Morphologic investigation of “uncharted” seamount from central Indian basin revisited with multibeam sonar system

Morphology of a seamount at 12°35'E and 76°18.5’ and two abyssal hills in its vicinity is described using the Hydrosweep multibeam‐swath bathymetric system. The height of the seamount is 1350 m, and it occupies an area of 330 km². Its basal width is 22.5 km, and the mount has a gentle and longer western flank and a steep and shorter eastern flank. There is a characteristic terracelike feature on the western flank, about 300 m from the top. A caldera is also observed on top of the seamount. Slope angles in this area are high (over 35"). Results of morphologic studies of the seamount from the multibeam survey are comparable to those from a narrow‐beam echosounding survey. The origin of the seamount may be related to the presence of a fracture zone at 75°45'E.     

Structural lineations in the Canary basin,eastern central North Atlantic

A corridor 315 km wide centered along the southeast projection of the Atlantis fracture zone between 21°W and 29°W was investigated with seismic reflection, bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic profiles. Six sub-parallel, sediment-filled troughs in acoustic basement trend about 106° across the abyssal hills and lower continental rise off northwest Africa. Where the southernmost structural lineations cross the abyssal plain, they are interrupted by a ridge trending 080° surmounted by volcanic peaks.The structural lineations become less distinct landward of the western margin of the abyssal plain coincident with a decrease in topographic relief on acoustic basement and increasing sediment thickness. This transition is coincident with a reduction in the amplitude of gravity and magnetic anomalies.     

A near-bottom survey of lineated abyssal hills in the equatorial pacific

A 250 km² area of abyssal hills in the vicinity of 14°N, 126°W (between the Clarion and Clipperton Fracture Zones in the Equatorial Pacific) was surveyed in detail using an instrument package towed close to the deep sea floor, the MPL Deep Tow device. Both topography and near bottom magnetic field are lineated perpendicular to the major fracture zones. Except for a few localized depressions, the sediment surface is generally smooth and of low relief with maximum elevation differences of 200 m and slopes of six degrees. Several small graben-like troughs and depressions were observed, most of them near the crest of one abyssal hill. The largest trough is two kilometers long, 250 m wide and 50 m deep with steep sides (>30°). These troughs are tentatively interpreted as the result of tensional separation at the tops of the hills caused by down-slope creep and consolidation of the pelagic sediments.Contribution of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, new series.     

Mesozoic plate motions in the eastern central North Atlantic

A 1500 km long segment of a fracture zone exhibiting continuity of trend and offset with the Atlantis fracture zone (30°N) was mapped with bathymetric, seismic reflection, and magnetic profiles between the outer continental shelf and the abyssal hills off northwest Africa. The fracture zone segment occurs in crust of Mesozoic age dated tentatively by the identification of remanent magnetic anomalies.Lithospheric plate motions in a frame of reference fixed with respect to Africa are deduced along the fracture zone. During the Early and Middle Jurassic (? 180 to > 155 my) the plate motion was east-west described by a rotation of 10° about a pole located at 36° ± 2°N, 17.5 ± 1°W with respect to Africa. The location of this pole indicates that the opening of the Atlantic between North America and Africa was independent of the opening between North America and Europe with an intervening plate boundary in the position of the present Azores-Gibraltar ridge. The rotation changed to northwest-southeast during the Late Jurassic (> 155 to about 150 my), when the azimuth to the pole of plate rotation jumped about 20° of arc eastward from the azimuth to the prior pole. The northwest-southeast relative rotation continued during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (about 150 to about 100 my). The azimuth to the rotational pole appears to have migrated progressively westward toward the Cenozoic pole.     

Definition of the plate boundary along the East Pacific Rise off Mexico

Tectonic and volcanic activity along the East Pacific Rise near Lat. 21°N is generally restricted to a 3–4‐km‐wide area centered over the rise axis. The East Pacific Rise is a medium‐rate (60 mm/yr) spreading center characterized by modest (100–200 m) relief of hills and seapeaks across the crestal region that is typical for such spreading centers. Few tectonic features appear in an axial volcanic zone 600–1, 200 m wide characterized by fresh, glassy pillow basalt and little or no sediment cover. This volcanic terrain is commonly flanked by tectonic zones where older lavas are cut by numerous normal faults bounding horst and graben systems and open fissures; these tectonic zones are commonly of unequal width on each side of the central volcanic zone and locally may be absent on one side. Bottom photographs and visual observations from a manned submersible indicate that most faults and fissures in the tectonic zones are young. Farther than 2 or 3 km from the axial volcanic zone, recent tectonic activity appears limited to a few faults that bound linear abyssal hills with total offset, suggesting relatively minor extension, so that instrumentation to measure the rate of plate separation along the rise crest will have to span both the volcanic and tectonic zones. The total width of the active plate boundary is at least 20 km, although less than 10% of the separation of the oceanic plates is accounted for by fault displacement and open fissures observed in the tectonic zones and on adjacent rise flanks. The asymmetric widths of the extensional tectonic zones result from migration of the volcanic extrusive zone over time.     

Investigation of faulting and abyssal hill formation on the flanks of the East Pacific Rise (21°N) using ALVIN

A wealth of geologic information has been collected during studies of the Matuyama/Brunhes magnetic reversal boundary on the East Pacific Rise at 21°N. Five ALVIN and two CYANA dives, and a series of deep-tow traverses show that abyssal hills in this region of the Pacific are created near the spreading axis by inward dipping normal faulting and by back-tilting of these fault blocks. Outward dipping faults occur but are of less importance in the creation of relief. Tectonic disruption of the crust, particularly through tilting, is less pronounced than in the Atlantic. Small volcanoes approximately 50 m high and 400 m wide are common on the abyssal hills. A significant number of the volcanoes may have split apart at the spreading axis attesting to the narrowness of the crustal accretion zone on the East Pacific Rise. Active faulting is restricted to less than 10 to 12 km off-axis, although minor recent faulting may have been detected 23 km off-axis. Crustal sections exposed by faulting reveal that massive lava flows and sheet flows are common in the upper portion of oceanic layer two, but are less abundant than pillow lavas.     

Bathymetric influence on mean currents in two high-resolution near-global ocean models

The question of whether mean flow generation by eddies interacting with sloping bathymetry significantly influences World Ocean circulation is approached by examining output from two near-global circulation models, OFES and the LANL/NPS POP model, having ∼1/10° lateral resolution. In each of these vigorously eddying models, the mean currents over sloping bathymetry tend preferentially to align with the direction of topographic Rossby wave propagation, in accordance with theories of eddy-topographic interaction. This tendency, which is particularly strong near the ocean bottom and at abyssal depths, prevails both globally and within a variety of circulation regimes including the subpolar and subtropical gyres and the extra-equatorial tropics. By contrast, two coarser (∼1–2°), non-eddying models exhibit flow alignments throughout much of the abyssal ocean that are oppositely directed. This result suggests that eddies play an essential role in determining the direction of mean circulation over slopes, and that non-eddying models could benefit from a parameterization of this effect.     

Side-Scan Sonar Characteristics and Manganese Nodule Abundance in the Clarion—Clipperton Fracture Zones, NE Equatorial Pacific

The deep ocean floor between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones (NE equatorial Pacific) has the highest known manganese nodule abundance in the world oceans. A detailed analysis of MR1 (Mapping Researcher 1, 11-12 kHz) sonar images and free-fall grab data in the Korean manganese nodule field areas reveals a close relationship between side-scan sonar characteristics of the seafloor and manganese nodule abundance. Eight sonar facies are identified based on back-scattering intensity and distribution patterns. These sonar facies can be interpreted as (1) volcanic seamounts (facies I-1), (2) bounding faults of abyssal hills (facies I-2 and II-1), (3) lava flows or volcanoclastic mass-flow deposits around the volcanic seamounts (facies I-3 and II-2), (4) crests of abyssal hills (facies II-1), (5) abyssal troughs between abyssal hills (facies III-1), (6) relatively flat areas (facies II-3 and III-2). In the areas where facies II-1 (abyssal hill crests with thin sediment cover) and II-3 (relatively flat areas draped by thin sediments) are dominant, manganese nodules occur abundantly. In contrast, zones comprising facies III-1 (abyssal troughs with thick sediment cover) and III-2 (relatively flat areas covered by thick sediments) are characterized by low abundance of manganese nodules. This relationship between distribution of sonar facies and manganese nodule abundance implies that (1) the qualitative difference in acoustic reflectivity of long-range side-scan sonar with some ground truth data is useful for regional assessment of manganese nodule occurrence over wide areas in a reasonable time, and (2) seafloor topography and sediment thickness are important controlling factors for regional occurrences of manganese nodules.     

Antarctic bottom water flow in the western part of the Romanche Fracture Zone based on the measurements in October of 2011

The properties of the Antarctic Bottom Water flow in the region of its inflow to the channel of the Romanche Fracture Zone at 22°10′–22°30′ W are studied on the basis of CTD and LADCP profiling in the western part of the equatorial fracture zone. A deep water cataract was found at the sill over the southern wall of the fracture with a depth of approximately 4600 m, which is associated with the abyssal flow, whose potential temperature is lower than 1°C. The inflow of water into the channel of the fracture in this temperature range is fully localized over this sill. The minimum potential temperature θ recorded in 2011 near the bottom was equal to 0.51°C, which is lower approximately by 0.12°C than the minimum temperatures ever measured in the western part of the fracture. The water transport in the cataract was estimated at 0.2 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³/s), which is approximately 30% of the known estimates of the total transport of Antarctic Bottom Water (θ < 1.9°C) through the fracture. The extremely high intensity of the cross isothermal mixing in the cataract region was found. The analysis of the bottom topography data, including the historical WOD09 dataset, shows that the inflow of water with 1.00° < θ < 1.70°C into the channel of the fracture is most likely fully localized in a few passages in the region of the survey in 2011, while the water exchange with the abyssal waters with θ > 1.70°C through the Romanche Fracture Zone between the West and East Atlantic can also occur through the depressions in the southern and northern walls of the fracture in the region of the Vema Deep.     

Transport of Antarctic Bottom Water through passages in the East Azores Ridge (37° N) in the East Atlantic

The structure of northerly overflow of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) through passages in the East Azores Ridge (37° N) in the East Atlantic from the Madeira Basin to the Iberian Basin is studied on the basis of hydrographic measurements carried out by the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in October 2011, historical World Ocean Data Base 2009, and recent data on the bottom topography. The overflow of the coldest layers of this water occurs through two passages with close depths at 16° W (Discovery Gap) and at 19°30′ W (nameless Western Gap). It is shown that it is likely that the role of the latter passage in water transport was underestimated in earlier publications because the water (2.01°C) found in the region north of the Western Gap was cooler than in the region north of the Discovery Gap (2.03°C). In 2011, we found a decrease of 0.01°C in the AABW temperature near the bottom compared to previous measurements in 1982 (from 2.011°C to 2.002°C). Analysis of the historical database shows that this decrease is most likely caused by the cooling trend in the abyssal waters in the East Atlantic basins.     

Side-Scan Sonar Characteristics and Manganese Nodule Abundance in the Clarion—Clipperton Fracture Zones,NE Equatorial Pacific

The deep ocean floor between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones (NE equatorial Pacific) has the highest known manganese nodule abundance in the world oceans. A detailed analysis of MR1 (Mapping Researcher 1, 11–12?kHz) sonar images and free-fall grab data in the Korean manganese nodule field areas reveals a close relationship between side-scan sonar characteristics of the seafloor and manganese nodule abundance. Eight sonar facies are identified based on back-scattering intensity and distribution patterns. These sonar facies can be interpreted as (1) volcanic seamounts (facies I-1), (2) bounding faults of abyssal hills (facies I-2 and II-1), (3) lava flows or volcanoclastic mass-flow deposits around the volcanic seamounts (facies I-3 and II-2), (4) crests of abyssal hills (facies II-1), (5) abyssal troughs between abyssal hills (facies III-1), (6) relatively flat areas (facies II-3 and III-2). In the areas where facies II-1 (abyssal hill crests with thin sediment cover) and II-3 (relatively flat areas draped by thin sediments) are dominant, manganese nodules occur abundantly. In contrast, zones comprising facies III-1 (abyssal troughs with thick sediment cover) and III-2 (relatively flat areas covered by thick sediments) are characterized by low abundance of manganese nodules. This relationship between distribution of sonar facies and manganese nodule abundance implies that (1) the qualitative difference in acoustic reflectivity of long-range side-scan sonar with some ground truth data is useful for regional assessment of manganese nodule occurrence over wide areas in a reasonable time, and (2) seafloor topography and sediment thickness are important controlling factors for regional occurrences of manganese nodules.     

静水压力变化对NTC热敏电阻器电学特性影响

负温度系数(negative temperature coefficient,NTC)热敏电阻器由于在窄温区内具有极高的灵敏度,在海洋领域中有着广泛的应用,但深海应用中固有的高静水压力,对器件的测温准确度造成不利影响。为了更好地认识这种现象,以珠状NTC热敏电阻器为研究对象,利用海洋环境高压模拟装置,开展了静水压力作用对器件电学特性影响的研究,固定环境温度25℃和0℃,压力范围0~60 MPa,步长5 MPa。结果显示,随着静水压力的增大,NTC热敏电阻器的电阻值减小;环境温度25℃和0℃时,5~60 MPa的静水压力造成的漂移分别为-0.11%~-2.81%、-0.19%~-2.78%,等效于温度漂移分别为0.024~0.624℃、0.036~0.535℃。这为热敏电阻器在深海温度准确测量的提升提供了指引,有利于在海洋测温领域中更好的应用。     

Optimum sampling interval for evaluating ferromanganese nodule resources in the central Indian Ocean

A study to estimate manganese nodule abundance (weight of nodules in kg/m²) was carried out in a small area of the abyssal plains covering a one-degree square block in the central Indian Basin. Abundance was assessed at various intervals by progressively reducing the grid spacing. Sampling the corners of the 1° survey block (approximately110-km spacing), i.e., four stations with 5-7 free-fall operations (sampling locations) in each case, indicated a nodule abundance of 3.50 kg/m². By reducing the sampling spacing to four grid units (0.5° survey blocks) and sampling the entire block at eight stations (25 locations), the average abundance of the block was 3.36 kg/m². Further reduction of the grid to 0.25° survey blocks and sampling in 16 grid units (70 sampling locations) increased the abundance to 4.41 kg/m². For 64 grid units in the one-degree block (sampling in 0.125° survey blocks), a substantially higher value was recorded, i.e., 5.31 kg/m² or about 1.5 times the abundance obtained at a 1° spacing. Adding 25 more stations in 0.0625° survey blocks (intervals of sampling locations approximately 500 m) resulted in a negligible change in abundance, the average value of the one-degree block being 5.23 kg/m². These data demonstrate that, for estimating nodule resources in the region, it is important to adopt a close-grid sampling strategy, so that areas with lower abundance can be relinquished and areas with higher abundance can be confidently identified. To ascertain exact nodule abundance for mine-track selection, it may be sufficient to restrict detailed grid surveys to areas with marked variations in topography and nodule abundance, rather than carrying out such detailed (albeit less cost effective) surveys at a very narrow spacing (0.0625°) over the entire pioneer area.     

春季黄海浮游植物生态分区:物种组成

Phytoplanktonic ecological provinces of the Yellow Sea(31.20°–39.23°N, 121.00°–125.16°E) is derived in terms of species composition and hydrological factors(temperature and salinity). 173 samples were collected from 40 stations from April 28 to May 18, 2014, and a total of 185 phytoplanktonic algal species belonging to 81 genera of 7phyla were identified by Uterm?hl method. Phytoplankton abundance in surface waters is concentrated in the west coast of Korean Peninsula and Korea Bay, and communities in those areas are mainly composed of diatoms and cyanobacteria with dominant species of Cylindrotheca closterium, Synechocystis pevalekii, Chroomonas acuta,Paralia sulcata, Thalassiosira pacifica and Karenia mikimotoi, etc. The first ten dominant species of the investigation area are analyzed by multidimensional scaling(MDS) and cluster analysis, then the Yellow Sea is divided into five provinces from Province I(P-I) to Province V(P-V). P-I includes the coastal areas near southern Liaodong Peninsula, with phytoplankton abundance of 35 420×10~3–36 163×10~3 cells/L and an average of 35 791×10~3 cells/L, and 99.84% of biomass is contributed by cyanobacteria. P-II is from Shandong Peninsula to Subei coastal area. Phytoplankton abundance is in a range of 2×10~3–48×10~3 cells/L with an average of 24×10~3cells/L, and 63.69% of biomass is contributed by diatoms. P-III represents the Changjiang(Yangtze River) Diluted Water. Phytoplankton abundance is 10×10~3–37×10~3 cells/L with an average of 24×10~3 cells/L, and 73.14% of biomass is contributed by diatoms. P-IV represents the area affected by the Yellow Sea Warm Current.Phytoplankton abundance ranges from 6×10~3 to 82×10~3 cells/L with an average of 28×10~3 cells/L, and 64.17% of biomass is contributed by diatoms. P-V represents the cold water mass of northern Yellow Sea. Phytoplankton abundance is in a range of 41×10~3–8 912×10~3 cells/L with an average of 1 763×10~3 cells/L, and 89.96% of biomass is contributed by diatoms. Overall, structures of phytoplankton community in spring are quite heterogeneous in different provinces. Canonical correspondence analysis(CCA) result illustrates the relationship between dominant species and environmental factors, and demonstrates that the main environmental factors that affect phytoplankton distribution are nitrate, temperature and salinity.     

Deep Crustal Structure of the Continental Margin off the Explora Escarpment and in the Lazarev Sea, East Antarctica

This study presents the results of a seismic refraction experiment that was carried out off Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) along the Explora Escarpment (14° W–12° W) and close to Astrid Ridge (6°E). Oceanic crust of about 10 km thickness is observed northwest of the Explora Escarpment. Stretched continental crust, observed southeast of the escarpment, is most likely intruded by volcanic material at all crustal levels. Seismic velocities of 7.0–7.4 km/s are modelled for the lower crust. The northern boundary of this high velocity body coincides approximately with the Explora Escarpment. The upper crystalline crust is overlain by a 4-km thick and 70-km wide wedge of volcanic material: the Explora Wedge. Seismic velocities for the oceanic crust north of the Explora Escarpment are in good agreement with global studies. The oceanic crust in the region of the Lazarev Sea is also up to 10-km thick. The lower crystalline crust shows seismic velocities of up to 7.4 km/s. This, together with the larger crustal thickness might point to higher mantle temperatures during the formation of the oceanic crust. The more southerly rifted continental crust is up to 25-km thick, and also has seismic velocities of 7.4 km/s in the lower crystalline crust. This section is interpreted to consist of stretched continental crust, which is heavily intruded by volcanic material up to approximately 8-km depth. Multichannel seismic data indicate that, in this region, two volcanic wedges are present. The wedges are interpreted to have evolved during different time/rift periods. The wedges have a total width of at least 180 km in the Lazarev Sea. Our results support previous findings that the continental margin off Dronning Maud Land between ≈2°E and ≈13°E had a complex and long-lived rift history. Both continental margins can be classified as rifted volcanic continental margins that were formed during break-up of Gondwana.     

Thermohaline structure of abyssal and near-bottom waters of the Black Sea

The paper considers the thermohaline structure of Black Sea abyssal and near-bottom waters on the basis of exact measurements recorded in recent years under the HYDROBLACK and COMSBLACK international projects. The surface water mass (along with the cold mixed layer), the intermediate, abyssal, and near-bottom masses are identified. The upper boundary of deep waters is defined as a depth level where the density ratio decreases down to 0.1 This depth roughly corresponds to the 900–1100 m depth levels. Furthermore, the paper provides potential temperature and salinily values in the near-bottom layer, with an error of, respectively, 0.002°C and 0.002‰, at most. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Submarine-fan facies associations of the Eocene Butano Sandstone,Santa Cruz mountains,California

The Eocene Butano Sandstone was deposited as a submarine fan in a relatively small, partly restricted basin in a borderland setting. It is possibly as thick as 3000 m and was derived from erosion of nearly Mesozoic granitic and older metamorphic rocks located to the south. Deposition was at lower bathyal to abyssal water depths. The original fan may have been 120-to 160-km long and 80-km wide. Outcrops of submarine-canyon, innerfan, middle-fan, and outer-fan facies associations indicate that the depositional model of Mutti and Ricci Lucchi can be used to describe the Butano Sandstone.     

Simulation of the quasi-biennial oscillations of the zonal wind in the equatorial stratosphere: Part II. Atmospheric general circulation models

The problem of simulating quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs) of zonal velocity in the equatorial stratosphere in atmospheric general circulation models is considered. In accordance with the results from Part I of this study on the basis of the models developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS), the possibility of implementing (in these models) mechanisms of QBO excitation through both the interaction of planetary waves with the mean flow and breaking of short gravity waves is investigated. A new high-resolution 2° × 2.5° × 80 version of the INM RAS model is designed, a climate simulation with the two 2° × 2.5° × 39 and 2° × 2.5° × 80 versions of the INM RAS model is briefly described, results of spectral analysis of equatorial wave activity are presented, and the QBO formation processes in these models are considered in detail. For the new 2° × 2.5° × 80 model, realistic QBOs of zonal wind are obtained as the result of the action of both mechanisms.     

Thickness of the mixed bottom layer in the Northern Atlantic

The thickness of the mixed bottom boundary layer (BBL) has been analyzed based on the CTD data at transoceanic sections in abyssal waters of the Northern Atlantic. The measurements were carried out at two transoceanic sections approximately along 48° N (ASV-99) and 5° N (AI-2000) in 1999 and 2000. These data, and the WOCE data obtained at four zonal sections (AR7E and AR12 along 57° N, AR01 along 24.5° S, and A06 along 7.5° N), were used for the calculation of the statistical characteristics of the BBL??s thickness H _B . The probability distribution function F(H _B ) was close to lognormal. The mean value ??H _B ?? at different latitudes was in the range from 30 to 60 m. The averaged BBL thickness = 46.1 m. The BBL??s thickness was about 1% of the ocean??s depth D; the ratio H _B /D was the minimum (0.8%) near the equator and increased up to 1.6% in the polar latitudes.     

Submarine-fan facies associations of the Eocene Butano Sandstone, Santa Cruz mountains, California

The Eocene Butano Sandstone was deposited as a submarine fan in a relatively small, partly restricted basin in a borderland setting. It is possibly as thick as 3000 m and was derived from erosion of nearly Mesozoic granitic and older metamorphic rocks located to the south. Deposition was at lower bathyal to abyssal water depths. The original fan may have been 120-to 160-km long and 80-km wide. Outcrops of submarine-canyon, innerfan, middle-fan, and outer-fan facies associations indicate that the depositional model of Mutti and Ricci Lucchi can be used to describe the Butano Sandstone. Margin setting represents fan and/or source area