全新世和末次间冰期北大西洋底栖有孔虫氧同位素对比的探索研究

北大西洋（特别是亚极地海区）是对全球气候变化响应最敏感的区域之一,也是全球气候变化研究关注的焦点之一。地质记录和模拟研究指出末次间冰期（MIS 5e）全球地表平均温度比全新世（Holocene）高约1℃,因而可以作为未来全球变暖趋势的历史对照,但目前北大西洋水体温盐变化在这两个时期的对比研究仍然较少。底栖有孔虫氧同位素作为古气候研究常用的指标,与冰量、温度和洋流变化紧密相关。本文统计并对比了北大西洋47个深海沉积物钻孔MIS 5e和全新世的底栖有孔虫氧同位素数据,发现研究区不同深度、不同纬度的数据在这两个间冰期具有系统的差异。MIS 5e氧同位素平均值和极低值比全新世系统性偏轻0.08 ‰,反映了陆地冰量变化对整个区域的影响,且深水温度整体可能比全新世偏高。氧同位素时空分布表明北大西洋中层水（1~2 km）全新世和MIS 5e的有孔虫氧同位素差值（> 0.2 ‰）比深水（> 2 km）更显著,可能记录更大的温度变化幅度,而1.5 km之上MIS 5e氧同位素值变重（平均重约0.36 ‰）则主要响应了大洋环流的变化。此外,高纬地区（45°N以北）深水底栖有孔虫氧同位素值在MIS 5e系统性偏轻约0.12 ‰,比中低纬（0°~45°N）深水变化更显著,可能反映高纬深水变暖程度更高,与海表温度重建和模拟结果相吻合。因此,联合多钻孔的底栖有孔虫氧同位素是分辨区域古海洋变化的有效手段,在未来气候变暖中北大西洋高纬和中层海域的变化是气候模式需要重点关注的区域之一。

     

Iceland and the North Atlantic: A review

Iceland is a special volcanic island in an anomalous ocean basin. A review of the unusual features shows that among others topography and gravity are broadly positive, spreading has been and still is complex, seismicity is slightly diffuse and the chemistry of the basalts is different from that at normal ridges. In summary we observe a tendency of lithospheric dispersal and spreading in the North Atlantic and its surroundings. These observations together with what is known about Icelandic crust, heat flow, tectonic history, etc., point to a hot mantle upwelling beneath Iceland. The shape of the upwelling currents is not known. Although at present much speculation is possible, the authors prefers to think of a broad rising region uplifting the lithospheric plates such that they tend to slide away from Iceland more forcefully than is the case from normal spreading ridges.     

Development peculiarities of the magmatism synchronous to the formation of the North Atlantic passive margins

Magmatism synchronous to the formation of passive margins of the North Atlantic is discussed. The main features and causes of the geochemical enrichment of the primary magmas at the margins have been established. This paper is based on the published data on the Norwegian-Greenland tectonotype of volcanic margins and the West Iberia-Newfoundland tectonotype of nonvolcanic margins. In the first tectonotype the hot rifting and active magmatism gave rise to the formation of a thick crust at the margin and the adjacent oceanic zone. The second tectonotype is characterized by cold amagmatic rifting and slow initial spreading, which led to the widespread occurrence of ancient continental complexes and serpentinized mantle rocks at the margin, as well as the thin and disturbed oceanic crust nearby. In order to characterize the magmatism and initial oceanic opening, the geological and geochemical data pertaining to the reference sections chosen for each margin were compared in detail. In particular, the geochemical and isotopic data on the flood basalts and suites of parallel dikes related to the pre- and synbreakup magmatic phases were involved for the Norwegian-Greenland region. The predominance of tholeiites enriched in lithophile elements and radiogenic isotopes, as well as a significant contribution of continental material to them, are typical of the volcanic margins. No less than two enriched magma sources for the lower part of the volcanic complex are suggested, whereas a depleted or slightly enriched source is established for the upper part. A more enriched source as compared with the volcanic margins of the Norwegian-Greenland region is suggested for the low-volume magmatic manifestations at the nonvolcanic Iberian margin. The tectonic settings of margins development and their relationships with the effect of deep plumes and the propagation of the extension zone toward the cold Atlantic lithosphere are discussed.     

中纬度造山带地区的长期化学风化——中亚和北美的对比研究

长期化学风化速率（LCWR）和化学风化剥蚀率（CDF）是表征区域化学风化程度和揭示地貌和气候系统演变的重要依据。全球尺度上,中纬度地区的长期化学风化研究远比低纬地区争议更多,原因之一是其风化机制在理论认识上仍存在不确定性,特别是造山带地区的长期化学风化与物理侵蚀、构造、气候之间的关系等。本文利用地球化学质量平衡方法,针对北半球中纬度典型造山带（中亚黑河流域和北美内华达山脉）开展了相关数据和资料的系统整理与再分析,估算了黑河流域的LCWR值和物理侵蚀速率（E）值并与内华达山脉进行了对比研究。分析结果表明,黑河流域、内华达山脉的LCWR分别为17. 4~895 t/km2/a、1~173 t/km2/a,CDF分别为0. 17~0. 81、0. 02~0. 61,LCWR与E均显著正相关,与海拔高度、年均温度、年均降水量等仅局部相关。研究区的长期化学风化主要表现为“供应受限型”风化,但黑河流域局部地区已处于“供应受限”与“动力学受限”过渡的风化阶段。结合回归分析结果和已有成果的综合分析,中纬度造山带地区的长期化学风化速率受到地质、气候等因素的协同影响,但主控因素为地质因素,而化学风化剥蚀率则主要受控于其他因素。     

Early Cretaceous »events« in the evolution of the eastern and western North Atlantic continental margins

At many North Atlantic continental margins, the early Neocomian is characterized by a major stratigraphic turning point from Late Jurassic-Berriasian carbonate bank/pelagic carbonate deposition to Valanginian-Barremian hemipelagic sedimentation with thick Wealden-type deltaic to deep-sea fan sequences. The stratigraphy and structure of the very old, starved passive margin of the Mazagan Plateau and adjacent steep escarpment off Morocco was studied during the French-German CYAMAZ deep diving campaign. The drowning of the Late Jurassic-early Berriasian carbonate platform was strongly influenced by a global late Berriasian sea level fall which was followed by a rapid late Valanginian sea level rise and/or by a major regional blockfaul ting event with accelerated subsidence rates. Upper Berriasian to (?) Hauterivian quartz-bearing bioclastic wackestones document the transition from the carbonate platform to the hemipelagic deposition on the drowned platform margin. Seawards, these deposits are correlated with a deep sea fan sequence. We discuss also an example from the Tarfaya Basin-Fuerteventura area further south. A 300 m thick succession of organic-rich claystone and sandstone turbidites (including m-thick debris flow units) of Hauterivian to Barremian age was an unexpected discovery at DSDP Site 603 off North Carolina (Leg 93). We discuss a tectonically confined fan model with laterally migrating channels, influenced by sea level fluctuations and varying terrigenous supply. During the Valanginian to Barremian time of high-standing (or rising) sea level, shelf construction (Wealden-type deltas) coincided with subdued, resedimentation-starved turbiditic system on the continental rise. Extensive unconsolidated sands, however, reflect sudden input of shelfal material into the basin during a mid-Aptian sea level lowstand (shelf destruction). The following global late Aptian transgression terminated the clastic fan deposition, raised the CCD and started the deposition of organic-rich shales.     

Triassic-Liassic basins and climate of the Atlantic passive margins

As the Laurasian Plate tracked north over the New England hotspots in the LateTriassic, the heated and stretched crust failed along re-activated basement structures including micro-plate sutures, and continental extensions of transforms. This created the rifted passive margins of the Atlantic and established the tectonic and climatic setting of wrench-generated coastal ranges and detrital basins bordering vast salt flats that were overlain with waters from the Tethys Sea.In tracking north from an equatorial position in the Late Triassic to a subtropical latitude in the Middle Jurassic, the plate transgressed first humid, then savanna and finally arid climatic zones, which were then bordered by a transgressing epeiric Tethyan Sea. Within these climatic zones, monsoonal circulation profoundly affected patterns of sedimentation as tropical air masses cooled and warmed adiabatically as they crossed the coastal ranges and broad salt flats.Where the basement had been pulled apart as in the Newark-Gettysburg Basin or the Argana Basin of Morocco, plutons intruded the axis of the basin in the form of dikes, lava flows and subaqueous fissure flows. Differential horizontal shear along strike-slip faults created assymetric basins with an upthrown leading plate and a subsiding trailing plate. Strata within the basins record a history of recurrent, but alternating, transtentional and transpressional episodes in an overall wrench-tectonic regime. While the borderfault facies is marked by complex unconformities, young basin sediment, volcanics, en-echelon folds, fanglomerates, turbidites and deep-water lacustrine deposits with organic-rich black shale, sediments on the trailing plate are marked by an older suite of gently inclined fluvialdeltaic sands that rest with profound unconformity on the Hercynian — Variscan basement.Where shallow marine waters of the Tethys Ocean transgressed sagged pull-apart basins (as in the Khemisset and Berrichid Basins of Morocco) or where the basement was faulted by straignt, non-branching transforms (as in Grand Banks), vast salt flats occurred forming thick, deposits of halite and potash salt. The extent of Tethyan transgression and concomitant subsidence of these basins is marked by salt diapirs in the Baltimore Canyon Trough and in the Aaiun Basin of Africa.

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Zusammenfassung Während sich die Laurasische Platte in der späten Trias nordwärts bewegte über die Hotspots Neuenglands hinweg, brach die erwärmte und gedehnte Kruste entlang reaktivierter Strukturen des Basements, sowie entlang von Mikroplatten-Rändern und entlang der Fortsetzungen von Querstörungen auf den Kontinenten. Dieser Vorgang schuf die abgesenkten passiven Ränder des Atlantik und etablierte die tektonische und klimatische Situation der Küstenketten und Sedimentationsbecken, die weite mit Tethys-Meerwasser bedeckte Salzpfannen säumten.Während der Drift der Platte von einer äquatorialen Lage zur späten Triaszeit hin in eine subtropische Breite zur mittleren Jurazeit durchlief sie zunächst humide, dann Savannen- und schließlich aride Klimazonen. Diese wurden gerahmt von dem transgredierenden epirischen Tethys-Meer. Innerhalb dieser Klimazonen wurde die Sedimentation nachhaltig durch Monsum-Zirkulation beeinflußt dadurch, daß tropische Luftmassen sich abkühlten und adiabatisch erwärmten beim Überqueren der Küstenketten und der breiten Salzebenen.Dort, wo das Basement aufriß, wie etwa im Newark-Gettysburg Becken oder im Argana Becken von Morocco, drangen Plutone in die Achse des Beckens ein in Form von Gängen, Lavaergüssen und subaquatischen Spaltenergüssen. Differentielle horizontale Schubspannungen entlang Blattverschiebungen sorgten für asymmetrische Becken mit aufgeschobener Leitplatte und abgesenkter Schlepp-Platte. Die Ablagerungen innerhalb der Becken bilden eine Geschichte periodischer aber alternierender durch Zug- und Druckspannungen beherrschte Episoden ab.Die Fazies des Randstörungssystems ist durch komplexe Diskordanzen markiert, durch junge Beckensedimente, vulkanische Gesteine, girlandenartige Faltenzüge, Fanglomerate, Turbidite und Tiefwasser-Seesedimente mit organogen-reichen Schwarzschiefern. Dagegen sind die Sedimente der Schlepp-Platten gekennzeichnet durch eine ältere Folge von schwach geneigten fluviatil-deltaischen Sanden, die mit markanter Diskordanz auf dem herzynisch-variskischen Basement ruhen.Dort, wo der flache Tethys-Ozean über die sich absenkenden Dehnungs-Becken (wie etwa die Becken von Khemisset und Berrichid von Morocco) transgredierte oder wo das Basement durch geradlinige, nicht verzweigte Querstörungen zerschnitten wurde (wie im Gebiet der Great Banks), breiteten sich weite Salzebenen aus, die dicke Halit- und Kalisalzlager bildeten. Die Ausdehnung der Tethys-Transgression und die einhergehende Absenkung dieser Becken wird durch Salz-Diapire im Baltimore Canyon Graben und im Becken von Aaiun in Afrika markiert.

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Résumé Tandis que la plaque laurasiatique se déplaçait à la fin du Trias vers le nord sur les points chauds de la Nouvelle Angleterre, il s'est produit dans la croûte échauffée et sous tension, des ruptures le long de structures réactivées du socle ainsi que le long de bordures de microplaques et des prolongements de dérangements transversaux sur les continents. Ce processus conduisit à l'affaissement des bords de l'Atlantique, et à fixer la situation tectonique et climatique des chaînes cotières et des bassins de sédimentation qui bordaient de vastes dépressions salées couvertes par les eaux de la Téthys.Pedant sa dérive, à partir d'une position équatoriale à la fin du Trias jusqu'à une latitude subtropicale au Jurassique moyen, la plaque traversa des zones climatiques d'abord humides, puis à savannes et finalement arides, qui se trouvaient en bordure des transgressions épiriques del a Thétys. Dans ces zones climatiques, la sédimentation fut fortement influencée par la mousson sous l'effet des masses d'air tropical qui se refroidissaint et se réchauffaient adiabatiquement à la traversée des chaînes côtières et des plaines salifères ouvertes.Là où le socle apparaissait, comme dans le bassin de Newark-Gettysburg ou dans le bassin d'Argan au Maroc, des plutons pénétraient dans l'axe des bassins sous la forme de dikes, de coulées de lav et de coulées fissurales subaquatiques. Des poussées différentielles horizontales suivant des failles conduisirent à des bassins asymétriques, la plaque motrice en voie de soulèvement entraînant la plaque en voie d'affaissement. Les dépôts dans les bassins représentent une histoire faite d'épisodes périodiques et alternants dominés par des tensions et compressions.Le facie dans le système en bordure des dérangements, est marqué par des discordances complexes, des sédiments de bassin jeunes, des roches volcaniques, des faisceaux de plis en guirlande, des fanglomérats, des turbidites, et des sédiments de mer profonde avec des schistes noirs riches en matières organiques. Par contre les sédiments des plaques entraînées sont caractérisés par une série plus ancienne de sables fluvio-deltaïques faiblement inclinés qui reposent avec une discordance bien marquée sur le socle hercynovarisque.Là où la Thétys, de faible profondeur, transgressait sur les bassins d'extension en voie d'affaissement (comme les bassins de Khemisset et de Berrichid au Maroc), ou là ou le socle était recoupé par des fractures transversales rectilignes sans bifurcation (comme dans les Great Banks), s'étendaient de vastes aires salées avec formation d'épaisses couches de halite et de sels potassiques. L'extension de la transgression thétysienne et la continuelle dépression de ces bassins est marquée par des diapirs salins dans le Graben de Baltymore et dans le bassin d'Aaiun en Afrique.

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The nature and origin of geochemical variation in Mid-Atlantic Ridge basalts from the Central North Atlantic

Seventy-two basalts from 58 dredge stations located along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from 29°N to 59°N have been analyzed for ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ and for K, Rb, Cc, Sr and Ba. The Sr-isotope profile along the ridge has three distinct maxima, one coinciding with the Azores platform (0.70345), one at 45°N (0.70340) and the third at 35°N, in the vicinity of the Oceanographer Fracture Zone. Basalts from ridge segments between 29°N and 33°N, and 49°N and 59°N have ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ ratios typical of ‘normal’ mid-ocean ridge basalts (0.70230–0.70280). Profiles of K, Rb, Cs, Sr, Bz, Rb/Sr and Ba/Sr are similar to the ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ profile, but Rb/K, Cs/K and Ba/K show broad maxima between 35°N and 45°N.These variations result from chemical and isotopic heterogeneity in the mantle, and are interpreted as caused by a mantle plume beneath the Azores which mixes with the LIL-element-depleted asthenosphere. Additional plumes may exist beneath 45°N and 35°N.Compared to the LIL-element-depleted asthenosphere, the Azores mantle plume is 10 to 30 times enriched in LIL elements with very small (? 0.1) bulk crystal/melt partition coefficients (Rb, Cs, Ba, La). Mildly incompatible elements (0.1 < D < 1) (Sr, Sm, Yb) are only 0.8–3 times enriched. These, observations suggest that LIL element differences between these two mantle reservoirs resulted from processes involving solid-liquid equilibria and not vapor-solid or vapor-liquid equilibria. Isotope systematics indicate that neither mantle reservoir remained a closed system since the formation of the Earth, but it is not possible to determine the time at which heterogeneity first developed.     

全新世北大西洋海面温度变化趋势:观测-模拟对比研究

本文利用Kiel Climate Model(KCM模式)对全新世气候的模拟结果及其与北大西洋表层海水温度(sea surface temperature, 简称SST)重建记录的对比, 探讨了全新世北大西洋SST的变化趋势。浮游植物的长链烯酮不饱和度显示低纬北大西洋SST在全新世期间有升高趋势, 而在中纬和高纬地区表现为显著的下降趋势, 尤其是在中纬北大西洋西部, 最大降温幅度达到7.9℃/9.5ka。浮游有孔虫壳体的镁钙比值显示中纬北大西洋东部及高纬北大西洋有增温趋势, 而在中纬北大西洋西部及低纬北大西洋则有降温趋势, 但变化幅度均比较小, 绝大部分在2℃/9.5ka以下。气候模拟结果显示全新世北大西洋SST变化呈现明显的"三核型"经向模态, 在冬春季以增温为主, 降温限于拉布拉多海东南部的北大西洋海域; 在夏秋季以降温为主, 增温限于低纬和高纬北大西洋海域。模拟与重建的对比显示, 中纬和低纬北大西洋的长链烯酮不饱和度指标以及低纬西部的镁钙比指标可能反映夏秋季海温, 中纬北大西洋东部的镁钙比指标可能反映冬春季海温, 而中纬西部和高纬的镁钙比指标可能对4个季节的SST都有所反映。     

Tropical cyclone activity and western North Atlantic stratification over the last millennium: a comparative review with viable connections

Tropical cyclones (TC) are recognized to modify the thermal structure of the upper ocean through the process of vertical mixing. Assessing the role this mixing plays in the overall stratification of the upper ocean is difficult, due to the relatively short and incomplete instrumental record. Proxy records for both TC landfalls and oceanographic stratification are preserved within the geological record and provide insight for how past changes in TC‐induced mixing have potentially affected water column structure prior to the instrumental record. Here we provide the first comparison between previously published paleo‐reconstructions of vertical ocean density and tropical cyclone activity from the western North Atlantic. A prominent lull in TC activity has been observed prior to approximately 1700 CE that extends back several centuries. This interval of low TC activity is shown to be concurrent with the timing of increased ocean stratification near Great Bahama Bank, potentially due in part to reduced TC‐induced mixing. To test whether this relationship is feasible, we present numerical results from a coarse‐resolution ocean general circulation model experiment isolating the effect of TC surface wind forcing on the upper ocean. An anomaly of roughly 0.12 kg m^?3 in vertical stratification occurs above and below the mixed layer for model runs with and without TC mixing. This anomaly is roughly 25% of the entire paleo‐density signal observed just prior to 1700 CE. These results suggest that TC mixing alone cannot completely explain the density anomaly observed prior to 1700 CE, but support TC variability as an important contributor to enhancing oceanic stratification during this interval. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The North Atlantic Oscillation: A dominant factor in variations of oceanic circulation systems of the Atlantic Ocean

On the basis of altimetry data, the dynamics of the interaction between the subtropical anticyclonic (SA) and subpolar cyclonic (SC) gyres of the North Atlantic is considered. It is shown that the westerlies in the lower troposphere represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index are the main factor responsible for the dynamics of the gyres, which controls the inflow of warm Atlantic water into the Polar basin.     

Identification of density-stratified waters in the late-Pleistocene North Atlantic: A faunal derivation

An expanded study of the radiolarian Cycladophora davisiana in late-Pleistocene North Atlantic marine sediments shows that over the last several hundred thousand years this species exhibits large variations in relative abundance. The C. davisiana curves in the North Atlantic cores are quite similar, with easily recognizable features common to all records. Minor deviations from the general pattern of this species' abundance apparently reflect the response of C. davisiana to specific oceanographic conditions characteristic of a particular area within the North Atlantic. C. davisiana occurs today in high abundance (>20%) only in the Sea of Okhotsk. Extensive winter and early spring sea-ice cover coupled with low surface-water salinities during summer and fall is responsible for maintaining near-freezing subsurface temperatures in this northwest Pacific marginal sea as well as relatively stable temperatures and salinities at depths below a shallow subsurface temperature minimum. During periods in the late Pleistocene, high C. davisiana abundances (>20%) in the North Atlantic were probably associated with oceanographic properties similar to those that exist in the Sea of Okhotsk today. Because of the relationship between relatively stable subsurface temperatures and salinities and high abundance levels of C. davisiana, analysis of this species' abundance pattern at several locations throughout the high-latitude North Atlantic should assist in identifying source areas of deep-water formation and determining the duration of deep convective processes at these sites.     

North Atlantic Abrupt Climate Signals during the Last Glacial Period in Central Asia: Evidences from Aeolian Loess Sediments

<正>Objective Climate fluctuations over suborbital or millennial timescale display significant instability during the last glacial period,which are often superimposed upon the orbital periodicity.They triggered some abrupt climate events,such as the Dansgarrd/Oeschger(D-O)events recorded in the Greenland ice cores and the Heinrich(H)     

A model of Weichselian glacier variation in the North Atlantic region

The evidence for the extent and timing of Weichselian glaciation in Arctic regions shows that: (1) there were no major marine ice domes in the Arctic at 18,000 B.P. but that glaciers were relatively limited in extent; (2) there were no extensive ice shelves at 18,000 B.P. as envisaged by Hughes, Denton & Grosswald(1977); (3) the major periods of glacier expansion were between 125,000 and 80,000 B.P., just prior to 45,000 B.P., and between 11,000 and 8,000 B.P., and thus that glacier fluctuations at the southern margins of the Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice sheets were out of phase with those in the Arctic which advanced during southern interstadials. Phases of glacier advance in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic can be identified in deep sea cores by the peaks in concentration of iceberg-dropped detritus and an increase in sedimentation rates, which are highest when sub-polar water penetrates to the north. The key to the temporal pattern of Arctic glaciation and its association with oceanic changes is given by the intimate association of present-day Arctic glacierisation with the two major low pressure troughs which penetrate the Arctic in the Atlantic sector and in Baffin Bay. The chronology of glaciation in the Atlantic sector is associated with the activity of these troughs and the related oceanic circulation. Cooling of the Arctic due to reduction in solar radiation at the end of the last interglacial, when the pack ice lay north of 75d?N in the Atlantic, produced ideal conditions for Arctic glacier growth, with moisture transported by a strong cyclonic flux into a cooling Arctic from a strong North Atlantic Drift current. A positive feedback loop involving ocean and atmospheric circulation and pack ice, caused movement of the polar front to the south, thus slowly cutting off the supply of moisture to the Arctic. Further cooling at 75,000 B.P. caused a rapid extension of the polar front south of 45d?N, effectively cut off the northward movement of surface currents on the North Atlantic, and produced a strong zonal oceanic and atmospheric circulation which starved Arctic glaciers of nourishment and caused their retreat, and initiated rapid build up of the Fennoscandian and Laurentide ice sheets. Subsequent extensions of Arctic glaciers were associated with limited northward movement of sub-polar water and associated Atlantic depressions. The expansion of glaciers within the Arctic between 11,000 and 8,000 B.P. was associated with the first and diachronous penetration of moisture into a still cool Arctic during decay of the two great ice sheets.     

南大西洋西非岸盆地群构造、沉积演化对比

非洲西部海岸盆地群经历了裂谷期、同裂谷期和漂移期构造演化阶段,构造演化和沉积充填有一定的相似性,但是由于后期局部构造和差异沉积的影响,现今盆地发育的构造样式和沉积建造有一定区别,导致勘探效果有较大的差异.本文通过对比南大西洋赤道段转换型、中段含泥型、中段含盐型和南段火山型盆地的综合柱状图,加上对尼日尔三角洲盆地和下刚果...     

Central Atlantic Igneous Province: Origin and mechanisms of formation

The paper considers various aspects of the formation of the Central Atlantic Igneous Province. Generation and eruption of enormous bodies of basic magmas over a short time interval (a few million years) are explained by the accumulation of thermal energy beneath the continental lithosphere. The thermal energy was transferred by heated matter or fluid flows from the lower mantle along separate channels or permeable zones and accumulated beneath the continental lithosphere of Pangea over a long period of time (tens of millions of years) over a vast area. The large thickness ofthe lithosphere hindered melting. A change in the geodynamic regime with the onset of the breakdown of Pangea resulted in extension, formation of linear permeable zones, local decompression, and, as a consequence, in generation and ascent of huge magma bodies along extended linear tectonically weakened zones. The homogeneity of igneous rocks is explained by the short time interval favorable for magma generation, when all the stored thermal energy had been exhausted.     

Seasonal Dependence of the North Pacific and North Atlantic SST Predictability and Forecast Skill

In this paper, the decadal predictability and forecast skill of the Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTA) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean were investigated by conducting three sets of perfect model forecast experiments using a global coupled general circulation model. The results show that the annual mean SSTA in the North Pacific is less predictable on decadal time scale, with the forecast skill notably weaker than that of the North Atlantic. By analyzing the predictability and forecast skill of seasonal mean SSTA, it is found that the decadal predictability and forecast skill of the winter mean (JFM) SSTA in the central and western North Pacific are significantly higher than those of other seasons, and the magnitude is comparable with that of the North Atlantic. The predictability and forecast skill of the North Atlantic SSTA also show seasonal variations. Further analysis indicates that the seasonal dependence of the SSTA decadal predictability and forecast skill in the North Pacific is due to the winter-to-winter reemergence mechanism of SSTA in the North Pacific, which results from the seasonal variation of the mixed layer depth of the North Pacific Ocean. While the seasonal dependence of the North Atlantic SSTA predictability and forecast skill might be related to seasonal variations of other processes, such as the Atlantic Decadal Oscillation. The results of this paper suggest that for decadal climate prediction, if the forecast skill of the seasonal mean is taken into account, we might obtain higher than annual mean forecast skill for some seasons.     

Sterols in the western North Atlantic Ocean

The sterol concentrations in fourteen surface and nine deep water samples collected from the continental shelf and slope waters of the western North Atlantic and Sargasso Sea ranged from 0.1 to 1.3μ/l seawater. Isolation and structural elucidation by gas chromatography and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry show that cholesterol and β-sitosterol (or clionasterol) are the major free sterols in both the surface and deep water. Fucosterol, brassicasterol, 22-dehydrocholesterol, campesterol (or 22,23-dihydrobrassicasterol), 22-methylenecholesterol, norcholestadienol, and stigmasterol (or poriferasterol) are found in lower concentrations at the surface and in the deep sea. Cholesterol is the major sterol ester in both the surface and deep water, while very low concentrations of other sterol esters were found. The ratio of total free sterols to total esterified sterols is approximately two in both the surface and deep water.Marine sources of sterols in seawater include phytoplankton, yeasts, and marine animals such as Crustacea and molluscs. Terrestrial plants also may contribute. Sterol transport to the deep sea may occur by convective overturn and vertical diffusion or from vertical fluxes of large particles from the surface.