Export of particulate organic carbon estimated from234Th-238U disequilibria and its temporal variation in the South China Sea

Activities of²³⁴Th and nutrient concentrations in the upper 500 m water column were measured at a time-series station in the South China Sea over a time span of 12.3 d. Results showed a reduction of dissolved²³⁴Th and an overall increase of particulate²³⁴Th during the period. Meanwhile, activities of total²³⁴Th kept fairly constant, implying rapid transformation of²³⁴Th between the dissolved and particulate forms. Vertical profiles of total²³⁴Th showed evident deficit of²³⁴Th relative to²³⁸U in the upper 500 m water column. Using an irreversible steady-state model of thorium scavenging, export fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) corresponding to time pointsT ₁ andT ₂ were estimated to be 46.5 and 13.1 mmolC · m⁻² · d⁻¹. It was demonstrated that the estimation of POC export was greatly dependent on the POC/²³⁴Th_P ratios and the bias caused by the different models of²³⁴Th scavenging, however, was considered to be of minor importance.     

The mean residence time of river water in the Canada Basin

Seawater was collected from the western Arctic Ocean for measurements of 18О, ^226Ra and ^228Ra. The fractions of river runoff and sea ice melt-water in water samples were estimated by using δ^18О-S-PО^＊ tracer system. The mean residence time of river water in the Canada Basin was calculated based on the relationship between ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. and the fractions of river runoff in the shelf and deep ocean. Our results showed that the river runoff fractions in the Canada Basin were significantly higher than those in the shelf regions, suggesting that the Canada Basin is a major storage region for Arctic river water. ^228Ra activity concentrations in the Chukchi shelf and the Beaufort shelf ranged from 0.16 to 1.22 Bq/m^3, lower than those reported for shelves in the low and middle latitudes, indicating the effect of sea ice melt-water. A good positive linear relationship was observed between ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. and the fraction of river runoff for shelf waters, while the ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. in the Canada Basin was located below this re-gressive line. The low ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. in the Canada Basin was ascribed to ^228Ra decay during shelf wa-ters transporting to the deep ocean. The residence time of 5.0-11.0 a was estimated for the river water in the Canada Basin, which determined the time response of surface freshening in the North Atlantic to the river runoff into the Arctic Ocean.     

Late quaternary ice-rafted detritus events in the Chukchi Basin, western Arctic Ocean

The late Quaternary ice rafted detritus (IRD) events in the Chukchi Basin, western Arctic Ocean are indications of the provenance of the coarser detritus and ice export events, and also document the evolutionary histories of Beaufort Gyre and the North American Ice Sheet (NAIS). The sediment of core M03 from the Chukchi Basin was selected to study the regional response to the ice export events and the NAIS variability. The stratigraphic framework of M03 was established by a combination of lithological features and downcore color change cycles, AMS¹⁴C dating with foraminifera abundance and IRD events. The core was also compared with the adjacent core NWR 5 from the Northwind Ridge area. The core extends back to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7. A sedimentary hiatus of 10–20 ka might occur between 16 to 20 cm core depth. Seven IRD events are distinguished from the studied core and are presented during the early MIS 1, MIS 3, MIS 5 and late MIS 7. These IRD are transported by sea ice and icebergs, which were exported to the Beaufort Sea from the M’Clure Strait Ice Stream, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and brought to the Chukchi Basin by the Beaufort Gyre.     

海洋沉积物岩心放射性核素的γ谱测定

用HPGeγ谱仪测定了海洋沉积物岩心的天然放射性核素^40K、^210Pb、^226rA、^228tH、^238U和人工放射性核素^137Cs,进行了不同体积样品的效率刻度,对所用直径75mm、高度5－45mm柱形样品几何条件,14种能量的γ射线,用2次多项式拟合效率随样品高度变化的相关系数R^2好于0．98,用内插的不同样品高度的效率值,进行了46．5－1460．5keV能区5－45mm高度样品的效率刻度,测量了一些沉积物岩心并就其中的一个柱样中^40K、^210Pb、^226Ra、^228Ra、^228Th、^238U和^137Cs的深度分布及其所揭示的海洋学意义进行了分析、讨论。     

四川盆地北部大隆组页岩气地质条件及勘探潜力

以最新钻井LB1井、7个野外露头剖面及部分老井资料为依托,探讨了四川盆地北部大隆组优质页岩的平面及纵向展布规律,认为优质页岩的展布受沉积相控制,呈NW—SE走向。在广元—旺苍地区发育盆地相,泥页岩厚度较小(10～20 m);盆地相两边发育深水陆棚相,泥页岩厚度较大(20～45 m);外围依次发育浅水陆棚或斜坡相,泥页岩厚度逐渐变小(0～15 m)。从斜坡相到陆棚相,再到盆地相,呈现出灰质逐步减少,硅质含量逐渐增加的特征,泥页岩厚度呈先大(深水陆棚相)后小(盆地)的趋势。另外,对LB1井地化特征、储层微观特征开展研究,并与已突破的焦石坝、丁山、东溪地区志留系页岩对比,分析认为,四川盆地北部大隆组优质页岩具有高有机碳、高含气量、有机质类型好、成熟度适中及可压性好等特点。根据高有机碳的特点,认为无定形体有机质的广泛发育是高有机碳含量的基础,缺氧硫化环境是保存的关键。根据高含气量的特点,认为含气性和比表面积具有较好的相关性,而对比表面积贡献较大的主要是有机质含量。最后评价了中国石化矿权内大隆组勘探潜力,认为资源量较大,值得进一步开展工作。     

Export and remineralization of POM in the Southern Ocean and the South China Sea estimated from ~(210)Po/~(210)Pb disequilibria

Disequilibria between 210Po and 210Pb in the upper water and their potential applications as a proxy of particle export and remineralization were examined in the Southern Ocean (station IV3) and the South China Sea (NS44). 210Po was deficit in surface waters but excessive relative to 210Pb in subsurface waters. Good positive correlation between 210Po and particulate organic carbon (POC) indicated deficits and excess of 210Po resulted from particulate organic matter (POM) export and remineralization respecti...     

Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia

The future trajectory of greenhouse gas concentrations depends on interactions between climate and the biogeosphere. Thawing of Arctic permafrost could release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in this century. Ancient Ice Complex deposits outcropping along the ~7,000-kilometre-long coastline of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), and associated shallow subsea permafrost, are two large pools of permafrost carbon, yet their vulnerabilities towards thawing and decomposition are largely unknown. Recent Arctic warming is stronger than has been predicted by several degrees, and is particularly pronounced over the coastal ESAS region. There is thus a pressing need to improve our understanding of the links between permafrost carbon and climate in this relatively inaccessible region. Here we show that extensive release of carbon from these Ice Complex deposits dominates (57?±?2 per cent) the sedimentary carbon budget of the ESAS, the world’s largest continental shelf, overwhelming the marine and topsoil terrestrial components. Inverse modelling of the dual-carbon isotope composition of organic carbon accumulating in ESAS surface sediments, using Monte Carlo simulations to account for uncertainties, suggests that 44?±?10 teragrams of old carbon is activated annually from Ice Complex permafrost, an order of magnitude more than has been suggested by previous studies. We estimate that about two-thirds (66?±?16 per cent) of this old carbon escapes to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, with the remainder being re-buried in shelf sediments. Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate with Arctic amplification of climate warming.     

Ice shelves in the Pleistocene Arctic Ocean inferred from glaciogenic deep-sea bedforms

It has been proposed that during Pleistocene glaciations, an ice cap of 1 kilometre or greater thickness covered the Arctic Ocean. This notion contrasts with the prevailing view that the Arctic Ocean was covered only by perennial sea ice with scattered icebergs. Detailed mapping of the ocean floor is the best means to resolve this issue. Although sea-floor imagery has been used to reconstruct the glacial history of the Antarctic shelf, little data have been collected in the Arctic Ocean because of operational constraints. The use of a geophysical mapping system during the submarine SCICEX expedition in 1999 provided the opportunity to perform such an investigation over a large portion of the Arctic Ocean. Here we analyse backscatter images and sub-bottom profiler records obtained during this expedition from depths as great as 1 kilometre. These records show multiple bedforms indicative of glacial scouring and moulding of sea floor, combined with large-scale erosion of submarine ridge crests. These distinct glaciogenic features demonstrate that immense, Antarctic-type ice shelves up to 1 kilometre thick and hundreds of kilometres long existed in the Arctic Ocean during Pleistocene glaciations.     

Reversed flow of Atlantic deep water during the Last Glacial Maximum

The meridional overturning circulation (MOC) of the Atlantic Ocean is considered to be one of the most important components of the climate system. This is because its warm surface currents, such as the Gulf Stream, redistribute huge amounts of energy from tropical to high latitudes and influence regional weather and climate patterns, whereas its lower limb ventilates the deep ocean and affects the storage of carbon in the abyss, away from the atmosphere. Despite its significance for future climate, the operation of the MOC under contrasting climates of the past remains controversial. Nutrient-based proxies and recent model simulations indicate that during the Last Glacial Maximum the convective activity in the North Atlantic Ocean was much weaker than at present. In contrast, rate-sensitive radiogenic (231)Pa/(230)Th isotope ratios from the North Atlantic have been interpreted to indicate only minor changes in MOC strength. Here we show that the basin-scale abyssal circulation of the Atlantic Ocean was probably reversed during the Last Glacial Maximum and was dominated by northward water flow from the Southern Ocean. These conclusions are based on new high-resolution data from the South Atlantic Ocean that establish the basin-scale north to south gradient in (231)Pa/(230)Th, and thus the direction of the deep ocean circulation. Our findings are consistent with nutrient-based proxies and argue that further analysis of (231)Pa/(230)Th outside the North Atlantic basin will enhance our understanding of past ocean circulation, provided that spatial gradients are carefully considered. This broader perspective suggests that the modern pattern of the Atlantic MOC-with a prominent southerly flow of deep waters originating in the North Atlantic-arose only during the Holocene epoch.     

Estimations of primary production and export production in the South China Sea based on sediment trap experiments

The results of time series sediment trap experiments in the South China Sea show that particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes are influenced by the monsoons. The increase of productivity in the northern South China Sea is mainly due to northeast monsoon while in the central South China Sea the influence of southwest monsoon becomes more prominent. The annual primary production and export production calculated based on POC fluxes are 53.0–63.4 and 10.32–12.93 gC m^-2a^-1, respectively. The enhancement of POC flux during monsoon period suggest that higher palaeoproductivity or organic carbon accumulation rate in glacial age in the South Chma Sea might be the result of strengthening of the monsoons.     

东太平洋多金属结核U、Th同位素深度分布特征与生长速率

研究了东太平洋多金属结核中Ｕ、Ｔｈ同位素的深度分布与生长速率。表明,东太平洋多金属结核中的＾２３４Ｕ／＾２３８Ｕ）Ａ．Ｒ．与海水接近,证实了Ｕ的海水来源;２３４Ｕ及２３８Ｕ的活度并不随深度增加而减小,而是在次表层和更深层出现极大值。２３６７站核中＾２３２Ｔｈ的活度在次表层有最大值,之后随深度的增加而降低,反映了结核生长过程中成岩作用的影响;１７９７站南结核中＾２３２Ｔｈ表层有最大值,其它各层的变化     

Implications for soil environment from uranium isotopes of stalagmites

By analyzing U and Th isotopic compositions of 41 samples in two stalagmites from Hulu Cave, Nanjing, we first discovered that variations of 238U and d 234U0 along the stalagmite growth-sequence (covering a period from 75 to 18 kaBP) are in high similarity to summer insolation curve at 33°N and d 18O-based climate record of the studied stalagmites. The concentration of 238U is mainly controlled by content of organic matter in the soil above the cave. This mechanism can be used to explain our result that 238U curve of stalagmites is in phase with fluctuation of the d 18O record of the same stalagmites and summer insolation at cave locality. However, 238U concentration curve vs. age is, in amplitude, inconsistent with the climatic curves, possibly due to complex processes of soil-water-rock interaction. d 234U0 indicates pedogenic intensity of soil profile above the cave and sensitively reflects alternations of pedogenesis and aeolian accumulation processes of Xiashu loess in Nanjing. Consequently, uranium concentration and its isotope ratio in stalagmites may provide a new proxy for climate change.     

白洋淀浮游植物的生物量、叶绿素含量和生产量

研究了白洋淀几个主要淀区春季浮游植物的生物量、叶绿素含量和生产量。各淀区浮游植物生物量（ｍｇ／ Ｌ） 平均为４５．２６１,以寨南最大（１１３．１３８）,藻 淀最小（０．８６２）;叶绿素含量（μｇ／ Ｌ） 平均为７．５７３ ３,其中南刘庄最大（１７．６９０ ４）,藻 淀最小（０．２４５ ７） ;最高生产层以碳计的日产量（ｇ／（ｍ３ ·ｄ））平均为０．２８５,其中南刘庄最大（１．０５５）,藻 淀最小（０．０１５） ,水柱日产量（ｇ／（ｍ２ ·ｄ）） 平均为０．４３１,其中寨南最大（１．００１）,藻 淀最小（０．０１３）。     

Distribution,ecology, and oxygen and carbon isotope characteristics of modern planktonic foraminifers in the Makarov Basin of the Arctic Ocean

The Arctic region, with magnificent ice cover on the surface of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, is not only extremely sensitive to but also has strong amplification effects on climate change. Observations during the past decades have documented substantial retreat and thinning of the Arctic sea-ice cover, a process that is accelerating. Its feedback and impact on the global climate has become an important subject of current climate change research. Calcite tests of planktonic foraminifers are major constituents in pelagic sediments, and they provide valuable materials for the reconstruction of past oceanographic conditions. However, research is still sparse in the Arctic sea area because of limited availability of the materials for investigation. Here, we present a study of modern foraminifers from the plankton tow samples taken in the Makarov Basin of the Arctic Ocean during the fourth Arctic expedition of China. We have analyzed ecological information stored in the modern planktonic foraminifers and in their stable isotope signals, and established a relationship between the distribution of the main taxa and the environment. Our main observations are as follows:(1) in the Makarov Basin, the polar species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma(sinistral coiling) dominates the [150 lm planktonic foraminiferal assemblages.(2) The planktonic foraminifers live mainly in the upper halocline at a water depth of 50–100 m and less in the depth interval of 100–200 m.(3) Temperature change in the halocline can affect the absolute abundance of planktonic foraminifers and their distribution in the water column. The warmer halocline is more favorable to the development of planktonic foraminifers.(4) A lighter d18O value(2.11 %) of N. pachyderma(sin.) is recorded in the depth interval of 100–200 m, which is likely related to the isotopically light brines separated out during sea ice freezing. The relatively heavy d18O value(1.68 %–2.68 %, average 2.27 %) in the depth interval of 50–100 m may be influenced by the low salinity water with the relatively heavy d18O value formed during the sea-ice melting in the surface layer.     

北冰洋海平面变化的观测和研究现状

回顾北冰洋海平面观测和研究现状,总结了北冰洋海平面变化特征和变化机制。北冰洋海平面季节变化受海冰生消、蒸发降水和陆地径流季节变化的影响,由比容变化主导;年际到年代际海平面变化受北极涛动影响显著,可用风场异常导致的淡水分布来解释。盐比容变化是深水洋盆海平面变化的主导因素,由之引起的质量变化控制陆架海域和北冰洋平均的海平面变化。近期波弗特环流区域海平面上升极快,与波弗特高压持续增强及淡水积聚有关。气候变暖会导致北冰洋海平面持续上升。海冰快速减退和格陵兰岛冰川融化对北冰洋海平面变化的影响有待深入研究。数据的短缺和观测的不确定性目前仍然制约北冰洋海平面变化的研究工作,高分辨率数值模拟有望成为未来研究的重要工具。     

Changing Arctic Ocean freshwater pathways

Freshening in the Canada basin of the Arctic Ocean began in the 1990s and continued to at least the end of 2008. By then, the Arctic Ocean might have gained four times as much fresh water as comprised the Great Salinity Anomaly of the 1970s, raising the spectre of slowing global ocean circulation. Freshening has been attributed to increased sea ice melting and contributions from runoff, but a leading explanation has been a strengthening of the Beaufort High--a characteristic peak in sea level atmospheric pressure--which tends to accelerate an anticyclonic (clockwise) wind pattern causing convergence of fresh surface water. Limited observations have made this explanation difficult to verify, and observations of increasing freshwater content under a weakened Beaufort High suggest that other factors must be affecting freshwater content. Here we use observations to show that during a time of record reductions in ice extent from 2005 to 2008, the dominant freshwater content changes were an increase in the Canada basin balanced by a decrease in the Eurasian basin. Observations are drawn from satellite data (sea surface height and ocean-bottom pressure) and in situ data. The freshwater changes were due to a cyclonic (anticlockwise) shift in the ocean pathway of Eurasian runoff forced by strengthening of the west-to-east Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation characterized by an increased Arctic Oscillation index. Our results confirm that runoff is an important influence on the Arctic Ocean and establish that the spatial and temporal manifestations of the runoff pathways are modulated by the Arctic Oscillation, rather than the strength of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre circulation.     

The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean

The history of the Arctic Ocean during the Cenozoic era (0-65 million years ago) is largely unknown from direct evidence. Here we present a Cenozoic palaeoceanographic record constructed from >400 m of sediment core from a recent drilling expedition to the Lomonosov ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Our record shows a palaeoenvironmental transition from a warm 'greenhouse' world, during the late Palaeocene and early Eocene epochs, to a colder 'icehouse' world influenced by sea ice and icebergs from the middle Eocene epoch to the present. For the most recent approximately 14 Myr, we find sedimentation rates of 1-2 cm per thousand years, in stark contrast to the substantially lower rates proposed in earlier studies; this record of the Neogene reveals cooling of the Arctic that was synchronous with the expansion of Greenland ice (approximately 3.2 Myr ago) and East Antarctic ice (approximately 14 Myr ago). We find evidence for the first occurrence of ice-rafted debris in the middle Eocene epoch (approximately 45 Myr ago), some 35 Myr earlier than previously thought; fresh surface waters were present at approximately 49 Myr ago, before the onset of ice-rafted debris. Also, the temperatures of surface waters during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum (approximately 55 Myr ago) appear to have been substantially warmer than previously estimated. The revised timing of the earliest Arctic cooling events coincides with those from Antarctica, supporting arguments for bipolar symmetry in climate change.     

Environmental precursors to rapid light carbon injection at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary

The start of the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum--a period of exceptional global warming about 55 million years ago--is marked by a prominent negative carbon isotope excursion that reflects a massive input of 13C-depleted ('light') carbon to the ocean-atmosphere system. It is often assumed that this carbon injection initiated the rapid increase in global surface temperatures and environmental change that characterize the climate perturbation, but the exact sequence of events remains uncertain. Here we present chemical and biotic records of environmental change across the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary from two sediment sections in New Jersey that have high sediment accumulation rates. We show that the onsets of environmental change (as recorded by the abundant occurrence ('acme') of the dinoflagellate cyst Apectodinium) and of surface-ocean warming (as evidenced by the palaeothermometer TEX86) preceded the light carbon injection by several thousand years. The onset of the Apectodinium acme also precedes the carbon isotope excursion in sections from the southwest Pacific Ocean and the North Sea, indicating that the early onset of environmental change was not confined to the New Jersey shelf. The lag of approximately 3,000 years between the onset of warming in New Jersey shelf waters and the carbon isotope excursion is consistent with the hypothesis that bottom water warming caused the injection of 13C-depleted carbon by triggering the dissociation of submarine methane hydrates, but the cause of the early warming remains uncertain.     

Flushing submarine canyons

The continental slope is a steep, narrow fringe separating the coastal zone from the deep ocean. During low sea-level stands, slides and dense, sediment-laden flows erode the outer continental shelf and the continental slope, leading to the formation of submarine canyons that funnel large volumes of sediment and organic matter from shallow regions to the deep ocean(1). During high sea-level stands, such as at present, these canyons still experience occasional sediment gravity flows(2-5), which are usually thought to be triggered by sediment failure or river flooding. Here we present observations from a submarine canyon on the Gulf of Lions margin, in the northwest Mediterranean Sea, that demonstrate that these flows can also be triggered by dense shelf water cascading (DSWC)-a type of current that is driven solely by seawater density contrast. Our results show that DSWC can transport large amounts of water and sediment, reshape submarine canyon floors and rapidly affect the deep-sea environment. This cascading is seasonal, resulting from the formation of dense water by cooling and/or evaporation, and occurs on both high- and low-latitude continental margins(6-8). DSWC may therefore transport large amounts of sediment and organic matter to the deep ocean. Furthermore, changes in the frequency and intensity of DSWC driven by future climate change may have a significant impact on the supply of organic matter to deep-sea ecosystems and on the amount of carbon stored on continental margins and in ocean basins.     

The start-up of biohydrogen-producing process by bioaugmentation in the EGSB reactor

Expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor and bioaugmentation were employed to investigate biohydrogen production with molasses wastewater. The start-up experiments consisted of two stages. In the first stage (0～24d) seeded with activated sludge, the butyric acid type-fermentation formed when the initial expanding rate, organic loading rate (OLR), the initial redox potential (ORP) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) were 10%, 10.0 kg COD/(m3·d), - 215 mV and 6.7 h, respectively. At the beginning of the second stage on day 25, the novel hydrogen-producing fermentative bacterial strain B49 (AF481148 in EMBL) were inoculated into the reactor under the condition of OLR 16. 0 kg COD/(m3·d), ORP and HRT about - 139 mV and 6.7 h, respectively, and then the reaction system transformed to ethanol-type fermentation gradually with the increase in OLR. When OLR, ORP and HRT were about 94.3 kg COD/(m3·d), -250 mV and 1.7 h, respectively, the system achieved the maximum hydrogen-producing rate of 282.6 mL H2/L reactor· h and hydrogen percentage of 51%～53% in the biogas.