Circulation patterns in the lower Arctic Ocean derived from geochemical data

Climatological water-mass structures were identified in the Arctic Ocean using the geochemical dataset in the Hydrochemical Atlas of the Arctic Ocean (HAAC) as well as data on a geochemically conserved parameter, PO₄*, based on phosphate and dissolved oxygen. In the upper ocean above a depth of 500 m, the HAAC was found to reliably depict the boundary between Pacific-Origin Water (P-Water) and Atlantic-Origin Water (A-Water), which is aligned 135°E–45°W near the surface but rotates counterclockwise with depth. Thus, the Arctic and Atlantic oceans exchange high-silicate P-Water and low-silicate A-Water. The PO₄* field in the lower ocean below a depth of 1500 m was analyzed statistically, and the results indicated that the Eurasian Basin receives low-PO₄* Nordic Seas Deep Water, which flows along the bottom from the Greenland Sea. The routes from the upper ocean to the lower ocean were determined. Only the southern portion of the Canada Basin, which receives water from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, has high PO₄* levels; the rest of the Amerasian Basin receives low-PO₄* water from the Laptev Sea and/or the Barents Sea. The Eurasian Basin receives moderate levels of PO₄* from the Fram Strait and from the intermediate layer. The intermediate-layer water gradually travels up from the lower ocean and returns to the Atlantic, entraining the subsurface portion. It is likely that high-PO₄* water occasionally flows down from the upper ocean along Greenland, making the Eurasian Basin heterogeneous.     

Effects of alkali and alkaline-earth cations on the high-pressure sound velocities of aluminosilicate glasses

Physics and Chemistry of Minerals - A black tourmaline sample from Seagull batholith (Yukon Territory, Canada) was established to be a schorl with concentrations of Fe2+ among the highest currently...     

Transport of nutrients and organic matter in a mangrove swamp

Field observations of the tidal transport of nutrients and organic matter in a mangrove swamp on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan revealed that groundwater flow from the swamp plays a significant role in increasing concentration of dissolved inorganic phosphorous and organic matter in a major channel. In contrast, dissolved inorganic nitrogen is transported from the mangrove swamps via surface water flow in the small channels of the swamp.     

Rocket observation of energy spectrum of diffuse hard X-rays

The energy spectrum of diffuse hard X-rays measured in the range 10–40 keV shows a rather sharp change of slope. The logarithmic derivative of the spectrum changes around 20–30 keV by the increment significantly greater than 0.5 within an interval smaller than 50 keV.     

Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic constraints on the origin of Miocene basaltic rocks from northeast Hokkaido, Japan: Implications for opening of the Kurile back-arc basin

Late Miocene (7–9 Ma) basaltic rocks from the Monbetsu‐Kamishihoro graben in northeast Hokkaido have chemical affinities to certain back‐arc basin basalts (referred to herein as Hokkaido BABB). Pb‐, Nd‐ and Sr‐isotopic compositions of the Hokkaido BABB and arc‐type volcanic rocks (11–13 Ma and 4–4.5 Ma) from the nearby region indicate mixing between the depleted mantle and an EM II‐like enriched component (e.g. subducted pelagic sediment) in the magma generation. At a given ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, Hokkaido BABB have slightly lower ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and slightly less radiogenic ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb compared with associated arc‐type lavas, but both these suites are difficult to distinguish solely on the basis of isotopic compositions. These isotopic data indicate that while generation of the Hokkaido BABB involves smaller amounts of the EM II‐like enriched component than do associated arc lavas, Hokkaido BABB are isotopically distinct from basalts produced at normal back‐arc basin spreading centers. Instead, northeast Hokkaido BABB are more similar to basalts erupted during the initial rifting stage of back‐arc basins. The Monbetsu‐Kamishihoro graben may have developed in association with extension that formed the Kurile Basin, suggesting that opening of the basin continued until late Miocene (7–9 Ma).     

Metabolism and chemical composition of marine pelagic gastropod molluscs: a synthesis

Metabolism (respiration and ammonia excretion rates) and chemical composition data [water content, ash, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and C:N ratios] of a total of between 6–32 species of pteropods (thecosomes and gymnosomes) and heteropods from ≤500 m depth of the world’s oceans were compiled. Among the independent variables designated (body mass, habitat temperature, sampling depth, taxon), body mass and habitat temperature were significant predictors of metabolism, attributing to 85 % of the variance in respiration rates and 69 % of the variance in ammonia excretion rates. Atomic O:N ratios (respiration:ammonia excretion) ranged from 7.0 to 100 (median 14.5), and no appreciable effects of the variables were detected. A significant negative correlation of C and N compositions and habitat temperature was seen only in the thecosomes. As judged by the concomitant increase in C:N ratios with increasing habitat temperature, a greater deposition of inorganic C (as CaCO₃–C) in the shell of the warmer-living species was suggested. Compared with other zooplankton (copepods, chaetognaths, and euphausiids), the thecosomes were characterized by higher respiration rates per unit body N and larger ash content by having possession of calcareous shells. Because of the shells, C and N composition expressed as % of dry mass of the thecosomes were lower than those of the other zooplankton taxa.     

Ice‐edge upwelling off the Newfoundland coast during LIMEX

Abstract

Analysis of CTD, Batfish and drifter data collected in the southern Labrador marginal ice zone during LIMEX (Labrador Ice Margin Experiment) in 1987 shows strong evidence of upwelling at the ice edge. The most clear indication of the upwelling is the rise of isopycnals and the increase of surface density near the ice edge. The upwelling zone has a width of 6 km extending from the ice edge, and an upwelling depth of at least 100 m. The existence of the upwelling zone along the ice edge is shown to be related to the character of the ice edge. Upwelling is more likely to occur at sharp and compacted ice edges. A two‐dimensional coupled ice‐ocean dynamical model of a continuously stratified ocean with a coastal boundary on a sloping bottom is used to study the dynamics of ice‐edge upwelling. The model results are in qualitative agreement with observations. A sensitivity analysis of the model is presented.     

A comparison of cumulus parameterization schemes in a numerical weather prediction model for a monsoon rainfall event

In order to evaluate cumulus parameterization (CP) schemes for hydrological applications, the Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research's fifth‐generation mesoscale model (MM5) was used to simulate a summer monsoon in east China. The performances of five CP schemes (Anthes–Kuo, Betts–Miller, Fritsch–Chappell, Kain–Fritsch, and Grell) were evaluated in terms of their ability to simulate amount of rainfall during the heavy, moderate, and light phases of the event. The Grell scheme was found to be the most robust, performing well at all rainfall intensity and spatial scales. The Betts–Miller scheme also performed well, particularly at larger scales, but its assumptions may make it inapplicable to non‐tropical environments and at smaller scales. The Kain–Fritsch scheme was the best at simulating moderate rainfall rates, and was found to be superior to the Fritsch–Chappell scheme on which it was based. The Anthes–Kuo scheme was found to underpredict precipitation consistently at the mesoscale. Simulation performance was found to improve when schemes that included downdrafts were used in conjunction with schemes that did not include downdrafts. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depth dependence and exponential models of permeability in alluvial-fan gravel deposits

To determine depth dependence of permeability in various geologic deposits, exponential models have often been proposed. However, spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity, K, rarely fits this trend in coarse alluvial aquifers, where complex stratigraphic sequences follow unique trends due to depositional and post-depositional processes. This paper analyzes K of alluvial-fan gravel deposits in several boreholes, and finds exponential decay in K with depth. Relatively undisturbed gravel cores obtained in the Toyohira River alluvial fan, Sapporo, Japan, are categorized by four levels of fine-sediment packing between gravel grains. Grain size is also analyzed in cores from two boreholes in the mid-fan and one in the fan-toe. Profiles of estimated conductivity, $ \overline{K} $ , are constructed from profiles of core properties through a well-defined relation between slug-test results and core properties. Errors in $ \overline{K} $ are eliminated by a moving-average method, and regression analysis provides the decay exponents of $ \overline{K} $ with depth. Moving-average results show a similar decreasing trend in only the mid-fan above ～30-m depth, and the decay exponent is estimated as ≈0.11 m^?1, which is 10- to 1,000-fold that in consolidated rocks. A longitudinal cross section is also generated by using the profiles to establish hydrogeologic boundaries in the fan.