late quaternary climate change from δ18o records of multiple species of planktonic foraminifera high resolution records from the anoxic cariaco basin venezuela seasonal trade wind induced upwelling along the southern margin of the caribbean sea occurs in response to the annual migration of the intertropical convergence zone laminated high deposition rate sediments of the cariaco basin a small anoxic basin on the venezuelan continental shelf clearly record large changes in the past intensity of this upwelling because sediments of the cariaco basin are largely unbioturbated they offer a natural opportunity to study the stable isotopic records of multiple planktonic foraminiferal taxa and to evaluate their sensitivity to both the modern hydrography and temporal changes in upwelling intensity and climate oxygen isotope data 18o from four dominant foraminiferal taxa are presented for the time period covering the last 28 kyr the 18o data from globigerina bulloides after correction for nonequilibrium precipitation are used as a monitor of sea surface conditions during the winter spring upwelling season the 18o data from white globigerinoides ruber are used as a measure of annual average conditions in the near surface while pink g ruber data are consistent with use as an index of endmember conditions during the summer fall nonupwelling season data from the deeper dwelling neogloboquadrina dutertrei yield information on conditions near the base of the local thermocline during the last glacial 18o data from g ruber and generally reduced interspecific differences indicate cooling of surface waters over the cariaco basin by up to 4 c this longer term cooling does not appear to be related to changes in upwelling intensity along the coast but may instead reflect more regional cooling of the larger caribbean superimposed on this pattern between 12 6 and 10 ka is a convergence of 18o data between g bulloides and n dutertrei implying much stronger upwelling during the last deglaciation this scenario is consistent with other evidence for high productivity at this time at 14 ka a sharp 18o depletion event observed in all taxa seems to have been produced by increased freshwater discharge to the southern caribbean suggesting either higher regional rainfall or the influence of glacial melting in the andes minimum 18o values of pink g ruber around 6 7 ka record warmer summer sea surface temperatures and or decreased salinity in the mid holocene

climate evolution during the holocene a study with an earth system model of intermediate complexity an earth system model of intermediate complexity mobidic has been used to simulate the transient variations in continental temperature sea surface temperature sst thermohaline circulation thc and sea ice cover over the last 9000 years 9 kyr experiments were designed to determine a the deviation of the climatic system with respect to equilibrium over the last 9 kyr b the individual contributions of oceans and vegetation to climatic changes as well as the potential synergies between these components and c the relative importance of precession obliquity and co2 concentration changes during this period results show a monotonous cooling trend in the northern high latitudes between 9 kyr bp and the present day both over the oceans and the continents north of 60 n this cooling is noticed throughout the year but the largest variations appear in spring and summer up to 6 c over continents along with this cooling the model exhibits a southward shift of the northern treeline by about 600 km most of this shift takes place between 4 and 1 kyr bp during this period reorganisations of the boreal forest introduce a lag of about 200 years in the system with respect to a state in equilibrium with the external forcing sensitivity experiments illustrate the strong impact of this vegetation shift both on the oceans and the continents especially in spring and early summer however the model exhibits a weak synergy between vegetation and ocean throughout the holocene finally a sensitivity study to the forcing components shows the dominant role of the astronomical forcing with respect to co2 as well as the non linear behaviour of climate in response to obliquity and precession

structural control on sea floor hydrothermal activity at the tag active mound the tag active mound1 13 on the mid atlantic ridge near 26 n is one of the largest known actively forming volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits construction of such a deposit requires that the upflow of hydrothermal fluids be localized at this site over tens of thousands of years but the cause of this localization has been controversial two popular hypotheses propose that it results from young volcanism immediately adjacent to the mound6 or from the intersection of a transfer fault orthogonally crossing the rift valley floor with ridge parallel faults8 here we present high resolution sonar and photographic data which provide no evidence for young eruptions nearby or for transverse through going faults intersecting the tag mound instead our data suggest that the localization of hydrothermal activity at the tag mound is strongly controlled by permeable conduits at the intersection of an actively developing ridge parallel fissure fault complex with a newly recognized but older oblique fault system these observations may aid the interpretation of similar structures in ancient sea floor sulphide deposits where the tectonic disruption caused by emplacement on land has obscured the original geometry

faulting and fault scaling on the median valley floor of the trans atlantic geotraverse tag segment 26 n on the mid atlantic ridge a quantitative assessment of faulting on the median valley floor of a slow spreading ridge is accomplished through the analysis of high resolution dsl 120 sidescan sonar and coregistered bathymetric data from the tag segment near 26 n on the mid atlantic ridge at this location faulting is exposed within a 3 5 km wide ridge parallel zone lying asymmetrically on the eastern half of the median valley floor mapped faults have a normal sense of displacement are 2 km in length and accommodate 1 5 brittle extension evidence of fault linkage within the fault population includes kinked and bent fault traces in map view the development of overlapping fault segments or relay ramps and the presence of multiple local maxima in the displacement distance profiles of some faults faults have a slight tendency to dip to the east or outward relative to the valley axis and exhibit little symmetry of fault dip about the axis of the faulted zone or any other ridge parallel line faults exhibit a roughly linear relationship between maximum fault throw and fault length with a mean ratio of 0 030 for the population regression of length frequency data indicates a power law distribution with an exponent of 1 64 1 96 demonstrating that fractal populations can exist in the mid ocean ridge environment the fractal nature of this length frequency distribution and the ratio of maximum fault throw to fault length differ significantly from those described previously for populations of larger abyssal hill faults in the fast spreading environment where the distribution is exponential and the throw to length ratio is 5 times lower these results suggest that the scaling of fault populations in the midocean ridge setting may vary as a function of spreading rate and or fault size

normal faulting and the topographic roughness of mid ocean ridge flanks the ocean floor on the flanks of mid ocean ridges is covered by abyssal hills topographic features elongated perpendicularly to the direction of relative plate motion these topographic features are interpreted as normal fault blocks and or volcanic constructions that originated near the ridge axis and were later rafted onto the ridge flanks by seafloor spreading the purpose of this paper is to quantify the topographic roughness of a profile perpendicular to the strike of a number of normal faults given a fault population and a mechanical model for the response of the lithosphere to faulting we obtain expressions for the variation in root mean square roughness with profile length and for the power spectral density of a profile given three parameters a fault density number of faults per unit length crossed by the profile an average squared fault scarp height and a characteristic length of flexure to keep matters simple we make a number of assumptions and approximations namely that the lithosphere behaves as an elastic plate that faults have an infinite length and a vertical dip that the response of topography to a number of faults is simply the sum of the responses to each fault and that faults have random locations and scarp heights independently chosen from some statistical distribution the theory predicts that the roughness length relationship power spectral density should follow power laws for scales wavelengths less than a characteristic scale proportional to the length scale of flexure we compare the predictions of the theory with actual measurements of mid ocean ridge flank roughness and find good first order agreement in particular we use independent estimates of fault densities average squared fault scarp heights and flexural length scales to predict the topographic roughness of the east pacific rise and we find that normal faulting can explain all the observed topographic roughness nevertheless there are some differences between predictions and observations these differences are likely to be due to processes other than faulting that create topographic relief e g volcanism and to spatial correlations of fault scarp heights despite these shortcomings the approach presented here provides a first step in understanding the topographic roughness signal by quantifying the contribution of the geological processes that generate surface relief

living planktonic foraminifera in the eastern south atlantic during spring indicators of water masses upwelling and the congo zaire river plume abstract planktonic foraminifera were collected from pumped surface water samples and net tows over the upper 150 m of the water column in the eastern south atlantic ocean during october and november 1989 of the 24 recorded species 12 occur abundantly and form 6 foraminiferal assemblages the assemblages correlate with the physico chemical properties of the 6 vapor surface water masses the correlation of species with low salinity is due to properties co variant with salinity at several locations high concentrations of planktonic foraminifera were observed caused by frontal mixing or reproduction the g sacculifer g ruber white assemblage marks the south equatorial under current minor contribution of g menardii and n dutertrei to this assemblage reflects the subsurface equatorial under current the n dutertrei g siphonifera assemblage reflects the south equatorial counter current and equatorial under current the n pachyderma g bulloides assemblage reflects the coastal upwelling over the shelf and the filaments of mixed oceanic and upwelled water in the coastal of the benguela current bc the angola benguela front at the interface of the warm currents and the bc is reflected by the g inflata g bulloides assemblage an unusual coincidence of g sacculifer g bulloides in one assemblage results from the interaction of the subtropical gyre and the oceanic branch of the bc the g rubber pink n dutertrei assemblage is attributed to the warm low saline plume in front of the congo zaire river

offshore wind forcing in the gulf of tehuantepec mexico the asymmetric circulation since the early surveys carried out by the eastern tropical pacific eastropic and scripps tuna oceanographic research stor projects in the tropical pacific off mexico the northerly winds which blow over the gulf of tehuantepec were described as an important factor controlling the dynamics of this coastal ocean in january february 1989 an international team carried out the experiment tehuano designed to study the response of the gulf to these wind pulses the complete evolution of the coastal ocean after an event of moderate intensity was observed the forcing is characterized by a mostly symmetric fan shaped offshore wind jet which in turn produces a remarkably asymmetric upper ocean response while analytical results based on ekman theory forced by a symmetric offshore wind predict the formation of a symmetric dipolar circulation the observed flow consists mainly of a large 200 km in diameter anticyclonic warm core eddy in the western gulf with only a weak cyclonic counterpart in the eastern gulf intense surface cooling under the wind jet is caused by entrainment of subsurface water into the upper layer the thermocline in the west deepens with the development of the eddy which is formed initially by the advection of warm surface waters from west of the gulf east of the axis of the wind the mixed layer deepens due to wind induced entrainment while at the same time shoaling and compression of the deeper isotherms by curl induced upwelling ekman pumping strengthen the thermocline

redox reactions and carbonate preservation in deep sea sediments abstract geochemical analyses of long sediment cores in turbidite sequences from two abyssal plains in the north atlantic have provided evidence for a relationship between post depositional oxic decay of organic matter and the dissolution of carbonates palaeo oxidation zones in the upper part of individual turbidites were initially identified by distinct colour changes in the sediments these zones were found to have distinctly lower amounts of organic carbon carbonate minerals and labile metals such as fe mn ni and zn as compared with the underlying unoxidized parts of the same turbidite it appears that the initial oxidation of organic matter by oxygen results in an undersaturation of the pore water with respect to carbonates while at the same time some metals are precipitated as easily reducible and soluble oxyhydroxides after burial under suboxic conditions the palaeo oxidation zones are subjected to mildly reducing pore waters that leach the oxyhydroxides resulting in a depletion in labile metal contents in the palaeo oxidized zones it is important that these characteristics be identified in the sedimentary record as the result of diagenetic processes and not as a reflection of primary production in palaeo oceans

millennial scale climate variability of the northeast pacific ocean and northwest north america based on radiolaria and pollen abstract radiolaria and pollen abundances in marine sediment cores from the northeast pacific are used to reconstruct oceanographic and continental climate change during the past glacial cycle 0 150 kyr these data allow direct comparison of the climate response of continental and oceanic systems detailed 18 o and ams 14 c measurements provide a link into global stratigraphic frameworks canonical correlation analysis extracts two modes of variation common to both the radiolaria and pollen records the first mode of variation correlates an assemblage of radiolaria associated with coastal upwelling with increased redwood western hemlock and alder pollen this association is consistent with the modern relationship between coastal upwelling coastal fog and redwood forests a second canonical mode relates an oceanic fauna now found in highest abundance in the far north pacific with reduced pine and western hemlock pollen abundance comparison of these records to an ice core 18 o record suggests that at wavelengths 3000 years warm events in greenland are correlated to intervals of increased coastal upwelling off oregon decreases in importance of very cold north pacific fauna suggesting warming and increases in pollen associated with wetter coastal environments radiolarian based sea surface temperature estimates suggest that the variability of the northeast pacific on this time scale is about 2 c warming in the coastal regions reflects reduced advection of the california current but is moderated by increases in cool coastal upwelling we infer that the response of the northeast pacific to millennial scale climate changes is related to changes in atmospheric circulation at mid to high latitudes preliminary analysis suggests that oceanic variability off oregon at wavelengths 18 o records this variability is associated with changes in subtropical faunal elements without similar changes in other faunal elements this finding suggests that unlike longer period millennial scale events the propagation of the shorter wavelength events to the northeast pacific is through subtropical or tropical teleconnections

climate records covering the last deglaciation the oxygen 18 oxygen 16 ratio of molecular oxygen trapped in ice cores provides a time stratigraphic marker for transferring the absolute chronology for the greenland ice sheet project gisp ii ice core to the vostok and byrd ice cores in antarctica comparison of the climate records from these cores suggests that near the beginning of the last deglaciation warming in antarctica began approximately 3000 years before the onset of the warm bolling period in greenland atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane concentrations began to rise 2000 to 3000 years before the warming began in greenland and must have contributed to deglaciation and warming of temperate and boreal regions in the northern hemisphere

wet conditions during the last glaciation in the chihuahuan desert alta babicora basin mexico abstract a 467 cm core b94 3 from the alta babicora basin in the chihuahuan desert northern mexico 29 n 108 w documents lake level and climate changes over the past ca 65 000 yr chronological control is provided by four accelerator mass spectrometry 14 c dates and five u series dates on diatom silica the core has been analyzed for magnetic susceptibility loss on ignition carbonate content sediment chemistry and mineralogy and pollen and diatom composition the basin was occupied by a deep freshwater lake throughout the late pleistocene which based on shoreline evidence was at least 19 m deeper than today the lake shallowed after ca 57 000 yr b p high variability typified the period between 54 600 and 38 000 yr b p probably with periodic desiccation and deflation a deep water lake was reestablished after 38 000 yr b p and persisted until ca 29 000 yr b p shallowing occurred through the last glacial maximum although the lake was still deeper than at present the pleistocene holocene transition was marked by a distinctive change in the diatom flora there is no diatom record for much of the holocene but other proxies indicate generally dry stable catchment conditions the babicora record is more akin to those from the southwest united states than it is to central america and northern south america wet conditions in the late pleistocene are attributed to winter rainfall from midlatitudes in contrast to the modern tropical summer rainfall regime

recent planktonic foraminiferal distribution patterns and their relation to hydrographic conditions of the gulf of tehuantepec mexican pacific abstract the distribution and abundance patterns of planktonic foraminifera in sediments and their relation to ocean dynamics were studied in the gulf of tehuantepec hydrographic and nutrient data outline the contrast between two extreme seasons in the gulf the winter early spring conditions dominated by upwelling and a cyclonic eddy that fertilize the surface waters and summer conditions with the typical stratified water column of the tropical pacific foraminiferal abundances number of individuals g of sediment are related to the ocean dynamics and productivity highest abundances are found in the areas influenced by upwelling and associated front and cold eddy and lower abundances are beneath the areas of influence of the warm core lower productivity eddies the effects of dissolution seem to be important at depths over 1000 m but do not appear to affect critically the foraminiferal remains throughout most of the studied area except near the phosphorite deposits of the oaxaqueno bank dilution by terrigenous materials from riverine inputs seafloor topography and strong transport under the upwelling jet are likely to modify the detailed pattern of foraminiferal abundance found without blurring the major imprint of productivity driven by the upwelling three planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were found reflecting the major oceanographic conditions in the gulf the globigerina bulloides assemblage dominates most of the gulf indicating the overall high productivity of the upwelling influenced surface waters the dynamics of the winter early spring upwelling and associated eddies leave a strong imprint in the planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in the sediments the distribution of the globigerinita glutinata assemblage is tied to the axis of upwelling and the globorotalia menardii neogloboquadrina dutertrei assemblage to the warm equatorial water cores the distribution patterns of these assemblages should help identify quaternary paleoenvironments influenced by upwelling and associated changes in productivity

enhanced marine productivity off western north america during warm climate intervals of the past 52 k y studies of the santa barbara basin off the coast of california have linked changes in its bottom water oxygen content to millennial scale climate changes as recorded by the oxygen isotope composition of greenland ice through the use of detailed records from a sediment core collected off the magdalena margin of baja california mexico we demonstrate that this teleconnection predominantly arose from changes in marine productivity rather than changes in ventilation of the north pacific as was originally proposed

eastern tropical pacific vegetation response to rapid climate change and sea level rise a new pollen record from the gulf of tehuantepec southern mexico abstract a 30 000 year long pollen record from the gulf of tehuantepec southern mexico shows the varying influence of air temperature precipitation and eustatic sea level rise on changes in coastal and upland vegetation patterns during the late glacial period pine juniper forests grew in the sierra madre del sur along the pacific slope with broadleaf forests present at low elevations coastal wetland and riparian vegetation were limited in distribution significant cooling associated with heinrich 1 17 000 15 000 cal yr bp resulted in an expansion of pine juniper woodland by the time of bolling allerod warming 14 700 13 000 cal yr bp extensive mangrove forest development was assisted by sea level rise and reduced precipitation associated with a more southerly position of the intertropical convergence zone itcz than at present concurrently the expansion of oak into pine woodlands was promoted by warmer conditions than before increased summer precipitation in the early holocene and stabilizing sea levels limited mangrove forests along the coast and allowed mixed conifer and hardwood forest to become more widespread inland the onset of a more seasonal climate driven by a weakening of the mexican monsoon and a southerly shift in itcz position led to the establishment of modern open forests of pine and oak after 4300 cal yr bp

oxygen minimum zone expansion in the eastern tropical north pacific during deglaciation concentrations lamination preservation and d 15 n values from cores located between 540 750 m water depth in the gulf of tehuantepec southern mexico these results differ from similar proxies found even 5 n of the site where there is evidence for omz changes related to rapid climate change in the northern hemisphere instead omz expansion in the gulf was contemporaneous with changes in sea ice extent and zonal wind shifts around antarctica pointing to subantarctic mode water and antarctic intermediate water as likely sources of oxygen depleted water these observations reinforce the importance of the southern ocean as a primary modulator of northern hemisphere ocean climate as far as 15 n in the etnp citation hendy i l and t f pedersen 2006 oxygen minimum zone expansion in the eastern tropical north pacific during deglaciation geophys res lett 33 l20602 doi 10 1029 2006gl025975

latest quaternary north pacific surface water responses imply atmosphere driven climate instability a full sequence of brief interstadials dansgaard oeschger d o cycles are recorded from 60 to 25 ka in santa barbara basin california ocean drilling program hole 893a by planktonic foraminiferal isotopic and assemblage changes at unparalleled high resolution for the oceans synchronous climatic response between north pacific surface waters and the greenland ice sheet during d o cycling is strongly indicated by remarkable similarities in speed magnitude and character of rapid oceanic and atmospheric reorganizations inferred sea surface temperature warmings of as much as 5 c within a few decades and brief warming overshoots of as much as 3 c suggest involvement of an atmospheric amplification top down in situ atmospheric warming of the ocean is implied by differential responses partial decoupling in the changes recorded in surface and thermoclinal waters

late glacial to holocene changes in winds upwelling and seasonal production of the northern california current system abstract a core 120 km off the coast of southern oregon was examined for changes in lithology diatoms and pollen over the past 30 000 yr primary production during the late pleistocene was about half that of the holocene evidence from diatoms and pollen indicates that summer upwelling was much weaker implying an absence of strong northerly winds early pliocene diatoms found throughout the late pleistocene section were probably derived from diatomites east of the cascades and provide evidence for strong easterly winds over a dry continental interior the findings verify predictions of a climate model based on glacial maximum conditions there is no compelling evidence for a climatic reversal corresponding to the european younger dryas chron during the early holocene 9000 7000 yr b p there may have been years when winds were insufficiently strong to support upwelling so that warm stratified waters lay closer to the coast

on the hydrological cycle under paleoclimatic conditions as derived from agcm simulations the atmospheric hydrological cycle is compared for different time slices of the late quaternary simulations have been conducted with an atmospheric circulation model at t42 resolution and we have performed a global evaluation of the atmospheric water vapor transport the water export from the atlantic catchment area important for driving the large scale thermohaline ocean circulation is analyzed in detail for the last glacial maximum lgm we examine the model s sensitivity with respect to tropical cooling relative to the climap reconstruction which is motivated by recent data we find that the lgm experiment with tropical cooling is in better agreement with proxy data available our experiments indicate that the water vapor transport is strongly affected by three mechanisms continental drying eddy moisture transport and changes in the tropical circulation except for the continental drying and the blocking effect of the laurentide ice sheet the hydrological cycle is substancially different for both lgm experiments we find that the hydrological system is rather sensitive to tropical temperature change which is important to understand paleoclimate and future climate changes

glacial meltwater cooling of the gulf of mexico gcm implications for holocene and present day climates an atmospheric general circulation model the ncar ccm has been used to investigate the possible effects that reduced gulf of mexico sea surface temperatures sst could have on regional and hemispheric climates 18o records and terrestrial evidence indicate at least two major glacial meltwater discharges into the gulf of mexico subsequent to the last glacial maximum it is probable that these discharges reduced gulf of mexico sst we have conducted three numerical experiments with imposed gulf wide sst coolings of 3 c 6 c and 12 c and find in all three experiments significant reductions in the north atlantic storm track intensity along with a strong decrease in transient eddy water vapor transport out of the gulf of mexico surface pressures are higher over the north atlantic indicating a reduction of the climatological icelandic low the region is generally cooler and drier with a reduction in precipitation that agrees well with evidence from greenland ice cores other statistically significant changes occur across the northern hemisphere but vary between the three experiments in particular warmer wetter conditions are found over europe for both the 6 c and 12 c sst reductions but cooler conditions are found for the 3 c reduction this indicates a dependence in both the sign and magnitude of the model response on the magnitude of the imposed sst anomaly the results suggest that the present day north atlantic storm track is dependent on warm gulf of mexico sst for much of its intensity they also suggest that meltwater induced coolings may help account in part for some of the climatic oscillations that occurred during the last glacial interglacial transition

sediment geochemical records of productivity and oxygen depletion along the margin of western north america during the past 60 000 years teleconnections with greenland ice and the cariaco basin abstract many sediment records from the margins of the californias alta and baja collected in water depths between 60 and 1200 m contain anoxic intervals laminated sediments that can be correlated with interstadial intervals as defined by the oxygen isotope composition of greenland ice dansgaard oeschger d o cycles these intervals include all or parts of oxygen isotope stage 3 ois3 60 24 cal ka the bolling allerod warm interval b a 15 13 cal ka and the holocene this study uses organic carbon corg and trace element proxies for anoxia and productivity namely elevated concentrations and accumulation rates of molybdenum and cadmium in these laminated sediments to suggest that productivity may be more important than ventilation in producing changes in bottom water oxygen bwo conditions on open highly productive continental margins the main conclusion from these proxies is that during the last glacial interval lgi 24 15 cal ka and the younger dryas cold interval yd 13 11 6 cal ka productivity was lower and bwo levels were higher than during ois3 the b a and the holocene on all margins of the californias the corg and trace element profiles in the lgi b a holocene transition in the cariaco basin on the margin of northern venezuela are remarkably similar to those in the transition on the northern california margin correlation between d o cycles in greenland ice with gray scale measurements in varved sediments in the cariaco basin also is well established synchronous climate driven changes as recorded in the sediments on the margins of the californias sediments from the cariaco basin and in the gisp 2 greenland ice core support the hypothesis that changes in atmospheric dynamics played a major role in abrupt climate change during the last 60 ka millennial scale cycles in productivity and oxygen depletion on the margins of the californias demonstrate that the california current system was poised at a threshold whereby perturbations of atmospheric circulation produced rapid changes in circulation in the eastern north pacific ocean it is likely that the pacific and atlantic oceans were linked through the atmosphere warmer air temperatures during interstadials would have strengthened hadley and walker circulations which in turn would have strengthened the subtropical high pressure systems in both the north pacific and the north atlantic producing increased rainfall over the cariaco basin and increased upwelling along the margins of the californias

oceanography of the gulf of tehuantepec mexico indicated by radiolaria remains the morphology of the gulf of tehuantepec mexico is redefined through a bathymetric analysis and this redifinition is considered to explain the distribution patterns of non carbonate sediments particularly the radiolarian remains although the distribution patterns of pelagic sediments are influenced by the gulf of tehuantepec bathymetrical morphology and the terrigenous input these reflect clearly the regional oceanography northern strong winds called the tehuanos blowing across the sea surface of this gulf when the intertropical convergence is at its southernmost position define the main sedimentologic dynamics of this region this wind field gives rise to an oceanic front at the southwestern part of the gulf as well as upwelling processes at its central eastern part in the mixing at the front there is some contribution of california current waters while in the upwelling area there is a large contribution of the tropical subtropical water which is carried by the costa rica coastal current this oceanographic framework controlls the makeup of radiolarian assemblages consequently at the seabottom under the oceanic front the presence of the radiolarian species lithomelissa thoracites and cycladophora davisiana is observed while under the upwelling region acrosphaera murrayana is conspicuous

holocene variability in the intensity of wind gap upwelling in the tropical eastern pacific wind driven upwelling in pacific panama is a significant source of oceanographic variability in the tropical eastern pacific this upwelling system provides a critical teleconnection between the atlantic and tropical pacific that may impact climate variability on a global scale despite its importance to oceanographic circulation ecology and climate little is known about the long term stability of the panamanian upwelling system or its interaction with climatic forcing on millennial time scales using a combination of radiocarbon and u series dating of fossil corals collected in cores from five sites across pacific panama we reconstructed the local radiocarbon reservoir correction r from 6750 cal b p to present because the r of shallow water environments is elevated by upwelling our data set represents a millennial scale record of spatial and temporal variability of the panamanian upwelling system the general oceanographic gradient from relatively strong upwelling in the gulf of panama to weak to absent upwelling in the gulf of chiriqui was present throughout our record however the intensity of upwelling in the gulf of panama varied significantly through time our reconstructions suggest that upwelling in the gulf of panama is weak at present however the middle holocene was characterized by periods of enhanced upwelling with the most intense upwelling occurring just after of a regional shutdown in the development of reefs at 4100 cal b p comparisons with regional climate proxies suggest that whereas the intertropical convergence zone is the primary control on modern upwelling in pacific panama the el nino southern oscillation drove the millennial scale variability of upwelling during the holocene

tropical pacific ocean thermocline depth reconstructions for the last glacial maximum we evaluate the relationship between ten surface ocean 0 300 m hydrographic parameters and the spatial distribution of factor analyzed core top planktonic foraminiferal abundances in the tropical pacific ocean 24 n 24 s for core tops 3800 m the spatial distribution of the first three faunal factor loadings 88 of the variance are most highly correlated to subsurface variability mixed layer depth thermocline depth and resistant species percent rsp however rsp is not related to dissolution but is related to thermocline depth factor i mixed layer species g glutinata g ruber and factor iii g ruber can be distinguished from each other by low abundances of g glutinata in factor iii both assemblages spatially comprise the deep mixed layer region of the western tropical and equatorial pacific ocean but are associated with distinct water mass properties a combination of factor i and iii loadings shows a higher correlation to thermocline depth r 0 70 factor ii loadings dominated by thermocline dwelling species n dutertrei are most significantly correlated with the thermocline depth r 0 73 most factors show only marginally significant correlation to sea surface temperatures ssts indicating that sst is not the primary forcing factor on the planktonic foraminiferal species distributions in the tropical pacific a new transfer function was calculated to predict tropical pacific thermocline depth from planktonic foraminifera abundances using the imbrie kipp method ikm standard deviation of residuals 22 m 1 an additional 5 m error is attributed to low species counts in the core top database the modern analog technique mat was also used to predict thermocline depth standard deviation of residuals 21 m while last glacial maximum lgm thermocline depth changes by ikm and mat were generally within error estimated changes were geographically uniform suggesting an oceanographic response to climate forcing we estimate that the thermocline depth of the lgm was shallower than present by 20 m south of 8 s possibly due to a shift in the south pacific anticyclone to the northeast both the ikm and mat estimate a steeper east west thermocline slope along the equator suggesting that zonal wind stress walker circulation was intensified during the lgm collectively the thermocline estimates for the lgm suggest an equatorward compression of the climate zones in both hemispheres

seasonal associations of phytoplankton and planktic foraminifera in an upwelling region and their contribution to the seafloor abstract seasonal occurrences of both phytoplankton and zooplankton are closely associated with upwelling and stabilization in waters overlying the san pedro basin this region is situated within the southern california bight and is affected by variations in the general southward flowing california current and variable intrusion of oceanic waters increased northerly wind stress in spring and early summer results in upwelling of deeper nutrient rich waters into the photic zone a seven month time series sediment trap experiment revealed clear patterns in seasonal succession of both phytoplankton and planktic foraminifera several distinct high and low flux periods occurred over the study period some of which can be related to rapid changes in the hydrographic environment caused by upwelling and subsequent surface water stratification factor analysis of relative abundances of combined phytoplankton and foraminiferal taxa defines seven assemblages reflecting seven stages of production which range in duration from two to five weeks factor scores describe phytoplankton and foraminiferal taxa indicative of specific production stages periods of high flux of the more abundant diatoms and planktic foraminifera also illustrate preferred production stages and compare well with percentage based results a comparison of the sediment trap assemblage with local sediment from an oxygenated portion of the basin suggests that long term phytoplankton accumulation in this region is dominated by taxa associated with winter bloom and post upwelling bloom production implying that brief but massive episodic events overwhelm and dominate the annually averaged diatom species assemblage found in the sediments foraminifera however are modified by dissolution to the extent that the high production periods of late spring and during upwelling are poorly represented rather species indicative of early spring and post upwelling conditions dominate the planktic foraminiferal sedimentary assemblage

foraminiferal faunal evidence for glacial interglacial variations in the ocean circulation and the upwelling of the gulf of tehuantepec mexico abstract three marine sediment cores from the gulf of tehuantepec eastern tropical north pacific were used to determine variations in upwelling intensity and surface circulation patterns over the last 26 kyr bp changes in foraminiferal assemblages at glacial interglacial timescale indicate a sequence of three major palaeoceanographic events in the study area 1 the late pleistocene including the last glacial maximum lgm dominated by a neogloboquadrina dutertrei globorotalia menardii assemblage indicative of a stable thermocline stratified water column and greater persistence of warm equatorial waters in the region 2 the termination 1 dominated by a globigerinita glutinata assemblage which indicates mixed surface water and transitional conditions between upwelling and stratified water column episodes changes in sedimentation rates and a clear reduction of the faunal abundances at this time could be the result of eustatic sea level change 3 the holocene dominated by a globigerina bulloides globigerinoides ruber assemblage indicates periods of elevated productivity intense upwelling and the establishment of the modern ocean conditions these findings are consistent with climate model results that suggest that regional surface ocean and upwelling conditions are mostly linked to changes in atmospheric circulation over the laurentide ice sheet and shifts in the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone

mechanisms and variations of the paleoproductivity off northern chile 24 s 33 s during the last 40 000 years 1 a multiparameter investigation including organic carbon carbonate opal and planktic foraminifera was carried out on five sediment cores from the coastal upwelling area between 24 s and 33 s along the peru chile current to reconstruct the history of the paleoproductivity and its driving mechanisms during the last 40 000 years inferred from our data we conclude that the antarctic circumpolar current as the main nutrient source in this region mainly drives the productivity by its latitudinal shifts associated with climate change simplified its northerly position during the last glacial led to enhanced productivities and its southerly position during the holocene caused lower productivities at 33 s the paleoproductivity was additionally affected by the southern westerlies and records highest levels during the last glacial maximum lgm north of 33 s several factors e g position and strength of the south pacific anticyclone wind stress continental runoff and el nino southern oscillation events supplementary influenced upwelling and paleoproductivity where maximum values occurred prior to the lgm and during the deglaciation

changes in fault displacement populations correlated to linkage between faults in carboniferous strata exposed at the western margin of the southern appalachian u s a fold thrust belt mesoscopic faults accommodated strains as the cumberland plateau thrust sheet moved 1 km wnw on a sub horizontal detachment these faults are confined to a layer 75 m thick above the detachment in the upper part of this 75 m thick layer a laterally persistent coal seam separates two stratigraphic units subjected to different amounts of sub horizontal elongation distinct sets of mesoscopic faults that cut bedding at high angles and have normal offsets accommodate the strains in each unit below the coal seam a sample line 500 m long intersects 504 faults a plot of log n size rank vs log d dip separation in mm for these faults is linear suggesting that a scaling law n ad c holds for this population least squares regression gives c 0 8 and log10 a 3 1 above the coal seam a sample line 250 m long intersects 745 faults a plot of log n vs log d for these faults has two distinct linear trends faults with separations 1 25 m yield a scaling law n ad c with c 0 5 and log10 a 2 9 seventeen faults with separations d 1 25 m define a second linear segment n a d c with c 1 8 and log10 a 6 9 the break in slope at d 1 25 m corresponds to faults with heights of 30 m roughly equal to the thickness of the faulted strata faults here with d 1 25 m and d 1 25 m which exhibit different scaling characteristics are respectively analogous to faults within and those that extend across the brittle crust in regional studies comparing the two displacement populations described here small offset faults make a proportionally smaller contribution to the total strain in the larger strain setting this pattern which is observed elsewhere suggests that fault systems within individual layers exhibit different scaling characteristics at different stages in their history this contribution argues that fault linkage is the key to such changes in fault scaling behavior it is a mesoscopic to macroscopic structural change that alters the subsequent development of faults fault linkage like fault size or sampling dimension should be considered in examinations of fault scaling laws

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

segmentation and crustal structure of the western mid atlantic ridge flank 25 25 27 10 n and 0 29 m y we conducted a detailed geological geophysical survey of the west flank of the mid atlantic ridge between 25 25 n and 27 10 n and from the ridge axis out to 29 ma crust acquiring hydrosweep multibeam bathymetry hawaii mr1 sidescan sonar imagery gravity magnetics and single channel seismic reflection profiles the survey covered all or part of nine spreading segments bounded by mostly nontransform right stepping discontinuities which are subparallel to flow lines but which migrated independently of one another some discontinuities alternated between small right and left stepping offsets or exhibited zero offset for up to 3 4 m y despite these changes the spreading segments have been long lived and extend 20 m y or more across isochrons a large shift 9 in relative plate motion about 24 22 ma caused significant changes in segmentation pattern the nature of this plate boundary response together with the persistence of segments through periods of zero offset at their bounding discontinuities suggest that the position and longevity of segments are controlled primarily by the subaxial position of buoyant mantle diapirs or focused zones of rising melt within segments there are distinct differences in seafloor depth morphology residual mantle bouguer gravity anomaly and apparent crustal thickness between inside corner and outside corner crust this demands fundamentally asymmetric crustal accretion and extension across the ridge axis which we attribute to low angle detachment faulting near segment ends cyclic variations in residual gravity over the crossisochron run of segments also suggest crustal thickness changes of at least 1 2 km every 2 3 m y these are interpreted to be caused by episodes of magmatic versus relatively amagmatic extension controlled by retention and quasiperiodic release of melt from the upwelling mantle detachment faulting appears to be especially effective in exhuming lower crust to upper mantle at inside corners during relatively amagmatic episodes creating crustal domes analogous to turtleback metamorphic core complexes that are formed by low angle detachment faulting in subaerial extensional environments

comparison of seafloor tectonic fabric at intermediate fast and super fast spreading ridges influence of spreading rate plate motions and ridge segmentation on fault patterns we have conducted a comparative study of the tectonic morphology of young seafloor using seamarc ii side scan sonar surveys of the intermediate spreading ecuador rift the fast spreading east pacific rise epr 8 30 10 n and the super fast spreading epr 18 19 s we find that characteristics of fault populations are not only a function of spreading rate but also vary along axis within individual ridge segments i e with proximity to large and short offset discontinuities we also find that fault azimuths can be used to examine plate kinematics on a finer scale than can be obtained using magnetic data alone most of the variation in fault populations with spreading rate can be explained by an inverse relationship between spreading rate and thickness of the brittle layer for example regions of super fast spreading are characterized by the largest numbers of short faults the smallest average fault spacing and throw and the highest fault density in addition clusters of short closely spaced antithetic faults subsidiary to long master inward dipping faults are common within the super fast spreading area presumably the result of a thinner weaker brittle layer faults facing away from the ridge axis occur in increasing numbers with increasing spreading rate such that few outward facing faults are found at slow to intermediate rates and approximately equal numbers of inward and outward facing faults are observed at the fastest rates rapid thickening of the brittle layer with distance from the ridge may account for the predominance of inward facing faults at slower spreading rates outward facing faults at all spreading rates have shorter mean lengths and lower vertical offsets these differences may reflect the shorter time outward facing faults are active owing to increasing strength of the lithosphere with distance from the ridge fault lengths and spacings in all areas approximate exponential distributions the extensional strain represented by fault populations is calculated from the displacement and length distributions of faults and strain estimates of 4 are obtained for each area assuming that fault spacing reflects fracture depth extent where faults initiate we infer a brittle layer thickness of 1 km when faulting begins fault populations are examined for ridge segment scale variations in amagmatic extension we see evidence for greater amagmatic extension associated with long term reduced magma supply along the eastern third of the ecuador rift evidence for local increased brittle extension is also found within 15 km of transform faults discordant zones left by overlapping spreading centers oscs are characterized by low fault abundances at oscs discrete events of ridge tip propagation may accommodate extension taken up elsewhere along the ridge by normal faulting fault azimuths do appear to be useful indicators of plate motion within the epr 8 30 10 n area fault trends record a recent change in pacific cocos plate motion 3 6 at 1 m y consistent with magnetic anomaly and fault lineation data from elsewhere along the northern epr within the ecuador rift fault azimuths scatter within 3 of predicted trends and are consistent with constant spreading about one pole for the past 1 5 m y

simulation of the climate of 18 000 years bp results for the north american north atlantic european sector and comparison with the geologic record of north america abstract the large ice sheets in north america and europe and the extensive sea ice cover in the north atlantic at the time of the last glacial maximum must have greatly modified the surface temperature patterns and in turn the location and intensity of the surface winds and jet streams a general circulation model was used to simulate the january and july patterns of temperature precipitation and wind for 18 ka bp boundary conditions for the model consisting of ice sheet location and height sea ice location and sea surface temperature were prescribed from climap 1981 the model results are illustrated and described for the north american north atlantic european sector the jet stream splits around the north american ice sheet and the southern branch strengthens considerably compared to present over the southern portion of the united states the sea ice margin of the north atlantic and the southern edge of the european ice sheet geologic evidence principally from north america of wind temperature and moisture conditions is assessed from sand dune and loess records estimates of snowline depression pollen records and lake level studies the geologic evidence is generally compatible with the model simulation

diffuse spectral reflectance as a proxy for percent carbonate content in north atlantic sediments diffuse reflectance records from fern drift in the north atlantic faithfully record sediment percent carbonate a high resolu tion reflectance based age model for these sediments derived from an orbitally tuned age model for western equatorial atlantic ceara rise sediments was generated by spectral frequency mapping power spectra of the fern drift record indicate statistically significant sub milankovitch cyclicity at 7 6 8 4 and 4 8 6 1 kyr we infer that these 8 and 5 kyr cycles document a linkage between north and equa torial atlantic climate given our ability to correlate these records these climate cycles influence atlantic basin carbonate prior to the intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation and thus must arise from some portion of the climate system other than the dynamics of large ice sheets the presence of these peaks which could be related to equatorial clipped precession implies a possible non linear response to milankovitch forcing abstract diffuse reflectance records from feni drift in the north atlantic faithfully record sediment percent carbonate a high resolu tion reflectance based age model for these sediments derived from an orbitally tuned age model for western equatorial atlantic ceara rise sediments was generated by spectral frequency mapping power spectra of the feni drift record indicate statistically significant sub milankovitch cyclicity at 7 6 8 4 and 4 8 6 1 kyr we infer that these 8 and 5 kyr cycles document a linkage between north and equa torial atlantic climate given our ability to correlate these records these climate cycles influence atlantic basin carbonate prior to the intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation and thus must arise from some portion of the climate system other than the dynamics of large ice sheets the presence of these peaks which could be related to equatorial clipped precession implies a possible non linear response to milankovitch forcing

dansgaard oeschger cycles and the california current system planktonic foraminiferal response to rapid climate change in santa barbara basin ocean drilling program hole 893a high resolution planktonic foraminiferal census data from santa barbara basin ocean drilling program hole 893a demonstrate major assemblage switches between 25 and 60 ka that were associated with dansgaard oeschger cycles stadials dominated by neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral and globigerinoides glutinata suggest a strong subpolar california current influence while interstadials marked by abundant n pachyderma dextral and g bulloides indicate a relative increase in subtropical countercurrent influence modern analog technique and transfer function f 20rsc temperature reconstructions support 18o evidence of large rapid 70 years or less sea surface temperature shifts 3 to 5 c between stadials and interstadials changes in the vertical temperature gradient and water column structure thermocline depth are recorded by planktonic faunal oscillations suggest bimodal stability in the organization of north pacific surface ocean circulation santa barbara basin surface water demonstrates the rapid response of the california current system to reorganization of north pacific atmospheric circulation during rapid climate change supporting assemblage data are available on diskette or via anonymous ftp from kosmos agu org directory apend username anonymous password guest diskette may be ordered from american geophysical union 2000 florida avenue n w washington dc 20009 or by phone at 800 966 2481 5 00 payment must accompany order

late quaternary lacustrine paleoenvironments in the cuenca de mexico abstract a late quaternary paleolimnological history from the mexican highlands has been obtained by diatom analysis of short cores and stratigraphic sections of lake and marsh sediments from the cuenca de mexico the large endorheic graben basin that holds mexico city the records dated by radiocarbon and tephrochronologic methods extend back to about 30 ka bp and document the presence of extensive saline lakes in the basin until 25 ka bp thereafter lake levels fell and marginal sites became shallow and fresh under the influence of surficial drainage and especially spring discharge a shallow saline lake existed 18 ka bp in texcoco the central and lowest basin in the system reflecting moderately increased effective moisture at that time by 16 ka bp lake texcoco had become so shallow that diatoms were no longer preserved however marginal sites nourished by spring flow recorded changes in the local hydrologic balance resulting from increased infiltration at higher elevations these changes appear to coincide with glacial advances between about 14 and 10 ka bp on the volcanic mountains surrounding the basin dry climates with reduced infiltration characterized the early holocene but by 5 ka bp a modest increase in precipitation established the modern climatic regime these lacustrine records offer important insights for evaluating the paleoenvironmental history of the cuenca de mexico based on other evidence they confirm glaciological stratigraphic and palynologic data that suggest dry climates and the absence of large pluvial lakes in the cuenca de mexico during and after the full glacial but document climates of significantly increased precipitation at least 10 ka prior to 18 ka bp

quantitative fault studies on the east pacific rise a comparison of sonar imaging techniques a synthesis is presented of published statistics on the lengths scarp heights and spacing of normal faults on the flanks of the east pacific rise epr between 19 s and 21 n nine data sets are included which were collected at different times employing one of four different sonar mapping systems the scripps deep tow instrument seamarc i seamarc ii and gloria with widely ranging data collection capabilities the epr in this region is morphologically quite similar and in some cases the data sets were obtained from the same area of the seafloor it is assumed therefore that data collection procedure and system resolution have had a greater influence on the fault statistics observed than varying tectonic processes we try to account for these sampling effects such that quantitative comparisons of fault development at midocean ridges may then be made we discuss the problem of identifying faults in sonar images and the errors associated with measurements of the relevant parameters we also investigate the statistical properties of the fault populations and derive expressions for correcting observed values of the population means at finite resolution to obtain the corresponding values at infinite resolution the theoretical predictions compare well with the results of a decimation procedure applied to real data sets to simulate diminishing resolution we also discuss the effects that surveying geometry can have on the interpretation of fault lengths the data synthesis is augmented by an analysis of the correlation between scarp height and fault length for areas near 3 5 s and 12 n on the epr the correlation which we find to be linear is used to estimate 1 the minimum operational fault target size for each of the four mapping systems and 2 the topography due to faulting in an area where only fault lengths are known

the last interglacial ocean the final effort of the climap project was a study of the last interglaciation a time of minimum ice volume some 122 000 yr ago coincident with the substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean last interglacial sea surface temperatures sst were compared with those today there are small sst departures in the mid latitude north atlantic warmer and the gulf of mexico cooler the eastern boundary currents of the south atlantic and pacific oceans are marked by large sst anomalies in individual cores but their interpretations are precluded by no analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups in general the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean the relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the stage 6 5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the stage 5e 5d transition was also studied in most of the southern hemisphere the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded led the global ice volume response marked by the oxygen isotope signal by several thousand years the reverse pattern is evident in the north atlantic ocean and the gulf of mexico where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years as a result the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years these regional lead lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long term phase relationships they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals

structural asymmetry of the tag rift valley evidence from a near bottom survey for episodic spreading comprehensive high resolution sidescan sonar imagery swath bathymetry and photographic data from the tag rift valley mid atlantic ridge 26 n suggest significant asymmetry in crustal accretion discontinuities and asymmetry in structural and volcanic morphology and age distribution about the spreading axis suggest a recent episode of preferential accretion of crust to the east throughout the central 10 km of this spreading segment such episodes may contribute to the long term spreading asymmetry in the area

biotic response to late quaternary rapid climate switches in santa barbara basin ecological and evolutionary implications benthic foraminiferal assemblages from santa barbara basin exhibit major faunal and ecological switches associated with late quaternary millennial to decadal scale global climate oscillations repeated turnovers of entire faunas occurred rapidly 40 400 yr without extinction or speciation in conjunction with dansgaard oeschger shifts in thermohaline circulation ventilation and climate confirming evolutionary model predictions of roy et al consistent faunal successions of dysoxic taxa during successive interstadials reflect the extreme sensitivity and adaptation of the benthic ecosystem to the rapid environmental changes that marked the late quaternary and possibly other transitional intervals in the history of the earth s ocean atmosphere cryosphere system these data support the hypothesis that broad segments of the biosphere are well adapted to rapid climate change

glacial holocene δ15n record from the gulf of tehuantepec mexico implications for denitrification in the eastern equatorial pacific and changes in atmospheric n2o 1 the intensity of denitrification in the gulf of tehuantepec along the mexican margin of the eastern tropical north pacific etnp was reconstructed for the last 23 000 years using the nitrogen isotopic composition of sediment organic matter 15norg in conjunction with other geochemical tracers of water column productivity during the last glacial period 15norg values ranged from 6 5 to 8 6 with values increasing between 23 and 17 ka deglaciation was marked by an abrupt increase in 15norg with maximum values 9 9 occurring during the bolling allerod period and the earliest holocene a decline in 15norg values occurred over the last 10 000 years with late holocene values being similar to those of the glacial period our data suggest that denitrification in this region was minimal during the last glacial and is consistent with the deposition of bioturbated sediments at the study site the intensity of denitrification increased dramatically during deglaciation and the early holocene signaling the presence of a strong oxygen minimum zone this period is also marked by the deposition of laminated sediments in the region the 15norg records display similar temporal trends to those seen in the greenland ice core record of atmospheric n2o concentrations at present denitrification within the eastern tropical pacific and arabian sea accounts for a major portion of the global marine loss of fixed nitrogen and a significant fraction of the ocean atmosphere n2o flux originates from these areas large changes in n2o emissions from these regions in the past would have directly impacted global greenhouse gas concentrations

interhemispheric leakage of isotopically heavy nitrate in the eastern tropical pacific during the last glacial period denitrification zone while the nicaragua site is at the southern boundary the d 15 n record from nicaragua shows an antarctic timing similar to denitrification changes observed off peru chile but is radically different from the northern records we attribute this to the leakage of isotopically heavy nitrate from the south pacific oxygen minimum zone omz into the nicaragua basin the nicaragua record leads the other eastern tropical north pacific etnp records by about 1000 years because denitrification peaks in the eastern tropical south pacific etsp before denitrification starts to increase in the northern hemisphere omz i e during warming episodes in antarctica we find that the influence of the heavy nitrate leakage from the etsp is still noticeable although attenuated in the gulf of tehuantepec record particularly at the end of the heinrich events and tends to alter the recording of millennial timescale denitrification changes in the etnp this implies 1 that sedimentary d 15 n records from the southern parts of the etnp cannot be used straightforwardly as a proxy for local denitrification and 2 that denitrification history in the etnp like in the arabian sea is synchronous with greenland temperature changes these observations reinforce the conclusion that on millennial timescales during the last ice age denitrification in the etnp is strongly influenced by climatic variations that originated in the highlatitude north atlantic region while commensurate changes in southern ocean hydrography more directly and slightly earlier affected oxygen concentrations in the etsp furthermore the d 15 n records imply ongoing physical communication across the equator in the shallow subsurface continuously over the last 50 70 ka citation pichevin l e r s ganeshram s francavilla e arellano torres t f pedersen and l beaufort 2010 interhemispheric leakage of isotopically heavy nitrate in the eastern tropical pacific during the last glacial period paleoceanography 25 pa1204 doi 10 1029 2009pa001754

paleoceanographic evolution of the gulf of tehuantepec mexican pacific during the last 6 millennia oceanographic dynamics in the gulf of tehuantepec gt are the direct consequence of climate variability mainly influenced by the strong wind regime locally called tehuanos and the interactions

glacial interglacial variability in upwelling and bioproductivity off nw mexico implications for quaternary paleoclimate sedimentary accumulation of biogenic components organic carbon opal and biogenic barium on the northwestern mexican margin declined during every glacial interval of the past 140 kyr indicating decreases in upwelling induced productivity during cold periods the glacial interglacial contrasts in upwelling on this margin are attributed to reversals in land ocean thermal contrast the waxing and waning of the laurentide ice sheet and consequent responses of the western hemisphere wind fields this scenario is consistent with three independent lines of evidence terrestrial paleoclimatic data general circulation model results and our marine records this pattern of glacial interglacial variability in upwelling off nw mexico is opposite to that observed in other low latitude and midlatitude upwelling areas such as the eastern equatorial pacific these results add to a growing pool of observations that the response of oceanic upwelling to glacial climatic forcing has been regionally variable

oceanic upwelling and productivity in the eastern tropical pacific an oceanographic survey of the eastern tropical pacific ocean in august november 1990 found a productive nutrient rich moderately high chlorophyll surface layer in two oceanic upwelling regions the equatorial divergence especially east of the galapagos and the countercurrent divergence out to 105 w 1 000 km west of the costa rica1 dome although no is not depleted in upwelling regions relationships among nutrient concentrations and temperature in 1986 1988 data from the same area show that no is the the first macronutrient to be depleted in adjacent lessproductive regions a three dimensional two layer box model of no flux within and into the euphotic zone gives estimated rates of new production that are 29 of measured rates of 14c phytoplankton production persistence of excess saturating no in the euphotic zone exceeds 1 yr under high nutrient low chlorophyll conditions off the equator where weak upwelling or downwelling occurs these results indicate substantial control or limitation of no utilization and productivity in nutrient rich oceanic regions of the eastern tropical pacific the eastern tropical pacific contains some of the most productive waters of the world ocean concern about atmospheric co increase and the role of the deep ocean as a sink in the global c cycle has presented oceanographers with an important question what are the rates of new production in large productive areas of the open ocean and what limits those rates nutrients are rarely depleted in surface waters of the equatorial pacific thomas 1979 or in other upwelling regions such as the costa rica dome and coastal peru and ecuador the thermocline is shallow in these regions so that vertical advection and mixing bring cold nutrient rich water from below the thermocline nutricline into the surface layer this nutrient input maintains optimal saturating concentrations of no3 at the surface and results in relatively high levels of new production chavez and barber 1987 but not high enough to deplete n03 persistence of nutrients at the sea surface characterizes the high nutrient low chlorophyll acknowledgments we thank stephen reilly for continued support of this work and the officers and crew of noaa ships mcarthur and david starr jordan john cullen david behringer and two reviewers provided critical comments hnlc condition that is the subject of this symposium see cullen 1991 surface currents and water masses of the eastern tropical pacific are illustrated schematically in fig 1 both coastal upwelling along eastern boundaries and oceanic upwelling along offshore divergences occur in this region the effects of equatorial upwelling are evident in the equatorial thermocline ridge fig 2 and in the anomalously cool temperature of equatorial surface water sverdrup et al 1942 presented evidence of surface divergence and upwelling at two sites in the equatorial current system in tlhe south equatorial current along the equator and between the north equatorial countercurrent and north equatorial current at loon the countercurrent thermocline ridge along 1o n is evidence of upwelling in this countercurrent divergence however generally warm temperatures and low concentrations of nutrients suggest that the effects of upwelling do not reach the surface except at the eastern end of the ridge in the costa rica dome offshore transport of surface waters and coastal upwelling are driven by equatorward longshore winds along the coasts of baja california and peruecuador and by topographically induced offshore winds at several points along the

models of ocean ridge lithospheric deformation dependence on crustal thickness spreading rate and segmentation we use three dimensional 3 d temperature and rheology models to investigate the effects of crustal thickness and ridge segmentation on mid ocean ridge lithospheric structure we find that crustal thickness variations associated with focused magma accretion at a slow spreading ridge segment can cause significant along axis gradients in crustal temperature and a pita pocket shaped weak zone in the lower crust that decouples brittle upper crust from upper mantle in contrast fast spreading ridge segments with little crustal thickness variation are found to be uniformly weak along axis the overthickened crust produced by ridge hotspot interaction alters the heat balance between magma emplacement and hydrothermal cooling creating an extremely weak lithosphere in a steady state model we apply a simple two dimensional 2 d cyclic faulting model to across axis sections of temperature and rheological structure slow spreading segments are predicted to have relatively large along axis variations in fault height and spacing in contrast fast spreading and hotspot affected segments are predicted to have much smaller variations in faulting styles except in the immediate vicinity of a major transform fault the presence or lack of a steady state axial rift valley is also predicted to depend on crustal thickness spreading rate and the ability of rift bounding normal faults to propagate along axis for fast spreading and hotspot affected segments the sizes of axial rift valleys are predicted to be small and may not be distinguishable from those of neovolcanic or magma chamber supported isostatic features this is in contrast to most slow spreading segments where axial rift valleys are predicted to be a dominant morphological feature for a slow spreading segment of great length however the axial rift valley size is predicted to diminish toward the segment center because large faults formed at segment distal ends cannot propagate through a large decoupling zone created by locally thickened crust at the segment center

co2 system development in young sea ice and co2 gas exchange at the ice air interface mediated by brine and frost flowers in kongsfjorden spitsbergen in march and april 2010 we investigated the development of young landfast sea ice in kongsfjorden spitsbergen svalbard we sampled the vertical column including sea ice brine frost flowers and sea water to determine the co2 system nutrients salinity and bacterial and ice algae production during a 13 day interval of ice growth apart from the changes due to salinity and brine rejection the sea ice concentrations of total inorganic carbon c t total alkalinity a t co2 and carbonate ions co3 2 in melted ice were influenced by dissolution of calcium carbonate caco3 precipitates 25 55 mol kg 1 and played the largest role in the changes to the co2 system the c t values were also influenced by co2 gas flux bacterial carbon production and primary production which had a small impact on the c t the only exception was the uppermost ice layer in the top 0 05 m of the ice there was a co2 loss of 20 mol kg 1 melted ice 1 mmol m 2 from the ice to the atmosphere frost flowers on newly formed sea ice were important in promoting ice air co2 gas flux causing a co2 loss to the atmosphere of 140 800 mol kg 1 d 1 melted frost flowers 7 40 mmol m 2 d 1

a stochastic model for the creation of abyssal hill topography at a slow spreading center the present study is an attempt to model abyssal hill topography i e the randomly varying topography that is superimposed on the subsidence of the ocean floor due to thermal contraction we assume that abyssal hill topography is created by faulting and that it can be represented as the convolution of a series of stochastic fault offsets with a fault impulse response as a constraint the power spectrum of the model generated topography will have to resemble the power spectrum of a profile of abyssal hill topography across a typical slow spreading ridge such as found in the south atlantic using a series of fault offsets positively correlated in space and fault impulse responses limited to a finite width w profiles that statistically resemble abyssal hill topography have been generated if the fault offsets are constrained to be positive i e to cause uplift the synthetic profiles contain a steady state depression at the axis the fit of the synthetically derived topography to the observed topography is very sensitive to the width w of the fault impulse response our results suggest that the effects of a faulting event must be limited to distances of about 3 5 km and that tectonic activity must take place in the immediate vicinity of the inner wall of the axial valley if faulting is indeed the process that creates abyssal hill topography the best fit flexural impulse response to faulting implies a flexural rigidity of 5 1017 n m if instead constructional volcanism contributes significantly to the topography our study suggests that the emplacement of volcanic constructions must also take place within a narrow width w about the axis

overlapping faults intrabasin highs and the growth of normal faults normal fault systems bounding extensional basins are typically adjoined by a series of subbasins separated by intrabasin highs the strata within these basins form syndepositional anticlines and synclines whose axes are transverse to the strike of the main bounding fault one possible explanation for these intrabasin highs is that they result from persistent along strike deficits in fault displacement such deficits are incompatible with scaling relationships observed between fault displacement and length based on large populations of faults we present data from active normal faults within the basin and range province and from inactive normal faults of the newark basin of eastern north america demonstrating a clear correlation between the along strike position of overlapping splay faults and the location of intrabasin highs as well as syndepositional transverse folds summed displacements for all faults within an intrabasin high are comparable to the displacements on faults bounding flanking subbasins o

growth of faults by accumulation of seismic slip the accommodation of large strains in the upper crust is largely achieved by the accumulation of displacement on faults observation shows that as a fault accumulates displacement it grows in size i e its surface area and its length increase here we address the question for an increase in the amount of displacement on a fault by how much would the length of the fault change it is argued by cowie and scholz 1992a that the displacement on a fault is linearly related to the length of the fault this simple result is expanded upon in this paper by assuming that a fault accumulates displacement by repeated earthquakes two different approaches are presented the first approach considers the balance that must be achieved between the energy available for deformation and the work involved in creating new fault surface area as the fault grows the available energy is provided by changes in strain energy when the fault slips the second approach is to construct a geometrical model for fault growth using the scaling relationship between the slip during a single earthquake and the length of the rupture the total displacement on a fault is the sum of the slips contributed by many earthquakes the usefulness of these two approaches is that the growth of a fault over geologic time can be described by parameters that can be obtained from earthquake and fault data the models presented here predict that 1 the maximum amount a fault can grow in a single earthquake that ruptures the entire fault is of the order of 1 of its previous length and 2 the work of faulting may account for 10 of the total energy available during an earthquake the energy lost from the system is accounted for by work done against friction and seismic radiation consequences of fault growth for the segmentation and thus seismogenic potential of a fault over geologic time are discussed using predictions of the theory