Soil, snow, weather, and sub-surface storage data from a mountain catchment in the rain-snow transition zone

A comprehensive hydroclimatic data set is presented for the 2011 water year to improve understanding of hydrologic processes in the rain-snow transition zone. This type of dataset is extremely rare in scientific literature because of the quality and quantity of soil depth, soil texture, soil moisture, and soil temperature data. Standard meteorological and snow cover data for the entire 2011 water year are included, which include several rain-on-snow events. Surface soil textures and soil depths from 57 points are presented as well as soil texture profiles from 14 points. Meteorological data include continuous hourly shielded, unshielded, and wind corrected precipitation, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, and incoming solar and thermal radiation data. Sub-surface data included are hourly soil moisture data from multiple depths from 7 soil profiles within the catchment, and soil temperatures from multiple depths from 2 soil profiles. Hydrologic response data include hourly stream discharge from the catchment outlet weir, continuous snow depths from one location, intermittent snow depths from 5 locations, and snow depth and density data from ten weekly snow surveys. Though it represents only a single water year, the presentation of both above and below ground hydrologic condition makes it one of the most detailed and complete hydro-climatic datasets from the climatically sensitive rain-snow transition zone for a wide range of modeling and descriptive studies.

Composition of rocks and minerals from the transition zone of the Reykjanes Ridge

Investigations of petrography, mineralogy, and chemical composition of gases and fluids in tuffs and lavas were carried out on samples dredged in the transition zone from the shelf and slope of Iceland to the Reykjanes Ridge. The samples were collected from the depths of 950-720 m during different expeditions of R/V Akademik Kurchatov and Mikhail Lomonosov. Mantle ultrabasite inclusions were first recognized in the region of Iceland. It can be assumed that they are related to eruptive structures formed on the ocean floor during Pliocene and are associated with the Iceland hot spot.

Methane concentration in sediment cores during METEOR cruise M92

We studied the concurrence of methanogenesis and sulfate reduction in surface sediments (0-25 cm below sea floor, cmbsf) at six stations (70, 145, 253, 407, 770 and 1024 m) along the Peruvian margin (12° S). This oceanographic region is characterized by high carbon export to the seafloor, creating an extensive oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on the shelf, both factors that could favor surface methanogenesis. Sediments sampled along the depth transect traversed areas of anoxic and oxic conditions in the bottom-near water. Net methane production (batch incubations) and sulfate reduction (35S-sulfate radiotracer incubation) were determined in the upper 0-25 cmbsf of multicorer cores from all stations, while deep hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (> 30 cmbsf, 14C-bicarbonate radiotracer incubation) was determined in two gravity cores at selected sites (78 and 407 m). Furthermore, stimulation (methanol addition) and inhibition (molybdate addition) experiments were carried out to investigate the relationship between sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. Highest rates of methanogenesis and sulfate reduction in the surface sediments, integrated over 0-25 cmbsf, were observed on the shelf (70-253 m, 0.06-0.1 and 0.5-4.7 mmol m-2 d-1, respectively), while lowest rates were discovered at the deepest site (1024 m, 0.03 and 0.2 mmol m-2 d-1, respectively). The addition of methanol resulted in significantly higher surface methanogenesis activity, suggesting that the process was mostly based on non-competitive substrates, i.e., substrates not used by sulfate reducers. In the deeper sediment horizons, where competition was probably relieved due to the decline of sulfate, the usage of competitive substrates was confirmed by the detection of hydrogenotrophic activity in the sulfate-depleted zone at the shallow shelf station (70 m). Surface methanogenesis appeared to be correlated to the availability of labile organic matter (C / N ratio) and organic carbon degradation (DIC production), both of which support the supply of methanogenic substrates. A negative correlation of methanogenesis rates with dissolved oxygen in the bottom-near water was not obvious, however, anoxic conditions within the OMZ might be advantageous for methanogenic organisms at the sediment-water interface. Our results revealed a high relevance of surface methanogenesis on the shelf, where the ratio between surface to deep (below sulfate penetration) methanogenic activity ranged between 0.13 and 105. In addition, methane concentration profiles indicate a partial release of surface methane into the water column as well as a partial consumption of methane by anaerobic methane oxidation (AOM) in the surface sediment. The present study suggests that surface methanogenesis might play a greater role in benthic methane budgeting than previously thought, especially for fueling AOM above the sulfate-methane transition zone.

Petrological parameters of sands and sandstones from DSDP and ODP holes in arc-related areas

Detrital modes for 524 deep-marine sand and sandstone samples recovered on circum-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean legs of the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program form the basis for an actualistic model for arc-related provenance. This model refines the Dickinson and Suczek (1979) and Dickinson and others (1983) models and can be used to interpret the provenance/tectonic history of ancient arc-related sedimentary sequences. Four provenance groups are defined using QFL, QmKP, LmLvLs, and LvfLvmiLvl ternary plots of site means: (1) intraoceanic arc and remnant arc, (2) continental arc, (3) triple junction, and (4) strike-slip-continental arc. Intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sands are poor in quartz (mean QFL%Q < 5) and rich in lithics (QFL%L > 75); they are predominantly composed of plagioclase feldspar and volcanic lithic fragments. Continental-arc sand can be more quartzofeldspathic than the intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sand (mean QFL%Q values as much as 10, mean QFL%F values as much as 65, and mean QmKP%Qm as much as 20) and has more variable lithic populations, with minor metamorphic and sedimentary components. The triple-junction and strike-slip-continental groups compositionally overlap; both are more quartzofeldspathic than the other groups and show highly variable lithic proportions, but the strike-slip-continental group is more quartzose. Modal compositions of the triple junction group roughly correlate with the QFL transitional-arc field of Dickinson and others (1983), whereas the strike-slip-continental group approximately correlates with their dissected-arc field.