Distribution and sources of pre-anthropogenic lead isotopes in deep ocean water from FeMn crusts

The lead isotope composition of ocean water is not well constrained due to contamination by anthropogenic lead. Here the global distribution of lead isotopes in deep ocean water is presented as derived from dated (ca. 100 ka) surface layers of hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts. The results indicate that the radiogenic lead in North Atlantic deep water is probably supplied from the continents by river particulates, and that lead in Pacific deep water is similar to that characteristic of island and continental volcanic arcs. Despite a short residence time in deep water (80–100 a), the isotopes of lead appear to be exceedingly well mixed in the Pacific basin. There is no evidence for the import of North Atlantic deep water-derived lead into the Pacific ocean, nor into the North Indian Ocean. This implies that the short residence time of lead in deep water prohibits advection over such long distances. Consequently, any climate-induced changes in deep-water flow are not expected to result in major changes in the seawater Pb-isotope record of the Pacific Ocean.     

Indium and yttrium in North Atlantic and Mediterranean waters: comparison to the Pacific data

Vertical profiles of dissolved indium and yttrium were determined in the eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea to compare with those of the North Pacific reported earlier. The Y concentrations in the surface waters are 120 pmol/kg in the North Atlantic and 205 pmol/kg in the Mediterranean Sea, which are significantly higher than 80 pmol/kg in the North Pacific. The difference may be attributable to the different strength of input of Y to the oceans from fluvial and aeolian sources. In contrast, the deep water concentration of Y increases in the order of North Atlantic < Mediterranean < North Pacific. This trend is similar to that of dissolved Si, suggesting that Y is involved in the biogeochemical regeneration cycle. The vertical profiles of In are far more complex than Y. The In profile shows a systematic increase from 0.6 pmol/kg at the surface to 1.7 pmol/kg at 2100 m in the North Atlantic, whereas it is almost featureless at a mean concentration of 3.8 ± 0.6 pmol/kg in the Mediterranean Sea. The North Atlantic and Mediterranean In concentrations are considerably higher than those observed in the North Pacific (∼0.1 pmol/kg), and such a large interoceanic variation has been reported before only for Al and Ga. Like Al, the deep water In concentration that decreases in the order of Mediterranean > North > North Pacific exhibits an inverse trend of Y and nutrients. Indium is highly particle-reactive (47% association in the Mediterranean Sea), and must have a short mean oceanic residence time. However, the featureless dissolved In profile in the Mediterranean Sea is clearly different from the profiles of dissolved Al, showing increase with depth Hydes et al 1988, Measures and Edmond 1988, suggesting that significant fractionation of the two elements is taking place in the ocean.The interoceanic variations of dissolved In and Al may be ascribed to the different intensities of external input of which aeolian has been considered to be major rather than fluvial. However, the difference of In and Al concentrations in the deep waters of the above oceanic basins are significantly greater than those of other refractory elements, such as Ce, Ti, Hf, and Zr, whose major sources to the ocean are also considered to be aeolian. Furthermore, the In/Al ratios in seawater are about two orders of magnitude greater than the average crustal ratio. Thus, some additional sources, though not yet certain, may be required to explain the high concentrations of In in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean deep waters.     

Blueprints for Medieval hydroclimate

According to tree ring and other records, a series of severe droughts that lasted for decades afflicted western North America during the Medieval period resulting in a more arid climate than in subsequent centuries. A review of proxy evidence from around the world indicates that North American megadroughts were part of a global pattern of Medieval hydroclimate that was distinct from that of today. In particular, the Medieval hydroclimate was wet in northern South America, dry in mid-latitude South America, dry in eastern Africa but with strong Nile River floods and a strong Indian monsoon. This pattern is similar to that accompanying persistent North American droughts in the instrumental era. This pattern is compared to that associated with familiar climate phenomena. The best fit comes from a persistently La Niña-like tropical Pacific and the warm phase of the so-called Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. A positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) also helps to explain the Medieval hydroclimate pattern. Limited sea surface temperature reconstructions support the contention that the tropical Pacific was cold and the subtropical North Atlantic was warm, ideal conditions for North American drought. Tentative modeling results indicate that a multi-century La Niña-like state could have arisen as a coupled atmosphere–ocean response to high irradiance and weak volcanism during the Medieval period and that this could in turn have induced a persistently positive NAO state. A La Niña-like state could also induce a strengthening of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and hence warming of the North Atlantic Ocean, by (i) the ocean response to the positive NAO and by shifting the southern mid-latitude westerlies poleward which (ii) will increase the salt flux from the Indian Ocean into the South Atlantic and (iii) drive stronger Southern Ocean upwelling.     

Geochemical and Nd–Pb isotopic characteristics of the Tethyan asthenosphere: implications for the origin of the Indian Ocean mantle domain

It is unclear why the Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic composition of the modern mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) from the Indian Ocean is different from that of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A possible explanation for this is that the Indian MORB-type isotopic signature is a long-lived regional feature of the mantle, as evidently shown by the isotopic composition of the 350 Ma MORB-like Mian-Lue northern ophiolite, which was formed in the same region presently occupied by the Indian Ocean. However, this hypothesis is in conflict with the lack of Indian MORB-type isotopic signature in a number of 150 Ma Tethyan and Indian Ocean crusts. To further constrain the origin of the Indian MORB-type isotopic signature, we analyze the geochemical and Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic composition of representative mafic rocks from four Tethyan ophiolites ranging in age from 90 to 360 Ma. The Sr isotopic composition of the samples is unreliable due to alteration, but the age-corrected Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and geochemical data indicate that these Tethyan rocks were derived from a geochemically depleted asthenospheric source that had a clear Indian MORB-type isotopic signature. We therefore conclude that the bulk of the Indian suboceanic mantle was most probably inherited from the Tethyan asthenosphere. A few regions in both the Tethyan and Indian Oceans, however, are most probably underlain by Pacific and North Atlantic MORB-type mantle (and vice-versa) because of the flow of the asthenosphere in response to tectonic plate reorganizations that lead to openings and closures of ocean basins. The Indian MORB-type isotopic signature of the western Pacific marginal basin crusts could be due to either flow of the Indian Ocean mantle into the western Pacific or to endogenous production of such an isotopic signature from delaminated East-Asian sublithospheric materials during closure of the Tethys Ocean.     

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.     

Evolution of neodymium isotopic signature of seawater during the Late Cretaceous: Implications for intermediate and deep circulation

Neodymium isotopic compositions (ε_Nd) have been largely used for the last fifty years as a tracer of past ocean circulation, and more intensively during the last decade to investigate ocean circulation during the Cretaceous period. Despite a growing set of data, circulation patterns still remain unclear during this period. In particular, the identification of the deep-water masses and their spatial extension within the different oceanic basins are poorly constrained. In this study we present new deep-water ε_Nd data inferred from the Nd isotope composition of fish remains and Fe–Mn oxyhydroxide coatings on foraminifera tests, along with new ε_Nd data of residual (partly detrital) fraction recovered from DSDP Sites 152 (Nicaraguan Rise), 258 (Naturaliste Plateau), 323 (Bellinghausen Abyssal Plain), and ODP Sites 690 (Maud Rise) and 700 (East Georgia Basin, South Atlantic). The presence of abundant authigenic minerals in the sediments at Sites 152 and 690 detected by XRD analyses may explain both middle rare earth element enrichments in the spectra of the residual fraction and the evolution of residual fraction ε_Nd that mirror that of the bottom waters at the two sites. The results point towards a close correspondence between the bottom water ε_Nd values of Sites 258 and 700 from the late Turonian to the Santonian. Since the deep-water Nd isotope values at these two sites are also similar to those at other proto-Indian sites, we propose the existence of a common intermediate to deep-water mass as early as the mid-Cretaceous. The water mass would have extended from the central part of the South Atlantic to the eastern part of proto-Indian ocean sites, beyond the Kerguelen Plateau. Furthermore, data from south and north of the Rio Grande Rise–Walvis Ridge complex (Sites 700 and 530) are indistinguishable from the Turonian to Campanian, suggesting a common water mass since the Turonian at least. This view is supported by a reconstruction of the Rio Grande Rise–Walvis Ridge complex during the Turonian, highlighting the likely existence of a deep breach between the Rio Grande Rise and the proto-Walvis Ridge at that time. Thus deep-water circulation may have been possible between the different austral basins as early as the Turonian, despite the presence of potential oceanic barriers. Comparison of new seawater and residue ε_Nd data on Nicaraguan Rise suggests a westward circulation of intermediate waters through the Caribbean Seaway during the Maastrichtian and Palaeocene from the North Atlantic to the Pacific. This westward circulation reduced the Pacific water influence in the Atlantic, and was likely responsible for more uniform, less radiogenic ε_Nd values in the North Atlantic after 80 Ma. Additionally, our data document an increasing trend observed in several oceanic basins during the Maastrichtian and the Palaeocene, which is more pronounced in the North Pacific. Although the origin of this increase still remains unclear, it might be explained by an increase in the contribution of radiogenic material to upper ocean waters in the northern Pacific. By sinking to depth, these waters may have redistributed to some extent more radiogenic signatures to other ocean basins through deep-water exchanges.     

北半球冰川物质平衡的突变

据世界冰川监测处（ＷＧＭＳ）收集,编辑和出版的全球冰川物质平衡序列资料,用序列平均滑动ｔ检验,探测了北半球２０ａ以上长序列３３条冰川的１０ａ尺度突变。结果表明,突变发生年代的区域特征与气候环流背景突变很相近。证实冰川年物质平衡序列反映气候背景突出的能力与灵敏性。     

Pb, Sr AND Nd-ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF PALEO AND NEO-TETHYAN OCEANIC CRUSTS IN THE EASTERN TETHYAN DOMAIN: IMPLICATION FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN-TYPE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE

Pb, Sr AND Nd-ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF PALEO AND NEO-TETHYAN OCEANIC CRUSTS IN THE EASTERN TETHYAN DOMAIN: IMPLICATION FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN-TYPE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE     

Oceanic evidence for the mechanism of rapid northern hemisphere glaciation

The oxygen isotopic stage 5/4 boundary in deep-sea sediments marks a prominent interval of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth that lasted about 10,000 yr. During much of this rapid ice growth, the North Atlantic Ocean from at least 40°N to 60°N maintained warm sea-surface temperatures, within 1° to 2°C of today's subpolar ocean. This oceanic warmth provided a local source of moisture for ice-sheet accretion on the adjacent continents. The unusually strong thermal gradient off the east coast of North America (an “interglacial” ocean alongside a “glacial” land mass) also should have directed low-pressure storms from warm southern latitudes north-ward toward the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In addition, minimal calving of ice into the North Atlantic occurred during most of the stage 5/4 transition, indicative of ice retention within the continents. Diminished summer and autumn insolation, a warm subpolar ocean, and minimal calving of ice are conducive to rapid and extensive episodes of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth.     

The last interglacial ocean

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.     

北极海冰与全球气候变化

最近有关北极海冰在全球气候系统中作用的研究发现，北冰洋边缘海域大洋深水的形成与海冰发育有关，海冰冻融过程对盐度层结具有重要影响，海冰变化可引起盐度突变层的灾变和热盐环流的突然停止，热盐环流的变化与北大西洋海冰１０年际变化相联系，北大西洋气候的不稳定性与热盐环流变化密切相关。北极海冰－海洋－大气间耦合作用，使北极海冰构成了北大西洋和全球气候反馈循环中的重要环节。     

太平洋中部富REY深海粘土的地球化学特征及REY富集机制

深海沉积物中的稀土资源是一种新发现的、潜在的海底稀土资源.对太平洋中部重力活塞取样获得的90个深海粘土样品的矿物组分、常量和稀土化学分析结果进行了系统分析,并与中北太平洋以及西北太平洋南鸟岛附近海域深海沉积物稀土元素地球化学特征进行了对比.研究结果表明:太平洋中部深海粘土以富含沸石、富P及富REY为特征,其碎屑矿物中含有较多的鱼牙骨,其P₂O₅与CaO之间、P₂O₅、CaO与∑REY之间呈良好的正相关关系;其稀土分布模式表现为明显的Ce负异常、一定程度的重稀土元素富集和Y正异常.太平洋中部深海粘土REY富集的主要原因是深海粘土中含有过量的磷酸盐组分,推测过量的磷酸盐组分是由于深海粘土中鱼牙骨碎屑的加入引起的.在北太平洋海域,未受到热液活动影响的条件下,富REY的深海沉积物的稀土元素富集机制具有统一性和普遍性,可以归纳为深海沉积物中高REY磷酸盐的混入作用.      

海洋二氧化碳的研究进展

海洋是一个巨大的碳库,具有潜在的缓冲大气CO2增加的能力,研究CO2在海洋中的转移和归宿,对于预测未来大气CO2含量乃至全球气候变化具有重要意义。综述了海洋CO2的研究现状,着重介绍海洋CO2的源与汇、海—气CO2通量的估算以及海洋环流、生物泵和海洋生态在海洋碳循环中的作用,并对该研究领域的发展趋势进行了总结。     

Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).     

Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds: Distribution, Lithostratigraphy and Paleoenvironments

Cretaceous oceanic red beds (CORBs) represented by red shales and marls, were deposited during the Cretaceous and early Paleocene, predominantly in the Tethyan realm, in lower slope and abyssal basin environments. Detailed studies of CORBs are rare; therefore, we compiled CORBs data from deep sea ocean drilling cores and outcrops of Cretaceous rocks subaerially exposed in southern Europe, northwestern Germany, Asia and New Zealand. In the Tethyan realm, CORBs mainly consist of reddish or pink shales, limestones and marlstones. By contrast, marlstones and chalks are rare in deep-ocean drilling cores. Upper Cretaceous marine sediments in cores from the Atlantic Ocean are predominantly various shades of brown, reddish brown, yellowish brown and pale brown in color. A few red, pink, yellow and orange Cretaceous sediments are also present. The commonest age of CORBs is early Campanian to Maastrichtian, with the onset mostly of oxic deposition often after Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs), during the early Aptian, late Albian-early Turonian and Campanian. This suggests an indicated and previously not recognized relationship between OAEs, black shales deposition and CORBs. CORBs even though globally distributed, are most common in the North Atlantic and Tethyan realms, in low to mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere; in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean in the mid to high latitudes of the southern hemisphere; and are less frequent in the central Pacific Ocean. Their widespread occurrence during the late Cretaceous might have been the result of establishing a connection for deep oceanic current circulation between the Pacific and the evolving connection between South and North Atlantic and changes in oceanic basins ventilation.     

Recent trends in sea surface temperature off Mexico

Changes in global mean sea surface temperature may have potential negative implications for natural and socioeconomic systems; however, measurements to predict trends in different regions have been limited and sometimes contradictory. In this study, an assessment of sea surface temperature change signals in the seas off Mexico is presented and compared to other regions and the world ocean, and to selected basin scale climatic indices of the North Pacific, the Atlantic and the tropical Pacific variability. We identified eight regions with different exposure to climate variability: In the Pacific, the west coast of the Baja California peninsula with mostly no trend, the Gulf of California with a modest cooling trend during the last 20 to 25 years, the oceanic area with the most intense recent cooling trend, the southern part showing an intense warming trend, and a band of no trend setting the boundary between North-Pacific and tropical-Pacific variability patterns; in the Atlantic, the northeast Gulf of Mexico shows cooling, while the western Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean have been warming for more than three decades. Potential interactions with fisheries and coastal sensitive ecosystems are discussed.     

北欧海深层水的研究进展简

As a connection region between North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, the Nordic Sea plays a critical role in global climate system. In the Nordic Seas, surface water converts into intermediate water and deep water after cooling and other effects. These waters transport southward, and enter into North Atlantic as a form of overflow, therefore, they are the main source of the North Atlantic Deep Water(NADW), which play a key role in global ocean conveyor. The causes and processes of the deep water formation in the Nordic Seas are still uncertain. Based on a review of current and historical research results of the deep water in the Nordic Seas, the most important process for deep water formation convection is addressed. Factors and physical processes that may have impact on deep water formation are summarized. The transport of deep water in the Nordic Seas is summed up. Multi year variation of the deep water is described with the aim of giving some instructions and research directions to the readers.     

Influence of anthropogenic combustion emissions on the deposition of soluble aerosol iron to the ocean: Empirical estimates for island sites in the North Atlantic

The results of several recent studies challenge the reigning paradigm that continental soil dust provides the only significant atmospheric source of dissolved iron to the surface ocean. This evidence includes correlations between the operational solubility of aerosol iron and atmospheric loadings of black carbon and aluminum-normalized vanadium and nickel, each of which are associated with emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel oil. These observations suggest that the relative solubility of aerosol iron, hence the eolian flux of soluble iron to the surface ocean, may be significantly impacted by anthropogenic oil combustion products. Using recent field data from the Bermuda region, we have developed an empirical method to estimate the solubility of aerosol iron using bulk aerosol concentrations of Fe, V and Al. We apply this method to a large body of published data from the AEROCE program for North Atlantic island sites on Tenerife, Barbados, Bermuda and Ireland, where the relative proportions of anthropogenic aerosols range from minor to major, respectively. Our aerosol iron solubility estimates suggest that anthropogenic emissions contribute approximately 70% and 85% of the annual dry deposition of soluble iron to the surface ocean near Bermuda and Ireland, respectively, implying that human activities have profoundly affected the iron budget of the North Atlantic region. The annual mean dry deposition of soluble iron at Barbados and Izana is dominated by soil dust. The anthropogenic contribution at these two sites ranges from 12% to 30% and is highly dependent on the soil dust solubility of Fe employed in the model. The low end (∼12%) estimate appears to be more representative of these high-dust sites.     

大洋热盐环流研究的一个焦点：北太平洋是否有深水形成

现代大洋热盐环流的特点之一是北大西洋有深水形成而北太平洋没有，这种不对称性对周边气候产生了重要影响。尽管理论上认为大洋热盐环流可能存在对应不同气候的多平衡态，但北太平洋是否曾有过深水形成已成为目前学术争论的一个热点。简要介绍了最新的热盐环流研究成果，重点分析现代北太平洋无深水形成的原因，其中亚洲季风的水汽输送和低蒸发是两个重要的影响因子。     

Active faulting at the Eurasian, North American and Pacific plates junction

The active faults known and inferred in the area where the major Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates come together group into two belts. One of them comprises the faults striking roughly parallel to the Pacific ocean margin. The extreme members of the belt are the longitudinal faults of islands arcs, in its oceanic flank, and the faults along the continental margins of marginal seas, in its continental flank. The available data show that all these faults move with some strike-slip component, which is always right-lateral. We suggest that characteristic right-lateral, either partially or dominantly, kinematics of the fault movements has its source in oblique convergence of the Pacific plate with continental Eurasian and North American plates. The second belt of active faults transverses the extreme northeast Asia as a continental extension of the active mid-Arctic spreading ridge. The two active fault belts do not cross but come close to each other at the northern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk marking thus the point where the Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates meet.