biogenic silica fluxes and accumulation rates in the gulf of california the gulf of california though small in size plays an important role in the global silica cycle the seasonal pattern of biogenic silica flux in the gulf is closely related to that of phytoplankton biomass levels and is controlled by changes in weather and hydrographic conditions the highest opal fluxes approximately 0 35 g center dot m sup minus 2 center dot d sup minus 1 occur during winter and spring and they are comparable to those measured in some of the most productive ecosystems of the world approximately 15 25 of the biogenic silica produced in surface waters is preserved in gulf sediments a figure significantly higher than the average global ocean preservation rate however the flux of opal at 500 m water depth is less than 25 of that being produced at the surface suggesting that most of the recycling of biogenic silica in the gulf of california occurs in the upper water column 28 refs 3 figs

response of diatom and silicoflagellate assemblages in the central gulf of california to regional climate change during the past 55 kyrs abstract high resolution studies of diatoms and silicoflagellates of the past 55 kyrs in cores md02 2517 2515 from the central gulf of california goc reveal profound changes in goc surface waters roperia tesselata a diatom proxy for late winter early spring upwelling and dictyocha stapedia a subtropical silicoflagellate indicative of goc sea surface temperatures ssts 24 c are common during the holocene but rare during marine isotope stage mis 2 and most of mis 3 a relationship that likely reflects a more northerly position of the north pacific high nph during the holocene in contrast during most of mis 2 27 15 ka the persistent presence of distephanus speculum a silicoflagellate associated with ssts during mis 3 55 27 ka increased dominance of azpeitia nodulifera diatom implies that stratified tropical waters were present year round whereas silicoflagellate assemblages suggest that stratified tropical conditions alternated with more productive upwelling conditions on millennial timescales reduced biosiliceous productivity during heinrich events likely reflected a reduction in both surface water nutrient levels and in the strength of northwest winds due to a weakened and more southerly nph conversely enhanced biosiliceous productivity during mis 3 interstadials was probably linked to heightened nutrient levels and a strengthened nph abrupt relative abundance increases of the silicoflagellate dictyocha aculeata approximate the termination of mis3 heinrich events and may signal times when nutrient rich deep waters associated with the resumption of enhanced atlantic meridional overturning circulation penetrated into the central gulf

geochemical cycles in sediments deposited on the slopes of the guaymas and carmen basins of the gulf of california over the last 180 years sediments deposited on the slopes of the guaymas and carmen basins in the central gulf of california were recovered in two box cores q mode factor analyses identified detrital clastic carbonate and redox associations in the elemental composition of these sediments the detrital clastic fraction appears to contain two source components a more mafic component presumably derived from the sierra madre occidental along the west coast of mexico and a more felsic component most likely derived from sedimentary rocks mostly sandstones of the colorado plateau and delivered by the colorado river the sediments also contain significant siliceous biogenic components and minor calcareous biogenic components but those components were not quantified in this study redox associations were identified in both cores based on relatively high concentrations of molybdenum which is indicative of deposition under conditions of sulfate reduction decreases in concentrations of molybdenum in younger sediments suggest that the bottom waters of the gulf have became more oxygenated over the last 100 years many geochemical components in both box cores exhibit distinct cyclicity with periodicities of 10 20 years the most striking are 20 year cycles in the more mafic components e g titanium particularly in sediments deposited during the 19th century in that century the titanium cycles are in very good agreement with warm phases of the pacific decadal oscillation implying that at times of greater influx of titanium rich

geochemical and sedimentologic variations in inter annually laminated sediments from santa monica basin abstract laminated sediments were recently discovered in the center of santa monica basin california continental borderland and extend from the present day to at least the little ice age ca 1600 a d unlike the annual varves observed in santa barbara basin the light dark lamination couplets observed in 210 pb dated cores from the center of santa monica basin occur at 3 to 6 year intervals very similar in length to the el nino southern oscillation enso phenomena the mechanisms that control the temporal patterns of laminations in this basin are unknown potential causal mechanisms of lamination formation in santa monica basin include 1 changes in the flux of terrigenous vs marine organic carbon and detritus 2 surface water processes which affect marine productivity and organic carbon flux to the sediments and 3 deep water processes which affect oxygen renewal and preservation of organic matter within the basin a box core from the central portion of santa monica basin was analyzed using a suite of geochemical sedimentary and micropaleontologic techniques in order to a investigate which if any of these mechanisms has contributed to the occurrence of laminations and b reconstruct proxy records of climate change samples were extracted from this core at 1 mm increments and provide a temporal resolution of 1 3 years per sample a resolution which is comparable in length to the thickness of individual laminae within the core geochemical and micropaleontologic analyses of core samples provide paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records which are comparable to and extend beyond historical regional and global climate records in addition to direct comparisons between these records spectral analysis was used to investigate whether there were similar patterns of variability that would implicate dominant forcing functions in the historic and proxy records herein we present preliminary results of records from ca 1860 to the present our results suggest that organic carbon fluxes are the dominant factors that affect lamination variability input of organic carbon is primarily a function of primary productivity and to a lesser extent a function of percentage of terrestrial input thus 1 and 2 are both mechanisms of lamination formation stability of 3 only allows preservation of the record of these variations variations in southern california rainfall appear to be linked to decadal scale variations in downcore density profiles and thus cause variations in the thickness and character of the laminations in the deepest portions of this basin thus filtered density records can be used to reconstruct general paleo rainfall trends which compare well with historic rainfall records variations in the isotopic composition of total organic carbon toc are compared to historic enso and climate records and primarily reflect changes in the relative contribution of marine organic carbon to the basin variations in the carbon isotopic composition of n pachyderma mirror changes in the sedimentary 13 c toc record from santa monica basin and suggest that primary productivity is the primary control on the flux of organic carbon to the sediments and exerts a strong influence on the interannual variability in lamination composition variations in paleo sea surface temperatures generated from the oxygen isotopic composition of n pachyderma correlate well with historical sst records and suggest potential usage as a proxy for general paleosst patterns oxygen sensitive assemblages of benthic foraminifera bolivina argentea and b spissa have been used to identify potential large scale flushing events and construct a historical record of variations in deep water oxygen levels spectral analysis of regional historic records indicate dominance of short term enso length and long term decadal patterns of climate variability the short term enso signal is not dominant in the santa monica proxy records however strong decadal length signals are identified in all of the proxy records and suggest that the dominant forcing mechanisms in santa monica basin may be decadal in length

reconstructing mid to high latitude marine climate and ocean variability using bivalves coralline algae and marine sediment cores from the northern hemisphere quantifying the role and contribution of the world s oceans in past present and future global change is an essential goal in climate paleoclimate and environmental studies although the global oceans interact and influence climate greatly the marine environment is substantially under represented in key climate assessment reports especially during the last millennium ipcc 2007 see palaeoclimate chapter 6 6 the last 2000 years the under representation of marine records in key climate documents likely results from the often imprecise chronologies associated with many marine based archives which greatly hinders singular climate comparisons lag lead phasing relationships with well dated and or annually resolved archives however several marine archive records have excellent chronological constraint in particular many marine bivalve taxa and coralline algae have annual increments that form within their carbonate framework that can be used to establish an absolutely dated chronology via cross dating techniques from the marine environment additionally in some cases where sedimentation rates are high and alternative chronological dating methods exist e g tephrochronology other than radiocarbon measurements often greater than 40 years uncertainty sediment archives can provide continuous sub decadal records of environmental change for centuries to millennia this brief introductory article and accompanying special issue will focus on the utilization of bivalves coralline algae and high resolution marine sediment cores in paleoclimate and environmental studies within the most recent millennium with a focus on the northern hemisphere

low frequency changes in el nino southern oscillation abstract although there are indications from numerical models that el nino southern oscillation enso may be an internal mode of the coupled pacific ocean atmosphere system sensitive to climatic background parameters it has not yet been possible to find significant changes in enso variability between the little ice age and the present yet a number of authors have found qualitative indications in anecdotal and proxy records of shorter century scale variations in the return interval statistics for el nino episodes to objectively determine what nonstationarities exist we statistically examine the el nino occurrences since 1525 compiled by quinn et al we have stratified the return intervals both for strong events and for all events according to two null hypotheses 1 return intervals are stationary over periods of 200 500 years and 2 the intervals are stationary on a centenary time scale between epochs of contrasting solar variability two parameter weibull distributions are fit to subsamples of

log linear models markov chains and cyclic sedimentation abstract quantitative techniques employing markovian processes have been used by a number of investigators to test stratigraphic sections against a null hypothesis of a random succession of sedimentary facies rejection of the null hypothesis is used to imply presence of a markov chain in a succession however many of these techniques possess serious statistical flaws arising from the structuring of facies transitions the result is that presence of preferred facies and regular cyclic behavior in sedimentary successions cannot be rigorously supported log linear models in conjunction with a stepwise procedure for identification of significant transitions provide a rigorous method for determining the presence and extent of the markov property in stratigraphic sections a wide variety of geologic problems that are structured in terms of temporal succession can be examined as a markov process using log linear models

eastern pacific sea surface temperature since 1600 a d the δ18o record of climate variability in galapagos corals we measured stable oxygen isotope ratios and skeletal growth rates in the massive corals pavona clavus and p gigantea from the west coast of isabela island galapagos to assess interannual to decadal climate variability in the eastern pacific comparisons of instrumental data sets show that sea surface temperatures sst in the galapagos region are representative of a broad portion of the eastern equatorial pacific the site is especially well suited for long term studies of the el nino southern oscillation enso phenomenon as it lies within the eastern pacific center of action for thermal anomalies associated with enso the p gigantea isotope record is nearly monthly in resolution spans the period 1961 1982 and shows strong correlation with a galapagos instrumental sst record r 0 90 for annual averages cross spectral analysis shows that sst can explain greater than 80 of the variance in 18o at both the annual cycle and within the high frequency portion of the enso band 3 5 years the p clavus record is annual in resolution extends from 1587 to 1953 a d and was obtained from a 10 m diameter colony preserved within the urvina bay uplift because seawater 18o variations in the region are very small we interpret the urvina bay coral 18o record in terms of annual average sst the isotopic record appears to be a very good but not perfect indicator of enso events and shows good correspondence with the historical enso reconstruction of quinn et al 1987 a number of low 18o excursions that we observe during the 17th and 18th centuries very likely represent enso events that are missing from the historical tabulations most interannual 18o variations between 1607 and 1953 a d represent annual average temperature excursions of 1 to 2 5 c during the little ice age the annual 18o series correlates well with many north american tree ring records and shows low temperatures during the early 1600s and early 1800s and relatively warmer conditions during the 1700s unlike most northern hemisphere tree ring and instrumental records we see no evidence at this site for warming between 1880 and 1940 but rather observe a slight cooling 28 of the total variance the main enso mode is centered at 4 6 years and accounts for 12 of the total variance additional significant oscillations occur at periods of 3 3 6 8 11 17 22 and 34 years both annual growth rate and 18o show variance at periods equivalent to the solar and solar magnetic periods e g 11 and 22 years respectively in addition the amplitude of the 11 year 18o cycle generally varies with the amplitude of the solar cycle supporting previous suggestions that the solar cycle may modulate interannual to decadal climate variability in the tropics the dominant oscillatory modes both within the enso and interdecadal frequency bands shift to shorter periods from the early to middle 1700s and again from the middle to late 1800s this may reflect major reorganizations within the tropical ocean atmosphere system and suggests that tropical pacific climate variability is linked across timescales ranging from years to decades

high resolution record of cyclic climatic change during the past 4 ka from lake turkana kenya profiles of carbonate content and lamination thickness in an 11 3 m core from lake turkana are interpreted as a record of climatic change for the past 4 ka on a time scale of millennia the data agree with other paleohydrologic records from sub saharan east africa time series analysis of both data sets reveal periods of about 270 200 165 and 100 yr the thickness data suggest additional periods of about 78 44 31 25 and possibly 20 yr the sediments consist of laminated light and dark couplets which are interpreted as a response to an average 4 yr variability in the hydrology of the ethiopian pla teau we suggest that this may be a feedback from the el nino southern oscillation

on the preservation of laminated sediments along the western margin of north america 1 piston gravity and multicores as well as hydrographic data were collected along the pacific margin of baja california to reconstruct past variations in the intensity of the oxygen minimum zone omz gravity cores collected from within the omz north of 24 n did not contain laminated surface sediments even though bottom water oxygen bwo concentrations were close to 5 mol kg however many of the cores collected south of 24 n did contain millimeter to centimeter scale brown to black laminations in holocene and older sediments but not in sediments deposited during the last glacial maximum in addition to the dark laminations holocene sediments in soledad basin silled at 290 m also contain white coccolith laminae that probably represent individual blooms two open margin cores from 430 and 700 m depth that were selected for detailed radiocarbon dating show distinct transitions from bioturbated glacial sediment to laminated holocene sediment occurring at 12 9 and 11 5 ka respectively the transition is delayed and more gradual 11 3 10 0 ka in another dated core from soledad basin the observations indicate that bottom water oxygen concentrations dropped below a threshold for the preservation of laminations at different times or that a synchronous hydrographic change left an asynchronous sedimentary imprint due to local factors with the caveat that laminated sections should therefore not be correlated without independent age control the pattern of older sequences of laminations along the north american western margin reported by this and previous studies suggests that multiple patterns of regional productivity and ventilation prevailed over the past 60 kyr

records of seasonal flux in holocene laminated sediments gulf of california holocene laminated sediments from guaymas basin gulf of california mexico have in the past been described as annual couplets of sedimentation couplets comprise an alternation of diatom and terrigenous rich sediment reflecting winter and summer flux to the sediment respectively new data from backscattered electron imagery bsei show that a three component pattern of sedimentation is preserved comprising 1 a lithogenic lamina consisting of clays silt and minor diatomaceous material deposited during the summer and autumn wet season 2 a mixed flora diatomaceous lamina deposited during the early winter collapse of the thermocline and onset of water column mixing and 3 a near monospecific flora lamina of chaetoceros resting spores or more rarely skeletonema costatum representing deposition from or at the end of the spring coastal upwelling bloom recent sediment trap biogenic and terrigenous flux data also show three to four major flux events per year direct comparisons are possible between bsei records and recent sediment trap flux data to facilitate high resolution palaeoceanaographic and palaeoclimatic reconstructions throughout the holocene

evidence for abrupt climate changes in annually laminated marine sediments annually laminated sediments from marine or lacustrine settings represent valuable high resolution archives of climate change that record variation due to changing precipitation and run off from land or variation in biological productivity and flux in the water column because of their annual resolution such sediments may capture abrupt changes of interannual to decadal scales rivaling corals and ice cores in resolution laminated sediments often occur intermittently in the sediment column and the onset and cessation of laminae commonly record the abrupt crossing of thresholds related to climate change for example in the degree of oxygenation of bottom waters such records from marginal basins and continental margins have been pivotal in demonstrating that abrupt changes hitherto documented only in high latitude ice cores are synchronous with climatic change at low latitudes these insights into global teleconnections have improved our understanding of the mechanisms of rapid climate change in deep sea settings the discovery of the episodic occurrence of laminated diatom rich sediments in the equatorial pacific and southern ocean provides evidence for massive climate related biogeochemical excursions tied to abrupt changes in the input distribution and availability of nutrients in the oceans

preparation and analysis techniques for studies of laminated sediments laminated sediments commonly represent the highest resolution continuous records available of marine and lacustrine variability to exploit this information effectively careful sampling and preparation procedures must be followed thus the method of analysis chosen must have sufficient resolution to recover the data the scanning electron microscope because of its good spatial resolution is an ideal tool for analyzing laminated sediment fabric backscattered electron imagery produces preserved flux data on intra annual time scales which enables high resolution fabric studies palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and compilation of data for time series analysis this contribution summarizes the techniques used for laminated sediment fabric investigation and discusses the use of the scanning electron microscope including the best preparation method for thin sections and the procedure for backscattered electron imagery analysis

a laminated sediment sequence from the northern north atlantic ocean and its climatic record a remarkable 3 m thick sequence of laminated diatom ooze ldo has been recovered in the north atlantic ocean the ldo is monospecific and consists of the pennate diatom thalassiothrix longissima biostratigraphy and benthic oxygen isotope stratigraphy indicate that the ldo was deposited during substage 5e eem in analogy to recent observations of massive surface concentrations of diatoms in the equatorial pacific and neogene examples we suggest that the ldo represents numerous depositional events of thalassiothrix mats that were physically accumulated at a subarctic convergence front the occurrence of the ldo combined with other climate proxies indicates substantial geographic stability of ocean fronts in the north atlantic during substage 5e

seasonally laminated diatom rich sediments from dumont d urville trough east antarctic margin late holocene neoglacial sea ice conditions laminated sediments are unique archives of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic conditions recording changes on seasonal and interannual timescales diatom rich laminated marine sediments are examined from dumont d urville trough east antarctic margin to determine changes in environmental conditions on the continental shelf from 1136 to 3122 cal yr bp scanning electron microscope backscattered electron imagery bsei and secondary electron imagery are used to analyse diatom assemblages from laminations and to determine interlamina relationships diatom observations are quantified with conventional assemblage counts laminae are primarily classified according to visually dominant species identified in bsei and secondarily by terrigenous content nine lamina types are identified and are characterized by hyalochaete chaetoceros spp resting spores crs crs and fragilariopsis spp fragilariopsis spp corethron pennatum and rhizosolenia spp c pennatum rhizosolenia spp mixed diatom assemblage stellarima microtrias resting spores rs porosira glacialis rs and coscinodiscus bouvet and p glacialis rs formation of each lamina type is controlled by seasonal changes in sea ice cover nutrient levels and water column stability quantitative diatom assemblage analysis revealed that each lamina type is dominated by crs and fragilariopsis sea ice taxa indicating that sea ice cover was extensive and persistent in the late holocene however the lamina types indicate that the sea ice regime was not consistent throughout this period notably that a relatively warmer period 3100 to 2500 cal yr bp was followed by cooling which resulted in an increase in year round sea ice by 1100 cal yr bp

expression of seasonal and enso forcing in climatic variability at lower than enso frequencies evidence from pleistocene marine varves off california abstract upper pleistocene marine sediments along the upper continental slope off northern and central california contain alternations of varved and bioturbated sediments and associated changes in biota and sediment composition these alternations can be related to conditions that accompany el nino and anti el nino enso circulation anti el nino conditions are characterized by increased upwelling and productivity and by low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the oxygen minimum zone that resulted in varve preservation el nino conditions are characterized by little or no upwelling low productivity and higher concentrations of dissolved oxygen that resulted in zones of bioturbation alternations of varves and zones of bioturbation that range from decades to millennia occur through the upper pleistocene section the inferred long term alternations in el nino and anti el nino conditions appear to be a re expression of enso s primary 3 7 year cycle decadal to millennial cycles of productivity associated with el nino and anti el nino conditions may have served as a carbon pump and transferred atmospheric co 2 to the marine reservoir changes in sediment composition and organisms associated with el nino or anti el nino conditions can be related to both seasonal and enso phenomena expression of these changes at lower than enso frequencies may be partly explained by adding the effects of seasonal variability to effects produced by a self oscillating enso system however deterministic mechanisms including solar modulation of enso may also contribute to long term alternations of el nino and anti el nino conditions

a simple model of the 1982 83 californian el nino steric height steric height anomaly sea level and sea level anomaly show that the 1940 41 and the 1982 83 californian el nino events were resonant responses of the california current to the expansion and intensification of the aleutian low and decrease in strength of the north pacific high in both cases the subsurface anomalies were dynamically produced by onshore transport of subarctic water and a downward tilt of the inshore thermocline sea surface temperature anomalies however resulted from thermodynamic as well as dynamic processes most previous californian el nino or anti el nino events probably were resonant or anti resonant responses of the seasonal cycle of the california current to anomalous large scale atmospheric forcing

enso and sunspot cycles in varved eocene oil shales from image analysis abstract on the premise that sequential changes in varve thickness offer a proxy for climatic variations we investigated varve thickness in three core segments from the distal lacustrine oil shales tipton and laney members of the green river formation by means of an image analysis program of two strong bimodal periodicities one at 4 8 5 6 years is interpreted as an el nino type enso phenomenon of atmospheric dynamics while the other at 10 4 14 7 years is interpreted as the sunspot cycle originally recognized in this formation by bradley 1929 1931 weaker periodicities may exist at ca 8 and 33 years the latter also recognized by bradley taken in conjunction with the work of bradley 1929 1931 and of crowley et al 1986 this suggests that some but not all of the oil shale of the green river formation is truly varved and can be used to infer climatic time series automated instrumental scans have greatly extended the possibilities of varve studies as approaches to climatic variations in time but careful selection of facies in their geological framework is necessary

deformation of leucogranites of the crystalline main central sheet in southern tibet china abstract towards the top of the main central sheet in southern tibet china leucogranites intrude metamorphic rocks related to rocks of the main central thrust in the himalayas our study shows that the leucogranites suffered a northward shear deformation the significance of this event is discussed in terms of gravity driven decollement of the 10 000 m thick tethyan sedimentary pile over its crystalline basement

a walsh spectral comparison of oxygen δ18o and carbon isotope δ13c variations of the pleistocene bore hole eureka 67 135 from the gulf of mexico and their orbital significance abstract a new spectral analysis known as walsh spectral analysis of the oxygen 18o and carbon 13c isotopic variations during the pleistocene the past 1 7 m y reveals periodicities in milankovitch frequency bands besides three main spectral cycles eccentricity obliquity and precession the walsh spectra also reveals additional periodicity in a range of 57 000 60 000 years in case of oxygen isotopic variations only that remarkably corresponds to combined effect of obliquity and precession as suggested by berger walsh spectra of both records also exhibits significant power in a range of 29 000 34 000 years throughout the pleistocene this periodicity is also similar to the one predicted in orbital variations 29 000 31 000 years and lies in obliquity bands precessional signal during the early part of the pleistocene 0 85 1 7 m y seems to be weak however eccentricity and obliquity signals dominate throughout the pleistocene walsh spectra of both phenomena exhibits a general similarity in their spectral structures suggesting a common link in view of appearance of some unusual periodicities in walsh spectra and their striking resemblance with orbital cycles the present result further lends support to the astronomical theory of climatic change

record of redox status in laminated sediments from lake titicaca a sulfur k edge x ray absorption near edge structure xanes study abstract laminated sediments are commonly used to examine limnological and ecological processes on short time scales here we examine changes in sulfur speciation of lamination couplets from lake titicaca south america using x ray absorption near edge structure xanes spectroscopy the dark colored layer of each lamination couplet contains a significant fraction of reduced organic sulfides with smaller fractions of iron sulfides and sulfate in contrast the light colored layer of each couplet is primarily composed of sulfate in all laminae the sulfate is present as inorganic sulfate substituted in calcite the differences in speciation likely reflect changes in productivity during sediment deposition during the warm productive summer months micritic calcite precipitation was induced in oxidized surface waters due to ph changes induced by consumption of dissolved co 2 this calcite incorporates dissolved sulfate and forms the light colored layers this pulse of productivity creates organic matter that partially decomposes during the austral winter months consuming oxygen and delivering organic rich sediment to the lake bottom this decomposition and the possible presence of a halocline kept bottom waters low in oxygen and lead to the production of organic matter rich in reduced sulfur these data suggest that these laminations are deposited annually and illustrate the utility of s k edge xanes for the analysis of laminated sediments

early holocene decadal scale ocean variability recorded in gulf of california laminated sediments scanning electron microscope examination of holocene laminated sediment from guaymas basin gulf of california resolves up to five depositional events per year each lamina sublamina of an early holocene section of continuously laminated sediment was recorded from backscattered electron imagery photomosaic analysis diatom mat laminae composed predominantly of thalassiothrix longissima are associated with early winter mixed diatom flora laminae mats are probably brought into the gulf with pacific water during the summer concentrated at the surface or at the pycnocline and then rapidly deposited in the early winter as water column stratification breaks down time series analysis of one 300 year section from piston core jpc56 revealed significant periodicities in the deposition of mat laminae at 50 years 11 years and 22 24 years an 50 year cycle in fish populations has been related to changing north pacific ocean atmosphere circulation these pacific wide changes in circulation affect the currents dominant at the mouth of the gulf when the california current is dominant fewer diatom mats are imported into the gulf and when the north equatorial pacific gyre is dominant more are imported the 11 year 22 to 24 year and 50 year cycles are all suggested to be influenced by solar cycles

late quaternary climate change record from two long sediment cores from guaymas basin gulf of california modern guaymas basin gulf of california mexico is a region of high diatom productivity where exceptional preservation factors maintain biannually alternating sediment deposition as annual varves new sediment cores from guaymas basin md02 2512 and md02 2515 present the opportunity to construct climate records from below the last glacial period a low resolution age model has been constructed from oxygen isotope analysis correlation with other dated short piston cores from guaymas basin and an estimate of sedimentation rate md02 2512 from eastern guaymas basin has an age range from the holocene to late marine isotope stage 6 mis 6 md02 2515 from western guaymas basin has an age range from 8000 to 40 000 yr shipboard analyses of colour reflectance magnetic susceptibility and sediment density are combined with continuous x ray fluorescence scans to reconstruct a picture of glacial climate in the gulf of california eastern guaymas basin is affected by glacial sea level fall which results in a drastic change in productivity rates and sediment type the laminated record of mis 5 allows comparison with the holocene showing a similarity of sedimentation patterns during deglaciation and a series of very rapid variations just prior to the last glaciation in western guaymas basin there are a series of younger dryas like events during the glacial typified by low productivity and high terrigenous input long term climate and productivity changes appear to be caused by the southward displacement of the subtropical high pressure zone copyright 2005 john wiley sons ltd

varves in marine sediments a review the global compilation of reported marine varved sedimentary records throughout the quaternary contains 52 sites marine varve deposition and preservation typically depend on environmental and sedimentological conditions such as a sufficiently high sedimentation rate severe depletion of dissolved oxygen in bottom water to exclude bioturbation by macrobenthos and a seasonally varying sedimentary input to yield a recognizable rhythmic varve pattern additional oceanographic factors include the strength and depth range of the oxygen minimum zone omz and regional anthropogenic eutrophication from point sources such as large polluted rivers quaternary marine varves are not only found in those parts of the open ocean that comply with these conditions but also in fjords embayments and estuaries with thermohaline density stratification and nearshore marine lakes with strong hydrologic connections to ocean water this review critically describes settings and sedimentological characteristics of marine sites where varves have been reported broader applications of marine varve records are discussed for example in terms of radiocarbon calibration on high resolution time scales constraining paleoceanographic variability and global change teleconnections diagnosing factors affecting modern fish population dynamics based on past performance detailing biogeochemical cycles and deciphering complex factors influencing marine productivity varves in saline water bodies without hydrologic connection to the global ocean are not included in this review and instead pertain to the companion review on lacustrine varves where also general and fundamental principles of varve deposition classification and dating are covered zolitschka et al 2015 the postulated occurrence of varves in pre quaternary rocks is critically discussed in this review with representative examples in the case of non evaporitic laminations in fine grained ancient marine rocks such as banded iron formations and black shales laminations may not be varves but instead may have multiple alternative origins such as event beds or formation via bottom currents that transport and sort silt sized particles clay floccules and organic mineral aggregates in the form of migrating bedload ripples

varve formation in the gulf of california insights from time series sediment trap sampling and remote sensing the varved sediments that accumulate in the central gulf of california guaymas and carmen basins provide a record that allows for the resolution of annual to decadal scale climate variability in this region time series sediment trapping combined with remotely sensed observations of sea surface temperature avhrr and color czcs have been used to examine the mechanism of varve formation in the central gulf sst and surface pigment concentration records for both the mainland and baja sides of the gulf display similar seasonal trends high temperatures and low pigment concentrations occur synchronously on both sides of the central gulf from june through to october in association with the 1991 92 el nino warm temperatures persist in the central gulf until december low ssts typically occur from december through may with high pigment concentrations marking the period from november through april the summer early fall june october is a time of high terrigenous and biogenic sediment fluxes during this time of year the total flux is dominated by eolian transported lithogenic material and dark laminae are deposited during this period during el nino years high terrigenous fluxes may extend into winter light laminae represent deposition from november through may during which time biogenic material dominates the total sediment flux high opal fluxes beginning in november are attributed to seasonal cooling of surface water and upward mixing of nutrients true upwelling conditions do not develop in the gulf until late winter spring during this time the total flux is still dominated by opal but the magnitude of the flux is reduced this may be an artifact of phytoplankton grazing and not lower production rates

water mass formation in the gulf of california the gulf of california is a long narrow marginal sea lying between the baja california peninsula and the mainland of mexico air sea fluxes of heat and moisture in the gulf are enhanced because of geographical isolation from the pacific provided by the mountainous baja california peninsula in the northern gulf annual evaporation rates are about 1 m y 1 unlike most evaporative basins however the gulf gains heat from the atmosphere at an annual average rate of 20 to 80 w m 2 bray 1988 given the unusual air sea forcing of the gulf what form or forms should water mass formation take the annual moisture loss and heat gain require that high salinity surface water be transported downward to an intermediate depth and that cold fresh inflow be transported upward to an intermediate depth this is accomplished through several mechanisms 1 winter convection this occurs only in a limited geographical region the wagner basin of the far northern gulf except in el nino southern oscillation years when convection appears to be more widespread 2 dispersion of convected water in small eddylike features this occurs within a large scale southward transport possibly driven by the large scale density gradient associated with atmospheric fluxes 3 an anticyclonic circulation in the northern gulf this is found south of the convection region and transports high salinity water off the shallow shelves and to substantial depths where it may mix with water of central gulf origin 4 tidal mixing most of the energy available for mixing in the northern gulf derives from the tides in particular tidal mixing over the sill in the island region is responsible for the substantial reduction in salinity of northern gulf waters as they enter the central gulf

hydrological changes and paleoproductivity in the gulf of california during middle and late holocene and their relationship with itcz and north american monsoon variability abstract this study investigates changes in precipitation patterns and variations in paleoproductivity in the tropical pacific region associated with the north american monsoon intertropical convergence zone itcz latitudinal migration and changes in insolation during the middle and late holocene major and trace element records al ba c k si and ti and zr al and ba al ratios in a core from alfonso basin southern gulf of california are used as proxies of terrigenous input and bio productivity records reveal an increase in precipitation and low bio productivity ca 6200 to 2400 cal yr bp associated with the strengthening of monsoonal precipitation and northward shift of the itcz mean position in the eastern tropical pacific a multi centennial drought from ca 2400 to 1900 cal yr bp and a dry and cold interval ca 700 and 500 cal yr bp are characterized by strong aeolian input and enhanced productivity associated with diminution of the summer monsoonal precipitation and reduced insolation in the northern hemisphere and more southerly itcz position correlation of alfonso basin records with other records in the gulf of california and the pigmy and cariaco basins in the gulf of mexico and central atlantic provides constraints on nam itcz migration and insolation driven changes

elastic velocities of partially gas saturated unconsolidated sediments abstract fluid in sediments significantly affects elastic properties of sediments and gas in the pore space can be identified by a marked reduction of p wave velocity or a decrease of poisson s ratio the elastic properties of gas saturated sediments can be predicted by the classical biot gassmann theory bgt however parameters for the bgt such as the biot coefficient or moduli of dry frame of unconsolidated and high porosity sediments are not readily available dependence of velocities on differential pressure or porosity for partially gas saturated sediments is formulated using properties derived from velocities of water saturated sediments laboratory samples for unconsolidated and consolidated sediments and well log data acquired for unconsolidated marine sediments agree well with the predictions however because the p wave velocity depends highly on how the gas is saturated in the pore space such as uniform or patch the amounts of gas estimated from the p wave velocity contains high uncertainty the modeled vp vs ratio of partially gas saturated sediment using the patch distribution is usually greater than 1 6 whereas the ratio modeled assuming a uniform distribution is about 1 6 thus poisson s ratio or vp vs ratio may be used to differentiate patch from uniform saturation but differences between various models of patch saturation cannot be easily identified

possible connection between surface winds solar activity and the earth s magnetic field records of 14c in tree rings provide a proxy for changes in solar activity on timescales of decades to centuries1 2 here i report an association between maunder type solar cycles recorded in tree rings and fluctuations in surface wind intensity on a roughly 200 year timescale over a period of about 2 000 years in the mid holocene the wind record is preserved as changes in the thickness of varved sediments in elk lake minnesota which contain a large aeolian component changes in cyclonic activity and tropospheric winds have been reported1 5 to occur in this region a few days after strong coronal mass ejections cmes increases of up to 7 in zonal flow have been reported5 at an altitude of 300 m after strong cmes in winter the implication of this association is that century scale changes in surface winds over minnesota were the long term maunder scale counterpart of short term daily changes in winds after cmes the weak magnetic field strength of the earth at this time6 7 might be relevant to a possible mechanism for the association

diatoms in the gulf of california seasonal flux patterns and the sediment record for the last 15 000 years flux and taxonomic composition of the diatom assemblage was determined for biweekly sediment traps in the central gulf of california over a 2 year period fluxes and relative abundance of taxa are not significantly different in traps from the eastern side of the guaymas basin and the western side of the carmen basin indicating that patterns of diatom production are uniform across the central gulf at all seasons of the year the annual maximum in diatom flux occurred during the winter season of both years either as a sustained event over many weeks 1990 or as a series of short blooms 1991 1992 of the most abundant taxa only hyalochaete chaetoceros species showed a clear seasonal cycle with a flux maximum in the spring of both years factor analysis defines five assemblages representing 1 summer and fall conditions of surface stratification and nutrient limitation 2 winter bloom triggered by onset of strong northwesterly winds 3 late spring to summer production probably related to sporadic events during periods of weak southeasterly winds 4 spring 1991 inferred to reflect the distal edge of a coastal upwelling phase 5 lateral advection of resuspended sediments from the continental shelf possibly resulting from trapped coastal waves during summer hurricanes and from storms during the 1991 1992 el nino southern oscillation enso the diatom data support the inference that subtropical pacific water penetrates deeper into the gulf during enso events in order to compare the sediment trap record to a sediment core a second factor analysis was done using only the taxa which are preserved in the sediment and omitting the most abundant taxa which showed little downcore variation this produces five factors representing 1 summer fall low production 2 early winter bloom 3 late winter spring upwelling 4 enso conditions and 5 a late spring summer assemblage of uncertain significance variation of species characterisic of each factor was examined in piston core atlantis ii 125 8 56jpc taken from the oxygen minimum zone in guaymas basin correlation to nearby deep sea drilling project hole 480 indicates that the core penetrates to about 15 ka with laminated sediments in the holocene 0 10 ka and late deglacial 11 13 ka and massive nonlaminated sediments around younger dryas time 10 11 ka and before 13 ka downcore variations in the diatom assemblage do not correspond directly to presence of laminations implying that the processes controlling bottom water oxygen content are not determined by conditions of surface water production presence of calcareous nannofossils downcore correlates inversely with two diatom assemblages enso and winter bloom indicators and not with occurrence of laminations suggesting that occurrence of calcareous nannofossils in the sediment is at least partly a function of surface water production prior to 12 ka production was lower than at present during all seasons implying weaker winds throughout the year subtropical waters extended to the midgulf as they do today during enso events between 11 and 12 ka conditions were similar to those of the present with relatively high winter and spring production resulting from northwesterly winds enso events were still common although less so than during the preceding period younger dryas time was one of transition with intermediate conditions a slackening of winter spring northwesterly winds and reduction of total annual production and increased occurrence of enso conditions in the early to middle holocene winter northwesterlies increased to a maximum resulting in very high production but apparently did not persist into spring subtropical waters mostly disappeared from the gulf in the late holocene northwesterly winds have supported high production during both winter and spring seasons

biogenic and abiogenic components of laminated hemipelagic sediments in the central gulf of california abstract alternating light and dark submillimeter to millimeter thick layered sediments rhythmites are found along the slopes of the central and southern gulf of california where a strong oxygen minimum zone intersects the sediment water interface two short intervals of distinct alternations were sampled lamina by lamina from two cores in the central gulf both cores are from the slope of the guaymas basin one core is from the mainland side the other core is from the baja side each lamina sample was analyzed for its opal micro floral assemblage textural character trace metal and bulk chemical cu mn fe ni zn ca k al sio2 and c org content and mineralogy on both sides of the gulf the light laminae contain more diatom frustules up to 90 and less terrigenous and organic material than the dark laminae the sediment is predominantly silt sized the dark laminae contain more terrigenous material which is primarily clay size on both sides of the gulf the light laminae apparently represent sedimentation during the dry winter season of northwesterly winds whereas the dark laminae represent the wet summer season of southeasterly winds