(Table 1) Distribution of ichthyolith subtypes at DSDP Hole 62-464

At Site 464, a 308-meter-deep hole was drilled on the Hess Rise (39°51.64'N, 173°53.33'E; water depth 4637 m). The upper strata consist of siliceous clay and oozes of Pleistocene, Pliocene, and possibly latest Miocene ages (36 m) and the lower strata are Albian chert, chalk, and marlstone (219 m). The middle part of the stratigraphic section is pelagic brown clay (53 m) which is essentially barren of microfossils except for ichthyoliths. At the base of this middle unit in Core 10 is a recrystallized Cretaceous radiolarian assemblage and an impoverished late Miocene nannofossil assemblage. Fifteen samples from Cores 6 through 10 in the middle unit and three samples from the overlying siliceous clay were examined for ichthyoliths.

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.

Maxima of interstitial water and gas parameters in ODP Leg 182 sediments

During the drilling of the southern Australian continental margin (Leg 182 of the Ocean Drilling Program), fluids with unusually high salinities (to 106?) were encountered in Miocene to Pleistocene sediments. At three sites (1127, 1129, and 1131), high contents of H2S (to 15%), CH4 (50%), and CO2 (70%) were also encountered. These levels of H2S are the highest yet reported during the history of either the Deep Sea Drilling Project or the Ocean Drilling Program. The high concentrations of H2S and CH4 are associated with anomalous Na+/Cl- ratios in the pore waters. Although hydrates were not recovered, and despite the shallow water depth of these sites (200-400 m) and relative warm bottom water temperatures (11-14°C), we believe that these sites possess disseminated H2S-dominated hydrates. This contention is supported by calculations using the measured gas concentrations and temperatures of the cores, and depths of recovery. High concentrations of H2S necessary for the formation of hydrates under these conditions were provided by the abundant (SO4)2- caused by the high salinities of the pore fluids, and the high concentrations of organic material. One hypothesis for the origin of these fluids is that they were formed on the adjacent continental shelf during previous lowstands of sea level and were forced into the sediments under the influence of hydrostatic head.