Spatial and temporal distributions of bromoform and dibromomethane in the Atlantic Ocean and their relationship with photosynthetic biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yina; Yvon-Lewis, Shari A.; Thornton, Daniel C. O.; Butler, James H.; Bianchi, Thomas S.; Campbell, Lisa; Hu, Lei; Smith, Richard W.

2013-08-01

Atmospheric mixing ratios and seawater concentrations of bromoform (CHBr3), dibromomethane (CH2Br2), and other brominated very short-lived substances (BrVSLS) were measured during five cruises from 1994 to 2010. These cruises were conducted over large latitudinal (62°N-60°S) and longitudinal transects (11°W-86°W) in the Atlantic Ocean. Elevated seawater concentrations of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 were often observed in regions where chlorophyll a concentrations were also elevated, which suggests biogeochemical processes associated with photosynthetic biomass may be related to CHBr3 and CH2Br2 production. Our results suggest that, at least in the open ocean, several phytoplankton taxa may contribute to the production of these trace gases. While observed correlations between CHBr3 and CH2Br2 in different regions are usually interpreted as common sources for these compounds, results in this study suggest different biogeochemical processes may contribute separately to the production of these trace gases. Heterotrophic bacterial abundance was significantly correlated with CH2Br2, but not with CHBr3, which suggests the biogeochemical processes associated with heterotrophic bacteria may be related to CH2Br2 in seawater but probably not to CHBr3. In general, the Atlantic Ocean is a net source for CHBr3 and CH2Br2, except for a few locations where these trace gases were undersaturated in seawater. Assuming fluxes measured in the Atlantic open ocean are globally representative, the resulting extrapolated, global open-ocean annual net sea-to-air fluxes calculated from data from the five cruises was estimated at 0.24-3.80 Gmol Br yr-1 for CHBr3 and 0.11-0.77 Gmol Br yr-1 for CH2Br2.

The Role of Transforms in Gulf of Mexico Opening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundin, E.; Doré, A. G.

2017-12-01

The curious pie-shaped Gulf of Mexico (GoM) may be considered a high-angle back-arc basin to the Pacific Ocean. Opening was strongly facilitated by transforms, including a terminal transform on its Pacific side. GoM also formed synchronously with the nearby Central Atlantic when Gondwanaland pulled away from Laurasia in the Jurassic. Notably, GoM's oceanic crust never connected with that of the Atlantic, and the isolated nature of this small ocean led to periodically confined conditions that influenced the petroleum system. Of particular importance are the deposition of Callovian age salt and Tithonian age source rocks. The central part of GoM is generally accepted as underlain by oceanic crust, but the position of the continent-ocean boundaries (COB) is debated, as well as the nature of intervening crust. We favor an interpretation of the COBs marked by the regional scale, large-amplitude Houston, Florida, and Campeche magnetic anomalies, in turn probably reflecting seaward dipping reflectors of magma-rich margins. GoM's unusual shape may indirectly represent utilization of pre-existing transforms during the break-up of Pangea. Transforms represent long, linear weaknesses where the crust and lithosphere is already broken. Transforms seem to have governed the break-up of several oceanic segments in the North Atlantic and Arctic. The Suwanne suture of the Rheic Ocean is a pronounced magnetic anomaly that crosses Georgia-Florida and becomes aligned with the Houston magnetic anomaly, which here is interpreted as the northern COB to GoM. The Suwanne suture is oriented at high angle to the rest of the Rheic suture along the Appalachians and probably experienced lateral motion during the transpressional closure of the Rheic Ocean. This transform arguably represents a weak element in the Ouachita-Marathon orogen that allowed the Yucatan microcontinent to easily be plucked from the North American margin during the dispersal of Pangea, forming the GoM in the process. This opening mode is analogous to that of the pie-shaped Iceland Basin and the Jan Mayen microcontinent in the Northeast Atlantic.

Hidden biosphere in an oxygen-deficient Atlantic open ocean eddy: future implications of ocean deoxygenation on primary production in the eastern tropical North Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loescher, Carolin; Fischer, Martin; Neulinger, Sven; Fiedler, Björn; Philippi, Miriam; Schütte, Florian; Singh, Arvind; Hauss, Helena; Karstensen, Johannes; Körtzinger, Arne; Schmitz, Ruth

2016-04-01

The eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) is characterized by a highly productive coastal upwelling system and a moderate oxygen minimum zone with lowest open ocean oxygen (O2) concentrations of approximately 40 μmol kg-1. The recent discovery of re-occurring mesoscale eddies with close to anoxic O2 concentrations (<1 μmol kg-1) located just below the mixed layer has challenged our understanding of O2 distribution and biogeochemical processes in this area. Here, we present the first microbial community study from a deoxygenated anticyclonic modewater eddy in the open waters of the ETNA. In the eddy, we observed significantly lower bacterial diversity compared to surrounding waters, along with a significant community shift. We detected enhanced primary productivity in the surface layer of the eddy indicated by elevated chlorophyll concentrations and carbon uptake rates of up to three times as high as in surrounding waters. Carbon uptake rates below the euphotic zone correlated to the presence of a specific high-light ecotype of Prochlorococcus, which is usually underrepresented in the ETNA. Our data indicate that high primary production in the eddy fuels export production and supports enhanced respiration in a specific microbial community at shallow depths, below the mixed layer base. The O2-depleted core waters eddy promoted transcription of the key gene for denitrification, nirS. This process is usually absent from the open ETNA waters. In light of future projected ocean deoxygenation, our results show that even distinct events of anoxia have the potential to alter microbial community structure with critical impacts on primary productivity and biogeochemical processes of oceanic water bodies.

Hidden biosphere in an oxygen-deficient Atlantic open ocean eddy: future implications of ocean deoxygenation on primary production in the eastern tropical North Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löscher, C. R.; Fischer, M. A.; Neulinger, S. C.; Fiedler, B.; Philippi, M.; Schütte, F.; Singh, A.; Hauss, H.; Karstensen, J.; Körtzinger, A.; Künzel, S.; Schmitz, R. A.

2015-08-01

The eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) is characterized by a highly productive coastal upwelling system and a moderate oxygen minimum zone with lowest open ocean oxygen (O2) concentrations of around 40 μmol kg-1. Only recently, the discovery of re-occurring mesoscale eddies with sometimes close to anoxic O2 concentrations (<1 μmol kg-1) and located just below the mixed layer challenged our understanding of O2 distribution and biogeochemical processes in this area. Here, we present the first metagenomic dataset from a deoxygenated anticyclonic modewater eddy in the open waters of the ETNA. In the eddy, we observed a significantly lower bacterial diversity compared to surrounding waters, along with a significant community shift. We detected enhanced primary productivity in the surface layer of the eddy indicated by elevated chlorophyll concentrations and increased carbon uptake rates up to three times as high as in surrounding waters. Carbon uptake below the euphotic zone correlated to the presence of a specific high-light ecotype of Prochlorococcus, which is usually underrepresented in the ETNA. Our combined data indicate that high primary production in the eddy fuels export production and the presence of a specific microbial community responsible for enhanced respiration at shallow depths, below the mixed layer base. Progressively decreasing O2 concentrations in the eddy were found to promote transcription of the key gene for denitrification, nirS, in the O2-depleted core waters. This process is usually absent from the open ETNA waters. In the light of future ocean deoxygenation our results show exemplarily that even distinct events of anoxia have the potential to alter microbial community structures and with that critically impact primary productivity and biogeochemical processes of oceanic water bodies.

Hidden biosphere in an oxygen-deficient Atlantic open-ocean eddy: future implications of ocean deoxygenation on primary production in the eastern tropical North Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löscher, C. R.; Fischer, M. A.; Neulinger, S. C.; Fiedler, B.; Philippi, M.; Schütte, F.; Singh, A.; Hauss, H.; Karstensen, J.; Körtzinger, A.; Künzel, S.; Schmitz, R. A.

2015-12-01

The eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) is characterized by a highly productive coastal upwelling system and a moderate oxygen minimum zone with lowest open-ocean oxygen (O2) concentrations of approximately 40 μmol kg-1. The recent discovery of re-occurring mesoscale eddies with close to anoxic O2 concentrations (< 1 μmol kg-1) located just below the mixed layer has challenged our understanding of O2 distribution and biogeochemical processes in this area. Here, we present the first microbial community study from a deoxygenated anticyclonic modewater eddy in the open waters of the ETNA. In the eddy, we observed significantly lower bacterial diversity compared to surrounding waters, along with a significant community shift. We detected enhanced primary productivity in the surface layer of the eddy indicated by elevated chlorophyll concentrations and carbon uptake rates of up to three times as high as in surrounding waters. Carbon uptake rates below the euphotic zone correlated to the presence of a specific high-light ecotype of Prochlorococcus, which is usually underrepresented in the ETNA. Our data indicate that high primary production in the eddy fuels export production and supports enhanced respiration in a specific microbial community at shallow depths, below the mixed-layer base. The transcription of the key functional marker gene for dentrification, nirS, further indicated a potential for nitrogen loss processes in O2-depleted core waters of the eddy. Dentrification is usually absent from the open ETNA waters. In light of future projected ocean deoxygenation, our results show that even distinct events of anoxia have the potential to alter microbial community structure with critical impacts on primary productivity and biogeochemical processes of oceanic water bodies.

Differences in the lithosphere seismic structure along the Brazilian continental margin in the South Atlantic from travel time seismic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peres Rocha, M.; Azevedo, P. A. D.; Assumpcao, M.; Franca, G. S.; Marotta, G. S.

2016-12-01

Results of the P-wave travel-time seismic tomography method allowed observing differences in the seismic behavior of the lithosphere along the Brazilian continental margin in the South Atlantic. High velocity anomalies have predominance in the northern portion, which extends from the Rio de Janeiro to Alagoas States (between latitudes -22.5 and -8.5), and low velocity anomalies in the southern portion, which extends from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul States (between latitudes -30 and -22.5). Low velocities coincide spatially with the offshore high seismicity areas, as indicated by Assumpção (1998) and at the high velocities with low seismicity regions. The high velocity anomalies at northern portion are related to the cratonic and low-stretched lithosphere of San Francisco block that was connected to the Congo block before the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Low velocities can be assigned to more weakened lithosphere, where it started the South Atlantic Ocean opening process. The oldest lithosphere in the South Atlantic, indicated by the magnetic anomalies of the oceanic floor, is higher in the southern part than in the northern part, suggesting that the continents in this region were separating, while the northern region was still connected to Africa, which could explain the lithospheric stretching process.

Comparative economic performance and carbon footprint of two farming models for producing atlantic salmon (salmo salar): Land-based closed containment system in freshwater and open pen in seawater

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Ocean net pen production of Atlantic salmon is approaching 2 million metric tons (MT) annually and has proven to be cost- and energy- efficient. Recently, with technology improvements, freshwater aquaculture of Atlantic salmon from eggs to harvestable size of 4 -5 kg in land-based closed containmen...

First satellite tracks of neonate sea turtles redefine the ‘lost years’ oceanic niche

PubMed Central

Mansfield, Katherine L.; Wyneken, Jeanette; Porter, Warren P.; Luo, Jiangang

2014-01-01

Few at-sea behavioural data exist for oceanic-stage neonate sea turtles, a life-stage commonly referred to as the sea turtle ‘lost years’. Historically, the long-term tracking of small, fast-growing organisms in the open ocean was logistically or technologically impossible. Here, we provide the first long-term satellite tracks of neonate sea turtles. Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) were remotely tracked in the Atlantic Ocean using small solar-powered satellite transmitters. We show that oceanic-stage turtles (i) rarely travel in Continental Shelf waters, (ii) frequently depart the currents associated with the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, (iii) travel quickly when in Gyre currents, and (iv) select sea surface habitats that are likely to provide a thermal benefit or refuge to young sea turtles, supporting growth, foraging and survival. Our satellite tracks help define Atlantic loggerhead nursery grounds and early loggerhead habitat use, allowing us to re-examine sea turtle ‘lost years’ paradigms. PMID:24598420

Molecular distributions and isotopic compositions of marine aerosols over the western North Atlantic: Dicarboxylic acids, ketoacids, α-dicarbonyls (glyoxal and methylglyoxal), fatty acids, sugars, and SOA tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawamura, K.; Ono, K.; Tachibana, E.; Quinn, P.; Bates, T. S.

2013-12-01

Marine aerosols were collected over the western North Atlantic from off the coast of Boston to Bermuda during the WACS (Western Atlantic Climate Study) cruise of R/V Ronald H. Brown in August 2012 using a high volume air sampler and pre-combusted quartz fiber filters. Aerosol filter samples (n=5) were analyzed for OC/EC, major inorganic ions, low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids and various secondary organic aerosol (SOA) tracers using carbon analyzer, ion chromatograph, GC/FID and GC/MS, respectively. Homologous series (C2-C12) of dicarboxylic acids (31-335 ng m-3) were detected with a predominance of oxalic acid. Total carbon and nitrogen and their stable isotope ratios were determined as well as stable carbon isotopic compositions of individual diacids using IRMS. Diacids were found to be the most abundant compound class followed by monoterpene-SOA tracers > isoprene-SOA tracers > sugar compounds > ketoacids > fatty alcohols > fatty acids > α-dicarbonyls > aromatic acids > n-alkanes. The concentrations of these compounds were higher in the coastal site and decreased in the open ocean. However, diacids stayed relatively high even in the remote ocean. Interestingly, contributions of oxalic acid to total aerosol carbon increased from the coast (2.3%) to the remote ocean (5.6%) during long-range atmospheric transport. Stable carbon isotopic composition of oxalic acid increased from the coast (-17.5‰) to open ocean (-12.4‰), suggesting that photochemical aging of organic aerosols occurred during the atmospheric transport over the ocean. Stable carbon isotope ratios of bulk aerosol carbon also increased from the coast near Boston to the open ocean near Bermuda.

Opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean: Implications for Geometric Rifting and Asymmetric Initial Seafloor Spreading after Continental Breakup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klingelhoefer, F.; Biari, Y.; Sahabi, M.; Funck, T.; Benabdellouahed, M.; Schnabel, M.; Reichert, C. J.; Gutscher, M. A.; Bronner, A.; Austin, J. A., Jr.

2017-12-01

The structure of conjugate passive margins provides information about rifting styles, the initial phases of the opening of an ocean and the formation of its associated sedimentary basins. The study of the deep structure of conjugate passive continental margins combined with precise plate kinematic reconstructions can provide constraints on the mechanisms of rifting and formation of initial oceanic crust. In this study the Central Atlantic conjugate margins are compared, based on compilation of wide-angle seismic profiles from the NW-Africa Nova Scotian and US passive margins. Plate cinematic reconstructions were used to place the profiles in the position at opening and at the M25 magnetic anomaly. The patterns of volcanism, crustal thickness, geometry, and seismic velocities in the transition zone. suggest symmetric rifting followed by asymmetric oceanic crustal accretion. Conjugate profiles in the southern Central Atlantic image differences in the continental crustal thickness. While profiles on the eastern US margin are characterized by thick layers of magmatic underplating, no such underplate was imaged along the NW-African continental margin. It has been proposed that these volcanic products form part of the CAMP (Central Atlantic Magmatic Province). In the north, two wide-angle seismic profiles acquired in exactly conjugate positions show that the crustal geometry of the unthinned continental crust and the necking zone are nearly symmetric. A region including seismic velocities too high to be explained by either continental or oceanic crust is imaged along the Nova Scotia margin off Eastern Canada, corresponding on the African side to an oceanic crust with slightly elevated velocities. These might result from asymmetric spreading creating seafloor by faulting the existing lithosphere on the Canadian side and the emplacement of magmatic oceanic crust including pockets of serpentinite on the Moroccan margin. A slightly elevated crustal thickness along the African margin can be explained by the influence of the Canary hotspot between 60 and 30 Ma in the study region. After isochron M25, a large-scale plate reorganization may then have led to an increase in spreading velocity and the production of a more typical but thin magmatic crust on both sides.

Do Continental Shelves Act as an Atmospheric CO2 Sink?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, W.

2003-12-01

Recent air-to-sea CO2 flux measurements at several major continental shelves (European Atlantic Shelves, East China Sea and U.S. Middle Atlantic Bight) suggest that shelves may act as a one-way pump and absorb atmospheric CO2 into the ocean. These observations also favor the argument that continental shelves are autotrophic (i.e., net production of organic carbon, OC). The U.S. South Atlantic Bight (SAB) contrasts these findings in that it acts as a strong source of CO2 to the atmosphere while simultaneously exporting dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) to the open ocean. We report pCO2, DIC, and alkalinity data from the SAB collected in 8 cruises along a transect from the shore to the shelf break in the central SAB. The shelf-wide net heterotrophy and carbon exports in the SAB are subsidized by the export of OC from the abundant intertidal marshes, which are a sink for atmospheric CO2. It is proposed here that the SAB represents a marsh-dominated heterotrophic ocean margin as opposed to river-dominated autotrophic margins. To further investigate why margins may behave differently in term of CO2 sink/source, the physical and biological conditions of several western boundary current margins are compared. Based on this and other studies, DIC export flux from margins to the open ocean must be significant in the overall global ocean carbon budget.

Patterns of Genetic Diversity and Co-Existence in Open Ocean Diatoms: the Effects of Water Mass Structure, Selection and Sex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rynearson, T. A.; Chen, G.

2016-02-01

The open ocean North Atlantic spring bloom influences regional ecology and global biogeochemistry. Diatoms dominate the peak of the bloom and significantly impact productivity and export of organic carbon from the bloom. Despite their key role in a yearly event with global impacts, the genetic diversity and population structure of diatoms that comprise this open ocean bloom are unknown. Here we investigated the population genetics of the diatom Thalassiosira gravida sampled during the 2008 North Atlantic Bloom Experiment using newly-developed microsatellite markers. Here, we show that the genetic diversity of open ocean diatoms is high and that their population structure differs dramatically from coastal diatoms. High levels of genetic diversity were observed across all water samples and did not change during the bloom. Four genetically distinct populations were identified but were not associated with different water masses, depths or time points during the bloom. Instead, all four populations co-existed within samples, spanning different water masses, stages of the bloom and depths of over >300 m. The pattern of genetically distinct, co-existing populations in the open ocean contrasts dramatically with coastal habitats, where distinct populations have not been observed to co-exist at the same time and place. It is likely that populations originate via transport from disparate locations combined with overwintering capacity in the water column or sediments. The pattern of co-existence suggests that the open ocean may serve as a gene pool that harbors different populations that are then available for selection to act upon, which may contribute to the ecological and biogeochemical success of diatoms and influence their long-term evolutionary survival.

Shifting Surface Currents in the Northern North Atlantic Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hakkinen, Sirpa; Rhines, Peter B.

2007-01-01

Analysis of surface drifter tracks in the North Atlantic Ocean from the time period 1990 to 2006 provides the first evidence that the Gulf Stream waters can have direct pathways to the Nordic Seas. Prior to 2000, the drifters entering the channels leading to the Nordic Seas originated in the western and central subpolar region. Since 2001 several paths from the western subtropics have been present in the drifter tracks leading to the Rockall Trough through which the most saline North Atlantic Waters pass to the Nordic Seas. Eddy kinetic energy from altimetry shows also the increased energy along the same paths as the drifters, These near surface changes have taken effect while the altimetry shows a continual weakening of the subpolar gyre. These findings highlight the changes in the vertical structure of the northern North Atlantic Ocean, its dynamics and exchanges with the higher latitudes, and show how pathways of the thermohaline circulation can open up and maintain or increase its intensity even as the basin-wide circulation spins down.

An Analysis of Wilson Cycle Plate Margins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buiter, S.; Torsvik, T. H.

2012-12-01

The Wilson Cycle theory that oceans close and open along the same suture is a powerful concept in analyses of ancient plate tectonics. It implies that collision zones are structures that are able to localize extensional deformation for long times after the collision has waned. However, some sutures are seemingly never reactivated and already Tuzo Wilson recognized that Atlantic break-up did not follow the precise line of previous junction. We have reviewed margin pairs around the Atlantic and Indian Oceans with the aim to evaluate the extent to which oceanic opening used former sutures, summarize delay times between collision and break-up, and analyze the role of mantle plumes in continental break-up. We aid our analyses with plate tectonic reconstructions using GPlates (www.gplates.org). Although at first sight opening of the North Atlantic Ocean largely seems to follow the Iapetus and Rheic sutures, a closer look reveals deviations. For example, Atlantic opening did not utilize the Iapetus suture in Great Britain and rather than opening along the younger Rheic suture north of Florida, break-up occurred along the older Pan-African structures south of Florida. We find that today's oceanic Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, between Ireland and Newfoundland, is aligned with the Iapetus suture. We speculate therefore that in this region the Iapetus suture was reactivated as a transform fault. As others before us, we find no correlation of suture and break-up age. Often continental break-up occurs some hundreds of Myrs after collision, but it may also take over 1000 Myr, as for example for Australia - Antarctica and Congo - São Francisco. This places serious constraints on potential collision zone weakening mechanisms. Several studies have pointed to a link between continental break-up and large-scale mantle upwellings. It is, however, much debated whether plumes use existing rifts as a pathway, or whether plumes play an active role in causing rifting. We find a positive correlation between break-up age and plume age, which we interpret to indicate that plumes can aid the factual continental break-up. However, plumes may have been guided towards the rift for margins that experienced a long rift history (e.g., Norway-Greenland), to then trigger the break-up. This could offer a partial reconciliation in the debate of a passive or active role for mantle plumes in continental break-up.

Software framework for prognostic health monitoring of ocean-based power generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowren, Mark

On August 5, 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has designated the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) as a national center for ocean energy research and development of prototypes for open-ocean power generation. Maintenance on ocean-based machinery can be very costly. To avoid unnecessary maintenance it is necessary to monitor the condition of each machine in order to predict problems. This kind of prognostic health monitoring (PHM) requires a condition-based maintenance (CBM) system that supports diagnostic and prognostic analysis of large amounts of data. Research in this field led to the creation of ISO13374 and the development of a standard open-architecture for machine condition monitoring. This thesis explores an implementation of such a system for ocean-based machinery using this framework and current open-standard technologies.

Late Eocene to present isotopic (Sr-Nd-Pb) and geochemical evolution of sediments from the Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean: Implications for continental sources and linkage with the North Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, Ross; Poirier, André; Véron, Alain; Carignan, Jean; Hillaire-Marcel, Claude

2015-09-01

New geochemical and isotopic (Sr, Nd, Pb) data are presented for a composite sedimentary record encompassing the past 50 Ma of history of sedimentation on the Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic Ocean. The sampled sediments encompass the transition of the Arctic basin from an enclosed anoxic basin to an open and ventilated oxidized ocean basin. The transition from anoxic basin to open ventilated ocean is accompanied by at least three geochemical and isotopic shifts and an increase in elements (e.g., K/Al) controlled by detrital minerals highlighting significant changes in sediment types and sources. The isotopic compositions of the sediments prior to ventilation are more variable but indicate a predominance of older crustal contributions consistent with sources from the Canadian Shield. Following ventilation, the isotopic compositions are more stable and indicate an increased contribution from younger material consistent with Eurasian and Pan-African crustal sources. The waxing and waning of these sources in conjunction with the passage of water through Fram Strait underlines the importance of the exchange of water mass between the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.

Planktonic benthonic foraminiferal ratios: Modern patterns and Tertiary applicability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibson, T.G.

1989-01-01

The abundance of planktonic specimens in foraminiferal assemblages was determined in numerous bottom samples from inner neritic to deep oceanic depths along the Atlantic margin of the northeastern United States. The results augment previous studies in other areas that have shown a general increase in percentage of planktonic specimens in total foraminiferal bottom assemblages as water depth increases. The patterns found in this area of complex shelf bathymetry and hydrography illustrate the influence on the planktonic-benthonic percentages of water depth, distance from shore, different water mass properties and downslope movement of tests in high energy areas. The patterns found in the 661 samples from the Atlantic margin were compared with results from 795 stations in the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and Red Sea. The relative abundance of planktonic specimens and water depth correlates positively in all open oceanic areas even though taxonomic composition and diversity of the faunas from different areas is variable. The variation of planktonic percentages in bottom samples within most depth intervals is large so that a precise depth determination cannot be made for any given value. However, an approximate upper depth limit for given percentages can be estimated for open ocean environments. A decrease in planktonic percentages is seen in the lower salinity and higher turbidity coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine. Planktonic percentages intermediate between the lower values in the less saline coastal waters and the higher values in the normal open oceanic conditions occur in the transitional area between the Gulf of Maine and the open marine Atlantic Ocean to the east. Similarly lowered values in another area of restricted oceanic circulation occur in the high salinity, clear, but nutrient-poor waters of the Gulf of Aqaba off the Red Sea. A comparison of the similarity of modern planktonic percentage values to those found in earlier Tertiary assemblages was made to confirm the usefulness of this measure in the fossil record. In some stratigraphic sections in upper Paleocene and lower Eocene strata of the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain, water depths inferred from trends and values of planktonic percentages consistently match paleobathymetry constructed from physical stratigraphic characteristics and paleogeographic relationships. ?? 1989.

Ten metre global sea-level change associated with South Atlantic Aptian salt deposition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burke, Kevin; Sengor, A. M. Celal

1988-01-01

Catastrophic filling of the kind of subsea-level depression commonly formed during ocean opening and ocean closing is the only mechanism, other than glacial eustacy, capable of rapidly lowering sea level. Aptian evaporites overlying oceanic crust on both sides of the South Atlantic between the Walvis Ridge and the Niger Delta were deposited in such a basin by repeated spilling of ocean water. The final flooding of the South Atlantic north of the Walvis Ridge extracted about 14 x 10 to the 8th cu km of sea water from the world ocean and effected about 10 m of sea-level lowering. It is speculated that the middle Aptian unconformity, which is one of the more prominent world-wide unconformities, is associated with this sea-level drop of about 10 m. A corollary of this interpretation is that if the catastrophic sea-level lowerings during the Mesozoic era had amplitudes substantially greater than 10 m, then a glacial mechanism to explain them would seem inescapable although the stratigraphic record has not yet yielded any evidence of such glaciation.

The impact of horizontal resolution on the representation of air-sea interaction over North Atlantic open ocean convection sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Kent; Renfrew, Ian; Bromwich, David; Wilson, Aaron; Vage, Kjetil; Bai, Lesheng

2017-04-01

Open ocean convection, where a loss of surface buoyancy leads to an overturning of the water column, occurs in four distinct regions of the North Atlantic and is an integral component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The overturning typically occurs during cold air outbreaks characterized by large surface turbulent heat fluxes and convective roll cloud development. Here we compare the statistics of the air-sea interaction over these convection sites as represented in three reanalyses with horizontal grid sizes ranging from 80km to 15km. We show that increasing the resolution increases the magnitude and frequency of the most extreme total turbulent heat fluxes, as well as displacing the maxima downstream away from the ice edges. We argue that these changes are a result of the higher resolution reanalysis being better able to represent mesoscale processes that occur within the atmospheric boundary layer during cold air outbreaks.

Mixotrophic basis of Atlantic oligotrophic ecosystems.

PubMed

Hartmann, Manuela; Grob, Carolina; Tarran, Glen A; Martin, Adrian P; Burkill, Peter H; Scanlan, David J; Zubkov, Mikhail V

2012-04-10

Oligotrophic subtropical gyres are the largest oceanic ecosystems, covering >40% of the Earth's surface. Unicellular cyanobacteria and the smallest algae (plastidic protists) dominate CO(2) fixation in these ecosystems, competing for dissolved inorganic nutrients. Here we present direct evidence from the surface mixed layer of the subtropical gyres and adjacent equatorial and temperate regions of the Atlantic Ocean, collected on three Atlantic Meridional Transect cruises on consecutive years, that bacterioplankton are fed on by plastidic and aplastidic protists at comparable rates. Rates of bacterivory were similar in the light and dark. Furthermore, because of their higher abundance, it is the plastidic protists, rather than the aplastidic forms, that control bacterivory in these waters. These findings change our basic understanding of food web function in the open ocean, because plastidic protists should now be considered as the main bacterivores as well as the main CO(2) fixers in the oligotrophic gyres.

Future change in ocean productivity: Is the Arctic the new Atlantic?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yool, A.; Popova, E. E.; Coward, A. C.

2015-12-01

One of the most characteristic features in ocean productivity is the North Atlantic spring bloom. Responding to seasonal increases in irradiance and stratification, surface phytopopulations rise significantly, a pattern that visibly tracks poleward into summer. While blooms also occur in the Arctic Ocean, they are constrained by the sea-ice and strong vertical stratification that characterize this region. However, Arctic sea-ice is currently declining, and forecasts suggest this may lead to completely ice-free summers by the mid-21st century. Such change may open the Arctic up to Atlantic-style spring blooms, and do so at the same time as Atlantic productivity is threatened by climate change-driven ocean stratification. Here we use low and high-resolution instances of a coupled ocean-biogeochemistry model, NEMO-MEDUSA, to investigate productivity. Drivers of present-day patterns are identified, and changes in these across a climate change scenario (IPCC RCP 8.5) are analyzed. We find a globally significant decline in North Atlantic productivity (> -20%) by 2100, and a correspondingly significant rise in the Arctic (> +50%). However, rather than the future Arctic coming to resemble the current Atlantic, both regions are instead transitioning to a common, low nutrient regime. The North Pacific provides a counterexample where nutrients remain high and productivity increases with elevated temperature. These responses to climate change in the Atlantic and Arctic are common between model resolutions, suggesting an independence from resolution for key impacts. However, some responses, such as those in the North Pacific, differ between the simulations, suggesting the reverse and supporting the drive to more fine-scale resolutions. This article was corrected on 5 JAN 2016. See the end of the full text for details.

Evolution of the Southern Guinea Plateau: Implications on Guinea-Demerara Plateau formation using insights from seismic, subsidence, and gravity data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olyphant, Jared R.; Johnson, Roy A.; Hughes, Amanda N.

2017-10-01

The Guinea Plateau (offshore Guinea) and its conjugate, the Demerara Plateau (offshore French Guiana), comprise two of the most prominent passive continental margins in the Atlantic Ocean. The conjugate plateaus formed as a result of two periods of rifting, the Jurassic opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean and the northward-propagating Cretaceous opening of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Although several studies are published on the Demerara Plateau that explain the evolution of its multi-rift history and the effect of rifting on its distinct geometry, the Guinea Plateau, and in particular its south-eastern margin, remain relatively unexplored in the literature. Here we present interpretations of the structure and evolution of the Guinea Plateau using recent 2-D and 3-D seismic-reflection data collected at the intersection of the southern and eastern margins. We substantiate our study with calculated subsidence curves at four locations along the southern margin, as well as two 2-D gravity forward models along regional seismic-reflection profiles to estimate stretching factors (β) and crustal thicknesses. We combine our results with previous studies concerning the south-western Guinea margin, and compare them to published interpretations regarding the conjugate margins of the Demerara Plateau. The resolved amounts of rift-related volcanism, listric-style normal faults, and moderate stretching factors suggest that a component of upper-crustal asymmetry (simple shear) and depth-dependent stretching may have persisted at the Demerara-Guinea conjugate margins during Cretaceous rifting of the equatorial segment of the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

Autonomous Observational Platforms for Ocean Studies: Operation, Advantages of Sensor Technology and Data Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atamanchuk, D.; Lai, J.; Vining, M.; Kehoe, D.; Siddall, G.; Send, U.; Wallace, D.

2016-02-01

Ocean Science and Technology research group (CERC.OCEAN) at Dalhousie University focuses on new approaches in design and development of autonomous platforms to study biogeochemical and ecological changes in the world's oceans. The principal research regions included the Labrador Sea, the Northwest Atlantic between Halifax and Bermuda, and the coastal areas of Atlantic Canada. The need for improved constraints on the ocean's present and future carbon cycle is of high relevance for the Northwest Atlantic, which is recognized as a largest sink of carbon dioxide(CO2) through air-sea exchange and subsequent transport to deeper layers of the global ocean. With the use of novel sensor technology integrated into the designed platforms we are achieving a superior spatial and temporal resolution of observations. SeaCycler - a surface piercing mooring - was designed to endure year-long measurements in harsh conditions of the open ocean, like Labrador Sea, while making daily profiles of the upper 150m of the water column. Significant research efforts within CERC.OCEAN are dedicated for improving sensors' data outcome. This includes testing, calibration of the sensors, QC and postprocessing to assure reliable and trustworthy measurements. Examples and implication of the data from SeaCycler, and other platforms including buoys, and automonous Volunteer Observing Ship (VOS) flow-through system will be presented.

Mercury in the atmosphere, snow and melt water ponds in the North Atlantic Ocean during Arctic summer.

PubMed

Aspmo, Katrine; Temme, Christian; Berg, Torunn; Ferrari, Christophe; Gauchard, L Pierre-Alexis; Fain, Xavier; Wibetoe, Grethe

2006-07-01

Atmospheric mercury speciation measurements were performed during a 10 week Arctic summer expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean onboard the German research vessel RV Polarstern between June 15 and August 29, 2004. This expedition covered large areas of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans between latitudes 54 degrees N and 85 degrees N and longitudes 16 degrees W and 16 degrees E. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and mercury associated with particles (Hg-P) were measured during this study. In addition, total mercury in surface snow and meltwater ponds located on sea ice floes was measured. GEM showed a homogeneous distribution over the open North Atlantic Ocean (median 1.53 +/- 0.12 ng/m3), which is in contrast to the higher concentrations of GEM observed over sea ice (median 1.82 +/- 0.24 ng/m3). It is hypothesized that this results from either (re-) emission of mercury contained in snow and ice surfaces that was previously deposited during atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDE) in the spring or evasion from the ocean due to increased reduction potential at high latitudes during Arctic summer. Measured concentrations of total mercury in surface snow and meltwater ponds were low (all samples <10 ng/L), indicating that marginal accumulation of mercury occurs in these environmental compartments. Results also reveal low concentrations of RGM and Hg-P without a significant diurnal variability. These results indicate that the production and deposition of these reactive mercury species do not significantly contribute to the atmospheric mercury cycle in the North Atlantic Ocean during the Arctic summer.

Natural variability of pCO2 and pH in the Atlantic and Pacific coastal margins of the U.S

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutton, A. J.; Sabine, C. L.; Feely, R. A.; Newton, J.; Salisbury, J.; Vandemark, D. C.; Musielewicz, S. B.; Maenner-Jones, S.; Bott, R.; Lawrence-Slavas, N.

2011-12-01

The discovery that seawater chemistry is changing as a result of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, referred to as "ocean acidification", has prompted a large effort to understand how this changing chemistry will impact marine life. Changes in carbon chemistry have been documented in the open ocean; however, in dynamic coastal systems where many marine species live, ocean acidification and the natural biogeochemical variability that organisms are currently exposed to are poorly quantified. In 2010 we began equipping coastal moorings currently measuring pCO2 with pH and other biogeochemical sensors to measure ocean acidification parameters at 3 hour intervals in the surface water. Here we present the magnitude and diurnal to seasonal variability of pCO2 and pH during the first year of observations at 2 sites in the Atlantic and Pacific coastal margins of the U.S.: the Gulf of Maine and outer coast of Washington state. Both the magnitude and range of pCO2 and pH values were much greater at the coastal moorings compared to the open ocean mooring at Ocean Station Papa in the North Pacific and also varied between the two coastal mooring sites. We observed maximum pCO2 values in coastal waters exceeding predicted values for the open ocean at 2x pre-industrial CO2 levels. The range of pCO2 and pH values during this time series was approximately 4 times the range observed at open ocean mooring Papa (2007-2011 time series). In many cases, large variance was observed at short time scales, with values fluctuating more than 200 μatm pCO2 and 0.2 pH between 3-hour cycles. These types of observations are critical for understanding how ocean acidification will manifest in naturally dynamic coastal systems and for informing the experimental design of species response studies that aim to mimic carbon chemistry experienced by coastal marine organisms.

Global biogeochemical implications of mercury discharges from rivers and sediment burial.

PubMed

Amos, Helen M; Jacob, Daniel J; Kocman, David; Horowitz, Hannah M; Zhang, Yanxu; Dutkiewicz, Stephanie; Horvat, Milena; Corbitt, Elizabeth S; Krabbenhoft, David P; Sunderland, Elsie M

2014-08-19

Rivers are an important source of mercury (Hg) to marine ecosystems. Based on an analysis of compiled observations, we estimate global present-day Hg discharges from rivers to ocean margins are 27 ± 13 Mmol a(-1) (5500 ± 2700 Mg a(-1)), of which 28% reaches the open ocean and the rest is deposited to ocean margin sediments. Globally, the source of Hg to the open ocean from rivers amounts to 30% of atmospheric inputs. This is larger than previously estimated due to accounting for elevated concentrations in Asian rivers and variability in offshore transport across different types of estuaries. Riverine inputs of Hg to the North Atlantic have decreased several-fold since the 1970s while inputs to the North Pacific have increased. These trends have large effects on Hg concentrations at ocean margins but are too small in the open ocean to explain observed declines of seawater concentrations in the North Atlantic or increases in the North Pacific. Burial of Hg in ocean margin sediments represents a major sink in the global Hg biogeochemical cycle that has not been previously considered. We find that including this sink in a fully coupled global biogeochemical box model helps to balance the large anthropogenic release of Hg from commercial products recently added to global inventories. It also implies that legacy anthropogenic Hg can be removed from active environmental cycling on a faster time scale (centuries instead of millennia). Natural environmental Hg levels are lower than previously estimated, implying a relatively larger impact from human activity.

Seasonality of mercury in the Atlantic marine boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soerensen, Anne L.; Sunderland, Elsie; Skov, Henrik; Holmes, Christopher; Jacob, Daniel J.

2010-05-01

Around one third of the mercury emissions today are from primary anthropogenic sources, with the remaining two-thirds from secondary reemissions of earlier deposition and natural sources (AMAP/UNEP 2008). Mercury exchange at the air-sea interface is important for the global distribution of atmospheric mercury as parts of deposited mercury will reenter the atmosphere through evasion. The exchange at the air-sea interface also affects the amount of inorganic mercury in the ocean and thereby the conversion to the neuro-toxic methylmercury. Here we combine new cruise measurements in the atmospheric marine boundary layer (MBL) of the Atlantic Ocean (Northern Hemisphere) from the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007 with existing data from cruises in the Atlantic Ocean since 1978. We observe from these data a seasonal cycle in Hg(0) concentrations in the Atlantic marine boundary later (MBL) that exhibits minimum concentrations during summer and high concentrations during fall to spring. These observations suggest a local, seasonally dependent Hg(0) source in the MBL that causes variability in concentrations above the open ocean. To further investigate controls on Hg(0) concentrations in the MBL, we developed an improved representation of oceanic air-sea exchange processes within the GEOS-Chem global 3-D biogeochemical mercury model. Specifically, we used new data on mercury redox reactions in the surface ocean as a function of biological and photochemical processes, and implemented new algorithms for mercury dynamics associated with suspended particles. Our coupled atmospheric-oceanic modeling results support the premise that oceanic evasion is a main driver controlling Hg(0) concentrations in the MBL. We also use the model to investigate what drivers the evasion across the air-sea interface on shorter timescales. This is done by tracking evasion rates and other model components on an hourly basis for chosen locations in the Atlantic Ocean.

Testing Munk's hypothesis for submesoscale eddy generation using observations in the North Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buckingham, Christian E.; Khaleel, Zammath; Lazar, Ayah; Martin, Adrian P.; Allen, John T.; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Thompson, Andrew F.; Vic, Clément

2017-08-01

A high-resolution satellite image that reveals a train of coherent, submesoscale (6 km) vortices along the edge of an ocean front is examined in concert with hydrographic measurements in an effort to understand formation mechanisms of the submesoscale eddies. The infrared satellite image consists of ocean surface temperatures at ˜390 m resolution over the midlatitude North Atlantic (48.69°N, 16.19°W). Concomitant altimetric observations coupled with regular spacing of the eddies suggest the eddies result from mesoscale stirring, filamentation, and subsequent frontal instability. While horizontal shear or barotropic instability (BTI) is one mechanism for generating such eddies (Munk's hypothesis), we conclude from linear theory coupled with the in situ data that mixed layer or submesoscale baroclinic instability (BCI) is a more plausible explanation for the observed submesoscale vortices. Here we assume that the frontal disturbance remains in its linear growth stage and is accurately described by linear dynamics. This result likely has greater applicability to the open ocean, i.e., regions where the gradient Rossby number is reduced relative to its value along coasts and within strong current systems. Given that such waters comprise an appreciable percentage of the ocean surface and that energy and buoyancy fluxes differ under BTI and BCI, this result has wider implications for open-ocean energy/buoyancy budgets and parameterizations within ocean general circulation models. In summary, this work provides rare observational evidence of submesoscale eddy generation by BCI in the open ocean.