Complex disturbance‐driven reactivation of near‐surface sediments in the largest dunefield in North America during the last 200 years

Abstract. We report on a rare observation of a mini-fracture in near-surface sediments (30 cm below the seafloor) visualized using rotational scanning X-ray of a core recovered from the Lomvi pockmark, Vestnesa Ridge west of Svalbard (1200 m water depth). Porewater geochemistry and lipid biomarker signatures revealed clear differences in the geochemical and biogeochemical regimes of this core compared with two additional ones recovered from pockmarks sites at Vestnesa Ridge, which we attribute to differential methane transport mechanisms. In the sediments core featuring the shallow mini-fracture at pockmark Lomvi, we observed high concentrations of both methane and sulfate throughout the core in tandem with moderately elevated values for total alkalinity, 13C-depleted dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and 13C-depleted lipid biomarkers (diagnostic for the slow-growing microbial communities mediating the anaerobic oxidation of methane with sulfate – AOM). In another core recovered from the same pockmark about 80 m away from the fractured core, we observed complete sulfate depletion in the top centimeters of the sediment and much more pronounced signatures of AOM than in the fractured core. Our data indicate a gas advection-dominated transport mode in both cores facilitating methane migration into sulfate-rich surface sediments. However, the more moderate expression of AOM signals suggest a rather recent onset of gas migration at the site of the fractured core, while the geochemical evidence for a well-established AOM community at the second coring site at the Lomvi pockmark suggest that gas migration has been going on for a longer period of time. A third core recovered from Lunde pockmark was dominated by diffusive transport with only weak geochemical and biogeochemical evidence for AOM. Our study highlights that advective fluid and gas transport supported by mini-fractures can be important in modulating methane dynamics in surface sediments.

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Impacts of Local Soil Moisture Anomalies on the Atmospheric Circulation and on Remote Surface Meteorological Fields during Boreal Summer: A Comprehensive Analysis over North America

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-16-0192.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (20) ◽

pp. 7345-7364 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Randal D. Koster ◽

Yehui Chang ◽

Hailan Wang ◽

Siegfried D. Schubert

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

North America ◽

Atmospheric Circulation ◽

General Circulation ◽

Boreal Summer ◽

Near Surface ◽

Local Soil ◽

Lower Mississippi River ◽

Continental Interior ◽

The U.S

Abstract A series of stationary wave model (SWM) experiments are performed in which the boreal summer atmosphere is forced, over a number of locations in the continental United States, with an idealized diabatic heating anomaly that mimics the atmospheric heating associated with a dry land surface. For localized heating within a large portion of the continental interior, regardless of the specific location of this heating, the spatial pattern of the forced atmospheric circulation anomaly (in terms of 250-hPa eddy streamfunction) is largely the same: a high anomaly forms over west-central North America and a low anomaly forms to the east. In supplemental atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments, similar results are found; imposing soil moisture dryness in the AGCM in different locations within the U.S. interior tends to produce the aforementioned pattern, along with an associated near-surface warming and precipitation deficit in the center of the continent. The SWM-based and AGCM-based patterns generally agree with composites generated using reanalysis and precipitation gauge data. The AGCM experiments also suggest that dry anomalies imposed in the lower Mississippi River valley have remote surface impacts of particularly large spatial extent, and a region along the eastern half of the U.S.–Canadian border is particularly sensitive to dry anomalies in a number of remote areas. Overall, the SWM and AGCM experiments support the idea of a positive feedback loop operating over the continent: dry surface conditions in many interior locations lead to changes in atmospheric circulation that act to enhance further the overall dryness of the continental interior.

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Geochemistry and related studies of Clyde Estuary sediments

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ◽

10.1017/s1755691018000348 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 108 (2-3) ◽

pp. 269-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David G. Jones ◽

Christopher H. Vane ◽

Solveigh Lass-Evans ◽

Simon Chenery ◽

Bob Lister ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seismic Data ◽

Surface Sediments ◽

Sidescan Sonar ◽

Near Surface ◽

Glacial Sediments ◽

Shallow Seismic ◽

Limited Success ◽

Shallow Layer ◽

Quaternary History ◽

Different Sources

ABSTRACTGeochemical and related studies have been made of near-surface sediments from the River Clyde estuary and adjoining areas, extending from Glasgow to the N, and W as far as the Holy Loch on the W coast of Scotland, UK. Multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar and shallow seismic data, taken with core information, indicate that a shallow layer of modern sediment, often less than a metre thick, rests on earlier glacial and post-glacial sediments. The offshore Quaternary history can be aligned with onshore sequences, with the recognition of buried drumlins, settlement of muds from quieter water, probably behind an ice dam, and later tidal delta deposits. The geochemistry of contaminants within the cores also indicates shallow contaminated sediments, often resting on pristine pre-industrial deposits at depths less than 1m. The distribution of different contaminants with depth in the sediment, such as Pb (and Pb isotopes), organics and radionuclides, allow chronologies of contamination from different sources to be suggested. Dating was also attempted using microfossils, radiocarbon and 210Pb, but with limited success. Some of the spatial distribution of contaminants in the surface sediments can be related to grain-size variations. Contaminants are highest, both in absolute terms and in enrichment relative to the natural background, in the urban and inner estuary and in the Holy Loch, reflecting the concentration of industrial activity.

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Direct determination of resonant properties of near-surface sediments using microtremor

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.soildyn.2019.105739 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 125 ◽

pp. 105739 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yury I. Kolesnikov ◽

Кonstantin V. Fedin ◽

Luckymore Ngomayezwe

Keyword(s):

Surface Sediments ◽

Direct Determination ◽

Near Surface

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Parallel Comparison of Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events in CESM1-WACCM and CESM2-WACCM

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10110679 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 679 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Si-Ming Liu ◽

Yuan-Hao Chen ◽

Jian Rao ◽

Can Cao ◽

Si-Yu Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Climate Model ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Statistical Characteristics ◽

Stratospheric Warming ◽

Sudden Stratospheric Warming ◽

Near Surface ◽

Eddy Heat Flux ◽

General Statistical ◽

Vortex Split

After the recent release of the historical runs by community Earth system model version 2–the whole atmosphere community climate model (CESM2-WACCM), the major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events in this model and in its previous version (CESM1-WACCM) are compared based on a modern reanalysis (JRA55). Using the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) definition of SSWs and a threshold-based classification method that can describe the polar vortex morphology, SSWs in models and the reanalysis are further classified into two types, vortex displacement SSWs and vortex split SSWs. The general statistical characteristics of the two types of SSW events in the two model versions are evaluated. Both CESM1-WACCM and CESM2-WACCM models are shown to reproduce the SSW frequency successfully, although the circulations differences between vortex displacement SSWs and vortex split SSWs in CESM2-WACCM are smaller than in CESM1-WACCM. Composite polar temperature, geopotential height, wind, and eddy heat flux anomalies in both the two models and the reanalysis show similar evolutions. In addition, positive Pacific–North America and negative Western Pacific patterns in the troposphere preceding vortex displacement and split SSWs are observed in both observations and the models. The strong negative North Atlantic oscillation-like pattern, especially after vortex split SSW onset, is also identified in models. The near-surface cold Eurasia–warm North America pattern before both types of SSW onset, the warm Eurasia–cold North America pattern after displacement SSW onset, and the cold Eurasia–cold North America pattern after split SSW onset are consistently identified in JRA55, CESM1-WACCM, and CESM2-WACCM, although the temperature anomalies after the split SSW onset in CESM2-WACCM are somewhat underestimated.

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Shear-Wave Velocity and Seismic Response of Near-Surface Sediments in Charleston, South Carolina

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America ◽

10.1785/0120050144 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 96 (5) ◽

pp. 1897-1914 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

R. D. Andrus ◽

C. D. Fairbanks ◽

J. Zhang ◽

W. M. Camp ◽

T. J. Casey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Carolina ◽

Seismic Response ◽

Shear Wave ◽

Wave Velocity ◽

Shear Wave Velocity ◽

Surface Sediments ◽

Near Surface

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High-Frequency Seismic Wave Propagation in Northeastern North America

Seismological Research Letters ◽

10.1785/gssrl.61.3-4.193 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 61 (3-4) ◽

pp. 193-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. E. Hough ◽

K. H. Jacob ◽

L. Seeber

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

High Frequency ◽

Characteristic Length ◽

Body Waves ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Western North America ◽

Energy Propagation ◽

Length Scales ◽

Near Surface ◽

High Frequencies

Abstract A key element in the assessment of seismic hazard is the estimation of how energy propagation from a given earthquake is affected by crustal structure near the receiver and along the more distant propagation path. In this paper, we present data from a variety of sources in eastern North America recorded at epicentral distances of a few to 800 km, and characterize and interpret systematic features. Site effects have been classically considered in terms of amplification either within a sediment-filled valley or from a single topographic feature (Geli et al., 1988). We present evidence of high frequency (5–30 Hz) resonances observed in hard-rock recordings of both body waves and Lg waves, and suggest that site effect should be expanded regionally to include structural and topographic information over sufficiently large areas to include several wavelengths of any features that may interact with seismic waves in the frequency range of interest. A growing body of evidence suggests that ground motions at high frequencies recorded at large epicentral distances in eastern North America are controlled by resonance effects. We hypothesize that a fundamental difference between eastern and western North America spectra stems from a combination of differences in the character of topography and near-surface structure. Active tectonics of western North America gives rise to a complex crust that scatters seismic energy in a random manner and results in very effective attenuation of high frequencies. The older eastern North American crust contains scatterers that are more ordered, with characteristic length scales that give rise to resonance phenomena in the frequency band critical for earthquake hazard. We present preliminary analysis of topographic data from the Adirondack Mountains in New York that demonstrates the existence of characteristic length scales on the order of up to 1–3 kilometers. Features with these length scales will effectively scatter energy at frequencies in the 1 to 10 Hz range.

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Assessment of the Effect of Increasing Temperature On the Ecology and Assemblage Structure of Modern Planktic Foraminifers in the Caribbean and Surrounding Seas

The Journal of Foraminiferal Research ◽

10.2113/gsjfr.48.3.251 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 251-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Anna Jentzen ◽

Joachim Schönfeld ◽

Ralf Schiebel

Keyword(s):

Surface Waters ◽

Surface Sediments ◽

Seawater Temperature ◽

Chlorophyll Concentration ◽

Caribbean Sea ◽

Trophic Conditions ◽

Near Surface ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Standing Stocks ◽

The 1960S

Abstract Habitat patterns of subtropical and tropical planktic foraminifers in the Caribbean Sea were obtained from plankton samples collected in spring 2009 and 2013. The spatial distribution in surface waters (3.5 m water depth) and depth habitat patterns (surface to 400 m) of 33 species were compared with prevailing water-mass conditions (temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration) and planktic foraminiferal test assemblages in surface sediments. Distribution patterns indicate a significant relationship with seawater temperature and trophic conditions. A reduction in standing stocks was observed close to the Orinoco River plume and in the Gulf of Paria, associated with high turbidity and concomitant low surface-water salinity. In contrast, a transient mesoscale patch of high chlorophyll concentration in the eastern Caribbean Sea was associated with higher standing stocks in near surface waters, including high abundances of Globigerinita glutinata and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei. Globorotalia truncatulinoides mainly lives close to the seasonal pycnocline and can be linked to winter conditions indicated by lower sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) of ∼20°C. Globigerinoides sacculifer and Globoturborotalita rubescens were associated with oligotrophic conditions in the pelagic Caribbean Sea during early spring and showed a synodic lunar reproduction cycle. The live assemblages in the water column from 2009 and 2013 were similar to those reported in earlier studies from the 1960s and 1990s and to assemblages of tests in the surface sediments. Minor differences in faunal proportions were attributed to seasonal variability and environmental differences at the local scale. An exception was the low relative abundance of Globigerinoides ruber in the Caribbean Sea in 2009 compared to surface sediment samples and plankton net samples collected in the 1960s and 1990s. Decreasing abundance of Gs. ruber white in the Caribbean Sea may be associated with increasing SSTs over past decades and changes in nutrient flux and primary production.

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