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A paleoceanographic reconstruction of the southern Panama Basin for the last 23.000 years, based on the benthic foraminiferal analysis from the deep sea core ME0005A-24JC (0.01°N, 86.28°W, water depth 2941) is presented. Cluster and SHEBI (SHE Analysis for Biozone Identification) analyses performed on the benthic foraminiferal assemblages, evidence a faunal turnover in the early Holocene at 14 ky BP. Between 23 and 14 ky BP, Fursenkoina rotundata , Hoeglundina elegans , Globobulimina affinis , Globobulimina pacifica , Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and Uvigerina hispidocostata were common. Conversely, from 14 ky to the present, the assemblage is represented by Chilostomella oolina , Laticarinina pauperata , and Uvigerina proboscidea . This faunal turnover suggests significant fluctuations in oxygen content at the sea floor and the organic matter (OM) influx, which could reflect: (1) fluctuations in the surface productivity related to the equatorial divergence and, (2) OM advection caused by the dynamic of the deep sea currents. Paleoproductivity estimates and benthic foraminiferal rates depict a general trend towards lower values since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with a conspicuous change at 14 ky BP. Therefore, the paleoceanographic reconstructions of the ME0005A-24JC core suggest a transition from La Niña-like conditions during the LGM to El Niño-like conditions in the recent, as previously proposed for the Eastern Equatorial Pacific. Estimates of the paleo-intensity of deep sea currents based on the relative percentage abundance of the epifaunal foraminifera Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi suggest stronger deep sea currents on the Carnegie Ridge before 14 ky BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to show that seafloor hydrothermal venting in the open northeast Pacific Ocean has a marked impact on secondary biomass and production within the overlying water column. Specifically, we use net tows and concurrently measured acoustic backscatter data collected over six summers to examine the effects of hydrothermal venting from the Endeavour Segment of Juan de Fuca Ridge on macro-zooplankton biomass and production throughout the entire 2000 m depth range. Previous research shows that ontogenetic diapausing migrators and their predators from the upper ocean aggregate above the neutrally buoyant plumes in summer and resume feeding on plume and bottom upwelled particles, resulting in increased zooplankton reproductive output to the upper ocean. Within the limitations of our sampling methodology, net tows reveal a statistically significant exponential decline in total water-column biomass with increasing lateral distance from the vent fields. The acoustic backscatter data show a similar decline, but only below 800 m depth. Near-surface biomass was highly variable throughout the region, but values near vents consistently ranged higher than summer values found elsewhere in the offshore northeast Pacific. Water-column biomass was similar in magnitude above and below 800 m depth throughout the region. Because epiplume biomass can be advected a considerable distance from vent fields, biomass enhancement of the water column from hydrothermal venting may extend considerable distances to the west and northwest of the vent sites, in the prevailing directions of the subsurface flow. Based on the extensive acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data collected, and the strong correlation between zooplankton production derived from net sample biomass and acoustic backscatter intensity, we estimate that daily macro-zooplankton production in the upper 400 m of the water column within 10 km of the vent fields averages approximately 16% of photosynthetic primary production (the “ Z ratio”), whereas the total water-column zooplankton production averages 26% of surface primary production. Local grazing-rate estimates, metabolic constraints and other open-ocean studies suggest that the Z ratio should be no higher than 5%, which it is at off-axis background sites in the study region. This finding indicates that nutrient sources other than upper-ocean primary production fuel both upper- and deep-ocean zooplankton biomass and growth near the Endeavour Ridge hydrothermal vents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial life inhabits deeply buried marine sediments, but the extent of this vast ecosystem remains poorly constrained. Here we provide evidence for the existence of microbial communities in ~40° to 60°C sediment associated with lignite coal beds at ~1.5 to 2.5 km below the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. Microbial methanogenesis was indicated by the isotopic compositions of methane and carbon dioxide, biomarkers, cultivation data, and gas compositions. Concentrations of indigenous microbial cells below 1.5 km ranged from <10 to ~104 cells cm-3. Peak concentrations occurred in lignite layers, where communities differed markedly from shallower subseafloor communities and instead resembled organotrophic communities in forest soils. This suggests that terrigenous sediments retain indigenous community members tens of millions of years after burial in the seabed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In part I, equatorial Pacific Ocean temperature index SST3.4 was found to have segments during 1990–2014 showing a phase-locked annual signal and phase-locked signals of 2- or 3-year periods. Phase locking is to an inferred solar forcing of 1.0 cycle/yr. Here the study extends to the global ocean, from surface to 700 and 2000 m. The same phase-locking phenomena are found. The El Niño/La Niña effect diffuses into the world oceans with a delay of about two months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the March 11, 2011 Tohoku tsunami, some Japanese and Russian tide gauges in the Sea of Japan recorded sea level disturbances with periods of several to 10 min and amplitudes of several to a few tens of centimeters starting immediately after the earthquake. Tsunami travel times computed from the 2011 source in the Pacific Ocean to these stations are 1-2 h. To examine the cause of the observed tsunami forerunners and to reproduce them, we carried out tsunami numerical computations from three kinds of coseismic seafloor deformation: the vertical displacement in the tsunami source area in the Pacific Ocean, the vertical displacement extending in the Sea of Japan, and the vertical displacement including the effects of the horizontal displacement and the seafloor slope in both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Only the last source reproduced the observed tsunami forerunners. This indicates that the tsunami forerunners were produced by the horizontal displacement of fault motion and the seafloor slope in the Sea of Japan. For the tide gauge records in Japan, the forerunners with periods longer than 2 min were well reproduced by the tsunami simulation. The shorter-period components may be induced by seismic ground shakings. For the tide gauge records in Russia, the agreement between the observed and computed waveforms was less satisfactory, probably because of less accurate and coarser bathymetry data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many species of Solenogastres (Mollusca: Aplacophora) have been described from relatively remote locations or the deep sea. However, knowledge of the diversity of this group of carnivorous molluscs remains incomplete, even in relatively accessible, shallow localities. Here, we describe three new species of interstitial solenogasters from a well-studied site virtually right off the dock of Friday Harbor Laboratories (WA, USA). Two new species ofMacellomenia,M. schanderisp. nov. andM. morseaesp. nov, are described, greatly expanding the biogeographic range of this genus previously only known from the Atlantic. Interestingly,M. schanderiappears to be more similar to the AtlanticM. adenotaSalvini-Plawen, 2003a than the co-occurringM. morseae. However, the one specimen ofM. morseaewe were able to examine by histology was a juvenile, so the adult condition of some characters (mostly dealing with the reproductive system) are unknown. Additionally, a new species ofHypomenia,H. sanjuanensissp. nov, is described, also extending the geographic range of this previously monotypic genus known only from the Gulf of Naples, Italy. DNA barcode sequences are provided to aid in the identification ofM. schanderi,H. sanjuanensis, and the previously described sympatric speciesMeiomenia swedmarkiMorse, 1979. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:87E88772-B9BC-4BE6-93AB-C19FD944DD23 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several slope failures are observed near the deformation front on the frontal ridges of the northern Cascadia accretionary margin off Vancouver Island. The cause for these events is not clear, although several lines of evidence indicate a possible connection between the occurrence of gas hydrate and submarine landslide features. The presence of gas hydrate is indicated by a prominent bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), at a depth of ∼265–275 m beneath the seafloor (mbsf), as interpreted from vertical-incidence and wide-angle seismic data beneath the ridge crests of the frontal ridges. For one slide, informally called Slipstream Slide, the velocity structure inferred from tomography analyses shows anomalous high velocities values of about 2.0 km s−1 at shallow depths of 100 mbsf. The estimated depth of the glide plane (100 ± 10 m) closely matches the depth of these shallow high velocities. In contrast, at a frontal ridge slide just to the northwest (informally called Orca Slide), the glide plane occurs at the same depth as the current BSR. Our new results indicate that the glide plane of the Slipstream slope failure is associated with the contrast between sediments strengthened by gas hydrate and overlying sediments where little or no hydrate is present. In contrast, the glide plane of Orca Slide is between sediment strengthened by hydrate underlain by sediments beneath the gas hydrate stability zone, possibly containing free gas. Additionally, a set of margin perpendicular normal faults are imaged from seafloor down to BSR depth at both frontal ridges. As inferred from the multibeam bathymetry, the estimated volume of the material lost during the slope failure at Slipstream Slide is about 0.33 km3, and ∼0.24 km3 of this volume is present as debris material on the ocean basin floor. The 20 per cent difference is likely due to more widely distributed fine sediments not easily detectable as bathymetric anomalies. These volume estimates on the Cascadia margin are approaching the mass failure volume for other slides that have generated large tsunamis—for example 1–3 km3 for a 1998 Papua New Guinea slide. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: An inventory of Canada's marine renewable energy resources based on numerical modeling of the potential tidal, wave and wind energy has been published that identifies areas with maximum resource potential. However, the inventory does not consider the seabed geological conditions that will control the safe development of seabed installations and cable corridors. The Geological Survey of Canada (Natural Resources Canada) has therefore undertaken an assessment of seafloor geological characteristics and physical environmental parameters that will be encountered during any extensive deployment of marine renewable energy systems for the Pacific offshore of Canada. Here we present an overview of seabed characterization for key sites for each of the three energy types. Narrow passages exiting the Salish Sea near the Canadian boundary with the United States and northwards out of the Strait of Georgia provide very promising sites for tidal generation. Here, elliptical fields of very large subaqueous dunes, from 12 to 28m in height, present a significant challenge to site development. Along the exposed continental shelf of Vancouver Island focused wave-energy close to shore (40–60m water depth) offers significant energy potential, but any engineering systems would have to be founded on a seafloor made up of a mobile gravel lag and an extensive boulder pavement. A large wind farm proposed for the Pacific North Coast would be built on an extensive shallow bank that has active sediment transport and a large field of sand ridges that have developed within a macrotidal environment. A significant challenge is providing for a safe seafloor cable corridor of over 100km that crosses a large subaqueous dune field to connect to the electrical grid on the mainland. These examples show how geoscience has and will provide critical information to project proponents and regulators for the safe development of marine renewable energy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Coarse-grained ripples (CGRs) develop within the seafloor depression–sand ridge systems along the Shimizu coast, in the northwestern part of Suruga Bay facing the Pacific Ocean, central Japan. In this paper, we analyze data from high-resolution bathymetry, seafloor observation by an underwater video camera, and high-resolution seismic surveys and seafloor trenching of shallow strata, obtained between 2005 and 2007, to describe their geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics in detail, and to examine the formative processes and maintenance of the systems. In water depths of 5–30m, CGRs occur in seafloor depressions that are approximately 40–70cm deeper than the surrounding sandy seafloor. In many cases, the ripples develop in depressions between shore-normal sand ridges composed mainly of fine sand (<70cm high, 100–400m long) on a relatively narrow shelf. The alongshore width of the sand ridges is 10–100m, and that of the depressions is 10–150m. The CGRs (wavelength<3.5m, height<30cm) have almost shore-parallel crests with a symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical shape, suggesting wave-generated oscillating flows. The crests of the lager ripples are composed of gravel (maximum long axis: 5–8cm) and the troughs consist of fine to very fine sand. The CGR–depression–sand ridge systems develop widely during the passage of typhoons in the summer–autumn seasons. At the narrower shelf, the surface fine-grained sediments and the surface and subsurface coarse-grained sediments, which form the sand ridges and the CGRs respectively, are repeatedly eroded and redeposited during typhoon-related storms. In contrast, active sediments are currently limited to the surface fine deposits on the wider shelf areas. The sediments that make up the CGRs appear to be derived from both modern beach sediments and relict sediments. We postulate that the CGR–depression–sand ridge system appears to be controlled mainly by both seafloor erosion and offshore-directed sediment transport during storms, and these processes may depend on the shelf width. In fact, the sand ridges (covering the CGRs) that imply significant offshore-directed transport only develop on the narrower shelf. The distribution and seabed expression of the CGRs is constrained by the thickness and distribution of surface-covering sandy sediments, such as the sand ridges. This represents a new interpretation of the distribution of CGRs within seafloor depressions on the shelf of an active margin that receives a large supply of sandy and gravelly fluvial sediments, and differs from the processes seen on the sediment-starved shelves of passive margins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Tropical instability vortices (TIVs) in the equatorial Pacific exhibit energetic horizontal and vertical circulation characterized by regions of high Rossby number and low Richardson number. Their strong anticyclonic vorticity and vertical shear can influence the broader-scale circulation by driving lateral mixing and vertical exchange between the ocean surface and interior. The authors use a set of nested high-resolution simulations of the equatorial Pacific, with a finest grid size of 3 km, to examine the vortex dynamics associated with TIV core water formation. TIV cores are characterized by low values of the Ertel potential vorticity (PV) as the relative vorticity is anticyclonic with magnitude comparable to the local Coriolis parameter. A study of the variation of PV and other scalars along Lagrangian fluid parcel tracks entering the TIVs shows that the low-PV water in their cores is a mix of Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) water and North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) water. The EUC water is characterized by strong horizontal vorticity, and thus, the baroclinic component of the PV is nonnegligible and acts as a source for the anticyclonic vorticity of TIVs. This horizontal vorticity is tilted by an ageostrophic secondary circulation associated with strain-induced frontogenesis that tends to form along the path of the EUC water that enters the vortex. Frontogenesis disrupts the cyclogeostrophic balance of the frontal flow and drives differential vertical motions across the front. These results emphasize the role of submesoscale physics in the equatorial region, which are active when both the Rossby and Richardson numbers are O(1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Understanding if and how particles are laterally transported before final deposition is crucial for accurately reconstructing paleoceanographic conditions from pelagic sediments. We use digital seismic reflection data from the AMAT03 site survey cruise for IODP EXP 320/321 to investigate the Neogene and Quaternary pelagic sedimentation across the eastern-‐central equatorial Pacific (110–130°W). Spatially continuous stratigraphy was derived from five latitudinal seismic transects between the Clipperton and Galapagos Fracture Zones, revealing evidence of widespread sediment redistribution increasing towards the western part of this region. A large-scale anomaly in sediment thickness in the northwestern part of the surveyed area suggests that sediment focusing and/or bottom-current induced resedimentation has been occurring in the central Pacific on timescales of millions of years. The relatively confined character of this anomaly does not support a longitudinally continuous focusing of sediments on the equator, as has been suggested to occur during the Pleistocene glacial stages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) networks represent a tool of opportunity to study fin and blue whales. A small OBS network on the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific Ocean in ∼2.3 km of water recorded an extensive data set of 20-Hz fin whale calls. An automated method has been developed to identify arrival times based on instantaneous frequency and amplitude and to locate calls using a grid search even in the presence of a few bad arrival times. When only one whale is calling near the network, tracks can generally be obtained up to distances of ∼15 km from the network. When the calls from multiple whales overlap, user supervision is required to identify tracks. The absolute and relative amplitudes of arrivals and their three-component particle motions provide additional constraints on call location but are not useful for extending the distance to which calls can be located. The double-difference method inverts for changes in relative call locations using differences in residuals for pairs of nearby calls recorded on a common station. The method significantly reduces the unsystematic component of the location error, especially when inconsistencies in arrival time observations are minimized by cross-correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During study of the physical nature and potential precursor features of the El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific, it was found that a negative large-scale temperature anomaly on the Indian Ocean surface may be one of its significant precursors. This anomaly appears prior to the occurrence of El Niño and is accompanied by growth in atmospheric pressure. It gradually extends eastwards along the equator until the zone of planetary convection in the area of the Indonesian Region. The west wind that emerges on the eastern peripherals of the mentioned pressure anomaly leads to reversal of the Pacific segment of the Walker equatorial atmospheric circulation and to a subsequent change in the zonal thermal dipole polarity in the tropical zone of the Pacific (the latter means culmination of the El Niño phenomenon). In addition to the mentioned thermobaric anomaly in the Indian Ocean, other obvious signs of large-scale pressure anomalies have been found in the global atmospheric pressure field; these anomalies may be interpreted as manifestations of the intradecadal global oscillation in the dynamics of the modern climatic system. It is suggested that the whole known complex of events related to the El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific is a consequence and a regional link of the planetary structure of this global atmospheric phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durvillaea antarctica (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) is a large kelp of high ecological and economic significance in the Southern Hemisphere. In natural beds along the central coast of Chile (Pacific Ocean), abnormal growth characterized by evident gall development and discolorations of the fronds/thallus was observed. Analysing these galls by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of endophytic eukaryotes showing typical characteristics for phytomyxean parasites. The parasite developed within enlarged cells of the subcortical tissue of the host. Multinucleate plasmodia developed into many, single resting spores. The affiliation of this parasite to the Phytomyxea (Rhizaria) was supported by 18S rDNA data, placing it within the Phagomyxida. Similar microorganisms were already reported once 23 years ago, indicating that these parasites are persistent and widespread in D. antarctica beds for long times. The symptoms caused by this parasite are discussed along with the ecological and economic consequences. Phytomyxean parasites may play an important role in the marine ecosystem, but they remain understudied in this environment. Our results demonstrate for the first time the presence of resting spores in Phagomyxida, an order in which resting spores were thought to be absent making this the first record of a phagomyxean parasite with a complete life cycle so far, challenging the existing taxonomic concepts within the Phytomyxea. The importance of the here described resting spores for the survival and ecology of the phagomyxid parasite will be discussed together with the impact this parasite may have on 'the strongest seaweed of the world', which is an important habitat forming and economic resource from the Southern Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Ocean Sampling ( GOS) expedition is currently the largest and geographically most comprehensive metagenomic dataset, including samples from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. This study makes use of the wide range of environmental conditions and habitats encompassed within the GOS sites in order to investigate the ecological structuring of bacterial and archaeal taxon ranks. Community structures based on taxonomically classified 16 S ribosomal RNA (r RNA) gene fragments at phylum, class, order, family, and genus rank levels were examined using multivariate statistical analysis, and the results were inspected in the context of oceanographic environmental variables and structured habitat classifications. At all taxon rank levels, community structures of neritic, oceanic, estuarine biomes, as well as other exotic biomes (salt marsh, lake, mangrove), were readily distinguishable from each other. A strong structuring of the communities with chlorophyll a concentration and a weaker yet significant structuring with temperature and salinity were observed. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between community structures and habitat classification. These results were used for further investigation of one-to-one relationships between taxa and environment and provided indications for ecological preferences shaped by primary production for both cultured and uncultured bacterial and archaeal clades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study uses the amplitudes of bottom-side reflected shear waves to constrain the morphology and dynamics of subducted oceanic lithosphere beneath northwestern Pacific subduction zones. Across Honshu arc, the 410- and 660-km seismic discontinuities are detected at the respective depths of 395±5 and 685±5km within the Wadati–Benioff zone. Their topographies are negatively correlated along slab dip, showing the dominant effect of temperature on the olivine phase changes within the upper mantle transition zone. The base of the upper mantle shows broad depressions as well as localized zones of shallow/average depths beneath Korea and northeast China. The 15+km peak-to-peak topography west of the Wadati–Benioff zones suggests that the stagnant part of the subducted Pacific plate is not as flat as previously suggested. Eastward slab ‘pile-up’ is also possible at the base of the upper mantle. Across southern Kuril arc, the shear wave reflection coefficients of major olivine phase boundaries fall below 5% within the Wadati–Benioff zone. The apparent reflection gaps and the spatial connection between a strong reflector at ~900km depth may imply 1) possible compositional variations at the top and bottom of the transition zone and 2) substantial mass/heat flux across the 660-km seismic discontinuity. We also identify strong reflectors within the subducted oceanic lithosphere at mid transition zone depths. The depths and strengths of these reflectors are highly variable between Honshu and southern Kuril islands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present a new multi-proxy reconstruction of sea-surface properties spanning the last 140 ka in the IMAGES Core MD02-2529 located in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica. Spectral analysis of the records allowed us to examine the ecological imprints of orbital changes on planktic foraminiferal and coccolithophore assemblages and on the pattern of primary production in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, north of the Equatorial upwelling. Independent productivity reconstructions based on phyto- and zooplankton assemblages show a coherent pattern dominated by orbital precession, which appears to have control productivity changes recorded in the studied core over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. The proposed mechanism of this control invokes an atmospheric forcing associated with equatorial insolation maxima in spring and fall with a period of ∼20 ka. Faunal evidence for a stronger upper-ocean mixing with enhanced nutrient supply to the euphotic zone suggests a more vigorous local atmospheric circulation and associated enlargement of the Costa Rica Dome that influenced the core site at times of May insolation maxima. The last two terminations in the studied record are associated with conspicuous changes in planktic assemblages which require additional nutrient-delivery mechanisms to amplify the precession forcing. Our faunal and stable isotope data are in favour of the previously postulated nutrient advection via the Southern Ocean “tunnelling” operating during deglaciations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Singapore Regional Waters (SRW) is one of the more complex tidal regions in the world. This complexity is caused by various factors including the interaction of the Indian and Pacific oceans with their mainly semi-diurnal and diurnal tide, respectively, complicated coastline geometry, small islands and sharply varying bottom topography. Tidal data analysis is hampered by the lack of reliable coastal stations with long-term water level records while numerical tidal modelling studies suffer from lack of accurate high-resolution bathymetry data and uncertainty in the prescription of the tidal open boundary forcing. The present study combines numerical modelling with available along-track satellite altimetry data and a limited set of reliable coastal stations. It proposes a structured approach to study the sensitivity of tidal propagation and interactions to parameters like the prescription of tidal forcing at the open ocean boundaries, local depth information and seabed roughness. To guide and facilitate this analysis, the open-source software environment OpenDA for sensitivity analysis and simultaneous parameter optimisation is used. In a user-controlled way, the vector difference error in tidal representation could so effectively be reduced by ~50%. The results confirm the benefit of using OpenDA in guiding the systematic exploration of the modelled tide and reducing the parameter uncertainties in different parts of the SRW region. OpenDA is also shown to reduce the repetitive nature of simultaneous parameter variation. Finally, the behaviour of the tide in the region and its sensitivities to changes in tidal boundary forcing and to local depth and friction variation in the narrow regions of the Malacca Strait is now much better understood. With most of the systematic errors reduced in the numerical model as a result of the sensitivity analysis, it is expected that the model can be applied to study tide-surge interaction and is much better suited for later application in combination with data assimilation techniques such as Kalman filtering for which systematic model errors should be minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Seafloor bathymetry north of the Galápagos microplate in the Eastern Pacific Ocean contains evidence for a sequence of short-lived rifts cross-cutting abyssal hills adjacent to the East Pacific Rise. These secondary rifts are sub-parallel to the Incipient Rift that marks the current triple junction at 2°40′N and are nearly perpendicular to the direction of opening between the Cocos and Nazca plates. Secondary rifts likely initiated from the EPR by lithospheric cracking. Eventually, their activity stopped and they were carried away from the triple junction as part of the Cocos plate. We developed and analyzed numerical models of rift interaction to understand the evolution of rift configuration in this area. By varying the geometry and locations of rifts, we constrain the factors that have led to the location and orientation of secondary rifts at the northern Galápagos Triple Junction. Interaction between secondary rifts and the Cocos-Nazca Rift results in ~10° clockwise rotation of the secondary rift propagation direction, as observed. Furthermore, if a rift has become detached from the East Pacific Rise, a zone of reduced tension is present ahead of the rift tip, prohibiting its connection to the East Pacific Rise. Two zones of tensile stress enhancement develop along the East Pacific Rise next to the detached rift and control where new cracks are likely to form. Although the magnitude of tensile stress enhancement is controlled by the gap between the detached rift and the East Pacific Rise, whether the new rift forms north or south of the detached rift is controlled by position of the Cocos-Nazca Rift. Therefore, the sequence of ancient rifts found northeast of the current triple junction at 2°40′N represents the natural consequence of rift disconnection events and their position records the kinematic history of the gap between the East Pacific Rise and the Cocos-Nazca Rift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Video analysis of a whale-fall discovered in the northeast Pacific Ocean, off Vancouver Island at a depth of 1288m during ROV diving operations has identified 26 taxa of deep-sea benthic organisms inhabiting the seafloor immediately surrounding remnants of the whale skeleton. A photo-mosaic derived from high-definition video provides a quantitative visual record of the present condition of the site, the species richness, and substrate preference. Only the skull and caudal vertebrae remains of this large whale skeleton are estimated to have been approximately 16.5m in length. Most organisms identified near the whale-fall are common benthic deep-sea fauna, typical of this water depth and seafloor composition. Much of this species richness comes from sessile suspension feeding cnidarians attached to the numerous glacial dropstones found throughout the area rather than the presence of the whale skeleton. Seep and bone specialists are rare (4 taxa) and may be, in part, a remnant population from a sulphophilic stage of whale-fall decomposition. Evidence of past colonization by Osedax sp. is visible on the remaining bones and we conclude that rapid degradation of the missing bones has occurred at this site as has been observed at whale-falls off central California in Monterey Canyon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, 14C age dating of biogenic carbonates in high-depositionrate marine sediment cores from the Pacific Ocean is used to establish the relative phasing of low and high latitude ocean warming at the beginning of the last glacial termination. The results indicate the Southern Ocean began to warm as much as 1000 years before deglacial warming began in the western tropical Pacific Warm Pool region. Importantly, it appears that much of the deep Pacific warming occurred between 19 and 14 ky BP, prior to the major deglaciation of the northern hemisphere ice sheets. These results further indicate that δ[sup 18]O stratigraphies from deep sea carbonates are not synchronous throughout the oceans over a glacial/interglacial termination and. therefore, δ[sup 18]O stratigraphies are not precise enough to establish temporal phase relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial communities inhabiting subseafloor ocean crust were analyzed using culture-dependent and -independent techniques of volcanic basement drill-cores from various locations in the Pacific Ocean. Our results suggest that a low-diversity community of bacteria belonging to the Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes exists in this rocky habitat. Drilling-related contamination was observed, however, identification of these phylotypes was (and will continue to be) beneficial for distinguishing indigenous from contamination-related communities. Due to difficulties in accessing the subseafloor crustal environment, this study further highlights the necessity for innovative approaches in future drilling-based microbiological studies conducted in ocean crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on 15 June 1991, volcanic ash was transported westward to the South China Sea in an atmospheric plume, falling out and settling to the sea floor within days and forming an up to 10 cm thick layer on an area >400 000 km2. Immediately after deposition, surviving deep-burrowing animals re-opened their connection to the sea floor to obtain water for respiration and/or food take-up. Later, small-sized meiofauna and then macrofauna re-colonized the sea floor, mixing newly deposited organic fluff with the underlying ash. Consequently, ash deposits thinner than 1 mm have not often been observed as a continuous layer when cored six years after the eruption, while ash about 2 mm thick is now patchily bioturbated. In areas covered by ash thicker than 5 mm, mixing by benthic animals is controlled mainly by the adaptation of the burrowing fauna to variations in grain-size, the rate of background sedimentation, the availability of benthic food on and within the sediment and pore water oxygen levels. With respect to these factors, four provinces can be distinguished: (i) Along the Philippines margin run-off from land fuels primary production that, in turn, leads to a high benthic food content. The benthic fauna is adapted to a variable grain-size and rapid sedimentation. Therefore, mixing is intense and the preservation potential of the ash layer is low. (ii) In areas affected by deposition of hyperpycnites and turbidites, i.e. in canyons in front of river mouths and in the Manila Trench, the ash layer is preserved due to rapid burial. (iii) The area to the west to about 116° E receives low amounts of benthic food, benthic mixing is less intense and the preservation potential of the ash is high. (iv) The central South China Sea, where the ash is thinner than 3 cm, is affected by intense wind mixing and upwelling and the benthic food content is high; thus, the chance that the ash will be preserved as a sharp-based layer is low. Consequently, the style of ash preservation has palaeo-environmental significance. Older buried and burrowed event layers provide further information to elucidate the fate of the 1991 Pinatubo ash layer; in general their appearance fits with observations in the Recent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Spatial distribution, diversity, and composition of bacterial communities within the shallow sub-seafloor at the deep-sea hydrothermal field of the Suiyo Seamount, Izu-Bonin Arc, Western Pacific Ocean, were investigated. Fluids were sampled from four boreholes in this area. Each borehole was located near or away from active vents, the distance ranging 2–40m from active vents. In addition, fluids discharging from a natural vent and ambient seawater were sampled in this area. We extracted DNA from each sample, amplified bacterial 16S rRNA genes by PCR, cloned the PCR products and sequenced. The total number of clones analyzed was 348. Most of the detected phylotypes were affiliated with the phylum Proteobacteria, of which the detection frequency in each clone library ranged from 84.6% to 100%. The bacterial community diversity and composition were different between hydrothermal fluids and seawater, between fluids from the boreholes and the vent, and even among fluids from each borehole. The relative abundances of the phylotypes related to Thiomicrospira, Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas were significantly different among fluids from each borehole. The phylotypes related to Thiomicrospira and Alcanivorax were detected in all of the boreholes and vent samples. Our findings provide insights into bacterial communities in the shallow sub-seafloor environments at active deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Deep-sea benthic foraminifera show important but transient assemblage changes at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary, when many biota suffered severe extinction. We quantitatively analyzed benthic foraminiferal assemblages from lower bathyal–upper abyssal (1500–2000m) northwest Pacific ODP Site 1210 (Shatsky Rise) and compared the results with published data on assemblages at lower bathyal (~1500m) Pacific DSDP Site 465 (Hess Rise) to gain insight in paleoecological and paleoenvironmental changes at that time. At both sites, diversity and heterogeneity rapidly decreased across the K/Pg boundary, then recovered. Species assemblages at both sites show a similar pattern of turnover from the uppermost Maastrichtian into the lowermost Danian: 1) The relative abundance of buliminids (indicative of a generally high food supply) increases towards the uppermost Cretaceous, and peaks rapidly just above the K/Pg boundary, coeval with a peak in benthic foraminiferal accumulation rate (BFAR), a proxy for food supply. 2) A peak in relative abundance of Stensioeina beccariiformis, a cosmopolitan form generally more common at the middle than at the lower bathyal sites, occurs just above the buliminid peak. 3) The relative abundance of Nuttallides truempyi, a more oligotrophic form, decreases at the boundary, then increases above the peak in Stensioeina beccariiformis. The food supply to the deep sea in the Pacific Ocean thus apparently increased rather than decreased in the earliest Danian. The low benthic diversity during a time of high food supply indicates a stressed environment. This stress might have been caused by reorganization of the planktic ecosystem: primary producer niches vacated by the mass extinction of calcifying nannoplankton may have been rapidly (<10kyr) filled by other, possibly opportunistic, primary producers, leading to delivery of another type of food, and/or irregular food delivery through a succession of opportunistic blooms. The deep-sea benthic foraminiferal data thus are in strong disagreement with the widely accepted hypothesis that the global deep-sea floor became severely food-depleted following the K/Pg extinction due to the mass extinction of primary producers (“Strangelove Ocean Model”) or to the collapse of the biotic pump (“Living Ocean Model”). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In addition to the atmosphere, the oceans play important roles in the excitation of the Chandler wobble. The contributions made by the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean from 1980 to 2005 to the excitation of the Chandler wobble are first and systematically researched by taking advantage of the data of the current velocity field and ocean floor pressure provided by the marine circulation model of the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO). Studies show that the contributions of the three oceans to the excitation of the Chandler wobble are different from one another: the excitation energy of the Pacific Ocean makes up about 22.2% of the observational excitation energy, the largest one among the three oceans, that of the Indian Ocean accounts for about 12.7% and that of the Atlantic Ocean amounts to about 7.1%, the smallest among the three great oceans. The remarkable increase in the excitation energy of the Chandler wobble by the Pacific Ocean may be possibly due to the effect of the strong ENSO event which occurred from 1982 to 1983. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Whale falls provide abundant but relatively ephemeral, sulphide-rich habitat islands on the deep-sea floor. To explore life-history adaptations to whale-fall habitats, we examined the reproductive biology of Idas washingtonia, a bathymodiolin mussel occurring in abundance on sunken whale skeletons in the deep northeast Pacific Ocean. Analysis of the reproductive biology of I. washingtonia demonstrates strong evidence of protandric hermaphroditism. Developing males were recognised in individuals as small as 1.7mm shell length and spermatogenesis continued until ∼7mm length. At >6.5mm, males were generally spent and the first previtellogenic oocytes were observed. Although developing females were found as small as 4.5mm shell length, most well-developed females were >6mm shell length. Overall, females only formed ∼12% of the population. As with other modiolid bivalves, fecundity was high and the egg size <50μm, indicative of planktotrophic development. The occurrence of protandric hermaphroditism, high fecundity and planktotrophic dispersal may be an adaptation to the ephemeral nature of their habitat. The success of this adaptation is shown by the rapid colonisation of whale falls even though these may have been severely reduced in abundance since the peak of commercial whaling activity in the 20th century. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To improve the resolution in imaging the 3-D VP and VP/ VS structures in the Taiwan region, especially offshore eastern Taiwan, we combine the arrival times from eleven ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) and from seismic stations of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) with those from the permanent stations of Taiwan Central Weather Bureau Seismic Network (CWBSN) and Taiwan Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (TSMIP). By doing so, we have obtained a new 3-D tomographic model for Taiwan and its surrounding regions with a better resolution, especially in the area offshore northeastern Taiwan. We also used this new tomography model to relocate the hypocentres of the earthquakes in northeastern Taiwan and determined the focal mechanisms of relatively large events. Our tomography results indicate that in the region northeast of Taiwan, the subducting oceanic Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian continental lithosphere is characterized by a high VP layer, surrounded by lower VP areas. This P-wave velocity characteristics of the subducting slab provides a better constraint on the geometry of the subduction interface, especially in its shallower portion. In the hangingwall (Eurasian) block above the subduction interface, a vertically elongated high VP/ VS body appears to originate from the interface at depths between 100 and 140 km. We suggest that it represents the partially melted materials that are related to the magmatic activity of the Ryukyu volcanic arc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of axial stress-strain measurements made from short columnar samples of seafloor shallow surface sediment in the southern South China Sea area indicate that there are three kinds of variations in the longitudinal wave sound velocity, which are related to such characteristics as physical-mechanical properties, grain contact status and grain structure and microstructure of the submarine shallow surface sediment. This study may make theoretical contributions to further understanding the reliability of various submarine sediments in the southern South China Sea as bearing interfaces and such scientific objectives as phonotelemetering and remote sensing of the engineering mechanical properties of seafloor sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ever since the discovery that the mid-ocean ridge axis deepens at most axial discontinuities, there has been vigorous debate about whether ridge axis depth and shape reflect magma supply. Here we report evidence, from one of the most thoroughly studied ridge discontinuities on a fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge, that volcanic eruption effusion rates have been low relative to nearby segment centers throughout its two million year history. This pattern of low volcanic effusion rates is inferred from the fields of constructional volcanic mounds on the seafloor which are much more abundant in the off-axis discordant zone of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) 9°N Overlapping Spreading Centers (OSC) than on typical EPR seafloor. Detailed seafloor mapping in 2007 shows that these mound fields consist of concentrations of large pillow mounds that formed within the current OSC basin and ridge tips, rather than off-axis. Pillow lava, erupted at approximately an order of magnitude lower effusion rate than lobate or sheet flows, primarily builds mounds on the seafloor. Crustal thickness, a proxy for long-term magma supply, does not decrease in spite of the decreased lava effusion rates implied by widespread pillow eruptions. To resolve the problem of achieving the same magma emplacement rate with lower effusion rates, without violating our observations by requiring drastically increased eruption frequency or unreasonably long eruption durations, we propose that eruptions occur across the entire OSC basin. The current configuration of mid-crustal melt sills within the OSC as resolved by multichannel seismic reflection surveys have neither the correct location nor appropriate size to deliver magma to these eruptive vents in the OSC basin via vertically propagating dikes. Instead, we propose that magma delivery to eruptions occurs via laterally propagating dikes from robust mid-crustal melt sills outside of the overlap zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The combination of fluid inclusion analyses and microfossil analyses is an excellent method to study the preservation process of deep sub-seafloor microorganisms. By studying fluid inclusions in the same mineral phases as microfossils, it is possible to reconstruct the conditions that prevailed when the microorganisms where entombed and to put them in a geological and environmental context. This study has been performed on carbonate and gypsum veins in drilled basalt samples from three seamounts belonging to the Emperor Seamounts in the Pacific Ocean: Detroit, Nintoku and Koko Seamounts. The study show that variations in salt composition (MgCl2, NaCl, KCl and CaCl2) and salinity (2.1 and 10.5eq. wt% NaCl) of the hydrothermal fluids do not have an influence on the occurrence of microfossils throughout the samples. The microorganisms were trapped and entombed at minimum temperatures of ∼130°C which implies that the microorganisms could have existed at temperatures of ∼130°C for shorter periods of time. The microorganisms were entrapped at shallow-marine to submarine conditions and the entrapment of the microorganisms occurred relatively late compared to the volcanic activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Direct seismic measurements of the thickening of oceanic lithosphere away from the spreading axis are rare due to the remoteness of mid ocean ridges. On the East Pacific Rise, at 17°S, there were two long-term broadband ocean bottom seismometer deployments, the MELT and GLIMPSE experiments. These arrays spanned young Pacific plate seafloor ranging in age from 0 to 8 Ma. Combining these two data sets, we describe the increase in Rayleigh wave phase velocities for 16–100 s period as function of distance from the ridge with two parameterizations: an arbitrary function of seafloor age and a simple polynomial function of age on the Pacific and Nazca plates. Although resolution analysis shows that 10 to 15 independent pieces of information about the age variation of phase velocity on the Pacific plate can be resolved at periods of ≤50 s, the three parameter polynomial model fits the data almost as well, indicating a simple pattern of the evolution of structure with age. To compare our observations to the predictions for the conductive cooling of the lithosphere, we convert a thermal half-space cooling model to shear velocity using anharmonic and anelastic contributions. The patterns in the velocities are not consistent with simple conductive cooling. The conductive cooling model under predicts the changes in phase velocity with age observed in the 20 to 78 s period range. We observe significant changes in shear velocity in the asthenosphere at depths greater than conductive cooling should extend. The asthenospheric low velocity zone is asymmetric, dipping to the west with the lowest velocities beneath the Pacific plate west of the spreading center. The conductive cooling model also over predicts the shear velocities in the lithosphere by ~0.2 km/s. These anomalies indicate that more complicated mantle flow and significant mantle heterogeneities such as melt are required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paleoceanographic history of the Pacific Ocean during the mid-Cretaceous is poorly constrained due to the loss of much of the contemporaneous Pacific seafloor to subduction and difficulties in recovering chert-rich sediments by ocean drilling. Pelagic sediments that were originally deposited in the Pacific Ocean but that have been subsequently accreted during subduction potentially provide an alternative paleoceanographic archive. This study presents micropaleontological and carbon-isotope data from the Calera Limestone, part of the classic Franciscan Complex exposed in Permanente Quarry, central California, USA. In the three stratigraphic sections studied, pelagic limestones with low organic-carbon contents are the dominant lithology. However, two stratigraphic intervals are recognized that contain organic carbon, and these date to the early Aptian and late Albian--early Cenomanian. These time intervals correspond to two mid-Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (OAEs): early Aptian OAE1a (equivalent to the "Selli level") and late Albian OAE1d (equivalent to the "Breistroffer event"). It is well established that both of these events were associated with significant carbon-isotope excursions, which are also shown to exist in the Calera Limestone. The record of OAE1a from the Calera Limestone complements ocean drilling records by providing further evidence for variability in the sedimentary and stratigraphic record of this event. The carbon-isotope data from the late Albian-early Cenomanian provide the first detailed chemobiostratigraphic record of this period for the Pacific Ocean, confirming that environmental change occurred at this time in the Pacific, possibly related to OAE1d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first systematic mapping of the East Pacific Rise, its axial depth profile has been used to infer variability in magma supply or mantle temperature. Here, however, we show that segment-scale, rise-parallel undulations of both on- and off-axis seafloor depth result primarily from variations in the bulk density of oceanic crust. Using seismic images of crustal and upper mantle structure combined with gravity data and lava chemistry, we demonstrate that segment-scale variations in crustal density are caused by magmatic differentiation. Rise-parallel changes in magmatic differentiation are attributed to a skew between the axes of mantle upwelling and plate spreading. We conclude that segmentation of axial depth along fast-spreading ridges is controlled primarily by the geometry of mantle upwelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The CaCO3 content of marine sediments in many regions of the ocean has varied systematically with climate throughout the late-Pleistocene glacial cycles. Both biological productivity and carbonate preservation have been proposed to be the master variable regulating this variability. We have evaluated the preserved flux of CaCO3 in cores from the central equatorial Pacific Ocean (∼140°W) using the 230Th-normalization technique. Neither barite fluxes nor 10Be/230Th ratios, both geochemical proxies for export production, correlate with CaCO3 fluxes, indicating that productivity is not the principal factor controlling CaCO3 accumulation in these sediments. Preserved fluxes of CaCO3 in central equatorial Pacific sediments correlate in time with the benchmark CaCO3 record from the Cape Basin (South Atlantic Ocean), supporting the view that changes in ocean chemistry (carbonate ion concentration) have controlled the pattern of CaCO3 preservation and accumulation at these sites. Modern CaCO3 preservation in equatorial Pacific sediments has dropped to levels nearly as low as those experienced at any time in the late Pleistocene. Similar changes occurred at the end of each of the late-Pleistocene interglacial periods, from which we infer that ocean carbonate chemistry has already undergone changes that are expected to precede the transition into the next ice age. However, during the late Pleistocene, the time interval between the decrease in CaCO3 preservation and the end of the interglacial has varied substantially from one interglacial to another (from ∼2000 to ∼15,000 years), so the late-Holocene decrease in CaCO3 preservation cannot be used to predict the end of the Holocene interglacial period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim To analyse the worldwide distribution patterns of hagfishes using panbiogeographical track analysis, and to attempt to correlate these patterns with the tectonic history of the ocean basins. Location Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Method The distributions of 47 out of 70 species of hagfish (in the genera Eptatretus, Myxine, Nemamyxine, Neomyxine, and Paramyxine) were studied by the panbiogeographical method of track analysis. The analysis was performed using distributional data obtained from the collections included in the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, ) and FishBase ( ), with additional records from the literature. Individual tracks were obtained for each species by plotting localities and connecting them by minimum-spanning trees. Generalized tracks were determined from the spatial overlap between individual tracks. Results Six generalized tracks were found: in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, South-eastern Atlantic, Western Pacific, North-eastern Pacific and South-eastern Pacific. Main conclusions The distribution patterns of myxinids are marked by a high degree of endemism and vicariance, and are correlated with the tectonic features involved in many of the events that led to the development of oceanic basins. The main massing of the group is around the Pacific Basin. In the Atlantic Ocean, the distribution of Myxine glutinosa seems to correspond to a classic trans-oceanic track and vicariance resulting from the opening of the Atlantic Ocean during the Cretaceous. In the Pacific Ocean, the distribution of the Eptatretus and Paramyxine species is clearly associated with the margins of the Pacific tectonic plate. The generalized tracks of hagfishes are shared by several other groups of marine organisms, including many from shallow tropical waters, implying a common history for this marine biota. Overall, vicariance is a major feature of hagfish distribution, suggesting vicariant differentiation of widespread ancestors as a result of sea-floor spreading between continents in connection with ocean formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megasplay faults, very long thrust faults that rise from the subduction plate boundary megathrust and intersect the sea floor at the tandward edge of the accretionary prism, are thought to play a rote in tsunami genesis. We imaged a megasplay thrust system along the Nankai Trough in three dimensions, which allowed us to map the splay fault geometry and its lateral continuity. The megasplay is continuous from the main plate interface fault upwards to the sea floor, where it cuts older thrust slices of the frontal accretionary prism. The thrust geometry and evidence of large-scale slumping of surficial sediments show that the fault is active and that the activity has evolved toward the landward direction with time, contrary to the usual seaward progression of accretionary thrusts. The megasplay fault has progressively steepened, substantially increasing the potential for vertical uplift of the sea floor with slip. We conclude that slip on the megasplay fault most likely contributed to generating devastating historic tsunamis, such as the 1944 moment magnitude 8.1 Tonankai event, and it is this geometry that makes this margin and others like it particularly prone to tsunami genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity data spanning January 2003–November 2005 are used as proxies for ocean bottom pressure (BP) averaged over 1 month, spherical Gaussian caps 500 km in radius, and along paths bracketing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current’s various fronts. The GRACE BP signals are compared with those derived from the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) ocean modeling–assimilation system, and to a non-Boussinesq version of the Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS). The discrepancy found between GRACE and the models is 1.7 cmH2O (1 cmH2O ∼ 1 hPa), slightly lower than the 1.9 cmH2O estimated by the authors independently from propagation of GRACE errors. The northern signals are weak and uncorrelated among basins. The southern signals are strong, with a common seasonality. The seasonal cycle GRACE data observed in the Pacific and Indian Ocean sectors of the ACC are consistent, with annual and semiannual amplitudes of 3.6 and 0.6 cmH2O (1.1 and 0.6 cmH2O with ECCO), the average over the full southern path peaks (stronger ACC) in the southern winter, on days of year 197 and 97 for the annual and semiannual components, respectively; the Atlantic Ocean annual peak is 20 days earlier. An approximate conversion factor of 3.1 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1) of barotropic transport variability per cmH2O of BP change is estimated. Wind stress data time series from the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), averaged monthly, zonally, and over the latitude band 40°–65°S, are also constructed and subsampled at the same months as with the GRACE data. The annual and semiannual harmonics of the wind stress peak on days 198 and 82, respectively. A decreasing trend over the 3 yr is observed in the three data types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A postglacial sea-level record reconstructed through the study of 25 cores and 10 grab samples obtained from the siliciclastic-dominated northern South China Sea continental shelf between Hong Kong and Dongsha is presented. The seven sedimentary facies recognized are: [(1)] Pleistocene overconsolidated mud facies affected by palaeosol development due to sub-aerial exposure during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), [(2)] bioclastic sandy gravel facies occurring at a present-day seabed depth exceeding 120m, [(3)] LGM bioclastic beach-dune sand facies at a present-day seabed depth between 110 and 120m, [(4)] postglacial siliciclastic beach-dune sand facies formed during at least two episodes of sea-level stillstands at present-day seabed depths between 80 and 90m, and 30 and 50m, respectively, [(5)] postglacial transgressive sand facies of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene age: radiocarbon dating shows that this facies was deposited in two stages before and after the 8200 calendar yr BP cold event, [(6)] postglacial sand and gravel-dominated facies with acoustic turbidity at a present-day seabed depth of about 50m, [(7)] postglacial mud facies. Based on the radiocarbon ages obtained from samples located above and below the Holocene–Pleistocene hiatus in the two innermost shelf cores, and large variations of atmospheric radiocarbon concentration found during the last glacial period in a submerged stalagmite from the Bahamas (Beck et al., 2001. Science 292, 2453–2458), ages exceeding 8200 calendar yr BP are likely to represent minimum values. Ages postdating this limit, which are less affected by variations of atmospheric radiocarbon concentration, indicate the presence of a post-8200 calendar yr BP cold event meltwater pulse caused by eustatic sea-level rise from approximately 40m below present to the present level by about 6000 calendar yr BP. Inaccuracies of the pre-8200 calendar yr BP radiocarbon ages may be attributed to large variations of atmospheric Δ14C during the postglacial period with greenhouse gases released from the sub-aerially exposed continental shelf probably accounting for a significant proportion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The deep subseafloor biosphere is among the least-understood habitats on Earth, even though the huge microbial biomass therein plays an important role for potential long-term controls on global biogeochemical cycles. We report here the vertical and geographical distribution of microbes and their phylogenetic diversities in deeply buried marine sediments of the Pacific Ocean Margins. During the Ocean Drilling Program Legs 201 and 204, we obtained sediment cores from the Peru and Cascadia Margins that varied with respect to the presence of dissolved methane and methane hydrate. To examine differences in prokaryotic distribution patterns in sediments with or without methane hydrates, we studied > 2,800 clones possessing partial sequences (400–500 bp) of the 16S rRNA gene and 348 representative clone sequences (≈1 kbp) from the two geographically separated subseafloor environments. Archaea of the uncultivated Deep-Sea Archaeal Group were consistently the dominant phylotype in sediments associated with methane hydrate. Sediment cores lacking methane hydrates displayed few or no Deep-Sea Archaeal Group phylotypes. Bacterial communities in the methane hydrate-bearing sediments were dominated by members of the JS1 group, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi. Results from cluster and principal component analyses, which include previously reported data from the West and East Pacific Margins, suggest that, for these locations in the Pacific Ocean, prokaryotic communities from methane hydrate-bearing sediment cores are distinct from those in hydrate-free cores. The recognition of which microbial groups prevail under distinctive subseafloor environments is a significant step toward determining the role these communities play in Earth's essential biogeochemical processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Bottom sediments collected in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean in 1997 were analysed for 90Sr, 137Cs, 239, 240Pu and 241Am contents to determine their distribution patterns, inventories and sources. Enhanced inventories of 239,240Pu and 241Am were observed in the latitudinal belts of 10–20°N and 30–40°N, which correspond to major areas of local (tropospheric) and global (stratospheric) fallout (with a contribution from local fallout), respectively. The sediment inventory of 239,240Pu near the Bikini Atoll exceeded its overlying water inventory, however, in the mid-latitudes, more than 70% of 239,240Pu still remains in the water column. 241Am inventories in sediments exceeded that of the water column for the entire NW Pacific Ocean. Higher 137Cs and 90Sr sediment inventories in the latitudinal belt of 30–40°N are due to global fallout, and they account for about 10% and less than 5% of the water column inventories, respectively. The observed activity ratios of 137Cs/90Sr, 238Pu/239,240Pu and 241Am/239,240Pu in sediment were at some stations higher than the global fallout ratios due to contributions from local fallout and due to specific processes in the water column. Two end-member mixing model based on the 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios observed in global and local fallout yielded ∼60% contribution of the local fallout in the bottom sediments near the Bikini Atoll. The upward decrease in the 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in the sediment column indicates a decrease in the contribution of local fallout to the Pu inventory with time. 241Am and 241Pu dating of sediment layers was utilized to explain a hiatus in sediment accumulation in the deep seafloor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Vigtorniella flokati, a new species of polychaete worm associated with decaying whale remains, is described. Three separate V. flokati populations were sampled using submersibles: two associated with implanted gray whale carcasses in the San Diego Trough (1240m depth) and the Santa Cruz Basin (1670m) off California, and one from sperm whale and balaeanopterid bones implanted on the slope of Oahu, Hawaii at 1000m. Extraordinarily large numbers of live specimens were observed and videotaped in situ using submersibles in the San Diego Trough and the Santa Cruz Basin. The populations on the carcass implanted for 4 months in San Diego Trough, and on the bones implanted for 2 years off Oahu, were composed only of small sized individuals (including juveniles). V. flokati most closely resembles the poorly known V. zaikai Kiseleva, 1992, described from the Black Sea. Forty-six morphological characters were used in a phylogenetic analysis of selected nereidiform polychaetes. The resulting most-parsimonious trees indicate sister taxon status between V. flokati and V. zaikai, and that this clade is sister to the putatively ancient polychaete clade Chrysopetalidae. Whale falls, which are intense point sources of organic enrichment at the deep-sea floor, pass through three successional stages. V. flokati appears to colonize the middle, “enrichment opportunist” stage, inhabiting organic-rich bones and sediments ∼4–24 months after carcass arrival. V. flokati exhibits remarkable behavior, clinging posteriorly to whale bones or nearby sediments to form a writhing carpet at densities exceeding 8000m-2. Its extraordinary abundance on whale falls, and apparent absence from other habitats, suggests it to be a whale-fall specialist. The precise feeding mechanism of the worm remains unknown, but we hypothesize that it may utilize dissolved organic carbon derived from the organic-rich setting of whale falls. The widespread occurrence of V. flokati on ephemeral, food-rich habitat islands in the Pacific suggests life-history strategies analogous to those for hydrothermal-vent and cold-seep species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two deep-sea moorings were deployed respectively in the east area and the west area of Chinese Pioneer Area (CPA) in the tropic east Pacific to monitor the regional deep-sea dynamics below 600 meters above bottom (mab) from July 1997 to Oct. 1999. Results of statistics, spectral estimate and correlation analysis of the Iow-passed velocity data show that time scales of low-frequency components of the near-bottom currents are 25∼120 days, in which 51-day period dominates the lower band of the frequency domain. Topographic features have obvious effect on low-frequency currents below 50 mab; modulations of the bottom-intensified sheared mean flow to the low-frequency currents are the dynamic mechanism of the frequency shift that occurs in both the east-area and the west-area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates that intraseasonal perturbations in sea surface temperature (SST′) in the western Pacific warm pool is very sensitive to the structure, as well as other characteristics, of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). SST′ is simulated using a one-dimensional ocean mixed-layer model and idealized MJO surface forcing that mimics observations. The amplitude and phase of simulated SST′ and its sensitivity to precipitation all depend on the structure of the MJO. It is concluded that a realistic structure of simulated MJO in a coupled model is as vital as realistic phase speed and zonal scale to correctly interpreting the effect of air–sea interaction on the MJO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on research on extracts from manganese nodules and ooze from the Central Pacific deep sea floor. Use of chromatogram-mass spectrum for analysis; Finding that most of the biomarker molecules are of the low-mature type; Ratios including those for "A"/C, CPI, hopane, Tm/Ts, moretane, and arene TA(I)/TA(I+II); The methyl-phenanthrene index (MPI1); Suggestion that the hydrothermal activities on the ocean floor ease the decomposition of organic matter in the sediment and leads to the generation and migration of hydrocarbon, resulting in manganese nodules and ooze; Implication of this discovery for understanding the mechanisms of hydrocarbon generation and for expanding the potential of offshore oil and gas exploration.

Discusses the near-seafloor magnetic anomalies recorded over the southern East Pacific Rise, which correlate with independent estimates of geomagnetic intensity during the past 780 kyr. Pattern of absolute paleointensity of seafloor glass samples from the area agreeing with the dipole intensity pattern for the past 50 kyr; Estimation of the ages of surficial lava flows in the region; Record of geomagnetic intensity preserved in the oceanic crust providing a higher-time-resolution record of crustal accretion process at mid-ocean ridges.

Provides information on a study on visible detrital aggregates formed between July and December at an abyssal station in the northeastern Pacific. Methods used; Results; Comparison of the results with the data available on chemical composition and respiration associated with detrital materials in other deep-sea area of the World Ocean.