Chemical composition of zoobenthos and bottom sediments from the gas-hydrate seep area near the Paramushir Island, Kuril Island arc

Bioaccumulation of metals by zoobenthos was investigated during cruise 11A of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in the vicinity of a gas-hydrate seep off Paramushir Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Atomic absorption studies of concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn in zoobenthos (polychaetes, bivalves, ophiurans and echinoderms) collected from depths of 700-800 m indicated that their concentrations in individuals near the seep were not significantly different from those in individuals from other communities. Obtained results indicate that sea urchins and holothurians (non-sorting bottom-feeders) can separate mineral fraction of ingested bottom material.

Sediment volume variations inferred from DGPS measurements within Bossons glacier proglacial area (Mont-Blanc massif, France)

This dataset presents Differential Global Positioning System data (DGPS) acquired within the Bossons glacier proglacial area. Bossons glacier is a rapidly retreating glacier and its proglacial area is deglaciated for ~30 years. Bossons stream is one of the outlets of the subglacial drainage system. It starts as a 800 m steep cascade reach, then flows through an area with gentler slope : the Plan des Eaux (PdE). PdE is a 300 m long, 50 m wide proglacial alluvial plain with an increasing channel mobility in the downstream direction but decreasing slope gradient and incision. As it may act a sediment trap, studying periglacial and proglacial erosion processes in the Bossons catchment requires to quantify PdE sediment volume evolution. A several meter-sized block located within Bossons proglacial area was set up as GPS base : its location was measured by one antenna (Topcon Hyper Pro) by performing 600 consecutive measurements throughout one day. A second antenna (Topcon Hyper Pro) was then used to measure XYZ location of points in the proglacial area with a ~2 m grid. Radio communication between the two antennas allowed differential calculations to be automatically carried out on field using the Topcon FC-250 hand controller. This methodology yields 3 cm XY and 1.5 cm Z uncertainties. DGPS data have been acquired through 10 campaigns from 2004 to 2014; campaigns from 2004 to 2008 cover a smaller area than those from 2010 to 2014. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) have been interpolated from DGPS data and difference between two DEMs yields deposited and eroded volume within PdE. Maps of PdE volume variation between two campaigns show that incision mainly occurs in the upper and lower sections where as deposition dominates in the middle section. Deposition, denudation and net rate (deposition rate - denudation rate) are calculated by normalizing volumes by DEM areas. Deposition dominates results with a mean net rate of 29 mm/yr. However, strong inter-annual variability exists and some years are dominated by denudation : -36 mm/yr and -100 mm/yr for 2006 and 2011, respectively. Nonetheless, oldest campaigns (2004 to 2008) were carried out on the lower part part of the alluvial plain and ruling them out to keep only complete DEM (2010 to 2014) yields a mean net rate of ~15 mm/yr. This results is coherent with field observations of both strong deposition (e.g. flood deposits) and strong erosion (e.g. 30 cm incision) evidences. Bossons glacier proglacial area is thus dynamic with year-to-year geormorphological changes but may leans toward increasing its mean elevation through a deposition dominated system.

Carbonate mineralogical and isotopic analyses of TV-guided grab samples and TV-guided box corer samples from the Shumagin area

Methane seepage leads to Mg-calcite and aragonite precipitation at a depth of 4,850 m on the Aleutian accretionary margin. Stromatolitic and oncoid growth structures imply encrustation of microorganisms (microbial mats) in the host sediment with a unique growth direction downward into the sediment, forming crust-shaped lithologies. Biomarker investigations of the residue after carbonate dissolution show strong enrichments in crocetane and archaeol, which contain extremely low d13C values. This indicates the presence of methane-consuming archaea, and d13C values of -42 to -51 per mill PDB indicate that methane is the carbon source for the carbonate crusts. Thus, it appears that stromatolitic encrustations of methanotrophic anaerobic archaea probably occurs in a consortium with sulphate-reducing bacteria and that carbonate precipitation proceeds downward into the sediment, where ascending cold fluids provide a methane source. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses as well as 14C ages of the carbonates suggest that the fluids come from deep within the sediment and that carbonate precipitation began about 3,000 years ago.

(Table 1) Luminescence age determination of sediments from the Arkhangelsk area

The Arkhangelsk area lies in the region that was reached by the northeastern flank of the Scandinavian ice sheet during the last glaciation. Investigations of Late Pleistocene sediments show interglacial terrestrial and marine conditions with sea level up to 52 m above the present level. An unconformity in the stratigraphy suggests a hiatus representing the Early Valdaian (Weichselian) and the beginning of the Middle Valdaian. This unconformity could be related to a low base level and isostatic depression of the area north of Arkhangelsk, either caused by ice masses advancing from the Kara and Barents ice sheets and/or to Scandinavian ice over the Kola Peninsula. During Middle Valdaian, from c. 66 ka BP, until the advance of the Late Valdaian glacier, c. 17-16 ka BP, peat formation, and northward fluvial sedimentation occurred coexisting with permafrost conditions in a later phase. Before the glacier advance, the base level rose and thick vertical accumulations of fluvial sediments were formed. Associated with this glacier advance from the north-northwest, ice damming occurred. Fluvial drainage was opposite to the present drainage pattern and deposition appeared in glaciolacustrine ponds in the area outside the limit of the glaciation. After the deglaciation that started c. 15 ka BP, permafrost conditions and downwasting of buried stagnant glacier ice prevailed until at least 10.7 ka BP.