The Equatorial Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel: An Ultra High-Resolution Image of Its Burial History Based on TOPAS Profiles

Multibeam bathymetric and ultra high-resolution seismic data reveal that the distal course of the Equatorial Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel (EAMOC) extends further east and south than was previously known, and is controlled by the presence of morphologic highs related to the Fernando de Noronha Fracture Zone. Distal course of the EAMOC is buried by sediments, and does not have bathymetric expression on the seafloor. The channel fill consists of three seismic sequences, suggesting that the recent geological evolution of the channel is composed of successive phases of decreasing sedimentary activity that finally resulted in its complete burial. Tectonic and volcanic activity related to the Fernando de Noronha Fracture Zone and Ridge, together with the effect of strong pulses of the Antarctic bottom water current during the upper Pliocene are suggested to have contributed to the progressive burial and the final abandonment of the EAMOC.     

Carbon,oxygen and sulphur isotope variations in concretions from the Upper Lias of N.E. England

Carbon, oxygen and sulphur isotope data for transects across two pyrite-bearmg carbonate concretions, and their host sediments, from the Upper Lias of N.E. England show symmetrical zonation. δ¹³C_PDB values of the calcite cement (?12.9 to ?15.4%.) indicate that most of it originated from organic matter by bacterial reduction of sulphate, augmented with marine and, to a lesser extent, fermentation derived carbonate. Organic carbon (δ¹³C_PDB = ?26.1 to ?37.0%.). reflects the admixture of allochtho-nous terrestrial organic matter with marine material and the selective preservation of isotopically light organic material through microbiological degradation.Two phases of pyrite are present in each concretion. The earlier framboidal pyrite formed throughout the sediment prior to concretionary growth and has δ³⁴S_CD values of ?22 to ?26%. indicating formation by open system sulphate reduction. The later euhedral phase is more abundant and reaches values of ? 2.5 to ? 5.5%. at concretion margins. This phase of sulphate reduction provided the carbonate source for concretionary growth and occurred in a partially closed system. The δ¹³C and δ³⁴S data are consistent with mineralogical and chemical evidence which suggest that both concretions formed close to the sediment surface. The δ₁₈O values of the calcite in one concretion (δ¹⁸O_PDB = 2.3 to ?4.8%.) indicate precipitation in pore waters whose temperature and isotopic composition was close to that of overlying seawater. The other concretion is isotopically much lighter (δ¹⁸O_PDB?8.9 to ?9.9%.) and large δ¹⁸O differences between concretions in closely-spaced horizons imply that local factors control the isotopic composition of pore waters.     

Jason-1: Assessment of the System Performances

On 7 December 2001, Jason-1 was successfully launched by a Boeing Delta II rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Jason-1 satellite will maintain the high accuracy altimeter service provided since 1992 by TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P), ensuring the continuity in observing and monitoring the Ocean Dynamics (intraseasonal to interannual changes, mean sea level, tides, etc.). Despite one-fourth the mass and power, the Jason-1 system has been designed to have basically the same performance as T/P, measuring sea surface topography at a centimetric level. This new CNES/NASA mission also provides near real-time data for sea state and ocean forecast. The first two months of the Jason-1 mission have been dedicated to the assessment of the overall system. The goals of this assessment phase were:

1. To assess the behavior of the spacecraft at the platform and payload levels (Jason-1 being the first program to call on the PROTEUS versatile multimission platform for Low and Medium Earth Orbit Missions developed in partnership between Alcatel Space and CNES);

2. To verify that platform performance requirements are met with respect to Jason-1 requirements;

3. To verify that payload instruments performance requirements evaluated at instrument level are met;

4. To assess the performance of the Jason-1 Ground System.

This article will display the main outputs of the assessment of the system. It will demonstrate that all the elements of the onboard and ground systems are within the specifications. Provision of data to the Jason-1 Science Working Team started at the end of March 2002. This is the goal of a six-month phase after closure of the initial assessment phase to derive the error budget of the system in terms of altimetry user products.     

A preliminary investigation of siliceous microfossil succession in late Quaternary sediments from Lake Baikal, Siberia

Siliceous microfossil assemblage succession was analyzed in a 100 m sediment core from Lake Baikal, Siberia. The core was recovered from the lake's central basin at a water depth of 365 m. Microfossil abundance varied greatly within the intervals sampled, ranging from samples devoid of siliceous microfossils to samples with up to 3.49 × 10¹¹ microfossils g^-1 sediment. Fluctuations in abundance appear to reflect trends in the marine ¹⁸O record, with peak microfossil levels generally representing climate optima. Microfossil taxa present in sampled intervals changed considerably with core depth. Within each sample a small number of endemic diatom species dominated the assemblage. Changes in dominant endemic taxa between sampled intervals ranged from extirpation of some taxa, to shifts in quantitative abundance. Differences in microfossil composition and the association of variations in abundance with climate fluctuations suggest rapid speciation in response to major climatic excursions.     

Trends and fluctuations of rainfall regime in the Brahmaputra and Barak basins of Assam, India

Severe weather conditions create negative impacts on humans. One of the severe weather conditions is storms. In the scope of this study, the storm effects on the Marmara Region were investigated using data for the period 2000 to 2010 giving the hourly averaged wind direction and speed in the Marmara Region, as provided by the Turkish Meteorological Service. The monthly distribution of storms has been estimated and their daily variability has been investigated. Additionally, air masses that cause storms have been determined by using NCEP/NCAR re-analysis data. Other than this, by studying the storms, extreme values have been ascertained and northerly values from these storm values (since in percentage terms they are larger) and hourly variability in a single day for 17 weather stations have been depicted graphically. The days that northerly storms reached extreme values are shown with the meteorological maps (surface chart, 850, 700, 500, and 300 hPa) and the temperature diagrams for Istanbul in the Marmara Region have been examined and analysed.     

Could baseline establishment be counterproductive for emissions reduction? Insights from Vietnam’s building sector

This article provides insights into the role of institutions involved in climate governance working towards a future low-carbon society at the national level, within the global climate change governance architecture. Specifically, it contributes to understanding the fragmented governance of energy efficiency policy in developing countries by focussing on Vietnam’s building sector, identifying key institutions related to underlying discourses, national and international power relations, resource distribution and coalitions. It uses the case of baseline setting in developing Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to illustrate institutional dynamics, nationally and transnationally, as well as to question whether demands for baseline setting achieve the ideal trade-off between actual GHG emissions reduction and institutionalized demands for accountability. The analysis reveals that, in addition to domestic efforts and challenges, the international agenda greatly influences the energy efficiency policy arena. The article presents lessons to be learnt about policy processes from the specific Vietnamese case, reflecting on the role of international actors and discourses in it. Finally, it argues for the abolition of baselines in favour of adequate monitoring and evaluation, from the perspective that requirement for deviation from fictitious baselines is unproductive and only serves an international techno-managerial discourse.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Baseline establishment is commonly considered an initial step in developing NAMAs, in order to facilitate the demonstration of a deviation from such baselines. The requirement to produce baselines is traditionally not questioned by policy practitioners. Thus, significant development resources are allocated to the establishment of baselines and the bridging of data gaps, often without consideration as to whether baselines are a necessary instrument for NAMA implementation. We suggest omitting the lengthy and resource-consuming practice of establishing baselines and recommend proceeding forthwith to the planning and implementation of mitigation and energy efficiency policies. As conditions vary significantly in different contexts, it would be more appropriate to measure the initial situation, establishing the ‘base point’, and monitor development from that point. The present article might serve as motivation for policymakers to question traditional approaches to policy development and consider alternatives to maximize the cost efficacy of NAMA programmes and facilitate their implementation.     

Identifying causes of ground-penetrating radar reflections using time-domain reflectometry and sedimentological analyses

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical technique widely used to study the shallow subsurface and identify various sediment features that reflect electromagnetic waves. However, little is known about the exact cause of GPR reflections because few studies have coupled wave theory to petrophysical data. In this study, a 100- and 200-MHz GPR survey was conducted on aeolian deposits in a quarry. Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) was used to obtain detailed information on the product of relative permittivity (ɛ_r) and relative magnetic permeability (μ_r), which mainly controls the GPR contrast parameter in the subsurface. Combining TDR data and lacquer peels from the quarry wall allowed the identification of various relationships between sediment characteristics and ɛ_rμ_r. Synthetic radar traces, constructed using the TDR logs and sedimentological data from the lacquer peels, were compared with the actual GPR sections. Numerous peaks in ɛ_rμ_r, which are superimposed on a baseline value of 4 for dry sand, are caused by potential GPR reflectors. These increases in ɛ_rμ_r coincide with the presence of either organic material, having a higher water content and relative permittivity than the surrounding sediment, or iron oxide bands, enhancing relative magnetic permeability and causing water to stagnate on top of them. Sedimentary structures, as reflected in textural change, only result in possible GPR reflections when the volumetric water content exceeds 0·055. The synthetic radar traces provide an improved insight into the behaviour of radar waves and show that GPR results may be ambiguous because of multiples and interference.     

On the multi-century Southern Hemisphere response to changes in atmospheric CO2-concentration in a Global Climate Model

Summary The transient response of the Southern Hemisphere to climate change is examined using an intermediate complexity climate model. Unlike previous studies, the Southern Ocean response on the centennial to multi-centennial time-scale is assessed in some detail. It is shown that changes in atmospheric CO₂-concentrations lead to an increase in the strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) by ∼20 Sv by 2750 for an atmospheric CO₂-concentration of 750 ppm. This increase is predominantly the result of an enhanced steric height gradient. The increase in the strength of the ACC induces changes in its steering around topographic features. This change in ACC pathway causes increased surface flow of colder waters into some regions (reducing the rate of warming) and increased surface flow of warmer waters into others (increasing the rate of warming). This meridional shifting of the ACC causes changes in atmospheric temperature in the Southern Hemisphere to be nonuniform. It is also shown that the strength and location of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) overturning cell is affected by increased atmospheric CO₂. For a CO₂-concentration scenario increasing gradually to 750 ppm, AABW production initially decreases, then recovers and eventually increases. New production zones form, which extend AABW production all the way from the Weddell Sea eastward into the Ross Sea. These new production zones are the result of increased areas of atmosphere-ocean interactions, due to decreased sea-ice coverage, although the overturned waters are now warmer and fresher due to climate change. A new production zone of Antarctic Intermediate water is also established in the Southeast Pacific Ocean, poleward of its present-day location.     

Marine mammals from northeast Atlantic: relationship between their trophic status as determined by delta13C and delta15N measurements and their trace metal concentrations

The relationship between trophic position through delta13C and delta15N and trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cd, Cu and Hg) was investigated in the tissues of six marine mammal species from the Northeast Atlantic: striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba, common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, Atlantic white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus, harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, white beaked-dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris, grey seal Halichoerus grypus stranded on French Channel and Irish coasts. White-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises, white-sided dolphins, common and striped dolphins display the same relative and decreasing trophic position, as measured by delta15N values, along both the Irish and French channel coasts, reflecting conservative trophic habits between these two places. Hepatic and renal Cd concentrations were significantly correlated to muscle delta13C and delta15N values while Hg, Zn and Cu did not. These results suggest that Cd accumulation is partly linked to the diet while other factors such as age or body condition might explain Hg, Zn or Cu variability in marine mammals. Combined stable isotope and trace metal analyses appear to be useful tools for the study of marine mammal ecology.     

Geochemical Stratigraphy and Microvertebrate Assemblage Sequences across the Silurian/Devonian Transition in South China

Carbon isotope (δ13Corg) analyses of non-marine clastic rocks and neritic carbonates and black shales spanning the Silurian/Devonian transition are compared from two richly fossiliferous sequences in Qujing of East Yunnan and Zoige of Sichuan, South China. The two sections, Xishancun and Putonggou sections in South China, reveal positive δ13Corg shifts happening in the Upper Pridoli and Lower Devonian and reaching peak values as heavy as ?25.2‰ (Xishancun) and ?19.9‰ (Putonggou) in the lowermost Lochkovian following the first occurrence of the thelodont Parathelodus and the conodont Icriodus woschmidti woschmidti (only in Putonggou Section and together with Protathyris-Lanceomyonia brachiopod fauna). These results replicate a globally known positive shift in δ13Corg from the uppermost Silurian to the lowermost Devonian. The δ13Corg variations across the Silurian/Devonian Boundary (SDB) at the two sections in South China exhibit a shift in carbon isotopic composition similar to the detailed SDB curves from the borehole Klonk-1 drilled at top of the Klonk Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point (GSSP) in the Prague Basin, Czech Republic. In addition, four microvertebrate assemblages, including the Liaojiaoshan, Xishancun, Yanglugou and Xiaputonggou assemblages, are recognized from the Silurian/Devonian transition exposed in the Xishancun and Putonggou sections, respectively. The results from both carbon isotope stratigraphy and microvertebrate assemblage sequences suggest that the SDB in South China is located at the base of the Xishancun Formation (between sample QX-20 and sample QX-21) in the Xishancun Section and the lower part of the Xiaputonggou Formation (between sample ZP-09 and sample ZP-10) in the Putonggou Section. The isotopic trend for organic carbon together with the changes of microvertebrate remains across the SDB can offer an approach to a potential correlation of the SDB from different sedimentary facies, which help to correlate the marine with non-marine deposits.