Ripples in intertidal mud—a conceptual explanation

On protected mudflats and along sheltered tidal channel margins, wave- and current-generated ripples are frequently observed on surficial and subsurface mud beds, although such bedforms are generally not thought to occur in cohesive sediments. In this paper, examples of such ripple marks in the German Wadden Sea (back-barrier tidal flats of Spiekeroog island) and also along the west coast of Korea (Baeksu tidal flats) are documented and analyzed. The mud ripples are 5–8 cm in spacing and 0.3–0.8 cm in height, and are composed of slightly sandy to virtually pure mud (80–98% mud content). For the Spiekeroog study area, a comparison of in situ particle-size measurements of suspended matter and of dispersed mud collected from the ripples shows that the former consists of low-density flocs which are considerably larger than the constituent grains of the latter. To assess local wave effects, near-bed orbital velocities and orbital diameters were calculated on the basis of standard wave theory using estimated wave parameters at the time of the study (June 2004) as well as wave data recorded nearby within the back-barrier tidal basin. The relationships between grain size, morphometric ripple parameters, and the near-bed orbital diameter show the wave-generated mud ripples to be of the orbital post-vortex type. It is demonstrated that only short-period shoaling (intermediate water depth) waves with periods of 1.5–2.5 s and heights of 0.1–0.5 m are able to generate and maintain such ripples. Corresponding near-bed orbital velocities range from 8–32 cm s^–1 and near-bed orbital diameters from 6.25–10 cm. It can be anticipated that increased current shear and turbulence associated with higher and longer waves prevent ripple formation due to the resuspension of settled mud, and the breakdown of suspended flocs and aggregates into smaller particles which then tend to remain in suspension. The most plausible explanation for the formation of the mud ripples is that mud flocs and aggregates deposited from suspension around high-water slack tide under moderate weather conditions initially respond as single (non-cohesive) particles which are hydraulically equivalent to ambient very fine sands. During exposure at low tide, gradual loss of water transforms the rippled mud into increasingly more cohesive mud drapes which are more resistant to erosion. Unless destroyed during high-energy events, the mud ripples may remain intact long enough to become buried and thereby preserved. Indeed, occasional but persistent observations of ripples in sub-Recent to ancient mudrocks document their preservation potential.     

Identification,characterization, and statistical analysis of mudstone aggregate clasts,Cretaceous Carlile Formation,Central Alberta,Canada

While clastic mudstones and shale were traditionally interpreted to have been deposited in quiet water settings, recent flume experiments and studies have shown that mud can be transported in and deposited by traction currents as migrating ripples of mud aggregates. Despite these recent advances, mud aggregates have rarely been adequately described in the rock record.These mud aggregates and the sedimentary structures they form in mudstone successions are difficult to observe in the rock record due to compaction, which often obliterates the aggregates and flattens bedforms. This paper documents unambiguously identifiable sand sized mudstone aggregates in thin sections and SEM, transported in traction, and deposited in a series of prograding clinothems. These aggregates were sufficiently indurated to locally preserve shelter porosity, significantly improving the hydrocarbon reservoir properties.Grain size analysis of the aggregates was performed on thin sections, as well as disaggregated samples measured by a laser diffraction grain size analyzer for comparison. These analyses showed that sand sized aggregates often comprise more than half of the sediment volume. While the clay-rich composition of the Carlile Formation would suggest that it is a mudstone, statistical analysis of these grain size measurements show that it could alternatively be described as a silty sandstone. These findings potentially change how we think about mudstone classification, fine-grained sedimentation, and mudstone dominated petroleum reservoirs.     

夏季南黄海悬浮体粒度分布及其影响因素

南黄海是东亚海区陆源物质向西太平洋扩散的重要通道,阐明该海区悬浮体粒度特征及其分布规律对于深入揭示中国东部陆架海区源汇沉积体系形成机制具有重要意义。利用2012年夏季在南黄海调查获取的水文环境资料和悬浮体现场粒度（LISST）观测数据,分析悬浮体粒度分布特征及其影响因素,探讨其在南黄海中部泥质区成因机制中的作用。结果表明：夏季,南黄海悬浮颗粒中≤128 μm的细颗粒主要是由无机矿物颗粒组成,而＞128 μm的粗颗粒则由有机颗粒主导。无机颗粒主要分布在混合作用较强的近岸浅水区以及远岸的近底水层,有机颗粒在水体层化较强海域的密度跃层处占据主导地位。再悬浮的海底表层沉积物是海水中无机颗粒的主要来源,潮混合过程是引起再悬浮作用的主要动力因素。潮混合锋阻挡了近岸高浓度无机悬浮颗粒物沿近底层向远岸扩散,但跨锋面的表层离岸流可以将近岸区的部分无机细颗粒物输运至南黄海中部。密度跃层阻碍了冷水团内营养盐进一步向海表扩散,导致浮游植物在密度跃层处富集;大量浮游生物及其分泌物与细小的无机颗粒相结合形成絮集体是海水中＞128 μm粗颗粒的主要来源。絮集体的形成促进了表层无机细颗粒向海底沉降,促进了泥质区的形成。     

九龙江口海沧港区17～-18^#码头基槽浮泥成因分析

九龙江口海沧港区因建设17—18^#泊位而开挖的基槽处发育厚层浮泥．通过对该处浮泥及其周边的水体悬浮颗粒、海底表层和沉积物柱状样的激光粒度分析,发现浮泥的颗粒物主要由峰值粒径在7～10μm的粘土粉砂质细颗粒组分构成,但在浮泥层的下部还含有小部分峰值粒径为200—500μm的砂质粗颗粒组分．浮泥中细颗粒组分的粒度特征和水体中的悬浮颗粒、底质沉积物中的细颗粒组分一致,而浮泥中粗颗粒组分的粒度特征,和九龙江口洪水事件成因的中粗砂的粒度特征一致．结合现场调访和水文观测,得出17—18^#泊位基槽处浮泥的成因主要受海沧港区建设过程中产生的大量再悬浮泥沙以及受水下地形的影响,水动力条件适宜悬浮泥沙在17—18^#泊位基槽处聚淤．此外,台风引发的洪水也是增加悬浮泥沙含量的辅助因素．随着海沧港区的建成,水动力条件的改变,17～18^#泊位港池及调头区浮泥的厚度将小于基槽区浮泥厚度．     

Microbial-mediated pre-salt carbonate deposition during the Messinian salinity crisis (Calcare di Base fm., Southern Italy)

A multi-scale analysis of sedimentary carbonate facies and post-sedimentary diagenetic features of the Calcare di Base Formation, the precursor to evaporites in Upper Messinian successions of Northern Calabria and Central Sicily, has revealed their microbial bio-mediated origin. Massive to laminated microbial boundstones represent the most common sedimentary facies forming flat to low relief cm to m scale stromatolitic and thrombolitic bodies. The fabric of the micrite varies from peloidal to aphanitic, and almost always preserves filamentous bacteria which characterized the original microbial mat. The mat was dominated by sulphur-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Thiotrichaceae, but there is evidence for a more complex community with sulphate- and/or nitrate-reducing bacteria, all being responsible for the mediation of the carbonate precipitation. Microbial boundstones are rich in pseudomorphs of Ca-sulphate and halite, which formed during the deposition of the microbial carbonate. Layers of primary gypsum are interbedded locally with carbonates suggesting the presence of restricted marine conditions. The stable O and C isotopic composition of the carbonates, that vary from dolomite to aragonite and calcite, suggests a complex interplay between arid to humid climatic changes, expressed cyclic interbedding of the carbonate with marl-marlstone. Later diagenetic events mainly consist of phreatic meteoric recrystallization and cementation. Although considered as diachronous, the microbial carbonates can be mapped out over a distance of more than 500 km across southern Italy; this indicates near-constant environmental conditions upon the central Mediterranean shelf at the beginning of the salinity crisis. Deposition of the extensive subaqueous microbial deposit that largely comprises the Calcare di Base is envisaged to have taken place across a shallow to moderate depth platform with local slopes into deeper water areas, where some resedimentation occurred.     

Hindered settling velocity of cohesive/non-cohesive sediment mixtures

New methods are proposed for predicting the hindered settling conditions encountered by concentrated suspensions containing mixtures of sand particles and mud flocs. These methods, based on two-fraction formulations, are developed by consideration of the settling characteristics of monodisperse and polydisperse solid particle suspensions applied to cohesive/non-cohesive mixtures of mud flocs and sand particles. The behaviour of these predictive methods is evaluated over a wide range of mixture conditions and compared with existing formulations, with their parametric dependence on the relative volumetric concentrations and floc/particle sizes for the mud and sand constituents established. The results indicate that consideration of the full return flow effects generated by both fractions provides the best modelling framework for predicting the hindered settling conditions over a wide range of sand–mud mixtures.     

Water and fine sediment dynamics in transient river plumes in a small, reef-fringed bay, Guam

Fouha Bay is a 400-m-long funnel-shaped, 10-m-deep, coral-fringed embayment on the southwest coast of Guam. It drains a small catchment area (5 km²) of steeply sloping, highly erodible lateritic soils. River floods are short-lived and the sediment load is very large, with suspended sediment concentration (SSC) exceeding 1000 mg l⁻¹. The resulting river plume is about 1 m thick and is pulsing in a series of 1–2 h-long events, with outflow velocity peaking at 0.05 m s⁻¹. Turbulent entrainment results in an oceanic inflow at depth into the bay. As soon as river flow stops, the plume floats passively and takes 5 days to be flushed out of Fouha Bay. The suspended fine sediment flocculates in 5 min and aggregates on ambient transparent exopolymer particles to form muddy marine snow flocs. In calm weather, about 75% of the riverine mud settles out of the river plume into the underlying oceanic water where it forms a transient nepheloid layer. This mud ultimately settles and is trapped in Fouha Bay. Under typhoon-driven, swell waves, the surface plume is at least 7 m thick and bottom entrainment of mud results in SSC exceeding 1000 mg l⁻¹ for several days. It is suggested that successful management of fringing coral reefs adjacent to volcanic islands may not be possible without proper land use management in the surrounding catchment.     

Some characteristic features of large amorphous particles (NUTA) in the seto Inland Sea,Japan

Large amorphous aggregates (NUTA) observed in coastal areas after spring and autumn phytoplankton blooms and red tide outbreaks were collected using NUTA traps which we devised. These particles become thickly attached to mooring ropes and/or fishing nets. The variation of the collection of materials by NUTA traps was about 23% in organic carbon and 25% in organic nitrogen (n=29). The chemical nature and vertical distribution pattern of NUTA were significantly different from those of suspended particles collected by water samplers. Since C/ATP and C/Chlα ratios in NUTA were very high compared with those of suspended particles, NUTA seems to consist of a small amount of phytoplankton but much detritus. These values suggest that NUTA has characteristics intermediate between suspended particles and sinking particles. The standing stock of NUTA was also estimated to be no more than 10% suspended particles from a calculation of the trapping efficiency of the NUTA trap.     

The influence of particle morphology on microbially induced CaCO3 clogging in granular media

Abstract

Sporosarcina pasteurii (ATCC 11859) is a nitrogen-circulating bacterium capable of precipitating calcium carbonate given a calcium source and urea. This microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is able to infill inter-granular porosity and act as a biological clogging agent, thus having a wide potential application in strengthening coastal foundations, preventing erosion by seas and rivers and in reducing sand liquefaction potential in coastal areas. A successful MICP application requires the understanding of the primary parameters that influence the microbially mediated process to achieve its engineering goals, such as injection scheme, chemical concentrations, retention times, and injection rates. However, the granular morphology has generally been oversimplified to ideal shape without enough consideration in previous studies. The following explores the critical micro-scale influence of particle morphology on mechanisms of microbially induced clogging. Spherical, non-spherical and angular particles were used as granular aggregates in permeating column experiments with the resulting permeability and calcium carbonate content of the treated aggregates examined. Microscopic examination (SEM) defines the features of the distribution of microbially precipitated calcium carbonate and the forms of clogging. The results show: (1) given a fixed duration of treatment, the calcium carbonate content for the spherical particle aggregate is significantly higher than that for near-spherical and angular particle aggregates; (2) for identical durations of treatment, the maximum permeability reduction occurs for angular particles (rather than for spherical particles with the highest carbonate content). This suggests that the microscopic distribution of calcium carbonate is significantly influenced by particle morphology, exerting a critical control in the effectiveness of clogging. SEM images indicate that the microbial calcium carbonate precipitates encapsulate the spherical particles as a near-uniform shell and occlude the pore space only by increasing the shell thickness. In contrast, the near-spherical and angular particles are only partially coated by a calcium carbonate film with scattered crystals of vaterite and calcite further clogging the void space. The polyhedral nature of the non-spherical particles tends to result in a slot-shaped pore structure which critically defines the hydraulic conductivity of the ensemble medium. As the microbial vaterite and calcite continue to accumulate on the particle surface, these slot-shaped pore structures become increasingly more tortuous – resulting in a noticeable reduction of permeability at a lower calcium carbonate content.     

Investigating the effect of ballasting by CaCO3 in Emiliania huxleyi, II: Decomposition of particulate organic matter

The quantitative relationship between organic carbon and mineral contents of particles sinking below 1800 m in the ocean indicates that organisms with mineral shells such as coccolithophores are of special importance for transporting carbon into the deep sea. Several hypotheses about the mechanism behind this relationship between minerals and organic matter have been raised, such as mineral protection of organic matter or enhanced sinking rates through ballast addition. We examined organic matter decomposition of calcifying and non-calcifying Emiliania huxleyi cultures in an experiment that allowed aggregation and settling in rotating tanks. Biogenic components such as particulate carbon, particulate nitrogen, particulate volume, pigments, transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), and particulate amino acids in suspended particles and aggregates were followed over a period of 30 d. The overall pattern of decrease in organic matter, the amount of recalcitrant organic matter left after 30 d, and the compositional changes within particulate organic matter indicated that cells without a shell are more subject to loss than calcified cells. It is suggested that biogenic calcite helps in the preservation of particulate organic matter (POM) by offering structural support for organic molecules. Over the course of the experiment, half the particulate organic carbon in both calcifying and non-calcifying cultures was partitioned into aggregates and remained so until the end of the experiment. The partial protection of particulate organic matter from solubilization by biominerals and by aggregation that was observed in our experiment may help explain the robustness of the relationship between organic and mineral matter fluxes in the deep ocean.     

泥质潮坪磁组构特征及其意义研究

在１９８８年－１９９３年期间，对河北歧口及上海南汇海岸带泥质潮坪现行滩面积浦西曹杨新村近代亚潮坪沉积剖面进行了沉积动力环境与沉积动力环境与沉积磁组构特征测量分析。现行开敞海岸同物源潮坪沉积磁且构参量量值特征显示出，其Ｋ值高滩为高值，低潮滩次之，中潮滩为低。亚近开敞海岸泥质潮坪沉积剖面磁组构测量结果；Ｋ值是区分潮坪沉积动力活动带的高分辨率标志；Ｐ、Ｌ、Ｆ、ｑ是分析潮坪沉积结构的分辨率标志；ｑ是分析潮     

Permeability–porosity relationships of subduction zone sediments

Permeability–porosity relationships for sediments from the northern Barbados, Costa Rica, Nankai, and Peru subduction zones were examined based on sediment type, grain size distribution, and general mechanical and chemical compaction history. Greater correlation was observed between permeability and porosity in siliciclastic sediments, diatom oozes, and nannofossil chalks than in nannofossil oozes. For siliciclastic sediments, grouping of sediments by percentage of clay-sized material yields relationships that are generally consistent with results from other marine settings and suggests decreasing permeability as percentage of clay-sized material increases. Correction of measured porosities for smectite content improved the correlation of permeability–porosity relationships for siliciclastic sediments and diatom oozes. The relationship between permeability and porosity for diatom oozes is very similar to the relationship in siliciclastic sediments, and permeabilities of both sediment types are related to the amount of clay-size particles. In contrast, nannofossil oozes have higher permeability values by 1.5 orders of magnitude than siliciclastic sediments of the same porosity and show poor correlation between permeability and porosity. More indurated calcareous sediments, nannofossil chalks, overlap siliciclastic permeabilities at the lower end of their measured permeability range, suggesting similar consolidation patterns at depth. Thus, the lack of correlation between permeability and porosity for nannofossil oozes is likely related to variations in mechanical and chemical compaction at shallow depths. This study provides the foundation for a much-needed global database with fundamental properties that relate to permeability in marine settings. Further progress in delineating controls on permeability requires additional carefully documented permeability measurements on well-characterized samples.     

Observations of Floc Sizes in a Muddy Estuary

Measurements are presented of median floc diameters and associated environmental data over spring-tide tidal cycles at two stations in the muddy Tamar Estuary, UK, for winter, spring and summer conditions. The particulate organic carbon and particulate total carbon contents of mudflats and SPM (suspended particulate matter) at the stations, together with other evidence, indicates that much of the SPM was derived from mud sources that were located between the two stations during winter and spring, and from very mobile sediment sources in the upper estuary during summer. Observed in-situ median floc sizes varied widely, from <50 to >500 μm and rapid settling of particles close to HW and LW (high and low water) left only the smaller flocs in suspension. Time-series of depth-averaged median floc sizes generally were most closely, positively, correlated with depth-averaged SPM concentrations. Floc diameters tended to reach maximum median sizes near the time when SPM concentrations were highest. These high concentrations were in turn largely generated by resuspension of sediment during the fastest current speeds. Although such correlations may have arisen because of SPM-driven floc growth - despite fast tidal currents - there is also the possibility that tough aggregates were eroded from the intertidal mudflats and mudbanks. Although a hypothesis, such large aggregates of fine sediment may have resulted from the binding together of very fine bed particles by sticky extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) coatings, produced by benthic diatoms and by other biologically-mediated activity. A rapid reduction of SPM occurred at the up-estuary station within 2.5 h of HW on the flood, when decelerating currents were still relatively fast. It appears that at least two processes were at work: localised settling of the largest flocs and up-estuary transport in which large flocs were transported further into the estuary before settling into the Tamar's ETM (estuarine turbidity maximum) over the HW-slack period. Up-estuary advection of large flocs and their eventual settling would place the down-estuary edge of the ETM above the upper-estuary station during summer, spring-tide conditions. This position of the ETM was observed close to HW during longitudinal surveys of the estuary.     

Acute toxicity of a used chrome lignosulphonate drilling mud to several species of marine invertebrate

The acute toxicity of a used seawater chrome lignosulphonate drilling mud to several species of marine annelids, crustaceans and molluscs was evaluated. The medium density mud (13·4 lb/gal, 1·57 kg/litre) was composed primarily of seawater, bentonite clay, chrome lignosulphonate, lignite, sodium hydroxide and barium sulphate. The toxicity of four mud/seawater preparations was determined. These were the layered solids phase (LSP), the suspended solids phase (SSP), the unfiltered mud aqueous fraction (MAF) and the filtered mud aqueous fraction (FMAF). Four species each of marine annelids and bivalve molluscs and five species of marine crustaceans were evaluated. The median lethal concentration of the MAF (96-h LC₅₀) varied from 32 to > 100% MAF for the different species. The FMAF was slightly less toxic than the MAF. Adult polychaetes, Neanthes arenaceodentata and Ctenodrilus serratus, one-day old juveniles of opossum shrimp, Mysidopsis almyra, and four day zoeae of grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, were the most sensitive to the MAF. Juvenile N. arenaceodentata, adult polychaetes, Ophryotrocha labronica, and three bivalve molluscs were highly tolerant to the MAF. The SSP preparation at concentrations of 10-20 ml/litre was toxic to post-larvae and juveniles of the commercial shrimp, Penaeus duorarum and P. aztecus, respectively. Exposure to the LSP preparation caused greater than 50% mortality amongst adult N. arenaceodentata, juvenile and adult coquina clams, Donax variabilis texasiana and adult scallops, Aequipecten amplicostatus. Other species tested were quite tolerant. A sublethal response observed was the inhibition of reproduction in the marine annelids, Dinophilus sp. and Ctenodrilus serratus. Toxicity of the mud aqueous fractions appeared to be due primarily to volatile soluble organic materials in the extract, whilst that of the SSP and LSP preparations appeared to be due to the smothering action of fine particulates in the mud. Based on the results of this investigation and published observations of solids concentrations in the water column during drilling mud discharge, it is concluded that discharge of a used chrome lignosulphonate drilling mud, such as that used in the present investigation, from offshore platforms is not likely to cause measureable damage to benthic, demersal or pelagic marine animals.     

黄河三角洲潮间带泥螺重金属含量与生物质量评价

泥螺(Bullacta exarata)作为黄河三角洲区域成功引入的滩涂养殖种类, 为当地获得了巨大的经济效益, 但对其生态影响还了解不多。为了解该区域泥螺体内重金属含量并评价其生物质量, 于2012年8月对该区域进行泥螺和沉积物样品采集调查和分析。采用富集系数K、残留量指数I以及金属污染指数I_MP进行分析。结果表明, 黄河三角洲沉积物及泥螺体内6种重金属含量均相对较低, 多数符合国家海洋沉积物质量标准第一类。泥螺对不同重金属的富集系数K有明显差别, 其中对Cu 和Cd 的富集能力最强。残留量指数I富集系数K及金属污染指数I_MP均表明, 黄河三角洲潮间带泥螺对重金属的富集程度均较低, 说明该海域泥螺未受到重金属离子的污染。根据国家生物质量标准分析, 黄河三角洲潮间带泥螺的生物质量总体较好, 生物体内重金属含量总体上与海水中重金属含量无显著的相关性。     

Properties of coarse particles in suspended particulate matter of the North Yellow Sea during summer

Fine particles in seawater commonly form large porous aggregates. Aggregate density and settling velocity determine the behavior of this suspended particulate matter(SPM) within the water column.However, few studies of aggregate particles over a continental shelf have been undertaken. In our case study, properties of aggregate particles, including size and composition, over the continental shelf of the North Yellow Sea were investigated. During a scienti?c cruise in July 2016, in situ ef fective particle size distributions of SPM at 10 stations were measured, while temperature and turbidity measurements and samples of water were obtained from surface, middle, and bottom layers. Dispersed and inorganic particle size distributions were determined in the laboratory. The in situ SPM was divided into(1) small particles(<32 μm),(2) medium particles(32–256 μm) and(3) large particles(>256 μm). Large particles and medium particles dominated the total volume concentrations(VCs) of in situ SPM. After dispersion, the VCs of medium particles decreased to low values(<0.1 μL/L). The VCs of large particles in the surface and middle layers also decreased markedly, although they had higher peak values(0.1–1 μL/L). This suggests that almost all in situ medium particles and some large particles were aggregated, while other large particles were single particles. Correlation analysis showed that primary particles <32 μm in?uenced the formation of these aggregates. Microscopic examination revealed that these aggregates consisted of both organic and inorganic ?ne particles, while large particles were mucus-bound organic aggregates or individual plankton.The vertical distribution of coarser particles was clearly related to water strati?cation. Generally, medium aggregate particles were dominant in SPM of the bottom layer. A thermocline blocked resuspension of?ne material into upper layers, yielding low VCs of medium-sized aggregate particles in the surface layer.Abundant large biogenic particles were present in both surface and middle layers.     

A recent,possibly catastrophic burial in a marine molluscan community

A shallow water benthic sample from off the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula contained compact shelly sand overlain by mud. The fauna, confined to the sand layer, consisted of infaunal bivalves dominated by Tawera spissa (Deshayes). The presence of dead or decaying bivalves only, indicates a heavy mortality in the community attributed to burial by the mud layer.     

Gas hydrate associated with mud diapirs in southern Okinawa Trough

Many mud diapirs have been recognized in southern Okinawa Trough by a multi-channel seismic surveying on R/V KEXUE I in 2001. Gas hydrates have been identified, by the seismic reflection characteristics, the velocity analysis and the impedance inversion. Geothermal heat flow around the central of the mud diapir has been determined theoretically by the Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSRs). Comparing the BSR derived and the measured heat flow values, we infer that the BSR immediately at the top of the mud diapirs indicate the base of the saturated gas hydrate formation zone (BSGHFZ), but not, as we ordinarily know, the base of the gas hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ), which could be explained by the abnormal regional background heat flow and free gas flux associated with mud diapirs. As a result, it helps us to better understand the generation mechanism of the gas hydrates associated with mud diapirs and to predict the gas hydrate potential in the southern Okinawa Trough.     

Some soft mud properties' evaluation by acoustics

Mud is a complex mixture of water and solid particles and acoustics can help on its control. The mud layer, as an acoustic channel, is characterized by its propagation constant relating the wave frequency, the sound velocity, and the energy absorption. If the input acoustic pulse is known, it is feasible to easily characterize the mud layer as a low pass filter (absorption); if it is also possible to insonify the mud with sound of both low and high frequencies, the sound speed of the mud mixture can be evaluated, and the propagation constant is then known.     

Grain size,La/Yb and Th/Sc of settling particles in the western North Pacific: Evidence for lateral transport of small Asian loess

To understand the transport process of lithogenic particles in the ocean, we measured the grain size distributions of lithogenic particles and measured the opal, La, Yb, Th, and Sc concentrations of the settling particles collected from time-series sediment traps at Sta. KNOT (44°N, 155°E, water depth 5320 m) from June 2002 to May 2004. The annual mean lithogenic particle flux observed at the lower sediment trap (5100 m) was twice as high as that at the upper sediment trap (770 m). The contribution of Asian loess estimated by the La/Yb and the Th/Sc ratios in the lower layer was greater than that in the upper layer. The fluxes of small lithogenic particles with sizes of 3–4 μm at the lower layer (5 to 65 mg/m²/day) were approximately four times larger than that at the upper layer (0.6 to 27 mg/m²/day). These results indicate that the horizontal addition of small particle sizes of Asian loess is a main factor in the increase of lithogenic particles at the lower layer. The temporal variations in the small lithogenic particle flux at the lower layer had a positive correlation with those at the upper layer (r = 0.71). The small lithogenic particle fluxes showed a strong positive correlation with the opal fluxes (r = 0.9). We therefore conclude that the small lithogenic particles were laterally transported and scavenged by the formation of aggregates with opal.