continental inputs of beryllium to the oceans abstract an understanding of the geochemistry of the cosmogenic radioisotope 10 be t 1 2 1 5 my and the stable isotope 9 be is necessary for the development of their use in deep sea sediments as a geochronometer and as a monitor of variations in cosmogenic nuclide production we examined these isotopes in oceanic regions strongly influenced by input of continental materials the effects of atmospheric aerosols were studied through examination of the water column chemistry of the mediterranean a basin strongly influenced by saharan dust while salinity transects through the amazon and ganges brahmaputra estuaries were used to investigate riverine fluxes to the oceans these results were used to quantify riverine and eolian fluxes they indicate that eolian dust is probably the most significant source of 9 be to the oceans changes in 10 be 9 be in the marine sedimentary record which are not associated with radioactive decay or variability in 10 be production can thus result from local or regional changes in dust inputs

new constraints on the sources and behavior of neodymium and hafnium in seawater from pacific ocean ferromanganese crusts the behavior of dissolved hf in the marine environment is not well understood due to the lack of direct seawater measurements of hf isotopes and the limited number of hf isotope time series obtained from ferromanganese crusts in order to place better constraints on input sources and develop further applications a combined nd hf isotope time series study of five pacific ferromanganese crusts was carried out the samples cover the past 38 myr and their locations range from sites at the margin of the ocean to remote areas sites from previously unstudied north and south pacific areas and water depths corresponding to deep and bottom waters for most of the samples a broad coupling of nd and hf isotopes is observed in the equatorial pacific end and ehf both decrease with water depth similarly end and ehf both increase from the south to the north pacific these data indicate that the hf isotopic composition is in general terms a suitable tracer for ocean circulation since inflow and progressive admixture of bottom water is clearly identifiable the time series data indicate that inputs and outputs have been balanced throughout much of the late cenozoic a simple box model can constrain the relative importance of potential input sources to the north pacific assuming steady state the model implies significant contributions of radiogenic nd and hf from young circum pacific arcs and a subordinate role of dust inputs from the asian continent for the dissolved nd and hf budget of the north pacific some changes in ocean circulation that are clearly recognizable in nd isotopes do not appear to be reflected by hf isotopic compositions at two locations within the pacific ocean a decoupling of nd and hf isotopes is found indicating limited potential for hf isotopes as a stand alone oceanographic tracer and providing evidence of additional local processes that govern the hf isotopic composition of deep water masses in the case of the southwest pacific there is evidence that decoupling may have been the result of changes in weathering style related to the buildup of antarctic glaciation

marine cobalt resources ferromanganese oxides in the open oceans are more enriched in cobalt than any other widely distributed sediments or rocks concentrations of cobalt exceed 1 percent in ferromanganese crusts on seamounts ocean ridges and other raised areas of the ocean the cobaltrich crusts may be the slowest growing of any earth material accumulating one molecular layer every 1 to 3 months attention has been drawn to crusts as potential resources because they contain cobalt manganese and platinum three of the four priority strategic metals for the united states moreover unlike abyssal nodules whose recovery is complicated by their dominant location in international waters some of the most cobalt rich crusts occur within the exclusive economic zone of the united states and other nations environmental impact statements for crust exploitation are under current development by the department of the interior

north atlantic climate and deep ocean flow speed changes during the last 230 years variations in the near bottom flow speed of iceland scotland overflow water isow are documented in a 230 year long deep sea sediment record from the eastern flank of reykjanes ridge in the subpolar north atlantic at sub decadal time scales for recent decades the isow palaeocurrent reconstructions show similarities with observational hydrographic data furthermore recent isow flow changes fall mostly within the range of its variability of the past 230 years the record also reveals a hitherto unrecognized coupling of deep flow speeds in the subpolar north atlantic with the north atlantic oscillation nao index with more less vigorous isow flow during negative positive phases of the nao our results suggest that the changes in isow vigor are largely controlled by the transport and characteristics of labrador sea water rather than variations in the overflow itself with implications for the meridional overturning of the atlantic ocean and climate

inertia gravity waves associated with the tropical easterly jet over the indian subcontinent during the south west monsoon period using the mst radar located at gadanki 13 5 n 79 2 e winds were measured every four hours in the troposphere and lower stratosphere during a 72 hour period from 23 to 26 september 1997 when the tropical tropospheric easterly jet tej was present south of gadanki with its core at a height of 16 km analysis of the radar data shows the presence of 56 hour oscillations close to local inertial period of 51 hours in the wind components with significant amplitudes examination of the corresponding horizontal wind vector shows clockwise rotation with altitude upward energy propagation in an altitude region 17 7 20 8 km above the tej and anticlockwise rotation downward energy propagation in another altitude region 8 3 10 5 km below this indicates the generation of inertia gravity waves igw in the tej and their propagation both upwards and downwards from the source region the inferred vertical and horizontal wavelengths of the igw are 0 7 and 75 km respectively in the stratosphere and 1 and 143 km respectively in the troposphere

weathering versus circulation controlled changes in radiogenic isotope tracer composition of the labrador sea and north atlantic deep water geological reconstructions and general circulation models suggest that the onset of both northern hemisphere glaciation 2 7 myr ago and convection of labrador sea water lsw were caused by the closure of the panama gateway 4 5 myr ago time series data that have been obtained from studies of ferromanganese crusts from the northwestern atlantic suggest that radiogenic isotopes of intermediate ocean residence time pb and nd can serve as suitable tracers to reconstruct these events however it has been unclear until now as to whether the changes that have been observed in isotope composition at this time are the result of increased thermohaline circulation or due to the effects of increased glacial weathering in this paper we adopt a box model approach to demonstrate that the shifts in radiogenic isotope compositions are unlikely to be due to changes in convection in lsw but can be explained in terms of increases of erosion levels due to the glaciation of greenland and canada furthermore we provide experimental evidence for the incongruent release of a labile fraction of strongly radiogenic pb and nonradiogenic nd from continental detritus eroding into the labrador sea this can be attributed to the glacial weathering of old continents and accounts for the paradox that one of the areas of the world most deficient in radiogenic pb should provide such a rich supply of radiogenic pb to the oceans an important general conclusion is that the compositions of radiogenic isotopes in seawater are not always a reflection of their continental sources perhaps more importantly the transition from chemical weathering to mechanical erosion is likely to result in significant variations in radiogenic tracers in seawater

a new approach to the nd residence time in the ocean the role of atmospheric inputs concentrations of rare earth elements ree and nd isotopic ratios were analyzed for seawater filtered suspension and sediment trap samples collected in the tropical atlantic ocean eumeli program eutrophic mesotrophic and oligotrophic sites 20 n 18 21 w this is the first ree nd dataset on solution and different sized particles collected at the same site we present direct evidence of the nd isotopic exchange between particulate lithogenic fraction and seawater without significant mass transfer this exchange is probably one of the main factors that simultaneously constrains the nd concentration and isotopic ratio budget we propose a new approach to estimate the residence time of nd in the ocean nd based on isotopic exchange 200 yr nd 1000 yr the exchange requires a partial dissolution of lithogenic nd we estimate that the fraction of soluble nd proportion in atmospheric dust is of the order of 20 based on the isotopic ratios we suggest that the partial dissolution of atmospheric fallout is probably one of the main ree sources of the ocean

the isotopic composition of neodymium in the north pacific abstract we have determined the isotopic composition of neodymium in two water column profiles in the western north pacific and in bottom waters from three other locations in the north pacific the vertical profiles reveal that the water column is stratified with respect to isotopic composition mid depths associated with pacific deep water are uniform having nd 0 3 shallow waters are variable but deep waters are less radiogenic having md 0 4 4 to 5 in the western basin the more negative bottom waters in the western north pacific provide evidence for the advective transport of rare earth elements from antarctic sources to this region bottom waters in the eastern north pacific are more radiogenic nd 0 3 3 to 3 8 indicating very little transport of ree from antarctic sources to this basin overall the isotopic composition of nd in pacific bottom waters appears to be conservative when compared to the silica distribution in spite of evidence for nd removal the findings are generally compatible with other parameters such as temperature salinity and nutrient distributions the presence of nd isotopic signatures associated with antarctic sources in these waters provides evidence for a small component of rare earth elements of north atlantic origin in the bottom waters of the north pacific this is the first tracer evidence to corroborate the suggestion of reid and lynn 1971 that some of the temperature and salinity properties of the deep waters of the north pacific originated in the norwegian and greenland seas

directly measured mid depth circulation in the northeastern north atlantic ocean the circulation of water masses in the northeastern north atlantic ocean has a strong influence on global climate owing to the northward transport of warm subtropical water to high latitudes but the ocean circulation at depths below the reach of satellite observations is difficult to measure and only recently have comprehensive direct observations of whole ocean basins been possible here we present quantitative maps of the absolute velocities at two levels in the northeastern north atlantic as obtained from acoustically tracked floats we find that most of the mean flow transported northward by the gulf stream system at the thermocline level about 600 m depth remains within the subpolar region and only relatively little enters the rockall trough or the nordic seas contrary to previous work our data indicate that warm saline water from the mediterranean sea reaches the high latitudes through a combination of narrow slope currents and mixing processes at both depths under investigation currents cross the mid atlantic ridge preferentially over deep gaps in the ridge demonstrating that sea floor topography can constrain even upper ocean circulation patterns

isotopic composition of neodymium in waters from the drake passage the isotopic composition of neodymium has been determined in seawaters from the drake passage the antarctic circumpolar current which controls interocean mixing flows through this passage the parameter e nd 0 which is a function of the ratio of neodymium 143 to neodymium 144 is found to be uniform with depth at two stations with a value which is intermediate between the values for the atlantic and the pacific and indicates that the antarctic circumpolar current consists of about 70 percent atlantic water cold bottom water from a site in the south central pacific has the neodymium isotopic signature of the waters in the drake passage by using a box model to describe the exchange of water between the southern ocean and the ocean basins to the north together with the isotopic results an upper limit of approximately 33 million cubic meters per second is calculated for the rate of exchange between the pacific and the southern ocean concentrations of samarium and neodymium were also determined and found to increase approximately linearly with depth these results suggest that neodymium may be a valuable tracer in oceanography and may be useful in paleo oceanographic studies

evolution of deepwater mixing and weathering inputs in the central atlantic ocean over the past 33 myr the isotopic composition of nd in present day deep waters of the central and northeastern atlantic ocean is thought to fingerprint mixing of north atlantic deep water with antarctic bottom water the central atlantic romanche and vema fracture zones are considered the most important pathways for deep water exchange between the western and eastern atlantic basins today we present new nd isotope records of the deepwater evolution in the fracture zones obtained from ferromanganese crusts which are inconsistent with simple water mass mixing alone prior to 3 ma and require additional inputs from other sources the new pb isotope time series from the fracture zones are inexplicable by simple mixing of north atlantic deep water and antarctic bottom water for the entire past 33 myr the distinct and relatively invariable nd and pb isotope records of deep waters in the fracture zones appear instead to have been controlled to a large extent by contributions from saharan dust and the orinoco amazon rivers thus the previously observed similarity of nd and pb isotope time series from the western and eastern north atlantic basins is better explainable by direct supply of labrador seawater to the eastern basin via a northern pathway rather than by advection of north atlantic deep water via the romanche and vema fracture zones

ice age initiation by an ocean atmospheric circulation change in the labrador sea abstract the contrast between the large greenland ice sheet and the nearly ice free area of canada to the west exemplifies the critical role of the moisture supply in glaciation the trigger for new ice sheet growth in canada at the end of the last interglacial was probably an increase in the moisture supply rather than regional cooling triggering is attributed to stronger storm activity in the labrador baffin area caused by warming in the labrador sea and cooling in the greenland norwegian sea the key to this temperature and circulation change may have been an increase in the hydrologic deficit of the mediterranean sea a larger hydrologic deficit would have increased mediterranean salinity and consequently the volume of mediterranean overflow water a resulting increased upwelling of mediterranean overflow water from the lower thermocline off scotland would have diverted additional warm north atlantic drift water westward via the irminger current thus warming the labrador sea the underlying cause of the hydrologic deficit increase was diminishing milankovitch summer insolation in lower latitudes this reduced african monsoon intensity and nile river discharge in modern times nearly all nile discharge to the mediterranean has been lost due to irrigation practices culminating with the completion of the aswan high dam in 1968 the total increase in the hydrologic deficit due to nile discharge loss is now 8 in the next 70 100 years the nile loss added to larger evaporative losses due to co 2 warming may increase the deficit as much as 22 above the inferred deficit at the beginning of the last glaciation thus further warming the labrador sea consequently the triggering of major ice sheet growth in canada 100 years from now is possible

neodymium isotopes as tracers in marine sediments and aerosols north atlantic nd and sm concentrations and nd isotopic compositions were measured on the detrital fraction of deep sea surface sediments and on aerosols sampled over the north atlantic and mediterranean sea the data expressed asend 0 and as model ages ranged from 14 5 end 0 4 9 and from 0 01 to 2 21 ga respectively two areas where the sediments contain relatively less radiogenic nd are to the west off north africa and eastward of the canadian shield this distribution is consistent with other tracers in suggesting that a significant fraction of the sediments are derived from aeolian material transported by major wind systems saharan dust transported in the equatorial trade winds belt and north american soil material transported in the latitudes of the westerlies between these aeolian dominated belts along an axis from the azores to gibraltar and the mediterranean lies a zone of more radiogenicend 0 values in sediments and aerosols influenced by the recent volcanism of this region previously reported distributions of nd isotopes in bottom formed iron manganese crusts and coatings are similar to distributions of nd isotope values in detrital sediments and aerosols this suggests that the detrital fraction has undergone partial dissolution and desorption in the water column and or in the pore waters of near surface sediments and that a significant proportion of nd in the authigenic ferromanganese phases is derived from this source and may therefore not represent strictly dissolved seawater nd isotope ratios useful as watermass tracers

final closure of panama and the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation abstract the greenland ice sheet is accepted as a key factor controlling the quaternary glacial scenario however the origin and mechanisms of major arctic glaciation starting at 3 15 ma and culminating at 2 74 ma are still controversial for this phase of intense cooling ravelo et al 1 a c ravelo d h andreasen m lyle a o lyle m w wara regional climate shifts caused by gradual global cooling in the pliocene epoch nature 429 2004 263 267 proposed a complex gradual forcing mechanism in contrast our new submillennial scale paleoceanographic records from the pliocene north atlantic suggest a far more precise timing and forcing for the initiation of northern hemisphere glaciation nhg since it was linked to a 2 3 c surface water warming during warm stages from 2 95 to 2 82 ma these records support previous models g h haug r tiedemann effect of the formation of the isthmus of panama on atlantic ocean thermohaline circulation nature 393 1998 673 676 2 claiming that the final closure of the panama isthmus 3 0 2 5 ma j groeneveld s steph r tiedemann d nurnberg d garbe schonberg the final closure of the central american seaway geology in prep 3 induced an increased poleward salt and heat transport associated strengthening of north atlantic thermohaline circulation and in turn an intensified moisture supply to northern high latitudes resulted in the build up of nhg finally culminating in the great irreversible climate crash at marine isotope stage g6 2 74 ma in summary there was a two step threshold mechanism that marked the onset of nhg with glacial to interglacial cycles quasi persistent until today

lava production at soufriere hills volcano montserrat 1995 2009 1 we estimate that about 1 km3 of andesitic lava has been produced at soufriere hills volcano montserrat from 1995 to 2009 there were three major episodes of extrusion each lasting about 2 to 3 5 years and producing about 280 to 340 m m3 of lava and one minor episode our estimates account for the dense rock equivalent volumetric contributions from the core and talus components of the lava dome pyroclastic flow deposits and air fall deposits by 2005 at least two thirds of the erupted mass has already entered the sea the average lava flux across the major extrusion episodes has been 3 5 m3s 1 with short period 10 15 days pulses up to 10 20 m3s 1 the first and third episodes of extrusion show similar flux histories suggesting similar behaviour of the system ten years apart waning flux towards the end of each episode may be caused by declining overpressure in the magma reservoir

neodymium isotopes in planktonic foraminifera a record of the response of continental weathering and ocean circulation rates to climate change the neodymium nd isotope composition of ancient seawater is a potentially useful tracer of changes in continental inputs and ocean circulation on timescales of a few ka here we present the first nd isotope record for seawater using sedimentary foraminifera cleaned using standard oxidative reductive techniques the data along with mn ca ratios suggest that cleaned foraminifera provide a reliable record of nd in seawater and hold out the prospect of using nd in foraminifera to examine changes in seawater that accompany glacial interglacial climatic cycles the principal potential problem to be overcome with the use of forams as records of trace elements in ancient seawater is their diagenetic fe mn coatings these contain large amounts of nd and other trace elements but can be cleaned off using highly reducing reagents mn ca ratios for the majority of the cleaned sedimentary foraminifera analysed here lie within the range 10 100 mol mol that has yielded success in studies of transition elements in forams mass balance modelling suggests that for residual mn ca ratios 100 mol mol nd added to the foram in the coating will never shift the measured nd isotope composition significantly away from the seawater value acquired by the foram test in the water column additionally nd concentrations measured in cleaned sedimentary foraminifera are comparable with those for a modern sample that has never encountered diagenetic fluids finally core top planktonic foraminifera for two sites have nd isotope compositions that are identical to local surface seawater the data we present here for labrador sea forams over the past 2 5 m y are interpreted in terms of changes in the seawater isotopic composition the data show a pronounced shift from end values of 12 to 19 in the period 2 5 1 5 ma this change is interpreted to result from the initiation of northern hemisphere glaciation and the increased derivation of labrador sea nd via ice rafting from archaean terranes in central canada in combination with stable isotope and foraminiferal relative species abundance data the new nd data are consistent with the surface hydrography of the labrador sea being dominated by a fluctuating balance between cold polar waters containing unradiogenic nd and warm subtropical waters containing more radiogenic nd the major change in labrador sea nd that is observed in the past 2 5 ma can on its own account for the change in the nd isotope composition of north atlantic deep water over the same time period

response of deep ocean circulation to initiation of northern hemisphere glaciation 3 2 ma carbon isotopic records from benthic foraminifera are used to map patterns of deep ocean circulation between 3 and 2 million years ago the interval when significant northern hemisphere glaciation began the 18o and 13c data from four atlantic sites 552 607 610 and 704 and one pacific site 677 show that global cooling over this interval was associated with increased suppression of north atlantic deep water nadw formation however the relative strength of nadw production was always greater than is observed during late pleistocene glaciations when extreme decreases in nadw are observed in the deep north atlantic our data indicate that an increase in the equator to pole temperature gradient associated with the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation did not intensify deepwater production in the north atlantic but rather the opposite occurred this is not unexpected as it is the warm high salinity characteristic rather than the low temperature of thermocline waters that is critical to the deepwater formation process in this region today

a lead isotopic study of circum antarctic manganese nodules abstract lead isotope ratios in manganese nodules from the circum antarctic ocean display systematic geographical variations eastward in the direction of current movement from south of australia they progressively decrease in the pacific sector and into the western atlantic sector until 30 w from this longitude lead isotope ratios increase in the eastern atlantic sector and reach their highest values in the indian sector near 110 e south of western australia they abruptly decrease these two lead isotope domains correspond closely to the circum antarctic neodymium isotope domains previously recognized by albarede and goldstein 1992 however the intraocean isotopic variations are much clearer for pb than nd reflecting the shorter oceanic residence time of pb 102 y compared with nd 103 y and confirming that pb is a much more sensitive marine tracer throughout the circum antarctic ocean the lead isotopic changes follow the pattern of present day oceanic circulation the pb shows an overall continental signature which is strongest in the indian sector the most probable candidate as the source of the continental signal is north atlantic deep water nadw which enters the circum antarctic in the south atlantic as nadw mixes with circumpolar water lead isotope ratios increase eastward in the indian sector reflecting progressive loss of the pacific derived pb signal the abrupt decrease of lead isotope ratios between the indian and pacific sectors appears to be a consequence of addition of pacific seawater through the pacific lead isotope ratios gradually decrease eastward approaching values of east pacific rise metalliferous sediments ocean ridge basalts and south pacific mn nodules this trend results from an increasing influence of pacific ocean water containing a component derived from pacific volcanism the pacific signature persists into the argentine basin in the southwest atlantic ocean reflecting significant input of water from the drake passage northward into the atlantic the pacific pb component is seen in the atlantic and indian oceans near southern africa as well as in the atlantic and indian sectors of the circum antarctic lead and neodymium isotopes correlate in the atlantic indian sectors but not in the pacific sector reflecting differences in residence times and modes of water mass mixing the renewal of circum antarctic water occurs on a timescale which is short compared to the residence time of nd but long compared to pb as a result dissolved pb is subject to considerable changes over the timescale of circumpolar current movement while nd is less easily affected nadw is added locally in the south atlantic and moves eastward as a water mass as nadw mixes with circumpolar water cpw through the indian sector changes affecting nd pb in nadw and cpw occur in tandem and neodymium and lead isotopes are correlated through the pacific sector gradual addition of pacific seawater occurs over a large region and nd pb relationships are not coupled because simple isotopic mixing systematics are not conserved there neodymium and lead isotopes vary independently the consistency of lead isotope variations with present day ocean bottom water circulation is remarkable considering that the mn nodules as sampled reflect the integrated flux of pb over 105 106 y the oceanic mixing time is 103 y the residence time for pb is 102 y and the circulation time of the circumantarctic ocean is 30 y processes occurring over such different timescales can show such a relationship only if the system is stable over the longest time interval thus on average element sources and ocean circulation through the pleistocene have been similar to the present day despite significant perturbations during glacial periods

a short circuit in thermohaline circulation a cause for northern hemisphere glaciation the cause of northern hemisphere glaciation about 3 million years ago remains uncertain closing the panamanian isthmus increased thermohaline circulation and enhanced moisture supply to high latitudes but the accompanying heat would have inhibited ice growth one possible solution is that enhanced moisture transported to eurasia also enhanced freshwater delivery to the arctic via siberian rivers freshwater input to the arctic would facilitate sea ice formation increase the albedo and isolate the high heat capacity of the ocean from the atmosphere it would also act as a negative feedback on the efficiency of the conveyor belt heat pump

acquisition of the neodymium isotopic composition of the north atlantic deep water the north atlantic deep water nadw neodymium isotopic composition nd ic is increasingly used in oceanography and paleoceanography to trace large scale circulation and weathering processes notably to investigate past variations of the global thermohaline circulation although the present day nadw nd ic is well characterized at nd 13 5 the acquisition of this isotopic signature in other words the causes of this value has so far been very sparsely documented such an understanding is however fundamental to the interpretation of paleo records nd ic and rare earth element concentrations were measured at 9 stations within the north atlantic subpolar gyre signature cruise summer 1999 the comparison of this data set with our understanding of water mass circulation provides a description of how the three layers constituting the nadw the labrador sea water lsw nd 13 9 0 4 north east atlantic deep water neadw nd 13 2 0 4 and north west atlantic bottom water nwabw nd 14 5 0 4 acquire their nd ic through distinct water mass mixings and lithogenic inputs these different mechanisms acting upon water masses from very diverse sources seem to bring the nd ic of the three nadw layers to values close together and similar to that of the nadw it is suggested that sediment seawater interactions significantly lower the neadw and nwabw nd ic along the south east greenland margin since these interactions do not significantly modify the nd content of these water masses sediment remobilizations leading to the nd ic variations are probably associated with nd removal fluxes from the water mass toward the sediment a process called boundary exchange on the other hand lsw seems to acquire its nd ic from the subpolar mode waters from which it is formed by deep convection and no other mechanism needs to be invoked its unradiogenic signature could ultimately be linked to fresh water runoff from the canadian shield these conclusions should allow more precise interpretations of paleoceanographic nd ic records taking into account the distinct histories of the three nadw layers including distinct water mass mixings and distinct lithogenic inputs

closure of the central american isthmus and its effect on deep water formation in the north atlantic modern ocean thermohaline driven circulation influences global climate by transporting heat to high latitudes1 2 and by affecting the exchange of co2 between ocean and atmosphere3 north atlantic deep water nadw plays a key role in this circulation and quaternary climate cycles have been linked to changes in nadw flow4 general circulation model simulations indicate that before closure some 3 4 million years ago of the central american isthmus the narrow strip of land linking north and south america the direct flow of low salinity water from the pacific to the atlantic ocean would have led to a smaller nadw flow5 6 sedimentation patterns7 and nutrient proxies8 11 support these model results by indicating an increase in nadw flow around the time of isthmus closure but these records do not allow changes in different nadw sources to be distinguished and the overall effect of closure on global ocean circulation is poorly known here we present nd pb and sr isotope records preserved by a hydrogenous ferromanganese crust from the nadw flow path in the western north atlantic ocean these records indicate that the isotopic signal associated with nadw strengthened around 3 4 million years ago showing that deep water that formed in the labrador sea made a gradually increasing contribution to nadw flow these data taken together with those from the central pacific ocean12 indicate an increased nadw flow since isthmus closure and suggest that the closure established today s general pattern of ocean circulation

recording changes in enadw composition over the last 340 ka using high precision lead isotopes in a fe mn crust we report high precision pb triple spike data and u th isotopic ages on a high resolution depth profile from a fe mn crust 121dk northeastern atlantic 24 n 21 w 2000 m our results bring important information particularly on the origin of the pb isotopic composition of the northeastern atlantic deep water and more generally on the use of pb isotopes as a paleo proxy to reconstruct weathering inputs to the north atlantic ocean growth rates determined using 230th ex and 230th 232th ex 2 9 0 2 and 3 0 3 mm ma respectively are found to be more reliable than 234uex sensitive to sea water contamination and are similar to the 10be results 3 0 3 mm ma very small variations in 206pb 204pb 18 942 18 964 208pb 204pb 39 057 39 083 and 207pb 204pb 15 696 15 701 are resolved defining linear trends in pb isotope diagrams high precision pb triple spike analysis of samples from crust bm1969 05 northwestern atlantic 39 n 61 w 1829 m are found to entirely reproduce the multi collector plasma source mass spectrometry data recently published this interlaboratory cross calibration establishes that the west north atlantic deep water wnadw does not represent a suitable pb contributor to the northeastern atlantic and rather suggests that the pb isotopic composition of wnadw is significantly altered before or during transport toward the northeastern atlantic basin the pb isotopic compositions of both suspended loads from the amazon mouth and offshore sediment cores are consistent on average with crust 121dk we therefore propose that the change in pb isotopic composition of wnadw may be caused by input of suspended particle loads from the amazon and possibly orinoco rivers or by interaction with sediments deposited by those rivers we speculate further that the short term compositional variations observed in this study may be caused by fluctuations in the relative contributions of amazon tributaries to the bulk composition supplied to the ocean because these tributaries sample terrains of drastically different ages phanerozoic andes and precambrian amazonian shield

actual timing of neodymium isotopic variations recorded by femn crusts in the western north atlantic hydrogenetic ferromanganese femn crusts from the western north atlantic record variations in the nd and pb isotopic composition of cenozoic deep water preserved during their growth the timing and cause of the most striking change have been the subject of debate some have proposed that the shift took place after 4 ma in response to the closure of the panama gateway others have argued that the major change in isotope composition occurred as early as 8 ma this study presents high resolution nd isotope records for crusts previously dated using 10be 9be chronology these data confirm that the shifts in nd occurred after 4 ma consistent with a likely relationship with the closure of the central american isthmus and intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation and in accordance with changes seen in other physical and chemical records these results illustrate the need for both a robust chronological framework and high resolution records before a reliable paleoceanographic interpretation can be made of the variations recorded by femn crusts

evolution of atlantic thermohaline circulation early oligocene onset of deep water production in the north atlantic the flow of deep water masses is a key component of heat transport in the modern climate system yet the role of deep ocean heat transport during periods of extreme warmth is poorly understood the present mode of meridional overturning circulation is characterized by deep water formation in both the north atlantic and the southern ocean however a different mode of meridional overturning circulation operated during the extreme greenhouse warmth of the early cenozoic during which time the southern ocean was the dominant region of deep water formation the combination of general global cooling and tectonic evolution of the atlantic basins over the past 55 m y ultimately led to the development of a mode of overturning circulation characterized by both southern ocean and north atlantic deep water sources the change in deep water circulation mode may in turn have affected global climate however unraveling the causes and consequences of this transition requires a better understanding of the timing of the transition new nd isotope data from the southeastern atlantic ocean indicate that the initial transition to a bipolar mode of deep water circulation occurred in the early oligocene ca 33 ma the likely cause of significant deep water production in the north atlantic was tectonic deepening of the sill separating the greenland norwegian sea from the north atlantic

60 myr records of major elements and pb nd isotopes from hydrogenous ferromanganese crusts reconstruction of seawater paleochemistry we compare the time series of major element geochemical and pb and nd isotopic composition obtained for seven hydrogenous ferromanganese crusts from the atlantic indian and pacific oceans which cover the last 60 myr average crust growth rates and age depth relationships were determined directly for the last about 10 myr using be 10 be 9 profiles in the absence of other information these were extrapolated to the base of the crusts assuming constant growth rates and constant initial be 10 be 9 ratios due to the lack of additional information co contents have also been used previously to estimate growth rates in co rich pacific and atlantic seamount crusts puteanus and halbach 1988 a comparison of be 10 be 9 and co based dating of three co rich crusts supports the validity of this approach and confirms the earlier chronologies derived from extrapolated be 10 be 9 based growth rates back to 60 ma our data show that the flux of co into co poor crusts has been considerably lower the relationship between growth rate and co content for the co poor crusts developed from these data is in good agreement with a previous study of a wider range of marine deposits manheim 1986 the results suggest that the co content provides detailed information on the growth history of ferromanganese crusts particularly prior to 10 12 ma where the be 10 based method is not applicable the distributions of pb and nd isotopes in the deep oceans over the last 60 myr are expected to be controlled by two main factors a variations of oceanic mixing patterns and flow paths of water masses with distinct isotopic signatures related to major paleogeographic changes and b variability of supply rates or provenance of detrital material delivered to the ocean linked to climate change glaciations or major tectonic uplift the major element profiles of crusts in this study show neither systematic features which are common to crusts with similar isotope records nor do they generally show coherent relationships to the isotope records within a single crust consequently any interpretation of time series of major element concentrations of a single crust in terms of paleoceanograghic variations must be considered with caution this is because local processes appear to have dominated over more basin wide paleoceanographic effects in this study co is the only element which shows a relationship to pb and nd isotopes in pacific crusts a possible link to changes of pacific deep water properties associated with an enhanced northward advection of antarctic bottom water from about 14 ma is consistent with the pb but not with the nd isotopic results the self consistent profiles of the pb and nd isotopes suggest that postdepositional diagenetic processes in hydrogenous crusts including phosphatization events have been insignificant for particle reactive elements such as pb be and nd isotope time series of pb and nd show no systematic relationships with major element contents of the crusts which supports their use as tracers of paleo seawater isotopic composition

the use of foraminifera as a record of the past neodymium isotope composition of seawater 1 we present new isotopic data for sedimentary planktonic foraminifera as well as for potential water column and sedimentary sources of neodymium nd which confirm that the isotopic composition of the foraminifera is the same as surface seawater and very different from deep water and sedimentary nd the faithfulness with which sedimentary foraminifera record the isotopic signature of surface seawater nd is difficult to explain given their variable and high nd ca ratios ratios that are often sedimentary foraminifera ratios that are often much higher than is plausible for direct incorporation within the calcite structure we present further data that demonstrate a similarly large range in nd ca ratios in plankton tow foraminifera a range that may be controlled by redox conditions in the water column cleaning experiments reveal in common with earlier work that large amounts of nd are released by cleaning with both hydrazine and diethylene triamine penta acetic acid but that the nd released at each step is of surface origin while further detailed studies are required to verify the exact location of the surface isotopic signature and the key controls on foraminiferal nd isotope systematics these new data place the use of planktonic foraminifera as recorders of surface water nd isotope ratios and thus of variations in the past supply of nd to the oceans from the continents via weathering and erosion on a reasonably sure footing

temporal stability of the neodymium isotope signature of the holocene to glacial north atlantic the neodymium isotopic composition of marine precipitates is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for identifying changes in ocean circulation and mixing on million year to millennial timescales unlike nutrient proxies such as 13 c or cd ca nd isotopes are not thought to be altered in any significant way by biological processes and thus they can serve as a quasi conservative water mass tracer however the application of nd isotopes in understanding the role of thermohaline circulation in rapid climate change is currently hindered by the lack of direct constraints on the signature of the north atlantic end member through time here we present the first results of nd isotopes measured in u th dated deep sea corals from the new england seamounts in the northwest atlantic ocean our data are consistent with the conclusion that the nd isotopic composition of north atlantic deep and intermediate water has remained nearly constant through the last glacial cycle the results address long standing concerns that there may have been significant changes in the nd isotopic composition of the north atlantic end member during this interval and substantiate the applicability of this novel tracer on millennial timescales for paleoceanography research

control of north atlantic deep water circulation by the greenland scotland ridge coherent bathymetric features along the reykjanes ridge indicate that there were significant changes in the flux of buoyant material within the icelandic hot spot during the neogene the radial extent of the topographic swell associated with this hot spot is of the order of 1000 to 2000 km and therefore these changes affected the greenland scotland ridge gsr at present sill depths along the gsr are generally less than 500 m with the deepest passage being less than 1000 m making the overflow water sensitive to even small changes in the ridge depths reconstructions of neogene mantle plume activity correlate with the deepwater circulation patterns in the north atlantic times of high mantle plume activity caused northern component water ncw production to cease ncw fluxes resumed once this phase of high mantle plume activity slowed the long term climate change during the neogene must be controlled by factors other than ncw production however climatic optima during the late early miocene and early pliocene appear to have been augmented by high ncw fluxes while subsequent middle miocene and middle pliocene coolings correlate with uplifts on the gsr and reduced ncw flux we suggest that reductions in ncw may have contributed to both of these cooling events

ferromanganese crusts as indicators for paleoceanographic events in the ne atlantic hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts reflect the chemical conditions of the sewater from which they formed fine scale geochemical analysis of crust layers in combination with age determinations can therefore be used to investigate paleoceanographic changes which are recorded in geochemical gradients in the crusts at tropic seamount off northwest africa uniform crust growth influenced by terrigenous input from the african continent occurred during approximately the past 12 ma phosphatization of these crusts is minor in contrast crusts from lion seamount located between madeira and the portuguese coast display a much more variable growth history a pronounced increase in ni cu and zn is observed in some intervals of the crusts which probably reflects increased surface productivity a thick older phosphatized generation occurs in many samples hydrographic profiles indicate that mediterranean outflow water mow may play an important role in the composition of these crusts 10be dating of one sample confirms that the interruption of the mow during the messinian salinity crisis 6 2 5 ma ago resulted in changes in element composition sr isotope dating of the apatite phase of the old crust generation has been carried out to obtain a minimum age for the older generation of atlantic crusts and to determine whether crust phosphatization in the atlantic can be related to phosphatization episodes recorded in pacific crusts the preliminary data show that the old phosphatized crust generation might be as old as approximately 30 40 ma

neodymium isotopes in the mediterranean sea comparison between seawater and sediment signals nine depth profiles of dissolved nd concentrations and isotopic ratios epsilon nd were obtained in the levantine basin the ionian the aegean the alboran seas and the strait of gibraltar thirteen core top sediments and nile river particle samples were also analyzed leached with 1 n hcl acetic acid or hydroxylamine hydrochloride the seawater epsilon nd values become more radiogenic during the eastward circulation in the mediterranean sea the relationship between salinity and the seawater epsilon nd shows that the nd isotopic signature is more conservative than salinity in the mediterranean sea the water mass with the highest epsilon nd 4 8 is found at about 200 m in the easternmost levantine basin the average epsilon nd value for deep waters is 7 0 in the eastern basin 2 5 epsilon units higher than in the western basin by examining the sensitivity of seawater epsilon nd to nd inputs from the nile we conclude that the most significant radiogenic nd source is partially dissolved nile river particles the nd flux from the nile river water has a minor influence on the mediterranean seawater end except for the easternmost levantine basin the leachate epsilon nd values are consistent with the seawater values in the easternmost levantine basin the leachate end values obtained with hcl leaching are systematically higher than the seawater values the relationship between leachate and residual epsilon nd values indicates that the hcl leaching partially dissolves lithogenic nd so the dissolution of nile river particles is the cause of the observed shift some end values obtained with hydroxylamine hydrochloride leaching are higher than those obtained with hcl leaching although the reason for this shift is not clear sr 87 sr 86 successfully detects the presence of a nonmarine component in the leachate our results suggest that leaching performance may vary with the mineralogy of marine sediments at least in the case of the mediterranean sea copyright c 2004 elsevier ltd

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

neodymium isotopic study of baffin bay water sources of ree from very old terranes water samples were collected from baffin bay and surrounding areas in order to evaluate this region as a potential source of nd from old continental material to atlantic water the isotopic data ranged from e nd 0 9 0 to 26 with most of the data around e nd 0 20 compared with values of north atlantic deep water nadw with e nd 0 13 5 the concentration of nd in baffin bay waters was as high as 6 10 12 g g compared with 2 5 10 12 g g for nadw the combination of low e nd and high nd concentration indicates that baffin bay may be a significant source of nd from very old crustal material a simple box model was used to evaluate the contribution to the nd budget of nadw and it was concluded that a substantial fraction of the nd from ancient crustal sources that is required to maintain the isotopic composition of nadw could be supplied by baffin bay outflow

north atlantic deep water export to the southern ocean over the past 14 myr evidence from nd and pb isotopes in ferromanganese crusts the intensity of north atlantic deep water nadw production has been one of the most important parameters controlling the global thermohaline ocean circulation system and climate here we present a new approach to reconstruct the overall strength of nadw export from the north atlantic to the southern ocean over the past 14 myr applying the deep water nd and pb isotope composition as recorded by ferromanganese crusts and nodules we present the first long term nd and pb isotope time series for deep southern ocean water masses which are compared with previously published time series for nadw from the nw atlantic ocean these data suggest a continuous and strong export of nadw or a precursor of it into the southern ocean between 14 and 3 ma an increasing difference in nd and pb isotope compositions between the nw atlantic and the southern ocean over the past 3 myr gives evidence for a progressive overall reduction of nadw export since the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation nhg the nd isotope data allow us to assess at least semiquantitatively that the amount of this reduction has been in the range between 14 and 37 depending on location

new constraints on the pb and nd isotopic evolution of ne atlantic water masses 1 time series of lead pb and neodymium nd isotope compositions were measured on three ferromanganese crusts recording the evolution of ne atlantic water masses over the past 15 ma the crusts are distributed along a depth profile 700 4600 m comprising the present day depths of mediterranean outflow water and north east atlantic deep water a pronounced increase of the 206pb 204pb in the two deeper crusts starting at 4 ma and a decrease in 143nd 144nd in all three crusts took place between 6 4 ma and the present these patterns are similar to isotope time series in the western north atlantic basin and are consistent with efficient mixing between the two basins however the changes occurred 1 3 ma earlier in the eastern basin indicating that the northeastern atlantic led the major change in pb and nd isotope composition probably due to a direct supply of labrador seawater via a northern route the pb isotope evolution during the pliocene pleistocene can generally be explained by mixing between two end members corresponding to mediterranean outflow water and north east atlantic deep water but external sources such as saharan dust are likely to have played a role as well the pb isotope composition of the shallowest crust that grew within the present day mediterranean outflow water does not show significant pb isotope changes indicating that it was controlled by the same pb sources throughout the past 15 ma

preservation of seawater sr and nd isotopes in fossil fish teeth bad news and good news abstract we analyzed 87sr 86sr ratios in foraminifera pore fluids and fish teeth for samples ranging in age from eocene to pleistocene from four ocean drilling program sites distributed around the globe site 1090 in the cape basin of the southern ocean site 757 on the ninetyeast ridge in the indian ocean site 807 on the ontong java plateau in the western equatorial pacific and site 689 on the maud rise in the southern ocean sr isotopic ratios for dated foraminifera consistently plot on the global seawater sr isotope curve for sites 1090 757 and 807 sr isotopic values of the pore fluids are generally less radiogenic than contemporaneous seawater values as are values for fossil fish teeth in contrast pore fluid 87sr 86sr values at site 689 are more radiogenic than contemporaneous seawater and the corresponding fish teeth also record more radiogenic values thus sr isotopic values preserved in fossil fish teeth are consistently altered in the direction of the pore fluid values furthermore there is a correlation between the magnitude of the offset between the pore fluids and the seawater curve and the associated offset between the fish teeth and the seawater curve these data suggest that the hydroxyfluorapatite of the fossil fish teeth continues to recrystallize and exchange sr with its surroundings during burial and diagenesis therefore sr chemostratigraphy can be used to determine rough ages for fossil fish teeth in these cores but cannot be used to fine tune age models in contrast to the sr isotopic system our nd concentration data combined with published isotopic and rare earth element data suggest that fish teeth acquire nd during early diagenesis while they are still in direct contact with seawater the concentrations of nd acquired at this stage are extremely high relative to the concentrations in surrounding pore fluids as a result nd isotopes are not altered during burial and later diagenesis therefore fossil fish teeth from a variety of marine environments preserve a reliable and robust record of deep seawater nd isotopic compositions from the time of deposition

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

timing and climatic consequences of the opening of drake passage age estimates for the opening of drake passage range from 49 to 17 million years ago ma complicating interpretations of the relationship between ocean circulation and global cooling secular variations of neodymium isotope ratios at agulhas ridge southern ocean atlantic sector suggest an influx of shallow pacific seawater approximately 41 ma the timing of this connection and the subsequent deepening of the passage coincide with increased biological productivity and abrupt climate reversals circulation productivity linkages are proposed as a mechanism for declining atmospheric carbon dioxide these results also indicate that drake passage opened before the tasmanian gateway implying the late eocene establishment of a complete circum antarctic pathway

neodymium isotopic composition of the mediterranean outflow and the eastern north atlantic the neodymium concentration and isotopic composition of the mediterranean outflow in the strait of gibraltar has been directly determined the outflow has a dissolved nd concentration of 23 pmoles kg with nd 0 9 4 these results are in clear disagreement with previous values inferred for the mediterranean this concentration and nd 0 do not sharply contrast with north atlantic deep water nadw values and can produce isotopic anomalies no larger than 1 unit in the north atlantic a new profile in the eastern north atlantic does not exhibit an nd 0 anomaly at the depth of the mediterranean water core in accordance with the above inferences while concentrations and nd 0 at this site indicate that nd is conservative in the deep eastern north atlantic a previously reported nd 0 anomaly in the eastern north atlantic originally associated with the mediterranean outflow has a different source the direct contribution of the mediterranean outflow to the nadw nd budget is small 10 of the high latitude sources however the outflow plus entrained water supply 30 of the total nd associated with northern latitude deep water sources concentrations of dissolved nd in the outflow are enriched compared to the atlantic inflow which has 16 pmoles kg with nd 0 11 8 the principal source of the excess dissolved nd is inferred to be partial dissolution of detrital particles simple mass balance calculations suggest that 0 6 of the nd associated with detrital river transported sediments and or 3 5 of the nd associated with eolian particles delivered to the mediterranean is mobilized during passage into the marine environment if general these mobilization efficiencies imply that the dissolution of detrital particles is a significant source of dissolved nd and other rare earth elements in seawater

neogene evolution of atlantic thermohaline circulation perspective from walvis ridge southeastern atlantic ocean 1 we present new nd isotope records from walvis ridge ocean drilling program odp sites 1262 1264 southeastern atlantic spanning the past 24 ma to investigate the neogene evolution of atlantic thermohaline circulation the new data indicate that deepwater nd t values from odp site 1262 decrease from 11 0 at 10 6 ma to 12 5 by 7 3 ma this decrease parallels the nd isotope trends contained in fe mn crust records from the northwestern atlantic however the shift at odp site 1262 4755 m water depth occurred up to 6 ma earlier than the corresponding changes in crust records from the atlantic and earlier than any atlantic site shallower than 2700 m paleowater depth recent interpretations of the rapid decrease in fe mn crust nd nd t ssvalues invoke changes in weathering inputs to the labrador sea region rather than a fundamental change in deepwater convection in the labrador sea however the new evidence for significant depth stratification of the nd isotope signal in the southeastern atlantic between 10 6 and 7 3 ma suggests that the onset of deepwater convection in the labrador sea may have played a role in the deepwater decrease in nd isotopic composition climatic conditions during the middle to late miocene likely favored an increase in the importance of glacially induced mechanical weathering while at the same time promoting deep convection in the labrador sea