Vitamin B12 transudation from marine bottom muds

Transudation of vitamin B₁₂ from the surface layer of bottom muds in Maizuru Bay and in the Sea of Hiuchi was investigated in this report. The total counts of heterotrophs and bacteria producing vitamin B₁₂ in the bottom muds in these coastal regions were also examined. Results obtained were as follows:

1. In the marine bottom in these coastal regions, vitamin B₁₂ is continuously transuded from the surface layer of bottom muds to sea water. Accordingly, it is reasonably supposed that the surface layer of bottom muds, in which vitamin B₁₂ is produced and accumulated, is a source of provision of the vitamin in the coastal regions.
2. On an average, the quantity of transudation of vitamin B₁₂ from the surface layer of bottom muds to sea water is 2.6 μμg/cm²/hr and 5.2μμg/cm²/hr in Maizuru Bay and in the Sea of Hiuchi respectively.
3. In the surface layer of bottom muds in these coastal regions, the quantity of transudation of vitamin B₁₂ is correlated with the content of the vitamin and the counts of bacteria producing the vitamin.

     

渤海东部晚第四纪环境演变及潮流沙席沉积

通过对渤海东部CD5孔岩性、生物以及年代学的地层分析,晚第四纪以来划分出2个陆相和2个海相层,两次海侵的时间段分别为39～22和9kaBP至今。CD5钻孔附近渤海潮流三角洲大约在3600～2400aBP以来开始快速沉积,形成了4·8m厚的潮流沙席,结合渤海中东部10多个钻孔资料,总结了潮流沙席的环境演变过程,自全新世海侵以来可以大致分为9～8、8～3·6～2·4、3·6～2·4kaBP以来3个阶段,而目前正处于相对稳定状态。     

Mixed-function oxygenases as biological monitors around petroleum hydrocarbon development sites: Potential for induction by diesel and other drilling mud base oils containing reduced levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The use of oil-based drilling muds has been discouraged in hydrocarbon exploration and production in the marine environment but these muds are presently being used to a considerable degree in the United Kingdom and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. Field studies in the North Sea have demonstrated only localized impacts around individual drilling sites,^1,2 even including those sites where ‘toxic’ diesel oils were employed as base fluids in drilling muds. Yet the question of disposal of cuttings contaminated with oil from drilling muds remains somewhat controversial. The induction of mixed-function oxygenases (MFO) has been validated on a number of occasions in the field as a sensitive index of low level hydrocarbon exposure (reviewed by Payne),³ including sites in the North Sea where diesel-based muds were used.⁴ The present study demonstrates that any potential for induction by hydrocarbon contaminated cuttings will probably be reduced by substitution of low-aromatic base oils for diesel in drilling mud formulations.     

The Pechora Sea: Past,recent, and future

The main stages in the development of the Pechora Sea are discussed. It is established that, during the high sea level stand corresponding to the warmest epoch of the Mikulino Interglacial, the Pechora Sea represented a more spacious, as compared with its present-day size, basin owing to the flooded valleys of river lower reaches. No sea in its present-day configuration existed during the last (Valdai) glaciation. At that time, the sea could have occupied only a narrow area along the southern coast of Novaya Zemlya, where marine sedimentation was in progress during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. During the glaciation and postglacial time, the dried bottom of the former Pechora Sea accumulated large volumes of sand that are now concentrated largely in the accretion structures along its southern coast. In the current century, changes will occur mainly in the coastal zone of the Russkii Zavorot Peninsula, Pesyakov Island, the Varandei Settlement area, and the Medynskii Zavorot Peninsula, where a shoreline retreat for a distance of 0.5 km is expected.     

珠江口盆地第三纪古地理及沉积演化

珠江口盆地第三纪以来经历了断陷、拗陷两个构造演化阶段,具有“南北分带”、“东西分块”的构造格局和先陆后海的沉积特征。本文根据前人资料进行综合整理,编制了珠江口盆地古近纪神狐组、文昌组、恩平组、珠海组地层和新近纪珠江组地层的岩相古地理图。神狐组发育有冲积扇和河湖相,主要分布在珠三坳陷南断裂的狭长地带。文昌组沉积半深湖—深湖相,恩平组水深变浅,河沼相广泛分布。珠海组岩相古地理发生了较大的变化,为海陆过渡相沉积。随后海平面振荡上升,珠江口盆地处于陆架—陆坡环境,发育浅海—半深海沉积。对整个珠江口盆地岩相古地理图的编制为详细研究盆地内各区块的岩相古地理演变提供了区域背景,也为区域构造演化和油气地质条件的研究提供了基础依据。     

The influence of particle size of the dispersed mineral fraction on the settlement of marine and estuarine muds

Considering the sedimentation behaviour of suspensions, four states of different sediment-water mixtures are usually distinguished, these being (in increasing concentration) dilute suspensions, concentrated suspensions, fluid muds and mud deposits. As the concentration values delimiting these states vary considerably from one cohesive sediment to another, a procedure for their quantitative determination is proposed here. This paper deals mainly with the effects of hindered settling in interacting concentrated suspensions and of sedimentation in fluid muds. In contrast to the settling velocity of individual particles in a dilute suspension, which must be studied statistically as a stochastic variable denoted W, hindered settling and sedimentation velocities can be described by a scalar denoted V, as solids at any particular level of concentrated suspensions and fluid muds settle at the same velocity. On the basis of settlement tests carried out in this study and published data on organic-rich cohesive sediments, a concentration-dependent empirical law for a permeability coefficient (k) has been generated for cohesive sediments, using data from ten estuarine and nine marine environments, based on the one-dimensional Kynch theory of sedimentation. Based on the median diameters of the dispersed mineral fraction, the main provenances of the sediments are: fine to very fine clay from tropical marine/estuarine environments, medium clay to very fine silt from estuaries in western France, and fine to coarse silt from marine (harbour) environments in the Normandy region of France. A general trend for the influence of the grain size of the mineral fraction on the permeability coefficient has been established. It is demonstrated that the concentrations delimiting the different states of sediment-water mixtures can also be related to the grain size of the mineral fraction. Thus, hindered settling and sedimentation processes of muds, similar to the marine and estuarine cohesive sediments considered in this paper, can be studied as generic problems parameterized through a defined median diameter of the dispersed mineral fraction. Results for Loire estuary sediments are presented separately, based on specific tests to analyse the influence of experimental conditions on settlement. Moreover, the concentration values delimiting the different sediment-water mixture states have been largely established for this estuary.     

Further evidence of abrupt Holocene drowning of the Black Sea shelf

A 1999 survey of the Black Sea continental shelf off the north central Turkish seaport of Sinop using a side-scan sonar, small remotely operated vehicles, and a series of dredge lowerings located, inspected and sampled an exposed high-energy paleoshoreline at a depth of 155 m. Radiocarbon dating of mollusk shells collected from this ancient beach revealed that the marine flooding of the Black Sea took place between 7460 and 6820 yr B.P. (all ages are reported in radiocarbon years, not calendar years, without correction for reservoir age or dendro-calibration) changing it from a lacustrine to marine environment. This relic surface remained in contact with the bottom waters of the Black Sea for a long period of time before being draped by a thin layer of sapropel mud. Wood samples recovered from this same location were very well preserved and yielded dates as old as 3580 yr B.P.     

Facies system of the Eastern Barents Sea since the last glaciation to present

Twenty-two sediment cores raised from the central and eastern parts of the Barents Sea have been studied to reconstruct the evolution of the facies system since the Late Weichselian glaciation. Multiproxy records reveal four lithostratigraphic units, which reflect major development stages of paleoenvironments. Age control is provided by 23 AMS ¹⁴C dates for Holocene sections of four cores. Continental moraine deposits of the last glaciation are overlain by proximal glaciomarine facies of the initial deglaciation phase. During this phase, the Barents Sea ice sheet detached from the ground resulting in seawater penetration into troughs, iceberg calving, deposition of IRD and fine-grained glacier meltwater load in newly formed marine basins. The main deglaciation phase is characterized by pulsed sedimentation from various gravity flows resulting in accumulation of distal glaciomarine facies comprising laminated clay and sand sequences with minor IRD. Redistribution of fine-grained suspended matter by bottom currents and brine-induced nepheloid flows combined with biogenic processes and minor ice rafting caused facies diversity of the Holocene marine sediments. The Holocene facies of shelf depressions reflect rather high, but variable productivity responding to climate changes and variations of Atlantic water inflow into the Barents Sea.     

Reference sediment core and paleogeography of the underwater Slupsk river foredelta in the Baltic Sea

Core Psd-590 (length 947 cm, water depth 124 m) penetrated the entire sequence of marine (Littorina) mud (730 cm) and stopped in gray lacustrine (Ancylus) clays with hydrotroilitic films. The Littorina mud is gray-colored, microlaminated in the interval of 730 to 700 cm, and dark gray with hydrotoilitic films and obscure microlamination higher in the section. According to the diatom data, typical marine sediments begin at the level of 620 cm, while the lithological-geochemical data indicate this change at the level of 730 cm. This level is marked by a considerable increase in the concentrations of SiO_2amorph, CO₂, C_org, and Mn in the sediments. In the interval of 730 to 620 cm, diatoms are represented by both freshwater and brackish-water species. The Littorina transgression began in the form of individual flows of saline North Sea waters into the Baltic Sea, which is evident from the microlamination and sharp peaks in the concentrations of the chemical elements. The transgression exhibits two weakening and one strengthening (core interval of 380 to 220 cm) stages; the latter was marked by the maximal water salinity. The post-Littorina mud contains molluscan shells and fish bones and is enriched in the fraction of 0.05–0.01 mm. The microlaminated Littorina mud was deposited during periods with stagnant conditions in the bottom water layer, while the homogenous sediments accumulated during periods of its aeration.     

The key features of the bottom sediment composition in the anoxic Lake Mogil’noe

In the summer 2006, integrated geological, geochemical, hydrological, and hydrochemical studies were performed on the relict anoxic Lake Mogil’noe (down to 16 m depths) located on Kil’din Island in the Barents Sea. The chemical and grain-size composition of the bottom sediments were compared for the lake (a permanently anoxic basin) and the Baltic Sea Deeps (periodically anoxic basins). The vertical location of the hydrogen sulfide layer boundary in the lake (9–11 m depths) was practically the same from 1974 up to now. The concentrations of suspended particulate matter in the lake in June and July 2006 appeared to be close to its summer concentrations in the seawaters of the open part of the Baltic Sea. The mud from Lake Mogil’noe compared to those of the Baltic Sea Deeps are characterized by fluid and flake consistency and by pronounced admixtures of sandy and silty fractions probably of eolic origin. The lacustrine mud contain much plant remains; iron sulfides and vivanite were also found in ooze. The concentrations of 22 elements determined in the lacustrine bottom sediments were of the same levels as those found here 33 years ago. The concentrations also appeared to be close to those in the corresponding grain-size types of the bottom sediments in the Baltic Sea. The low C_org/N value (5% on average) in the mud of Mogil’noe Lake compared to the values for the mud of the Baltic Sea Deeps (10% on average) points to the considerable planktogenic component in the organic matter composition of the lacustrine mud. No indications were reveled for anthropogenic contaminations of the lacustrine bottom sediments with toxic metals.     

Geotechnical characterization of slump scars,eroded slopes,and correlated deposits on continental margins: Gulf of Lions,Western Mediterranean sea

Abstract

Vertical variations of geotechnical properties in the uppermost sediment layers characterize the main sedimentary processes acting on the construction and destruction of progressive‐type continental slopes. In the Gulf of Lions, the original thicknesses and distribution of the uppermost sedimentary layers of the continental slope and rise, which consist of Holocene muds overlying Pleistocene muds, have been greatly modified by erosion and several kinds of slope failure processes. Each process is typified through sets of geotechnical properties measured in the eroded or slumped sections and in the associated sediment accumulations.

In slump scars, the water‐rich Holocene muds lie on fine, overconsolidated, Pleistocene muds with high plasticity and low shear strength. In bottom current‐eroded slopes, where modern sedimentation is extremely reduced, the Pleistocene muds frequently outcrop and may sometimes be overlain by a very thin layer of Holocene muds. The Pleistocene muds of eroded slopes are overconsolidated and more silty and less plastic than the Pleistocene muds from slopes affected by slope failure, their shear strength being 10 times greater.

Deposits at the toe of slumps are very often formed by several superposed three‐layer units (triplets of interstratified Holocene, transitional, and Pleistocene layers) issued from retrogressive slumping occurring in the slump scars above their head area. The main body of each layer is then relatively undisturbed, showing the usual burial geotechnical gradients due to overburden pressure (i.e., decrease of water content and increase of unit weight and shear strength). At the toe of bottom current‐eroded slopes, a thick and homogeneous layer of Holocene muds overlies the Pleistocene muds; this Holocene layer has unappreciable burial depth gradient of its geotechnical parameters because of a high rate of modem and continuous deposition.     

Composition of the organic matter of the water,suspended matter,and bottom sediments in Nha Trang Bay in Vietnam in the South China Sea

Research has been conducted in Nha Trang Bay (Southern Vietnam, the South China Sea) at the section from the estuary of the Cai River to the marine part of the bay, as well as in the area of coral reefs. The objects of the studies are the river and sea waters, the suspended matter, and the bottom sediments. Data on the dissolved organic carbon and the total nitrogen in the water are obtained. The organic carbon content is estimated in the suspended matter; the organic carbon and the molecular and group composition of the n-alkanes are determined in the bottom sediments. The molecular and group composition of the n-alkanes in the bottom sediments of the landfill have made it possible to identify three types of organic matter (OM): marine, mixed, and of mainly terrigenous origin. All the types of OM are closely related to the specificity of the sedimentation and the hydrodynamics of the waters in this water area.     

Glaciomarine sedimentation and bottom current activity on the north-western and northern continental margins of Svalbard during the late Quaternary

Palaeo-bottom current strength of the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) and the influence of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet (SBIS) on the depositional environment along the northern Svalbard margins are poorly known. Two gravity cores from the southern Yermak Plateau and the upper slope north of Nordaustlandet, covering marine isotope stage (MIS) 1 to MIS 5, are investigated. Five lithofacies, based on grain size distribution, silt/clay ratio, content and mean of sortable silt (SS), are distinguished to characterise the contourite-dominated sedimentary environments. In addition, depositional environments are described using total organic carbon (TOC), total sulphur (TS) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) contents of sediments. Facies A, containing coarse SS, suggests strong bottom current activity and good bottom water ventilation conditions as inferred from low TOC content. This facies was deposited during the glacial periods MIS 4, MIS 2 and during the late Holocene. Facies B is dominated by fine SS indicating weak bottom current and poor ventilation (cf. high TOC content of 1.2–1.6%), and correlates with the MIS 4/3 and MIS 2/1 transition periods. With an equal amount of clay and sand, fine SS and high content of TOC, facies C indicates reduced bottom current strength for intervals with sediment supply from proximal sources such as icebergs, sea ice or meltwater discharge. This facies was deposited during the last glacial maximum. Facies D represents mass-flow deposits on the northern Svalbard margin attributed to the SBIS advance at or near the shelf edge. Facies E sediments indicating moderate bottom current strength were deposited during MIS 5 and MIS 3, and during parts of MIS 2. This first late Quaternary proxy record of the WSC flow and sedimentation history from the northern Svalbard margin suggests that the oceanographic conditions and ice sheet processes have exerted first-order control on sediment properties.     

Different parameterizations of marine snow in a 1D-model and their influence on representation of marine snow, nitrogen budget and sedimentation

A model is presented that simulates the formation of marine aggregates from particles of different origin inside a model of pelagic biological processes. Experiments are carried out with parameterizations appropriate for different types of aggregates, using different kinds of physical forcing, and compared to observations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), particulate organic nitrogen (PON), marine snow concentration, and sedimentation.The occurrence of large, macroscopically visible aggregates (marine snow) can best be simulated with parameterizations that have been derived from in situ observations of marine snow, but not with a parameterization sufficient for dense particles. The parameterization strongly determines the amount and timing of deep export, as well as the post-bloom development of the food web in the upper layers.Detritus in aggregates plays a role mainly during times when zooplankton are abundant, as e.g. in the western Arabian Sea during Southwest Monsoon. Then the large aggregates as fast sinking vehicles may remove detritus quickly from shallow and mid-water depth, preventing the accumulation of nutrients that are produced via detritus decomposition. In this region, detritus contributes strongly to deep sedimentation. The nitrogen budget at this location with regard to the observations cannot be closed: depending on model type, either the model simulates too high sedimentation, or too high DIN. Possible causes for this mismatch include undercollection by sediment traps, inaccurate representation of physical processes in the model and the neglect of biological processes, such as production of dissolved organic matter or denitrification.     

Analysis of Interannual Variations of Inorganic Nitrogen in the Bohai Sea

According to the Bohai Sea cross-section data during 1985～1998, the high concentration inorganic nitrogen in the Bohai Sea section bottom layer water nearshore diffused and transferred to the middle of the Bohai Sea year after year. The interannual variations of the concentration of inorganic nitrogen in the Bohai Sea section bottom layer water may reflect the degree of eutrophication more steadily. The nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen are used to show quasi-equilibrium state interannual variations, but with the aggravation of seawater pollution, the quasi-equilibrium state of interannual variations has been broken and the marine biological-chemical processes can only maintain the secondary part of the interannual variations in a quasi-equilibrium state, but are not sufficient to prevent the main pan of interannual variations from deviating from the quasi-equilibrium state. The spatial distributions of inorganic nitrogen would be affected by the reproduction and swarming of marine life.     

近百年来渤、黄、东海陆架冲淤作用强度数值研究

数值模拟了渤，黄，东海陆架区潮流动力场作用下9种无黏性单粒径泥沙的冲淤作用强度，计算所得渤，黄，东海陆架近百年来的冲淤分布与实测底质类型的分布多数海区相一致，这表明渤，黄，东海陆架的潮流动力场在该区泥沙输运与淤积中起着主导作用，是该区近百年来冲淤作用强度分布格局的主要控制因素。     

Multidisciplinary studies in Onega Bay of the White Sea and the estuary of the Onega River during the summer period

The distribution of the temperature and salinity, current velocities, suspended particulate matter, bottom sediments, bottom morphology, and planktonic and benthic organisms during the summer period are studied in the estuary of the large Onega River and the coastal areas of Onega Bay (White Sea) influenced by interacting marine and riverine factors.     

15 ka以来罗斯海陆架岩心沉积学记录及古海洋学意义

本文对取自罗斯海陆架的JB04岩心沉积物进行AMS14C测年、粒度、有机碳等测试,结合沉积物粒度组分因子分析,研究该岩心的沉积学记录,探讨其古海洋学意义。结果显示:JB04岩心沉积物的底部年龄为15 ka;沉积物粒度组分因子分析提取出3个环境敏感粒级,分别代表正常冰海沉积、低能海洋沉积和高能海洋沉积;综合沉积物岩相及沉积物组成特征,可以将岩心分为4段,从底部到顶部依次为主要受冰盖刮蚀影响的冰盖下沉积、属低能海洋环境的冰架下沉积、属高能海洋环境的冰架前缘沉积和主要受冰山影响的季节性海冰区沉积。该岩心的沉积地质记录及其古海洋学研究对全面认识罗斯海的海洋环境演变具有重要的意义。     

Postglacial paleoceanographic environments in the Barents and Baltic seas

This paper presents reconstructions of ice sheet boundaries, lacustrine and marine paleobasins, as well as the connections of the Barents and Baltic seas with the North Atlantic from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene. The reconstructions are based on original and published data obtained from the northern and western parts of the Barents Sea and Baltic depressions with account for the available regional schematic maps of deglaciation. The early deglaciation of the Scandinavian–Barents ice sheet culminated with the Bølling-Allerød interstadial (14.5–12.9 cal ka BP), which was characterized by a more vigorous Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and a corresponding increase in surface Atlantic water inflow into the Barents Sea through deep troughs. The Baltic Ice Lake (BIL) remained a dammed-up isolated basin during deglaciation from 16.0 to 11.7 cal ka BP. In the Younger Dryas (YD), the lake drained into the North Sea and was replaced by a brackish Yoldia Sea (YS) at the beginning of the Holocene (Preboreal, 11.7–10.7 cal ka BP), due to a limited connection between two basins through the Närke Strait. In the Barents Sea, the next increase in the Atlantic water influx into the deep basins corresponded to terminal YD and Preboreal events with a culmination in the Early Holocene. The Yoldia Sea became a lake again during the next stage, the Ancylus (~10.7–8.8 cal ka BP). Atlantic water inflow both into the Barents and Baltic seas varied during the Holocene, with a maximum contribution in the Early Holocene, when the Littorina Sea (LS, 8–4 cal ka BP) connection with the North Sea via the Danish Straits was formed to replace the Ancylus Lake. The recent, post-Littorina stage (PS, the last 4 cal ka) of the Baltic Sea evolution began in the Late Holocene.     

东海西部沿岸海域冬季的逆温跃层现象及其与环流的关系

本文引用《渤海、黄海、东海海洋图集──水文》分册（１９９２）中有关逆温跃层分布变化的图幅以及温盐历史资料,指出东海西部沿岸（２２～３２°Ｎ）冬季出现逆温跃层的区域北起长江口,南到南澳岛以南几乎相联成片的现象,论述了这一分布与中国东南近海冬季潜伏于深底层的暖流水的区域相吻合,从而从水文结构上证实了冬季在深底层粤东沿岸的南海暖流北上通过台湾海峡西部与闽浙沿岸的台湾暖流相接这一环流特征。