The Increase of Biogenic Sulfate Aerosol and Particle Number in Marine Atmosphere over the Northwestern North Pacific

During a cruise aboard the R/V Hakuho-maru in the northwestern North Pacific in the summer of 1998 the particle number concentrations and the major ionic components of size fractionated aerosols were measured to investigate the aerosol produced by marine biological activity. Continuous low concentrations of nitrate (<1.8 nmol m⁻³), similar to the marine air background level, were found over the northwestern North Pacific (40–45°N) and the Sea of Okhotsk (44–45°N). Over the Sea of Okhotsk, a high concentration of chlorophyll-a (5.4 mg m⁻³) in seawater was observed, and atmospheric concentrations of non sea-salt (nss-) sulfate (44 nmol m⁻³), methane sulfonic acid (MSA) (1.8 nmol m⁻³) and particle number in the size range of 0.1 < D < 0.5 μm (199 cm⁻³) were found to be 9, 7, and 2 times, respectively, higher than those in the background marine air. The increase in particle number concentrations mainly in the size range of 0.2 < D < 0.3 μm was likely caused by the increase of biogenic sulfate over the high productive region of the Sea of Okhotsk. In humid air conditions (R.H. > 96%), the increased biogenic sulfate that condensed the large amount of water vapor would not have sufficient solute mass to activate as cloud condensation nuclei (CNN) and would remain as aerosol particles in the marine air with frequent sea-fogs over the high productive region. Biogenic sulfate originating from dimethyl sulfide (DMS) would gradually grow into the CCN size and continuously supply a great number of CCN to the marine air in the northwestern North Pacific. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

试论青藏高原第四纪沉积地球化学演化与环境变迁

本文扼要介绍最近几年青藏高原第四纪沉积物的元素地球化学、同位素地球化学、有机地球化学和矿物学及其与气候环境关系研究的一些新进展。青藏高原第四纪沉积地球化学信息综合分析，初步建立了长、短期时间尺度的气候曲线。揭示了青藏高原强烈隆升引起的气候环境配制的改变，即在３．４０－０．７３ＭａＢ，Ｐ．高原强烈隆升，亚洲季风稳定形成，气候以干冷、湿暖型波动为主；０．７３ＭａＢ．Ｐ．以来高原再次强烈隆升，气候环境愈趋干旱；进入全新世以来，出现凉干、暖干、暖湿和冷湿的多种气候波动模式。在空间格局上划分二个地球化学沉积区，即西藏和新疆为富镁区；青海为富钾区。还揭示了青藏高原湖泊沉积地球化学的分带性，其分带规律与高原隆起的差异性是一致的。此外，青藏地区风化壳和古土壤的地球化学演化与高原古气候变迁也有紧密联系。     

珠江三角洲第四纪沉积物TiO_2/Al_2O_3值及其地质意义

本文根据珠江三角洲第四纪沉积物TiO_2和Al_2O_3的化学分析资料,探讨了该地区TiO_2/Al_2O_3值及其地质意义。结果表明,珠江三角洲表层样品TiO_3从河道、河口向外海逐渐减小,其TiO_2平均值为:三角洲平原1.517,三角洲前缘1.201,潮汐河口湾1.001,浅海内陆架0.834.珠江三角洲钻孔岩芯样TiO_2值与沉积时间(7500a以来)呈正相关关系,并且TiO_2值逐渐增加;这种增加极可能是反映了珠江三角洲的延伸进积作用和河流作用的加剧。     

Geochemical and textural properties of carbonate and terrigenous sediments along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba

The physicochemical properties of 21 marine sediment samples were investigated, collected from five different localities along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. According to the chemical parameters, sediments were categorized into three groups: carbonate (80% CaCO₃), composed mainly of materials of calcareous skeletal structures; terrigenous (<10% CaCO₃) depositional areas for land-derived materials from surrounding rocks and alluviums; and a admixture of the first two (19–37% CaCO₃). High significant linear correlations were found between organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN), indicating the occurrence of these components in a common phase (organic matter). Despite the co-occurrence of TP in organic matter, these two elements were negatively correlated, indicating anthropogenic sources of pollution such as phosphate exportation (hotel areas and clinker port sites) and industrial activities (industrial complex site). The study found that variations in texture properties and mud contents were due to differences in sediment sources, topography and their response during currents and waves. The finer, well-sorted sediments contain lower elemental concentrations of OC, calcium carbonate and TN (excluding TP) than coarser, poorly-sorted sediments.     

Non-destructive porosity determinations of antarctic marine sediments derived from resistivity measurements with an inductive method

The fractional porosity of marine sediments is one of the fundamental index properties of rocks. For the determination of porosity a nondestructive, inductive method was used on unsplit sediment cores. The results were compared with galvanically measured resistivities using a miniature Wenner array on split cores. The measurements agree well except for cores with high clay content where measurement frequency related effects cause a resistivity difference of about 10%. Porosities were derived from resistivities using a published resistivity-porosity relationship by Boyce (1968) and compared with sample porosities. A comparison of both data sets shows good agreement.     

Cold-seep assemblages on a giant pockmark off West Africa: spatial patterns and environmental control

A giant pockmark colonised by dense cold‐seep assemblages near 3160 m depth along the Congo‐Angola margin has been surveyed by the ROV Victor 6000. The quantitative distribution of chemosynthetic communities was mapped along the dive tracks from a video study using GIS and image mosaicking. Several types of faunal assemblages, either dominated by bivalves of the families Mytilidae (Bathymodiolus sp.) or Vesicomyidae (Calyptogena sp., ‘Vesicomya’ aff. chuni), or by Siboglinidae polychaetes (Escarpia southwardae) were mapped over the 800‐m diameter pockmark area and sampled for fauna, water and sediment. The isotopic analyses (δ¹³C) of tissues from symbiont‐bearing species were within the range typical of nutrition via symbiosis using methane for mussels and sulphide for vesicomyids and siboglinids. The living chemosynthetic communities were distributed on a SW‐NE axis, corresponding to the expression at the sediment surface of a main buried channel providing fluids to the pockmark. The site was characterised by a more active central part in a depression with abundant carbonate concretions where high‐density clusters of siboglinids and mytilids dominate. Large fields of dead and live vesicomyids with a lower mean density were observed in the external areas. The mean coverage of each of the three symbiotic taxa in these two contrasted areas was estimated from mosaic analysis and was up to 30% in the central area dominated by E. southwardae bushes (23%). Symbiont‐bearing species distribution was consistent with methane concentrations in seawater that were generally higher in mytilid beds than in the vicinity of siboglinids and vesicomyids. A Principal Component Analysis performed on environmental factors at the ten sampling sites revealed that 37% of the observed variance in the distribution of symbiont‐bearing species may be explained by variation in both methane and oxygen concentrations, while a Canonical Redundancy Analysis selected methane concentration as the only variable which explains symbiont‐bearing species densities. This spatial distribution of chemosynthetic species at the pockmark scale may reflect temporal patterns of succession of both substrate and fauna, and may be related to different individual pockmarks visible on the microbathymetry mapped using ROV data.     

Expulsion of Shallow Gas in the Skagerrak—Evidence from Sub-bottom Profiling, Seismic, Hydroacoustical and Geochemical Data

A combined high resolution seismic, sub-bottom profiling, and multi-beam echo-sounding survey in the Skagerrak (Danish sector of the North Sea) together with gas analyses at a station along the profile exhibit the expulsion of gas (mainly methane) and the presence of gas-charged sediments at shallow depth. The echo-soundings yield detailed insight into the distribution and shape of typical sea-floor features associated with gas seepage, such as pockmarks. The pockmarks reach dimensions of 800 m in length, 300 m in width, and 15 m in depth, with the long axis running parallel to the slope of the Norwegian Trench. Processing of the multi-channel high resolution seismic data and the digitally recorded sub-bottom profiler signals indicate an internal compressional velocity of about 1050 m s^-1 within the gas-charged sediments reaching from the sea-floor to a sub-bottom depth of about 23 m. Using the lateral distribution and thickness of the gas-charged sediments in conjunction with a mean concentration of gas of 3000 ppb, the present amount of trapped gas is estimated to be 6·45 × 10¹¹ g CH₄. The flux of methane through the sea-bed into the water column appears to be 7·2 × 10¹⁰ g CH₄ per year. To explain the small difference in size between the methane pool in near-surface sediments and the annual flux through the sea-bed, a constantly high supply of methane from leaking hydrocarbon reservoirs at greater depths has to be active.