Diatom assemblages, HBIs and TEXL86 in sediment core NBP99-03_10

The West Antarctic ice sheet is particularly sensitive to global warming and its evolution and impact on global climate over the next few decades remains difficult to predict. In this context, investigating past sea ice conditions around Antarctica is of primary importance. Here, we document changes in sea ice presence, upper water column temperatures (0-200 m) and primary productivity over the last 9000 yr BP (before present) in the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) margin from a sedimentary core collected in the Palmer Deep Basin. Employing a multi-proxy approach, based on the combination of two biomarkers proxies (highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes for sea ice and TEXL86 for temperature) and micropaleontological data (diatom assemblages), we derived new Holocene records of sea ice conditions and upper water column temperatures. The early Holocene (9000-7000 yr BP) was characterized by a cooling phase with a short sea ice season. During the mid-Holocene (~7000-3800 yr BP), local climate evolved towards slightly colder conditions and a prominent extension of the sea ice season occurred, promoting a favorable environment for intensive diatom growth. The late Holocene (the last ~2100 yr) was characterized by warmer temperatures and increased sea ice presence, accompanied by reduced local primary productivity, likely in response to a shorter growing season compared to the early or mid-Holocene. The gradual increase in annual sea ice duration over the last 7000 yr might have been influenced by decreasing mean annual and spring insolation, despite increasing summer insolation. We postulate that, in addition to precessional changes in insolation, seasonal variability, via changes in the strength of the circumpolar Westerlies and upwelling activity, was further amplified by the increasing frequency/amplitude of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, between 3800 and 2100 yr BP, the lack of correlation between ENSO and climate variability in the WAP suggests that other climatic factors might have been more important in controlling WAP climate at this time.

U/Th systematics of authigenic carbonates and d18O records from Hydrate Ridge, off the coast of Oregon, USA

Uranium (U) concentrations and activity ratios (d234U) of authigenic carbonates are sensitive recorders of different fluid compositions at submarine seeps of hydrocarbon-rich fluids ("cold seeps") at Hydrate Ridge, off the coast of Oregon, USA. The low U concentrations (mean: 1.3 ± 0.4 µg/g) and high 234U values (165-317 per mil) of gas hydrate carbonates reflect the influence of sedimentary pore water indicating that these carbonates were formed under reducing conditions below or at the seafloor. Their 230Th/234U ages span a time interval from 0.8 to 6.4 ka and cluster around 1.2 and 4.7 ka. In contrast, chemoherm carbonates precipitate from marine bottom water marked by relatively high U concentrations (mean: 5.2 ± 0.8 µg/g) and a mean d234U ratio of 166 ± 3 per mil. Their U isotopes reflect the d234U ratios of the bottom water being enriched in 234U relative to normal seawater. Simple mass balance calculations based on U concentrations and their corresponding d234U ratios reveal a contribution of about 11% of sedimentary pore water to the bottom water. From the U pore water flux and the reconstructed U pore water concentration a mean flow rate of about 147 ± 68 cm/a can be estimated. 230Th/234U ages of chemoherm carbonates range from 7.3 to 267.6 ka. 230Th/234U ages of two chemoherms (Alvin and SE-Knoll chemoherm) correspond to time intervals of low sealevel stands in marine isotope stages (MIS) 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. This observation indicates that fluid flow at cold seep sites sensitively reflects pressure changes of the hydraulic head in the sediments. The d18OPDB ratios of the chemoherm carbonates support the hypothesis of precipitation during glacial times. Deviations of the chemoherm d18O values from the marine d18O record can be interpreted as to reflect temporally and spatially varying bottom water and/or vent fluid temperatures during carbonate precipitation between 2.6 and 8.6°C.

Electromagnetic, rock magnetic, and geochemical properties of surficial sediments in Eckernförde Bay

Submarine groundwater discharge in coastal settings can massively modify the hydraulic and geochemical conditions of the seafloor. Resulting local anomalies in the morphology and physical properties of surface sediments are usually explored with seismo-acoustic imaging techniques. Controlled source electromagnetic imaging offers an innovative dual approach to seep characterization by its ability to detect pore-water electrical conductivity, hence salinity, as well as sediment magnetic susceptibility, hence preservation or diagenetic alteration of iron oxides. The newly developed electromagnetic (EM) profiler Neridis II successfully realized this concept for a first time with a high-resolution survey of freshwater seeps in Eckernförde Bay (SW Baltic Sea). We demonstrate that EM profiling, complemented and validated by acoustic as well as sample-based rock magnetic and geochemical methods, can create a crisp and revealing fingerprint image of freshwater seepage and related reductive alteration of near-surface sediments. Our findings imply that (1) freshwater penetrates the pore space of Holocene mud sediments by both diffuse and focused advection, (2) pockmarks are marked by focused freshwater seepage, underlying sand highs, reduced mud thickness, higher porosity, fining of grain size, and anoxic conditions, (3) depletion of Fe oxides, especially magnetite, is more pervasive within pockmarks due to higher concentrations of organic and sulfidic reaction partners, and (4) freshwater advection reduces sediment magnetic susceptibility by a combination of pore-water injection (dilution) and magnetite reduction (depletion). The conductivity vs. susceptibility biplot resolves subtle lateral litho- and hydrofacies variations.

Biological, physical and chemical characteristics of water and sediment samples from the Volga River delta, northern Caspian

Based on the data of synchronous observations of hydrophysical and biogeochemical parameters in the near-mouth and shallow-water areas of the northern Caspian in 2000-2001, the scale of spatiotemporal variability in the following characteristics of the water-bottom system was estimated (1) flow velocity and direction within vortex structures formed by the combined effect of wind, discharge current, and the presence of higher aquatic plants; (2) dependence of the spatial distribution of the content and composition of suspended particulate matter on the hydrodynamic regime of waters and development of phytoplankton; (3) variations in the grain-size, petrographic, mineralogical, and chemical compositions of the upper layer of bottom sediments at several sites in the northern Caspian related to the particular local combination of dominant natural processes; and (4) limits of variability in the group composition of humus compounds in bottom sediments. The acquired data are helpful in estimating the geochemical consequences of a sea level rise and during the planning of preventive environmental protection measures in view of future oil and gas recovery in this region.

Shifts in the microbial community structure in different temperatures during sample storage from IODP Hole 325-M0058A

The objective of this study was to determine shifts in the microbial community structure and potential function based on standard Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) storage procedures for sediment cores. Standard long-term storage protocols maintain sediment temperature at 4°C for mineralogy, geochemical, and/or geotechnical analysis whereas standard microbiological sampling immediately preserves sediments at -80°C. Storage at 4°C does not take into account populations may remain active over geologic time scales at temperatures similar to storage conditions. Identification of active populations within the stored core would suggest geochemical and geophysical conditions within the core change over time. To test this potential, the metabolically active fraction of the total microbial community was characterized from IODP Expedition 325 Great Barrier Reef sediment cores prior to and following a 3-month storage period. Total RNA was extracted from complementary 2, 20, and 40 m below sea floor sediment samples, reverse transcribed to complementary DNA and then sequenced using 454 FLX sequencing technology, yielding over 14,800 sequences from the six samples. Interestingly, 97.3% of the sequences detected were associated with lineages that changed in detection frequency during the storage period including key biogeochemically relevant lineages associated with nitrogen, iron, and sulfur cycling. These lineages have the potential to permanently alter the physical and chemical characteristics of the sediment promoting misleading conclusions about the in situ biogeochemical environment. In addition, the detection of new lineages after storage increases the potential for a wider range of viable lineages within the subsurface that may be underestimated during standard community characterizations.

Mineral composition, rare earth elements, and trace elements from samples of the northern Congo deep-sea fan

Authigenic carbonates were collected from methane seeps at Hydrate Hole at 3113 m water depth and Diapir Field at 2417 m water depth on the northern Congo deep-sea fan during RV Meteor cruise M56. The carbonate samples analyzed here are nodules, mainly composed of aragonite and high-Mg calcite. Abundant putative microbial carbonate rods and associated pyrite framboids were recognized within the carbonate matrix. The d13C values of the Hydrate Hole carbonates range from -62.5 permil to -46.3 permil PDB, while the d13C values of the Diapir Field carbonate are somewhat higher, ranging from -40.7 permil to -30.7 permil PDB, indicating that methane is the predominant carbon source at both locations. Relative enrichment of 18O (d18O values as high as 5.2 permil PDB) are probably related to localized destabilization of gas hydrate. The total content of rare earth elements (REE) of 5% HNO3-treated solutions derived from carbonate samples varies from 1.6 ppm to 42.5 ppm. The shale-normalized REE patterns all display positive Ce anomalies (Ce/Ce* > 1.3), revealing that the carbonates precipitated under anoxic conditions. A sample from Hydrate Hole shows a concentric lamination, corresponding to fluctuations in d13C values as well as trace elements contents. These fluctuations are presumed to reflect changes of seepage flux.

Hydrocarbon concentrations from pressurized cores in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Two newly developed coring devices, the Multi-Autoclave-Corer and the Dynamic Autoclave Piston Corer were deployed in shallow gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico during research cruise SO174 (Oct-Nov 2003). For the first time, they enable the retrieval of near-surface sediment cores under ambient pressure. This enables the determination of in situ methane concentrations and amounts of gas hydrate in sediment depths where bottom water temperature and pressure changes most strongly influence gas/hydrate relationships. At seep sites of GC185 (Bush Hill) and the newly discovered sites at GC415, we determined the volume of low-weight hydrocarbons (C1 through C5) from nine pressurized cores via controlled degassing. The resulting in situ methane concentrations vary by two orders of magnitudes between 0.031 and 0.985 mol kg**-1 pore water below the zone of sulfate depletion. This includes dissolved, free, and hydrate-bound CH4. Combined with results from conventional cores, this establishes a variability of methane concentrations in close proximity to seep sites of five orders of magnitude. In total four out of nine pressure cores had CH4 concentrations above equilibrium with gas hydrates. Two of them contain gas hydrate volumes of 15% (GC185) and 18% (GC415) of pore space. The measurements prove that the highest methane concentrations are not necessarily related to the highest advection rates. Brine advection inhibits gas hydrate stability a few centimeters below the sediment surface at the depth of anaerobic oxidation of methane and thus inhibits the storage of enhanced methane volumes. Here, computerized tomography (CT) of the pressure cores detected small amounts of free gas. This finding has major implications for methane distribution, possible consumption, and escape into the bottom water in fluid flow systems related to halokinesis.

Methane discharge in sediments of the Dvurechenskii mud volcano

During the MARGASCH cruise M52/1 in 2001 with RV Meteor we sampled surface sediments from three stations in the crater of the Dvurechenskii mud volcano (DMV, located in the Sorokin Trough of the Black Sea) and one reference station situated 15 km to the northeast of the DMV. We analysed the pore water for sulphide, methane, alkalinity, sulphate, and chloride concentrations and determined the concentrations of particulate organic carbon, carbonate and sulphur in surface sediments. Rates of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) were determined using a radiotracer (14CH4) incubation method. Numerical transport-reaction models were applied to derive the velocity of upward fluid flow through the quiescently dewatering DMV, to calculate rates of AOM in surface sediments, and to determine methane fluxes into the overlying water column. According to the model, AOM consumes 79% of the average methane flux from depth (8.9 x 10**+ 6 mol a**-1), such that the resulting dissolved methane emission from the volcano into the overlying bottom water can be determined as 1.9 x 10**+ 6 mol a**-1. If it is assumed that all submarine mud volcanoes (SMVs) in the Black Sea are at an activity level like the DMV, the resulting seepage represents less than 0.1% of the total methane flux into this anoxic marginal sea. The new data from the DMV and previously published studies indicate that an average SMV emits about 2.0 x 10**+ 6 mol a**-1 into the ocean via quiescent dewatering. The global flux of dissolved methane from SMVs into the ocean is estimated to fall into the order of 10**+10 mol a**-1. Additional methane fluxes arise during periods of active mud expulsion and gas bubbling occurring episodically at the DMV and other SMVs.

Coastal erosion dynamics and storm characteristics of Bykovsky Peninsula

This study investigates the rate of erosion during the 1951-2006 period on the Bykovsky Peninsula, located north-east of the harbour town of Tiksi, north Siberia. Its coastline, which is characterized by the presence of ice-rich sediment (Ice Complex) and the vicinity of the Lena River Delta, retreated at a mean rate of 0.59 m/yr between 1951 and 2006. Total erosion ranged from 434 m of erosion to 92 m of accretion during these 56 years and exhibited large variability (sigma = 45.4). Ninety-seven percent of the rates observed were less than 2 m/yr and 81.6% were less than 1 m/yr. No significant trend in erosion could be recorded despite the study of five temporal subperiods within 1951-2006. Erosion modes and rates actually appear to be strongly dependant on the nature of the backshore material, erosion being stronger along low-lying coastal stretches affected by past or current thermokarst activity. The juxtaposition of wind records monitored at the town of Tiksi and erosion records yielded no significant relationship despite strong record amplitude for both data sets. We explain this poor relationship by the only rough incorporation of sea-ice cover in our storm extraction algorithm, the use of land-based wind records vs. offshore winds, the proximity of the peninsula to the Lena River Delta freshwater and sediment plume and the local topographical constraints on wave development.

Diatom and hydrocarbon analysis of sediment core NBP00-03-JPC38

In this study, we present a unique high-resolution Holocene record of oceanographic and climatic change based on analyses of diatom assemblages combined with biomarker data from a sediment core collected from the Vega Drift, eastern Antarctic Peninsula (EAP). These data add to the climate framework already established by high-resolution marine sedimentary records from the Palmer Deep, western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Heavy sea ice conditions and reduced primary productivity were observed prior to 7.4 ka B.P. in relation with the proximity of the glacial ice melt and calving. Subsequent Holocene oceanographic conditions were controlled by the interactions between the Westerlies-Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)-Weddell Gyre dynamics. A warm period characterized by short seasonal sea ice duration associated with a southern shift of both ACC and Westerlies field persisted until 5 ka B.P. This warm episode was then followed by climate deterioration during the middle-to-late Holocene (5 to 1.9 ka B.P.) with a gradual increase in annual sea ice duration triggered by the expansion of the Weddell Gyre and a strong oceanic connection from the EAP to the WAP. Increase of benthic diatom species during this period was indicative of more summer/autumn storms, which was consistent with changes in synoptic atmospheric circulation and the establishment of low- to high-latitude teleconnections. Finally, the multicentennial scale variability of the Weddell Gyre intensity and storm frequency during the late Holocene appeared to be associated with the increased El Niño-Southern Oscillation frequency.

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of basalts from DSDP Leg 92 holes

Basalts recovered on DSDP Leg 92 include all the major basalt types so far recovered from the ocean crust of the eastern Pacific. Basalts from Holes 597, 597A, 597B, 597C, and 599B are tholeiites exhibiting all the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of N-type mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). Fragments of ferrobasalts and alkali basalts were also obtained, however, from Holes 60IB and 602B, respectively. Hole 597C, which penetrated 91 m into basement and is the deepest hole so far drilled in fast-spreading crust, yielded basalts that can be divided into three major lithologic units. The lowest unit, Unit III, contains modal olivine and comprises basalts which, at about 8 to 10% MgO, are as basic as any sampled from fast-spreading crust. The middle unit, Unit II, is the most evolved; its basalts are olivine free and contain between 6 and 7.5% MgO. The upper unit, Unit I, is intermediate in composition between Units II and III; it is characterized by both modal olivine and glomerocrysts made up of plagioclase and rare olivine. Unit I is probably a massive flow, whereas Units II and III may be massive flows or sills. The basalts appear to have undergone three stages of alteration ("deuteric," "relatively reducing," and "oxidizing"), the intensity of alteration decreasing markedly downcore. Hole 597B, at 26.4 m of basement penetration the only other "deep" hole, contains just one lithologic unit, which closely resembles Unit I of Hole 597C. Petrogenetic modeling reveals that the three lithologic units in Hole 597C are cogenetic and that they were derived from a depleted mantle source similar to the source of the tholeiites and ferrobasalts sampled in other holes; the alkali basalts are the only rocks derived from enriched mantle. Lavas of Unit III probably lay on the olivine-plagioclase cotectic, whereas the other lavas lay on an olivine-plagioclase-clinopyroxene peritectic. Some 60% of closed-system crystallization is needed to generate the most-evolved from the last-fractionated tholeiite, and a further 50% crystallization (80% overall) is needed to generate the ferrobasalts. Xenocrysts of calcic plagioclase and pseudomorphosed olivine in tholeiites from Hole 597B and Unit I of Hole 597C, and in the ferrobasalts from Hole 601B, provide evidence, however, that some magma mixing may have taken place.