Physical reworking by near-bottom flow alters the metazoan meiofauna of Fieberling Guyot (northeast Pacific)

Although much of the deep sea is physically tranquil, some regions experience near-bottom flows that rework the surficial sediment. During periods of physical reworking, animals in the reworked layer risk being suspended, which can have both positive and negative effects. Reworking can also change the sediment in ecologically important ways, so the fauna of reworked sites should differ from that of quiescent locations. We combined data from two reworked, bathyal sites on the summit of Fieberling Guyot (32°27.631′N, 127°49.489′W; 32°27.581′N, 127°47.839′W) and compared the results with those of more tranquil sites. We tested for differences in the following parameters, which seemed likely to be sensitive to the direct or indirect effects of reworking: (1) the vertical distribution of the meiofauna in the sea bed, (2) the relative abundance of surface-living harpacticoids, (3) the proportion of the fauna consisting of interstitial harpacticoids, (4) the ratio of harpacticoids to nematodes. We found that the vertical distributions of harpacticoid copepods, ostracods, and kinorhynchs were deeper on Fieberling. In addition, the relative abundance of surface-living harpacticoids was less, the proportion of interstitial harpacticoids was greater, and the ratio of harpacticoids to nematodes was greater on Fieberling. These differences between Fieberling and the comparison sites suggest that physical reworking affects deep-sea meiofauna and indicate the nature of some of the effects.     

南海盆海山火山碎屑岩的发现及其地质意义

海山火山碎屑岩是水下爆发性火山作用的产物.南海盆两座海山上发现火山碎屑岩表明海山顶部曾经一度高于PCL(压力补偿深度).岩相学特征显示这些火山碎屑岩的胶结物主要为一混合相,包括粘土矿物和黑色铁质矿物等,这从一个侧面反映海山的正地形限制了粗粒外生碎屑到达海山顶部.岩石的单矿物组分、主量元素化学特征与同海山玄武质熔岩具有可比性,属碱性岩浆系列.计算获得海山平均最小下沉速率为0.06mm/年,最大可能达0.30mm/年.海山岩石的机械风化产物对周围海盆的沉积作用作出重要贡献.     

Progress and Prospects in Seamount Biodiversity

Seamounts support unique biological communities and might act as important nodes of species dispersal and evolution in deep ocean ecosystems. Seamounts have been one of the few characteristic ecosystems that remain underexplored in the abyssal world. However, our knowledge of seamount animals remains very limited due to the difficulty in access to technology, resulting in controversial explanation on their fauna, biodiversity, and biogeography. There have been several hypotheses on seamount biota, including the Endemicity Hypothesis, the Source Sink Hypothesis, the Insular Isolation Hypothesis, and the Oasis Hypothesis. We summarize the pros and cons of seamount fauna and biodiversity, and put forward proposals for future investigation on seamount ecosystem.     

Seasonal occurrence of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) around Kelvin Seamount in the Sargasso Sea in relation to oceanographic processes

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are widely distributed in all oceans, but they are clumped geographically, generally in areas associated with high primary and secondary productivity. The warm, clear waters of the Sargasso Sea are traditionally thought to be low in productivity, however recent surveys have found large numbers of sperm whales there. The New England Seamount Chain bisects the north-western portion of the Sargasso Sea, and might influence the mesoscale eddies associated with the Gulf Stream; creating areas of higher productivity within the Sargasso Sea. We investigated the seasonal occurrence of sperm whales over Kelvin Seamount (part of the New England Seamount Chain) and how it is influenced by oceanographic variables. An autonomous recording device was deployed over Kelvin Seamount from May to June 2006 and November 2006 to June 2007. A total of 6505 hourly two-minute recordings were examined for the presence of sperm whale echolocation clicks. Sperm whales were more prevalent around Kelvin in the spring (April to June: mean=51% of recordings contained clicks) compared to the winter (November to March: mean=16% of recordings contained clicks). Sperm whale prevalence at Kelvin was related to chlorophyll-a concentration four weeks previous, eddy kinetic energy and month. The mesoscale activity associated with the Gulf Stream and the Gulf Stream׳s interaction with the New England Seamount Chain likely play an important role in sperm whale occurrence in this area, by increasing productivity and perhaps concentration of cephalopod species.     

The geomorphological features and continuity of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR)

The Philippine Basin,surrounded by a series of oceanic trenches,is an independent deep ocean basin in the West Pacific Ocean.Its middle part is divided into three marginal sea sub-basins by the Kyushu-Palau and West Mariana Ridges,namely,the West Philippine Basin,the Shikoku and Parece Vela Basins and the Mariana Trough.This paper,through the analysis of the geomorphologic features and gravity and magnetic characteristics of the basin and identification of striped magnetic anomalies,suggests that the entire Philippine Basin developed magnetic lineation of oceanic nature,and therefore,the entire basin is of the nature of oceanic crust.The basin has developed a series of special geomorphic units with different shapes.The KPR runs through the entire Philippine Basin.From the view of geomorphologic features,the KPR is a discontinuous seamount chain (chain-shaped seamounts) and subduction beneath the Japanese Island arc at the Nankai Trough which is the natural boundary between the basin and the Japanese Island arc.At the positions of 25 N,24 N,23 N and 18 N,obvious discontinuity is shown,which belongs to natural topographic discontinuity.Therefore,the KPR is topographically discontinuous.     

An integrated method for the quantitative evaluation of mineral resources of cobalt-rich crusts on seamounts

Cobalt-rich crusts on seamounts potentially have the economic value of multiple metals. In the field of exploration, it is important to perform quantitative evaluations of mineral resources and delineate promising areas in survey regions for future mining. Accordingly, this study, based on prior knowledge, develops an integrated method to quantitatively evaluate mineral resources of cobalt-rich crusts on seamounts and gives an application example to demonstrate this method. The method includes four steps: first, defining units with certain areas and shapes on the target seamount (a 20 km² square block in the application example) and estimating characteristic values of the cobalt-rich crust for each unit with known geological survey data using a space interpolation method such as Kriging; second, presenting several model algorithms, i.e. Regional Coverage of Crusts, Suitable Slope Percentage for Mining and Fitting Area on Slopes, to extract the corresponding regional metallogenic factors for each unit by inputting regional surveying data (such as bathymetry data) into these models; third, considering both the features and regional metallogenic factors of cobalt-rich crusts in each unit to estimate their distribution of mineral resources on the entire seamount; and last, according to the distribution of the mineral resources and international social and economic requirements (such as the regulations of the International Seabed Authority), delineating a promising area for future mining.     

北祁连石灰沟奥陶纪碳酸盐岩—硅质岩形成的构造环境

北祁连造山带石灰沟奥陶纪硅质岩与碱性玄武岩、熔结凝灰岩、火山碎屑岩、泥岩、杂砂岩、砂屑灰岩、生物碎屑灰岩及生物礁共同构成了一个相对完整的海山组合序列。其中硅质岩中含有早—中奥陶世牙行刺化石,泥岩和砂岩中含有中—晚奥陶世三叶虫和笔石化石。硅质岩地球化学特征研究表明其源区为其形成提供了丰富的碎屑物质来源,从而表现为LREE富集,Eu^*_CN负异常特征; 这些硅质岩形成于陆缘环境,并非深海或洋中脊环境。     

热带西太平洋浮游纤毛虫的垂直分布

于2014年12月至2015年1月在热带西太平洋沿台湾南部到雅浦海山一个断面和雅浦海山海区研究了浮游纤毛虫丰度和生物量的垂直分布。浮游纤毛虫丰度变化范围为0—635ind./L,生物量范围为0—1.53μg C/L,丰度和生物量高值分布于200m以浅,其中,砂壳纤毛虫丰度为0—45ind./L,占总纤毛虫丰度的比例在0—14.62%之间。浮游纤毛虫丰度垂直分布均呈现"双峰型"模式:在表层和叶绿素极大值层(DCM)出现高值。共鉴定出砂壳纤毛虫33属76种。雅浦海山海区优势种为纤弱细瓮虫、卢氏真铃虫、管状真铃虫、膨大波膜虫,西太平洋海区优势种为纤弱细瓮虫、海勒斯真铃虫、酒杯类管虫、尖锐号角虫。有些种类分布在100m以浅,有的种类分布在100m以深,说明砂壳纤毛虫在100m水深左右种类发生变化。     

The Eocene Southern Vancouver Island Orocline — a response to seamount accretion and the cause of fold-and-thrust belt and extensional basin formation

A deflection of the fault controlled southwestern coastline of Vancouver Island suggests the presence of a minor orocline, with a Southern Crustal Block (south of Barkley Sound–Alberni Inlet) rotated 20° counterclockwise relative to a Northern Fixed Crustal Block about a pole of rotation located northeast of Port Alberni. In this paper two models of orocline development, one of pure block rotation and one of pure bending, are proposed. The predictions of these models are tested against available geological maps, structural orientation data, identified regions of extension and contraction, and paleomagnetic data. Structural orientation and paleomagnetic data are consistent with 18° of post-Late Cretaceous counter clockwise rotation of the Southern Crustal Block relative to the Northern Fixed Crustal Block. A southward increase in the magnitude of rotation evident in the structural orientation data argues for a model of bending. Both bending and block rotation models predict the development of a zone of contraction along the northeast margin of the Southern Crustal Block, coincident with the location of the Eocene Cowichan fold-and-thrust belt, that diminishes northward toward the pole of rotation. As predicted, the fold-and-thrust belt is characterized by a northerly decrease in the amount of shortening, from >30% at the south end of the thrust belt, to 0% shortening north of Port Alberni. The northerly decrease in shortening is complemented by a north to south change in structural style from cylindrical to conical folds, and finally to planar, undeformed strata. The model of block rotation predicts the presence of a zone of extension extending southwest from the zone of rotation, coincident with the location of Eocene extensional structures within Barkley Sound and with horst and graben structures in the offshore Eocene to Miocene Tofino basin. Extension is less than predicted by a model of pure block rotation and suggests that much of the oroclinal rotation was accommodated by bending. Timing constraints indicate that orocline development was coeval with, and resulted from, the Eocene accretion of seamounts of the Crescent terrane. These findings demonstrate that oroclinal orogeny, the buckling of a linear crustal beam about vertical axes of rotation, can significantly impact the geometry, structure and character of an orogenic belt, even where the buckles are minor (<20° of rotation).