an approach to estimate the freshwater contribution from glacial melt and precipitation in east greenland shelf waters using colored dissolved organic matter cdom changes in the supply and storage of freshwater in the arctic ocean and its subsequent export to the north atlantic can potentially influence ocean circulation and climate in order to understand how the arctic freshwater budget is changing and the potential impacts it is important to develop and refine empirical approaches for tracing freshwater contributions this in turn can help develop and validate model simulations arctic rivers are an important source of freshwater and stable oxygen isotope measurements are used to separate contributions from meteoric water river glacial and precipitation and sea ice melt we develop this approach further and investigate the use of an additional tracer colored dissolved organic matter cdom which is largely specific to freshwater originating from arctic rivers a robust relationship between the freshwater contribution from meteoric water and cdom is derived from 4 years of measurements in fram strait 2009 2012 combined with measurements from the east greenland shelf and dijmpha sound ne greenland results confirm a high contribution of riverine cdom in arctic halocline waters with salinities 31 5 and indicate the importance of shelf processes riverine input and sea ice formation while previously these waters where thought to be derived from open sea processes cooling and sea ice formation in the northern barents and kara seas in greenlandic coastal waters the meteoric water contribution is influenced by greenland ice sheet meltwater and deviations from the cdom meteoric water relationships found are applied to quantify meltwater contribution along the east greenland shelf waters 0 13

the hafnium neodymium isotopic composition of atlantic seawater the first full water column hafnium isotopic compositions of atlantic seawater have been obtained at seven locations from the labrador sea to the drake passage despite subpicomolar concentrations in seawater a precision of the hf isotopic measurements of 03 epsilon hf units was achieved an overall epsilon hf range between 3 1 in the labrador sea and 4 4 in antarctic bottom water was determined the distribution of which broadly reflects continental weathering inputs within particular water column profiles significant differences of up to 4 epsilon hf units occur combined with nd isotope data of the same samples it is evident that the hf isotopic composition of seawater is too radiogenic for a given nd isotopic composition and that the largest difference between expected and measured hf isotopic compositions in seawater occurs near the oldest continental crust in the labrador sea this corroborates the previous proposition which was mainly based on ferromanganese crust data that the hf isotopic composition of seawater is controlled by incongruent weathering of continental crust and possibly to some extent by hydrothermal contributions hafnium concentrations in the ocean do not increase along the deep ocean conveyer indicating an oceanic residence time of only a few hundred years which is significantly shorter than previously assumed the hf isotopic composition of past seawater can therefore serve as a proxy for short distance basin scale mixing processes and the regime and intensity of nearby continental weathering processes c 2009 elsevier b v all rights reserved

marine transgression and dune initiation on western cape york northern australia abstract the chronostratigraphy of the coastal dunes on the western side of northern cape york differs from the general pattern of dune emplacement identified on easterly facing coasts across northern australia two episodes of dune emplacement are suggested by morphology prior to the establishment of the modern foredune tl dating and comparative soil profile development indicate the possibility of three episodes based on a small number of tl dates it is possible to associate dune emplacements at about 11 200 yrs b p 8300 yrs b p and 5200 yrs b p with shoreline disturbance and the destruction of shoreline vegetation by rising sea level stabilisation of the 11 200 yrs b p unit may be due to a short marine regression roughly around the time of the younger dryas the 8300 yrs b p unit probably stabilised due to changed environmental conditions and the 5200 yrs b p unit represents the cessation of post glacial sea level rise in northern australia

origin of freshwater and polynya water in the arctic ocean halocline in summer 2007 extremely low summer sea ice coverage in the arctic ocean in 2007 allowed extensive sampling and a wide quasi synoptic hydrographic and 18o dataset could be collected in the eurasian basin and the makarov basin up to the alpha ridge and the east siberian continental margin with the aim of determining the origin of freshwater in the halocline fractions of river water and sea ice meltwater in the upper 150 m were quantified by a combination of salinity and 18o in the eurasian basin two methods applying the preformed phosphate concentration po and the nitrate to phosphate ratio n p were compared to further differentiate the marine fraction into atlantic and pacific derived contributions while po based assessments systematically underestimate the contribution of pacific derived waters n p based calculations overestimate pacific derived waters within the transpolar drift due to denitrification in bottom sediments at the laptev sea continental margin within the eurasian basin a west to east oriented front between net melting and production of sea ice is observed outside the atlantic regime dominated by net sea ice melting a pronounced layer influenced by brines released during sea ice formation is present at about 30 to 50 m water depth with a maximum over the lomonosov ridge the geographically distinct definition of this maximum demonstrates the rapid release and transport of signals from the shelf regions in discrete pulses within the transpolar drift the ratio of sea ice derived brine influence and river water is roughly constant within each layer of the arctic ocean halocline the correlation between brine influence and river water reveals two clusters that can be assigned to the two main mechanisms of sea ice formation within the arctic ocean over the open ocean or in polynyas at the continental slope where relatively small amounts of river water are found sea ice formation results in a linear correlation between brine influence and river water at salinities of about 32 to 34 in coastal polynyas in the shallow regions of the laptev sea and southern kara sea sea ice formation transports river water into the shelf s bottom layer due to the close proximity to the river mouths this process therefore results in waters that form a second linear correlation between brine influence and river water at salinities of about 30 to 32 our study indicates which layers of the arctic ocean halocline are primarily influenced by sea ice formation in coastal polynyas and which layers are primarily influenced by sea ice formation over the open ocean accordingly we use the ratio of sea ice derived brine influence and river water to link the maximum in brine influence within the transpolar drift with a pulse of shelf waters from the laptev sea that was likely released in summer 2005

subtidal bottom pressure observed at axial seamount in the northeastern continental margin of the pacific ocean since september 1987 bottom pressure bp has been observed at axial seamount 45 57 5 n 130 00 3 w 1540 m depth located 450 km off the oregon coast on the juan de fuca ridge observations from 1987 to 1992 show that subtidal axial bp is dominated by barotropic 2 to 5 mbar fluctuations with frequencies 1 9 cycles per day cpd they are slightly smaller than subtidal bp observed 720 km to the west during the ocean storms experiment and a factor of 2 4 smaller than the subtidal fluctuations of adjusted sea level asl at the coast for the period september 1987 to july 1988 axial bp and ocean storms bp are significantly coherent coh2 0 5 except at intraseasonal frequencies 1 100 1 20 cpd and in a band 1 8 1 6 cpd of low axial bp variance in the coherent frequency bands the phase relationships between the two bp series suggest independent atmospheric forcing on the other hand axial bp and coastal asl are not coherent except at the fortnightly tidal frequency looking for possible forcing of axial bp by the curl of the wind stress curl over the ne pacific data analyses show that axial bp and curl derived from european centre for medium range weather forecasts winds are significantly coherent in only two frequency bands one band narrowly peaked near 1 9 1 cpd for curl in regions south of axial seamount and a 1 5 1 3 5 cpd band for curl in a large region nw of the seamount in the 1 5 1 3 5 band axial bp also has a small amplitude spectral peak associated with bottom trapped baroclinic currents near axial seamount remote axial bp curl coherence at some frequencies is qualitatively consistent with the local forcing theory of lippert and muller 1995 that attributes the coherence to stable phase relationships and the spatial characteristics of the bp curl transfer function however the axial bp curl comparison is inhibited by the lack of accurate estimates of curl within 400 km of the coast fully understanding the origins and dynamics of subtidal bp at axial seamount will require a knowledge of how the complex topography in the region affects the barotropic and baroclinic responses to atmospheric forcing as well as the propagation of rossby and other waves

neodymium isotopes in seawater from the barents sea and fram strait arctic atlantic gateways abstract the neodymium concentration c nd and isotopic composition e nd in seawater have been determined in the water column at five sites in the barents sea fram strait area where most of the water exchange between the arctic ocean and the north atlantic takes place in the main arctic ocean inflow branch across the barents sea the concentration and isotopic composition c nd 15 5 pmol kg and e nd 10 8 are similar to those reported for the northeastern nordic seas which is consistent with this region being a source area for the arctic inflow due to the addition of nd from svalbard shelf sediments the c nd in the surface waters above 150 m in the fram strait inflow branch is higher by a factor of 2 and the e nd is shifted to lower values 11 8 in the stratified nansen basin where cold low salinity water overlies warmer atlantic water the c nd and e nd do not vary with the vertical temperature salinity structure but are essentially constant and similar to those of the atlantic inflow throughout the entire water column down to 3700 m depth which indicates that the nd is to a large extent of atlantic origin compared to the atlantic inflow water the nd in the major arctic ocean outflow the fram strait show higher c nd in the surface waters above 150 m and a higher e nd 9 8 throughout the entire water column down to 1300 m depth sources for the more radiogenic nd isotopic composition in deep water of the fram strait outflow most likely involve boundary exchange with sediments on the shelf and slope as the water passes along the canadian archipelago river water is a possible source in the surface water but it also seems likely that pacific water nd modified by interactions on the shelf is an important component in the fram strait surface outflow changes in the relative proportions of inflow of river water and flow of pacific water through the arctic ocean could thus influence the isotopic composition of nd in the north atlantic

distribution of rare earth elements and other high field strength elements in glacial meltwaters and sediments from the western greenland ice sheet evidence for different sources of particles and nanoparticles although global warming increases meltwater input into the oceans rather little is known about the distribution of high field strength elements such as the rare earths and y rey zr hf th and u in arctic glacial meltwaters and glacial fed rivers we studied glacial meltwater and glacial fed rivers from the kangerlussuaq area and a glacial fed lake and its meltwater inflow in the isua area both in the western part of the greenland ice sheet gris trace element concentrations were determined in 0 2 m filtered water samples dissolved fraction in the respective filter residues particulate fraction and in ambient sediments including cryoconite from a meltwater pond on the surface of the gris we also measured truly dissolved rey concentrations in a 10 kda ultrafiltered sample from glacial fed watson river shale normalized sn rey patterns of the particulate fraction and ambient sediments including cryoconite are rather similar to those of local archean gneisses and show positive eusn anomalies this rules out asian dust which does not show positive eusn anomalies as a possible source of these aluminosilicate particles but suggests that local archean basement is eroded and currently transported by ice water and wind to the depositional sites in front of and onto the gris all 0 2 m filtered glacial fed rivers show very unusual reysn patterns in comparison to tropical temperate and boreal rivers and are significantly enriched in light relative to heavy rey for glacial fed watson river the 99 of la and 78 of yb in the latter are associated with nanoparticles and colloids although the reysn patterns of the 0 2 m filtrates are rather similar to those of the particulate fraction and ambient sediments they lack any eusn anomalies whereas the 0 2 m filtrates from a meltwater pond on the surface of the gris show positive eusn anomalies similar to but somewhat smaller than the cryoconite while the water from the meltwater pond carries nanoparticles derived from local archean sources the lack of eusn anomalies in the glacial fed rivers suggests that their nanoparticle and colloid load represents atmospheric dust that is remobilized from greater depth in the gris most of this dust probably originated from eastern asia and shows a rey distribution similar to post archean upper continental crust i e lacks any eusn anomaly hence rey geochemistry suggests that the particulates and the nanoparticles colloids in these arctic meltwaters are derived from different sources

ocean tides in the continental margin off the pacific northwest shelf a comparison of bottom pressure observations and global tide models shows that the regional distributions of the diurnal and semidiurnal tides off the oregon and washington shelves are determined mainly by the large scale amphidromic systems in the north pacific ocean these cause the tidal amplitudes to increase toward the northeast and the phase lags to increase toward the northwest within 200 500 km of the shelfbreak the curving continental boundary causes the cophase lines to be closely packed near cape mendocino and more widely spread in the bight to the north farther seaward the m2 tide is consistent with a kelvin wave propagating along the british columbia boundary 315 t while the k1 tide decays offshore more slowly than expected from kelvin wave theory a long term 4 2 year bottom pressure series at axial seamount 45 58 n 130 00 w depth 1540 m yields a nongravitational s 2 tide that is consistent with a large scale barotropic tide extending seaward from the coast at lower frequencies the observed mf amplitude matches recent global models while the mf phase lag is marginally earlier than model phases nearby mf currents are bottom trapped and consistent in phase with quasi geostrophic dynamics their magnitudes near the bottom are much larger than barotropic mf currents observed farther west in the north pacific the models reproduce the distributions of the diurnal and semidiurnal harmonic constants but with broad scale offsets in the amplitudes and phase lags these offsets cause errors standard deviation 3 0 cm in predicted time series of the diurnal and semidiurnal tides that fluctuate on fortnightly to interannual timescales the 29 seasonal variations of the errors are largest in winter and are modulated by 4 5 year fluctuations associated with the nodal cycle in situ measurements can be used to remove these regional offsets this would improve the temporal and spatial resolution of nontidal sea level estimates that are based on satellite altimeter data

dating the cooloola coastal dunes of south eastern queensland australia abstract the cooloola sand dunes are part of a series of aeolian parabolic dunes that stretch along the east coast of australia they form a chronosequence showing increasing weathering soil formation and water erosion across six geomorphically recognized soil landscapes these landscapes were recognized from air photographs and further refined on the basis of some 150 auger holes across the dunes data about the structure and floristics of the vegetation were collected at the same time there is a significant body of literature about the cooloola dunes but there are two areas that have not been satisfactorily considered first the previous dating which gave inconsistent results has been superseded by single grain osl dates and second cooloola has not been considered in a regional context here we report the results of single grain optically stimulated luminescence osl analyses for 31 samples for 21 sites across the geomorphic landscapes the sites were selected near the apex of each dune as this represents the last depositional date and the least disturbed by sand movement we recognized 10 units across the dunes on the basis of the dates available the dune ages ranged from recent to 725 ka the largest dunes at some 320 m high were dated at around 140 ka and these dunes carry the maximum vegetation biomass of this dunefield beyond this vegetation maximum the dunes had lost their parabolic shape due to prolonged weathering and erosion and the vegetation is greatly reduced in height and biomass the depth to the soil b horizon gradually deepens with age to form giant podzols in the older dunes the depth to the b horizon was remarkably consistent within the geomorphic landscapes across the length and breadth of the dunes these studies place the cooloola dunes in a unique position as the chronosequence is intact the possible processes that lead to the formation of the dunes and the regional implications are discussed secondly it shows the buildup and decline of the dune ecosystems and acts as a model for all ecosystems forest succession models which place less emphasis on soil development miss this important process

numerical simulation of mean currents and water property anomalies at endeavour ridge hydrothermal versus topographic forcing 1 numerical simulations based on realistic seafloor topography are used to examine near bottom currents in the region of the endeavour segment of juan de fuca ridge endeavour ridge in the northeast pacific results support earlier findings that hydrothermal venting within the 2200 m deep axial valley rather than topographically modified basin scale cross ridge geostrophic flow is responsible for the near steady northward currents observed within the confines of the valley although it does not generate deep flow within the valley the basin scale circulation determines the horizontal redistribution of the hydrothermal plumes once they rise above the ridge crest simulations of the near bottom temperature and salinity fields reveal that model runs that incorporate a deep westward background flow most closely reproduce the observed plume anomaly distributions above the ridge indicating that bottom currents in the region are predominantly westward counter to the prevailing southeasterly flow of the wind driven california current in the upper half of the water column

south pacific dissolved nd isotope compositions and rare earth element distributions water mass mixing versus biogeochemical cycling despite its enormous extent and importance for global climate the south pacific has been poorly investigated in comparison to other regions with respect to chemical oceanography here we present the first detailed analysis of dissolved radiogenic nd isotopes end and rare earth elements rees in intermediate and deep waters of the mid latitude 40 s south pacific along a meridional transect between south america and new zealand the goal of our study is to gain better insight into the distribution and mixing of water masses in the south pacific and to evaluate the validity of nd isotopes as a water mass tracer in this remote region of the ocean the results demonstrate that biogeochemical cycling scavenging processes in the eastern equatorial pacific and release of lrees from the sediment clearly influence the distribution of the dissolved ree concentrations at certain locations nevertheless the nd isotope signatures clearly trace water masses including aaiw antarctic intermediate water average end 8 2 0 3 lcdw lower circumpolar deep water average end 8 3 0 3 npdw north pacific deep water average end 5 9 0 3 and the remnants of nadw north atlantic deep water average end 9 7 0 3 filtered water samples taken from the sediment water interface under the deep western boundary current off new zealand suggest that boundary exchange processes are limited at this location and highlight the spatial and temporal variability of this process these data will serve as a basis for the paleoceanographic application of nd isotopes in the south pacific

deep sea hydrothermal plumes and their interaction with oscillatory flows 1 the acoustic scintillation method is applied to the investigation and monitoring of a vigorous hydrothermal plume from dante within the main endeavour vent field mef in the endeavour ridge segment a 40 day time series of the plume s vertical velocity and temperature fluctuations provides a unique opportunity to study deep sea plume dynamics in a tidally varying horizontal cross flow an integral plume model that takes into account ambient stratification and horizontal cross flows is established from the conservation equations of mass momentum and density deficit using a linear additive entrainment velocity in the model e um u that is a function of both the plume relative axial velocity um and the relative ambient flow perpendicular to the plume u gives consistent results to the experimental data suggesting entrainment coefficients 0 1 and 0 6 also from the integral model the plume height in a horizontal cross flow ua is shown to scale as 1 8b1 3ua 1 3n 2 3 for 0 01 ua 0 1 m s where b is the initial buoyancy transport and n is the ambient stratification both of which are assumed constant

holocene development of an episodic transgressive dune barrier ramsay bay north queensland australia abstract an investigation of the stratigraphy and sedimentological properties of a tombolo barrier at ramsay bay north queensland has indicated that the barrier consists largely of aeolian sands which in places extend more than 30 m below present sea level two major episodes of dune activity are recognized on morphological and pedogenic criteria radiocarbon dating of organic muds associated with the barrier sands suggests the older dunes were partly drowned during the early holocene marine transgression 9500 6000 c 14 yrs b p the later generation of dunes formed in the late holocene probably within the last 900 c 14 yrs the ultimate causes of the aeolian episodes are not certain but appear to be related to periods of rapid shoreface erosion

thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in rajasthan india we report here a new application of thermoluminescence tl for dating sand dunes this application assumes that exposure to sunlight causes bleaching of the geological tl of a sediment to a residual value and that tl accumulation starts again when the sediment is buried under fresh deposit and is thus shielded from the sun although the tl method has been applied to loess1 2 and ocean sediments3 4 the application of this technique to sand dunes provides the first reliable dating control for dune dynamics palaeoclimatology and spread of deserts

north atlantic nordic seas exchanges abstract the northeastern part of the north atlantic is unique in the sense that it is much warmer in the surface than other ocean areas at similar latitudes the main reason for this is the large northward transport of heat that extends to high latitudes and crosses the greenland scotland ridge to enter the nordic seas and the arctic there the warm atlantic water is converted to colder water masses that return southwards over the ridge partly as surface outflows and partly as overflows through the deep passages across the ridge in this paper the state of knowledge on the exchanges especially across the eastern part of the greenland scotland ridge is reviewed based on results from the ices nansen north atlantic norwegian sea exchanges project from the nordic woce project and from other sources the accumulated evidence allows us to describe the exchanges in fair detail the origins of the waters the patterns of their flow towards and over the ridge and their ultimate fate there is also increasing information on temporal variations of the exchanges although dynamical changes are still not well understood quantitative estimates for the volume transport of most of the overflow branches seem reasonably well established and transport measurements of the atlantic inflows to the nordic seas are approaching acceptable levels of confidence which allows preliminary budgets to be presented the deep overflows are driven by pressure gradients set up by the formation of deep and intermediate water the dominance of deep overflows over surface outflows in the water budget argues that this thermohaline forcing also dominates over direct wind stress and estuarine forcing in driving the atlantic water inflow across the greenland scotland ridge while wind stress seems to influence the characteristics and distribution of the atlantic water north of the ridge

moored observation of abyssal flow and temperature near a hydrothermal vent on the southwest indian ridge four moorings were deployed near dragon flag an active hydrothermal vent in the valley of the southwest indian ridge the goal was to examine the variability of currents and temperature which will guide the trajectory of spreading plumes the mean current was cross isobath and the circulation was characterized by a submesoscale circulation observed currents also showed fluctuations with periods of 1 15 days the inferred phase speed and wavelength for the wave with a period of 4 4 day are 10 4 km d 1 and 45 8km respectively which are consistent with the topographic rossby wave theory the persistent warming tendency with corresponding variation of salinity based on background s properties may be caused by background circulation and divergence of the water column the warming or cooling episodes were most likely as signatures of isopycnal surface depression or uplifting induced by the moving of mesoscale eddies well resolved rotary spectra exhibited important nonlinear interactions between inertial and semidiurnal tide in the velocity and temperature records amplification of near inertial currents in the near bottom is also exposed these discoveries provided new evidence for the nonlinear interaction and trapped near inertial waves by the ridge which occurred in the deep ocean of the southern hemisphere such nonlinear interaction may represent a significant energy loss pathway for the internal waves and part of the decay of such motion would likely result in increased mixing to maintain the abyssal stratification enhanced near inertial motions can play a major role for the local advection of hydrothermal plumes

subinertial variability in the deep ocean near the east pacific rise between 9 and 10 n 1 the subinertial variability of deep ocean currents near the crest of the east pacific rise in the tropical east pacific is examined using observations from a collection of moored instruments augmented with sea surface height data the moored velocity observations reveal low frequency currents with characteristic time scales of 1 3 months and maximum speeds up to 10 cm s directly over the ridge axis the subinertial motions are dominated by the along axial meridional velocities which are coherent in phase and amplitude along the entire length of the ridge segment between 9 and 10 n with increasing distance from the ridge crest the low frequency currents become weaker and less dominated by the along axial flow component lag correlations between the velocity records indicate westward signal propagation with a speed on the same order as the speed of westward propagating sea surface height anomalies which are also associated with characteristic time scales of 1 3 months as furthermore the subinertial velocities at depth are significantly correlated with geostrophic near surface currents estimated from sea surface height data we conclude that the subinertial velocity field near the epr crest is mainly a superposition of velocities associated with eddies propagating westward across the ridge and topographic flows such as trapped waves and boundary currents

holocene sea level change and coastal landscape evolution in the southern gulf of carpentaria australia a revised holocene sea level history for the southern gulf of carpentaria is presented based on new data from the south wellesley archipelago and age recalibration of previous research results confirm that rising sea levels during the most recent post glacial marine transgression breached the arafura sill ca 11 700 cal yr bp sea levels continued to rise to ca 30 m by 10 000 cal yr bp leading to full marine conditions by 7700 cal yr bp sea level reached present mean sea level pmsl and continued to rise to an elevation of between 1 5 m and 2 m above pmsl sea level remained ca 1 5 between 7000 and 4000 cal yr bp followed by rapid regression to within 0 5 m of pmsl by ca 3500 cal yr bp when placed into a wider regional context results from this study show that coastal landscape evolution in the tropical north of australia was not only dependent on sea level change but also show a direct correlation with holocene climate variability specifically the formation and preservation of beach rock deposits intertidal successions beach and chenier ridge systems hold valuable sea level and holocene climate proxies that can contribute to the growing research into lower latitude holocene sea level and climate histories

resonant amplification of subinertial tides in a submarine canyon 1 tidal oscillations dominate the flow field in many submarine canyons observations have shown that semidiurnal tidal energy in submarine canyons is significantly amplified with respect to adjacent shelves this amplification is thought to be caused by focusing of propagating internal tides incident from the open ocean or local in canyon generation on critical canyon floor slopes these mechanisms require freely propagating internal tides with superinertial frequencies we present results from a moored array in a canyon at 44 n where the observed velocities reached over 0 8 m s 1 the canyon flow field was highly unusual because it was dominated by the subinertial diurnal tide this occurred despite the fact that the barotropic tide was predominantly semidiurnal the diurnal tide was dramatically amplified in the canyon its velocities increasing toward the seafloor and canyon head the diurnal oscillations also exhibited marked modulation in time by the background barotropic forcing length scales suggest that the diurnal tide should be resonant in the canyon an analytical framework is used to explain the mechanisms behind the strong diurnal currents observed by the moored array in the model along shelf barotropic flow sets up a double kelvin wave response in the canyon generating along canyon velocities which are subsequently amplified by resonance the pattern of the model predictions is in excellent agreement with the observed velocity pattern

chevrons origin and relevance for the reconstruction of past wind regimes abstract since its first use in the late 80 s the term chevron has been employed in numerous studies to describe large u and v shaped ridges found in or near shorelines worldwide most studies have so far focused on bahamian chevrons that are exclusively of late pleistocene age and on the supposed holocene chevrons found in s madagascar and australia in the bahamas these deposits have been interpreted as the product of extreme storms at the end of the last interglacial lig warm period in contrast the extensive chevrons complex exposed in s madagascar and on the western coast of australia have been associated with a tsunami induced by a meteorite impact finally several authors have also proposed a non catastrophic i e eolian origin based on the recognized importance of wind related processes in these coastal areas and term such deposits parabolic dunes in this paper we collect and synthesize existing data on the morphology sedimentology and age of these chevrons and review the different interpretations proposed in the literature with the aim to lay out a consistent database to assist further investigations on these important coastal morphologies in addition we generated a synthesis of wind data at the three study areas which highlights the relationship between present wind regimes and chevrons morphologies the ubiquity of chevrons likely actually parabolic dunes in coastal areas around the globe and their relationship with coastal processes makes them crucial archives for reconstructing past wind regimes

bottom trapped subinertial motions over midocean ridges in a stratified rotating fluid abstract linear analytical solutions for bottom trapped subinertial oscillatory flow over simple ridge topographies in a stratified two layer rotating fluid are presented results are compared to moored current meter observations of bottom intensified motions over the endeavour segment of juan de fuca ridge in the northeast pacific the solutions reproduce many of the observed features including preferential amplification of the clockwise rotary component of velocity over the ridge and increased velocity amplification with proximity to the ridge crest for a given internal deformation radius the degree of current amplification increases with increased bottom slope ridge height and oscillation frequency amplification decreases with increased width of the ridge relative to the deformation radius

the arctic circumpolar boundary current we present high resolution simulations and observational data as evidence of a fast current flowing along the shelf break of the siberian and alaskan shelves in the arctic ocean thus far the arctic circumpolar boundary current acbc has been seen as comprising two branches the fram strait and barents sea branches fsb and bsb respectively here we describe a new third branch the arctic shelf break branch asbb we show that the forcing mechanism for the asbb is a combination of buoyancy loss and non local wind creating high pressure upstream in the barents sea the potential vorticity influx through the st anna trough dictates the cyclonic direction of flow of the asbb which is the most energetic large scale circulation structure in the arctic ocean it plays a substantial role in transporting arctic halocline waters and exhibits a robust seasonal cycle with a summer minimum and winter maximum the simulations show the continuity of the fsb all the way around the arctic shelves and the uninterrupted asbb between the st anna trough and the western fram strait the bsb flows continuously along the siberian shelf as far as the chukchi plateau where it partly diverges from the continental slope into the ocean interior the alaskan shelf break current asc is the analog of the asbb in the canadian arctic the asc is forced by the local winds and high upstream pressure in bering strait caused by the drop in sea surface height between the pacific and arctic oceans

the distribution of neodymium isotopes in arctic ocean basins nd concentration and isotope data have been obtained for the canada amundsen and makarov basins of the arctic ocean a pattern of high nd concentrations up to 58 pm at shallow depths is seen throughout the arctic and is distinct from that generally seen in other oceans where surface waters are relatively depleted a range of isotopic variations across the arctic and within individual depth profiles reflects the different sources of waters the dominant source of water and so nd is the atlantic ocean with lesser contributions from the pacific and arctic rivers radiogenic isotope nd signatures up to epsilon nd 6 5 can be traced in pacific water flowing into the canada basin waters from rivers draining older terrains provide very unradiogenic nd down to epsilon nd 14 2 that can be traced in surface waters across much of the eurasian basin a distinct feature of the arctic is the general influence of the shelves on the nd concentrations of waters flowing into the basins either from the pacific across the chukchi sea or from across the extensive siberian shelves water shelf interaction results in an increase in nd concentration without significant changes in salinity in essentially all waters in the arctic through processes that are not yet well understood in estuarine regions other processes modify the nd signal of freshwater components supplied into the arctic basin and possibly also contribute to sedimentary nd that may be subsequently involved in sediment water interactions mixing relationships indicate that in estuaries nd is removed from major river waters to different degrees deep waters in the arctic are higher in nd than the inflowing atlantic waters apparently through enrichments of waters on the shelves that are involved in ventilating the deep basins these enrichments generally have not resulted in major shifts in the isotopic compositions of the deep waters in the makarov basin epsilon nd similar to 10 5 but have created distinctive nd isotope signatures that were found near the margin of the canada basin with epsilon nd similar to 9 0 the deep waters of the amundsen basin are also distinct from the atlantic waters with epsilon nd 12 3 indicating that there has been limited inflow from the adjacent makarov basin through the lomonosov ridge c 2009 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

hydro isostasy and the sea level isobase of 5500 b p in north queensland australia abstract previous studies of holocene sea level in north queensland have been based on a variety of sea level related deposits with interpretations of mid holocene levels ranging from near zero up to 4 m above present we report data from 8 carefully controlled new sites located from the palm group northwards and extending into the gulf of carpentaria field evidence is from coral reef flats and prograded coastal deposits the highest sea level on inner shelf islands and mainland coast occurred 5500 yrs ago the results of this and of certain previous studies are reduced to a common reference surface or isobase which varies systematically in elevation across the region the isobase correlates strongly with predicted hydro isostatic deformation caused by postglacial sea level rise

characteristics of 4 day oscillations trapped by the juan de fuca ridge current meter observations from different studies along the crest of the juan de fuca ridge have been combined to show new features of the relatively large broad spectral peak centered near a period of about 4 days the coherence range of the 4 day oscillations has been extended to the extreme ends of the ridge and the trapped waves appear to propagate northward along the entire length of the ridge at about 1 m s spectral amplitudes are about double on the south end compared to the north end and a recent model for bottom trapped subinertial waves over topography shows this may be due to variations in ridge width allen and thomson 1993 new observations show coherence between temperatures and currents near the south cleft vent field and suggest 4 day oscillations can play a major role in the local advection of hydrothermal plumes these observations combined with earlier results demonstrate that 4 day oscillations are a significant ridge trapped feature and they suggest that other ridges may be important in transmitting energy over much longer distances

thermoluminescence dating of dune podzols at cape arnhem northern australia abstract quaternary lithostratigraphic units in coastal dunes have been dated at two locations in the dune fields near cape arnhem northern australia using coarse fraction thermoluminescence tl dating fifteen tl dates were measured five main chronostratigraphic units were identified which include a late pleistocene unit ca 19 000 yr an early holocene unit ca 9000 6500 yr a mid holocene unit ca 4000 yr and two late holocene units ca 2100 yr and ca 1000 yr these respectively have been associated with the deflation of exposed shelf sediments during the last glacial the disturbance of this material by rising sea level and climatic variations in the late holocene

the norwegian atlantic current in the lofoten basin inferred from hydrological and tracer data 129i and its interaction with the norwegian coastal current 1 from three hydrological sections taken across the lofoten basin in may 2000 we estimated geostrophic transports of 7 2 sv sverdrup 106 m3 s 1 for the norwegian atlantic current nac and its division between northern 4 8 sv and eastern 2 4 sv branches from 129i 127i concentration ratio measurements and transport estimations we calculated 129i mass flux across the three sections it appears that in the lofoten basin a 129i tracer laden norwegian coastal current ncc is transporting northward 55 kg y of 129i assuming a volume flux of 0 7 sv b the estimated mass fluxes of 129i by the nac and the ncc are comparable c the total mass flux of 129i by the nac and ncc accounts only for about 1 3 of the 129i annual discharge 350 kg y from two reprocessing plants based in france and uk if these measurements are representative of annual mean it suggests an important transfer of 129i outside the nac ncc system

circulation hydrography and transport over the summit of axial seamount a deep volcano in the northeast pacific a numerical model of ocean flow hydrography and transport is used to extrapolate observations of currents and hydrography and infer patterns of material flux in the deep ocean around axial seamount a destination node of nsf s ocean observatories initiative s cabled array using an inverse method the model is made to approximate measured deep ocean flow around this site during a 35 day time period in the year 2002 the model is then used to extract month long mean patterns and examine smaller scale spatial and temporal variability around axial like prior observations model month long mean currents flow anti cyclonically around the seamount s summit in toroidal form with maximum speeds at 1500m depth of 10 11 cm s as a time mean the temperature salinity anomaly distribution takes the form of a cold briny dome above the summit passive tracer material continually released at the location of the ashes vent field exits the caldera primarily through its southern open end before filling the caldera once outside the caldera the tracer circles the summit in clockwise fashion fractionally re entering the caldera over lower walls at its north end while gradually bleeding southwestward during the modeled time period into the ambient ocean a second tracer release experiment using a source of only two day duration inside and near the casm vent field at the northern end of the caldera suggests a residence time of the fluid at that locale of 8 9 days

circulation and water masses of the east greenland shelf the water masses and circulation over the northern greenland continental shelf are described based on two cruises to the region during the summers of 1979 and 1984 the cold polar water over the shelf was found to increase notably in salinity toward the shelf break and the east greenland polar front a colder more saline and relatively isolated fraction of the polar water was identified just above the atlantic intermediate water of the front a middepth layer stable in time indicates little vertical heat exchange warm atlantic intermediate water was found to intrude close to the coast via a newly defined system of troughs in the shelf the polar water was found to circulate over the shelf in a clockwise gyre baroclinic transports northward near the coast with 0 58 sv mean flow and southward elsewhere with 1 47 sv mean flow yielded a net southward transport in the east greenland current of 0 89 sv

global monsoons in the mid holocene and oceanic feedback the response of the six major summer monsoon systems the north american monsoon the northern africa monsoon the asia monsoon the northern australasian monsoon the south america monsoon and the southern africa monsoon to mid holocene orbital forcing has been investigated using a coupled ocean atmosphere general circulation model foam with the focus on the distinct roles of the direct insolation forcing and oceanic feedback the simulation result is also found to compare well with the ncar csm the direct effects of the change in insolation produce an enhancement of the northern hemisphere monsoons and a reduction of the southern hemisphere monsoons ocean feedbacks produce a further enhancement of the northern africa monsoon and the north american monsoon however ocean feedbacks appear to weaken the asia monsoon although the overall effect direct insolation forcing plus ocean feedback remains a strengthened monsoon the impact of ocean feedbacks on the south american and southern african monsoons is relatively small and therefore these regions especially the south america experienced a reduced monsoon regime compared to present however there is a strong ocean feedback on the northern australian monsoon that negates the direct effects of orbital changes and results in a strengthening of austral summer monsoon precipitation in this region a new synthesis is made for mid holocene paleoenvironmental records and is compared with the model simulations overall model simulations produce changes in regional climates that are generally consistent with paleoenvironmental observations

aspects of the emplacement evolution and 14c chronology of ridges on a coastal spit groote eylandt northern australia a coastal spit on groote eylandt in the western gulf of carpentaria northern australia began to form between 3000 and 2000 yr b p in response to the migration of a large parabolic dune across the coastline systematic discrepancies in the 14c chronology and the remarkable preservation of fragile shelly material indicated a complex origin for a series of concentric beach ridges one of the shell species deposited in the beach ridges clypeomorus bifasciata sowerby was being continuously incorporated through normal wave action while a second species fragum whitleyi iredale was introduced only under storm conditions the importance of selecting a single shell species for 14c dating and understanding the environmental tolerance of the species is highlighted a conceptual model for the emplacement of surficial ridge material under bedload flow during storm set up is proposed it is argued that these ridges act as offshore bars rather than storm beaches during storm events this would have significant implications for the environmental interpretation of some types of spits and beach ridges in particular sea level estimates based on the assumption that these types of ridges are formed as beaches are open to question

morphology and chronostratigraphy of a coastal dunefield groote eylandt northern australia a coastal dunefield on groote eylandt in the gulf of carpentaria northern australia is stratigraphically described and dated using the coarse fraction thermoluminescence dating technique four phases of dune activity have been identified 1 modern active transverse and parabolic dunes 2 a parabolic dunefield apparently stabilized less than 2000 yr bp 3 a parabolic dunefield stablized between 6000 and 4800 yr bp 4 a basal dunefield unit emplaced prior to 100 000 yr bp the current dune systems are an expression of dune activation and stabilization events in the holocene but were formed from the deflation of an extensive pre holocene dunefield the destruction of the pre holocene dunefield appears to have been caused by sea level rise at the end of the pleistocene and during the early holocene the ages derived from the dunefield accord well with chronostratigraphic investigations of coastal dune systems elsewhere in northern australia and support theories of regional environmental change during the holocene

pacific freshwater river water and sea ice meltwater across arctic ocean basins results from the 2005 beringia expedition 1 pacific water sea ice meltwater and river water are the primary sources of freshwater in the arctic ocean we have determined their relative fractions on a transect across the arctic ocean section 2005 expedition onboard ib oden which took place from 21 august to 23 september 2005 the transect began north of alaska continued through the central canada basin to the alpha ridge and into the makarov basin and ended in amundsen basin pacific freshwater and river water were the major sources of freshwater throughout the central canada basin and into makarov basin with river water fractions sometimes considerably higher than pacific water in the top 50 m pacific freshwater extended to depths of about 200 m pacific water found over the alpha ridge and in the amundsen basin is suggested to have been transported there in the transpolar drift the inventories of pacific freshwater and river water were roughly constant along the section through most of the canada and makarov basins river water fractions were greater than those of pacific freshwater in the amundsen basin sea ice meltwater fractions were negative reflecting net ice formation or near zero throughout most of the section a comparison of freshwater inventories with those at stations occupied during expeditions in 1991 1994 and 1996 indicated an increase in river water inventories in the makarov and amundsen basins on the eurasian side of the arctic ocean

stratigraphy vs pedogenesis problems of their correlation within coastal sedimentary facies abstract stratigraphic differentiation of wuaternary coastal sedimentary sequences is frequently based upon the recognition of individual palaeosols a number of assumptions are commonly made in the compilation of such lithostratigraphies first that the development of soil profiles spodosols within coastal sedimentary sequences occur within stable sedimentary units and second that one soil profile equals one sedimentary unit after examining and thermoluminescence dating podzol spodosol profiles within 11 barrier and dune complexes along a 900 km stretch of coastline in south east australia we can now show that such assumptions are not tenable at eight of the ten locations examined the a and b horizons of these soils although having the appearance of being intact and genetically related revealed great discrepancies in age we suggest that coastal podzol profiles are particularly susceptible to reworking primarily because of the variability in induration and hence preservation potential of successive horizons recognition of this situation as probably being the norm rather than a local anomaly suggests that the practice of dividing sedimentary units into lithostratigraphic units on the basis of palaeosols and then using this criteria as a basis for sampling and determining chronostratigraphies may well lead to erroneous interpretations especially when reconstructing quaternary environmental and geological histories

distribution of atlantic and pacific waters in the upper arctic ocean implications for circulation the atlantic and pacific oceans provide source waters for the arctic ocean that can be distinguished by their differing nitrate and phosphate concentration relationships using these relationships we estimate the amount of atlantic and pacific waters in the surface layer top 30 m of the arctic ocean atlantic source water is dominant in most of the eurasian basin and is present in significant amounts in the makarov basin north of the east siberian sea pacific source water is dominant in most of the canadian basin and is present in significant amounts in the amundsen basin north of greenland we deduce circulation patterns from the distributions of atlantic and pacific source waters in the surface layer of the arctic ocean and conclude that the flow within the surface layer differs from ice drift along the north american and european boundaries of the polar basin

physical modeling of tidal resonance in a submarine canyon current observations in submarine canyons poleward of 30 are usually dominated by the semidiurnal m2 tidal frequency which is superinertial at these latitudes observations from a submarine canyon at 44 n the gully nova scotia suggest that canyons can be dominated by the subinertial k1 tidal frequency if length scales are correct for resonance of the k1 frequency a model of the gully was constructed in a tank on a rotating table and tidal currents generated to determine factors that influence resonance resonance curves were fit to measurements from the laboratory canyon for a range of stratifications background rotation rates and forcing amplitudes dense water was observed upwelling onto the continental shelf on either side of the laboratory canyon and traveled at least one canyon width along the shelf friction values measured in the laboratory were much higher than expected probably due to upwelled water surging onto the shelf on each tidal cycle similar to a tidal bore by scaling observations from the laboratory to the ocean and assuming friction in the ocean is also affected by water traveling onto the shelf a resonance curve for the ocean was created because of the broad resonance curve the diurnal tide remains strong year round at the gully even as stratification at the shelf break changes dense water surging onto the shelf on tidal frequencies may affect friction and mixing at other nonresonant canyons

freshwater composition of the waters off southeast greenland and their link to the arctic ocean 1 the freshwater composition of waters on the southeast greenland shelf and slope are described using a set of high resolution transects occupied in summer 2004 which included hydrographic velocity nutrient and chemical tracer measurements the nutrient and tracer data are used to quantify the fractions of pacific water sea ice melt and meteoric water present in the upper layers of the east greenland current egc and east greenland coastal current egcc the egc egcc system dominates the circulation of this region and strongly influences the observed distribution of the three freshwater types sea ice melt and meteoric water fractions are surface intensified reflecting their sources and generally increase southward from denmark strait to cape farewell as well as shoreward significant fractions of pacific water are found in the subsurface layers of the egcc supporting the idea that this inner shelf branch is directly linked to the egc and thus to the arctic ocean a set of historical sections is examined to investigate the variability of pacific water content in the egc and egcc from 1984 to 2004 in the vicinity of denmark strait the fraction of pacific water increased substantially in the late 1990s and subsequently declined to low levels in 2002 and 2004 mirroring the reduction in pacific water content reported previously at fram strait this variability is found to correlate significantly with the arctic oscillation index lagged by 9 years suggesting that the arctic ocean circulation patterns bring varying amounts of pacific water to the north atlantic via the egc egcc

river runoff sea ice meltwater and pacific water distribution and mean residence times in the arctic ocean hydrographic and tracer data collected during ark iv 3 fs polarstern in 1987 arctic91 ib oden and aos94 ccgs louis s st laurent expeditions reveal the evolution of the near surface waters in the arctic ocean during the late 1980s and early 1990s salinity nutrients dissolved oxygen and 18 o data are used to quantify the components of arctic freshwater river runoff sea ice meltwater and pacific water the calculated river runoff fractions suggest that in 1994 a large portion of water from the pechora ob yenisey kotuy and lena rivers did not flow off the shelf closest to their river deltas but remained on the shelf and traveled via cyclonic circulation into the laptev and east siberian seas river runoff flowed off the shelf at the lomonosov ridge and most left the shelf at the mendeleyev ridge arctic91 and aos94 pacific water fraction estimates of upper halocline water the traditionally defined core of the pacific water mass document a decrease in extent compared to historical data the front between atlantic water and pacific water shifted from the lomonosov ridge location in 1991 to the mendeleyev ridge in 1994 the relative age structure of the upper waters is described by using the 3 h 3 he age the mean 3 h 3 he age measured in the halocline within the salinity surface of 33 1 0 3 is 4 3 1 7 years and that for the 34 2 0 2 salinity surface is 9 6 4 6 years lateral variations in the relative age structure within the halocline and atlantic water support the well known cyclonic boundary current circulation

on subinertial oscillations trapped by the juan de fuca ridge northeast pacific spectra of currents measured along the 2100 m deep juan de fuca ridge in the northeast pacific have prominent tidal inertial and weather band 3 7 day period spectral peaks the weather band peak in particular has a number of interesting features it is strongest in close lateral proximity to the ridge and strongest near ridge depth intensification near the ridge is characteristic of trapped motion spectral peak intensities vary seasonally with largest amplitudes occurring in autumn and winter seasonal variation suggests that surface weather is forcing flow at depth together trapping and seasonality indicate opportunistic amplification of oscillatory motion at the ridge at all frequencies forcing topography and stratification together shape current and hydrographic distributions near the ridge effects of those interactions for subinertial motion are quantified here using a primitive equation numerical model forcing period 1 10 days and friction are the principal dependencies examined results show that flow over the juan de fuca ridge can be amplified by factors of 3 4 for diurnal and up to a factor of 7 for weather band frequencies amplification is ridge trapped with effects extending many hundreds of meters upward and extending 5 10 km laterally for 5 day period flow the strength and area of amplification increase with increasing period over the 1 to 10 day period band oscillatory weather band flow leads to vertical velocities on the order of 0 3 cm s 1 on ridge flanks which in turn cause periodic temperature t and salinity s variations with amplitudes of as much as 0 05 c and 0 01 practical salinity units respectively the vertical motion and consequent vertical displacement 100 m lead to isotherms that plunge below the crest alternately each side of the ridge a distribution observed in conductivity temperature depth transect data near the ridge crest cross ridge baroclinic pressure gradients caused by cyclically plunging isopycnals are in near geostrophic balance with the coriolis force associated with along ridge flow along ridge current amplification is therefore closely tied to isopycnal movement up and down ridge flanks since weather band oscillations lead to much larger cross ridge baroclinic pressure gradients than do diurnal motions of the same amplitude weather band forcing causes greater along ridge current amplification results vary strongly with forcing period and direction of forcing with respect to the ridge but depend only moderately on friction and turbulent mixing coefficients

neodymium budget in the modern ocean and paleo oceanographic implications the oceanic nd budget is calculated using a steady state 10 box model and a compilation of field data this is the first attempt to propose consistent estimates of the nd fluxes entering the ocean as well as indicating possible nd sources and the proportion of nd fluxes exchanged between dissolved and particulate fractions with presently available nd data the best estimates give a total nd influx of 9 x 10 9 g yr which leads to an oceanic nd residence time of 500 years from modeling tests we suggest that the authigenic nd scavenged by particulates is 100 remineralized in the deep ocean the total exchanged nd flux may be as high as 2 x 10 10 g yr the epsilon nd 0 values of the influxes are 22 11 1 and 4 for the north atlantic surface atlantic north pacific and surface indo pacific regions respectively atmospheric and riverine nd fluxes are insufficient to explain the magnitude and regional variability of calculated nd influxes and epsilon nd 0 we propose continental margins as an additional source supplying nd to the ocean using the model calibrated for nd we examine the sensitivity of deep water epsilon nd 0 to variations of nd inputs to the ocean deep water nd concentrations and epsilon nd 0 vary with the changes in nd influxes and their epsilon nd 0 as nd sources to the ocean may change during glacial interglacial periods the epsilon nd 0 shifts recorded in ferromanganese nodules and crusts do not necessarily reflect changes in paleoceanic circulation the effects of continental erosion should be considered in reconstructing patterns of ocean circulation using nd isotopes

pedogenic uranium thorium and thermoluminescence chronologies and evolutionary history of a coastal dunefield groote eylandt northern australia abstract u th disequilibrium dating of pedogenic ferruginous pisoliths and additional coarse fraction quartz thermoluminescense dates are used to test a tl based chronology of the umbakumba dunefield groote eylandt northern australia these dates support the established history of the dunefield and indicate that the field is at least mid quaternary in age and may be much older sea level fluctuation is identified as the dominant control on dunefield accretion and destruction the following model of sea level control of dunefield evolution is proposed 1 at sea levels of less than 40 m the system is inactive 2 from 40 to 5 m the system is accretionary 3 at sea levels from 5 m to 5 m the system is deflationary 4 above 5 m the dunefield would be destroyed modified versions of the conceptual model may be applicable to other coastlines where sediment supply is significantly altered by sea level fluctuations

applications and limitations of thermoluminescence to date quaternary sediments abstract the thermoluminescence tl method dates sediment by quantifying time dependent dosimetric properties of mineral grains sunlight exposure of the sediment during transportation and deposition or heating resets the tl clock to time zero after burial of the mineral grains ionizing radiation from the decay of radioisotopes imparts a tl signal this accumulated tl signal is proportional to the equivalent dose ed which is a measure of radiation exposure during the burial period a tl age estimate is determined from the ratio of the ed to the environmental radiation dose rate the calculation of an ed is influenced by the susceptibility of sediments to optical bleaching the emission spectra of minerals and possible long and short term fading there are three basic methods for determining an ed regeneration total and partial bleach the regeneration technique may yield under estimates because of sensitivity changes with laboratory bleaching the latter two techniques are most useful for well and partially light bleached sediments respectively a number of sediments can be dated by the tl method eolian and a variety of terrestrial sediments yield apparently accurate tl age estimates though there are possible complications associated with pedogenesis it appears that some fluvial sediment can be accurately dated by tl but little is known about the efficiency of optical bleaching for fluvial depositional systems till and glacier proximal deposits are inadequately light bleached to be dated by tl sediments deposited distal from the glacier margin which are at least partially bleached are preferred for dating future research is needed to understand better the relationship between sedimentary environments and the extent of light bleaching also studies should concentrate on dating feldspar extracts from well dated sequences to more fully ascertain the temporal limitations of the method only by understanding the interplay of sedimentology tl dosimetry and environmental radiation can the tl method be effectively applied to the myriad of depositional environments spanning the late to middle pleistocene

physical characteristics of the endeavour ridge hydrothermal plume during july 1988 abstract we conducted ctd transmissometer tows from 8 to 26 july 1988 within 15 km of the central hydrothermal vent site 47 57 n 129 06 w on the endeavour segment of juan de fuca ridge anomalies of temperature salinity and light attenuation reveal possible new vent sites 4 and 8 km northeast and 6 km south of the central vent site as a result of widespread plume dispersion background values of potential temperature salinity and light attenuation below the 1900 m depth exceeded those for pristine ambient waters by 0 05 c 0 05 psu and 0 03 m 1 respectively maximum plume anomalies relative to the background waters were of the order of 0 10 c 0 010 psu and 0 10 m 1 at core depths of 2000 2050 m heat and salt anomalies were detectable more than 5 km from the central vent site whereas light attenuation particle anomalies were confined to within 2 5 km of the vent site based on the background water property anomalies and moored current meter records the mean time averaged heat fluxes for the survey region were 2 3 1 5 10 8 w in the along ridge direction 20 t and 7 7 4 7 10 8 w in the cross ridge direction 110 t mean along and cross ridge salt fluxes were 7 5 and 25 15 kg s 1 mean particle fluxes were 0 09 0 06 and 0 29 0 18 kg s 1 estimates of the instantaneous fluxes derived from coincident current and plume measurements indicate that heat fluxes from the central vent field may have been as high as1 2 0 6 10 10 w and corresponding particulate fluxes as high as6 3 kg s 1

sources and distribution of fresh water in the east greenland current abstract fresh water flowing from the arctic ocean via the east greenland current influences deep water formation in the nordic seas as well as the salinity of the surface and deep waters flowing from there this fresh water has three sources pacific water relatively fresh cf atlantic water river runoff and sea ice meltwater to determine the relative amounts of the three sources of fresh water in may 2002 we collected water samples across the east greenland current in sections from 81 5 n to the irminger sea south of denmark strait we used nitrate phosphate relationships to distinguish pacific waters from atlantic waters salinity to obtain the sum of sea ice melt water and river runoff water and total alkalinity to distinguish the latter river runoff contributed the largest part of the total fresh water component in some regions with some inventories exceeding 12 m pacific fresh water pacific source water s 32 cf atlantic source water s 34 9 typically provided about 1 3 of the river runoff contribution sea ice meltwater was very nearly non existent in the surface waters of all sections likely at least in part as a result of the samples being collected before the onset of the melt season the fresh water from the arctic ocean was strongly confined to near the greenland coast we thus conjecture that the main source of fresh water from the arctic ocean most strongly impacting deep convection in the nordic seas would be sea ice as opposed to fresh water in the liquid phase i e river runoff pacific fresh water and sea ice meltwater

freshwater budget of the canada basin arctic ocean from salinity δ18o and nutrients 1 the contribution of freshwater components e g meteoric sea ice and pacific water in the canada basin is quantified using salinity 18o and nutrient data collected in 2003 and 2004 the penetration depth of sea ice meltwater is limited to the upper 30 m and brine rejected during sea ice formation is observed from 30 to 250 m depth the fraction of meteoric water is high in the upper 50 m and decreases with depth pacific water entering via bering strait is the main source of freshwater below 50 m depth bering strait throughflow which transports pacific water with salinity 32 5 together with meteoric water supplied upstream of the bering strait contributes up to 75 of freshwater input 3200 km3 a 1 to the canada basin the mean residence time of pacific water in the canada basin is estimated to be 11 years precipitation and river runoff from both north american and eurasian continents add 800 km3 a 1 and sea ice formation removes 900 km3 a 1 0 6 m a 1 of fresh water the export of ice and liquid fresh water from the canada basin contributes 40 of the freshwater flux from the arctic ocean to the north atlantic ocean

the freshwater composition of the fram strait outflow derived from a decade of tracer measurements the composition of the fram strait freshwater outflow is investigated by comparing 10 sections of concurrent salinity 18o nitrate and phosphate measurements collected between 1997 and 2011 the largest inventories of net sea ice meltwater are found in 2009 2010 and 2011 the 2009 2011 sections are also the first to show positive fractions of sea ice meltwater at the surface near the core of the egc sections from september 2009 2011 show an increased input of sea ice meltwater at the surface relative to older september sections this suggests that more sea ice now melts back into the surface in late summer than previously comparison of april july and september sections reveals seasonal variations in the inventory of positive sea ice meltwater with maximum inventories in september sections the time series of sections reveals a strong anti correlation between meteoric water and net sea ice meltwater inventories suggesting that meteoric water and brine may be delivered to fram strait together from a common source we find that the freshwater outflow at fram strait exhibits a similar meteoric water to net sea ice meltwater ratio as the central arctic ocean and siberian shelves suggesting that much of the sea ice meltwater and meteoric water at fram strait may originate from these regions however we also find that the ratio of meteoric water to sea ice meltwater inventories at fram strait is decreasing with time due to an increased surface input of sea ice meltwater in recent sections

structure and transports of the east greenland current at 75 n from moored current meters the east greenland current runs from 80 n to 60 n from the fram strait to the denmark strait via the nordic seas it transports waters from the arctic and the nordic seas into the atlantic and also acts as a western intensified southward return flow for waters recirculating within the greenland sea gyre itself an area important for deep water formation data from current meters moored across the current at 75 n in 1994 1995 show a large seasonal variation in the current the annual mean transport is 21 3 sv taking 9 w as the eastern boundary varying from 11 sv in summer to 37 sv in winter errors approximately 5 sv no significant seasonal signal has been observed in the fram or denmark straits suggesting that the seasonal transport is confined within the greenland sea using temperature and velocity data we split the flow at 75 n into two parts a mainly wind driven circulation annual mean of order 19 sv which is trapped within the greenland sea gyre and exhibits a large seasonal cycle transporting predominantly the waters of the greenland sea and a steadier throughflow probably thermohaline driven of order 8 sv in the annual mean with very little seasonal variation data from previous years 1987 1994 indicate the interannual variability of the current is low assuming a spatially coherent structure to the current we extend the time series of the transport back to 1991 and suggest it may be possible to monitor the total transport with one suitably placed mooring

neodymium isotopic composition and rare earth element concentrations in the deep and intermediate nordic seas constraints on the iceland scotland overflow water signature neodymium isotopic composition and rare earth element concentrations were measured in seawater samples from eleven stations in the nordic seas these data allow us to study how the iceland scotland overflow water isow acquires its neodymium signature in the modern ocean the waters overflowing the faroe shetland channel are characterized by nd 8 2 0 6 in good agreement with the only other data point published 19 years ago in the greenland and iceland seas the water masses leading to the formation of the isow display lower neodymium isotopic composition with nd around 11 and 9 respectively since no water masses in the nordic seas are characterized by nd 8 the radiogenic signature of the isow likely reflects inputs from the highly radiogenic norwegian basin basaltic margins jan mayen iceland faroe with nd 7 in addition to the neodymium isotopic composition the rare earth element patterns suggest that these inputs occur via the remobilization which includes resuspension and dissolution of sediments deposited on the margins whereas the neodymium isotopic composition behaves conservatively in the oceans in the absence of lithogenic inputs and can be used as a water mass tracer these results emphasize the role of interactions between sediments deposited on margins and seawater in the acquisition of the neodymium isotopic composition of water masses these results should allow a better use of this parameter to trace the present and the past circulation in the north atlantic

circulation and transformation of atlantic water in the eurasian basin and the contribution of the fram strait inflow branch to the arctic ocean heat budget abstract the inflows of atlantic water from the nordic seas to the arctic ocean through fram strait and over the barents sea are examined and their pathways and transformations in the eurasian basin are described based primarily on hydrographic observations from two cruises with rv polarstern in 2007 and 2011 the contrast between the high salinity atlantic water core in the nansen basin and the lower atlantic water salinity in the amundsen basin combined with a salinity minimum below the atlantic layer suggest that the fram strait branch mainly remains in the nansen basin while the barents sea branch continues along the continental slope enters the amundsen basin and provides most of the atlantic water in the makarov and canada basins to examine the consequences of such a circulation pattern recently published estimates of the in and outflows of volume and liquid freshwater through the barents sea bering strait and the canadian arctic archipelago as well as river runoff net precipitation and ice export are reviewed and added together to achieve volume and freshwater balances net outflows through fram strait of 2 3 sv and 100 msv respectively are required this is reasonably close to the recently reported fram strait transport estimates the net outflows are separated into two parts upper layer transports less dense than the entering atlantic water and lower layer transports as dense as or denser than the atlantic water the largest net volume outflow occurs in the lower layer 1 65 sv while the liquid freshwater is almost exclusively exported in the 0 64 sv net outflow in upper layer leading to unrealistically low salinities in the upper layer compared with observations atlantic water is north of svalbard transformed into less saline surface water through melting of sea ice which can supply the necessary higher salinity halocline water to the upper layer 1 23 sv of halocline water of salinity 34 2 must be added to obtain a more realistic salinity of 33 1 leading to a total export of 1 84 sv upper layer water in the east greenland current existing observations of the net transports into and out of the arctic ocean through fram strait in different temperature classes are used to estimate the heat loss of the atlantic water entering the arctic ocean through fram strait about 10 tw are supplied to the atmosphere in addition to the loss of 24 tw occurring in connection with the formation of the halocline water if the hypothesis that the fram strait branch remains in the nansen basin is true it implies a heat loss between 5 and 15 w m 2 in the nansen basin depending upon how much heat is temporarily stored in the water column this is high compared to the 2 w m 2 commonly cited as the ocean heat flux to the atmosphere in the arctic ocean

canadian basin freshwater sources and changes results from the 2005 arctic ocean section 1 we present measurements of oxygen isotope ratios and nutrient concentrations along the 2005 arctic ocean section aboard the icebreaker oden the data are used to estimate freshwater contributions from meteoric water mainly river runoff sea ice meltwater and chukchi sea shelf water itself a combination of pacific and indigenous arctic water types nutrients ratios are combined to form quasi conservative water mass tracers phosphate star n star and the empirical arctic n p relationship and used along with salinity and 18o which are conservative in the ocean interior disagreements between two different freshwater analyses in the western arctic are largely resolved using a salinity dependent redfield ratio a new estimate of the pacific end member and an analysis of the bering strait inflow contribution to detraining shelf waters freshwater components from 2005 are placed into the context of the overlapping 1994 arctic ocean section aboard the louis st laurent and a time series of hydrographic tracer casts between 1987 and 1992 in the canada basin compared to 1987 1994 the 2005 transect exhibits increased meteoric water concentrations in the northern part of the canadian basin and a decrease in the southern part this pattern is related to changes in the distribution of wind stress curl during the several years prior to each sampling campaign in addition a previously observed correlation between sea ice formation and river runoff disappears over the central arctic in 2005 a change that we attribute to a northward shift of sea ice formation resampling approximately every 3 years should resolve the dynamics driving changes in freshwater and nutrient distributions

numerical simulation of hydrothermal vent induced circulation at endeavour ridge hydrothermal venting at endeavour ridge is focused at five major vent fields spaced at 2 km intervals along a narrow 1 km wide north south trending rift valley a princeton ocean model with an axially symmetric rift valley centered within a rotating full depth 2400 m stratified ocean is used to simulate the circulation and associated temperature and salinity fields generated by vertical heat fluxes from the five vent fields steady seafloor heat fluxes are introduced instantaneously to a quiescent ocean using the model provision for boundary fluxes the model achieves a quasi steady state in about 80 days results are consistent with observation in particular buoyant plumes emanating from the larger vent fields rise to trapping depths as shallow as 1850 m 350 m above bottom and spread laterally with the vent induced circulation plume anomalies remain confined to within several kilometers of the ridge except to the west where anomalies extend more than 10 km off axis as with observations modeled currents within the valley consist of a strong 10 cm s 1 poleward inflow within roughly 75 m of the bottom and an equally strong equatorward counterflow above that depth weak 1 cm s 1 equatorward flow develops over the flank of the west ridge and weak poleward flow over the flank of the east ridge cyclonic relative vorticity dominates the model circulation within the valley while anticyclonic vorticity prevails above the depth of neutral plume buoyancy findings support the notion that turbulent entrainment by buoyant plumes forces a mean poleward flow within the confines of the endeavour ridge axial valley

early holocene aridity in tropical northern australia thermoluminescence ages from a longitudinal dunefield in tropical northern australia suggest that complete dune activation occurred here either continuously or sporadically between approximately 8 2 ka and 5 9 ka this period in australia is normally ascribed to one of increasingly warm and wet conditions towards the holocene climatic optimum however elsewhere this time 8 ka coincides with a brief period of global climate change recognized in 18 o records from antarctica methane records of the greenland summit ice cores changes to deep sea benthic foraminferal composition and atmospheric 14 c variations in tropical africa two distinct phases of aridity have been dated at approximately 8 ka and 6 ka the coincidence of aeolian reacti vation episodes in this north australian dunefield with brief phases of early holocene climate change elsewhere suggests possible global climatic teleconnections at this time

a holocene pollen and diatom record from vanderlin island gulf of carpentaria lowland tropical australia sedimentary palynological and diatom data from a dunefield lake deposit in the interior of vanderlin island in the gulf of carpentaria are presented prior to the formation of present perennial lake conditions the intensified australian monsoon associated with the early holocene marine transgression allowed cyperaceae sedges to colonise the alluvial margins of an expansive salt flat surrounded by an open eucalyptus woodland as sea level stabilised between 7500 and 4500 cal yr b p coastal dunes ceased to develop allowing dense melaleuca forest to establish in a restionaceae swamp dune sand input into the swamp was diminished further as the increasingly dense vegetation prevented fluvial and aeolian transported sand arriving from coastal sources this same process impounded the drainage basin allowing a perennial lake to form between 5500 and 4000 cal yr b p myriophyllum and other aquatic taxa colonised the lake periphery under the most extensive woodland recorded for the holocene the palynological data support an effective precipitation model proposed for northern australia that suggests more variable conditions in the late holocene a more precise measure of effective precipitation change is provided by diatom based inferences that indicate few changes in lake hydrology such interpretations are explained in terms of palynological sensitivity to adjustments in local fire regimes where regional precipitation change may only be recorded indirectly through fire promoting mechanisms including intensified enso periodicity and human impact

ocean circulation and freshwater pathways in the arctic mediterranean based on a combined nd isotope ree and oxygen isotope section across fram strait the water masses passing the fram strait are mainly responsible for the exchange of heat and freshwater between the nordic seas and the arctic ocean the arctic mediterranean am disentangling their exact sources distribution and mixing however is complex this work provides new insights based on a detailed geochemical tracer inventory including dissolved nd isotope end rare earth element ree and stable oxygen isotope 18o data along a full water depth section across fram strait we find that nd isotope and ree distributions in the open am primarily reflect lateral advection of water masses and their mixing seawater particle interactions exert important control only above the shelf regions as observed above the ne greenland shelf advection of northward flowing warm atlantic water aw is clearly reflected by an end signature of 11 7 and a nd concentration nd of 16 pmol kg in the upper 500 m of the eastern and central fram strait freshening and cooling of the aw on its way trough the am are accompanied by a continuous change towards more radiogenic end signatures e g 10 4 of dense arctic atlantic water this mainly reflects mixing with intermediate waters but also admixture of dense kara sea waters and pacific derived waters the more radiogenic end signatures of the intermediate and deep waters reaching 9 5 are mainly acquired in the sw nordic seas through exchange with basaltic formations of iceland and se greenland inputs of nd from svalbard are not observed and surface waters and nd on the svalbard shelf originate from the barents sea shallow southward flowing arctic derived waters 200 m form the core of the east greenland current above the greenland slope and can be traced by their relatively radiogenic end reaching 8 8 and elevated nd 21 to 29 pmol kg these properties are used together with 18o and standard hydrographic tracers to define the proportions of pacific derived 30 based on nd isotopes and atlantic derived waters as well as of river waters 8 shallow waters 150 m on the ne greenland shelf share some characteristics of arctic derived waters but exhibit less radiogenic end values reaching 12 4 and higher nd up to 38 pmol kg in the upper 100 m this suggests local addition of greenland freshwater of up to 6 in addition to these observations this study shows that the pronounced gradients in end signatures and ree characteristics in the upper water column provide a reliable basis for assessments of shallow hydrological changes within the am

source and formation of the upper halocline of the arctic ocean 1 the upper halocline of the arctic ocean has a distinct chemical signature with high nutrient concentrations as well as low oxygen and ph values this signature is formed in the chukchi and east siberian seas by a combination of mineralization of organic matter and release of decay products to the sea ice brine enriched bottom water salinity and total alkalinity data show that the fraction of sea ice brine in the nutrient enriched upper halocline water in the central arctic ocean is up to 4 in the east siberian sea the bottom waters with exceptional high nutrient concentration and low ph have typically between 5 and 10 of sea ice brine as computed from salinity and oxygen 18 values on the continental slope over bottom depths of 150 200 m the brine contribution was 6 at the nutrient maximum depth 50 100 m at the same location as well as over the deeper basin the silicate maximum was found over a wider salinity range than traditionally found in the canada basin in agreement with earlier observations east of the chukchi plateau a detailed evaluation of the chemical and the temperature salinity properties suggests at least two different areas for the formation of the nutrient rich halocline within the east siberian sea this has not been observed before 2004 and it could be a sign of a changing marine climate in the east siberian sea caused by more open water in the summer season followed by more sea ice formation and brine production in the fall winter

biogeochemical implications from dissolved rare earth element and nd isotope distributions in the gulf of alaska dissolved rare earth element ree concentrations and nd isotope compositions were measured for surface waters and full water column profiles of the gulf of alaska goa and compared to water mass properties and circulation in order to better understand the mechanisms controlling the input and transport of rees in the ocean the rees display a typical open ocean range of concentrations i e la 12 66 pm lu 0 2 2 5 pm and depth distributions i e surface ocean depletion and enrichment with water depth nd isotope signatures are highly radiogenic as expected for the north pacific margin ranging from 3 8 to 0 2 epsilon nd the most radiogenic values were found in the coastal waters but also in the cores of eddies indicating efficient export of rees from the margins and across the mixed layer this is the first time that distinct nd isotope distributions in near surface waters can be directly assigned to offshore eddy transport a distinct mid depth similar to 2200 m nd isotope signal was found that most likely reflects advection of a water mass that formed through past down welling in the northern pacific subsurface nd isotope compositions appear to behave conservatively and can be explained through a ree distribution model proposed here this model is based on multivariate analysis of the rees and invokes two distinct pools of dissolved rees a passive pool complexed by carbonate ions and a bio reactive pool that is microbially manipulated the latter pool is only significant in the upper water column and most likely reflects the indirect effects of microbial cycling of iron our model of the open ocean ree distribution contributes to explaining the conservative nature of nd isotopes and provides a mechanism linking surface ocean and pore water ree dynamics

rare earth elements and nd isotopes tracing water mass mixing and particle seawater interactions in the se atlantic abstract distributions of dissolved and particulate rare earth elements rees and seawater neodymium isotopic composition e nd were established in samples from the bonus goodhope bgh ipy geotraces cruise in the se atlantic sector of the southern ocean 36 s 13 e to 57 s 0 feb mar 2008 close to the south african continent in the subtropical domain particulate rees show the highest concentrations and flat paas normalized patterns clearly tracing their lithogenic origin active cerium oxidation onto suspended particles is evidenced by the mirror image relationship of the cerium anomaly between dissolved and particulate phases unradiogenic dissolved neodymium in surface waters e nd 17 1 traces the influence of old sedimentary material brought by the agulhas current and rings to the cape basin area a mass balance calculation suggests that the release of nd from dissolution of lithogenic material corresponds to a remobilization of 154 10 6 t of sediment per year i e 5 of the total sediment delivered to the southeast african coast annually at open ocean stations both dissolved and particulate rees present negative cerium anomalies indicating that particles have acquired a marine signature the increasing ree concentrations with depth and the strong linear correlations of dissolved ree with silica indicate that surface removal and deep re mineralisation of rees are partially related to the biogeochemical cycle of silicate which involves biogenic silica diatoms combined with marine carbonates these authigenic phases could explain the observed ree patterns in suspended particles except for la we suggest that the positive la anomalies in both phases are linked to the oceanic barium cycle and the partial dissolution of barite crystals especially in the polar frontal zone the e nd composition behaves conservatively in intermediate and deep waters while input processes affect the isotopic signal of subtropical surface waters and weddell gyre bottom waters an indian ocean and an atlantic variety of aaiw have been isotopically differentiated e nd 9 3 0 3 and e nd 8 0 0 5 respectively homogeneous signatures characterize circumpolar waters e nd from 8 2 to 8 4 for cdw a binary mixing model has been used to assess the contribution of undiluted nadw reaching southern latitudes

the sedimentary record of palaeoenvironments and sea level change in the gulf of carpentaria australia through the last glacial cycle abstract environmental evolution of the gulf of carpentaria region the world s largest tropical epicontinental seaway through the last glacial cycle has been determined from a series of six sediment cores these cores form the focus of a multi disciplinary study to elucidate sea level climate and environmental change in the region the sedimentary record reveals a series of facies including open shallow marine marginal marine estuarine lacustrine and subaerial exposure throughout the extent of the basin during this period the partial or complete closure of the central basin from marine waters results from sea level falling below the height of one or both of the sills that border the gulf the arafura sill to the west 53 m below present sea level bpsl and torres strait to the east 12 m bpsl the extent and timing of these closures and restriction of the shallow waterbody within are intrinsic to local ocean circulation available latent heat transport and the movement of people and animals between australia and new guinea whilst the occurrence of the palaeo lake carpentaria has previously been identified this study expands on the hydrological conditions of the lacustrine phases and extends the record through the last interglacial detailing the previous sea level highstand mis 5 5 and subsequent retreat when sea levels were low during the mis 6 glacial period the gulf was largely subaerially exposed and traversed by meandering rivers the mis 5 transgression 130 ka bp led to marine then alternating marine estuarine conditions through to mis 4 70 ka bp when a protracted lacustrine phase of varying salinity and depth area and including periods of near desiccation persisted until about 12 2 cal ka bp the lake expanded to near maximum size 190 000 km 2 following the intensification restoration of the australian monsoon at 14 ka bp this lake full phase was short lived as by 12 2 cal ka bp marine waters were entering the basin coincident with the progressive sea level rise fully marine conditions were restored by about 10 5 cal ka bp by westward connection to the arafura sea indian ocean whereas connections to the pacific ocean coral sea did not occur until about 8 cal ka bp

variability in the meteoric water sea ice melt and pacific water contributions to the central arctic ocean 2000 2014 fourteen years 2000 2014 of bottle chemistry data collected during the north pole environmental observatory were compiled to examine variations in the composition of freshwater meteoric water net sea ice meltwater and pacific water over mixed layer of the central arctic ocean in addition to significant spatial and interannual variability there was a general decrease in meteoric water mw fractions at the majority of stations reoccupied over the duration of the program that was approximately balanced by a concomitant increase in freshwater from sea ice melt sim fw between 2000 and 2012 inventories 0 120 m of mw and sim fw computed using available data between 2005 and 2012 exhibited similar variations over the study area allowing for first order estimates of the mean annual changes in mw 389 194 km3 yr 1 and sim fw 292 97 km3 yr 1 for the central arctic region these mean annual changes were attributed to the diversion of siberian river runoff to the beaufort gyre and the overall reduction of sea ice volume across the arctic respectively in addition to this lower frequency variability spatial gradients and interannual variations in mw sim fw and pacific water contributions to specific locations were attributed to shifts in the transpolar drift that advects waters of eastern and western arctic origin through the study area

reconnaissance thermoluminescence dating of northern australian coastal dune systems abstract quaternary lithostratigraphic units in coastal dunes have been dated at three locations in northern australia cobourg peninsula shelburne bay and cape flattery by both radiocarbon dating of shell and organic carbon and thermoluminescence tl sediment dating both coarse fraction and fine fraction tl methods were used seventeen tl dates were measured none of the tl dates contradict the ages given by radiocarbon where multiple tl dates were taken from a unit they overlap within 2 standard deviation giving added confidence in the results a phase of dune emplacement during the late holocene ca 2700 1800 yr b p was identified in two of the dune fields an early holocene phase of dune emplacement ca 8600 7500 yr b p in two of the dune fields and a late pleistocene episode ca 24 000 17 000 yr b p in both the cape york dunefields three older units gave dates of about 29 000 81 000 and 171 000 yr b p but these must be treated with caution

thermoluminescence dating of coarse grain quartz from the malan loess at zhaitang section china thermoluminescence tl ages were obtained for five loess samples taken from the zhaitang section near beijing china using the coarse grain quartz technique the paleodose values have been determined by the method of total sample bleaching and regeneration of the tl growth curve the method appears to be suitable for the age determination of loess samples up to about 150 000 yr where the annual dose rate values are of the order 3 4 mgy yr this limit is a function of the total accumulated dose the ages are in good agreement with those obtained by a fine grain tl technique and are consistent with geological and geomagnetostratigraphic evidence

online preconcentration icp ms analysis of rare earth elements in seawater the rare earth elements rees with their systematically varying properties are powerful tracers of continental inputs particle scavenging intensity and the oxidation state of seawater however their generally low pmol kg concentrations in seawater and fractionation potential during chemical treatment makes them difficult to measure here we report a technique using an automated preconcentration system which efficiently separates seawater matrix elements and elutes the preconcentrated sample directly into the spray chamber of an icp ms instrument the commercially available seafast system elemental scientific inc makes use of a resin with ethylenediaminetriacetic acid and iminodiacetic acid functional groups to preconcentrate rees and other metals while anions and alkali and alkaline earth cations are washed out repeated measurements of seawater from 2000 m water depth in the southern ocean allows the external precision 2 of the technique to be estimated at 23 for all rees and 15 for most comparison of nd concentrations with isotope dilution measurements for 69 samples demonstrates that the two techniques generally agree within 15 accuracy was found to be good for all rees by using a five point standard addition analysis of one sample and comparing measurements of mine water reference materials diluted with a nacl matrix with recommended values in the literature this makes the online preconcentration icp ms technique advantageous for the minimal sample preparation required and the relatively small sample volume consumed 7 ml thus enabling large data sets for the rees in seawater to be rapidly acquired

geochemical investigation of the south wellesley island wetlands insight into wetland development during the holocene in tropical northern australia the south wellesley islands in the gulf of carpentaria northern australia were the recent focus of a palynological investigation which found vegetation change during the holocene was driven by coastal progradation and regional climate here we present new elemental data from x ray fluorescence core scanning which provides non destructive continuous and high resolution analysis from three wetlands across bentinck island the largest of the south wellesley islands elemental data and grain size analyses are combined with lead 210 210pb and accelerator mass spectrometry ams carbon 14 14c dates an open coastal environment was present 1250 cal a bp on the south east coast of bentinck island with sediment supply incorporating fluvial deposition and detrital input of titanium and iron from eroding lateritic bedrock prograding shorelines dune development and river diversion formed a series of swales parallel to the coast by 800 cal a bp forming the marralda wetlands wetlands developed at sites

modelling nd isotopes with a coarse resolution ocean circulation model sensitivities to model parameters and source sink distributions the neodymium nd isotopic composition nd of seawater is a quasi conservative tracer of water mass mixing and is assumed to hold great potential for paleoceanographic studies here we present a comprehensive approach for the simulation of the two neodymium isotopes 143nd and 144nd using the bern3d model a low resolution ocean model the high computational efficiency of the bern3d model in conjunction with our comprehensive approach allows us to systematically and extensively explore the sensitivity of nd concentrations and nd to the parametrisation of sources and sinks previous studies have been restricted in doing so either by the chosen approach or by computational costs our study thus presents the most comprehensive survey of the marine nd cycle to date our model simulates both nd concentrations as well as nd in good agreement with observations nd covaries with salinity thus underlining its potential as a water mass proxy results confirm that the continental margins are required as a nd source to simulate nd concentrations and nd consistent with observations we estimate this source to be slightly smaller than reported in previous studies and find that above a certain magnitude its magnitude affects nd only to a small extent on the other hand the parametrisation of the reversible scavenging considerably affects the ability of the model to simulate both nd concentrations and nd furthermore despite their small contribution we find dust and rivers to be important components of the nd cycle in additional experiments we systematically varied the diapycnal diffusivity as well as the atlantic to pacific freshwater flux to explore the sensitivity of nd concentrations and its isotopic signature to the strength and geometry of the overturning circulation these experiments reveal that nd concentrations and nd are comparatively little affected by variations in diapycnal diffusivity and the atlantic to pacific freshwater flux in contrast an adequate representation of nd sources and sinks is crucial to simulate nd concentrations and nd consistent with observations the good agreement of our results with observations paves the way for the evaluation of the paleoceanographic potential of nd in further model studies

recent changes in the freshwater composition east of greenland results from three hydrographic surveys across the east greenland current between 2011 and 2013 are presented with focus on the freshwater sources end member analysis using salinity 18o and nutrient data shows that while meteoric water dominated the freshwater content a significant amount of pacific freshwater was present near denmark strait with a maximum in august 2013 while in 2011 and 2012 the net sea ice melt was dominated by brine in 2013 it became close to zero the amount of pacific freshwater observed near denmark strait in 2013 is as large as the previous maximum in 1998 this together with the decrease in meteoric water and brine suggests a larger contribution from the canadian basin we hypothesize that the increase of pacific freshwater is the result of enhanced flux through bering strait and a shorter pathway of pacific water through the interior arctic to fram strait

the arctic circumpolar boundary current abstract the main water transformations in the arctic mediterranean take place in the boundary current of atlantic water which crosses the greenland scotland ridge from the north atlantic into the eastern norwegian sea it enters and flows around the arctic ocean before it exits the arctic mediterranean as the east greenland current primarily through denmark strait on route it experiences numerous branchings and mergings by examining how the properties of this circumpolar boundary current evolve it is possible to identify and describe the processes causing the water mass transformations in the arctic mediterranean it is also possible to follow the arctic ocean deep waters as they spread into the nordic seas and eventually provide 40 of the overflow water supplying the north atlantic deep water

separating biogeochemical cycling of neodymium from water mass mixing in the eastern north atlantic abstract the radiogenic neodymium nd isotope ratio 143nd 144nd expressed in e nd is being used as a tracer in paleo and modern ocean circulation however the mechanisms controlling input distribution and internal cycling are far from understood for example globally nd concentration nd commonly follows patterns of nutrient tracers generally increasing with depth below the thermocline while e nd tends to reflect the water masses which has often been referred to as the nd paradox here we present dissolved nd isotopes and concentrations at unprecedented vertical and spatial resolution from the eastern part of the us geotraces north atlantic zonal transect gulf of cadiz mauritanian shelf cape verde islands the nd of all samples ranges from 12 3 to 36 7 pmol kg with lowest nd usually found within the layer of highest chlorophyll a levels chl max suggesting removal through scavenging the nd isotope compositions range between e nd 13 4 and 9 9 with lower values at the surface within the extension of the saharan dust plume and a benthic nepheloid layer bnl less negative values are found in oligotrophic surface waters mediterranean outflow water mow and near the cape verde islands overall water mass mixing derived from e nd is best visible at the strait of gibraltar where mow enters the atlantic ocean most of the sub thermocline e nd varies within a small range with poor water mass distinction due to the dominance of north atlantic deep water high surface nd associated with more negative e nd is interpreted to be the result of dust deposition and dissolution local nd maxima with no apparent change in e nd compared to ambient seawater observed within a zone of minimum oxygen concentration omz at 500 m depth off mauritania suggest minor input of lithogenic nd but a rather high contribution through desorption of previously scavenged nd that is saharan dust in this area has only a minor influence on the isotope composition of water below the uppermost surface layer the low e nd values and elevated nd within the bnl on the other hand indicate release from detrital material our new high resolution dataset gives valuable insights into the nd distribution near continental margins influenced by high atmospheric inputs and changing oxygen conditions we show how vertical and lateral processes overlap to produce the observed nd distribution bringing us forward in understanding the nd paradox