The D'Entrecasteaux Zone (Southwest Pacific). A petrological and geochronological reappraisal

The D'Entrecasteaux Zone (Southwest Pacific) is an arched submarine horst- and graben structure, which extends from the northern end of the New Caledonia ridge to the western border of the New Hebrides island arc. A review of the bathymetry, seismic-reflection data, paleomagnetism, gravimetry, seismology and DSDP data available for this area is combined with a study of basaltic samples dredged along the horsts of this regional fracture zone. These basalts show strong petrographic and chemical affinities with MORB. Their fissiontrack ages range between 56 Ma (Paleocene-Eocene boundary) and 36 Ma (Eocene-Oligocene boundary). It is suggested that the D'Entrecasteaux Zone represents the northern arcuate extension of the northeast-dipping Eocene subduction/obduction zone, located along the New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands ridge, while its present morphology appeared from post-obduction extensional movements, resulting in a progressive uplift of basaltic ocean floor since Middle Miocene times.     

Correspondence between the distribution of hydrodynamic time parameters and the distribution of biological and chemical variables in a semi-enclosed coral reef lagoon

Hydrodynamic modeling can be used to spatially characterize water renewal rates in coastal ecosystems. Using a hydrodynamic model implemented over the semi-enclosed Southwest coral lagoon of New Caledonia, a recent study computed the flushing lag as the minimum time required for a particle coming from outside the lagoon (open ocean) to reach a specific station [Jouon, A., Douillet, P., Ouillon, S., Fraunié, P., 2006. Calculations of hydrodynamic time parameters in a semi-opened coastal zone using a 3D hydrodynamic model. Continental Shelf Research 26, 1395–1415]. Local e-flushing time was calculated as the time requested to reach a local grid mesh concentration of 1/e from the precedent step. Here we present an attempt to connect physical forcing to biogeochemical functioning of this coastal ecosystem. An array of stations, located in the lagoonal channel as well as in several bays under anthropogenic influence, was sampled during three cruises. We then tested the statistical relationships between the distribution of flushing indices and those of biological and chemical variables. Among the variables tested, silicate, chlorophyll a and bacterial biomass production present the highest correlations with flushing indices. Correlations are higher with local e-flushing times than with flushing lags or the sum of these two indices. In the bays, these variables often deviate from the relationships determined in the main lagoon channel. In the three bays receiving significant riverine inputs, silicate is well above the regression line, whereas data from the bay receiving almost insignificant freshwater inputs generally fit the lagoon channel regressions. Moreover, in the three bays receiving important urban and industrial effluents, chlorophyll a and bacterial production of biomass generally display values exceeding the lagoon channel regression trends whereas in the bay under moderate anthropogenic influence values follow the regressions obtained in the lagoon channel. The South West lagoon of New Caledonia can hence be viewed as a coastal mesotrophic ecosystem that is flushed by oligotrophic oceanic waters which subsequently replace the lagoonal waters with water considerably impoverished in resources for microbial growth. This flushing was high enough during the periods of study to influence the distribution of phytoplankton biomass, bacterial production of biomass and silicate concentrations in the lagoon channel as well as in some of the bay areas.     

Biogeography of the deep-sea galatheid squat lobsters of the Pacific Ocean

We analyzed the distribution patterns of the galatheid squat lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) of the Pacific Ocean. We used the presence/absence data of 402 species along the continental slope and continental rise (200–2000 m) obtained from 54 cruises carried out in areas around the Philippines, Indonesia, Solomon, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia. The total number of stations was ca. 3200. We also used published data from other expeditions carried out in the Pacific waters, and from an exhaustive search of ca. 600 papers on the taxonomy and biogeography of Pacific species. We studied the existence of biogeographic provinces using multivariate analyses, and present data on latitudinal and longitudinal patterns of species richness, rate of endemism and the relationship between body sizes with the size of the geographic ranges. Latitudinal species richness along the Western and Eastern Pacific exhibited an increase from higher latitudes towards the Equator. Longitudinal species richness decreased considerably from the Western to the Central Pacific. Size frequency distribution for body size was strongly shifted toward small sizes and endemic species were significantly smaller than non-endemics. This study concludes that a clear separation exists between the moderately poor galatheid fauna of the Eastern Pacific and the rich Western and Central Pacific faunas. Our results also show that the highest numbers of squat lobsters are found in the Coral Sea (Solomon-Vanuatu-New Caledonia islands) and Indo-Malay-Philippines archipelago (IMPA). The distribution of endemism along the Pacific Ocean indicates that there are several major centres of diversity, e.g. Coral Sea, IMPA, New Zealand and French Polynesia. The high proportion of endemism in these areas suggests that they have evolved independently.     

A western boundary current east of New Caledonia: Observed characteristics

Waters from the South Equatorial Current (SEC), the northern branch of the South Pacific subtropical gyre, are a major supply of heat to the equatorial warm pool, and have an important contribution to climate variability and ENSO which motivated the Southwest Pacific Ocean and Climate Experiment (SPICE, CLIVAR/WCRP). Initially a broad westward current extending from the equator to 30°S, the SEC splits upon arriving at the major islands and archipelagoes of Fiji (18°S, 180°E), Vanuatu (16°S, 168°E), and New Caledonia (22°S, 165°E), resulting in a complex system of western boundary currents and zonal jets that feed the Coral and Solomon Seas. We focus here on the formation of one specific jet feeding the Coral Sea, the North Caledonian Jet (NCJ). Using a combination of recent oceanographic cruises, we describe the ocean circulation to the northeast of New Caledonia, where the SEC forms a western boundary current that ultimately becomes the NCJ. This current, which we document for the first time and propose to refer to as the East Caledonian Current (ECC), has its core located 10-100 km off the east coast of New Caledonia, and extends vertically to at least 1000 m depth. Water mass properties show continuous westward transports through the ECC, from the SEC to the NCJ in both the South Pacific Tropical Waters in the thermocline and Antarctic Intermediate Waters near 700 m depth. The ECC extends about 100 km horizontally; its average 0-1000 m transport was estimated at 14.5±3 Sv off the north tip of the New Caledonian reef, with a maximum of 20 Sv in May 2010. South of that the upstream branch of the ECC east of the Loyalty is close to 8 Sv suggesting an important additional contribution from central Pacific waters carried by the SEC at 16°S and diverted to our region through the western boundary current system east of Vanuatu.     

Structure of the Basin and Ridge System West of New Caledonia (Southwest Pacific): A Synthesis

Complementary to previous work mainly based on seismic interpretation, our compilation of geophysical data (multibeam bathymetry, gravity, magnetic and seismic) acquired within the framework of the ZoNéCo (ongoing since 1993) and FAUST (1998–2001) programs enables us to improve the knowledge of the New Caledonia Basin, Fairway Basin and Fairway Ridge, located within the Southwest Pacific region. The structural synthesis map obtained from geophysical data interpretation allows definition of the deep structure, nature and formation of the Fairway and New Caledonia Basins. Development of the Fairway Basin took place during the Late Cretaceous (95–65 Ma) by continental stretching. This perched basin forms the western margin of the New Caledonia Basin. A newly identified major SW–NE boundary fault zone separates northern NW–SE trending segments of the two basins from southern N–S trending segments. This crustal-scale fault lineament, that we interpret to be related to Cretaceous-early Cainozoic Tasman Sea spreading, separates the NW–SE thinned-continental and N–S oceanic segments of the New Caledonia Basin. We can thus propose the following pattern for the formation of the study area. The end of continental stretching within the Fairway and West Caledonia Basins ( 65–62 Ma) is interpreted as contemporaneous with the onset of emplacement of oceanic crust within the New Caledonia Basin’s central segment. Spreading occurred during the Paleocene (62–56 Ma), and isolated the Gondwanaland block to the west from the Norfolk block to the east. Finally, our geophysical synthesis enables us to extend the structural Fairway Basin down to the structural Taranaki Basin, with the structural New Caledonia Basin lying east of the Fairway Basin and ending further north than previously thought, within the Reinga Basin northwest of New Zealand.     

Assessing the sustainability of subsistence fisheries in the Pacific: The use of data on fish consumption

Coastal fisheries in Pacific island countries are characterised by a strong predominance of catches for subsistence purposes which involves mainly finfish and is difficult to quantify. In 1997–1998, a consumer survey conducted in the Northern Province of New Caledonia (Southwest Pacific Ocean) made it possible to indirectly estimate subsistence fishing production. Catch from subsistence fishing did not result in a significant change of the exploitation potential. The catch composition of subsistence fishing differed significantly from commercial fishing, with a higher proportion of species less vulnerable to exploitation. Interpretation of the consumer typology highlighted the importance of factors such as ethnic group and geographical location in explaining eating habits and therefore, indirectly, fishing behaviours. These results suggest that this fish consumption survey could assist in the design of subsistence fisheries monitoring programmes.     

JGOFS studies in the equatorial Pacific

This special issue is the third and final volume containing results from the JGOFS Process Study in the equatorial Pacific. Most of the Study in the equational Pacific. Most of the contributions evolved either from the US JGOFS workshop in 1994 on the equatorial Pacific in Scottsdale, AZ or from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on the Carbon Cycle of the Equatorial Pacific in 1995 in Noumea, New Caledonia.     

Hydrocarbon gas in sediment of the Southern Pacific Ocean

Methane, ethane, ethene, propane, and propene are common hydrocarbon gases in near-surface sediment from offshore areas in the southern Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Sea floor sites for sampling of sediment were selected on the basis of anomalies in marine seismic records, and the samples were intentionally biased toward finding possible thermogenic hydrocarbon gases. In none of the areas, however, were thermogenic hydrocarbons clearly identified. The hydrocarbon gases that were found appear to be mainly the products ofin situ microbial processes.     

Geochemical and hydrodynamic constraints on the distribution of trace metal concentrations in the lagoon of Nouméa, New Caledonia

Seawater samples were collected in the lagoon of Nouméa (southwest New Caledonia) along two transects from eutrophic coastal bays to the oligotrophic barrier reef. Land-based emissions to the lagoon were measured with dissolved and particulate concentrations of chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni), used as tracers of both terrigenous and industrial (Ni ore treatment) activities, as well as dissolved and particulate concentrations of zinc (Zn), used as a tracer of urban effluents. The spatial variability of metal concentrations was related to geochemical and hydrodynamic conditions, i.e., respectively: (1) natural and anthropogenic emission sources, and chemical processes occurring in the water column; and (2) water residence times. The parameter used to describe the residence time of water masses was the local e-flushing time, i.e. the time required for a tracer mass contained within a given station to be reduced by a factor 1/e. High metal concentrations were found in coastal areas (up to 9000 ng dissolved Ni L⁻¹), and steeply decreased with distance from the coast (down to 101 ng dissolved Ni L⁻¹ near the barrier reef) to reach levels similar to those found in remote Pacific waters, suggesting a rapid renewal of waters close to the barrier. Distributions of metals in the lagoon are controlled upstream by land-based emission sources and later chemical processes. Then hydrodynamics constrain metal distributions, as shown by the observed relationship between local e-flushing times and the spatial variability of metal concentrations. In addition, a change in the direction of prevailing winds yielded a decrease of dissolved metal concentrations at the same site by a factor of 2.5 (Cr and Ni) and 2.9 (Zn). It is suggested that the residence time is a key parameter in the control of elemental concentrations in the lagoon waters, as much as land-based emission sources.     

北太平洋大气沉降的时空特征及其对副极区海洋生态系统的影响

北太平洋副极地海区作为全球海洋三个高营养盐低叶绿素(high nutrient and low chlorophyll, HNLC)海区之一, 其浮游植物生长受到微量元素铁的限制。对于开阔大洋, 大气沉降是海洋表层铁的一个重要来源, 铁元素沉降进入海洋后能够促进浮游植物生长, 进而引起海洋初级生产力和生物泵的响应。本文利用SPRINTARS(Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species)模式的时长为20a的日均大气沉降数据, 对北太平洋海区大气沉降的时空特征进行了分析。结果表明, 进入北太平洋海区的大气沉降量为26.81Tg·a^-1, 并且存在显著的季节变化: 春季最高, 冬季最低, 5月份进入海洋的沉降量达到峰值。大气沉降主要来源于陆地区域, 在风场的驱动下向海洋传输, 因此大气沉降量的空间分布呈现出西高东低的特征。本文以2010年8月中旬卫星观测到的一次强沙尘(即高大气沉降量)事件为例, 研究了大气沙尘的传播路径。进一步结合2001年4月9—12日及2008年4月20—22日的沙尘事件, 分析了西北太平洋K2站位(47°N, 160°E)附近海域海洋初级生产力对大气沉降——沙尘事件的响应。结果表明, 三次沙尘事件后, K2站位的颗粒有机碳通量、叶绿素浓度均有明显增加, 即沙尘事件对北太平洋副极区海洋初级生产力存在促进作用。     

Petrography,petrology and tectonic implications of Mitre Island,northern Fiji Plateau

Mitre Island samples, Pliocene in age, can be classified together with Anuda samples, of unknown age, as island-arc basaltic andesites with tholeiitic tendencies. The presence of morphologically unusual iron—titanium oxides and of probably xenocrystic plagioclase suggest that at least part of the observed minerals crystallized in a magma chamber underlying the island. The samples apparently represent a mixture of magma fluid, cumulate plagioclase, pyroxene, and iron—titanium oxides which were ponded in a crater lava lake where they were reheated by subsequent eruptions. Many of them show symplectic magnetite formed by high-temperature oxidation of olivine. The morphological complexity and compositional homogeneity of the iron—titanium oxides cannot be explained at present.The presence of sulfide droplets inside olivine, magnetite and ilmenite crystals suggests a formation of an immiscible sulfide liquid in the magma chamber. Droplets of this liquid were overgrown by minerals crystallizing at that time and thus protected against oxidation during and after eruption.Mitre Island is a part of a currently inactive Vitiaz island arc associated in the past with a westward subduction of Pacific plate along the Vitiaz trench. Increased difficulty in subducting the large mass of the Pacific Border Plateau under the northern Fiji Plateau apparently produced counterclockwise rotation of the Vitiaz island arc. Oblique subduction was active until a steep angle was reached between the Vitiaz trench and the motion vector of the Pacific plate. Then a strike-slip fault developed in the Vitiaz trench and the subducted plate was sheared off. Recently the strike-slip zone migrated south from the Vitiaz trench across the northern Fiji Plateau and is presently extending from Aoba Island, in the New Hebrides, northeastward toward the Pacific Border Plateau.     

冲绳海槽黑色与白色浮岩特征及其对岩浆演化的指示

为了认识黑色与白色浮岩的岩石特征及成因,使用人工重砂、元素地球化学等分析技术,研究冲绳海槽两类浮岩中元素及矿物组成特征。研究显示,冲绳海槽黑色和白色浮岩具有相似全岩化学组成,都落入流纹岩区,稀土配分曲线明显呈右倾,具负Eu异常,富集不相容元素,岩石物理性质差别是导致其颜色差异的主要因素。两类浮岩岩石学特征的不同主要体现在:(1)白色浮岩锆石和辉石都具有两种类型,黑色浮岩仅具有其中一种;(2)黑色浮岩中发育钛铁矿、钛磁铁矿与基质构成的珠状构造,且基质玻璃中密集分布磁铁矿雏晶,而白色浮岩不具备上述岩石学特征。综合分析海槽两类浮岩岩石学特征所蕴含的岩浆演化信息,推测两类浮岩具有相同的玄武质岩浆源区,富挥发组分的玄武质母岩浆上升进入地壳,形成初级岩浆房,房内结晶分异后残留的酸性岩浆,沿海槽构造薄弱带向上运移,岩浆运移过程中有少部分进入分支断裂系统形成次级岩浆房,期间初级岩浆房接受多次基性岩浆注入;初级和次级岩浆房中的酸性岩浆分别独立喷出海底,前者形成白色浮岩,后者形成黑色浮岩。此外,演化过程中岩浆性质逐渐由氧化性向还原性转变。     

冲绳海槽火山岩地球化学特征及岩浆源区地幔性质探讨

冲绳海槽是因菲律宾海板块俯冲于欧亚板块之下,在陆壳上发育起来的一个初始的弧后盆地,是研究弧后扩张作用早期盆地演化、岩浆作用和壳幔过程的天然实验室.尽管迄今对冲绳海槽已经做了大量的调查研究工作,但仍存在一些颇有争议或亟待解决的科学问题,如:冲绳海槽酸性浮岩与基性玄武岩之间的成因联系,冲绳海槽不同区段构造背景对岩浆作用的控...     

Discoasters in Holocene sediments,Southwest Pacific Ocean

Discoasters occur commonly in Recent bottom sediments of the Southwest Pacific Ocean around New Zealand. In most samples they form less than one per cent of the total nannoplankton, but in two samples examined they are much more abundant, and include many species that have been reported as becoming extinct within the Tertiary Period. These discoasters are very well preserved and show no optically identifiable evidence of reworking. The only visible alteration consists of secondary deposits of calcite on the surfaces of some specimens in one sample only, possibly due to the particular physical and chemical conditions in the Recent sediments.     

冲绳海槽中部岩心沉积物中浮岩的物理性质和地球化学特征差异及其对岩浆活动的指示

为进一步了解冲绳海槽浮岩的物理性质和地球化学特征差异,对冲绳海槽中部岩心沉积物S9中的浮岩进行了微观结构和地球化学组成分析。结果显示,冲绳海槽中部存在白色、灰白色及棕色3种浮岩,其中灰白色浮岩又可以根据构造特征分为气孔构造和流动构造浮岩两个亚类。浮岩的地球化学组成表明白色、灰白色及棕色浮岩都是由玄武质岩浆经过充分的分离结晶作用形成的流纹质或流纹英安质火山岩。玄武质岩浆在演化的过程中发生了斜长石、角闪石、辉石、Fe-Ti氧化物、磷灰石等矿物的结晶分离。结合有孔虫14C年龄,认为浮岩是冲绳海槽中部距今13.1 ka左右的长英质火山活动的产物。演化程度相对较低的棕色浮岩具有比白色浮岩高的TiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, MgO, CaO含量,且棕色浮岩具有相对低的稀土总量和轻稀土总量。根据浮岩的物理性质及地球化学组成差异推测,岩浆的黏度和压力是影响浮岩构造特征的主要因素。黏度大、连续减压的岩浆易于形成具有流动构造和密集气孔的浮岩,黏度小、阶段性减压的岩浆易于形成气孔大而疏松的浮...     

Trace element bioaccumulation in reef fish from New Caledonia: Influence of trophic groups and risk assessment for consumers

Fourteen trace elements (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, and Zn) were analyzed in livers and muscles from 22 fish species from the New Caledonia lagoon, which is subjected to important chemical inputs due to intense land-based mining activities (New Caledonia is the third largest world producer of Ni). The results of this baseline research indicated that livers generally concentrated trace elements to a greater extent than muscles. Nevertheless, the overall trace element concentrations in both tissues were barely above the levels reported in fish and thus contamination at the local scale was poorly discriminated. Although these levels were low, preliminary risk assessment from a global health standpoint suggests that As would be an element potentially leading to exposure of concern for fish consumers. Based on the trace element concentrations in livers and the fish trophic preferences, some trends have been observed among trophic groups: Ag, Cu, Fe, Hg, and Zn concentrations were generally higher in liver of fish with the highest trophic position whereas Cd concentrations were lower in these groups. The use of the leopard coral grouper Plectropomus leopardus as a resident top predator allowed determining the geographical variations in contamination levels with significant differences for six out of the fourteen elements investigated. The sampling sites influenced by anthropogenic inputs were revealed by high Ag, Cd, Cu, Hg, and Pb concentrations. Such geographic differences also applied to Zn but surprisingly not for the typical elements associated with Ni mining, i.e., Co, Cr, Mn and Ni.     

Southwest Pacific subtropical mode water: A climatology

The large-scale distribution and changes in Southwest Pacific subtropical mode water (STMW) are investigated and discussed. The paper presents for the first time geographic maps showing the spatial distribution of STMW thicknesses, with a vertical temperature gradient <2.0 °C/100 m occupying the 14–20 °C range below the mixed layer depth, across the entire Southwest Pacific region. STMW changes in areal thickness extent, vertical cross-sectional area along selected transects, and total volume, are examined on seasonal and interannual time scales between 1973 and 1988.We find that STMW extends across the entire width of the Tasman Sea in a very broad swath between the Tropical Convergence in the north (just to the south of New Caledonia), the southeast Australian coast in the west to as far south as 39°S (likely due to the southward extension of the EAC), and eastwards along the Southern STMW boundary in a meandering pathway that broadly follows the Tasman Front. The total STMW volume across the region (i.e., west of 180°) varies seasonally by a factor of more than three between the estimated maximum of 6.6 (±0.5) × 10¹⁴ m³ in October and minimum of 1.9 (±0.4) × 10¹⁴ m³ in May. Interannual variations O (±0.5 × 10¹⁴ m³) are also observed in the spatial extent of the thick mode water and its total volume. El Niño composite maps show an anomalous thickening of the STMW during the El Niño year with October positive thickness anomalies in excess of +20 m (total volume anomaly of +0.6 × 10¹⁴ m³) manifested throughout the subtropical gyre interior as far north as New Caledonia. Total volume anomalies tend to be positive from January of the El Niño year through to the July following (18 months). The maximum correlation coefficient r = −0.3 between 3-monthly STMW volume anomalies and the Southern Oscillation index is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. We conclude that during the anomalous cooling of the upper Southwest Pacific Ocean in the El Niño year, winter-time convection and STMW formation is enhanced across the region resulting in an El Niño – Southern Oscillation climate signal that is identifiable below the mixed layer by the increased STMW volume which persists through to the following winter. Finally, some evidence for the possible decadal modulation of the STMW variability is also discussed.     

Wind wave measurements and modelling in a fetch-limited semi-enclosed lagoon

The south-west reef lagoon of New Caledonia is a semi-enclosed basin where, on first approximation, dominating sea state component corresponds to locally generated wind waves. This study aims to evaluate the ability of the wave model WAVEWATCH III to simulate wind wave distribution in this particular fetch-limited context, with a given parameterisation. In order to evaluate the consistency of the simulation results, wave parameters were measured in situ by a wave and tide recorder (WTR9 Aanderaa) and by an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV Sontek). This study underlines specific constrains for the deployment of instruments to assess the characteristic parameters of low amplitude and high frequency wind-waves. Special care was taken in the comparison step as, on one hand the wave model did not simulate the propagation of low-frequency oceanic waves inside the lagoon, and on the other hand the measured spectra bear an intrinsic limitation for high frequencies. The approximation of a sea state dominated by wind waves is verified on the study site. The accuracy of the simulation results is discussed with regards to the wind forcing applied to the model.     

The tropical brown alga Lobophora variegata as a bioindicator of mining contamination in the New Caledonia lagoon: a field transplantation study

Previous field and laboratory studies have identified the alga Lobophora variegata as a good candidate for biomonitoring metal contamination in the New Caledonia lagoon which is subjected to intensive and extensive metal inputs from land-based mining activities. The aim of this work was to further assess the bioindicative potential of this species by investigating, in the field, its bioaccumulation capacity for local key contaminants, i.e. Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn. Algae from clean and contaminated sites were cross-transplanted for a period of three months in order to determine the in situ uptake and depuration kinetics of the nine elements. Results indicate that algae transplanted to the contaminated site displayed a significant linear increase in concentration with time for Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn and Ni. In contrast, algae transplanted to the clean site did not show major depuration of these elements, except for Co. Overall, L. variegata showed a rapid temporal response in metal uptake, especially for the elements intensively released into the coastal environment of New Caledonia (viz., Co, Cr, Mn and Ni). This species appears therefore as an excellent bioindicator species of metal contamination in this area. Our results also provide background information necessary for using L. variegata under in situ experimental conditions so as to provide better quantitative information on ambient metal contamination levels. The wide distribution of L. variegata in tropical areas further enhances its potential as a bioindicator species of metal contamination in other tropical coastal environments.