ALBERT

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Estapa, M., Buesseler, K., Durkin, C. A., Omand, M., Benitez-Nelson, C. R., Roca-Marti, M., Breves, E., Kelly, R. P., & Pike, S. Biogenic sinking particle fluxes and sediment trap collection efficiency at Ocean Station Papa. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 9(1), (2021): 00122, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2020.00122.

Description: Comprehensive field observations characterizing the biological carbon pump (BCP) provide the foundation needed to constrain mechanistic models of downward particulate organic carbon (POC) flux in the ocean. Sediment traps were deployed three times during the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing campaign at Ocean Station Papa in August–September 2018. We propose a new method to correct sediment trap sample contamination by zooplankton “swimmers.” We consider the advantages of polyacrylamide gel collectors to constrain swimmer influence and estimate the magnitude of possible trap biases. Measured sediment trap fluxes of thorium-234 are compared to water column measurements to assess trap performance and estimate the possible magnitude of fluxes by vertically migrating zooplankton that bypassed traps. We found generally low fluxes of sinking POC (1.38 ± 0.77 mmol C m–2 d–1 at 100 m, n = 9) that included high and variable contributions by rare, large particles. Sinking particle sizes generally decreased between 100 and 335 m. Measured 234Th fluxes were smaller than water column 234Th fluxes by a factor of approximately 3. Much of this difference was consistent with trap undersampling of both small (〈32 μm) and rare, large particles (〉1 mm) and with zooplankton active migrant fluxes. The fraction of net primary production exported below the euphotic zone (0.1% light level; Ez-ratio = 0.10 ± 0.06; ratio uncertainties are propagated from measurements with n = 7–9) was consistent with prior, late summer studies at Station P, as was the fraction of material exported to 100 m below the base of the euphotic zone (T100, 0.55 ± 0.35). While both the Ez-ratio and T100 parameters varied weekly, their product, which we interpret as overall BCP efficiency, was remarkably stable (0.055 ± 0.010), suggesting a tight coupling between production and recycling at Station P.

Description: The authors would like to acknowledge funding support from the NASA EXPORTS program (Award 80NSSC17K0662) for all sediment trap data presented here. Net primary production data collection was supported by EXPORTS (Award 80NSSC17K568) to Oregon State University. Thorium data collection was supported by EXPORTS (Award 80NSSC17K0555) to KB, CRBN, and L. Resplandy.

Description: The radiocarbon signature of respired CO2 (∆14C‐CO2) measured in laboratory soil incubations integrates contributions from soil carbon pools with a wide range of ages, making it a powerful model constraint. Incubating archived soils enriched by “bomb‐C” from mid‐20th century nuclear weapons testing would be even more powerful as it would enable us to trace this pulse over time. However, air‐drying and subsequent rewetting of archived soils, as well as storage duration, may alter the relative contribution to respiration from soil carbon pools with different cycling rates. We designed three experiments to assess air‐drying and rewetting effects on ∆14C‐CO2 with constant storage duration (Experiment 1), without storage (Experiment 2), and with variable storage duration (Experiment 3). We found that air‐drying and rewetting led to small but significant (α 〈 0.05) shifts in ∆14C‐CO2 relative to undried controls in all experiments, with grassland soils responding more strongly than forest soils. Storage duration (4–14 y) did not have a substantial effect. Mean differences (95% CIs) for experiments 1, 2, and 3 were: 23.3‰ (±6.6), 19.6‰ (±10.3), and 29.3‰ (±29.1) for grassland soils, versus −11.6‰ (±4.1), 12.7‰ (±8.5), and −24.2‰ (±13.2) for forest soils. Our results indicate that air‐drying and rewetting soils mobilizes a slightly older pool of carbon that would otherwise be inaccessible to microbes, an effect that persists throughout the incubation. However, as the bias in ∆14C‐CO2 from air‐drying and rewetting is small, measuring ∆14C‐CO2 in incubations of archived soils appears to be a promising technique for constraining soil carbon models.

Description: Plain Language Summary: Soils play a key role in the global carbon cycle by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere for decades to millennia. However, it is unclear if they will continue to do so as the climate changes. Microbial decomposition of soil organic matter returns carbon back to the atmosphere, and radiocarbon dating of this returning CO2 (∆14C‐CO2) can be used to quantify how long carbon is stored in ecosystems. Incubating archived soils could provide unique insight into soil carbon sequestration potential by quantifying the change in ∆14C‐CO2 over time. However, air‐drying, duration of archiving, and subsequent rewetting of soils may bias estimates of sequestration potential by altering the balance of younger versus older carbon leaving the soil. We compared ∆14C‐CO2 from soils incubated with and without air‐drying and archiving, and found that the air‐dried soils appeared to release slightly older carbon than soils that had never been air‐dried. The amount of time the soils were archived did not have an effect. Since the bias from air‐drying and rewetting was small, incubating archived soils appears to be a promising technique for improving our ability to model soil carbon cycling under global climate change.

Description: Key Points: ∆14C of CO2 measured in incubations of archived soils provides additional constraints for soil carbon models. Air‐drying and rewetting soils shifted the ∆14C of respired CO2 by 10‰–20‰ independent of the duration of storage. Differences in direction and magnitude of ∆14C‐CO2 shifts between forests and grasslands depended on sampling year and system C dynamics.

Description: EC, H2020, H2020 Priority Excellent Science, H2020 European Research Council (ERC) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663

Description: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4959705

Description: Quantifying the anthropogenic fluxes of CO2 is important to understand the evolution of carbon sink capacities, on which the required strength of our mitigation efforts directly depends. For the historical period, the global carbon budget (GCB) can be compiled from observations and model simulations as is done annually in the Global Carbon Project's (GCP) carbon budgets. However, the historical budget only considers a single realization of the Earth system and cannot account for internal climate variability. Understanding the distribution of internal climate variability is critical for predicting the future carbon budget terms and uncertainties. We present here a decomposition of the GCB for the historical period and the RCP4.5 scenario using single‐model large ensemble simulations from the Max Planck Institute Grand Ensemble (MPI‐GE) to capture internal variability. We calculate uncertainty ranges for the natural sinks and anthropogenic emissions that arise from internal climate variability, and by using this distribution, we investigate the likelihood of historical fluxes with respect to plausible climate states. Our results show these likelihoods have substantial fluctuations due to internal variability, which are partially related to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We find that the largest internal variability in the MPI‐GE stems from the natural land sink and its increasing carbon stocks over time. The allowable fossil fuel emissions consistent with 3 C warming may be between 9 and 18 Pg C yr−1. The MPI‐GE is generally consistent with GCP's global budgets with the notable exception of land‐use change emissions in recent decades, highlighting that human action is inconsistent with climate mitigation goals.

Description: Key Points: We use a single‐model large ensemble to estimate uncertainties from internal climate variability in the global carbon budget. The land sink accounts for most internal climate uncertainty which may permit 9–18 Pg C yr−1 in allowable emissions by 2050 (for 3°C warming).

Description: European Union's Horizon 2020

Description: Preservation of organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments exerts a major control on the cycling of carbon in the Earth system. In these marine environments, OC preservation may be enhanced by diagenetic reactions in locations where deposition of fragmental volcanic material called tephra occurs. While the mechanisms by which this process occurs are well understood, site‐specific studies of this process are limited. Here, we report a study of sediments from the Bering Sea (IODP Site U1339D) to investigate the effects of marine tephra deposition on carbon cycling during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Our results suggest that tephra layers are loci of OC burial with distinct δ13C values, and that this process is primarily linked to bonding of OC with reactive metals, accounting for ∼80% of all OC within tephra layers. In addition, distribution of reactive metals from the tephra into non‐volcanic sediments above and below the tephra layers enhances OC preservation in these sediments, with ∼33% of OC bound to reactive phases. Importantly, OC‐Fe coupling is evident in sediments 〉700,000 years old. Thus, these interactions may help explain the observed preservation of OC in ancient marine sediments.

Description: Plain Language Summary: The burial of organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments is one of the major carbon sinks on Earth, meaning that it removes carbon dioxide from the ocean‐atmosphere system. However, the speed at which burial occurs varies across the globe, and is dependent on a range of factors, from the amount of nutrients in the water column, to the type of sediment. Despite evidence suggesting that when tephra is deposited to the seafloor carbon burial is enhanced, very little work has been done to investigate this process. We have therefore analyzed sediments from the Bering Sea, where volcanoes from the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka regularly deposit tephra in the ocean. We found that OC burial is indeed associated with ash deposition, and importantly, that OC is preserved in the ash layers themselves. We show here that this carbon is preserved effectively because of chemical reactions between the OC and reactive iron, which is released by the ash, creating conditions which preserve carbon for hundreds of thousands of years.

Description: Key Points: Tephra layers are loci of marine organic carbon (OC) burial with distinct carbon isotopic compositions. Preservation primarily linked to association of OC with reactive iron phases, accounting for ∼80% of all OC in tephra layers. OC‐reactive Fe coupling is observed in sediments 〉700,000 years old, indicating long‐term persistence of these complexes.

Description: NERC

Description: The winter 2019/2020 showed the lowest ozone mixing ratios ever observed in the Arctic winter stratosphere. It was the coldest Arctic stratospheric winter on record and was characterized by an unusually strong and long‐lasting polar vortex. We study the chemical evolution and ozone depletion in the winter 2019/2020 using the global Chemistry and Transport Model ATLAS. We examine whether the chemical processes in 2019/2020 are more characteristic of typical conditions in Antarctic winters or in average Arctic winters. Model runs for the winter 2019/2020 are compared to simulations of the Arctic winters 2004/2005, 2009/2010, and 2010/2011 and of the Antarctic winters 2006 and 2011, to assess differences in chemical evolution in winters with different meteorological conditions. In some respects, the winter 2019/2020 (and also the winter 2010/2011) was a hybrid between Arctic and Antarctic conditions, for example, with respect to the fraction of chlorine deactivation into HCl versus ClONO2, the amount of denitrification, and the importance of the heterogeneous HOCl + HCl reaction for chlorine activation. The pronounced ozone minimum of less than 0.2 ppm at about 450 K potential temperature that was observed in about 20% of the polar vortex area in 2019/2020 was caused by exceptionally long periods in the history of these air masses with low temperatures in sunlight. Based on a simple extrapolation of observed loss rates, only an additional 21–46 h spent below the upper temperature limit for polar stratospheric cloud formation and in sunlight would have been necessary to reduce ozone to near zero values (0.05 ppm) in these parts of the vortex.

Description: Key Points: The Arctic stratospheric winter 2019/2020 showed the lowest ozone mixing ratios ever observed and was one of the coldest on record. Chemical evolution of the Arctic winter 2019/2020 was a hybrid between typical Arctic and typical Antarctic conditions. Only an additional 21–46 h below PSC temperatures and in sunlight would have been necessary to reduce ozone to near zero locally.

Description: International Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of the Arctic Climate (MOSAiC)

Description: The geological evolution of the western Mediterranean exhibits complicated interactions between orogenic processes and widespread extensional tectonics. The region is located in a convergent plate margin separating Africa and Europe, and consists of marine basins – the Alboran Sea, the Algerian- Provençal Basin, the Valencia trough, the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea- which formed as back-arc basins since the Oligocene. In most reconstructions, it has been stressed that back-arc extension led to drifting of continental blocks and to large-scale block rotations. The opening of the Ligurian Sea. is in fact the result of counterclockwise rotation of Corsica and Sardinia. From the point of view of seismicity, the south western Alps and northern part of the Ligurian basin are subject to frequent earthquakes of low to moderate magnitudes. However significantly destructive events are known to have occurred in the past (e.g. 1564 and 1887). Apart from these rare large events, regional studies agree in concluding that the important local microseismicity appears to be poorly focused (e.g., COURBOULEX et alii, 2007) and that, if some tectonic lines are documented onland (COURBOULEX et alii, 2001), the active structures at sea remain unknown. It is therefore an essential prerequisite to gain better insight into the deep seismogenic structures along the North Ligurian margin and even farther offshore, in the identified oceanic domain. The fact that some of these structures can undergo ruptures of Mw~6.5, such as the 1887 event (BAKUN & SCOTTI, 2006), suggests that, at least to some extent, instrumental insufficiencies in the detection and location of microseismicity is a limit to identify active faults that have not experienced large instrumented ruptures to date. The irregular coverage provided by regional seismic networks produces a bias in the recording of local seismicity. Permanent stations are naturally limited to land areas and fail to properly constrain seismicity offshore. Taking into consideration the peculiarities of regional dynamics (low strain rates, rare large events and a regular seismic activity limited to small events with M 〈 3-4), even onshore seismicity is insufficiently covered by permanent networks and requires dense temporary instrumenting by mobile stations. Considering the potential threat of strong offshore earthquakes, it is of first importance to characterize faults that are prone to rupture in order to quantify associated seismic and tsunami hazards. Assuming some weak seismicity exists along these faults and remains undetected by onland networks, some marine stations are necessary to address instrumental remoteness and help delineate active structures. Moreover, since the velocity models used for locations are obtained by inverting seismic data and the reliability of their locations depend, in turn, from the quality of the velocity model used for their hypocentral parameters, the constraints on the seismic path provided by a more dense seismic network may contribute to a more accurate reference model. In this study, we profited from the recent developments in sea bottom seismic instrumentation to deploy OBSs above the zones of the North Ligurian to perform seismic shots and obtain the distribution of seismic velocities with 3D active tomography. We also took the opportunity of the long term (6 months) OBSs reduced array to decrease both the detection threshold and recording distances so as to obtain more complete catalogs and better localisations.

Description: Published

Description: 789-791

Description: 1T. Struttura della Terra

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: The comparison between crustal stress and surface strain azimuthal patterns has provided new insights into several complex tectonic settings worldwide. Here, we performed such a comparison for Egypt taking into account updated datasets of seismological and geodetic observations. In north-eastern Egypt, the stress field shows a fan-shaped azimuthal pattern with a WNW–ESE orientation on the Cairo region, which progressively rotated to NW–SE along the Gulf of Aqaba. The stress field shows a prevailing normal faulting regime, however, along the Sinai/Arabia plate boundary it coexists with a strike–slip faulting one (σ1 ≅ σ2 〉 σ3), while on the Gulf of Suez, it is characterized by crustal extension occurring on near-orthogonal directions (σ1 〉 σ2 ≅ σ3). On the Nile Delta, the maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) pattern shows scattered orientations, while on the Aswan region, it has a WNW–ESE strike with pure strike–slip features. The strain-rate field shows the largest values along the Red Sea and the Sinai/Arabia plate boundary. Crustal stretching (up to 40 nanostrain/yr) occurs on these areas with WSW–ENE and NE–SW orientations, while crustal contraction occurs on northern Nile Delta (10 nanostrain/yr) and offshore (~35 nanostrain/yr) with E–W and N–S orientations, respectively. The comparison between stress and strain orientations over the investigated area reveals that both patterns are near-parallel and driven by the same large-scale tectonic processes.

Description: This research was partially funded by the Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020—A call made by the University of Jaén 2018.

Description: Published

Description: 1398

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: A comparative analysis of geodetic versus seismic moment-rate estimations makes it possible to distinguish between seismic and aseismic deformation, define the style of deformation, and also to reveal potential seismic gaps. This analysis has been performed for Egypt where the present-day tectonics and seismicity result from the long-lasting interaction between the Nubian, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The data used comprises all available geological and tectonic information, an updated Poissonian earthquake catalog (2200 B.C.–2020 A.D.) including historical and instrumental datasets, a focal-mechanism solutions catalog (1951–2019), and crustal geodetic strains from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data. The studied region was divided into ten (EG-01 to EG-10) crustal seismic sources based mainly on seismicity, focal mechanisms, and geodetic strain characteristics. The delimited seismic sources cover the Gulf of Aqaba–Dead Sea Transform Fault system, the Gulf of Suez–Red Sea Rift, besides some potential seismic active regions along the Nile River and its delta. For each seismic source, the estimation of seismic and geodetic moment-rates has been performed. Although the obtained results cannot be considered to be definitive, among the delimited sources, four of them (EG-05, EG-06, EG-08, and EG-10) are characterized by low seismic-geodetic moment-rate ratios (〈20%), reflecting a prevailing aseismic behavior. Intermediate moment-rate ratios (from 20% to 60%) have been obtained in four additional zones (EG-01, EG-04, EG-07, and EG-09), evidencing how the seismicity accounts for a minor to a moderate fraction of the total deformational budget. In the other two sources (EG-02 and EG-03), high seismic-geodetic moment-rates ratios (〉60%) have been observed, reflecting a fully seismic deformation

Description: This research has been partially funded in the frame of the Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020-call made by the University of Jaén, 2018.

Description: Published

Description: 7836

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Dataset: Sediment trap sinking particle data

Description: This dataset includes general measurements for sediment trap casts at 5 stations along a transect between Hawaii and Alaska. Data was collected in August 2017 onboard R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/860424

Description: NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1220600, NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1220302

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(1), (2021): e2020JC016802, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016802.

Description: The neodymium isotopic composition of the detrital (lithogenic) fraction (εNd‐detrital) of surface sediments and sinking particles was examined to constrain transport trajectories associated with hemipelagic sedimentation on the northwest Atlantic margin. The provenance of resuspended sediments and modes of lateral transport in the water column were of particular interest given the energetic hydrodynamic regime that sustains bottom and intermediate nepheloid layers over the margin. A large across‐margin gradient of ∼5 εNd units was observed for surface sediments, implying strong contrasts in sediment provenance, with εNd‐detrital values on the lower slope similar to those of “upstream regions” (Scotian margin) under the influence of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Sinking particles collected at three depths at a site (total water depth, ∼3,000 m) on the New England margin within the core of the DWBC exhibited a similarly large range in εNd‐detrital values. The εNd‐detrital values of particles intercepted at intermediate water depths (1,000 and 2,000 m) were similar to each other but significantly higher than those at 3,000 m (∼50 m above the seafloor). These observations suggest that lithogenic material accumulating in the upper two traps was primarily advected in intermediate nepheloid layers emanating from the adjacent shelf, while that at 3,000 m is strongly influenced by sediment resuspension and along‐margin, southward lateral transport within the bottom nepheloid layer via entrainment in the DWBC. Our results highlight the importance of both along‐ and across‐margin sediment transport as vectors for lithogenic material and associated organic carbon transport.

Description: This research was funded by the NSF Ocean Sciences Chemical Oceanography program (OCE‐0425677; OCE‐0851350). JH was partly supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (2020R1A2C1008378).

Description: 2021-06-04