Inclusion of ice cover in a storm surge model for the Beaufort Sea

Storm surges in the Beaufort Sea present a severe problem for navigation as well as for offshore oil drilling activities. Influence of ice cover on storm surges in the Beaufort Sea is examined making use of a numerical model as well as a set of observations.The automated shallow-water model of Henry has been modified to incorporate ice cover and is adapted to the Beaufort Sea. The leading edge of the permanent ice is calculated from the loci of identifiable points. Generalized similarity theory is employed to compute wind stresses. Simulations are made using model-predicted ice concentrations and observed ice concentrations. Ice motion is relatively small in units of model grid distance (approximately 18 km) during surges. Spherical effects are important and should be included in future adaptations of the model. Comparison of the computed surges with observed surges for eight different events showed reasonable agreement.     

Inclusion of ice cover in a storm surge model for the Beaufort Sea

Storm surges in the Beaufort Sea present a severe problem for navigation as well as for offshore oil drilling activities. Influence of ice cover on storm surges in the Beaufort Sea is examined making use of a numerical model as well as a set of observations. The automated shallow-water model of Henry has been modified to incorporate ice cover and is adapted to the Beaufort Sea. The leading edge of the permanent ice is calculated from the loci of identifiable points. Generalized similarity theory is employed to compute wind stresses. Simulations are made using model-predicted ice concentrations and observed ice concentrations. Ice motion is relatively small in units of model grid distance (approximately 18 km) during surges. Spherical effects are important and should be included in future adaptations of the model. Comparison of the computed surges with observed surges for eight different events showed reasonable agreement.     

Trace metals in sediments from the inner continental shelf of the western Beaufort Sea

Increased development and changing climate have enhanced global interest in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. Using a large, 3-yr data base, we have determined the distribution of trace metals in sediments from the inner shelf of the western Beaufort Sea. Metal concentrations in these sediments reflect pristine conditions, consistent with those for most coastal areas in the Arctic and with predictions based on average continental crust. Geographic variations in metal values are primarily related to sediment grainsize distribution. However, grain-size patterns are a complex function of several variables including source areas, ice and water movement, as well as physical and chemical weathering. Future identification of any metal contamination in Beaufort Sea sediments will be simplified by understanding the predictable natural patterns.     

Deltas: the fertile dustbins of the continents

Deltas and their associated deep-water submarine fans are the main repositories of sediment produced by continental erosion. The internal structure of prograding deltas is often complicated by changes in loci of deposition and changes in land-sea levels during their formation. The high water content and rapid deposition cause syn-sedimentary deformation. Deltas have been inhabited by man throughout history due to their rich surface resources. Ancient deltas are rich in hydrocarbons which are widely exploited. They are very sensitive to changes in the hinterland and today their existence is threatened by anthropogenic actions such as dam construction and sea-level changes.     

Food Web Structure of the Alaskan Nearshore Shelf and Estuarine Lagoons of the Beaufort Sea

The eastern Alaska Beaufort Sea coast is characterized by numerous shallow (2–5 m) estuarine lagoons, fed by streams and small rivers that drain northward from the Brooks Range through the arctic coastal plain, and bounded seaward by barrier islands and shoals. Millions of birds from six continents nest and forage during the summer period in this region using the river deltas, lagoons, and shoreline along with several species of anadromous and marine fish. We examined biogeochemical processes linking the benthic community to the overall food web structure of these poorly studied but pristine estuaries, which are largely covered by 1.8 m of ice for 10 months annually. In summer, these lagoons are relatively warm with brackish salinities (5–10°C, S = 10–25) compared to more open coastal waters (0–5°C, S > 27). The stable isotopic composition of organic materials in sediments (i.e., benthic particulate organic matter) and water column suspended particulate organic matter from both streams and lagoons are largely indistinguishable and reflect strong terrestrial contributions, based upon δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values (−25.6‰ to −27.4‰ and 1.4‰ to 3.3‰, respectively). By comparison, shifts toward more heavy isotope-enriched organic materials reflecting marine influence are observed on the adjacent coastal shelf (−24.8‰ to −25.4‰ and 3.4‰ to 5.3‰, respectively). The isotopic composition of lagoon fauna is consistent with a food web dominated by omnivorous detritovores strongly dependent on microbial processing of terrestrial sources of carbon. Biomagnification of ¹⁵N in benthic organisms indicate that the benthic food web in lagoons support up to four trophic levels, with carnivorous gastropod predators and benthic fishes (δ¹⁵N values up to 14.4‰) at the apex.     

The First Find of Goethite Crusts in the Sea of Japan

Doklady Earth Sciences - Ferruginous (goethite) mixed-type hydrothermal–hydrogenetic crusts, which were found in the Sea of Japan for the first time, are described. Compared to manganese...     

The First Colorimetric Characteristic of Bottom Sediments from the Chukchi Sea

Doklady Earth Sciences - The quantitative characteristics of the bottom sediment color of the Chukchi Sea is presented. The correlation relationships with the contents of grain-size fractions,...     

Characterisation of marine and lacustrine sediments in a drowned thermokarst embayment, Richards Island, Beaufort Sea, Canada

A multidisciplinary study was made of lakes and lagoons in a thermokarst embayment on Richards Island, Canadian Beaufort Sea, in order to investigate the response of the Mackenzie Delta shoreline to changing hydrological influences. Seismo-acoustic profiles made from an amphibious vehicle, combined with sediment core data, show that the deepest lakes contain up to 10 m of transparent or stratified silty mud overlying the Kittigazuit sand basement. Palynological and microfossil data from 21 surface samples allow delineation of freshwater, saltmarsh, tidal flat and subtidal assemblages. These modern reference data allow distinction of freshwater and marine facies in the cores and subsequent interpretation of geochemical content (carbon, ammonia, sulphate). Radiocarbon dates and ¹³⁷ Cs show that sedimentation rates have increased by an order of magnitude since drowning of the embayment during the past millennium, and that most of this sediment is from the Mackenzie River plume.     

Early Holocene sea level in the Canadian Beaufort Sea constrained by radiocarbon dates from a deep borehole in the Mackenzie Trough,Arctic Canada

Deglacial and Holocene relative sea level (RSL) in the Canadian Beaufort Sea was influenced by the timing and extent of glacial ice in the Mackenzie River corridor and adjacent coastal plains. Considerable evidence indicates extensive ice cover in this region of northwestern Canada during the Late Wisconsinan. However, no absolute ages exist to constrain maximum RSL lowering before the late Holocene (4.2–0 ka). In 1984, the Geological Survey of Canada drilled an 81.5‐m‐deep borehole in the western Mackenzie Trough at 45 m water depth (MTW01). The lower 52.5 m of the borehole was interpreted as a deltaic progradational sequence deposited during a period of rising sea level. The upper 29 m was described as foraminifer‐bearing marine sediments deposited after transgression of the site, when RSL rose above ~−74 m. Here, we present radiocarbon measurements from MTW01, acquired from benthic foraminifera, mollusc fragments and particulate organic carbon in the >63 μm fraction (POC_{>63 μm}) in an attempt to constrain the chronology of sediments within this borehole and date the timing of transgression. The deepest carbonate macrofossil was acquired from 8 m above the transgressive surface (equivalent to 21 m b.s.l.), where mollusc fragments returned a date of 9400 +180–260 cal. a BP (2σ). This provides the oldest constraint on Holocene sea‐level lowering in the region, and implies that transgression at this site occurred prior to the early Holocene. Ages obtained from the lower 52.5 m of the borehole are limited to POC_>63 μm samples. These indicate that progradational sediments were deposited rapidly after 24 820 +390–380 cal. a BP (2σ). Due to the incorporation of older reworked organic matter, the actual age of progradation is likely to be younger, occurring after Late Wisconsinan glacial ice retreated from the coast.     

应用顺磁性液体测量微小矿物比重和磁化系数的初步研究

一、前言 比重是矿物的一个重要物理常数。迄今为止,测量比重已有多种经典方法。但对于测量微小矿物比重及扩大比重测量范围,已有的方法已不能满足要求。为此,笔者利用六十年代后发展起来的磁流体新技术,利用对于仅在垂直方向上有梯度变化的磁场中,顺磁性液体具有“按比重分层的现象”这     

Holocene History of the Bering Sea Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) in Its Beaufort Sea Summer Grounds off Southwestern Victoria Island, Western Canadian Arctic

The fossil remains of 43 bowhead whales were mapped on the raised beaches of western Wollaston Peninsula, Victoria Island, Canadian Arctic, near the historic summer range limit of the Bering Sea stock in the Beaufort Sea. The elevations and radiocarbon ages of the remains demonstrate that the bowhead ranged commonly into the region following the submergence of Bering Strait at ca. 10,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. until ca. 8500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the same interval, bowheads ranged widely from the Beaufort Sea to Baffin Bay. Subsequently, no whales reached Wollaston Peninsula until ca. 1500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Late Holocene populations evidently were small, or occupations were brief, in comparison to those of the early Holocene. Although the late Holocene recurrence may relate to the expansion of pioneering Thule whalers eastward from Alaska, there are few Thule sites and limited evidence of Thule whaling in the area surveyed to support this suggestion.     

The permafrost regime in the Mackenzie Delta,Beaufort Sea region,N.W.T. and its significance to the reconstruction of the palaeoclimatic history

Observed depths to the base of the ice-bearing permafrost (!BPF) as determined from geophysical well-log and survey information in the Mackenzie Delta and offshore Beaufort Sea continental shelf show significant variation. Depths range from over 700m beneath the northeastern portion of Richards Island and the adjacent offshore region to the north, to less than 100m in the modern Mackenzie Delta and offshore Mackenzie Bay regions. Along the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, permafrost thicknesses exceed 600m but tend to thin to less than 100m in a southeasterly direction. The wide variation in the thickness and distribution of permafrost is due in part to differences in the subsurface deltaic lithologies and to the complexity of the past surface temperature history, exhibited, for example, by fluctuations of the mean annual ground temperature. Geological cross-sections showing variation in the Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous deltaic sequences indicate a good correlation with the permafrost distribution. In particular, where the sand and gravel units of the Iperk and Kugmallit Sequences predominate, permafrost is thick owing to the high thermal conductivities of the ice-rich sediments. Conversely, where the low thermal conductivity shales and mudstones of the Richards Sequence are present, permafrost is accordingly thinner. Numerical models of permafrost aggradation in the Mackenzie Delta region suggest that Early and Late Wisconsinan surface temperatures were of the order ?18°C. A mid-Wisconsinan rise in temperature to approximately ?8°C, similar to mean surface temperature today, is also indicated. This proposed palaeoclimate is sufficient to account for the observed maximum permafrost thicknesses in the region.     

First data on the Cenozoic section of the Bering Sea Chukchi Shelf

The first deep hole (Tsentral’naya-1) drilled on the Russian shelf of the Bering Sea in 2002 recovered the Cenozoic sedimentary section up to depths of 2785 m¹ This paper discusses results from the log, core, and slime study. The section is composed of Paleocene-Quaternary sediments. It comprises nine sequences (from the top downward): upper Miocene-Pliocene sandy-silty; middle-upper Miocene tuffaceous-diatomite, silty-sandy, shale-siltstone, and coquina-sandstone-siltstone; Eocene-lower Miocene coaliferous and sandstone-shale; Paleocene-lower Eocene volcano-sedimentary. These sequences are correlated with onshore stratigraphic units. The section includes three large unconformities: at the base of the Pliocene (depth of 380 m, base of the Aleksandrovka stratigraphic horizon), at the base of the middle Miocene (depth of 1390 m, base of the Avtakul Horizon), and, presumably, at the base of middle Eocene (depth of 1390 m, base of the Tanyurer Horizon). The last unconformity is accompanied by a kaolinite weathering crust. The section drilled into by Tsentral’naya-1 Hole shows common features for the Cenozoic sedimentary cover through the entire Anadyr basin, despite its significant facies variability.     

First documented deep submarine explosive eruptions at the Marsili Seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea,Italy): A case of historical volcanism in the Mediterranean Sea

The Marsili Seamount (MS) is an about 3200 m high volcanic complex measuring 70 × 30 km with the top at ~ 500 m b.s.l. MS is interpreted as the ridge of the 2 Ma old Marsili back-arc basin belonging to the Calabrian Arc–Ionian Sea subduction system (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). Previous studies indicate that the MS activity developed between 1 and 0.1 Ma through effusions of lava flows. Here, new stratigraphic, textural, geochemical, and ¹⁴C geochronological data from a 95 cm long gravity core (COR02) recovered at 839 m bsl in the MS central sector are presented. COR02 contains mud and two tephras consisting of 98 to 100 area% of volcanic ash. The thickness of the upper tephra (TEPH01) is 15 cm, and that of the lower tephra (TEPH02) is 60 cm. The tephras have poor to moderate sorting, loose to partly welded levels, and erosive contacts, which imply a short distance source of the pyroclastics. ¹⁴C dating on fossils above and below TEPH01 gives an age of 3 ka BP. Calculations of the sedimentation rates from the mud sediments above and between the tephras suggest that a formation of TEPH02 at 5 ka BP MS ashes has a high-K calcalkaline affinity with 53 wt.% < SiO₂ < 68 wt.%, and their composition overlaps that of the MS lava flows. The trace element pattern is consistent with fractional crystallization from a common, OIB-like basalt. The source area of ashes is the central sector of MS and not a subaerial volcano of the Campanian and/or Aeolian Quaternary volcanic districts. Submarine, explosive eruptions occurred at MS in historical times: this is the first evidence of explosive volcanic activity at a significant (500–800 m bsl) water depth in the Mediterranean Sea. MS is still active, the monitoring and an evaluation of the different types of hazards are highly recommended.     

The North Sea: co-ordinated sea use management

The purpose of this paper is to consider the sea use management in the North Sea with reference to the re-structuring of the global and European economies; the sectoral activities including maritime transport and strategic issues, fisheries and hydrocarbons, and environment-related industries including waste disposal, recreation, research and conservation. The rapidly developing role of information management and the role of GIS is discussed. An assessment is made of the role of organisations in international agreements, including in particular the new regional marine environment conventions forthe North East Atlantic and the Baltic, national coastal management initiatives, the NorthSea Ministerial Conferences and the European Union, with particular reference to the Common Fisheries Policy.     

多维动态GIS在海平面变化中的应用

随着空间对地观测技术的发展和集成,三维地理空间信息获取与更新的能力有了飞速的进步,海洋、环境等应用领域已逐步形成多维空间信息源。介绍了多维动态GIS的相关概念,多维数据、可视化在海平面变化中的研究现状,研究的主要方向等。我国沿海城市相对集中,人口密集,地势低洼,地面沉降严重,海平面上升给沿海城市和人民生活带来深远的影响。而多维动态GIS可以动态、可视化地演示海平面的变化,并对可能造成的危害进行预测和分析。因此,多维动态GIS对海平面上升变化过程的研究具有十分重要的意义。     

First Data on the Distribution of Rare-Earth Elements in Ferromanganese Deposits of the Laptev Sea

Doklady Earth Sciences - The distribution of rare-earth elements (REEs) in ferromanganese deposits (FMDs) from the southeastern Laptev Sea is considered. The ore part of FMDs consisting mainly of...     

The Monsoon in the Arabian Sea: Implications From Radiolarian Fluxes to the Deep Sea

THE MONSOON IN THE ARABIAN SEA:IMPLICATIONS FROM RADIOLARIAN FLUXES TO THE DEEP SEA