N2 fixation is an important biological process that adds new nitrogen to oceans and plays a key role in modulating the oceanic
nitrate inventory. However, it is not known how, when, and where N2 fixation rates have varied in response to past climate changes. This study presents a new record of nitrogen isotopic composition
(δ15N) over the last 83 kyr from a sediment core (KH02-4 SUP8) taken in the Sulu Sea in the western equatorial Pacific region;
data allow the N2 fixation variability in the sea to be reconstructed. Sediments, sinking, and suspended particulate organic matter (POM) all
have lighter isotopic values compared to the δ15N values of substrate nitrate (av. 5.8‰) in North Pacific Intermediate Water. These lighter δ15N values are regarded as reflecting N2 fixation in the Sulu Sea surface water. A δ15N mass balance model shows that N2 fixation rates were significantly enhanced during 54–34 kyr in MIS-3 and MIS-2. It has been speculated that higher interglacial
denitrification rates in the Arabian Sea and the eastern tropical Pacific would have markedly decreased the global oceanic
N inventory and contributed to the increase in N2 fixation in oligotrophic regions, but such a model was not revealed by our study. It is possible that changes in N2 fixation rates in the Sulu Sea were regional response, and accumulation of phosphate in the surface waters due to enhanced
monsoon-driven mixing is thought to have stimulated enhancements of N2 fixation during MIS-3 and MIS-2. 相似文献
Concentrations of U and Th isotopes in Okinawa Trough and East China Sea sediment cores were determined by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) to investigate the behavior of redox sensitive uranium in suboxic hemipelagic sediments and determine their significance in oceanic uranium balance. 238U concentrations and 238U/232Th activity ratios in the East China Sea sediments showed no remarkable variation with depth. However, 238U and 238U/232Th ratios in the Okinawa Trough sediments were low in the surface oxidizing layer but increased where the suboxic condition was encountered. The distribution profiles of 230Th and 232Th concentrations were relatively constant with depth in both the Okinawa Trough and East China Sea sediment cores. These results suggested that there has been post-depositional precipitation of authigenic uranium within the suboxic Okinawa Trough sediment column. The post-depositional precipitation rates of authigenic uranium were estimated to be 47 ± 5 to >62 ± 8 ng cm−2 yr−1; these rates were comparable to those previously reported for several anoxic sediments. A mechanism controlling precipitation of uranium may be the downward diffusion of uranium U(VI), reduction to U(IV) and finally precipitation onto the solid phase. The accumulation rate of uranium for the Okinawa Trough sediments was approximately eight times higher than the world average rate reported for suboxic sediments. This removal of uranium in the oceanic budget increases the importance of the suboxic sediment sink. 相似文献
We conducted full-depth hydrographic observations between 8°50′ and 44°30′N at 165°W in 2003 and analyzed the data together with those from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and the World Ocean Database, clarifying the water characteristics and deep circulation in the Central and Northeast Pacific Basins. The deep-water characteristics at depths greater than approximately 2000 dbar at 165°W differ among three regions demarcated by the Hawaiian Ridge at around 24°N and the Mendocino Fracture Zone at 37°N: the southern region (10–24°N), central region (24–37°N), and northern region (north of 37°N). Deep water at temperatures below 1.15 °C and depths greater than 4000 dbar is highly stratified in the southern region, weakly stratified in the central region, and largely uniform in the northern region. Among the three regions, near-bottom water immediately east of Clarion Passage in the southern region is coldest (θ<0.90 °C), most saline (S>34.70), highest in dissolved oxygen (O2>4.2 ml l?1), and lowest in silica (Si<135 μmol kg?1). These characteristics of the deep water reflect transport of Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW) due to a branch current south of the Wake–Necker Ridge that is separated from the eastern branch current of the deep circulation immediately north of 10°N in the Central Pacific Basin. The branch current south of the Wake–Necker Ridge carries LCDW of θ<1.05 °C with a volume transport of 3.7 Sv (1 Sv=106 m3 s?1) into the Northeast Pacific Basin through Horizon and Clarion Passages, mainly through the latter (~3.1 Sv). A small amount of the LCDW flows northward at the western boundary of the Northeast Pacific Basin, joins the branch of deep circulation from the Main Gap of the Emperor Seamounts Chain, and forms an eastward current along the Mendocino Fracture Zone with volume transport of nearly 1 Sv. If this volume transport is typical, a major portion of the LCDW (~3 Sv) carried by the branch current south of the Wake–Necker and Hawaiian Ridges may spread in the southern part of the Northeast Pacific Basin. In the northern region at 165°W, silica maxima are found near the bottom and at 2200 dbar; the minimum between the double maxima occurs at a depth of approximately 4000 dbar (θ~1.15 °C). The geostrophic current north of 39°N in the upper deep layer between 1.15 and 2.2 °C, with reference to the 1.15 °C isotherm, has a westward volume transport of 1.6 Sv at 39–44°30′N, carrying silica-rich North Pacific Deep Water from the northeastern region of the Northeast Pacific Basin to the Northwest Pacific Basin. 相似文献
The n-alkane C31/(C29 + C31) ratios from surface sediments in the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) exhibit higher values to the north and lower values to the south across the southern edge (2–4°N) of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Since plants tend to synthesize longer chain length n-alkanes in response to elevated temperature and/or aridity, the higher C31/(C29 + C31) ratios at northern sites suggest a higher contribution of vegetation under hot and/or dry conditions. This is consistent with the observation that northern sites receive higher levels of plant waxes transported by northeasterly trade winds from northern South America, where hot and dry conditions prevail. Furthermore, from a sediment core covering the past 750 ka (core HY04; 4°N, 95°W) we found that C31/(C29 + C31) ratios exhibit a long-term decrease from MIS (marine oxygen isotope stage) 17 to 13. During this period, the zonal SST (sea-surface temperature) gradient in the equatorial Pacific increased, suggesting an increase in Walker circulation. Such intensified Walker circulation may have enhanced moisture advection from the equatorial Atlantic warm pool to the adjacent northern South America, causing arid regions in northern South America to contract, which may explain long-term decrease in n-alkane chain lengths. 相似文献
Vertical crustal movements in the Tohoku district in the past 75 years are discussed with reference to their tectonic implications.
For this purpose, the author first compiled a map of accumulated vertical movement in the past 75 years, by making proper correction for closure. In addition, a new presentation technique utilizing a time-space domain representation of elevation changes is applied to the data. These contour maps provide an informative summary of the vertical crustal movement history in this district. From them, we see that the northeastern part of the district has subsided continuously and aseismically, with an area of significant subsidence inland at a distance about 300 km or more from the trench axis.
In order to explain the mechanism of the remarkable extension of the subsiding area, the finite element method is applied to model the elastic strain field in the district. It is shown that a simple model of uniform dragging at the interface of a sinking slab does not provide a good interpretation of the inland distribution of subsidence. A modification of the conventional model is proposed which hypothesizes vertical movement of the subducting lithospheric slab under the Tohoku district. 相似文献
Crack-related fabric analyses were carried out in terms of crack tensors using Inada granite deformed inelastically in a triaxial vessel up to post-failure, focusing on the fabric changes during brittle failure. Complementarily, numerical simulation tests were conducted to determine the representative volume element (RVE) required for crack surveying. Numerical simulation tests show that the window size for crack surveying should be at least six times the mean trace length in order to obtain a statistically meaningful crack tensor. A larger window is needed to estimate the distribution of crack radii. In quartz, cracks grow preferentially parallel to the major loading axis. Crack tensors in quartz can provide a measure of damage reflecting inelastic deformation under differential stress in past geological events. During the first stage of inelastic deformation, the number density of cracks decreases with a rather sharp increase in crack diameters. This happens because pre-existing cracks in intact rock join together to make longer cracks. However, the density remains almost constant during the second stage of loading from 90% to 100% of the peak stress. The crack diameter gradually increases due to the stable propagation of cracks. When granite is further deformed beyond the peak stress, the number density decreases again while sharp increases in crack diameters appear as a result of the forking and coalescence of cracks. It is also suggested that load-normal grain boundary cracks are generated as a result of the rolling and sliding of disintegrated blocks in the post-failure stage. 相似文献
— We have evaluated how the parameters prescribing the slip-dependent constitutive law are affected by temperature and effective normal stress, by conducting the triaxial fracture experiments on Tsukuba-granite samples in seismogenic environments, which correspond to a depth range to 15 km. The normalized critical slip displacement Dc almost remains constant below 300oC (insensitive to both temperature and effective normal stress σneff); Dc increases with increasing temperature above 300 °C, and the rate of Dc increase with temperature tends to be largest at higher σneff. The breakdown stress drop Δτb for the granite at constant σneff is roughly 80 MPa below 300 °C, and does not depend on σneff. Above 300 °C, Δτb decreases gradually with increasing temperature, and the rate of Δτb reduction with temperature increases at higher σneff. The peak shear strength τp increases nearly linearly with increasing σneff below 300 °C. However, τp becomes lower above 300 °C, deviating from the linear relation extrapolated from below 300 °C. This is consistent with the onset of crystal plastic deformation mechanisms of Tsukuba granite. 相似文献