Partial pressure of carbon dioxide along the Transatlantic section from 7 November till 19 December 2000

Along a transatlantic section from 57°N to 60°S that was carried out from November 7 till December 19, 2000 on board R/V Horizont II concentrations of CO2 were measured in the near-water layer of the air and differences between partial pressures in water and air in various climatic zones were calculated. It was shown that variations of CO2 concentrations in the near-water layer of air and those of values of water-air partial pressure difference were from 324x10**-6 to 426x10**-6 and from 150x10**-6 to 100x10**-6 atm, respectively. Maximum value of CO2 partial pressure in air in the near-water layer (426x10**-6 atm) was noted at 45°-47°N; minimum of 324x10**-6 atm was found in Antarctica at 59°S. During measurenents maximum value of CO2 partial pressure difference in water and air (150 x10**-6) was observed at 45°-48°N; maximum flux in this case was directed from the atmosphere to water. Maximum value of CO2 partial pressure difference in water and air for flux directed from the ocean to air (100 x10**-6) was observed at 59°-60°S. Comparison of calculated values of partial pressure difference in water and air with previous data points to more intense exchange of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere during the survey period was considered. According to values of CO2 partial pressure difference in air and water as compared to 1975, exchange intensity in the Northern Hemisphere (absorption from the atmosphere) increased. A well-pronounced latitudinal effect of distribution of CO2 partial pressure in air was observed. Along the route variations in CO2 concentrations in zones of water divergence and convergence were registered.

Controls of sediment dynamics on the Galician slope reconstructed from three sediment cores (GeoB11035-1, GeoB130206-1, GeoB13071-1)

Controls of sediment dynamics at the Galician continental slope (NW Iberia) during the past 30 ka were reconstructed from three new gravity cores (GeoB11035-1, 130206-1, 13071-1) based on sedimentological (e.g. sortable silt, IRD), micropalaeontological (e.g. coccoliths), geochemical (AMS 14C, XRF) and geophysical (e.g. magnetic susceptibility) diagnostics. The data are consistent with existing regional knowledge that, during marine isotope stages 3-1, variations in detrital input, marine productivity and sea level were the essential drivers of sediment availability on the slope, whereas deep-water current velocities controlled sediment deposition: (1) the period prior to 30 cal ka BP is characterized by minor but systematic variations in various proxies which can be associated with D-O cycles; (2) between 30 and 18 cal ka BP, high detrital input and steady slope-parallel currents led to constant sedimentation; (3) from the LGM until 10 cal ka BP, the shelf-transgressive sea-level rise increased the detrital particle flux; sedimentation was influenced by significantly enhanced deep-water circulation during the Bølling/Allerød, and subsequent slowing during the Younger Dryas; (4) an abrupt and lasting change to hemipelagic sedimentation at ca. 10 cal ka BP was probably due to Holocene warming and decelerated transgression; (5) after 5 cal ka BP, additional input of detrital material to the slope is plausibly linked to the evolution of fine-grained depocentres on the Galician shelf, this being the first report of this close shelf-slope sedimentary linkage off NW Iberia. Furthermore, there is novel evidence of the nowadays strong outer shelf Iberian Poleward Current becoming established at about 15.5 cal ka BP. The data also demonstrate that small-scale morphologic features and local pathways of sediment export from the neighbouring shelf play an important role for sediment distribution on the NW Iberian slope, including a hitherto unknown sediment conduit off the Ría de Arousa. By implication, the impact of local morphology on along- and down-slope sediment dynamics is more complex than commonly considered, and deserves future attention.

Composition of bottom sediments from Core SO201-2-101, Shirshov Ridge, Bering Sea

Analysis of lithology, grain-size composition, clay minerals, and geochemistry of Upper Pleistocene bottom sediments from the submarine Shirshov Ridge (Bering Sea) showed that the Yukon-Tanana terrane of the Central Alaska was main source area of the sediments. Sedimentary material was transported by the Yukon River through Beringia up to the shelf break, where they were entrained by a strong north-west sea current. Lithological data revealed several pulses of ice-rafted debris deposition roughly synchronous with Heinrich events and periods of weaker bottom current intensity. Based on geochemical results we distinguished intervals of an increase in paleoproductivity and extension of the oxygen minimum zone. Our results suggest that there were three stages of deposition driven by glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations and glacial cycles in Alaska.