Caspian Sea Level Fluctuations in the Neopleistocene (Was There an Atelian Regression?)

The article deals with deposits exposed in sections along the rivers of the Caspian lowland and on the eastern slope of the Ergenei. The conclusion is made about the lagoonal origin of chocolate clays lying on high-capacity subaerial and alluvial–deltaic deposits. The impact of the Caspian Sea level rise on coastal processes is examined. Taking into account the regularities in the behavior of the coastal zone during sea level rise, subaerial deposits with such thickness in the outcrops could not have been preserved during the early Khvalynian transgression from –100 m. Another curve of Caspian Sea level fluctuations is proposed, where there is no deep Atelian regression between the Khazarian and Khvalynian transgressions. It is concluded that the Khazarian transgression was one of the largest in the history of the Caspian Sea. Its level was slightly less than that of the Khvalynian transgression. The rise of the level of the latter began not from –100 m, but from about 5–15 m; i.e., this transgression was in fact an oscillation of the Caspian Sea against its gradual regression after the Khazarian transgression. Sea level oscillations contributed to the formation of lagoonal-transgressive terraces, in which chocolate clays accumulated.

     

Age of Khvalynian transgressions in the Caspian Sea region

As follows from a geomorphologic analysis of the Khvalynian sediments in the North Caspian region, radiocarbon dating of their molluskan and plant remains provided more or less reliable age estimates, according to which the Khvalynian transgression occurred approximately 11–20 ka B.P. This value corresponds, however, to the terminal transgressive-regressive phase of the latter, i.e., rather to the Late Khalynian transgression than to its Early Khvalynian peak. It is inferred that the high terraces that formed during the maximal Early Khvalynian transgression are unambiguously older, being 70 to 40 ka in age.     

A comparative analysis of the Harpacticoida (Copepoda) faunas from the northern and southern seas of Russia

Based on extensive voluminous literary data, a comparison of the Harpacticoida faunas of the Black Sea; the Sea of Azov; and the Caspian, Baltic, Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, and East Siberian seas, as well as of the Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land areas, was performed. The degree of community and specificity of the faunas of different regions was estimated and the general patterns of the latitudinal variability in the species compositions were revealed. It is shown that the Harpacticoida faunas of geographically separated areas and even those isolated from each other such as those of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Caspian Sea are rather similar; an hypothesis is put forward that this is caused by the common history of the seas’ formation. In contrast, the faunas of the Arctic seas (Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, and East Siberian), whose water areas are closely connected, are considerably different, being related to their different temperature conditions.     

Dependence of the types of coasts and coastal eolian relief on the variations of the sea level using the example of the Caspian Sea

In this work, the history of the development of the Turali area (the Dagestan coast of the Caspian Sea) in the Late Holocene is under consideration. The analysis of the geological structure of the bay bar that separates the Bolshoy Turali lagoon from the sea, the granulometric analysis of the coastal deposits, and the data of geo-radar profiles make it possible to assert that the large eolian relief forms were formed during the New Caspian (Novokaspiyskoe) transgression of the Caspian Sea.     

Reproduction of Interannual Variability of the Caspian Sea Level in a High-Resolution Hydrodynamic Model

An eddy-resolving model of the thermohydrodynamics of the Caspian Sea is presented. The model reproduces the climatic (decadal) variability of the sea level. Numerical experiments were performed to reconstruct the sea circulation and the evolution of its level in the second half of the 20th century. We also investigate how variations in some natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the Caspian Sea water balance impact the long-term trends of its level.     

Postglacial floodings of the Marmara Sea: molluscs and sediments tell the story

The early Holocene marine flooding of the Black Sea has been the subject of intense scientific debate since the “Noah’s Flood” hypothesis was proposed in the late 1990s. The chronology of the flooding is not straightforward because the connection between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea involves the intermediate Marmara Sea Basin via two sills (Dardanelles and Bosphorus). This study explores the chronology of late Pleistocene–Holocene flooding by examining sedimentary facies and molluscs from 24 gravity cores spanning shelf to slope settings in the southern Marmara Sea Basin. A late Pleistocene Ponto-Caspian (Neoeuxinian) mollusc association is found in 12 of the cores, comprising 14 mollusc species and dominated by brackish (oligohaline–lower mesohaline) endemic taxa (dreissenids, hydrobiids). The Neoeuxinian association is replaced by a Turritella–Corbula association at the onset of the Holocene. The latter is dominated by marine species, several of which are known to thrive under dysoxic conditions in muddy bottoms. This association is common in early Holocene intervals as well as sapropel intervals in younger Holocene strata. It is an indicator of low-salinity outflows from the Black Sea into the Marmara Sea that drive stratification. A marine Mediterranean association (87 species) represents both soft bottom and hard substrate faunas that lived in well-ventilated conditions and upper mesohaline–polyhaline salinities (ca. 25 psu). Shallower areas were occupied by hard substrate taxa and phytopdetritic communities, whereas deeper areas had soft bottom faunas. The middle shelf part of the northern Gemlik Gulf has intervals with irregular and discontinuous sedimentary structures admixed with worn Neoeuxinian and euryhaline Mediterranean faunas. These intervals represent reworking events (slumping) likely related to seismic activity rooted in the North Anatolian Fault system. The core data and faunas indicate an oscillating postglacial sea-level rise and phases of increased/decreased ventilation in the Marmara Sea during the Holocene, as well as palaeobiogeographic reorganisations of Ponto-Caspian and Mediterranean water bodies since the latest Pleistocene (<30 ka). The findings contribute to arguments against a single catastrophic flooding of the Black Sea at about 7.5 ka (Noah’s Flood).     

辽西六股河口附近砂积体与全新世海水入侵趋势的探讨

本文根据我们的调查和前人的工作,对六股河口附近砂积体加以记述,进而探讨辽西沿岸全新世海水入侵趋势。 一、区域概况 六股河口位于绥中和兴城县交界处(图2),发源于松岭山脉,主流长110公里,流域面积为3000平方公里。多年平均最大径流量为16.67     

Tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea

Long-term hourly data from 12 tide gauge stations were used to examine the character of tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea. Diurnal and semidiurnal tidal peaks are well-defined in sea level spectra in the Middle and South Caspian basins. High-resolution spectral analysis revealed that the diurnal sea level oscillations in the Middle Caspian Basin have a gravitational origin, while those in the South Caspian Basin are mainly caused by radiational effects: the amplitude of diurnal radiational harmonic S₁ is much higher than those of gravitational harmonics О₁, P₁, and K₁. In the North Caspian Basin, there are no gravitational tides and only weak radiational tides are observed. A semidiurnal type of tide is predominant in the Middle and South Caspian basins. Harmonic analysis of the tides for individual annual series with subsequent vector averaging over the entire observational period was applied to estimate the mean amplitudes and phases of major tidal constituents. The amplitude of the M₂ harmonic reaches 5.4 cm in the South Caspian Basin (at Aladga). A maximum tidal range of 21 cm was found at the Aladga station in the southeastern part of the Caspian Sea, whereas the tidal range in the western part of the South Caspian Basin varies from 5 to 10 cm.     

Issues of the Holocene transgression on the southern plain of the Changjiang Delta

The paper deals with the question of Holocene transgression on the southern plain of the Changjiang Delta.At the beginning of the transgression, the paleovalleys of the Changjiang and Qiantang Rivers were covered by sea water at first.The shoreline of 8000-7500 yr BP coincided with the -7m isobath of paleotopography. Sea level had already been the present level about 7000-6500 years ago, and the Holocene transgression reached its maximum extent. During the period, the Changjiang and Qiantang Rivers and the Dongtiaoxi valley were turned into estuaries; the eastern area of Shanghai became a shallow sea; some of the bays and lagoons were distributed on the Hang-Jia-Hu and Tao-Ge Plain; the hilly region around the Taihu Lake was coastal marsh and freshwater swamp. Gangshen on the west of Shanghai was formed 7000-4000 yr BP, and during the last 4000 years, the eastern coastal plain of Shanghai advanced quickly toward the sea, and partial clear land of the western Taihu Lake was enclosed and charged into a fre     

福建沿岸晚更新世末次海侵及其海平面的变化

本文根据3个钻孔岩芯的~(14)C测年数据和微体古生物硅藻的分析结果,对福建沿岸晚更新世末次海侵及其海平面的变化进行了讨论。结果表明,福建沿岸晚更新。世的末次海侵约发生于44000—22000年B.P.间,海水表现为间歇性侵进形式,其中约在39000—34000年B.P.间曾发生一次海水退却。海平面的升降变化与这种海水入侵趋势基本上是一致的,当时的最高海面约出现在30000年B.P.,高度约达—15m。     

两种陆面方案对陆雾与海雾模拟效果的对比研究

利用WRF(Weather Research and Forecasting)模式,针对1次陆雾与1次同时包含近海雾区与开阔海域雾区的海雾个例,开展了2种陆面方案——SLAB(five-layer thermal diffusion scheme)方案与Noah(Noah land surface scheme)方案—...     

中国东海和南黄海沿海平原MIS 3晚期海侵层的动力模拟研究

Abundant evidences of higher sea levels from Jiangsu and Fujian coasts have proved a marine transgression event during 30–40 ka BP, suggesting that there was a stage with high sea level and a warm climate when ice sheets shrank in the Northern Hemisphere. The duration of 30–40 ka BP spanned a period in the late Marine Isotope Stage 3(MIS 3) and was in nature an interstadial epoch during the Last Glacial period of the Quaternary. Different from the glacial period with a cold climate, this marine transgression considered as a penultimate higher sea level during the Quaternary remains a puzzle that why the evidence is contrary to the Quaternary glacial theory. It is important to understand sea level rise for these areas sensitively responding to the global changes in the future. To recognize the key issues on sea level changes, the eustatic sea level(H_S) was defined as the glaciation-climateforced sea levels, and the relative sea level change(H_R) was defined as that a sea level record was preserved in sediment that experienced multiple secondary actions of land and sea effects. On the basis as defined above, we constructed multi-level models of climate-driven glacio-eustatic changes and land-sea systems. By integrating data sets from eight borehole cores and prescribing the boundary conditions, we simulated the changes of HS and HR in the East China Sea and southern Yellow Sea areas in the late MIS 3. The marine transgression strata from the borehole core data was identified at ca. 30 m below present sea level as a result of the collective influence of ice melting water, neotectonic subsidence, sediment compaction and terrestrial sediment filling since ca. 35 ka ago,whereas the simulated relative sea-levels turned out to be –26.3––29.9 m a.s.l. The small error involved in the simulation results of ±(2.5–4.5) m demonstrated the credibility of the results. Our results indicated that sea level change in the late MIS 3 was dominated by glacial effects, in which the eustatic sea-level was between –19.2––22.1m a.s.l. The study sheds light on the nature of sea-level changes along the east coast of China in the late MIS 3 and contributes to understanding the characteristics of marine transgression under the effects of multiple complex land-sea interactions.     

The Caspian Sea shelf during the pleistocene regressive epochs

During the Pleistocene regressive epochs, the Caspian Sea shelf became entirely (the Atel and Mangyshlak regressions) or partly (the Cheleken and Enotaevka regressions) exposed, which was accompanied by a change in the relief formation and sedimentation settings in the drained areas. The adjacent offshore areas were subjected to the transformation of the seawater salt composition, the temperature regime, and the biotic communities. The sea level falls during the Caspian Sea regressions were accompanied by large-scale environmental changes: the desiccation of spacious sea bottom areas, transformations of the landscapes and the relief formation and sedimentation settings, alterations of the seawater??s salt composition in the offshore areas, and the transformation of the biotic communities. The largest regressions were characteristic of the Tyurkyan, Bakuan-Khazarian, Khazarian-Khvalynian (Atel), and post-Khvalynian epochs. The shelf became entirely exposed (234 000 km²) during the maximal Atel and Mangyshlak regressions. During the Cheleken and Enotaevka regressions, the shelf was half drained. The epochs when the Caspian shelf was entirely exposed were marked by different climatic events in the Caspian Sea region and the adjacent glacier-affected areas of the Russian Plain. In general, the main regressive epochs correspond to interglacials on the Russian Plain, although this correlation was much more complex.     

On the future navigability of Arctic sea routes: High-resolution projections of the Arctic Ocean and sea ice

The rapid Arctic summer sea ice reduction in the last decade has lead to debates in the maritime industries on the possibility of an increase in cargo transportation in the region. Average sailing times on the North Sea Route along the Siberian Coast have fallen from 20 days in the 1990s to 11 days in 2012–2013, attributed to easing sea ice conditions along the Siberian coast. However, the economic risk of exploiting the Arctic shipping routes is substantial. Here a detailed high-resolution projection of ocean and sea ice to the end of the 21st century forced with the RCP8.5 IPCC emission scenario is used to examine navigability of the Arctic sea routes. In summer, opening of large areas of the Arctic Ocean previously covered by pack ice to the wind and surface waves leads to Arctic pack ice cover evolving into the Marginal Ice Zone. The emerging state of the Arctic Ocean features more fragmented thinner sea ice, stronger winds, ocean currents and waves. By the mid 21st century, summer season sailing times along the route via the North Pole are estimated to be 13–17 days, which could make this route as fast as the North Sea Route.     

Variations in the sedimentation in Kara Bogaz Gol Bay related to sea level fluctuations during the Novocaspian time

The structure of the bottom sediments in Kara Bogaz Gol Bay is correlated with the history of the sea level fluctuations in the Caspian Sea during the Novocaspian time based on the radiocarbon geochronology of the coastal and bottom sediments. Instrumental observations of the sea level and the hydrochemical regime of the bay are considered to substantiate the correlations obtained.     

Sea level change and beach process — A case study in south Zhejiang beach -

This paper describes changes in sea level off the coast of China in history and at present. The evidence concerning low sea level during the last glacial phase, Holocene marine transgression which was discovered from sea bottom in East China Sea and China's bordering seas, and their adjacent coastal areas, where, by drilling, relic sediment, peat deposite, and mollusc shell fossils have been obtained, and their dates are deduced through measurement of radiocarbon (C¹⁴), identified that low sea level about 15000 years ago stood in the depth of 150 m below the present level in East China Sea, and that the subsequent transgression carried the sea up to the present sea level 6000 years ago, when the present China's coast and other continent's coasts were outlined. Due to a number of factors, the sea level oscillates seasonally in the border sea of China. Averagely speaking, the annual range of the seasonal changes in sea level is about 35 m off the south Zhejiang coast, where the highest value of 20 cm occurs in September, and the lowest of-15 cm occurs in March. The reason may be mainly due to the seasonal variations of climate and river run-off, as well as the Taiwan Warm Current. Similar seasonal oscillations in sea level also occur in Bohai Gulf, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and the South China Sea. The beach process of south Zhejiang is strongly affected by the seasonal oscillations in sea level. The width of beach is 4 to 6 km, the slope is approximately in 1 : 1000. If the sea level rises or falls 1 cm, the beach submergence or emergence is led to be about 10 m in width. As a result, the relative equilibrium of beach will be changed by the seasonal oscillations in sea level.     

Arctic salinity anomalies and their link to the North Atlantic during a positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation

Many of the changes observed during the last two decades in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas have been linked to the concomitant abrupt decrease of the sea level pressure in the central Arctic at the end of the 1980s. The decrease was associated with a shift of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) to a positive phase, which persisted throughout the mid 1990s. The Arctic salinity distribution is expected to respond to these dramatic changes via modifications in the ocean circulation and in the fresh water storage and transport by sea ice. The present study investigates these different contributions in the context of idealized ice-ocean experiments forced by atmospheric surface wind-stress or temperature anomalies representative of a positive AO index.Wind stress anomalies representative of a positive AO index generate a decrease of the fresh water content of the upper Arctic Ocean, which is mainly concentrated in the eastern Arctic with almost no compensation from the western Arctic. Sea ice contributes to about two-third of this salinification, another third being provided by an increased supply of salt by the Atlantic inflow and increased fresh water export through the Canadian Archipelago and Fram Strait. The signature of a saltier Atlantic Current in the Norwegian Sea is not found further north in both the Barents Sea and the Fram Strait branches of the Atlantic inflow where instead a widespread freshening is observed. The latter is the result of import of fresh anomalies from the subpolar North Atlantic through the Iceland-Scotland Passage and enhanced advection of low salinity waters via the East Icelandic Current. The volume of ice exported through Fram Strait increases by 20% primarily due to thicker ice advected into the strait from the northern Greenland sector, the increase of ice drift velocities having comparatively less influence. The export anomaly is comparable to those observed during events of Great Salinity Anomalies and induces substantial freshening in the Greenland Sea, which in turn contributes to increasing the fresh water export to the North Atlantic via Denmark Strait. With a fresh water export anomaly of 7 mSv, the latter is the main fresh water supplier to the subpolar North Atlantic, the Canadian Archipelago contributing to 4.4 mSv.The removal of fresh water by sea ice under a positive winter AO index mainly occurs through enhanced thin ice growth in the eastern Arctic. Winter SAT anomalies have little impact on the thermodynamic sea ice response, which is rather dictated by wind driven ice deformation changes. The global sea ice mass balance of the western Arctic indicates almost no net sea ice melt due to competing seasonal thermodynamic processes. The surface freshening and likely enhanced sea ice melt observed in the western Arctic during the 1990s should therefore be attributed to extra-winter atmospheric effects, such as the noticeable recent spring-summer warming in the Canada-Alaska sector, or to other modes of atmospheric circulations than the AO, especially in relation to the North Pacific variability.     

Anomalous Dynamics of Bottom Currents and Temperature in the Northeastern Sector of the Middle Caspian Sea

The results of an investigation into water mass dynamics in the northeastern sector of the middle Caspian Sea are presented. High variations of currents are observed in this region of the sea, which are caused by the influence of the Peschanomysskoye Rise (PMR) on the cyclonic gyre. This bottom elevation is an obstacle to the currents of the gyre. The Yuzhno-Buzachinskii Deflection also influences the currents. Part of the dense and cold waters from the northern Caspian Sea flows along this deflection to the Derbent Basin. This basin is also a sink for the cold waters transported on the Peschanomysskoye Rise and those that overflow it. Observations in May 2015 over a cross-shaped survey at the western basement of the PMR showed that the currents in May in the western part of the survey in the entire water column from the surface to the bottom are organized in layers in the form of an anticyclonic spiral: the bottom current is directed to the south, the middle current is directed to the west, and the surface current is directed to the north. Lenses of warm water are observed in the bottom layer.     

末次盛冰期以来巴伦支海-喀拉海古海洋环境及海冰研究进展

巴伦支海-喀拉海是北冰洋最大的边缘海,能够对环境变化做出快速的响应和反馈,是全球气候变化最为敏感的区域之一,其古海洋环境演变及海冰变化研究是全球气候变化研究的重要组成部分。末次盛冰期以来,该区域的古海洋环境受到太阳辐射、海流强度、海平面变化、温盐环流和河流输入等因素影响发生了一系列不同尺度的波动。巴伦支海受到北大西洋暖水和极地冷水两大水团相互作用的影响,在水团交界处 （极锋) 由于不同水团性质的差异,导致其海水温度、盐度及海冰发生剧烈变化。而喀拉海则受到叶尼塞河和鄂毕河大量淡水输入影响,海流系统较巴伦支海相对复杂,沉积物主要来源于河流输入的陆源物质,并可以通过磁化率的分析明确区分两条河流的陆源物质。由于受到冷水和暖水的相互作用,巴伦支海-喀拉海海冰变化迅速,并且在全新世中晚期存在 0.4 ka 和 0.95 ka 的变化周期,但海冰变化的影响因素并不是单一的,而是气候系统内部各因子相互作用的结果。目前古海冰重建研究工作主要为定性研究,定量研究相对较少,所选用的重建指标也相对单一,另外存在年代框架差、分辨率低等不足。本文以巴伦支海和喀拉海为中心,总结了其快速气候突变事件、古温度盐度、海平面及海冰的变化,对影响因素进行了探讨,并通过分析末次盛冰期以来古海洋环境研究的不足,提出了相应的展望。     

西伯利亚极地海域表层沉积硅藻分布特征及其与海洋环境变量的相关性研究

北冰洋西伯利亚陆架海是北极气候快速变化最为显著的海域之一,而沉积硅藻作为极地海洋生态系统的重要组成部分,对环境变化具有敏感的响应。对楚科奇海、东西伯利亚海和拉普捷夫海表层沉积物开展了硅藻组成鉴定,利用典型对应分析方法分析了硅藻属种与1986～2015年环境变量之间的关系。结果表明,夏季和秋季海冰密集度、表层海水盐度是影响研究区表层硅藻分布特征最主要的因素。此外,根据表层站位与环境变量的典型对应分析,可将西伯利亚极地海域划分为4个区域,分别为海冰硅藻组合带、暖水硅藻组合带、沿岸硅藻组合带和混合硅藻组合带。这些表层站位的分区与相应区域的海流模式有明显的相关性,海冰硅藻组合带仅分布于研究区北部的高纬度地区;暖水硅藻组合带位于受白令水和太平洋海水的分支——阿拉斯加沿岸水影响为主的区域;拉普捷夫海南部的沿岸硅藻组合带则受到河流径流和西伯利亚沿岸流的强烈影响;混合硅藻组合带受极地冷水、海冰覆盖、太平洋暖水和陆地径流的共同影响。