Jan Mayen

Beliggenhet. Omgitt av 2000—3000 meter dypt hav på alle kanter ligger øen Jan Mayen ute i Norskehavet på 71° nordlig bredde og 8° 30′ lengde vest for Greenwich, d. v. s. omtrent på samme bredde som Nordkapp, og samme lengde som Færøyene. Avstanden fra Tromsø er ca. 555 nautiske mil og omtrent samme avstand er det også fra Isfjordmunningen på Spitsbergen. Avstannen til Langanes på Island er 290 og til Liverpoolkysten på Grønland 250 nautiske mil. Til sammenligning kan anføres at fra norskekysten til Bjørnøya er det 230 naut. mil og til Isfjorden 465 naut. mil.     

Late Holocene glacier variations and climate at Jan Mayen

Jan Mayen is a small (373 km²) remote island in the Norwegian Sea. One third of it is covered by glaciers, all located on the Beerenberg volcano. There have been at least two Holocene periods of glacier expansion at Jan Mayen. The first may have taken place around 2500 B.P. Some glaciers had their maximum extent during the second period, around 1850 A.D. They have subsequently shown an oscillating retreat, with marked expansion around 1910, and with a minimum extent around 1950. Many glaciers advanced again around 1960. The advance of Sørbreen probably culminated around 1965. The climate appears to have been more arctic-continental than today during these two periods of glacier advances, caused by expanded pack ice cover in the East Greenland current and strong influence from the Greenland-Arctic high pressure area. The interplay between the high pressure area and the low pressure tracks in the North Atlantic Ocean determines the climate over the north-western part of the Atlantic, and this results in parallel climate and glacier variations within this region. We conclude, contrary to previous reports, that the advances of the glaciers around 1960 were caused by reduced summer temperatures and ablation, and not by increased precipitation.     

北极扬马延岛大气边界层高度的气候特征分析

基于1973—2015年间的全球综合无线电探空资料(IGRA),采用总体理查逊数(Bulk Richardson Number)方法,分析了北极扬马延岛43年间的大气边界层高度变化特征,并对其多年月均大气边界层高度变化以及年均大气边界层高度变化进行深入分析探讨。结果显示,扬马延岛白天对流边界层高度高于夜晚稳定边界层高度,夏季多年月均大气边界层高度远低于冬春季节的高度,夏季平均高度仅为262 m,而冬春季节高度在600 m附近。大气边界层高度的变化与地面相对湿度的变化呈现较好的反相关关系。由于受到墨西哥湾暖流的影响,岛屿全年温差较小,夏季的相对湿度较大,导致潜热通量较多,抑制了边界层内的对流过程,造成夏季大气边界层高度较低。此外,其年均高度在1973—1988年间出现波动下降,而后在1988—1995年快速上升,最后于1995—2015年间变化平稳。     

The origin and age of driftwood on Jan Mayen

Analysis of the wood anatomy of 481 driftwood specimens from Jan Mayen shows that Larix spp. constitute approximately 70% of the trees, while sawn logs are dominated by Pinus spp. by approximately 69%. A total of 356 driftwood samples from Jan Mayen and a small number of samples from Bjørnøya in the Barents Sea and the Troynoy Island in the Kara Sea were analysed by dendrochronological methods. A driftwood Pinus chronology was dated absolutely using chronologies from living trees of Pinus sylvestris in the lower proximity of the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisey in Siberia. About 27% of the pine logs measured on Jan Mayen were found to originate in the same region, with end years concentrated in the 1940s and 1950s. A similar source was also found for Pinus driftwood logs on Bjørnøya and Troynoy. The results confirm and further delimit the source areas of the Yenisey driftwood established earlier from driftwood logs on Svalbard and Iceland. A subordinate source of both Pinus and Picea logs on Jan Mayen is northwest Russia, from the Kola Peninsula to the Pechora River. The Transpolar Drift Stream is believed to be the main distributor of driftwood from Siberian and northwest Russian sources to Jan Mayen, via the East Greenland Current. Dendrochronological dating reveals a strong, continuous input of ice-rafted driftwood from the Kara Sea. Radiocarbon datings from Jan Mayen show surface deposits of driftwood to be less than 500 years old, due mainly to extensive degradation of older wood and little or no land uplift.     

Polychaetes from Jan Mayen (Annelida, Polychaeta)

A thorough literature review has been undertaken to establish the first complete account of polychaetes recorded from the area around the volcanic island of Jan Mayen. The annotated checklist lists 121 species-level taxa, representing an increase from the 75 species previously recorded. The checklist is based on existing records, supplemented with material sampled in 1999, from which 42 species new to the area were reported. Some previously reported species from the area have been excluded because of inadequate documentation. The polychaete fauna of Jan Mayen is comparable with that of the mainland Norwegian coast and the Svalbard area. No taxa unique to the island were found. However, knowledge of the marine invertebrate fauna in general at Jan Mayen is sparse because few surveys have been undertaken there. It is expected that future expeditions will reveal further new taxon records for the area.     

The Jan May en Ridge: present status

At present, there is no direct evidence of rocks predating the late Paleocene opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea on the Jan Mayen Ridge. A review of the available geophysical data, DSDP drilling results and plate tectonic reconstructions convincingly indicates a continental nature of the northern part of the ridge. On the other hand, there is still considerable uncertainty about the southern part of the ridge and its possible continuation towards Iceland. Two reflectors, A and O , have been mapped regionally. A appears to reflect an unconformity of middle Oligocene age. Most investigators have indicated that O forms a late Paleocene rift unconformity associated with the opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. By analogy with the North Sea and the continental margin off Norway we propose that it should be investigated whether this reflector might be older, relating to an earlier Mesozoic regime of tension.     

Five short pollen diagrams of soils from Jan Mayen, Norway: a testimony of a dynamic landscape

Five soil cores varying in length from 30 to 42 cm and seven surface samples were analysed for pollen and spores. The soil layers of four cores were probably formed through redeposition of other eroded soils. Only in the Batvika core is the organic fraction of probable local origin, and here a chronology could be established. A total long-distance pollen influx of 14-22.5 grains/cm²/year was calculated. Nearly 2, 000 long-distance pollen grains were counted; the ratios of the dominant pollen types were calculated. Around Batvika the past environment was relatively stable; only one major shift in sedimentation environment is apparent from the diagram. In another diagram, expansion of Taraxacum species could be correlated with anthropogenic soil disturbance. The former presence of Lycopodium alpinum and Selaginella selaginoides on Jan Mayen is indicated by frequent spore finds; the latter species has not been found on the island before. Two unknown spore types are discussed.     

Beach Ridge Geomorphology at Cape Grinnell,northern Greenland: A Less Icy Arctic in the Mid-Holocene

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):337–355, 2010

In northern Greenland, the Cape Grinnell beach ridge plain offers a 9,000year multi-proxy record for isostatic recovery, storm history, and the hydrological changes related to precipitation and slope evolution. The chronology of uplifted beach ridges is constrained by ten geological 14C ages on shell and sea mammal bones and eleven upper limiting ages from archaeological sites that span the last 3,000 years. Beach ridges formed under the influence of open water storms with renewed frequency and intensity ca. 3 ka and 1 ka ago. A lack of shell may reflect cooler sea surface temperatures. The presence and absence of ice can be inferred by push-features. Three intervals of heightened precipitation produced extensive fan deltas: (a) after 9 ka BP (b) prior to 4.5 ka BP and (c) during the Little Ice Age (AD 1350–1900). Active solifluction lobes and colluvia cover beach ridge deposits that are between 9 and 7 ka old.     

A long-range, controlled source seismic profile in northern Australia

Summary. A two-ship refraction profile was fired on the Australian continental shelf during the Banda Sea geophysical programme carried out by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Geological Survey of Indonesia. Some of the 55-kg shots fired during this profile were observed at an array of stations in northern Australia to a distance of 1150 km.
The first arrival P travel times at the land stations had apparent velocities of 6.52, 8.24 and 8.48 km/s. The observed travel times correspond closely with those for other stable continental platform or shield regions. The travel times in these regions are of the order of 6 s less than those given in the Jeffreys—Bullen tables at distances of 700 to 1150 km.
The observations are interpreted as implying an upper-mantle velocity of 8.4 km/s at a depth of about 75 km.     

Palaeoecological analysis of a Late Quaternary sediment profile in northern Oman

High resolution palaeoecological studies of the Arabian Peninsula for the late Quaternary period are scarce. Consequently, little is known about time-dependent relationships between vegetation, environment and the development of human settlements in this area. To help fill this gap for the arid Hajar mountains of northern Oman, a 20 m deep profile in a sediment-filled depression near an oasis settlement was analysed for its physico-chemical properties, pollen and spores and other palynomorphs. Charcoal frequencies in combination with geochemical data provided evidence of an Early Holocene increase of rainfall. The onset of dryer conditions at about 8 ka was indicated by charcoal frequencies and geochemical data as were previously unrecognised short humid periods dated to 5.7, 5 and 4.4 ka. The upper 4 m of sediments contained a 4300 year-old pollen profile reaching into the archaeologically important Umm al-Nar period characterized by increased settlement activities throughout Oman. Variation in mollusc shell frequency and periodic peaks of NH₄-N suggested only minor local variations of rainfall throughout the last 2000 years. The sudden appearance of Olea spec., Ziziphus and Fabaceae pollen since about 500 years ago points to a late onset of oasis agriculture nearby.     

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge: structure at 45° N

Summary. A structural model of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N is proposed on the basis of travel-time data, amplitudes and synthetic seismograms. The crustal structure seems to be similar to that in the FAMOUS area (Fowler). At the ridge axis there is an absorptive zone in the upper mantle, the depth below the seabed to the top of this zone being about 6 km. Away from the ridge axis there is a positive velocity gradient of about 0.04 to 0.05 km/(skm) in the top 5 to 8 km of the upper mantle. Shear waves propagate across the ridge axis, suggesting that there is no sizeable crustal magma chamber. The shear-wave velocity of the uppermost mantle is 4.35 km/s.     

Some ocean-bottom seismograph observations on the Reykjanes Ridge at 59° N

Summary. Epicentres of microearthquakes detected by two ocean-bottom seismographs deployed on the Reykjanes Ridge at latitude 59° N can be interpreted as trending between 010° and 020° E of N, parallel to detailed morphological features seen in the area, rather than the overall trend of the ridge (036° E of N). Travel times from an airgun source to the seismographs indicate much slower P wave velocities for the top 4 km at the ridge crest compared with that 5–10 km off axis.     

The crustal structure of the Reykjanes Ridge at 59° 30'N

Summary. In order to examine the development of the oceanic crust in the neighbourhood of a slowly spreading ridge, a seismic refraction experiment was carried out at 59° 30'N on the Reykjanes Ridge. Three 120 km long overlapped split profiles were shot parallel to the trend of the ridge, on the eastern flank, and recorded on up to five recording sonobuoys. The profiles were at distances of 0, 30 and 90km from the ridge axis, corresponding to approximate crustal ages of 0, 3 and 9 Myr. Data from the main profiles were supplemented by using a large chamber air gun during recovery of the buoys.
The analysis of the data combined standard travel-time interpretation, the 'tau' method of systematic travel-time inversion and detailed amplitude modelling using the Reflectivity Method to calculate synthetic seismograms. Detailed velocity-depth models were constructed for each of the profiles.
There is no indication of a significant magma chamber at the ridge crest, although a slight velocity inversion in layer 3 suggests a zone of elevated temperature. Away from the crest there was a slight positive velocity gradient in layer 3. Layer 2 was most effectively modelled by a region of varying velocity gradients, which thinned with age and the transition to layer 3 is marked by a sharp change in velocity gradient. The transition to mantle velocities is also best modelled by a high velocity gradient rather than an interface.
Although some lateral variation in properties is apparent along the profiles, the lateral velocity gradients were sufficiently weak to allow an effective analysis in terms of laterally uniform models.     

Oceanic crustal structure—Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N

Summary. We present a velocity—depth model for the crust beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N which is derived from a comparison of waveforms corresponding to observed and synthetic seismograms. The model which best fits the observations includes a high-velocity layer at the base of the crust (layer 3B) and a velocity gradient in the upper mantle. These results are in agreement with other recent seismic studies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and indicate that the velocity structure is more complex than that obtained from travel-time analysis. There is no evidence for a low-velocity zone at the base of the crust.