Assessing the global averaged sea-level budget from 2003 to 2010

A global mass balance （Greenland and Antarctica ice sheet mass loss, terrestrial water storage） and differ- ent sea-level components （observed sea-level from satellite altimetry, steric sea-level from Ishii data, and ocean mass from gravity recovery and climate experiment, GRACE） are estimated, in terms of seasonal and interannual variabilities from 2003 to 2010. The results show that a detailed analysis of the GRACE time series over the time period 2003-2010 unambiguously reveals an increase in mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet and Antarctica ice sheet. The mass loss of both ice sheets accelerated at a rate of （392.8±70.0） Gt/a during 2003-2010, which contributed （1.09±0.19） mm/a to the global mean sea-level during this time. The net terrestrial water storage （TWS） trend was negative over the 8 a time span, which gave a small positive contribution of （0.25±0.12） mm/a. The interannual variability of the global mean sea-level was at least part- ly caused by year-to-year variability of land water storage. Estimating GRACE-based ice sheet mass balance and terrestrial water storage by using published estimates for melting glaciers, the results further show that the ocean mass increase since 2003 has resulted half from an enhanced contribution of the polar ice sheets, and half from the combined ice sheet and terrestrial water storage loss. Taking also into account the melt- ing of mountain glaciers （0.41 mm/a） and the small GRACE-based contribution from continental waters （0.25 mm/a）, a total ocean mass contribution of （1.75±0.57） mm/a from 2003 to 2010 is found. Such a value represented 75% of the altimetry-based rate of sea-level rise over that period. The contributions to steric sea-level （i.e., ocean thermal expansion plus salinity effects） are estimated from： （1） the difference between altimetry-based sea-level and ocean mass change and （2） the latest Ishii data. The inferred steric sea-level rate from （1） （1.41 mm/a from 2003 to 2010） did not agree well with the Ishii-based value also estimated here （0.44 mm/a from 2003 to 2010）, but phase. The cause for such a discrepancy is not yet known but may be related to inadequate sampling of in situ ocean temperature and salinity measurements.     

One-Dimensional Hydraulic Analysis of the Effect of Sea Level Rise on Salinity Intrusion in the Sebou Estuary,Morocco

Global climate change has resulted in a gradual sea-level rise. Sea-level rise can cause saline water to migrate upstream in estuaries and rivers, thereby threatening freshwater habitat and drinking water supplies. On the other hand, sea-level rise, resulting from thermal expansion of ocean waters and increased melting of glaciers and ice caps, is one of the most apparent and widespread consequences of climate change. This phenomenon has been taken into account in all the Assessment Reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this paper, salinity intrusion and intrusion length due to possible sea-level rise in the Sebou estuary (Morocco) was investigated. A one-dimensional hydrodynamic-salinity transport model was used for the simulation of the salinity intrusion and associated water quality, with observed field data being used for model calibration and validation. Additionally, the model validation process showed that the model results fit the observed data fairly well. A coupled gas-cycle/climate model was used to generate the climate change scenarios in the studied area that showed sea-level rises varying from 0.3 to 0.9 m for 2100. The models were then combined to assess the impact of future sea-level rise on the salinity distribution and intrusion length in the Sebou estuary. The response of salt intrusion length to changes in important dimensional parameters are presented, showing that the salinity intrusion length is inversely correlated with the river discharge, i.e., a high river discharge results in a reduced salt intrusion and vice versa, and directly with the sea-level rise. Additionally, the magnitude and frequency of the salinity standard violations at the two pump stations were predicted for 2100, showing that the salinity violations under climate change effects can increase to ～45–48% of the times at these locations. Finally, the main objective of this simulation method is to accelerate and facilitate of systems' behavior learning in the current and future situation.     

Activity of the turbidite levees of the Celtic–Armorican margin (Bay of Biscay) during the last 30,000 years: Imprints of the last European deglaciation and Heinrich events

High-resolution sedimentological and micropaleontological studies of several deep-sea cores retrieved from the levees of the Celtic and Armorican turbidite systems (Bay of Biscay — North Atlantic Ocean) allow the detection of the major oscillations of the British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) and ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver discharges over the last 30,000 years, which were mainly triggered by climate changes.Between 30 and 20 cal ka, the turbiditic activity on the Celtic–Armorican margin was weak, contrasting with previous stratigraphic models which predicted a substantial increase of sediment supply during low sea-level stands. This low turbidite deposit frequency was most likely the result of a weak activity of the ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver and/or of a reduced seaward transfer of sediments from the shelf to the margin. However, two episodes of turbiditic activity increase were detected in the Celtic–Armorican margin, during Heinrich events (HE) 3 and 2. This strengthening of the turbiditic activity was triggered by the meltwater releases from European ice sheets and glaciers favouring the seaward transfer of subglacial material, at least via ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver.At around 20 cal ka, a significant increase of turbidite deposit frequency occurred as a response to the onset of the last deglaciation. The retreat of the European ice sheets and glaciers induced a substantial increase of the ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver discharges and seaward transfer of continentally-derived material into the Armorican turbidite system. The intensification of the turbiditic activity on the Celtic system was directly sustained by the widespread transport of subglacial sediments from the British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) to the Celtic Sea via the Irish Sea Basin. A sudden reduction of turbiditic activity in the Armorican system, between ca. 19 and 18.3 cal ka, could have been triggered by the first well known abrupt sea-level rise (‘meltwater pulse’, at around 19 cal ka) favouring the trapping of sediment in the ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver valleys and the decrease of the seaward transfer of continentally-derived material.The maximum of turbiditic activity strengthening in the Celtic–Armorican margin, between ca. 18.3 and 17 cal ka, was induced by the decay of European ice sheets and glaciers producing the most extreme episode of the ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver runoff and a great seaward transfer of subglacial material into the Bay of Biscay. Between ca. 17.5 and 16 cal ka, the turbiditic activity significantly decreased in both Celtic and Armorican turbidite systems in response to a global re-advance of glaciers and ice sheets in Europe. The last episode of ice sheet retreat, between ca. 16 and 14 cal ka, is well expressed in the Celtic system by a new increase of the turbiditic activity. The major episode of sea-level rise at around 14 cal ka (‘Meltwater Pulse 1A’), precluding the seaward transfer of sediments, induced the end of turbiditic activity in both the Celtic and the Armorican system.Although two main phases of global sea-level rise seem to have had an effect on the Celtic–Armorican margin, this work proposes the BIIS retreat and associated riverine discharges as the main trigger mechanisms of the turbiditic activity in this region during the last 30,000 years.     

气候变化中海洋和冰冻圈的变化、影响及风险

本文系统梳理了IPCC 《气候变化中的海洋和冰冻圈特别报告》(SROCC)的主要结论,并对主要观点进行了解读。报告主要关注全球变暖背景下高山、极地、海洋和沿海地区现在和未来的变化及其对人类和生态系统的影响,以及实现气候适应发展路径的方案。在全球变暖背景下,冰冻圈大面积萎缩,冰川冰盖质量损失,积雪减少,北极海冰范围和厚度减小,多年冻土升温,全球海洋持续增温,1993年以来,海洋变暖和吸热速度增加了一倍以上。同时,海洋表面酸化加剧,海洋含氧量减少。全球平均海平面呈加速上升趋势,2006—2015年全球海平面上升速率为3.6 mm/yr,是1901—1990年的2.5倍,但存在区域差异。高山、极地和海洋的生态系统的物种组成、分布和服务功能均发生变化,并对人类社会产生了显著负面影响。极端海洋气候事件发生频率增多,强度加大。1982年以来,全球范围内海洋热浪的发生频率增加了一倍,且范围更广,持续时间更长。海平面持续上升加剧了洪涝、海水入侵、海岸侵蚀等海岸带灾害,并影响沿海生态系统。海洋及冰冻圈的变化及其影响在未来一定时期仍将持续,应对这些影响而面临的挑战,应加强基于生态系统的适应和可再生能源管理,强化海岸带地区的海平面上升综合应对,打造积极有效、可持续和具有韧性的气候变化应对方案。     

Tracking the last sea-level cycle: seafloor morphology and shallow stratigraphy of the latest Quaternary New Jersey middle continental shelf

Seafloor geomorphology and surficial stratigraphy of the New Jersey middle continental shelf provide a detailed record of sea-level change during the last advance and retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet (120 kyr B.P. to Present). A NW–SE-oriented corridor on the middle shelf between water depths of 40 m (the mid-shelf “paleo-shore”) and 100 m (the Franklin “paleo-shore”) encompasses 500 line-km of 2D Huntec boomer profiles (500–3500 Hz), an embedded 4.6 km² 3D volume, and a 490 km² swath bathymetry map. We use these data to develop a relative stratigraphy. Core samples from published studies also provide some chronological and sedimentological constraints on the upper <5 m of the stratigraphic succession.The following stratigraphic units and surfaces occur (from bottom to top): (1) “R”, a high-amplitude reflection that separates sediment >46.5 kyr old (by AMS ¹⁴C dating) from overlying sediment wedges; (2) the outer shelf wedge, a marine unit up to 50 m thick that onlaps “R”; (3) “Channels”, a reflection sub-parallel to the seafloor that incises “R”, and appears as a dendritic system of channels in map view; (4) “Channels” fill, the upper portion of which is sampled and known to represent deepening-upward marine sediments 12.3 kyr in age; (5) the “T” horizon, a seismically discontinuous surface that caps “Channels” fill; (6) oblique ridge deposits, coarse-grained shelly units comprised of km-scale, shallow shelf bedforms; and (7) ribbon-floored swales, bathymetric depressions parallel to modern shelf currents that truncate the oblique ridges and cut into surficial deposits.We interpret this succession of features in light of a global eustatic sea-level curve and the consequent migration of the coastline across the middle shelf during the last 120 kyr. The morphology of the New Jersey middle shelf shows a discrete sequence of stratigraphic elements, and reflects the pulsed episodicity of the last sea-level cycle. “R” is a complicated marine/non-marine erosional surface formed during the last regression, while the outer shelf wedge represents a shelf wedge emplaced during a minor glacial retreat before maximum Wisconsin lowstand (i.e., marine oxygen isotope stage 3.1). “Channels” is a widespread fluvial subarial erosion surface formed at the late Wisconsin glacial maximum 22 kyr B.P. The shoreline migrated back across the mid-shelf corridor non-uniformly during the period represented by “Channels” fill. Oblique ridges are relict features on the New Jersey middle shelf, while the ribbon-floored swales represent modern shelf erosion. There is no systematic relationship between modern seafloor morphology and the very shallowly buried stratigraphic succession.     

Project NOAH: Regulating modern sea-level rise. Phase II: Jerusalem Underground

This proposal builds a high-speed inter-urban express between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, generates 1500 megawatts of hydroelectric energy, curtails littoral erosion, builds a port along the Israeli Mediterranean coast and demands peaceful cooperation on both sides of the Jordan River. Phase II represents a pilot project demonstrating the feasibility of continuing to regulate world sea-level by a new series of water regulation schemes. Phase I previously described all those projects already completed or underway which have inadvertently and/or unintentionally served the purpose of sea-level regulation. These forms of Phase I sea-level regulation include large and small reservoirs, irrigation projects, water infiltration schemes, farm ponds, and swimming and reflecting pools. All these water storage projects have already exercised a very appreciable brake on 20th century sea-level rise. Phase II outlines a high-visibility proposal which will serve to illustrate the viability of “Project NOAH”.     

An inflection in the rate of early mid-Holocene eustatic sea-level rise: A new sea-level curve from Singapore

This study presents a sea-level curve from 9500 to 6500 cal BP for the farfield location of Singapore, on the Sunda Shelf in southeast Asia. The curve is based on more than 50 radiocarbon dates from elevations of +1.43 m to −15.09 m representing sea-level index points in intertidal mangrove and shallow marine sediments deposited by sea-level rise accompanying deglaciation. The results indicate that mean sea level rose rapidly from around −17 m at 9500 cal BP to around −3 m by 8000 cal BP. After this time, the data suggest (but do not unequivocally prove) that the rate of sea-rise slowed for a period of 300–500 years centred on 7700 cal BP, shortly after the cessation of meltwater input to the oceans from the northern hemisphere. Renewed sea-level rise amounting to 3–5 m began around 7400 cal BP and was complete by 7000 cal BP. The existence of an inflection in the rate of sea-level rise, with a slow-down centred on 7700 cal BP, is broadly consistent with other available sea-level curves over this interval and is supported by evidence of stable shorelines and delta initiation elsewhere at this time, as well as evidence of comparatively rapid retreat of the West Antarctic ice sheet beginning around 7500 cal BP. ‘Stepped’ sea-level rise occurring shortly after 7500 cal BP and also earlier during deglaciation may have served to focus significant post-glacial episodes of human maritime/coastal dispersal, into comparatively narrow time intervals.     

Circulation on the north central Chukchi Sea shelf

Mooring and shipboard data collected between 1992 and 1995 delineate the circulation over the north central Chukchi shelf. Previous studies indicated that Pacific waters crossed the Chukchi shelf through Herald Valley (in the west) and Barrow Canyon (in the east). We find a third branch (through the Central Channel) onto the outer shelf. The Central Channel transport varies seasonally in phase with Bering Strait transport, and is 0.2 Sv on average, although some of this might include water entrained from the outflow through Herald Valley. A portion of the Central Channel outflow moves eastward and converges with the Alaskan Coastal Current at the head of Barrow Canyon. The remainder appears to continue northeastward over the central outer shelf toward the shelfbreak, joined by outflow from Herald Valley. The mean flow opposes the prevailing winds and is primarily forced by the sea-level slope between the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Current variations are mainly wind forced, but baroclinic forcing, associated with upstream dense-water formation in coastal polynyas might occasionally be important.Winter water-mass modification depends crucially on the fall and winter winds, which control seasonal ice development. An extensive fall ice cover delays cooling, limits new ice formation, and results in little salinization. In such years, Bering shelf waters cross the Chukchi shelf with little modification. In contrast, extensive open water in fall leads to early and rapid cooling, and if accompanied by vigorous ice production within coastal polynyas, results in the production of high-salinity (>33) shelf waters. Such interannual variability likely affects slope processes and the transport of Pacific waters into the Arctic Ocean interior.     

High-resolution sea ice in long-term global ocean GCM integrations

The resolution of the sea-ice component of a coarse-resolution global ocean general circulation model (GCM) has been enhanced to about 22 km in the Southern Ocean. The ocean GCM is designed for long-term integrations suitable for investigations of the deep-ocean equilibrium response to changes in southern hemisphere high-latitude processes. The space and time scales of the high-resolution sea-ice component are commensurate with those of the resolution of satellite passive-microwave sea-ice data. This provides the opportunity for a rigorous evaluation of simulated sea-ice characteristics. It is found that the satellite-derived continuous high ice concentration of the interior winter ice pack can only be captured when vertical oceanic mixing is modified in a way that less local, intermittent convection occurs. Furthermore, the width and the variability of the coastal polynyas around the Antarctic continent and its ice shelves are best captured when some form of ice-shelf melting is accounted for. The width of the wintertime ice edge is reasonably reproduced, while its variability remains underestimated, closely following the coarse-grid pattern of the ocean model due to its high dependence on ocean temperature. Additional variability besides daily winds, e.g. in form of idealized tidal currents, improves the temporal and spatial ice-edge variability, while leads in the interior ice pack become more abundant, more in line with the fine-scale satellite-derived texture. The coast- or ice-shelf line is described on the fine grid based on satellite passive-microwave data. This method requires parts of a coarse coastal ocean grid cell to be covered by an inert layer of “fast ice” or “ice shelf”. Reasonable long-term global deep-ocean properties can only be achieved when these areas are not inert, i.e. are exposed to heat flux and ice growth, or when the vertical mixing parameterization allows for excessive open-ocean convection. The model area exposed to cold high-latitude atmospheric conditions thus being most decisive for a realistic representation of the long-term deep-ocean properties, suggests that high-latitude coastlines are definitely in need of being represented at high resolution, including ice sheets and their effects on the heat and freshwater flux for the ocean.     

Winter processes on northern salt marshes: Evaluating the impact of in-situ peat compaction due to ice loading, Wells, ME

New England salt marshes are dominated by the supratidal high marsh grass, Spartina patens. This grass forms a nearly planar surface, which makes it highly vulnerable to the predicted regime of accelerated sea-level rise (SLR). If the high marsh cannot keep pace with rising sea level it will be transformed to intertidal environments, leading to unusually rapid coastal evolution. Winter processes such as ice-loading of surface peat may degrade the marsh surface. Large volumes of snow and ice compress peat, resulting in shallow compaction and a net loss of elevation in some areas.On the Webhannet marsh in Maine, a simulated ice compaction experiment indicates that thick ice can compress marsh peat (46 cm simulated ‘ice’ produced 6.9 ± 0.3 mm of compaction; 24 cm ‘ice’ produced 3.0 ± 0.8 mm). Experimental data suggest that ice thicknesses greater than 10 cm depress the marsh surface by 2 mm for each cm of total ice thickness. However, surface elevations rebounded to near-control levels within 2 weeks of the removal of simulated ‘ice’ from the surface of the marsh. Normal winter ice accumulations on New England marshes, therefore, do not appear to be sufficient to permanently compact marsh surface peat and lead to loss in marsh surface elevation.     

RCP4.5情景下预测21世纪南海海平面变化

结合卫星高度计资料和SODA温盐数据,本文利用CCSM(Community Climate System Model version4)气候系统模式在代表性浓度路径RCP4.5情景下对全球海平面变化趋势的预测模拟结果作为强迫场,用POP模式模拟预测21世纪南海海平面长期趋势变化及空间分布。模拟结果显示,在RCP4.5情景下,南海海域在21世纪末10年平均海平面相对于20世纪末10年上升了15~39cm,明显上升海域位于中南半岛东部的南海中部、南部海域和吕宋海峡东西两侧海域,上升值最大可达39cm。如果加上格陵兰和南极等陆地冰川融化的影响,21世纪南海总海平面上升值将可能达到35~75cm。南海比容海平面明显上升区域位于吕宋岛东面的深水海域,广东沿岸流和吕宋冷涡之间海域,以及中南半岛东南部海域。总比容海平面的变化主要来自热比容,盐比容贡献比较小。南海南部和西部比容海平面上升速率较低,如加里曼丹岛西北侧、泰国湾和海南岛西侧有下降趋势。     

The regime shift of the 1920s and 1930s in the North Atlantic

During the 1920s and 1930s, there was a dramatic warming of the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Warmer-than-normal sea temperatures, reduced sea ice conditions and enhanced Atlantic inflow in northern regions continued through to the 1950s and 1960s, with the timing of the decline to colder temperatures varying with location. Ecosystem changes associated with the warm period included a general northward movement of fish. Boreal species of fish such as cod, haddock and herring expanded farther north while colder-water species such as capelin and polar cod retreated northward. The maximum recorded movement involved cod, which spread approximately 1200 km northward along West Greenland. Migration patterns of “warmer water” species also changed with earlier arrivals and later departures. New spawning sites were observed farther north for several species or stocks while for others the relative contribution from northern spawning sites increased. Some southern species of fish that were unknown in northern areas prior to the warming event became occasional, and in some cases, frequent visitors. Higher recruitment and growth led to increased biomass of important commercial species such as cod and herring in many regions of the northern North Atlantic. Benthos associated with Atlantic waters spread northward off Western Svalbard and eastward into the eastern Barents Sea. Based on increased phytoplankton and zooplankton production in several areas, it is argued that bottom-up processes were the primary cause of these changes. The warming in the 1920s and 1930s is considered to constitute the most significant regime shift experienced in the North Atlantic in the 20th century.     

Mercury levels in the dissolved and particulate fractions of the Tyrrhenian sea

Determination of the actual mercury concentration in Mediterranean basin seawater was achieved by means of an instrument based on fluorescence spectrometry developed for this purpose, during a field study aboard the oceanographic ship “L.F. Marsili”, between August 1980 and May 1982.Dissolved ·total’ and ·reactive’ mercury and mercury associated with particulate matter were determined on surface and subsurface waters in the Tyrrhenian Sea from La Spezia to Sicily.Concentrations in the range 1.4–19.7 ng l⁻¹ for ·total dissolved mercury’, 0.5–5.9 ng l⁻¹ for ·reactive dissolved mercury’ and 0.3–8.0 ng l⁻¹ for mercury associated with the particulate matter, were measured on surface and subsurface waters in the Tyrrhenian Sea from La Spezia to Sicily.Even if the mean value of the total mercury concentration (dissolved + particulate) was found to be about twice as high as those observed for the oceans, the difference does not seem to be as high as predicted by the model proposed by Buffoni and co-workers to explain the large difference of mercury levels between tunas caught, respectively, in the Mediterranean and in the Oceans.     

Sea-level applications and management

The development of the International Geological Correlation Programme's Project 61 and other international sea-level studies have led to a wealth of new publications since 1975. Part of this growth stems from a widening in understanding of the real problems that would result from a continued rise in global sea-level, whilst part comes from the subject's present popularity in the earth sciences. The potential for the application of sea-level data is wide. The publications in 1977 of VAIL, MITCHUM, TODD, WIDMEIR, THOMPSON, SANGREE, BUBB and HATLEHID's approach to ‘seismic stratigraphy’ stimulated an expansion in commercial and geological applications of sea-level data. Further, the value of shoreline data in testing models of earth crustal behaviour and mantle rheology is well established. In biogeography, data may be used to test the feasibility of land bridge development and the consequential movements of plants and animals. In the coastal zone, the probable continuing and even accelerating rise of sea-level, resulting from man-induced changes of the environment, has thrown a scare into all those concerned with shoreline management. Ingeneous solutions have been developed to cope with the sea-level problem, ranging from physical barrages to proposals for large-scale water mass transfers. But how technically able, or more importantly, prepared, is mankind to manage a long-term progressively rising sea-level? The aims of Project 61 were found to be unattainable, will the results of Project 200 be of greater practical relevance?     

南极威德尔海春季海冰物理结构对叶绿素上限含量的影响

2006年冬末春初,在德国POLARSTERN科学考察船执行南极威德尔海西北海域考察期间,调查了考察区海冰物理和海洋生物。本文观测了航线上钻取的27支海冰冰芯的组构和71个冰晶体薄片;分析得到393组冰温数据;348组盐度、密度数据和311组叶绿素a和脱镁叶绿素含量数据;通过302组冰内相同深度孔隙率和叶绿素a含量数据分析,发现海冰物理参数影响冰内叶绿素a含量的新证据;利用收集的雪、冰厚度数据以及环境容量制约生态平衡的规律,建立了雪、冰厚度对冰底叶绿素繁荣的影响以及;确立了南极粒状冰和柱状冰内叶绿素a上限含量同卤水体积的关系。从而表达了冰晶体对卤水排泄的效应和冰物理性质对南极春季冰底和冰-水界面叶绿素a增长的贡献。此外,还得出海冰物理性质影响冰藻,并且是南极冰区水体浮游植物繁荣的关键控制因素。     

Strange bedfellows—a deep-water hermatypic coral reef superimposed on a drowned barrier island; southern Pulley Ridge,SW Florida platform margin

The southeastern component of a subtle ridge feature extending over 200 km along the western ramped margin of the south Florida platform, known as Pulley Ridge, is composed largely of a non-reefal, coastal marine deposit. Modern biostromal reef growth caps southern Pulley Ridge (SPR), making it the deepest hermatypic reef known in American waters. Subsurface ridge strata are layered, lithified, and display a barrier island geomorphology. The deep-water reef community is dominated by platy scleractinian corals, leafy green algae, and coralline algae. Up to 60% live coral cover is observed in 60–75 m of water, although only 1–2% of surface light is available to the reef community. Vertical reef accumulation is thin and did not accompany initial ridge submergence during the most recent sea-level rise. The delayed onset of reef growth likely resulted from several factors influencing Gulf waters during early stages of the last deglaciation (∼14 kyr B.P.) including; cold, low-salinity waters derived from discrete meltwater pulses, high-frequency sea-level fluctuations, and the absence of modern oceanic circulation patterns. Currently, reef growth is supported by the Loop Current, the prevailing western boundary current that impinges upon the southwest Florida platform, providing warm, clear, low-nutrient waters to SPR. The rare discovery of a preserved non-reefal lowstand shoreline capped by rich hermatypic deep-reef growth on a tectonically stable continental shelf is significant for both accurate identification of late Quaternary sea-level position and in better constraining controls on the depth limits of hermatypic reefs and their capacity for adaptation to extremely low light levels.     

Global and continental-scale glaciations on the Precambrian earth

Earth’s climate during the Proterozoic Eon was marked by major glacial events with evidence for large continental ice sheets on many cratons, and with sedimentological data indicating that glaciers had extended to sea-level. This paper emphasizes the sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic responses to glaciations and evaluates the major driving forces of glaciations during the Precambrian. First- and second-order sequences are recognized related to continental-scale fragmentation and formation of marine rift basins wherein sedimentary rocks indicate glacial influences and pronounced tectonic-climatic linkages. Coarse syn-rift deposits are typically characterized by mass flow diamictites and conglomerates. It is important to undertake sedimentological facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis of these syn-rift and capping passive margin sequences, as well as of slope turbidite deposits which formed if enhanced subsidence of the basins was occurring. More generally, latitude and syn-rift tectonic uplift can cause formation of glacial ice and enhance distinctive glacial influences on extensional basin sedimentation, thus supporting a causal relationship between thermal subsidence and the formation of glacier ice on inland areas. During the Precambrian, however, it is suggested that long-lived marine-terminated glaciers also situated at low paleolatitudes, were related to an extensional tectonic setting. In such settings, glacial deposits associated with sedimentary sequences of distinctively different origin, e.g. carbonate and chemically mature siliciclastic sequences, can well be used to detect the prominent sequence boundaries to verify depositional systems tracts. Internal sediment stacking patterns in sequences are indicative of dynamic processes along glaciated continental margins and without always having the need for global synchroneity. In glacially influenced rift basins and continental margins it is important to recognize the sequence boundaries of significant subaerial unconformities and their correlative conformities. A sequence boundary is a chronostratigraphically significant surface always produced as a consequence of a change in relative sea-level. These can then be well related to initiation and decay of glaciations, however on-land glacial deposits in a very few cases are prevented from later erosion. Attenuation of continental crust during rifting and breakup of the continent raises relative sea-level and also many of the shallow intra-cratonic basins subsided below sea-level, in favourable conditions being affected by major continental glaciations.Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic glacial deposits are known in North and South America, South Africa, India, Western Australia and Fennoscandia. Against this background, continental-scale to global glaciations in the Precambrian appear to be possible, however views on the causes and timing of these glaciations, as well as on planetary extent of ice cover are still contradictory. There is a need to continue detailed sedimentological studies of pre-glacial and post-glacial deposits as well as to interpret syn-glacial lithofacies for their inferred transportation and depositional processes. Pre-glacial deposits, especially, should provide a new target to help us understand the processes that initiated these Precambrian glaciations. The sequence stratigraphic approach with understanding of the stacking pattern of depositional systems could prevent oversimplification and use of just single events to explain the complexity of evolution of glacially influenced Precambrian continental margin sediments.     

Human impacts overwhelm the effects of sea-level rise on Basque coastal habitats (N Spain) between 1954 and 2004

According to coastal measurements, global mean sea-level has risen at a rate of 1.8 mm yr⁻¹ between 1950 and 2000, with large spatial variability at regional scales. Within the Bay of Biscay, trends computed from coastal tide gauges records have revealed that sea-level rise is accelerating over this period of time; this is in agreement with rates obtained from satellite imagery in the open ocean since 1993. The objectives of the present study are: (1) to assess the evidence of the relative sea-level rise on coastal morphology and habitats in the Gipuzkoan littoral zone (Basque coast, northern Spain) for the period 1954–2004, and (2) to evaluate the relative contribution of local anthropogenic versus sea-level rise impacts for explaining inter-supratidal habitat changes. A high-resolution airborne laser altimetry data (LIDAR) has been used to derive a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of 15-cm vertical resolution. Coastal habitats were mapped for two periods, using historic airborne photography (1954) and high-resolution imagery (2004). Analysis of tide gauge records from Santander (northern Spain) has revealed that relative mean sea-level has been rising at a rate of 2.08 ± 0.33 mm yr⁻¹ from 1943 to 2004; this is consistent with sea-level trends from other measurements within the area (St. Jean de Luz and Bilbao), obtained over shorter periods of time, and with previous results obtained in the Bay of Biscay. Based upon this sea-level trend and by means of a LIDAR-based DTM, the results have indicated that the predicted change along the Gipuzkoan coast due to sea-level rise was of 11.1 ha within the 50-yr period. In contrast, comparison of historical and recent orthophotography has detected only 2.95 ha of change, originated possibly from sea-level rise, and 98 ha transformed by anthropogenic impacts. Hence, coastal changes due to sea-level rise might be overwhelmed by excessive human impacts, at the spatial and temporal scales of the analysis. This work highlights that local anthropogenic impact is the major threat to Basque coastal and estuarine habitats, compared with natural erosive processes and global climate change driving forces over recent times.     

Strengths and weaknesses of the global ocean conveyor: Inter-basin freshwater disparities as the major control

According to the current paradigm of modern climatology and oceanography, the global ocean thermohaline circulation works as the so-called “global ocean salinity conveyor belt” – a system of currents connecting different ocean basins and most notably – the northern North Atlantic and northern North Pacific Oceans – the most distant regions of the world ocean. It is shown here that a slight disparity in freshwater redistribution between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans can be sufficient for building up and maintaining a global conveyor-type ocean thermohaline circulation. On the other hand, relatively small changes in this disparity leading to change in sea surface salinity contrasts between and in the north-south within the northern parts of these two oceans can easily change the conveyor.     

Chromium(VI) distributions in the Arctic and the Atlantic Oceans and a reassessment of the oceanic Cr cycle

Chromium(VI) concentrations ranging between 3.0 and 6.1 nmol l⁻¹ and 3.1 and 7.3 nmol l⁻¹ were found in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, respectively. The vertical profiles show modest depletion of chromium(VI) in surface waters, but poor overall correlations between Cr(VI) and nutrient profiles. Given that Cr(VI) is the dominant oxidation state of chromium in open-ocean waters, these data are combined with literature data to reassess the distribution of Cr in oceanic waters. It is concluded that while Cr shows some characteristics of both “recycled” and “accumulated” vertical profiles, it does not fall clearly within either group.