scholarly journals The Marine Radiocarbon Bomb Pulse Across the Temperate North Atlantic: A Compilation of Δ14C Time Histories fromArctica IslandicaGrowth Increments

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D Scourse ◽  
Alan D Wanamaker ◽  
Chris Weidman ◽  
Jan Heinemeier ◽  
Paula J Reimer ◽  
...  

Marine radiocarbon bomb-pulse time histories of annually resolved archives from temperate regions have been underexploited. We present here series of Δ14C excess from known-age annual increments of the long-lived bivalve molluskArctica islandicafrom 4 sites across the coastal North Atlantic (German Bight, North Sea; Troms⊘, north Norway; Siglufjordur, north Icelandic shelf; Grimsey, north Icelandic shelf) combined with published series from Georges Bank and Sable Bank (NW Atlantic) and the Oyster Ground (North Sea). The atmospheric bomb pulse is shown to be a step-function whose response in the marine environment is immediate but of smaller amplitude and which has a longer decay time as a result of the much larger marine carbon reservoir. Attenuation is determined by the regional hydrographic setting of the sites, vertical mixing, processes controlling the isotopic exchange of14C at the air-sea boundary,14C content of the freshwater flux, primary productivity, and the residence time of organic matter in the sediment mixed layer. The inventories form a sequence from high magnitude-early peak (German Bight) to low magnitude-late peak (Grimsey). All series show a rapid response to the increase in atmospheric Δ14C excess but a slow response to the subsequent decline resulting from the succession of rapid isotopic air-sea exchange followed by the more gradual isotopic equilibration in the mixed layer due to the variable marine carbon reservoir and incorporation of organic carbon from the sediment mixed layer. The data constitute calibration scries for the use of the bomb pulse as a high-resolution dating tool in the marine environment and as a tracer of coastal ocean water masses.

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (02) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D Scourse ◽  
Alan D Wanamaker ◽  
Chris Weidman ◽  
Jan Heinemeier ◽  
Paula J Reimer ◽  
...  

Marine radiocarbon bomb-pulse time histories of annually resolved archives from temperate regions have been underexploited. We present here series of Δ14C excess from known-age annual increments of the long-lived bivalve molluskArctica islandicafrom 4 sites across the coastal North Atlantic (German Bight, North Sea; Troms⊘, north Norway; Siglufjordur, north Icelandic shelf; Grimsey, north Icelandic shelf) combined with published series from Georges Bank and Sable Bank (NW Atlantic) and the Oyster Ground (North Sea). The atmospheric bomb pulse is shown to be a step-function whose response in the marine environment is immediate but of smaller amplitude and which has a longer decay time as a result of the much larger marine carbon reservoir. Attenuation is determined by the regional hydrographic setting of the sites, vertical mixing, processes controlling the isotopic exchange of14C at the air-sea boundary,14C content of the freshwater flux, primary productivity, and the residence time of organic matter in the sediment mixed layer. The inventories form a sequence from high magnitude-early peak (German Bight) to low magnitude-late peak (Grimsey). All series show a rapid response to the increase in atmospheric Δ14C excess but a slow response to the subsequent decline resulting from the succession of rapid isotopic air-sea exchange followed by the more gradual isotopic equilibration in the mixed layer due to the variable marine carbon reservoir and incorporation of organic carbon from the sediment mixed layer. The data constitute calibration scries for the use of the bomb pulse as a high-resolution dating tool in the marine environment and as a tracer of coastal ocean water masses.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 882-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning Reiss ◽  
Ingrid Kröncke

Abstract Between November 2000 and May 2002, epibenthos was sampled monthly with a 2-m beam trawl at three stations along a transect from the southern German Bight towards the northeastern part of the Dogger Bank (North Sea) in order to investigate the seasonal variability of the epibenthic communities. The stations were chosen to reflect a gradient in the hydrigraphic regime, organic matter supply, and fishing effort. The epibenthic community of the southern German Bight was characterized by high biomass and abundance, dominated by Asterias rubens and Ophiura albida. In contrast, at the northern stations in the Oyster Ground and at the Dogger Bank, epibenthic biomass and abundance were substantially lower and the dominant species were mainly crustaceans such as Corystes cassivelaunus, Liocarcinus holsatus, and Pagurus bernhardus. In terms of seasonal variability, mean abundance and biomass in the southern German Bight showed highest values in the summer months and lowest values in the winter months. A similar pattern, but less distinct, was observed in the Oyster Ground. But at the Dogger Bank the pattern was different, with highest abundance and biomass values in the winter months. The differences in spatial and temporal patterns are discussed in relation to differences in temperature, thermal stratification and fishing effort at the three study sites.


2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1303-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Deremble ◽  
W. K. Dewar

Abstract Surface sources and sinks of potential vorticity (PV) have been examined recently in various publications. These are normally identified as the mechanical and buoyant PV fluxes with the former scaled according to wind stress and the latter from buoyancy flux. The authors here examine a PV source that is often overlooked: namely, the diabatically forced source due to wind-driven deepening. Based on an idealized model of the mixed layer, the rate of deepening of the mixed layer due to wind is translated into PV extraction. The authors propose the first-order scaling law as an estimate of the net PV flux due to diabatic wind effects in the absence of other buoyancy effects. This law is verified and calibrated in several numerical experiments. Then, the authors compare the magnitude of the PV extraction due to wind to the other factors responsible for PV input/output: namely, air–sea heat flux, freshwater flux, and Ekman wind-driven currents. Finally, to illustrate the impact of the mixing induced by wind, the authors conclude with a global air–sea PV budget in the North Atlantic basin. The wind-driven diabatic PV flux is found to be comparable to all other sources in all cases and is distinguished by acting only to extract PV.


2020 ◽  
Vol 560 ◽  
pp. 109975
Author(s):  
Paul G. Butler ◽  
Nicole M. Fraser ◽  
James D. Scourse ◽  
Christopher A. Richardson ◽  
Charlotte Bryant ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Martínez-Alarcón ◽  
R Saborowski ◽  
E Melis ◽  
W Hagen

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1249-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunzai Wang ◽  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Sang-Ki Lee

Abstract The response of freshwater flux and sea surface salinity (SSS) to the Atlantic warm pool (AWP) variations from seasonal to multidecadal time scales is investigated by using various reanalysis products and observations. All of the datasets show a consistent response for all time scales: A large (small) AWP is associated with a local freshwater gain (loss) to the ocean, less (more) moisture transport across Central America, and a local low (high) SSS. The moisture budget analysis demonstrates that the freshwater change is dominated by the atmospheric mean circulation dynamics, while the effect of thermodynamics is of secondary importance. Further decomposition points out that the contribution of the mean circulation dynamics primarily arises from its divergent part, which mainly reflects the wind divergent change in the low level as a result of SST change. In association with a large (small) AWP, warmer (colder) than normal SST over the tropical North Atlantic can induce anomalous low-level convergence (divergence), which favors anomalous ascent (decent) and thus generates more (less) precipitation. On the other hand, a large (small) AWP weakens (strengthens) the trade wind and its associated westward moisture transport to the eastern North Pacific across Central America, which also favors more (less) moisture residing in the Atlantic and hence more (less) precipitation. The results imply that variability of freshwater flux and ocean salinity in the North Atlantic associated with the AWP may have the potential to affect the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.


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