Intermittent Beginning to the Formation of Hydrogenous Ferromanganese Nodules in the Vast Field: Insights from Multi-Element Chemostratigraphy Using Microfocus X-ray Fluorescence

Vast ferromanganese nodule fields have been found on the deep-sea floor of all oceans worldwide. They have received attention because they potentially provide high-grade metal resources to develop future high- and green-technology. However, how these vast nodule fields were formed and developed owing to their widespread nature or tendency to be denser with an increasing number of nodules has not yet been established. In this study, the fine-scale inner structure of nodules of various sizes was analyzed on the basis of chemical mapping using microfocus X-ray fluorescence. We found that nodules distributed in the vast field around Minamitorishima (Marcus) Island have several types of innermost layers, which correspond to different chemostratigraphic layers of nodules that have been previously reported by us in this region. As nodules grow in order from the center to the outside, the different types in the innermost layer indicate a difference in the timing of the beginning of their growth. Moreover, because the differences in the chemical features of each layer reflect differences in the composition of the original deep-sea water, our results imply that the beginning of nodule formation occurred intermittently at each time of a water mass replacement due to new deep-sea currents flowing into this region. We recognized that the northern part of the study area was dominated by large nodules that started to grow in relatively earlier times, while the southern part tended to have many nodules that grew in relatively later times. Based on these observations, we hypothesize that the intermittent beginning of nodule formation is governed by the northward inflow of the deep-sea current that originated from the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water for an extended time to form the vast nodule field. Because patterns in the timing of nodule formation were different in the eastern and western regions, we thus further propose that the topographic framework, i.e., the arrangement of individual large seamounts and the cluster of small knolls and petit-spot volcanoes, strongly regulates the flow path of the deep-sea current, even if the position of the entire seamount changes owing to plate motion. The deep-sea current might supply some materials to be nuclei, resulting in the nodule formation at the beginning of the process.

Control of oceanic circulation on sediment distribution in the southwestern Atlantic margin (23 to 55° S)

In this study, we interpret the role played by ocean circulation in sediment distribution on the southwestern Atlantic margin using radiogenic Nd and Pb isotopes. The latitudinal trends for Pb and Nd isotopes reflect the different current systems acting on the margin. The utilization of the sediment fingerprinting method allowed us to associate the isotopic signatures with the main oceanographic features in the area. We recognized differences between Nd and Pb sources to the Argentinean shelf (carried by the flow of Subantarctic Shelf Water) and slopes (transported by deeper flows). Sediments from Antarctica extend up to the Uruguayan margin, carried by the Upper and Lower Circumpolar Deep Water. Our data confirm that, for shelf and intermediate areas (the upper 1200 m), the transfer of sediments from the Argentinean margin to the north of 35∘ S is limited by the Subtropical Shelf Front and the basin-wide recirculated Antarctic Intermediate Water. On the southern Brazilian inner and middle shelf, it is possible to recognize the northward influence of the Río de la Plata sediments carried by the Plata Plume Water. Another flow responsible for sediment transport and deposition on the outer shelf and slope is the southward flow of the Brazil Current. Finally, we propose that the Brazil–Malvinas Confluence and the Santos Bifurcation act as boundaries of geochemical provinces in the area. A conceptual model of sediment sources and transport is provided for the southwestern Atlantic margin.

New insights of the influence of ocean circulation on the sedimentary distribution in the Southwestern Atlantic margin (23° S to 55° S) based on Nd and Pb isotopic fingerprinting

In this work, we provide an extensive inventory of Pb and Nd radiogenic isotopes in surface sediments from the Southwestern Atlantic margin, aiming to interpret the role played by ocean circulation in sediment distribution. There are latitudinal trends for Pb and Nd isotopes, reflecting the different current systems acting on the margin. The utilization of sediment fingerprinting allowed us to associate the isotopic signatures to the main oceanographic forcings in the area. We recognized differences between the Nd and Pb sources for the sediments to the Argentinean shelf, carried by the Subantarctic Shelf Water, and slope, transported by deeper flows. Sediments from Antarctica extend up to the Uruguayan margin, carried by the Upper- and Lower Circumpolar Deep Water. Our data confirm that, for shelf and intermediate (up to 1,200 m water depth) areas, the transfer of sediments from the Argentinean margin to the North of 35° S is limited by the Subtropical Shelf Front and the recirculated Antarctic Intermediate Water. On the southern Brazilian margin, it is possible to recognize the northward influence of the Río de la Plata sediments carried by the Plata Plume Water. This influence is limited by the southward flow of waters transported by the Brazil Current. Finally, we propose that the Subtropical Shelf Front and the Santos Bifurcation act as boundaries of geochemical provinces in the area. Finally, a qualitative model of sediment sources and transport is provided for the Southwestern Atlantic margin.

Deep water circulation in the Hunter Channel (Southwest Atlantic) in a late Pleistocene and Holocene by benthonic foraminifera

Was reconstructed deep-sea water circulation near the Hunter Channel (Rio Grande Rise – South-West Atlantic) in a late Pleistocene and Holocene (MIS 4-MIS 1) by benthonic foraminifera. Was studied three cores of bottom sediment. Now moves the upper North Atlantic deep water (NADW) through the Hunter Channel from the North to the South. The lower NADW in the same direction came in MIS 2 and in MIS 4. There was the lower Circumpolar deep water (CPDW), NADW and Antarctic bottom water (AnBW) in MIS 3 periodically. CPDW prevail in a near bottom layer and in Holocene and in the late Pleistocene before the Hunter Channel sidewise the Argentine Basin. So in the Hunter Channel and on the way to it from south side for all studied period AnBW was almost not. Dissolution of carbonates during the Holocene happens in the deepest east part of the Hunter Channel. In Ice Ages processes of dissolution amplified and affected east part of the channel. Dissolution happen and happened not at the expense of AnBW, and at the expense of NADW which becomes there aggressive in relation to a calcium carbonate.

Variability of Warm Deep Water Inflow in a Submarine Trough on the Amundsen Sea Shelf

The ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are thinning rapidly, and the main reason for their decline appears to be warm ocean currents circulating below the ice shelves and melting these from below. Ocean currents transport warm dense water onto the shelf, channeled by bathymetric troughs leading to the deep inner basins. A hydrographic mooring equipped with an upward-looking ADCP has been placed in one of these troughs on the central Amundsen shelf. The two years (2010/11) of mooring data are here used to characterize the inflow of warm deep water to the deep shelf basins. During both years, the warm layer thickness and temperature peaked in austral fall. The along-trough velocity is dominated by strong fluctuations that do not vary in the vertical. These fluctuations are correlated with the local wind, with eastward wind over the shelf and shelf break giving flow toward the ice shelves. In addition, there is a persistent flow of dense lower Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) toward the ice shelves in the bottom layer. This bottom-intensified flow appears to be driven by buoyancy forces rather than the shelfbreak wind. The years of 2010 and 2011 were characterized by a comparatively stationary Amundsen Sea low, and hence there were no strong eastward winds during winter that could drive an upwelling of warm water along the shelf break. Regardless of this, there was a persistent flow of lower CDW in the bottom layer during the two years. The average heat transport toward the ice shelves in the trough was estimated from the mooring data to be 0.95 TW.

Delayed-Mode Calibration of Hydrographic Data Obtained from Animal-Borne Satellite Relay Data Loggers

A delayed-mode calibration procedure is presented to improve the quality of hydrographic data from CTD–Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD–SRDL) deployed on elephant seals. This procedure is applied on a dataset obtained with 10 CTD–SRDLs deployed at Kerguelen Islands in 2007. A comparison of CTD–SRDLs with a ship-based CTD system is first presented. A pressure-effect correction, linear with pressure, is deduced for both temperature and salinity measurements. An external field effect on the conductivity sensor is also detected, inducing an additional salinity offset. The salinity offset cannot be estimated directly from the ship-based CTD comparisons, because the attachment of the CTD–SRDL on the seal head modifies the magnitude of the external field effect. Two methods are proposed for estimating a posteriori the salinity offset. The first method uses the stable salinity maximum characterizing the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW), sampled by seals foraging south of the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front. Where this approach is not possible, a statistical method of cross-comparison of CTD–SRDLs surface salinity measurements is used over the sluggish Northern Kerguelen Plateau. Accuracies are respectively estimated as ±0.02°C for temperature and ±0.1 for derived salinity without corrections. The delayed-mode calibration significantly improves the CTD–SRDL data, improving accuracies to ±0.01°C and ±0.03, respectively. A better salinity accuracy of ±0.02 is achieved when the LCDW method can be used. For CTD–SRDLs where ship-based CTD comparisons are not available, the expected accuracy would be ±0.02°C for temperature and ±0.04 for the derived salinity.

Glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO₂ change: a possible "standing volume" effect on deep-ocean carbon sequestration

So far, the exploration of possible mechanisms for glacial atmospheric CO2 drawdown and marine carbon sequestration has tended to focus on dynamic or kinetic processes (i.e. variable mixing-, equilibration- or export rates). Here an attempt is made to underline instead the possible importance of changes in the standing volumes of intra-oceanic carbon reservoirs (i.e. different water-masses) in influencing the total marine carbon inventory. By way of illustration, a simple mechanism is proposed for enhancing the marine carbon inventory via an increase in the volume of relatively cold and carbon-enriched deep water, analogous to modern Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW), filling the ocean basins. A set of simple box-model experiments confirm the expectation that a deep sea dominated by an expanded LCDW-like watermass holds more CO2, without any pre-imposed changes in ocean overturning rate, biological export or ocean-atmosphere exchange. The magnitude of this "standing volume effect" (which operates by boosting the solubility- and biological pumps) might be as large as the contributions that have previously been attributed to carbonate compensation, terrestrial biosphere reduction or ocean fertilisation for example. By providing a means of not only enhancing but also driving changes in the efficiency of the biological- and solubility pumps, this standing volume mechanism may help to reduce the amount of glacial-interglacial CO2 change that remains to be explained by other mechanisms that are difficult to assess in the geological archive, such as reduced mass transport or mixing rates in particular. This in turn could help narrow the search for forcing conditions capable of pushing the global carbon cycle between glacial and interglacial modes.