Recent changes of the thermohaline circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic

Time series of hydrographic sections in the northern North Atlantic from the period 1990 to 2004 are analyzed for changes in the characteristics and distribution of water masses that are involved in the thermohaline circulation (THC). During the 1990s, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) alternates from a positive phase (strong westerlies) to a negative phase (weak westerlies). The reduced ocean heat loss confined the convection in the Labrador Sea to the upper 1,200 m, generating a new salinity minimum layer characterizing the Upper Labrador Sea Water (ULSW), and led to a warming and salinization of the older LSW below due to lateral mixing. The Lower LSW, formed in the first half of the 1990s, spread in the subpolar gyre and reached the Newfoundland and Irminger basins after about 1 to 2 years, where the associated isopycnal doming contributed to eastward frontal shifts in the upper layer. After 5 and 6 years, it arrived in the Iceland and West European basins, respectively. The collapse of the isopycnal dome in the Labrador Sea, associated with the drainage of the Lower LSW, resulted in a slowing of the cyclonic circulation of the subpolar gyre. This was accompanied in the upper layer by a westward shift of the southeastern extension of the gyre and a northward advection of warm and saline subtropical water in its eastern part, which finally reached the Labrador Sea after about 7 years. In the upper layer of the Labrador Sea, the advection of warm and saline water dominated over the heat loss to the atmosphere and the freshwater gain from melting ice and precipitation in the NAO-low period, so that no accumulation of freshwater but an increase of the heat and salt contents were observed, as in the whole eastern part of the subpolar gyre. Within 1 to 2 years after the drop of the NAO in the winter of 1995/1996, the Subarctic (Subpolar) Front shifted northward and westward north of about 50°N, favored by the retreat of the low-salinity tongue extending eastward from the southern Labrador Sea, and it shifted southward and eastward in the Newfoundland Basin. Therefore, the enhanced northward advection of subtropical waters in the northeastern North Atlantic is balanced by the enhanced southward advection of subarctic waters, including Lower LSW in the Newfoundland Basin, indicating a strong response of the gyre component of the THC.     

Photogrammetric Analysis of Front Range Rock Glacier Flow Rates

Flow rates for rock glaciers in the European Alps have been monitored using photogrammetric techniques; however, a program has not been initiated for similar Front Range, USA, rock glaciers. Horizontal rock glacier displacements were measured by tracking large surficial rocks on temporal orthophotos from 1978, 1990, and 1999. Vertical change was measured by creating digital elevation models (DEMs) from digital stereopairs, then subtracting elevations to detect change. Long‐term horizontal velocities ranged from 14 to 20 cm/yr on average, although uncertainty ranged from 4 to 5 cm/yr. On average, vertical elevation changes were negligible with most rock glaciers exhibiting a slight growth or thinning (1–2 cm/yr). Over shorter time scales (c. 10‐year periods), horizontal velocities have only increased by about 2 cm/yr. Because horizontal and vertical change is minimal, Front Range rock glaciers appear to be adjusted with current climate, unlike some rock glaciers in the European Alps that have shown increasing subsidence rates or significant increasing or decreasing horizontal velocities.     

Integrating soils and geomorphology in mountains—an example from the Front Range of Colorado

Soil distribution in high mountains reflects the impact of several soil-forming factors. Soil geomorphologists use key pedological properties to estimate ages of Quaternary deposits of various depositional environments, estimate long-term stability and instability of landscapes, and make inferences on past climatic change. Once the influence of the soil-forming factors is known, soils can be used to help interpret some aspects of landscape evolution that otherwise might go undetected.The Front Range of Colorado rises from the plains of the Colorado Piedmont at about 1700 m past a widespread, dissected Tertiary erosion surface between 2300 and 2800 m up to an alpine Continental Divide at 3600 to over 4000 m. Pleistocene valley glaciers reached the western edge of the erosion surface. Parent rocks are broadly uniform (granitic and gneissic). Climate varies from 46 cm mean annual precipitation (MAP) and 11 °C mean annual temperature (MAT) in the plains to 102 cm and −4 °C, respectively, near the range crest. Vegetation follows climate with grassland in the plains, forest in the mountains, and tundra above 3450 m. Soils reflect the bioclimatic transect from plains to divide: A/Bw or Bt/Bk or K (grassland) to A/E/Bw or Bt/C (forest) to A/Bw/C (tundra). Corresponding soil pH values decrease from 8 to less than 5 with increasing elevation. The pedogenic clay minerals dominant in each major vegetation zone are: smectite (grassland), vermiculite (forest), and 1.0–1.8 nm mixed-layer clays (tundra). Within the lower forested zone, the topographic factor (aspect) results in more leached, colder soils, with relatively thin O horizons, well-expressed E horizons and Bt horizons (Alfisols) on N-facing slopes, whereas soils with thicker A horizons, less developed or no E horizons, and Bw or Bt horizons (Mollisols) are more common on S-facing slopes. The topographic factor in the tundra results in soil patterns as a consequence of wind-redistributed snow and the amount of time it lingers on the landscape. An important parent material factor is airborne dust, which results in fine-grained surface horizons and, if infiltrated, contributes to clay accumulation in some Bt horizons. The time factor is evaluated by soil chronosequence studies of Quaternary deposits in tundra, upper forest, and plains grassland. Few soils in the study area are >10,000 years old in the tundra, >100,000 years old in the forest, and >2 million years old in the grassland. Stages of granite weathering vary with distance from the Continental Divide and the best developed is grus near the sedimentary/granitic rock contact just west of the mountain front. Grus takes a minimum of 100,000 years to form.Some of the relations indicated by the soil map patterns are: (1) parts of the erosion surface have been stable for 100,000 years or more; (2) development of grus near the mountain front could be due in part to pre-Pennsylvanian weathering; (3) a few soil properties reflect Quaternary paleoclimate; and (4) a correlation between soil development in the canyons and stream incision rates.     

Stochastic analysis of immiscible displacement of the fluids with arbitrary viscosities and its dependence on support scale of hydrological data

Stochastic analysis is commonly used to address uncertainty in the modeling of flow and transport in porous media. In the stochastic approach, the properties of porous media are treated as random functions with statistics obtained from field measurements. Several studies indicate that hydrological properties depend on the scale of measurements or support scales, but most stochastic analysis does not address the effects of support scale on stochastic predictions of subsurface processes. In this work we propose a new approach to study the scale dependence of stochastic predictions. We present a stochastic analysis of immiscible fluid–fluid displacement in randomly heterogeneous porous media. While existing solutions are applicable only to systems in which the viscosity of one phase is negligible compare with the viscosity of the other (water–air systems for example), our solutions can be applied to the immiscible displacement of fluids having arbitrarily viscosities such as NAPL–water and water–oil. Treating intrinsic permeability as a random field with statistics dependant on the permeability support scale (scale of measurements) we obtained, for one-dimensional systems, analytical solutions for the first moments characterizing unbiased predictions (estimates) of system variables, such as the pressure and fluid–fluid interface position, and we also obtained second moments, which characterize the uncertainties associated with such predictions. Next we obtained empirically scale dependent exponential correlation function of the intrinsic permeability that allowed us to study solutions of stochastic equations as a function of the support scale. We found that the first and second moments converge to asymptotic values as the support scale decreases. In our examples, the statistical moments reached asymptotic values for support scale that were approximately 1/10000 of the flow domain size. We show that analytical moment solutions compare well with the results of Monte Carlo simulations for moderately heterogeneous porous media, and that they can be used to study the effects of heterogeneity on the dynamics and stability of immiscible flow.     

内蒙古科右前旗一带梅勒图组火山岩U-Pb测年及地球化学特征

通过对科右前旗一带梅勒图组火山岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年和元素地球化学分析,获得梅勒图组安山质晶屑熔结凝灰岩及安山岩的喷发年龄分别为125.6±1.6Ma和120.2±2.2Ma,指示梅勒图组火山岩的形成时代介于120～126Ma之间,形成于早白垩世中期。岩石具有高的SiO_2(60.4%～65.3%)和全碱(7.0%～9.5%)含量,铝饱和指数A/CNK为0.89～0.98,属于钾玄岩及高钾钙碱性系列;稀土元素总量为124×10~(-6)～169×10~(-6),(La/Yb)N值为5.83～13.4,负Eu异常微弱(δEu=0.84～1.05);在原始地幔标准化微量元素蛛网图上,样品富集Rb、Ba、Th、U、K、La、Nd,亏损Nb、Ta、P和Ti,Sr/Y值介于19.4～29.7之间。其岩石源区为富集地幔,岩浆上升过程中受到地壳物质的混染,岩石形成于板内伸展环境,其地球动力学背景可能与古太平洋板块的俯冲有关。     

The Southland Front,New Zealand: Variability and ENSO correlations

A detailed analysis of the Southland Front, a shelf-break system off the southeast coast of South Island, New Zealand is presented. The position, temperature, temperature range and width of the front are determined using a new statistical front detection algorithm and 21 years worth of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data. Overall, the front is strongest (highest SST gradients) in the summer and winter, and the across front gradient decreases northward in all seasons, consistent with an equatorward decrease in stability and divergence of isobaths. The surface expression of the front moves further offshore during the winter months and is found closest inshore in the summer. Seasonality of the front is strongly controlled by the annual cycle of subtropical and subantarctic water mass temperatures. Both the temperature and strength of the front are interannually variable, and correlated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO); they both decrease during El Niño, and increase during La Niña events. ENSO indices lead changes in the fronts temperature by up to 6 months. Conversely, the gradient may change up to 6 months in advance of peak ENSO indices. The strength and sign of correlations is seasonally dependent.     

40Ar/39Ar traverse — Grenville Front Tectonic Zone to Britt Domain,Grenville Province,Ontario, Canada*

Abstract ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data (on hornblende, muscovite and K-feldspar) are presented for samples from the western Grenville Province taken along a 140-km traverse from the Grenville Front into the Britt domain. Our interpretation is based on 28 new analyses, synthesized with 20 previously reported from the traverse area. In regions where comparisons are possible, muscovite and (large domain) K-feldspar apparent ages appear similar (at c. 920–930 Ma), but throughout the traverse, these are c. 60–70 Myr younger than the hornblende ages. The inferred cooling rate over the c. 350–500°C temperature range, c.2°C Myr^-1, is appropriate for exhumation controlled by post-orogenic erosional unroofing. At the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone (GFTZ) — Britt domain boundary there is a c. 25-Myr offset in both hornblende and muscovite/K-feldspar ages. We interpret the lower ages in the Britt domain to reflect variations in crustal thickness and geothermal gradient between the flank and interior of a thick orogen. The argon data from the GFTZ are interpreted in the context of an asymmetric crustal-scale antiformal structure developed during a late episode of convergence. Hornblende from rocks on either side of the core of the antiform has an apparent age of c. 990 Ma, our estimate of the age of the compressional event. In the west, we infer that these date the short-lived thermal event associated with the development of the crustal-scale antiform previously postulated. In the east, the ages reflect the cooling of material brought toward the surface in the flank of the antiform. Hornblendes from the antiform core appear to contain excess radiogenic argon. We suggest that this was the ambient argon in rocks transported from depth that was subsequently trapped when the rocks cooled rapidly.     

A stratigraphic network across the Subtropical Front in the central South Atlantic: Multi-parameter correlation of magnetic susceptibility, density, X-ray fluorescence and δO records

Computer aided multi-parameter signal correlation is used to develop a common high-precision age model for eight gravity cores from the subtropical and subantarctic South Atlantic. Since correlations between all pairs of multi-parameter sequences are used, and correlation errors between core pairs (A, B) and (B, C) are controlled by comparison with (A, C), the resulting age model is called a stratigraphic network. Precise inter-core correlation is achieved using high-resolution records of magnetic susceptibility κ, wet bulk density ρ and X-ray fluorescence scans of elemental composition. Additional δ¹⁸O records are available for two cores. The data indicate nearly undisturbed sediment series and the absence of significant hiatuses or turbidites. After establishing a high-precision common depth scale by synchronously correlating four densely measured parameters (Fe, Ca, κ, ρ), the final age model is obtained by simultaneously fitting the aligned δ¹⁸O and κ records of the stratigraphic network to orbitally tuned oxygen isotope [J. Imbrie, J. D. Hays, D. G. Martinson, A. McIntyre, A. C. Mix, J. J. Morley, N. G. Pisias, W. L. Prell, N. J. Shackleton, The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate: support from a revised chronology of the marine δ¹⁸O record, in: A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, B. Saltzman (Eds.), Milankovitch and Climate: Understanding the Response to Orbital Forcing, Reidel Publishing, Dordrecht, 1984, pp. 269-305; D. Martinson, N. Pisias, J. Hays, J. Imbrie, T. C. Moore Jr., N. Shackleton, Age dating and the orbital theory of the Ice Ages: development of a high-resolution 0 to 300.000-Year chronostratigraphy, Quat. Res. 27 (1987) 1-29.] or susceptibility stacks [T. von Dobeneck, F.Schmieder, Using rock magnetic proxy records for orbital tuning and extended time series analyses into the super-and sub-Milankovitch Bands, in: G. Fischer, G. Wefer (Eds.), Use of proxies in paleoceanography: Examples from the South Atlantic, Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1999), pp. 601-633.]. Besides the detection and elimination of errors in single records, the stratigraphic network approach allows to check the intrinsic consistency of the final result by comparing it to the outcome of more restricted alignment procedures. The final South Atlantic stratigraphic network covers the last 400 kyr south and the last 1200 kyr north of the Subtropical Front (STF) and provides a highly precise age model across the STF representing extremely different sedimentary regimes. This allows to detect temporal shifts of the STF by mapping δMn / Fe. It turns out that the apparent STF movements by about 200 km are not directly related to marine oxygen isotope stages.     

Surface buoyant plumes from melting icebergs in the Labrador Sea

Canada׳s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) conducts annual surveys in the Labrador Sea along the repeat hydrography line AR7W. The occupation of the AR7W line in May 2013 was followed by the experiment aimed at resolving the imprint of melting drifting icebergs on the upper layer thermohaline characteristics in the Labrador Sea. We present high-resolution observations around two icebergs conducted with the towed undulating platform Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP). The first iceberg drifted in relatively warm water of Atlantic origin (~2.5–3.1 °C) off Greenland, while the second iceberg was on the Labrador shelf in cold water below 0 °C. Both icebergs had a lengthscale of O(100 m). In both cases surface buoyant plumes fed by melt water and attached to the iceberg were observed. The plumes were evident in the anomalous thermohaline characteristics of the seawater. Their density anomalies were sufficiently strong to produce visible frontal structures, which imply a development of the intrinsic dynamics associated with a plume. The first plume formed over a time interval of ~10 h, while the second plume formed over several days and extended for more than 1 km (tenfold the iceberg׳s size). Strong vertical displacements of the pycnocline were observed near the second iceberg. They are interpreted as the internal wave wake. This interpretation is based on the temporal scale of these oscillations (local buoyancy frequency), as well as on the spatial orientation of these waves with respect to the iceberg drift relative to the pycnocline. The observed internal waves partially overlapped with the plume and affected its structure. The saline seawater splashing by swell contributed to the surface melting of the icebergs. Scaling analysis of the second plume suggests that it could be in the “rotational” dynamic regime with recirculating anticyclonic flow.     

Spatial patterns and environmental drivers of benthic infaunal community structure and ecosystem function on the New Zealand continental margin

To investigate regional drivers of spatial patterns in macro- and meio-faunal community structure (abundance, biomass and taxonomic diversity) and ecosystem function (sediment community oxygen consumption [SCOC]), we sampled two regions in close proximity on New Zealand's continental margin—the Chatham Rise and the Challenger Plateau. Sites (n = 15) were selected in water depths ranging from 266–1212 m to generate a gradient in sedimentary properties and, in particular, surface pelagic productivity. Both macro- and meio-fauna abundance and biomass was 2–3.5 times higher on the Chatham Rise than on the Challenger Plateau, reflecting regional differences in pelagic primary production. We also found significant inter- and intra-regional differences in macro-fauna taxonomic diversity with two distinctive site groupings in each region. Univariate and multivariate measures of macro-fauna community attributes were most strongly correlated with sediment photosynthetic pigment (explaining 24%–59% of the variation). Sediment pigment content was as equally important in explaining meio-fauna community structure (36%–7%). Unlike community structure, SCOC was most strongly correlated with depth (44%), most likely reflecting temperature effects on benthic metabolism. Our results highlight the importance of a benthic labile food supply in structuring infaunal communities on continental margins and emphasise a tight coupling between pelagic and benthic habitats.