ALBERT

Description: The Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) contributes roughly half to the total volume transport of the Nordic overflows. The overflow increases its volume by entraining ambient water as it descends into the subpolar North Atlantic, feeding into the deep branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. In June 2012, a multiplatform experiment was carried out in the DSO plume on the continental slope off Greenland (180 km downstream of the sill in Denmark Strait), to observe the variability associated with the entrainment of ambient waters into the DSO plume. In this study, we report on two high-dissipation events captured by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) by horizontal profiling in the interfacial layer between the DSO plume and the ambient water. Strong dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy of O( math formula) W kg−1 was associated with enhanced small-scale temperature variance at wavelengths between 0.05 and 500 m as deduced from a fast-response thermistor. Isotherm displacement slope spectra reveal a wave number-dependence characteristic of turbulence in the inertial-convective subrange ( math formula) at wavelengths between 0.14 and 100 m. The first event captured by the AUV was transient, and occurred near the edge of a bottom-intensified energetic eddy. Our observations imply that both horizontal advection of warm water and vertical mixing of it into the plume are eddy-driven and go hand in hand in entraining ambient water into the DSO plume. The second event was found to be a stationary feature on the upstream side of a topographic elevation located in the plume pathway. Flow-topography interaction is suggested to drive the intense mixing at this site.

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

Description: The ocean's potential to export carbon to depth partly depends on the fraction of primary production (PP) sinking out of the euphotic zone (i.e., the e-ratio). Measurements of PP and export flux are often performed simultaneously in the field, although there is a temporal delay between those parameters. Thus, resulting e-ratio estimates often incorrectly assume an instantaneous downward export of PP to export flux. Evaluating results from four mesocosm studies, we find that peaks in organic matter sedimentation lag chlorophyll a peaks by 2 to 15 days. We discuss the implications of these time lags (TLs) for current e-ratio estimates and evaluate potential controls of TL. Our analysis reveals a strong correlation between TL and the duration of chlorophyll a buildup, indicating a dependency of TL on plankton food web dynamics. This study is one step further toward time-corrected e-ratio estimates

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

Description: Stable isotope compositions can potentially be used to trace atmospheric Cd inputs to the surface ocean and anthropogenic Cd emissions to the atmosphere. Both of these applications may provide valuable insights into the effects of anthropogenic activities on the cycling of Cd in the environment. However, a lack of constraints for the Cd isotope compositions of atmospheric aerosols is currently hindering such studies. Here, we present stable Cd isotope data for aerosols collected over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean. The samples feature variable proportions of mineral dust-derived and anthropogenic Cd, yet exhibit similar isotope compositions, thus negating the distinction of these Cd sources using isotopic signatures in this region. Isotopic variability between these two atmospheric Cd sources may be identified in other areas, and thus warrants further investigation. Regardless, these data provide important initial constraints on the isotope composition of atmospheric Cd inputs to the ocean.

Description: The morphology and structure of the submarine flanks of the Canary Islands were mapped using the GLORIA long-range side-scan sonar system, bathymetric multibeam systems, and sediment echosounders. Twelve young (〈2 Ma) giant landslides have been identified on the submarine flanks of the Canary Islands up to now. Older landslide events are long buried under a thick sediment cover due to high sedimentation rates around the Canary Islands. Most slides were found on the flanks of the youngest and most active islands of La Palma, El Hierro, and Tenerife, but young giant landslides were also identified on the flanks of the older (15–20 Ma) but still active eastern islands. Large-scale mass wasting is an important process during all periods of major magmatic activity. The long-lived volcanic constructive history of the islands of the Canary Archipelago is balanced by a correspondingly long history of destruction, resulting in a higher landslide frequency for the Canary Islands compared to the Hawaiian Islands, where giant landslides only occur late in the period of active shield growth. The lower stability of the flanks of the Canaries is probably due to the much steeper slopes of the islands, a result of the abundance of highly evolved intrusive and extrusive rocks. Another reason for the enhanced slope instability is the abundance of pyroclastic deposits on Canary Islands resulting from frequent explosive eruptions due to the elevated volatile contents in the highly alkalic magmas. Dike-induced rifting is most likely the main trigger mechanism for destabilization of the flanks. Flank collapses are a major geological hazard for the Canary Islands due to the sector collapses themselves as well as triggering of tsunamis. In at least one case, a giant lateral blast occurred when an active magmatic or hydrothermal system became unroofed during flank collapse.

Description: The upstream sources and pathways of the Denmark Strait Overflow Water and their variability have been investigated using a high-resolution model hindcast. This global simulation covers the period from 1948 to 2009 and uses a fine model mesh (1/20°) to resolve mesoscale features and the complex current structure north of Iceland explicitly. The three sources of the Denmark Strait Overflow, the shelfbreak East Greenland Current (EGC), the separated EGC, and the North Icelandic Jet, have been analyzed using Eulerian and Lagrangian diagnostics. The shelfbreak EGC contributes the largest fraction in terms of volume and freshwater transport to the Denmark Strait Overflow and is the main driver of the overflow variability. The North Icelandic Jet contributes the densest water to the Denmark Strait Overflow and shows only small temporal transport variations. During summer, the net volume and freshwater transports to the south are reduced. On interannual time scales, these transports are highly correlated with the large-scale wind stress curl around Iceland and, to some extent, influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation, with enhanced southward transports during positive phases. The Lagrangian trajectories support the existence of a hypothesized overturning loop along the shelfbreak north of Iceland, where water carried by the North Icelandic Irminger Current is transformed and feeds the North Icelandic Jet. Monitoring these two currents and the region north of the Iceland shelfbreak could provide the potential to track long-term changes in the Denmark Strait Overflow and thus also the AMOC.

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

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

Description: The North Atlantic Current (NAC) is subject to variability on multiannual to decadal time scales, influencing the transport of volume, heat, and freshwater from the subtropical to the eastern subpolar North Atlantic (NA). Current observational time series are either too short or too episodic to study the processes involved. Here we compare the observed continuous NAC transport time series at the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and repeat hydrographic measurements at the OVIDE line in the eastern Atlantic with the NAC transport and circulation in the high-resolution (1/20°) ocean model configuration VIKING20 (1960–2008). The modeled baroclinic NAC transport relative to 3400 m (24.5 ± 7.1 Sv) at the MAR is only slightly lower than the observed baroclinic mean of 27.4 ± 4.7 Sv from 1993 to 2008, and extends further north by about 0.5°. In the eastern Atlantic, the western NAC (WNAC) carries the bulk of the transport in the model, while transport estimates based on hydrographic measurements from five repeated sections point to a preference for the eastern NAC (ENAC). The model is able to simulate the main features of the subpolar NA, providing confidence to use the model output to analyze the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Model based velocity composites reveal an enhanced NAC transport across the MAR of up to 6.7 Sv during positive NAO phases. Most of that signal (5.4 Sv) is added to the ENAC transport, while the transport of the WNAC was independent of the NAO.

Description: While the Earth's surface has considerably warmed over the past two decades, the tropical Pacific has featured a cooling of sea surface temperatures in its eastern and central parts, which went along with an unprecedented strengthening of the equatorial trade winds, the surface component of the Pacific Walker Circulation (PWC). Previous studies show that this decadal trend in the trade winds is generally beyond the range of decadal trends simulated by climate models when forced by historical radiative forcing. There is still a debate on the origin of and the potential role that internal variability may have played in the recent decadal surface wind trend. Using a number of long control (unforced) integrations of global climate models and several observational data sets, we address the question as to whether the recent decadal to multidecadal trends are robustly classified as an unusual event or the persistent response to external forcing. The observed trends in the tropical Pacific surface climate are still within the range of the long-term internal variability spanned by the models but represent an extreme realization of this variability. Thus, the recent observed decadal trends in the tropical Pacific, though highly unusual, could be of natural origin. We note that the long-term trends in the selected PWC indices exhibit a large observational uncertainty, even hindering definitive statements about the sign of the trends.

Description: We examine the mean pathways, transit timescales, and transformation of waters flowing from the Pacific and the marginal seas through the Indian Ocean (IO) on their way toward the South Atlantic within a high-resolution ocean/sea-ice model. The model fields are analyzed from a Lagrangian perspective where water volumes are tracked as they enter the IO. The IO contributes 12.6 Sv to Agulhas leakage, which within the model is 14.1 ± 2.2 Sv, the rest originates from the South Atlantic. The Indonesian Through-flow constitutes about half of the IO contribution, is surface bound, cools and salinificates as it leaves the basin within 10–30 years. Waters entering the IO south of Australia are at intermediate depths and maintain their temperature-salinity properties as they exit the basin within 15–35 years. Of these waters, the contribution from Tasman leakage is 1.4 Sv. The rest stem from recirculation from the frontal regions of the Southern Ocean. The marginal seas export 1.0 Sv into the Atlantic within 15–40 years, and the waters cool and freshen on-route. However, the model's simulation of waters from the Gulfs of Aden and Oman are too light and hence overly influenced by upper ocean circulations. In the Cape Basin, Agulhas leakage is well mixed. On-route, temperature-salinity transformations occur predominantly in the Arabian Sea and within the greater Agulhas Current region. Overall, the IO exports at least 7.9 Sv from the Pacific to the Atlantic, thereby quantifying the strength of the upper cell of the global conveyor belt.

Description: AGU considers only original scientific contributions that have not been accepted or published elsewhere and are not under consideration by another publisher. A contribution is considered previously published if its data and conclusions are offered for sale or are generally available in other ways to the public. Regardless of the original publication medium, including print, magnetic tape, or microform, such contributions are not eligible for republication in AGU journals or books.

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

Description: Characteristics of water masses were analyzed to study the Kuroshio intrusion into the sea southwest of Taiwan. Hydrographic data were obtained from CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) casts during two cruises in May and August 1986. In May, remnants of water intruding from the Kuroshio were found on the continental slope south of the Penghu Channel. By August, these were replaced by water from the South China Sea. During this period, water from the Kuroshio also appeared near the southern tip of Taiwan. The intrusion current reached a depth of at least 500 m and was probably part of a cyclonic circulation in the northern South China Sea. The results support the hypothesis of a seasonal pattern of the intrusion process: intrusion of water from the Kuroshio begins in late summer, intensifies in winter, and ceases by late spring when South China Sea waters again enter this region.

Description: The potential of mining seafloor massive sulfide deposits for metals such as Cu, Zn, and Au is currently debated. One key challenge is to predict where the largest deposits worth mining might form, which in turn requires understanding the pattern of subseafloor hydrothermal mass and energy transport. Numerical models of heat and fluid flow are applied to illustrate the important role of fault zone properties (permeability and width) in controlling mass accumulation at hydrothermal vents at slow spreading ridges. We combine modeled mass-flow rates, vent temperatures, and vent field dimensions with the known fluid chemistry at the fault-controlled Logatchev 1 hydrothermal field of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We predict that the 135 kilotons of SMS at this site (estimated by other studies) can have accumulated with a minimum depositional efficiency of 5% in the known duration of hydrothermal venting (58,200 year age of the deposit). In general, the most productive faults must provide an efficient fluid pathway while at the same time limit cooling due to mixing with entrained cold seawater. This balance is best met by faults that are just wide and permeable enough to control a hydrothermal plume rising through the oceanic crust. Model runs with increased basal heat input, mimicking a heat flow contribution from along-axis, lead to higher mass fluxes and vent temperatures, capable of significantly higher SMS accumulation rates. Nonsteady state conditions, such as the influence of a cooling magmatic intrusion beneath the fault zone, also can temporarily increase the mass flux while sustaining high vent temperatures.

Description: Diazotrophic dinitrogen (N2) fixation contributes ~76% to "new" nitrogen inputs to the sunlit open ocean, but environmental factors determining N2 fixation rates are not well constrained. Excess phosphate (phosphate-nitrate/16 〉 0) and iron availability control N2 fixation rates in the eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA), but it remains an open question how excess phosphate is generated within or supplied to the phosphate-depleted sunlit layer. Our observations in the ETNA region (8°N-15°N, 19°W-23°W) suggest that Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, the two ubiquitous non-diazotrophic cyanobacteria with cellular N:P ratios higher than the Redfield ratio, create an environment of excess phosphate, which cannot be explained by diapycnal mixing, atmospheric, and riverine inputs. Thus, our results unveil a new biogeochemical niche construction mechanism by non-diazotrophic cyanobacteria for their diazotrophic phylum group members (N2 fixers). Our observations may help to understand the prevalence of diazotrophy in low-phosphate, oligotrophic regions.

Description: Oceanographic observations from the Eurasian Basin north of Svalbard collected between January and June 2015 from the N-ICE2015 drifting expedition are presented. The unique winter observations are a key contribution to existing climatologies of the Arctic Ocean, and show a ∼100 m deep winter mixed layer likely due to high sea ice growth rates in local leads. Current observations for the upper ∼200 m show mostly a barotropic flow, enhanced over the shallow Yermak Plateau. The two branches of inflowing Atlantic Water are partly captured, confirming that the outer Yermak Branch follows the perimeter of the plateau, and the inner Svalbard Branch the coast. Atlantic Water observed to be warmer and shallower than in the climatology, is found directly below the mixed layer down to 800 m depth, and is warmest along the slope, while its properties inside the basin are quite homogeneous. From late May onwards, the drift was continually close to the ice edge and a thinner surface mixed layer and shallower Atlantic Water coincided with significant sea ice melt being observed.

Description: Our study followed the seasonal cycling of soluble (SFe), colloidal (CFe), dissolved (DFe), total dissolvable (TDFe), labile particulate (LPFe) and total particulate (TPFe) iron in the Celtic Sea (NE Atlantic Ocean). Preferential uptake of SFe occurred during the spring bloom, preceding the removal of CFe. Uptake and export of Fe during the spring bloom, coupled with a reduction in vertical exchange, led to Fe deplete surface waters (〈0.2 nM DFe; 0.11 nM LPFe, 0.45 nM TDFe, 1.84 nM TPFe) during summer stratification. Below the seasonal thermocline, DFe concentrations increased from spring to autumn, mirroring NO3- and consistent with supply from remineralised sinking organic material, and cycled independently of particulate Fe over seasonal timescales. These results demonstrate that summer Fe availability is comparable to the seasonally Fe limited Ross Sea shelf, and therefore is likely low enough to affect phytoplankton growth and species composition.

Description: Current climate models disagree on how much carbon dioxide land ecosystems take up for photosynthesis. Tracking the stronger carbonyl sulfide signal could help.

Description: Oceanic dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is of interest due to its critical influence on atmospheric sulfur compounds in the marine atmosphere and its hypothesized significant role in global climate. High-resolution shipboard underway measurements of surface seawater DMS and the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) were conducted in the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean (SO), the southeast Indian Ocean, and the northwest Pacific Ocean from February to April 2014 during the 30th Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition. The SO, particularly in the region south of 58°S, had the highest mean surface seawater DMS concentration of 4.1 ± 8.3 nM (ranged from 0.1 to 73.2 nM) and lowest mean seawater pCO2 level of 337 ± 50 μatm (ranged from 221 to 411 μatm) over the entire cruise. Significant variations of surface seawater DMS and pCO2 in the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) of SO were observed, which are mainly controlled by biological process and sea ice activity. We found a significant negative relationship between DMS and pCO2 in the SO SIZ using 0.1° resolution, [DMS] seawater = -0.160 [pCO2] seawater + 61.3 (r2 = 0.594, n = 924, p 〈 0.001). We anticipate that the relationship may possibly be utilized to reconstruct the surface seawater DMS climatology in the SO SIZ. Further studies are necessary to improve the universality of this approach. Key Points: • The characteristics of surface water DMS and pCO2 distributions from the Southern Ocean to northwest Pacific Ocean are investigated • The correlations between DMS, pCO2, and environmental parameters are analyzed • Anticorrelation between DMS and pCO2 is found in the seasonal ice zone of the Southern Ocean

Description: Natural gas hydrates are considered a potential resource for gas production on industrial scales. Gas hydrates contribute to the strength and stiffness of the hydrate-bearing sediments. During gas production, the geomechanical stability of the sediment is compromised. Due to the potential geotechnical risks and process management issues, the mechanical behavior of the gas hydrate-bearing sediments needs to be carefully considered. In this study, we describe a coupling concept that simplifies the mathematical description of the complex interactions occurring during gas production by isolating the effects of sediment deformation and hydrate phase changes. Central to this coupling concept is the assumption that the soil grains form the load-bearing solid skeleton, while the gas hydrate enhances the mechanical properties of this skeleton. We focus on testing this coupling concept in capturing the overall impact of geomechanics on gas production behavior though numerical simulation of a high-pressure isotropic compression experiment combined with methane hydrate formation and dissociation. We consider a linear-elastic stress-strain relationship because it is uniquely defined and easy to calibrate. Since, in reality, the geomechanical response of the hydrate-bearing sediment is typically inelastic and is characterized by a significant shear-volumetric coupling, we control the experiment very carefully in order to keep the sample deformations small and well within the assumptions of poroelasticity. The closely coordinated experimental and numerical procedures enable us to validate the proposed simplified geomechanics-to-flow coupling, and set an important precursor toward enhancing our coupled hydro-geomechanical hydrate reservoir simulator with more suitable elastoplastic constitutive models.

Description: The Summer East Atlantic (SEA) mode is the second dominant mode of summer low-frequency variability in the Euro-Atlantic region. Using reanalysis data, we show that SEA-related circulation anomalies significantly influence temperatures and precipitation over Europe. We present evidence that part of the interannual SEA variability is forced by diabatic heating anomalies of opposing signs in the tropical Pacific and Caribbean that induce an extratropical Rossby wave train. This precipitation dipole is related to SST anomalies characteristic of the developing ENSO phases. Seasonal hindcast experiments forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SST) exhibit skill at capturing the interannual SEA variability corroborating the proposed mechanism and highlighting the possibility for improved prediction of boreal summer variability. Our results indicate that tropical forcing of the SEA likely played a role in the dynamics of the 2015 European heat wave.

Description: Multichannel seismic reflection data were used to determine the evolutionary history of the forearc region of the central Aleutian Ridge. Since at least late Miocene time this sector of the ridge has been obliquely underthrust 30° west of orthogonal convergence by the northwestward converging Pacific plate at a rate of 80–90 km/m.y. Our data indicate that prior to late Eocene time the forearc region was composed of rocks of the arc massif thinly mantled by slope deposits; the forearc region probably lacked both major depositional basins and a tectonically attached accretionary prism of offscraped oceanic deposits. Beginning in latest Miocene or earliest Pliocene time, a zone of outer-arc structural highs and a forearc basin began to form. Formation of these companion intraarc structures may be linked to the late Neogene growth of an accretionary wedge that formed as the result of the deposition of a thick turbidite wedge in the Aleutian Trench. Initial structures of the zone of outer-arc highs formed as the thickening wedge underran, compressively deformed, and uplifted the seaward edge of the arc massif above a landward dipping backstop thrust. Forearc basin strata ponded arcward of the elevating zone of outer-arc highs. However, most younger structures of the zone of outer-arc highs cannot be ascribed simply to the orthogonal effects of an underrunning wedge. Oblique convergence created a major right-lateral shear zone (the Hawley Ridge shear zone) that longitudinally disrupted the zone of outer-arc highs, truncating the seaward flank of the forearc basin and shearing the southern limb of Hawley Ridge, an exceptionally large antiformal outer-arc high structure. Slivers of forearc basement rocks and overlying strata have been transported along the shear zone that is flanked by differentially elevated structures attributed to localized transpressive and transtensional processes. Uplift of Hawley Ridge may be related to the thickening of the arc massif by westward directed basement duplexes. In addition, the forearc is disrupted by structures transverse to the margin that occur where unusually high-stress accumulations have resulted in the rupture of repeated great earthquakes. It is likely that many ancient active margins evolved in tectonic and depositional settings similar to those of the central Aleutian Ridge. Great structural complexity, including the close juxtaposition of coeval structures recording compression, extension, differential vertical movements, and strike-slip displacement, should be expected, even within areas of generally kindred tectonostratigraphic terranes.

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

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

Description: The analysis of high-resolution vector magnetic data acquired by deep-sea submersibles (DSSs) requires the development of specific approaches adapted to their uneven tracks. We present a method that takes advantage of (1) the varying altitude of the DSS above the seafloor and (2) high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data acquired separately, at higher altitude, by an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, to estimate the absolute magnetization intensity and the magnetic polarity of the shallow subseafloor along the DSS path. We apply this method to data collected by DSS Nautile on a small active basalt-hosted hydrothermal site. The site is associated with a lack of magnetization, in agreement with previous findings at the same kind of sites: the contrast between nonmagnetic sulfide deposits/stockwork zone and strongly magnetized basalt is sufficient to explain the magnetic signal observed at such a low altitude. Both normal and reversed polarities are observed in the lava flows surrounding the site, suggesting complex history of accumulating volcanic flows.

Description: To maintain the chance of keeping the average global temperature increase below 2 degrees C and to limit long-term climate change, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide removal, CDR) is becoming increasingly necessary. We analyze optimal and cost-effective climate policies in the dynamic integrated assessment model (IAM) of climate and the economy (DICE2016R) and investigate (1) the utilization of (ocean) CDR under different climate objectives, (2) the sensitivity of policies with respect to carbon cycle feedbacks, and (3) how well carbon cycle feedbacks are captured in the carbon cycle models used in state-of-the-art IAMs. Overall, the carbon cycle model in DICE2016R shows clear improvements compared to its predecessor, DICE2013R, capturing much better long-term dynamics and also oceanic carbon outgassing due to excess oceanic storage of carbon from CDR. However, this comes at the cost of a (too) tight short-term remaining emission budget, limiting the model suitability to analyze low-emission scenarios accurately. With DICE2016R, the compliance with the 2 degrees C goal is no longer feasible without negative emissions via CDR. Overall, the optimal amount of CDR has to take into account (1) the emission substitution effect and (2) compensation for carbon cycle feedbacks.

Description: The possibility of using the 15% excess U234 activity in oceanic uranium for dating pelagic sediments in the age range 100,000 years to more than 1 m.y. has been explored. Results from a series of analyses of bulk samples, mechanical separates, and acid leach fractions indicate that separation of authigenic uranium from detrital uranium by either mechanical or chemical means is impractical. Measurements on totally dissolved samples reveal that the sediments do not form a closed system; post-depositional migration of U234 in the sedimentary column takes place. Based on the experimental data obtained from three red-clay cores with sedimentation rates ranging from 2 to 6 mm/1000 yr, a model depicting diffusion of the U234 generated within the sediments is proposed. The diffusion equation includes three parameters: sedimentation rate, diffusion coefficient for U234, and fraction of the internally produced U234 subject to mobility. If the amount of U234 lost from these cores is typical, a sizeable part of the U234 excess in the sea must be from this source.

Description: A non-Fickian physico-chemical model for electrolyte transport in high-ionic strength systems is developed and tested with laboratory experiments with copper sulfate as an example electrolyte. The new model is based on irreversible thermodynamics and uses measured mutual diffusion coefficients, varying with concentration. Compared to a traditional Fickian model, the new model predicts less diffusion and asymmetric diffusion profiles. Laboratory experiments show diffusion rates even smaller than those predicted by our non-Fickian model, suggesting that there are additional, unaccounted for processes retarding diffusion. Ionic diffusion rates may be a limiting factor in transporting salts whose effect on fluid density will in turn significantly affect the flow regime. These findings have important implications for understanding and predicting solute transport in geologic settings where dense, saline solutions occur.

Description: The region encompassing the Kuroshio Extension (KE) in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean (25°N–45°N and 130°E–180°E) is one of the most eddy-energetic regions of the global ocean. The three-dimensional structures and transports of mesoscale eddies in this region are comprehensively investigated by combined use of satellite data and Argo profiles. With the allocation of Argo profiles inside detected eddies, the spatial variations of structures of eddy temperature and salinity anomalies are analyzed. The results show that eddies predominantly have subsurface (near-surface) intensified temperature and salinity anomalies south (north) of the KE jet, which is related to different background stratifications between these regions. A new method based on eddy trajectories and the inferred three-dimensional eddy structures is proposed to estimate heat and salt transports by eddy movements in a Lagrangian framework. Spatial distributions of eddy transports are presented over the vicinity of the KE for the first time. The magnitude of eddy-induced meridional heat (freshwater volume) transport is on the order of 0.01 PW (103 m3/s). The eddy heat transport divergence results in an oceanic heat loss south and heat gain north of the KE, thereby reinforcing and counteracting the oceanic heat loss from air-sea fluxes south and north of the KE jet, respectively. It also suggests a poleward heat transport across the KE jet due to eddy propagation.

Description: During the summer monsoon, the western tropical Indian Ocean is predicted to be a hot spot for dimethylsulfide emissions, the major marine sulfur source to the atmosphere, and an important aerosol precursor. Other aerosol relevant fluxes, such as isoprene and sea spray, should also be enhanced, due to the steady strong winds during the monsoon. Marine air masses dominate the area during the summer monsoon, excluding the influence of continentally derived pollutants. During the SO234-2/235 cruise in the western tropical Indian Ocean from July to August 2014, directly measured eddy covariance DMS fluxes confirm that the area is a large source of sulfur to the atmosphere (cruise average 9.1 μmol m−2 d−1). The directly measured fluxes, as well as computed isoprene and sea spray fluxes, were combined with FLEXPART backward and forward trajectories to track the emissions in space and time. The fluxes show a significant positive correlation with aerosol data from the Terra and Suomi-NPP satellites, indicating a local influence of marine emissions on atmospheric aerosol numbers.

Description: The supply of limiting nutrients to the low latitude ocean is controlled by physical processes linked to climate variations, but methods for reconstructing past nutrient concentrations in the surface ocean are few and indirect. Here, we present laser ablation mass spectrometry results that reveal annual cycles of P/Ca in a 4-year record from the scleractinian coral Pavona gigantea (mean P/Ca = 118 μmol mol−1). The P/Ca cycles track variations in past seawater phosphate concentration synchronously with skeletal Sr/Ca-derived temperature variations associated with seasonal upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá. Skeletal P/Ca varies seasonally by 2–3 fold, reflecting the timing and magnitude of dissolved phosphate variations. Solution cleaning experiments on drilled coral powders show that over 60% of skeletal P occurs in intracrystalline organic phases. Coral skeleton P/Ca holds promise as a proxy record of nutrient availability on time scales of decades to millennia.

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

Description: Anthropogenic activities have resulted in enhanced lead (Pb) emissions to the environment over the past century, mainly through the combustion of leaded gasoline. Here, we present the first combined dissolved (DPb), labile (LpPb) and particulate (PPb) Pb dataset from the Northeast Atlantic (Celtic Sea) since the phasing out of leaded gasoline in Europe. Concentrations of DPb in surface waters have decreased by 4-fold over the last four decades. We demonstrate that anthropogenic Pb is transported from the Mediterranean Sea over long distances (〉2500 km). Benthic DPb fluxes exceeded the atmospheric Pb flux in the region, indicating the importance of sediments as a contemporary Pb source. A strong positive correlation between DPb, PPb and LpPb indicates a dynamic equilibrium between the phases and the potential for particles to ‘buffer’ the DPb pool. This study provides insights into Pb biogeochemical cycling and demonstrates the potential of Pb in constraining ocean circulation patterns.

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

Description: The variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may play a role in sea surface temperature predictions on seasonal to decadal time scales. Therefore, AMOC seasonal cycles are a potential baseline for interpreting predictions. Here we present estimates for the seasonal cycle of transports of volume, temperature, and freshwater associated with the upper limb of the AMOC in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic on the Extended Ellett Line hydrographic section between Scotland and Iceland. Due to weather, ship‐based observations are primarily in summer. Recent glider observations during other seasons present an opportunity to investigate the seasonal variability in the upper layer of the AMOC. First, we document a new method to quality control and merge ship, float, and glider hydrographic observations. This method accounts for the different spatial sampling rates of the three platforms. The merged observations are used to compute seasonal cycles of volume, temperature, and freshwater transports in the Rockall Trough. These estimates are similar to the seasonal cycles in two eddy‐resolving ocean models. Volume transport appears to be the primary factor modulating other Rockall Trough transports. Finally, we show that the weakest transports occur in summer, consistent with seasonal changes in the regional‐scale wind stress curl. Although the seasonal cycle is weak compared to other variability in this region, the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in the Rockall Trough, roughly 0.5–1 Sv about a mean of 3.4 Sv, may account for up to 7–14% of the heat flux between Scotland and Greenland.

Description: We reanalyze existing paleodata of global mean surface temperature ΔTg and radiative forcing ΔR of CO2 and land ice albedo for the last 800,000 years to show that a state‐dependency in paleoclimate sensitivity S, as previously suggested, is only found if ΔTg is based on reconstructions, and not when ΔTg is based on model simulations. Furthermore, during times of decreasing obliquity (periods of land‐ice sheet growth and sea level fall) the multi‐millennial component of reconstructed ΔTg diverges from CO2, while in simulations both variables vary more synchronously, suggesting that the differences during these times are due to relatively low rates of simulated land ice growth and associated cooling. To produce a reconstruction‐based extrapolation of S for the future we exclude intervals with strong ΔTg‐CO2 divergence and find that S is less state‐dependent, or even constant (state‐independent), yielding a mean equilibrium warming of 2–4 K for a doubling of CO2.

Description: Chlorophyll (Chl) is a distinctive component of autotrophic organisms, often used as an indicator of phytoplankton biomass in the ocean. However, assessment of phytoplankton biomass from Chl relies on the accurate estimation of the Chl:carbon(C) ratio. Here we present global patterns of Chl:C ratios in the surface ocean obtained from a phytoplankton growth model that accounts for the optimal acclimation of phytoplankton to ambient nutrient, light, and temperature conditions. The model agrees largely with observed/expected global patterns of Chl:C. Combining our Chl:C estimates with satellite Chl and particulate organic carbon (POC), we infer phytoplankton C concentration in the surface ocean and its contribution to the total POC pool. Our results suggest that the portion of POC corresponding to living phytoplankton is higher in subtropical latitudes and less productive regions (∼30–70%) and decreases to ∼10–30% toward high latitudes and productive regions. An important caveat of our model is the lack of iron limiting effects on phytoplankton physiology. Comparison of our predicted phytoplankton biomass with an independent estimate of total POC reveals a positive correlation between nitrate concentrations and nonphotosynthetic POC in the surface ocean. This correlation disappears when a constant Chl:C is applied. Our analysis is not constrained by assumptions of constant Chl:C or phytoplankton:POC ratio, providing a novel independent analysis of phytoplankton biomass in the surface ocean. These results highlight the importance of accounting for the variability in Chl:C and its application in distinguishing the autotrophic and heterotrophic components in the assemblage of the marine plankton ecosystem.

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

Description: Axial volcanic ridges (AVRs) are found on most slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges and are thought to be the main locus of volcanism there. In this study we present high-resolution mapping of a typical, well-defined AVR on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45°N. The AVR is characterized by “hummocky terrain,” composed typically of hummocks with pillowed or elongate pillowed flanks with pillowed or lobate lava flow summits, often with small haystacks sitting on their highest points. The AVR is surrounded by several areas of “flat seafloor,” composed of lobate and sheet lava flows. The spatial and morphological differences between these areas indicate different eruption processes operating on and off the AVR. Volcanic fissures are found all around and on the AVR, although those with the greatest horizontal displacement are found on the ridge crest and flat seafloor. Clusters of fissures may represent volcanic vents. Extremely detailed comparisons of sediment coverage and examination of contact relations around the AVR suggest that many of the areas of flat seafloor are of a similar age or younger than the hummocky terrain of the AVR. Additionally, all the lavas surveyed have similar degrees of sediment cover, suggesting that the AVR was either built or resurfaced in the same 50 ka time frame as the flat seafloor.

Description: This review is intended to cover the principal developments that have occurred within the last six years in the paleomagnetic study of marine sediments. Recent work utilizing the reflecting-light microscope indicates that detrital high-temperature Fe-Ti oxides are probably responsible for most of the magnetic remanence in marine sediments. These minerals possess a spectrum of coercivities that makes it necessary to use alternating-field—demagnetization techniques to isolate stable components. It is possible to use the standard magnetic stratigraphy for the last 4 m.y. of earth history derived from terrestrial lavas. Using the ages of the magnetic boundaries from this time scale it is possible by extrapolation and interpolation to better determine the ages of the major events. The ages of these events in increasing age are Jaramillo, 0.87 to 0.92 m.y.; Olduvai, 1.71 to 1.86 m.y.; Kaena, 2.82 to 2.90 m.y.; Mammoth, 3.0 to 3.085 m.y.; Cochiti, 3.72 to 3.82 m.y.; Nunivak, 3.97 to 4.14 m.y.; ‘c’ event of the Gilbert series, 4.33 to 4.65 m.y. Through the use of long cores from the central Pacific and through correlation using fossil datums, it has been possible to extend the magnetic stratigraphy back to the upper middle Miocene to magnetic epoch 5. It is concluded that very short magnetic events are probably short-term excursions of the field and not true magnetic events. It is shown that the field of the earth averages to an axial-dipole field within a period of 27,000 years and that the field over the last two million years has acted as a geocentric axial dipole. The evidence shows that when reversals of the dipole occur, the values of the reversed inclination are not significantly different from the normal values. The use of magnetic stratigraphy in marine geology has opened up a new era in study of sedimentary processes and evolution of marine organisms.

Description: The historical developments are reviewed that have led from a bottom-up responsibility initiative of concerned scientists to the emergence of a nationwide interdisciplinary Priority Program on the assessment of Climate Engineering (CE), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Given the perceived lack of comprehensive and comparative appraisals of different CE methods, the Priority Program was designed to encompass both solar radiation management (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) ideas, and to cover the atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic realm. First key findings obtained by the ongoing Priority Program are summarized and reveal that compared to earlier assessments, such as the 2009 Royal Society report, more detailed investigations tend to indicate less efficiency, lower effectiveness and often lower safety. Emerging research trends are discussed in the context of the recent Paris agreement to limit global warming to less than two degrees and the associated increasing reliance on negative emission technologies. Our results show then when deployed at scales large enough to have a significant impact on atmospheric CO2, even CDR methods such as afforestation – often perceived as ‘benign’ – can have substantial side effects and may raise severe ethical, legal and governance issues. We suppose that before being deployed at climatically relevant scales, any negative-emission or climate engineering method will require careful analysis of efficiency, effectiveness and undesired side effects.

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

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

Description: The Norwegian Atlantic Current (NwAC) and its eddy field are examined using data from surface drifters. The data set used spans nearly 20 years, from June 1991 to December 2009. The results are largely consistent with previous estimates, which were based on data from the first decade only. With our new data set, statistical analysis of the mean fields can be calculated with larger confidence. The two branches of the NwAC, one over the continental slope and a second further offshore, are clearly captured. The Norwegian Coastal Current is also resolved. In addition, we observe a semipermanent anticylonic eddy in the Lofoten Basin, a feature seen previously in hydrography and in models. The eddy kinetic energy (EKE) is intensified along the path of the NwAC, with the largest values occurring in the Lofoten Basin. The strongest currents, exceeding 100 cm s−1, occur west of Lofoten. Lateral diffusivities were computed in five domains and ranged from 1–5 × 107 cm2 s−1. The Lagrangian integral time and space scales are 1–2 days and 7–23 km, respectively. The data set allows studies of seasonal and interannual variations as well. The strongest seasonal signal is in the NwAC itself, as the mean flow strengthens by approximately 20% in winter. The EKE and diffusivities on the other hand do not exhibit consistent seasonality in the sampled regions. There are no consistent indications of changes in either the mean or fluctuating surface velocities between the 1990s and 2000s.

Description: Selecting appropriate indicators is essential to aggregate the information provided by climate model outputs into a manageable set of relevant metrics on which assessments of climate engineering (CE) can be based. From all the variables potentially available from climate models, indicators need to be selected that are able to inform scientists and society on the development of the Earth system under CE, as well as on possible impacts and side effects of various ways of deploying CE or not. However, the indicators used so far have been largely identical to those used in climate change assessments and do not visibly reflect the fact that indicators for assessing CE (and thus the metrics composed of these indicators) may be different from those used to assess global warming. Until now, there has been little dedicated effort to identifying specific indicators and metrics for assessing CE. We here propose that such an effort should be facilitated by a more decision-oriented approach and an iterative procedure in close interaction between academia, decision makers, and stakeholders. Specifically, synergies and trade-offs between social objectives reflected by individual indicators, as well as decision-relevant uncertainties should be considered in the development of metrics, so that society can take informed decisions about climate policy measures under the impression of the options available, their likely effects and side effects, and the quality of the underlying knowledge base.

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

Description: Samples collected at hourly intervals on May 18–19, 1980, at three sites 200 km downwind from Mount St. Helens, have made possible a detailed reconstruction of the conditions that contribute to the compositional heterogeneity of mineral and glass components observed in distal tephra layers. The air fall tephra deposited at the sites during the first 7 hours of the May 18 eruption is mostly coarse grained, microlite-rich, nonjuvenile glass and feldspar. Grain-size maxima in this initial tephra can be related to the cataclysmic blast at 0832 and a subsequent pulse of the eruption at 1200. Juvenile, microlite-free glass increases in relative abundance at the sampling sites beginning at about 1900. Such a change between nonjuvenile and juvenile tephra can be related to a 5-km increase in column height associated with the last major pulse of the eruption which occurred at 1700 at the volcano. Electron microprobe study of both microlite-rich and microlite-free pumice in the time series samples reveals significant compositional differences. Interstitial glass in nonjuvenile pumice deposited during the first few hours at the sampling sites is enriched in SiO2 and K2O and depleted in TiO2, FeO*, and MgO relative to juvenile glass. By comparison, major element composition of the least evolved juvenile glass sampled during the last several hours of the eruption displays a slight trend toward less evolved composition. Least squares calculations suggest that the more evolved character of the nonjuvenile glass can be explained by greater fractional crystallization brought about by enhanced cooling in a cryptodome prior to eruption, whereas the temporal changes observed in juvenile glass composition during the last several hours of the eruption suggest the presence of a small, slightly zoned magma chamber at depth. Electron microprobe study of glass-coated ilmenites, magnetites, and plagioclases provides the following estimates of the physical conditions in this reservoir: 865°±50°C, PH2O = 2.2 kbar and -log ƒO2 = 11.7. Analyses of bulk pumice, glass and selected mineral phases from May 25, June 12, July 22, and October 16–18 pumices erupted from Mount St. Helens indicate that the bulk pumice (magma) compositions have become slightly more andesitic with time, while mineral and co-existing glass compositions have changed significantly in post-May 18 eruptions with both being more highly evolved than those associated with the May 18 eruption. An application of the magnetite-ilmenite geothermometer to June 12 and July 22 samples indicates temperatures of 919°±30°C and 930°±50°C, respectively. Least squares calculations suggest that such evolved post-May 18 glass and mineral phases can be derived by fractional crystallization of a magma composition like bulk May 18 pumice into approximately 50% crystals and 50% residual liquid. Such partitioning between crystals and residual liquid appears to have occurred on the scale of centimeters and is interpreted as a consequence of accelerated crystallization under reduced water pressure.

Description: What is the relationship between volcanic eruptions and climate change? More than 200 years after the connection was first proposed, it remains a thorny question. This article provides a brief historical overview of the problem and a review of the various data bases used in evaluating volcanic events and associated climatic change. We use the term “climate” to describe changes in the atmosphere over wide regions for periods of several months and longer. We use “weather” to describe shorter-term, variable atmospheric fluctuations experienced over more restricted areas. We appraise the present state of knowledge and highlight some pitfalls involved in using available information. Cautiously, we suggest future avenues for study, including the possibility of “volcanic winters,” or severe eruption-induced coolings.

Description: The Stratigraphie record from both deep-sea and shallow-water depositional environments Indicates that during late Aptian through Cenomanian time (1) global climates were considerably warmer than at present; (2) latitudinal gradients of atmospheric and oceanic temperatures were considerably less than at present; (3) rates of accumulation of organic matter of both marine and terrestrial origin were as high as or higher than during any other interval in the Mesozoic or Cenozoic; (4) the rate and volume of accumulation of CaC02 in the deep sea were reduced in response to a marked shoaling of the carbonate compensation depth; (5) seafloor spreading rates were somewhat more rapid than at any other time in the Cretaceous or Cenozoic; (6) off-ridge volcanism was intense and widespread, particularly in the ancestral Pacific Ocean basin; and (7) sea level was relatively high, forming widespread areas of shallow shelf seas. A marked increase in the rate of C02 outgassing due to volcanic activity between about 110 and 70 m.y. ago may have resulted in a buildup of atmospheric C02. A significant fraction of this atmospheric C02 may have been reduced by an increase in the production and burial of terrestrial organic carbon. Some excess C02 may have been consumed by marine algal photosynthesis, but marine productivity apparently was low during the Aptian-Albian relative to terrestrial productivity. Terrestrial productivity also may have been stimulated by increased rainfall that resulted from a warm global climate and increased marine transgression as well as by the higher C02.

Description: Mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous features in the Southern Ocean, yet their phenomenology is not well quantified. To tackle this task, we use satellite observations of sea level anomalies and sea surface temperature (SST) as well as in situ temperature and salinity measurements from profiling floats. Over the period 1997–2010, we identified over a million mesoscale eddy instances and were able to track about 105 of them over 1 month or more. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the boundary current systems, and the regions where they interact are hot spots of eddy presence, representing also the birth places and graveyards of most eddies. These hot spots contrast strongly to areas shallower than about 2000 m, where mesoscale eddies are essentially absent, likely due to topographical steering. Anticyclones tend to dominate the southern subtropical gyres, and cyclones the northern flank of the ACC. Major causes of regional polarity dominance are larger formation numbers and lifespans, with a contribution of differential propagation pathways of long-lived eddies. Areas of dominance of one polarity are generally congruent with the same polarity being longer-lived, bigger, of larger amplitude, and more intense. Eddies extend down to at least 2000 m. In the ACC, eddies show near surface temperature and salinity maxima, whereas eddies in the subtropical areas generally have deeper anomaly maxima, presumably inherited from their origin in the boundary currents. The temperature and salinity signatures of the average eddy suggest that their tracer anomalies are a result of both trapping in the eddy core and stirring.

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

Description: Over the past 17 years, the western boundary current system of the Labrador Sea has been closely observed by maintaining the 53°N observatory (moorings and shipboard station data) measuring the top-to-bottom flow field offshore from the Labrador shelf break. Volume transports for the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) components were calculated using different methods, including gap filling procedures for deployment periods with suboptimal instrument coverage. On average the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) carries 30.2 ± 6.6 Sv of NADW southward, which are almost equally partitioned between Labrador Sea Water (LSW, 14.9 ± 3.9 Sv) and Lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW, 15.3 ± 3.8 Sv). The transport variability ranges from days to decades, with the most prominent multiyear fluctuations at interannual to near decadal time scales (±5 Sv) in the LNADW overflow water mass. These long-term fluctuations appear to be in phase with the NAO-modulated wind fluctuations. The boundary current system off Labrador occurs as a conglomerate of nearly independent components, namely, the shallow Labrador Current, the weakly sheared LSW range, and the deep baroclinic, bottom-intensified current core of the LNADW, all of which are part of the cyclonic Labrador Sea circulation. This structure is relatively stable over time, and the 120 km wide boundary current is constrained seaward by a weak counterflow which reduces the deep water export by 10–15%.

Description: Primary productivity is limited by the availability of nitrogen (N) in most of the coastal Arctic, as a large portion of N is released by the spring freshet and completely consumed during the following summer. Thus, understanding the fate of riverine nitrogen is critical to identify the link between dissolved nitrogen dynamic and coastal primary productivity to foresee upcoming changes in the Arctic seas, such as increase riverine discharge and permafrost thaw. Here, we provide a field-based study of nitrogen dynamic over the Laptev Sea shelf based on isotope geochemistry. We demonstrate that while most of the nitrate found under the surface fresh water layer is of remineralized origin, some of the nitrate originates from atmospheric input and was probably transported at depth by the mixing of brine-enriched denser water during sea-ice formation. Moreover, our results suggest that riverine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) represents up to 6 times the total riverine release of nitrate and that about 62 to 76% of the DON is removed within the shelf waters. This is a crucial information regarding the near-future impact of climate change on primary productivity in the Eurasian coastal Arctic.

Description: The well-known caldera of Thira (Santorini), Greece, was not formed during a single eruption but is composed of two overlapping calderas superimposed upon a complex volcanic field that developed along a NE trending line of vents. Before the Minoan eruption of 1400 B.C., Thira consisted of three Java shields in the northern half of the island and a flooded depression surrounded by tuff deposits in the southern half. Andesitic lavas formed the overlapping shields of the north and were contemporaneous with and, in many places, interbedded with the southern tuff deposits. Although there appears to be little difference between the composition of magmas erupted, differences in eruption style indicate that most of the activity in the northern half of the volcanic field was subaerial, producing lava flows, whereas in the south, eruptions within a flooded depression produced a sequence of mostly phreatomagmatic tuffs. Many of these tuffs are plastered onto the walls of what appears to have been an older caldera, most probably associated with an eruption of rhyodacitic tephra 100,000 years ago. The Minoan eruption of about 1400 B.C. had four distinct phases, each reflecting a different vent geometry and eruption mechanism. The Minoan activity was preceded by minor eruptions of fine ash. (1) The eruption began with a Plinian phase, from subaerial vent(s) located on the easternmost of the lava shields. (2) Vent(s) grew toward the SW into the flooded depression. Subsequent activity deposited large-scale base surge deposits during vent widening by phreatomagmatic activity. (3) The third eruptive phase was also phreatomagmatic and produced 60% of the volume of the Minoan Tuff. This activity was nearly continuous and formed a large featureless tuff ring with poorly defined bedding. This deposit contains 5–40% lithic fragments that are typical of the westernmost lava shield and appears to have been erupted when caldera collapse began. (4) The last phase consisted of eruption of ignimbrites from vent(s) on the eastern shield, not yet involved in collapse. Collapse continued after eruption of the ignimbrites with foundering of the eastern half of the caldera. Total volume of the collapse was about 19 km3, overlapping the older caldera to form the caldera complex visible today. Intracaldera eruptions have formed the Kameni Islands along linear vents concomitant with vents that may have been sources for the Minoan Tuff.

Description: Magnetic lineation mapping in the western central Pacific has revealed a pair of opposite-sensed, fanned lineation patterns that define the accretionary boundaries of the fossil Magellan microplate. This tectonic synthesis results from extensive magnetic mapping of two new lineation patterns over a large area and extended mapping of previously identified lineations. The entire evolutionary history of the Magellan microplate is well constrained to a 9-m.y. period in the Early Cretaceous by synchronous spreading patterns and associated geologic data. During this period the microplate grew and evolved as a generally rectangular structure to a final size of 700 km×600 km with spreading centers on two opposing sides and transform faults on the other two sides. The lifetime and size of the Magellan microplate are somewhat longer and larger, respectively, than presently active microplates on the East Pacific Rise. However, these modern structures are still evolving and growing, and the tectonic behavior of the modern and Cretaceous systems appears to be similar. Study of both active and fossilized microplates should provide additional insights on their common tectonic histories. In particular, we show that the Magellan Trough spreading center behaved as an asymmetric accretionary plate boundary that can be described with two separate poles of motion very close to this spreading center during much of its history. The Magellan Trough spreading center then failed as a result of a larger ridge reorganization at the triple junction of the Pacific, Farallon, and Phoenix plates at Ml0N time. Microplate activity ceased when the microplate became welded to the Pacific plate at M9 time.

Description: Marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data have been collected to investigate methane seep sites and associated gas hydrate deposits at Opouawe Bank on the southern tip of the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. The bank is located in about 1000 m water depth within the gas hydrate stability field. The seep sites are characterized by active venting and typical methane seep fauna accompanied with patchy carbonate outcrops at the seafloor. Below the seeps, gas migration pathways reach from below the bottom-simulating reflector (at around 380 m sediment depth) toward the seafloor, indicating free gas transport into the shallow hydrate stability field. The CSEM data have been acquired with a seafloor-towed, electric multi-dipole system measuring the inline component of the electric field. CSEM data from three profiles have been analyzed by using 1-D and 2-D inversion techniques. High-resolution 2-D and 3-D multichannel seismic data have been collected in the same area. The electrical resistivity models show several zones of highly anomalous resistivities (〉50 Ωm) which correlate with high amplitude reflections located on top of narrow vertical gas conduits, indicating the coexistence of free gas and gas hydrates within the hydrate stability zone. Away from the seeps the CSEM models show normal background resistivities between ~1 and 2 Ωm. Archie's law has been applied to estimate gas/gas hydrate saturations below the seeps. At intermediate depths between 50 and 200 m below seafloor, saturations are between 40 and 80% and gas hydrate may be the dominating pore filling constituent. At shallow depths from 10 m to the seafloor, free gas dominates as seismic data and gas plumes suggest.

Description: We present a plate kinematic evolution of the South Atlantic which is based largely on the determination of the equatorial fracture zone trends between the African and South American continental margins. Four main opening phases are dated by oceanic magnetic anomalies, notably MO, A34, and A13, and are correlated with volcanism and tectonic events on land around the South Atlantic Ocean. The Ceara and Sierra Leone rises are probably of oceanic origin and were created 80 m.y. ago or later in their present-day positions with respect to South America and Africa.

Description: Receiver functions (RF) have been used for several decades to study structures beneath seismic stations. Although most available stations are deployed on-shore, the number of ocean bottom station (OBS) experiments has increased in recent years. Almost all OBSs have to deal with higher noise levels and a limited deployment time (∼1 year), resulting in a small number of usable records of teleseismic earthquakes. Here, we use OBSs deployed as mid-aperture array in the deep ocean (4.5-5.5 km water depth) of the eastern mid-Atlantic. We use evaluation criteria for OBS data and beam forming to enhance the quality of the RFs. Although some stations show reverberations caused by sedimentary cover, we are able to identify the Moho signal, indicating a normal thickness (5-8 km) of oceanic crust. Observations at single stations with thin sediments (300-400 m) indicate that a probable sharp lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) might exist at a depth of ∼70-80 km which is in line with LAB depth estimates for similar lithospheric ages in the Pacific. The mantle discontinuities at ∼410 km and ∼660 km are clearly identifiable. Their delay times are in agreement with PREM. Overall the usage of beam formed earthquake recordings for OBS RF analysis is an excellent way to increase the signal quality and the number of usable events.

Description: There is currently no consensus on how humans are affecting the marine nitrogen (N) cycle, which limits marine biological production and CO2 uptake. Anthropogenic changes in ocean warming, deoxygenation, and atmospheric N deposition can all individually affect the marine N cycle and the oceanic production of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the combined effect of these perturbations on marine N cycling, ocean productivity, and marine N2O production is poorly understood. Here we use an Earth system model of intermediate complexity to investigate the combined effects of estimated 21st century CO2 atmospheric forcing and atmospheric N deposition. Our simulations suggest that anthropogenic perturbations cause only a small imbalance to the N cycle relative to preindustrial conditions (∼+5 Tg N y−1 in 2100). More N loss from water column denitrification in expanded oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) is counteracted by less benthic denitrification, due to the stratification-induced reduction in organic matter export. The larger atmospheric N load is offset by reduced N inputs by marine N2 fixation. Our model predicts a decline in oceanic N2O emissions by 2100. This is induced by the decrease in organic matter export and associated N2O production and by the anthropogenically driven changes in ocean circulation and atmospheric N2O concentrations. After comprehensively accounting for a series of complex physical-biogeochemical interactions, this study suggests that N flux imbalances are limited by biogeochemical feedbacks that help stabilize the marine N inventory against anthropogenic changes. These findings support the hypothesis that strong negative feedbacks regulate the marine N inventory on centennial time scales.

Description: When volcanic mountains slide into the sea, they trigger tsunamis. How big are these waves, and how far away can they do damage? Ritter Island provides some answers.

Description: Proxy data suggest the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition from 3.2 to 2.5 Ma resulted in enhanced climate variability at the obliquity (41 kyr) frequency. Here, we investigate the influence of the expanding Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) on the mean climate and obliquity-related variability in a series of climate model simulations. These suggest that an expanding GrIS weakens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by ~1 Sv, mainly due to reduced heat loss in the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Sea. Moreover, the growing GrIS amplifies the Hadley circulation response to obliquity forcing driving variations in freshwater export from the tropical Atlantic and in turn variations of the AMOC. The stronger AMOC response to obliquity forcing, by about a factor of two, results in a stronger global-mean near-surface temperature response. We conclude that the AMOC response to obliquity forcing is important to understand the enhanced climate variability at the obliquity frequency during the Plio-Pleistocene transition.

Description: [1] While recent studies have confirmed the ecological importance of vitamin B12, it is unclear whether the production of this vitamin could be limited by dissolved Co, a trace metal required for B12 biosynthesis, but found at only subnanomolar concentrations in the open ocean. Herein, we demonstrate that the spatial distribution of dissolved B12 (range: 0.13–5 pmol L−1) in the North Atlantic Ocean follows the abundance of total dissolved Co (range: 15–81 pmol L−1). Similar patterns were observed for bacterial productivity (range: 20–103 pmol 3H leucine L−1 hr−1) and algal biomass (range: 0.4–3.9 μg L−1). In contrast, vitamin B1 concentrations (range: 0.7–30 pM) were decoupled from both Co and B12 concentrations. Cobalt amendment experiments carried out in low-dissolved Co waters (∼20 pmol L−1) enhanced B12 production two-fold over unamended controls. This study provides evidence that B12 synthesis could be limited by the availability of Co in some regions of the world ocean.

Description: We present the first comprehensive investigation of the concentrations, fluxes and sources of aerosol trace elements over the Gulf of Aqaba. We found that the mean atmospheric concentrations of crustally derived elements such as Al, Fe and Mn (1081, 683, and 16.7 ng m�3) are about 2–3 times higher than those reported for the neighboring Mediterranean area. This is indicative of the dominance of the mineral dust component in aerosols over the Gulf. Anthropogenic impact was lower in comparison to the more heavily populated areas of the Mediterranean. During the majority of time (69%) the air masses over the Gulf originated from Europe or Mediterranean Sea areas delivering anthropogenic components such as Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, and P. Airflows derived from North Africa in contrast contained the highest concentrations of Al, Fe, and Sr but generally lower Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, and P. Relatively high Pb, Ni, and V were found in the local and Arabian airflows suggesting a greater influence of local emission of fuel burning. We used the data and the measured trace metal seawater concentrations to calculate residence times of dissolved trace elements in the upper 50 m surface water of the Gulf (with respect to atmospheric input) and found that the residence times for most elements are in the range of 5–37 years while Cd and V residence times are longer.

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

Description: In this pilot study we link the yield of industrial fisheries to changes in the zooplankton mortality in an idealized way accounting for different target species (planktivorous fish—decreased zooplankton mortality; large predators—increased zooplankton mortality). This indirect approach is used in a global coupled biogeochemistry circulation model to estimate the range of the potential impact of industrial fisheries on marine biogeochemistry. The simulated globally integrated response on phytoplankton and primary production is in line with expectations—a high (low) zooplankton mortality results in a decrease (increase) of zooplankton and an increase (decrease) of phytoplankton. In contrast, the local response of zooplankton and phytoplankton depends on the region under consideration: In nutrient-limited regions, an increase (decrease) in zooplankton mortality leads to a decrease (increase) in both zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass. In contrast, in nutrient-replete regions, such as upwelling regions, we find an opposing response: an increase (decrease) of the zooplankton mortality leads to an increase (decrease) in both zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass. The results are further evaluated by relating the potential fisheries-induced changes in zooplankton mortality to those driven by CO2 emissions in a business-as-usual 21st century emission scenario. In our idealized case, the potential fisheries-induced impact can be of similar size as warming-induced changes in marine biogeochemistry.

Description: Back-arc spreading centers (BASCs) form a distinct class of ocean spreading ridges distinguished by steep along-axis gradients in spreading rate and by additional magma supplied through subduction. These characteristics can affect the population and distribution of hydrothermal activity on BASCs compared to mid-ocean ridges (MORs). To investigate this hypothesis, we comprehensively explored 600 km of the southern half of the Mariana BASC. We used water column mapping and seafloor imaging to identify 19 active vent sites, an increase of 13 over the current listing in the InterRidge Database (IRDB), on the bathymetric highs of 7 of the 11 segments. We identified both high and low (i.e., characterized by a weak or negligible particle plume) temperature discharge occurring on segment types spanning dominantly magmatic to dominantly tectonic. Active sites are concentrated on the two southernmost segments, where distance to the adjacent arc is shortest (〈40 km), spreading rate is highest (〉48 mm/yr), and tectonic extension is pervasive. Re-examination of hydrothermal data from other BASCs supports the generalization that hydrothermal site density increases on segments 〈90 km from an adjacent arc. Although exploration quality varies greatly among BASCs, present data suggest that, for a given spreading rate, the mean spatial density of hydrothermal activity varies little between MORs and BASCs. The present global database, however, may be misleading. On both BASCs and MORs, the spatial density of hydrothermal sites mapped by high-quality water-column surveys is 2–7 times greater than predicted by the existing IRDB trend of site density versus spreading rate.

Description: Provenance studies of widely distributed tephras, integrated within a well-defined temporal framework, are important to deduce systematic changes in the source, scale, distribution and changes in regional explosive volcanism. Here, we establish a robust tephro-chronostratigraphy for a total of 157 marine tephra layers collected during IODP Expedition 352. We infer at least three major phases of highly explosive volcanism during Oligocene to Pleistocene time. Provenance analysis based on glass composition assigns 56 of the tephras to a Japan source, including correlations with 12 major and widespread tephra layers resulting from individual eruptions in Kyushu, Central Japan and North Japan between 115 ka and 3.5 Ma. The remaining 101 tephras are assigned to four source regions along the Izu-Bonin arc. One, of exclusively Oligocene age, is proximal to the Bonin Ridge islands; two reflect eruptions within the volcanic front and back-arc of the central Izu-Bonin arc, and a fourth region corresponds to the Northern Izu-Bonin arc source. First-order volume estimates imply eruptive magnitudes ranging from 6.3 to 7.6 for Japan-related eruptions and between 5.5 and 6.5 for IBM eruptions. Our results suggest tephras between 30 and 22 Ma that show a subtly different Izu-Bonin chemical signature compared to the recent arc. After a ∼11 m.y. gap in eruption, tephra supply from the Izu-Bonin arc predominates from 15 to 5 Ma, and finally a subequal mixture of tephra sources from the (palaeo)Honshu and Izu-Bonin arcs occurs within the last ∼5 Ma.

Description: Subsurface coherent eddies are well-known features of ocean circulation, but the sparsity of observations prevents an assessment of their importance for biogeochemistry. Here, we use a global eddying (0.1° ) ocean-biogeochemical model to carry out a census of subsurface coherent eddies originating from eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUS), and quantify their biogeochemical effects as they propagate westward into the subtropical gyres. While most eddies exist for a few months, moving over distances of 100s of km, a small fraction (〈 5%) of long-lived eddies propagates over distances greater than 1000km, carrying the oxygen-poor and nutrient-rich signature of EBUS into the gyre interiors. In the Pacific, transport by subsurface coherent eddies accounts for roughly 10% of the offshore transport of oxygen and nutrients in pycnocline waters. This "leakage" of subsurface waters can be a significant fraction of the transport by nutrient-rich poleward undercurrents, and may contribute to the well-known reduction of productivity by eddies in EBUS. Furthermore, at the density layer of their cores, eddies decrease climatological oxygen locally by close to 10%, thereby expanding oxygen minimum zones. Finally, eddies represent low-oxygen extreme events in otherwise oxygenated waters, increasing the area of hypoxic waters by several percent and producing dramatic short-term changes that may play an important ecological role. Capturing these non-local effects in global climate models, which typically include non-eddying oceans, would require dedicated parameterizations.

Description: A seismic refraction profile recorded along the geologic strike of the Chugach Mountains in southern Alaska shows three upper crustal high-velocity layers (6.9, 7.2, and 7.6 km/s) and a unique pattern of strongly focussed echelon arrivals to a distance of 225 km. The group velocity of the ensemble of echelon arrivals is 6.4 km/s. Modeling of this profile with the reflectivity method reveals that the echelon pattern is due to peg-leg multiples generated from with a low-velocity zone between the second and third upper crustal high-velocity layers. The third high-velocity layer (7.6 km/s) is underlain at 18 km depth by a pronounced low-velocity zone that produces a seismic shadow wherein zone peg-leg multiples are seen as echelon arrivals. The interpretation of these echelon arrivals as multiples supersedes an earlier interpretation which attributed them to successive primary reflections arising from alternating high- and low-velocity layers. Synthetic seismogram modeling indicates that a low-velocity zone with transitional upper and lower boundaries generates peg-leg multiples as effectively as one with sharp boundaries. No PmP or Pn arrivals from the subducting oceanic Moho at 30 km depth beneath the western part of the line are observed on the long-offset (90-225 km) data. This may be due to a lower crustal waveguide whose top is the high-velocity (7.6 km/s) layer and whose base is the Moho. A deep (~54 km) reflector is not affected by the waveguide and has been identified in the data. Although peg-leg multiples have been interpreted on some long-range refraction profiles that sound to upper mantle depths, the Chugach Mountains profile is one of the few crustal refraction profiles where peg-leg multiples are clearly observed. This study indicates that multiple and converted phases may be more important in seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection profiles than previously recognized.

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

Description: Climate models depict large diversity in the strength of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (ENSO amplitude). Here we investigate ENSO-amplitude diversity in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) by means of the linear recharge oscillator model, which reduces ENSO dynamics to a two-dimensional problem in terms of eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (T) and equatorial Pacific upper ocean heat content anomalies (h). We find that a large contribution to ENSO-amplitude diversity originates from stochastic forcing. Further, significant interactions exist between the stochastic forcing and the growth rates of T and h with competing effects on ENSO amplitude. The joint consideration of stochastic forcing and growth rates explains more than 80% of the ENSO-amplitude variance within CMIP5. Our results can readily explain the lack of correlation between the Bjerknes Stability index, a measure of the growth rate of T, and ENSO amplitude in a multimodel ensemble.

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

Description: Monthly mean sea level anomalies in the tropical Pacific for the period 1961-2002 are reconstructed using a linear, multi-mode model driven by monthly mean wind stress anomalies from the NCEP/NCAR and ERA-40 reanalysis products. Overall, the sea level anomalies reconstructed by both wind stress products agree well with the available tide gauge data, although with poor performance at Kanton Island in the western-central equatorial Pacific and reduced amplitude at Christmas Island. The reduced performance is related to model error in locating the pivot point in sea level variability associated with the so-called “tilt” mode. We present evidence that the pivot point was further west during the period 1993-2014 than during the period 1961-2002 and attribute this to a persistent upward trend in the zonal wind stress variance along the equator west of 160° W throughout the period 1961-2014. Experiments driven by the zonal component of the wind stress alone reproduce much of the trend in sea level found in the experiments driven by both components of the wind stress. The experiments show an upward trend in sea level in the eastern tropical Pacific over the period 1961-2002, but with a much stronger upward trend when using the NCEP/NCAR product. We argue that the latter is related to an overly strong eastward trend in zonal wind stress in the eastern-central Pacific that is believed to be a spurious feature of the NCEP/NCAR product.

Description: Grain‐size‐dependent flow mechanisms tend to be favored over dislocation creep at low differential stresses and can potentially influence the rheology of low‐stress, low‐strain rate environments such as those of planetary interiors. We experimentally investigated the effect of reduced grain size on the solid‐state flow of water ice I, a principal component of the asthenospheres of many icy moons of the outer solar system, using techniques new to studies of this deformation regime. We fabricated fully dense ice samples of approximate grain size 2±1 μm by transforming “standard” ice I samples of 250±50 μm grain size to the higher‐pressure phase ice II, deforming them in the ice II field, and then rapidly releasing the pressure deep into the ice I stability field. At T≤200 K, slow growth and rapid nucleation of ice I combine to produce a fine grain size. Constant‐strain rate deformation tests conducted on these samples show that deformation rates are less stress sensitive than for standard ice and that the fine‐grained material is markedly weaker than standard ice, particularly during the transient approach to steady state deformation. Scanning electron microscope examination of the deformed fine‐grained ice samples revealed an unusual microstructure dominated by platelike grains that grew normal to the compression direction, with c axes preferentially oriented parallel to compression. In samples tested at T≥220 K the elongation of the grains is so pronounced that the samples appear finely banded, with aspect ratios of grains approaching 50:1. The anisotropic growth of these crystallographically oriented neoblasts likely contributes to progressive work hardening observed during the transient stage of deformation. We have also documented remarkably similar microstructural development and weak mechanical behavior in fine‐grained ice samples partially transformed and deformed in the ice II field.

Description: Continental margin ecosystems in the western North Pacific Ocean are subject to strong climate forcing and anthropogenic impacts. To evaluate mechanisms controlling phytoplankton biomass and community structure variations in marginal sea‐open ocean boundary regions, brassicasterol, dinosterol and C37 alkenones were measured in suspended particles in summer and autumn from 2012 to 2013 in the northeastern East China Sea and the western Tsushima Strait (NEECS‐WTS). In summer, the concentrations of brassicasterol (40 ‐ 1535 ng L‐1) and dinosterol (4.2 ‐ 94 ng L‐1) were higher in the southwest of Cheju Island, while C37 alkenones (0 ‐ 30 ng L‐1) were higher in the south of Cheju Island. In autumn, brassicasterol (12 ‐ 106 ng L‐1), dinosterol (2.4 ‐ 21 ng L‐1) and C37 alkenones (0.7 – 7.0 ng L‐1) were higher in the southwest of Cheju Island and the WTS, and higher C37 alkenones also occurred in the Okinawa Trough. Correlation analysis of biomarkers and environmental conditions (temperature, salinity and inorganic nutrient concentrations) clearly demonstrated that phytoplankton biomass and community structure variations can be well elucidated by water masses as indexed by temperature and salinity. High nutrients from the Changjiang River were the main cause of high biomass in summer, while nutrients from subsurface water were likely the key factor regulating phytoplankton biomass in open ocean water stations in autumn. This study indicates that mechanisms controlling phytoplankton biomass in marginal sea‐open ocean boundary regions should be classified by various water masses with different nutrient concentrations, instead of by geography.

Description: A submesoscale coherent vortex (SCV) with a low oxygen core is characterized from underwater glider and mooring observations from the eastern tropical North Atlantic, north of the Cape Verde Islands. The eddy crossed the mooring with its center and a 1 month time series of the SCV's hydrographic and upper 100 m currents structure was obtained. About 45 days after, and ∼100 km west, the SCV frontal zone was surveyed in high temporal and spatial resolution using an underwater glider. Satellite altimetry showed the SCV was formed about 7 months before at the Mauritanian coast. The SCV was located at 80-100 m depth, its diameter was ∼100 km and its maximum swirl velocity ∼0.4 m s-1. A Burger number of 0.2 and a vortex Rossby number 0.15 indicate a flat lens in geostrophic balance. Mooring and glider data show in general comparable dynamical and thermohaline structures, the glider in high spatial resolution, the mooring in high temporal resolution. Surface maps of chlorophyll concentration suggest high productivity inside and around the SCV. The low potential vorticity (PV) core of the SCV is surrounded by filamentary structures, sloping down at different angles from the mixed layer base and with typical width of 10-20 km and a vertical extent of 50-100 m.

Description: We present an improved neotectonic numerical model of the complex NW Africa-SW Eurasia plate boundary segment that runs from west to east along the Gloria Fault up to the northern Algerian margin. We model the surface velocity field and the ongoing lithospheric deformation using the most recent version of the thin-shell code SHELLS and updated lithospheric model and fault map of the region. To check the presence versus the absence of an independently driven Alboran domain, we develop two alternative plate models: one does not include an Alboran plate; another includes it and determines the basal shear tractions necessary to drive it with known velocities. We also compare two alternative sets of Africa-Eurasia velocity boundary conditions, corresponding to geodetic and geological-scale averages of plate motion. Finally, we perform an extensive parametric study of fault friction coefficient, trench resistance, and velocities imposed in Alboran nodes. The final run comprises 5240 experiments, each scored to geodetic velocities (estimated for 250 stations and here provided), stress direction data, and seismic strain rates. The model with the least discrepancy to the data includes the Alboran plate driven by a basal WSW directed shear traction, slightly oblique to the westward direction of Alboran motion. We provide estimates of long-term strain rates and slip rates for the modeled faults, which can be useful for further hazard studies. Our results support that a mechanism additional to the Africa-Eurasia convergence is required to drive the Alboran domain, which can be related to subduction processes occurring within the mantle.

Description: Overriding plate topography provides constraints on subduction zone geodynamics. We investigate its evolution using fully dynamic laboratory models of subduction with techniques of stereoscopic photogrammetry and particle image velocimetry. Model results show that the topography is characterized by an area of forearc dynamic subsidence, with a magnitude scaling to 1.44–3.97 km in nature, and a local topographic high between the forearc subsided region and the trench. These topographic features rapidly develop during the slab free‐sinking phase and gradually decrease during the steady state slab rollback phase. We propose that they result from the variation of the vertical component of the trench suction force along the subduction zone interface, which gradually increases with depth and results from the gradual slab steepening during the initial transient slab sinking phase. The downward mantle flow in the nose of the mantle wedge plays a minor role in driving forearc subsidence.

Description: Earth is 180 Myr into the current supercontinent cycle, and the next supercontinent is predicted to form in 250 Myr. The continuous changes in continental configuration can move the ocean between resonant states, and the semidiurnal tides are currently large compared to the past 252 Myr due to tidal resonance in the Atlantic. This leads to the hypothesis that there is a “supertidal” cycle linked to the supercontinent cycle. Here this is tested using new tectonic predictions for the next 250 Myr as bathymetry in a numerical tidal model. The simulations support the following hypothesis: a new tidal resonance will appear 150 Myr from now, followed by a decreasing tide as the supercontinent forms 100 Myr later. This affects the dissipation of tidal energy in the oceans, with consequences for the evolution of the Earth‐Moon system, ocean circulation and climate, and implications for the ocean's capacity of hosting and evolving life.

Description: This paper concerns the linear response of the ocean to forcing at a specified frequency and wave number in the absence of mean currents. It discusses the details of the forcing function, the general properties of the equations of motion, and possible simplifications of these equations. Two representations for the oceanic response to forcing are described in detail. One solution is in terms of the normal modes of the ocean. The vertical structure of these modes corresponds to that of the barotropic and baroclinic modes; their latitudinal structure corresponds to that of inertia‐gravity and Rossby waves. These waves are eigenfunctions of Laplace's tidal equations (LTE) with the frequency as eigenvalue. The description in terms of vertically standing modes is particularly useful if the forcing is nonlocal, because only these modes can propagate into undisturbed regions. The principal result is that it is extremely difficult for baroclinic (but not barotropic) disturbances to propagate horizontally away from a forced region. Instabilities of the Gulf Stream excite disturbances that are confined to the immediate neighborhood of the current; disturbances due to instabilities of equatorial currents do not propagate far latitudinally. A second representation of the oceanic response to forcing is in terms of vertically propagating, or vertically trapped, latitudinal modes. These modes are eigenfunctions of LTE with the equivalent depth h (not the frequency) as eigenvalue. Both positive and negative eigenvalues h are necessary for completeness. The modes with h 〉 0 consist of an infinite set of inertia‐gravity waves and a finite set of Rossby waves which either propagate vertically or form vertically standing modes. The latitudinally gravest modes are equatorially trapped and have been observed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The modes with h 〈 0 are necessary to describe the oceanic response to nonresonant forcing. In the vertical this response attenuates with increasing distance from the forcing region. Because of the shallowness of the ocean the large eastward traveling atmospheric cyclones in mid‐latitudes and high latitudes force a response down to the ocean floor. Interaction with the bottom topography will result in smaller‐scale disturbances and will affect the frequency spectrum of the response when bottom‐trapped waves are excited.

Description: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) has highly energetic mesoscale phenomena, but their impacts on phytoplankton biomass, productivity, and biogeochemical cycling are not understood well. We analyze satellite observations and an eddy‐rich ocean model to show that they drive chlorophyll anomalies of opposite sign in winter versus summer. In winter, deeper mixed layers in positive sea surface height (SSH) anomalies reduce light availability, leading to anomalously low chlorophyll concentrations. In summer with abundant light, however, positive SSH anomalies show elevated chlorophyll concentration due to higher iron level, and an iron budget analysis reveals that anomalously strong vertical mixing enhances iron supply to the mixed layer. Features with negative SSH anomalies exhibit the opposite tendencies: higher chlorophyll concentration in winter and lower in summer. Our results suggest that mesoscale modulation of iron supply, light availability and vertical mixing plays an important role in causing systematic variations in primary productivity over the seasonal cycle.

Description: Halogen- and sulfur-containing compounds are supersaturated in the surface ocean, which results in their emission to the atmosphere. These compounds can be transported to the stratosphere, where they impact ozone, the background aerosol layer, and climate. In this study we calculate the seasonal and interannual variability of transport from the West Indian Ocean (WIO) surface to the stratosphere for 2000-2016 with the Lagrangian transport model FLEXPART using ERA-Interim meteorological fields. We investigate the transport relevant for very short lived substances (VSLS) with tropospheric lifetimes corresponding to dimethylsulfide (1 day), methyl iodide (CH3I, 3.5 days), bromoform (CHBr3, 17 days), and dibromomethane (CH2Br2, 150 days). The stratospheric source gas injection of VSLS tracers from the WIO shows a distinct annual cycle associated with the Asian monsoon. Over the 16-year time series, a slight increase in source gas injection from the WIO to the stratosphere is found for all VSLS tracers and during all seasons. The interannual variability shows a relationship with sea surface temperatures in the WIO as well as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. During boreal spring of El Niño, enhanced stratospheric injection of VSLS from the tropical WIO is caused by positive sea surface temperature anomalies and enhanced vertical uplift above the WIO. During boreal fall of La Niña, strong injection is related to enhanced atmospheric upward motion over the East Indian Ocean and a prolonged Indian summer monsoon season. Related physical mechanisms and uncertainties are discussed in this study

Description: The notion of a shallow northern sourced intermediate water mass is a well evidenced feature of the Atlantic circulation scheme of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, recent observations from stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) at the Corner Rise in the deep northwest Atlantic suggested a significant contribution of a Northern Component Water mass to the abyssal northwest Atlantic basin that has not been described before. Here we test the hypothesis of this northern sourced water mass underlying the southern sourced glacial Antarctic Bottom Water by measuring the authigenic neodymium (Nd) isotopic composition from the same sediments from 5,010-m water depth. Neodymium isotopes act as a semiconservative water mass tracer capable of distinguishing between Northern and Southern Component Waters at the northwest Atlantic. Our new Nd isotopic record resolves various water mass changes from the LGM to the early Holocene in agreement with existing Nd-based reconstructions from across the west Atlantic Ocean. Especially pronounced are the Younger Dryas and Bølling-Allerød with unprecedented changes in the Nd isotopic composition. For the LGM we found Nd isotopic evidence for a northern sourced water mass contributing to abyssal depths, thus being in agreement with previous δ13C data from Corner Rise. Overall, however, the deep northwest Atlantic was still dominated by southern sourced water, since we found signatures that are intermediate between northern and southern end member compositions. Furthermore, this new record indicates that C and Nd isotopes were partly decoupled, pointing to nonconservative behavior of one or more likely of both water mass proxies during the LGM.

Description: Pre-stack depth migration data across the Hikurangi margin, East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand, are used to derive subducting slab geometry, upper crustal structure and seismic velocities resolved to ∼14 km depth. We investigate the potential relationship between the crustal architecture, fluid migration and short-term geodetically determined slow-slip events. The subduction interface is a shallow dipping thrust at 〈 7 km depth near the trench and steps down to 14 km depth along an ∼18 km long ramp, beneath Porangahau Ridge. This apparent bend in the décollement is associated with splay fault branching and coincides with a zone of maximum slip (90 mm) inferred on the subduction interface during slow slip events in June and July 2011. A low-velocity zone beneath the plate interface, up-dip of the plate interface ramp, is interpreted as fluid-rich overpressured sediments capped with a low permeability condensed layer of chalk and interbedded mudstones. Fluid rich sediments have been imbricated by splay faults in a region that coincides with the step down in the décollement from the top of subducting sediments to the oceanic crust and contribute to spatial variation in frictional properties of the plate interface that may promote slow slip behavior in the region. Further, transient fluid migration along splay faults at Porangahau Ridge may signify stress changes during slow slip.

Description: We provide high-resolution foraminiferal stable carbon isotope (δ13C) records from the subarctic Pacific and Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) to investigate circulation dynamics between the extra-tropical and tropical North Pacific during the past 60 kyr. We measured the δ13C composition of the epibenthic foraminiferal species Cibicides lobatulus from a shallow sediment core recovered from the western Bering Sea (SO201-2-101KL; 58°52.52’N, 170°41.45’E; 630 m water depth) to reconstruct past ventilation changes close to the source region of Glacial North Pacific Intermediate Water (GNPIW). Information regarding glacial changes in the δ13C of sub-thermocline water masses in the EEP is derived from the deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera Globorotaloides hexagonus at ODP Site 1240 (00°01.31’N, 82°27.76’W; 2921 m water depth). Apparent similarities in the long-term evolution of δ13C between GNPIW, intermediate waters in the eastern tropical North Pacific and sub-thermocline water masses in the EEP suggest the expansion of relatively 13C-depleted, nutrient-enriched, and northern-sourced intermediate waters to the equatorial Pacific under glacial conditions. Further, it appears that additional influence of GNPIW to the tropical Pacific is consistent with changes in nutrient distribution and biological productivity in surface-waters of the glacial EEP. Our findings highlight potential links between North Pacific mid-depth circulation changes, nutrient cycling, and biological productivity in the equatorial Pacific under glacial boundary conditions.

Description: A multi-mode, linear reduced-gravity model, driven by ERA-Interim monthly mean wind stress anomalies, is used to investigate interannual variability in tropical Pacific sea level as seen in satellite altimeter data. The model output is fitted to the altimeter data along the equator, in order to derive the vertical profile for the model forcing, showing that a signature from modes higher than mode six cannot be extracted from the altimeter data. It is shown that the model has considerable skill at capturing interannual sea level variability both on and off the equator. The correlation between modelled and satellite-derived sea level data exceeds 0.8 over a wide range of longitudes along the equator and readily captures the observed ENSO events. Overall, the combination of the first, second, third and fifth modes can provide a robust estimate of the interannual sea level variability, the second mode being dominant. A remarkable feature of both the model and the altimeter data is the presence of a pivot point in the western Pacific on the equator. We show that the westward displacement of the pivot point from the centre of the basin is strongly influenced by the fact that most of the wind stress variance is found in the western part of the basin. We also show that the Sverdrup transport is not fundamental to the dynamics of the recharge/discharge mechanism in our model, although the spatial structure of the wind forcing does play a role in setting the amplitude of the “warm water volume”.

Description: El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific is asymmetric for warm and cold events with respect to amplitude, spatial patterns and temporal evolution. Here the symmetry of the Atlantic Niño mode, which many previous studies have argued is governed by atmosphere–ocean dynamics similar to those of ENSO, is investigated using two different ocean reanalysis products. Calculation of Bjerknes feedback terms for the Pacific reveals a pronounced asymmetry between warm and cold events, though unlike most previous studies, the largest asymmetry is found in the relationship between eastern Pacific thermocline depth and SST anomalies. For the Atlantic, cold events are effectively mirror images of warm events with Bjerknes feedbacks of similar strength. The analysis supports not only the conclusion that Atlantic Niños are more symmetric than ENSO, but the hypothesis itself that the Bjerknes feedback is operative in the Atlantic given the strength of the relationship between the key variables involved.

Description: At the eastern end of the Azores-Gloria transform fault system to the southwest of Portugal, the plate boundary between Africa and Iberia is a region where deformation is accommodated over a wide tectonically-active area. The region has unleashed large earthquakes and tsunamis, including the Mw ~ 8.5 Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Although the source region of the 1755 earthquake is still disputed, most proposals include a source location in the vicinity of the Horseshoe Abyssal Plain (HAP), which is bounded by the 5000 m high Gorringe Bank (GB). In this study we characterise seismic activity in the region using data recorded by two local networks of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS). The networks were deployed in the eastern HAP and at the GB. The dataset allowed the detection of 160 local earthquakes. These earthquakes cluster around the GB, to the SW of Cabo Sao Vicente, and in the HAP. Focal depths indicate deep-seated earthquakes, with depths increasing from 20-35 km (mean of 26.1 ± 7.2 km) at the GB to 15-45 km (mean 31.5 km ± 10.5 km) under the HAP. Seismic activity thus extends down to levels that are deeper than those mapped by active seismic profiling, with the majority of events occurring within the mantle. Thermal modelling suggests that temperatures of approximately 600 °C characterise the base of the seismogenic brittle lithosphere at ~45 km depth. The large source depth and thermal structure supports previous suggestions that catastrophic seismic rupture through the lithospheric mantle may indeed occur in the area.

Description: Despite a growing literature on the climate response to solar geoengineering – proposals to cool the planet by increasing the planetary albedo – there has been little published on the impacts of solar geoengineering on natural and human systems such as agriculture, health, water resources, and ecosystems. An understanding of the impacts of different scenarios of solar geoengineering deployment will be crucial for informing decisions on whether and how to deploy it. Here we review the current state of knowledge about impacts of a solar geoengineered climate and identify major research gaps. We suggest that a thorough assessment of the climate impacts of a range of scenarios of solar geoengineering deployment is needed and can build upon existing frameworks. However, solar geoengineering poses a novel challenge for climate impacts research as the manner of deployment could be tailored to pursue different objectives making possible a wide range of climate outcomes. We present a number of ideas for approaches to extend the survey of climate impacts beyond standard scenarios of solar geoengineering deployment to address this challenge. Reducing the impacts of climate change is the fundamental motivator for emissions reductions and for considering whether and how to deploy solar geoengineering. This means that the active engagement of the climate impacts research community will be important for improving the overall understanding of the opportunities, challenges and risks presented by solar geoengineering.

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

Description: The supply and bioavailability of iron (Fe) controls primary productivity and N2-fixation in large parts of the global ocean. An important, yet poorly quantified, source to the ocean is particulate Fe (pFe). Here we present the first combined dataset of particulate, labile-particulate (L-pFe) and dissolved Fe (dFe) from the (sub)-tropical North Atlantic. We show a strong relationship between L-pFe and dFe, indicating a dynamic equilibrium between these two phases whereby particles ‘buffer’ dFe and maintain the elevated concentrations observed. Moreover, L-pFe can increase the overall ‘available’ (L-pFe + dFe) Fe pool by up to 55%. The lateral shelf flux of this available Fe was similar in magnitude to observed soluble aerosol-Fe deposition, a comparison that has not been previously considered. These findings demonstrate that L-pFe is integral to Fe cycling and hence plays a role in regulating carbon cycling, warranting its’ inclusion in Fe budgets and biogeochemical models.

Description: Combined seawater radiogenic hafnium (Hf) and neodymium (Nd) isotope compositions were extracted from bulk sediment leachates and foraminifera of Site 1088, ODP Leg 177, 2082 m water depth on the Agulhas Ridge. The new data provide a continuous reconstruction of long and short-term changes in ocean circulation and continental weathering inputs since the Mid-Miocene. Due to its intermediate water depth the sediments of this core sensitively recorded changes in admixture of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) as a function of the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Nd isotope compositions (εNd) range from -7 to -11 with glacial values generally 1 to 3 units more radiogenic than during the interglacials of the Quaternary. The data reveal episodes of significantly increased AMOC strength during late Miocene and Pliocene warm periods whereas peak radiogenic εNd values mark a strongly diminished AMOC during the major intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation near 2.8 Ma and in the Pleistocene after 1.5 Ma. In contrast, the Hf isotope compositions (εHf) show an essentially continuous evolution from highly radiogenic values of up to +11 during the Miocene to less radiogenic present day values (+2 to +4) during the late Quaternary. The data document a long-term transition in dominant weathering inputs, where inputs from the South America are replaced by those from Southern Africa. Moreover, radiogenic peaks provide evidence for the supply of radiogenic Hf originating from Patagonian rocks to the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean via dust inputs.

Description: Reconstructed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) derived from Mg/Ca measurements in nine encrusting coralline algal skeletons from the Aleutian archipelago in the northernmost Pacific Ocean reveal an overall increase in SST from 1665 to 2007. In the Aleutian SST reconstruction, decadal-scale variability is a transient feature present during the 1700s and early 1800s and then fully emerging post-1950. SSTs vary coherently with available instrument records of cyclone variance and vacillate in and out of coherence with multicentennial Pacific Northwest drought reconstructions as a response to SST-driven alterations of storm tracks reaching North America. These results indicate that an influence of decadal-scale variability on the North Pacific storm tracks only became apparent during the midtwentieth century. Furthermore, what has been assumed as natural variability in the North Pacific, based on twentieth century instrumental data, is not consistent with the long-term natural variability evident in reconstructed SSTs predating the anthropogenic influence.

Description: Microbathymetry data, in situ observations, and sampling along the 138200N and 138200N oceanic core complexes (OCCs) reveal mechanisms of detachment fault denudation at the seafloor, links between tectonic extension and mass wasting, and expose the nature of corrugations, ubiquitous at OCCs. In the initial stages of detachment faulting and high-angle fault, scarps show extensive mass wasting that reduces their slope. Flexural rotation further lowers scarp slope, hinders mass wasting, resulting in morphologically complex chaotic terrain between the breakaway and the denuded corrugated surface. Extension and drag along the fault plane uplifts a wedge of hangingwall material (apron). The detachment surface emerges along a continuous moat that sheds rocks and covers it with unconsolidated rubble, while local slumping emplaces rubble ridges overlying corrugations. The detachment fault zone is a set of anostomosed slip planes, elongated in the alongextension direction. Slip planes bind fault rock bodies defining the corrugations observed in microbathymetry and sonar. Fault planes with extension-parallel stria are exposed along corrugation flanks, where the rubble cover is shed. Detachment fault rocks are primarily basalt fault breccia at 138200N OCC, and gabbro and peridotite at 138300N, demonstrating that brittle strain localization in shallow lithosphere form corrugations, regardless of lithologies in the detachment zone. Finally, faulting and volcanism dismember the 138300N OCC, with widespread present and past hydrothermal activity (Semenov fields), while the Irinovskoe hydrothermal field at the 138200N core complex suggests a magmatic source within the footwall. These results confirm the ubiquitous relationship between hydrothermal activity and oceanic detachment formation and evolution.

Description: The Eastern Tropical South Pacific oxygen minimum zone (ETSP-OMZ) is a site of intense nitrous oxide (N2O) flux to the atmosphere. This flux results from production of N2O by nitrification and denitrification, but the contribution of the two processes is unknown. The rates of these pathways and their distributions were measured directly using 15N tracers. The highest N2O production rates occurred at the depth of peak N2O concentrations at the oxic-anoxic interface above the oxygen deficient zone (ODZ) because slightly oxygenated waters allowed (1) N2O production from both nitrification and denitrification and (2) higher nitrous oxide production yields from nitrification. Within the ODZ proper (i.e., anoxia), the only source of N2O was denitrification (i.e., nitrite and nitrate reduction), the rates of which were reflected in the abundance of nirS genes (encoding nitrite reductase). Overall, denitrification was the dominant pathway contributing the N2O production in the ETSP-OMZ.

Description: We present the first subprecessional record of seawater 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios for a marginal Mediterranean subbasin. The sediments contained in this interval (three precessional cycles between 6.60 and 6.55 Ma) are important because they record conditions during the transition to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC; 5.97 to 5.33 Ma), an event for which many details are still poorly understood. The record, derived from planktic foraminifera of the late Miocene Sorbas Basin (SE Spain), shows brief excursions with precessional cyclicity to 87Sr/86Sr ratios higher than coeval ocean 87Sr/86Sr. The hydrologic conditions required to generate the observed record are investigated using box modeling, constrained using a new paleodepth estimate (150 to 250 m) based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The box model results highlight the role of climate-driven interbasin density contrast as a significant driver of, or impediment to, exchange. The results are particularly significant in the context of the MSC, where 87Sr/86Sr excursions have been interpreted purely as a consequence of physical restriction. To replicate the observed temporal patterns of lithological variations and 87Sr/86Sr isotope excursions, the Sorbas Basin “box” must have a mainly positive hydrologic budget, in contrast with the Mediterranean's negative budget during the late Miocene. This result has implications for the assumption of synchronous deposition of specific sedimentary layers (sapropels) between marginal and open Mediterranean settings at subprecessional resolution. A net positive hydrologic budget in marginal Mediterranean subbasins may reconcile observations of freshwater inclusions in gypsum deposits.