The role of the ocean in pleistocene climate changes

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Estimation of the role of global biological filters in the geochemical migration of trace elements in the ocean: The marginal filter of the ocean

A quantitative estimate has been made for the contribution of biological processes to accumulation and transformation of the trace elements in the marginal biofilter of the ocean. It has been demonstrated that the proportion of phytoplankton having the largest biomass reaches 96–99% of the total mass of trace elements accumulated by biota. The mass of trace elements taken up by bivalved mollusks is tens to hundreds of times less than this, while that by macrophytes is an order of magnitude less than the latter. A dynamic parameter of the biogenic migration, namely the duration of the biological cycle of phytoplankton, has been calculated; this value does not exceed 2–3 days for Zn, Ni, Cu, Cd, Pb, Co, Fe, and Mn. First the trace metal balance in the whole body of mussels Mytilus spp. between the soft tissues and shells was calculated based on their weight proportion (0.1 and 0.9, correspondingly). As a result it was revealed that carbonate shells serve a great reservoir of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and As and biomineralization is an important process in their bioaccumulation. The suggested new approach can be applied when making environmental and geochemical estimates of biotic self-purification of water bodies and when using shells as mineral supplements.     

The composition of the precambrian ocean waters

The composition of the Precambrian oceans was different from the present composition; this is a direct consequence of a CO₂-atmosphere depleted in oxygen. At the beginning the mineralization was lower. The oceans waters were chloro-dicarbonated with a lower tenor of chlorine, richer in phosphates and they were depleted in sulphates; sulphur was in the reduced state of sulphides. The abundance of phosphates supported the expansion of life. The cations Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ coexisted with Ca²⁺, Fe²⁺ and Ba²⁺ whose levels were higher than they are today. The main trends of the evolution are schematized in the figure.     

Absorbed complex of riverine solid substances and its role in geochemical balance of the ocean

Data on the composition of the absorbed complex of riverine solid substances and its transformation in marine environments obtained from field observations and experimental investigations are systematized and generalized. Average values of the specific surface of the riverine suspended particulates (~20 m²/g) and the total exchange capacity of solid substances of the continental runoff (~28 mg-equiv/100 g or 280 g-equiv/t of the transported terrigenous material) are determined. It is shown that the composition of the absorbed complex in the riverine suspended particulates, as well as bottom sediments of rivers and inland water bodies differs principally from that of bottom sediments in oceans and seas: Ca dominates in the first case; Na, in the second case. When the riverine terrigenous material enters oceans and seas, the composition of the absorbed complex is subjected to the ion-exchange transformation reflected in the replacement of exchange Ca (~80%) mainly by Na and also by K and Mg of seawater. This process is responsible for the influx of 45.5 Mt/yr of dissolved Ca to ocean and the removal of 37.3, 12.8, and 3.9 Mt/yr of Na, K, and Mg, respectively. The relative transport of Ca, Na, K, and Mg to ocean with the river runoff is +7.5,–12.3,–22.4, and–2.6%, respectively.     

The last interglacial ocean

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.     

The bottom of the ocean: three abysses

This testimony is the result – better, the tale – of some sea and ocean descents made by a novelist to gather information for writing two of his books. The first one is The meadow under the sea published by Mondadori, 1974, and thereafter in various other editions, in Italian and other languages. The second is The Blue Whale , Mondadori, 1988, which went through several Italian editions.
The present piece concerns impressions and events of contacts with the marine and oceanic floor in the Mediterranean sea, along Atlantic beaches and the Indian Ocean, off Tromelin, Madagascar.
The last voyage takes the novelist to a peculiar situation, where water's darkness overturns the image, comes through the bathysphere port-hole and the observer looks inside himself, a view that corresponds to a mythical history of the ocean floor.     

The economic restructuring of Moscow in the international context

This paper deals with the trends of economic restructuring in Moscow in the 1990s under globalization and reforms. The comparison of structural shifts in Moscow with the largest cities of the West gives an idea about the position of the Russian capital on the trajectory of post-industrial transformation. The analysis covers three dimensions: a) general trends of post-industrial restructuring, b) the role of large cities in national economies, and c) universal and special trends of intra-urban transformation. The reforms of the 1990s initiated many new developments in the economic life of Moscow, making it more similar to the Western cities, both in general sectoral structure and intra-urban landscape. Nevertheless, Moscow still lags far behind the world cities as regards the stage of the most important post-industrial processes. The conflict between new market developments and the inherited patterns of the socialist city becomes one of the driving forces of the economic transformation in Moscow as a whole and in different types of its districts.     

Microcontinents in the Atlantic ocean

Fragments of continental structures are widespread in the North and South Atlantic and almost absent in the central segment of the ocean. This implies that the fragments are related to the geodynamics of the surrounding continents. The fragments are subdivided into two groups: microcontinents and submarine prominences of marginal continental blocks. Both groups are briefly characterized in this paper, and views on mechanisms of their formation are expressed. In my opinion, there is a good reason to believe that this line of research makes a substantial contribution to mobilistic geotectonics.     

Cadmium isotopic composition in the ocean

The oceanic cycle of cadmium is still poorly understood, despite its importance for phytoplankton growth and paleoceanographic applications. As for other elements that are biologically recycled, variations in isotopic composition may bring unique insights. This article presents (i) a protocol for the measurement of cadmium isotopic composition (Cd IC) in seawater and in phytoplankton cells; (ii) the first Cd IC data in seawater, from two full depth stations, in the northwest Pacific and the northwest Mediterranean Sea; (iii) the first Cd IC data in phytoplankton cells, cultured in vitro. The Cd IC variation range in seawater found at these stations is not greater than 1.5 ε_Cd/amu units, only slightly larger than the mean uncertainty of measurement (0.8 ε_Cd/amu). Nevertheless, systematic variations of the Cd IC and concentration in the upper 300 m of the northwest Pacific suggest the occurrence of Cd isotopic fractionation by phytoplankton uptake, with a fractionation factor of 1.6 ± 1.4 ε_Cd/amu units. This result is supported by the culture experiment data suggesting that freshwater phytoplankton (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlorella sp.) preferentially take up light Cd isotopes, with a fractionation factor of 3.4 ± 1.4 ε_Cd/amu units. Systematic variations of the Cd IC and hydrographic data between 300 and 700 m in the northwest Pacific have been tentatively attributed to the mixing of the mesothermal (temperature maximum) water (ε_Cd/amu = −0.9 ± 0.8) with the North Pacific Intermediate Water (ε_Cd/amu = 0.5 ± 0.8). In contrast, no significant Cd IC variation is found in the northwest Mediterranean Sea. This observation was attributed to the small surface Cd depletion by phytoplankton uptake and the similar Cd IC of the different water masses found at this site. Overall, these data suggest that (i) phytoplankton uptake fractionates Cd isotopic composition to a measurable degree (fractionation factors of 1.6 and 3.4 ε_Cd/amu units, for the in situ and culture experiment data, respectively), (ii) an open ocean profile of Cd IC shows upper water column variations consistent with preferential uptake and regeneration of light Cd isotopes, and (iii) different water masses may have different Cd IC. This isotopic system could therefore provide information on phytoplankton Cd uptake and on water mass trajectories and mixing in some areas of the ocean. However, the very small Cd IC variations found in this study indicate that applications of Cd isotopic composition to reveal aspects of the present or past Cd oceanic cycle will be very challenging and may require further analytical improvements. Better precision could possibly be obtained with larger seawater samples, a better chemical separation of tin and a more accurate mass bias correction through the use of the double spiking technique.     

The Fokker-Planck equation and statistical characteristics of penetrative convection in the upper ocean

We consider the problem of penetrative convection in the upper ocean under the conditions of sharp surface cooling and a constant momentum flux connected with the existing system of random waves. The Langevin equation with a random right part is used to describe a convective ensemble of thermals. The kinetic Fokker-Planck equation is built for the angular probability density of an ensemble of convective elements. The stationary solution of this equation allows one to find an analogue of the Boltzman distribution for convective currents over speed and height. The Maxwell speed distribution is implemented in this case for convective thermals at a fixed depth. The results allow interpretation of certain data on turbulence in the convective near-surface ocean layer.     

Mineral resources of the ocean

Major data concerning the history of investigation, distribution, mineral and chemical composition, and formation processes of mineral resources of the ocean, namely ferromanganese nodules, ore crusts, phosphorites, and hydrothermal mineral formations, including ore-bearing and metalliferous sediments, massive sulfides, and hydrothermal ferromanganese crusts are reviewed. The problem of the scale of mineral accumulations in the ocean and their quality, along with prospects of their future recovery, is discussed.     

The role of the ocean feedback on Asian and African monsoon variations at 6 kyr and 9.5 kyr BP

The role of ocean feedback on monsoon variations at 6 and 9.5 kyr Before Present (BP) compared to present-day is investigated by using sets of simulations computed with the IPSL–CM4 ocean–atmosphere coupled model and simulations with the atmospheric model only with the SST prescribed to the present-day simulation for the coupled model. This work is complementary to the study by Marzin and Braconnot (2009) who have analyzed in detail the response of Indian and African monsoons to changes in insolation at 6 and 9.5 kyr BP using the IPSL–CM4 coupled model. The monsoon rainfall was intensified at 6 and 9.5 kyr BP compared to 0 kyr BP as a result of the intensified seasonal cycle of insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. In this paper, the impact of the ocean feedback is analysed for the Indian, East-Asian and African monsoons. The response of the ocean to the 6 and 9.5 kyr BP insolation forcing shares similarities between the two periods, but we highlight local differences and a delay in the response of the surface ocean between 6 and 9.5 kyr BP. The ocean feedback is shown to be positive for the early stage of the African monsoon. A dipole of SST in the tropical Atlantic favouring the earlier build-up of the monsoon in the 6 and 9.5 kyr BP coupled simulations. However, it is strongly negative for the Indian and East Asian monsoons, and of stronger amplitude at 9.5 than at 6 kyr BP over India. In these Asian regions, the convection is more active over the ocean than over the continent during the late monsoon season due to the ocean feedback. The results are consistent with previous studies about 6 kyr BP climate. In addition, it is shown that the ocean feedback is not sufficient to explain the relative amplifications of the different monsoon systems within the three periods of the Holocene, but that the mechanisms such as the effect of the precession on the seasonal cycle of monsoons as discussed in Marzin and Braconnot (2009) are more plausible.     

The sulphur isotopic composition of ocean water sulphate

The sulphur isotopic composition of ocean water sulphate was determined, using the SF₆ method, for samples from various depths of the Geosecs Stations II and 3 and for a single Pacific Ocean surface sample. The total spread in values obtained is less than that found in previous studies and is consistent with the experimental precision except for one Geosecs II sample which has an unusually low δ³⁴S value. The mean value, + 20.99%., is markedly different from the hitherto accepted value of +20.0%.. The difference is attributed to the greater accuracy obtained when SF₆ rather than SO₂ is used as the sample gas for sulphur isotope analysis.     

The stratigraphical signature of the Anthropocene in England and its wider context

The Anthropocene deposits of England, here regarded as those formed after ～1950 CE, are now extensive, take various forms, and may be characterized and recognized by a number of stratigraphic signals, such as artificial radionuclides, pesticide residues, microplastics, enhanced fly ash levels, concrete fragments and a novel variety of ‘technofossils’ and neobiotic species. They include the uppermost parts of both ‘natural’ deposits such as the sediment layers formed in lakes and estuaries, and more directly human-made or human-influenced ones such as landfill deposits and the ‘artificial ground’ beneath urban areas and around major constructions. ‘Negative deposits’ include the worked areas of quarries and regions such as the English Fenland, where thick peat deposits have ablated to leave a strongly modified underlying landscape, and extend beneath into the subterranean realm as mine workings, metro systems and boreholes. The production of these is still rapidly increasing and evolving in character, while the early signs of global change, such as warming, sea level rise, and modifications to biotic assemblages, are beginning to further modify the emerging geology of this new phase of Earth history.