(Table T1) Composition of clay minerals from ODP Leg 204 sediments

This report describes the results of semiquantitative analysis of clay mineral composition by X-ray diffraction. The samples consist of hemipelagic mud and mudstone cored from Hydrate Ridge during Leg 204 of the Ocean Drilling Program. We analyzed oriented aggregates of the clay-sized fractions (<2 µm) to estimate relative percentages of smectite, illite, and chlorite (+ kaolinite). For the most part, stratigraphic variations in clay mineral composition are modest and there are no significant differences among the seven sites that were included in the study. On average, early Pleistocene to Holocene trench slope and slope basin deposits contain 29% smectite, 31% illite, and 40% chlorite (+ kaolinite). Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene strata from the underlying accretionary prism contain moderately larger proportions of smectite with average values of 38% smectite, 27% illite, and 35% chlorite (+ kaolinite). There is no evidence of clay mineral diagenesis at the depths sampled. The expandability of smectite is, on average, equal to 64%, and there are no systematic variations in expandability as a function of burial depth or depositional age. The absence of clay mineral diagenesis is consistent with the relatively shallow sample depths and corresponding maximum temperatures of only 24°-33°C.

Noble gases sampled from three cruises in the eastern tropical Atlantic

Oceanic upwelling velocities are too small to be measured directly. Deviations of the He-3/He-4 ratio in the mixed layer from solubility equilibrium provide an indirect means to infer vertical velocities at the base of the mixed layer. This method is applied to the Mauritanian upwelling region for data from three cruises in summer 2006 and winter 2007 and 2008. Diapycnal mixing coefficients are estimated from microstructure measurements, reaching from 10**-3 m**2/s over the shelf break to 10**-5 m**2/s in the open ocean. The resulting upwelling velocities in the onshore region (upto 50 km from the 50 m isobath) are of the order of 2 x 10**-5 m/s}, in agreement with Ekman theory. Further offshore, in some cases the vertical velocities inferred from the helium isotope disequilibrium exceed the values derived from the wind stress curl by one order of magnitude. The Mauritanian coastal area as part of the Canary Current upwelling system belongs to the most productive ocean regions in the world. Nutrient fluxes into the mixed layer (both advective and diffusive) are equivalent to a net community production of about 1 g C/d, and associated heat fluxes vary between 183 +/- 62 W/m**2 in summer and 97 +/- 25 W/m**2 in winter. Regarding the flux into the mixed layer, the contribution of diffusion and advection are of similar magnitude for both heat and nutrients. The upwelling, however, provides the supply of cold and nutrient rich water from below. The large offshore vertical velocities inferred from the helium method are associated with nutrient fluxes of the same order as for the onshore region, and may be responsible for observed patches of high productivity in that area. The offshore heat fluxes due to upwelling and diapycnal mixing are smaller than 70 W/m**2 for all cruises.