atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last glacial maximum the circulation of the deep atlantic ocean during the height of the last ice age appears to have been quite different from today we review observations implying that atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last glacial maximum was neither extremely sluggish nor an enhanced version of present day circulation the distribution of the decay products of uranium in sediments is consistent with a residence time for deep waters in the atlantic only slightly greater than today however evidence from multiple water mass tracers supports a different distribution of deep water properties including density which is dynamically linked to circulation

post lgm upward shift of the mediterranean outflow water recorded in a contourite drift off nw spain abstract the nw iberian continental margin is characterised by a complex morphology and by a sedimentary system which was highly dynamic over glacial to interglacial times the sedimentary history of the continental slope was strongly influenced by the interaction of bottom currents with topographic highs of structural origin leading to the accumulation of several sediment drifts a combined analysis of gravity cores from different water depth with hydroacoustic data reveals the vertical behaviour of the upper mediterranean outflow water mow core after the last glacial maximum lgm a coarser grained interval during deglacial and early holocene times 17 2 to 9 9 cal ka bp points to an increase in bottom current strength this increase in velocity was probably related to oceanic density fronts which migrated through the 300 m thick transition zone between the underlying labrador sea water and the overlying mow radiocarbon dates timed the current strengthening to 17 2 cal ka bp and a following weakening of the bottom current to 13 3 cal ka bp at 1965 m water depth and to 9 9 cal ka bp at 1885 m water depth the depth dependent current weakening suggests an upward shifting of the transition zone by 80 m that was related either to an overall shallowing of mow or a vertical contraction of this water mass the upward movement happened over a time interval of approximately 3 4 thousand years in addition sediment core analysis reveals significant lateral heterogeneities within cm to dm thick sediment layers in the contourite drift these heterogeneities suggest a need of a detailed core coverage across current influenced deposits for palaeoceanographic studies to minimize misinterpretations

carbonate platforms of passive extensional continental margins types characteristics and evolution abstract carbonate platforms of extensional margins may be grouped into several major categories homoclinal ramps have gentle slopes into deep water may have skeletal or ooid pellet sand shoal complexes that grade without break in slope into deep ramp nodular limestone and then into pelagic hemipelagic basin facies they generally lack significant slump and sediment gravity flow deposits in the deeper water facies distally steepened ramps differ from the above in having a marked increase in slope at the seaward edge of the deep ramp and abundant slumps slope breccias and turbidites however clasts of shallow platform margin facies are generally absent from breccias rimmed shelves have linear trends of shelf edge lime sands and reefs a marked increase in slope into deep water and foreslope and slope sands breccias with clasts of platform margin rocks and turbidites grading seaward into basin hemipelagic pelagic muds they may be divided into accretionary bypass and erosional margins isolated platforms are broad flat topped shallow platforms surrounded by deeper water few hundred meters to 4 km deep many are bypass margins but accretionary and erosional margins also occur finally incipiently to completely drowned or open platforms may develop by rapid submergence of ramps shelves or isolated platforms shallow platform margin facies are shifted landward and the earlier shallow water platform is covered with transgressive lags and deeper water blankets of hemipelagic or pelagic facies or open marine whole fossil wackestone the carbonate prisms commonly develop above a basal clastic phase ramps develop early and evolve into rimmed shelves however with drowning rimmed shelves may evolve up into ramps rimmed shelves may also develop into ramps where miogeoclinal faces prograde into filling marginal basins carbonate miogeocline deposition terminates when the shelf becomes a prograding clastic shelf or where it becomes part of a collisional orogen the various platform types may be recognized from continental margin sequences ranging from proterozoic to holocene in age

size sorting in marine muds processes pitfalls and prospects for paleoflow speed proxies the basis for and use of fine grain size parameters for inference of paleoflow speeds is reviewed here the basis resides in data on deposited sediment taken in conjunction with flow speed measurements in the field experimental data on suspended sediment transport and deposition and theoretical treatments of the generation of size distributions of deposits from suspension controlled by particle settling velocity and flow speed in the deep sea sorting events occur under resuspension deposition events in benthic storms at flow speeds below 10 15 cm s 1 size in the noncohesive sortable silt 10 63 m range is controlled by selective deposition whereas above that range removal of finer material by winnowing also plays a role the best particle size instruments to measure a flow speed related grain size employ the settling velocity method while laser diffraction sizers can yield misleading results because of particle shape effects potential problems including source effects downslope supply on continental margins spatial variability of flow over bedforms and influence of ice rafted detritus are examined a number of studies using the sortable silt flow speed proxy are reviewed and inverse modeling of grain size distributions is examined outstanding problems are that corroboration is sparse because almost no studies have yet used the full range of proxies for flow rate and water mass identification and that the sortable silt mean size is not yet properly calibrated in terms of flow speed

rapid fluctuations in the deep north atlantic heat budget during the last glacial period 1 our understanding of past ocean climate interactions has been hampered by a paucity of proxy reconstructions of physical ocean circulation parameters here we present the first detailed record of deepwater temperature variability that resolves dansgaard oeschger climate fluctuations during the last glaciation results indicate a positive coupling between abrupt temperature changes over greenland and in the deep north atlantic that was mediated by perturbations to the atlantic overturning circulation the occurrence of sharp warming events at the center of the heinrich stadials 4 and 5 further indicates that the response of the ocean interior was less static across these major climate events than has been previously apparent

timing of meltwater pulse 1a and climate responses to meltwater injections the temporal relationship between meltwater pulse 1a mwp 1a and the climate history of the last deglaciation remains a subject of debate by combining the greenland ice core project d18o ice core record on the new greenland ice core chronology 2005 timescale with the u th dated barbados coral record we conclusively derive that mwp 1a did not coincide with the sharp bolling warming but instead with the abrupt cooling of the older dryas to evaluate whether there is a relationship between meltwater injections north atlantic deep water nadw formation and climate change we present a high resolution record of nadw flow intensity from eirik drift through the last deglaciation it indicates only a relatively minor 200 year weakening of nadw flow coincident with mwp 1a our compilation of records also indicates that during heinrich event 1 and the younger dryas there were no discernible sea level rises and yet these periods were characterized by intense nadw slowdowns shutdowns clearly deepwater formation and climate are not simply controlled by the magnitude or rate of meltwater addition instead our results emphasize that the location of meltwater pulses may be more important with nadw formation being particularly sensitive to surface freshening in the arctic nordic seas

qualitative and quantitative approaches in palaeohydrography a case study from core top parameters in the gulf of cadiz palaeoceanography relies on the assumption that parameters measureable in sediment cores correlate reliably to hydrographic parameters areas of dynamic watermass mixing which generally have steep hydrographic gradients therefore provide both a tempting target large spatial and temporal differences in temperature and salinity and a significant challenge high flow velocities and high noise for palaeoceanographers here we investigate the ability of parameters measured on core tops to be used as the basis for simulating regional hydrography within one globally important area of watermass mixing the gulf of cadiz using grainsize sediment composition benthic foraminiferal assemblage and benthic foraminiferal stable isotope analysis it is possible to build an effective framework for qualitative constraint of the position of the modern mediterranean outflow water mw plume we propose that the gulf of cadiz slope can be sub divided into 8 hydrographic zones reflecting these parameters proximal mw core mw1 steep slopes core mw1 gentle slopes distal mw1 distal mw2 lower limit of mw plume north atlantic deep water and ambient atlantic water we anticipate that compilation of time slice data will reveal hydrographic sub divisions of the slope for the past in a similar manner improving our understanding of past changes in the size and position of the mw plume but more work needs to be done before a secure protocol for quantitative reconstruction can be created stable isotope analysis alone is insufficient for the task with 13c behaving in a non conservative manner and 18ocalcite acting in an ambiguous way due to the competing influences of 18owater and temperature it is likely that if a single parameter that unambiguously determines the difference between mediterranean water and atlantic water can be identified combination with 18ocalcite will allow extension of our qualitative analysis into a quantitative means of palaeohydrographic reconstruction for this region similar complexity to that found in this study would be expected in any mixing region and in particular on the majority of sediment drifts we recommend that core top surveys similar to this study are performed on these sediment drift systems before any form of quantitative palaeohydrology is attempted

the paradox of drowned reefs and carbonate platforms shallow water carbonate platforms and reefs are drowned when tectonic subsidence or rising sea level outpaces carbonate accumulation and benthonic carbonate production ceases drowned platforms are common in the geologic record but they present a paradox if one considers rates of processes involved during the early holocene when sea level rose at rates of 6 000 to 10 000 m yr mm 1 000 yr most reefs and platforms were outpaced by the rising sea during the late holocene with sea level rising 500 to 3 000 m yr in the atlantic caribbean area reefs and platforms started to recover built to sea level and prograded seaward 1 000 m yr is thus a conservative estimate of the average growth potential of modern reefs and platforms independently accumulation rates of prograding platforms in the geologic record suggest growth potential in excess of several hundred microns per year the growth potential of 1 000 m yr exceeds any relative rise of sea level caused by long term processes in the geologic record newly formed ocean crust subsides at a maximum of 250 m yr basin subsidence averages 10 to 100 m yr and sea level rises due to increased sea floor spreading amount to less than 10 m yr rapid pulses of relative rise of sea level or reduction of benthic growth by deterioration of the environment remain the only plausible explanations of drowning the geologic record shows examples of both of these processes global mass extinctions of reefs and platforms occurred in the middle cretaceous eustatic rise due to submarine volcanism or desiccation of a small ocean basin and the late devonian global crisis of ocean environment extraterrestrial cause drowning controlled by regional tectonics prevailed in the jurassic and early cretaceous of the tethyan realm and the drowning of mesozoic platforms in the western north atlantic seems to have been dictated by plate tectonic drift to higher latitudes

on the role of the azores current in the ventilation of the north atlantic ocean three high resolution ocean circulation models of the north atlantic differing chiefly in their description of the vertical coordinate are used to examine the ventilation of the north atlantic subtropical gyre all the models produce mode waters of realistic densities in the sargasso sea and the european basin but have azores currents of differing strengths which are categorised as strong of realistic transport intermediate and weak these differences have a critical impact upon the ventilation of the gyre most importantly the strong azores current forms an effective barrier to the southward ventilation of eastern north atlantic water from the northern european basin initially driving it southwestwards into the central gyre before turning it back eastwards again in a general cyclonic circulation north of the current the intermediate and weak azores currents instead allow the southward ventilation of this water mass near the european and african coasts the situation in nature appears to be intermediate between these two cases with the azores current acting as a partial block the study also raises the possibility of the azores current forming an advective connection between the sargasso sea mode waters in the western basin and modes of similar densities found in the eastern basin on the southern side of the current although there are high levels of variability in the extent of these lighter modes in the eastern basin in nature this postulate is supported by a number of observational studies in addition the present study also provides some support for the local production of madeira mode water in the eastern basin associated with retroflecting current branches on the southern side of the azores current overall the azores current is therefore likely to have a critical impact upon the ventilation of the subtropical gyre over a large area rather than just locally affecting the potential vorticity and density structure of the upper ocean between subtropical latitudes and the northern european basin the study also contributes to an ongoing community effort to assess the realism of our current generation of ocean models

diachronous cooling along the mogok metamorphic belt shan scarp myanmar the trace of the northward migration of the indian syntaxis abstract we present new observations and new mineral ages eight by the 40 ar 39 ar and nine by the 40 k 40 ar methods from high grade metamorphic and foliated intrusive rocks collected along the mogok metamorphic belt of central myanmar that complete preliminary results we previously published all 30 ages presented here confirm the oligocene to middle miocene age of the mogok metamorphism moreover the ages are young from the gulf of martaban in the south to the china myanmar border in the north showing a clear diachronism these results confirm a northward migration of the tectonic event responsible for the cooling of our samples at a velocity similar to the india relative to indochina velocity at the same period in addition intensive field work along a 800 km long section of the mogok metamorphic belt has revealed the numerous ductile structures that resulted from a strong nnw sse trending extension from the analogy between the present day local extrusion around the eastern indian syntaxis and the extension observed along the mogok metamorphic belt and from the diachronism we document we suggest that the central part of myanmar has recorded the northward passage of the eastern indian syntaxis with respect to indochina from oligocene to middle miocene

mediterranean climate and oceanography and the periodic development of anoxic events sapropels mediterranean sapropels are layers with elevated organic carbon concentrations that contrast with surrounding sediments which are organic poor sapropels occur quasi periodically in sedimentary sequences of the last 13 5 million years and exist both in the eastern and western mediterranean sub basins they have been the subject of extensive study based on records from both short conventional and long ocean drilling program sediment cores and from a wide variety of uplifted marine sediment sequences on the basin margins and islands previous syntheses in the 1990s and 2000s have discussed how the formation of sapropels is commonly ascribed to deep sea anoxia enhanced export productivity or a combination of these effects however a wealth of new evidence and insights has emerged during the past 1 2 decades based on traditional and novel proxy data as well as modelling which has revealed intriguing new aspects and nuances to the reconstructed conditions hence it is timely to present a new synthesis of current understanding of the processes behind the formation of sapropels which have over the past decade also become a matter of commercial interest in sub salt hydrocarbon exploration in this review we present a context of modern mediterranean climate and oceanography followed by an integrated assessment of the growing understanding of climatological and ocean circulation changes that were associated with sapropel deposition we find that sapropels predominantly formed during astronomically timed episodes when climatic and oceanographic conditions and ecological responses broadly preconditioned the basin for sapropel deposition there is strong correspondence with times of monsoon intensification fuelling runoff from north africa into the mediterranean sea while preconditioning due to sea level rise and regional precipitation and runoff may have contributed as well within these broad episodes of surface buoyancy gain and resultant decline in deep water ventilation specific deposition under dysoxic anoxic or even euxinic conditions occurred within a clearly dynamic system that was characterised by complex spatial and depth dependent patterns gradients with distinct temporal variability on at least decadal to centennial millennial timescales in the final section we evaluate the implications of different modes of deep water removal from silled basins to investigate why sapropels are more frequently and often more intensely developed in the eastern mediterranean than in the western mediterranean

circulation patterns and transport of the azores front current system in this paper different types of new data sets hydrography lagrangian and eulerian current measurements and quasi geostrophic model results obtained after altimetric data assimilation are used to study the structure and variability of the azores current and frontal system the azores current was observed to transport between 11 0 and 18 0 sv eastwards and the associated counter current some 2 0 10 0 sv to the west resulting in a net value of about 8 9 sv furthermore both data and model results revealed a meandering azores current where some freely rotating eddies were also identified these hydrographic and lagrangian results exhibit space and time scales that agree fairly well with the dynamics shaped by baroclinic instability current meters moored across the azores current system delineated a mean counter current flowing westwards with a maximum subsurface core of about 2 0 cm s at a mean depth of 800 dbar this is in excellent agreement with previous studies which explains this azores counter current as the rectification process of the geostrophic turbulence occurring north of the main azores current stream a new scheme is proposed for the formation mechanism of the freely rotating cyclonic eddies observed south of the azores it is shown that the north south contrast thickness of the 17 19 c water layer across the azores front decreases downstream this will create in turn a downstream increase of the most unstable wavelength in a non linear baroclinic instability context as a consequence both large cyclonic and anticyclonic features are able to form at the eastern side of the azores current around 19 w while at the western side around 35 w only large anticyclones will survive western generated cyclones will be small enough to be quickly dissipated this means that the eastern cyclones of the azores current may live longer than the shorter western ones however because longer lived cyclonic eddies propagate westwards with a mean speed of 2 5 km day they may be observed south of azores and of the main stream several months later although they were not formed there

relations between submarine fissures internal breccias and mass flows during triassic and earlier rifting periods deep fissures in shallow water limestones filled with deep water sediments are described from many places especially in the triassic and jurassic of the tethys and in the middle to upper devonian of the variscian mountains mass flows occur in the same formations and areas on the island of hydra greece it was possible to show that both phenomena are linked by internal breccias of well fitted limestone fragments they are indicative of slope or near slope positions and are very probably caused by flexure like deformations of shallow burial limestones seismic shocks producing overpressure may be instrumental in the disintegration of the semi lithified limestones thus providing the material for mass flows these events are associated with a tectonical subsidence as shown by deep water matrix in the brecciated shallow water limestones they occur in areas and periods of submarine rifting especially in late devonian and triassic time at least four triassic brecciation events can be traced from greece to the alps and correspond presumably to major transgressions in the cratonic basin of middle europe

evidence of early bottom water current flow after the messinian salinity crisis in the gulf of cadiz highlights stratigraphic framework over the miocene pliocene boundary at iodp site u1387 abrupt sedimentary changes over the miocene pliocene boundary clear hints for onset of mediterranean outflow after the messinian salinity crisis evidence of bottom water currents in contouritic sedimentation and elevated zr al quiet hemipelagic sediment deposition during the messinian in the gulf of cadiz abstract integrated ocean drilling program iodp expedition 339 cored multiple sites in the gulf of cadiz in order to study contourite deposition resulting from mediterranean outflow water mow one hole u1387c was cored to a depth of 865 6 meters below seafloor mbsf with the goal of recovering the latest miocene to pliocene transition in order to evaluate the history of mow immediately after the end of the messinian salinity crisis to understand this history an accurate age model for the succession is needed but is challenging to construct because the miocene pliocene boundary is not marked by a clear biostratigraphic event in the atlantic and coring gaps occur within the recovered stratigraphic record these limitations are overcome by combining a variety of chronostratigraphic datasets to construct an age model that fits the currently available age indicators and demonstrates that coring in hole u1387c did indeed recover the miocene pliocene boundary at around 826 mbsf this boundary is associated with a distinct and abrupt change in depositional environment during the latest messinian hemipelagic sediments exhibiting precession induced climate variability were deposited these are overlain by pliocene sediments deposited at a much higher sedimentation rate with much higher and more variable xrf scanning zr al ratios than the underlying sediment and that show evidence of winnowing particle sorting and increasing grain size which we interpret to be related to the increasing flow of mow pliocene sedimentary cyclicity is clearly visible in both the benthic 18o record and the zr al data and is probably also precessionally controlled two contouritic bigradational sandy beds are revealed above the third sedimentary cycle of the pliocene on the basis of these results we conclude that sedimentation associated with weak mediterranean atlantic exchange began in the gulf of cadiz virtually at or shortly after the miocene pliocene boundary

glacial mediterranean sea surface temperatures based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages we present a new reconstruction of mediterranean sea surface temperatures sst during the last glacial maximum lgm a calibration data set based on census counts of 23 species of planktonic foraminifera in 129 north atlantic and 145 mediterranean core top samples was used to develop summer winter and annual average sst reconstructions using artificial neural networks anns and the revised analogue method ram prediction errors determined by cross validation of the calibration data set ranged between 0 5 and 1 1 c with both techniques being most successful in predicting winter ssts glacial reconstructions are based on a new expanded data set of 273 samples in 37 cores with consistent minimum level of age control the new lgm reconstructions suggest that the east west temperature gradient during the glacial summer was 9 c whereas during the glacial winter the gradient was 6 c both some 4 c higher than that existing today in contrast to earlier studies our results tend to suggest much cooler sst estimates throughout the glacial mediterranean particularly in the eastern basin where previous sst reconstructions indicated a decrease of only 1 c our new sst reconstructions will provide the modelling community with a detailed and updated portrayal of the mediterranean sea during the lgm setting new targets on which glacial simulations can be tested

oceanic density fronts steering bottom current induced sedimentation deduced from a 50 ka contourite drift record and numerical modeling off nw spain abstract how the various bottom near hydrographic and sedimentary processes control the formation of contourite drifts i e of bottom current related confined deep sea depocenters usually remains widely speculative this study uses a transect of six sediment cores and a sediment echosounder profile across a whole contourite system off nw spain to address the sediment dynamics responsible for the depositional pattern this mounded patch type contourite drift 18 km long 20 km wide with a 150 m deep channel moat has formed around an 800 m high structural obstacle deposition on the contourite drift in the past was characterized by alternating calm and high energy bottom flow conditions calm conditions last glacial period 27 17 cal ka bp late holocene times process based numerical modeling demonstrates that pulse like oceanic density fronts traveling within the transition zone of two water masses labrador sea water mediterranean outflow water provide a powerful mechanism for contouritic deposition rather than the core of a water mass itself these gravity driven density fronts lead to local re suspension of sands stored inside the drift s moat and to subsequent upward transport towards the drift s crest here the oceanic density fronts produce additional km scale eddies these migrating eddies provide an efficient mechanism for further widespread sediment re distribution in comparison with paleoceanographic reconstructions a downward migration or expansion of the mediterranean outflow water by about 300 m led most probably to such temporary contouritic sand deposition we finally propose a conceptual model to explain how seafloor obstacles redirect and perturbate bottom currents this model proposes not only a sharp contact between two water masses but also the transition zone between those as an important high energy regime offering oceanic density fronts a travel medium these fronts are strong enough to distribute fine sands across highly pronounced seabed topography on the respective time scale the moat itself seems to act as the main source for those sands making a remote source and a long distance sediment transport unnecessary

accelerated drawdown of meridional overturning in the late glacial atlantic triggered by transient pre h event freshwater perturbation 1 abrupt decreases of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation moc during the late pleistocene have been directly linked to catastrophic discharges of glacimarine freshwater triggering disruption of northward marine heat transport and causing global climate changes here we provide measurements of excess sedimentary 231 pa 230 th from a high accumulation sediment drift deposit in the ne atlantic that record a sequence of sudden variations in the rate of moc associated deep ocean ventilation and surface ocean climatology the data series reveal a sequential decrease in the moc rate at 18 0 ka bp ago that coincides with only transient and localized freshwater inputs this change represents a substantial though not total cessation in moc that predates the major heinrich h1 meltwater event by at least 1 200 years these results highlight the potential of targeted freshwater perturbations in promoting substantial moc changes without a direct linking with catastrophic freshwater surges citation hall i r s b moran r zahn p c knutz c c shen and r l edwards 2006 accelerated drawdown of meridional overturning in the late glacial atlantic triggered by transient pre h event freshwater perturbation geophys res lett 33 l16616 doi 10 1029 2006gl026239

menu of coupled velocity and sediment discharge relations for rivers nonlinear multiple regression analysis is used to derive relations among the velocity sediment discharge bed form geometry and friction factor of alluvial rivers a data base comprising 339 river flows and 608 flume flows is used in the analysis a hierarchy of formulations involving progressively more interdependencies among velocity depth sediment discharge and bed form geometry is developed procedures for computing velocity and sediment rating curves are presented a simplified procedure for preparing depth discharge relations for streams with strongly discontinuous rating curves is also presented rating curves for four rivers and computed depths and velocities for two others are presented the accuracies of the different methods are evaluated in terms of the mean normalized errors of predicted friction factors depths velocities and sediment discharges it is concluded that these formulations yield velocity and sediment rating curves that are as reliable as is permitted by the accuracy

interannual variability of the mediterranean outflow observed in espartel sill western strait of gibraltar 1 four year time series of observations in espartel sill at the western part of the strait of gibraltar have been analyzed in order to investigate the variability of the mediterranean outflow it is assumed that the observed variability comes from the changing properties of the dense waters that are located at the maximum depth from where they can be uplifted in the upstream basin alboran sea inside the mediterranean sea and evacuated through the strait from this perspective the following three mechanisms are investigated 1 the replenishment of the deep basin by newly formed western mediterranean deep water that depending on its density can either uplift old resident waters or lay above them leaving in any case a cold signature in the temperature series 2 the presence absence of the energetic anticyclonic gyres in the alboran sea particularly the western one which can transfer momentum to the underlying mediterranean vein and provide it with additional energy to ascend over the sills of the strait and 3 the meteorologically enhanced flows that follow the rapid changes of atmospheric pressure over the western mediterranean basin which would be able to aspire deeper waters residing in the upstream basin the three mechanisms act on different timescales from annual in case 1 to monthly in case 2 to weekly in case 3 although these two latter are modulated annually by the seasonal prevalence of the western alboran gyre in summer and of the strong meteorologically driven fluctuations in winter the mechanisms overlap at annual timescales making it difficult to separate out the different contributions

regional synthesis of mediterranean atmospheric circulation during the last glacial maximum atmospheric circulation leaves few direct traces in the geological record making reconstructions of this crucial element of the climate system inherently difficult we produced a regional mediterranean synthesis of paleo proxy data from the sea surface to alpine altitudes this provides a detailed observational context for change in the three dimensional structure of atmospheric circulation between the last glacial maximum lgm 23 000 to 19 000 years ago and the present the synthesis reveals evidence for frequent cold polar air incursions topographically channeled into the northwestern mediterranean anomalously steep vertical temperature gradients in the central mediterranean imply local convective precipitation we find the lgm patterns to be analogous though amplified to previously reconstructed phases of enhanced meridional winter circulation during the maunder minimum the little ice age

mediterranean outflow mixing and dynamics the mediterranean sea produces a salty dense outflow that is strongly modified by entrainment as it first begins to descend the continental slope in the eastern gulf of cadiz the current accelerates to 1 3 meters per second which raises the internal froude number above 1 and is intensely turbulent through its full thickness the outflow loses about half of its density anomaly and roughly doubles its volume transport as it entrains less saline north atlantic central water within 100 kilometers downstream the current is turned by the coriolis force until it flows nearly parallel to topography in a damped geostrophic balance the mixed mediterranean outflow continues westward slowly descending the continental slope until it becomes neutrally buoyant in the thermocline where it becomes an important water mass

mediterranean sea level and barotropic flow through the strait of gibraltar for the period 1958 2001 and reconstructed since 1659 sea level values from a two dimensional model of the mediterranean sea forced by atmospheric pressure and wind are used to estimate the barotropic flow through the strait of gibraltar for the period 1958 2001 the mediterranean mean sea level derived from the model ranges between 20 cm with a standard deviation of 5 5 cm and is correlated to the north atlantic oscillation nao index thus nao historical data and reconstructions are used to derive the mediterranean sea level variability from 1659 until 2001 the accuracy of the reconstruction is estimated in 2 7 cm for monthly mean values 0 41 cm for annual mean values and 0 22 cm for decadal mean values 0 48 cm for decadal winter mean sea level the barotropic flow through the strait is computed from the model output as the time derivative of the total volume of the basin during the period 1958 2001 the estimated daily flow ranges between 2 7 sv with a standard deviation of 0 56 sv the dominant periodicities are in between 1 and 2 weeks at these scales the model successfully reproduces previously published flow estimates based on current meter observations which confirms that atmospheric pressure and wind dominate the intraseasonal variability of the flow for the annual cycle the variability of the atmospherically induced flow is similar to the variability of the flow induced by the evaporation precipitation e p budget 0 025 sv though absolute values of the first are about a third of the latter at longer timescales the atmospheric contribution is much smaller than the e p induced flow

mediterranean outflow water dynamics across the middle pleistocene transition based on a 1 3 million year benthic foraminiferal record off the portuguese margin abstract reconstruction of the mediterranean outflow water mow dynamics in the geologic past contributes to exploring its influence on the north atlantic ocean circulation and global climate the middle pleistocene transition mpt is one of the most important characteristics of quaternary climate change but until now research on the mow variability during this time interval has been limited to decipher the mow variability over the last 1 3 myr this work presents the first continuous and high resolution 2 kyr foraminiferal stable oxygen and carbon isotopes and benthic foraminiferal records from integrated ocean drilling program iodp site u1391 which was drilled off the portuguese margin in the northeast atlantic ocean and is currently bathed by the lower mow core based on spectral analysis results of the foraminiferal 18o record the mpt peaked from 0 9 to 0 7 ma the epibenthos group was previously found attached to elevated substrates only within the mow current and more abundant at higher current velocities so the relative abundance of the elevated epibenthos group was adopted as an indicator of mow strength in this study the mow indicator suggests that the mow strengthened during mis 1 mis 5 mis 7 mis 9 mis 11 mis 13 mis 15 mis 17 early mis 18 to late mis 19 mis 21 miss 23 25 miss 28 30 early mis 34 to mis 35 early mis 36 to late mis 37 and mis 40 with a 100 kyr cycle superimposed on the long term variability of the mow current the 41 kyr and 20 kyr cyclic fluctuations are also evident whereby the 41 kyr cycle is more significant the results of cross spectral analyses indicate that the 20 kyr cyclic variation in the mow intensity was drived by the precession forcing the 41 kyr cyclic variation in the pre mpt mow dynamics and the 100 kyr cyclic variation in the post mpt mow dynamics were strongly controlled by the earth s obliquity the variation in the abundance of the elevated epibenthos group was dominated by the 41 kyr cycle prior to the mpt and by the 100 kyr cycle after the mpt which suggested there was a mpt related shift in the mow dynamics benthic 13c record of the last 0 56 myr shows precessional 23 kyr and glacial interglacial 100 kyr cycles indicating cyclic variations in bottom water ventilation enhanced ventilation coincides with precession maxima and reduced ventilation with precession minima bottom water was well ventilated by mow during the interglacial periods and by gnaiw during the glacial periods and pooly ventilated during the glaical terminations

sea level and deep sea temperature variability over the past 5 3 million years ice volume and hence sea level and deep sea temperature are key measures of global climate change sea level has been documented using several independent methods over the past 0 5 million years myr older periods however lack such independent validation all existing records are related to deep sea oxygen isotope 18o data that are influenced by processes unrelated to sea level for deep sea temperature only one continuous high resolution mg ca based record exists with related sea level estimates spanning the past 1 5 myr here we present a novel sea level reconstruction with associated estimates of deep sea temperature which independently validates the previous 0 1 5 myr reconstruction and extends it back to 5 3 myr ago we find that deep sea temperature and sea level generally decreased through time but distinctly out of synchrony which is remarkable given the importance of ice albedo feedbacks on the radiative forcing of climate in particular we observe a large temporal offset during the onset of plio pleistocene ice ages between a marked cooling step at 2 73 myr ago and the first major glaciation at 2 15 myr ago last we tentatively infer that ice sheets may have grown largest during glacials with more modest reductions in deep sea temperature a novel approach to the estimation of sea level and deep sea temperature has been used to determine these quantities over the past 5 3 million years this approach based on oxygen isotope records from the eastern mediterranean shows that temperature and sea level histories are broadly correlated but also show intriguing temporal offsets most records of past sea level variation and associated changes in ocean temperature rely on variations in oxygen isotopes recorded in deep sea marine microorganisms these signals unfortunately are confounded by other influences making it difficult to extract a clear climate related signal eelco rohling and colleagues now present a novel approach to estimating sea level and deep sea temperature variations for the past 5 3 million years the record based on oxygen isotope variations from the eastern mediterranean avoids the issues of the deep sea approach and generally corresponds to an independent record of the past 1 6 million years as expected temperature and sea level are broadly correlated but also show intriguing temporal discontinuities as at the initiation of plio pleistocene ice ages when a major sea level drop lagged a sharp temperature decline by several hundred thousand years

vertical density gradient in the eastern north atlantic during the last 30 000 years past changes in the density and momentum structure of oceanic circulation are an important aspect of changes in the atlantic meridional overturning circulation and consequently climate however very little is known about past changes in the vertical density structure of the ocean even very extensively studied systems such as the north atlantic here we exploit the physical controls on the settling depth of the dense mediterranean water plume derived from the strait of gibraltar to obtain the first robust observations based probabilistic reconstruction of the vertical density gradient in the eastern north atlantic during the last 30 000 years we find that this gradient was weakened by more than 50 relative to the present during the last glacial maximum and that changes in general are associated with reductions in amoc intensity however we find only a small change during heinrich event 1 relative to the last glacial maximum despite strong evidence that overturning was substantially altered this implies that millennial scale changes may not be reflected in vertical density structure of the ocean which may be limited to responses on an ocean overturning timescale or longer regardless our novel reconstruction of atlantic density structure can be used as the basis for a dynamical measure for validation of model based amoc reconstructions in addition our general approach is transferrable to other marginal sea outflow plumes to provide estimates of oceanic vertical density gradients in other locations

another description of the mediterranean sea outflow abstract papers about the outflow in the strait of gibraltar assume that i it is composed of only two mediterranean waters mws the levantine intermediate water liw and the western mediterranean deep water wmdw from the eastern and western basins respectively ii both mws are mixed near 6 w hence producing a homogeneous outflow that is then split into veins due to its cascading along different paths and to different mixing conditions with the atlantic water aw a re analysis of 1985 1986 ctd profiles gibraltar experiment indicates two other mws the winter intermediate water wiw from the western basin and the tyrrhenian dense water tdw basically originated from the eastern basin in the central alboran subbasin these four mws are clearly differentiated roughly lying one above the other in proportions varying from north to south proportions also vary with time so that the outflow can be mostly of either eastern or western origin while progressing westward the mws can still be differentiated and associated isopycnals tilt up southward as much as being in the sill surroundings roughly parallel to the moroccan continental slope where the densest mws are the mws at the sill are thus juxtaposed and they all mix with aw leading to an outflow that is horizontally heterogeneous just after the sill 5 45 w before progressively becoming vertically heterogeneous as soon as 6 15 w there can be little liw and or no wmdw outflowing for a while an analysis of new 2003 2008 time series from two ctds moored ciesm hydro changes programme at the sill 270 m and on the moroccan shelf 80 m confirms the juxtaposition of the mws their individual and generally intense mixing with aw as well as the large temporal variability of the outflow composition only liw and tdw were indicated at the sill while on the shelf only liw tdw sometimes denser there than 200 m below and wmdw were indicated but none of the mws has been permanently outflowing at one or the other place the available data can be analyzed coherently intermediate and deep mws are formed in both basins in amounts that although variable from year to year allow their tracing up to the strait four major mws circulate alongslope counterclockwise as density currents and as long as they are not trapped within a basin which is necessarily the case for the deep mws in the alboran the intermediate mws wiw liw and upper tdw circulate in the north while the deep mws lower tdw and wmdw are uplifted hence relatively motionless and mainly pushed away in the south since both the intermediate and deep mws outflow at the sill they are considered as light and dense mws the light dense mws interface possibly intersecting the aw mws interface in the sill surroundings considering an outflow east of the sill composed of only two light dense homogeneous layers gives significant results across the whole strait the outflow has spatial and temporal variabilities much larger than previously assumed the mws are superposed in the sea and lead at the sill to juxtaposed and vertically stratified suboutflows that will cascade independently before forming superposed veins in the ocean these veins can have similar densities and hydrographic characteristics even if associated with different mws which accounts for the features permanency assumed up to now the outflow structure downstream of the sill depends on its composition upstream and more importantly on that of aw in the sill surroundings where fortnightly and seasonal signals are imposed on the whole outflow

cephalopod limestone deposition on a shallow pelagic ridge the tafilalt platform upper devonian eastern anti atlas morocco as a result of early variscan tectonic movements and of differential subsidence a platform and basin topography was created along the northern margin of the sahara craton during the late devonian in the moroccan anti atlas mountains the tafilalt platform is an approximately n s running ridge which developed since the late middle devonian it separated a slowly subsiding shallow basin in the east tafilalt basin from a rapidly subsiding furrow in the west mader basin platform deposits are characterized by highly reduced thicknesses shallow subtidal to supratidal deposits in the late frasnian and by unconformities at the lower upper frasnian and the frasnian famennian boundaries after a local transgression over emergent areas in the north water depth probably never reached more than several tens to about 100 m in the lower famennian cephalopod limestones of this age deposited on the platform represent a very diverse facies pattern comprising quartz rich brachiopod coquinas crinoidal limestones thick bedded cephalopod limestones and nodular limestones sedimentation rates ranged from 1 to 5 mm 1000 yr in the late famennian more uniform marl and nodular limestone facies suggest slightly deeper environments platform margins are characterized by higher rates of subsidence debris flow deposits and slump structures in the relatively shallow tafilalt basin marls with intercalated nodular limestones were deposited in the mader basin sandy and calcareous turbidites suggest deeper water conditions in the late devonian during the strunian tournaisian the whole area was overwhelmed by a thick deltaic sequence the general facies distribution is in agreement with depositional models of other upper devonian and lower carboniferous cephalopod limestones in the european variscan orogenic belts in all these cases condensed cephalopod limestones occupy a distinct palaeogeographic position in predictable facies sequences that reflect pre orogenic phases in the variscan geodynamic cycle moreover close parallels exist with condensed sequences in the triassic and jurassic that occur in a very similar position within the alpine orogenic cycle

facies patterns and depositional environments of palaeozoic cephalopod limestones abstract in the eastern anti atlas morocco a platform and basin topography was established during the late devonian probably as a result of early variscan tensional tectonics cephalopod limestones were deposited on shallow pelagic platforms platform slopes and shallow slowly subsiding basins on the platform a transition from land areas into nearshore quartzose brachiopod coquinas crinoidal limestones condensed cephalopod limestones and finally into nodular limestones is observed the latter often become disintegrated into incipient debris flows which pass into nodular limestone marl alternations of a shallow basin deeper basins with shale sedimentation lack cephalopod limestones similar facies types also occur in the late devonian of the montagne noire france rheinisches schiefergebirge west germany moravian karst czechoslovakia holy cross mountains poland and in the early carboniferous of the cantabrian mountains spain due to strong late variscan compressional tectonics and limited outcrops detailed facies patterns could not be mapped in these regions but the same facies types as in the eastern anti atlas suggest similar coast platform slope and shallow basin topographies during cephalopod limestone deposition water depth on the platforms was in the order of several tens to about one hundred metres as is inferred from repeated subaerial exposures and distinctive depositional and faunal floral features water depth in the adjacent shallow basins might have reached several hundreds of metres cephalopod limestones represent a typical stage in the evolution of geosynclines characterized by extremely low sedimentation rates 1 5 m m y 1 this stage is preceded by deposition of thick neritic clastics and or carbonates and is succeeded by deposition of deep water clastics or flysch

sedimentary processes and cold water coral mini mounds at the ferrol canyon head nw iberian margin abstract the western iberian margin has a complex morphology controlled by both geological and oceanographic processes compared to the submarine canyons in the southern part of this margin e g nazare and setubal the canyons in the northern part e g ferrol and a coruna have received little attention this study maps the geomorphological features around the ferrol canyon head and combines them with oceanographic observations to infer the sedimentary and oceanographic processes active in this area furthermore the occurrence of a cold water coral cwc mini mound province near the canyon head and the ortegal spur pockmark field is investigated with regard to seepage processes oceanographic conditions and anthropogenic impact the ferrol canyon head and outer ortegal spur are characterized by erosional erosional and abraded surfaces contourite channels and furrows depositional contourite drifts and sediment waves and mixed contourite terrace features indicating a dominant control of bottom currents on the sedimentary processes bottom currents are related to the interaction of the canyon head topography with both the mediterranean outflow water mow slope current and with m2 internal tides associated to the interface pycnocline between eastern north atlantic central water enacw and mow due to this interaction the ferrol canyon head is subject to active sediment resuspension and forms a potential source area for the intermediate nepheloid layers along the nw iberian upper slope the cwc mini mounds 1 9 2 7 m high and 75 141 m in diameter occur between 400 and 560 m depth seismic facies signatures indicative of fluid flow and morphometric analysis implies that larger cwc mini mounds adjacent to the pockmark field initiated by colonization of pre existing pockmarks while smaller more clustered mounds developed independently the observed mini mounds are relict features likely related to their position outside of the contemporary enacw mow interface which favours cwc growth through 1 increased bottom currents enhancing food supply and 2 the presence of a potential density envelope 27 35 27 65 kg m3 proposed to control coral larvae transport along the ne atlantic margin alternatively the lack of contemporary coral growth might be related to habitat destruction by bottom trawling however a preliminary age constraint reveals cwc growth occurred during the early holocene coeval to relict cwc mini mounds near canyon heads on the armorican margin their existence suggests a regional shift in the ne atlantic density profile where the enacw mow interface occurred up to 200 m above its contemporary position

cenozoic metamorphism along the shan scarp myanmar evidences for ductile shear along the sagaing fault or the northward migration of the eastern himalayan syntaxis the mogok metamorphic belt exposed along the n s trending shan scarp and sagaing fault in the eastern part of myanmar has been regarded as paleozoic to precambrian for a long time new observations in the shan scarp area close to the sagaing fault from thaton in the south to mandalay in the north allowed us to collect samples of high grade metamorphic and intrusive rocks that have been analyzed by 40ar 39ar step heating method the 13 samples we analyzed provide oligocene to lower miocene ages for this metamorphism oriented thin sections and field observations suggest that this metamorphism was caused by a nnw sse to n s ductile extension therefore we suggest that this metamorphism is not directly related to the sagaing fault but could be instead related to the northward migration of the eastern himalayan syntaxis characterized by crustal thinning resulting from the india asia oblique collision

carbonates and relative changes in sea level abstract in the geologic record some of the most accurate gauges of changes in sea level are the sediment type geometry and diagenesis of carbonate shelves and platforms this is because carbonates frequently occur at or very near sea level and are usually less compacted than siliciclastics world wide changes in relative sea level the sum of eustatic sea level changes sedimentation and crustal movements have occurred repeatedly and cyclicly through geologic time producing characteristic responses in carbonates 1 1 relative rises in sea level usually caused by the cumulative effect of tectonic subsidence and eustatic rise may result in the following 1 1 a drowned carbonate reefs or platforms here carbonate growth potential is exceeded by relative sea level rise and is characterized by shallow water sediments overlain by hardgrounds and or deep water sediments some of which may be condensed sequences 1 2 b platforms where only the fast growing rim and patches of the interior are able to match sea level rise while the remainder of the platform is drowned temporarily 1 3 c platforms which keep up and maintain a flat top at sea level and contain shallow water sediments whose thickness at the least matches the height of the sea level rise if terrigenous supply is limited prograding sheets of shelf carbonate occur frequently capped by supratidal evaporites with prograding shelf margin carbonate clinoforms and turbidites if terrigenous supply is high the shelf carbonates encroach on deltaics 2 2 relative drops in sea level caused by crustal uplift or by subsidence being outpaced by a eustatic drop in sea level cause karst and soil development over shelves and platforms deposition of deep water evaporites in adjacent semi enclosed basins and in open marine basins the deposition of deltaic and aeolian clastics that bypassed the shelf falls are accompanied by platform wide fresh water diagenesis during relative sea level rises marine diagenesis is common in the subtidal portions of the shoaling upward carbonates and fresh water diagenesis and dolomitization and sulphate deposition is common in their intertidal and supratidal portions the stratigraphic significance of these reponses to relative sea level change is that many are tied to eustatic events and so are predictable within a basin of deposition

sedimentary evolution of the le danois contourite drift systems southern bay of biscay ne atlantic a reconstruction of the atlantic mediterranean water circulation since the pliocene abstract the evolution of the le danois contourite depositional systems cds during the pliocene and quaternary was investigated based on high resolution seismic reflection data from old to young six seismic units u1 u6 bounded by major discontinuities h1 h6 were identified regarding variations of the bottom current circulation four evolution stages of the le danois cds were identified including onset 5 3 to 3 5 3 0 ma initial 3 5 3 0 to 2 5 2 1 ma intermediate 2 5 2 1 to 0 9 0 7 ma and drift growth 0 9 0 7 ma to present day stages the cds associated with the atlantic mediterranean water amw along the middle continental slope initiated at 3 5 3 ma and was widely built after the mid pleistocene transition mpt 0 9 07 ma at a shallower water depth a second cds associated with the eastern north atlantic central water enacw started to develop from the late quaternary 0 47 ma onwards in the amw related drift system the le danois drift was generated both under glacial and interglacial climatic oscilations repeated internal structures in unit 5 that consist of acoustically transparent lower parts moderate amplitude upper parts and high amplitude erosional surfaces at the top are compared with interglacial glacial cycles since the middle pleistocene to the present day these cyclic features suggest coarsening upward sequences of the le danois drift and processes related to enhanced amw during glacial stages the estimated sedimentation rate of the le danois cds reached a maximum during the mpt at least 27 cm ky and then decreased until present day 5 cm ky variations of sedimentary stacking patterns and processes of the le danois cds imply full domination of the intermediate water mass along the central atlantic and southwest european continental slopes from the late pliocene 3 5 3 0 ma onwards

mediterranean outflow strengthening during northern hemisphere coolings a salt source for the glacial atlantic abstract high resolution grain size and magnetic susceptibility records from the eastern gulf of cadiz site md99 2339 1170 m water depth reveal contourites formed by the mediterranean outflow mow during the last 47 kyr bp oscillations in the mow s intensity occurred in phase with greenland temperature variations with a stronger outflow during northern hemisphere coolings such as dansgaard oeschger stadials heinrich events and the younger dryas benthic 13c data implies the western mediterranean deep water as one of the main sources feeding the outflow current while differential changes in the properties of the mediterranean source and entrained north atlantic central water largely control the mow s strength detailed studies for heinrich events 1 4 and 5 show that the flow strength peaked only when subtropical surface waters prevailed in the eastern gulf of cadiz while incursions of icebergs and subpolar surface water were not favorable for the mow s intensification as the mow was strong when the atlantic s thermohaline circulation thc was weakened the heat and salt injected by the mow into the intermediate north atlantic waters might have preconditioned the thc to switch from the stadial to the interstadial mode

late glacial to holocene history of the mediterranean outflow evidence from benthic foraminiferal assemblages and stable isotopes at the portuguese margin records of benthic foraminiferal assemblage variations and benthic 13c along 12 sediment cores from the western iberian margin between 36 and 42 n at water depths from 820 to 3580 m are used to monitor fluctuations of the mediterranean outflow water mow during the past 30 ka the chronostratigraphy of the cores is based on planktonic 18o records 14c ams dating and the recognition of heinrich events h1 through h4 increased abundances of suspension feeding benthic foraminifers denoted as epibenthos group closely match areas where the recent mow core layers impinge on the continental slope at 800 and 1300 m water depth and near bottom current velocities are enhanced elevated epibenthos group abundances increased benthic 13c and sedimentological evidence for winnowing and erosion are found in glacial sections up to the earliest termination i in cores at water depths between 1600 and 2200 m off southern portugal the combined evidence reveals enhanced current activity at these depths due to a deep glacial mow the mow advection at the portuguese margin during the last glacial was about 700 m deeper than today conceivably forced by increased mow density due to higher salinity and colder temperatures of mediterranean waters the deep mow current gradually decreased in strength and shoaled to 1300 m water depth during the termination and early holocene a shallow mow core layer became active with the onset of termination i at depths between 600 and 1000 m both the shallow and deep mow current culminated during the younger dryas period the present flow pattern with two mow core layers centred at 800 and 1300 m water depth was established between 7 5 and 5 5 ka

physical oceanography of the azores front abstract there is a considerable body of evidence for the existence of a permanent front sw of the azores surveys in the summer of 1981 show the structure to penetrate to a depth of 2 000 m and suggest that its meandering is related to the alignment of the atlantis gt meteor seamount chain the total volume transport above 2 000 m is between 10 and 12 106 m3 s 1 towards the east the main water mass contrasts across the front are confined to the upper 400 m of the water column only a small change in mediterranean water strength was seen across the front satellite tracked drogued buoys seeded into the front showed surface speeds of up to 40 cm sec 1 and revealed the formation of a closed cold core eddy some 100 115 km in diameter which propagated westward at 2 2 km day 1 over a 200 day period sea surface temperature contrasts across the frontal boundary are small and together with frequent cloud cover prevent the detection of the front and associated eddies by satellite infra red imagery the front apparently marks the eastward extension of the southern branch of the gulf stream recirculation and the northern limit of the 18 c water mass eddies formed at the front could propagate westward into the interior of the sargasso sea but have not yet been observed to cross the mid atlantic ridge

mixing and spreading of the mediterranean outflow abstract hydrographic and current profiler data taken during the 1988 gulf of cadiz expedition have been analyzed to diagnose the mixing spreading and descent of the mediterranean outflow the s properties and the thickness and width of the outflow were similar to that seen in earlier surveys the transport of pure mediterranean water i e water with s 38 4 psu was estimated to be about 0 4 106 m3 s 1 which is lower than historical estimates most of which were indirect but comparable to other recent estimates made from direct velocity observations the outflow transport estimated at the west end of the strait of gibraltar was about 0 7 106 m3 s 1 of mixed water and the transport increased to about 1 9 106 m3 s 1 within the eastern gulf of cadiz this increase in transport occurred by entrainment of fresher north atlantic central water and the salinity anomaly of the outflow was consequently reduced the velocity weighted salinity decreased to 36 7 psu within 60 km of the strait and decre

the late pleistocene holocene sedimentary evolution of the sines contourite drift sw portuguese margin a multiproxy approach abstract the sines contourite drift scd located in the alentejo margin southwest iberian continental margin has been through many depositional phases in result of climatic variations and bottom current oscillations which determined a variable depositional pattern and an irregular sedimentary evolution since the late pleistocene the scd being in the main path of the mediterranean outflow water mow which greatly constrains the sedimentary building of this drift constitutes the distal part of the gulf of cadiz contourite depositional system and its sedimentary evolution therefore reflects the history of mow variations in order to investigate this we report on a multiproxy analysis of grain size carbon content and physical geochemical and environmental magnetic properties on the ams 14c dated 350 cm long gravity core co14 gc 07 retrieved in the scd at 1425 meters water depth mwd the main objective is to reconstruct the evolution of the sedimentary package of the scd from 43 cal kyr bp to present and bring new insights about the impact of bottom currents activity on the morphosedimentary evolution of the margin results show the existence of four distinct depositional phases in response to climate variations and bottom current oscillations during the late pleistocene holocene phase 1 350 322 cm 42 9 cal kyr bp occurred in marine isotope stage mis 3 and presents silty muddy sediments with presence of shell fragments and moderate bioturbation phase 2 322 176 cm 42 9 30 5 cal kyr bp which lasted from middle mis 3 to the onset of mis 2 reveals sediment coarsening towards the top limit suggesting climate cooling and strong bottom current winnowing phase 3 176 144 cm 30 5 17 1 cal kyr bp covers most of mis 2 prior to the last deglaciation and shows the sharpest variations on all sediment properties and the coarsest sediment facies with fe rich layers associated with the increase of terrigenous input and sea level regression that coincide with the enhancement of mow phase 4 144 0 cm

glacial to interglacial changes in the settling depth of the mediterranean outflow plume we present micropalaeontological and grain size records for a set of sediment cores from the gulf of cadiz southwest spain that reflect changes in the position and strength of the mediterranean outflow mo current the cores sample a sediment drift the gil eanes drift that is positioned lower on the slope in the gulf of cadiz than the position of the main current today the data indicate that the drift is of glacial age and that the glacial mo current was positioned lower on the slope than today but also that it was active over a considerably reduced area of the slope we argue that this observation is consistent with physical constraints on the gibraltar exchange and on the likely settling and spreading behavior of the mo plume along the iberian margin under glacial environmental and sea level conditions the deeper settling of the mo is likely to have influenced the formation of glacial north atlantic intermediate water and also may have exerted indirect influence on the formation of glacial north atlantic deep water

short term sediment dynamics on a meso scale contourite drift off nw iberia impacts of multi scale oceanographic processes deduced from the analysis of mooring data and numerical modelling abstract possible driving mechanisms of sediment dynamics in a contourite drift moat obstacle system on the continental slope off the nw iberian peninsula are investigated in this study based on a statistical analysis of an 18 month long mooring record in combination with a 3 dimensional process based numerical modelling analysis of the mooring data indicates that the modern hydrodynamic regime in the study area is non linear with a significant impact of internal tides and a non negligible influence by the earth s rotation a consistent counteraction between barotropic and baroclinic tidal currents mainly at m2 frequency results in a weak bottom flow that rarely exceeds the threshold velocity for resuspension of sandy silts in the system this observation explains a late holocene hemipelagic vertical settling deposition of a fine grained 8 10 m sediment surface layer over the entire drift as well as inside the moat in order to unravel possible driving forces for active sediment remobilization during the deglacial early holocene interval between 17 000 and 4000 cal yr bp that is consistent with the sedimentary record different oceanographic scenarios were designed for a numerical study simulation results demonstrate that pulse like oceanic density fronts and associated km scale eddies which originate from instability in the transition zone of two water masses labrador sea water mediterranean outflow water being aided by tidal and geostrophic currents and locally strengthened by topography are the most reasonable mechanisms inducing contouritic sediment transport and deposition that are observed in the sediment core transect these density fronts are of subordinate impact for the modern contourite drift which is bathed by labrador sea water nowadays however a vertical downward migration or expansion of the overlying mediterranean outflow water by 300 m between 17 000 and 4000 cal yr bp would facilitate a generation of significant density fronts at the depth of the contourite drift this mow migration is believed to leave imprints on other contourite systems located at similar depth in the region

promotion of meridional overturning by mediterranean derived salt during the last deglaciation we demonstrate that changes in the behavior of the mediterranean outflow water mow prior to and through the last deglaciation played an important role in promoting meridional overturning circulation moc estimation of past mow salt and heat fluxes indicates that they gradually increased through the last deglaciation between 17 5 and 14 6 thousand years ago ka b p where b p references year 1950 net evaporation from the mediterranean exported sufficient fresh water from the north atlantic catchment to cause an average salinity increase of 0 5 psu throughout the upper 2000 m of the entire north atlantic to the north of 25

radiocarbon variability in the western north atlantic during the last deglaciation we present a detailed history of glacial to holocene radiocarbon in the deep western north atlantic from deep sea corals and paired benthic planktonic foraminifera the deglaciation is marked by switches between radiocarbon enriched and depleted waters leading to large radiocarbon gradients in the water column these changes played an important role in modulating atmospheric radiocarbon the deep ocean record supports the notion of a bipolar seesaw with increased northern source deep water formation linked to northern hemisphere warming and the reverse in contrast the more frequent radiocarbon variations in the intermediate deep ocean are associated with roughly synchronous changes at the poles

a review of the physical oceanography of the mediterranean outflow abstract the physical oceanography of the mediterranean sea is reviewed with particular emphasis on the mediterranean outflow in the gulf of cadiz in this region the dense mediterranean water forms a high velocity bottom current that interacts strongly with the sea floor the major energy source for the plume comes from the release of potential energy as the plume descends the continental slope and the major energy sink is work against bottom stress which is as large as 4 pa where the plume begins to descend the continental slope in this region the current makes a nearly inertial turn that would otherwise appear to be steered by the underlying topography the mediterranean plume entrains the overlying north atlantic central water and thereby loses much of its density anomaly the mixed mediterranean water becomes neutrally buoyant in the lower portion of the north atlantic thermocline near cape st vincent there are then two preferred transport modes having somewhat different temperature and salinity whose distinct characteristics can be found far into the open north atlantic the temperature salinity and volume of the mediterranean water in the strait of gibraltar and in the gulf of cadiz appear to be roughly constant since modern measurements have been made the estimated westward transport of mediterranean water has gone down considerably as direct measurement techniques have been applied a recent estimate is that the westward transport of pure mediterranean water is only about a half a sv 1 sv 106 m3 s 1 the transport of mixed mediterranean water in the western gulf of cadiz is larger by about a factor of three or four because of the entrainment of north atlantic water

first magnetostratigraphic study of the pondaung formation implications for the age of the middle eocene anthropoids of myanmar abstract we report the results of a magnetostratigraphic investigation to improve the stratigraphical and chronological resolution of the pondaung formation of central myanmar a total of 98 samples were collected from 45 sites through a 319 m thick section at the fossiliferous locality of yashe kyitchaung or the primate resort yielding primate species bahinia pondaungensis amphipithecus mogaungensis and myanmarpithecus yarshensis near the bahin village thermal and alternating field demagnetization allowed separation of two remanence components the high temperature component is interpreted as the characteristic magnetization rock magnetic experiments show that the remanence magnetization is mainly carried by magnetite this investigation documents normal polarity remanent magnetization with a mean direction documentclass aastex usepackage amsbsy usepackage amsfonts usepackage amssymb usepackage bm usepackage mathrsfs usepackage pifont usepackage stmaryrd usepackage textcomp usep

the flow of atlantic water through the strait of gibraltar abstract we describe and analyze observations of the water exchange through the strait of gibraltar the primary observations were taken in april 1986 and included data from moored recording instruments at four locations in the strait together with an intensive survey by ship these measurements included extensive ctd profiling acoustic doppler current profiling numerous profiles from expendable instruments and imaging using a high frequency echo sounder the analysis focuses on the internal hydraulics of the strait and in particular the presence of hydraulic controls and their influence on the exchange our observations during april 1986 show that the maximal exchange condition in which a subcritical flow is bounded by supercritical flow at both ends of the strait did occur although with various subtleties not explicitly incorporated in our previous theoretical developments the atlantic water moving east along the surface encounters a control at tarifa narrows in the eastern part of the strait the mediterranean water passes through controls both at camarinal sill and at spartel sill further west at our westernmost mooring at spartel the outflowing mediterranean water is continuously supercritical with little tidal variability the control at camarinal sill is periodically lost due to tidal action and reappears on a reverse flow during a falling spring tide tangier basin bounded by camarinal and spartel sills acts as an internal reservoir for the outflowing mediterranean water the interface rising and falling through each tidal cycle during spring tides the tangier basin interface rises high enough to flood the control at camarinl sill and produces a reverse flow of the lower layer when control is lost at camarinal sill a travelling bore is released this bore may modify the location of the control acting on the surface layer in tarifa narrows the atlantic water enters the alboran sea as a jet which may have a well defined northern boundary where it separates from the european coast this boundary may be identified by the presence of a slick although the internal jump west of camarinal sill is almost certainly an area of intense mixing frictional effects do not appear to be dominant in the subcritical portion of the flow