The attenuation of tidal and subtidal oscillations in the Patos Lagoon estuary

The single, long and narrow channel that usually connects choked coastal lagoons to the ocean can serve as a natural hydraulic low-pass filter that reduces or eliminates tidal and subtidal effects inside the lagoon. This study proposes an alternative method of estimating the attenuation of the tidal and subtidal oscillations throughout the Patos Lagoon estuary. The attenuation is estimated for conditions of contrasting river runoff and weather (summer and winter). A high-pass/low-pass filter (fast fourier transformation technique – FFT) is applied to time series of sea-surface elevation (SSE) measured at the mouth of the Patos Lagoon. The resulting high-frequency (tidal) and low-frequency (subtidal) signals are used in independent simulations to force the TELEMAC-2D model. Attenuation of the tidal and subtidal signals throughout the estuary is estimated by applying cross-spectral analysis between the model-generated SSE time series at different locations throughout the estuary and the filtered SSE time series measured at the mouth. Results from the proposed method suggest that: (1) the low-frequency (subtidal) oscillations are less attenuated and propagate further than the high-frequency (tidal) oscillations in the Patos Lagoon estuary; (2) the filtering capability of the Patos Lagoon estuary is expected to follow a seasonal pattern, although further investigations on an interannual time scale are recommended in order to confirm this hypothesis; (3) the influence of the oceanic boundary processes on the SSE dynamics of the lagoon is restricted to the lower estuary. Further inland, the local forcing generated by the wind and freshwater input is likely to be the main forcing effect controlling the dynamics of the system. The proposed method proved to be an efficient and alternative way of estimating the attenuation of energy in the tidal and subtidal bands throughout the access channel of a choked coastal lagoon located in an area of reduced tidal influence.Responsible Editor: Iris Grabemann     

Uncertainties of the relationship between the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation, the Arctic stratosphere and solar forcing

Two different equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) indices, two reanalyses and radiosonde observations are used to analyze the Arctic stratospheric temperature and height. This analysis was used to assess the uncertainties in the connection of solar forcing, QBO and the Arctic variability. The results show that (1) the frequency of the westerly/easterly phases of the QBO over the stratospheric equator has a significant multiple peak seasonal variation. The primary seasonal peaks occur in February, March and April for the westerly phase of the QBO and the easterly phase peaks in June, July and August. (2) The correlation of stratospheric Arctic temperature and height with the solar radio flux shows statistical significance in February or July/August even if there is no stratified phase of QBO (easterly and westerly phases) involved. However, when the correlation was computed according to the stratified phase of QBO, the solar signals in both temperature and height fields are remarkably amplified in February and November under the westerly phase, but the signal in the height field is most significant only in August under the easterly phase. (3) The impact of the QBO and solar forcing on the stratospheric temperature and heights in the Arctic varies depending on the season. The impacts are also sensitive to the specific height of the QBO-defined level that is used, the specific period of the analysis and the dataset used.     

Interaction of a river plume with coastal upwelling in the northeastern South China Sea

Observational and modeling studies were conducted to investigate the Pearl River plume and its interaction with the southwesterly driven upwelling circulation in the northern South China Sea during the summer. After exiting the Pearl River Estuary, the discharged freshwater generates a nearly stationary bulge of freshwater near the entrance of the estuary. Forced by the wind-driven coastal upwelling current, the freshwater in the outer part of the bulge flows downstream at the speed of the current and forms a widening and deepening buoyant plume over the shelf. The plume axis gradually shifts offshore of the current maximum as a result of currents induced by the contrasting density at the nose of plume and by the intensified Ekman drift in the plume. In this plume–current system, the fraction of the discharged freshwater volume accumulated in the bulge reaches a steady state and the volume of newly discharged freshwater is transported downstream by the upwelling current. Enhancement of stratification by the plume thins the surface frictional layer and enhances the cross-shelf circulation in the upper water column such that the surface Ekman current and compensating flow beneath the plume are amplified while the shoaling of the deeper dense water in the upwelling region changes minimally. The pressure gradient generated between the buoyant plume and ambient seawater accelerates the wind-driven current along the inshore edge of the plume but retards it along the offshore edge. Along the plume, downward momentum advection is strong near the highly nonlinear source region and a weaker upward momentum advection occurs in the far field over the shelf. Typically, the plume is shaped by the current over the shelf while the current itself is adjusting to a new dynamic balance invoked by the plume-induced changes of vertical viscosity and the horizontal pressure gradient. The spatial variation of this new balance leads to a coherent change in the cross-isobath transport in the upper water column during upwelling.     

Phase synchronization of slips by periodical (tangential and normal) mechanical forcing in the spring-slider model

In the present study, the character of slip regimes under weak external periodical (tangential and normal) mechanical forcing has been investigated in a laboratory spring-slider system. We report the experimental evidence of phase synchronization in a slip dynamics, induced by the external periodic mechanical impact. At certain conditions, we have a stick-slip effect in the spring-slider system. To describe this effect, we can use rate-and state-dependent friction law. In our experiments, the slip events are distinguished by acoustic emission bursts, which are generated by slider displacement. In addition to drag, the weak variable mechanical forcing was superimposed either tangential or normal to the slip plane. With increasing external forcing one can see increasing phase synchronization of the first arrivals (onsets) of stick-slip generated acoustic pulses. The grouping of the onsets in a certain phase of the external periodic forcing is considered as a hallmark of the phase synchronization. The onsets of stick-slip pulses in the case of normal mechanical forcing are shifted relative to onsets in the case of tangential forcing.     

Numerical experiments on the generation of long ocean waves in coastal waters of the Buenos Aires province,Argentina

A numerical model (two horizontal dimensions, vertically integrated) is used to investigate the generation of long ocean waves, ranging from 20 min to almost 2 h, at Buenos Aires continental shelf. The domain includes the Río de la Plata estuary and the continental shelf together and extends from 33.5° to 40.5°S latitude, and from 51° to 63°W longitude. Sea-level oscillations are modeled by forcing with passage of atmospheric cold fronts and atmospheric gravity waves. Both forcing mechanisms, which have been present during high activity lapses of long ocean waves, are mathematically implemented. After several numerical simulations, it is concluded that the pressure and wind fields associated to cold fronts do not generate long ocean waves in the area, though they do produce disturbances with periods longer than the tidal ones. On the other hand, it is so concluded that atmospheric gravity waves are an effective mechanism to force long ocean waves. Results obtained show that generation of long ocean waves is highly sensitive depending on the propagation direction and the phase speed of the atmospheric gravity waves. The long ocean wave event detected during the large-amplitude gravity-wave event of 13 October 1985 is successfully simulated. Finally, all our results suggest that atmospheric gravity waves are a highly effective mechanism forcing for the generation of long ocean waves in Buenos Aires coastal waters.     

Leveraging ensemble meteorological forcing data to improve parameter estimation of hydrologic models

As continental to global scale high-resolution meteorological datasets continue to be developed, there are sufficient meteorological datasets available now for modellers to construct a historical forcing ensemble. The forcing ensemble can be a collection of multiple deterministic meteorological datasets or come from an ensemble meteorological dataset. In hydrological model calibration, the forcing ensemble can be used to represent forcing data uncertainty. This study examines the potential of using the forcing ensemble to identify more robust parameters through model calibration. Specifically, we compare an ensemble forcing-based calibration with two deterministic forcing-based calibrations and investigate their flow simulation and parameter estimation properties and the ability to resist poor-quality forcings. The comparison experiment is conducted with a six-parameter hydrological model for 30 synthetic studies and 20 real data studies to provide a better assessment of the average performance of the deterministic and ensemble forcing-based calibrations. Results show that the ensemble forcing-based calibration generates parameter estimates that are less biased and have higher frequency of covering the true parameter values than the deterministic forcing-based calibration does. Using a forcing ensemble in model calibration reduces the risk of inaccurate flow simulation caused by poor-quality meteorological inputs, and improves the reliability and overall simulation skill of ensemble simulation results. The poor-quality meteorological inputs can be effectively filtered out via our ensemble forcing-based calibration methodology and thus discarded in any post-calibration model applications. The proposed ensemble forcing-based calibration method can be considered as a more generalized framework to include parameter and forcing uncertainties in model calibration.     

基于WRF模式的青藏高原斜坡和平台加热影响亚洲夏季风的模拟研究

青藏高原大地形的热力强迫作用对亚洲夏季风的形成和发展具有重要的影响.本文利用较高分辨率的WRF区域模式,探讨了高原不同区域(斜坡和平台)的地形加热分别对南亚夏季风和东亚夏季风的影响.结果表明:高原南部喜马拉雅山脉的斜坡地形加热对其周围局地的环流形势和降水影响十分明显,是南亚夏季风北支分量形成和维持的主导因子,也是斜坡上气流爬坡和降水发生的必要条件.斜坡加热对东亚夏季风也有明显的增强作用,它不仅加强了中国东部低空西南季风环流,还会造成北部南下的异常干冷空气的响应.斜坡上的地形加热作用也是对流层高层暖中心位置维持在斜坡上空的一个重要原因.而高原平台加热对季风环流和降水的影响虽然没有喜马拉雅山脉斜坡加热那么显著,但是对南亚夏季风的影响范围更广,对经向哈得来环流影响更明显,能够调控高原以外更远处热带洋面上的西南季风环流.通过比较高原不同区域地形加热条件下的多种季风指数,进一步表明了高原地形加热对南亚和东亚夏季风均有增强作用,但是高原不同区域的地形加热对两类夏季风子系统又会产生不一样的影响.     

On the role of tides and strong wind events in promoting summer primary production in the Barents Sea

Tides and wind-driven mixing play a major role in promoting post-bloom productivity in subarctic shelf seas. Whether this is also true in the high Arctic remains unknown. This question is particularly relevant in a context of increasing Arctic Ocean stratification in response to global climatic change. We have used a three-dimensional ocean-sea ice-plankton ecosystem model to assess the contribution of tides and strong wind events to summer (June-August 2001) primary production in the Barents Sea. Tides are responsible for 20% (60% locally) of the post-bloom primary production above Svalbard Bank and east of the Kola Peninsula. By contrast, more than 9% of the primary production is due to winds faster than 8 m s⁻¹ in the central Barents Sea. Locally, this contribution reaches 25%. In the marginal ice zone, both tides and wind events have only a limited effect on primary production (<2%). Removing tides or winds faster than 8 m s⁻¹ promotes a regime more sustained by regenerated production with a f-ratio (i.e. the proportion of nitrate-based “new” primary production in the total primary production) that decreases by up to 26% (east of the Kola Peninsula) or 35% (central Barents Sea), respectively. When integrated over all Barents Sea sub-regions, tides and strong wind events account, respectively, for 6.8% (1.55 Tg C; 1 Tg C=10¹² g C) and 4.1% (0.93 Tg C) of the post-bloom primary production (22.6 Tg C). To put this in context, this contribution to summer primary production is equivalent to the spring bloom integrated over the Svalbard area. Tides and winds are significant drivers of summer plankton productivity in the Barents Sea.     

The influence of wind forcing on across-shelf transport in the Florida Keys

Acoustic Doppler current profiles and current meter data are combined with wind observations to describe the transport of water leaving Florida Bay and moving onto the inner shelf on the Atlantic side of the Florida Keys. A 275-day study in the Long Key Channel reveals strong tidal exchanges, but the average ebb tide volume leaving Florida Bay is 19% greater than the average flood tide volume entering the bay. The long-term net outflow averages 472 m³ s⁻¹. Two studies in shelf waters describe the response to wind forcing during spring and summer months in 2004 and during fall and winter months in 2004–2005. During the spring–summer study, southeasterly winds have a distinct shoreward component, and a two-layer pattern appears. Surface layers move shoreward while near-bottom layers move seaward. During the winter study, the resultant wind direction is parallel to the Keys and to the local isobaths. The entire water column moves in a nearly downwind direction, and across-shelf transport is relatively small. During the summer wet season, Florida Bay water should be warmer, fresher, and thus less dense than Atlantic shelf waters. Ebbing bay water should move onto the shelf as a buoyant plume and be held close to the Keys by southeasterly winds. During the winter dry season, colder and saltier Florida Bay water should leave the tidal channels with relatively high density and be concentrated in the near-bottom layers. But little across-shelf flow occurs with northeasterly winds. The study suggests that seasonally changing wind forcing and hydrographic conditions serve to insulate the reef tract from the impact of low-quality bay water.     

沙尘表面非均相化学过程的气候效应的初步模拟研究

建立了一个包含地表起尘机制的尘粒表面非均相化学模式, 并与区域气候——大气化学模式系统连接. 研究了沙尘气溶胶表面的非均相过程对大气中一些重要微量成分浓度的影响及其所产生的气候效应. 结果表明,非均相过程使得二氧化硫和臭氧的浓度降低,硫酸盐浓度增加,年平均硫酸盐积分浓度增加26mg/m2;在部分地区非均相过程使二氧化氮浓度降低,而在另外一些地区,则使二氧化氮浓度增加. 1,4,7,10月四个月硫酸盐浓度增加造成的辐射强迫最大值分别为-0.24,-1.0,-2.0,-0.6 W/m2,全区域年平均辐射强迫为-0.033 W/m2. 四个月最大降温分别可达0.16,0.35,0.5,0.48K,年平均降温0.021K. 非均相过程对月总降水亦有明显的影响.     

Using the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis as weather input data for watershed models

Obtaining representative meteorological data for watershed‐scale hydrological modelling can be difficult and time consuming. Land‐based weather stations do not always adequately represent the weather occurring over a watershed, because they can be far from the watershed of interest and can have gaps in their data series, or recent data are not available. This study presents a method for using the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) global meteorological dataset to obtain historical weather data and demonstrates the application to modelling five watersheds representing different hydroclimate regimes. CFSR data are available globally for each hour since 1979 at a 38‐km resolution. Results show that utilizing the CFSR precipitation and temperature data to force a watershed model provides stream discharge simulations that are as good as or better than models forced using traditional weather gauging stations, especially when stations are more than 10 km from the watershed. These results further demonstrate that adding CFSR data to the suite of watershed modelling tools provides new opportunities for meeting the challenges of modelling un‐gauged watersheds and advancing real‐time hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of carbon dioxide cooling on trends in the F2-layer ionosphere

The effect of carbon dioxide (CO₂) cooling on trends of h_mF₂ and N_mF₂ are investigated using a coupled thermosphere and ionosphere general circulation model. Model simulations indicate that CO₂ cooling not only causes contraction of the upper atmosphere and changes of neutral and ion composition but also changes dynamics and electrodynamics in the thermosphere/ionosphere. These changes determine the altitude dependence of ionospheric trends and complex latitudinal, longitudinal, diurnal, seasonal, and solar cycle variations of trends of h_mF₂ and N_mF₂. Under the CO₂ cooling effect, trends of N_mF₂ are negative with magnitude from 0% to −40% for doubled CO₂, depending on location, local time, season, and solar activity. The corresponding trends of h_mF₂ are mostly negative with a magnitude from 0 to −40 km, but can be positive with a magnitude from 0 to 10 km at night, with maximum positive trends occurring after midnight under solar minimum conditions.     

Assessment of glacier- and snowmelt-driven streamflow in the arid middle Tianshan Mountains of China

Due to limitations in transport and communication infrastructures and difficulties in accessing glaciers, it is challenging to monitor snow and glaciers. In this study, the enhanced Utah Energy Balance (UEB) with a glacier melt model and snow above and below the forest ablation algorithm is used to assess the contributions of snow and glacier melting in three typical inland river basins (MRB, URB and KRB) in the middle Tianshan Mountains of China from 2002 to 2014. Forced by the spatial downscaling of the China meteorological forcing dataset (CMFD) coupled with other parameters, the model simulates the total surface water balance using surface water input from snowmelt, glacial melt and rainfall. Model simulations reveal that although the MRB, URB and KRB are all located on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, there are obvious differences in their water resource composition characteristics. Different from the URB, which is mainly replenished by glacial melt and had an average annual percentage of glacial melt of approximately 39% of the total surface water from 2009 to 2014, the MRB and KRB are mainly supplied by snowmelt and rainfall and both had an average annual percentage of snowmelt of approximately 37%. Although snowmelt is an important source of water to inland rivers, especially during the snowmelt season, the contributions of snowmelt in these three basins are very small especially for the URB, which had a contribution of 17%. This study effectively verifies the applicability of the CMFD and provides important scientific and technological support for determining the spatiotemporal variations in snow and glacial melt in the middle Tianshan Mountains, where meteorological observation data are scarce and some observational data, such as radiation data, are incomplete.     

Ocean contributes to the melting of the Jakobshavn Glacier front

The Jakobshavn Glacier(JG)in Greenland is one of the most active glaciers in the world.It was close to balance before 1997 but this was followed by a sudden transition to rapid thinning.The reason for the change remains unclear.In this study,The NASA Pre-IceBridge ice thickness data are collected to monitor the melting of JG front.The surface elevation decreased by around 90 m from 1995 to 2002 on the floating front.A distributed energy balance model is developed to estimate the energy balance of JG front in the past 30 years(1986-2016).The results indicate that multi-year average energy fluxes absorbed by the floating front of JG from the ocean were about 500 Wm^-2 from 1986 to 2016.This is approximately two times of the energy fluxes from atmosphere during the same period.The energy fluxes from the ocean increased from 200 to 600 Wm^-2during the period from 1990 to 1998 while energy fluxes from the atmosphere remained stable at about 250 Wm^-2.These results demonstrate that ocean contributes more to the melting of the JG front,and suggest that bottom surface melting must have a profound influence on marine-terminating glacier dynamics.     

An improved diagnostic stratocumulus scheme based on estimated inversion strength and its performance in GAMIL2

Based on satellite data and the estimated inversion strength (EIS) derived by Wood et al. (2006), a feasible and uncomplicated stratocumulus scheme is proposed, referred to as EIS scheme. It improves simulation of cloud radiative forcing (CRF) in the Grid-point Atmospheric Model of IAP/LASG version 2 (GAMIL2.0) model. When compared with the original lower troposphere stability (LTS) scheme, the EIS scheme reproduces more reasonable climatology distributions of clouds and CRF. The parameterization partly corrects CRF underestimation at mid and high latitudes and overestimation in the convective region. Such improvements are achieved by neglecting the effect of free-tropospheric stratification changes that follow a cooler moist adiabat at middle and high latitude, thereby improving simulated cloudiness. The EIS scheme also improves simulation of the CRF interannual variability. The positive net CRF and negative stratiform anomaly in the East Asian and western North Pacific monsoon regions (EAWNPMR) are well simulated. The EIS scheme is more sensitive to sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) than the LTS. Therefore, under the effect of a warmer SSTA in the EAWNPMR, the EIS generates a stronger negative stratiform response, which reduces radiative heating in the low and mid troposphere, in turn producing strong subsidence and negative anomalies of both moisture and cloudiness. Consequent decreases in cloud reflection and shading effects ultimately improve simulation of incoming surface shortwave radiative fluxes and CRF. Because of the stronger subsidence, a stronger anomalous anticyclone over the Philippines Sea is simulated by the EIS run, which leads to a better positive precipitation anomaly in eastern China during ENSO winter.     

Wind-driven diversion of summer river runoff preconditions the Laptev Sea coastal polynya hydrography: Evidence from summer-to-winter hydrographic records of 2007–2009

This paper examines the role of atmospheric forcing in modifying the pathways of riverine water on the Laptev Sea shelf, using summer-to-winter hydrographic surveys from 2007 to 2009. Over the two consecutive winter seasons of 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 in the area of the winter coastal polynya, our data clearly link winter surface salinity fields to the previous summer conditions, with substantially different winter salinity patterns preconditioned by summer atmospheric forcing. In the summer of 2007, dominant along-shore westerly winds in the cyclonic regime force the Lena River runoff to flow eastward. In contrast, in the summer of 2008, dominant along-shore easterly winds over the East Siberian Sea and on-shore northerly winds over the Laptev Sea in the anticyclonic regime lock the riverine water in the vicinity of the Lena Delta. Over the coastal polynya area in the southeastern Laptev Sea these patterns precondition a surface salinity difference of 8–16 psu between the winters of 2008 and 2009. Overall, this indicates a residence time of at least half a year for riverine water on the Laptev Sea shelf. Future climate change associated with an enhanced summer cyclonicity over the eastern Arctic may turn more riverine water eastward along the eastern Siberian coast, resulting in weaker vertical density stratification over the Laptev Sea shelf, with possible impact on the efficiency of vertical mixing and polynya dense water production.     

Relative importance of wind and buoyancy forcing for interdecadal regime shifts in the Pacific Ocean

Interdecadal variations in the Northern Hemisphere and the North Pacific have been documented in many studies[1 4]. The connection between the subtropical North Pacific and the tropics is regarded as the most important process triggering and maintaining t…     

Field measurements of intertidal bar evolution on a high‐energy beach system

Nearshore bars play a pivotal role in coastal behaviour, helping to protect and restore beach systems particularly in post‐storm conditions. Examination of bar behaviour under various forcing conditions is important to help understand the short‐ to medium‐term evolution of sandy beach systems. This study carried out over a nine‐week period examines, the behaviour of three intertidal bars along a high energy sandy beach system in northwest Ireland using high‐frequency topographic surveys and detailed nearshore hydrodynamic modelling. Results show that, in general, there was onshore migration for all the bars during the study period, despite the variability observed between bars, which was driven mostly by wave dominated processes. Under the prevailing conditions migration rates of up to 1.83 m day^?1 and as low as 0.07 m day^?1 were observed. During higher wave energy events the migration rates of the bars decelerated in their onshore route, however, under lower wave energy conditions, they quickly accelerated maintaining their shoreward migration direction. Tidal influence appears to be subordinate in these conditions, being restricted to moderating the localized wave energy at low tides and in maintaining runnel configurations providing accommodation space for advancing slip faces. The study highlights the intricate behavioural patterns of intertidal bar behaviour along a high energy sandy coastline and provides new insights into the relative importance of wave and tidal forcing on bar behaviour over a relatively short time period. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resonant forcing of coastally trapped waves in a continuously stratified ocean

In a previous paper (Grimshaw, 1987) the resonant forcing of coastally trapped waves was discussed in the barotropic case. In order to extend that theory to more realistic situations, we have considered the analogous theory whereby a longshore current interacts with a longshore topographic feature, or the forcing is due to longshore wind stress, for the case of the continuously stratified ocean. As in the previous theory, near resonance, when a long-wave phase speed is close to zero (in the reference frame of the forcing), the wave motion is governed by a forced evolution equation of the KdV-type. The behaviour of the wave field is characterized by three parameters representing the bandwidth for resonance, the forcing amplitude and the dissipation. We have evaluated these parameters in various practical cases, and found that the bandwidths, which scale with ^1/2 when the forcing has dimensionless amplitude , can often be quite broad. Typically the second, third, or higher, modes may be resonant. Concurrently, the dissipation is also usually significant, leading to a steady state balance between the forcing, dissipation and nonlinear terms.     

Astronomical forcing in Upper Miocene continental sequences: implications for the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale

We present an integrated stratigraphic study of cyclically bedded distal alluvial fan to lacustrine deposits in the late Miocene continental sections of Cascante and Cañizar (Teruel basin, NE Spain). The cyclostratigraphic analysis reveals that different scales of sedimentary cyclicity are present with a thickness ratio of about 1:2:5. Spectral analysis of colour records in the depth domain indicates the presence of a significant peak at ∼2.2 m, which corresponds to the average thickness of the basic, mudstone-carbonate, cycle. Other peaks correspond to the large-scale cycle, which consists of clusters of five basic cycles, and to a cycle twice the average thickness of the basic cycle. Magnetostratigraphic results, in combination with small-mammal biostratigraphy, indicate that the three normal polarity intervals recorded in our sections correspond to C5n.2n, C5n.1n and C4Ar.2n. Assigning the ages of CK95 to the polarity reversals implies significant changes in sedimentation rate, which is not in agreement with the regularity of the sedimentary cyclicity. Thus, spectral analysis of high-resolution colour records in the time domain only produce a spectrum that is consistent with Milankovitch climate forcing, if several of the assigned age tie points are excluded. This indicates that the sedimentary cyclicity in these sections is related to astronomical variations in climate and that the ages of reversal boundaries are in error. Hence, we have calculated the astronomical durations for C4Ar.2n (87 ky), C4Ar.3r (54 ky), C5n.1n (141 ky), and C5n.1r (33 ky), which indeed show significant discrepancies with CK95. The duration pattern of our polarity intervals is confirmed by seafloor anomaly profiles and magnetostratigraphic records of deep-sea cores. Consequently, this study demonstrates that astronomically forcing in continental sequences can be a powerful tool to improve the fundamental dating of the geological record.