous Complex, compatible with a simple model involving differentiation of melted crustal rock into dominantly felsic and mafic components. This study documents the importance of interlayering to the seismic reflection response of the crystalline crust.

Description: Results from borehole geophysical logs, full waveform sonic logs, VSP and laboratory core sample measurements indicate that lithologic variations within the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) and footwall rocks are the primary cause of reflections observed regionally on the multi‐channel seismic reflection profiles. The effects of macroscopic fracturing and low‐grade alteration on the seismic response are only important to a depth of ∼ 320 m. The major lithologic units of the SIC and footwall rocks in the North Range of the Sudbury structure have contrasting physical properties: Felsic norite and quartz‐gabbro have higher Vp (∼ 6300 m/s) than granophyre (∼ 6000 m/s) due to their higher pyroxene content and the presence of quartz rather than calcic plagioclase in the granophyre. Velocities are higher (Vp ∼ 6500 m/s) within the brecciated footwall rocks due to an overall increase in mafic mineral content. The contrasting velocities and densities of these units imply that the granophyre/quartz‐gabbro contact and the SIC/footwall transition can be mapped regionally using seismic reflection methods. Subunits within these units are also highly reflective, consistent with the nature of the seismic data, but are likely discontinuous laterally.

Description: The Romanche transform offsets the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR) axis by about 950 km in the equatorial Atlantic. Multibeam and high‐resolution multichannel seismic reflection surveys as well as rock sampling were carried out on the eastern part of the transform with the R/V Akademik Strakhov as part of the Russian‐Italian Mid‐Atlantic Ridge Project (PRIMAR). Morphobathymetric data show the existence on the northern side of the transform of a major 800‐km‐long aseismic valley oriented 10° to 15° from the active valley; it disappears about 150 km from the western MAR segment. The aseismic valley marks probably the former location of the Romanche transform (“PaleoRomanche”) that was active up to roughly 8–10 Ma, when the transform boundary migrated to its present position. A temporary microplate developed during the migration and reorientation of the transform. This microplate changed its sense of motion as it was transferred from the South American to the African plate. A prominent transverse ridge extends for several hundred kilometers parallel to the transform on its northern side, reaching its shallowest part (shallower by over 4 km than the predicted thermal contraction depth) in a zone opposite the eastern MAR axis/transform intersection (RTI). Flat‐top peaks on the summit of the transverse ridge are capped by acoustically transparent, weakly stratified, shallow water platfonn/lagunal/reef limestones. This limestone unit is a few hundred meters thick and overlies igneous basement. Evaluation of the seismic reflection data as well as study of samples of carbonates, ventifact basaltic pebbles and gabbroic, peridotitic and basaltic rocks recovered at different sites on the transverse ridge, suggest that (1) the summit of the transverse ridge was above sea level at and before about 5 Ma; (2) the transverse ridge subsided since then at an average rate 1 order of magnitude faster than the predicted thermal contraction rate; its summit was flattened by erosion at sea level during subsidence; (3) the transverse ridge is an uplifted sliver of lithosphere and not a volcanic constructional feature; and (4) transtensional and transpressional tectonics have affected the transverse ridge. Hypotheses on the origin of the Romanche transverse ridge include (1) lateral heat conduction across the RTI; (2) shear heating; (3) lithospheric flexure due to thermal stresses in the cooling lithosphere; (4) viscoelastic deformation of the lithosphere; (5) hydration/dehydration of mantle peridotites; and (6) longitudinal flow of melt and igneous activity across the RTI. These processes cannot by themselves explain the transverse ridge, although some of them could contribute to its formation to a small extent. Vertical tectonics due to transpressional and transtensional events related to a nonstraight transform boundary and to regional changes in ridge/transform geometry is probably the primary process that gave rise to the uplift of the transverse ridge and to its recent subsidence. Uplift may have been caused primarily by thrust faulting induced by transpression related to the oblique impact of the lithospheric plate against the former (PaleoRomanche) and the younger transform boundaries, before and during the transition to the present boundary. After migration of the transform boundary to its present position, transpression was replaced by transtension and by subsidence of the transverse ridge. An aseismic axial rift valley impacting against the transform valley about 80 km west of the present RTI suggests eastward ridge jumping that probably followed transform migration. Localized transtension or transpression due to bends in the orientation of the transform may have caused intense although localized vertical movements, such as those that formed an ultradeep (〉7800 m) pull‐apart basin along the transform valley.

Description: Optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis is used to analyze mixing in the central water boundary of the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Diapycnal mixing is found to be prevalent in the frontal region. OMP analysis shows that the mixing is unidirectional (South Atlantic Central Water is always mixed upward into North Atlantic Central Water) but cannot identify the process responsible for the observed diapycnal mixing. A histogram of stability ratios Rρ for all mixing lines shows Rρ values between unity and the value found in the parent water masses. It is suggested that this may indicate competition between isopycnal mixing and double diffusion. Double diffusive fluxes are likely to make a recognizable and significant contribution to diapycnal mixing between the Central Waters.

Description: The purpose of this special section in Paleoceanography is to present interdisciplinary approaches for contributing to the reconstruction of ocean circulation and its response to climate changes. A high-priority objective for understanding the causes and mechanisms of climate change is the monitoring of past ocean circulation and oceanic heat and nutrient transport. Lehman and Keigwin [1992] have shown that cooling, for example, during the younger Dryas event, may have culminated in a cessation of the oceans conveyor circulation. The cooling in the North Atlantic was apparently the result of reduced northward heat transport in the upper water masses of the North Atlantic conveyor belt. In contrast, intervals with a strong surface and deepwater circulation were marked by a high northward heat transport. For the understanding of the causes and the timing of such rapid,highfrequency events, marine records of high deposition ratecores are needed. These cores should provide evidence for changes in abyssal circulation and heat transport, as well as arecord of surface and deepwater characteristics. The sediment drifts of the North Atlantic and in other ocean basins are one of the major targets for the recovery of sediments with high deposition rates (〉10 cm/kyr) and for reconstructing the role of both intermediate and deepwater production in the conveyor belt, that is drawing low-latitude heat northward. We stress the need for international programs targeting high deposition rate areas on sediment drifts and sediment waves in order to understand (1) the evolution of the conveyor belt and (2) its dynamics and variability. The North Atlantic, where sediment drifts are concentrated, will provide ideal study areas with time resolutions comparable to those of ice core records but with records linked directly to the record of changing bottom water flow. Therefore one can address the changes in circulation, heat and carbon budget on high and ultrahigh resolution records.

Description: Exploratory measurements of a suite of anthropogenic halocarbon compounds (CCl4, CCl2FCClF2 (CFC-113), CH3CCl3, CCl3F (CFC-11)) were made using a new analytical technique on RV Meteor cruise 15 along 19°S (World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Line A9)) in the Atlantic Ocean during February–March 1991. A separate analytical system was used to determine CCl2F2 (CFC-12) and CCl3F (CFC-11). A limited number of CFC-113 profiles indicated that it was undetectable below 400–500 m. The CCl4 data indicate that the entire Brazil Basin contains readily measurable levels of CCl4 (〉0.05 pmol kg−1), whereas the deep Angola Basin contains very low levels (≤0.02 pmol kg−1). Slightly higher levels were found close to the bottom in the deep Angola Basin: possibly an anthropogenic signature. In contrast, most of the deep Brazil Basin and all of the deep Angola Basin (〉1000 m) had undetectable levels of CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113. Preindustrial levels of CCl4 in the atmosphere were therefore negligible (atmospheric mixing ratio 〈0.1 pptv). CCl4/CFC-11 ratios are used to estimate apparent ages and dilution factors for the North Atlantic Deep Water and Antarctic Bottom Water. Whereas CCl4/CFC-11/CFC-12 levels are internally consistent in deep waters, suggesting near-conservative behavior, there is evidence for very rapid removal of CCl4 in the thermocline. Removal rates suggest that in addition to neutral hydrolysis, some other loss pathway must be involved.

Description: High-resolution benthic oxygen isotope and dust flux records from Ocean Drilling Program site 659 have been analyzed to extend the astronomically calibrated isotope timescale for the Atlantic from 2.85 Ma back to 5 Ma. Spectral analysis of the δ18O record indicates that the 41-kyr period of Earth's orbital obliquity dominates the Pliocene record. This is shown to be true regardless of fundamental changes in the Earth's climate during the Pliocene. However, the cycles of Sahelian aridity fluctuations indicate a shift in spectral character near 3 Ma. From the early Pliocene to 3 Ma, the periodicities were dominantly precessional (19 and 23 kyr) and remained strong until 1.5 Ma. Subsequent to 3 Ma, the variance at the obliquity period (41 kyr) increased. The timescale tuned to precession suggests that the Pliocene was longer than previously estimated by more than 0.5 m.y.

Description: Changes in permeability and porosity during shortening deformation of Carrara marble and hot-pressed calcite aggregates were measured under high pressure at room temperature using argon as pore fluid. At effective pressures of 30 and 50 MPa, the permeability of Carrara marble increased by up to 2 orders of magnitude with less than 2% strain during which the connected porosity increased by only 0.005. The permeability increased more slowly with further strain up to 18%, during which the connected porosity increased by a further 0.05 to 0.06. At effective pressures of 100 MPa to 200 MPa, these effects were much less marked. In hot-pressed calcite aggregates, deformed at an effective pressure of 50 MPa, the permeability increased by about 2 orders of magnitude after about 12% strain and an increase in connected porosity of about 0.03. Microstructural studies indicate that, in the coarse-grained Carrara marble specimens, both transgranular and grain boundary cracks are present after room temperature deformation. For a given strain, the average length and the linear density of transgranular cracks decrease with increasing effective pressure. In fine-grained, hot-pressed calcite aggregates, dilatancy is mainly due to opening of grain boundary cracks. The very marked increase in permeability with small strain at low effective pressure can be correlated with the proliferation of connected microcracks of relatively large apertures, deduced on the basis of theoretical models.

Description: Current measurements from two consecutive yearlong deployments of three moored stations at the western end of the equator in the Atlantic, along 44°W, are used to determine the northwestward flow of warm water in the upper several 100 m and of the southeastward counterflow of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Measurements from three acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) looking upward from 300 m toward the surface allowed calculation of a time series of upper layer transports over 1 year. Mean transport through the array for the upper 300 m is 23.8 Sv with an annual cycle of only ±3 Sv that has its maximum in June-August and minimum in northern spring. Estimated additional mean northwestward transport in the range 300–600 m is 6.7 Sv, based on moored data and shipboard Pegasus and lowered ADCP profiling. In the depth range 1400–3100 m a current core with maximum annual mean southeastward speed of 30 cm s−1 is found along the continental slope that carries an estimated upper NADW transport of 14.2–17.3 Sv, depending on the extrapolation used between the mooring in the core and the continental slope. This transport is higher than off-equatorial estimates and suggests near-equatorial recirculation at the upper NADW level, in agreement with northwestward mean flow found about 140 km offshore. Below 3100 m and above the 1.8°C isotherm, only a small core of lower NADW flow with speeds of 10–15 cm s−1 is found over the flat part of the basin near 1.5°N, clearly separated from the continental slope by a zone of near-zero mean speeds. Estimated transport of that small current core is about 4.5 Sv, which is significantly below other estimates of near-equatorial transport of lower NADW and suggests that a major fraction of lower NADW may cross the 44°W meridian north of the Ceara Rise. Intraseasonal variability is large, although smaller than observed at 8°N near the western boundary. It occurs at a period of about 1 month when it is dominant in the near-surface records and corresponds to earlier observations in the equatorial zones of all oceans and at a period of about 2 months when it is dominant at the NADW level and could be imported either from the north along the boundary or from the east along the equator. The existence of an annual cycle in the deep currents of a few centimeters per second amplitude, as suggested by high-resolution numerical model results, could neither be proven nor disproven because of the high amount of shorter-period variability.

Description: Hydrographic data of temperature, salinity, oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate at 81 stations with 435 samples on 3 sections between the Azores, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and the Bermuda Islands are used to determine the mixing of water masses by optimum multiparameter analysis over the depth range 100–1500 m. The method optimally utilizes all information from our hydrographic data set by solving an overdetermined set of linear mixing equations for all parameters using the method of least squares residuals. It is shown that the method gives quantitative information on the influence of the various water masses of the western North Atlantic. The Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current appear as broad bands transporting large amounts of Western North Atlantic Central Water at their warm flank. Western Subarctic Intermediate Water and Shelf Water supplied by the Labrador Current and containing significant amounts of Labrador Current Water are found on their inshore side. The area of the Azores front is found in the vicinity of the Comer Seamounts, where the uniform water mass distribution of the Sargasso Sea changes into a more complex structure that reflects the influence of water masses originating in the Labrador Sea. Small-scale structures, like eddies or Gulf Stream rings, are also detectable by this analysis method. Comparison with dynamic height analysis supports the circulation pattern of the North Atlantic Current as a continuation of the Gulf Stream, and of the southeastward flowing Azores Current originating in the area of the Southeast Newfoundland Rise.

Description: Measurements made with satellite-tracked buoys drogued in different layers between the sea surface and 30-m depth under homogeneous winter conditions in the North Sea allow analysis of the Ekman currents under a large variety of wind conditions. The experiment lasted from November 20, 1991, until February 29, 1992. The first 4 weeks of this period, during which the buoys stayed close together, are used to determine the Ekman stresses. The total current field is a superposition of barotropic currents due to sea level variations and Ekman currents. The classical Ekman theory is not able to describe properly the observed deflection of the currents to the right of the wind direction and their decay with depth. This deflection is 10° near the sea surface and increases to approximately 50° in 25-m depth. The relation between wind stress and the stress field in the interior of the water is given by a tensor, which describes the rotation and the variation of the stress with increasing depth. The concept of eddy viscosity is applicable, if a viscosity tensor is used to relate stress and vertical shear. The viscosity tensor is a function of the vertical coordinate only and is independent from the wind stress. It shows maximum values in 15- to 20-m depth and may be due to Langmuir circulation cells. Further studies are needed to determine the physics of this tensor. Its magnitude in the interior of the mixed layer exceeds 1000 cgs units. Consequently, Ekman currents are weak and may not be the dominant currents within the mixed layer.

Description: Mesoscale fluctuations in the western tropical Atlantic are analyzed in Geosat altimetry sea surface height (SSH) and geostrophic velocity anomalies to investigate the role of eddies in the North Brazil Current (NBC) retroflection zone. The detachment of anticyclonic eddies from the NBC retroflection is observed during November through January, when the NBC retroflection into the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) weakens and finally breaks down. These eddies are traced over more than 2 months between 50° and 60°W on their way toward the Caribbean, at average speeds of 15 cm s−1. In one case an apparent merger of two anticyclonic eddies occurs, one detached from the retroflection zone and one detached from the NECC. Cyclonic eddies are also observed but are generally less persistent. Mesoscale SSH variance just west of the retroflection increases by a factor of 2 from early summer to winter, mainly because of the anticyclonic eddies. Interhemispheric water mass transfer associated with the eddy flux out of the NBC retroflection may amount to an average transport of 3 Sv.

Description: Hydrographic observations from the Iberian Basin demonstrate the variability of water masses in upper and intermediate layers. The surveyed area embraces the internal front between water masses from higher latitudes and the Mediterranean outflow, exhibits several isolated Mediterranean eddy (meddy) structures at middepth, and displays the virtual source region for the Mediterranean Water (MW) tongue off the Portuguese continental slope. The description is enhanced by additional chlorofluoromethane measurements, which show anomalously high concentrations at middepth, due to mixing of MW with the overlying Atlantic waters in the Gulf of Cadiz. The geostrophic stream function shows several meddylike features that not only are remarkably extended in the depth range of the MW, but are also correlated with surface height anomalies.

Description: Nontransform offsets are a fundamental aspect of the offset geometry exhibited along the mid-oceanic ridge system, independent of spreading rate. Along the slow/intermediate opening (〈40 mm/y full rate) Mid-Atlantic Ridge these offsets of the ridge axis range in length from less than 10 km to approximately 30 km and vary in age offset from 0.5 to 2.0 m.y. The variable morphotectonic geometries associated with these discontinuities indicate that horizontal shear strains are accommodated by both extensional and strike-slip tectonism and that the geometries are unstable in time. In many cases, there appears to be an evolutionary relationship between transform fault boundaries and nontransform offsets as the result of prolonged differential asymmetric spreading between adjoining ridge segments. The finite element method is used to study the complex stress field associated with these small-offset discontinuities of ridges with slow (30 mm/y) and fast (100 mm/y) total opening rates. A plane stress plate model examines the variation in the horizontal tectonic stress field produced by offsets with different lengths and changes in the ratio of a ridge-normal tensile stress resisting plate separation to a shear stress resisting relative plate motion along the discontinuity. The predicted fault patterns based on the calculated stress field are compared with seafloor observations in terms of the morphotectonic patterns and evolution of nontransform offsets. For a slow spreading rate, the analysis shows that all structural geometries observed can be modeled by a range of offset lengths (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 km) and by a ridge-normal stress 3 to 5 times greater than the discontinuity shear stress. These findings suggest that nontransform offsets are zones of mechanical weakness relative to the surrounding lithosphere. An offset length between 10 and 20 km is predicted to be the threshold length for maintaining a transform fault geometry. As inferred from ridge axis morphology, there seems to be a strong link between the magnitude of the stress ratio and the time varying magmatic activity along and between ridge segments. While our models are consistent with a weak discontinuity shear stress relative to the ridge-normal stress to explain the geometries of nontransform offsets of slow-spreading centers, a weaker ridge-normal stress to discontinuity shear stress most closely models the development of an overlapping spreading center geometry, the distinctive geometry of nontransform offsets of spreading centers opening at fast rates. This difference is attributed to magma supply along-axis, relatively continuous for fast-spreading centers and intermittent for slow-spreading centers, and a preexisting zone of mechanical weakness linked to the evolution of nontransform offsets from transform faults on slow-spreading centers.

Description: Three data types are compared in the low-current-velocity regime in the southeastern North Atlantic, between 12-degrees-N and 30-degrees-N, 29-degrees-W and 18-degrees-W: Geosat altimetric sea level and derived surface geostrophic velocities, shallow current meter velocities, and dynamic heights derived from hydrographic data from cruises 4, 6, and 9 of the research vessel Meteor. The four current meter daily time series, at depths around 200 m, were smoothed over 1 month; the altimetric geostrophic velocities were computed from sea surface slopes over 142 km every 17 days. The correlation coefficients between the current meter and altimetric geostrophic velocities range between 0.64 and 0.90 for the moorings near 29-degrees-N but between 0.32 and 0.71 for the two around 21-degrees-N; the associated rms discrepancies between the two measurement types range between 1.5 and 4.4 cm/s, which is 49% to 127% of the rms of the respective current meter time series. Dynamic heights relative to 1950 dbar for the months of November 1986 (d(M4)), November 1987 (d(M6)), and February 1989 (d(M9)) were computed from Meteor cruises 4, 6, and 9. Both dynamic heights and altimetric heights (h(M4), h(M6), h(M9)) were averaged over 1-degrees boxes for the duration of each cruise. Differences d(M4) - d(M6) and d(M9) - d(M6) were computed only at bins where at least one station from both cruises existed, Assuming that dynamic heights d in dynamic centimeters are equivalent to sea level h in centimeters, the standard deviation sigma of the differences ((h(M4) - h(M6)) - (d(M4) - d(M6))) and corresponding M9 - M6 values was 2.1 cm. This value (squared) is only 13% of the (5.8 cm)2 variance of the dynamic height differences and is indistinguishable from the 2.7- to 5.6-cm natural variability of sea level in the area expected between the times when the ship and the satellite sampled the ocean. The areally averaged discrepancy for M9 - M6 was only 0.7 cm, but the corresponding value for M4 - M6 was 5.2 cm. A systematic difference between the water vapor corrections used before and after July 1987 is responsible for the M4 - M6 difference. The average M4 - M6 discrepancy is only 0.1 cm using the Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center correction, with a standard deviation of 3.1 cm. In spite of the underlying differences in sampling and physics, including unknown barotropic components not included in our hydrographic dynamic heights, and in data errors, including water vapor, ionospheric, and orbital effects on the altimetry, consistent interannual changes of the mean sea level from the independently obtained altimetric and hydrographic data sets are obtained, and correlated seasonal changes in surface currents are observed with both altimetry and current meters.

Description: During the winter of 1988–1989 five acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were moored in the central Greenland Sea to measure vertical currents that might occur in conjunction with deep mixing and convection. Two ADCPs were looking up from about 300 m and combined with thermistor strings in the depth range 60–260 m, two were looking downward from 200 m, and one was looking upward from 1400 m. First maxima of vertical velocity variance occurred at two events of strong cold winds in October and November when cooling and turbulence in the shallow mixed layer generated internal waves in the thermocline. Beginning in late November the marginal ice zone expanded eastward over the central Greenland Sea, reaching its maximum extent in late December. In mid-January a bay of ice-free water opened over the central Greenland Sea, leaving a wedge of ice, the “is odden,” curled around it along the axis of the Jan Mayen Current and then northeastward and existing well into April 1989. Below the ice a mixed layer at freezing temperatures developed that increased in thickness from 60 to 120 m during the period of ice cover, corresponding to an average heat loss of about 40 W m−2. Through brine rejection, mixed-layer salinity increased steadily, reducing stability to underlying weakly stratified layers (Roach et al., 1993). During the ice cover period, vertical currents were at a minimum. After the opening of the ice-free bay, successive mixed-layer deepening to 〉350 m occurred in conjunction with cooling events around February 1 and 15, accompanied by strong small-scale vertical velocity variations. Upward mixing of more saline waters of Atlantic origin during this phase reduced the stability further, generating a pool of homogeneous water of 〉50 km horizontal extent in the central Greenland Sea, preconditioned for subsequent convection to greater depths. Individual convection events were observed during March 6–16, associated with downward velocities at the 1400-m level of about 3 cm s−l. One event was identified as a plume of about 300-m horizontal scale, in agreement with recently advanced scaling arguments and model results, and with earlier similar observations in the Gulf of Lions, western Mediterranean. The deep convection occurred in the center of the ice-free bay; hence brine rejection did not seem necessary for its generation. Plume temperatures at 1400 m were generally higher than that of the homogeneous surface pool, suggesting entrainment of surrounding warmer waters on the way down. Mean vertical velocity over a period of convection events was indistinguishable from zero, suggesting that plumes served as a mixing agent rather than causing mean downward transport of water masses. However, different from the surface pool that was governed by mixed-layer physics, the water between 400 and 1400 m was not horizontally homogenized in a large patch by the sporadic plumes. Overall, and compared to results from the Gulf of Lions, convection activity in the central Greenland Sea was weak and limited to intermediate depths in winter 1988–1989.

Description: An analysis is presented of geostrophic volume transport across a zonal line along 28-degrees-N in the eastern Atlantic. The data are from an array of five moorings with 200-km spacing carrying temperature sensors and one current meter each for 1 or 2 years. Transport changes in the main thermocline relative to a fixed depth level are obtained by the use of temperature-salinity relationships. The transport variability is simulated by two propagating waves with first-order baroclinic mode structure. Solutions exist with annual and semi-annual periods and zonal wavelengths of 100-200 km and 300 km, respectively. Assuming quasi-geostrophic dynamics and using results on the Reynolds stress, the dominating waves of annual and semi-annual period are found to propagate to the southwest, with 45-degrees-60-degrees and 25-degrees to the south off the westward direction, respectively. Wave solutions with a 90-day period and a zonal wavelength of about 300 km are interpreted as an effect of barotropic waves arising due to horizontal temperature inhomogeneity. The propagation is about +/-25-degrees off the westward direction. In general, good approximations are obtained with the propagating wave simulations in the western and central part of the array, while large differences occur between observation and simulation close to the Canary archipelago. Possible causes for these differences are discussed.

Description: The proposal by Quay et al. [1992] that the time histories of 13C in atmospheric CO2 and oceanic ∑CO2 provide a constraint on the magnitude of uptake of fossil fuel CO2 by the ocean is examined. Our analysis suggests that, while the potential is there, the data base is too inaccurate to permit a distinction to be made among the carbon budgets currently on the table. Examples are given to demonstrate that the twenty or so percent uncertainties in the size of the effective exchange reservoir and in the magnitudes of the temporal changes in the 13C/12C ratio in atmospheric CO2 and ocean ∑CO2 are just too large to permit a reliable estimate of oceanic uptake of fossil fuel CO2. We conclude that tracer-verified ocean general circulation models offer much better estimates than that based on the 13C budget.

Description: We present a method for determining the δ180 of seawater in the deep ocean during the last glacial maximum from the measured δ180 values of deep sea pore fluids. Using data from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) site 576 in the Western Pacific, this method yields a glacial to interglacial change in δ180swof 1.010.25 0/00. This value for ~δ180sw is the first direct measurement of deep ocean 8180 for the last glacial maximum and avoids the problems of spatial and temporal variability of the δ180 of surface water implicit in previous determinations. More precise, higher resolution pore fluid measurements are required to improve this determination.

Description: The passive continental margin off east Greenland has been shaped by tectonic and sedimentary processes, and typical physiographic patterns have evolved over the past few million years under the influence of the late Cenozoic Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The Greenland ice shield has been particularly affected. GLORIA (Geological Long Range Inclined Asdic), the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences' (IOS) long-range, side-scan sonar, was used on a 1992 RV Livonia cruise to map large-scale changes in sedimentary patterns along the east Greenland continental margin. The overall objective of this research program was to determine the variety of large-scale seafloor processes to improve our understanding of the interaction between ice sheets, current regimes, and sedimentary processes. In cooperation with IOS and the RV Livonia, a high-quality set of seafloor data has been produced. GLORIA'S first survey of east Greenland's continental margin covered several 1000- × 50-km-wide swaths (Figure 1) and yielded an impressive sidescan sonar image of the complete Greenland Basin and margin (about 250,000 km2). A mosaic of the data was made at a scale of 1:375,000. The base map was prepared with a polar stereographic projection having a standard parallel of 71°.

Description: High‐resolution records of opal, carbonate, and terrigenous fluxes have been obtained from a high‐sedimentation rate core (MD84‐527: 43°50′S; 51°19;′E; 3269 m) by normalization to 230Th. This method estimates paleofluxes to the seafloor on a point‐by‐point basis and distinguishes changes in sediment accumulation due to variations in vertical rain rates from those due to changes in syndepositional sediment redistribution by bottom currents. We also measured sediment δ15N to evaluate the changes in nitrate utilization in the overlying surface waters associated with paleoflux variations. Our results show that opal accumulation rates on the seafloor during the Holocene and stage 3, based on 14C dating, were respectively tenfold and fivefold higher than the vertical rain rates, At this particular location, changes in opal accumulation on the seafloor appear to be mainly controlled by sediment redistribution by bottom currents rather than variations in opal fluxes from the overlying water column. Correction for syndepositional sediment redistribution and the improved time resolution that can be achieved by normalization to 230Th disclose important variations in opal rain rates. We found relatively high but variable opal paleoflux during stage 3, with two maxima centered at 36 and 30 kyr B.P., low opal paleoflux during stage 2 and deglaciation and a pronounced maximum during the early Holocene, We interpret this record as reflecting variations in opal production rates associated with climate‐induced latitudinal migration of the southern ocean frontal system. Sediments deposited during periods of high opal paleoflux also have high authigenic U concentrations, suggesting more reducing conditions in the sediment, and high Pa‐231/Th‐230 ratios, suggesting increased scavenging from the water column. Sediment δ15N is circa 1.5 per mil higher during isotopic stage 2 and deglaciation. The low opal rain rates recorded during that period appear to have been associated with increased nitrate depletion. This suggests that opal paleofluxes do not simply reflect latitudinal migration of the frontal system but also changes in the structure of the upper water column. Increased stratification during isotopic stage 2 and deglaciation could have been produced by a meltwater lid, leading to lower nitrate supply rates to surface waters.

Description: Seamount phosphorites have been recognized since the 1950s, but this is the first study to provide an in depth exploration of the origin and history of these widespread deposits. Representative samples from equatorial Pacific Cretaceous seamounts were analyzed for chemical, mineralogical, and stable isotope compositions. The phosphorites occur in a wide variety of forms, but most commonly carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) replaced middle Eocene and older carbonate sediment in a deep water environment (〉1000 m). Element ratios distinguish seamount phosphorites from continental margin, plateau, and insular phosphorites. Uranium and thorium contents are low and total rare earth element (REE) contents are generally high. REE ratios and shale‐normalized patterns demonstrate that the REEs and host CFA were derived from seawater. Strontium isotopic compositions compared with inferred Cenozoic seawater curves define two major episodes of Cenozoic phosphatization: Late Eocene/early Oligocene (39–34 Ma) and late Oligocene/early Miocene (27–21 Ma); three minor events are also indicated. The major episodes occurred at times of climate transition, the first from a nonglacial to glacial earth and the second from a predominantly glacial to warm earth. The paleoceanographic conditions that existed at those times initiated and sustained development of phosphorite by accumulation of dissolved phosphorus in the deep sea during relatively stable climatic conditions when oceanic circulation was sluggish. Fluctuations in climate, sealevel, and upwelling that accompanied the climate transitions may have driven cycles of enrichment and depletion of the deep‐sea phosphorus reservoir. As temperature gradients in the oceans increased, Antarctic glaciation expanded and oceanic circulation and upwelling intensified. Expansion and intensification of the oxygen minimum zone may have increased the capacity for midwater storage of phosphorus supplied by dynamic upwelling around seamounts; however, the bottom waters never became anoxic during the phosphogenic episodes. Fluctuations in the CCD and lysocline, CO2 fluxes, and changes in bottom water circulation and temperatures may have bathed the seamount carbonates in more corrosive waters which, coupled with increased supplies of dissolved phosphorus, promoted replacement processes. The late Eocene/early Oligocene phosphogenic episode recorded in seamount deposits is not matched by large phosphorite deposits in the geologic record, whereas the late Oligocene/early Miocene episode and middle Miocene event are matched by large deposits distributed globally. The seamount phosphorites are exposed at the surface of the seamounts and have been for most of the Neogene and Oligocene. The phosphorites do not show signs of etching that would indicate substantial undersaturation of seawater phosphate with respect to CFA. Mass balance calculations indicate that about 5.4–19 × 1012 g of P2O5 are locked up in equatorial Pacific seamount phosphorites. That amount is equivalent to about 2‐7 years of the present annual input from rivers.

Description: Measurements of opal preservation in deep sea sediment cores have been presented in three ways: the opal concentration as a fraction of total dry weight (%opaltot), the opal concentration normalized to calcite‐free dry weight (%opalcalcite‐free), and me opal accumulation rate (opal MAR). It is tempting to interpret changes in these indices as indicators of rates of biological production in past oceans. Based on theoretical constraints, we argue that in typical tropical and subtropical sediments, both %Opalcalcite‐free and opal MAR reflect a significant artifact of dilution by other phases. Thus the band of high %Opalcalcite‐free in the equatorial Pacific appears to be caused in large part by the high %Calcite in that region, rather than by high opal productivity. The best candidate for a reliable paleoproductivity proxy appears to be %Opaltot. Unfortunately, present‐day %Opaltot data from tropical and subtropical regions show little or no systematic trend with the rain rate of opal. Pore water silica concentration data reveal that the apparent pore water opal solubility is not constant but correlates regionally with the rain rate of opal to the seafloor. A model that treats opal as a single homogeneous phase with a single well‐defined solubility product predicts a strong dependence of opal concentration on rain rate (in stark contrast to the data), and a constant asymptotic pore water Si. Two models representing opal as multiple heterogeneous phases with different solubilities are able to reproduce the observed asymptotic pore water Si/rain rate relationship, but not the lack of rain rate trend in the opal concentration data. Only by assuming a systematic trend in the quality of opal (i.e., the solubility) as a function of opal production, can we reproduce the observed pattern of opal preservation. The implication of this study is that changes in opal preservation in the geologic record cannot simply be interpreted in terms of changes in surface ocean productivity until our understanding of opal diagenesis can be improved.

Description: A relation between creep rate at the surface trace of a fault, the depth to the bottom of the creeping zone, and the rate of stress accumulation on the fault is derived from Weertman's 1964 friction model of slip on a fault. A 5 ± 1 km depth for the creeping zone on the Hayward fault is estimated from the measured creep rate (5 mm/yr) at the fault trace and the rate of stress increase on the upper segment of the fault trace inferred from geodetic measurements across the San Francisco Bay area. Although fault creep partially accommodates the secular slip rate on the Hayward fault, a slip deficit is accumulating equivalent to a magnitude 6.6 earthquake on each 40 km segment of the fault each century. Thus, the current behavior of the fault is consistent with its seismic history, which includes two moderate earthquakes in the mid‐1800's.

Description: The high-resolution model of the wind-driven and thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean developed in recent years as a “community modeling effort” for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment is examined for the temporal and spatial structure of the deep equatorial current field and its effect on the spreading of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Under seasonally varying wind forcing, the model reveals a system of basin-wide zonal currents of O(5 cm s−1), alternating east-west, and oscillating at an annual period. The current fluctuations are induced by the seasonal cycle of the wind stress in the equatorial Atlantic and show characteristics of long equatorial Rossby waves with westward phase propagation of about 15 cm s−1. The mean flow in the deep western tropical Atlantic is governed by a deep western boundary current (DWBC) with core velocities of more than 10 cm s−1. Only a small fraction of the DWBC branches off at the equator, with correspondingly low mean eastward currents of only about 1 cm s−1. Despite this weak advection along the equator, a well-developed salinity tongue is observed in the model, which is reminiscent of observed property distributions at the upper NADW level. The model evaluation indicates the salinity pattern to be a result of a balance between mean zonal advection and meridional diffusion of salt. The presence of the zonal current oscillations appears to have no significance for the existence of the salinity tongue.

Description: Seismically derived depth estimates to the top of the oceanic crust beneath the Hawaiian Islands indicate that the curvature of the deflected lithosphère is much larger than commonly believed. The conservative and model-independent curvature estimates exceed 10−7 m−1 and are comparable in magnitude to curvatures at trenches and outer rise systems. The depth estimates are used to constrain both two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) flexural models. The curvature constraints require a 2-D variable elastic thickness that decreases from 35 km in areas away from the volcanic load to 25 km directly beneath the load. In an attempt to understand the nature of the yielding beneath the Hawaiian Islands we introduce two new 3-D models. The first model combines a realistic yield strength based rheology with a new technique for 3-D flexure calculations in which the elastic plate thickness is curvature-dependent. The new variable rigidity model predicts an undeformed (mechanical) plate thickness of 44 km, decreasing to 33 km beneath the big island of Hawaii. The best-fitting mechanical thickness corresponds approximately to the depth to the 600 °C isotherm in 90-m.y.-old lithosphere. The second model uses a broken plate, but here the crack is oriented along the weak Molokai fracture zone rather than along the island chain trend. This unconventional flexure model can explain the observed asymmetry in the depth data across the fracture zone without requiring the excessively large elastic thickness of more conventional broken plate models. Both the proposed models imply that modeling with constant thickness plates may underestimate the true mechanical plate thickness by being unduly influenced by the weak zone beneath the seamounts.

Description: The carbon isotopic composition of methane emitted by the Alaskan emergent aquatic plants Arctophila fulva, a tundra mid-lake macrophyte, and Carex rostrata, a tundra lake margin macrophyte, was −58.6 ± 0.5 (n=2) and −66.6±2.5 (n= 6) ‰ respectively. The methane emitted by these species was found to be depleted in 13C by 12‰ and 18‰, relative to methane withdrawn from plant stems 1 to 2 cm below the waterline. As the macrophyte-mediated methane flux represented approximately 97% of the flux from these sites, these results suggest the more rapid transport of 12CH4 relative to 13CH4 through plants to the atmosphere. This preferential release of the light isotope of methane, possibly combined with CH4 oxidation, caused the buildup of the heavy isotope within plant stems. Plant stem methane concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 4.0% ( math formula, 1.4; standard deviation (sd), 0.9; n=28) in Arctophila, with an isotopic composition of −46.1±4.3 ‰ (n = 8). Carex stem methane concentrations were lower, ranging from 150 to 1200 ppm ( math formula, 500; standard deviation, 360; n = 8), with an isotopic composition of −48.3±1.4‰ (n=3). Comparisons of the observed isotopic fractionations with those predicted from gas phase effusion and diffusion coefficients suggest a combination of one or both of these gas transport mechanisms with bulk (non-fractionationating) flow.

Description: The Multitracers Experiment studied a transect of water column, sediment trap, and sediment data taken across the California Current to develop quantitative methods for hindcasting paleoproductivity. The experiment used three sediment trap moorings located 120 km, 270 km, and 630 km from shore at the Oregon/California border in North America. We report here about the sedimentation and burial of particulate organic carbon (Corg) and CaCO3. In order to observe how the integrated CaCO3 and Corg burial across the transect has changed since the last glacial maximum, we have correlated core from the three sites using time scales constrained by both radiocarbon and oxygen isotopes. By comparing surface sediments to a two-and-a-half year sediment trap record, we have also defined the modern preservation rates for many of the labile sedimentary materials. Our analysis of the Corg data indicates that significant amounts (20–40%) of the total Corg being buried today in surface sediments is terrestrial. At the last glacial maximum, the terrestrial Corg fraction within 300 km of the coast was about twice as large. Such large fluxes of terrestrial Corg obscure the marine Corg record, which can be interpreted as productivity. When we corrected for the terrestrial organic matter, we found that the mass accumulation rate of marine Corg roughly doubled from the glacial maximum to the present. Because preservation rates of organic carbon are high in the high sedimentation rate cores, corrections for degradation are straightforward and we can be confident that organic carbon rain rate (new productivity) also doubled. As confirmation, the highest burial fluxes of other biogenic components (opal and Ba) also occur in the Holocene. Productivity off Oregon has thus increased dramatically since the last glacial maximum. CaCO3 fluxes also changed radically through the deglaciation; however, they are linked not to CaCO3 production but rather to changes in deepwater carbonate chemistry between 18 Ka and now.

Description: Digital hydrographic data combined with satellite thermal infrared and visible band remote sensing provide a synoptic climatological view of the shallow planktonic environment. This paper uses wind, hydrographic, and ocean remote sensing data to examine southwest monsoon controls on the foraminiferal faunal composition of Recent seafloor sediments of the northwestern Arabian Sea. Ekman pumping resulting in open-ocean upwelling and coastal upwelling create two distinctly different mixed layer plankton environments in the northwestern Arabian Sea during the summer monsoon. Open-sea upwelling to the northwest of the mean July position of the Findlater Jet axis yields a mixed layer environment with temperatures of less than 25°C to about 26.5°C, phytoplankton pigment concentrations between 1.5 and 5.0 mg/m³, and mixed layer depths less than 50 m. Convergence in the Ekman layer in the central Arabian Sea drives the formation of a mixed layer that is greater than 50 m thick, warmer than about 26.5°C, and has phytoplankton pigment concentrations generally below 2.0 mg/m³. Coastal upwelling creates an extremely eutrophic plankton environment that persists over and immediately adjacent to the Omani shelf and undergoes significant offshore transport only within topographically induced coastal squirts. The foraminiferal faunal composition of upper Pleistocene deep-sea sediments of the northwestern Arabian Sea are mainly controlled by vertical nutrient fluxes caused by Ekman pumping, not coastal upwelling. Transfer functions for late Pleistocene mixed layer depth, temperature, and chlorophyll have been obtained through factor analysis and nonlinear multiple regression between late summer mixed layer environment and Recent sediment faunal observations.

Description: This paper provides a detailed hydrographic climatology for the shallow northwestern Arabian Sea prior to and during the southwest monsoon, presented as multiple-year composite vertical hydrographic sections based on National Oceanographic Data Center historical ocean station data. Temperature and salinity measurements are used to infer the water masses present in the upper 500 m. The hydrographic evolution depicted on bimonthly sections is inferred to result from wind-driven physical processes. In the northwestern Arabian Sea the water mass in the upper 50 m is the Arabian Sea Surface Water. Waters from 50 to 500 m are formed by mixing of Arabian Sea Surface Water with Antarctic and Indonesian intermediate waters. The inflow of Persian Gulf Water does not significantly influence the hydrography of the northwestern Arabian Sea along the Omani coast. Nitrate has a high inverse correlation with temperature and oxygen in the premonsoon thermocline in the depth interval 50–150 m. During the southwest monsoon, coastal upwelling off Oman and adjacent offshore upward Ekman pumping alter the shallow hydrography.

Description: Seafloor survey instruments are integral to the study of marine geology. Because understanding their resolution and limitations is critical, we compare how different survey systems represent the seafloor. Coincident data collected at the Galapagos propagator (GLORIA, SeaMARC II, Sea Beam, Deep-Tow, camera sled, and Alvin) allow comparisons of how well seafloor features (e.g., faults and volcanoes) observed and characterized in high resolution data are represented in lower resolution, coarser-scale data sets. Our reported values for the minimum sizes of detected and well-represented features show that practical geological resolutions are generally ∼2-10 times lower than theoretical resolutions; care must be taken in evaluating which system to use to address a particular problem.

Description: Sea level variations and geostrophic circulation in the western tropical Atlantic are studied in an intercomparison of Geosat altimetry and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment community model effort high‐resolution model forced with climatological windstress. Overall, the annual cycles of geostrophic current fields of both products compare very well. Special comparison areas are the western North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) and the North Brazil Current (NBC) region. Meridional profiles of zonal velocity anomalies show a seasonal meridional migration of the NECC core centered at 5°N and a weaker eastward maximum during fall at 9°N in both products. The Geosat and model seasonal cycles of the NECC core velocity in the region 35°–45°W are highly correlated and agree with respect to the onset of eastward current acceleration and deceleration in May and December, respectively. Geosat time series from November 1986 to June 1989 show year to year differences, in particular an anomalous early NECC acceleration phase in 1987. In the NBC region 54°–58°W, flow anomalies from both Geosat and the model have two westward maxima, in March and June, which appear to be associated with eastward anomalies further offshore.

Description: We use atmospheric and ice core data on the concentrations of nitrous oxide to estimate that the present global anthropogenic emissions are 7±1 tg/yr. If the atmospheric lifetime of N2O is a hundred years or more, this estimate is virtually independent of the actual lifetime. The natural sources are estimated to be about 15 tg/yr. We also find that nitrous oxide started increasing rapidly only during the last century. The trends over the last decade are extremely variable; over 3-year periods the trends have ranged from 0.5 ± 0.2 parts per billion by volume (ppbv/yr) to 1.2 ± 0.1 ppbv/yr. The average rate of increase is about 0.80 ± 0.02 ppbv/yr or 0.27 ± 0.01 %/yr (1977–1988). There is an indication that N2O may be increasing faster in recent years than during the middle 1970s by about 0.2 ± 0.1 ppbv/yr. It is likely that several small anthropogenic sources may be causing the present trends, all emitting between 0.1 and 1.5 Tg/yr.

Description: We used sediment traps to define the particulate fluxes of barium and organic carbon and investigate the use of barium as a proxy for ocean fertility. Strong correlations between Corg and Ba fluxes indicate a link between upper ocean biological processes and barium flux to the seafloor. The ratio of organic carbon to barium decreases systematically with water depth. Data from 10 sites indicate that organic debris settling from the 200-m depth has a Corg /Ba ratio of approximately 200. The systematic decrease in this ratio with increasing water depth results from the simultaneous decay of organic matter and uptake of Ba in settling particles. This behavior provides additional evidence that the formation of barite in oceanic particles is a consequence of decomposition/uptake in microenvironments rather than the secretion of barite by specific organisms. The decrease of the Corg/Ba ratio with depth is greatest in the North Pacific followed by the equatorial Pacific and is lowest in the western Atlantic. Since this spatial pattern is consistent with the variations in the deep-ocean barium contents which increase along the path of bottom water flow from the Atlantic to the North Pacific, it suggests that the particulate barium uptake and flux is enhanced by higher barium contents in the intermediate and deep waters of the ocean. Consequently, we have combined our particle flux data with existing water column Ba data to define an algorithm relating new productivity, dissolved barium contents, water depth, and particulate barium flux. This relationship provides a basis of applying barium flux measurements in sediments to estimating new production. In order to use barium as an indicator of productivity, it will be necessary to evaluate inputs from hydrothermal and aluminosilicate sources and xenophyophors. The application of a sequential leach procedure to the trap material indicates that 50-70% of the Ba in settling particles is in the form of barite and the remaining is adsorbed or bound to carbonates. Normative analysis demonstrates that in nearshore areas the contribution of barium from aluminosilicate sources can dominate that from biogenic inputs. It appears that normative estimates of biogenic barium contents can be made with accuracy if less than 50% of the Ba is associated with aluminosilicates; i.e., is of terrigenous origin. Since diagenetic mobilization of Ba can occur in reduced and suboxic sediments, highly productive nearshore areas also are likely to be inappropriate sites to use Ba measurements as productivity indicators. Comparisons between the rain rates of particulate Ba to the seafloor and the burial rate indicate that approximately 30% of the Ba rain is preserved. Although the preservation factor does not appear to be constant, it may be possible to predict the extent of preservation from an empirical relationship with the mass accumulation rate. These observations indicate that measurement of Ba burial fluxes in sediments can provide quantitative information on the paleoproductivity of the oceans. Joining the relationship between barium rain and burial with the barium and organic carbon algorithm, we make estimates of the new production in the northern California Current during the last 18,000 years. This calculation suggests that new production was at least a factor of 2 lower at this site during the last glacial maximum.

Description: The Guinea Dome is a permanent, quasi-stationary feature on the eastern side of the thermal ridge extending zonally across the tropical North Atlantic. The dome is a part of the large-scale near-surface flow fields associated with the North Equatorial Current, the North Equatorial Countercurrent and the North Equatorial Undercurrent. In the present study, historical and recently obtained hydrographic data are combined to investigate the thermohaline structure and geostrophic flow field in the vicinity of the dome. It is shown that the Guinea Dome exists throughout the year both in subthermocline and thermocline layers, that it has a corresponding cyclonic geostrophic flow, and that seasonal changes occur with respect to its vertical structure, horizontal extent, and position. The observational results are then compared with simulations from a general circulation model of the tropical Atlantic. A seven-year simulation forced by observed monthly winds is run to compute a monthly climatology. The model adequately simulates the Guinea Dome with respect to its structure, flow field, and seasonal variability.

Description: Bottom-simulating reflectors (BSR) are observed commonly at a depth of several hundred meters below the seafloor in continental margin sedimentary sections that have undergone recent tectonic consolidation or rapid accumulation. They are believed to correspond to the deepest level at which methane hydrate (clathrate) is stable. We present a model in which BSR hydrate layers are formed through the removal of methane from upward moving pore fluids as they pass into the hydrate stability field. In this model, most of the methane is generated below the level of hydrate stability, but not at depths sufficient for significant thermogenic production; the methane is primarily biogenic in origin. The model requires either a mechanism to remove dissolved methane from the pore fluids or disseminated free gas carried upward with the pore fluid. The model accounts for the evidence that the hydrate is concentrated in a layer at the base of the stability field, for the source of the large amount of methane contained in the hydrate, and for BSRs being common only in special environments. Strong upward fluid expulsion into the hydrate stability field does not occur in normal sediment depositional regimes, so BSRs are uncommon. Upward fluid expulsion does occur as a result of tectonic thickening and loading in subduction zone accretionary wedges and in areas where rapid deposition results in initial undercconsolidation. In these areas hydrate BSRs are common. The most poorly quantified aspect of the model is the efficiency with which methane is removed and hydrate is formed as pore fluids pass into the hydrate stability field. The critical boundary in the phase diagram between the fluid-plus-hydrate and fluid-only fields is not well constrained. However, the amount of methane required to form the hydrate and limited data on methane concentrations in pore fluids from deep-sea boreholes suggest very efficient removal of methane from rising fluid that may contain less than the amount required for free gas production. In most fluid expulsion regimes, the quantity of fluid moved upward to the seafloor is great enough to continually remove the excess chloride and the residue of isotope fractionation resulting from hydrate formation. Thus, as observed in borehole data, there are no large chloride or isotope anomalies remaining in the local pore fluids. The differences in the concentration of methane and probably of CO2 in the pore fluid above and below the base of the stability field may have a significant influence on early sediment diagenetic reactions.

Description: Mediterranean salt lenses (meddies) are a dominant factor in the salt budget of the Atlantic at middepth. In spite of their important role, their juvenile migration has not yet been directly observed. For the first time, two RAFOS float trajectories show strong evidence of a meddy along the Iberian continental slope off Lisbon. Over six weeks we obtained drift observations from two levels (629, 847 dbar). Both instruments recorded a series of loops with an azimuthal speed O (30 cm s−1) at a radius of about 25 km. Relatively high propagation speeds of several centimeters per second indicate the meddy was probably carried along with the undercurrent of Mediterranean Water. The Tejo Plateau, a prominent feature of the continental slope and a natural obstacle for the spreading Mediterranean Water tongue, appears to act as a deflector for advected meddies possibly formed by interaction of the undercurrent with the canyon-rich topography farther south.

Description: During January and February 1989 the recirculation of the subtropical gyre in the eastern North Atlantic was surveyed with a three-ship experiment. The analysis of hydrographic measurements and velocity data from a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler reveals the synoptic-scale circulation patterns and water mass distributions in the Canary Basin. The geostrophic transport stream function estimated with a horizontally varying reference level of no motion highlights the major currents in three layers representing the vertical structure of the horizontal circulation. The classical circulation scheme is shown by the stream function in the upper 200 m: the Azores, Canary, and North Equatorial currents. Unlike the deep-penetrating Azores Current, the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current are restricted to the upper 200 m. Both carry North Atlantic Central Water along the water mass boundary with South Atlantic Central Water. South Atlantic Central Water flows through the passage between the Cape Verde archipelago and Africa via narrow currents into the area north of 14.5°N. At the southern edge of the subtropical gyre we identify an eastward flow of Antarctic Intermediate Water between 700 and 1200 m.

Description: Shipboard bathymetry and gravity data from 30 crossings of 6 great Pacific fracture zones (FZs), the Mendocino, Murray, Molokai, Clarion, Clipperton, and Udintsev, are compared with the predictions of a model in which FZs are locked beyond the ridge-transform intersection, such that no vertical motion occurs on the fault in response to differential thermal subsidence. At least some sections of all of these FZs, except the Molokai, are consistent with this model and sustain shear stresses as high as 20 MPa. However, none of the FZs is locked along its entire length, as inferred from observed shear stresses dropping below 75% of the value necessary to maintain a locked fault. There is some suggestion that the unlocking may be related to excess volcanism.

Description: The biological variability of the northwestern Arabian Sea during the 1979 southwest monsoon has been investigated by the synthesis of satellite ocean color remote sensing with analysis of in situ hydrographic and meteorological data sets and the results of wind-driven modeling of upper ocean circulation. The phytoplankton bloom in the northwestern Arabian Sea peaked during August-September, extended from the Oman coast to about 65°E, and lagged the development of open-sea upwelling by at least 1 month. In total, the pigment distributions, hydrographic data, and model results all suggest that the bloom was driven by spatially distinct upward nutrient fluxes to the euphotic zone forced by the physical processes of coastal upwelling and offshore Ekman pumping. Coastal upwelling was evident from May through September, yielded the most extreme concentrations of phytoplankton biomass, and along the Arabian coast was limited to the continental shelf in the promotion of high concentrations of phytoplankton. Upward Ekman pumping to the northwest of the Somali Jet axis stimulated the development of a broad open-sea phytoplankton bloom oceanward of the Oman shelf. Vertical mixing during the 1979 southwest monsoon was apparently not a primary cause of the regional-scale phytoplankton bloom.

Description: At ocean margins where two plates converge, the oceanic plate sinks or is subducted beneath an upper one topped by a layer of terrestrial crust. This crust is constructed of continental or island arc material. The subduction process either builds juvenile masses of terrestrial crust through arc volcanism or new areas of crust through the piling up of accretionary masses (prisms) of sedimentary deposits and fragments of thicker crustal bodies scraped off the subducting lower plate. At convergent margins, terrestrial material can also bypass the accretionary prism as a result of sediment subduction, and terrestrial matter can be removed from the upper plate by processes of subduction erosion. Sediment subduction occurs where sediment remains attached to the subducting oceanic plate and underthrusts the seaward position of the upper plate's resistive buttress (backstop) of consolidated sediment and rock. Sediment subduction occurs at two types of convergent margins: type 1 margins where accretionary prisms form and type 2 margins where little net accretion takes place. At type 2 margins (∼19,000 km in global length), effectively all incoming sediment is subducted beneath the massif of basement or framework rocks forming the landward trench slope. At accreting or type 1 margins, sediment subduction begins at the seaward position of an active buttress of consolidated accretionary material that accumulated in front of a starting or core buttress of framework rocks. Where small-to-medium-sized prisms have formed (∼16,300 km), approximately 20% of the incoming sediment is skimmed off a detachment surface or decollement and frontally accreted to the active buttress. The remaining 80% subducts beneath the buttress and may either underplate older parts of the frontal body or bypass the prism entirely and underthrust the leading edge of the margin's rock framework. At margins bordered by large prisms (∼8,200 km), roughly 70% of the incoming trench floor section is subducted beneath the frontal accretionary body and its active buttress. In rounded figures the contemporary rate of solid-volume sediment subduction at convergent ocean margins (∼43,500 km) is calculated to be 1.5 km³/yr. Correcting type 1 margins for high rates of terrigenous seafloor sedimentation during the past 30 m.y. or so sets the long-term rate of sediment subduction at 1.0 km³/yr. The bulk of the subducted material is derived directly or indirectly from continental denudation. Interstitial water currently expulsed from accreted and deeply subducted sediment and recycled to the ocean basins is estimated at 0.9 km³/yr. The thinning and truncation caused by subduction erosion of the margin's framework rock and overlying sedimentary deposits have been demonstrated at many convergent margins but only off northern Japan, central Peru, and northern Chile has sufficient information been collected to determine average or long-term rates, which range from 25 to 50 km³/m.y. per kilometer of margin. A conservative long-term rate applicable to many sectors of convergent margins is 30 km³/km/m.y. If applied to the length of type 2 margins, subduction erosion removes and transports approximately 0.6 km³/yr of upper plate material to greater depths. At various places, subduction erosion also affects sectors of type 1 margins bordered by small- to medium-sized accretionary prisms (for example, Japan and Peru), thus increasing the global rate by possibly 0.5 km³/yr to a total of 1.1 km³/yr. Little information is available to assess subduction erosion at margins bordered by large accretionary prisms. Mass balance calculations allow assessments to be made of the amount of subducted sediment that bypasses the prism and underthrusts the margin's rock framework. This subcrustally subducted sediment is estimated at 0.7 km³/yr. Combined with the range of terrestrial matter removed from the margin's rock framework by subduction erosion, the global volume of subcrustally subducted material is estimated to range from 1.3 to 1.8 km³/yr. Subcrustally subducted material is either returned to the terrestrial crust by arc-related igneous processes or crustal underplating or is lost from the crust by mantle absorption. Geochemical and isotopic data support the notion that upper mantle melting returns only a small percent of the subducted material to the terrestrial crust as arc igneous rocks. Limited areal exposures of terrestrial rocks metamorphosed at deep (〉20–30 km) subcrustal pressures and temperatures imply that only a small fraction of subducted material is reattached via deep crustal underplating. Possibly, therefore much of the subducted terrestrial material is recycled to the mantle at a rate near 1.6 km³/yr, which is effectively equivalent to the commonly estimated rate at which the mantle adds juvenile igneous material to the Earth's layer of terrestrial rock.

Description: Data from a large-scale moored array in the Iberian and Canary basins are used to determine the energies of barotropic and baroclinic M2 and S2 tides. An analysis of time-varying dynamical modes is performed. The results for barotropic modes confirm the global surface tide model results of Schwiderski (1980) for this region. The barotropic modes dominate in the deep basins, but increased baroclinic contributions are usually found over rough topography. At three locations near the continental slope in the southern Canary Basin the baroclinic modes dominate the barotropic mode. Results from an array of three moorings at the northern part of the Cape Verde Rise show an inverse behavior of barotropic and baroclinic energies, such that the baroclinic energy is steadily enhanced while the barotropic energy is reduced towards the continental margin. The increase in baroclinic energy is consistent with a generation of internal tides close to the shelf by surface tidal forcing over topography. Further evidence for this process is provided by the 2-week periodicity of the first-order baroclinic mode at the slope, corresponding to the spring-neap cycle of the barotropic tide.

Description: Benthic (Uvigerina spp., Cibicidoides spp., Gyroidinoides spp.) and planktonic (N. pachyderma sinistral, G. bulloides) stable isotope records from three core sites in the central Gulf of Alaska are used to infer mixed-layer and deepwater properties of the late glacial Subarctic Pacific. Glacial-interglacial amplitudes of the planktonic δ18O records are 1.1–1.3‰, less than half the amplitude observed at core sites at similar latitudes in the North Atlantic; these data imply that a strong, negative δw anomaly existed in the glacial Subarctic mixed layer during the summer, which points to a much stronger low-salinity anomaly than exists today. If true, the upper water column in the North Pacific would have been statically more stable than today, thus suppressing convection even more efficiently. This scenario is further supported by vertical (i.e., planktic versus benthic) δ18O and δ13C gradients of 〉1‰, which suggest that a thermohaline link between Pacific deep waters and the Subarctic Pacific mixed layer did not exist during the late glacial. Epibenthic δ13C in the Subarctic Pacific is more negative than at tropical-subtropical Pacific sites but similar to that recorded at Southern Ocean sites, suggesting ventilation of the deep central Pacific from mid-latitude sources, e.g., from the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk. Still, convection to intermediate depths could have occurred in the Subarctic during the winter months when heat loss to the atmosphere, sea ice formation, and wind-driven upwelling of saline deep waters would have been most intense. This would be beyond the grasp of our planktonic records which only document mixed-layer temperature-salinity fields extant during the warmer seasons. Also we do not have benthic isotope records from true intermediate water depths of the Subarctic Pacific.

Description: A high-resolution general circulation model of the North Atlantic, first developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and then run at the Institut für Meereskunde in Kiel for two different wind climatologies and reduced vertical friction, is evaluated in the upper 500 m for the western tropical Atlantic, 5°S to 15°N. Although the general features of the vigorous seasonal circulation changes documented in previous studies and in the earlier high-resolution model of Philander and Pacanowski (1986a) are reproduced, there are some interesting differences. Lack of eastward penetration of the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) and a thermocline that is too diffuse are model deficiencies due to the constant vertical eddy diffusion coefficient. In the lower friction case the undercurrent partially surfaces in the west, causing an eastward surface current on the equator, which is not apparent in the earlier model studies. Further, the zonal currents, in the low-friction version, have high-velocity bands, resulting, e.g., in two separate current cores in the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) region; and an eastward surface core just south of the equator, connected to the EUC. Particularly interesting are equatorward undercurrents along the western boundary, one of which has already been confirmed in recent measurements off French Guyana. In winter it connects with the EUC in the model, in summer with the NECC. A northward undercurrent in the model exists off Brazil, between 5° and 10°S, but that is already close to the southern boundary of the model domain. The annual mean throughflow from the southern hemisphere into the Caribbean along the western boundary is small in the model, and in particular, there is no enhanced throughflow in winter, when the cross-equatorial North Brazil Current transport is not taken up by the NECC.

Description: Radiocarbon ages on CaCO3 from deep-sea cores offer constraints on the nature of the CaCO3 dissolution process. The idea is that the toll taken by dissolution on grains within the core top bioturbation zone should be in proportion to their time of residence in this zone. If so, dissolution would shift the mass distribution in favor of younger grains, thereby reducing the mean radiocarbon age for the grain ensemble. We have searched in vain for evidence supporting the existence of such an age reduction. Instead, we find that for water depths of more than 4 km in the tropical Pacific the radiocarbon age increases with the extent of dissolution. We can find no satisfactory steady state explanation and are forced to conclude that this increase must be the result of chemical erosion. The idea is that during the Holocene the rate of dissolution of CaCO3 has exceeded the rain rate of CaCO3. In this circumstance, bioturbation exhumes CaCO3 from the underlying glacial sediment and mixes it with CaCO3 raining from the sea surface.

Description: A numerical model of calcite dissolution in contact with sediment pore water is used to predict the depth and shape of the calcite lysocline in the deep sea. Model results are compared with lysocline data from 13 regions in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. The model lysocline shape is sensitive to the calcite dissolution rate constant, the calcite, organic carbon, and refractory material rain rates, and the rates of oxic versus anoxic organic carbon degradation in the sediment. The model is able to reproduce the observed lysocline, within the constraints of the sediment trap and calcite accumulation data, using a calcite dissolution rate constant of 30–100%d−1, a molar ratio of organic carbon to calcite rain rates of 0.5–1.0, and an initial CaCO3 fraction of 90% (excluding organic carbon). This rate constant is consistent with microelectrode results presented by Archer et al. [1989]. The model predicts that 30–50% of the calcite rain to the sea floor at the saturation horizon dissolves in response to organic carbon respiration, consistent with previous modeling studies. The range in the best fit value of the organic-inorganic carbon rain rates arises from model sensitivity to uncertainty in the rate of anoxic carbon degradation in the sediment and in the rain rate of refractory material, rather than from scatter in the data. Lysocline data from the western equatorial Atlantic are anomalous to the rest of the data; this anomaly may be explained by high rates of refractory material sedimentation from the Amazon River.

Description: Stable isotopes in benthic foraminifera from Pacific sediments are used to assess hypotheses of systematic shifts in the depth distribution of oceanic nutrients and carbon during the ice ages. The carbon isotope differences between ∼1400 and ∼3200 m depth in the eastern Pacific are consistently greater in glacial than interglacial maxima over the last ∼370 kyr. This phenomenon of “bottom heavy” glacial nutrient distributions, which Boyle proposed as a cause of Pleistocene CO2 change, occurs primarily in the 1/100 and 1/41 kyr−1 “Milankovitch” orbital frequency bands but appears to lack a coherent 1/23 kyr−1 band related to orbital precession. Averaged over oxygen-isotope stages, glacial δ13C gradients from ∼1400 to ∼3200 m depth are 0.1‰ greater than interglacial gradients. The range of extreme shifts is somewhat larger, 0.2 to 0.5‰. In both cases, these changes in Pacific δ13C distributions are much smaller than observed in shorter records from the North Atlantic. This may be too small to be a dominant cause of atmospheric pCO2 change, unless current models underestimate the sensitivity of pCO2 to nutrient redistributions. This dampening of Pacific relative to Atlantic δ13C depth gradient favors a North Atlantic origin of the phenomenon, although local variations of Pacific intermediate water masses can not be excluded at present.

Description: Possible mechanisms for the 80 ppm reduction of atmospheric CO2 partial pressure during the last glaciation were investigated using the Hamburg Ocean Carbon Cycle Model. The three‐dimensional carbon cycle model is based on the velocity field of the Hamburg Large‐Scale Geostrophic Ocean General Circulation Model and uses the same grid as that model. The horizontal resolution (3.5° × 3.5°) is lower than the length scale of narrow upwelling belts which could not be represented adequately in this study, but the large‐scale features of the ocean carbon cycle are reproduced rather well. Sensitivity experiments were carried out to investigate the role of chemical and biological parameters (nutrient cycling, composition of biogenic particulate matter, CO2 solubility) and different circulation regimes for the atmospheric CO2 content. The model responses were compared to deep‐sea sediment core records and ice core data from the last glaciation. Each experiment was compared with observed average tracer patterns during 18–65 kyr B.P. It was found that none of the sensitivity experiments alone could explain all observed tracer changes (atmospheric pCO2, Δδ13Cplanktonic‐benthic, δ13Cbenthic differences, CaCO3 corrosivity indices) simultaneously, even in a qualitative sense. Thus according to the model none of the scenarios tested proves to be completely acceptable. The residual discrepancies between the observed and modeled tracer records can probably be attributed to the as yet inadequate reconstruction of the glacial ocean circulation. It is therefore suggested that more effort should be devoted to realistically reproducing the ice age ocean circulation field making use of the forthcoming glacial radiocarbon data base. The residuals between the realistically modeled and observed carbon cycle tracers (δ13C, CaCO3 saturation) should then reveal more clearly the real cause for the observed pCO2 decrease in the glacial atmosphere.

Description: Drift behavior of drogued and undrogued Hermes‐type buoys is studied. After drogue loss, an increase in drift speed and acceleration is observed as well as improved correlations between drift and wind in both speed and direction. With these criteria, a method for the separation of large data sets into a drogued and an undrogued part has been developed. In most areas of the North Atlantic this works very well; problems arise in regions with strong surface currents and/or light winds. A statistical analysis is performed in a selected area to demonstrate the errors that can be caused by indiscriminate use of drogued and undrogued drifters. Mean and rms velocities as well as kinetic energies change significantly when undrogued buoys are considered. Therefore caution is essential when using surface drifters without drogues.

Description: The predictability of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon was investigated by analyzing observed sea levels, surface stresses, and subsurface temperatures simulated with an oceanic general circulation model forced by observed winds. In addition, a large ensemble of prediction experiments has been conducted with a simplified coupled ocean-atmosphere model consisting of an oceanic general circulation model coupled to a simple atmospheric feedback model. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that the ENSO-related interannual variability in the tropical Pacific can be understood as a cycle within the coupled ocean-atmosphere system which is inherently predictable. This cycle consists of an accumulation of warm water in the western Pacific during the cold phases of ENSO and a loss of this heat during its warm phases. The results of the prediction experiments with our simplified coupled ocean-atmosphere model indicate that the phase of tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures is predictable two to three seasons in advance with our simplified coupled system, whose dynamics is governed by the ocean. We found a strong dependence of the skills on season, with spring SSTs being least predictable.

Description: Alteration patterns in the lavas and dykes of the Troodos Ophiolite, Cyprus, record a complex history of axial hydrothermal alteration, crustal aging, and subsequent uplift and emplacement of the ophiolite. Field mapping shows that distribution of five alteration zones, each with distinct mineralogical, geochemical, and hydrologie characteristics, is influenced by igneous stratigraphy, structure, and the nature and thickness of the overlying sediments. Paragenetic sequences of secondary minerals indicate that alteration conditions changed progressively as the crust cooled and moved off-axis. Along spreading axes, low temperatures (≤50°C) were maintained by the rapid flow of seawater in and out of the lavas, and only minimal alteration took place. In contrast, lower water/rock ratios and higher temperatures (〉200°C) in the dykes promoted extensive seawater-rock interaction. Although the sharp rise in temperature between the two regimes generally coincides with the lava-dyke transition, late-stage intrusions or hydrothermal upwelling zones locally cause high-temperature alteration to extend upward into the lavas. As a segment of crust moved off-axis, temperatures remained low in the lavas and progressively decreased, from 〉250° to 〈80°C, in the dykes. High permeability in the uppermost lavas led to the downward migration of an oxidative alteration front whose thickness and spatial distribution was dependent upon the rate and nature of sedimentation and, thus, the original seafloor morphology. Although field relations show that alteration has a consistent vertical pattern in Troodos, the alteration zones are not laterally continuous, and the stratigraphie depth of their boundaries varies considerably.

Description: In the western equatorial Pacific, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is characterized by precipitation variability associated with the migration of the Indonesian low pressure cell to the region of the date line and the equator. During ENSO events, Tarawa Atoll (1°N, 172°E) experiences heavy rainfall which has an estimated δ18O of about −8 to −10‰ δ18OSMOW. At Tarawa, sufficient precipitation of this composition falls during ENSO events to alter the δ18O and the salinity of the surface waters. Oxygen isotope records from two corals collected off the reef crest of Tarawa reflect rainfall variations associated with both weak and strong ENSO conditions, with approximately monthly resolution. Coral skeletal δ18O variations due to small sea surface temperature (SST) changes are secondary. These records demonstrate the remarkable ability of this technique to reconstruct variations in the position of the Indonesian Low from coral δ18O records in the western equatorial Pacific, a region which has few paleoclimatic records. The coral isotopic data correctly resolve the relative magnitudes of recent variations in the Southern Oscillation Index. Combining the Tarawa record with an oxygen isotopic history from a Galápagos Islands coral demonstrates the ability to distinguish the meteorologic (precipitation) and oceanographic (SST) anomalies that characterize ENSO events across the Pacific Basin over the period of common record (1960–1979). Comparison of the intensity of climatic anomalies at these two sites yields insight into the spatial variability of ENSO events. Isotope records from older corals can provide high-resolution, Pacific-wide reconstructions of ENSO behavior during periods of different climate boundary conditions.

Description: As shown by the work of Dansgaard and his colleagues, climate oscillations of one or so millennia duration punctuate much of glacial section of the Greenland ice cores. These oscillations are characterized by 5°C air temperature changes, severalfold dust content changes and 50 ppm CO2 changes. Both the temperature and CO2 change are best explained by changes in the mode of operation of the ocean. In this paper we provide evidence which suggests that oscillations in surface water conditions of similar duration are present in the record from a deep sea core at 50°N. Based on this finding, we suggest that the Greenland climate changes are driven by oscillations in the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean which modulate the strength of the Atlantic's conveyor circulation.

Description: In accretionary wedges, often morphologically similar sedimentary intrusions, when observed by remote geophysical means, may have one of two quite different driving mechanisms and a highly variable significance for the regional hydrogeologic picture. For example, mud diapirs are driven by buoyancy forces that arise from bulk density contrasts. In them, mud and pore fluid upwell en masse and fluid migration is a related (sometimes important) but generally subsidiary process. In contrast, diatremes contain sediments fluidized during rapid fluid advection and are forcibly and directly driven by the hydrogeologic system. The nature of fluid input from local and exotic source regions can, therefore, strongly affect sedimentary intrusive processes and vice versa. This complicates the process of defining the main features of the hydrogeological systems operating in accretionary wedges. Focused vertical advection through steep sided (piercement) mud diapirs requires conduit systems, otherwise flow will be diffuse and directed more horizontally out of the low-permeability mud mass. However, where the permeability of the overburden is less than that of the diapir, the whole diapir may act as a conduit. Apart from this special case, conduits will be associated with highly anisotropic scaly fabrics that can sometimes develop in the marginal shear zone of diapirs. Scaly fabrics form during deformation and compaction of a mud matrix under conditions of constant or increasing effective stress. However, the effective stress path can be complex as it is both controlled by the relative rates of upward intrusion and burial (by sedimentation and/or structural thickening) and the hydrogeologic system. Due to this, it appears likely that even in a geographically related group of diapirs, effective stress histories will vary widely between intrusions so that some can form advective pathways for fluids and some cannot. Mixed systems of behavior may also be present with local diatremes developing within diapirs above the terminations of conduit systems and rapidly expanding methane gas pockets. The potentially heterogeneous near-surface behavior may be why the surface manifestations of sedimentary intrusions are so variable when observed in the field. Diatremes can also form separately as large primary features above any structural or stratigraphic conduit that rapidly expels water or gas into the base of an unlithified sediment column. When active, large diatremes require enormous quantities of fluid (water or gas) to drive them, particularly if they are long lived features and hence are a direct indication of at least an episodically vigorous hydrogeologic system.

Description: The isotopic composition of dissolved O2 in seawater, expressed as the δ18O of O2, is unique among the bioactive tracers of the aphotic zone in that it is not linearly related to oxygen utilization via the stoichiometry of organic matter decomposition. In fact, δ18O of O2 depends on the history of water mixing and O2 consumption in the sample studied (Craig and Kroopnick, 1970; Kroopnick and Craig, 1976). For this reason, the variation of δ18O of O2 with O2 concentration depends on regional circulation patterns and oxygen utilization rates. The δ18O of O2 can be used to chartacterize these processes by decoupling their effects. As an example of this assertion, we interpret the covariation between the concentration of O2 and its isotopic composition in the Pacific Ocean as reported by Kroopnick (1987), using four simple representations of seawater mixing and respiration. Kroopnick's data are in general accord with an elementary model of isopycnal mixing represented by diffusive exchange and oxygen utilization in the ocean's interior, coupled with atmospheric equilibrium at the point where the isopycnals outcrop at the sea surface. This specific result illustrates the general point that δ18O of O2 in seawater can serve as an important constraint on more extensive and sophisticated physical models used to estimate rates of oxygen utilization in the deep sea.

Description: Statistical heterogeneity of abyssal hill properties is often evident in seafloor topography, even under periods of relatively constant spreading direction and rate. In this paper we relate the statistics of topographic slopes computed on finite spatial scales to the autocovariance function and investigate the practicality of using these functions in describing such heterogeneous abyssal hill terrains. For a two-dimensional homogeneous surface, a direct relation exists between the sample autocovariance and the slope distributions at different spatial scales. However, for a heterogeneous field characterized by large transient signals, the computed autocovariance estimate no longer has a clear statistical interpretation and becomes dominated by the transients. In contrast, the family of slope distributions can still be used to derive stable descriptors of the field. Slope statistics are thus useful in deriving a more robust estimate of the autocovariance than the usual sample autocovariance. Moreover, slope statistics may also be used to derive stable estimates of quantities not measurable with the autocovariance function or power spectra, such as the statistical asymmetry of features. Examples of the use of slope statistics and a comparison with autocovariance methods are presented. We document and quantify evidence of statistical asymmetry in a region of abyssal hills in the northeast Pacific and, in a second example, the presence of multiple lineations in a region where a fracture zone cuts through abyssal hill terrain.

Description: Some basic characteristics of ridge axis topography are related to spreading rate and distance from neighboring transform faults. For example, the presence of an axial depression coincides in most cases with slow spreading rates, and the overall depth of the ridge axis increases toward ridge-transform intersections (RTIs). On the other hand, it is also well known that the relief and width of the axial valley on, say, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) vary along strike in an unpredictable manner. The purpose of the present study is to quantify how much of the observed variation in the first-order topography at the axis is related to changes in other parameters, such as spreading rate and distance from RTIs. To carry out this test, the zero-age depth and the relief and width of the axial valley have been estimated on 46 profiles that cross the axis of the MAR between the equator and 50°N (full spreading rates 22–36 km/Ma). Zero-age depth is here defined to be the depth at age zero of the best fit thermal subsidence trend. Axial valley relief and width have been measured with respect to the ridge flanks by the least squares fit of a Gaussian bell. The measured axial valley relief varies between 600 and 2100 m (average ∼1300 m), while the valley width varies between 16 and 62 km (average ∼35 km). The correlation between zero-age depth, axial valley relief and width, latitude of axial crossing, spreading rate, distance from nearest RTT, and offset on the nearby transforms has been investigated using linear regression techniques. The main results of the present study are that (1) zero-age depth significantly correlates with latitude of crossing, distance from nearest RTI, and offset on the nearby transforms; and (2) the variation in axial valley relief and width is essentially uncorrelated with spreading rate, zero-age depth, distance from nearest RTT, and offset on nearby transforms. The preferred explanation for the observed spatial variation in axial valley geometry is that it reflects a temporal variation. In fact, if the rough abyssal hill topography typical of the MAR flanks is created within the axial valley, the shape of the axial valley cannot be steady state (although the existence of an axial valley may be a steady state phenomenon). This hypothesis is supported by the observation that the variability in axial valley relief is similar to the overall amplitude of abyssal hill topography, measured as the residual on the thermal subsidence trend.

Description: Early diagenesis of the coupled dissolved silica-opal system in bioturbated sediments may be explained by one of three possible models of increasing mathematical complexity, i.e. the simple, but unused constant-opal model (abbreviated C.O.), the Schink et al. (1975) model (abbreviated SG&F) for which Wong and Grosch (1978) have supplied an analytical solution (designated as W&G), and the improved but much more sophisticated model proposed by Schink and Guinasso (1980) that must be solved numerically (S&G). Scaling analysis and computational comparisons show that the C.O. model and the SG&F model, as calculated via the W&G solution, are asymptotically valid forms of more complete S&G model for the limits of “large” and “small” opal concentrations, respectively. Specifically, the C.O. model is found to provide an excellent approximation to the vastly more complicated S&G model if the amount of opal preserved at depth in the sediment, b(∞), satisfies the inequality, b(∞) ≥ {[0.1(1 - φ)DB][φγDS(CS - CW)]−1 + ρb−1}−1, where φ is the porosity, DB is the mixing coefficient, DS is the tortuosity-corrected molecular diffusivity of silica, CS is the solubility of opal, CW is the silica concentration in the overlying waters, ρb is the intrinsic density of opal and γ is a unit conversion constant if b and C are in different units. Schink and Guinasso (1980) have criticized Wong and Grosch (1978) for utilizing their solution of the earlier SG&F model to describe opal accumulation, a situation for which they believed the SG&F model was invalid. This study has found, however, that for conditions characteristic of the deep sea, the SG&F model and so the W&G solution remain reasonably accurate even if small amounts of opal escape dissolution and collect, but that radical divergence from the S&G model can be expected if the flux of silica is sufficient to create a siliceous ooze. This reflects the minor role played by the divergence of the advective flux in the balance of terms in the diagenetic conservation equations when little opal is preserved. These findings should resolve any uncertainty and controversy over the use of the W&G solution. Opal diagenesis in bioturbated shelf-like sediments appears to be adequately described by the C.O. model alone. The C.O. model, coupled where necessary to the W&G solution, constitutes an attractive alternative to the S&G model because relatively simple analytical methods of solution may be employed rather than advanced numerical techniques.

Description: The present work deals with the petrography and geochemistry of lavas dredged from five active submarine volcanoes (named Mehetia, Moua Pihaa, Rocard, Teahitia, and Cyana) from the southeast end of the Society Islands hotspot trace. Most samples are basic and alkaline, ranging from 16 to 5 wt % MgO, with about 5% normative nepheline. Fractionation modelling based on major and minor compatible element variations suggests that olivine and minor clinopyroxene were the major fractionating phases and implies a maximum range of fractionation of 30–35%. Rocard and Cyana have yielded more evolved, trachy-phonolitic, glassy samples. These evolved samples are thought to be derived by removal of 70% cumulate from the basalts. Both basaltic and phonolitic samples are incompatible-element enriched, with La/YbN ≈ 15 in most of the basalts. The trachy-phonolite patterns show middle rare earth element (REE) depletion and negative Eu anomalies. The Moua Pihaa basalts have flatter patterns than the other basalts (La/YbN = 7.5–12.4). All samples, with the exception of a sample from Moua Pihaa which has elevated 206Pb/204Pb, fall on linear Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic arrays, suggesting two end-member mixing. The most depleted end-member is shown to be a pristine ocean island basalt magma with no detectable contribution from a depleted, mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) upper mantle. The flatter REE patterns and higher 206Pb/204Pb of the Moua Pihaa sample are taken to indicate a more depleted, U-enriched (high μ) component in its source. This component may be altered oceanic crust. The Sr isotopic variations in the samples excluding Moua Pihaa correlate positively with Rb/Nb, Pb/Ce, and SiO2 variations, indicating a component of mantle enriched by injection of material from a subducted oceanic slab. Correlation of 207Pb/204Pb with 87Sr/86Sr suggests that the subducted material is geochemically old. Mapping the geochemical variations shows that the contribution to the lavas from the subduction component is greater over the north of the hotspot than in the south. The absence of a MORB component in the Society magmatism, the small volumes of the Polynesian hotspot volcanoes, and the lack of more intense volcanic activity near the center of the Pacific Supers well, all lead us to conclude that the latter is unlikely to be caused by a large convective plume. The Superswell is more probably located above a region in the asthenospheric mantle which, due to its higher content of recycled continental debris, is anomalously hot.

Description: The Lau Basin, a back arc spreading center, is one of the most active hydrothermal areas in the ocean. A scientific team from France, Germany, and Tonga investigated the southern Lau Basin near Tonga in 1989 to study the processes of seafloor ore-mineral formation associated with hydrothermal circulation along the volcanic Valu Fa ridge (Ride de Valu Fa in Figure 1), which lies in back of the Tonga-Kermadec trench. Between April 17 and May 10 scientists on the R/V Nadir used the submersible Nautile to make 22 dives in the southern Lau Basin. The cruise was called NAUTILAU, for Nautile in Lau Basin. In addition to the standard equipment of the submersible (video and photo cameras, and temperature probe), a CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) instrument was integrated with a “mini rosette” water sampling device used for the first time on the Nautile to obtain correlations between the geological observations and the physical and chemical anomalies measured in the seawater.

Description: Hole 504B of the Ocean Drilling Program is dedicated to the study of crustal structure and hydrothermal processes in 5.9-m.y.-old oceanic basement. Continuing the work of previous legs, hole 504B was extended 212.3 m to a total depth of 1562.3 m below seafloor (bsf) during leg 111 in 1986. Quartz-sulfide veins occur at a depth of 1369–1388 m bsf in basalts of the sheeted dike complex. The ore minerals are predominantly pyrite, less chalcopyrite, rare Corich Cu-Fe-S phases, and a thiospinel (linnaeite/carrollite). Microprobe analyses yield a high Co content in zoned vein pyrites (〉8 wt %) as well as in the Cu-Fe-S phases (〉5 wt %). Up to 35.8 wt % Co was detected in the thiospinel. A Co/Ni ratio of 〉100 distinguishes the vein pyrite from pyrite in the basaltic wall rock and from pyrite formed as an alteration product of olivine (Co/Ni 〈5). The Co/Ni ratios correlate positively with Cu and negatively with As. Co-rich, nonstoichiometric Cu-Fe-S sulfides in chalcopyrite are interpreted as metastable phases which have been quenched at a high temperature and prohibited from exsolution of the stable products chalcopyrite and pyrite. Fluid inclusions in quartz from the quartz-sulfide veins are two-phase and vary from liquid- to vapor-dominated. Their salinities range from 4.2 to 7.2 wt % equivalent NaCl and average 5.5 wt %. Pressure (360 bars) corrected average filling temperatures vary from 271° to 408°C with a maximum of 486°C. This is consistent with calculated quartz formation temperatures for a single quartz separate (+4.2‰ δ18O) using oxygen isotope thermometry. The δ18O value of the hydrothermal fluid was determined to be +1.7‰. The temperature data indicate fluid alteration of the sheeted dikes at about 350° to 500°C. The maximum homogenization temperatures intersect the liquid/vapor two-phase boundary above the critical point of seawater. Thus phase separation could have occurred before or during the formation of the mineralized veins and the alteration of the sheeted dike sequence.

Description: Profiles of the 230Th concentration in Mn crusts from the central Pacific Ocean measured at extremely high depth resolution reveal that the growth rates of Mn crusts are influenced by climate. Based on a “constant flux model” the sections of maximum 230Th concentration correspond to periods of slow growth during glacial stages. Fast growth occurred during interglacial stages 1, 5, and 7, probably due to a larger supply of Mn oxides from the water column. High-resolution profiles of 230Th and 10Be in sediment cores from high biological productivity areas display radioisotope maxima in the interglacial stages and minima during glacial periods, the ratio of the fluxes of 10Be/230Th being ≥4. The only exceptions are observed at 135 and 270 kyr B.P., where the ratio of the fluxes is as low as 0.1 to 0.3. We presume that this “230Th anomaly” reflects short periods of time at the end of glacials when precipitation of MnO2 occurred. This hypothesis is confirmed by peaks of Mn observed in sediment cores mainly at the transitions from glacial to interglacial stages. The standing crops of Mn in these layers suggest release of Mn2+ from the sediments during glacial stages and buildup of Mn in the water column to concentrations of up to 10 µmol/L.

Description: Variations in nutricline depth during the last deglaciation are recorded by the phytoplankton species Florisphaera profunda. A stacked record of six deep-sea cores shows that across the entire equatorial Atlantic there was a brief shallowing of the nutricline, centered on 11 ka, coincident with the Younger Dryas. This shallowing is linked with high-latitude North Atlantic deglacial events. We invoke high albedo and cool sea surface temperatures in the northern latitudes during 11 ka which steepened an already higher-than-expected winter insolation (and hence temperature) gradient for a time of June perihelion. We postulate that the resultant increased pressure gradient caused an intensification of the northern hemisphere winter tropical easterlies which in turn caused equatorial divergence to occur in boreal winter.

Description: The SiO2-undersaturated lavas from Lihir island, Papua New Guinea, like most arc lavas are highly enriched in Sr, Ba, K, Rb, and Cs and depleted in Hf, Ta, Nb, and Ti relative to ocean floor basalts and oceanic island basalts. These alkali-rich lavas have arc trace element signatures and Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic systematics. However, they are not a product of present-day subduction, as this volcanism has tapped mantle which was enriched by prior subduction episodes. The narrow range of Pb (206pb/204pb, 18.74–18.76) and Nd (143Nd/144Nd, 0.51297–0.51304) isotopic compositions suggest a cogenetic origin for these lavas. During the fractionation of the primitive Lihir lavas, elements normally considered incompatible (i.e., the light rare earth elements (LREE), Rb, Th, and P) have high bulk solid/melt partition coefficients (0.15–1.5). Relatively higher partition coefficients during forma-tion of the evolved lavas produced crossing rare earth element (REE) patterns, and primitive lavas have higher incompatible elements abundances than evolved lavas. This results from (1) changes in the amount of apatite in the fractionating assemblage and (2) the abnormal partitioning of trace elements into apatite microphenocrysts which nucleate at the crystal-liquid interface of rapidly growing clinopyroxene phenocrysts. The Lihir lavas have lower alkali, Sr, Ba, K, Rb, Cs, and LREE abundances than other Tabar-Feni lavas. They are derived from a less enriched mantle source rather than by a higher degree of melting of a source similar to that of the other islands. The similarity of Sm/Nd ratios of these undersaturated arc lavas to those of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline arc lavas and the moderate chondrite-normalized La/Yb (La/Ybcn = 3–7) indicates that there has been limited enrichment of the LREE relative to the heavy REE during generation of the arc-modified source mantle. The alkaline nature of these lavas reflects their generation, in a tensional tectonic environment, from a “fossil” arc mantle region that has undergone extreme arc enrichment of alkali and alkaline earth elements during two earlier subduction episodes.

Description: Generalized models of thorium and particle cycling, data from Station P, and an inversion technique are used to obtain rate estimates of important biological and chemical transformations occurring in the water column. We first verify the inversion technique using an idealized data set generated by a finite difference model, and then apply the inversion technique to data from Station P. With the Station P data, predicted rate constants for adsorption and release of thorium between the dissolved and small particle phases are consistent with the results from other workers. The predicted rate constants for the interaction between small and large particles are smaller than previous estimates. The predicted concentration of large rapidly sinking particles is greater than the concentration of suspended non-sinking particles, whereas the reverse is usually assumed to be the case. The calculated sinking rate for the large particles is 20 m d−1. This sinking rate is an order of magnitude smaller than the large particle sinking rate inferred from sediment trap mass fluxes at two levels in the water column. The reason we predict a high large particle concentration and slow settling velocity has not been uniquely determined. Possible modifications of the current model that could help to reconcile the differences between observations and model predictions include: 1) two classes of rapidly sinking particles or rate constants that change with depth, 2) direct interactions between the large particle and dissolved phases, and 3) incorporation of a continuous distribution of particle size and settling velocity.

Description: Crystallization ages of volcanic rocks, dredged or drilled from the Walvis Ridge (ten sites) and the Rio Grande Rise (one site), have been determined by the 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating technique. The fundamentally age-progressive distribution of these basement ages suggests a common hot spot source for volcanism on the island of Tristan da Cunha, along the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise, and for the formation of the continental flood basalts located in Namibia (Africa) and Brazil (South America). The Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise volcanic system evolved along a section of the South Atlantic spreading-axis, as the African and South American plates migrated apart, astride, or in close proximity to, an upwelling plume. Reconstructions of the spatial relationship between the spreading-axis, the Tristan hot spot, and the evolving Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise volcanic feature show that, at about 70 Ma, the spreading-axis began to migrate westward, away from the hot spot. The resulting transition to intraplate hot spot volcanism along the Walvis Ridge (and associated termination of Rio Grande Rise formation) also involved a northward migration of previously formed African seafloor over the hot spot. Rotation parameters for African motion over fixed hot spots (i.e., absolute motion) have been recalculated such that the predicted trail of the Tristan hot spot agrees with the distribution of radiometric and fossil basement ages along the Walvis Ridge. African absolute motion has been extended to the South and North American plates, by the addition of relative motion reconstruction poles.

Description: The electrical resistivity, porosity, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) samples from Deep Sea Drilling Project hole 504B have been measured in the laboratory. The presence of chlorites, zeolites and particularly smectites as alteration products of MORB is reflected by high values of CEC, with high and uniform CEC values in the massive units of layers 2A and 2B, and even higher values in the pillows. The porosity and the “intrinsic” formation factor are related, in the massive units, by an inverse power law similar to Archie's formula, with m = 1.0 and a = 10.0. Such a low m value equates to current conduction in cracks and microcracks present at mineral scale throughout the rock. During leg 111 of the Ocean Drilling Program, the Joides Resolution D.V. returned in the equatorial Pacific to deepen hole 504B and to perform a series of downhole experiments. A continuous electrical resistivity profile permitted to discriminate the large-scale seismic layers of the upper oceanic crust and to isolate individual lithologic units. In the extrusive part of the crust, the massive flows (10-m-thick or more) are found to constitute permeability barriers and, subsequently, to constrain fluid circulation. Within layer 2A, the massive flows of unit 2D are associated with the underpressured aquifer located underneath, within Unit 3. In layer 2B, unit 27 is the boundary between low-temperature, seawater alteration facies of basalt, and higher-temperature alteration phases. This relationship between morphology, hydrological regime, and therefore alteration of the basaltic basement is proposed to be related to the accretion process of the upper oceanic crust. The porosity estimate derived from in situ measurements of electrical resistivity is reduced when accounting for surface conduction, with high values computed in layer 2A only. A permeability profile computed on the basis of in situ resistivity measurements reproduces those obtained in situ from packer experiments, and therefore provides a key to the low-permeability high-“apparent”-porosity paradox obtained in the past.

Description: High concentrations of gold and visible gold-bearing phases have been found in sulfides from the Central Valu Fa Ridge, a spreading center in the Lau back-arc basin west of the Tonga Trench, southwest Pacific. This is believed to be the first known occurrence of visible gold in sulfides from active vents on the seafloor, according to Peter Herzig of the Aachen University of Technology, Federal Republic of Germany, and Mark D. Hannington of the Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. Samples were collected during the NAUTILAU Cruise April 17–May 10, 1989 (see Eos, May 1, 1990, p. 678), which consisted of a scientific team from France, Germany, and Tonga that studied the processes of seafloor ore-mineral formation associated with hydrothermal circulation along the volcanic Valu Fa Ridge. The cruise recorded the first observation of an active black smoker hydrothermal field in a back-arc environment.

Description: Variations in carbonate flux and dissolution, which occurred in the equatorial Atlantic during the last 24,000 years, have been estimated by a new approach that allows the point‐by‐point determination of paleofluxes to the seafloor. An unprecedented time resolution can thus be obtained which allows sequencing of the relatively rapid events occurring during deglaciation. The method is based on observations that the flux of unsupported 230Th into deep‐sea sediments is nearly independent of the total mass flux and is close to the production rate. Thus excess 230Th activity in sediments can be used as a reference against which fluxes of other sedimentary components can be estimated. The study was conducted at two sites (Ceará Rise; western equatorial Atlantic, and Sierra Leone Rise; eastern equatorial Atlantic) in cores raised from three different depths at each site. From measurements of 230Th and CaCO3, changes in carbonate flux with time and depth were obtained. A rapid increase in carbonate production, starting at the onset of deglaciation, was found in both areas. This event may have important implications for the postglacial increase in atmospheric CO2 by increasing the global carbonate carbon to organic carbon rain ratio and decreasing the alkalinity of surface waters (and possibly the North Atlantic Deep Water). Increased carbonate dissolution occurred in the two regions during deglaciation, followed by a minimum during mid‐Holocene and renewed intensification of dissolution in late Holocene. During the last 16,000 years, carbonate dissolution was consistently more pronounced in the western than in the eastern basin, reflecting the influence of Antarctic Bottom Water in the west. This trend was reversed during stage 2, possibly due to the accumulation of metabolic CO2 below the level of the Romanche Fracture Zone in the eastern basin.

Description: The simple theoretical model of Alpers and Hennings describing the radar imaging of submarine bottom topography in coastal waters with strong unidirectional tidal currents is analytically extended to show the influence of advection. The theory applies for L band radar, where second‐order terms in the hydrodynamic interaction can be neglected as a first approximation. If future imaging radars from satellites and space platforms as the ERS‐I (First European Remote Sensing Satellite), the JERS‐I (First Japanese Earth Remote Sensing Satellite), and the EOS (Earth Observing System) are to be used for cartographic applications, it is necessary to include the effect of advection to improve accuracy. This extension of the model simulates the position of the radar cross‐section modulation relative to coastal geomorphological bedforms. By application of that theory it is possible to map features such as the crests of sandbanks and sand waves.

Description: A systematic study of rare earth and other trace elements in discrete diopsides from residual abyssal peridotites sampled from 5000 km of ocean ridge demonstrates that they are the residues of variable degrees of melting in the garnet and spinel peridotite fields. Further, the data clearly demonstrate that the peridotites are the residues of near‐fractional melting, not batch melting, and that typical abyssal basalt can evolve from aggregated fractional melts. Ion microprobe analyses of diopsides in abyssal peridotites from fracture zones along the America‐Antarctica and Southwest Indian ridges reveal ubiquitous extreme fractionation of rare earth elements (REE) ([Ce/Yb]n = 0.002–0.05); depletion of Ti (300–1600 ppm), Zr (0.1–10 ppm), and Sr (0.1–10 ppm); and fractionation of Zr relative to Ti (Ti/Zr = 250–4000). Ti and Zr in diopsides decrease with decreasing modal cpx in the peridotites, and samples dredged near hotspots are more depleted in incompatible elements than those dredged away from hotspots, consistent with higher degrees upper mantle melting in the former. All studied samples exhibit marked negative anomalies in Ti and Zr relative to REE. Incompatible element concentrations in peridotite clinopyroxenes are well modeled by repeated melting and segregation in ≤0.1% increments to a total of 5–25% melting, a process very close to Rayleigh (fractional) melting; batch melting of a LREE‐depleted source cannot account for the observed trace element concentrations in abyssal peridotites. The shapes of some REE patterns are consistent with variable degrees of melting initiated within the garnet stability field. Trace element concentrations in calculated integrated fractional liquids approximate the composition of primitive ocean floor basalts, consistent with postsegregation aggregation of small increment melts produced over a depth and melting interval.

Description: To study the resolving power of teleseismic P waveforms for receiver structure, we model synthetic waveforms using a time domain waveform inversion scheme beginning with a range of initial models to estimate the range of acceptable velocity structures. To speed up the waveform inversions, we implement Randall's (1989) efficient algorithms for calculating differential seismograms and include a smoothness constraint on all the resulting velocity models utilizing the “jumping” inversion technique of Shaw and Orcutt (1985). We present the results of more than 235 waveform inversions for one‐dimensional velocity structures that indicate that the primary sensitivity of a receiver function is to high wavenumber velocity changes, and a depth‐velocity product, not simply velocity. The range of slownesses in a typical receiver function study does not appear to be broad enough to remove the depth‐velocity ambiguity; the inclusion of a priori information is necessary. We also present inversion results for station RSCP, located in the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee. Our results are similar to those from a previous study by Owens et al. (1984) and demonstrate the uncertainties in the resulting velocity estimate more clearly.

Description: A 30 km2 diapiric field has been identified near 13°50′N up to 12 km seaward of the deformation front of the Barbados accretionary complex. Using a deep‐towed side scan sonar with a 3.5‐kHz profiler, we identified 31 different diapiric structures. Based on seismic stratigraphy, we show that this field has been active for 200,000 years and that it is a transient feature triggered by the seaward propagation of the high pore fluid pressure associated with the décollement beneath the accretionary complex. Both basement and décollement in this area are anomalously shallow due to the presence of a N110° basement ridge. The height of the diapirs above seafloor does not exceed 40–50 m and can be related to the pressure head of the mud below the décollement. Two types of structures are identified: mud volcanoes and massively emplaced diapirs and ridges on the one hand, enigmatic circular very flat mud pies and conical mounds on the other hand. The second type of structures has steeper slopes and appears to be associated with very active venting, as confirmed by a submersible exploration reported in a companion paper (Le Pichon et al., this issue (b)). The venting results in the formation of a stiff carbonate crust and of large subsiding basins around the mud pies. Continuous active fluid expulsion through these structures indicates that an efficient piping system still connects them to the zone of anomalously high pore pressure below the protodécollement.

Description: We describe a 0.55 km2 semicircular mud pie and three adjacent diapiric mounds explored using the submersible Nautile near 13°50′N, 12 km seaward of the Barbados accretionary complex deformation front. This diapiric field had been previously explored with an acoustically navigated deep‐towed side scan sonar, thus providing an accurate base map. The mud pie is situated at a depth of 4938 m. In addition to visual observations, water, rock, sediment, and biological sampling, we measured temperature gradients and made geochemical analyses of the samples. Fluid venting associated with chemosynthetic animal communities is widespread on all four structures but is maximal in the central third of the mud pie. The chemosynthetic life distribution on the mud pie displays a concentric zonation which we relate to an increase in venting activity toward the center, as evidenced by thermal gradients. Recent mud flows are present in the centralmost part of the mud pie. The simplest interpretation of the structure is that it is a mud lake covered by a mechanically resistant carbonate crust. We determine that approximately 106 m3 of fluid are advected upward through the crust of the mud lake every year. This large amount of fluid implies large‐scale lateral transport.

Description: Active fluid venting and its surface manifestations (unique animals and carbonates) occur over the accretionary prism in the Cascadia subduction zone located off central Oregon. A large variety of authigenic carbonate deposits and unique carbonate structures have been observed from submersibles and remotely operated vehicles and recovered with aid of submersibles and bottom trawls from the outermost continental shelf and lower continental slope. The carbonate deposits range from relatively thin crusts and slabs to irregular edifices and well-formed circular chimneys that rise from 1 to 2 m above the seafloor. Mineralogically, the carbonate cement consists of aragonite, calcite, Mg-calcite, or dolomite with varying amounts of detrital constituents. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data identify four distinct subgroups of methane-derived carbonates from several different vent sites and different fluid source zones. Subgroup I represents one vent site on the lower slope and is characterized by oxygen isotope values ranging from +6.8‰ to +4.7‰ PDB. Subgroup II represents another vent site about 1 km away and exhibits oxygen values of +3.4‰ to +4.9‰ PDB. Carbon isotopic values range from −40.96 to −30.23‰ versus −44.26 to −53.44‰ PDB, respectively, for the two vents. An irregular edifice from the outer shelf has the same isotopic composition as subgroup II. A companion study shows that the expelled fluids contain largely biogenic methane and methane-derived dissolved carbonate; a shallow fluid source zone (〈1 km) is indicated. The isotopic carbon values of the subgroup I and II carbonates are consistent with the carbon composition of the expelled fluids and apparently represent a historical record of the composition of these fluids. In subgroup III, strong 18O enrichment and heavier carbon values characterize the dolomitic chimneys from the outer continental shelf. Cemented sandstones from a “window” in the accretionary complex of the lower slope (subgroup IV) are characterized by extreme δ18O (−5.9 to −5.98 ‰) and moderate δ13C (−18.7 to −12.67‰)-depleted carbonates. This “light” oxygen isotope composition most likely originated from the upward migration of warm hydrothermal fluids along the main décollement, which tapped the warm subducting basaltic slab, during the early stages of formation of the accreted complex. Well-defined plumbing tubes within some carbonate chimneys on the shelf infer a single well-defined subsurface conduit with a fairly energetic fluid flow. The majority of the chimneys probably formed above the seafloor as long as the rate of carbonate precipitation exceeded the rate of detrital input during their formation. We calculate a minimum of one conduit for each 35 m2 at one vent site on the shelf. A less energetic flow is suggested by the chaotic plumbing network of an irregular edifice and by the widespread occurrence of the carbonate slabs and crusts at numerous vent sites.

Description: Fluid venting from the toe of the accretionary prism off Oregon was measured in situ during a series of dives with DSRV Alvin in 1987 and 1988. A benthic chamber was placed over active vent sites to sequentially collect samples of venting fluids and to make direct measurements of discharge rates. Calibrated flow meter measurements and flow rates determined from dissolved methane transfer indicate that discharge from two vent sites, Alvin 1428 and Alvin 1900, ranges roughly between 100 and 500 L m−2 d−1. with the most reliable estimates falling in the range of 125–150 L m−2d−1. These rates imply subsurface advective flow on the order of 100 m yr−1. Comparison of observed discharge rates with rates calculated for steady state expulsion supported by accretion-related compaction indicates that the observed flow is greater than predicted flow by several orders of magnitude. The disparity dictates that fluids are not derived locally, but are transported laterally within the prism, or that flow is not steady state and that individual vents are short-lived features in the ongoing accretion process.