The influence of a mature cyclonic eddy on particle export in the lee of Hawaii

Mesoscale eddies may enhance primary production (PP) in the open ocean by bringing nutrient-rich deep waters into the euphotic zone, potentially leading to increased transport of particles to depth. This hypothesis remains controversial, however, due to a paucity of direct particle export measurements. In this study, we investigated particle dynamics using ²³⁴Th–²³⁸U disequilibria within a mesoscale cold-core eddy, Cyclone Opal, which formed in the lee of the Hawaiian Islands. ²³⁴Th samples were collected along two transects across Cyclone Opal as well as during a time-series within the eddy core during a decaying diatom bloom. Particulate carbon (PC), particulate nitrogen (PN) and biogenic silica (bSiO₂) fluxes at 150 m varied spatially and temporally within the eddy and strongly depended on the ²³⁴Th model formulation used (e.g., steady state versus non-steady state, inclusion of upwelling, etc.). Particle fluxes estimated from a steady state model assuming an upwelling rate of 2 m day⁻¹ yielded the best fit to sediment-trap data. These ²³⁴Th-derived particle fluxes ranged from 332±14 to 1719±53 μmol C m⁻² day⁻¹, 27±3 to 114±12 μmol N m⁻² day⁻¹, and 33±20 to 309±73 μmol Si m⁻² day⁻¹. Although PP rates within Cyclone Opal were elevated by a factor of 2–3, PC and PN fluxes were the same, within error, inside and outside of Cyclone Opal. The ratio of PC export to PP remained surprisingly low at <0.03 and similar to those measured in surrounding waters. In contrast, bSiO₂ fluxes within the eddy core were three times higher. Detailed analyses of ²³⁴Th depth profiles consistently showed excess ²³⁴Th at 100–175 m, associated with the remineralization and possible accumulation of suspended and dissolved organic matter from the surface. We suggest that strong microzooplankton grazing facilitated particulate organic matter recycling and resulted in the export of empty diatom frustules. Thus, while eddies may increase PP, they do not necessarily increase PC and PN export to deep waters. This may be a general characteristic of wind-driven cyclonic eddies of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and suggests that eddies may preferentially act as a silica pump, thereby playing an important role in promoting silicic-acid limitation in the region.     

13C/12C比值作为海洋生态系统食物网示踪剂的研究──崂山湾水体生物食物网的营养关系

于1992年9月–1994年5月先后对崂山湾海域作了7个航次调查。由实验室培养试验和现场采样分析两种方法得出食物链一个营养级的¹³C富集度分别为(1.6±0.2)×10^-3和1.7×10^-3,两者几乎一致。由7个季度月的现场采集样品的同位素分析结果表明,从处在食物网底部的浮游植物到最高级的肉食性鱼类之间δ¹³C差值平均为6.9×10^-3,相当于5个营养级;并由各类生物的碳同位素数据分别确定了它们在该食物网中的营养位置,其结果与食性分析方法所得结果基本吻合。同位素示踪方法研究的结果还表明,崂山湾水体生物食物网中碳的来源主要是浮游植物碳。     

Roles of Biogeochemical Processes in the Oceanic Carbon Cycle Described with a Simple Coupled Physical-Biogeochemical Model

To evaluate the contribution of biogeochemical processes to the oceanic carbon cycle and to calculate the ratio of calcium carbonate to organic carbon downward export, we have incorporated biological and alkalinity pumps in the yoked high-latitude exchange/interior diffusion-advection (YOLDA) model. The biogeochemical processes are represented by four parameters. The values of the parameters are tuned so that the model can reproduce the observed phosphate and alkalinity distributions in each oceanic region. The sensitivity of the model to the biogeochemical parameters shows that biological production rates in the euphotic zone and decomposition depths of particulate matters significantly influence horizontal and vertical distributions of biogeochemical substances. The modeled vertical fluxes of particulate organic phosphorus and calcium carbonate are converted to vertical carbon fluxes by the biological pump and the alkalinity pump, respectively. The downward carbon flux from the surface layer to the deep layer in the entire region is estimated to be 3.36 PgC/yr, which consists of 2.93 PgC/yr from the biological pump and 0.43 PgC/yr from the alkalinity pump, which is consistent with previous studies. The modeled rain ratio is higher with depth and higher in the Pacific and Indian Oceans than in the Atlantic Ocean. The global rain ratio at the surface layer is calculated to be 0.14 to 0.15. This value lies between the lower and higher ends of the previous estimates, which range widely from 0.05 to 0.25. This study indicates that the rain ratio is unlikely to be higher than 0.15, at least in the surface waters.     

海洋浮游微食物网生物在海洋颗粒形成和沉降中的作用

海洋中存在着大量的颗粒,包括大型聚合颗粒（即海雪,粒径>500μm）、小型聚合颗粒（1~500μm）和亚微米颗粒粒径（<1μm）等。颗粒在海水中营造了不同于纯海水的小生境,其中生活着与自然海水中不同的生物。异养细菌、蓝细菌、真核藻类、鞭毛虫、纤毛虫等微食物网生物可以黏附在海洋颗粒上,或生活在颗粒内部,其丰度高于周围水体中的自由生活生物,这可能是由于颗粒提供了更适宜生长的营养环境。本文综述了海洋浮游微食物网生物在海洋颗粒形成和沉降中的作用。微食物网生物在颗粒物的形成过程中起到很重要的作用,它们可以直接促进颗粒形成,也可以彼此结合成颗粒,或微型浮游动物排粪形成颗粒。微食物网生物还可以对颗粒进行转化,影响颗粒的大小、沉降速度、或对颗粒及其黏附生物进行摄食。微食物网生物由于本身较小,沉降较慢,但这些生物和颗粒的结合使得微食物网生物在碳通量中发挥重要的作用。     

Distribution of the organic matter in the channel-levees systems of the Congo mud-rich deep-sea fan (West Africa). Implication for deep offshore petroleum source rocks and global carbon cycle

The quantity and the source of organic matter preserved in the Recent turbiditic channel-levees systems around 4000 m-depth off the Congo River were determined using bulk geochemical approaches (Rock-Eval, elemental and isotopic analyses) as well as molecular and optical analyses on selected samples. These mud-rich sediments contain high amount of organic matter (3% Corg on average), the origin of which is a mixture of terrestrial higher-plant debris and deeply oxidized phytoplanktonic material. Although the relative contribution of continental source versus marine source of the organic matter cannot be precisely quantified, the continental fraction appears significant (at least 70–80%) especially for such depths and distances from the coast. The organic matter distribution appears very homogeneous at different scales, from the single turbiditic event to the entire levee, and changes in accumulation rates have a little impact on the quantity and quality of preserved organic matter.     

Molecular and isotopic compositions of bitumens in Silurian tar sands from the Tarim Basin,NW China: Characterizing biodegradation and hydrocarbon charging in an old composite basin

Biodegradation and oil mixing in Silurian sandstone reservoirs of the Tarim Basin, one of the largest composite basins in China, were investigated by analyzing the molecular characteristics and stable carbon isotopic signatures of low-molecular-weight (LMW) saturated hydrocarbons and high-molecular-weight (HMW) asphaltenes. Detection of 25-norhopanes and 17-nortricyclic terpanes in most Silurian tar sands from the Tabei Uplift in the Tarim Basin suggests a much greater degree of biodegradation here than in the Tazhong Uplift. This explains the relatively more abundant tricyclic terpanes, gammacerane, pregnane and diasteranes in tar sands from the Tabei Uplift than in those from the Tazhong Uplift. Hence, care must be taken when assigning oil source correlations using biomarkers in tar sands because of the biodegradation and mixing of oils derived from multiple sources in such an old composite basin. Asphaltenes in the tar sands seem to be part of the oil charge before biodegradation, depending on the relative anti-biodegradation characteristics of asphaltenes, the similarity in carbon isotopic signatures for asphaltenes and their pyrolysates, and the consistent product distribution for flash pyrolysis and for regular steranes in asphaltene pyrolysates, regardless of whether the tar sands were charged with fresh oil. According to the relative distributions of regular steranes and the relatively abundant 1,2,3,4-tetramethylbenzene significantly enriched in ¹³C, the oil sources for asphaltenes in the tar sands might be related to lower Paleozoic marine source rocks formed in euxinic conditions. Nevertheless, the relatively low abundance of gammacerane and C₂₈ regular steranes observed in asphaltene pyrolysates and residual hydrocarbons, within limited samples investigated in this work, made a direct correlation of oils originally charged into Silurian tar sands with those Cambrian source rocks, reported so far, seem not to be possible. Comparison of carbon isotopic signatures of n-alkanes in asphaltene pyrolysates with those of LMW saturated hydrocarbons is helpful in determining if the abundant n-alkanes in tar sands are derived from fresh oil charges after biodegradation. The limited carbon isotopic data for n-alkanes in LMW saturated hydrocarbons from the tar sands can be used to classify oils charged after biodegradation in the composite basin into four distinct groups.     

Effect of atmospheric CO2 and solar activity on wind regime and water column stability in the major global upwelling areas

It is not clear whether global warming will favour or reduce global ocean phytoplankton productivity in coastal areas. Moreover, the relative contributions made by natural and/or anthropogenic factors to possible changes in phytoplankton productivity are not clear. As the relationship between primary production and alongshore wind forcing is well established for the Eastern Boundary Current (EBC) ecosystems, our aim is to determine whether the changes experienced over the last five decades (1958–2007) in atmospheric CO₂ and solar activity have been able to affect the wind regime and water column stability in the most biologically productive upwelling areas of California, Canary, Humboldt and Benguela. We approached the work by statistically studying the effect of solar activity and atmospheric CO₂ on surface alongshore wind stress and on water column stability. There was an increasing trend in wind stress and water column stability in all the upwelling areas over the period studied (with the single exception of stability in the California EBC system). The analysis of detrended series evidenced significant relationships between atmospheric CO₂ concentration and wind stress and water column stability in the coastal upwelling areas investigated. In addition, wind stress and stability data were found to be consistent, with negative linear relationships between wind stress and CO₂ in most of the sites in the Benguela, Canary and Humboldt regions associated, as expected, to positive relationships when water column stability is used as regressand. The results of the present study suggest that greenhouse gas forcing, independent of its well known general increasing trend, was able to decrease wind stress intensity and increase water column stability for the period 1958 to present in most of the sites of the four Eastern Boundary Ecosystems studied, with the one exception of the California region. Conversely, the impact of solar activity appeared to be quite low compared to the greenhouse gas forcing.     

The latitudinal distribution of carbon monoxide across the pacific from California to Antarctica

The results of a research study of the carbon monoxide concentration from California to 90° S, Antarctica are presented. The data both extend and support other research studies of the latitudinal distribution of carbon monoxide in that higher concentrations are evident over the Northern Hemisphere than over the Southern Hemisphere. Carbon monoxide concentrations range between 50 to 60 ppb with a few peaks into the 60s in the latitudinal area south of the ITCZ and values of 80 ppb or higher at latitudes north of Hawaii. A comparison is also made of carbon monoxide and ozone concentrations along the flight tract between California and Antarctica, over the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica, and between 78° S and the South Pole. These ozone-carbon monoxide data show statistically significant negative correlations in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over Antarctica. It is believed that this is a good indication of mixing across the tropopause.     

房山花岗岩岩体氧氢碳的同位素研究

测定了房山花岗岩侵入体的岩石、共生矿物和气液包体的氧、氢、碳的同位素组成。共生石英-黑云母和石英-全岩的δ~(18)O数据表明,房山花岗岩侵入体保存了氧同位素平衡,氧同位素温度在450—580℃之间。大多数共生黑云母-角闪石δD值的相关性基本上符合Suzuoki-Epstein关系式,可以认为房山侵入体也保存了氢同位素平衡,推算得到的岩浆流体的δD值在-70—-30之间。气液包体中CO_2的δ(13)C为-4—-8,属于一种深源碳,可以利用地下水参加岩浆后期演化的假定来解释黑云母二长闪长岩氢、碳同位素异常