ALBERT

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127(7), (2022): e2021JC018333, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018333.

Description: As part of a project focused on the coastal fisheries of Isla Natividad, an island on the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico, we conducted a 2-1/2 year study of flows at two sites within the island's kelp forests. At one site (Punta Prieta), currents are tidal, whereas at the other site (Morro Prieto), currents are weaker and may be more strongly influenced by wind forcing. Satellite estimates of the biomass of the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) for this period varied between 0 (no kelp) and 3 kg/m2 (dense kelp forest), including a period in which kelp entirely was absent as a result of the 2014–2015 “Warm Blob” in the Eastern Pacific. During this natural “deforestation experiment”, alongshore velocities at both sites when kelp was present were substantially weaker than when kelp was absent, with low-frequency alongshore currents attenuated more than higher frequency ones, behavior that was the same at both sites despite differences in forcing. The attenuation of cross-shore flows by kelp was less than alongshore flows; thus, residence times for water inside the kelp forest, which are primarily determined by cross-shore velocities, were only weakly affected by the presence or absence of kelp. The flow changes we observed in response to changes in kelp density are important to the biogeochemical functioning of the kelp forest in that slower flows imply longer residence times, and, are also ecologically relevant in that reduced tidal excursions may lead to more localized recruitment of planktonic larvae.

Description: The work we describe here was supported by NSF grants DEB 1212124, OCE 1416934, OCE 1736830, and OCE 2022927, by an equipment grant from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, and through grants from the Marisla Foundation, Packard Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

Description: 2022-12-24

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Long, M. D., Wagner, L. S., King, S. D., Evans, R. L., Mazza, S. E., Byrnes, J. S., Johnson, E. A., Kirby, E., Bezada, M. J., Gazel, E., Miller, S. R., Aragon, J. C., & Liu, S. Evaluating models for lithospheric loss and intraplate volcanism beneath the Central Appalachian Mountains. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(10), (2021): e2021JB022571, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022571.

Description: The eastern margin of North America has been shaped by a series of tectonic events including the Paleozoic Appalachian Orogeny and the breakup of Pangea during the Mesozoic. For the past ∼200 Ma, eastern North America has been a passive continental margin; however, there is evidence in the Central Appalachian Mountains for post-rifting modification of lithospheric structure. This evidence includes two co-located pulses of magmatism that post-date the rifting event (at 152 and 47 Ma) along with low seismic velocities, high seismic attenuation, and high electrical conductivity in the upper mantle. Here, we synthesize and evaluate constraints on the lithospheric evolution of the Central Appalachian Mountains. These include tomographic imaging of seismic velocities, seismic and electrical conductivity imaging along the Mid-Atlantic Geophysical Integrative Collaboration array, gravity and heat flow measurements, geochemical and petrological examination of Jurassic and Eocene magmatic rocks, and estimates of erosion rates from geomorphological data. We discuss and evaluate a set of possible mechanisms for lithospheric loss and intraplate volcanism beneath the region. Taken together, recent observations provide compelling evidence for lithospheric loss beneath the Central Appalachians; while they cannot uniquely identify the processes associated with this loss, they narrow the range of plausible models, with important implications for our understanding of intraplate volcanism and the evolution of continental lithosphere. Our preferred models invoke a combination of (perhaps episodic) lithospheric loss via Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities and subsequent small-scale mantle flow in combination with shear-driven upwelling that maintains the region of thin lithosphere and causes partial melting in the asthenosphere.

Description: The authors acknowledge support from the U.S. National Science Foundation EarthScope and GeoPRISMS programs via grants EAR-1460257 (R. L. Evans), EAR-1249412 (E. Gazel), EAR-1249438 (E. A. Johnson), EAR-1250988 (S. D. King), EAR-1251538 (E. Kirby), and EAR-1251515 (M. D. Long). The collection and dissemination of most of the geophysical data and models discussed in this study were facilitated by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The facilities of the IRIS Consortium are supported by the United States National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement EAR-1261681.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bo, T., Ralston, D. K., Kranenburg, W. M., Geyer, W. R., & Traykovski, P. High and variable drag in a sinuous estuary with intermittent stratification. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(10), (2021): e2021JC017327, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017327

Description: In field observations from a sinuous estuary, the drag coefficient C based on the momentum balance was in the range of 5-20 X10-3, much greater than expected from bottom friction alone. C also varied at tidal and seasonal timescales. CD was greater during flood tides than ebbs, most notably during spring tides. The ebb tide CD was negatively correlated with river discharge, while the flood tide CD showed no dependence on discharge. The large values of CD are explained by form drag from flow separation at sharp channel bends. Greater water depths during flood tides corresponded with increased values of CD, consistent with the expected depth dependence for flow separation, as flow separation becomes stronger in deeper water. Additionally, the strength of the adverse pressure gradient downstream of the bend apex, which is indicative of flow separation, correlated with CD during flood tides. While CD generally increased with water depth, CD decreased for the highest water levels that corresponded with overbank flow. The decrease in CD may be due to the inhibition of flow separation with flow over the vegetated marsh. The dependence of CD during ebbs on discharge corresponds with the inhibition of flow separation by a favoring baroclinic pressure gradient that is locally generated at the bend apex due to curvature-induced secondary circulation. This effect increases with stratification, which increases with discharge. Additional factors may contribute to the high drag, including secondary circulation, multiple scales of bedforms, and shallow shoals, but the observations suggest that flow separation is the primary source.

Description: The research leading to these results was funded by NSF awards OCE-1634480, OCE-1634481, and OCE-2123002.

Description: 2022-03-29

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 49(13), (2022): e2022GL098554, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098554.

Description: Summertime heavy rainfall and its resultant floods are among the most harmful natural hazards in the US Midwest, one of the world's primary crop production areas. However, seasonal forecasts of heavy rain, currently based on preseason sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs), remain unsatisfactory. Here, we present evidence that sea surface salinity anomalies (SSSAs) over the tropical western Pacific and subtropical North Atlantic are skillful predictors of summer time heavy rainfall one season ahead. A one standard deviation change in tropical western Pacific SSSA is associated with a 1.8 mm day−1 increase in local precipitation, which excites a teleconnection pattern to extratropical North Pacific. Via extratropical air-sea interaction and long memory of midlatitude SSTA, a wave train favorable for US Midwest heavy rain is induced. Combined with soil moisture feedbacks bridging the springtime North Atlantic salinity, the SSSA-based statistical prediction model improves Midwest heavy rainfall forecasts by 92%, complementing existing SSTA-based frameworks.

Description: This study is supported by the NSF PREEVENTS program under ICER-1663138 (LL) and ICER-1663704 (RWS and CCU).

Description: 2023-01-07

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127(7), (2022): e2021JC018276, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018276.

Description: Coastal communities across the United States (U.S.) are experiencing an increase in the frequency of high-tide flooding (HTF). This increase is mainly due to sea-level rise (SLR), but other factors such as intra- to inter-annual mean sea level variability, tidal anomalies, and non-tidal residuals also contribute to HTF events. Here we introduce a novel decomposition approach to develop and then analyze a new database of different sea-level components. Those components represent processes that act on various timescales to contribute to HTF along the U.S. coastline. We find that the relative importance of components to HTF events strongly varies in space and time. Tidal anomalies contribute the most along the west and northeast coasts, where HTF events mostly occur in winter. Non-tidal residuals are most important along the Gulf of Mexico and mid-Atlantic coasts, where HTF events mostly occur in fall. We also quantify the minimum number of components that were required to cause HTF events in the past and how this number changed over time. The results highlight that at present, due to SLR, fewer components are needed to combine to push water levels above HTF thresholds, but tidal anomalies alone are still not sufficient to reach HTF thresholds in most locations. Finally, we explore how co-variability between different components leads to compounding effects. In some places, positive correlation between sea-level components leads to significantly more HTF events than would be expected if sea-level components were uncorrelated, whereas in other places negative correlation leads to fewer HTF events.

Description: his work was supported by NASA's Sea Level Change Team award number 80NSSC20K1241. S.L. also acknowledges support by the China Scholarship Council (no. 201904910413) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (grant no. 2011YQ120045).

Description: 2023-01-14

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Dzwonkowski, B., Fournier, S., Lockridge, G., Coogan, J., Liu, Z., & Park, K. Cascading weather events amplify the coastal thermal conditions prior to the shelf transit of Hurricane Sally (2020). Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(12), (2021): e2021JC017957, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017957.

Description: Changes in tropical cyclone intensity prior to landfall represent a significant risk to human life and coastal infrastructure. Such changes can be influenced by shelf water temperatures through their role in mediating heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. However, the evolution of shelf sea surface temperature during a storm is dependent on the initial thermal conditions of the water column, information that is often unavailable. Here, observational data from multiple monitoring stations and satellite sensors were used to identify the sequence of events that led to the development of storm-favorable thermal conditions in the Mississippi Bight prior to the transit of Hurricane Sally (2020), a storm that rapidly intensified over the shelf. The annual peak in depth-average temperature of 〉29°C that occurred prior to the arrival of Hurricane Sally was the result of two distinct warming periods caused by a cascade of weather events. The event sequence transitioned the system from below average to above average thermal conditions over a 25-day period. The transition was initiated with the passage of Hurricane Marco (2020), which mixed the upper water column, transferring heat downward and minimizing the cold bottom water reserved over the shelf. The subsequent reheating of the upper ocean by surface heat flux from the atmosphere, followed by downwelling winds, effectively elevated shelf-wide thermal conditions for the subsequent storm, Hurricane Sally. The coupling of climatological downwelling winds and warm sea surface temperature suggest regions with such characteristics are at an elevated risk for storm intensification over the shelf.

Description: his paper is a result of research funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's RESTORE Science Program under awards NA17NOS4510101 and NA19NOS4510194 to the University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab and by the NASA Physical Oceanography program under award 80NSSC21K0553 and WBS 281945.02.25.04.67 to the University of South Alabama and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A portion of this work was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. We thank the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Laboratory, Ocean Biology Processing Group for the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra ocean color data; 2014 Reprocessing. NASA OB.DAAC, Greenbelt, MD, USA. 10.5067/AQUA/MODIS/MODIS_OC.2014.0.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 49, (2022): e2021GL096180, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl096180.

Description: In the subtropical gyres, phytoplankton rely on eddies for transporting nutrients from depth to the euphotic zone. But, what controls the rate of nutrient supply for new production? We show that vertical nutrient flux both depends on the vertical motion within the eddying flow and varies nonlinearly with the phytoplankton growth rate. Flux is maximized when the growth rate matches the inverse of the decorrelation timescale for vertical motion. Using a three-dimensional ocean model and a linear nutrient uptake model, we find that phytoplankton productivity is maximized for a growth rate of 1/3 day−1, which corresponds to the timescale of submesoscale dynamics. Variability in the frequency of vertical motion across different physical features of the flow favors phytoplankton production with different growth rates. Such a growth-transport feedback can generate diversity in the phytoplankton community structure at submesoscales and higher net productivity in the presence of community diversity.

Description: MAF and AM were funded by N00014-16-1-3130 (ONR) and MAF was also supported by the Martin Fellowship, MIT.

Description: 2022-07-20

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Goodkin, N. F., Samanta, D., Bolton, A., Ong, M. R., Hoang, P. K., Vo, S. T., Karnauskas, K. B., & Hughen, K. A. Natural and anthropogenic forcing of multi-decadal to centennial scale variability of sea surface temperature in the South China Sea. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36(10), (2021): e2021PA004233, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004233.

Description: Four hundred years of reconstructed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from a coral located off the coast of Vietnam show significant multi-decadal to centennial-scale variability in wet and dry seasons. Wet and dry season SST co-vary significantly at multi-decadal timescales, and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) explains the majority of variability in both seasons. A newly reconstructed wet season IPO index was compared to other IPO reconstructions, showing significant long-term agreement with varying amplitude of negative IPO signals based on geographic location. Dry season SST also correlates to sea level pressure anomalies and the East Asian Winter Monsoon, although with an inverse relationship from established interannual behavior, as previously seen with an ocean circulation proxy from the same coral. Centennial-scale variability in wet and dry season SST shows 300 years of near simultaneous changes, with an abrupt decoupling of the records around 1900, after which the dry season continues a long-term cooling trend while the wet season remains almost constant. Climate model simulations indicate greenhouse gases as the largest contributor to the decoupling of the wet and dry season SSTs and demonstrate increased heat advection to the western South China Sea in the wet season, potentially disrupting the covariance in seasonal SST.

Description: This research was supported by a Singapore National Research Fellowship to N.F. Goodkin (NRFF-2012-03) as administered by the Earth Observatory of Singapore and by a Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 2 award to N.F. Goodkin, K.A. Hughen, and K.B. Karnauskas (MOE-2016-T2-1-016). D. Samanta was partially supported by a Singapore Ministry of Education Tier 3 award (MOE2019-T3-1-004).

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Gawarkiewicz, G., Fratantoni, P., Bahr, F., & Ellertson, A. Increasing frequency of mid‐depth salinity maximum intrusions in the Middle Atlantic Bight. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127(7), (2022): e2021JC018233, https://doi.org/10.1029./2021jc018233.

Description: Shelfbreak exchange processes have been studied extensively in the Middle Atlantic Bight. An important process occurring during stratified conditions is the Salinity Maximum Intrusion. These features are commonly observed at the depth of the seasonal pycnocline, and less frequently at the surface and bottom. Data collected from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Ecosystem Monitoring program as well as data collected from the fishing industry in Rhode Island show that the middepth intrusions are now occurring much more frequently than was reported in a previous climatology of the intrusions (Lentz, 2003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC001859). The intrusions have a greater salinity difference from ambient water and penetrate large distances shoreward of the shelf break relative to the earlier climatology. The longer term data from the Ecosystem Monitoring program indicates that the increase in frequency occurred in 2000, and thus may be linked to a recent regime shift in the annual formation rate of Warm Core Rings by the Gulf Stream. Given the increased frequency of these salty intrusions, it will be necessary to properly resolve this process in numerical simulations in order to account for salt budgets for the continental shelf and slope.

Description: Data collection for the Shelf Research Fleet and salary for G. Gawarkiewicz, F. Bahr, and A. Ellertson were provided by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation of Newport, RI. G. Gawarkiewicz, F. Bahr, and A. Ellertson were also supported in analysis of this data by NSF grant OCE-1851261.

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wang, O., Lee, T., Piecuch, C., Fukumori, I., Fenty, I., Frederikse, T., Menemenlis, D., Ponte, R., & Zhang, H. Local and remote forcing of interannual sea‐level variability at Nantucket Island. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127(6), (2022): e2021JC018275, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jc018275.

Description: The relative contributions of local and remote wind stress and air-sea buoyancy forcing to sea-level variations along the East Coast of the United States are not well quantified, hindering the understanding of sea-level predictability there. Here, we use an adjoint sensitivity analysis together with an Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) ocean state estimate to establish the causality of interannual variations in Nantucket dynamic sea level. Wind forcing explains 67% of the Nantucket interannual sea-level variance, while wind and buoyancy forcing together explain 97% of the variance. Wind stress contribution is near-local, primarily from the New England shelf northeast of Nantucket. We disprove a previous hypothesis about Labrador Sea wind stress being an important driver of Nantucket sea-level variations. Buoyancy forcing, as important as wind stress in some years, includes local contributions as well as remote contributions from the subpolar North Atlantic that influence Nantucket sea level a few years later. Our rigorous adjoint-based analysis corroborates previous correlation-based studies indicating that sea-level variations in the subpolar gyre and along the United States northeast coast can both be influenced by subpolar buoyancy forcing. Forward perturbation experiments further indicate remote buoyancy forcing affects Nantucket sea level mostly through slow advective processes, although coastally trapped waves can cause rapid Nantucket sea level response within a few weeks.

Description: This research was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). CGP was supported by NASA Sea Level Change Team awards 80NSSC20K1241 and 80NM0018D0004.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 35(10), (2021): e2021GB007058, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007058.

Description: Continental shelves are important sources of iron (Fe) in the land-dominated Arctic Ocean. To understand the export of Fe from the Arctic to Baffin Bay (BB) and the North Atlantic, we studied the alteration of the Fe signature in waters transiting the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). During its transit through the CAA, inflowing Arctic Waters from the Canada Basin become enriched in Fe as result of strong sediment resuspension and enhanced sediment-water interactions (non-reductive dissolution). These high Fe waters are exported to BB, where approximately 10.7 kt of Fe are delivered yearly from Lancaster Sound. Furthermore, if the two remaining main CAA pathways (Jones Sound and Nares Strait) are included, this shelf environment would be a dominant source term of Fe (dFe + pFe: 26–90 kt y−1) to Baffin Bay. The conservative Fe flux estimate (26 kt y−1) is 1.7–38 times greater than atmospheric inputs, and may be crucial in supporting primary production and nitrogen fixation in BB and beyond.

Description: This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Grant NSERC-CCAR), the Northern Scientific Training Program, and by the University of British Columbia through a Four Year Fellowship to B. Rogalla.

Description: 2022-03-20

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Durkin, C. A., Buesseler, K. O., Cetinic, I., Estapa, M. L., Kelly, R. P., & Omand, M. A visual tour of carbon export by sinking particles. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 35(10), (2021): e2021GB006985, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB006985.

Description: To better quantify the ocean's biological carbon pump, we resolved the diversity of sinking particles that transport carbon into the ocean's interior, their contribution to carbon export, and their attenuation with depth. Sinking particles collected in sediment trap gel layers from four distinct ocean ecosystems were imaged, measured, and classified. The size and identity of particles was used to model their contribution to particulate organic carbon (POC) flux. Measured POC fluxes were reasonably predicted by particle images. Nine particle types were identified, and most of the compositional variability was driven by the relative contribution of aggregates, long cylindrical fecal pellets, and salp fecal pellets. While particle composition varied across locations and seasons, the entire range of compositions was measured at a single well-observed location in the subarctic North Pacific over one month, across 500 m of depth. The magnitude of POC flux was not consistently associated with a dominant particle class, but particle classes did influence flux attenuation. Long fecal pellets attenuated most rapidly with depth whereas certain other classes attenuated little or not at all with depth. Small particles (〈100 μm) consistently contributed ∼5% to total POC flux in samples with higher magnitude fluxes. The relative importance of these small particle classes (spherical mini pellets, short oval fecal pellets, and dense detritus) increased in low flux environments (up to 46% of total POC flux). Imaging approaches that resolve large variations in particle composition across ocean basins, depth, and time will help to better parameterize biological carbon pump models.

Description: This work was supported by an NSF EAGER award to C. A. Durkin (OCE-1703664), M. L. Estapa (OCE-1703422), and M. Omand (OCE-1703336), and also by the NASA EXPORTS program (80NSSC17K0662), a NASA New Investigator award to M. L. Estapa (NNX14AM01G), the Rhode Island Endeavor Program (RIEP), NASA's PACE mission, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(11), (2021): e2021JC017526, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017526.

Description: The traditional understanding of the regional circulation in the Northwest Pacific marginal seas is that the Korean Coastal Current flows southward, following the isobaths of 20–50 m. However, an unusual tongue-shaped structure of cold water is observed in satellite SST data in January 2017, indicating a possible offshore spread of cold coastal water into the middle Southern Yellow Sea (SYS). Additional observations, including in situ hydrographic data as well as direct current measurement, also suggest this cross-shelf transport of the Korean Coastal Water in January 2017. Our analysis shows that this flow breaks through the isobaths at ∼37°N, moves southward between 50–75 m, and eventually veers anti-cyclonically at ∼35°N to join the western slope of the SYS. This circulation pattern is further supported by heat budget analysis. Diagnosis of potential vorticity (PV) reveals that the elevated negative PV anomaly imposed by surface wind stress favors this unusual cross-shelf transport. The change of wind pattern, although under a deceasing wind speed condition, plays an important role. This work provides an alternative view of the wintertime circulation pattern and motivates future studies of the variability of the coastal currents over interannual and longer time scales in the SYS.

Description: his study was supported by the Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program (2019JZZY020713, 2019GHY112057), the National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFC1401406, 2016YFA0600900), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42076010, 42130403), National Fund Committee-Shandong joint fund (U1706215), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020042010), and Ocean University of China-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Cooperative Research Initiative (24887).

Description: 2022-05-01

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Horner, T. J., Little, S. H., Conway, T. M., Farmer, J. R., Hertzberg, J. E., Janssen, D. J., Lough, A. J. M., McKay, J. L., Tessin, A., Galer, S. J. G., Jaccard, S. L., Lacan, F., Paytan, A., Wuttig, K., & GEOTRACES–PAGES Biological Productivity Working Group Members (2021). Bioactive trace metals and their isotopes as paleoproductivity proxies: an assessment using GEOTRACES-era data. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 35(11), e2020GB006814. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006814.

Description: Phytoplankton productivity and export sequester climatically significant quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide as particulate organic carbon through a suite of processes termed the biological pump. Constraining how the biological pump operated in the past is important for understanding past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and Earth's climate history. However, reconstructing the history of the biological pump requires proxies. Due to their intimate association with biological processes, several bioactive trace metals and their isotopes are potential proxies for past phytoplankton productivity, including iron, zinc, copper, cadmium, molybdenum, barium, nickel, chromium, and silver. Here, we review the oceanic distributions, driving processes, and depositional archives for these nine metals and their isotopes based on GEOTRACES-era datasets. We offer an assessment of the overall maturity of each isotope system to serve as a proxy for diagnosing aspects of past ocean productivity and identify priorities for future research. This assessment reveals that cadmium, barium, nickel, and chromium isotopes offer the most promise as tracers of paleoproductivity, whereas iron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum do not. Too little is known about silver to make a confident determination. Intriguingly, the trace metals that are least sensitive to productivity may be used to track other aspects of ocean chemistry, such as nutrient sources, particle scavenging, organic complexation, and ocean redox state. These complementary sensitivities suggest new opportunities for combining perspectives from multiple proxies that will ultimately enable painting a more complete picture of marine paleoproductivity, biogeochemical cycles, and Earth's climate history.

Description: T. J. Horner acknowledges support from NSF; S. H. Little from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P018181/1); T. M. Conway from the University of South Florida; and, J. R. Farmer from the Max Planck Society, the Tuttle Fund of the Department of Geosciences of Princeton University, the Grand Challenges Program of the Princeton Environmental Institute, and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment of Princeton University.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Brinkmann, I., Ni, S., Schweizer, M., Oldham, V. E., Quintana Krupinski, N. B., Medjoubi, K., Somogyi, A., Whitehouse, M. J., Hansel, C. M., Barras, C., Bernhard, J. M., & Filipsson, H. L. Foraminiferal Mn/Ca as bottom-water hypoxia proxy: an assessment of Nonionella stella in the Santa Barbara Basin, USA. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36(11), (2021): e2020PA004167, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA004167.

Description: Hypoxia is of increasing concern in marine areas, calling for a better understanding of mechanisms leading to decreasing dissolved oxygen concentrations ([O2]). Much can be learned about the processes and implications of deoxygenation for marine ecosystems using proxy records from low-oxygen sites, provided proxies, such as the manganese (Mn) to calcium (Ca) ratio in benthic foraminiferal calcite, are available and well calibrated. Here we report a modern geochemical data set from three hypoxic sites within the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB), USA, where we study the response of Mn/Caforam in the benthic foraminifer Nonionella stella to variations in sedimentary redox conditions (Mn, Fe) and bottom-water dissolved [O2]. We combine molecular species identification by small subunit rDNA sequencing with morphological characterization and assign the SBB N. stella used here to a new phylotype (T6). Synchrotron-based scanning X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) show low Mn incorporation (partition coefficient DMn 〈 0.05) and limited proxy sensitivity of N. stella, at least within the range of dissolved [O2] (2.7–9.6 μmol/l) and Mnpore-water gradients (2.12–21.59 μmol/l). Notably, even though intra- and interspecimen Mn/Ca variability (33% and 58%, respectively) was only partially controlled by the environment, Mn/Caforam significantly correlated with both pore-water Mn and bottom-water [O2]. However, the prevalent suboxic bottom-water conditions and limited dissolved [O2] range complicate the interpretation of trace-elemental trends. Additional work involving other oxygenation proxies and samples from a wider oxygen gradient should be pursued to further develop foraminiferal Mn/Ca as an indicator for hypoxic conditions.

Description: We acknowledge funding from the Swedish Research Council VR (grant numbers 2017-04190 and 2017-00671), the Crafoord Foundation, and the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, Sweden. Shiptime provided by US NSF IOS 1557430. We acknowledge SOLEIL for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities and the beamline NANOSCOPIUM (proposal number 20181115). The synchrotron-based experiments were supported by CALIPSOplus under the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020 (grant agreement 730872). The SIMS analyses were jointly supported by the Swedish Museum of Natural History and Swedish Research Council. This is NordSIMS contribution No. 694. J. M. Bernhard and C. M. Hansel also acknowledge funding from the US National Science Foundation (IOS 1557430).

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hawco, N. J., Barone, B., Church, M. J., Babcock-Adams, L., Repeta, D. J., Wear, E. K., Foreman, R. K., Bjorkman, K. M., Bent, S., Van Mooy, B. A. S., Sheyn, U., DeLong, E. F., Acker, M., Kelly, R. L., Nelson, A., Ranieri, J., Clemente, T. M., Karl, D. M., & John, S. G. Iron depletion in the deep chlorophyll maximum: mesoscale eddies as natural iron fertilization experiments. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 35(12), (2021): e2021GB007112, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007112.

Description: In stratified oligotrophic waters, phytoplankton communities forming the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) are isolated from atmospheric iron sources above and remineralized iron sources below. Reduced supply leads to a minimum in dissolved iron (dFe) near 100 m, but it is unclear if iron limits growth at the DCM. Here, we propose that natural iron addition events occur regularly with the passage of mesoscale eddies, which alter the supply of dFe and other nutrients relative to the availability of light, and can be used to test for iron limitation at the DCM. This framework is applied to two eddies sampled in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Observations in an anticyclonic eddy center indicated downwelling of iron-rich surface waters, leading to increased dFe at the DCM but no increase in productivity. In contrast, uplift of isopycnals within a cyclonic eddy center increased supply of both nitrate and dFe to the DCM, and led to dominance of picoeukaryotic phytoplankton. Iron addition experiments did not increase productivity in either eddy, but significant enhancement of leucine incorporation in the light was observed in the cyclonic eddy, a potential indicator of iron stress among Prochlorococcus. Rapid cycling of siderophores and low dFe:nitrate uptake ratios also indicate that a portion of the microbial community was stressed by low iron. However, near-complete nitrate drawdown in this eddy, which represents an extreme case in nutrient supply compared to nearby Hawaii Ocean Time-series observations, suggests that recycling of dFe in oligotrophic ecosystems is sufficient to avoid iron limitation in the DCM under typical conditions.

Description: The expedition and analyses were supported by the Simons Foundation SCOPE Grant 329108 to S. G. John, M. J. Church, D. J. Repeta, B. Van Mooy, E. F. DeLong, and D. M. Karl. N. J. Hawco was supported by a Simons Foundation Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution postdoctoral fellowship (602538) and Simons Foundation grant 823167.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hudak, M. R., Bindeman, I. N., Loewen, M. W., & Giachetti, T. Syn-eruptive hydration of volcanic ash records pyroclast-water interaction in explosive eruptions. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(23), (2021): e2021GL094141, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094141.

Description: Magma-water interaction can dramatically influence the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. However, syn- and post-eruptive diffusion of external (non-magmatic) water into volcanic glass remains poorly constrained and may bias interpretation of water in juvenile products. Hydrogen isotopes in ash from the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, record syn-eruptive hydration by vaporized glacial meltwater. Both ash aggregation and hydration occurred in the wettest regions of the plume, which resulted in the removal and deposition of the most hydrated ash in proximal areas 〈50 km from the vent. Diffusion models show that the high temperatures of pyroclast-water interactions (〉400°C) are more important than the cooling rate in facilitating hydration. These observations suggest that syn-eruptive glass hydration occurred where meltwater was entrained at high temperature, in the plume margins near the vent. Ash in the drier plume interior remained insulated from entrained meltwater until it cooled sufficiently to avoid significant hydration.

Description: This work was supported by a Geological Society of America Bruce L. "Biff" Reed Scholarship Award and NSF Grant EAR 1822977.

Description: 2022-05-15

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(12), (2021): e2021JC017860, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017860.

Description: An appropriate proxy could help to better understand dissolved oxygen variations in the past, helping to predict potential outcomes of future environmental changes. In the Changjiang Estuary (China), the foraminifer Cribrononion subincertum (C. subincertum) shows a distinct population maximum in the topmost sediment, an indication of an epifaunal species. Therefore, the geochemical composition of C. subincertum tests could record changes in the region’s bottom water chemistry. Our results showed that Mn/Ca ratios in tests of living (Rose-Bengal stained) C. subincertum analyzed by LA-ICP-MS were responsive to variations of bottom water dissolved oxygen concentrations, with average foraminiferal Mn/Ca ratios three times higher during low-oxygen period than in winter. In the uppermost centimeters of sediment, wider ranges of foraminiferal Mn/Ca occurred in summer compared to winter ranges. Our results imply that this epifaunal benthic foraminiferal species could serve as a useful benthic monitor with the Mn/Ca ratios representing a reliable proxy of hypoxia in the past.

Description: This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Grants 41876075, 42130410, and 41620104001), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (201841007, 201962003, and 201961012). JMB acknowledges the Investment in Science Fund at WHOI, which supported her participation in this project.

Description: 2022-06-17

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 36(1), (2022): e2021GB007113, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007113.

Description: Stordalen Mire is a peatland in the discontinuous permafrost zone in arctic Sweden that exhibits a habitat gradient from permafrost palsa, to Sphagnum bog underlain by permafrost, to Eriophorum-dominated fully thawed fen. We used three independent approaches to evaluate the annual, multi-decadal, and millennial apparent carbon accumulation rates (aCAR) across this gradient: seven years of direct semi-continuous measurement of CO2 and CH4 exchange, and 21 core profiles for 210Pb and 14C peat dating. Year-round chamber measurements indicated net carbon balance of −13 ± 8, −49 ± 15, and −91 ± 43 g C m−2 y−1 for the years 2012–2018 in palsa, bog, and fen, respectively. Methane emission offset 2%, 7%, and 17% of the CO2 uptake rate across this gradient. Recent aCAR indicates higher C accumulation rates in surface peats in the palsa and bog compared to current CO2 fluxes, but these assessments are more similar in the fen. aCAR increased from low millennial-scale levels (17–29 g C m−2 y−1) to moderate aCAR of the past century (72–81 g C m−2 y−1) to higher recent aCAR of 90–147 g C m−2 y−1. Recent permafrost collapse, greater inundation and vegetation response has made the landscape a stronger CO2 sink, but this CO2 sink is increasingly offset by rising CH4 emissions, dominated by modern carbon as determined by 14C. The higher CH4 emissions result in higher net CO2-equivalent emissions, indicating that radiative forcing of this mire and similar permafrost ecosystems will exert a warming influence on future climate.

Description: We would like to acknowledge the following funding in support of this project: Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR) grants (NT 2007-4547 and NT 2013-5562 to P. Crill), U.S. Department of Energy grants (DE-SC0004632 and DE-SC0010580 to V. Rich and S. Saleska), and U.S. National Science Foundation MacroSystems Biology grant (NSF EF #1241037, PI Varner). This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under the Genomic Science program. We also acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation for the EMERGE Biology Integration Institute, NSF Award #2022070.

Description: 2022-07-03

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127(1), (2022): e2021JC017424, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017424.

Description: By compiling boreal summer (June to October) CO2 measurements from 1989 to 2019 on the Bering and eastern Chukchi Sea shelves, we find that the study areas act as a CO2 sink except when impacted by river runoff and wind-driven upwelling. The CO2 system in this area is seasonally dominated by the biological pump especially in the northern Bering Sea and near Hanna Shoal, while wind-driven upwelling of CO2-rich bottom water can cause episodic outgassing. Seasonal surface ΔfCO2 (oceanic fCO2 – air fCO2) is dominantly driven by temperature only during periods of weak CO2 outgassing in shallow nearshore areas. However, after comparing the mean summer ΔfCO2 during the periods of 1989–2013 and 2014–2019, we suggest that temperature does drive long-term, multi-decadal patterns in ΔfCO2. In the northern Chukchi Sea, rapid warming concurrent with reduced seasonal sea-ice persistence caused the regional summer CO2 sink to decrease. By contrast, increasing primary productivity caused the regional summer CO2 sink on the Bering Sea shelf to increase over time. While additional time series are needed to confirm the seasonal and annual trajectory of CO2 changes and ocean acidification in these dynamic and spatially complex ecosystems, this study provides a meaningful mechanistic analysis of recent changes in inorganic carbonate chemistry. As high-resolution time series of inorganic carbonate parameters lengthen and short-term variations are better constrained in the coming decades, we will have stronger confidence in assessing the mechanisms contributing to long-term changes in the source/sink status of regional sub-Arctic seas.

Description: We gratefully acknowledge the support of the funding agencies that supported this analysis, including the New Sustained Observations for Arctic Research project and the DBO-NCIS project (NA14OAR4320158, NA19OAR4320074) from the NOAA Arctic Research Program.

Description: 2022-06-17

Description: © The Author(s), [year]. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Barreyre, T., Parnell‐Turner, R., Wu, J., & Fornari, D. Tracking crustal permeability and hydrothermal response during seafloor eruptions at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50’N. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(3), (2022): e2021GL095459, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl095459.

Description: Permeability controls energy and matter fluxes in deep-sea hydrothermal systems fueling a 'deep biosphere' of microorganisms. Here, we indirectly measure changes in sub-seafloor crustal permeability, based on the tidal response of high-temperature hydrothermal vents at the East Pacific Rise 9°50’N preceding the last phase of volcanic eruptions during 2005–2006. Ten months before the last phase of the eruptions, permeability decreased, first rapidly, and then steadily as the stress built up, until hydrothermal flow stopped altogether ∼2 weeks prior to the January 2006 eruption phase. This trend was interrupted by abrupt permeability increases, attributable to dike injection during last phase of the eruptions, which released crustal stress, allowing hydrothermal flow to resume. These observations and models suggest that abrupt changes in crustal permeability caused by magmatic intrusion and volcanic eruption can control first-order hydrothermal circulation processes. This methodology has the potential to aid eruption forecasting along the global mid-ocean ridge network.

Description: This research is funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to D. J. Fornari and T. Barreyre (OCE-1949485), and to R. Parnell-Turner (OCE-1948936). T. Barreyre was supported by the University of Bergen, Norway.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fan, S., Cross, A. J., Prior, D. J., Goldsby, D. L., Hager, T. F., Negrini, M., & Qi, C. Crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) development governs strain weakening in ice: insights from high-temperature deformation experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(12), (2021): e2021JB023173, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB023173.

Description: Strain weakening leads to the formation of high-strain shear zones and strongly influences terrestrial ice discharge. In glacial flow models, strain weakening is assumed to arise from the alignment of weak basal planes—the development of a crystallographic preferred orientation, CPO—during flow. However, in experiments, ice strain weakening also coincides with grain size reduction, which has been invoked as a weakening mechanism in other minerals. To interrogate the relative contributions of CPO development and grain size reduction toward ice strain weakening, we deformed initially isotropic polycrystalline ice samples to progressively higher strains between −4 and −30°C. Microstructural measurements were subsequently combined with flow laws to separately model the mechanical response expected to arise from CPO development and grain size reduction. Magnitudes of strain weakening predicted by the constitutive flow laws were then compared with the experimental measurements. Flow laws that only consider grain size do not predict weakening with strain despite grain size reduction. In contrast, flow laws solely considering CPO effects can reproduce the measured strain weakening. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that strain weakening in ice is dominated by CPO development, at least under high temperature (Th ≥ 0.9) and high stress (〉1 MPa), like those in our experiments. We speculate that at high homologous temperatures (Th ≥ 0.9), CPO development will also govern the strain weakening behavior of other viscously anisotropic minerals, like olivine and quartz. Overall, we emphasize that geodynamic and glaciological models should incorporate CPOs to account for strain weakening, especially at high homologous temperatures.

Description: This work was supported by a NASA fund (grant no. NNX15AM69G) to David L. Goldsby and two Marsden Funds of the Royal Society of New Zealand (grant nos. UOO1116, UOO052) to David J. Prior. Sheng Fan was supported by the University of Otago doctoral scholarship, the Antarctica New Zealand doctoral scholarship, a research grant from New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment through the Antarctic Science Platform (ANTA1801) (grant no. ASP-023-03), and a New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute (NZARI) Early Career Researcher Seed Grant (grant no. NZARI 2020-1-5).

Description: Changes in Southern Ocean export production have broad biogeochemical and climatic implications. Specifically, iron fertilization likely increased subantarctic nutrient utilization and enhanced the efficiency of the biological pump during glacials. However, past export production in the subantarctic Southeast Pacific is poorly documented, and its connection to Fe fertilization, potentially related to Patagonian Ice Sheet dynamics is unknown. We report on biological productivity changes over the past 400 ka, based on a combination of 230Thxs-normalized and stratigraphy-based mass accumulation rates of biogenic barium, organic carbon, biogenic opal, and calcium carbonate as indicators of paleo-export production in a sediment core upstream of the Drake Passage. In addition, we use fluxes of iron and lithogenic material as proxies for terrigenous matter, and thus potential micronutrient supply. Stratigraphy-based mass accumulation rates are strongly influenced by bottom-current dynamics, which result in variable sediment focussing or winnowing at our site. Carbonate is virtually absent in the core, except during peak interglacial intervals of the Holocene, and Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5 and 11, likely caused by transient decreases in carbonate dissolution. All other proxies suggest that export production increased during most glacial periods, coinciding with high iron fluxes. Such augmented glacial iron fluxes at the core site were most likely derived from glaciogenic input from the Patagonian Ice Sheet promoting the growth of phytoplankton. Additionally, glacial export production peaks are also consistent with northward shifts of the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts, which positioned our site south of the Subantarctic Front and closer to silicic acid-rich waters of the Polar Frontal Zone, as well as a with a decrease in the diatom utilization of Si relative to nitrate under Fe-replete conditions. However, glacial export production near the Drake Passage was lower than in the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean, which may relate to complete consumption of silicic acid in the study area. Our results underline the importance of micro-nutrient fertilization through lateral terrigenous input from South America rather than aeolian transport, and exemplify the role of frontal shifts and nutrient limitation for past productivity changes in the Pacific entrance to the Drake Passage.

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Slater, D., Carroll, D., Oliver, H., Hopwood, M., Straneo, F., Wood, M., Willis, J., & Morlighem, M. Characteristic depths, fluxes and timescales for Greenland’s tidewater glacier fjords from subglacial discharge‐driven upwelling during summer. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(10),(2022): e2021GL097081, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl097081.

Description: Greenland's glacial fjords are a key bottleneck in the earth system, regulating exchange of heat, freshwater and nutrients between the ice sheet and ocean and hosting societally important fisheries. We combine recent bathymetric, atmospheric, and oceanographic data with a buoyant plume model to show that summer subglacial discharge from 136 tidewater glaciers, amounting to 0.02 Sv of freshwater, drives 0.6–1.6 Sv of upwelling. Bathymetric analysis suggests that this is sufficient to renew most major fjords within a single summer, and that these fjords provide a path to the continental shelf that is deeper than 200 m for two-thirds of the glaciers. Our study provides a first pan-Greenland inventory of tidewater glacier fjords and quantifies regional and ice sheet-wide upwelling fluxes. This analysis provides important context for site-specific studies and is a step toward implementing fjord-scale heat, freshwater and nutrient fluxes in large-scale ice sheet and climate models.

Description: DAS acknowledges support from NERC Independent Research Fellowship NE/T011920/1. DAS and FS acknowledge support from NSF award 2020547. HO acknowledges support from a WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar award. MW and JKW performed this work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 127(8), (2022): e2022JG006810, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022jg006810.

Description: Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) has been widely recognized as an important source of dissolved nutrients in coastal waters and affects nutrient biogeochemistry. In contrast, little information is available on SGD impacts on coastal carbon budgets. Here, we assessed the SGD and associated carbon (dissolved inorganic carbon [DIC] and total alkalinity [TA]) fluxes in Liaodong Bay (the largest bay of the Bohai Sea, China) and discussed their border implications for coastal DIC budget and buffering capacity. Based on 223Ra and 228Ra mass balance models, the SGD flux was estimated to be (0.92–1.43) × 109 m3 d−1. SGD was the largest contributor of DIC, accounting for 55%–77% of the total DIC sources. The low ratio (〈1) of SGD-derived TA to DIC fluxes and negative correlation between radium isotopes and pH in seawater implied that SGD would potentially reduce seawater pH in Liaodong Bay. Combining the groundwater carbon data in Liaodong Bay with literature data, we found that the SGD-derived DIC flux off China was 4–9 times greater than those from rivers. By analyzing the TA/DIC ratios in groundwater along the Chinese coast and related carbon fluxes, SGD was thought to partially reduce the CO2 buffer capacity in receiving seawater. These results obtained at the bay scale and national scale suggest that SGD is a significant component of carbon budget and may play a critical role in modulating coastal buffering capacity and atmospheric CO2 sequestration.

Description: his research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42130703, 42007170) and the Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen (Grant No. 20200925174525002.

Description: 2023-01-20

Description: Arctic river deltas and deltaic near-shore zones represent important land–ocean transition zones influencing sediment dynamics and nutrient fluxes from permafrost-affected terrestrial ecosystems into the coastal Arctic Ocean. To accurately model fluvial carbon and freshwater export from rapidly changing river catchments as well as assess impacts of future change on the Arctic shelf and coastal ecosystems, we need to understand the sea floor characteristics and topographic variety of the coastal zones. To date, digital bathymetrical data from the poorly accessible, shallow, and large areas of the eastern Siberian Arctic shelves are sparse. We have digitized bathymetrical information for nearly 75 000 locations from large-scale (1:25 000–1:500 000) current and historical nautical maps of the Lena Delta and the Kolyma Gulf region in northeastern Siberia. We present the first detailed and seamless digital models of coastal zone bathymetry for both delta and gulf regions in 50 and 200 m spatial resolution. We validated the resulting bathymetry layers using a combination of our own water depth measurements and a collection of available depth measurements, which showed a strong correlation (r〉0.9). Our bathymetrical models will serve as an input for a high-resolution coupled hydrodynamic–ecosystem model to better quantify fluvial and coastal carbon fluxes to the Arctic Ocean, but they may be useful for a range of other studies related to Arctic delta and near-shore dynamics such as modeling of submarine permafrost, near-shore sea ice, or shelf sediment transport. The new digital high-resolution bathymetry products are available on the PANGAEA data set repository for the Lena Delta (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.934045; Fuchs et al., 2021a) and Kolyma Gulf region (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.934049; Fuchs et al., 2021b), respectively. Likewise, the depth validation data are available on PANGAEA as well (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.933187; Fuchs et al., 2021c).

Description: Data from the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition allowed us to investigate the temporal dynamics of snowfall, snow accumulation and erosion in great detail for almost the whole accumulation season (November 2019 to May 2020). We computed cumulative snow water equivalent (SWE) over the sea ice based on snow depth and density retrievals from a SnowMicroPen and approximately weekly measured snow depths along fixed transect paths. We used the derived SWE from the snow cover to compare with precipitation sensors installed during MOSAiC. The data were also compared with ERA5 reanalysis snowfall rates for the drift track. We found an accumulated snow mass of 38 m SWE between the end of October 2019 and end of April 2020. The initial SWE over first-year ice relative to second-year ice increased from 50 % to 90 % by end of the investigation period. Further, we found that the Vaisala Present Weather Detector 22, an optical precipitation sensor, and installed on a railing on the top deck of research vessel Polarstern, was least affected by blowing snow and showed good agreements with SWE retrievals along the transect. On the contrary, the OTT Pluvio2 pluviometer and the OTT Parsivel2 laser disdrometer were largely affected by wind and blowing snow, leading to too high measured precipitation rates. These are largely reduced when eliminating drifting snow periods in the comparison. ERA5 reveals good timing of the snowfall events and good agreement with ground measurements with an overestimation tendency. Retrieved snowfall from the ship-based Ka-band ARM zenith radar shows good agreements with SWE of the snow cover and differences comparable to those of ERA5. Based on the results, we suggest the Ka-band radar-derived snowfall as an upper limit and the present weather detector on RV Polarstern as a lower limit of a cumulative snowfall range. Based on these findings, we suggest a cumulative snowfall of 72 to 107 m and a precipitation mass loss of the snow cover due to erosion and sublimation as between 47 % and 68 %, for the time period between 31 October 2019 and 26 April 2020. Extending this period beyond available snow cover measurements, we suggest a cumulative snowfall of 98-114 m.

Description: The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) is a synthesis effort providing regular compilations of surface-to-bottom ocean biogeochemical bottle data, with an emphasis on seawater inorganic carbon chemistry and related variables determined through chemical analysis of seawater samples. GLODAPv2.2022 is an update of the previous version, GLODAPv2.2021 (Lauvset et al., 2021). The major changes are as follows: data from 96 new cruises were added, data coverage was extended until 2021, and for the first time we performed secondary quality control on all sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) data. In addition, a number of changes were made to data included in GLODAPv2.2021. These changes affect specifically the SF6 data, which are now subjected to secondary quality control, and carbon data measured onboard the RV Knorr in the Indian Ocean in 1994–1995 which are now adjusted using CRM measurements made at the time. GLODAPv2.2022 includes measurements from almost 1.4 million water samples from the global oceans collected on 1085 cruises. The data for the now 13 GLODAP core variables (salinity, oxygen, nitrate, silicate, phosphate, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH, CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, CCl4, and SF6) have undergone extensive quality control with a focus on systematic evaluation of bias. The data are available in two formats: (i) as submitted by the data originator but converted to World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) exchange format and (ii) as a merged data product with adjustments applied to minimize bias. For the present annual update, adjustments for the 96 new cruises were derived by comparing those data with the data from the 989 quality controlled cruises in the GLODAPv2.2021 data product using crossover analysis. SF6 data from all cruises were evaluated by comparison with CFC-12 data measured on the same cruises. For nutrients and ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) chemistry comparisons to estimates based on empirical algorithms provided additional context for adjustment decisions. The adjustments that we applied are intended to remove potential biases from errors related to measurement, calibration, and data handling practices without removing known or likely time trends or variations in the variables evaluated. The compiled and adjusted data product is believed to be consistent to better than 0.005 in salinity, 1 % in oxygen, 2 % in nitrate, 2 % in silicate, 2 % in phosphate, 4 μmol kg-1 in dissolved inorganic carbon, 4 μmol kg-1 in total alkalinity, 0.01–0.02 in pH (depending on region), and 5 % in the halogenated transient tracers. The other variables included in the compilation, such as isotopic tracers and discrete CO2 fugacity (fCO2), were not subjected to bias comparison or adjustments.

Description: The diagnosis of the conservation state of monumental structures from constraints to the spatial distribution of their physical properties on shallow and inner materials represents one of the key objectives in the application of non-invasive techniques. In situ, CRP and 3D ultrasonic tomography can provide an effective coverage of stone materials in space and time. The intrinsic characteristics of the materials that make up a monumental structure and affect the two properties (i.e., reflectivity, longitudinal velocity) through the above methods substantially differ. Consequently, the content of their information is mainly complementary rather than redundant. In this study we present the integrated application of different non-destructive techniques i.e., Close Range Photogrammetry (CRP), and low frequency (24 KHz) ultrasonic tomography complemented by petrographycal analysis based essentially on Optical Microscopy (OM). This integrated methodology has been applied to a Carrara marble column of the Basilica of San Saturnino, in Byzantine-Proto-Romanesque style, which is part of the Paleo Christian complex of the V-VI century. This complex also includes the adjacent Christian necropolis in the square of San Cosimo in the city of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. The column under study is made of bare material dating back probably to the first century A.D., it was subjected to various traumas due to disassembly and transport to the site, including damage caused by the close blast of a WWII fragmentation bomb. High resolution 3D modelling of the studied artifact was computed starting from the integration of proximal sensing techniques such as CRP based on Structure from Motion (SfM), with which information about the geometrical anomalies and reflectivity of the investigated marble column surface was obtained. On the other hand, the inner parts of the studied body were successfully inspected in a non-invasive way by computing the velocity pattern of the ultrasonic signal through the investigated materials using 3D ultrasonic tomography. This technique gives information on the elastic properties of the material related with mechanical properties and a number of factors, such as presence of fractures, voids, and flaws. Extracting information on such factors from the elastic wave velocity using 3D tomography provides a non-invasive approach to analyse the property changes of the inner material of the ancient column. The integrated application of in situ CRP and ultrasonic techniques provides a full 3D high resolution model of the investigated artifact. This model enhanced by the knowledge of the petrographic characteristics of the materials, improves the diagnostic process and affords reliable information on the state of conservation of the materials used in the construction processes of the studied monumental structure. The integrated use of the non-destructive techniques described above also provides suitable data for a possible restoration and future preservation.

Description: Copernicus

Description: Published

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Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: Originating from the boreal forest and often transported over large distances, driftwood characterises many Arctic coastlines. Here we present a combined assessment of radiocarbon (14C) and dendrochronological (ring width) age estimates of driftwood samples to constrain the progradation of two Holocene beach-ridge systems near the Lena Delta in the Siberian Arctic (Laptev Sea). Our data show that the 14C ages obtained on syndepositional driftwood from beach deposits yield surprisingly coherent chronologies for the coastal evolution of the field sites. The dendrochronological analysis of wood from modern driftlines revealed the origin and recent delivery of the wood from the Lena River catchments. This finding suggests that the duration transport lies within the uncertainty of state-of-the-art 14C dating and thus substantiates the validity of age indication obtained from driftwood. This observation will help to better understand changes in similar coastal environments, and to improve our knowledge about the response of coastal systems to past climate and sea-level changes.

Description: Earth system and climate modelling involves the simulation of processes on a wide range of scales and within and across various compartments of the Earth system. In practice, component models are often developed independently by different research groups, adapted by others to their special interests and then combined using a dedicated coupling software. This procedure not only leads to a strongly growing number of available versions of model components and coupled setups but also to model- and high-performance computing (HPC)-system-dependent ways of obtaining, configuring, building and operating them. Therefore, implementing these Earth system models (ESMs) can be challenging and extremely time consuming, especially for less experienced modellers or scientists aiming to use different ESMs as in the case of intercomparison projects. To assist researchers and modellers by reducing avoidable complexity, we developed the ESM-Tools software, which provides a standard way for downloading, configuring, compiling, running and monitoring different models on a variety of HPC systems. It should be noted that ESM-Tools is not a coupling software itself but a workflow and infrastructure management tool to provide access to increase usability of already existing components and coupled setups. As coupled ESMs are technically the more challenging tasks, we will focus on coupled setups, always implying that stand-alone models can benefit in the same way. With ESM-Tools, the user is only required to provide a short script consisting of only the experiment-specific definitions, while the software executes all the phases of a simulation in the correct order. The software, which is well documented and easy to install and use, currently supports four ocean models, three atmosphere models, two biogeochemistry models, an ice sheet model, an isostatic adjustment model, a hydrology model and a land-surface model. Compared to previous versions, ESM-Tools has lately been entirely recoded in a high-level programming language (Python) and provides researchers with an even more user-friendly interface for Earth system modelling. ESM-Tools was developed within the framework of the Advanced Earth System Model Capacity project, supported by the Helmholtz Association.

Description: Numerous studies have addressed the possible existence of large floating ice sheets in the glacial Arctic Ocean from theoretical, modelling, or seafloor morphology perspectives. Here, we add evidence from the sediment record that support the existence of such freshwater ice caps in certain intervals, and we discuss their implications for possible non-linear and rapid behaviour of such a system in the high latitudes. We present sedimentary activities of 230Th together with 234U/238U ratios, the concentrations of manganese, sulphur and calcium in the context of lithological information and records of microfossils and their isotope composition. New analyses (PS51/038, PS72/396) and a re-analysis of existing marine sediment records (PS1533, PS1235, PS2185, PS2200, amongst others) in view of the naturally occurring radionuclide 230Thex and, where available, 10Be from the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas reveal the widespread occurrence of intervals with a specific geochemical signature. The pattern of these parameters in a pan-Arctic view can best be explained when assuming the repeated presence of freshwater in frozen and liquid form across large parts of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas. Based on the sedimentary evidence and known environmental constraints at the time, we develop a glacial scenario that explains how these ice sheets, together with eustatic sea-level changes, may have affected the past oceanography of the Arctic Ocean in a fundamental way that must have led to a drastic and non-linear response to external forcing. This concept offers a possibility to explain and to some extent reconcile contrasting age models for the Late Pleistocene in the Arctic Ocean. Our view, if adopted, offers a coherent dating approach across the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, linked to events outside the Arctic.

Description: The modeling of paleoclimate, using physically based tools, is increasingly seen as a strong out-of-sample test of the models that are used for the projection of future climate changes. New to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) is the Tier 1 Last Interglacial experiment for 127 000 years ago (lig127k), designed to address the climate responses to stronger orbital forcing than the midHolocene experiment, using the same state-of-the-art models as for the future and following a common experimental protocol. Here we present a first analysis of a multi-model ensemble of 17 climate models, all of which have completed the CMIP6 DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) experiments. The equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) of these models varies from 1.8 to 5.6 ∘C. The seasonal character of the insolation anomalies results in strong summer warming over the Northern Hemisphere continents in the lig127k ensemble as compared to the CMIP6 piControl and much-reduced minimum sea ice in the Arctic. The multi-model results indicate enhanced summer monsoonal precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere and reductions in the Southern Hemisphere. These responses are greater in the lig127k than the CMIP6 midHolocene simulations as expected from the larger insolation anomalies at 127 than 6 ka. New synthesis for surface temperature and precipitation, targeted for 127 ka, have been developed for comparison to the multi-model ensemble. The lig127k model ensemble and data reconstructions are in good agreement for summer temperature anomalies over Canada, Scandinavia, and the North Atlantic and for precipitation over the Northern Hemisphere continents. The model–data comparisons and mismatches point to further study of the sensitivity of the simulations to uncertainties in the boundary conditions and of the uncertainties and sparse coverage in current proxy reconstructions. The CMIP6–Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) lig127k simulations, in combination with the proxy record, improve our confidence in future projections of monsoons, surface temperature, and Arctic sea ice, thus providing a key target for model evaluation and optimization.

Description: In order to investigate the impact of spatial resolution on the discrepancy between simulated δ18O and observed δ18O in Greenland ice cores, regional climate simulations are performed with the isotope-enabled regional climate model (RCM) COSMO_iso. For this purpose, isotope-enabled general circulation model (GCM) simulations with the ECHAM5-wiso general circulation model (GCM) under present-day conditions and the MPI-ESM-wiso GCM under mid-Holocene conditions are dynamically downscaled with COSMO_iso for the Arctic region. The capability of COSMO_iso to reproduce observed isotopic ratios in Greenland ice cores for these two periods is investigated by comparing the simulation results to measured δ18O ratios from snow pit samples, Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) stations and ice cores. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a mid-Holocene isotope-enabled RCM simulation is performed for the Arctic region. Under present-day conditions, a dynamical downscaling of ECHAM5-wiso (1.1◦ × 1.1◦) with COSMO_iso to a spatial resolution of 50km improves the agreement with the measured δ18O ratios for 14 of 19 observational data sets. A further increase in the spatial resolution to 7km does not yield substantial improvements except for the coastal areas with its complex terrain. For the mid-Holocene, a fully coupled MPI-ESM-wiso time slice simulation is downscaled with COSMO_iso to a spatial resolution of 50km. In the mid-Holocene, MPI-ESM-wiso already agrees well with observations in Greenland and a downscaling with COSMO_iso does not further improve the model–data agreement. Despite this lack of improvement in model biases, the study shows that in both periods, observed δ18O values at measurement sites constitute isotope ratios which are mainly within the subgrid-scale variability of the global ECHAM5-wiso and MPI-ESM-wiso simulation results. The correct δ18O ratios are consequently not resolved in the GCM simulation results and need to be extracted by a refinement with an RCM. In this context, the RCM simulations provide a spatial δ18O distribution by which the effects of local uncertainties can be taken into account in the comparison between point measurements and model outputs. Thus, an isotope-enabled GCM–RCM model chain with realistically implemented fractionating processes constitutes a useful supplement to reconstruct regional paleo-climate conditions during the mid-Holocene in Greenland. Such model chains might also be applied to reveal the full potential of GCMs in other regions and climate periods, in which large deviations relative to observed isotope ratios are simulated.

Description: Proxy climate records are an invaluable source of information about the earth’s climate prior to the instrumental record. The temporal- and spatial-coverage of records continues to increase, however, these records of past climate are associated with significant uncertainties due to non-climate processes that influence the recorded and measured proxy values. Generally, these uncertainties are timescale-dependent and correlated in time. Accounting for structure in the errors is essential to providing realistic error estimates for smoothed or stacked records, detection of anomalies and identifying trends, but this structure is seldom accounted for. In the first of these companion articles we outlined a theoretical framework for handling proxy uncertainties by deriving the power spectrum of proxy error components from which it is possible to obtain timescale-dependent error estimates. Here in part II, we demonstrate the practical application of this theoretical framework using the example of marine sediment cores. We consider how to obtain estimates for the required parameters and give examples of the application of this approach for typical marine sediment proxy records. Our new approach of estimating and providing timescale-dependent proxy errors overcomes the limitations of simplistic single value error estimates. We aim to provide the conceptual basis for a more quantitative use of paleo-records for applications such as model-data comparison, regional and global synthesis of past climate states and data assimilation.

Description: Marine sedimentary records are a key archive when reconstructing past climate; however, mixing at the seabed (bioturbation) can strongly influence climate records, especially when sedimentation rates are low. By commingling the climate signal from different time periods, bioturbation both smooths climate records, by damping fast climate variations, and creates noise when measurements are made on samples containing small numbers of individual proxy carriers, such as foraminifera. Bioturbation also influences radiocarbon-based age-depth models, as sample ages may not represent the true ages of the sediment layers from which they were picked. While these effects were first described several decades ago, the advent of ultra-small-sample $^{14}$C dating now allows samples containing very small numbers of foraminifera to be measured, thus enabling us to directly measure the age-heterogeneity of sediment for the first time. Here, we use radiocarbon dates measured on replicated samples of 3-30 foraminifera to estimate age-heterogeneity for five marine sediment cores with sedimentation rates ranging from 2-30 cm kyr$^{-1}$. From their age-heterogeneities and sedimentation rates we infer mixing depths of 10-20 cm for our core sites. Our results show that when accounting for age-heterogeneity, the true error of radiocarbon dating can be several times larger than the reported measurement. We present estimates of this uncertainty as a function of sedimentation rate and the number of individuals per radiocarbon date. A better understanding of this uncertainty will help us to optimise radiocarbon measurements, construct age models with appropriate uncertainties and better interpret marine paleo records.

Description: The mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP; ∼3.2 million years ago) is seen as the most recent time period characterized by a warm climate state, with similar to modern geography and ∼400 ppmv atmospheric CO2 concentration, and is therefore often considered an interesting analogue for near-future climate projections. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions indicate higher surface temperatures, decreasing tropical deserts, and a more humid climate in West Africa characterized by a strengthened West African Monsoon (WAM). Using model results from the second phase of the Pliocene Modelling Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP2) ensemble, we analyse changes of the WAM rainfall during the mPWP by comparing them with the control simulations for the pre-industrial period. The ensemble shows a robust increase in the summer rainfall over West Africa and the Sahara region, with an average increase of 2.5 mm/d, contrasted by a rainfall decrease over the equatorial Atlantic. An anomalous warming of the Sahara and deepening of the Saharan Heat Low, seen in 〉90 % of the models, leads to a strengthening of the WAM and an increased monsoonal flow into the continent. A similar warming of the Sahara is seen in future projections using both phase 3 and 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3 and CMIP5). Though previous studies of future projections indicate a west–east drying–wetting contrast over the Sahel, PlioMIP2 simulations indicate a uniform rainfall increase in that region in warm climates characterized by increasing greenhouse gas forcing. We note that this effect will further depend on the long-term response of the vegetation to the CO2 forcing.

Description: The mid-Pliocene warm period (3.264–3.025 Ma) is the most recent geological period during which atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to recent historical values (∼400 ppm). Several proxy reconstructions for the mid-Pliocene show highly reduced zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in the tropical Pacific Ocean, indicating an El Niño-like mean state. However, past modelling studies do not show these highly reduced gradients. Efforts to understand mid-Pliocene climate dynamics have led to the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP). Results from the first phase (PlioMIP1) showed clear El Niño variability (albeit significantly reduced) and did not show the greatly reduced time-mean zonal SST gradient suggested by some of the proxies. In this work, we study El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in the PlioMIP2 ensemble, which consists of additional global coupled climate models and updated boundary conditions compared to PlioMIP1. We quantify ENSO amplitude, period, spatial structure and “flavour”, as well as the tropical Pacific annual mean state in mid-Pliocene and pre-industrial simulations. Results show a reduced ENSO amplitude in the model-ensemble mean (−24 %) with respect to the pre-industrial, with 15 out of 17 individual models showing such a reduction. Furthermore, the spectral power of this variability considerably decreases in the 3–4-year band. The spatial structure of the dominant empirical orthogonal function shows no particular change in the patterns of tropical Pacific variability in the model-ensemble mean, compared to the pre-industrial. Although the time-mean zonal SST gradient in the equatorial Pacific decreases for 14 out of 17 models (0.2 ∘C reduction in the ensemble mean), there does not seem to be a correlation with the decrease in ENSO amplitude. The models showing the most “El Niño-like” mean state changes show a similar ENSO amplitude to that in the pre-industrial reference, while models showing more “La Niña-like” mean state changes generally show a large reduction in ENSO variability. The PlioMIP2 results show a reasonable agreement with both time-mean proxies indicating a reduced zonal SST gradient and reconstructions indicating a reduced, or similar, ENSO variability.

Description: The mid-Pliocene (∼3 Ma) is one of the most recent warm periods with high CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and resulting high temperatures, and it is often cited as an analog for near-term future climate change. Here, we apply a moisture budget analysis to investigate the response of the large-scale hydrological cycle at low latitudes within a 13-model ensemble from the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2). The results show that increased atmospheric moisture content within the mid-Pliocene ensemble (due to the thermodynamic effect) results in wetter conditions over the deep tropics, i.e., the Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the Maritime Continent, and drier conditions over the subtropics. Note that the dynamic effect plays a more important role than the thermodynamic effect in regional precipitation minus evaporation (PmE) changes (i.e., northward ITCZ shift and wetter northern Indian Ocean). The thermodynamic effect is offset to some extent by a dynamic effect involving a northward shift of the Hadley circulation that dries the deep tropics and moistens the subtropics in the Northern Hemisphere (i.e., the subtropical Pacific). From the perspective of Earth's energy budget, the enhanced southward cross-equatorial atmospheric transport (0.22 PW), induced by the hemispheric asymmetries of the atmospheric energy, favors an approximately 1∘ northward shift of the ITCZ. The shift of the ITCZ reorganizes atmospheric circulation, favoring a northward shift of the Hadley circulation. In addition, the Walker circulation consistently shifts westward within PlioMIP2 models, leading to wetter conditions over the northern Indian Ocean. The PlioMIP2 ensemble highlights that an imbalance of interhemispheric atmospheric energy during the mid-Pliocene could have led to changes in the dynamic effect, offsetting the thermodynamic effect and, hence, altering mid-Pliocene hydroclimate.

Description: Vegetation biomass is a globally important climate-relevant terrestrial carbon pool. Landsat, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 satellite missions provide a landscape-level opportunity to upscale tundra vegetation communities and biomass in high latitude terrestrial environments. We assessed the applicability of landscape-level remote sensing for the low Arctic Lena Delta region in Northern Yakutia, Siberia, Russia. The Lena Delta is the largest delta in the Arctic and is located North of the treeline and the 10 °C July isotherm at 72° Northern Latitude in the Laptev Sea region. During the LENA2018 expedition, we set up plots for plant projective cover and Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and sampled shrubs for shrub-ring analyses. AGB is providing the magnitude of the carbon flux, whereas stand age is irreplaceable to provide the cycle rate. AGB data and shrub age data clearly show a separation between i) low disturbance landscape types with dominant AGB moss contribution, but always low vascular plant AGB (〈0.5 kg m-2) characterised by old shrubs of several decades of stand age versus ii) a much higher vascular plant AGB contribution (〉 0.5 kg m-2) with only young shrubs in high disturbance regimes. The low disturbance regimes are represented on the Holocene and Pleistocene delta terraces in form of azonal polygonal tundra complexes and softly dissected valleys with zonal tussock tundra. In contrast, the high disturbance regimes are sites of thermo-erosion such as along thermo-erosional valleys and on floodplains. We upscaled AGB and above ground carbon pool ages using a Sentinel-2 satellite acquisition from early August 2018. We classified via classification training using Elementary Sampling Units that are the 30 m x 30 m vegetation field plots. We then used the land cover classes and grouped them according to their settings either in high disturbance or low disturbance regimes with each associated AGB value ranges and shrub age regimes. We also evaluated circum-Arctic harmonized ESA GlobPermafrost land cover and vegetation height remote sensing products covering subarctic to Arctic land cover types for the central Lena Delta. The products are freely available and published in the PANGAEA data repository under https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.897916 and https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.897045. ESA GlobPermafrost land cover and vegetation height remote sensing products and our Sentinel-2 derived AGB product for the central Lena Delta shows realistic spatial patterns of landcover classes and biomass distribution at landscape level. However, in all products, the high biomass patches of high shrubs in the tundra landscape could not spatially be resolved as they are confined to patchy and linear distribution, not representing large enough areas suitable for upscaling. We found that high disturbance regimes with linked high and rapid AGB fluxes are distributed mainly on the floodplains and as patches along thermoerosioal features, e.g. valleys. Whereas the low disturbance landscapes on Yedoma upland tundra and Holocene terraces occur with larger area coverage representing decades slower and in magnitude smaller AGB fluxes.

Description: Methane emissions from northern high latitude wetlands constitute a major uncertainty in the atmospheric methane (CH4) budget during the Holocene. To reconstruct northern wetland methane emissions, we used an empirical model based on syntheses of observations of peat initiation from more than 3600 radiocarbon-dated basal peat ages, plant-macrofossil-derived peatland type from more than 250 peat cores from sites across the northern high latitudes, and observed CH4 emissions averaged from modern-day wetland types in order to explore the effects of wetland expansion and changes in wetland type. Peatland basal ages and plant macrofossil records showed the widespread formation of fens in major northern wetland complexes before 8000 BP. After 8000 BP, new fen formation continued, but widespread peatland succession (to bogs) and permafrost aggradation also occurred. Reconstructed CH4 emissions from peatlands increased rapidly between 10,600 BP and 6900 BP due to fen formation and expansion, then stabilized after 5000 BP at 42 ± 25 Tg CH4 y-1, as high methane-emitting fens transitioned to lower methane-emitting bogs and permafrost peatlands. Permafrost formation in northern peatlands after 1000 BP decreased CH4 emissions by 20% to 34 ± 21 Tg y-1 by the present day. Warming temperatures, changes in peatland hydrology, and permafrost thaw will likely change the magnitude of northern peatland emissions in the future.

Description: Infrastructure and anthropogenic impacts are expanding across the Arctic. A consistent record of human impact is required in order to quantify the changes and to assess climate change impacts on the communities. We derived a first panarctic satellite-based record of expanding infrastructure and anthropogenic impacts along all permafrost affected coasts (100 km buffer) within the H2020 project Nunataryuk based on Sentinel-1/2 satellite imagery. C-band synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral information is combined through a machine learning framework. Depending on region, we identified up to 50% more information (human presence) than in OpenStreetMap. The combination with satellite records on vegetation change (specifically NDVI from Landsat since 2000) allowed quantification of recent expansion of infrastructure. Most of the expanded human presence occurred in Russia related predominantly to oil/gas industry. The majority of areas with human presence will be subject to thaw by mid-21st century based on ground temperature trends derived from the ESA CCI+ Permafrost time series (1997-2019). Of specific concern in this context are also settlements located directly at permafrost affected coasts. An efficient erosion rate monitoring scheme needs to be developed and combined with settlement records in order to assess the risk for local communities and infrastructure. Relevant progress in the framework of the ESA EO4PAC project will be discussed.

Description: Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are typical landforms indicating processes of rapid thawing and degrading permafrost. Their abundance is increasing in many regions and quantifying their dynamics is of high importance for assessing geomorphic, hydrologic, and biogeochemical impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Here we present a deep-learning (DL) based semantic segmentation framework to detect RTS, using high-resolution multi-spectral PlanetScope, topographic (ArcticDEM elevation and slope), and medium-resolution multi-temporal Landsat Trend data. We created a highly automated processing pipeline, which is designed to allow reproducible results and to be flexible for multiple input data types. The processing workflow is based on the pytorch deep-learning framework and includes a variety of different segmentation architectures (UNet, UNet++, DeepLabV3), backbones and includes common data transformation techniques such as augmentation or normalization. We tested (training, validation) our DL based model in six different regions of 100 to 300 km² size across Canada, and Siberia. We performed a regional cross-validation (5 regions training, 1 region validation) to test the spatial robustness and transferability of the algorithm. Furthermore, we tested different architectures, backbones and loss-functions to identify the best performing and most robust parameter sets. For training the models we created a database of manually digitized and validated RTS polygons. The resulting model performance varied strongly between different regions with maximum Intersection over Union (IoU) scores between 0.15 and 0.58. The strong regional variation emphasizes the need for sufficiently large training data, which is representative of the diversity of RTS types. However, the creation of good training data proved to be challenging due to the fuzzy definition and delineation of RTS. We are further continuing to improve the usability and the functionality to add further datasets and classes. We will show first results from the upscaling beyond small test areas towards large spatial clusters of extensive RTS presence e.g. Peel Plateau in NW Canada.

Description: With the Earth’s climate rapidly warming, the Arctic represents one of the most vulnerable regions to environmental change. These northern high latitude regions experience intensified fire seasons and especially tundra fires are projected to become more frequent and severe. Fires in permafrost regions have extensive impacts, including the initiation of thermokarst (rapid thaw of ice-rich ground), as they combust the upper organic soil layers which provide insulation to the permafrost below. Rapid permafrost thaw is, thus, often observable in fire scars in the first years post-disturbance. In polygonal ice-wedge landscapes, this becomes most prevalent through melting ice wedges and degrading troughs. The further these ice wedges degrade, the more troughs will likely connect and build an extensive hydrological network with changing patterns and degrees of connectivity that influences hydrology and runoff. While subsiding troughs over melting ice wedges may host new ponds, an increasing connectivity may also subsequently lead to more drainage of ponds, which in turn can limit further thaw and help stabilize the landscape. To quantify the changes in such dynamic landscapes over large regions, highly automated methods are needed that allow extracting information on the geomorphic state and changes over time of ice-wedge trough networks from remote sensing data. We developed a computer vision algorithm to automatically derive ice-wedge polygonal networks and the current microtopography of the degrading troughs from very high resolution, airborne laserscanning-based digital terrain models. We represent the networks as graphs (a concept from the computer sciences to describe complex networks) and apply methods from graph theory to describe and quantify hydrological network characteristics of the changing landscape. In fire scars, we especially observe rapidly growing networks and fast micromorphological change in those degrading troughs. In our study, we provide a space-for-time substitution comparing fire scars throughout the Alaskan tundra of up to 70 years since the fire disturbance, to show how this type of disturbed landscape evolves over time.

Description: Using our custom visualization tool for multitemporal Landsat satellite imagery we discovered, to our knowledge, an undocumented mega-landslide in far-east Siberia, which occurred in summer 2017 (https://bit.ly/2WYRLM1; 61.55°N; 170.01°E). To create and visualize this unique dataset, we processed temporal trends of multispectral indices of 〉100,000 Landsat images for a period from 2000-2019 using the freely available Google Earth Engine cloud processing platform (https://ingmarnitze.users.earthengine.app/view/hotspottcvisapp). The megaslide has a size of 3.66 km² and using the ArcticDEM data we estimate a volume movement of ~20 Mm³. With this size and volume, the landslide is among the largest globally known in recent decades. The landslide is accompanied by a smaller one (0.31 km², 1 Mm³) about 600 m further east, which already occurred in summer 2015. The large landslide caused the formation of several small lakes by blocking two valleys with debris and within newly formed crevasses near the hilltop, which are still persisting as of August 2021. As this event occurred in a remote valley far from any settlement, no visible damage to infrastructure or human livelihoods was detected. The remoteness has likely led to being not detected, like many similar, albeit a lot smaller, erosion features in the Arctic permafrost region. In this presentation we will show the main properties of the landslide, potential trigger mechanisms in the traditional sense. As this region is located along the fringes of permafrost presence we will discuss its potential connection to the rapidly warming climate in the high latitudes. Further, we will discuss how such a large event remained undetected for several years. We discuss and highlight the value of our landscape change visualization tool based on Landsat trend analysis (see Nitze et al., AGU 2020), which helped us to identify this extreme event. With more and more available data sources, this tool in addition to automated image analysis (e.g. deep-learning) or seismic analysis will help to uncover the hidden processes and dynamics of the Earth’s surface.

Description: Several decades of research have provided insight into patterns of and controls on thermokarst initiation and expansion, yet studies tend to focus on individual types of thermokarst (i.e., thaw lake formation and subsequent drainage) in particular regions. Today, we are left with uneven knowledge about abrupt permafrost thaw both conceptually and regionally. The goal of this presentation is to summarize recent advancements in monitoring thermokarst and its impact on soil, vegetation, and water while also framing a call to action for the next decade of research. Over the next decade, permafrost researchers must align their efforts on several fronts to not only increase our knowledge about changing permafrost but to align this knowledge with key community and policy needs. To support climate change planning and adaptation, northern communities need future thaw vulnerability mapped at scales relevant to their needs, which will require a suite of downscaled and new mapping and remote sensing products. Thermokarst predisposition maps based on circumpolar datasets greatly overestimate the area vulnerable to thermokarst, which can lead to poor planning and climate anxiety. In some situations, existing mapping products may be useful for downscaling with more detailed input data. In other situations, entirely new approaches may be required to support local action. A second key need for community relevant research is the ability to detect and monitor early warning indicators of thermokarst. Such information is needed to support scenario planning and to help mitigate the risks to social, cultural, and physical infrastructure created by permafrost change. We are evaluating the potential for using changes in vegetation, wetting/drying and topography as early warning indicators of thermokarst, all of which can be remotely sensed. Finally, integrating fine-scale disturbances such as thermokarst into large scale models remains a key challenge but critical for supporting sound climate policy. While a diversity of permafrost modeling approaches is necessary, we outline guiding principles that will help enhance model comparisons, assimilation of simulated data across spatiotemporal scales, and the ability for policy decisions to be rapidly informed by emerging science on permafrost change.

Description: Due to its dryness, the subtropical free troposphere plays a critical role in the radiative balance of the Earth's climate system. But the complex interactions of the dynamical and physical processes controlling the variability in the moisture budget of this sensitive region of the subtropical atmosphere are still not fully understood. Stable water isotopes can provide important information about several of the latter processes, namely subsidence drying, turbulent mixing, and dry and moist convective moistening. In this study, we use high-resolution simulations of the isotope-enabled version of the regional weather and climate prediction model of the Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMOiso) to investigate predominant moisture transport pathways in the Canary Islands region in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic. Comparison of the simulated isotope signals with multi-platform isotope observations (aircraft, ground- and space-based remote sensing) from a field campaign in summer 2013 shows that COSMOiso can reproduce the observed variability of stable water vapour isotopes on timescales of hours to days, thus allowing us to study the mechanisms that control the subtropical free-tropospheric humidity. Changes in isotopic signals along backward trajectories from the Canary Islands region reveal the physical processes behind the synoptic-scale isotope variability. We identify four predominant moisture transport pathways of mid-tropospheric air, each with distinct isotopic signatures: - air parcels originating from the convective boundary layer of the Saharan heat low (SHL) – these are characterised by a homogeneous isotopic composition with a particularly high δD (median mid-tropospheric δD=−122‰), which results from dry convective mixing of low-level moisture of diverse origin advected into the SHL; - air parcels originating from the free troposphere above the SHL – although experiencing the largest changes in humidity and δD during their subsidence over West Africa, these air parcels typically have lower δD values (median δD=−148‰) than air parcels originating from the boundary layer of the SHL; - air parcels originating from outside the SHL region, typically descending from tropical upper levels south of the SHL, which are often affected by moist convective injections from mesoscale convective systems in the Sahel – their isotopic composition is much less enriched in heavy isotopes (median δD=−175‰) than those from the SHL region; - air parcels subsiding from the upper-level extratropical North Atlantic – this pathway leads to the driest and most depleted conditions (median δD=−255‰) in the middle troposphere near the Canary Islands. The alternation of these transport pathways explains the observed high variability in humidity and δD on synoptic timescales to a large degree. We further show that the four different transport pathways are related to specific large-scale flow conditions. In particular, distinct differences in the location of the North African mid-level anticyclone and of extratropical Rossby wave patterns occur between the four transport pathways. Overall, this study demonstrates that the adopted Lagrangian isotope perspective enhances our understanding of air mass transport and mixing and offers a sound interpretation of the free-tropospheric variability of specific humidity and isotope composition on timescales of hours to days in contrasting atmospheric conditions over the eastern subtropical North Atlantic.

Description: Elemental carbon exists in different structural forms including graphite, diamond, fullerenes, and amorphous carbon. In nature, these materials are produced through abiotic chemical processes under high temperature and pressure but are considered generally inaccessible to biochemical synthesis or breakdown. Here, we identified and characterized elemental carbon isolated from consortia of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which together carry out the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Two different AOM consortia, ANME-1a/HotSeep-1 and ANME-2a/c/Seep-SRB, produce a black material with similar characteristics to disordered graphite and amorphous carbon. Stable isotope probing studies revealed that the carbon is microbially generated during AOM. In addition, we found that select methanogens also produce amorphous carbon with similar characteristics to the carbon from AOM consortia. Biogenic amorphous carbon may serve as a conductive element to facilitate electron transfer, or redox active functional groups associated with the carbon could act as electron donors and acceptors.

Description: Methanogens are considered as one of the earliest life forms on Earth, and together with anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea, they have crucial effects on climate stability. However, the origin and evolution of anaerobic alkane metabolism in the domain Archaea remain controversial. Here, we present evidence that methylotrophic methanogenesis was the ancestral form of this metabolism. Carbon dioxide–reducing methanogenesis developed later through the evolution of tetrahydromethanopterin S-methyltransferase, which linked methanogenesis to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for energy conservation. Anaerobic multicarbon alkane metabolisms in Archaea also originated early, with genes coding for the activation of short-chain or even long-chain alkanes likely evolving from an ethane-metabolizing ancestor. These genes were likely horizontally transferred to multiple archaeal clades including Candidatus (Ca.) Bathyarchaeia, Ca. Lokiarchaeia, Ca. Hadarchaeia, and the methanogenic Ca. Methanoliparia.

Description: The Italian earthquake waveform data are collected here in a dataset suited for machine learning analysis (ML) applications. The dataset consists of nearly 1.2 million three-component (3C) waveform traces from about 50 000 earthquakes and more than 130 000 noise 3C waveform traces, for a total of about 43 000 h of data and an average of 21 3C traces provided per event. The earthquake list is based on the Italian Seismic Bulletin (http://terremoti.ingv.it/bsi, last access: 15 February 2020​​​​​​​) of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia between January 2005 and January 2020, and it includes events in the magnitude range between 0.0 and 6.5. The waveform data have been recorded primarily by the Italian National Seismic Network (network code IV) and include both weak- (HH, EH channels) and strong-motion (HN channels) recordings. All the waveform traces have a length of 120 s, are sampled at 100 Hz, and are provided both in counts and ground motion physical units after deconvolution of the instrument transfer functions. The waveform dataset is accompanied by metadata consisting of more than 100 parameters providing comprehensive information on the earthquake source, the recording stations, the trace features, and other derived quantities. This rich set of metadata allows the users to target the data selection for their own purposes. Much of these metadata can be used as labels in ML analysis or for other studies. The dataset, assembled in HDF5 format, is available at http://doi.org/10.13127/instance (Michelini et al., 2021).

Description: Published

Description: 5509–5544

Description: 4T. Sismicità dell'Italia

Description: JCR Journal

Description: As air temperatures rise and sea ice cover declines in the Arctic, permafrost coastal cliffs thaw more rapidly and wave energy rises. Thus, as the open water season continues to lengthen, climate change triggers a large part of the Arctic shoreline to become increasingly vulnerable to erosion. Arctic erosion supplies nutrient-laden and carbon-rich sediment into nearshore ecosystems. A retreating coastline also has consequences for residential, cultural, and industrial infrastructure. Despite its importance, erosion is currently neglected in global climate models, and existing physics-based numerical models of Arctic shoreline erosion are too complex and regionally-focused to be applied on a pan-Arctic scale. Here, we apply our simplified numerical erosion model, ArcticBeach v1.0, to the entire Arctic coastline. ArcticBeach v1.0 has previously been shown to simulate retreat rates at two sites that differ substantially in their main mechanisms of retreat (sub-aerial erosion/thaw slumping versus notch/block erosion). The model uses heat and sediment volume balances in order to predict horizontal cliff retreat and vertical erosion of a fronting beach. It contains an erosion module that uses empirical equations to estimate cross-shore sediment transport, coupled to a storm surge module forced by wind. We present Arctic maps of regional variation in trends in 2-meter air temperature, sea ice concentration, and wind speed.

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Donatelli, C., Kalra, T. S., Fagherazzi, S., Zhang, X., & Leonardi, N. Dynamics of marsh-derived sediments in lagoon-type estuaries. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125(12), (2020): e2020JF005751, doi:10.1029/2020JF005751.

Description: Salt marshes are valuable ecosystems that must trap sediments and accrete in order to counteract the deleterious effect of sea level rise. Previous studies have shown that the capacity of marshes to build up vertically depends on both autogenous and exogenous processes including ecogeomorphic feedbacks and sediment supply from in‐land and coastal ocean. There have been numerous efforts to quantify the role played by the sediments coming from marsh edge erosion on the resistance of salt marshes to sea level rise. However, the majority of existing studies investigating the interplay between lateral and vertical dynamics use simplified modeling approaches, and they do not consider that marsh retreat can affect the regional‐scale hydrodynamics and sediment retention in back‐barrier basins. In this study, we evaluated the fate of the sediments originating from marsh lateral loss by using high‐resolution numerical model simulations of Jamaica Bay, a small lagoonal estuary located in New York City. Our findings show that up to 42% of the sediment released during marsh edge erosion deposits on the shallow areas of the basin and over the vegetated marsh platforms, contributing positively to the sediment budget of the remaining salt marshes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that with the present‐day sediment supply from the ocean, the system cannot keep pace with sea level rise even accounting for the sediment liberated in the bay through marsh degradation. Our study highlights the relevance of multiple sediment sources for the maintenance of the marsh complex.

Description: This study was supported by the Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy Recovery program (ID G16AC00455, subaward to University of Liverpool). S. F. was partly supported by NSF awards 1637630 (PIE LTER) and 1832221 (VCR LTER). We thank Robert Chant from Rutgers University for sharing the hydrodynamic measurements in Jamaica Bay.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 126(5), (2021): e2020JG006217, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JG006217.

Description: It is assumed that to treat excess NO3− high soil organic matter content (%OM) is required to maintain high denitrification rates in natural or restored wetlands. However, this excess also represents a risk by increasing soil decomposition rates triggering peat collapse and wetland fragmentation. Here, we evaluated the role of %OM and temperature interactions controlling denitrification rates in eroding (Barataria Bay-BLC) and emerging (Wax Lake Delta-WLD) deltaic regions in coastal Louisiana using the isotope pairing (IPT) and N2:Ar techniques. We also assessed differences between total (direct denitrification + coupled nitrification-denitrification) and net (total denitrification minus nitrogen fixation) denitrification rates in benthic and wetland habitats with contrasting %OM and bulk density (BD). Sediment (benthic) and soil (wetland) cores were collected during summer, spring, and winter (2015–2016) and incubated at close to in-situ temperatures (30°C, 20°C, and 10°C, respectively). Denitrification rates were linearly correlated with temperature; maximum mean rates ranged from 40.1–124.1 μmol m−2 h−1 in the summer with lower rates (〈26.2 ± 5.3 μmol m−2 h−1) in the winter seasons. Direct denitrification was higher than coupled denitrification in all seasons. Denitrification rates were higher in WLD despite lower %OM, lower total N concentration, and higher BD in wetland soils. Therefore, in environments with low carbon availability, high denitrification rates can be sustained as long as NO3− concentrations are high (〉30 μM) and water temperature is 〉10°C. In coastal Louisiana, substrates under these regimes are represented by emergent supra-tidal flats or land created by sediment diversions under oligohaline conditions (〈1 ppt).

Description: This study was supported by the NOAA-Sea Grant Program-Louisiana (Grant 2013R/E-24) to Victor H. Rivera-Monroy and Kanchan Maiti. Victor H. Rivera-Monroy was also supported by the Department of the Interior South-Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (Cooperative Agreement #G12AC00002).

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125(12),(2020): e2020JC016271, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016271.

Description: Asian summer monsoon has a planetary‐scale, westward propagating “quasi‐biweekly” mode of variability with a 10–25 day period. Six years of moored observations at 18°N, 89.5°E in the north Bay of Bengal (BoB) reveal distinct quasi‐biweekly variability in sea surface salinity (SSS) during summer and autumn, with peak‐to‐peak amplitude of 3–8 psu. This large‐amplitude SSS variability is not due to variations of surface freshwater flux or river runoff. We show from the moored data, satellite SSS, and reanalyses that surface winds associated with the quasi‐biweekly monsoon mode and embedded weather‐scale systems, drive SSS and coastal sea level variability in 2015 summer monsoon. When winds are calm, geostrophic currents associated with mesoscale ocean eddies transport Ganga‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna river water southward to the mooring, salinity falls, and the ocean mixed layer shallows to 1–10 m. During active (cloudy, windy) spells of quasi‐biweekly monsoon mode, directly wind‐forced surface currents carry river water away to the east and north, leading to increased salinity at the moorings, and rise of sea level by 0.1–0.5 m along the eastern and northern boundary of the bay. During July–August 2015, a shallow pool of low‐salinity river water lies in the northeastern bay. The amplitude of a 20‐day oscillation of sea surface temperature (SST) is two times larger within the fresh pool than in the saltier ocean to the west, although surface heat flux is nearly identical in the two regions. This is direct evidence that spatial‐temporal variations of BoB salinity influences sub‐seasonal SST variations, and possibly SST‐mediated monsoon air‐sea interaction.

Description: The authors thank the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) institutes NIOT and INCOIS, and the Upper Ocean Processes (UOP) group at WHOI for design, integration, and deployment of moorings in the BoB. The WHOI mooring was deployed from the ORV Sagar Nidhi and recovered from the ORV Sagar Kanya—we thank the officers, crew and science teams on the cruises for their support. Sengupta, Ravichandran and Sukhatme acknowledge MoES and the National Monsoon Mission, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, for support; Lucas and Farrar acknowledge the US Office of Naval Research for support of ASIRI through grants N00014‐13‐1‐0489, N0001413‐100453, N0001417‐12880. We thank S. Shivaprasad, Dipanjan Chaudhuri and Jared Buckley for discussion on ocean currents and Ekman flow, and Fabien Durand for discussion on sea level. JSL would like to thank the Divecha Center for Climate Change, IISc., for support. DS acknowledges support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, under the Indo‐Spanish Programme.

Description: 2021-05-16

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 126(1), (2021): e2019JG005621, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005621.

Description: Ongoing ocean warming can release methane (CH4) currently stored in ocean sediments as free gas and gas hydrates. Once dissolved in ocean waters, this CH4 can be oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2). While it has been hypothesized that the CO2 produced from aerobic CH4 oxidation could enhance ocean acidification, a previous study conducted in Hudson Canyon shows that CH4 oxidation has a small short‐term influence on ocean pH and dissolved inorganic radiocarbon. Here we expand upon that investigation to assess the impact of widespread CH4 seepage on CO2 chemistry and possible accumulation of this carbon injection along 234 km of the U.S. Mid‐Atlantic Bight. Consistent with the estimates from Hudson Canyon, we demonstrate that a small fraction of ancient CH4‐derived carbon is being assimilated into the dissolved inorganic radiocarbon (mean fraction of 0.5 ± 0.4%). The areas with the highest fractions of ancient carbon coincide with elevated CH4 concentration and active gas seepage. This suggests that aerobic CH4 oxidation has a greater influence on the dissolved inorganic pool in areas where CH4 concentrations are locally elevated, instead of displaying a cumulative effect downcurrent from widespread groupings of CH4 seeps. A first‐order approximation of the input rate of ancient‐derived dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) into the waters overlying the northern U.S. Mid‐Atlantic Bight further suggests that oxidation of ancient CH4‐derived carbon is not negligible on the global scale and could contribute to deepwater acidification over longer time scales.

Description: This study was sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DE‐FE0028980, awarded to J. D. K; DE‐FE0026195 interagency agreement with C. D. R.). We thank the crew of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp for their support, G. Hatcher, J. Borden, and M. Martini of the USGS for assistance with the LADCP, and Zach Bunnell, Lillian Henderson, and Allison Laubach for additional support at sea.

Description: 2021-06-23

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fu, X., Waite, W. F., & Ruppel, C. D. Hydrate formation on marine seep bubbles and the implications for water column methane dissolution. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(9), (2021): e2021JC017363, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017363.

Description: Methane released from seafloor seeps contributes to a number of benthic, water column, and atmospheric processes. At seafloor seeps within the methane hydrate stability zone, crystalline gas hydrate shells can form on methane bubbles while the bubbles are still in contact with the seafloor or as the bubbles begin ascending through the water column. These shells reduce methane dissolution rates, allowing hydrate-coated bubbles to deliver methane to shallower depths in the water column than hydrate-free bubbles. Here, we analyze seafloor videos from six deepwater seep sites associated with a diverse range of bubble-release processes involving hydrate formation. Bubbles that grow rapidly are often hydrate-free when released from the seafloor. As bubble growth slows and seafloor residence time increases, a hydrate coating can form on the bubble's gas-water interface, fully coating most bubbles within ∼10 s of the onset of hydrate formation at the seafloor. This finding agrees with water-column observations that most bubbles become hydrate-coated after their initial ∼150 cm of rise, which takes about 10 s. Whether a bubble is coated or not at the seafloor affects how much methane a bubble contains and how quickly that methane dissolves during the bubble's rise through the water column. A simplified model shows that, after rising 150 cm above the seafloor, a bubble that grew a hydrate shell before releasing from the seafloor will have ∼5% more methane than a bubble of initial equal volume that did not grow a hydrate shell after it traveled to the same height.

Description: X. Fu acknowledges support from the Miller Fellowship during her time at U.C. Berkeley. W. Waite and C. Ruppel are supported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program and the Energy Resources Program, with research conducted under USGS-Department of Energy interagency agreements DE-FE0023495 and 89243320SFE000013.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 47(22), (2020): e2020GL090431, doi:10.1029/2020GL090431.

Description: Vast quantities of solid CO2 reside in topographic basins of the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) on Mars and exhibit morphological features indicative of glacial flow. Previous experimental studies showed that CO2 ice is 1–2 orders of magnitude weaker than water ice under Martian polar conditions. Here we present data from deformation experiments on pure, fine‐grained CO2 ice, over a broader range of temperatures than previously explored (158–213 K). The experiments confirm previous observations of highly nonlinear power law creep at larger stresses, but also show a transition to a previously unseen linear‐viscous creep regime at lower stresses. We examine the viscosity of CO2 within the SPLD and predict that the CO2‐rich deposits are modestly stronger than previously thought. Nevertheless, CO2 ice flows much more readily than H2O ice, particularly on the steep flanks of SPLD topographic basins, allowing the CO2 to pond as observed.

Description: This work was funded by NASA grant NNH16ZDA001N‐SSW awarded to Smith and Goldsby. Additional salary support for Cross was provided by the WHOI Investment in Science Fund.

Description: 2021-04-29

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 35(4), (2021): e2020GB006887, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006887.

Description: In this study we report full-depth water column profiles for nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition (δ15N and δ18O) of nitrate (NO3−) during the GEOTRACES GA01 cruise (2014). This transect intersects the double gyre system of the subtropical and subpolar regions of the North Atlantic separated by a strong transition zone, the North Atlantic Current. The distribution of NO3− δ15N and δ18O shows that assimilation by phytoplankton is the main process controlling the NO3− isotopic composition in the upper 150 m, with values increasing in a NO3− δ18O versus δ15N space along a line with a slope of one toward the surface. In the subpolar gyre, a single relationship between the degree of NO3− consumption and residual NO3− δ15N supports the view that NO3− is supplied via Ekman upwelling and deep winter convection, and progressively consumed during the Ekman transport of surface water southward. The co-occurrence of partial NO3− assimilation and nitrification in the deep mixed layer of the subpolar gyre elevates subsurface NO3− δ18O in comparison to deep oceanic values. This signal propagates through isopycnal exchanges to greater depths at lower latitudes. With recirculation in the subtropical gyre, cycles of quantitative consumption-nitrification progressively decrease subsurface NO3− δ18O toward the δ18O of regenerated NO3−. The low NO3− δ15N observed south of the Subarctic Front is mostly explained by N2 fixation, although a contribution from the Mediterranean outflow is required to explain the lower NO3− δ15N signal observed between 600 and 1500 m depth close to the Iberian margin.

Description: The GEOVIDE project was co-funded by the French national program LEFE/INSU (GEOVIDE), ANR Blanc (GEOVIDE) and RPDOC, LabEX MER and IFREMER. F. Deman was supported by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Belspo contract BL/12/C63) while writing the manuscript. This work was financed by Flanders Research Foundation (FWO contract G0715.12N) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, R&D, Strategic Research Plan “Tracers of Past & Present Global Changes”. During the preparation of the manuscript, Debany Fonseca-Batista was supported by funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, through an International Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) at Dalhousie University.

Description: 2021-10-02

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Tectonics 39(11), (2020): e2020TC006409, doi:10.1029/2020TC006409.

Description: The dynamics of continental breakup at convergent margins has been described as the results of backarc opening caused by slab rollback or drag force induced by subduction direction reversal. Although the rollback hypothesis has been intensively studied, our understanding of the consequence of subduction direction reversal remains limited. Using thermo‐mechanical modeling based on constraints from the South China Sea (SCS) region, we investigate how subduction direction reversal controls the breakup of convergent margins. The numerical results show that two distinct breakup modes, namely, continental interior and edge breakup (“edge” refers to continent above the plate boundary interface), may develop depending on the “maturity” of the convergent margin and the age of the oceanic lithosphere. For a slab age of ~15 to ~45 Ma, increasing the duration of subduction promotes the continental interior breakup mode, where a large block of the continental material is separated from the overriding plate. In contrast, the continental edge breakup mode develops when the subduction is a short‐duration event, and in this mode, a wide zone of less continuous continental fragments and tearing of the subducted slab occur. These two modes are consistent with the interior (relic late Mesozoic arc) and edge (relic forearc) rifting characteristics in the western and eastern SCS margin, suggesting that variation in the northwest‐directed subduction duration of the Proto‐SCS might be a reason for the differential breakup locus along the strike of the SCS margin. Besides, a two‐segment trench associated with the northwest‐directed subduction is implied in the present‐day SCS region.

Description: This research was supported by the Guangdong NSF research team project (2017A030312002), the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (GML2019ZD0205), the K. C. Wong Education Foundation (GJTD‐2018‐13), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (XDA13010303), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y4SL021001, QYZDY‐SSWDQC005, 133244KYSB20180029, and ISEE2019ZR01), the NSFC project (41606073, 41890813, and 41576070), the IODP‐China Foundation, the OMG Visiting Fellowship (OMG18‐15), and the Hong Kong Research Grant Council Grants (Nos. 14313816 and 14304820).

Description: 2021-04-06

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 125(12),(2020): e2020JB020040, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020040.

Description: We model the magnetic signature of rift‐related volcanism to understand the distribution and volume of magmatic activity that occurred during the breakup of Pangaea and early Atlantic opening at the Eastern North American Margin (ENAM). Along‐strike variations in the amplitude and character of the prominent East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA) suggest that the emplacement of the volcanic layers producing this anomaly similarly varied along the margin. We use three‐dimensional magnetic forward modeling constrained by seismic interpretations to identify along‐margin variations in volcanic thickness and width that can explain the observed amplitude and character of the ECMA. Our model results suggest that the ECMA is produced by a combination of both first‐order (~600–1,000 km) and second‐order (~50–100 km) magmatic segmentation. The first‐order magmatic segmentation could have resulted from preexisting variations in crustal thickness and rheology developed during the tectonic amalgamation of Pangaea. The second‐order magmatic segmentation developed during continental breakup and likely influenced the segmentation and transform fault spacing of the initial, and modern, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. These variations in magmatism show how extension and thermal weakening was distributed at the ENAM during continental breakup and how this breakup magmatism was related to both previous and subsequent Wilson cycle stages.

Description: Thanks to Anne Bécel, Dan Lizarralde, Collin Brandl, Brandon Shuck, and Mark Everett for beneficial discussion and assistance in compiling the archived data used in this study. We thank Debbie Hutchinson (USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center) for passing along her vast breadth of knowledge on the ENAM through numerous constructive suggestions to greatly strengthen our manuscript. We greatly appreciate the insightful comments from two reviewers, the Associate Editor, and the Editor that significantly improved the manuscript. Thanks to Maurice Tivey for providing codes that aided our magnetic modeling efforts. Project completed as part of J.A.G.'s Ph.D. dissertation at Texas A&M University.

Description: 2021-05-16

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125(12), (2020): e2020JC016543, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016543.

Description: On coral reefs, flow determines residence time of water influencing physical and chemical environments and creating observable microclimates within the reef structure. Understanding the physical mechanisms driving environmental variability on shallow reefs, which distinguishes them from the open ocean, is important for understanding what contributes to thermal resilience of coral communities and predicting their response to future anomalies. In June 2014, a field experiment conducted at Dongsha Atoll in the northern South China Sea investigated the physical forces that drive flow over a broad shallow reef flat. Instrumentation included current and pressure sensors and a distributed temperature sensing system, which resolved spatially and temporally continuous temperature measurements over a 3‐km cross‐reef section from the lagoon to reef crest. Spectral analysis shows that while diurnal variability was significant across the reef flat—a result expected from daily solar heating—temperature also varied at higher frequencies near the reef crest. These spatially variable temperature regimes, or thermal microclimates, are influenced by circulation on the wide reef flat, with spatially and temporally variable contributions from tides, wind, and waves. Through particle tracking simulations, we find the residence time of water is shorter near the reef crest (3.6 h) than near the lagoon (8.6 h). Tidal variability in flow direction on the reef flat leads to patterns in residence time that are different than what would be predicted from unidirectional flow. Circulation on the reef also determines the source (originating from offshore vs. the lagoon) of the water present on the reef flat.

Description: We thank S. Tyler, and J. Selker from the Center for Transformative Environmental Monitoring Programs (CTEMPs), funded by the National Science Foundation (EAR awards 1440596 and 1440506), for timely and effective provision of experimental design support, logistical support and equipment for the project. Support for S. Lentz is from NSF Grant No. OCE‐1558343. Support for A. Cohen from NSF Grant No. 1220529, by the Academia Sinica (Taiwan) through a thematic project grant to G. Wong and A. Cohen. Support for E. Reid and K. Davis is from National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant No. OCE‐1753317, and support to E. Reid from the Environmental Engineering Henry Samueli Endowed Fellowship and the UCI Oceans Graduate Fellowship.

Description: 2021-05-23

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 35(12), (2020): e2020PA003853, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA003853.

Description: During the middle Miocene, Earth's climate changed from a global warm period (Miocene Climatic Optimum) into a colder one with the expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet. This prominent climate transition was also a period of drastic changes in global atmospheric circulation. The development of the South Asian monsoon is not well understood and mainly derived from proxy records of wind strength. Data for middle Miocene changes in rainfall are virtually non‐existent for India and the Arabian Sea prior to 11 Ma. This study presents planktic foraminiferal trace element (Mg/Ca and Ba/Ca) and stable oxygen isotope records from NGHP‐01 Site 01A off the coast of West India in the Eastern Arabian Sea (EAS) to reconstruct the regional surface hydrography and hydroclimate in the South Asian monsoon (SAM) region during the middle Miocene. The Ba/Ca and local seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) changes reveal a notable gradual increase in SAM rainfall intensity during the middle Miocene. Additionally to this long‐term increase in precipitation, the seawater δ18O is punctuated by a prominent decrease, i.e. freshening, at ~14 Ma contemporary with Antarctic glaciation. This suggests that Southern Ocean Intermediate Waters (SOIW) transmitted Antarctic salinity changes into the Arabian Sea via an “oceanic tunnel” mechanism. The middle Miocene increase in SAM rainfall is consistent with climate model simulations of an overall strengthening Asian monsoon from the Eocene to the middle/late Miocene with a further acceleration after the middle Miocene climate transition.

Description: This study has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through a grant to S. Steinke (NSFC grant No. 41776055) and Z. Jian and S. Steinke (NSFC grant No. 919582080). We express our gratitude to H. Kuhnert (MARUM, University of Bremen) and his team for stable isotope analyses. We thank P. Qiao (Tongji University Shanghai) for technical and analytical support with the ICP‐MS analyses, A. Dolman (Alfred‐Wegener‐Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany) for statistical analyses, and B. Wang (State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University) and his team for the SEM‐EDAX Energy Dispersive X‐ray Spectroscopy (EDS) analyses. L. Giosan acknowledges funding from USSP and WHOI and thanks colleagues and crew from the NGHP‐01 expedition for intellectual interactions leading to long‐standing interests in the fluvial‐continental margin systems of Peninsular India. J. Groeneveld thanks the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (Xiamen University) for a MEL Senior Visiting Fellowship (Project No. MELRS1915).

Description: 2021-05-27

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 21(12), (2020): e2020GC008914, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC008914.

Description: Rarely have small seamounts on the flanks of hotspot derived ocean‐island volcanoes been the targets of sampling, due to sparse high‐resolution mapping near ocean islands. In the Galápagos Archipelago, for instance, sampling has primarily targeted the subaerial volcanic edifices, with only a few studies focusing on large‐volume submarine features. Sampling restricted to these large volcanic features may present a selection bias, potentially resulting in a skewed view of magmatic and source processes because mature magmatic systems support mixing and volcanic accretion that overprints early magmatic stages. We demonstrate how finer‐scale sampling of satellite seamounts surrounding the volcanic islands in the Galápagos can be used to lessen this bias and thus, better constrain the evolution of these volcanoes. Seamounts were targeted in the vicinity of Floreana and Fernandina Islands, and between Santiago and Santa Cruz. In all regions, individual seamounts are typically monogenetic, but each seamount field requires multigenerational magmatic episodes to account for their geochemical variability. This study demonstrates that in the southern and eastern regions the seamounts are characterized by greater geochemical variability than the islands they surround but all three regions have (Sr‐Nd‐He) isotopic signatures that resemble neighboring islands. Variations in seamount chemistry from alkalic to tholeiitic near Fernandina support the concept that islands along the center of the hotspot track undergo greater mean depths of melting, as predicted by plume theory. Patterns of geochemical and isotopic enrichment of seamounts within each region support fine‐scale mantle heterogeneities in the mantle plume sourcing the Galápagos hotspot.

Description: This work was carried out with funding from National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE‐1634952 to V. D. Wanless, OCE‐1634685 to S. A. Soule). The authors have no competing interests to declare. We thank Sally Gibson and three anonymous reviewers for providing detailed and critical feedback on this manuscript.

Description: 2021-05-06

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 126(1),(2021): e2020JB020982, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020982.

Description: Seismic anisotropy measurements show that upper mantle hydration at the Middle America Trench (MAT) is limited to serpentinization and/or water in fault zones, rather than distributed uniformly. Subduction of hydrated oceanic lithosphere recycles water back into the deep mantle, drives arc volcanism, and affects seismicity at subduction zones. Constraining the extent of upper mantle hydration is an important part of understanding many fundamental processes on Earth. Substantially reduced seismic velocities in tomography suggest that outer rise plate‐bending faults provide a pathway for seawater to rehydrate the slab mantle just prior to subduction. Estimates of outer‐rise hydration based on tomograms vary significantly, with some large enough to imply that, globally, subduction has consumed more than two oceans worth of water during the Phanerozoic. We found that, while the mean upper mantle wavespeed is reduced at the MAT outer rise, the amplitude and orientation of inherited anisotropy are preserved at depths 〉1 km below the Moho. At shallower depths, relict anisotropy is replaced by slowing in the fault‐normal direction. These observations are incompatible with pervasive hydration but consistent with models of wave propagation through serpentinized fault zones that thin to 〈100‐m in width at depths 〉1 km below Moho. Confining hydration to fault zones reduces water storage estimates for the MAT upper mantle from ∼3.5 wt% to 〈0.9 wt% H20. Since the intermediate thermal structure in the ∼24 Myr‐old MAT slab favors serpentinization, limited hydration suggests that fault mechanics are the limiting factor, not temperatures. Subducting mantle may be similarly dry globally.

Description: National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: OCE-0625178, OCE-0841063

Description: 2021-06-15

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125(10),(2020): e2020JC016507, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016507.

Description: Survival of Gulf Stream (GS) warm core rings (WCRs) was investigated using a census consisting of a total of 961 rings formed during the period 1980–2017. Kaplan‐Meier survival probability and Cox hazard proportional models were used for the analysis. The survival analysis was performed for rings formed in four 5° zones between 75° W and 55° W. The radius, latitude, and distance from the shelf‐break of a WCR at formation all had a significant effect on the survival of WCRs. A pattern of higher survival was observed in WCRs formed in Zone 2 (70°–65° W) or Zone 3 (65°–60° W) and then demised in Zone 1 (75°–70° W). Survival probability of the WCRs increased to more than 70% for those formed within a latitude band from 39.5° to 41.5° N. Survival probability is reduced when the WCRs are formed near the New England Seamounts.

Description: We are grateful for financial supports from NOAA (NA11NOS0120038), NSF (OCE‐1851242), SMAST, and UMass Dartmouth. G. G. was supported by NSF under grant OCE‐1851261.

Description: 2021-04-14

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Anderson, M., Wanless, V. D., Perfit, M., Conrad, E., Gregg, P., Fornari, D., & Ridley, W. I. Extreme heterogeneity in mid-ocean ridge mantle revealed in lavas from the 8 degrees 20 ' N near-axis seamount chain. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 22(1), (2021): e2020GC009322, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009322.

Description: Lavas that have erupted at near‐axis seamounts provide windows into mid‐ocean ridge mantle heterogeneity and melting systematics which are not easily observed on‐axis at fast‐spreading centers. Beneath ridges, most heterogeneity is obscured as magmas aggregate toward the ridge, where they efficiently mix and homogenize during transit and within shallow magma chambers prior to eruption. To understand the deeper magmatic processes contributing to oceanic crustal formation, we examine the compositions of lavas erupted along a chain of near‐axis seamounts and volcanic ridges perpendicular to the East Pacific Rise. We assess the chemistry of near‐ridge mantle using a ∼200 km‐long chain at ∼8°20′N. High‐resolution bathymetric maps are used with geochemical analyses of ∼300 basalts to evaluate the petrogenesis of lavas and the heterogeneity of mantle feeding these near‐axis eruptions. Major and trace element concentrations and radiogenic isotope ratios are highly variable on 〈1 km scales, and reveal a continuum of depleted, normal, and enriched basalts spanning the full range of ridge and seamount compositions in the northeast Pacific. There is no systematic compositional variability along the chain. Modeling suggests that depleted mid‐ocean ridge basalt (DMORB) lavas are produced by ∼5%–15% melting of a depleted mid‐ocean ridge (MOR) mantle. Normal mid‐ocean ridge basalts (NMORB) form from 5% to 15% melting of a slightly enriched MOR mantle. Enriched mid‐ocean ridge basalts (EMORB) range from 〈1% melting of 10% enriched mantle to 〉15% melting of 100% enriched mantle. The presence of all three lava types along the seamount chain, and on a single seamount closest to the ridge axis, confirms that the sub‐ridge mantle is much more heterogeneous than is commonly observed on‐axis and heterogeneity exists over small spatial scales.

Description: This work was supported by NSF OCE‐MGG 1356610 (Romano and Gregg), NSF OCE‐MGG 1356822 (Fornari), NSF OCE‐MGG 1357150 (Perfit), NSF OCE‐MGG 2001314 (Perfit and Wanless), the Burnham Research Grant at Boise State University, and the Graduate School Funding Fellowship at University of Florida.

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sutherland, K. M., Grabb, K. C., Karolewski, J. S., Plummer, S., Farfan, G. A., Wankel, S. D., Diaz, J. M., Lamborg, C. H., & Hansel, C. M. Spatial heterogeneity in particle-associated, light-independent superoxide production within productive coastal waters. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(10), (2020): e2020JC016747, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016747.

Description: In the marine environment, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) superoxide is produced through a diverse array of light‐dependent and light‐independent reactions, the latter of which is thought to be primarily controlled by microorganisms. Marine superoxide production influences organic matter remineralization, metal redox cycling, and dissolved oxygen concentrations, yet the relative contributions of different sources to total superoxide production remain poorly constrained. Here we investigate the production, steady‐state concentration, and particle‐associated nature of light‐independent superoxide in productive waters off the northeast coast of North America. We find exceptionally high levels of light‐independent superoxide in the marine water column, with concentrations ranging from 10 pM to in excess of 2,000 pM. The highest superoxide concentrations were particle associated in surface seawater and in aphotic seawater collected meters off the seafloor. Filtration of seawater overlying the continental shelf lowered the light‐independent, steady‐state superoxide concentration by an average of 84%. We identify eukaryotic phytoplankton as the dominant particle‐associated source of superoxide to these coastal waters. We contrast these measurements with those collected at an off‐shelf station, where superoxide concentrations did not exceed 100 pM, and particles account for an average of 40% of the steady‐state superoxide concentration. This study demonstrates the primary role of particles in the production of superoxide in seawater overlying the continental shelf and highlights the importance of light‐independent, dissolved‐phase reactions in marine ROS production.

Description: This work was funded by grants from the Chemical Oceanography program of the National Science Foundation (OCE‐1355720 to C. M. H. and C. H. L.), NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (Grant NNX15AR62H to K. M. S.), Agouron Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (K. M. S.), NSF GRFPs (2016230268 to K. C. G. and 2017250547 to S. P.), and a Sloan Research Fellowship (J. M. D.). The Guava flow cytometer was purchased through an NSF equipment improvement grant (1624593).

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36(7), (2021): e2020PA004088, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA004088.

Description: We reconstruct deep water-mass salinities and spatial distributions in the western North Atlantic during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 19–26 ka), a period when atmospheric CO2 was significantly lower than it is today. A reversal in the LGM Atlantic meridional bottom water salinity gradient has been hypothesized for several LGM water-mass reconstructions. Such a reversal has the potential to influence climate, ocean circulation, and atmospheric CO2 by increasing the thermal energy and carbon storage capacity of the deep ocean. To test this hypothesis, we reconstructed LGM bottom water salinity based on sedimentary porewater chloride profiles in a north-south transect of piston cores collected from the deep western North Atlantic. LGM bottom water salinity in the deep western North Atlantic determined by the density-based method is 3.41–3.99 ± 0.15% higher than modern values at these sites. This increase is consistent with: (a) the 3.6% global average salinity change expected from eustatic sea level rise, (b) a northward expansion of southern sourced deep water, (c) shoaling of northern sourced deep water, and (d) a reversal of the Atlantic's north-south deep water salinity gradient during the LGM.

Description: This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation (grant numbers 1433150 and 1537485).

Description: 2021-10-24

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36(9), (2021): e2021PA004226, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004226.

Description: The deep ocean has long been recognized as the reservoir that stores the carbon dioxide (CO2) removed from the atmosphere during Pleistocene glacial periods. The removal of glacial atmospheric CO2 into the ocean is likely modulated by an increase in the degree of utilization of macronutrients at the sea surface and enhanced storage of respired CO2 in the deep ocean, known as enhanced efficiency of the biological pump. Enhanced biological pump efficiency during glacial periods is most easily documented in the deep ocean using proxies for oxygen concentrations, which are directly linked to respiratory CO2 levels. We document the enhanced storage of respired CO2 during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Pacific Southern Ocean and deepest Equatorial Pacific using records of deglacial authigenic manganese, which form as relict peaks during increases in bottom water oxygen (BWO) concentration. These peaks are found at depths and regions where other oxygenation histories have been ambiguous, due to diagenetic alteration of authigenic uranium, another proxy for BWO. Our results require that the entirety of the abyssal Pacific below approximately 1,000 m was enriched in respired CO2 and depleted in oxygen during the LGM. The presence of authigenic Mn enrichment in the deep Equatorial Pacific for each of the last five deglaciations suggests that the storage of respired CO2 in the deep ocean is a ubiquitous feature of late-Pleistocene ice ages.

Description: This work was performed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) over about 30 years. The TT013 and NBP9802 cores were collected during the U.S. JGOFS program. Their collection and analyses were supported by NSF OCE-9022301 and OPP-95303398 to R. F. Anderson, and NSF OCE 9301097 to R. W. Murray. Coring and radiocarbon analyses on NBP1702 were funded by NSF OPP-1542962. XRF analysis on NBP9802 and NBP1702 cores, as well as additional radiocarbon measurements, was funded by an LDEO Climate Center Grant to F. J. Pavia.

Description: 2022-02-17

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(2), (2021): e2020JC016773, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016773.

Description: A new modeling methodology for ripple dynamics driven by oscillatory flows using a Eulerian two‐phase flow approach is presented in order to bridge the research gap between near‐bed sediment transport via ripple migration and suspended load transport dictated by ripple induced vortices. Reynolds‐averaged Eulerian two‐phase equations for fluid phase and sediment phase are solved in a two‐dimensional vertical domain with a k‐ε closure for flow turbulence and particle stresses closures for short‐lived collision and enduring contact. The model can resolve full profiles of sediment transport without making conventional near‐bed load and suspended load assumptions. The model is validated with an oscillating tunnel experiment of orbital ripple driven by a Stokes second‐order (onshore velocity skewed) oscillatory flow with a good agreement in the flow velocity and sediment concentration. Although the suspended sediment concentration far from the ripple in the dilute region was underpredicted by the present model, the model predicts an onshore ripple migration rate that is in very good agreement with the measured value. Another orbital ripple case driven by symmetric sinusoidal oscillatory flow is also conducted to contrast the effect of velocity skewness. The model is able to capture a net offshore‐directed suspended load transport flux due to the asymmetric primary vortex consistent with laboratory observation. More importantly, the model can resolve the asymmetry of onshore‐directed near‐bed sediment flux associated with more intense boundary layer flow speed‐up during onshore flow cycle and sediment avalanching near the lee ripple flank which force the onshore ripple migration.

Description: This study is supported by National Science Foundation (Grant no. OCE‐1635151) and Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (Grant no. MR20‐1478).

Description: 2021-06-29

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(2), (2021): e2020JC016856, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016856.

Description: The genus Phaeocystis is distributed globally and has considerable ecological, biogeochemical, and societal impacts. Understanding its distribution, growth and ecological impacts has been limited by lack of extensive observations on appropriate scales. In 2018, we investigated the biological dynamics of the New England continental shelf and encountered a substantial bloom of Phaeocystis pouchetii. Based on satellite imagery during January through April, the bloom extended over broad expanses of the shelf; furthermore, our observations demonstrated that it reached high biomass levels, with maximum chlorophyll concentrations exceeding 16 µg L−1 and particulate organic carbon levels 〉 95 µmol L−1. Initially, the bloom was largely confined to waters with temperatures 〈6°C, which in turn were mostly restricted to shallow areas near the coast. As the bloom progressed, it appeared to sink into the bottom boundary layer; however, enough light and nutrients were available for growth. The bloom was highly productive (net community production integrated through the mixed layer from stations within the bloom averaged 1.16 g C m−2 d−1) and reduced nutrient concentrations considerably. Long‐term coastal observations suggest that Phaeocystis blooms occur sporadically in spring on Nantucket Shoals and presumably expand onto the continental shelf. Based on the distribution of Phaeocystis during our study, we suggest that it can have a significant impact on the overall productivity and ecology of the New England shelf during the winter/spring transition.

Description: This project was supported by the US National Science Foundation (Grants 1657855, 1657803, and 1657489). NES‐LTER contributions were supported by grants to HMS from NSF (Grant 1655686) and the Simons Foundation (Grant 561126). VPR operations were supported by the Dalio Explore Fund.

Description: 2021-07-15

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Water Resources Research 57(7), (2021): e2020WR028727, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028727.

Description: Numerous wetlands in the prairies of Canada provide important ecosystem services, yet are threatened by climate and land-use changes. Understanding the impacts of climate change on prairie wetlands is critical to effective conservation planning. In this study, we construct a wetland model with surface water balance and ecoregions to project future distribution of wetlands. The climatic conditions downscaled from the Weather Research and Forecasting model were used to drive the Noah-MP land surface model to obtain surface water balance. The climate change perturbation is derived from an ensemble of general circulation models using the pseudo global warming method, under the RCP8.5 emission scenario by the end of 21st century. The results show that climate change impacts on wetland extent are spatiotemporally heterogenous. Future wetter climate in the western Prairies will favor increased wetland abundance in both spring and summer. In the eastern Prairies, particularly in the mixed grassland and mid-boreal upland, wetland areas will increase in spring but experience enhanced declines in summer due to strong evapotranspiration. When these effects of climate change are considered in light of historical drainage, they suggest a need for diverse conservation and restoration strategies. For the mixed grassland in the western Canadian Prairies, wetland restoration will be favorable, while the highly drained eastern Prairies will be challenged by the intensified hydrological cycle. The outcomes of this study will be useful to conservation agencies to ensure that current investments will continue to provide good conservation returns in the future.

Description: Z. Zhang was funded by a Mitacs Accelerate Fellowship funded by Ducks Unlimited Canada's Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research. Z. Zhang, Z. Li, and Y. Li acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, and Global Water Futures Program, Canada First Research Excellence Fund. This project was supported by grants from Wildlife Habitat Canada, Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, and the Alberta NAWMP Partnership.

Description: 2021-12-21

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 48(11), (2021): e2021GL093178, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093178.

Description: The effects of heterogeneous reactions between river-borne particles and the carbonate system were studied in the plumes of the Mississippi and Brazos rivers. Measurements within these plumes revealed significant removal of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA). After accounting for all known DIC and TA sinks and sources, heterogeneous reactions (i.e., heterogeneous CaCO3 precipitation and cation exchange between adsorbed and dissolved ions) were found to be responsible for a significant fraction of DIC and TA removal, exceeding 10% and 90%, respectively, in the Mississippi and Brazos plume waters. This finding was corroborated by laboratory experiments, in which the seeding of seawater with the riverine particles induced the removal of the DIC and TA. The combined results demonstrate that heterogeneous reactions may represent an important controlling mechanism of the seawater carbonate system in particle-rich coastal areas and may significantly impact the coastal carbon cycle.

Description: This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bi-National Science Foundation U.S-Israel award number OCE-BSF 1635388.

Description: 2021-11-20

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 48(19), (2021): e2021GL094364, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094364.

Description: The warm Gulf Stream sea surface temperatures strongly impact the evolution of winter clouds behind atmospheric cold fronts. Such cloud evolution remains challenging to model. The Gulf Stream is too wide within the ERA5 and MERRA2 reanalyses, affecting the turbulent surface fluxes. Known problems within the ERA5 boundary layer (too-dry and too-cool with too strong westerlies), ascertained primarily from ACTIVATE 2020 campaign aircraft dropsondes and secondarily from older buoy measurements, reinforce surface flux biases. In contrast, MERRA2 winter surface winds and air-sea temperature/humidity differences are slightly too weak, producing surface fluxes that are too low. Reanalyses boundary layer heights in the strongly forced winter cold-air-outbreak regime are realistic, whereas late-summer quiescent stable boundary layers are too shallow. Nevertheless, the reanalysis biases are small, and reanalyses adequately support their use for initializing higher-resolution cloud process modeling studies of cold-air outbreaks.

Description: This work was supported by NASA grant 80NSSC19K0390 to ACTIVATE, a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-3 (EVS-3) investigation funded by NASA's Earth Science Division and managed through the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program Office. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is operated for the US Department of Energy (DOE) by Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830.

Description: 2022-03-08

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Loranger, S., & Weber, T. C. . Shipboard acoustic observations of flow rate from a seafloor-sourced oil spill. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(10), (2020): e2020JC016274, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016274.

Description: In 2004 a debris flow generated by Hurricane Ivan toppled an oil production platform in Mississippi Canyon lease block 20 (MC20). Between 2004 and the installation of a containment system in 2019 MC20 became an in situ laboratory for a wide range of hydrocarbon in the sea‐related research, including different methods of assessing the volumetric flow rate of hydrocarbons spanning different temporal scales. In 2017 a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and high‐frequency (90 to 154 kHz) broadband echosounder were deployed to assess the flow rate of liquid and gas phase hydrocarbons. Measurements of horizontal currents were combined with acoustic mapping to determine the rise velocity of the seep as it moved downstream. Models of the rise velocity for fluid particles were used to predict the size of oil droplets and gas bubbles in the seep. The amplitude and shape of the broadband acoustic backscatter were then used to differentiate between, and determine the flow rate of, hydrocarbons. Oil flow rate in the seep was estimated to be 56 to 86 barrels/day (mean urn:x-wiley:jgrc:media:jgrc24228:jgrc24228-math-0001 barrels/day) while the flow rate of gaseous hydrocarbons was estimated to be 98 to 359 m3/day (mean urn:x-wiley:jgrc:media:jgrc24228:jgrc24228-math-0002 m3/day).

Description: The work was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Grant NA15NOS4000200).

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(1), (2021): e2020JC016771, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016771.

Description: Estuaries worldwide have experienced modifications including channel deepening and intertidal reclamation over several centuries, resulting in altered fine sediment routing. Estuaries respond differently based on preexisting geometries, freshwater and sediment supplies, and extents and types of modification. The Coos Bay Estuary in Oregon is a relatively small estuary with complex geometry that has been extensively modified since 1865. A sediment transport model calibrated to modern conditions is used to assess the corresponding changes in sediment dynamics. Over ∼150 years, channel deepening (from ∼6.7 to 11 m), a 12% increase in area, and a 21% increase in volume have led to greater tidal amplitudes, salinity intrusion, and estuarine exchange flow. These changes have reduced current magnitudes, reduced bed stresses, and increased stratification, especially during rainy periods. Historically, fluvially derived sediment was dispersed across broad, deltaic‐style flats and through small tidal channels. Now, river water and sediments are diverted into a dredged navigation channel where an estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) forms, with modeled concentrations 〉50 mg/L and measured concentrations 〉100 mg/L during discharge events. This “new” ETM supplies sediment to proximal embayments in the middle estuary and the shallow flats. Overall, sediment trapping during winter (and high river discharges) has increased more than two‐fold, owing to increased accommodation space, altered pathways of supply, and altered bed stresses and tidal asymmetries. In contrast to funnel‐shaped estuaries with simpler geometries and river‐channel transitions, these results highlight the importance of channel routing together with dredging in enhancing sediment retention and shifting pathways of sediment delivery.

Description: The Science Collaborative is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the University of Michigan Water Center (NAI4NOS4190145).

Description: 2021-06-14

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Geyer, W. R., Ralston, D. K., & Chen, J. Mechanisms of exchange flow in an estuary with a narrow, deep channel and wide, shallow shoals. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(12), (2020): e2020JC016092, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016092.

Description: Delaware Bay is a large estuary with a deep, relatively narrow channel and wide, shallow banks, providing a clear example of a “channel‐shoal” estuary. This numerical modeling study addresses the exchange flow in this channel‐shoal estuary, specifically to examine how the lateral geometry affects the strength and mechanisms of exchange flow. We find that the exchange flow is exclusively confined to the channel region during spring tides, when stratification is weak, and it broadens laterally over the shoals during the more stratified neap tides but still occupies a small fraction of the total width of the estuary. Exchange flow is relatively weak during spring tides, resulting from oscillatory shear dispersion in the channel augmented by weak Eulerian exchange flow. During neap tides, stratification and shear increase markedly, resulting in a strong Eulerian residual shear flow driven mainly by the along‐estuary density gradient, with a net exchange flow roughly 5 times that of the spring tide. During both spring and neap tides, lateral salinity gradients generated by differential advection at the edge of the channel drive a tidally oscillating cross‐channel flow, which strongly influences the stratification, along‐estuary salt balance, and momentum balance. The lateral flow also causes the phase variation in salinity that results in oscillatory shear dispersion and is an advective momentum source contributing to the residual circulation. Whereas the shoals make a negligible direct contribution to the exchange flow, they have an indirect influence due to the salinity gradients between the channel and the shoal.

Description: The ideas in this paper were influenced by discussions with Robert Chant. Funding was provided by National Science Foundation grants OCE‐1325136, OCE‐1634490, and OCE‐1736539.

Description: 2021-04-29

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 48(3), (2021): e2020GL091200, doi:10.1029/2020GL091200.

Description: Tabular calving events occur from Antarctica's large ice shelves only every few decades, and are preceded by rift propagation. We used high-resolution imagery and ICESat-2 data to determine the propagation rates for the three active rifts on Amery Ice Shelf (AIS; T1, T2, and E3) and observe the calving of D-28 on September 25, 2019 along T1. AIS front advance accelerated downstream of T1 in the years before calving, possibly increasing stress at the rift tip. T1 experienced significant acceleration for 12 days before calving, coinciding with a jump in propagation of E3. ICESat-2's high resolution and repeat acquisitions every 91 days allowed for analysis of the ice front before and after calving, and rift detection where it was not visible in imagery as a ∼1 m surface depression, suggesting that it propagates as a basal fracture. Our results show that ICESat-2 can provide process-scale information about iceberg calving.

Description: We received funding from the following sources: NASA NNX15AC80G and NSF grant 1443677 (Fricker and Becker) and NASA 80NSSC20K0960 (Walker). We are grateful to Mike Cloutier, Polar Geospatial Center for assistance with WorldView imagery. Geospatial support was provided by Polar Geospatial Center under NSF-OPP awards 1043681 and 1559691.

Description: 2021-07-12

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(7), (2021): e2020JC016899, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016899.

Description: Circulation in the nearshore region, which is critical for material transport along the coast and between the surf zone and the inner shelf, includes strong vortical motions. The horizontal length scales and vertical structure associated with vortical motions are not well documented on alongshore-variable beaches. Here, a three-dimensional phase-resolving numerical model, Simulating WAves till SHore (SWASH), is compared with surfzone waves and flows on a barred beach, and is used to investigate surfzone eddies. Model simulations with measured bathymetry reproduce trends in the mean surfzone circulation patterns, including alongshore currents and rip current circulation cells observed for offshore wave heights from 0.5 to 2.0 m and incident wave directions from 0 to 15° relative to shore normal. The length scales of simulated eddies, quantified using the alongshore wavenumber spectra of vertical vorticity, suggest that increasing wave directional spread intensifies small-scale eddies ( (10) m). Simulations with bathymetric variability ranging from alongshore uniform to highly alongshore variable indicate that large-scale eddies ( (100) m) may be enhanced by surfzone bathymetric variability, whereas small-scale eddies ( (10) m) are less dependent on bathymetric variability. The simulated vertical dependence of the magnitude and mean length scale (centroid) of the alongshore wavenumber spectra of vertical vorticity and very low-frequency (f ≈ 0.005 Hz) currents is weak in the outer surf zone, and decreases toward the shoreline. The vertical dependence in the simulations may be affected by the vertical structure of turbulence, mean shear, and bottom boundary layer dynamics.

Description: Support was provided by the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Coastal Research Program, Sea Grant, and the WHOI Investment in Science Program.

Description: 2021-12-26

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in O’Dea, A., Brodie, K., & Elgar, S. Field observations of the evolution of plunging-wave shapes. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(16), (2021): e2021GL093664, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093664.

Description: There are few high-resolution field observations of the water surface during breaking owing to the difficulty of collecting spatially dense measurements in the surf zone, and thus the factors influencing breaking-wave shape in field conditions remain poorly understood. Here, the shape and evolution of plunging breakers is analyzed quantitatively using three-dimensional scans of the water surface collected at high spatial and temporal resolution with a multi-beam terrestrial lidar scanner. The observed internal void shapes in plunging breakers agree well with previously developed theoretical shapes at the onset of breaking, and become more elongated and less steep as breaking progresses. The normalized void area increases as the local bottom slope steepens and as the breaking depth decreases. The void shape becomes more circular as the local bottom slope and the ratio of breaking water depth to wavelength increase, as well as in conditions with opposing winds.

Description: Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Laboratory University Collaboration Initiative program, the U.S. Army ERDC Military Engineering Basic Research Program from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship program, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Coastal Research Program. This project was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program at the DoD, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the DoD.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 126(7), (2021): e2021JF006132, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006132.

Description: The evolution of ripple geometries and their equilibrium states due to different wave forcing parameters are investigated by a Reynolds-averaged two-phase model, SedFoam, in a two-dimensional domain. Modeled ripple geometries, for a given uniform grain diameter, show a good agreement with ripple predictors that include the wave period effect explicitly, in addition to the wave orbital excursion length (or wave orbital velocity amplitude). Furthermore, using a series of numerical experiments, the ripple's response to a step-change in the wave forcing is studied. The model is capable of simulating “splitting,” “sliding,” “merging,” and “protruding” as the ripples evolve to a new equilibrium state. The model can also simulate the transition to sheet flow in energetic wave conditions and ripple reformation from a nearly flat bed condition. Simulation results reveal that the equilibrium state is such that the “primary” vortices reach half of the ripple length. Furthermore, an analysis of the suspended load and near-bed load ratio in the equilibrium state indicates that in the orbital ripple regime, the near-bed load is dominant while the suspended load is conducive to the ripple decaying regime (suborbital ripples) and sheet flow condition.

Description: This study is supported by National Science Foundation (OCE-1635151 and OCE-1924532) and Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (MR20-1478).

Description: 2021-12-24

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

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

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

Description: 2021-06-04

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 48(2), (2021): e2020GL090287, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090287.

Description: Salt marsh survival with sea‐level rise (SLR) increasingly relies on soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation and preservation. Using a novel combination of geochemical approaches, we characterized fine SOC (≤1 mm) supporting marsh elevation maintenance. Overlaying thermal reactivity, source (δ13C), and age (F14C) information demonstrates several processes contributing to soil development: marsh grass production, redeposition of eroded material, and microbial reworking. Redeposition of old carbon, likely from creekbanks, represented ∼9%–17% of shallow SOC (≤26 cm). Soils stored marsh grass‐derived compounds with a range of reactivities that were reworked over centuries‐to‐millennia. Decomposition decreases SOC thermal reactivity throughout the soil column while the decades‐long disturbance of ponding accelerated this shift in surface horizons. Empirically derived estimates of SOC turnover based on geochemical composition spanned a wide range (640–9,951 years) and have the potential to inform predictions of marsh ecosystem evolution.

Description: This work was supported by NSF (OCE1233678) and NOAA (NA14OAR4170104 and NA14NOS4190145) grants to ACS, USGS Coastal & Marine Geology Program, and PIE‐LTER (NSF OCE1238212 and OCE1637630).

Description: 2021-06-11

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Schloesser, F., Thompson, P. R., & Piecuch, C. G. Meridional asymmetry in recent decadal sea-level trends in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(6), (2021): e2020GL091959, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091959.

Description: Recent sea surface height (SSH) trends in the South Pacific are substantially greater than trends in the North Pacific. Here, we use the Estimating the Climate and Circulation of the Ocean Version 4 Release 4 ocean state estimate and the Ocean Reanalysis System 5 to identify the forcing and mechanisms underlying that meridional asymmetry during 2005–2015. Thermosteric contributions dominate the spatial structure in Pacific SSH trends, but contributions from local surface heat fluxes are small. Wind stress trends drive a spin-up of the South Pacific subtropical gyre and a northward shift of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. A reduced gravity model forced with reanalysis winds qualitatively reproduces the meridional seesaw in sea level, suggesting that asymmetric trends in subtropical wind stress drive a cross-equatorial heat transport. A reversal in forcing associated with this process could impact near-term rates of coastal sea-level change, particularly in Pacific Island communities.

Description: F. Schloesser and P. R. Thompson were supported by NASA grant 80NSSC17K0564 and NSF grant 1558980. C. G. Piecuch was supported by the NASA Sea Level Change Team (grant 80NSSC20K1241).

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 126(2), (2021): e2020JB020237, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020237.

Description: Alteration of mantle peridotite in the Samail ophiolite forms secondary minerals, mainly serpentine and Mg‐rich carbonates. Magnesium accounts for ∼25 – 30% of peridotite mass and its mobility can be used to trace this alteration. We report the first set of Mg isotope measurements from peridotites and their alteration products in Oman. Partially serpentinized peridotites have Mg isotope ratios that are indistinguishable from estimates for the average mantle and bulk silicate earth (δ26Mg = −0.25 ± 0.04‰). However, more extensively altered peridotite samples show large shifts in Mg isotopic composition. The range of δ26Mg values for our suite of alteration products from the mantle section is ∼4.5‰ (from −3.39‰ to 1.19‰), or 〉60% of the total range of terrestrial variability in δ26Mg values. Serpentine veins are typically enriched in 26Mg (max δ26Mg value = 0.96‰) whereas Mg‐carbonate veins are associated with low 26Mg/24Mg ratios (magnesite δ26Mg = −3.3‰, dolomite δ26Mg = −1.91‰). Our preferred explanation for the range in δ26Mg values involves coprecipitation of serpentine and carbonates at water‐to‐rock ratios 〉103. The coincidence of alteration products characterized by δ26Mg values that are both lower and higher than bulk silicate Earth and the finite 14C ages of the carbonates suggest that both serpentinization and carbonation are ongoing in Oman. Rates of calcite precipitation in travertines inferred from Δ26Mgcal‐fl suggest that travertine formation in Oman sequesters a total of 106–107 kg CO2/yr, consistent with previous estimates.

Description: This work was supported through the Sloan Foundation–Deep Carbon Observatory (Grant 2014‐3‐01, Kelemen PI), the U.S.‐National Science Foundation (NSF‐EAR‐1516300, Kelemen lead PI).

Description: 2021-06-04

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Brenner, S., Rainville, L., Thomson, J., Cole, S., & Lee, C. Comparing observations and parameterizations of ice-ocean drag through an annual cycle across the Beaufort Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(4), (202): 1e2020JC016977, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016977.

Description: Understanding and predicting sea ice dynamics and ice-ocean feedback processes requires accurate descriptions of momentum fluxes across the ice-ocean interface. In this study, we present observations from an array of moorings in the Beaufort Sea. Using a force-balance approach, we determine ice-ocean drag coefficient values over an annual cycle and a range of ice conditions. Statistics from high resolution ice draft measurements are used to calculate expected drag coefficient values from morphology-based parameterization schemes. With both approaches, drag coefficient values ranged from ∼1 to 10 × 10−3, with a minimum in fall and a maximum at the end of spring, consistent with previous observations. The parameterizations do a reasonable job of predicting the observed drag values if the under ice geometry is known, and reveal that keel drag is the primary contributor to the total ice-ocean drag coefficient. When translations of bulk model outputs to ice geometry are included in the parameterizations, they overpredict drag on floe edges, leading to the inverted seasonal cycle seen in prior models. Using these results to investigate the efficiency of total momentum flux across the atmosphere-ice-ocean interface suggests an inter-annual trend of increasing coupling between the atmosphere and the ocean.

Description: This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research as part of the Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) research project. Funding was through grant numbers N00014-16-1-2349, N00014-14-1-2377, N00014-18-1-2687, and N00014-16-1-2381.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 35(4), (2021): e2020GB006895, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006895.

Description: The Amazon River drains a diverse tropical landscape greater than 6 million km2, culminating in the world's largest export of freshwater and dissolved constituents to the ocean. Here, we present dissolved organic carbon (DOC), organic and inorganic nitrogen (DON, DIN), orthophosphate (PO43−), and major and trace ion concentrations and fluxes from the Amazon River using 26 samples collected over three annual hydrographs. Concentrations and fluxes were predominantly controlled by the annual wet season flood pulse. Average DOC, DON, DIN, and PO43− fluxes (±1 s.d.) were 25.5 (±1.0), 1.14 (±0.05), 0.82 (±0.03), and 0.063 (±0.003) Tg yr−1, respectively. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter absorption (at 350 nm) was strongly correlated with DOC concentrations, resulting in a flux of 74.8 × 106 m−2 yr−1. DOC and DON concentrations positively correlated with discharge while nitrate + nitrite concentrations negatively correlated, suggesting mobilization and dilution responses, respectively. Ammonium, PO43−, and silica concentrations displayed chemostatic responses to discharge. Major and trace ion concentrations displayed clockwise hysteresis (except for chloride, sodium, and rubidium) and exhibited either dilution or chemostatic responses. The sources of weathered cations also displayed seasonality, with the highest proportion of carbonate- and silicate-derived cations occurring during peak and baseflow, respectively. Finally, our seasonally resolved weathering model resulted in an average CO2 consumption yield of (3.55 ± 0.11) × 105 mol CO2 km−2 yr−1. These results represent an updated and temporally refined quantification of dissolved fluxes that highlight the strong seasonality of export from the world's largest river and set a robust baseline against which to gauge future change.

Description: This work was supported by a grant from the Harbourton Foundation to R. G. M. Spencer and R. M. Holmes. T. W. Drake was supported by ETH Zurich core funding to J. Six. R. G. M. Spencer was additionally supported by NSF OCE-1333157.

Description: 2021-09-15

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36(5), (2021): e2021PA004219, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004219.

Description: The Yucatán Peninsula (YP) has a complex hydroclimate with many proposed drivers of interannual and longer-term variability, ranging from coupled ocean–atmosphere processes to frequency of tropical cyclones. The mid-Holocene, a time of higher Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, provides an opportunity to test the relationship between YP precipitation and ocean temperature. Here, we present a new, ∼annually resolved speleothem record of stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) and trace element (Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) ratios for a section of the mid-Holocene (5.2–5.7 kyr BP), before extensive agriculture began in the region. A meter-long stalagmite from Río Secreto, a cave system in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, was dated using U–Th geochronology and layer counting, yielding multidecadal age uncertainty (median 2SD of ±70 years). New proxy data were compared to an existing late Holocene stalagmite record from the same cave system, allowing us to examine changes in hydrology over time and to paleoclimate records from the southern YP. The δ18O, δ13C, and Mg/Ca data consistently indicate higher mean precipitation and lower precipitation variability during the mid-Holocene compared to the late Holocene. Despite this reduced variability, multidecadal precipitation variations were persistent in regional hydroclimate during the mid-Holocene. We therefore conclude that higher summer insolation led to increased mean precipitation and decreased precipitation variability in the northern YP but that the region is susceptible to dry periods across climate mean states. Given projected decreases in wet season precipitation in the YP’s near future, we suggest that climate mitigation strategies emphasize drought preparation.

Description: This work was funded by US National Science Foundation grants AGS-1702848 (M. Medina-Elizalde) and AGS-1502877 (S. Burns). This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant 1122374 (G. Serrato Marks). Additional support was provided by the MIT EAPS Student Research Fund and the WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund.

Description: 2021-11-06