Design and shipboard operation of a multipurpose ocean bottom seismograph

Ocean bottom seismographs designed to meet the requirements of both seismicity and refraction experiments have been operated extensively on twelve cruises (72 deployments). Signals from a hydrophone, and two geophones (horizontal and vertical) are direct recorded on a modified commercial tape recorder providing 10 day continuous recording at 1/40 ips and a 2–80 Hz band width. The free-fall deployment technique with timed ballast release has yielded a 93% recovery rate (96% over the most recent 24 deployments) despite frequently difficult weather and sea conditions. Emphasis on reliability and operational simplicity has produced an instrument that can be operated in arrays by a single shipboard technician.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Contribution Number 2535.     

Do Harpacticoids (Copepoda) Use Water‐Borne Cues to Aid in Locating Food Parcels?

Abstract.  Harpacticoid copepod food is patchily distributed and individuals must episodically move to new food patches. Key questions in harpacticoid feeding ecology include how individuals detect food patches and how rapidly they move toward patches. Based on literature reports, we hypothesized that harpacticoids locate food parcels by sensing a water-borne cue. We tested this idea using individuals of Leptastacus coulli Huys, 1992 and Praeleptomesochra similis Lang, 1965 from a sandy beach in north Florida (29.948° N, 84.341° W). Individuals from both species selected seawater that had been exposed to food significantly more frequently than they selected control seawater. The rate of movement of these species was millimeters per second, which agreed with previous reports.     

Seasonal and Interannual Variability in the Distribution of Surface Nutrients and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in the Northern North Pacific: Influence of El Niño

The seasonal and interannual changes in surface nutrients, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) were recorded in the North Pacific (30–54°N) from 1995 to 2001. This study focuses on the region north of the subarctic boundary (∼40°N) where there was extensive monthly coverage of surface properties. The nutrient cycles showed large interannual variations in the eastern and western subarctic gyres. In the Alaska Gyre the seasonal depletion of nitrate (ΔNO₃) increased from 8–14 μmol kg⁻¹ in 1995–1999 to 21.5 μmol kg⁻¹ in 2000. In the western subarctic the shifts were similar in amplitude but more frequent. The large ΔNO₃ levels were associated with high silicate depletions, indicating enhanced diatom production. The seasonal DIC:NO₃ drawdown ratios were elevated in the eastern and central subarctic due to calcification. In the western subarctic and the central Bering Sea calcification was significant only during 1997 and/or 1998, two El Ni?o years. Regional C/N stoichiometric molar ratios of 5.7 to 7.0 (>40°N) were determined based on the years with negligible or no calcification. The annual new production (NP_a) based on ΔNO₃ and these C/N ratios showed large interannual variations. NP_a was usually higher in the western than in the eastern subarctic. However, values of 84 gC m⁻²yr⁻¹ were found in the Alaska Gyre in 2000 which is similar to that in the most productive provinces of the northern North Pacific. There were also large increases in NP_a around the Alaska Peninsula in 1997 and 1998. Finally, the net removal of carbon by the biological pump was estimated as 0.72 Gt C yr⁻¹ in the North Pacific (>30°N). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recovery of the seabed following marine aggregate dredging on the Hastings Shingle Bank off the southeast coast of England

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dredging intensity on the physical and biological recovery times of the seabed following marine aggregate dredging. Two areas of seabed, previously subject to, respectively, relatively high and lower levels of dredging intensity, were identified on the Hastings Shingle Bank. Two reference areas were also selected for comparative purposes. All four sites were monitored annually over the period 2001–2004, using a combination of acoustic, video and grab sampling techniques. Since the site was last dredged in 1996, this was intended to provide a sequence of data 5–8 years after cessation of dredging. However, an unexpected resumption of dredging within the high intensity site, during 2002 and 2003, allowed an additional assessment of the immediate effects and aftermath of renewed dredging at the seabed. The early stages of recovery could then be assessed after dredging ceased in 2003. Results from both dredged sites provide a useful insight into the early and latter stages of physical and biological recovery. A comparison of recent and historic dredge track features provided evidence of track erosion. However, tracks were still visible 8 years after the cessation of dredging. Within the high dredging intensity site, recolonisation was relatively rapid after the cessation of dredging in 2003. Rather than indicating a full recovery, we suggest that this initial ‘colonization community’ may enter a transition phase before eventually reaching equilibrium. This hypothesis is supported by results from the low intensity site, where biological recovery was judged to have taken 7 years. Further monitoring is needed in order to test this. An alternative explanation is that the rapid recovery may be explained by the settlement of large numbers of Sabellaria spinulosa. As the resumption of dredging within the high intensity site limited our assessment of longer-term recovery it is not yet possible to assume that a 7-year biological recovery period will be applicable to other, more intensively dredged areas at this or more distant locations.     

Solar rotation from a number of fraunhofer lines

Solar differential rotation for 1982–83 obtained at the double pass spectrograph of the McMath telescope at Kitt Peak, are presented for lines of Fe, Mg, Na, K, Si, and O in the wavelength interval 3820–10827. The results are analyzed by representations in Legendre polynominals and a power series. The differential rotation is very close to the result obtained by Howard and Harvey in 1966–68 at Mt. Wilson but with a slightly greater amplititude. We find a mean equatorial rate of rotation of 1.977 km s^-1. Day to day variations are observed in the equatorial zone; a stable rate of rotation is observed outside of the sunspot zone.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Entrainment and emplacement of englacial debris bands near the margin of Storglaciären,Sweden

Internal structure, stable isotope composition and tritium concentration were measured in and around debris‐bearing ice at the margin of Storglaciären, where englacial debris bands have previously been inferred to form by thrusting. Two types of debris bands were distinguished: (i) an unsorted diamicton band that is laterally continuous for more than 200 m, and (ii) well‐sorted sand and gravel bands that are lenticular and discontinuous. Above‐background tritium levels and enrichment of δ¹⁸ O and δD in ice from the diamicton band indicate entrainment by basal freeze‐on since 1952. Isotopic enrichment and tritium‐free ice in the sandy debris bands also indicate entrainment in freezing water, but prior to 1952. The lenticular cross‐section, sorting and stratification of the sandy bands suggest that they were deposited englacially. The basally accreted diamicton band has been elevated tens of metres above the bed and presently overlies the englacially deposited sandy bands, suggesting that the stratigraphy has been disrupted. Three interpretations could account for these observations: (i) thrusting of fast‐moving ice over slow, marginal ice uplifting recently accreted basal ice along the fault; (ii) folding near the margin, elevating young basal ice over older basal and englacial ice; and (iii) debris‐band formation by an unknown mechanism and subsequent contamination of ice geochemical properties by meltwater flow through debris bands. Although none of these interpretations is consistent with all measurements, folding is most compatible with observations and local ice‐flow kinematics.     

Hydrologic‐response‐driven sediment transport at a regional scale,process‐based simulation

Assessing hydrologically driven erosion at regional scales from a process‐based perspective presents a significant challenge. Most regional‐scale erosion assessments are based upon a simple steady‐state hydrology foundation. For this study, the sediment transport version of the physics‐based Integrated Hydrology Model (InHM), excited by synthetically generated rainfall, was employed to assess long‐term hydrologically driven erosion for a regional‐scale island boundary‐value problem. The spatiotemporal dynamics of runoff generation, erosion, and deposition are illustrated through saturation, water depth, velocity, and sediment concentration results. The simulations demonstrate that process‐based assessment for concept development is both feasible and tractable at regional spatial and human time scales. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.