A year in the physical oceanography of the Chukchi Sea: Moored measurements from autumn 1990–1991

Year-long time-series of temperature, salinity and velocity from 12 locations throughout the Chukchi Sea from September 1990 to October 1991 document physical transformations and significant seasonal changes in the throughflow from the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean for one year. In most of the Chukchi, the flow field responds rapidly to the local wind, with high spatial coherence over the basin scale—effectively the ocean takes on the lengthscales of the wind forcing. Although weekly transport variability is very large (ca. -2 to ), the mean flow is northwards, opposed by the mean wind (which is southward), but presumably forced by a sea-level slope between the Pacific and the Arctic, which these data suggest may have significant variability on long (order a year) timescales. The high flow variability yields a significant range of residence times for waters in the Chukchi (i.e. one to six months for half the transit) with the larger values applicable in winter.Temperature and salinity (TS) records show a strong annual cycle of freezing, salinization, freshening and warming, with sizable interannual variability. The largest seasonal variability is seen in the east, where warm, fresh waters escape from the buoyant, coastally trapped Alaskan Coastal Current into the interior Chukchi. In the west, the seasonally present Siberian Coastal Current provides a source of cold, fresh waters and a flow field less linked to the local wind. Cold, dense polynya waters are observed near Cape Lisburne and occasional upwelling events bring lower Arctic Ocean halocline waters to the head of Barrow Canyon. For about half the year, at least at depth, the entire Chukchi is condensed into a small region of TS-space at the freezing temperature, suggesting ventilation occurs to near-bottom, driven by cooling and brine rejection in autumn/winter and by storm-mixing all year.In 1990–1991, the ca. 0.8 Sv annual mean inflow through Bering Strait exits the Chukchi in four outflows—via Long Strait, Herald Valley, the Central Channel, and Barrow Canyon—each outflow being comparable (order 0.1–0.3 Sv) and showing significant changes in volume and water properties (and hence equilibrium depth in the Arctic Ocean) throughout the year. The clearest seasonal cycle in properties and flow is in Herald Valley, where the outflow is only weakly related to the local wind. In this one year, the outflows ventilate above and below (but not in) the Arctic halocline mode of 33.1 psu. A volumetric comparison with Bering Strait indicates significant cooling during transit through the Chukchi, but remarkably little change in salinity, at least in the denser waters. This suggests that, with the exception of (in this year small) polynya events, the salinity cycle in the Chukchi can be considered as being set by the input through Bering Strait and thus, since density is dominated by salinity at these temperatures, Bering Strait salinities are a reasonable predictor of ventilation of the Arctic Ocean.     

A search for shocked quartz grains in the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis suggests that multiple airbursts or extraterrestrial impacts occurring at the end of the Allerød interstadial resulted in the Younger Dryas cold period. So far, no reproducible, diagnostic evidence has, however, been reported. Quartz grains containing planar deformation features (known as shocked quartz grains), are considered a reliable indicator for the occurrence of an extraterrestrial impact when found in a geological setting. Although alleged shocked quartz grains have been reported at a possible Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer in Venezuela, the identification of shocked quartz in this layer is ambiguous. To test whether shocked quartz is indeed present in the proposed impact layer, we investigated the quartz fraction of multiple Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layers from Europe and North America, where proposed impact markers have been reported. Grains were analyzed using a combination of light and electron microscopy techniques. All samples contained a variable amount of quartz grains with (sub)planar microstructures, often tectonic deformation lamellae. A total of one quartz grain containing planar deformation features was found in our samples. This shocked quartz grain comes from the Usselo palaeosol at Geldrop Aalsterhut, the Netherlands. Scanning electron microscopy cathodoluminescence imaging and transmission electron microscopy imaging, however, show that the planar deformation features in this grain are healed and thus likely to be older than the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary. We suggest that this grain was possibly eroded from an older crater or distal ejecta layer and later redeposited in the European sandbelt. The single shocked quartz grain at this moment thus cannot be used to support the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.     

Centrifuge tests on installation of suction anchors in soft clay

Three centrifuge model tests were performed in normally consolidated Speswhite Kaolin to study the penetration of suction anchors in soft clay. The suction anchors could be penetrated by means of underpressure to a depth of about 12.4 to a little more than 14.5 times the diameter. When the anchors were penetrated by underpressure, all clay displaced by the skirt moved into the anchor. At a penetration depth of about half the maximum penetration depth, the volume of the soil heave inside the anchor actually increased more than the volume of the displaced clay. When a material coefficient of 1.5 against plug failure was mobilized, more than the clay displaced by the skirts had accumulated inside the anchor. The penetration resistance increased by 42 and 26% during rest periods of 4.5 and 0.8 days prototype time, respectively. Some uncertainty in the shear strength of the clay beds gave some uncertainty with respect to the interpretation, but the observed behaviour generally confirmed the theoretical analyses.     

Configuration,history and impact of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream

The Norwegian Channel between Skagerrak, in the southeast, and the continental margin of the northern North Sea, in the northwest, is the result of processes related to repeated ice stream activity through the last 1.1 m yr. In such periods the Skagerrak Trough (700 m deep) has acted as a confluence area for glacial ice from southeastern Norway, southern Sweden and parts of the Baltic. Possibly related to the threshold in the Norwegian Channel off Jæren (250 m deep), the ice stream, on a number of occasions over the last 400 ka, inundated the coastal lowlands and left an imprint of NW‐oriented ice directional features (drumlins, stone orientations in tills and striations). Marine interstadial sediments found up to 200 m a.s.l. on Jæren have been suggested to reflect glacial isostasy related to the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream (NCIS). In the channel itself, the ice stream activity is evidenced by mega‐scale glacial lineations on till surfaces. As a result of subsidence, the most complete sedimentary records of early phases of the NCIS are preserved close to the continental margin in the North Sea Fan region. The strongest evidence for ice stream erosion during the last glacial phase is found in the Skagerrak. On the continental slope the ice stream activity is evidenced by the large North Sea Fan, which is mainly a result of deposition of glacial‐fed debris flows. Northwards of the North Sea Fan, rapid deposition of meltwater plume deposits, possibly related to the NCIS, is detected as far north as the Vøring Plateau. The NCIS system offers a unique possibility to study ice stream related processes and the impact the ice stream development had on open ocean sedimentation and circulation.     

Measurements of meteor smoke particles during the ECOMA-2006 campaign: 2. Results

The first sounding rocket of the European ECOMA-project (ECOMA, Existence and Charge state Of Meteoric smoke particles in the middle Atmosphere) was launched on 8 September 2006. Measurements with a new particle detector described in the companion paper by Rapp and Strelnikova [2008. Measurements of meteor smoke particles during the ECOMA-2006 campaign: 1. Particle detection by active photoionization. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, this issue, doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2008.06.002] clearly showed meteor smoke particle (MSP) signatures in both data channels. The data channels measure particles directly impacting on the detector electrode and photoelectrons from the particles actively created using ionization by the UV-photons of a xenon-flashlamp. Measured photoelectron currents resemble model expectations of the shape of the MSP layer almost perfectly, whereas derived number densities in the altitude range 60–90 km are larger than model results by about a factor of 5. Given the large uncertainties inherent to both model and the analysis of our measurements (e.g., the composition of the particles is not known and must be assumed) we consider this a satisfactory agreement and proof that MSPs do extend throughout the entire mesosphere as predicted by models. The measurements of direct particle impacts revealed a confined layer of negative charge between 80 and 90 km. This limited altitude range, however, is quantitatively shown to be the consequence of the aerodynamics of the rocket flight and does not have any geophysical origin. Measured charge signatures are consistent with expectations of particle charging given our own measurements of the background ionization. Unfortunately, however, a contamination of these measurements from triboelectric charging cannot be excluded at this stage.     

Geomorphic evolution of small river–lake‐systems in northeast Germany during the Late Quaternary

This study investigates the post‐glacial development of four small river–lake systems in the Weichselian belt of northern central Europe. The valleys investigated are part of an immature drainage system characterized by frequent and abrupt changes in flow direction and the presence of numerous stagnant‐ice depressions in the valley course. The depressions contain thick sedimentary sequences which provide excellent archives for the reconstruction of the post‐glacial valley development. Study results indicate that the valleys reuse segments of former subglacial meltwater channels. During the Late Pleniglacial these channels carried meltwater streams. Stagnant‐ice melting occurred in stages from the Oldest Dryas to the early Holocene and was often followed by the formation of lakes in the valley course. Flow reversals occurred during the Late‐glacial–Holocene transition and were in response to general base‐level lowering caused by stagnant‐ice melting, headwater erosion and lake overspills. Lacustrine deposition typically started during the early Late‐glacial comprising mainly silicate gyttjas, whereas organic gyttjas and peats accumulated during the Allerød. The Younger Dryas is associated with a marked increase in fluvial and aeolian sedimentation, and lake‐level high stands. This was followed by early Holocene lake‐level low stands and a subsequent stabilization phase with decreasing silicate input and increasing organic lacustrine deposition. In general, dramatic changes in Late Pleniglacial to early Holocene sedimentation suggest that small‐scale catastrophic events played a more important role in triggering geomorphic changes then previously recognized. Infilling continued until peat accumulation and terrestrialization of lake basins became widespread during the mid‐ to late Holocene. Beginning in the late Holocene anthropogenic influences become important mainly involving an increase in sediment supply due to forest clearing and land use, followed by mill stowage, river course correction and anthropogenic lake‐level manipulations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resolving frontal structures: on the payoff using a less diffusive but computationally more expensive advection scheme

This article presents some advantages using a shape-preserving total variation diminishing (TVD) advection scheme in an ecosystem model. The superbee flux-limiter has been used to the second-order Lax–Wendroff advection scheme to make it TVD. We performed simulations for three shelf sea regions with different characteristic time scales, namely, the North Sea, the Barents Sea, and the Baltic Sea. To explore the advantages, we also performed reference runs with the much simpler and computationally cheaper upwind advection scheme. Frontal structures are much better resolved with the TVD scheme. The bottom salinity in the Baltic Sea stays at realistic values throughout the 10-year simulation with the TVD scheme, while with the upwind scheme, it drifts towards lower values and the permanent haline stratification in the Baltic is almost completely eroded within one seasonal cycle. Only when applying TVD for both the vertical and horizontal advections the model succeeded to preserve haline stratification in the decadal simulation. Lower trophic level patterns are far better reproduced with the TVD scheme, and for the estimated cod larval survival, the advantages seem to be even stronger. Simulations using the TVD-derived prey fields identified distinct regions such as Dogger Bank to favor potential larvae survival (PLS), which did not appear as particularly favorable in the upstream simulations. The TVD scheme needs about 25?% more time on the central processing unit (CPU) in case of a pure hydrodynamic setup with only two scalar state variables (Barents Sea application). The additional CPU time cost increases for a coupled physical–biological model application with a large number of state variables. However, this is more than compensated by all the advantages found, and, hence, we conclude that it is worthwhile to use the TVD scheme in our ecosystem model.     

Sandstone diagenesis and porosity modification during basin evolution

The properties of sandstones as potential reservoirs and shales as source rocks depend on primary facies relationships and diagenesis. Porostiy loss due to mechanical compation and pressure solution is essentially a function of grain parameters (sorting, packing and composition) and net overburden stress. The porosity loss can be predicted to a certain extent. The importance of secondary porosity caused by dissolution of framework grains and cements has been fully recognized. The discussion has focused on the processes causing such dissolution and to what extent it can cause net increase in porosity.The most critical factor in clastic diagenesis is the nature of porewater flow and the degree of mass transfer taking place as a result of this. In the North Sea reservoir rocks, petrographic and geochemical evidence suggest that most of the leaching of feldspar and mica resulting in the formation of kaolinite occurred early during fresh wather flushing. Recent calculations indicate that »acids« derived from source rocks are inadequate to explain the secondary porosity observed in reservoir rocks. Mathematical modelling suggests that thermal convection is of limited importance in sedimentary basins, except where there are high lateral changes in geothermal gradients. Evidence from porewater geochemistry suggests that porewaters in sedimentary basins are often stratified or compartmentalized in a way which is inconsistent with large scale convection or compactional flow, making it necessary to assume that diagenetic reactions are relatively isochemical during deeper burial.A better understanding of the diagenetic reactions will help us to improve our predictions about porosity/depth relations, pore size, and pore geometry distribution in reservoir rocks.Porosity depth trends from offshore Norway and published data from other basins are discussed. Empirical linear best fit lines are found to illustrate the relationship quite well for depths between one and five km. Within a specific region, the linear porosity gradient is a function of mineral composition and of temperature and pressure gradients. Primary porosity tends to be best preserved in sandstones with high proportions of stable grains (e. g. in quartz arenites) down to about 3 or 4 km. At greater depth, porosity loss is accelerated due to increased pressure solution. Secondary and primary porosity adjacent to feldspar grains then tends to be selectively preserved relative to primary pores between quartz grains.

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Zusammenfassung Die bestimmenden Faktoren von Sandsteinen als mögliche Speichergesteine und von Schiefern als Bildungsort von Kohlenwasserstoffen liegen in den Verhältnissen der primären Fazieausbildungen der Gesteine und deren Diagenesegeschichte. Korn-Parameter (Sortierung, Pakkungsdichte und Zusammensetzung) und Netto-Auflast steuern mechanische Kompaktion und Drucklösung. Diese sind für Porositätsreduzierungen verantwortlich, die bis zu einem bestimmten Grad abgeschätzt werden können. Der Einfluß von Lösungserscheinungen für die Bildung sekundären Porenraums, der hier definiert werden konnte und die Vorgänge, die Lösungsphasen iniziieren, bilden den zentralen Punkt der Diskussion.Größte Bedeutung in der Diagenese klastischer Sedimente kommt dem Charakter der Grundwasserbewegungen und deren Eigenschaft im Bereich des Stofftransportes zu. Daten der Petrographie und der Geochemie ergeben für die Speichergesteine der Nordsee, daß der Hauptanteil der Lösung von Feldspat und Muskovit, ein Vorgang, der zur Bildung von Kaolinit führte, frühdiadenetisch unter Einfluß von Süßwasser stattfand. Aufgrund neuerer Kalkulationen kann die Bedeutung saurer Lösungen, die man von dem Bildungsgestein hergeleitet, für die sekundäre Porosität der Speichergesteine ausgeschlossen werden. Mathematische Berechnungen räumen dem Einfluß thermaler Konvektion in sedimentären Becken meist geringe Bedeutung zu, es sei denn es gibt große laterale Unterschiede des geothermischen Gradienten. Die geochemische Analyse des Porenwassers ergibt vertikale und horizontale Zonierungen im Chemismus des Wassers. Diese Tatsache widerspricht der These einer großräumischen Konvektion, da in diesem Fall die Diagenese-Prozesse unter Bedeckung bei relativ einheitlicher chemischer Zusammensetzung ablaufen würden.Ein besseres Verständnis der diagenetischen Vorgänge wird die Abhängigkeit des Verhältnisses von Porosität zur Tiefe, der Verteilung des Hohlraumvolumens und der Hohlraumgeometrie in Speichergesteinen erleichtern.Diskutiert werden Zusammenhänge von Porosität und Tiefe, die Daten an Stellen vor der Küste Norwegens und anderen Becken entnommen wurden. Für Tiefen zwischen einem und fünf Kilometern scheinen empirische, lineare Geraden am besten die Verhältnisse zu verdeutlichen. Regional begrenzt kann der lineare Porositätsgradient als eine Funktion der Gradienten von Mineralzusammensetzung, Temperatur und Druck beschrieben werden. Primäre Porosität ist am besten in Sandsteinen mit einem hohen Anteil an stabilen Komponenten (z. B. Quatzarenite) bis zu einer Tiefe von drei oder vier Kilometern erhalten.Drucklösungserscheinungen sind für die zunehmende Abnahme der Porosität in größeren Tiefen verantwortlich. Dabei scheinen sekundäre und intergranulare Porenräume zwischen Feldspatkörnern relativ zu primären Porenräumen zwischen Quartzkörnern stabiler zu sein.

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Résumé Les facteurs qui caractérisent des grès en tant que réservoirs potentiels d'hydrocarbures et des shales en tant que roches-mères sont les relations facielles primaires et la diagenèse. La perte de porosité due à la compaction mécanique et aux impressionnements («pressure-solution») est fonction essentiellement des paramètres des grains (classement, ordonnance et composition) et des contraintes dues à la surcharge. La perte de porosité peut être prévue dans une certaine mesure. On connaît l'importance de la porosité secondaire provoquée par la dissolution des grains et des ciments. La discussion est centrée sur les processus responsables de cette dissolution et sur leur incidence dans l'accroissement net de la porosité.Le facteur le plus critique dans la diagenèse des élastiques est la nature du flux d'eau intersticielle et le degré de transfert de matière qui en résulte. Dans les roches-magasins de la Mer du Nord, les observations pétrographiques et géochimiques montrent que la plus grande partie de l'altération en kaolin du feldspath et du mica s'est produite lors du lessivage par de l'eau douce. Selon des calculs récents, les «acides» dérivés des roches-mères ne peuvent expliquer la porosité secondaire des roches-magasins. La modélisation mathématique suggère que la convection thermique ne joue qu'un rôle subordonné dans un bassin de sédimentation, sauf aux endroits de forte variation latérale du gradient géothermique. L'étude géochimique des eaux intersticielles montre que dans les bassins sédimentaires, elles sont souvent stratifiées ou compartimentées d'une manière qui est incompatible avec une convection à grande échelle car un tel phénomène impliquerait des réactions diagénétiques relativement isochimiques.Une meilleure compréhension des réactions diagénétiques doit nous aider à améliorer nos prévisions relatives à la relation porosité/profondeur, et à la répartition de la taille et de la forme des pores dans les roches-magasins.Une discussion est présentée à propos de la relation porosité/profondeur, à partir des données recueillies off-shore en Norvège et de données publiées provenant d'autres bassins. Il apparaît qu'entre 0 et 5 km de profondeur, des courbes empiriques linéaires rendent le mieux compte de ces relations. Dans une région donnée, le gradient linéaire de porosité est fonction de la composition minéralogique et des gradients de pression et de température. La porosité primaire tend à être bien préservée dans les grès riches en grains stables (p. ex. dans les arénites quartziques) jusqu'à une profondeur de 3 à 4 km. Plus bas, la perte de porosité s'accélère en raison des phénomènes d'impressionnement. Dans ces conditions profondes, les pores primaires et secondaires adjacents aux grains de feldspath semblent relativement plus stables que les pores primaires situés entre les grains de quartz.

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