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1.
Seabed distributions of 234Th excess (Thxs) were determined in the upper centimetres of 38 sediment cores from the north-western Iberian Margin, sampled from 41–44°N and from 9–12°E during five OMEX II cruises. Three main areas, a northern, and at 42°38 and 42°N, were investigated during representative seasons (winter, spring and summer). Low 234Thxs activities in summer 1998 (18–252 Bq per kg) were similar to those measured in summer 1997. In winter 234Th also showed moderate excess. The highest values were observed in spring with surface 234Thxs values up to 402 Bq kg−1. Maximum penetration depths of 234Thxs ranged from a few mm to 3 cm. 234Thxs activities always showed a smooth decrease with depth, without any evidence of non-local mixing. Thus particle mixing on a short time scale can be described as an eddy diffusive process, and bioturbation rates, calculated on this basis, range from 0.02 to 3.07 cm2 per year. Data (activities, inventories, bioturbation rates) are discussed in order to relate the observed surface and down-core variations to spatial and seasonal trends. Using 234Thxs data in sediment as a substitute for sediment trap estimates, particle fluxes were calculated from 234Thxs inventories. The range of 234Th-derived particle fluxes for the north-western Iberian Margin is 16–1418 mg.m−2.d−1. Mean values indicate a gradual decrease of mass fluxes from the shelf to the open ocean. On a 100-day scale, the northern area (43–44°N) represents a low sedimentation regime. Further south, around 42°–43°N, particle inputs are more important. On the middle slope, around 1000 to 2000 m depth, high inventories and bioturbation rates indicate enhanced, and probably organic-rich, particle fluxes to the seafloor, particularly in spring.  相似文献   

2.
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3.
Biogenic barium, mostly in the barite (BaSO4) form, has been proposed as a tracer for export production in the ocean. Here we report on biogenic barium (Baxs) and particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes from sediment traps deployed at the DYFAMED site in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Baxs fluxes display average values of 37 ± 45 and 50 ± 58 μg/m2/d at 200 and 1000 m respectively, and are linearly correlated to POC fluxes (mean values of 7.9 ± 9.3 and 6.8 ± 6.8 mg C/m2/d at 200 and 1000 m). Export production estimates, calculated using published Baxs- or POC-based algorithms, all fall below or close to the lower limit of potential export values proposed in the literature. This work clearly demonstrates the usefulness of Baxs as a tracer of oceanic export production in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. However, development of a quantitative export production proxy requires a clear understanding of the underlying cause(s) for the observed spatial variations in the relationship between Baxs and POC fluxes. The present study confirms that the processes leading to barite formation differ between margin and open-ocean sites and probably account for much of the regional variability in the POC/Baxs ratio.  相似文献   

4.
Mesoscale eddies may enhance primary production (PP) in the open ocean by bringing nutrient-rich deep waters into the euphotic zone, potentially leading to increased transport of particles to depth. This hypothesis remains controversial, however, due to a paucity of direct particle export measurements. In this study, we investigated particle dynamics using 234Th–238U disequilibria within a mesoscale cold-core eddy, Cyclone Opal, which formed in the lee of the Hawaiian Islands. 234Th samples were collected along two transects across Cyclone Opal as well as during a time-series within the eddy core during a decaying diatom bloom. Particulate carbon (PC), particulate nitrogen (PN) and biogenic silica (bSiO2) fluxes at 150 m varied spatially and temporally within the eddy and strongly depended on the 234Th model formulation used (e.g., steady state versus non-steady state, inclusion of upwelling, etc.). Particle fluxes estimated from a steady state model assuming an upwelling rate of 2 m day−1 yielded the best fit to sediment-trap data. These 234Th-derived particle fluxes ranged from 332±14 to 1719±53 μmol C m−2 day−1, 27±3 to 114±12 μmol N m−2 day−1, and 33±20 to 309±73 μmol Si m−2 day−1. Although PP rates within Cyclone Opal were elevated by a factor of 2–3, PC and PN fluxes were the same, within error, inside and outside of Cyclone Opal. The ratio of PC export to PP remained surprisingly low at <0.03 and similar to those measured in surrounding waters. In contrast, bSiO2 fluxes within the eddy core were three times higher. Detailed analyses of 234Th depth profiles consistently showed excess 234Th at 100–175 m, associated with the remineralization and possible accumulation of suspended and dissolved organic matter from the surface. We suggest that strong microzooplankton grazing facilitated particulate organic matter recycling and resulted in the export of empty diatom frustules. Thus, while eddies may increase PP, they do not necessarily increase PC and PN export to deep waters. This may be a general characteristic of wind-driven cyclonic eddies of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and suggests that eddies may preferentially act as a silica pump, thereby playing an important role in promoting silicic-acid limitation in the region.  相似文献   

5.
Recent studies have revealed that lateral transport and focusing of particles strongly influences the depositional patterns of organic matter in marine sediments. Transport can occur in the water column prior to initial deposition or following sediment re-suspension. In both cases, fine-grained particles and organic-rich aggregates are more susceptible to lateral transport than coarse-grained particles (e.g., foraminiferal tests) because of the slower sinking velocities of the former. This may lead to spatial and, in the case of redistribution of re-suspended sediments, temporal decoupling of organic matter from coarser sediment constituents. Prior studies from the Argentine Basin have yielded evidence that suspended particles are displaced significant distances (100–1000 km) northward and downslope by strong surface and/or bottom currents. These transport processes result in anomalously cold alkenone-derived sea-surface temperature (SST) estimates (up to 6 °C colder than measured SST) and in the presence of frustules of Antarctic diatom species in surface sediments from this area. Here we examine advective transport processes through combined measurements of compound-specific radiocarbon ages of marine phytoplankton-derived biomarkers (alkenones) from core tops and excess 230Th (230Thxs)-derived focusing factors for late Holocene sediments from the Argentine Basin. On the continental slope, we observe 230Thxs-based focusing factors of 1.4–3.2 at sites where alkenone-based SST estimates were 4–6 °C colder than measured values. In contrast, alkenone radiocarbon data suggest coeval deposition of marine biomarkers and planktic foraminifera, as alkenones in core tops were younger than, or similar in age to, foraminifera. We therefore infer that the transport processes leading to the lateral displacement of these sediment components are rapid, and hence probably occur in the upper water column (<1500 m).  相似文献   

6.
Sabine Schmidt   《Marine Chemistry》2006,100(3-4):289
Over the last decade 234Th has become increasingly used to study particle transport in the ocean on a timescale of weeks. The application of 234Th is mainly focused on the determination of particle and associated carbon fluxes from oceanic surface water. However, 234Th is also suitable for investigating particle dynamic from the upper ocean down to interface sediments, as illustrated by the present work which reports unexpected behavior of 234Th in intermediate waters associated with the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). Concentration profiles of dissolved 238U and 228Ra, and dissolved and particulate 234Th and 228Th were measured in the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) near the Gibraltar Straits and at two sites (36°30′N–15°35′W, Nicole; 36°27′N–10°35′W, Yseult) which had hydrographic characteristics of Meddies, i.e. MOW that propagates as eddies in the Northeastern Atlantic at intermediate depths.There are marked differences in the distribution of thorium between MOW and the surrounding Atlantic waters. At the youngest Meddy Nicole salinity maximum at 1000 m depth, 234Th(total) : 238U and 228Th(total) : 228Ra activity ratios are significantly lower than radioactive equilibrium, indicating an unusual deficit of short half-life thorium nuclides. This implies an export of thorium, presumably on particles, from intermediate Meddy Nicole waters. This process is supported by an increase of particulate thorium fluxes measured in sediment traps deployed for two weeks above and within Meddy Nicole. In contrast, offshore Meddy Yseult has more typical profiles of both thorium nuclides that are nearly in equilibrium with their parents. These results indicate that at intermediate depths, the presence of MOW affects the exchange of reactive elements between particles and dissolved forms and enhances the downward flux of particles from intermediate waters in the Northeast Atlantic.  相似文献   

7.
Depth profiles of total 234Th (dissolved+particulate) were collected at Station ALOHA (22°45N, 158°00W) in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre during 9 cruises from April 1999 to March 2000. Samples were collected and processed by a new 2 L technique that enables more detailed depth resolution then previous 234Th studies. Significant zones of particle export (234Th deficiency) and particle remineralization (234Th excess) were measured both temporally and with depth. 234Th derived particulate carbon (PC) and nitrogen (PN) fluxes were determined with steady-state and non-steady-state models and PC/234Th and PN/234Th ratios measured with both in situ pumps and free-drifting particle interceptor traps deployed at 150 m. 234Th based export estimates of 4.0±2.3 mmol C m−2 d−1 and 0.53±0.19 mmol N m−2 d−1, were approximately 60% higher than those measured in PIT style sediment traps from the same time period, 2.4±0.2 mmol C m−2 d−1 and 0.32±0.08 mmol N m−2 d−1. Most of this difference is attributable to two large export events that occurred during October and December 1999, when traps undercollected for 234Th by a factor of 2 to 4. 234Th export (ThE) ratios based on 234Th derived PC flux/14C based primary production ranged from 4% to 22% (average=8.8%). Our results confirm the recent estimates of C export by Emerson et al. (Nature 389 (1997) 951) and Sonnerup et al. (Deep-Sea Research I 46 (1999) 777) and indicate that C export from the oligotrophic ocean must be considered when discussing C sequestration in global climate change.  相似文献   

8.
Five manganese nodules collected from the Northern Mid - Pacific have been analysed for their U and Th isotopes.lt is found that the enrichment of thorium compared to uranium is universal in deep- sea manganese, nodules and in the top sides of the nodules there are large excesses of Th and Pa decreasing exponentially with depth. For each of the nodules, the concordant growth rates are obtained from three different methods: 230Thex 230Thex/232Th and 231Paex.The growth rates of manganese nodules are closely related to the chemical compositions of the nodules and the types of the underlying sediments. The growth rates of five nodules are determined to be in the range of 0.79-7.4 mm/106a, in agreement with those predicted from the chemical compositions of the nodules. By the comparison of the extrapolated 230Thex,230Thex/232 Th and 231PaeX data from the top and bottom surfaces of the nodule from Site M21 yields, the nodule turnover time is (9.83-13.7)×104a.  相似文献   

9.
The recently developed 2–5 L small-volume MnO2 coprecipitation method for determining 234Th in seawater has provided a new way to substantially increase, both temporally and spatially, the sampling resolution of 234Th and 234Th-based particulate organic carbon export estimates in the upper ocean. In this study, we further optimize the technique by reducing reagent quantities and the use of an additional water bath heating step. This optimization allows the filtration of the MnO2 precipitate onto a 25-mm diameter, 1.0 μm pore size QMA filter to be completed within < 30 min for unfiltered waters from the South China Sea. In addition, we have modified the MnO2 purification procedure to allow for alpha spectrometric measurements of 234Th recoveries. Results from recovery experiments suggest that reagent amounts can be reduced to 0.0375 mg KMnO4 and 0.1 mg MnCl2·4H2O per liter of sample, while still maintaining high 234Th recovery. This study further confirms that the addition of a yield monitor is necessary for the application of the small-volume method.  相似文献   

10.
An 8.5 m long apparently undisturbed core from a hilltop on the crest of the East Pacific Rise has uranium and thorium isotope distributions that are very unusual. The core is very poor in 232Th, and very rich in U, particularly at the 500-cm level, where a value of about 150 ppm is reached. At the same depth the 230Thxs reaches very large negative values. These facts could be accounted for if one assumes that solutions rich in U and poor in Th had been postdepositionally injected into the sediments about 90,000–110,000 years ago. The top of the sediment received much of its U from seawater, judging from the 234U238U ratio. Possibly carbonate rich solutions were the carriers of the injected uranium.  相似文献   

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