ALBERT

Description: The seasonal variation of the intrusion of the Philippine Sea Water into the South China Sea was studied by analyzing the historical hydrographic station data in the northern South China Sea and the Philippine Sea. Water masses at 150, 200, and 250 m were classified by discriminant analysis according to their temperature-salinity characteristics. At each depth, most water in the study region was classified into two groups representing the Philippine Sea Water and the South China Sea Water, respectively. The geographic distribution of water masses in the South China Sea shows that the Philippine Sea Water was present along the continental margin south of China between October and January. A westward current in the northern South China Sea in winter was inferred from the distribution of the intrusion water.

Description: Several geochemical anomalies were observed before the Haichen, Longling, Tangshan, and Songpan earthquakes and their strong aftershocks. They included changes in groundwater radon levels; chemical composition of the groundwater (concentration of Ca++, Mg++, Cl−, SO4= and HCO3− ions); conductivity; and dissolved gases such as H2, CO2, etc. In addition, anomalous changes in water color and quality were observed before these large earthquakes. Before some events gases escaped from the surface, and there were reports of "ground odors" being smelled by local residents. The large amount of radon data can be grouped into long-term and short-term anomalies. The long-term anomalies have a radon emission build up time of from a few months to more than a year. The short-term anomalies have durations from a few hours or less to a few months.

Description: Until reliable procedures have been developed to preserve the phosphorus contained in particulate matter captured by in situ pumps and sediment traps and until these procedures are applied over a wide range of locations and depths in the sea, indirect methods will have to be used to determine the C/P ratio in marine detritus. We have taken two such approaches: (1) the use of C/N ratios for particulates captured in the upper thermocline in conjunction with 02/P and N/P ratios obtained from deconvolutions of ocean chemical data and (2) regression along isopycnals in the deep‐sea waters free of fossil fuel CO2. While neither approach yields a definitive answer, both suggest that a value of 127 carbon atoms per phosphorus atom would be a more appropriate interim value than that of 106 adopted long ago by A. C. Redfield and his associates.

Description: Seismic techniques provide the highest-resolution measurements of the structure of the crust and have been conducted on a worldwide basis. We summarize the structure of the continental crust based on the results of seismic refraction profiles and infer crustal composition as a function of depth by comparing these results with high-pressure laboratory measurements of seismic velocity for a wide range of rocks that are commonly found in the crust. The thickness and velocity structure of the crust are well correlated with tectonic province, with extended crust showing an average thickness of 30.5 km and orogens an average of 46.3 km. Shields and platforms have an average crustal thickness nearly equal to the global average. We have corrected for the nonuniform geographical distribution of seismic refraction profiles by estimating the global area of each major crustal type. The weighted average crustal thickness based on these values is 41.1 km. This value is 10% to 20% greater than previous estimates which underrepresented shields, platforms, and orogens. The average compressional wave velocity of the crust is 6.45 km/s, and the average velocity of the uppermost mantle (Pn velocity) is 8.09 km/s. We summarize the velocity structure of the crust at 5-km depth intervals, both in the form of histograms and as an average velocity-depth curve, and compare these determinations with new measurements of compressional wave velocities and densities of over 3000 igneous and metamorphic rock cores made to confining pressures of 1 GPa. On the basis of petrographic studies and chemical analyses, the rocks have been classified into 29 groups. Average velocities, densities, and standard deviations are presented for each group at 5-km depth intervals to crustal depths of 50 km along three different geotherms. This allows us to develop a model for the composition of the continental crust. Velocities in the upper continental crust are matched by velocities of a large number of lithologies, including many low-grade metamorphic rocks and relatively silicic gneisses of amphibolite facies grade. In midcrustal regions, velocity gradients appear to originate from an increase in metamorphic grade, as well as a decrease in silica content. Tonalitic gneiss, granitic gneiss, and amphibolite are abundant midcrustal lithologies. Anisotropy due to preferred mineral orientation is likely to be significant in upper and midcrustal regions. The bulk of the lower continental crust is chemically equivalent to gabbro, with velocities in agreement with laboratory measurements of mafic granulite. Garnet becomes increasingly abundant with depth, and mafic garnet granulite is the dominant rock type immediately above the Mohorovicic discontinuity. Average compressional wave velocities of common crustal rock types show excellent correlations with density. The mean crustal density calculated from our model is 2830 kg/m3, and the average SiO2 content is 61.8%.

Description: We present a conceptual model of fluid circulation in a ridge flank hydrothermal system, the Mariana Mounds. The model is based on chemical data from pore waters extracted from piston cores and from push cores collected by deep-sea research vessel Alvin in small, meter-sized mounds situated on a local topographic high. These mounds are located within a region of heat flow exceeding that calculated from a conductive model and are zones of strong pore water upflow. We have interpreted the chemical data with time-dependent transport-reaction models to estimate pore water velocities. In the mounds themselves pore water velocities reach several meters per year to kilometers per year. Within about 100 m from these zones of focused upflow velocities decrease to several centimeters per year up to tens of centimeters per year. A larger area of low heat flow surrounds these heat flow and topographic highs, with upwelling pore water velocities less than 2 cm/yr. In some nearby cores, downwelling of bottom seawater is evident but at speeds less than 2 cm/yr. Downwelling through the sediments appears to be a minor source of seawater recharge to the basaltic basement. We conclude that the principal source of seawater recharge to basement is where basement outcrops exist, most likely a scarp about 2–4 km to the east and southeast of the study area.

Description: Aftershocks of shallow earthquakes larger than magnitude 7 in the Aleutians, southern Alaska, southeast Alaska, and offshore British Columbia from 1920 to 1970 were relocated by computer in an attempt to delineate the rupture zones of large earthquakes. Plate tectonic theory indicates that gaps in activity for large earthquakes for the past 10's to 100's of years are likely sites of future large earthquakes. Three prominent gaps of this type are delineated: one in southeast Alaska; another in southern Alaska near the epicenters of the great earthquakes of 1899 and 1900; and one in the far western Aleutians. These gaps deserve high priority for study and instrumentation. Large earthquakes appear to be much more regular than smaller shocks in their distributions with respect to space, time, and size. Aftershock zones of events since 1930 that are larger than magnitude 7.8 are longer than 250 km and those less than 7.5 are shorter than 125 km. The rupture zones of events that occurred before 1930 could not be delineated from aftershock locations. Aftershock zones of large earthquakes tend to abut without significant overlap even for rupture zones as long as 1200 km. Nearly the entire Alaska-Aleutian zone from 145°W to 171°E has broken since 1938 in a series of large earthquakes. The rupture zones of five large events appear to form a space-time sequence that progressed from 155°W in 1938 to 171°E in 1965. This sequence is much like the well-known westward progression of activity since 1939 along the North Anatolian fault. Shocks with long rupture zones tend to occur along those parts of the Alaska-Aleutian zone that are relatively simple tectonically. The ends of many aftershock zones of large earthquakes are located at the intersection of major transverse features with the Aleutian arc. Large earthquakes rarely, if ever, reoccur along the same part of a fault zone in less than several tens of years, i.e. within a time less than that for substantial strain accumulation. Events of comparable magnitude that occur soon after some great earthquakes usually involve rupture in a region adjacent to but different from that of the main shock. The March 30, 1965, earthquake of magnitude 7.5, which involved normal faulting in the Aleutian trench, appears to have been triggered by thrust faulting along the adjacent inner margin of the trench in the magnitude 7.9 earthquake of February 4, 1965. Large events of the thrust type are commonly followed within ten years by events involving normal faulting in the adjacent part of the trench. Estimates of average displacements and of the repeat times of great earthquakes from measurements of 20-sec surface waves are systematically too small and do not agree with the meager historic record of great shocks. Other estimates of repeat times vary from 30 to 850 years, but neither of these extremes appears to be typical. The aftershock zone of the April 1, 1946, Aleutian earthquake, which generated one of the largest and most widespread seismic sea waves in the Pacific during this century, was very small. A large displacement of the ocean floor may be responsible for the generation of the large sea wave. An average displacement of 2.4 to 4.1 meters was calculated from amplitudes of 100-sec waves.

Description: We measured the respiratory isotope effect ϵresp for seven representative unicellular marine organisms. The bacterium Pseudomonas halodurans, the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, the phytoflagellates Cryptomonas baltica and Dunaliella tertiolecta, the heterotrophic flagellates Paraphysomonas imperforata and Bodo sp., and the ciliate Uronema sp. exhibit ϵresp values in the range 14-26‰. We also measured ϵresp for three metazoans. The ϵresp for the copepod Acartia tonsa ranged from 17 to 25‰, while two larger organisms, the mollusk Mercenaria mercenaria and the salmon Salmo salmar, respire with a smaller ϵresp of 5-10‰. The average respiratory isotope effect of the dominant marine respirers (the bacteria, microalgae and zooplankton) is about 20 ± 3‰. An ϵresp of this magnitude supports the hypothesis that the photosynthesis-respiration cycle is responsible for the 23.5‰ enrichment in the δ18O ratio of atmospheric O2 relative to seawater (the Dole effect). The large value and high variability in the average ϵresp limits the usefulness of a proposed method using the δ18O of naturally fractionated dissolved O2 in seawater as a tracer of primary production in the oligotrophic ocean.

Description: We review the current understanding of the Dole effect (the observed difference between the δ18O of atmospheric O2 and that of seawater) and its causes, extend the record of variations in the Dole effect back to 130 kyr before present using data on the δ18O of O2 obtained from studying the Vostok ice core (Sowers et al., 1993), and discuss the significance of temporal variations. The Dole effect reflects oxygen isotope fractionation during photosynthesis, respiration, and hydrologic processes (evaporation, precipitation, and evapotranspiration). Our best prediction of the present-day Dole effect, +20.8‰, is considerably lower than the observed value, +23.5‰, and we discuss possible causes of this discrepancy. During the past 130 kyr, the Dole effect has been 0.05‰ lower than the present value, on average. The standard deviation of the Dole effect from the mean has been only ±0.2‰, and the Dole effect is nearly unchanged between glacial maxima and interglacial periods. The small variability in the Dole effect suggests that relative rates of primary production in the land and marine realms have been relatively constant. Most periodic variability in the Dole effect is in the precession band, suggesting that changes in this global biogeochemical term reflects variations in low-latitude land hydrology and productivity or possibly variability in low-latitude oceanic productivity.

Description: Pore water has been analyzed from sediment cores taken from three areas on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge as part of FlankFlux 90, a study of hydrothermal circulation through mid-ocean ridge flanks. Seismic reflection and heat flow surveys (Davis et al., 1992a) indicate that the three areas differ in sediment thickness, basement topography, abundance of outcrops, basement temperature, and fraction of heat lost by advection versus conduction. Area 1 is on 0.6 Ma crust with nearly continuous basement outcrop, area 2 is on 1.3 Ma crust over the first buried ridge parallel to the present ridge axis, and area 3 is on 3.5–3.8 Ma crust over two axis-parallel buried ridges that penetrate the sediment cover in three locations. Each area includes a hydrothermal system in which seawater flows into basement, reacts with crustal basalt, and then exits basement either through the sediment or directly into the overlying water column. As constrained by concentrations of sulfate and lithium in the pore waters, at least some seawater enters basement in all three areas without reacting fully with the overlying sediment, even where no outcrops are known nearby. Speeds of up welling of pore water through the sediment have been estimated by fitting profiles of dissolved magnesium and chlorinity, which behave conservatively in these areas, to numerical time-dependent transport models. The estimated velocities range from 〈0.1 to 7.4 cm/yr; faster flows probably occur but were not sampled. Upwelling speed correlates positively with heat flow and basement highs and negatively with sediment thickness. The correlation with heat flow differs from area 2 to area 3 along with differences in physical properties of the turbidite sediment. We have documented pore water upwelling through sediment up to 100 m thick. We estimate that upwelling continues at decreasing speeds through sediment up to 160 m thick, corresponding to a heat flow of 0.44 W/m2 in area 2 and 0.3 W/m2 in area 3. Concentrations of magnesium and chlorinity in the altered seawater upwelling from basement are uniform within each area but differ from one area to the next. Both species remain at the bottom seawater concentration in area 1, where basement is cooled to 〈10°C at the base of the sediments mainly by advection. The concentration of magnesium decreases with increasing basement temperature in areas 2 and 3 to a minimum of 2.5 mmol/kg at about 90°C in area 3. The transition from largely advective to largely conductive heat loss occurs over only 20 km between areas 1 and 2 and corresponds to a dramatic change in the composition of fluid circulating through basement, as the uppermost basement is heated from 〈10° to 40–50°C. Chlorinity of the basement fluid increases above the present-day bottom seawater concentration in areas 2 and 3 and in nearly all other mid-ocean ridge flanks studied to date, as a result of rock hydration and the higher chlorinity of bottom seawater during the last glacial period. While chlorinity generally correlates positively with uppermost basement temperature in various ridge flank hydrothermal systems, it reaches a maximum in area 2 at only 40°C, probably because alteration there occurs at a lower water/rock ratio than elsewhere. For all mid-ocean ridge flanks studied to date, the temperature at the basement interface correlates better with the fraction of heat lost by advection versus conduction and with the average thickness of the sediment cover than with crustal age.

Description: An examination of 311 intraplate earthquakes in the Australian plate portion of the Pacific Ocean basin reported from 1918 to 1990 reveals that only 113 events are reliably intraplate, with most of the rest relocating to active trenches and transforms. The non-random distribution of the reliably intraplate events gives insight into the tectonic stresses present. The central Tasman Sea is mostly aseismic except for a swarm of activity at the predicted site of the Tasmantid hot spot. To the north, the broad regions of the Coral Sea, South Fiji Basin and Lord Howe Rise show very little intraplate seismicity, yet the narrow Norfolk Ridge and Three Kings Rise, caught between the double convergence of the New Hebrides and Tonga subduction zones, support many more earthquakes. High levels of intraplate seismicity in the southern Tasman Sea adjacent to the Macquarie Ridge Complex (MRC) indicate that this region may be undergoing internal deformation due to the unusual nature of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary. Additional support exists in the form of intraplate focal mechanisms similar to those at the plate boundary and a set of parallel gravity rolls which are observed in recent geoid maps. Some aftershocks of the Mw = 8.2 Macquarie Ridge earthquake of 1989 occurred in a fracture zone west of the Macquarie Ridge Complex [Das, 1992], but we have found several earthquakes from as early as 1924 which relocate to this feature, suggesting that its reactivation may be more significant than previously thought. This reactivation of a fossil fracture zone may be the result of the increasing amount of oblique convergence between the Australia and Pacific plates at the Macquarie Ridge Complex, formerly a spreading center, and the stresses associated with subducting recently formed Australian ocean crust beneath the older Pacific plate.

Description: Water transported by slabs into the mantle at subduction zones plays key roles in tectonics, magmatism, fluid and volatiles fluxes, and most likely in the chemical evolution of the Earth's oceans and mantle. Yet, incorporation of water into oceanic plates before subduction is a poorly understood process. Several studies suggest that plates may acquire most water at subduction trenches because the ocean crust and uppermost mantle there are intensely faulted caused by bending and/or slab pull, and display anomalously low seismic velocities. The low velocities are interpreted to arise from a combination of fluid-filled fractures associated to normal faulting and mineral transformation by hydration. Mantle hydration by transformation of nominally dry peridotite to water-rich serpentinite could potentially create the largest fluid reservoir in slabs and is therefore the most relevant for the transport of water in the deep mantle. The depth of fracturing by normal-fault earthquakes is usually not well constrained, but could potentially create deep percolation paths for water that might hydrate up to tens of kilometers into the mantle, restrained only by serpentine stability. Yet, interpretation of deep intraplate mineral alteration remains speculative because active-source seismic experiments have sampled only the uppermost few kilometers of mantle, leaving the depth-extent of anomalous velocities and their relation to faulting unconstrained. Here we use a joint inversion of active-source seismic data, and both local and regional earthquakes to map the three dimensional distribution of anomalous velocities under a seismic network deployed at the trench seafloor. We found that anomalous velocities are restrained to the depth of normal-fault micro-earthquake activity recorded in the network, and are considerably shallower than either the rupture depth of teleseismic, normal-fault earthquakes, or the limit of serpentine stability. Extensional micro-earthquakes indicate that each fault in the region slips every 2–3 months which may facilitate regular water percolation. Deeper, teleseismic earthquakes are comparatively infrequent, and possibly do not cause significant fracturing that remains open long enough to promote alteration detectable with our seismic study. Our results show that the stability field of serpentine does not constrain the depth of potential mantle hydration.

Description: The evolution of ridge-hotspot systems is not well understood. In this investigation, satellite-derived marine gravity data are used in conjunction with underway bathymetric and magnetic anomaly profiles to investigate the nature of ridge-hotspot interaction at four sparsely explored systems in the Southern Ocean. These systems illustrate three different stages of ridge-hotspot interaction in which a migrating spreading center approaches a hotspot (Pacific-Antarctic/Louisville), passes over or is captured by the hotspot (Mid-Atlantic/Shona-Discovery), and ultimately migrates away from the hotspot (Southeast Indian/Kerguelen). All of these systems show some evidence of discrete ridge jumps in the direction of the hotspot as the spreading center attempts to relocate toward the hotspot by asymmetric spreading. Interestingly, these ridge jumps show no evidence of propagating offsets as have been seen on many other ridge-hotspot systems. A simple model predicts that typical plume excess temperatures can weaken the lithosphere sufficiently to promote asymmetric spreading and possibly allow a discrete ridge jump. The presence of previously uncharted, obliquely oriented aseismic ridges and gravity lineations between the ridge and the hotspot supports the notion of asthenospheric flux from the plume to the spreading center both before and after the time when the hotspot is ridge centered. The azimuths of the aseismic ridges cannot be explained by plate kinematics alone; they consistently extend from the ends toward the centers of the adjacent spreading segments suggesting some interaction between plume derived asthenospheric flux and local lithospheric structure. The features discussed here also indicate that the transfer of asthenospheric material from the plume to the spreading center is influenced by the local plate boundary configuration and interaction with transform offsets.

Description: The combination of the Sunda megathrust and the (strike-slip) Sumatran Fault (SF) represents a type example of slip-partitioning. However, superimposed on the SF are geometrical irregularities that disrupt the local strain field. The largest such feature is in central Sumatra where the SF splits into two fault strands up to 35 km apart. A dense local network was installed along a 350 km section around this bifurcation, registering 1016 crustal events between April 2008 and February 2009. 528 of these events, with magnitudes between 1.1 and 6.0, were located using the double-difference relative location method. These relative hypocentre locations reveal several new features about the crustal structure of the SF. Northwest and southeast of the bifurcation, where the SF has only one fault strand, seismicity is strongly focused below the surface trace, indicating a vertical fault that is seismogenic to ∼15 km depth. By contrast intense seismicity is observed within the bifurcation, displaying streaks in plan and cross-section that indicate a complex system of faults bisecting the bifurcation. In combination with analysis of topography and focal mechanisms, we propose that the bifurcation is a strike-slip duplex system with complex faulting between the two main fault branches.

Description: The role of biominerals in driving carbon export from the surface ocean is unclear. We compiled surface particulate organic carbon (POC), and mineral ballast export fluxes from 55 different locations in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans. Substantial surface POC export accompanied by negligible mineral export was recorded implying that association with mineral phases is not a precondition for organic export to occur. The proportion of non-mineral associated sinking POC ranged from 0 to 80% and was highest in areas previously shown to be dominated by diatoms. This is consistent with previous estimates showing that transfer efficiency in such regions is low. However we propose that, rather than the low transfer efficiency arising from diatom blooms being inherently characterized by poorly packaged aggregates which are efficiently exported but which disintegrate readily in mid water, it is due to such environments having very high levels of unballasted organic C export.

Description: A numerical algorithm based on Fermat's Principle was developed to simulate the propagation of Global Positioning System (GPS) radio signals in the refractivity field of a numerical weather model. The unique in the proposed algorithm is that the ray-trajectory automatically involves the location of the ground-based receiver and the satellite, i.e. the posed two-point boundary value problem is solved by an implicit finite difference scheme. This feature of the algorithm allows the fast and accurate computation of the signal travel-time delay, referred to as Slant Total Delay (STD), between a satellite and a ground-based receiver. We provide a technical description of the algorithm and estimate the uncertainty of STDs due to simplifying assumptions in the algorithm and due to the uncertainty of the refractivity field. In a first application, we compare STDs retrieved from GPS phase-observations at the German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam (GFZ STDs) with STDs derived from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses (ECMWF STDs). The statistical comparison for one month (August 2007) for a large and continuously operating network of ground-based receivers in Germany indicates good agreement between GFZ STDs and ECMWF STDs; the standard deviation is 0.5% and the mean deviation is 0.1%.

Description: The Southern Hemisphere winter stratosphere exhibits prominent traveling planetary-scale Rossby waves, which generally are not able to induce Stratospheric Sudden Warmings. A series of runs of a simplified general circulation model is presented, aimed at better understanding the generation of these waves. While the generation of planetary-scale traveling waves through the interaction of synoptic-scale waves is observed in a control run, when the model is truncated to permit only waves with zonal wave number 1 or 2, the long waves are found to increase in strength, leading to a considerably more active stratosphere including Sudden Warmings comparable in strength to Northern Hemisphere winter. This finding suggests that the role of tropospheric synoptic eddies is two-fold: while generating a weak planetary-scale wave flux into the stratosphere, their main effect is to suppress baroclinic instability of planetary-scale waves by stabilizing the tropospheric mean state.

Description: The recent discovery of large ionospheric disturbances associated with sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW) has challenged the current understanding of mechanisms coupling the stratosphere and ionosphere. Non-linear interaction of planetary waves and tides has been invoked as a primary mechanism for such coupling. Here we show that planetary waves may play a more complex role than previously thought. Planetary wave forcing induces a global circulation that leads to the build-up of ozone density in the tropics at 30–50 km altitude, the primary region responsible for the generation of the migrating semidiurnal tide. The increase in the ozone density reaches 25% and lasts for ∼35 days following the SSW, long after the collapse of the planetary waves. Ozone enhancements are not only associated with SSW but are also observed after other amplifications in planetary waves. In addition, the longitudinal distribution of the ozone becomes strongly asymmetric, potentially leading to the generation of non-migrating semidiurnal tides. We report a persistent increase in the variability of ionospheric total electron content that coincides with the increase in stratospheric ozone and we suggest that the ozone fluctuations affect the ionosphere through the modified tidal forcing.

Description: There is an association between the polar stratospheric temperature in the northern winter and the solar cycle in the winters when the 50-mb equatorial winds are westerly: The lower the sunspot number in such winters, the lower is the temperature. No major mid-winter warmings occurred in these winters when the sunspot number was below about 100. There is no such relationship in the easterly phase of the QBO. In that phase the temperatures are generally higher than in the westerly phase, and major mid-winter warmings occur regardless of the state of the solar cycle.

Description: Gridded datasets have been constructed for the physical parameters controlling the formation of gas hydrate. Simultaneous solutions to the gas hydrate phase and pressure-temperature equations were obtained for each node of these grids. The results show sub-bottom depths of potential methane hydrate BSRs. These are presented as colour contoured grids for the thickness of the hydrate stability zone for the European margins. The chart proposes that if gas hydrates exist over these areas, then this is the potential depth to the BSR. This depth is generally greater along the continental margins and also increases with increasing age of the margin. Shallowing of the BSR can be seen over areas of thinned continental crust and plateaus. The geological factors controlling gas hydrate formation determine areas of likely occurrence so the apparent paucity of identified hydrate layer BSRs off the European margins, particularly in the Mediterranean, is most notable.

Description: We present data on the burial, displacement and exhumation history of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt in eastern Bhutan. These data document the magnitude and timing of displacement of large, discrete structures and highlight temporal variability in shortening rates. Eight new40Ar/39Ar ages from white mica, 32 new zircon (U-Th)/He ages, 7 new apatite fission track ages, and 1 new U-Pb zircon (LA-MC-ICP-MS) metamorphic rim growth age are combined with published cooling ages and deformation temperatures, and incremental shortening magnitudes from restorations of two published balanced cross sections, to illustrate the kinematic and temporal development of the Bhutan thrust belt. Integrating these data from ∼23 Ma to the present illustrates rapid horizontal shortening rates (28–35 mm/yr) between 23–20 Ma and 15–10 Ma, separated by more moderate rates (10–23 mm/yr). Shortening rates decrease significantly to 7–10 mm/yr (and possibly as low as 3–4 mm/yr) from 10 to 0 Ma. This decrease is interpreted to represent the onset of strain partitioning in the eastern part of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic system, between shortening in the Bhutan thrust belt, uplift of the Shillong Plateau, and deformation and outward growth of the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau. Within estimated error, horizontal shortening rates during emplacement of the Main Central thrust sheet and during construction of the upper Lesser Himalayan duplex approached India-Asia tectonic velocities. Thus, for periods of time between ∼23–20 Ma and ∼15–10 Ma, the Bhutan thrust belt may have absorbed nearly all India-Asian convergence at this longitude.

Description: This study presents results from 46 sensitivity experiments carried out with three structurally simple (2, 3, and 6 biogeochemical state variables, respectively) models of production, export and remineralization of organic phosphorus, coupled to a global ocean circulation model and integrated for 3000 years each. The models’ skill is assessed via different misfit functions with respect to the observed global distributions of phosphate and oxygen. Across the different models, the global root-mean square misfit with respect to observed phosphate and oxygen distributions is found to be particularly sensitive to changes in the remineralization length scale, and also to changes in simulated primary production. For this metric, changes in the production and decay of dissolved organic phosphorus as well as in zooplankton parameters are of lesser importance. For a misfit function accounting for the misfit of upper-ocean tracers, however, production parameters and organic phosphorus dynamics play a larger role. Regional misfit patterns are investigated as indicators of potential model deficiencies, such as missing iron limitation, or deficiencies in the sinking and remineralization length scales. In particular, the gradient between phosphate concentrations in the northern North Pacific and the northern North Atlantic is controlled predominantly by the biogeochemical model parameters related to particle flux. For the combined 46 sensitivity experiments performed here, the global misfit to observed oxygen and phosphate distributions shows no clear relation to either simulated global primary or export production for either misfit metric employed. However, a relatively tight relationship that is very similar for the different model of different structural complexity is found between the model-data misfit in oxygen and phosphate distributions to simulated meso- and bathypelagic particle flux. Best agreement with the observed tracer distributions is obtained for simulated particle fluxes that agree most closely with sediment trap data for a nominal depth of about 1000 m, or deeper.

Description: Alternative reconstructions of the Jurassic northern extent of Greater India differ by up to several thousand kilometers. We present a new model that is constrained by revised seafloor spreading anomalies, fracture zones and crustal ages based on drillsites/dredges from all the abyssal plains along the West Australian margin and the Wharton Basin, where an unexpected sliver of Jurassic seafloor (153 Ma) has been found embedded in Cretaceous (95 My old) seafloor. Based on fracture zone trajectories, this NeoTethyan sliver must have originally formed along a western extension of the spreading center that formed the Argo Abyssal Plain, separating a western extension of West Argoland/West Burma from Greater India as a ribbon terrane. The NeoTethyan sliver, Zenith and Wallaby plateaus moved as part of Greater India until westward ridge jumps isolated them. Following another spreading reorganization, the Jurassic crust resumed migrating with Greater India until it was re-attached to the Australian plate ∼95 Ma. The new Wharton Basin data and kinematic model place strong constraints on the disputed northern Jurassic extent of Greater India. Late Jurassic seafloor spreading must have reached south to the Cuvier Abyssal Plain on the West Australian margin, connected to a spreading ridge wrapping around northern Greater India, but this Jurassic crust is no longer preserved there, having been entirely transferred to the conjugate plate by ridge propagations. This discovery constrains the major portion of Greater India to have been located south of the large-offset Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone, excluding much larger previously proposed shapes of Greater India.

Description: The sensitivity of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon to changes in the tropical Pacific mean climate is investigated with a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice general circulation model (AOGCM), the Kiel Climate Model (KCM). Different mean climate states are generated by changing the orbital forcing that causes a redistribution of solar energy, which was a major driver of both the Holocene and the Eemian climates. We find that the ENSO amplitude is positively correlated with both the Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) and the equatorial zonal SST contrast. The latter is controlled by the upwelling-induced damping of the SST changes in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP), and by the vertical ocean dynamical heating and zonal heat transport convergence in the Western Equatorial Pacific. The ENSO amplitude also correlates positively with the seasonal SST amplitude in the EEP and negatively with the strength of the easterly Trades over the Equatorial Pacific. However, the ENSO period is rather stable and stays within 3–4 years. Enhanced ENSO amplitude is simulated during the late-Holocene, in agreement with paleoproxy records. The tight positive correlation (r = 0.89) between the ENSO strength and the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) SST suggests that the latter may provide an indirect measure of the ENSO amplitude from proxy data that cannot explicitly resolve interannual variability. Key Points: - ENSO amplitude enhances as mean SST & west-east SST gradient rise in tropical Pacific - The broad range frequency peaks at periods of 3-4 years over Holocene and Eemian - The Pacific's warm pool SST is a suitable indicator to monitor ENSO variability

Description: The tropical impact on the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is examined in an ensemble of atmospheric general circulation model runs that use relaxation towards the ERA-40 reanalysis in the tropics for winters between 1960/61 and 2001/02 and performed with a recent version of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model. 25% of the interannual variance of the EAWM can be reproduced in the ensemble mean by the model experiments with relaxation, even though the influence from ENSO appears to be weak. The implication is that there is the possibility of enhanced predictability for the EAWM resulting from improved forecast skill in the tropics as a whole. Prescribing observed sea surface temperature and sea ice without using relaxation cannot reproduce the interannual variability of the EAWM in our experiments, questioning the usefulness of uncoupled atmosphere models in this region, consistent with previous studies. Key Points: - Tropical impact on interannual variability of the East Asian winter monsoon. - Tropical influence and extratropical SST and sea-ice matter for the trend. - AGCMs driven only by observed SST and sea-ice give poor results.

Description: The fractionation of silicon (Si) stable isotopes by biological activity in the surface ocean makes the stable isotope composition of silicon (δ30Si) dissolved in seawater a sensitive tracer of the oceanic biogeochemical Si cycle. We present a high-precision dataset that characterizes the δ30Si distribution in the deep Atlantic Ocean from Denmark Strait to Drake Passage, documenting strong meridional and smaller, but resolvable, vertical δ30Si gradients. We show that these gradients are related to the two sources of deep and bottom waters in the Atlantic Ocean: waters of North Atlantic and Nordic origin carry a high δ30Si signature of ≥+1.7‰ into the deep Atlantic, while Antarctic Bottom Water transports Si with a low δ30Si value of around +1.2‰. The deep Atlantic δ30Si distribution is thus governed by the quasi-conservative mixing of Si from these two isotopically distinct sources. This disparity in Si isotope composition between the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean is in marked contrast to the homogeneity of the stable nitrogen isotope composition of deep ocean nitrate (δ15N-NO3). We infer that the meridional δ30Si gradient derives from the transport of the high δ30Si signature of Southern Ocean intermediate/mode waters into the North Atlantic by the upper return path of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The basin-scale deep Atlantic δ30Si gradient thus owes its existence to the interaction of the physical circulation with biological nutrient uptake at high southern latitudes, which fractionates Si isotopes between the abyssal and intermediate/mode waters formed in the Southern Ocean. Key Points: - Deep Atlantic Ocean displays gradient in Si isotopic composition of silicic acid - The gradient is caused by quasi-conservative mixing of Si from NADW and AABW - Contrasting isotope signature of NADW and AABW due to interaction of biology and MOC

Description: Active gas venting occurs on the uppermost continental slope off west Svalbard, close to and upslope from the present-day intersection of the base of methane hydrate stability (BMHS) with the seabed in about 400 m water depth in the inter-fan region between the Kongsfjorden and Isfjorden cross-shelf troughs. From an integrated analysis of high-resolution, two-dimensional, pre-stack migrated seismic reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetric data, we map out a bottom simulating reflector (BSR) in the inter-fan region and analyze the subsurface gas migration and accumulation. Gas seeps mostly occur in the zone from which the BMHS at the seabed has retreated over the recent past (1975–2008) as a consequence of a bottom water temperature rise of 1°C. The overall margin-parallel alignment of the gas seeps is not related to fault-controlled gas migration, as seismic evidence of faults is absent. There is no evidence for a BSR close to the gas flare region in the upper slope but numerous gas pockets exist directly below the predicted BMHS. While the contour following trend of the gas seeps could be a consequence of retreat of the landward limit of the BMHS and gas hydrate dissociation, the scattered distribution of seeps within the probable hydrate dissociation corridor and the occurrence of a cluster of seeps outside the predicted BMHS limit and near the shelf break indicate the role of lithological heterogeneity in focusing gas migration.

Description: Observations indicate increasingly large and strong oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the tropical Pacific over recent decades. Here we report on oxygen decreases and variability within the eastern equatorial Pacific OMZ. We construct time series from historical and profiling float oxygen data and analyze data from repeat hydrographic sections at 110°W and 85°50′W. Historical data are quite sparse for constructing oxygen time series, but floats with oxygen sensors prove to be good tools to fill measurement gaps in later parts of these time series. In the region just south of the equator a time series over the last 34 years reveals that oxygen decreases from 200 to 700 m at a rate between 0.50 and 0.83 μmol kg−1 yr−1. This strong decrease seems to be related to changes in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Oscillations on shorter time scales (e.g., an El Niño signal in the upper 350 m) are superimposed upon this trend. In the section data, a general trend of decreasing oxygen is present below the surface layer. While velocity differences appear related to oxygen differences in the equatorial channel, there is less correlation elsewhere. Contrasting with long-term trend computations, the trends derived from two repeat sections are obscured by the influence of seasonal and longer-term variability. Multidecadal variability (e.g., PDO) has the strongest influence on long-term trends, while El Niño, isopycnal heave, current variability, seasonal cycles, and temperature changes are less important. Key points: - Oxygen decrease in the Pacific OMZ over the last 34 years in 200-700 m depth - Trends in oxygen and their relation to variability on different timescales - Relation between oxygen and velocity changes in the equatorial channel

Description: We describe the main differences in simulations of stratospheric climate and variability by models within the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) that have a model top above the stratopause and relatively fine stratospheric vertical resolution (high-top), and those that have a model top below the stratopause (low-top). Although the simulation of mean stratospheric climate by the two model ensembles is similar, the low-top model ensemble has very weak stratospheric variability on daily and interannual time scales. The frequency of major sudden stratospheric warming events is strongly underestimated by the low-top models with less than half the frequency of events observed in the reanalysis data and high-top models. The lack of stratospheric variability in the low-top models affects their stratosphere-troposphere coupling, resulting in short-lived anomalies in the Northern Annular Mode, which do not produce long-lasting tropospheric impacts, as seen in observations. The lack of stratospheric variability, however, does not appear to have any impact on the ability of the low-top models to reproduce past stratospheric temperature trends. We find little improvement in the simulation of decadal variability for the high-top models compared to the low-top, which is likely related to the fact that neither ensemble produces a realistic dynamical response to volcanic eruptions

Description: Low-angle normal faults play a prominent role in discussions about fault strength, as they require significant weakening to remain active at low angles. The submerged Moresby Seamount detachment (MSD) is arguably the best exposed active low-angle detachment worldwide. We analyzed dredged MSD protoliths, cataclasites and mylonites to investigate deformation mechanisms and fault-weakening processes. Deformation is accompanied by important syntectonic, fluid-induced mass transfer, controlling the rheological behavior of the MSD. While the mafic protolith behaves brittlely at the onset of deformation, the metasomatic mineralogical and chemical changes cause a transition to plastic flow as the rock is progressively exhumed. Immobile elements provide a reference frame for total material gains and losses. Si, Ca and K are syntectonically enriched, while Fe, Ti, Mg, and Al are depleted. Mass increase is about 10% in the cataclasites and about 48% in the mylonites. Main mechanism is syntectonic veining, causing enrichment in calcite and quartz, thus making the mylonites capable to flow plastically. Minimum time-integrated fluid flux is calculated as 3 × 105 m3 m−2, indicating that the MSD is an important fluid conduit. The fluids have a deep crustal source, a bottom water temperature and turbidity anomaly suggests that the hydrothermal system is still active. Syntectonic veining in fault rocks and recent seismic activity both suggest that the MSD is intermittently brittle, implying a brittle-plastic transition at unusually high temperature and low differential stress. We conclude that fault zone metasomatism is crucial in forming weak detachments at passive margins, and may be a prerequisite for successful crustal breakup.

Description: In order to evaluate the influence of diagenetic and post-sampling processes on the stable oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of biogenic carbonates, we conducted a multiproxy study of organic-rich sediments from the eastern Pacific oxygen minimum zone. Core MD02-2520, which was retrieved from the Gulf of Tehuantepec (Mexico), has seasonal laminations and covers the last 40 kyr. Together with the presence of gypsum crystals and inorganic calcite aggregates, the occurrence of large excursions in the stable oxygen and carbon isotope records of both planktonic and benthic foraminifera (as large as +3‰ in d18O and -5‰ in d13C) point to significant secondary transformations. Storage-related gypsum precipitation was ruled out since it implies sulfide reoxidation by oxygen that triggers biogenic calcite dissolution, which proved to be of minor importance here. Instead, precipitation of authigenic calcite during early diagenesis appears to be the most likely process responsible for the observed isotopic excursions. The d13C composition for inorganic calcite aggregates (-5 to -7‰) suggests a major contribution from anaerobic oxidation of organic matter. The d34S composition for gypsum crystals (-10 to +15‰) suggests a major contribution from anaerobic reoxidation of authigenic sulfides, potentially involving reactions with metal oxides and sulfur disproportionation. A minor part of the gypsum might possibly have formed as a result of local pore water salinity increases induced by gas hydrate formation.

Description: A relaxation technique applied to the ECMWF model is used to analyse 11, 21 and 31 year trends in the boreal winter mean 500 hPa North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific North America pattern (PNA) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) indices. For the PNA, the results indicate a strong influence from the tropics on all time scales, whereas for the NAO, the stratosphere is important on time scales of 11 and 21 but with an indication of feedback from extratropical sea surface temperature and sea-ice (SSTSI) anomalies on the 11 year time scale. For the SAM, the tropics emerge as the most important influence. We find an influence from the stratosphere consistent with expectations based on ozone depletion, although no clear role for stratospheric forcing of the SAM is found in these experiments.

Description: Bias correcting climate models implicitly assumes stationarity of the correction function. This assumption is assessed for regional climate models in a pseudo reality for seasonal mean temperature and precipitation sums. An ensemble of regional climate models for Europe is used, all driven with the same transient boundary conditions. Although this model-dependent approach does not assess all possible bias non-stationarities, conclusions can be drawn for the real world. Generally, biases are relatively stable, and bias correction on average improves climate scenarios. For winter temperature, bias changes occur in the Alps and ice covered oceans caused by a biased forcing sensitivity of surface albedo; for summer temperature, bias changes occur due to a biased sensitivity of cloud cover and soil moisture. Precipitation correction is generally successful, but affected by internal variability in arid climates. As model sensitivities vary considerably in some regions, multi model ensembles are needed even after bias correction. Key Points: - Bias correction in general improves future climate simulations - Cloud cover, soil moisture and albedo changes may cause temperature bias changes - Precipitation biases in arid regions are affected by internal variability

Description: The Logatchev hydrothermal field at 14°45′N on the MAR is characterized by gas plumes that are enriched in methane and helium compared to the oceanic background. We investigated CH4 concentration and δ13C together with δ3He in the water column of that region. These data and turbidity measurements indicate that apart from the known vent fields, another vent site exists northeast of the vent field Logatchev 1. The distribution of methane and 3He concentrations along two sections were used in combination with current measurements from lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers (LADCP) to calculate the horizontal plume fluxes of these gases. According to these examinations 0.02 μmol s−1 of 3He and 0.21 mol s−1 of methane are transported in a plume that flows into a southward direction in the central part of the valley. Based on 3He measurements of vent fluid (22 ± 6 pM), we estimate a total vent flux in this region of about 900 L s−1 and a total flux of CH4 of 3.2 mol s−1.

Description: The Solar Cycle and the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation are two major components of natural climate variability. Their direct and indirect influences in the stratosphere and troposphere are subject of a number of studies. The so-called ``top-down' mechanism describes how solar UV changes can lead to a significant enhancement of the small initial signal and corresponding changes in stratospheric dynamics. How the signal then propagates to the surface is still under investigation. We continue the ``top-down' analysis further down to the ocean and show the dynamical ocean response with respect to the solar cycle and the QBO. For this we use two 110-year chemistry climate model experiments from NCAR's Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), one with a time varying solar cycle only and one with an additionally nudged QBO, to force an ocean general circulation model, GFZ's Ocean Model for Circulation and Tides (OMCT). We find a significant ocean response to the solar cycle only in combination with a prescribed QBO. Especially in the Southern Hemisphere we find the tendency to positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) like pattern in the surface pressure and associated wind anomalies during solar maximum conditions. These atmospheric anomalies propagate into the ocean and induce deviations in ocean currents down into deeper layers, inducing an integrated sea surface height signal. Finally, limitations of this study are discussed and it is concluded that comprehensive climate model studies require a middle atmosphere as well as a coupled ocean to investigate and understand natural climate variability. Key Points: - Modeled oceanic solar cycle response depends on realistically modeled stratosphe - A realistically modeled stratospheric solar cycle response requires a QBO

Description: A deliberate tracer release experiment in 2008–2010 was used to study diapycnal mixing in the tropical northeastern Atlantic. The tracer (CF3SF5) was injected on the isopycnal surface σΘ = 26.88 kg m−3, which corresponds to about 330 m depth. Three surveys, performed 7, 20, and 30 months after the release, sampled the vertically and laterally expanding tracer patch. The mean diapycnal mixing estimate over the entire region occupied by the tracer and the period of 30 months was found to be (1.19 ± 0.18) × 10−5 m2 s−1, or, alternatively, (3.07 ± 0.58) × 10−11 (kg m−3)2 s−1 as computed from the advection-diffusion equation in isopycnal coordinates with the thickness-weighted averaging. The latter method is preferable in the regions of different stratification for it yields local diapycnal mixing estimates varying less with stratification than their Cartesian coordinate counterparts. Results of this study are comparable to the results of the North Atlantic tracer release experiment (NATRE). However, the internal wave-wave interaction models predict reduced mixing from the breaking of internal waves at low latitudes. Thus, the diapycnal diffusivity found in this study is higher than parameterized by the low latitude of the site (4°N–12°N).

Description: This study is the first to directly correlate gas transfer velocity, measured at sea using the eddy-correlation (EC) technique, and satellite altimeter backscattering. During eight research cruises in different parts of the world, gas transfer velocity of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) was measured. The sample times and locations were compared with overpass times and locations of remote sensing satellites carrying Ku-band altimeters: ERS-1, ERS-2, TOPEX, POSEIDON, GEOSAT Follow-On, JASON-1, JASON-2 and ENVISAT. The result was 179 pairs of gas transfer velocity measurements and backscattering coefficients. An inter-calibration of the different altimeters significantly reduced data scatter. The inter-calibrated data was best fitted to a quadratic relation between the inverse of the backscattering coefficients and the gas transfer velocity measurements. A gas transfer parameterization based on backscattering, corresponding with sea surface roughness, might be expected to perform better than wind speed-based parameterizations. Our results, however, did not show improvement compared to direct correlation of shipboard wind speeds. The relationship of gas transfer velocity to satellite-derived backscatter, or wind speed, is useful to provide retrieval algorithms. Gas transfer velocity (cm/hr), corrected to a Schmidt number of 660, is proportional to wind speed (m/s). The measured gas transfer velocity is controlled by both the individual water-side and air-side gas transfer velocities. We calculated the latter using a numerical scheme, to derive water-side gas transfer velocity. DMS is sufficiently soluble to neglect bubble-mediated gas transfer, thus, the DMS transfer velocities could be applied to estimate water-side gas transfer velocities through the unbroken surface of any other gas Key Points: - Show relations between altimeter data and field values of air-sea gas transfer - DMS gas transfer velocity can be used to estimate direct gas transfer of any gas - Direct gas transfer velocity (for Sc = 660) is roughly double 10 m wind speed

Description: The global tropospheric budget of gaseous and particulate non-methane organic matter (OM) is re-examined to provide a holistic view of the role that OM plays in transporting the essential nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus to the ocean. A global 3-dimensional chemistry-transport model was used to construct the first global picture of atmospheric transport and deposition of the organic nitrogen (ON) and organic phosphorus (OP) that are associated with OM, focusing on the soluble fractions of these nutrients. Model simulations agree with observations within an order of magnitude. Depending on location, the observed water soluble ON fraction ranges from similar to 3% to 90% (median of similar to 35%) of total soluble N in rainwater; soluble OP ranges from similar to 20-83% (median of similar to 35%) of total soluble phosphorus. The simulations suggest that the global ON cycle has a strong anthropogenic component with similar to 45% of the overall atmospheric source (primary and secondary) associated with anthropogenic activities. In contrast, only 10% of atmospheric OP is emitted from human activities. The model-derived present-day soluble ON and OP deposition to the global ocean is estimated to be similar to 16 Tg-N/yr and similar to 0.35 Tg-P/yr respectively with an order of magnitude uncertainty. Of these amounts similar to 40% and similar to 6%, respectively, are associated with anthropogenic activities, and 33% and 90% are recycled oceanic materials. Therefore, anthropogenic emissions are having a greater impact on the ON cycle than the OP cycle; consequently increasing emissions may increase P-limitation in the oligotrophic regions of the world's ocean that rely on atmospheric deposition as an important nutrient source.

Description: The representation of the annual cycle of heavy daily precipitation events across the United Kingdom within 14 regional climate models (RCMs) and the European observation data set (E-OBS) over the 1961-2000 period is investigated. We model extreme precipitation as an inhomogeneous Poisson process with a non-stationary threshold and use a sinusoidal model for the location and scale parameter of the corresponding generalized extreme value distribution and a constant shape parameter. First we fit the statistical model to the UK Met Office 5 km gridded precipitation data set (UKMO). Second the statistical model is fitted to 14 reanalysis driven 25 km resolution RCMs from the ENSEMBLES project and to E-OBS. The resulting characteristics from the RCMs and from E-OBS are compared with those from UKMO. We study the peak time of the annual cycle of the monthly return levels, the relative amplitude of their annual cycle and the relative bias of their absolute values. We show that the performance of the RCMs depends strongly on the region. The RCMs show deficits in modeling the characteristics of the annual cycle, especially in modeling its relative amplitude and mainly in Eastern England. However the peak time of the annual cycle is adequately simulated by most RCMs. E-OBS exhibits considerable biases in the absolute values of all monthly return levels, but the relative amplitude and the phase of the annual cycle of heavy precipitation are well represented. Our results imply that studies which rely on the explicit annual cycle of simulated heavy precipitation should be carefully considered.

Description: Key Points: Use of sedimentary nitrogen isotopes is examined; On average, sediment 15N/14N increases approx. 2 per mil during early burial; Isotopic alteration scales with water depth Abstract: Nitrogen isotopes are an important tool for evaluating past biogeochemical cycling from the paleoceanographic record. However, bulk sedimentary nitrogen isotope ratios, which can be determined routinely and at minimal cost, may be altered during burial and early sedimentary diagenesis, particularly outside of continental margin settings. The causes and detailed mechanisms of isotopic alteration are still under investigation. Case studies of the Mediterranean and South China Seas underscore the complexities of investigating isotopic alteration. In an effort to evaluate the evidence for alteration of the sedimentary N isotopic signal and try to quantify the net effect, we have compiled and compared data demonstrating alteration from the published literature. A 〉100 point comparison of sediment trap and surface sedimentary nitrogen isotope values demonstrates that, at sites located off of the continental margins, an increase in sediment 15N/14N occurs during early burial, likely at the seafloor. The extent of isotopic alteration appears to be a function of water depth. Depth-related differences in oxygen exposure time at the seafloor are likely the dominant control on the extent of N isotopic alteration. Moreover, the compiled data suggest that the degree of alteration is likely to be uniform through time at most sites so that bulk sedimentary isotope records likely provide a good means for evaluating relative changes in the global N cycle.

Description: For more than fifty years, it has been generally accepted by oceanographers that the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) is the principal conduit of recently-convected Labrador Sea Water (LSW) exported from the high-latitude North Atlantic to the equator. Supporting this supposition is observational evidence that the waters of the DWBC have consistently greater equatorward velocities, higher concentrations of passive tracers, and younger ages compared to ocean interior waters. However, recent observations and simulations of floats launched in the DWBC in the Labrador Sea show that most water parcels are quickly ejected from the DWBC and follow instead interior pathways to the subtropics. Here, we show that tracer observations from the last three decades are compatible with the existence of both DWBC and basin-interior export pathways. From analyses of observational data and model output, we find that equatorward transport in the basin interior is consistent with the large-scale vorticity balance at mid-depth. Furthermore, from the modeling analysis we show that despite higher, localized concentrations of tracer and particles in the DWBC, only 5% of particles released in the Labrador Sea are transported from the subpolar to subtropical gyre via a continuous DWBC pathway. Thus, the interior pathway is a significant contributor to LSW export. Highlights: - Lagrangian observations of Labrador Sea Water match Eulerian observations - There is deep equatorward flow in the basin interior - This interior pathway is significant compared to the pathway along the boundary

Description: The preconditioning of major sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) is investigated with two long time series using reanalysis (ERA-40) and model (MAECHAM5/MPI-OM) data. Applying planetary wave analysis, we distinguish between wavenumber-1 and wavenumber-2 major SSWs based on the wave activity of zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2 during the prewarming phase. For this analysis an objective criterion to identify and classify the preconditioning of major SSWs is developed. Major SSWs are found to occur with a frequency of six and seven events per decade in the reanalysis and in the model, respectively, thus highlighting the ability of MAECHAM5/MPI-OM to simulate the frequency of major SSWs realistically. However, from these events only one quarter are wavenumber-2 major warmings, representing a low (similar to 0.25) wavenumber-2 to wavenumber-1 major SSW ratio. Composite analyses for both data sets reveal that the two warming types have different dynamics; while wavenumber-1 major warmings are preceded only by an enhanced activity of the zonal wavenumber-1, wavenumber-2 events are either characterized by only the amplification of zonal wavenumber-2 or by both zonal wavenumber-1 and zonal wavenumber-2, albeit at different time intervals. The role of tropospheric blocking events influencing these two categories of major SSWs is evaluated in the next step. Here, the composite analyses of both reanalysis and model data reveal that blocking events in the Euro-Atlantic sector mostly lead to the development of wavenumber-1 major warmings. The blocking-wavenumber-2 major warming connection can only be statistical reliable analyzed with the model time series, demonstrating that blocking events in the Pacific region mostly precede wavenumber-2 major SSWs.

Description: A wide variety of different rock types were dredged from the Tonga fore arc and trench between 8000 and 3000 m water depths by the 1996 Boomerang voyage. 40Ar-39Ar whole rock and U-Pb zircon dating suggest that these fore arc rocks were erupted episodically from the Cretaceous to the Pliocene (102 to 2 Ma). The geochemistry suggests that MOR-type basalts and dolerites were erupted in the Cretaceous, that island arc tholeiites were erupted in the Eocene and that back arc basin and island arc tholeiite and boninite were erupted episodically after this time. The ages generally become younger northward suggesting that fore arc crust was created in the south at around 48–52 Ma and was extended northward between 35 and 28 Ma, between 9 and 15 Ma and continuing to the present-day. The episodic formation of the fore arc crust suggested by this data is very different to existing models for fore arc formation based on the Bonin-Marianas arc. The Bonin-Marianas based models postulate that the basaltic fore arc rocks were created between 52 and 49 Ma at the beginning of subduction above a rapidly foundering west-dipping slab. Instead a model where the 52 Ma basalts that are presently in a fore arc position were created in the arc-back arc transition behind the 57–35 Ma Loyalty-Three Kings arc and placed into a fore arc setting after arc reversal following the start of collision with New Caledonia is proposed for the oldest rocks in Tonga. This is followed by growth of the fore arc northward with continued eruption of back arc and boninitic magmas after that time.

Description: A unique set of ferromanganese crusts and nodules collected from Shatsky Rise (SR), NW Pacific, were analyzed for mineralogical and chemical compositions, and dated using Be isotopes and cobalt chronometry. The composition of these midlatitude, deep-water deposits is markedly different from northwest-equatorial Pacific (PCZ) crusts, where most studies have been conducted. Crusts and nodules on SR formed in close proximity and some nodule deposits were cemented and overgrown by crusts, forming amalgamated deposits. The deep-water SR crusts are high in Cu, Li, and Th and low in Co, Te, and Tl concentrations compared to PCZ crusts. Thorium concentrations (ppm) are especially striking with a high of 152 (mean 56), compared to PCZ crusts (mean 11). The deep-water SR crusts show a diagenetic chemical signal, but not a diagenetic mineralogy, which together constrain the redox conditions to early oxic diagenesis. Diagenetic input to crusts is rare, but unequivocal in these deep-water crusts. Copper, Ni, and Li are strongly enriched in SR deep-water deposits, but only in layers older than about 3.4 Ma. Diagenetic reactions in the sediment and dissolution of biogenic calcite in the water column are the likely sources of these metals. The highest concentrations of Li are in crust layers that formed near the calcite compensation depth. The onset of Ni, Cu, and Li enrichment in the middle Miocene and cessation at about 3.4 Ma were accompanied by changes in the deep-water environment, especially composition and flow rates of water masses, and location of the carbonate compensation depth. Key Points - Fe-Mn crusts can have a diagenetic component - Mid-latitude N. Pacific deep-water Fe-Mn crusts are uniquely enriched in Cu, Th, Li - Temporal changes in deep-ocean geochemical processes are recorded

Description: Key Points: - New observations show westward propagating salinity anomalies in S.Atlantic AAIW - They are the dominant form of variability on subdecadal timescales in a model - They have a speed close to the speed of second baroclinic mode Rossby waves Variability of Antarctic Intermediate Water salinity in the South Atlantic is investigated on interannual and intradecadal timescales. Novel observations of slow, westward propagating salinity anomalies in Argo data are presented. The features have no corresponding signal in temperature and are anomalous in density. Analysis of 40 years of model output supports the existence of these westward propagating salinity anomalies and indicates that they are typical occurrences in time. The features are intensified in a latitude band around 30°S associated with the propagation of Agulhas rings. However, the features are much larger than Agulhas rings and occur on decadal timescales in the model. They propagate westward with speeds of 2.3 cm/s in observations, and 1.7 cm/s in model data. They are more consistent with planetary waves than with the advection of large-scale salinity anomalies. The observation of these features has implications for the interpretation of salinity anomalies, such as the linking of hydrological cycle changes to salinity changes.

Description: The Arctic Oscillation (AO) is the leading climate mode of sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies during cold season in the Northern Hemisphere. To a large extent, the atmospheric climate anomalies associated with positive and negative phases of the AO are opposite to each other, indicating linear impact. However, there is also significant nonlinear relationship between the AO and other winter climate variability. We investigate nonlinear impacts of the AO on surface air temperature (SAT) using reanalysis data and a multi-millennial long climate simulation. It is found that SAT response to the AO, in terms of both spatial pattern and magnitude, is almost linear when the amplitude of the AO is moderate. However, the response becomes quite nonlinear as the amplitude of the AO becomes stronger. First, the pattern shift in SAT depends on AO phase and magnitude, and second, the SAT magnitude depends on AO phase. In particular, these nonlinearities are distinct over the North America and Eurasian Continent. Based on the analyses of model output, we suggest that the nonlinear zonal advection term is one of the critical components in generating nonlinear SAT response, particularly over the North America. Key Points: - We investigate nonlinear impacts of the AO on surface air temperature - The response becomes nonlinear for the strong AO events - The nonlinear advection is a critical component for the nonlinear SAT response

Description: The Woodlark Basin is one of the rare places on earth where the transition from continental breakup to seafloor spreading can be observed. The potential juxtaposition of continental rocks, a large magmatic heat source, crustal-scale faulting, and hydrothermal circulation has made the Woodlark Basin a prime target for seafloor mineral exploration. However, over the past 20 years, only two locations of active hydrothermalism had been found. In 2009 we surveyed 435 km of the spreading axis for the presence of hydrothermal plumes. Only one additional plume was found, bringing the total number of plumes known over 520 km of ridge axis to only 3, much less than at ridges with similar spreading rates globally. Particularly the western half of the basin (280 km of axis) is apparently devoid of high temperature plumes despite having thick crust and a presumably high magmatic budget. This paucity of hydrothermal activity may be related to the peculiar tectonic setting at Woodlark, where repeated ridge jumps and a re-location of the rotation pole both lead to axial magmatism being more widely distributed than at many other, more mature and stable mid-ocean ridges. These factors could inhibit the development of both a stable magmatic heat source and the deeply penetrating faults needed to create long-lived hydrothermal systems. We conclude that large seafloor massive sulfide deposits, potential targets for seafloor mineral exploration, will probably not be present along the spreading axis of the Woodlark Basin, especially in its younger, western portion.

Description: Past changes in North Pacific sea surface temperatures and sea-ice conditions are proposed to play a crucial role in deglacial climate development and ocean circulation but are less well known than from the North Atlantic. Here, we present new alkenone-based sea surface temperature records from the subarctic northwest Pacific and its marginal seas (Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk) for the time interval of the last 15 kyr, indicating millennial-scale sea surface temperature fluctuations similar to short-term deglacial climate oscillations known from Greenland ice-core records. Past changes in sea-ice distribution are derived from relative percentage of specific diatom groups and qualitative assessment of the IP25 biomarker related to sea-ice diatoms. The deglacial variability in sea-ice extent matches the sea surface temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations suggest a linkage to deglacial variations in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and a close atmospheric coupling between the North Pacific and North Atlantic. During the Holocene the subarctic North Pacific is marked by complex sea surface temperature trends, which do not support the hypothesis of a Holocene seesaw in temperature development between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. Key Points: - Millennial-scale changes in SST in the North Pacific during the last 15 kyr - Changes in sea-ice extent suggest a close coupling to SST fluctuations - Middle to late Holocene SSTs show no clear SST trend in the North Pacific

Description: Closure of the Central American seaway was a local tectonic event with potentially global biotic and environmental repercussions. We report geochronological (six U/Pb LA-ICP-MS zircon ages) and geochemical (19 XRF and ICP-MS analyses) data from the Isthmus of Panama that allow definition of a distinctive succession of plateau sequences to subduction-related protoarc to arc volcaniclastic rocks intruded by Late Cretaceous to middle Eocene intermediate plutonic rocks (67.6 ± 1.4 Ma to 41.1 ± 0.7 Ma). Paleomagnetic analyses (24 sites, 192 cores) in this same belt reveal large counterclockwise vertical-axis rotations (70.9° ± 6.7°), and moderate clockwise rotations (between 40° ± 4.1° and 56.2° ± 11.1°) on either side of an east-west trending fault at the apex of the Isthmus (Rio Gatun Fault), consistent with Isthmus curvature. An Oligocene-Miocene arc crosscuts the older, deformed and segmented arc sequences, and shows no significant vertical-axis rotation or deformation. There are three main stages of deformation: 1) left-lateral, strike-slip offset of the arc (∼100 km), and counterclockwise vertical-axis rotation of western arc segments between 38 and 28 Ma; 2) clockwise rotation of central arc segments between 28 and 25 Ma; and 3) orocline tightening after 25 Ma. When this reconstruction is placed in a global plate tectonic framework, and published exhumation data is added, the Central American seaway disappears at 15 Ma, suggesting that by the time of northern hemisphere glaciation, deep-water circulation had long been severed in Central America.

Description: Empirical transfer functions are derived for predicting the total benthic nitrate loss(LNO3) and the net loss of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (LDIN) in marine sediments,equivalent to sedimentary denitrification. The functions are dynamic vertically integratedsediment models which require the rain rate of particulate organic carbon to the seafloor(RRPOC) and a proposed new variable(O2-NO3)bw (bottom water O2 concentration minus NO3-concentration) as the only input parameters. Applied globally to maps of RRPOC and(O2-NO3)bw on a 1° x 1° spatial resolution, the models predict a NO3- drawdown of 196 Tg yr-1 (LNO3)of which 153 – 155 Tg yr-1 is denitrified to N2 (LDIN). This is in good agreement with previous estimates using very different methods. Our approach implicitly accounts for fixed N loss via anammox, such that our findings do not support the idea that the relatively recent discovery of anammox in marine sediments might require current estimates of the global benthic marine N budget to be revised. The continental shelf (0 – 200 m) accounts for 〉50% of global LNO3 and LDIN, with slope (200 – 2000 m) and deep-sea (〉2000 m) sediments contributing ca. 30% and 20%, respectively. Denitrification in high-nitrate/low-oxygen regions such as oxygen minimum zones is significant (ca. 15 Tg N yr-1; 10% of global) despite covering only 1% of the seafloor. The data are used to estimate the net fluxes of nitrate (18 Tg N yr-1) and phosphate(27 Tg P yr-1) across the sediment-water interface. The benthic fluxes strongly deviate from Redfield composition, with globally averaged N:P, N:C and C:P values of 8.3, 0.067 and 122, respectively, indicating world-wide fixed N losses (by denitrification) relative to C and P. The transfer functions are designed to be coupled dynamically to general circulation models to better predict the feedback of sediments on pelagic nutrient cycling and dissolved O2 distributions.

Description: Intraseasonal signals with periods of 2 to 3 weeks in near-surface alongshore current measurements are detected from four moorings (K1 - K4) deployed from 2000 to 2004 at the 11{degree sign}S section close to the Brazilian coast as part of the German CLIVAR Tropical Atlantic Variability Project. This section crosses the path of the North Brazil Undercurrent, the most powerful western boundary current in the South Atlantic Ocean. We investigate the origin of this intraseasonal variability of the North Brazil Undercurrentby relating the oceanic oscillation of the alongshore currents to its atmospheric counterpart, the meridional wind stress. On average, the results indicate a well-defined lagged (10 days) correlation (~0.6) structure between meridional wind stress and alongshore currents. The oceanic region with the highest cross-correlations is identified as a relatively narrow band along the Brazilian coast, from 22{degree sign}-36{degree sign}S and 40{degree sign}-50{degree sign}W, bounded in the north by an eastward change in coastline orientation. The cross-wavelet transform establishes the common power between the time series of meridional wind stress and alongshore currents, predominantly during austral winter and spring. These signals propagate equatorward with an alongshore speed of 285{plus minus}63 km day-1, consistent with Coastal Trapped Wave theory.

Description: Variations in the poleward-directed Atlantic heat transfer was investigated over the past 135 ka with special emphasis on the last and present interglacial climate development (Eemian and Holocene). Both interglacials exhibited very similar climatic oscillations during each preceding glacial terminations (deglacial TI and TII). Like TI, also TII has pronounced cold–warm–cold changes akin to events such as H1, Bølling/Allerød, and the Younger Dryas. But unlike TI, the cold events in TII were associated with intermittent southerly invasions of an Atlantic faunal component which underscores quite a different water mass evolution in the Nordic Seas. Within the Eemian interglaciation proper, peak warming intervals were antiphased between the Nordic Seas and North Atlantic. Moreover, inferred temperatures for the Nordic Seas were generally colder in the Eemian than in the Holocene, and vice versa for the North Atlantic. A reduced intensity of Atlantic Ocean heat transfer to the Arctic therefore characterized the Eemian, requiring a reassessment of the actual role of the ocean–atmosphere system behind interglacial, but also, glacial climate changes. Key Points - Reduced AMOC during the Eemian - BA/YD-type warming/cooling in Termination 1 and 2 - Comparison of glacial inceptions reveals present climate status

Description: Equatorial deep jets (EDJs) are a prominent flow feature of the equatorial Atlantic below the Equatorial Undercurrent down to about 3000 m. Here we analyze long-term moored velocity and oxygen observations, as well as shipboard hydrographic and current sections acquired along 23{degree sign}W and covering the depth range of the oxygen minimum zones of the eastern tropical North and South Atlantic. The moored zonal velocity data show high-baroclinic mode EDJ oscillations at a period of about 4.5 years. Equatorial oxygen observations which do not resolve or cover a full 4.5-yr EDJ cycle nevertheless reveal large variability, with oxygen concentrations locally spanning a range of more than 60 μmol kg−1. We study the effect of EDJs on the equatorial oxygen concentration by forcing an advection-diffusion model with the velocity field of the gravest equatorial basin mode corresponding to the observed EDJ cycle. The advection-diffusion model includes an oxygen source at the western boundary and oxygen consumption elsewhere. The model produces a 4.5-yr cycle of the oxygen concentration and a temporal phase difference between oxygen concentration and eastward velocity that is less than quadrature, implying a net eastward oxygen flux. The comparison of available observations and basin-mode simulations indicates that a substantial part of the observed oxygen variability at the equator can be explained by EDJ oscillations. The respective role of mean advection, EDJs, and other possible processes in shaping the mean oxygen distribution of the equatorial Atlantic at intermediate depth is discussed. Key Points: - Equatorial Deep Jets strongly affect oxygen distribution/variability - Mean oxygen ditribution in the equatorial Atlantic at intermediate depth - Gravest equatorial basin mode forces an advection-diffusion model

Description: The intensity of the two major atmospheric tropical circulations, the Hadley and Walker circulation, has been analyzed in simulations with the Kiel Climate Model (KCM) of the early Eemian and the early Holocene, both warmer climate epochs compared to the late Holocene, or pre-industrial era. The KCM was forced by changes in orbital parameters corresponding to the early and late Holocene (9.5kyr BP and pre-industrial) and the early Eemian (126kyr BP). An intensification of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) winter Hadley cell and a northward extension of its rising branch, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, relative to pre-industrial are simulated for both warm periods. The Walker circulation's rising branch is shifted westward towards the Indian Ocean due to an increased zonal tropical sea surface temperature (SST) gradient across the Indo-Pacific Ocean, which drives enhanced easterlies over this region. The simulated vertically-integrated water vapor transport across the Equator shows the strongest response for the SH winter (boreal summer) Hadley cell over the Pacific Ocean due to an enhanced cross-equatorial SST gradient in the tropical Pacific during the early Holocene and the early Eemian. The orbitally-induced increase of the cross-equatorial insolation gradient in the tropical Pacific leads to a strengthening (weakening) of the wind speed and enhanced (reduced) evaporative cooling over the southern (northern) tropical Pacific, which reinforces the initial radiatively-forced meridional SST gradient change. The increased cross-equatorial insolation gradient in combination with the strong wind-evaporation-SST feedback and changing humidity are important mechanisms to enhance the SH winter Hadley circulation response to orbital forcing. Key Points: Intensification of the SH winter Hadley cell for the early Holocene and Eemian. Walker circulation's rising branch is shifted westward towards the Indian Ocean. WES feedback plays key role in intensification of the Hadley circulation.

Description: Serpentinized peridotite and gabbronorite represent the host rocks to the active, ultramafic-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We use trace element, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr data from bulk rock samples and mineral separates in order to constrain the controls on the geochemical budget within the Logatchev hydrothermal system. The trace element data of serpentinized peridotite show strong compositional variations indicating a range of processes. Some peridotites experienced geochemical modifications associated with melt-rock interaction processes prior to serpentinization, which resulted in positive correlations of increasing high field strength element (HFSE) concentrations and light rare earth element (LREE) contents. Other serpentinites and lizardite mineral separates are enriched in LREE, lacking a correlation with HFSE due to interaction with high-temperature, black-smoker type fluids. The enrichment of serpentinites and lizardite separates in trace elements, as well as locally developed negative Ce-anomalies, indicate that interaction with low-T ambient seawater is another important process in the Logatchev hydrothermal system. Hence, mixing of high-T hydrothermal fluids during serpentinization and/or re-equilibration of O-isotope signatures during subsequent low-T alteration is required to explain the trace element and δ18O temperature constraints. Highly radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr signatures of serpentinite and lizardite separates provide additional evidence for interaction with seawater-derived fluids. Sparse talc alteration at the Logatchev site are most likely caused by Si-metasomatism of serpentinite associated with the emplacement of shallow gabbro intrusion(s) generating localized hydrothermal circulation. In summary the geochemistry of serpentinites from the Logatchev site document subsurface processes and the evolution of a seafloor ultramafic hydrothermal system.

Description: Identification of methane sources controlling hydrate distribution and concentrations in continental margins remains a major challenge in gas hydrate research. Lack of deep fluid samples and high quality regional scale seismic reflection data may lead to underestimation of the significance of fluid escape from subducting and compacting sediments in the global inventory of methane reaching the hydrate zone, the water column and the atmosphere. The distribution of concentrated hydrate zones in relation to focused fluid flow across the southern Hikurangi subduction margin was investigated using high quality, long offset (10 km streamer), pre-stack depth migrated multichannel seismic data. Analysis of low P wave velocity zones, bright-reverse polarity reflections and dim-amplitude anomalies reveals pathways for gas escape and zones of gas accumulation. The study shows the structural and stratigraphic settings of three main areas of concentrated hydrates: (1) the Opouawe Bank, dominated by focused periodic fluid input along thrust faults sustaining dynamic hydrate concentrations and gas chimneys development; (2) the frontal anticline, with a basal set of protothrusts controlling permeability for fluids from deeply buried and subducted sediments sustaining hydrate concentrations at the crest of the anticline; and (3) the Hikurangi Channel, with buried sand dominated channels hosting significant amounts of gas beneath the base of the hydrate zone. In sand dominated channels gas injection into the hydrate zone favors highly concentrated hydrate accumulations. The evolution of fluid expulsion controlling hydrate formation offshore southern Hikurangi is described in stages during which different methane sources (in situ, buried and thermogenic) have been dominant.

Description: In the majority of large river systems, flow is regulated and/or otherwise affected by operational and management activities, such as ship locking. The effect of lock operation on sediment-water oxygen fluxes was studied within a 12.9 km long impoundment at the Saar River (Germany) using eddy-correlation flux measurements. The continuous observations cover a time period of nearly 5 days and 39 individual locking events. Ship locking is associated with the generation of surges propagating back and forth through the impoundment which causes strong variations of near-bed current velocity and turbulence. These wave-induced flow variations cause variations in sediment-water oxygen fluxes. While the mean flux during time periods without lock operation was 0.5 6 0.1 g m�2 d�1, it increased by about a factor of 2 to 1.0 6 0.5 g m�2 d�1 within time periods with ship locking. Following the daily schedule of lock operations, fluxes are predominantly enhanced during daytime and follow a pronounced diurnal rhythm. The driving force for the increased flux is the enhancement of diffusive transport across the sediment-water interface by bottom-boundary layer turbulence and perhaps resuspension. Additional means by which the oxygen budget of the impoundment is affected by lock-induced flow variations are discussed.

Description: The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the leading mode of climate variability and predictable on interannual time scales. Recent studies suggest that the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans influence the dynamics and predictability of ENSO. Here we investigate these effects in a hybrid coupled model consisting of a full complexity atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) coupled to a strongly simplified linear 2-dimensional ENSO recharge oscillator ocean model. We find that the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans have distinct effects on the dynamics and predictability. The decoupling of the tropical Indian Ocean has a strong impact onto ENSO dynamics, but the initial conditions of it have only a small impact on the ENSO predictability. In contrast, initial conditions of the tropical Atlantic have a stronger impact on the predictability of ENSO, but the decoupling of the tropical Atlantic has almost no effect on the ENSO dynamics.

Description: Key Points - DFe in the Arctic shelves and surface is linked to freshwater and alkalinity - Fluvial input main contributor to high DFe, low alkalinity in Central Arctic - Remineralisation and biological depletion determine DFe in the Arctic Shelf Seas Abstract Concentrations of dissolved (〈0.2 μm) Fe (DFe) in the Arctic shelf seas and in the surface waters of the Central Arctic Ocean are presented. In the Barents and Kara seas, near-surface DFe minima indicate depletion of DFe by phytoplankton growth. Below the surface, lower DFe concentrations in the Kara Sea (~0.4-0.6 nM) than in the Barents Sea (~0.6-0.8 nM) likely reflect scavenging removal or biological depletion of DFe. Very high DFe concentrations (〉10 nM) in the bottom waters of the Laptev Sea shelf may be attributed to either sediment resuspension, sinking of brine or regeneration of DFe in the lower layers. A significant correlation (R2 = 0.60) between salinity and DFe is observed. Using δ18O, salinity ,nutrients and total alkalinity data, the main source for the high (〉2 nM) DFe concentrations in the Amundsen and Makarov Basins is identified as (Eurasian) river water, transported with the Transpolar Drift (TPD). On the North American side of the TPD, the DFe concentrations are low (〈 0.8 nM) and variations are determined by the effects of sea-ice meltwater, biological depletion and remineralization and scavenging in halocline waters from the shelf. This distribution pattern of DFe is also supported by the ratio between unfiltered and dissolved Fe (high (〉 4) above the shelf and low ( 〈 4) off the shelf).

Description: Changes in Earth rotation are strongly related to fluctuations in the angular momentum of the atmosphere, and therefore contain integral information about the atmospheric state. Here we investigate the extent to which observed Earth rotation parameters can be used to evaluate and potentially constrain atmospheric models. This is done by comparing the atmospheric excitation function, computed geophysically from reanalysis data and climate model simulations constrained only by boundary forcings, to the excitation functions inferred from geodetic monitoring data. Model differences are assessed for subseasonal variations, the annual and semiannual cycles, interannual variations, and decadal-scale variations. Observed length-of-day anomalies on the subseasonal timescale are simulated well by the simulations that are constrained by meteorological data only, whereas the annual cycle in length-of-day is simulated well by all models. Interannual length-of-day variations are captured fairly well as long as a model has realistic, time-varying SST boundary conditions and QBO forcing. Observations of polar motion are most clearly relatable to atmospheric dynamics on subseasonal to annual timescales, though angular momentum budget closure is difficult to achieve even for data-constrained atmospheric simulations. Closure of the angular momentum budget on decadal timescales is difficult and strongly dependent on estimates of angular momentum fluctuations due to core-mantle interactions in the solid Earth. Key Points: Earth rotation parameters contain global information about atmospheric dynamics; Length-of-day observations can constrain modeled winds in tropical regions; Polar motion observations can constrain modeled mass movements in midlatitudes

Description: Using a model of plankton and organic-matter cycling we demonstrate that variable stoichiometric ratios can lead to a more than 5-fold higher sensitivity of simulated carbon export to atmospheric N deposition in the ultra-oligotrophic eastern part of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre compared to the westerly oligotrophic region near Bermuda, often used as a reference site for subtropical regions. Stronger nutrient limitation in the ultra-oligotrophic east causes higher phytoplankton C:N ratios and lower carbon assimilation efficiency of zooplankton in the model, which results in a higher export efficiency of carbon to the deep ocean compared to the less nutrient-limited western site. Our results indicate that previous estimates of oceanic carbon uptake associated with atmospheric nitrogen deposition may not be fully robust and that spatial variability in nutrient stress and ecological stoichiometry could significantly affect the biogeochemical impact of increasing atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic nitrogen.

Description: The transpolar drift is strongly enriched in 228Ra accumulated on the wide Arctic shelves with subsequent rapid offshore transport. We present new data of Polarstern expeditions to the central Arctic and to the Kara and Laptev seas. Because 226Ra activities in Pacific waters are 30% higher than in Atlantic waters, we correct 226Ra for the Pacific admixture when normalizing 228Ra with 226Ra. The use of 228Ra decay as age marker critically depends on the constancy in space and time of the source activity, a condition that has not yet adequately been tested. While 228Ra decays during transit over the central basin, ingrowth of 228Th could provide an alternative age marker. The high 228Th/228Ra activity ratio (AR = 0.8–1.0) in the central basins is incompatible with a mixing model based on horizontal eddy diffusion. An advective model predicts that 228Th grows to an equilibrium AR, the value of which depends on the scavenging regime. The low AR over the Lomonosov Ridge (AR = 0.5) can be due to either rapid transport (minimum age without scavenging 1.1 year) or enhanced scavenging. Suspended particulate matter load (derived from beam transmission and particulate 234Th) and total 234Th depletion data show that scavenging, although extremely low in the central Arctic, is enhanced over the Lomonosov Ridge, making an age of 3 years more likely. The combined data of 228Ra decay and 228Th ingrowth confirm the existence of a recirculating gyre in the surface water of the eastern Eurasian Basin with a river water residence time of at least 3 years.

Description: Hydrographic and stable oxygen isotope (H218O/H216O) sampling was carried out within the West New Siberian (WNS) coastal polynyas in the southern Laptev Sea in late winters 2008 and 2009. The impact of sea-ice formation on the water column was quantified by a salinity/{lower case delta}18O mass balance. Several stations had vertically homogeneous physical properties in April/May 2008 and featured polynya-formed local bottom water with elevated signals of brine released during sea-ice formation and elevated fractions of river water. The polynya-formed bottom water was fresher than surrounding bottom waters. At other stations salinity/{lower case delta}18O correlation showed well defined mixing lines for bottom and surface layers. In March/April 2009 surface waters were strongly influenced by Lena River water and local polynya activity with elevated brine signals reached to intermediate depth, but did not penetrate the bottom layer in the highly stratified water column. Inventory values of sea-ice formation were comparable in both years, but freshwater distributions from the preceding summers were different. Therefore, the observed difference in the impact of polynya activity on the water column is not primarily controlled by the amount of sea-ice formed during winter but by preconditioning from the preceding summer. Only in years when the river plume is mostly absent in the polynya region stratification is weak and allows winter sea-ice formation to reach the bottom layer. Thus summer stratification controls the influence of local polynya water on the shelf's bottom hydrography and, as bottom water is exported, impacts on the source water of shelf-derived halocline waters.

Description: For marine biogeochemical models used in simulations of climate change scenarios, the ability to account for adaptability of marine ecosystems to environmental change becomes a concern. The potential for adaptation is expected to be larger for a diverse ecosystem compared to a monoculture of a single type of (model) algae, such as typically included in biogeochemical models. Recent attempts to simulate phytoplankton diversity in global marine ecosystem models display remarkable qualitative agreement with observed patterns of species distributions. However, modeled species diversity tends to be systematically lower than observed and, in many regions, is smaller than the number of potentially limiting nutrients. According to resource competition theory, the maximum number of coexisting species at equilibrium equals the number of limiting resources. By simulating phytoplankton communities in a chemostat model and in a global circulation model, we show here that a systematic underestimate of phytoplankton diversity may result from the standard modeling assumption of identical stoichiometry for the different phytoplankton types. Implementing stoichiometric variation among the different marine algae types in the models allows species to generate different resource supply niches via their own ecological impact. This is shown to increase the level of phytoplankton coexistence both in a chemostat model and in a global self-assembling ecosystem model. Key Points: - Common Redfield stoichiometry in plankton models impedes phytoplankton diversity - Stoichiometric plasticity increases the chance for sustained diversity - Modelers should go beyond Redfield stoichiometry in multi-phytoplankton models

Description: We present quantitative modeling results for the effects of surface relief on hydrothermal convection at ocean-spreading centers investigating how vent site locations and subsurface flow patterns are affected by bathymetry induced sub-seafloor pressure variations. The model is based on a 2-D FEM solver for fluid flow in porous media and is used to simulate hydrothermal convection systematically in 375 synthetic studies. The results of these studies show that bathymetric relief has a profound effect on hydrothermal flow: bathymetric highs induce subsurface pressure variations that can deviate upwelling zones and favor venting at structural highs. The deviation angle from vertical upwelling can be expressed by a single linear dependence relating deviation angle to bathymetric slope and depth of the heat source. These findings are confirmed in two case studies for the East Pacific Rise at 9°30′N and Lucky Strike hydrothermal fields. In both cases, it is possible to predict the observed vent field locations only if bathymetry is taken into account. Our results thereby show that bathymetric relief should be considered in simulations of submarine hydrothermal systems and plays a key role especially in focusing venting of across axis hydrothermal flow onto the ridge axis of fast spreading ridges.

Description: The rare earth elements (REEs) with their systematically varying properties are powerful tracers of continental inputs, particle scavenging intensity and the oxidation state of seawater. However, their generally low (∼pmol/kg) concentrations in seawater and fractionation potential during chemical treatment makes them difficult to measure. Here we report a technique using an automated preconcentration system, which efficiently separates seawater matrix elements and elutes the preconcentrated sample directly into the spray chamber of an ICP-MS instrument. The commercially available “seaFAST” system (Elemental Scientific Inc.) makes use of a resin with ethylenediaminetriacetic acid and iminodiacetic acid functional groups to preconcentrate REEs and other metals while anions and alkali and alkaline earth cations are washed out. Repeated measurements of seawater from 2000 m water depth in the Southern Ocean allows the external precision (2σ) of the technique to be estimated at 〈23% for all REEs and 〈15% for most. Comparison of Nd concentrations with isotope dilution measurements for 69 samples demonstrates that the two techniques generally agree within 15%. Accuracy was found to be good for all REEs by using a five point standard addition analysis of one sample and comparing measurements of mine water reference materials diluted with a NaCl matrix with recommended values in the literature. This makes the online preconcentration ICP-MS technique advantageous for the minimal sample preparation required and the relatively small sample volume consumed (7 mL) thus enabling large data sets for the REEs in seawater to be rapidly acquired.

Description: Gross photosynthetic O2 production (GOP) rates in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean were estimated using the measured isotopic composition of dissolved oxygen in the surface layer on samples collected on nine transits of a container ship between Great Britain and Canada during March 2007 to June 2008. The mean basin-wide GOP rate of 226 ± 48 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 during summer was double the winter rate of 107 ± 41 mmol O2 m−2 d−1. Converting these GOP rates to equivalent 14C-based PP (14C-PPeqv) yielded rates of 1005 ± 216 and 476 ± 183 mg C m−2 d−1 in summer and winter, respectively, that generally agreed well with previous 14C-based PP estimates in the region. The 14C-PPeqv estimates were 1–1.6× concurrent satellite-based PP estimates along the cruise track. A net community production rate (NCP) of 87 ± 12 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 (62 ± 9 mmol C m−2 d−1) and NCP/GOP of 0.35 ± 0.06 in the mixed layer was estimated from O2/Ar and 17Δ measurements (61°N 26°W) during spring bloom conditions in May 2008. Contrastingly, a much lower long-term annual mean NCP or organic carbon export rate of 2.8 ± 2.7 mol C m−2 yr−1 (8 ± 7 mmol C m−2 d−1) and NCP/GOP of 0.07 ± 0.06 at the winter mixed layer depth was estimated from 15 years of surface O2 data in the subpolar N. Atlantic collected during the CARINA program.

Description: In two contrasting regions of the ocean, the equatorial Pacific and the southern ocean, the δ15N of core top sediments were strongly related to [NO3−] in surface waters. With distance from the equator in the equatorial Pacific, δ15N increased from 7‰ to 16‰ as [NO3−] decreased from 8μM to 〈 0.1 μM. Going from 60° to 30° S in the SE Indian Ocean, core top δ15N increased from 5‰ to 11‰ as surface [NO3−] decreased from 25μM to 〈 0.1 μM. These results are strong evidence that sedimentary δ15N in these regions is recording the increasing isotopic enrichment of near-surface NO3− with its depletion by phytoplankton. In the case of the equatorial Pacific, δ15N values for sinking particles collected at 150 m matched well the core top sediment values, demonstrating little diagenetic alteration of the near-surface generated isotopic signal. These equatorial Pacific data sets have variations with near-surface [NO3−] consistent with Rayleigh fractionation kinetics for a fractionation factor (ϵu) of 2.5‰. This value is substantially lower than previously found for temperate or polar regions, perhaps as a result of differences in phytoplankton species assemblage or growth condition. In the southern ocean south of the polar front, comparison of δ15N values for opal-rich sediments south and sinking particles indicates an apparent +5‰ diagenetic enrichment relative to the surface-generated signal that requires further investigation. This exception aside, our observations show that the surface-water relationship of increasing δ15N with increasing NO3− depletion is generally transmitted to and preserved in the sediments, an important requirement for further development and application of this important paleoceanographic tool.

Description: Model calculations suggest that the ozone decrease observed a few years after the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo and El Chichon may have been unique in the Earth's history, and is directly linked to the emission in the atmosphere of industrially manufactured chlorofluorocarbons. For chlorine loadings typical of the pre-1980 period, the ozone column abundance should have increased after a large volcanic eruption. After 1980, as a result of growth in chlorine loading, the response of ozone became negative in winter at mid- and high latitudes. In the future, the response of ozone is expected to become positive again, if the production of chlorofluorocarbons is sufficiently reduced. The calculations also show that, under low chlorine loadings, the response of ozone is insensitive to the magnitude of the eruption, while, under present conditions (high chlorine loading), the ozone depletion increases with the amount of SO2 injected in the stratosphere by the volcano.

Description: The combination of the Sunda megathrust and the (strike-slip) Sumatran Fault (SF) represents a type example of slip-partitioning. However, superimposed on the SF are geometrical irregularities that disrupt the local strain field. The largest such feature is in central Sumatra where the SF splits into two fault strands up to 35 km apart. A dense local network was installed along a 350 km section around this bifurcation, registering 1016 crustal events between April 2008 and February 2009. 528 of these events, with magnitudes between 1.1 and 6.0, were located using the double-difference relative location method. These relative hypocentre locations reveal several new features about the crustal structure of the SF. Northwest and southeast of the bifurcation, where the SF has only one fault strand, seismicity is strongly focused below the surface trace, indicating a vertical fault that is seismogenic to ∼15 km depth. By contrast intense seismicity is observed within the bifurcation, displaying streaks in plan and cross-section that indicate a complex system of faults bisecting the bifurcation. In combination with analysis of topography and focal mechanisms, we propose that the bifurcation is a strike-slip duplex system with complex faulting between the two main fault branches.

Description: The Walvis Ridge in the south Atlantic Ocean is correlated with the geoid anomalies obtained from the GEOS 3 satellite. It is shown that the correlation is best explained by Pratt compensation with a depth of compensation of twenty to thirty kilometers.

Description: During the Joint Air-Sea Interaction (JASIN) experiment conducted in the northern Rockall Trough in the summer of 1978, oceanographic moorings with surface buoys carrying wind recorders were deployed in an array designed to investigate the variability of the near-surface wind field at scales of from 2 to 200 km. The wind records together with observations taken on board the research vessels participating in JASIN have provided ground truth measurements for the sea surface wind velocity sensors on the Seasat satellite. During most of the experiment the wind field was characterized by spatial scales large in comparison with the separations between the buoys. On several occasions, spatial differences associated with cold fronts were identified, and it was possible to track the passage of the front through the array. However, quantitative analysis of the variability of the wind field was complicated both by a lack of data due to mechanical failures of some instruments and by significant differences in the performance of the diverse types of wind recorders. Reevaluation of the instruments used in JASIN and recent comparison of some of these instruments with more conventional sets of wind sensors confirm the possibility that there is significant error in the JASIN wind measurements made from the buoys. In particular, the vector-averaging wind recorder on W2, which was one of the few instruments to recover a full length record and which was chosen during a Seasat-JASIN workshop as the JASIN standard, had performance characteristics that were among the most difficult to explain.

Description: An analysis of four different hotspot distributions, ranging from Morgan's [1972] original list of 19 to Vogt's [1981] list of 117 reveals that the hotspots are preferentially located near divergent plate boundaries. The probability of this proximity occurring by chance alone is quite remote, less than 0.01 for all four hotspot distributions. The same analysis also reveals that the hotspots are preferentially excluded from regions near convergent plate boundaries. The probability of this exclusion occurring by chance alone is 0.1 or less for three out of the four distributions examined. We interpret this behavior as being a consequence of the effects of large scale convective circulation on ascending mantle plumes. Mantle thermal plumes, the most probable source of hotspots, arise from instabilities in a basal thermal boundary layer. Plumes are suppressed from regions beneath convergent boundaries by descending flow and are entrained into the upwelling flow beneath spreading centers. Plate-scale convective circulation driven by subduction may also advect mantle thermal plumes toward spreading centers.

Description: A case study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of how the solar cycle and the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) influence the stratospheric circulation during the Northern-Hemisphere winter. It was found that the solar and QBO influences on the stratospheric jet exist rather independently in the upper stratosphere during December. The mean-zonal wind anomalies produced in early winter persist by deformation until late winter through wave-mean flow interactions with planetary waves. The modulation effect of the solar influence by the QBO [Labitzke, 1987] takes place during this process.

Description: Two examples of high wave number (one cycle per 5 m to one cycle per kilometer) temperature spectra from constant depth tow segments are presented. The first is from observations in the center of the main thermocline of the northwest Atlantic at a depth of about 700 m. Four independent estimates of the spectrum are statistically similar to one another. The result is continuous with previous results at lower wave numbers and compares favorably with the 1975 Garrett and Munk internal wave model prediction. The second example is from a tow through a surface mixed layer, at a depth of 26 m, in a nearby area. In contrast to the above, it describes the lack of stationarity of the near-surface spectrum; a result reminiscent of the frequency spectra observed by Sabinin.

Description: Anthropogenically induced increases in nitrogen deposition to the ocean can stimulate marine productivity and oceanic emission of nitrous oxide. We present the first global ocean model assessment of the impact on marine N2O of increases in nitrogen deposition from the preindustrial era to the present. We find significant regional increases in marine N2O production downwind of continental outflow, in coastal and inland seas (15–30%),and nitrogen limited regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific (5–20%). The largest changes occur in the northern Indian Ocean (up to 50%) resulting from a combination of high deposition fluxes and enhanced N2O production pathways in local hypoxic zones. Oceanic regions relatively unaffected by anthropogenic nitrogen deposition indicate much smaller changes (〈2%). The estimated change in oceanic N2O source on a global scale is modest (0.08–0.34 Tg N yr-1, ~3–4% of the total ocean source), and consistent with the estimated impact on global export production (~4%).

Description: The Mauritanian upwelling system is one of the most biologically productive regions of the world's oceans. Coastal upwelling transfers nutrients to the sun-lit surface ocean, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth. Upwelling of deep waters also supplies dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), high levels of which lead to low calcium carbonate saturation states in surface waters, with potentially adverse effects on marine calcifiers. In this study an upwelled filament off the coast of northwest Africa was followed using drifting buoys and sulphur hexafluoride to determine how the carbonate chemistry changed over time as a result of biological, physical and chemical processes. The initial pH tot in the mixed layer of the upwelled plume was 7.94 and the saturation states of calcite and aragonite were 3.4 and 2.2, respectively. As the plume moved offshore over a period of 9days, biological uptake of DIC (37 μmolkg -1) reduced pCO 2 concentrations from 540 to 410 μatm, thereby increasing pH tot to 8.05 and calcite and aragonite saturation states to 4.0 and 2.7 respectively. The increase (25 μmolkg -1) in total alkalinity over the 9day study period can be accounted for solely by the combined effects of nitrate uptake and processes that alter salinity (i.e., evaporation and mixing with other water masses). We found no evidence of significant alkalinity accumulation as a result of exudation of organic bases by primary producers. The ongoing expansion of oxygen minimum zones through global warming will likely further reduce the CaCO 3 saturation of upwelled waters, amplifying any adverse consequences of ocean acidification on the ecosystem of the Mauritanian upwelling system. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Description: We carried out a combined geophysical and gas-geochemical survey on an active fault strand along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) system in the Gulf of İzmit (eastern Sea of Marmara), providing for the first time in this area data on the distribution of methane (CH4) and other gases dissolved in the bottom seawater, as well as the CH4isotopic composition. Based on high-resolution morphobathymetric data and chirp-sonar seismic reflection profiles we selected three areas with different tectonic features associated to the NAF system, where we performed visual and instrumental seafloor inspections, including in situ measurements of dissolved CH4, and sampling of the bottom water. Starting from background values of 2–10 nM, methane concentration in the bottom seawater increases abruptly up to 20 nM over the main NAF trace. CH4 concentration peaks up to ∼120 nM were detected above mounds related probably to gas and fluids expulsion. Methane is microbial (δ13CCH4: −67.3 and −76‰ versus VPDB), and was found mainly associated with pre-Holocene deposits topped by a 10–20 m thick draping of marine mud. The correlation between tectonic structures and gas-seepages at the seafloor suggests that the NAF in the Gulf of İzmit could represent a key site for long-term combined monitoring of fluid exhalations and seismicity to assess their potential as earthquake precursors.

Description: Low dissolved iron (DFe) concentrations limit primary production in most high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) regions. Increased recycling of iron (Fe) relative to nitrogen (N) by zooplankton may help to sustain phytoplankton production in these conditions. We concurrently determined rates of DFe and ammonium (NH4 +) recycling by natural mesozooplankton communities in HNLC conditions of the Northeast Atlantic. NH4 + excretion remained constant and ranged between 14.2-54.1nmol NH4 + mg dry weight-1h-1. Fe recycling ranged between 6-138 pmol DFe mg dry weight-1h-1 during the first hour and decreased thereafter, reflecting the transition from the loss of phytoplankton-derived Fe to basal DFe excretion. Mesozooplankton-driven nutrient recycling was estimated to support 6-59 and 〈1-13 of the respective phytoplankton requirements for DFe and N; DFe:N regeneration ratios were 5-26 times larger than those required by phytoplankton. Our data suggest that Fe recycling by grazing organisms has the potential to reduce the intensity of HNLC conditions. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Description: Temperature and salinity both contribute to ocean density, including its seasonal cycle and spatial patterns in the mixed layer. Temperature and salinity profiles from the Argo Program allow construction and analysis of a global, monthly, mixed layer climatology. Temperature changes dominate the seasonal cycle of mixed layer density in most regions, but salinity changes are dominant in the tropical warm pools, Arctic, and Antarctic. Under the Intertropical Convergence Zone, temperature and salinity work in concert to increase seasonal stratification, but the seasonal density changes there are weak because the temperature and salinity changes are small. In the eastern subtropics, seasonal salinity changes partly compensate those in temperature and reduce seasonal mixed layer density changes. Besides a hemispheric seasonal reversal, the times of maximum and minimum mixed layer density exhibit regional variations. For instance, the equatorial region is more closely aligned with Southern Hemisphere timing, and much of the North Indian Ocean has a minimum density in May and June. Outside of the tropics, the maximum mixed layer density occurs later in the winter toward the poles, and the minimum earlier in the summer. Finally, at the times of maximum mixed layer density, some of the ocean has horizontal temperature and salinity gradients that work against each other to reduce the horizontal density gradient. However, on the equatorial sides of the subtropical salinity maxima, temperature and salinity gradients reinforce each other, increasing the density gradients there. Density gradients are generally stronger where either salinity or temperature gradients are dominant influences.

Description: Enhanced semidiurnal-band velocity shear across the shelf halocline layer (SHL) was found during land-fast ice edge mooring-based acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) observations over the eastern Laptev Sea shelf (∼74°N, 128°E) in April–May 2008 and April 2009. In 2008, the major axis amplitude for the lunar semidiurnal M2tidal ellipses demonstrated intermediate maximum in the SHL at 11–13 m (15 ± 3 cm/s), gradually decreasing to subice and near-bottom layers to ∼9 ± 3 cm/s (at 7 m) and 7 ± 2 cm/s (at 19 m), respectively. In 2009, the semidiurnal tidal flow exhibited similar patterns, but velocities were reduced by about factor of 2. Our estimates of gradient Richardson numbers suggest that the velocity shear associated with semidiurnal baroclinic tidal flow may be strong enough to play a role in water mass modification, promoting shear instabilities, turbulence, and vertical mixing of seawater properties across the SHL. This suggestion is consistent with near-homogeneous water layers episodically occurring in the SHL. Differences in the background stratification and local tidal dynamics between 2008 and 2009, together with rapid responses of the semidiurnal motion to polynya openings, suggest that the baroclinic tide is locally generated.

Description: Aeolian dust transport from the Saharan/Sahel desert regions is considered the dominant external input of iron (Fe) to the surface waters of the eastern (sub-) tropical North Atlantic Ocean. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the sources of dissolved Fe (DFe) and quantified DFe fluxes to the surface ocean in this region. In winter 2008, surface water DFe concentrations varied between 〈0.1 nM and 0.37 nM, with an average of 0.13 ̃ 0.07 nM DFe (n = 194). A strong correlation between mixed layer averaged concentrations of dissolved aluminum (DAl), a proxy for dust input, and DFe indicated dust as a source of DFe to the surface ocean. The importance of Aeolian nutrient input was further confirmed by an increase of 0.1 nM DFe and 0.05 μM phosphate during a repeat transect before and after a dust event. An exponential decrease of DFe with increasing distance from the African continent, suggested that continental shelf waters were a source of DFe to the northern part of our study area. Relatively high Fe:C ratios of up to 3 ° 10°5 (C derived from apparent oxygen utilization (AOU)) indicated an external source of Fe to these African continental shelf waters. Below the wind mixed layer along 12°N, enhanced DFe concentrations (〉1.5 nM) correlated positively with apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and showed the importance of organic matter remineralization as an DFe source. As a consequence, vertical diffusive mixing formed an important Fe flux to the surface ocean in this region, even surpassing that of a major dust event. © 2012. American Geophysical Union.

Description: Particulate organic carbon (POC) generated by primary production and exported to depth, is an important pathway for carbon transfer to the abyss, where it is stored over climatically significant timescales. These processes constitute the biological carbon pump. A spectrum of particulate sinking velocities exists throughout the water column, however numerical models often simplify this spectrum into suspended, fast and slow sinking particles. Observational studies suggest the spectrum of sinking speeds in the ocean is strongly bimodal with >85 POC flux contained within two pools with sinking speeds of 〈10 m day -1 and >350 m day -1. We deployed a Marine Snow Catcher (MSC) to estimate the magnitudes of the suspended, fast and slow sinking pools and their fluxes at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain site (48°N, 16.5°W) in summer 2009. The POC concentrations and fluxes determined were 0.2μ g C L -1 and 54 mg C m -2 day -1 for fast sinking particles, 5μ g C L -1 and 92μ mg C m -2 day -1 for slow sinking particles and 97 g C L -1 for suspended particles. Our flux estimates were comparable with radiochemical tracer methods and neutrally buoyant sediment traps. Our observations imply: (1) biomineralising protists, on occasion, act as nucleation points for aggregate formation and accelerate particle sinking; (2) fast sinking particles alone were sufficient to explain the abyssal POC flux; and (3) there is no evidence for ballasting of the slow sinking flux and the slow sinking particles were probably entirely remineralised in the twilight zone. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.

Description: Mytilus edulis were cultured for 3 months under six different seawater pCO(2) levels ranging from 380 to 4000 mu atm. Specimen were taken from Kiel Fjord (Western Baltic Sea, Germany) which is a habitat with high and variable seawater pCO(2) and related shifts in carbonate system speciation (e. g., low pH and low CaCO3 saturation state). Hemolymph (HL) and extrapallial fluid (EPF) samples were analyzed for pH and total dissolved inorganic carbon (C-T) to calculate pCO(2) and [HCO3-]. A second experiment was conducted for 2 months with three different pCO(2) levels (380, 1400 and 4000 mu atm). Boron isotopes (delta B-11) were investigated by LA-MC-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation-Multicollector-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) in shell portions precipitated during experimental treatment time. Additionally, elemental ratios (B/Ca, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) in the EPF of specimen from the second experiment were measured via ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry). Extracellular pH was not significantly different in HL and EPF but systematically lower than ambient water pH. This is due to high extracellular pCO(2) values, a prerequisite for metabolic CO2 excretion. No accumulation of extracellular [HCO3-] was measured. Elemental ratios (B/Ca, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) in the EPF increased slightly with pH which is in accordance with increasing growth and calcification rates at higher seawater pH values. Boron isotope ratios were highly variable between different individuals but also within single shells. This corresponds to a high individual variability in fluid B/Ca ratios and may be due to high boron concentrations in the organic parts of the shell. The mean delta B-11 value shows no trend with pH but appears to represent internal pH (EPF) rather than ambient water pH.

Description: The boundaries of three plates, South America, Africa, and Antarctica, meet in a triple junction 250 km west of Bouvet Island. In the vicinity of the triple junction the most striking features of the Antarctica/South America and Africa/Antarctica plate boundaries are the Conrad and Bouvet fracture zones which trend N85°E and N45°E, respectively. We show by matching synthetic and observed magnetic anomaly profiles that the Antarctica/South America, Africa/Antarctica, and Africa/South America plates are moving apart at half rates of 0.90±0.1, 0.83±0.1, and 1.60±0.1 cm/yr, respectively. The rates and directions of motions for the Antarctica/South America and Africa/Antarctica plates are significantly different from those predicted by analysis of plate motions assuming global closure. The three plate boundaries meet within 10 km of 54°50′S, 00°40′W in a ridge-fault-fault (RFF) configuration. Within experimental error the relative velocity triangle closes. The triangle is isosceles, and the junction is stable. From the magnetic and topographic data we speculate that for the past 20 m.y. the triple junction has been located close to the junction of the Bouvet and Conrad fracture zones and has had a predominantly RFF configuration.

Description: Fluid flow at hydrostatic pressure (Ph) is relatively common through fractures in silicic and in mafic crystalline rocks where temperatures are less than about 350–370°C. In contrast, pore‐fluid pressure (Pf) 〉 Ph has been encountered at the bottom of 3 geothermal exploration wells that attained temperatures 〉370°C (at Larderello, Italy, at Nesjavellir, Iceland, and at The Geysers, California). Chemical sealing by deposition of minerals in veins appears to have allowed the development of the high Pf encountered in the above wells. The upper limit for the magnitude of Pf that can be attained is controlled by either the onset of shear fracturing (where differential stress is relatively high) that reopens clogged veins, or the hydraulic opening of new or old fractures (at relatively low values of differential stress). The brittle‐plastic transition for silicic rocks can occur at temperatures as high as 370–400°C in tectonically active regions. In regions where high‐temperature geothermal systems develop and persist, it appears that either strain rates commonly are in the range 10−12 to 10−13, or that silicic rocks in the shallow crust generally behave rheologically more like wet quartz diorite than wet Westerly granite.

Description: We estimate the global rate of biogenic silica production in the ocean to be between 200 and 280 × 1012 mol Si yr−1. The upper limit is derived from information on the primary productivity of the oceans, the relative contribution of diatoms to primary production and diatom Si/C ratios. The lower limit is derived independently using a multi‐compartment model of nutrient transport and biogenic particle flux, and field data on the balance between silica production and dissolution in the upper ocean. Our upper limit is 30–50% lower than several previous estimates, due to new data indicating lower values for both the relative contribution of diatoms to primary productivity and their Si/C ratios. Globally, at least 50% of the silica produced by diatoms in the euphotic zone dissolves in the upper 100 m, resulting in an estimated export of 100–140 × 1012 mol Si yr−l to the deep ocean. Our estimates correspond to a global mean rate of biogenic silica production between 0.6 and 0.8 mol Si m−2 yr−1. Incubation experiments indicate that silica production rates exceed that mean by a factor of 3–12 in coastal areas and are 2–4 times less than the global average in the oligotrophic mid‐ocean gyres. The mean silica production rate in waters overlying diatomaceous sediments (approximately 10–12% of the surface area of the oceans) is 0.7–1.2 mol Si m−2 yr−1. That rate is only slightly higher than the global average, indicating that the silica produced in those regions is only 10–25% of the global total. The estimated production of biogenic silica in surface waters of the mid‐ocean gyres is approximately equal to that for all major areas of opal sediment accumulation combined. Regional comparison of silica production and accumulation rates suggests a strongly bimodal character in the efficiency of opal preservation in the sea. In waters overlying diatom‐rich sediments 15–25% of the silica produced in the surface layer accumulates in the seabed, while virtually none of the silica produced in other areas is preserved. The global burial/production ratio of ˜ 3% is a composite of those two very different systems. The mechanisms leading to more efficient opal preservation in regions of silica accumulation are presently unknown, but they have no simple relationship to primary productivity. Regional differences in opal preservation appear to be controlled by factors such as low surface temperature, selective grazing and aggregate formation, which diminish the rate of silica dissolution in surface waters and/or accelerate its transport to the seafloor.

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: Understanding intermediate water circulation across the last deglacial is critical in assessing the role of oceanic heat transport associated with Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation variability across abrupt climate events. However, the links between intermediate water circulation and abrupt climate events such as the Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich Event 1 (H1) are still poorly constrained. Here, we reconstruct changes in Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic over the past 25 kyr by measuring authigenic neodymium isotope ratios in sediments from two sites in the Florida Straits. Our authigenic Nd isotope records suggest that there was little to no penetration of AAIW into the subtropical North Atlantic during the YD and H1. Variations in the northward penetration of AAIW into the Florida Straits documented in our authigenic Nd isotope record are synchronous with multiple climatic archives, including the Greenland ice core δ18O record, the Cariaco Basin atmosphere Δ14C reconstruction, the Bermuda Rise sedimentary Pa/Th record, and nutrient and stable isotope data from the tropical North Atlantic. The synchroneity of our Nd records with multiple climatic archives suggests a tight connection between AAIW variability and high‐latitude North Atlantic climate change.

Description: In this study, results from the Baltic Sea Tracer Release Experiment (BATRE) are described, in which deep water mixing rates and mixing processes in the central Baltic Sea were investigated. In September 2007, an inert tracer gas (CF3SF5) was injected at approximately 200 m depth in the Gotland Basin, and the subsequent spreading of the tracer was observed during six surveys until February 2009. These data describe the diapycnal and lateral mixing during a stagnation period without any significant deep water renewal due to inflow events. As one of the main results, vertical mixing rates were found to dramatically increase after the tracer had reached the lateral boundaries of the basin, suggesting boundary mixing as the key process for basin-scale vertical mixing. Basin-scale vertical diffusivities were of the order of 10−5 m2 s−1 (about 1 order of magnitude larger than interior diffusivities) with evidence for a seasonal and vertical variability. In contrast to tracer experiments in the open ocean, the basin geometry (hypsography) was found to have a crucial impact on the vertical tracer spreading. The e-folding time scale for deep water renewal due to mixing was slightly less than 2 years, the time scale for the lateral homogenization of the tracer patch was of the order of a few months. Key Points: Mixing rates in the Gotland Basin are dominated by boundary mixing processes; The time scale for Gotland Basin deep water renewal is approximately 2 years; Mixing rates determined from the tracer CF3SF5

Description: A seven-component upper ocean ecosystem model of nitrogen cycling calibrated with observations at Bermuda Station “S” has been coupled to a three-dimensional seasonal general circulation model (GCM) of the North Atlantic ocean. The aim of this project is to improve our understanding of the role of upper ocean biological processes in controlling surface chemical distributions, and to develop approaches for assimilating large data sets relevant to this problem. A comparison of model predicted chlorophyll with satellite coastal zone color scanner observations shows that the ecosystem model is capable of responding realistically to a variety of physical forcing environments. Most of the discrepancies identified are due to problems with the GCM model. The new production predicted by the model is equivalent to 2 to 2.8 mol m−2 yr−1 of carbon uptake, or 8 to 12 GtC/yr on a global scale. The southern half of the subtropical gyre is the only major region of the model with almost complete surface nitrate removal (nitrate〈0.1 mmol m−3). Despite this, almost the entire model is nitrate limited in the sense that any addition of nitrate supply would go predominantly into photosynthesis. The only exceptions are some coastal upwelling regions and the high latitudes during winter, where nitrate goes as high as ∼10 mmol m−3.

Description: New in situ measurements from 10 sites, including three in basalt, have about the same range of permeability for crystalline rocks as reported previously, namely, from about 10−18 m2 (1 μdarcy) to 10−13 m2 (100 mdarcy). Highly conductive intervals may be as deep as 3 km.

Description: The subduction of partially serpentinized oceanic mantle may potentially be the key geologic process leading to the regassing of Earth's mantle and also has important consequences for subduction zone processes such as element cycling, slab deformation, and intermediate-depth seismicity. However, little is known about the quantity of water that is retained in the slab during mantle serpentinization and the pattern of serpentinization that may occur during bending-related faulting; an initial state that is essential for quantifying subsequent dehydration processes. We present a 2-D reactive-flow model simulating hydration processes in the presence of faulting at the trench outer-rise. We find that the temperature dependence of the serpentinization rate in conjunction with outer-rise faulting results in plate age and speed dependent patterns of hydration. Serpentinization also results in a reduction in surface heat flux toward the trench caused by advective downflow of seawater into the reaction region. Observed heat flow reductions are larger than the reduction due to the minimum-water downflow needed for partial serpentinization, predicting that active hydrothermal vents and chemosynthetic communities should also be associated with bend-fault serpentinization. Our model results agree with previous studies that the lower plane of double Benioff zones can be generated due to dehydration of serpentinized mantle at depth. More importantly, the depth-dependent pattern of serpentinization including reaction kinetics predicts a separation between the two Benioff planes consistent with seismic observations.