High-frequency surface water changes in the Tagus prodelta off Lisbon, eastern North Atlantic, during the last two millennia - Bartels-Jónsdóttir, Helga B.; Voelker, Antje H. L.; Abrantes, Fatima G.; Salgueiro, Emilia; Rodrigues, Teresa; Knudsen, Karen Luise (Marine Micropaleontology, 2015)
A high-resolution sedimentary sequence recovered from the Tagus prodelta has been studied with the objective to reconstruct multi-decadal to centennial-scale climate variability on the western Iberian Margin and to discuss the observations in a wider oceanographic and climatic context. Between ca. 100 BC and AD 400 the foraminiferal fauna and high abundance of Globorotalia inflata indicate advection of subtropical waters via the Azores Current and the winter-time warm Portugal Coastal Current. Between ca. AD 400 and 1350, encompassing the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), enhanced upwelling is indicated by the planktonic foraminiferal fauna, in particular by the high abundance of upwelling indicator species Globigerina bulloides. Relatively light δ18O values and high sea surface temperature (SST) (reconstructed from foraminiferal assemblages) point to upwelling of subtropical Eastern North Atlantic Central Water. Between ca. AD 1350 and 1750, i.e. most of the Little Ice Age, relatively heavy δ18O values and low reconstructed SST, as well as high abundances of Neogloboquadrina incompta, indicate the advection of cold subpolar waters to the area and a southward deflection of the subpolar front in the North Atlantic, as well as changes in the mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation. In addition, the assemblage composition together with the other proxy data reveals less upwelling and stronger river input than during the MCA. Stronger Azores Current influence on the Iberian Margin and strong anthropogenic effect on the climate after AD 1750 is indicated by the foraminiferal fauna. The foraminiferal assemblage shows a significant change in surface water conditions at ca. AD 1900, including enhanced river runoff, a rapid increase in temperature and increased influence of the Azores Current. The Tagus record displays a high degree of similarity to other North Atlantic records, indicating that the site is influenced by atmospheric–oceanic processes operating throughout the North Atlantic, as well as by local changes.

Holocene variability in the intensity of wind-gap upwelling in the tropical eastern Pacific - Toth, Lauren T.; Aronson, Richard B.; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R. Lawrence (Paleoceanography, 2015)
Wind-driven upwelling in Pacific Panamá is a significant source of oceanographic variability in the tropical eastern Pacific. This upwelling system provides a critical teleconnection between the Atlantic and tropical Pacific that may impact climate variability on a global scale. Despite its importance to oceanographic circulation, ecology, and climate, little is known about the long-term stability of the Panamanian upwelling system or its interaction with climatic forcing on millennial time scales. Using a combination of radiocarbon and U-series dating of fossil corals collected in cores from five sites across Pacific Panamá, we reconstructed the local radiocarbon reservoir correction, ΔR, from ~6750 cal B.P. to present. Because the ΔR of shallow-water environments is elevated by upwelling, our data set represents a millennial-scale record of spatial and temporal variability of the Panamanian upwelling system. The general oceanographic gradient from relatively strong upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá to weak-to-absent upwelling in the Gulf of Chiriquí was present throughout our record; however, the intensity of upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá varied significantly through time. Our reconstructions suggest that upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá is weak at present; however, the middle Holocene was characterized by periods of enhanced upwelling, with the most intense upwelling occurring just after of a regional shutdown in the development of reefs at ~4100 cal B.P. Comparisons with regional climate proxies suggest that, whereas the Intertropical Convergence Zone is the primary control on modern upwelling in Pacific Panamá, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation drove the millennial-scale variability of upwelling during the Holocene.

How Unique was Hurricane Sandy? Sedimentary Reconstructions of Extreme Flooding from New York Harbor - Brandon, Christine M.; Woodruff, Jonathan D.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Sullivan, Richard M. (Scientific Reports, 2015)
The magnitude of flooding in New York City by Hurricane Sandy is commonly believed to be extremely rare, with estimated return periods near or greater than 1000 years. However, the brevity of tide gauge records result in significant uncertainties when estimating the uniqueness of such an event. Here we compare resultant deposition by Hurricane Sandy to earlier storm-induced flood layers in order to extend records of flooding to the city beyond the instrumental dataset. Inversely modeled storm conditions from grain size trends show that a more compact yet more intense hurricane in 1821 CE probably resulted in a similar storm tide and a significantly larger storm surge. Our results indicate the occurrence of additional flood events like Hurricane Sandy in recent centuries, and highlight the inadequacies of the instrumental record in estimating current flood risk by such extreme events.
Keywords: Environmental sciences; Geomorphology; Palaeoclimate; sedimentology

HUMAN AND CANID DIETARY RELATIONSHIPS: COMPARATIVE STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS FROM THE KODIAK ARCHIPELAGO, ALASKA - West, Catherine F.; France, Christine A. (JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY, 2015)
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes are used to address the dietary relationship between humans and two canid species at the Uyak site (KOD-145) on Kodiak Island, Alaska: dog (Canis familiaris) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). We assess the relative contribution of marine and terrestrial protein to each species' diet as a measure of their dietary relationship to people, using zooarchaeological data, food web data, and ethnohistoric observations to interpret the results. The results suggest that dogs and foxes had different diets: the dogs are consistently enriched in both C-13 and N-15, which indicates a heavy dependence on marine protein, while the fox samples produced both marine and terrestrial isotope values. Data from this project have the potential to expand our understanding of human-canid relationships in this island environment and in the greater context of island ecology, and contribute some of the first isotopic data for small terrestrial mammals in the Gulf of Alaska.
Keywords: Canis familiaris; island ecology; Stable isotope analysis; Vulpes vulpes

Incorporation of bomb-produced 14C into fish otoliths. An example of basin-specific rates from the North Pacific Ocean - Wischniowski, Stephen G.; Kastelle, Craig R.; Loher, Timothy; Helser, Thomas E. (Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2015)

The influence of ice marginal setting on early Holocene retreat rates in central West Greenland - KELLEY, SAMUEL E.; Briner, Jason P.; ZIMMERMAN, SUSAN R. H. (Journal of Quaternary Science, 2015)
Ice sheet reconstructions from diverse ice margin settings, spanning multiple millennia, are needed to assess the reaction of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) to millennial-scale climatic forcing and to place historical records in a longer-term context. Here we present 18 new cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages and five new radiocarbon ages that constrain the early Holocene retreat of the GrIS in the Disko Bugt region in both a marine and a land-based setting. Results indicate similar rates of early Holocene retreat of ∼40–50 m a−1 from transects in Torsukattak fjord (marine setting) and the Naternaq area (land-based setting). We compile seven previously published chronologies of deglaciation from West Greenland, which yield early Holocene retreat rates ranging from 10 to 65 m a−1, similar to those determined for our two study areas. This work demonstrates that when averaged on millennial timescales, retreat rates were remarkably similar along the western GrIS margin. Furthermore, the retreat rates calculated here demonstrate that terrestrial sectors of ice sheets can retreat at net rates comparable to their marine counterparts.

Isotope-Based Source Apportionment of EC Aerosol Particles during Winter High-Pollution Events at the Zeppelin Observatory, Svalbard - Winiger, Patrik; Andersson, August; Yttri, Karl E.; Tunved, Peter; Gustafsson, Örjan (Environmental Science & Technology, 2015)
Black carbon (BC) aerosol particles contribute to climate warming of the Arctic, yet both the sources and the source-related effects are currently poorly constrained. Bottom-up emission inventory (EI) approaches are challenged for BC in general and the Arctic in particular. For example, estimates from three different EI models on the fractional contribution to BC from biomass burning (north of 60° N) vary between 11% and 68%, each acknowledging large uncertainties. Here we present the first dual-carbon isotope-based (Δ14C and δ13C) source apportionment of elemental carbon (EC), the mass-based correspondent to optically defined BC, in the Arctic atmosphere. It targeted 14 high-loading and high-pollution events during January through March of 2009 at the Zeppelin Observatory (79° N; Svalbard, Norway), with these representing one-third of the total sampling period that was yet responsible for three-quarters of the total EC loading. The top-down source-diagnostic 14C fingerprint constrained that 52 ± 15% (n = 12) of the EC stemmed from biomass burning. Including also two samples with 95% and 98% biomass contribution yield 57 ± 21% of EC from biomass burning. Significant variability in the stable carbon isotope signature indicated temporally shifting emissions between different fossil sources, likely including liquid fossil and gas flaring. Improved source constraints of Arctic BC both aids better understanding of effects and guides policy actions to mitigate emissions.

Late Holocene glacial advance and ice shelf growth in Barilari Bay, Graham Land, west Antarctic Peninsula - Christ, Andrew J.; Talaia-Murray, Manique; Elking, Natalie; Domack, Eugene W.; Leventer, Amy; Lavoie, Caroline; Brachfeld, Stefanie; Yoo, Kyu-Cheul; Gilbert, Robert; Jeong, Sun-Mi; Petrushak, Stephen; Wellner, Julia; et al. (GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN, 2015)
Three marine sediment cores were collected along the length of the fjord axis of Barilari Bay, Graham Land, west Antarctic Peninsula (65 degrees 55'S, 64 degrees 43'W). Multi-proxy analytical results constrained by high-resolution geochronological methods (Pb-210, radiocarbon, Cs-137) in concert with historical observations capture a record of Holocene paleoenvironmental variability. Our results suggest early and middle Holocene (>7022-2815 cal. {[}calibrated] yr B.P.) retreated glacial positions and seasonally open marine conditions with increased primary productivity. Climatic cooling increased sea ice coverage and decreased primary productivity during the Neoglacial (2815 to cal. 730 cal. yr B.P.). This climatic cooling culminated with glacial advance to maximum Holocene positions and expansion of a fjord-wide ice shelf during the Little Ice Age (LIA) (ca. 730-82 cal. yr B.P.). Seasonally open marine conditions were achieved and remnant ice shelves decayed within the context of recent rapid regional warming (82 cal. yr B.P. to present). Our findings agree with previously observed late Holocene cooling and glacial advance across the Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting that the LIA was a regionally significant event with few disparities in timing and magnitude. Comparison of the LIA Antarctic Peninsula record to the rest of the Southern Hemisphere demonstrates close synchronicity in the southeast Pacific and southern most Atlantic region but less coherence for the southwest Pacific and Indian Oceans. Comparisons with the Northern Hemisphere demonstrate that the LIA Antarctic Peninsula record was contemporaneous with pre-LIA cooling and sea ice expansion in the North Atlantic-Arctic, suggesting a global reach for these events.

Late Holocene precipitation variability recorded in the sediments of Reloncaví Fjord (41°S, 72°W), Chile - Rebolledo, Lorena; Lange, Carina B.; Bertrand, Sébastien; Muñoz, Praxedes; Salamanca, Marco; Lazo, Pablo; Iriarte, José L.; Vargas, Gabriel; Pantoja, Silvio; Dezileau, Laurent (Quaternary Research, 2015)
We present reconstructions of late Holocene changes in the source of organic matter and siliceous export production in the Relocanví Fjord (41°S, 72°W), Northern Chilean Patagonia, based on organic carbon content, δ13Corg, N/C ratio, diatom assemblages and biogenic silica contents from three sediment cores. The age models are based on a combination of 210Pb profiles, AMS 14C dating, and on the first occurrence of the diatom Rhizosolenia setigera f. pungens, as a stratigraphic marker in the fjords. The cores span the last 300 to 700 yr. Diatoms dominate the siliceous assemblages in the three cores (98% on average). Our results suggest that precipitation seasonality in the region of Reloncaví was high in CE 1300–1400 and CE 1700–1850, with a clear decreasing trend since CE 1850. The latter trend is in agreement with instrumental records and tree-ring reconstructions. These fluctuations seem to be associated with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM).
Co0ceTimes Cited:1Cited References Count:93

Low-frequency storminess signal at Bermuda linked to cooling events in the North Atlantic region - van Hengstum, Peter J.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Kingston, Andrew W.; Williams, Bruce E.; Scott, David B.; Reinhardt, Eduard G.; Little, Shawna N.; Patterson, William P. (Paleoceanography, 2015)
North Atlantic climate archives provide evidence for increased storm activity during the Little Ice Age (150 to 600 calibrated years (cal years) B.P.) and centered at 1700 and 3000 cal years B.P., typically in centennial-scale sedimentary records. Meteorological (tropical versus extratropical storms) and climate forcings of this signal remain poorly understood, although variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) are frequently hypothesized to be involved. Here we present records of late Holocene storminess and coastal temperature change from a Bermudian submarine cave that is hydrographically circulated with the coastal ocean. Thermal variability in the cave is documented by stable oxygen isotope values of cave benthic foraminifera, which document a close linkage between regional temperature change and NAO phasing during the late Holocene. However, erosion of terrestrial sediment into the submarine cave provides a “storminess signal” that correlates with higher-latitude storminess archives and broader North Atlantic cooling events. Understanding the driver of this storminess signal will require higher-resolution storm records to disentangle the contribution of tropical versus extratropical cyclones and a better understanding of cyclone activity during hemispheric cooling periods. Most importantly, however, the signal in Bermuda appears more closely correlated with proxy-based evidence for subtle AMOC reductions than NAO phasing.

Marine record of Holocene climate, ocean, and cryosphere interactions: Herbert Sound, James Ross Island, Antarctica - Minzoni, Rebecca Totten; Anderson, John B.; Fernandez, Rodrigo; Wellner, Julia Smith (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015)
The sediment record offshore James Ross Island, northeast Antarctic Peninsula presents an unparalleled opportunity to directly compare marine and terrestrial climate records spanning the Holocene in maritime Antarctica. An 11 m drill core was collected between Herbert Sound and Croft Bay as part of the SHALDRIL NBP-0502 initiative and produced the southernmost sediment record from the eastern side of the AP. Thirty-eight radiocarbon ages are used to construct an age model of centennial-scale resolution. Multi-proxy records, including magnetic susceptibility, pebble content, particle size, total organic carbon, and diatom assemblages, were interrogated in the context of nearby Holocene-age ice core, lake, and drift records from James Ross Island. Differences in the timing and expression of Holocene events reflect marine controls on tidewater glaciers, such as water mass configurations and sea ice. Glacial behavior mimics ice core paleotemperatures during the Holocene, with the exception of distinct ocean warming events. Herbert Sound was fully occupied by grounded ice during the Last Glacial Maximum, and experienced rapid lift-off, followed by a floating ice phase. The canopy of floating ice receded by 10 ± 2.4 cal kyr BP, presumably in response to Early Holocene warming. Herbert Sound and Croft Bay fully deglaciated by 7.2 cal kyr BP, when the Mid Holocene Hypsithermal commenced and the sound became open and productive. An extreme peak in productivity ∼6.1 cal kyr BP indicates an oceanic warming event that is not reflected in atmospheric temperature or lacustrine sediment records. Increase in sea ice cover and ice rafting mark the onset of the Neoglacial ∼2.5 cal kyr BP, when pronounced atmospheric cooling is documented in the James Ross Island ice core. Our comparison facilitates more holistic understanding of atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere interactions that may aid predictions of glacial response to future warming and sea-level scenarios.
Keywords: Antarctic Peninsula; diatoms; Holocene; paleoceanography; paleoclimatology

Methods and codes for reservoir-atmosphere C-14 age offset calculations - Soulet, Guillaume (QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY, 2015)
Reservoir C-14 age offsets are invaluable tracers for past changes in carbon cycle and oceanic circulation. Reconstruction of reservoir age offsets with time is also required for calibration purposes (reconstruction of atmospheric calibration curve, calibration of non-atmospheric radiocarbon ages). Thus, properly propagating the various uncertainties linked to reservoir age offset is important for proper interpretation. However, approaches for reservoir age offset calculation especially when considering pairs of reservoir-derived C-14 and calenidar ages are usually not detailed and inadequate for proper propagation of uncertainties. Here, the various ways to properly calculate reservoir age offsets are described with a focus on a new approach when considering pairs of C-14 and calendar ages. This approach maps the calendar age distribution onto the C-14 time scale prior to reservoir age offset calculation the ``uncalibration-convolution process{''}. R codes computing reservoir age offsets based on available data are presented. Finally, a case study focusing on the reconstruction of the speleothem-atmosphere C-14 age offsets of speleothem C-14 data used in the latest release of the atmospheric calibration curve is discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Calibration curve; Dead carbon fraction; Radiocarbon modeling; Reservoir age; Reservoir effect; Uncalibration process

Millennial-scale fluctuations of the European Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial, and their potential impact on global climate - Toucanne, Samuel; Soulet, Guillaume; Freslon, Nicolas; Jacinto, Ricardo Silva; Dennielou, Bernard; Zaragosi, Sebastien; Eynaud, Frédérique; Bourillet, Jean-Francois; Bayon, Germain (QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, 2015)
Reconstructing Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet oscillations and meltwater routing to the ocean is important to better understand the mechanisms behind abrupt climate changes. To date, research efforts have mainly focused on the North American (Laurentide) ice-sheets (LIS), leaving the potential role of the European Ice Sheet (EIS), and of the Scandinavian ice-sheet (SIS) in particular, largely unexplored. Using neodymium isotopes in detrital sediments deposited off the Channel River, we provide a continuous and well-dated record for the evolution of the EIS southern margin through the end of the last glacial period and during the deglaciation. Our results reveal that the evolution of EIS margins was accompanied with substantial ice recession (especially of the SIS) and simultaneous release of meltwater to the North Atlantic. These events occurred both in the course of the EIS to its LGM position (i.e., during Heinrich Stadial -HS- 3 and HS2; similar to 31-29 ka and similar to 26-23 ka, respectively) and during the deglaciation (i.e., at similar to 22 ka, similar to 20-19 ka and from 18.2 +/- 0.2 to 16.7 +/- 0.2 ka that corresponds to the first part of HS1). The deglaciation was discontinuous in character, and similar in timing to that of the southern LIS margin, with moderate ice-sheet retreat (from 22.5 +/- 0.2 ka in the Baltic lowlands) as soon as the northern summer insolation increase (from similar to 23 ka) and an acceleration of the margin retreat thereafter (from similar to 20 ka). Importantly, our results show that EIS retreat events and release of meltwater to the North Atlantic during the deglaciation coincide with AMOC destabilisation and interhemispheric climate changes. They thus suggest that the EIS, together with the LIS, could have played a critical role in the climatic reorganization that accompanied the last deglaciation. Finally, our data suggest that meltwater discharges to the North Atlantic produced by large-scale recession of continental parts of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during HS, could have been a possible source for the oceanic perturbations (i.e., AMOC shutdown) responsible for the marine-based ice stream purge cycle, or so-called HE's, that punctuate the last glacial period. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Channel River; Deglaciation; European ice-sheet; Meltwater; Neodymium; Termination

Multimolecular tracers of terrestrial carbon transfer across the pan-Arctic: C-14 characteristics of sedimentary carbon components and their environmental controls - Feng, Xiaojuan; Gustafsson, Örjan; Holmes, R. Max; Vonk, Jorien E.; van Dongen, Bart E.; Semiletov, Igor P.; Dudarev, Oleg V.; Yunker, Mark B.; Macdonald, Robie W.; Wacker, Lukas; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, 2015)
Distinguishing the sources, ages, and fate of various terrestrial organic carbon (OC) pools mobilized from heterogeneous Arctic landscapes is key to assessing climatic impacts on the fluvial release of carbon from permafrost. Through molecular C-14 measurements, including novel analyses of suberin- and/or cutin-derived diacids (DAs) and hydroxy fatty acids (FAs), we compared the radiocarbon characteristics of a comprehensive suite of terrestrial markers (including plant wax lipids, cutin, suberin, lignin, and hydroxy phenols) in the sedimentary particles from nine major arctic and subarctic rivers in order to establish a benchmark assessment of the mobilization patterns of terrestrial OC pools across the pan-Arctic. Terrestrial lipids, including suberin-derived longer-chain DAs (C-24,C-26,C-28), plant wax FAs (C(24,26,2)8), and n-alkanes (C-27,C-29,C-31), incorporated significant inputs of aged carbon, presumably from deeper soil horizons. Mobilization and translocation of these ``old{''} terrestrial carbon components was dependent on nonlinear processes associated with permafrost distributions. By contrast, shorter-chain (C-16,C-18) DAs and lignin phenols (as well as hydroxy phenols in rivers outside eastern Eurasian Arctic) were much more enriched in C-14, suggesting incorporation of relatively young carbon supplied by runoff processes from recent vegetation debris and surface layers. Furthermore, the radiocarbon content of terrestrial markers is heavily influenced by specific OC sources and degradation status. Overall, multitracer molecular C-14 analysis sheds new light on the mobilization of terrestrial OC from arctic watersheds. Our findings of distinct ages for various terrestrial carbon components may aid in elucidating fate of different terrestrial OC pools in the face of increasing arctic permafrost thaw.

Multiproxy record of monsoon variability from the Ganga Plain during 400–1200 A.D - Singh, Dhruv Sen; Gupta, Anil K.; Sangode, S. J.; Clemens, Steven C.; Prakasam, M.; Srivastava, Priyeshu; Prajapati, Shailendra K. (Updated Quaternary Climatic Research in parts of the Third Pole Selected papers from the HOPE-2013 conference, Nainital, India, 2015)
Understanding on the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) variability is chiefly based upon the marine proxies and a few continental records. The Ganga Plain, one of the most densely populated regions of the world marked by intensive cultivation of monsoon dependent crops and a rich cultural history, is not yet well understood in the context of monsoon variability. We present here a 400–1200 A.D. AMS radiocarbon dated record of Ropan Chhapra tal in the Central Ganga Plain using sedimentology, environmental magnetism, and stable isotope of oxygen for ISM variability. The environmental magnetic parameters (χlf, χARM, SIRM/χlf, S-Ratio, B(0)CR and HIRM) inferred antiferromagnetic mineralogy (hematite and/or goethite) independent of grain size variation during 400–900 A.D., depicting climate variability within warm humid to warm arid conditions favouring stronger ISM seasonality. Prevalence of ferrimagnetic mineralogy under less oxygenated conditions intermittently demonstrates an altered catchment regime or possibly in response to stronger winter monsoon. The higher δ18O values around 500, 580 and 740 A.D. indicate warm and arid conditions under weak ISM. The lower δ18O values around 480, 540 and 700 A.D. and from 900 to 1200 A.D. occur during warm and humid conditions indicating maximum intensity of the ISM. Increased silt content from 800 A.D. onwards is due to increased surface runoff in response to enhanced precipitation, and the higher clay percentage around 500, 580 and 740 indicates low-energy (ponding) conditions under weak ISM. The well sorted nature of sediment indicates consistency of the lacustrine environments under fairly uniform energy and constant bottom water conditions, under varied monsoonal intensity. Combinations of sediment textures and stable isotope indicate intense ISM at ∼480 and ∼540 A.D. with flooding around ∼700 A.D. and a weak monsoon at 580 and 740 A.D., with drought at 500 A.D. During ∼900–1200 A.D. the multiproxy record suggests strong summer monsoon synchronous with Medieval Warm Period (MWP), whereas after 1200 A.D. the weak monsoon phase coincides with the onset of the Little Ice Age (LIA).

PALEO-STORM INDICATORS WITHIN SASYK LIMAN BAYMOUTH BARRIER, UKRAINE - Buynevich, I.V.; Kadurin, S.V. (Geology Bulletin, 2015)
Sedimentary sequences along continental and insular margins serve as archives of coastal erosion by storms and tsunamis. In areas where overwash is limited or precluded by barrier width and height, such as prograded beach-ridge plains (strandplains), geomorphological (scarps) and lithological (heavy-mineral concentrations) indicators provide the only means of assessing the extent and timing of erosional events. This research presents geological evidence of buried erosional scarps along the Black Sea coast of southwestern Ukraine. A distinct paleo-scarp imaged in shore-normal georadar profile and the associated heavy-mineral horizon (magnetic susceptibility >1,700 SI) indicate a storm event that impacted the shoreline of Sasyk Liman baymouth barrier in historical times. Optical dating offers a more reliable chronology of erosional events, whereas radiocarbon-dated reworked early Holocene shells aid in determining the sources of bioclastic material.
Keywords: georadar; heavy-mineral concentration; magnetic susceptibility

Palynological reconstruction of environmental changes in coastal wetlands of the Florida Everglades since the mid-Holocene - Yao, Qiang; Liu, Kam-biu; Platt, William J.; Rivera-Monroy, Victor H. (Quaternary Research, 2015)
Palynological, loss-on-ignition, and X-ray fluorescence data from a 5.25 m sediment core from a mangrove forest at the mouth of the Shark River Estuary in the southwestern Everglades National Park, Florida were used to reconstruct changes occurring in coastal wetlands since the mid-Holocene. This multi-proxy record contains the longest paleoecological history to date in the southwestern Everglades. The Shark River Estuary basin was formed ~ 5700 cal yr BP in response to increasing precipitation. Initial wetlands were frequently-burned short-hydroperiod prairies, which transitioned into long-hydroperiod prairies with sloughs in which peat deposits began to accumulate continuously about 5250 cal yr BP. Our data suggest that mangrove communities started to appear after ~ 3800 cal yr BP; declines in the abundance of charcoal suggested gradual replacement of fire-dominated wetlands by mangrove forest over the following 2650 yr. By ~ 1150 cal yr BP, a dense Rhizophora mangle dominated mangrove forest had formed at the mouth of the Shark River. The mangrove-dominated coastal ecosystem here was established at least 2000 yr later than has been previously estimated.

A post-glacial relative sea-level curve from Fiordland, New Zealand - Dlabola, E. K.; Wilson, G. S.; Gorman, A. R.; Riesselman, C. R.; Moy, C. M. (Global and Planetary Change, 2015)
The modern fjords of southwest New Zealand were previously stranded lakes isolated from the Tasman Sea by bedrock and moraine sills following the retreat of glaciers at the Last Glacial Maximum. The isolated lake basins were subsequently inundated with sea water when sea-level rise overtopped the sills. A record of the lacustrine-to-marine environmental transition is preserved in the fjord basin sediments and is identified in two New Zealand fjords with high-resolution seismic data and paleoenvironmental analysis of sediment cores. Seismic data are used to constrain the maximum sill depth and microfossil assemblages are used to track the lacustrine-to-marine transition. Chronology is based on fourteen radiocarbon ages. A relative sea-level curve for Fiordland, New Zealand is constructed based on sill depths and age constraints on the marine incursion. The sea-level curve allows insights into estimated uplift rates for Fiordland during the Holocene. From a lowstand of at least 107 mbsl 14,750 yr ago, these data reveal a stepwise transgression. Meltwater Pulse 1b is identified between 12,400 and 11,400 yr ago, with a second acceleration in sea-level rise observed 9700 yr ago. This record contributes a new sea-level curve for a mid-latitude (45°S) Southern Hemisphere location as well as new evidence for Meltwater Pulse 1b.

Quantification of refractory organic material in Amazon mudbanks of the French Guiana Coast - Williams, Elizabeth K.; Rosenheim, Brad E.; Allison, Mead; McNichol, Ann P.; Xu, Li (Marine Geology, 2015)
Sub-oxic overturning mudbanks originating in the Amazon outlet and traveling northwestward along the coast of South America store 3.5 Tg organic carbon on the Amazon shelf, annually. The predominance of old soil carbon burial associated with the sediment has been supported by relatively old bulk radiocarbon ages (~ 2200–3200 14C y) reported, but this amount has yet to be quantified for this dynamic setting. Here, we employ ramped pyrolysis radiocarbon dating to mudbank sediments from three cores to further constrain the amount of refractory sedimentary organic carbon present. Using radiocarbon age as a proxy for reactivity, we find that at least 36% of this organic carbon is pre-aged refractory terrestrial organic carbon, likely sourced from terrestrial soils and averaging ages of 16,100 ± 300 14C y. This implies significant preservation of pre-aged terrestrial soil material in this marine environment despite the mobility and oxygen availability in the muds. Concurrently, an average of 77% of this organic material is aged over 1000 14C y, consistent with previous estimates that the majority of organic carbon buried along the shelf is refractory. Analyses of extracted lignin phenols and terrestrial humic acids also support this preservation of refractory terrestrial material. These data indicate that sediment discharged from the Amazon River may preserve refractory terrestrial carbon in marine sediments at a minimum of 3.1 Tg C/y, which is more efficient than originally thought.

Radiocarbon evidence for a possible abyssal front near 3.1 km in the glacial equatorial Pacific Ocean - Keigwin, L. D.; Lehman, S. J. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015)
We investigate the radiocarbon ventilation age in deep equatorial Pacific sediment cores using the difference in conventional 14C age between coexisting benthic and planktonic foraminifera, and integrate those results with similar data from around the North Pacific Ocean in a reconstruction for the last glaciation (15 to 25 conventional 14C ka). Most new data from both the Equatorial Pacific and the Emperor Seamounts in the northwestern Pacific come from maxima in abundance of benthic taxa because this strategy reduces the effect of bioturbation. Although there remains considerable scatter in the ventilation age estimates, on average, ventilation ages in the Equatorial Pacific were significantly greater below 3.2 km ( ∼ 3080 ± 1125 yrs , n = 15 ) than in the depth interval 1.9 to 3.0 km ( ∼ 1610 ± 250 yrs , n = 12 ). When compared to the average modern seawater Δ C 14 profile for the North Pacific, the Equatorial Pacific glacial data suggest an abyssal front located somewhere between 3.0 and 3.2 km modern water depth. Above that depth, the data may indicate slightly better ventilation than today, and below that depth, glacial Equatorial Pacific data appear to be as old as last glacial maximum (LGM) deep water ages reported for the deep southern Atlantic. This suggests that a glacial reservoir of aged waters extended throughout the circumpolar Southern Ocean and into the Equatorial Pacific. Renewed ventilation of such a large volume of aged (and, by corollary, carbon-rich) water would help to account for the rise in atmospheric pCO2 and the fall in Δ C 14 as the glaciation drew to a close.

Rapid, high-resolution C-14 chronology of ooids - Beaupré, Steven R.; Roberts, Mark L.; Burton, Joshua R.; Summons, Roger E. (GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, 2015)
Ooids are small, spherical to ellipsoidal grains composed of concentric layers of CaCO3 that could potentially serve as biogeochemical records of the environments in which they grew. Such records, however, must be placed in the proper temporal context. Therefore, we developed a novel acidification system and employed an accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) with a gas accepting ion source to obtain radiocarbon (C-14) chronologies extending radially through ooids within one 8-h workday. The method was applied to ooids from Highborne Cay, Bahamas and Shark Bay, Australia, yielding reproducible C-14 chronologies, as well as constraints on the rates and durations of ooid growth and independent estimates of local C-14 reservoir ages. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Refined bomb radiocarbon dating of two iconic fishes of the Great Barrier Reef - Andrews, Allen H.; Choat, John H.; Hamilton, Richard J.; DeMartini, Edward E. (Marine and Freshwater Research, 2015)
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000351621600003

Relative sea-level change in Connecticut (USA) during the last 2200 yrs - Kemp, Andrew C.; Hawkes, Andrea D.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Vane, Christopher H.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Hill, Troy D.; Anisfeld, Shimon C.; Parnell, Andrew C.; Cahill, Niamh (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015)
We produced a relative sea-level (RSL) reconstruction from Connecticut (USA) spanning the last ∼2200 yrs that is free from the influence of sediment compaction. The reconstruction used a suite of vertically- and laterally-ordered sediment samples ≤2 cm above bedrock that were collected by excavating a trench along an evenly-sloped bedrock surface. Paleomarsh elevation was reconstructed using a regional-scale transfer function trained on the modern distribution of foraminifera on Long Island Sound salt marshes and supported by bulk-sediment δ13C measurements. The history of sediment accumulation was estimated using an age-elevation model constrained by radiocarbon dates and recognition of pollution horizons of known age. The RSL reconstruction was combined with regional tide-gauge measurements spanning the last ∼150 yrs before being quantitatively analyzed using an error-in-variables integrated Gaussian process model to identify sea-level trends with formal and appropriate treatment of uncertainty and the temporal distribution of data. RSL rise was stable (∼1 mm/yr) from ∼200 BCE to ∼1000 CE, slowed to a minimum rate of rise (0.41 mm/yr) at ∼1400 CE, and then accelerated continuously to reach a current rate of 3.2 mm/yr, which is the fastest, century-scale rate of the last 2200 yrs. Change point analysis identified that modern rates of rise in Connecticut began at 1850–1886 CE. This timing is synchronous with changes recorded at other sites on the U.S. Atlantic coast and is likely the local expression of a global sea-level change. Earlier sea-level trends show coherence north of Cape Hatteras that are contrasted with southern sites. This pattern may represent centennial-scale variability in the position and/or strength of the Gulf Stream. Comparison of the new record to three existing and reanalyzed RSL reconstructions from the same site developed using sediment cores indicates that compaction is unlikely to significantly distort RSL reconstructions produced from shallow (∼2–3 m thick) sequences of salt-marsh peat.
Keywords: Atlantic Ocean; Foraminifera; Gulf Stream; Late Holocene; Salt marsh

A sea-level database for the Pacific coast of central North America - Engelhart, Simon E.; Vacchi, Matteo; Horton, Benjamin P.; Nelson, Alan R.; Kopp, Robert E. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015)
A database of published and new relative sea-level (RSL) data for the past 16 ka constrains the sea-level histories of the Pacific coast of central North America (southern British Columbia to central California). Our reevaluation of the stratigraphic context and radiocarbon age of sea-level indicators from geological and archaeological investigations yields 600 sea-level index points and 241 sea-level limiting points. We subdivided the database into 12 regions based on the availability of data, tectonic setting, and distance from the former Cordilleran ice sheet. Most index (95%) and limiting points (54%) are <7 ka; older data come mainly from British Columbia and San Francisco Bay. The stratigraphic position of points was used as a first-order assessment of compaction. Formerly glaciated areas show variable RSL change; where data are present, highstands of RSL occur immediately post-deglaciation and in the mid to late Holocene. Sites at the periphery and distant to formerly glaciated areas demonstrate a continuous rise in RSL with a decreasing rate through time due to the collapse of the peripheral forebulge and the reduction in meltwater input during deglaciation. Late Holocene RSL change varies spatially from falling at 0.7 ± 0.8 mm a−1 in southern British Columbia to rising at 1.5 ± 0.3 mm a−1 in California. The different sea-level histories are an ongoing isostatic response to deglaciation of the Cordilleran and Laurentide Ice Sheets.
Keywords: Cascadia subduction zone; Glacial isostatic adjustment; Holocene; Pacific North America; Sea-level database

Searching for the Oldest Baobab of Madagascar: Radiocarbon Investigation of Large Adansonia rubrostipa Trees - Patrut, Adrian; von Reden, Karl F.; Danthu, Pascal; Leong Pock-Tsy, Jean-Michel; Patrut, Roxana T.; Lowy, Daniel A. (PLoS ONE, 2015)
We extended our research on the architecture, growth and age of trees belonging to the genus Adansonia, by starting to investigate large individuals of the most widespread Malagasy species. Our research also intends to identify the oldest baobabs of Madagascar. Here we present results of the radiocarbon investigation of the two most representative Adansonia rubrostipa (fony baobab) specimens, which are located in south-western Madagascar, in the Tsimanampetsotse National Park. We found that the fony baobab called â€œGrandmotherâ€ consists of 3 perfectly fused stems of different ages. The radiocarbon date of the oldest sample was found to be 1136 Â± 16 BP. We estimated that the oldest part of this tree, which is mainly hollow, has an age close to 1,600 yr. This value is comparable to the age of the oldest Adansonia digitata (African baobab) specimens. By its age, the Grandmother is a major candidate for the oldest baobab of Madagascar. The second investigated specimen, called the â€œpolygamous baobabâ€, consists of 6 partially fused stems of different ages. According to dating results, this fony baobab is 1,000 yr old. This research is the first investigation of the structure and age of Malagasy baobabs.

Sediment flux and recent paleoclimate in JordanBasin, Gulf of Maine - Keigwin, Lloyd D.; Pilskaln, Cynthia H. (Continental Shelf Research, 2015)
We report planktonic foraminiferal fluxes (accumulation rates) and oxygen isotopes (5180) from a nine-month sediment trap deployment, and 8180 from three sediment cores in Jordan Basin, Gulf of Maine. The sediment trap was deployed at 150 m, about halfway to the basin floor, and samples were collected every three weeks between August 2010 and May 2011. The planktonic foraminiferal fauna in the trap is dominated by Neogloboquadrina incompta that reached a maximum flux in the second half of October. Oxygen isotope ratios on that species indicate that on average during the collecting period it lived in the surface mixed layer, when compared to predicted values based on data from a nearby hydrographic buoy from the same period. New large diameter piston cores from Jordan Basin are 25 and 28 m long. Marine hemipelagic sediments are 25 m thick, and the sharp contact with underlying red deglacial sediments is bracketed by two radiocarbon dates on bivalves that indicate ice-free conditions began 16,900 calibrated years ago. Radiocarbon dating of foraminifera indicates that the basin floor sediments (270-290 m) accumulated at > 3 m/kyr during the Holocene, whereas rates were about one tenth that on the basin slope (230 m). In principle, Jordan Basin sediments have the potential to provide time series with interannual resolution. Our results indicate the Holocene is marked by similar to 2 degrees C variability in SST, and the coldest events of the 20th century, during the mid 1960s and mid 1920s, appear to be recorded in the uppermost 50 cm of the seafloor. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000351249700005

Sedimentary response to Milankovitch-type climatic oscillations and formation of sediment undulations: evidence from a shallow-shelf setting at Gela Basin on the Sicilian continental margin - Kuhlmann, Jannis; Asioli, Alessandra; Trincardi, Fabio; Klügel, Andreas; Huhn, Katrin (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015)
A multi-proxy chronological framework along with sequence-stratigraphic interpretations unveils composite Milankovitch cyclicity in the sedimentary records of the Last Glacial–Interglacial cycle at NE Gela Basin on the Sicilian continental margin. Chronostratigraphic data (including foraminifera-based eco-biostratigraphy and δ18O records, tephrochronological markers and 14C AMS radiometric datings) was derived from the shallow-shelf drill sites GeoB14403 (54.6 m recovery) and GeoB14414 (27.5 m), collected with both gravity and drilled MeBo cores in 193 m and 146 m water depth, respectively. The recovered intervals record Marine Isotope Stages and Substages (MIS) from MIS 5 to MIS 1, thus comprising major stratigraphic parts of the progradational deposits that form the last 100-ka depositional sequence. Calibration of shelf sedimentary units with borehole stratigraphies indicates the impact of higher-frequency (20-ka) sea level cycles punctuating this 100-ka cycle. This becomes most evident in the alternation of thick interstadial highstand (HST) wedges and thinner glacial forced-regression (FSST) units mirroring seaward shifts in coastal progradation. Albeit their relatively short-lived depositional phase, these subordinate HST units form the bulk of the 100-ka depositional sequence. Two mechanisms are proposed that likely account for enhanced sediment accumulation ratios (SAR) of up to 200 cm/ka during these intervals: (1) intensified activity of deep and intermediate Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) associated to the drowning of Mediterranean shelves, and (2) amplified sediment flux along the flooded shelf in response to hyperpycnal plumes that generate through extreme precipitation events during overall arid conditions. Equally, the latter mechanism is thought to be at the origin of undulated features resolved in the acoustic records of MIS 5 Interstadials, which bear a striking resemblance to modern equivalents forming on late-Holocene prodeltas of other Mediterranean shallow-shelf settings.

Sedimentation Pulse in the NE Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 DWH Blowout - Brooks, Gregg R.; Larson, Rebekka A.; Schwing, Patrick T.; Romero, Isabel; Moore, Christopher; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Jilbert, Tom; Chanton, Jeff P.; Hastings, David W.; Overholt, Will A.; Marks, Kala P.; Kostka, Joel E.; et al. (PLOS ONE, 2015)
The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil discharge at the seafloor as recorded in bottom sediments of the DeSoto Canyon region in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Through a close coupling of sedimentological, geochemical, and biological approaches, multiple independent lines of evidence from 11 sites sampled in November/December 2010 revealed that the upper ~1 cm depth interval is distinct from underlying sediments and results indicate that particles originated at the sea surface. Consistent dissimilarities in grain size over the surficial ~1 cm of sediments correspond to excess 234Th depths, which indicates a lack of vertical mixing (bioturbation), suggesting the entire layer was deposited within a 4–5 month period. Further, a time series from four deep-sea sites sampled up to three additional times over the following two years revealed that excess 234Th depths, accumulation rates, and 234Th inventories decreased rapidly, within a few to several months after initial coring. The interpretation of a rapid sedimentation pulse is corroborated by stratification in solid phase Mn, which is linked to diagenesis and redox change, and the dramatic decrease in benthic formanifera density that was recorded in surficial sediments. Results are consistent with a brief depositional pulse that was also reported in previous studies of sediments, and marine snow formation in surface waters closer to the wellhead during the summer and fall of 2010. Although sediment input from the Mississippi River and advective transport may influence sedimentation on the seafloor in the DeSoto Canyon region, we conclude based on multidisciplinary evidence that the sedimentation pulse in late 2010 is the product of marine snow formation and is likely linked to the DWH discharge.

Single cell genomics indicates horizontal gene transfer and viral infections in a deep subsurface Firmicutes population - Labonte, Jessica M.; Field, Erin K.; Lau, Maggie; Chivian, Dylan; Van Heerden, Esta; Wommack, K. Eric; Kieft, Thomas L.; Onstott, Tullis C.; Stepanauskas, Ramunas (Frontiers in Microbiology, 2015)
A major fraction of Earth's prokaryotic biomass dwells in the deep subsurface, where cellular abundances per volume of sample are lower, metabolism is slower, and generation times are longer than those in surface terrestrial and marine environments. How these conditions impact biotic interactions and evolutionary processes is largely unknown. Here we employed single cell genomics to analyze cell-to-cell genome content variability and signatures of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and viral infections in five cells of Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, which were collected from a three km-deep fracture water in the 2.9 Ga-old Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa. Between 0 and 32 % of genes recovered from single cells were not present in the original, metagenomic assembly of Desulforudis, which was obtained from a neighboring subsurface fracture. We found a transposable prophage, a retron, multiple clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and restriction-modification systems, and an unusually high frequency of transposases in the analyzed single cell genomes. This indicates that recombination, HGT and viral infections are prevalent evolutionary events in the studied population of microorganisms inhabiting a highly stable deep subsurface environment.
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000352551600004

Sinking particle flux in the sea ice zone of the Amundsen Shelf, Antarctica - Kim, Minkyoung; Hwang, Jeomshik; Kim, Hyung J.; Kim, Dongseon; Yang, Eun J.; Ducklow, Hugh W.; Hyoung, S. La; Lee, Sang H.; Park, Jisoo; Lee, SangHoon (Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 2015)
We have examined the flux, biogenic composition, and isotopic values of sinking particles collected by a time-series sediment trap deployed in the sea ice zone (SIZ) of the Amundsen Sea from January 2011 for 1 year. The major portion of the particle flux occurred during the austral summer in January and February when sea ice concentration was reduced to 30 %) and a low bio-Si/POC ratio (<0.5) during the austral winter. CaCO3 content and its contribution to total particle flux was low (~6 %) throughout the study period. Aged POC likely supplied from sediment resuspension accounted for a considerable fraction only from October to December, which was evidenced by a low radiocarbon content and relatively high (30–50 %) content of the non-biogenic components. When compared with POC flux inside the Amundsen Sea polynya obtained by the US Amundsen Sea Polynya International Research Expedition (ASPIRE), the POC flux integrated over the austral summer in the SIZ was virtually identical, although the maximum POC flux was approximately half that inside the Amundsen Sea polynya. This comparatively high POC flux integrated over the austral summer in the SIZ may be caused by phytoplankton blooms persisting over a longer periods and more efficient export of organic matter potentially owing to the diatom-dominant plankton community. If this observation is a general phenomenon on the Amundsen Shelf, the role of the SIZ, compared with the polynyas, need to be examined more carefully when trying to characterize the POC export in this region.
Ck4reTimes Cited:4Cited References Count:38

Source-age dynamics of estuarine particulate organic matter using fatty acid delta C-13 and Delta C-14 composition - McIntosh, Hadley A.; McNichol, Ann P.; Xu, Li; Canuel, Elizabeth A. (Limnology and Oceanography, 2015)
This study used a multiproxy approach to elucidate the source and age composition of estuarine particulate organic matter (POM) using bulk stable isotopes (C-13(POC)), fatty acid (FA) biomarkers, and compound specific isotopic analyses in surface waters along the Delaware River and Bay (Delaware Estuary, hereafter). C-13 values of FA (C-13(FA)) ranged more widely (-30.9 parts per thousand to -21.8 parts per thousand) than C-13(POC) (-27.5 parts per thousand to -23.5 parts per thousand), providing greater insight about POM sources along the estuary. C-13 values of C-16:0 phospholipid FA (primarily, aquatic sources) increased along the salinity gradient (-29.8 parts per thousand to -23.4 parts per thousand), while C-13(FA) values of long-chain neutral fatty acid (terrestrial sources) decreased (-28.6 parts per thousand to -30.9 parts per thousand). C-13(FA) values for C-18's FA indicated the importance of marsh-derived organic matter within Delaware Estuary. Compound specific radiocarbon analysis showed the heterogeneous age structure of FA associated with POM (FA(POM)). C-14 ages of FA ranged from modern (postbomb) to 1790BP; aged FA (120BP to 1700BP) derived primarily from the watershed, whereas modern FA were produced within Delaware Estuary. C-14 ages of short-chain FA (aquatic sources) reflected differences in the age of dissolved inorganic carbon along the estuary and had older C-14 ages at the river end-member. C-14 ages of FA from terrigenous sources were older than water and sediment residence times indicating this source derived from the watershed. This study is the first to document the complex age distribution of FA(POM) along the estuarine salinity gradient and shows that inorganic carbon sources, watershed inputs and autochthonous production contribute to variation in the ages of POM.
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000351126500020

South Asian monsoon history over the past 60 kyr recorded by radiogenic isotopes and clay mineral assemblages in the Andaman Sea - Ali, Sajid; Hathorne, Ed C.; Frank, Martin; Gebregiorgis, Daniel; Stattegger, Karl; Stumpf, Roland; Kutterolf, Steffen; Johnson, Joel E.; Giosan, Liviu (Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2015)
The Late Quaternary variability of the South Asian (or Indian) monsoon has been linked with glacial-interglacial and millennial scale climatic changes but past rainfall intensity in the river catchments draining into the Andaman Sea remains poorly constrained. Here we use radiogenic Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope compositions of the detrital clay-size fraction and clay mineral assemblages obtained from sediment core NGHP Site 17 in the Andaman Sea to reconstruct the variability of the South Asian monsoon during the past 60 kyr. Over this time interval εNd values changed little, generally oscillating between −7.3 and −5.3 and the Pb isotope signatures are essentially invariable, which is in contrast to a record located further northeast in the Andaman Sea. This indicates that the source of the detrital clays did not change significantly during the last glacial and deglaciation suggesting the monsoon was spatially stable. The most likely source region is the Irrawaddy river catchment including the Indo-Burman Ranges with a possible minor contribution from the Andaman Islands. High smectite/(illite + chlorite) ratios (up to 14), as well as low 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.711) for the Holocene period indicate enhanced chemical weathering and a stronger South Asian monsoon compared to marine oxygen isotope stages 2 and 3. Short, smectite-poor intervals exhibit markedly radiogenic Sr isotope compositions and document weakening of the South Asian monsoon, which may have been linked to short-term northern Atlantic climate variability on millennial time scales.

Spatial Variation in the Origin of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Snow on the Juneau Icefield, Southeast Alaska - Fellman, Jason B.; Hood, Eran; Raymond, Peter A.; Stubbins, Aron; Spencer, Robert G.M. (Environmental Science & Technology, 2015)
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) plays a fundamental role in the biogeochemistry of glacier ecosystems. However, the specific sources of glacier DOC remain unresolved. To assess the origin and nature of glacier DOC, we collected snow from 10 locations along a transect across the Juneau Icefield, Alaska extending from the coast toward the interior. The Δ14C-DOC of snow varied from −743 to −420‰ showing progressive depletion across the Icefield as δ18O of water became more depleted (R2 = 0.56). Older DOC corresponded to lower DOC concentrations in snow (R2 = 0.31) and a decrease in percent humic-like fluorescence (R2 = 0.36), indicating an overall decrease in modern DOC across the Icefield. Carbon isotopic signatures (13C and 14C) combined with a three-source mixing model showed that DOC deposited in snow across the Icefield reflects fossil fuel combustion products (43–73%) and to a lesser extent marine (21–41%) and terrestrial sources (1–26%). Our finding that combustion aerosols are a large source of DOC to the glacier ecosystem during the early spring (April–May) together with the pronounced rates of glacier melting in the region suggests that the delivery of relic DOC to the ocean may be increasing and consequently impacting the biogeochemistry of glacial and proglacial ecosystems in unanticipated ways.

Ultra-Small Graphitization Reactors for Ultra-Microscale C-14 Analysis at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (Nosams) Facility - Walter, Sunita R. Shah; Gagnon, Alan R.; Roberts, Mark L.; McNichol, Ann P.; Gaylord, Mary C. Lardie; Klein, Elizabeth (Radiocarbon, 2015)
In response to the increasing demand for C-14 analysis of samples containing less than 25 mu g C, ultra-small graphitization reactors with an internal volume of similar to 0.8 mL were developed at NOSAMS. For samples containing 6 to 25 mu g C, these reactors convert CO2 to graphitic carbon in approximately 30 min. Although we continue to refine reaction conditions to improve yield, the reactors produce graphite targets that are successfully measured by AMS. Graphite targets produced with the ultra-small reactors are measured by using the Cs sputter source on the CFAMS instrument at NOSAMS where beam current was proportional to sample mass. We investigated the contribution of blank carbon from the ultra-small reactors and estimate it to be 0.3 +/- 0.1 mu g C with an Fm value of 0.43 +/- 0.3. We also describe equations for blank correction and propagation of error associated with this correction. With a few exceptions for samples in the range of 6 to 7 mu g C, we show that corrected Fm values agree with expected Fm values within uncertainty for samples containing 6-100 mu g C.
PT: J; TC: 1; UT: WOS:000351052600009

Using Natural Abundance Radiocarbon To Trace the Flux of Petrocarbon to the Seafloor Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - Chanton, Jeffrey; Zhao, Tingting; Rosenheim, Brad E.; Joye, Samantha; Bosman, Samantha; Brunner, Charlotte; Yeager, Kevin M.; Diercks, Arne R.; Hollander, David (Environmental Science & Technology, 2015)
In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon accident released 4.6–6.0 × 1011 grams or 4.1 to 4.6 million barrels of fossil petroleum derived carbon (petrocarbon) as oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Natural abundance radiocarbon measurements on surface sediment organic matter in a 2.4 × 1010 m2 deep-water region surrounding the spill site indicate the deposition of a fossil-carbon containing layer that included 1.6 to 2.6 × 1010 grams of oil-derived carbon. This quantity represents between 0.5 to 9.1% of the released petrocarbon, with a best estimate of 3.0–4.9%. These values may be lower limit estimates of the fraction of the oil that was deposited on the seafloor because they focus on a limited mostly deep-water area of the Gulf, include a conservative estimate of thickness of the depositional layer, and use an average background or prespill radiocarbon value for sedimentary organic carbon that produces a conservative value. A similar approach using hopane tracer estimated that 4–31% of 2 million barrels of oil that stayed in the deep sea settled on the bottom. Converting that to a percentage of the total oil that entered into the environment (to which we normalized our estimate) converts this range to 1.8 to 14.4%. Although extrapolated over a larger area, our independent estimate produced similar values.

Validated age estimates for large white sharks of the northeastern Pacific Ocean: altered perceptions of vertebral growth shed light on complicated bomb Delta C-14 results - Andrews, Allen H.; Kerr, Lisa A. (Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2015)
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000349029800020

A warm and poorly ventilated deep Arctic Mediterranean during the last glacial period - Thornalley, D. J. R.; Bauch, H. A.; Gebbie, G.; Guo, W.; Ziegler, M.; Bernasconi, S. M.; Barker, S.; Skinner, L. C.; Yu, J. (Science, 2015)
Changes in the formation of dense water in the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas [the “Arctic Mediterranean” (AM)] probably contributed to the altered climate of the last glacial period. We examined past changes in AM circulation by reconstructing radiocarbon ventilation ages of the deep Nordic Seas over the past 30,000 years. Our results show that the glacial deep AM was extremely poorly ventilated (ventilation ages of up to 10,000 years). Subsequent episodic overflow of aged water into the mid-depth North Atlantic occurred during deglaciation. Proxy data also suggest that the deep glacial AM was ~2° to 3°C warmer than modern temperatures; deglacial mixing of the deep AM with the upper ocean thus potentially contributed to the melting of sea ice, icebergs, and terminal ice-sheet margins.

What do benthic ? 13 C and ? 18 O data tell us about Atlantic circulation during Heinrich Stadial 1? - Oppo, Delia W.; Curry, William B.; McManus, Jerry F. (Paleoceanography, 2015)
Approximately synchronous with the onset of Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), δ13C decreased throughout most of the upper (~1000–2500 m) Atlantic, and at some deeper North Atlantic sites. This early deglacial δ13C decrease has been alternatively attributed to a reduced fraction of high-δ13C North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) or to a decrease in the NADW δ13C source value. Here we present new benthic δ18O and δ13C records from three relatively shallow (~1450–1650 m) subpolar Northeast Atlantic cores. With published data from other cores, these data form a depth transect (~1200–3900 m) in the subpolar Northeast Atlantic. We compare Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and HS1 data from this transect with data from a depth transect of cores from the Brazil Margin. The largest LGM-to-HS1 decreases in both benthic δ13C and δ18O occurred in upper waters containing the highest NADW fraction during the LGM. We show that the δ13C decrease can be explained entirely by a lower NADW δ13C source value, entirely by a decrease in the proportion of NADW relative to Southern Ocean Water, or by a combination of these mechanisms. However, building on insights from model simulations, we hypothesize that reduced ventilation due to a weakened but still active Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation also contributed to the low δ13C values in the upper North Atlantic. We suggest that the benthic δ18O gradients above ~2300 m at both core transects indicate the depth to which heat and North Atlantic deglacial freshwater had mixed into the subsurface ocean by early HS1.

A 2000-yr reconstruction of air temperature in the Great Basin of the United States with specific reference to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly - Reinemann, Scott A.; Porinchu, David F.; MacDonald, Glen M.; Mark, Bryan G.; DeGrand, James Q. (Quaternary Research, 2014)
A sediment core representing the past two millennia was recovered from Stella Lake in the Snake Range of the central Great Basin in Nevada. The core was analyzed for sub-fossil chironomids and sediment organic content. A quantitative reconstruction of mean July air temperature (MJAT) was developed using a regional training set and a chironomid-based WA-PLS inference model (r2jack = 0.55, RMSEP = 0.9°C). The chironomid-based MJAT reconstruction suggests that the interval between AD 900 and AD 1300, corresponding to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), was characterized by MJAT elevated 1.0°C above the subsequent Little Ice Age (LIA), but likely not as warm as recent conditions. Comparison of the Stella Lake temperature reconstruction to previously published paleoclimate records from this region indicates that the temperature fluctuations inferred to have occurred at Stella Lake between AD 900 and AD 1300 correspond to regional records documenting hydroclimate variability during the MCA interval. The Stella Lake record provides evidence that elevated summer temperature contributed to the increased aridity that characterized the western United States during the MCA.
Aq8ljTimes Cited:0Cited References Count:70

Adélie penguin dietary remains reveal Holocene environmental changes in the western Ross Sea (Antarctica) - Lorenzini, Sandra; Baroni, Carlo; Baneschi, Ilaria; Salvatore, Maria Cristina; Fallick, Anthony E.; Hall, Brenda L. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2014)
Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses were performed on modern and Holocene Adélie penguin guano samples collected from ornithogenic soils along the Scott Coast (Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica), from Cape Irizar to Dunlop Island, and at Cape Bird (Ross Island). Guano samples also were sieved and sorted under stereomicroscope in order to select penguin dietary remains, such as fish bones and otoliths. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition, coupled with the taxonomic identification of fish otoliths from Scott Coast Holocene samples, indicated a mainly fish-based diet for this area, with Pleuragramma antarcticum as the most eaten prey throughout the investigated period (from 390 cal BP to ca 7300 cal BP). The isotopic values of Ross Island samples (from modern to 3850 cal BP) showed a krill consumption increase in the samples younger than 2000 cal BP, with the maximum in modern samples. Scott Coast and Ross Island Holocene samples showed δ13C and δ15N trends similar to those previously published from Terra Nova Bay (northern Victoria Land), whereas modern samples from Ross Island have similar δ15N composition but different δ13C values. This δ13C divergence started at ca 2000 BP and follows the abandonment of the Scott Coast colonies. The δ13C trend observed in Ross Island and Terra Nova Bay samples and the abandonment of the Scott Coast colonies could suggest the stability and the persistence of the previous oceanographic conditions (i.e. polynya) for the Terra Nova Bay area and the establishment of new conditions for water circulation in the Southern Ross Sea since ~ 2000 BP when persistent sea-ice sealed the Scott Coast.
id: 2347

Advection and scavenging controls of Pa/Th in the northern NE Atlantic - Roberts, Natalie L.; McManus, Jerry F.; Piotrowski, Alexander M.; McCave, I. Nicholas (Paleoceanography, 2014)
Over the last 2 decades, significant advances have been made in reconstructing past rates of ocean circulation using sedimentary proxies for the dynamics of abyssal waters. In this study we combine the use of two rate proxies, sortable silt grain size, and sedimentary 231Pa/230Th, measured on a depth transect of deep-sea sediment cores from the northern NE Atlantic, to investigate ocean circulation changes during the last deglacial. We find that at two deep sites, the core-top 231Pa/230Th ratios reflect Holocene circulation rates, while during Heinrich Stadial 1, the deglacial ratios peaked as the sortable silt grain size decreased, reflecting a general circulation slowdown. However, the peak 231Pa/230Th significantly exceeded the production ratio in both cores, indicating that 231Pa/230Th was only partially controlled by ocean circulation at these sites. This is supported by a record of 231Pa/230Th from an intermediate water depth site, where values also peaked during Heinrich Stadial 1, but were consistently above the production ratio over the last 24 ka, reflecting high scavenging below productive surface waters. At our study sites, we find that preserved sediment component fluxes cannot be used to distinguish between a scavenging or circulation control, although they are consistent with a circulation influence, since the core at intermediate depth with the highest 231Pa/230Th recorded the lowest particle fluxes. Reconstruction of advection rate using 231Pa/230Th in this region is complicated by high productivity, but the data nevertheless contain important information on past deep ocean circulation.

Age and growth of the giant sea bass, Stereolepis gigas - A. Hawk, Holly; Allen, Larry (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports, 2014)
In January 2010, a massive giant sea bass (500 lbs, 227 kg; near maximum reported size of 557 lbs, 253 kg) was captured off Santa Cruz Island by commercial gill-netters. This specimen presented a unique opportunity to estimate and validate of the potential longevity of the largest nearshore teleost of the northeastern Pacific. A transverse section of the sagittal otolith produced consistent counts of 62 opaque annuli along two different axes of the ventral sulcus region, translating into an estimated birth year of 1948. This age estimate was supported by measurements of radiocarbon (14 C) in the other sagittal otolith core (within the first year of growth), relative to D 14 C reference records used for bomb radiocarbon dating. Two otolith core samples produced D 14 C values that were classified as pre-bomb (prior to ,1958–59), indicating a minimum lifespan of 51 years. It is likely that giant sea bass can live more than 60 or 70 years based on growth zone counts, but there is no evidence in the literature or this study to support longevity of 100 years.
Keywords: Age and growth; Carbon-14; lifespan; Longevity; Otolith; Polyprionidae; Stereolepis

Amino acid ratios in reworked marine bivalve shells constrain Greenland Ice Sheet history during the Holocene - Briner, J. P.; Kaufman, D. S.; Bennike, O.; Kosnik, M. A. (Geology, 2014)
Reconstructions of ice sheet fluctuations during the Holocene, which encompassed cooler and warmer conditions than those that are captured in the historic record, help to elucidate ice margin sensitivity to climate change. We used amino acid geochronology to constrain the history of the western Greenland Ice Sheet margin during intervals of relative warmth in the middle Holocene. We measured the extent of amino acid racemization in 251 ice sheet-reworked marine bivalve shells from three locations spanning western Greenland. A significant relationship between shell age and the ratio of aspartic acid (Asp) isomers (Asp D/L) was revealed using Bayesian model fitting on 20 radiocarbon-dated shell fragments. The range of Asp-inferred bivalve ages at each site corresponds well with independent records of early Holocene ice retreat and late Holocene ice advance. Furthermore, the frequency of Asp-inferred bivalve ages from the three widely separated locations is nearly identical, with most ages between 5 and 3 ka, coinciding with optimum oceanic conditions. Because ice margin changes in western Greenland are tightly linked with oceanographic conditions, the distribution of reworked bivalve ages provides important information about relative ice margin position during smaller-than-present ice sheet configurations. This approach adds a new chronometer to our toolkit for constraining smaller-than-present ice sheet configurations and may have wide applicability around Greenland. Amino acid ratios in reworked marine bivalve shells constrain Greenland Ice Sheet history during the Holocene. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270688646_Amino_acid_ratios_in_reworked_marine_bivalve_shells_constrain_Greenland_Ice_Sheet_history_during_the_Holocene [accessed Jun 5, 2017].

Carbonation rates of peridotite in the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman, constrained through 14C dating and stable isotopes - Mervine, Evelyn M.; Humphris, Susan E.; Sims, Kenneth W. W.; Kelemen, Peter B.; W. J. Jenkins (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
Detailed 14C dating as well as stable C and O isotope analyses were conducted on carbonates formed during alteration of the peridotite layer of the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman. 14C results obtained in this and previous studies indicate that surface travertines range in age from modern to >45,000 yr BP, indicating long-term deposition and preservation. Travertine deposition rates in two localities were ∼0.1 to 0.3 mm/yr between ∼30,000 and 45,000 yr BP. Using an estimate of total travertine area, this would result in a maximum of ∼1000 to 3000 m3/yr of travertine being deposited throughout the ophiolite during this time period. This travertine deposition would have sequestered a maximum of ∼1 to 3 × 106 kg CO2/yr. Ca-rich carbonate veins that are associated with the surface travertine deposits have ages ranging from ∼4000 to 36,000 yr BP (average: 15,000 yr BP). Mg-rich carbonate veins exposed in outcrops have ages ranging from ∼8000 to 45,000 yr BP (average: 35,000 yr BP). Detailed sampling from numerous locations (3 locations in this study and 10 locations in the previous studies) indicates that no carbonate veins from the natural peridotite weathering surface are older than the ∼50,000 yr BP dating limit of 14C. However, 14C dating of Mg-rich carbonate veins from three roadcut exposures (Qafeefah, Fanja, and Al-Wuqbah) indicates that a significant number of roadcut veins are 14C dead (>50,000 yr BP). A location weighted average indicates that ∼40% of veins sampled at the three roadcuts are 14C dead. An average including veins sampled at both roadcuts and outcrops indicates that overall ∼8% of Mg-rich carbonate veins are 14C dead. Mg-rich carbonate veins are estimated to sequester on the order of 107 kg CO2/yr throughout the ophiolite.

Centennial-to-millennial hydrologic trends and variability along the North Atlantic Coast, USA, during the Holocene - Newby, Paige E.; Shuman, Bryan N.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Karnauskas, Kristopher B.; Marsicek, Jeremiah (Geophysical Research Letters, 2014)
Geophysical and sedimentary records from five lakes in Massachusetts reveal regionally coherent hydrologic variability during the Holocene. All of the lakes have risen since ~9.0 ka, but multicentury droughts after 5.6 ka repeatedly lowered their water levels. Quantified water level histories from the three best-studied lakes share >70% of their reconstructed variance. Four prominent low-water phases at 4.9–4.6, 4.2–3.9, 2.9–2.1, and 1.3–1.2 ka were synchronous across coastal lakes, even after accounting for age uncertainties. The droughts also affected sites up to ~200 km inland, but water level changes at 5.6–4.9 ka appear out of phase between inland and coastal lakes. During the enhanced multicentury variability after ~5.6 ka, droughts coincided with cooling in Greenland and may indicate circulation changes across the North Atlantic region. Overall, the records demonstrate that current water levels are exceptionally high and confirm the sensitivity of water resources in the northeast U.S. to climate change.

Coastal response to late-stage transgression and sea-level highstand - Hein, C. J.; FitzGerald, D. M.; Thadeu de Menezes, J.; Cleary, W. J.; Klein, A. H. F.; Albernaz, M. B. (Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2014)
Coastal morphologic features associated with past shoreline transgressions and sea-level highstands can provide insight into the rates and processes associated with coastal response to the modern global rise in sea level. Along the eastern and southern Brazilian coasts of South America, 6000 years of sea-level fall have preserved late-stage transgressive and sea-level highstand features 1–4 m above present mean sea level and several kilome ters landward of modern shore-lines. GPS with real-time kinematics data, ground-penetrating radar, stratigraphy, and radiocarbon dating within a 2–3-km-wide river-associated strandplain in central Santa Catarina (southern Brazil) uncovered a diverse set of late-stage transgressive and high- stand deposits. Here, the highstand took the forms of (1) an exposed bedrock coast in areas of high wave energy and low sediment supply; (2) a 3.8-m-high transgressive barrier ridge where landward barrier migration was prohibited by the presence of shallow bedrock; and (3) a complete barrier-island complex containing a 5.2-m-high barrier ridge, washover deposits, a paleo-inlet, and a backbarrier lowland, formed in a protected cove with ample sediment supply from small local streams and the erosion of upland sediments. Similar signatures of the mid-Holocene highstand can be traced across all coastal Brazilian states. This study presents the first complete compilation of the diversity of these sedimentary sequences. They are broadly classified here as exposed bedrock coasts (type A), back barrier deposits (type B), transgressive barrier ridges (type C), and barrier-island complexes (type D), according to localized conditions of upland migration potential, wave exposure, and sediment supply. These Brazilian systems present a paradigm for understanding future coastal response to climate change and accelerated sea-level rise: the recognition of a minimum threshold sea-level-rise rate of ~2 mm yr–1 above which transgression proceeded too rapidly for the formation of these stable accretionary shoreline features demonstrates the nonlinearity of coastal response to sea-level change, and the site specificity of conditions associated with the formation of each highstand deposit type, even within a single small embayment, demonstrates the non-uniformity of that response.

Composition and origin of authigenic carbonates in the Krishna-Godavari and Mahanadi Basins, eastern continental margin of India - Teichert, B. M. A.; Johnson, J. E.; Solomon, E. A.; Giosan, L.; Rose, K.; Kocherla, M.; Connolly, E. C.; Torres, M. E. (Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2014)
The mineralogical and stable isotopic composition of authigenic carbonates from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) and Mahanadi Basin provide a deeper insight into the processes inducing carbonate formation in the sediments of the eastern continental margin of India in the Bay of Bengal. Authigenic carbonate cements, (micro) nodules, bioturbation casts and tubes from 12 core locations drilled during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01 were investigated for this study. Three main processes responsible for authigenic carbonate precipitation are identified: organoclastic sulfate reduction, anaerobic oxidation of methane and methanogenesis. Evidence of vigorous methane seepage is indicated in carbonates recovered at Sites 7, 10, 12 (KG Basin) and 19 (Mahanadi Basin). These methane-derived carbonates display typical paragenetic carbonate mineralogies (aragonite, high-Mg calcite with >15 Mol% MgCO3, Ca-rich dolomite). Two separate horizons of methane derived-carbonates are correlated between 4 drill holes (up to ∼16 km apart). The upper horizon has been dated with 14C (40,100 – 51,600 a B.P. 1950) clearly indicating that methane seepage has been much more vigorous in the past possibly due to a glacial sea level lowstand.
AAy4wyTimes Cited:5Cited References Count:63

A continental shelf sedimentary record of Little Ice Age to modern glacial dynamics: Bering Glacier, Alaska - Jaeger, John M.; Kramer, Branden (Continental Shelf Research, 2014)
The Bering Glacier System is the world's largest surging temperate glacier with seven events occurring over the past century under a range of north Pacific climatic conditions. Onshore records reveal changes in glacial termini positions and evidence of late Holocene glacial advances, but the Little Ice Age (LIA) record of potential glacial surging and associated flooding has not been examined. A 13.6 m-long jumbo core collected on the adjacent continental shelf reveals a 600-yr-long record of sedimentation associated with changing glacifluvial discharge. The chronology is based on 210Pb geochronology and five radiocarbon dates, and the core can be separated into three distinct lithologic units based on the examination of X-radiographs and physical properties: (1) an uppermost unit dating from ∼125 cal yr BP to the present characterized by bioturbated mud interbedded with laminated, thick (5–20 cm) low-bulk density clay-rich beds; (2) a middle unit dating from ∼120–400 cal yr BP that includes numerous interlaminated-to-interbedded low- and high-bulk density beds with infrequent evidence of bioturbation; thick laminated clay-rich beds are rare; (3) a lowermost unit that predates ∼400 cal yr BP and is composed of rare laminated beds grading down into mottled to massive mud. In each of these units, the laminated lithofacies from this mid-shelf location indicates both flood deposition and likely sediment transport in the wave-current bottom-boundary layer. The thick low-density, clay-rich beds in the uppermost unit correlate with historic outburst floods associated with known surge events. Based on previous terrestrial studies, the terminus was at its Holocene Neoglacial maximum extent close to the modern coastline at some point in the middle to late stages of the LIA in southern Alaska (100–350 cal yr BP). During the LIA, preservation of bioturbated intervals is rare while laminated intervals are common. This style of interbedding indicates frequent (
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A continuous multi-millennial record of surficial bivalve mollusk shells from the São Paulo Bight, Brazilian shelf - Dexter, Troy A.; Kaufman, Darrell S.; Krause Jr, Richard A.; Barbour Wood, Susan L.; Simões, Marcello G.; Huntley, John Warren; Yanes, Yurena; Romanek, Christopher S.; Kowalewski, Michał (Quaternary Research, 2014)
To evaluate the potential of using surficial shell accumulations for paleoenvironmental studies, an extensive time series of individually dated specimens of the marine infaunal bivalve mollusk Semele casali was assembled using amino acid racemization (AAR) ratios (n = 270) calibrated against radiocarbon ages (n = 32). The shells were collected from surface sediments at multiple sites across a sediment-starved shelf in the shallow sub-tropical São Paulo Bight (São Paulo State, Brazil). The resulting 14C-calibrated AAR time series, one of the largest AAR datasets compiled to date, ranges from modern to 10,307 cal yr BP, is right skewed, and represents a remarkably complete time series: the completeness of the Holocene record is 66% at 250-yr binning resolution and 81% at 500-yr binning resolution. Extensive time-averaging is observed for all sites across the sampled bathymetric range indicating long water depth-invariant survival of carbonate shells at the sediment surface with low net sedimentation rates. Benthic organisms collected from active depositional surfaces can provide multi-millennial time series of biomineral records and serve as a source of geochemical proxy data for reconstructing environmental and climatic trends throughout the Holocene at centennial resolution. Surface sediments can contain time-rich shell accumulations that record the entire Holocene, not just the present.

Cryostratigraphy and Permafrost Evolution in the Lacustrine Lowlands of West-Central Alaska - Kanevskiy, Mikhail; Jorgenson, Torre; Shur, Yuri; O'Donnell, Jonathan A.; Harden, Jennifer W.; Zhuang, Qianlai; Fortier, Daniel (Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2014)
The influence of permafrost growth and thaw on the evolution of ice-rich lowland terrain in the Koyukuk-Innoko region of interior Alaska is fundamental but poorly understood. To elucidate this influence, the cryostratigraphy and properties of perennially frozen sediments from three areas in this region are described and interpreted in terms of permafrost history. The upper part of the late Quaternary sediments at the Koyukuk and Innoko Flats comprise frozen organic soils up to 4.5 m thick underlain by ice-rich silt characterised by layered and reticulate cryostructures. The volume of visible segregated ice in silt locally reaches 50 per cent, with ice lenses up to 10 cm thick. A conceptual model of terrain evolution from the Late Pleistocene to the present day identifies four stages of yedoma degradation and five stages of subsequent permafrost aggradation-degradation: (1) partial thawing of the upper ice wedges and the formation of small shallow ponds in the troughs above the wedges; (2) formation of shallow thermokarst lakes above the polygons; (3) deepening of thermokarst lakes and yedoma degradation beneath the lakes; (4) complete thawing of yedoma beneath the lakes; (5) lake drainage; (6) peat accumulation; (7) permafrost aggradation in drained lake basins; (8) formation of permafrost plateaus; and (9) formation and expansion of a new generation of thermokarst features. These stages can occur in differing places and times, creating a highly complex mosaic of terrain conditions, complicating predictions of landscape response to future climatic changes or human impact. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deciphering microbial carbon substrates in PAH contaminated sediments using phospholipid fatty acids, and compound specific δ13C and Δ14C - Morrill, Penny L.; Szponar, Natalie; Johnston, Mathew; Marvin, Chris; Slater, Gregory F. (Organic Geochemistry, 2014)
Stable and radiogenic carbon isotopes (δ13C and Δ14C) of organic compounds and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) ratios were used to determine sources and fates of organic contaminants in highly contaminated, and less contaminated sediments of Hamilton Harbour. The highly contaminated sediments had an order of magnitude more total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) compared to the less contaminated sediments. The TPHs extracted from both sites were depleted in 14C (average Δ14C of −775‰ and −973‰, for Sites 1 and 2, respectively) consistent with inputs of fossil derived contaminants. Fossil carbon also contributed to the unextractable residue (Δ14C = −503 ± 55‰) in the sediment at the highly contaminated site relative to the less contaminated site (Δ14C = −132 ± 2‰) indicating inputs of fossil carbon not derived from petroleum or PAHs. Diagnostic PAH ratios (e.g. PAH:NaP between 0.01 and 1), and less negative δ13C (−25.6 ± 0.2‰) of the unextractable residue indicated that a coal derived source was the most likely source of these inputs. Despite the presence of this fossil carbon, there was little evidence of utilization of ancient carbon by the microbial community. The Δ14C of PLFAs from the highly contaminated site were slightly more 14C depleted (Δ14C = −138 ± 20‰) relative to the PLFAs from the less contaminated site (Δ14C = −77 ± 42‰), demonstrating some microbial metabolism of older carbon; however, the majority of the carbon metabolized was modern at both sites, indicating that there was minimal natural attenuation via bioremediation of fossil fuel organic contaminants.

Decreased influence of Antarctic intermediate water in the tropical Atlantic during North Atlantic cold events - Huang, Kuo-Fang; Oppo, Delia W.; Curry, William B. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2014)
Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) is a key player in the global ocean circulation, contributing to the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and influencing interhemispheric heat exchange and the distribution of salinity, nutrients and carbon. However, the deglacial history of AAIW flow into the North Atlantic is controversial. Here we present a multicore-top neodymium isotope calibration, which confirms the ability of unclean foraminifera to faithfully record bottom water neodymium isotopic composition () values in their authigenic coatings. We then present the first foraminifera-based reconstruction of from three sediment cores retrieved from within modern AAIW, in the western tropical North Atlantic. Our records reveal similar glacial and interglacial contributions of AAIW, and a pronounced decrease in the AAIW fraction during North Atlantic deglacial cold episodes, Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) and Younger Dryas (YD). Our results suggest two separate phases of reduced fraction of AAIW in the tropical Atlantic during HS1, with a greater reduction during early HS1. If a reduction in AAIW fraction also reflects reduced AMOC strength, this finding may explain why, in many regions, there are two phases of hydrologic change within HS1, and why atmospheric CO2 rose more rapidly during early than late HS1. Our result suggesting less flow of AAIW into the Atlantic during North Atlantic cold events contrasts with evidence from the Pacific, where intermediate-depth records may indicate increased flow of AAIW into the Pacific during the these same events. Antiphased behavior between intermediate depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific implies that the flow of AAIW into Atlantic and Pacific seesawed during the last deglaciation.
Keywords: antarctic intermediate water; Atlantic meridional overturning circulation; deglacial variability; Nd isotopes; North Atlantic cold events

Deglacial ?18O and hydrologic variability in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans - Gibbons, Fern T.; Oppo, Delia W.; Mohtadi, Mahyar; Rosenthal, Yair; Cheng, Jun; Liu, Zhengyu; Linsley, Braddock K. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2014)
Evidence from geologic archives suggests that there were large changes in the tropical hydrologic cycle associated with the two prominent northern hemisphere deglacial cooling events, Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; ∼19 to 15 kyr BP; kyr BP = 1000 yr before present) and the Younger Dryas (∼12.9 to 11.7 kyr BP). These hydrologic shifts have been alternatively attributed to high and low latitude origin. Here, we present a new record of hydrologic variability based on planktic foraminifera-derived δ18O of seawater (δ18Osw) estimates from a sediment core from the tropical Eastern Indian Ocean, and using 12 additional δ18Osw records, construct a single record of the dominant mode of tropical Eastern Equatorial Pacific and Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) hydrologic variability. We show that deglacial hydrologic shifts parallel variations in the reconstructed interhemispheric temperature gradient, suggesting a strong response to variations in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the attendant heat redistribution. A transient model simulation of the last deglaciation suggests that hydrologic changes, including a southward shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which likely occurred during these northern hemisphere cold events, coupled with oceanic advection and mixing, resulted in increased salinity in the Indonesian region of the IPWP and the eastern tropical Pacific, which is recorded by the δ18Osw proxy. Based on our observations and modeling results we suggest the interhemispheric temperature gradient directly controls the tropical hydrologic cycle on these time scales, which in turn mediates poleward atmospheric heat transport.
Keywords: Deglaciation; Eastern Equatorial Pacific; heat transport; Indo-Pacific; δ18O of seawater

Delta growth and river valleys: the influence of climate and sea level changes on the South Adriatic shelf (Mediterranean Sea) - Maselli, V.; Trincardi, F.; Asioli, A.; Ceregato, A.; Rizzetto, F.; Taviani, M. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
Incised valleys across continental margins represent the response of fluvial systems to changes in their equilibrium dynamics, mainly driven by base level fall forced by glacial–eustatic cycles. The Manfredonia Incised Valley formed during the last glacial sea level lowstand, when most of the southern Adriatic shelf was sub-aerially exposed but the outer shelf remained under water. The pronounced upstream deepening of the valley is ascribed to river incision of the MIS5e highstand coastal prism and related subaqueous clinoform under the influence of MIS5-4 sea level fluctuations, while the downstream shallowing and narrowing mainly reflects the impact of increased rates of sea level fall at the MIS3-2 transition on a flatter mid-outer shelf. Until 15 ka BP, the valley fed an asymmetric delta confined to the mid-outer shelf, testifying that continental and deep marine systems remained disconnected during the lowstand. Sea level rise reached the inner shelf during the Early Holocene, drowning the valley and leading to the formation of a sheltered embayment confined toward the land: at this time part of the incision remained underfilled with a marked bathymetric expression. This mini-basin was rapidly filled by sandy bayhead deltas, prograding from both the northern and southern sides of the valley. In this environment, protected by marine reworking and where sediment dispersal was less effective, the accommodation space was reduced and autogenic processes forced the formation of multiple and coalescing delta lobes. Bayhead delta progradations occurred in few centuries, between 8 and 7.2 ka cal BP, confirming the recent hypothesis that in this area the valley was filled during the formation of sapropel S1. This proximal valley fill, representing the very shallow-water equivalent of the cm-thick sapropel layers accumulated offshore in the deeper southern Adriatic basin, is of key importance in following the signature of the sapropel in a facies-tract ideally from the shoreline to the abyss.

A depth refugium from catastrophic coral bleaching prevents regional extinction - Smith, Tyler B.; Glynn, Peter W.; é, Juan L.; Toth, Lauren T.; Gyory, Joanna (Ecology, 2014)
Species intolerant of changing climate might avoid extinction within refugia buffered from extreme conditions. Refugia have been observed in the fossil record but are not well documented or understood on ecological time scales. Using a 37-year record from the eastern Pacific across the two most severe El Nin o events on record (1982-1983 and 1997- 1998) we show how an exceptionally thermally sensitive reef-building hydrocoral, Millepora intricata, twice survived catastrophic bleaching in a deeper-water refuge (.11 m depth). During both events, M. intricata was extirpated across its range in shallow water, but showed recovery within several years, while two other hydrocorals without deep-water populations were driven to regional extinction. Evidence from the subfossil record in the same area showed shallow-water persistence of abundant M. intricata populations from 5000 years ago, through severe El Nin o-Southern Oscillation cycles, suggesting a potential depth refugium on a millennial timescale. Our data confirm the deep refuge hypothesis for corals under thermal stress. © 2014 by the Ecological Society of America.
Keywords: Coral bleaching; Coral mortality; Depth refuge; Eastern Tropical Pacific; El Nino-Southern Oscillation; Extinction; Holocene; Millepora; Refuge

Diverse rupture modes for surface-deforming upper-plate earthquakes in the southern Puget Lowland of Washington State - Nelson, Alan R.; Personius, Stephen F.; Sherrod, Brian L.; Kelsey, Harvey M.; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Bradley, Lee-Ann; Wells, Ray E. (Geosphere, 2014)
Earthquake prehistory of the southern Puget Lowland, in the north-south compressive regime of the migrating Cascadia forearc, reflects diverse earthquake rupture modes with variable recurrence. Stratigraphy and Bayesian analyses of previously reported and new 14C ages in trenches and cores along backthrust scarps in the Seattle fault zone restrict a large earthquake to 1040–910 cal yr B.P. (2σ), an interval that includes the time of the M 7–7.5 Restoration Point earthquake. A newly identified surface-rupturing earthquake along the Waterman Point backthrust dates to 940–380 cal yr B.P., bringing the number of earthquakes in the Seattle fault zone in the past 3500 yr to 4 or 5. Whether scarps record earthquakes of moderate (M 5.5–6.0) or large (M 6.5–7.0) magnitude, backthrusts of the Seattle fault zone may slip during moderate to large earthquakes every few hundred years for periods of 1000–2000 yr, and then not slip for periods of at least several thousands of years. Four new fault scarp trenches in the Tacoma fault zone show evidence of late Holocene folding and faulting about the time of a large earthquake or earthquakes inferred from widespread coseismic subsidence ca. 1000 cal yr B.P.; 12 ages from 8 sites in the Tacoma fault zone limit the earthquakes to 1050–980 cal yr B.P. Evidence is too sparse to determine whether a large earthquake was closely predated or postdated by other earthquakes in the Tacoma basin, but the scarp of the Tacoma fault was formed by multiple earthquakes. In the northeast-striking Saddle Mountain deformation zone, along the western limit of the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones, analysis of previous ages limits earthquakes to 1200–310 cal yr B.P. The prehistory clarifies earthquake clustering in the central Puget Lowland, but cannot resolve potential structural links among the three Holocene fault zones.

Gas hydrate destabilization and methane release events in the Krishna–Godavari Basin, Bay of Bengal - Joshi, R. K.; Mazumdar, A.; Peketi, A.; Ramamurty, P. B.; Naik, B. G.; Kocherla, M.; Carvalho, Mary Ann; Mahalakshmi, P.; Dewangan, P.; Ramana, M. V. (Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2014)
Methane release events have been linked to global warming, alteration of the carbon cycle and influence on biota. However, unequivocal evidence of paleomethane release events are limited. We report several negative carbon stable isotope excursions in planktic and benthic foraminifera in a core (MD161-8) from the Krishna-Godavari (K–G) Basin, Bay of Bengal. The most negative δ13C spikes are recorded during the marine isotope stages MIS-4 and at the transition of MIS-5 to 4. Occurrence of highly 13C depleted (average δ13C = −48 ± 2.4‰ VPDB) authigenic high magnesian calcite are also reported within this time window from the core MD161-8. In the present work an unequivocal explanation for the observed 13C depletion in the marine planktic and benthic foraminifera is difficult to achieve solely from the optical/electron microscopy or C–O stable isotope ratio analyses due to possible influence of diagenetic alteration. We attribute the observed episodic methane expulsion events, as inferred from the negative δ13C excursions and earlier reports on the occurrence chemosynthetic bivalves and Mo concentration anomaly to the destabilization of the base of gas hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ). Sea level drop and shale tectonics induced focused fluid flow are the two possible causes of hydrate destabilization discussed here. Shale tectonics were possibly responsible for creating fault systems which acted as the conduit for gas flow through the sediment column and subsequent seepage. Shale and salt tectonics in the passive continental margins being a globally observed phenomenon, its role as an important driving force for enhanced methane emission needs detailed investigation to understand the climatic perturbations through geologic time. Additional evidence of methane emission from site MD161-15 further supports the link between shale tectonics and methane emission.
AAy4wyTimes Cited:2Cited References Count:97

A Geochemical Approach to Determine Sources and Movement of Saline Groundwater in a Coastal Aquifer - Anders, Robert; Mendez, Gregory O.; Futa, Kiyoto; Danskin, Wesley R. (Groundwater, 2014)
Geochemical evaluation of the sources and movement of saline groundwater in coastal aquifers can aid in the initial mapping of the subsurface when geological information is unavailable. Chloride concentrations of groundwater in a coastal aquifer near San Diego, California, range from about 57 to 39,400 mg/L. On the basis of relative proportions of major-ions, the chemical composition is classified as Na-Ca-Cl-SO4, Na-Cl, or Na-Ca-Cl type water. ?2H and ?18O values range from ?47.7? to ?12.8? and from ?7.0? to ?1.2?, respectively. The isotopically depleted groundwater occurs in the deeper part of the coastal aquifer, and the isotopically enriched groundwater occurs in zones of sea water intrusion. 87Sr/86Sr ratios range from about 0.7050 to 0.7090, and differ between shallower and deeper flow paths in the coastal aquifer. 3H and 14C analyses indicate that most of the groundwater was recharged many thousands of years ago. The analysis of multiple chemical and isotopic tracers indicates that the sources and movement of saline groundwater in the San Diego coastal aquifer are dominated by: (1) recharge of local precipitation in relatively shallow parts of the flow system; (2) regional flow of recharge of higher-elevation precipitation along deep flow paths that freshen a previously saline aquifer; and (3) intrusion of sea water that entered the aquifer primarily during premodern times. Two northwest-to-southeast trending sections show the spatial distribution of the different geochemical groups and suggest the subsurface in the coastal aquifer can be separated into two predominant hydrostratigraphic layers.

The geochemistry of deep-sea coral skeletons: A review of vital effects and applications for palaeoceanography - Robinson, Laura F.; Adkins, Jess F.; Frank, Norbert; Alexander, C.; Prouty, Nancy; Brendan Roark, E.; de Flierdt, Tina van (Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2014)
Deep-sea corals were discovered over a century ago, but it is only over recent years that focused efforts have been made to explore the history of the oceans using the geochemistry of their skeletal remains. They offer a promising archive of past oceanic environments given their global distribution, layered growth patterns, longevity and preservation as well as our ability to date them using radiometric techniques. This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in terms of geochemical approaches to using deep-sea coral skeletons to explore the history of the ocean. Deep-sea coral skeletons have a wide array of morphologies (e.g., solitary cup corals, branching colonial corals) and materials (calcite, aragonite and proteins). As such their biomineralization strategies are diverse, leading to complex geochemistry within coral skeletons. Notwithstanding these complications, progress has been made on developing methods for reconstructing the oceanographic environment in the past using trace elements and isotopic methods. Promising approaches within certain coral groups include clumped isotopes and Mg/Li for temperature reconstructions, boron isotopes and radiocarbon for carbon cycling, Nd, and radiocarbon for circulation studies and δ15N, P/Ca and Ba/Ca for nutrient tracer studies. Likewise there is now a range of techniques for dating deep-sea corals skeletons (e.g., U-series, radiocarbon), and determining their growth rates (e.g., radiocarbon and 210Pb). Dating studies on historic coral populations in the Atlantic, Southern Ocean and Pacific point to climate and environmental changes being dominant controls on coral populations over millennial and orbital timescales. This paper provides a review of a range of successes and promising approaches. It also highlights areas in which further research would likely provide new insights into biomineralization, palaeoceanography and distribution of past coral populations.
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Glacial to deglacial ventilation and productivity changes in the southern Okhotsk Sea - Okazaki, Yusuke; Kimoto, Katsunori; Asahi, Hirofumi; Sato, Miyako; Nakamura, Yuriko; Harada, Naomi (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2014)
As a source region of North Pacific Intermediate Water, the Okhotsk Sea plays an important role in the ventilation of the North Pacific. To understand the detailed oceanographic changes in this marginal sea since the last glaciation, we studied decadal to centennial scale proxy records from new sediment cores from the southwestern Okhotsk Sea. Glacial to Holocene Δ14C records of benthic foraminiferal shells suggested enhanced ventilation in the Okhotsk Sea during the early deglacial period between 18 and 15 ka, corresponding to Heinrich Event 1. Although the Δ14C reconstruction has considerable uncertainties, the Okhotsk Sea may have acted as a source for vigorous ventilation of the subarctic Pacific during this period. CaCO3 preservation events appear to be better explained by the ventilation history of the Okhotsk Sea than by coccolithophores and foraminifera production. CaCO3 preservation started to improve during 18 to 15 ka, and pronounced peaks in the CaCO3 content corresponded to the Bølling–Allerød (15 to 13 ka) and Preboreal (11.5 to 10 ka) warm periods. Diatom and coccolithophore productivity remained low in the Okhotsk Sea throughout the glacial to deglacial periods, different from the situation in the open subarctic Pacific, where high productivity was observed during the Bølling–Allerød period. After the Preboreal period, biogenic opal gradually increased and δ15N decreased in the southern Okhotsk Sea, suggesting that productivity was enhanced by a relaxation of the nitrate limitation.
Keywords: Glacial–deglacial change; Okhotsk Sea; productivity; ventilation

Heterogeneous reservoirs in the marine carbon cycle - L Follett, Christopher (2014)
Understanding the fate of primary production in the ocean is a challenging task because once produced, organic material is oxidized over timescales which range from minutes, to millions of years. This timescale diversity is matched by an equal heterogeneity in both the local physical and chemical environment. In this thesis we explore the relationship between the distinct reservoirs of organic carbon in the ocean and their underlying complexity. First, we show how the heterogeneity of portions of the carbon cycle can be packaged in terms of age structured models and their accompanying age and rate distributions. We further relate the moments of the rate distributions to bulk reservoir properties like average age and flux. Explicit relationships are then derived for the specific case of a single turnover time and a lognormal distribution. We apply these ideas to the problem of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycling in the ocean. Current models of bulk concentration and isotope data suggest a microbially sourced DOC reservoir consisting of two components. A nearly homogeneous background component with a long turnover time (> 6000 years) is joined by a component of fast turnover time (~ 1 year) and equal concentration in the surface ocean. We confirm the presence of isotopically enriched, modern DOC co-cycling with an isotopically depleted older fraction in the upper ocean. However, our results show that up to 30% of the deep DOC reservoir is modern and supported by a 1 Pg per year carbon flux, ten times higher than inferred from bulk isotope measurements. Isotopically depleted material turns over at an apparent time scale of 30, 000 years, far slower than indicated by bulk isotope measurements. These results are consistent with global DOC measurements and explain both the fluctuations in deep DOC concentration and the anomalous radiocarbon values of DOC in the Southern Ocean. Finally, the thesis explores methods for determining the validity of diffusion limitation as the mechanism behind the power-law slowdown in organic remineralization in sediment. We find that diffusion limitation connects the decay behavior of organic material to the correlations found between mineral surface area and organic matter content in sediments.
Keywords: Carbon dioxide content; Organic compounds

Hidden cycle of dissolved organic carbon in the deep ocean - Follett, Christopher L.; Repeta, Daniel J.; Rothman, Daniel H.; Xu, Li; Santinelli, Chiara (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014)
Marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a large (660 Pg C) reactive carbon reservoir that mediates the oceanic microbial food web and interacts with climate on both short and long timescales. Carbon isotopic content provides information on the DOC source via [Formula: see text]C and age via [Formula: see text]C. Bulk isotope measurements suggest a microbially sourced DOC reservoir with two distinct components of differing radiocarbon age. However, such measurements cannot determine internal dynamics and fluxes. Here we analyze serial oxidation experiments to quantify the isotopic diversity of DOC at an oligotrophic site in the central Pacific Ocean. Our results show diversity in both stable and radio isotopes at all depths, confirming DOC cycling hidden within bulk analyses. We confirm the presence of isotopically enriched, modern DOC cocycling with an isotopically depleted older fraction in the upper ocean. However, our results show that up to 30% of the deep DOC reservoir is modern and supported by a 1 Pg/y carbon flux, which is 10 times higher than inferred from bulk isotope measurements. Isotopically depleted material turns over at an apparent time scale of 30,000 y, which is far slower than indicated by bulk isotope measurements. These results are consistent with global DOC measurements and explain both the fluctuations in deep DOC concentration and the anomalous radiocarbon values of DOC in the Southern Ocean. Collectively these results provide an unprecedented view of the ways in which DOC moves through the marine carbon cycle.
Keywords: Carbon cycle; carbon isotopes; dissolved organic carbon; Oceanography; radiocarbon

The high-supply, current-dominated continental margin of southeastern South America during the late Quaternary - Lantzsch, Hendrik; Hanebuth, Till J. J.; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Schwenk, Tilmann; Violante, Roberto A. (Quaternary Research, 2014)
The continental margin off the La Plata Estuary (SE South America) is characterized by high fluvial sediment supply and strong ocean currents. High-resolution sediment-acoustic data combined with sedimentary facies analysis, AMS-14C ages, and neodymium isotopic data allowed us to reconstruct late Quaternary sedimentary dynamics in relation to the two major sediment sources, the La Plata Estuary and the Argentine margin. Sediments from these two provinces show completely different dispersal patterns. We show that the northward-trending La Plata paleo-valley was the sole transit path for the huge volumes of fluvial material during lower sea levels. In contrast, material from the Argentine margin sector was transported northwards by the strong current system. Despite the large sediment volumes supplied by both sources, wide parts of the shelf were characterized by either persistent non-deposition or local short-term depocenter formation. The location and formation history of these depocenters were primarily controlled by the interplay of sea level with current strength and local morphology. The high sediment supply was of secondary importance to the stratigraphic construction, though locally resulting in high sedimentation rates. Thus, the shelf system off the La Plata Estuary can be considered as a hydrodynamic-controlled end-member.

Holocene earthquakes and right-lateral slip on the left-lateral Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone, northern Puget Sound, Washington - Personius, S. F.; Briggs, R. W.; Nelson, A. R.; Schermer, E. R.; Maharrey, J. Z.; Sherrod, B. L.; Spaulding, S. A.; Bradley, L.-A. (Geosphere, 2014)
Sources of seismic hazard in the Puget Sound region of northwestern Washington include deep earthquakes associated with the Cascadia subduction zone, and shallow earthquakes associated with some of the numerous crustal (upper-plate) faults that crisscross the region. Our paleoseismic investigations on one of the more prominent crustal faults, the Darrington–Devils Mountain fault zone, included trenching of fault scarps developed on latest Pleistocene glacial sediments and analysis of cores from an adjacent wetland near Lake Creek, 14 km southeast of Mount Vernon, Washington. Trench excavations revealed evidence of a single earthquake, radiocarbon dated to ca. 2 ka, but extensive burrowing and root mixing of sediments within 50–100 cm of the ground surface may have destroyed evidence of other earthquakes. Cores in a small wetland adjacent to our trench site provided stratigraphic evidence (formation of a laterally extensive, prograding wedge of hillslope colluvium) of an earthquake ca. 2 ka, which we interpret to be the same earthquake documented in the trenches. A similar colluvial wedge lower in the wetland section provides possible evidence for a second earthquake dated to ca. 8 ka. Three-dimensional trenching techniques revealed evidence for 2.2 ± 1.1 m of right-lateral offset of a glacial outwash channel margin, and 45–70 cm of north-side-up vertical separation across the fault zone. These offsets indicate a net slip vector of 2.3 ± 1.1 m, plunging 14° west on a 286°-striking, 90°-dipping fault plane. The dominant right-lateral sense of slip is supported by the presence of numerous Riedel R shears preserved in two of our trenches, and probable right-lateral offset of a distinctive bedrock fault zone in a third trench. Holocene north-side-up, right-lateral oblique slip is opposite the south-side-up, left-lateral oblique sense of slip inferred from geologic mapping of Eocene and older rocks along the fault zone. The cause of this slip reversal is unknown but may be related to clockwise rotation of the Darrington–Devils Mountain fault zone into a position more favorable to right-lateral slip in the modern N-S compressional stress field.

Holocene fluctuations of Bregne ice cap, Scoresby Sund, east Greenland: a proxy for climate along the Greenland Ice Sheet margin - Levy, Laura B.; Kelly, Meredith A.; Lowell, Thomas V.; Hall, Brenda L.; Hempel, Laura A.; Honsaker, William M.; Lusas, Amanda R.; Howley, Jennifer A.; Axford, Yarrow L. (APEX II: Arctic Palaeoclimate and its Extremes, 2014)
The Greenland Ice Sheet is a major component of the Arctic cryosphere and the magnitude of its response to future climate changes remains uncertain. Longer-term records of climate near the ice sheet margin provide information about natural climate variability and can be used to understand the causes of past changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. As a proxy for Holocene climate near the ice sheet margin, we reconstruct the fluctuations of Bregne ice cap in the Scoresby Sund region of central east Greenland. Bregne is a small ice cap (2.5 km2 in area) and responds sensitively to summer temperatures. We employ a multi-proxy approach to reconstruct the ice cap fluctuations using geomorphic mapping, 10Be ages of boulders and bedrock and lake sediment records. Past extents of Bregne ice cap are marked by moraines and registered by sediments in downvalley lakes. 10Be ages of bedrock and boulders outboard of the moraines indicate that Bregne ice cap was within ∼250 m of its present-day limit by at least 10.7 ka. Multi-proxy data from sediments in Two Move lake, located downvalley from Bregne ice cap, indicate that the ice cap likely completely disappeared during early and middle Holocene time. Increasing magnetic susceptibility and percent clastic material from ∼6.5 to ∼1.9 cal ka BP in Two Move lake sediments suggest progressively colder conditions and increased snow accumulation on the highlands west of the lake. Laminated silt deposited at ∼2.6 cal ka BP and ∼1.9 cal ka BP to present registers the onset and persistence of Bregne ice cap during the late Holocene. 10Be ages of boulders on an unweathered, unvegetated moraine in the Bregne ice cap forefield range from 0.74 to 9.60 ka. The youngest 10Be age (0.74 ka) likely represents the age of the moraine whereas older ages may be due to 10Be inherited from prior periods of exposure. This late Holocene moraine marks the second largest advance of the ice cap since deglaciation of the region at the end of the last ice age. The oldest moraine in the forefield dates to ≤2.6 cal ka BP. The fluctuations of Bregne ice cap were likely influenced by Northern Hemisphere summer insolation throughout the Holocene and abrupt late Holocene cold events.

Holocene glacier history of the Lago Argentino basin, Southern Patagonian Icefield - Strelin, Jorge A.; Kaplan, Michael R.; Vandergoes, Marcus J.; Denton, George H.; Schaefer, Joerg M. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
We present new geomorphic, stratigraphic, and chronologic data for Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Lago Argentino basin on the eastern side of the southern Patagonian Andes. Chronologic control is based on 14C and surface-exposure 10Be dating. After the Lateglacial maximum at 13,000 cal yrs BP, the large ice lobes that filled the eastern reaches of Lago Argentino retreated and separated into individual outlet glaciers; this recession was interrupted only by a stillstand or minor readvance at 12,200 cal yrs BP. The eight largest of these individual outlet glaciers are, from north to south: Upsala, Agassiz, Onelli, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino, Perito Moreno, and Grande (formerly Frías). Holocene recession of Upsala Glacier exposed Brazo Cristina more than 10,115 ± 100 cal yrs BP, and reached inboard of the Holocene moraines in Agassiz Este Valley by 9205 ± 85 cal yrs BP; ice remained in an inboard position until 7730 ± 50 cal yrs BP. Several subsequent glacier readvances are well documented for the Upsala and Frías glaciers. The Upsala Glacier readvanced at least seven times, the first being a relatively minor expansion – documented only in stratigraphic sections – between 7730 ± 50 and 7210 ± 45 cal yrs BP. The most extensive Holocene advances of Upsala Glacier resulted in the deposition of the Pearson 1 moraines and related landforms, which are divided into three systems. The Pearson 1a advance occurred about 6000–5000 cal yrs BP and was followed by the slightly less-extensive Pearson 1b and 1c advances dated to 2500–2000 and 1500–1100 cal yrs BP, respectively. Subsequent advances of Upsala Glacier resulted in deposition of the Pearson 2 moraines and corresponding landforms, also separated into three systems, Pearson 2a, 2b, and 2c, constructed respectively at ∼700, >400, and <300 cal yrs BP to the early 20th century. Similar advances are also recorded by moraine systems in front of Grande Glacier and herein separated into the Frías 1 and Frías 2a, 2b, and 2c. The Onelli and Ameghino glacier valleys also preserve older Holocene moraines. In the Agassiz, Spegazzini, and Mayo valleys, ice of the late-Holocene advances appears to have overridden landforms equivalent in age to Pearson 1. Perito Moreno Glacier is an extreme case in which ice of historical (Pearson 2c) advances overrode all older Holocene moraines. Based on the distribution and number of moraines preserved, we infer that the response to climate differed among the Lago Argentino outlet glaciers during the Holocene. This led us to examine the effects of climatic and non-climatic factors on individual glaciers. As a consequence, we detected an important effect of the valley geometry (hypsometry) on the timing and magnitude of glacier response to climate change. These results indicate that caution is needed in correlating moraines among glacier forefields without firm morpho-stratigraphic and age control. Finally, we note important similarities and differences between the overall moraine chronology in the Lago Argentino basin and that in other areas of southern South America and elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

Holocene Indian Ocean tsunami history in Sri Lanka - Jackson, Kelly L.; Eberli, Gregor P.; Amelung, Falk; McFadden, Melany A.; Moore, Andrew L.; Rankey, Eugene C.; Jayasena, H. A. H. (Geology, 2014)
Sediment cores from Karagan Lagoon in southeastern Sri Lanka retrieved deposits from the A.D. 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and older similar deposits that provide evidence for a tsunami 2417 +/- 152 cal. (calendar) yr B.P. to 2925 +/- 98 cal. yr B.P., and for six tsunamis between 4064 +/- 128 cal. yr B.P. and 6665 +/- 110 cal. yr B.P., a period for which the sediment record appears continuous. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the recurrence interval is variable, ranging from 181-517 yr to 1045 +/- 334 yr, with a mean recurrence interval of 434 +/- 40 yr during the ca. 4000-7000 cal. yr B.P. continuous interval. Assuming that these tsunamis were generated by giant earthquakes along the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone, a reasonable assumption for this far-field transoceanic location, this record extends the giant-earthquake history for the Indian Ocean region. The longest recurrence interval of more than 1000 yr implies that earthquakes along the subduction zone may reach twice the size of the 2004 earthquake.

Holocene paleoclimatic variation in the Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica: A mineral magnetic approach} - Phartiyal, Binita (POLAR SCIENCE, 2014)
An analysis of remanent magnetism and radiocarbon ages in the dry lacustrine/sediment fills of the Schirmacher Oasis (SO) in East Antarctica was conducted to reconstruct past climatic condition. The statistically run mineral magnetic data on paleontological statistics software package (multivariate cluster analysis) placed on accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon chronology of the three sediment sections, trace 6 phases of climatic fluctuation between 13 and 3 ka, (Phases 1, 3 and 5 represent cold periods while Phases 2, 4, and 6 represent warm periods). One short warm period (Phase 2, ca. 12.5 ka) occurred in the late Pleistocene, and two marked warm periods (Phase 4, 11-8.7 ka; Phase 6, 4.4-3 ka) occurred in the Holocene. High magnetic susceptibility (chi), saturation isothermal remanent magnetism (SIRM), and soft isothermal remanent magnetism (soft IRM) values correspond to colder periods and low values reflect comparatively warmer lacustrine phases. Holocene Optima (Phase 4) and Mid Holocene Hypsithermal (Phase 6) are distinguished by decreased values of concentrations dependent parameters. Remanence is preserved in the low-coercive minerals. Heavy metals in the sediments include, Fe, Rb, Zn, Mo, Co, Pb, Mn, Cu, and As in order of decreasing abundance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. and NIPR. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Holocene; Lacustrine sediments; Mineral remanent magnetism; Paleoclimate; Schirmacher Oasis

Holocene sea-surface temperature variability in the Chilean fjord region - Caniupán, Magaly; Lamy, Frank; Lange, Carina B.; Kaiser, Jérôme; Kilian, Rolf; Arz, Helge W.; León, Tania; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Sandoval, Susana; De Pol-Holz, Ricardo; Pantoja, Silvio; Wellner, Julia; et al. (Quaternary Research, 2014)
Here we provide three new Holocene (11–0 cal ka BP) alkenone-derived sea surface temperature (SST) records from the southernmost Chilean fjord region (50–53°S). SST estimates may be biased towards summer temperature in this region, as revealed by a large set of surface sediments. The Holocene records show consistently warmer than present-day SSTs except for the past ~ 0.6 cal ka BP. However, they do not exhibit an early Holocene temperature optimum as registered further north off Chile and in Antarctica. This may have resulted from a combination of factors including decreased inflow of warmer open marine waters due to lower sea-level stands, enhanced advection of colder and fresher inner fjord waters, and stronger westerly winds. During the mid-Holocene, pronounced short-term variations of up to 2.5°C and a cooling centered at ~ 5 cal ka BP, which coincides with the first Neoglacial glacier advance in the Southern Andes, are recorded. The latest Holocene is characterized by two pronounced cold events centered at ~ 0.6 and 0.25 cal ka BP, i.e., during the Little Ice Age. These cold events have lower amplitudes in the offshore records, suggesting an amplification of the SST signal in the inner fjords.

Indonesian vegetation response to changes in rainfall seasonality over the past 25,000 years - Dubois, Nathalie; Oppo, Delia W.; Galy, Valier V.; Mohtadi, Mahyar; van der Kaars, Sander; Tierney, Jessica E.; Rosenthal, Yair; Eglinton, Timothy I.; L?ckge, Andreas; Linsley, Braddock K. (Nature Geoscience, 2014)
The hydrologic response to climate forcing in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region has varied spatially over the past 25,000 years1, 2, 3, 4, 5. For example, drier conditions are inferred on Java and Borneo for the period following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, whereas wetter conditions are reconstructed for northwest Australia4. The response of vegetation to these past rainfall variations is poorly constrained. Using a suite of 30 surface marine sediment samples from throughout the Indo-Pacific warm pool, we demonstrate that today the stable isotopic composition of vascular plant fatty acids (δ13Cfa) reflects the regional vegetation composition. This in turn is controlled by the seasonality of rainfall consistent with dry season water stress6. Applying this proxy in a sediment core from offshore northeast Borneo, we show broadly similar vegetation cover during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene, suggesting that, despite generally drier glacial conditions1, 7, there was no pronounced dry season. In contrast, δ13Cfa and pollen data from a core off the coast of Sumba indicate an expansion of C4 herbs during the most recent glaciation, implying enhanced aridity and water stress during the dry season. Holocene vegetation trends are also consistent with a response to dry season water stress. We therefore conclude that vegetation in tropical monsoon regions is susceptible to increases in water stress arising from an enhanced seasonality of rainfall, as has occurred8 in past decades.
Keywords: Palaeoclimate; Palaeoecology

Inferring local to regional changes in forest composition from Holocene macrofossils and pollen of a small lake in central Upper Michigan - Jackson, Stephen T.; Booth, Robert K.; Reeves, Kelly; Andersen, Jennifer Jewell; Minckley, Thomas A.; Jones, Rachel A. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
Vegetational response to climatic change involves processes of population and community dynamics within local stands, which scale up to landscape-level changes in vegetation composition and broad-scale changes in species distributions. Understanding these dynamics poses a critical challenge to paleoecological explanation, because of the broad range of scales at which these dynamics take place and interact. We present an 8600-year paleoecological record of local and regional changes in forest composition from a small (2.6 ha) lake in central Upper Michigan. Plant macrofossils provide a spatially precise record of local forest composition, while pollen data provide a spatially integrated record of regional vegetational changes. Temporal patterns among different macrofossil types within species show overall coherence, indicating that changes in macrofossil abundance generally record changes in local tree abundance. Temporal patterns in macrofossil sequences correspond to patterns in pollen sequences, indicating that local changes contributed to the large-scale changes in the surrounding region. The pollen and macrofossil records show nearly continuous turnover in vegetation composition throughout the past 8600 years; the longest period without major compositional change was ca 1600 years, and dynamics at multidecadal to multicentennial scales are observed during many periods. Coordinated application of temporally precise sequences of pollen and macrofossil data at multiple sites can support inferences concerning vegetation dynamics at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and test mechanistic hypotheses.

An investigation of size-fractionated organic matter from Lake Superior and a tributary stream using radiocarbon, stable isotopes and NMR - Zigah, Prosper K.; Minor, Elizabeth C.; Abdulla, Hussain A.N.; Werne, Josef P.; Hatcher, Patrick G. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)

An investigation of size-fractionated organic matter from Lake Superior and a tributary stream using radiocarbon, stable isotopes and NMR - Zigah, Prosper K.; Minor, Elizabeth C.; Abdulla, Hussain A. N.; Werne, Josef P.; Hatcher, Patrick G. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
This study investigated the concentration and isotopic composition of different size fractions of organic matter (OM) in Lake Superior and in one of its many tributary streams and rivers (Amity Creek, Duluth, Minnesota, USA). Structural compositional drivers of the Δ14C of high molecular weight (HMW, >1 kDa) dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the lake were also evaluated. Low molecular weight (LMW, 0.7 μm) was generally 13C-depleted (−29 ± 1.2‰) relative to “bulk” (<0.7 μm) DOC (−26.4 ± 0.7‰), “init” (<0.2 μm) DOC (−26.6 ± 0.8‰), HMW DOC (−26.9 ± 0.3‰) and LMW DOC (−26.5 ± 0.9‰), and had more variable 14C content (Δ14C of −94‰ to 53‰; 735 years BP to modern) than the other size fractions. Init DOC (Δ14C of 17–59‰), HMW DOC (Δ14C of 23–64‰) and LMW DOC (Δ14C of 16–62‰) all reflected contemporary (modern) radiocarbon signatures. Bulk DOC (Δ14C of −19‰ to 57‰; 90 years BP to modern) had modern radiocarbon values in the offshore sites (Δ14C of 2–57‰) with pre-aged samples (Δ14C of −8‰ to −19‰) seen at the nearshore site. HMW DOM was relatively N-poor (C:N of 12–19) compared to particulate organic matter (POM, C:N of 8–10) revealing either a more diagenetically altered state or contrasting sources. 13C NMR data showed that biochemical composition of HMW DOC in Lake Superior was dominated by carbohydrates (53–65%) with only trace aromatic components (2–4%). Structurally complex components such as heteropolysaccharides (HPS), amide/peptides and amino sugars (AMS) constitute 75–84% of HMW DOC whereas carboxylic-rich alicyclic molecules (CRAM) made up 16–25% of HMW DOC in the lake. Combined HPS and AMS, O-alkyl carbohydrate carbon, and total carbohydrate carbon contents were significantly positively correlated to the Δ14C of HMW DOC suggesting they contribute a contemporary 14C-enriched component to the HMW DOC in the lake. In contrast, CRAM and aliphatic carbons were significantly inversely correlated with Δ14C of HMW DOC implying that these represent 14C-depleted (older) components of HMW DOC in the lake. At Amity Creek, storm events led to larger loads of bulk DOC and POC, which were both 14C-enriched (modern). However, in baseflow conditions 14C-depleted bulk DOC and POC were exported. LMW DOC from the creek was considerably 14C-depleted compared to concurrent HMW DOC.

Isotopic evidence for anthropogenic impacts on aquatic food web dynamics and mercury cycling in a subtropical wetland ecosystem in the US - Wang, Yang; Gu, Binhe; Lee, Ming-Kuo; Jiang, Shijun; Xu, Yingfeng (Science of The Total Environment, 2014)
Quantifying and predicting the food web consequences of anthropogenic changes is difficult using traditional methods (based on gut content analysis) because natural food webs are variable and complex. Here, stable and radioactive carbon isotopes are used, in conjunction with nitrogen isotopes and mercury (Hg) concentration data, to document the effects of land-use change on food webs and Hg bioaccumulation in the Everglades – a subtropical wetland ecosystem in the US. Isotopic signatures of largemouth bass and sunfish in reference (relatively pristine) wetlands indicate reliance on the food supply of modern primary production within the wetland. In contrast, both fish in areas impacted by agricultural runoff had radiocarbon ages as old as 540 years B.P., and larger isotopic variability than counterparts in reference wetlands, reflecting differences in the food web between impacted and reference wetlands. Consistent with this difference, particulate and dissolved organic matter in impacted areas had old radiocarbon ages (> 600 years B.P.), indicating that old carbon derived from historic peat deposits in the Everglades Agricultural Area was passed along the food chain to consumers. Significant radiocarbon deficiencies in largemouth bass and sunfish, relative to mosquitofish, in impacted areas most likely indicate a reduced dependence on small fish. Furthermore, largemouth bass and sunfish from impacted areas had much lower Hg contents than those from reference wetlands. Taken together, these data suggest a shift toward lower trophic levels and a possible reduction in mercury methylation in impacted wetlands. Our study provides clear evidence that hydrological modification and land-use change in the Everglades have changed the system from one driven primarily by in-situ productivity to one that is partially dependent on allochthonous carbon input from peat soils in the agricultural area and altered the Hg biogeochemical cycle in the wetlands. The results have implications for the restoration and management of wetland ecosystems.

Late Holocene marine transgression and the drowning of a coastal forest: Lessons from the past, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA - Maio, Christopher V.; Gontz, Allen M.; Weidman, Christopher R.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2014)
Extra-tropical storms in the spring of 2010 swept the New England coastline resulting in significant erosion along South Cape Beach, a barrier system located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The erosion revealed 111 subfossil stumps and a preserved peat outcrop. We hypothesize that the stumps represent an ancient Eastern Red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, stand growing in a back-barrier environment and drowned by episodic storm events and moderate rates of sea-level rise. Stumps, bivalves, and organic sediments, were radiocarbon dated using traditional and continuous-flow Atomic Mass Spectroscopy methods. Six sediment cores elucidated subsurface stratigraphy and environmental setting. Subfossil stumps ranged in age from 413 ± 80 to 1239 ± 53 calibrated years before present. We assume that this age represents the time at which the ancient trees were drowned by marine waters. Based on elevation and age, an 826 year rate of submergence was calculated at 0.73 mm/yr with an R2 value of 0.47. Core stratigraphy, microfossil assemblages, and radiocarbon ages indicate a dynamic barrier environment with frequent overwash and breaching events occurring during the past 500 years. Shoreline change analysis showed that between 1846 and 2008, the shoreline retreated landward by 70 m at a long-term rate of 0.43 m/yr. Future increases in the rate of sea-level rise, coupled with episodic storm events, will lead to the destruction of terrestrial environments at rate orders of magnitude greater than that during the time of the paleoforest.

Late Holocene sea- and land-level change on the U.S. southeastern Atlantic coast - Kemp, Andrew C.; Bernhardt, Christopher E.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Kopp, Robert E.; Vane, Christopher H.; Peltier, W. Richard; Hawkes, Andrea D.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Parnell, Andrew C.; Cahill, Niamh (Marine Geology, 2014)
Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) reconstructions can be used to estimate rates of land-level (subsidence or uplift) change and therefore to modify global sea-level projections for regional conditions. These reconstructions also provide the long-term benchmark against which modern trends are compared and an opportunity to understand the response of sea level to past climate variability. To address a spatial absence of late Holocene data in Florida and Georgia, we reconstructed ~ 1.3 m of RSL rise in northeastern Florida (USA) during the past ~ 2600 years using plant remains and foraminifera in a dated core of high salt-marsh sediment. The reconstruction was fused with tide-gauge data from nearby Fernandina Beach, which measured 1.91 ± 0.26 mm/year of RSL rise since 1900 CE. The average rate of RSL rise prior to 1800 CE was 0.41 ± 0.08 mm/year. Assuming negligible change in global mean sea level from meltwater input/removal and thermal expansion/contraction, this sea-level history approximates net land-level (subsidence and geoid) change, principally from glacio-isostatic adjustment. Historic rates of rise commenced at 1850–1890 CE and it is virtually certain (P = 0.99) that the average rate of 20th century RSL rise in northeastern Florida was faster than during any of the preceding 26 centuries. The linearity of RSL rise in Florida is in contrast to the variability reconstructed at sites further north on the U.S. Atlantic coast and may suggest a role for ocean dynamic effects in explaining these more variable RSL reconstructions. Comparison of the difference between reconstructed rates of late Holocene RSL rise and historic trends measured by tide gauges indicates that 20th century sea-level trends along the U.S. Atlantic coast were not dominated by the characteristic spatial fingerprint of melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Keywords: florida; Foraminifera; Glacio-isostatic adjustment Greenland fingerprint; Salt marsh

Late Holocene sea- and land-level change on the U.S. southeastern Atlantic coast - Kemp, Andrew C.; Bernhardt, Christopher E.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Kopp, Robert E.; Vane, Christopher H.; Peltier, W. Richard; Hawkes, Andrea D.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Parnell, Andrew C.; Cahill, Niamh (Marine Geology, 2014)
Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) reconstructions can be used to estimate rates of land-level (subsidence or uplift) change and therefore to modify global sea-level projections for regional conditions. These reconstructions also provide the long-term benchmark against which modern trends are compared and an opportunity to understand the response of sea level to past climate variability. To address a spatial absence of late Holocene data in Florida and Georgia, we reconstructed ~ 1.3 m of RSL rise in northeastern Florida (USA) during the past ~ 2600 years using plant remains and foraminifera in a dated core of high salt-marsh sediment. The reconstruction was fused with tide-gauge data from nearby Fernandina Beach, which measured 1.91 ± 0.26 mm/year of RSL rise since 1900 CE. The average rate of RSL rise prior to 1800 CE was 0.41 ± 0.08 mm/year. Assuming negligible change in global mean sea level from meltwater input/removal and thermal expansion/contraction, this sea-level history approximates net land-level (subsidence and geoid) change, principally from glacio-isostatic adjustment. Historic rates of rise commenced at 1850–1890 CE and it is virtually certain (P = 0.99) that the average rate of 20th century RSL rise in northeastern Florida was faster than during any of the preceding 26 centuries. The linearity of RSL rise in Florida is in contrast to the variability reconstructed at sites further north on the U.S. Atlantic coast and may suggest a role for ocean dynamic effects in explaining these more variable RSL reconstructions. Comparison of the difference between reconstructed rates of late Holocene RSL rise and historic trends measured by tide gauges indicates that 20th century sea-level trends along the U.S. Atlantic coast were not dominated by the characteristic spatial fingerprint of melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Late Holocene sedimentation in a high Arctic coastal setting: Simpson Lagoon and Colville Delta, Alaska - Hanna, Andrea J. M.; Allison, Mead A.; Bianchi, Thomas S.; Marcantonio, Franco; Goff, John A. (Continental Shelf Research, 2014)
Arctic coastal environments near major river outfalls, like Simpson Lagoon, Alaska and the adjacent Colville River Delta, potentially contain high-resolution sediment records useful in elucidating late Holocene Arctic sediment transport pathways and coupled terrestrial-ocean evidence of paleoclimate variability. This study utilizes a multi-tracer geochronology approach (137Cs, 239,240Pu, and 14C) tailored for high-latitude environments to determine the age models for cores collected from Simpson Lagoon, and to date seismic boundaries in shallow acoustic reflection data (CHIRP) to examine late Holocene infill patterns. Modern (~100 y) sediment accumulation rates range from 5 m of late Holocene interbedded sediments, likely derived primarily from the Colville River, with onset of accumulation occurring prior to ~3500 y BP. A paleo-high in central Simpson Lagoon, separating the two depocenters, was subaerially exposed prior to ~600 y BP. The millimeters-per-year sedimentation rates across the lagoon, coupled with the undisturbed, interbedded sediment record, indicate that these settings hold great potential to develop new Arctic paleoenvironmental records.

The late Quaternary environmental evolution of marine Arctic Canada: Barrow Strait to Lancaster Sound - Pieńkowski, Anna J.; England, John H.; Furze, Mark F. A.; MacLean, Brian; Blasco, Steve (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
A marine sediment core from the east-central Canadian Arctic Archipelago (Core 86027-154; 74° 22.01′N 89° 51.26′W; 329 m water depth), studied by a multiproxy approach [lithostratigraphy, biogeochemistry, micropalaeontology (dinoflagellate cysts, other non-pollen palynomorphs, benthic and planktonic foraminifera, ostracods)], and encompassing 14 AMS 14C dates, provides valuable insights into regional deglacial to Holocene palaeoenvironments. Six palaeoenvironmental zones are recognized, based on prominent changes in the litho- and biostratigraphy. The waterlain diamicton of Zone I records immediate deglaciation, being derived from lift-off and calving of previously grounded glacial ice. Though deglacial timing is complicated by the sparsity of dating materials and the Portlandia Effect, age–depth model extrapolation places deglaciation at 11.54 cal ka BP. Zone II (11.5–11.0 cal ka BP) represents a distinct progression from initially ice-proximal to increasingly ice-distal conditions, interrupted by an interval of pervasive sea-ice (11.4–11.2 cal ka BP). Noteworthy biological activity commences in Zone III (11.0–9.7 cal ka BP) with a prominent signal of planktonic foraminifera (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma). This likely signifies penetration of deeper, Atlantic-derived water through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago upon deglaciation, facilitated by the greater, glacioisostatically-induced water depths (+80 m), and implies separation of Laurentide and Innuitian ice sheets by ∼11.0 cal ka BP. Zone IV (9.7–7.2 cal ka BP) records ameliorated, biologically favourable conditions with reduced seasonal sea-ice accompanied by high microfossil species diversity and the presence of subpolar taxa. Zone V (7.2–6.5 cal ka BP) signals the exclusion of Atlantic-derived water, concomitant with increasing sea-ice, simultaneously representing the termination of the dynamic deglacial to early Holocene environments (zones I–IV). Conditions similar to modern typified by uniform sediment characteristics, present-day microfossil assemblage structures, and sparse benthic foraminifera were established by 5.6 cal ka BP (Zone VI).

Late Quaternary sedimentary record and Holocene channel avulsions of the Jamuna and Old Brahmaputra River valleys in the upper Bengal delta plain - Pickering, Jennifer L.; Goodbred, Steven L.; Reitz, Meredith D.; Hartzog, Thomas R.; Mondal, Dhiman R.; Hossain, Md Saddam (Tropical Rivers of South and South-east Asia: Landscape evolution, morphodynamics and hazards, 2014)
The first Holocene stratigraphic record of river-channel occupation and switching between the Brahmaputra–Jamuna and Old Brahmaputra paleovalleys is presented here. Motivated by the Brahmaputra River's historic avulsion from the Old Brahmaputra channel to its present-day Jamuna course, we have obtained sediment and radiocarbon samples from 41 boreholes along a 120 km transect crossing these two braided-river valleys. The stratigraphy along this transect reveals sand-dominated Holocene channel systems, each bound by remnant, mud-capped Pleistocene stratigraphy. Using sediment lithology and bulk strontium concentration as a provenance indicator, we define the geometry and channel-occupation history of each paleovalley. The western Brahmaputra–Jamuna valley is broad and somewhat deeper compared with the Old Brahmaputra valley, the latter actually comprising a composite of two narrower sub-valleys bifurcated by an antecedent topographic remnant. The gently sloped valley margins (slope: 0.002 to 0.007) and high width-to-thickness ratio (W/T: ~ 1000) of the Brahmaputra–Jamuna valley suggest that it was filled primarily through lateral channel migration and the reworking of braidbelt and overbank deposits. Conversely, the two Old Brahmaputra sub-valleys have comparatively steeper valley margins (slope: 0.007 to 0.022) and lower width-to-thickness ratios (W/T: ~ 125 and ~ 250), indicating that these were filled primarily through vertical aggradation of channel sands. We attribute this disparity in valley geometry and fill processes to the different occupation histories for each valley. In this case, the much larger Brahmaputra–Jamuna valley represents the principal, if not singular, river course during the last lowstand of sea-level, with a prominent gravel lag underlying the valley. In contrast the smaller Old Brahmaputra valleys do not appear to have been present, or at least well developed, at the last lowstand. Rather these courses were first occupied during the early Holocene transgression, and we infer that the river had been previously excluded from this region by the relatively higher elevation between the Madhupur Terrace and the Shillong Massif. We also demonstrate that the Brahmaputra River experienced 3–4 major avulsions during the Holocene, with considerably longer occupation times within the principal Brahmaputra–Jamuna valley. Together these observations indicate that occupation history and antecedent topography have been important controls on river course mobility and avulsion behavior.

Long-term hydrological changes in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (ODP-625B) during the Holocene and late Pleistocene inferred from organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts - Limoges, Audrey; de Vernal, Anne; Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2014)
Palynological analyses are used in conjunction with oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios in foraminifers in order to document the response of dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) assemblages to changing climate conditions in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico over the Holocene and late Pleistocene. During MIS 6, but also during the cooler phases of MIS 5, Impagidinium species and Operculodinium centrocarpum were dominating the assemblages. By contrast, during the last interglacial (LIG) and the Holocene, assemblages were mainly composed of Spiniferites taxa and characterized by high relative abundance of Spiniferites mirabilis-hyperacanthus, Operculodinium israelianum and/or Polysphaeridium zoharyi. These two periods exhibit ~ 1-2 °C difference in temperature as inferred from Mg/Ca ratios and show significantly distinct assemblages, with higher percentages of S. mirabilis during the LIG and higher percentages of P. zoharyi during the Holocene. This likely denotes important differences in the hydrogeographical conditions (e.g. surface circulation, bathymetric configuration) between the present and last interglacial. The importance of environmental parameters other than temperature and salinity for dinocyst assemblage dynamics is furthermore illustrated.

Maximum age and missing time in the vertebrae of sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus): validated lifespan from bomb radiocarbon dating in the western North Atlantic and southwestern Indian Oceans - Passerotti, M. S.; Andrews, A. H.; Carlson, J. K.; Wintner, S. P.; Goldman, K. J.; Natanson, L. J. (Marine and Freshwater Research, 2014)
Bomb radiocarbon analysis of vertebral growth bands was used to validate lifespan for sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) from the western North Atlantic (WNA) and southwestern Indian Oceans (SIO). Visual counts of vertebral growth bands were used to assign age and estimate year of formation (YOF) for sampled growth bands in eight sharks from the WNA and two sharks from the SIO. Carbon-14 results were plotted relative to YOF for comparison with regional Δ14C reference chronologies to assess the accuracy of age estimates. Results from the WNA validated vertebral age estimates up to 12 years, but indicated that ages of large adult sharks were underestimated by 11–12 years. Age was also underestimated for adult sharks from the SIO by 14–18 years. Validated lifespan for C. taurus individuals in the present study reached at least 40 years for females and 34 years for males. Findings indicated that the current age-reading methodology is not suitable for estimating the age of C. taurus beyond ~12 years. Future work should investigate whether vertebrae of C. taurus record age throughout ontogeny, or cease to be a reliable indicator at some point in time.
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Microbial biomarkers support organic carbon transport from methane-rich Amazon wetlands to the shelf and deep sea fan during recent and glacial climate conditions - Wagner, Thomas; Kallweit, Wiebke; Talbot, Helen M.; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Boom, Arnoud; Zabel, Matthias (Organic Geochemistry, 2014)
We have investigated the delivery of terrestrial organic carbon (OC) to the Amazon shelf and deep sea fan based on soil marker bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs; adenosylhopane and related compounds) and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), as well as on 14C dating of bulk organic matter. The microbial biomarker records show persistent burial of terrestrial OC, evidenced by almost constant and high BIT values (0.6) and soil marker BHP concentration [80–230 μg/g TOC (total OC)] on the late Holocene shelf and even higher BIT values (0.8–0.9), but lower and more variable soil-marker BHP concentration (40–100 μg/g TOC), on the past glacial deep sea fan. Radiocarbon data show that OC on the shelf is 3–4 kyr older than corresponding bivalve shells, emphasizing the presence of old carbon in this setting. We observe comparable and unexpectedly invariant BHP composition in both marine sediment records, with a remarkably high relative abundance of C-35 amino BHPs including compounds specific for aerobic methane oxidation on the shelf (avg. 50% of all BHPs) and the fan (avg. 40%). Notably, these marine BHP signatures are strikingly similar to those of a methane-producing floodplain area in one of the Amazonian wetland (várzea) regions. The observation indicates that BHPs in the marine sediments may have initially been produced within wetland regions of the Amazon basin and may therefore document persistent export from terrestrial wetland regions, with subsequent re-working in the marine environment, both during recent and past glacial climate conditions.

Mid- to Late-Holocene Australian–Indonesian summer monsoon variability - Steinke, Stephan; Mohtadi, Mahyar; Prange, Matthias; Varma, Vidya; Pittauerova, Daniela; Fischer, Helmut W. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
The Australian–Indonesian monsoon has a governing influence on the agricultural practices and livelihood in the highly populated islands of Indonesia. However, little is known about the factors that have influenced past monsoon activity in southern Indonesia. Here, we present a ∼6000 years high-resolution record of Australian-Indonesian summer monsoon (AISM) rainfall variations based on bulk sediment element analysis in a sediment archive retrieved offshore northwest Sumba Island (Indonesia). The record suggests lower riverine detrital supply and hence weaker AISM rainfall between 6000 yr BP and ∼3000 yr BP compared to the Late Holocene. We find a distinct shift in terrigenous sediment supply at around 2800 yr BP indicating a reorganization of the AISM from a drier Mid Holocene to a wetter Late Holocene in southern Indonesia. The abrupt increase in rainfall at around 2800 yr BP coincides with a grand solar minimum. An increase in southern Indonesian rainfall in response to a solar minimum is consistent with climate model simulations that provide a possible explanation of the underlying mechanism responsible for the monsoonal shift. We conclude that variations in solar activity play a significant role in monsoonal rainfall variability at multi-decadal and longer timescales. The combined effect of orbital and solar forcing explains important details in the temporal evolution of AISM rainfall during the last 6000 years. By contrast, we find neither evidence for volcanic forcing of AISM variability nor for a control by long-term variations in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Modeling environmental factors affecting assimilation of bomb-produced Δ14C in the North Pacific Ocean: Implications for age validation studies - Helser, Thomas E.; Kastelle, Craig R.; Lai, Han-lin (Ecological Modelling, 2014)
The bomb-produced radiocarbon (14C) chronometer has become the gold standard for assessing the accuracy of otolith growth ring based fish age estimates. In the northeast Pacific Ocean, nearly a dozen age validation studies have been conducted, ranging from California to Alaska, most of which have relied on a single reference chronology from the Gulf of Alaska. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical model using data sets of bomb-produced radiocarbon in the northeast Pacific Ocean and investigated whether latitude and upwelling exerts an influence on the parameters that describe the rapid Δ14C increase in marine calcium carbonates. Models incorporating both latitude and upwelling as linear covariates of a 4-parameter logistic model were favored based on ΔDIC statistics. There was substantial evidence to support that the timing of the Δ14C pulse was advanced and that total Δ14C uptake increased with increasing latitude. In contrast, increased oceanographic upwelling resulted in lower total radiocarbon input as well as a delay in the timing of the pulse curve, as was demonstrated in the upwelling dominated California Current System. Within the observed latitudinal and upwelling range of the data sets examined in this study the predicted timing of the bomb pulse curve varied by as much as 3 years, which could be misinterpreted as aging error. Our results suggest that new reference chronologies may be needed for regions of the North Pacific Ocean differing in latitude, seasonal upwelling strength and other mixing factors that can potentially change the functional form of the Δ14C curve.

Monsoon-influenced variation in productivity and lithogenic sediment flux since 110 ka in the offshore Mahanadi Basin, northern Bay of Bengal - Phillips, Stephen C.; Johnson, Joel E.; Giosan, Liviu; Rose, Kelly (Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2014)
The Indian monsoon drives seasonal changes in precipitation and weathering across India as well as circulation and productivity in the northern Indian Ocean. Variation in paleo-monsoon intensity and its effect on productivity and lithogenic fluxes is poorly constrained in the Bay of Bengal. In this paper, we present analysis of a sediment record from the offshore Mahanadi Basin recovered during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 (Site NGHP-01-19B). We reconstruct variation in biogenic and lithogenic components during the last 110 kyr using measurements of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), TOC/TN, CaCO3, biogenic silica (BSi), δ13TOC, δ15TN, bulk mineralogy from X-ray diffraction, bulk and lithogenic grain size distribution, magnetic susceptibility, bulk density, and Ca, Br, and Zr/Rb from x-ray fluorescence (XRF). The mass-accumulation rate (MAR) of CaCO3, a function of marine productivity, drastically increased between 70 and 10 ka and is correlated to previously-documented elevated Asian dust fluxes and increased Bay of Bengal salinity during a weakened southwest monsoon. Decreased freshwater input over this period likely diminished stratification, allowing for increased mixing and nutrient availability, thus enhancing productivity despite weaker southwest monsoon winds. The MAR of lithogenic material is highest during the Holocene suggesting that sediment supply driven by monsoon intensity is a stronger control on margin sedimentation than sea level at the Mahanadi Basin. Over the entire record, magnetic susceptibility and XRF Zr/Rb are strongly correlated with CaCO3, suggesting higher primary mineral input under a weakened southwest monsoon. TOC/TN and δ13TOC also increase under glacial conditions, suggesting higher relative input of terrestrial C4 organic matter. These results highlight the Mahanadi Basin as a supply-dominated margin where terrigenous sedimentation is strongly influenced by monsoon intensity, and that productivity is limited by variation in monsoon-driven stratification on glacial-interglacial timescales rather than a direct response to monsoon winds.
AAy4wyTimes Cited:4Cited References Count:253

A multiple-tracer approach to understanding regional groundwater flow in the Snake Valley area of the eastern Great Basin, USA - Gardner, Philip M.; Heilweil, Victor M. (Applied Geochemistry, 2014)
Groundwater in Snake Valley and surrounding basins in the eastern Great Basin province of the western United States is being targeted for large-scale groundwater extraction and export. Concern about declining groundwater levels and spring flows in western Utah as a result of the proposed groundwater withdrawals has led to efforts that have improved the understanding of this regional groundwater flow system. In this study, environmental tracers (δ2H, δ18O, 3H, 14C, 3He, 4He, 20Ne, 40Ar, 84Kr, and 129Xe) and major ions from 142 sites were evaluated to investigate groundwater recharge and flow-path characteristics. With few exceptions, δ2H and δ18O show that most valley groundwater has similar ratios to mountain springs, indicating recharge is dominated by relatively high-altitude precipitation. The spatial distribution of 3H, terrigenic helium (4Heterr), and 3H/3He ages shows that modern groundwater (11 °C to the east of Snake Valley and indicate a hydraulic discontinuity between Snake and Tule Valleys across the northern Confusion Range. The combination of NGTs and 4Heterr shows that the majority of Snake Valley groundwater discharges as springs, evapotranspiration, and well withdrawals within Snake Valley rather than continuing northeastward to discharge at either Fish Springs or the Great Salt Lake Playa. The refined understanding of groundwater recharge and flow paths acquired from this multi-tracer investigation has broad implications for interbasin subsurface flow estimates and future groundwater development.

New cetacean ΔR values for Arctic North America and their implications for marine-mammal-based palaeoenvironmental reconstructions - Furze, Mark F. A.; Pieńkowski, Anna J.; Coulthard, Roy D. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014)
Radiocarbon-dated marine mammal remains from emergent Arctic coastlines have frequently been used to reconstruct Holocene sea-ice histories. The use of such reconstructions has hitherto been complicated by uncertain marine reservoir corrections precluding meaningful intercomparisons with data reported in calibrated or sidereal years. Based on an exhaustive compilation of previously published marine mammal radiocarbon dates (both live-harvested materials and subfossils) from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), new, statistically-derived δ13C and ΔR values are provided. Average δ13C values are: −16.1 ± 1.1‰ (bone collagen; n = 193) for bowhead (Balaena mysticetus); −14.4 ± 0.5‰ (n = 44; dentine) for beluga (Delphinapterus leucas); −14.8 ± 1.9‰ (teeth and tusks; n = 18) and −18.0 ± 4.7‰ (n = 9; bone collagen) for walrus (Odobenus rosmarus). ΔR values are 170 ± 95 14C years for bowhead (n = 23) and 240 ± 60 14C years for beluga (n = 12). Scarce data preclude calculation of meaningful, statistically robust walrus ΔR. Using the new ΔR values, an expanded and revised database of calibrated bowhead dates (651 dates; many used in previous CAA sea-ice reconstructions) shows pronounced late Quaternary spatio-temporal fluctuations in bone abundance. Though broadly resembling earlier bowhead subfossil frequency data, analysis of the new expanded database suggests early- and mid-Holocene increases in whale abundance to be of longer duration and lower amplitude than previously considered. A more even and persistent spread of infrequent low-abundance remains during “whale free” intervals is also seen. The dominance of three eastern regions (Prince Regent Inlet & Gulf of Boothia; Admiralty Inlet; Berlinguet Inlet/Bernier Bay) in the CAA data, collectively contributing up to 88% of all subfossil remains in the mid-Holocene, is notable. An analysis of calibrated regional sea-level index points suggests that severance of the Admiralty Inlet-Gulf of Boothia marine channel due to isostatically-driven regression may have played a significant role in enhanced whale mortality during this interval. Comparisons between the newly calibrated bowhead data and other regional sea-ice proxy data further highlight spatial and temporal discrepancies, potentially due to regional asynchronicities and variable sensitivities in proxy response to climate and oceanographic forcing. However, the limited number of deglacial–postglacial marine records continues to hamper extensive intercomparisons between marine mammal and other proxy datasets. Nevertheless, an examination of assumptions inherent in linking bowhead subfossil frequencies, population densities, and sea-ice thickness and distribution, shows that such relationships are highly complex. Factors such as broad sea-ice preferences, variable mortality rates and causes, long distance carcass transport, variable coastline and basin/channel geometries, and changing emergence rates all complicate the correlation of whale bone abundance to sea-ice histories.

North Atlantic forcing of tropical Indian Ocean climate - Mohtadi, Mahyar; Prange, Matthias; Oppo, Delia W.; De Pol-Holz, Ricardo; Merkel, Ute; Zhang, Xiao; Steinke, Stephan; ückge, Andreas (Nature, 2014)
The response of the tropical climate in the Indian Ocean realm to abrupt climate change events in the North Atlantic Ocean is contentious. Repositioning of the intertropical convergence zone is thought to have been responsible for changes in tropical hydroclimate during North Atlantic cold spells1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but the dearth of high-resolution records outside the monsoon realm in the Indian Ocean precludes a full understanding of this remote relationship and its underlying mechanisms. Here we show that slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas stadial affected the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate through changes to the Hadley circulation including a southward shift in the rising branch (the intertropical convergence zone) and an overall weakening over the southern Indian Ocean. Our results are based on new, high-resolution sea surface temperature and seawater oxygen isotope records of well-dated sedimentary archives from the tropical eastern Indian Ocean for the past 45,000 years, combined with climate model simulations of Atlantic circulation slowdown under Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 3 boundary conditions. Similar conditions in the east and west of the basin rule out a zonal dipole structure as the dominant forcing of the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate of millennial-scale events. Results from our simulations and proxy data suggest dry conditions in the northern Indian Ocean realm and wet and warm conditions in the southern realm during North Atlantic cold spells.
Keywords: Palaeoceanography; Palaeoclimate

Oceanographic regimes in the northwest Labrador Sea since Marine Isotope Stage 3 based on dinocyst and stable isotope proxy records - Gibb, Olivia T.; Hillaire-Marcel, Claude; de Vernal, Anne (APEX II: Arctic Palaeoclimate and its Extremes, 2014)
Sea surface temperature (SST), salinity and density gradients in the upper water column of the northwest Labrador Sea have been reconstructed based on high resolution analysis of a core (HU2008-029-004PC) spanning the last ∼36 ka, raised off Hudson Strait. The modern analogue technique was applied to dinocyst assemblages and combined with stable isotope data from Neogloboquadrina pachyderma left-coiled (Npl) for this purpose. Three oceanographic regimes were identified, broadly corresponding to the “glacial”, “deglacial” and “postglacial” intervals. The site remained under the direct influence of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) margin until the postglacial and did not record the Bølling-Allerød warming and weakly recorded the Younger Dryas event. The “glacial” regime lasted until ∼12.2 cal ka BP. It was characterized by generally low concentrations of dinocysts within an assemblage indicative of quasi-perennial sea ice. The “deglacial” regime (ca 12.2–8.3 cal ka BP) was marked by increased biogenic fluxes and more diversified dinocyst assemblages and possibly an enhanced subsurface inflow of North East Atlantic Deep Water. Warm summer (∼11 °C) but low winter (∼0 °C) sea surface temperatures, sea ice cover during about 3 months per year, and low summer salinity (∼28) suggest strong stratification in the upper water layer in relation to meltwater supply from the LIS. Following the final drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz through Hudson Strait, which is dated here at ∼8.3 cal ka BP, and the subsequent LIS collapse, increased summer salinity (up to ∼35) was accompanied by a reduced seasonal gradient of sea surface temperature from winter (∼3.8 °C) to summer (∼8.6 °C) suggesting enhanced penetration of North Atlantic Water. Weakened stratification of the surface water layer then allowed for winter convection and Labrador Sea Water formation, which is consistent with increased Npl-δ13C values in response to higher ventilation of the subsurface water layer.

Organic matter transformation in the peat column at Marcell Experimental Forest: Humification and vertical stratification - Tfaily, Malak M.; Cooper, William T.; Kostka, Joel E.; Chanton, Patrick R.; Schadt, Christopher W.; Hanson, Paul J.; Iversen, Colleen M.; Chanton, Jeffrey P. (JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES, 2014)
We characterized peat decomposition at the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), Minnesota, USA, to a depth of 2m to ascertain the underlying chemical changes using Fourier transform infrared (FT IR) and C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy) and related these changes to decomposition proxies C:N ratio, C-13 and N-15, bulk density, and water content. FT IR determined that peat humification increased rapidly between 30 and 75cm, indicating a highly reactive intermediate-depth zone consistent with changes in C:N ratio, C-13 and N-15, bulk density, and water content. Peat decomposition at the MEF, especially in the intermediate-depth zone, is mainly characterized by preferential utilization of O-alkyl-C, carboxyl-C, and other oxygenated functionalities with a concomitant increase in the abundance of alkyl- and nitrogen-containing compounds. Below 75cm, less change was observed but aromatic functionalities and lignin accumulated with depth. Significant correlations with humification indices, identified by FT IR spectroscopy, were found for C:N ratios. Incubation studies at 22 degrees C revealed the highest methane production rates, greatest CH4:CO2 production ratios, and significant O-alkyl-C utilization within this 30 and 75cm zone. Oxygen-containing functionalities, especially O-alkyl-C, appear to serve as excellent proxies for soil decomposition rate and should be a sensitive indicator of the response of the solid phase peat to increased temperatures caused by climate change and the field study manipulations that are planned to occur at this site. Radiocarbon signatures of microbial respiration products in deeper pore waters at the MEF resembled the signatures of more modern dissolved organic carbon rather than solid phase peat, indicating that recently photosynthesized organic matter fueled the bulk of subsurface microbial respiration. These results indicate that carbon cycling at depth at the MEF is not isolated from surface processes.
Keywords: FT-IR spectroscopy; humification; NMR spectroscopy; organic matter; peatlands; vertical stratification

Origin, composition, and transformation of dissolved organic matter in tropical peatlands - Gandois, L.; Teisserenc, R.; Cobb, A. R.; Chieng, H. I.; Lim, L. B. L.; Kamariah, A. S.; Hoyt, A.; Harvey, C. F. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
Solid and dissolved organic matter (DOM) compositions were investigated in a pristine and a deforested tropical peat forest in Brunei Darussalam. A combination of elemental (%C, %N, C/N), isotopic (δ15N, δ13C, Δ14C), molecular (lignin phenol biomarkers) and optical (Specific UV Absorbance at 280 nm (SUVA280), fluorescence index (FI)) analyses were performed to characterize DOM in porewater and river water. The DOM composition was compared to vegetation and peat to assess DOM origin and transformations in the ecosystem. Significant relationships were observed between optical properties (SUVA280, FI) and bulk (Δ14C) and molecular (ratio of cinnamyl to vanillyl phenols, C/V) composition of DOM. The radiocarbon content of DOM shows that it is modern at both sites for both surface and deep (to 4.5 m) samples (Δ14C = 74.58 ± 8.53‰ at the pristine site and Δ14C = 87.84 ± 4.5‰ at the deforested site for the first 2 meters), indicating transport of young DOM to deeper layers. Stable carbon-13 content of vegetation, peat and DOM showed only slight fractionation and ranged from −32.2‰ to −28.3‰. Nitrogen showed a greater shift between ecosystem pools. Nitrogen-15 content was higher in the solid peat (δ15N = −0.92 ± 0.49‰ in the pristine site, δ15N = −1.22 ± 1.37‰ in the deforested site) than in DOM (δ15N = −4.2 ± 2.5‰ in the pristine site, δ15N = −4.1 ± 2.3‰ in the deforested site). This difference in δ15N is significantly correlated with the C/N values of peat and DOM and attributable to higher microbial degradation in the peat compared to DOM. Porewater DOM contains less lignin (λ8 = 1.10 ± 0.27 mg 100 mg dw−1 in the pristine site and λ8 = 1.38 ± 0.46 mg 100 mg dw−1 in the deforested site) than does the solid peat (λ8 = 5.66 ± 2.14 mg 100 mg dw−1 in the pristine site and λ8 = 10.29 ± 4.69 mg 100 mg dw−1 in the deforested site). All indicators of lignin degradation (P/(V + S), 3,5Bd/V, (Ad/Al)V, (Ad/Al)S) are significantly higher in DOM than in the solid peat. This shows that lignin can be processed rapidly in the porewater of upper layers of tropical peatlands. Logging activity affected the composition of organic matter at the deforested site. Higher lignin content (λ8) was observed in the solid peat, and the composition of DOM differed greatly in the deforested site: Δ14C, FI, 3,5Bd/V, (Ad/Al)V are significantly different from the pristine site. Thus it appears that the composition of DOM is more sensitive than the solid phase to the effects of land use change on organic matter dynamic in tropical peatlands.

Particle sorting during sediment redistribution processes and the effect on 230 Th-normalized mass accumulation rates - Marcantonio, Franco; Lyle, Mitchell; Ibrahim, Rami (Geophysical Research Letters, 2014)
The 230Th method of determining mass accumulation rates (MARs) assumes that little to no fractionation occurs during sediment redistribution processes at the seafloor. We examine 230Th inventories in radiocarbon-dated multicore sediments from paired winnowed and focused sites at Cocos and Carnegie Ridges, Panama Basin. Radiocarbon-derived sand MARs, which likely represent the vertical rain of particles poorly transported by bottom currents, are similar at each of the paired sites but are different using 230Th normalization. 230Th-normalized MARs are about 60% lower at focused sites and likely underestimate vertical MARs, while the reverse is true for winnowed sites. We hypothesize that size fractionation occurs most frequently at lower current velocities, resulting in the coarse fraction being left behind and primarily the fine 230Th-rich grains being transported downslope. 230Th-normalization works well for recording fine-grained (detrital and opal), but not coarse-grained (carbonate), fluxes in regions that have undergone sediment redistribution.

Phylogeny and phylogeography of functional genes shared among seven terrestrial subsurface metagenomes reveal N-cycling and microbial evolutionary relationships - Lau, Maggie C. Y.; Cameron, Connor; Magnabosco, Cara; Brown, C. Titus; Schilkey, Faye; Grim, Sharon; Hendrickson, Sarah; Pullin, Michael; Lollar, Barbara Sherwood; Van Heerden, Esta; Kieft, Thomas L.; Onstott, Tullis C. (FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, 2014)
Comparative studies on community phylogenetics and phylogeography of microorganisms living in extreme environments are rare. Terrestrial subsurface habitats are valuable for studying microbial biogeographical patterns due to their isolation and the restricted dispersal mechanisms. Since the taxonomic identity of a microorganism does not always correspond well with its functional role in a particular community, the use of taxonomic assignments or patterns may give limited inference on how microbial functions are affected by historical, geographical and environmental factors. With seven metagenomic libraries generated from fracture water samples collected from five South African mines, this study was carried out to (1) screen for ubiquitous functions or pathways of biogeochemical cycling of CH4, S, and N; (2) to characterize the biodiversity represented by the common functional genes; (3) to investigate the subsurface biogeography as revealed by this subset of genes; and (4) to explore the possibility of using metagenomic data for evolutionary study. The ubiquitous functional genes are NarV, NPD, PAPS reductase, NifH, NifD, NifK, NifE, and NifN genes. Although these eight common functional genes were taxonomically and phylogenetically diverse and distinct from each other, the dissimilarity between samples did not correlate strongly with geographical or environmental parameters or residence time of the water. Por genes homologous to those of Thermodesulfovibrio yellowstonii detected in all metagenomes were deep lineages of Nitrospirae, suggesting that subsurface habitats have preserved ancestral genetic signatures that inform the study of the origin and evolution of prokaryotes.
Keywords: evolution; functional genes; N-cycle; phylogenetics; phylogeny; phylogeography; terrestrial subsurface

Pore-water chemistry of sediment cores off Mahanadi Basin, Bay of Bengal: Possible link to deep seated methane hydrate deposit - Mazumdar, A.; Peketi, A.; Joao, H. M.; Dewangan, P.; Ramprasad, T. (Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2014)
Organoclastic degradation and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) are known to influence sulfate, methane and bicarbonate concentrations of sediment pore-waters. In this work we have analyzed the pore-fluid composition of three piston cores (36–39 m long) collected from water depths ranging from 1429 to 1691 m. We attribute the observed linear sulfate concentration profiles and (ΔCa + ΔAlk)/ΔSO42− ratios dominantly to anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) induced sulfate consumption. The gas rich layers just below the base of hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ) is the possible source of the enhanced diffusive flux of biogenic methane ( δ 13 C CH 4 ranging from −99.7 to −106.3‰ VPDB). Occurrences of disseminated gas hydrate in the Mahanadi Basin within the hydrate stability zone (210–220 m thick) supports the link between linear sulfate profile, high rate of AOM and hydrate occurrence.

Pre-aged plant waxes in tropical lake sediments and their influence on the chronology of molecular paleoclimate proxy records - Douglas, Peter M. J.; Pagani, Mark; Eglinton, Tim E.; Brenner, Mark; Hodell, David A.; Curtis, Jason H.; Ma, Keith; Breckenridge, Andy (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
Sedimentary records of plant-wax hydrogen (δDwax) and carbon (δ13Cwax) stable isotopes are increasingly applied to infer past climate change. Compound-specific radiocarbon analyses, however, indicate that long time lags can occur between the synthesis of plant waxes and their subsequent deposition in marginal marine sediments. The influence of these time lags on interpretations of plant-wax stable isotope records is presently unconstrained, and it is unclear whether such time lags also affect lacustrine sediments. We present compound-specific radiocarbon (14Cwax) data for n-alkanoic acid plant waxes (n-C26 to n-C30) from: 1) a sediment core from Lake Chichancanab, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 2) soils in the Lake Chichancanab catchment, and 3) surface sediments from three other lakes in southeastern Mexico and northern Guatemala. 14Cwax ages in the surface sediments are consistently older than modern, and may be negatively correlated with mean annual precipitation and positively correlated with lake catchment area. 14Cwax ages in soils surrounding Lake Chichancanab increase with soil depth, consistent with deep, subsoil horizons being the primary source of lacustrine aged plant waxes, which are likely delivered to lake sediments through subsurface transport. Plant waxes in the Lake Chichancanab core are 350 to 1200 years older than corresponding ages of bulk sediment deposition, determined by 14C dates on terrestrial plant macrofossils in the core. A δDwax time series is in closer agreement with other regional proxy hydroclimate records when a plant-wax 14C age model is applied, as opposed to the macrofossil-based core chronology. Inverse modeling of plant-wax age distribution parameters suggests that plant waxes in the Lake Chichancanab sediment core derive predominantly from millennial-age soil carbon pools that exhibit relatively little age variance (< 200 years). Our findings demonstrate that high-temporal-resolution climate records inferred from stable isotope measures on plant waxes in lacustrine sediments may suffer from possible chronologic distortions as a consequence of long residence times of plant waxes in soils. They also underscore the importance of direct radiocarbon dating of these organic molecules.

Preferential burial of permafrost-derived organic carbon in Siberian-Arctic shelf waters - Vonk, Jorien E.; Semiletov, Igor P.; Dudarev, Oleg V.; Eglinton, Timothy I.; Andersson, August; Shakhova, Natalia; Charkin, Alexander; Heim, Birgit; Gustafsson, Örjan (JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS, 2014)
The rapidly changing East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS) receives large amounts of terrestrial organic carbon (OC) from coastal erosion and Russian-Arctic rivers. Climate warming increases thawing of coastal Ice Complex Deposits (ICD) and can change both the amount of released OC, as well as its propensity to be converted to greenhouse gases (fueling further global warming) or to be buried in coastal sediments. This study aimed to unravel the susceptibility to degradation, and transport and dispersal patterns of OC delivered to the ESAS. Bulk and molecular radiocarbon analyses on surface particulate matter (PM), sinking PM and underlying surface sediments illustrate the active release of old OC from coastal permafrost. Molecular tracers for recalcitrant soil OC showed ages of 3.4-13 C-14-ky in surface PM and 5.5-18 C-14-ky in surface sediments. The age difference of these markers between surface PM and surface sediments is larger (i) in regions with low OC accumulation rates, suggesting a weaker exchange between water column and sediments, and (ii) with increasing distance from the Lena River, suggesting preferential settling of fluvially derived old OC nearshore. A dual-carbon end-member mixing model showed that (i) contemporary terrestrial OC is dispersed mainly by horizontal transport while being subject to active degradation, (ii) marine OC is most affected by vertical transport and also actively degraded in the water column, and (iii) OC from ICD settles rapidly and dominates surface sediments. Preferential burial of ICD-OC released into ESAS coastal waters might therefore lower the suggested carbon cycle climate feedback from thawing ICD permafrost.
Keywords: biomarkers; carbon; permafrost; radiocarbon

Radiocarbon age-offsets in an arctic lake reveal the long-term response of permafrost carbon to climate change - Gaglioti, Benjamin V.; Mann, Daniel H.; Jones, Benjamin M.; Pohlman, John W.; Kunz, Michael L.; Wooller, Matthew J. (JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES, 2014)
Continued warming of the Arctic may cause permafrost to thaw and speed the decomposition of large stores of soil organic carbon (OC), thereby accentuating global warming. However, it is unclear if recent warming has raised the current rates of permafrost OC release to anomalous levels or to what extent soil carbon release is sensitive to climate forcing. Here we use a time series of radiocarbon age-offsets (C-14) between the bulk lake sediment and plant macrofossils deposited in an arctic lake as an archive for soil and permafrost OC release over the last 14,500 years. The lake traps and archives OC imported from the watershed and allows us to test whether prior warming events stimulated old carbon release and heightened age-offsets. Today, the age-offset (2ka; thousand of calibrated years before A.D. 1950) and the depositional rate of ancient OC from the watershed into the lake are relatively low and similar to those during the Younger Dryas cold interval (occurring 12.9-11.7ka). In contrast, age-offsets were higher (3.0-5.0ka) when summer air temperatures were warmer than present during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (11.7-9.0ka) and BOlling-AllerOd periods (14.5-12.9ka). During these warm times, permafrost thaw contributed to ancient OC depositional rates that were similar to 10 times greater than today. Although permafrost OC was vulnerable to climate warming in the past, we suggest surface soil organic horizons and peat are presently limiting summer thaw and carbon release. As a result, the temperature threshold to trigger widespread permafrost OC release is higher than during previous warming events.
Keywords: carbon cycling; lake sediment; paleoclimatology; permafrost; radiocarbon; Younger Dryas

Radiocarbon Data of Funerary Discoveries from Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Miceşti - Cigaş (Alba County, Romania) - Bălan, Gabriel; Quinn, Colin (Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Historica, 2014)
In the autumn of 2013 fragments of human bone were selected to date the burials in C.7/2009 and C.11/2012 at Miceşti-Cigaș (fig. 1). The dating of bone collagen provides an accurate means of dating the death of the individual. Radiocarbon dates from bone collagen also are unaffected by the ‘old wood’ phenomenon that can affect conventional charcoal dates. They were calibrated with the Oxcal program, version 4.2.3, resulting a timeframe between 1745-1627 BC (95.4%) / 1736-1645 BC (68.1%) for C.11 and 1880-1693 BC (95.4%) / 1872-1700 BC (68.1%) for C.7 (fig. 1-2). Until now there were only 6 radiocarbon dates obtained on samples taken from Wietenberg sites: Oarța de Sus (two dates: 1. Ly 9190 - “1610-1445 B.C., with maximum probability between 1589-1518-1469 B.C.”; 2. Bln 5626: 3507±37, 1931-1701 BC 2 sigma calibrated); Sighișoara-Cartierul viilor (1685 – 1524 BC) and Rotbav-La pârâuț (three dates: Hd-28203 - 3547±24 BP, 1954- 1774 BC calibrated 2 sigma; Hd-27967 - 3195±19 BP, 1501-1430 BC calibrated 2 sigma; Hd-27989 - 3174±16 BP, 1497-1416 BC calibrated 2 sigma).A partial chronological synchronization between the Wietenberg IV phase and Noua culture has been observed by several scholars. To test this, we draw attention to important radiocarbon dates from sites belonging to Noua culture: Mahala, Crasnaleuca, Miciurin-Odaia and Rotbav-La pârâuț. These radiocarbon dates minimally and definitively place the Noua culture between 1500-1200 BC. There are also some other dates which could suggest the beginning of Noua culture in the 16th century BC (fig. 3).On the basis of the radiocarbon dates belonging to Wietenberg and Noua cultures mentioned above, we consider that the Wietenberg IV phase is part of the Middle Bronze Age, while the beginning of the Late Bronze Age is marked through the presence of Noua culture in Transylvania. If we are to take into account the dates from Miceşti, the first manifestations of the last Wietenberg phase can be placed by the beginning of the 17th century BC. The final part of Wietenberg culture is marked by the emergence of Noua culture before 1500 BC, when, for a short period of time, the two pottery styles coexist.
Keywords: Middle Bronze Age; Wietenberg culture; funerary discoveries; 14C data; chronology

Radiocarbon dating of planktonic foraminifer shells: A cautionary tale - Mekik, Figen (PALEOCEANOGRAPHY, 2014)
Sedimentation rate, bioturbation, winnowing, and calcite dissolution produce significant radiocarbon age offsets among multiple species of coexisting planktonic foraminifers and pteropod fragments. We compare the radiocarbon age of foraminifer species and pteropod fragments with estimates of percent calcite dissolved made with a sedimentary proxy (Globorotalia menardii fragmentation index-MFI) to delineate the effect of dissolution on radiocarbon age of foraminifers. Data from two core top transects on the Rio Grande Rise (RIO) and Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) and from down core sediments of varying sedimentation rates in the tropical Pacific (ME-27, MD98 2177, and MW91-9 56GGC) reveal that sediments with the greatest accumulation rates produce the least age offsets among coexisting species. Age offsets among coexisting foraminifers are about 3500 years on RIO, and 1000 years on OJP. Two core tops from RIO yield an age of the Last Glacial Maximum possibly due to mass displacement of younger sediments downslope. Foraminifer age increases with increasing dissolution and there is a consistent pattern of older foraminifer fragments coexisting with younger whole shells of the same species. The only exception is sediments which have experienced high dissolution where fragments are younger than whole shells. The age offset between fragments of G. menardii and its coexisting whole shells does not exceed the age offset among other coexisting foraminifer species in the same core tops.

Radiocarbon signatures and size–age–composition relationships of major organic matter pools within a unique California upwelling system - Walker, B. D.; Guilderson, T. P.; Okimura, K. M.; Peacock, M. B.; McCarthy, M. D. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
Coastal upwelling zones are among the most productive regions in the world and play a major role in the global carbon cycle. Radiocarbon (as Δ14C) is a powerful tool for tracing the source and fate of suspended particulate and dissolved organic matter (POM, DOM), and has the potential to reconcile key carbon budgets within upwelling systems. However, the extent to which upwelling processes influence the Δ14C signature of surface DIC, or that of POM or DOM remains almost completely unknown. Here we present a time series of stable carbon (δ13C) and Δ14C isotopic data of major water column carbon pools, including dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), large (0.7–500 μm) and small (0.1–100 μm) POM, and high molecular weight (HMW; ∼1 nm–0.1 μm) DOM from an upwelling center along the Big Sur coast. We show that DIC Δ14C values (ranging between +29‰ and −14‰) are strongly correlated to coastal upwelling processes, and that this 14C-signal readily propagates into both the POM and HMW DOM pool. However, the presence of negative POM and HMW DOM Δ14C values (ranging between +46‰ and −56‰, +6‰ and −123‰ and −1‰ and −150‰, respectively) suggests contributions of “pre-aged” OM, complicating the direct use of “bulk” Δ14C for tracing upwelling-derived carbon production/export. Using a triple-isotope mixing model (δ13C, δ15N, Δ14C) we estimate that 50–90% and 45–51% of large and small POM is newly-produced OM, while between 6–22% and 12–44% of large and small POM are derived from “pre-aged” re-suspended sediments. Finally, we observe quantitative relationships between OM size, composition (C:N ratio) and Δ14C within this upwelling system, possibly representing a new tool for modeling ocean C and N biogeochemical cycles.

Recent unprecedented warming and oligotrophy of the eastern Mediterranean Sea within the last millennium - Sisma-Ventura, Guy; Yam, Ruth; Shemesh, Aldo (Geophysical Research Letters, 2014)
The Mediterranean region is a climatic transitional zone between the subtropical/monsoon regime and the temperate westerlies and is subject to forces acting upon the global climate system. Much knowledge about its climate over the last millennium is derived from terrestrial records, whereas changes in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and in the dissolved inorganic carbon pool (DIC) are poorly known. We present continuous high-resolution reconstructions of SST and δ13CDIC in the eastern Mediterranean (EM) Sea, as inferred from oxygen and carbon isotope records from the skeletons of the reef builder gastropod Dendropoma sp. Spanning the past millennium, the SST reconstruction reveals a 250 year persistent warming trend during which the twentieth century was the warmest on record. Coupled with a distinct trend of 13CDIC depletion and superimposed upon decreased primary production, this climate reconstruction reflects a new state of the EM over the Anthropocene era that exceeds the natural variability of the last millennium.

Record of methane emissions from the West Svalbard continental margin during the last 23.500 yrs revealed by δ13C of benthic foraminifera - Panieri, Giuliana; James, Rachael H.; Camerlenghi, Angelo; Westbrook, Graham K.; Consolaro, Chiara; Cacho, Isabel; Cesari, Valentina; Cervera, Cristina Sanchez (Global and Planetary Change, 2014)
The values of δ13C in benthic foraminifera have been measured in a gas-hydrate-bearing sediment core collected from an area of active methane venting on the Vestnesa Ridge (West Svalbard continental margin) to reconstruct the local history of methane emissions over the past 23.500 yrs BP. The chronostratigraphic framework of the core has been derived from AMS 14C dates and biostratigraphic analysis. While foraminifera from some intervals have δ13C within the normal marine range (0 to − 1‰), five intervals are characterized by a much lower δ13C, as low as − 17.4‰. These intervals are interpreted to record the incorporation of 13C-depleted carbon in the presence of methane emissions at the seafloor during biomineralization of the carbonate foraminiferal tests and subsequent secondary mineralization. Methane emission events (MEE) occur from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Holocene, with the most prominent one, in terms of δ13C depletion, predating the Bølling–Allerød Interstadial (GI-1 in the Greenland ice core record). The lack of correlation between the values of δ13C and δ18O, however, appears to preclude warming of bottom waters as the principal control on methane release. Rather, it seems likely that methane release is a consequence of episodicity in the supply of gas to the hydrate system and in the processes that enable methane gas to migrate through the hydrate stability field to the seabed, or of other geological processes still under debate.

Refining the link between the Holocene development of the Mississippi River Delta and the geologic evolution of Cat Island, MS: implications for delta-associated barrier islands - Miselis, Jennifer L.; Buster, Noreen A.; Kindinger, Jack L. (Marine Geology, 2014)
The geologic evolution of barrier islands is profoundly influenced by the nature of the deposits underlying them. Many researchers have speculated on the origin and evolution of Cat Island in Mississippi, but uncertainty remains about whether or not the island is underlain completely or in part by deposits associated with the past growth of the Mississippi River delta. In part, this is due to a lack of comprehensive geological information offshore of the island that could augment previous stratigraphic interpretations based on terrestrial borings. An extensive survey of Cat Island and its surrounding waters was conducted, including shallow-water geophysics (e.g., high-resolution chirp seismic, side-scan sonar, and swath and single-beam bathymetry) and both terrestrial and marine vibracoring. High-resolution seismic data and vibracores from south and east of the island show two horizontally laminated silt units; marine radiocarbon dates indicate that they are St. Bernard delta complex (SBDC) deposits. Furthermore, seismic data reveal that the SBDC deposits taper off toward the southern shoreline of Cat Island and to the west, morphology consistent with the distal edge of a delta complex. The sedimentology and extent of each unit suggest that the lower unit may have been deposited during an earlier period of continuous river flow while the upper unit may represent reduced or sporadic river flow. OSL dates from the island platform (beneath beach ridge complexes) indicate three stages of terrestrial evolution: island emergence resulting from relative sea-level rise (~ 5400 ybp) island aggradation via littoral transport (~ 2500–4000 ybp) and island degradation due to delta-mediated changes in wave direction (present– ~ 3600 ybp). Finally, the combination of terrestrial and marine data shows that portions of Cat Island that are lower in elevation than the central part of the island are younger and are likely underlain by a thin layer of deltaic sediments. This underscores the potential for increased future vulnerability of barrier islands that develop adjacent to major river delta complexes.

Seafloor fault ruptures along the North Anatolia Fault in the Marmara Sea, Turkey: Link with the adjacent basin turbidite record - McHugh, Cecilia M. G.; Braudy, Nicole; Çağatay, M. Namik; Sorlien, Christopher; Cormier, Marie-Helene; Seeber, Leonardo; Henry, Pierre (Marine Geology, 2014)
The relation between seafloor fault ruptures and the generation of turbidity currents was investigated to better understand the structural growth of tectonic basins with direct implications for earthquake hazard assessment. This study focuses on the Holocene earthquake record of transtensional basins in the Marmara Sea, Turkey, that are associated with the North Anatolian Fault system. The physical and chemical composition of three 10 m-long cores recovered from the Central Basin was studied at high-resolution and turbidite–homogenite units were identified. Turbidite–homogenite units (T–H units) are complex deposits that consist of a sharp basal contact and multiple fining upward beds of sand to coarse silt, above. All are capped by a 25 cm to 75 cm thick layer of medium to fine silt. A chronology developed from radiocarbon and short-lived radioisotopes allowed the correlation of these T–H units to the historical record of earthquakes that in Turkey goes back 2000 years. We found that the best location to recover the most complete sedimentation record is in the deepest part of a basin or “depocenter” where T–H units constitute ~ 80% of the sediments. A very good correlation was established between T–H units in Central Basin and proximal inferred historic epicentres along the central Marmara segment of the North Anatolia Fault that occurred in 1343, 860, 740, and 557 AD, and two more distal earthquakes that occurred in 268 and 1963 (or possibly1964). These sedimentation events can then be referred to as “seismo-turbidites”. The results when compared to findings from other transform basins in Marmara Sea reveal a very good correlation between T–H units and historic ruptures. Most importantly, there is a strong correlation between the inferred locations of historical earthquakes and the preservation of turbidite–homogenite units in the basin adjacent to the inferred rupture. The 740 AD earthquake correlates with T–H units in Izmit Gulf and Central Basin and could represent a multi-segment rupture of the NAF. Generally, T–H units appear to be clustered through the Holocene sections, suggesting temporal earthquake clustering in the Marmara Sea region. Such clustering may account for the lack of T–H units and hence large ruptures through the Central Basin since 1343.

Seasonal variability of organic matter composition in an Alaskan glacier outflow: insights into glacier carbon sources - Spencer, Robert G M; Vermilyea, Andrew; Fellman, Jason; Raymond, Peter; Stubbins, Aron; Scott, Durelle; Hood, Eran (Environmental Research Letters, 2014)
Glacier ecosystems are a significant source of bioavailable, yet ancient dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Characterizing DOC in Mendenhall Glacier out flow (southeast Alaska) we document a seasonal persistence to the radiocarbon-depleted signature of DOC, highlighting ancient DOC as a ubiquitous feature of glacier out flow. We observed no systematic depletion in Δ14C-DOC with increasing discharge during the melt season that would suggest mobilization of an aged subglacial carbon store. However, DOC concentration, δ13C-DOC,Δ14C-DOC and fluorescence signatures appear to have been in fluenced by runoff from vegetated hillslopes above the glacier during onset and senescence of melt. In the peak glacier melt period, the Δ 14 C-DOC of stream samples at the out flow (−181.7 to−355.3‰) was comparable to the Δ 14 C-DOC for snow samples from the accumulation zone (−207.2 to−390.9‰), suggesting that ancient DOC from the glacier surface is exported in glacier runoff. The pre-aged DOC in glacier snow and runoff is consistent with contributions from fossil fuel combustion sources similar to those documented previously in ice cores and thus provides evidence for anthropogenic perturbation of the carbon cycle. Overall, our results emphasize the need to further characterize DOC inputs to glacier ecosystems, particularly in light of predicted changes in glacier mass and runoff in the coming century.
Keywords: alaska; dissolved organic carbon; glacier; organic matter; radiocarbon

Sedimentary and faunal signatures of the post-glacial marine drowning of the Pontocaspian Gemlik “lake” (Sea of Marmara) - Taviani, M.; Angeletti, L.; Cagatay, M. N.; Gasperini, L.; Polonia, A.; Wesselingh, F. P. (Quaternary International, 2014)
A Late Pleistocene (Neoeuxinian) Pontocaspian fauna is documented from sediments cored at̴ ∼75 m present water depth in the shallow-silled (∼50 m) Gulf of Gemlik, Sea of Marmara. As determined by AMS-14C dating of Pontocaspian gastropods (15,860 ± 90 BP uncal.), the age of such fauna is consistent with known episodes of Caspian overflow into the Black Sea Basin (Early Hvalynian floods). The fossil mollusc fauna is relatively diverse (12 non-marine taxa), made up of neritid and hydrobioid gastropods, and dreissenid and lymnocardiine bivalves. The presence of hitherto poorly known Pontocaspian taxa in the Sea of Marmara, further documented by the record in Gulf of Gemlik, seems to document that the Neoeuxinian Sea extended south of the Bosporus in the latest Pleistocene. Further, they provide insight into the origin of the modern Black Sea Pontocaspian taxa. The Gemlik Neoeuxinian lacustrine-brackish fauna under scrutiny is the westernmost known expansion of the Pontocaspian domain during the Late Pleistocene. This distinct biogeographic faunal affinity, with all its eastbound implications in terms of landscape and seaway connections, came to an end with the abrupt marine inundation that accompanied the postglacial sea-level rise from the Mediterranean Sea.

Sedimentation patterns on a cold-water coral mound off Mauritania - Eisele, Markus; Frank, Norbert; Wienberg, Claudia; Titschack, Jürgen; Mienis, Furu; Beuck, Lydia; Tisnerat-Laborde, Nadine; Hebbeln, Dierk (Biology and Geology of Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystems: Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Deep Sea Corals, 2014)
An unconformity-bound glacial sequence (135 cm thick) of a coral-bearing sediment core collected from the flank of a cold-water coral mound in the Banda Mound Province off Mauritania was analysed. In order to study the relation between coral framework growth and its filling by hemipelagic sediments, U-series dates obtained from the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa were compared to 14C dates of planktonic foraminifera of the surrounding matrix sediments. The coral ages, ranging from 45.1 to 32.3 ka BP, exhibit no clear depositional trend, while on the other hand the 14C dates of the matrix sediment provide ages within a much narrower time window of <3000 yrs (34.6–31.8 cal ka BP), corresponding to the latest phase of the coral growth period. In addition, high-resolution computer tomography data revealed a subdivision of the investigated sediment package into three distinct parts, defined by the portion and fragmentation of corals and associated macrofauna as well as in the density of the matrix sediments. Grain size spectra obtained on the matrix sediments show a homogeneous pattern throughout the core sediment package, with minor variations. These features are interpreted as indicators of redeposition. Based on the observed structures and the dating results, the sediments were interpreted as deposits of a mass wasting event, namely a debris flow. During this event, the sediment unit must have been entirely mixed; resulting in averaging of the foraminifera ages from the whole unit and giving randomly distributed coral ages. In this context, for the first time mass wasting is proposed to be a substantial process of mound progradation by exporting material from the mound top to the flanks. Hence, it may not only be an erosional feature but also widening the base of the mound, thus allowing further vertical mound growth.

Silicon isotopes indicate enhanced carbon export efficiency in the North Atlantic during deglaciation - Hendry, Katharine R.; Robinson, Laura F.; McManus, Jerry F.; Hays, James D. (Nature Communications, 2014)
Today’s Sargasso Sea is nutrient starved, except for episodic upwelling events caused by wind-driven winter mixing and eddies. Enhanced diatom opal burial in Sargasso Sea sediments indicates that silicic acid, a limiting nutrient today, may have been more available in subsurface waters during Heinrich Stadials, millennial-scale climate perturbations of the last glacial and deglaciation. Here we use the geochemistry of opal-forming organisms from different water depths to demonstrate changes in silicic acid supply and utilization during the most recent Heinrich Stadial. We suggest that during the early phase (17.5–18 ka), wind-driven upwelling replenished silicic acid to the subsurface, resulting in low Si utilization. By 17 ka, stratification reduced the surface silicic acid supply leading to increased Si utilization efficiency. This abrupt shift in Si cycling would have contributed to high regional carbon export efficiency during the recent Heinrich Stadial, despite being a period of increasing atmospheric CO2.
Keywords: Biogeochemistry; Cryospheric science; Ocean sciences

Sites forlorn: dating intervals of abandonment at three shell middens on Santa Cruz Island, California using Bayesian chronological models - Thakar, H. B. (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014)
Archaeologists interested in variable mobility patterns and the factors that influence them rely on chronometric data to illuminate repetitive cycles of occupation, abandonment, and reoccupation. This article establishes and interrogates Bayesian chronological models in order to provide formal age estimates for two distinct intervals of site abandonment at three substantial multi-component shell middens from Santa Cruz Island, California. The earlier, more protracted interval of abandonment (ca. 2629–1698 cal. BP) following terminal Early Period occupation at each site location represents a temporal datum for a series of significant cultural, demographic, and technological developments throughout the region. I propose that this interval of localized site abandonments indicates a period of reorganization provoked by a shift in the paleoenvironment, a preliminary hypothesis that requires further testing. This research calls for development of similarly rigorous site chronologies on Santa Cruz Island and throughout the region that will shed further light on the validity of the temporal gaps documented in this analysis and most certainly will facilitate the development of additional hypotheses. More broadly, this article highlights the implementation and benefit of a Bayesian approach to building and interrogating site chronologies.
Au6tmTimes Cited:0Cited References Count:55

Source and biolability of ancient dissolved organic matter in glacier and lake ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau - Spencer, Robert G.M.; Guo, Weidong; Raymond, Peter A.; Dittmar, Thorsten; Hood, Eran; Fellman, Jason; Stubbins, Aron (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014)
The Tibetan Plateau is the world’s largest and highest plateau and holds the largest mass of ice on Earth outside the ice-sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, as well as abundant lakes. This study examined the molecular and isotopic signatures of dissolved organic matter (DOM) along with its biolability in glacier ice, glacier-fed streams, and alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. The aim was to assess the sources of DOM and the potential of DOM to provide a carbon subsidy to downstream ecosystems. Tibetan glaciers and glacier streams exhibited low dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (17.7–27.9 μM) and ancient DOC radiocarbon ages (749–2350 ybp). The optical properties, stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C-DOC) and the molecular composition (Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry) of Tibetan glacier DOM are consistent with data from other glacier systems around the world. The geochemical signatures and the ancient apparent ages of Tibetan glacier DOM suggest a significant fraction is derived from the atmospheric deposition of pre-aged, possibly fossil fuel derived organics. Within the Tibetan alpine lakes, DOC was also ancient (525–675 ybp), due to either inputs of pre-aged organics from glacier runoff, direct deposition, or due to the aging of organics in situ (i.e. a radiocarbon reservoir effect). The glacier ice and glacier stream sites exhibited high biolability of DOC and so provide a carbon subsidy to downstream environments that will change as glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau recede.

Submarine Paleoseismology Along Populated Transform Boundaries: The Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden Fault, Canal du Sud, Haiti, and the North Anatolian Fault, Marmara Sea, Turkey - McHugh, Cecilia M. G.; Seeber, Leonardo; Cormier, Marie-Helene; Hornbach, Matthew (OCEANOGRAPHY, 2014)
Continental transform boundaries cross heavily populated regions and are associated with destructive earthquakes worldwide. The devastating 1999 Turkey earthquakes and the offshore 2010 Haiti earthquake emphasized the urgent need to study the submerged segments of continental transforms. In response, the rapidly evolving field of submarine paleoseismology is focusing its attention on understanding the relationships between sedimentation, seafloor ruptures, and earthquake recurrence intervals along submarine faults. In Canal du Sud, Haiti, the 2010 earthquake-triggered sedimentation events were documented from nearshore to the deep basin by measuring the excess Th-234 in sediment cores. This radioisotope, with a half-life of 24 days, tracked mass wasting, turbidites, turbidite-homogenite units, and a sediment plume that remained in the water column for at least two months after the earthquake. However, the turbidite units in Canal du Sud, Haiti, provide an incomplete record of the region's earthquake history, likely because sedimentation rates are too low for sedimentation events to be triggered by all earthquakes. In contrast, in the Marmara Sea basins, there is very good correlation between turbidites and the historical record of earthquakes dating back 2,000 years. The difference between these correlations is likely related to both sedimentation rates and particulars of the ruptures. Future research along the Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden fault in Haiti and along similar low sedimentation plate boundaries should focus on multiple fault segments in order to obtain complete earthquake recurrence histories.

Subsurface Evidence of Storm-Driven Breaching along a Transgressing Barrier System, Cape Cod, USA - Maio, Christopher V.; Gontz, Allen M.; Sullivan, Richard M.; Madsen, Stephanie M.; Weidman, Christopher R.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P. (JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH, 2014)
Relict and historic tidal channels buried within coastal barriers provide a geologic signature of environmental change, thus enhancing our understanding of how barrier systems respond to extreme storm events. Earliest maps from 1846 depict three inlets along the Waquoit Bay barrier system located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These channels were not depicted on maps after 1846, and we lack any information pertaining to them before 1846. The principle objective of this study was to identify the location and map the internal geometry and channel-fill configuration of the buried inlet structures using geophysical and sedimentological data acquisition methods. This was done by collecting 6.2 km of shoreparallel ground-penetrating radar data and five sediment cores ranging in depth from 4 to 5 m. The sediment cores allowed for the ground truthing of the ground-penetrating radar data and provided six samples for radiocarbon dating. The 13 paleochannels identified ranged in depths from 1.3 to 3.7 m below the present beach surface. These appeared in the radar imagery as broad U-shaped cut-and-fill features incised into adjacent barrier facies. The 13 paleochannels composed 24% of the barrier lithosome totaling 704 m in length. Individual channels were primarily less than 65 m in length and between 2.5 and 1.3 m in depth, although an additional 275-m-wide, 3.7-m-deep channel sequence was imaged and likely represents a major and long-lived paleochannel. The results will contribute toward deciphering the evolution of the Waquoit system and identify areas vulnerable to storm-driven coastal change.
Keywords: coastal change; Coastal evolution; ground-penetrating radar; marine transgression; overwash; paleochannel; paleogeography; South Cape Beach

Ta'u and Ofu/Olosega volcanoes: The ``Twin Sisters'' of Samoa, their P, T, X melting regime, and global implications - Hart, Stanley R.; Jackson, Matthew G. (GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS, 2014)
The Samoan islands of Ta'u and Ofu/Olosega (Ofol hereafter) are single shield volcanoes that have erupted alkali basalt for the past 70 and 440 kyr, respectively. They are 20 km apart, and are the easternmost subaerial expressions of the Samoan plume. The isotopic data for these islands are published; we report here the first major and trace element data for Ofol. The two islands are similar isotopically and in trace elements. Their high He-3/He-4 marks them as being a FOZO mantle end-member. By comparing data from both volcanoes, we test the efficacy of melting models in constraining the mantle compositions and their P-T of melting. We show that the mantle sources are similar, with spidergrams that peak at Ta ( 4 x BSE), and Lu similar to 0.5 x BSE. Melts and mantle sources both have Lu/Hf ratios that are too low to support measured Hf-176/Hf-177 ratios, pointing to a young enrichment event in the mantle source. Degrees of melting are 6.5% for Ta'u and 5.2% for Ofol. P-T of melting show a wide, overlapping range, but define a precise array; average values are 1475 degrees C-77 km for Ta'u and 1550 degrees C-110 km for Ofol. The deepest P-T estimate is 4.2 GPa and 1550 degrees C. The P-T array is either a melting adiabat, or a mixing line of melts equilibrated at various depths. Kinetic modeling shows melt re-equilibration will be likely for ascent velocities (m/yr) less than 40/(conduit radius in cm)(2). P-T estimates for melting may typically be minimum values.

Temporal and spatial distributions of cold-water corals in the Drake Passage: Insights from the last 35,000 years - Margolin, Andrew R.; Robinson, Laura F.; Burke, Andrea; Waller, Rhian G.; Scanlon, Kathryn M.; Roberts, Mark L.; Auro, Maureen E.; van de Flierdt, Tina (Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2014)
Scleractinian corals have a global distribution ranging from shallow tropical seas to the depths of the Southern Ocean. Although this distribution is indicative of the corals having a tolerance to a wide spectrum of environmental conditions, individual species seem to be restricted to a much narrower range of ecosystem variables. One way to ascertain the tolerances of corals, with particular focus on the potential impacts of changing climate, is to reconstruct their growth history across a range of environmental regimes. This study examines the spatial and temporal distribution of the solitary scleractinian corals Desmophyllum dianthus, Gardineria antarctica, Balanophyllia malouinensis, Caryophyllia spp. and Flabellum spp. from five sites in the Drake Passage which cross the major frontal zones. A rapid reconnaissance radiocarbon method, cooupled with U-Th dating, extends the age range back more than 100 thousand. Within this age range there are distinct changes in the temporal and spatial distributions of these corals, both with depth and latitude, and on millennial timescales. Two major patterns that emerge are: 1) D. dianthus populations show clear variability in their occurrence through time depending on the latitudinal position within the Drake Passage. North of the Subantarctic Front, D. dianthus first appears in the late deglaciation (~17,000 years ago) and persists to today. South of the Polar Front, in contrast, populations existed during the glacial and early deglacial periods, with only few modern occurrences. A seamount site between the two fronts exhibits characteristics similar to both the north and south sites. This shift across the frontal zones within one species cannot yet be fully explained, but it is likely to be linked to changes in surface productivity, subsurface oxygen concentrations, and carbonate saturation state. 2) at locations where multiple genera were dated, clear differences in age and depth distribution of the populations provide clear evidence that each genus has unique environmental requirements to sustain its population.
id: 2278

Timing and preservation mechanism of deglacial pteropod spike from the Andaman Sea, northeastern Indian Ocean - Sijinkumar, Adukkam V.; Nath, Bejugam N.; Guptha, Medimi V. S.; Ahmad, Syed M.; Rao, Bandaru R. (BOREAS, 2014)
The aragonite compensation depth (ACD) fluctuated considerably during the last glacial until the Holocene with a dominant pteropod preservation spike during the deglacial period, which is prominently seen in three well-dated cores covering the Andaman Sea, northeastern Indian Ocean. The precise time period of the preservation spike of pteropods is not known but this knowledge is crucial for stratigraphical correlation and also for understanding the driving mechanism. Isotopic and foraminiferal proxies were used to decipher the possible mechanism for pteropods preservation in the Andaman Sea. The poor preservation/absence of pteropods during the Holocene in the Andaman Sea may have implications for ocean acidification, driven by enhanced atmospheric CO2 concentration. Strengthening of the summer monsoon and the resultant high biological productivity may also have played a role in the poor preservation of pteropods. The deglacial pteropod spike is characterized by high abundance/preservation of the pteropods between approximate to 19 and 15cal. ka BP, associated with very low atmospheric CO2 concentration. Isotope data suggest the prevalence of a glacial environment with reduced sea surface temperature, upwelling and enhanced salinity during the pteropod preservation spike. Total planktic foraminifera and Globigerina bulloides abundances are low during this period, implying a weakened summer monsoon and reduced foraminiferal productivity. Based on the preservation record of pteropods, it is inferred that the ACD was probably deepest (>2900m) at 16.5cal. ka BP. The synchronous regional occurrence of the pteropod preservation spike in the Andaman Sea and in the northwestern Indian Ocean could potentially be employed as a stratigraphic marker.

Transfer of organic carbon through marine water columns to sediments - insights from stable and radiocarbon isotopes of lipid biomarkers - Wakeham, S. G.; McNichol, A. P. (Biogeosciences, 2014)
Compound-specific C-13 and C-14 compositions of diverse lipid biomarkers (fatty acids, alkenones, hydrocarbons, sterols and fatty alcohols) were measured in sinking particulate matter collected in sediment traps and from underlying surface sediments in the Black Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Ross Sea. The goal was to develop a multiparameter approach to constrain relative inputs of organic carbon (OC) from marine biomass, terrigenous vascular-plant and relict-kerogen sources. Using an isotope mass balance, we calculate that marine biomass in sediment trap material from the Black Sea and Arabian Sea accounted for 66-100% of OC, with lower terrigenous (3-8 %) and relict (4-16 %) contributions. Marine biomass in sediments constituted lower proportions of OC (66-90 %), with consequentially higher proportions of terrigenous and relict carbon (3-17 and 713 %, respectively). Ross Sea data were insufficient to allow similar mass balance calculations. These results suggest that, whereas particulate organic carbon is overwhelmingly marine in origin, pre-aged allochthonous terrigenous and relict OC become proportionally more important in sediments, consistent with pre-aged OC being better preserved during vertical transport to and burial at the seafloor than the upper-ocean-derived marine OC.
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000346357100026

Unusual C35 to C38 alkenones in mid-Holocene sediments from a restricted estuary (Charlotte Harbor, Florida) - van Soelen, E. E.; Lammers, J. M.; Eglinton, T. I.; Sinninghe Damsté, J. S.; Reichart, G. J. (Organic Geochemistry, 2014)
Unusual C35 to C38 alkenones were identified in mid-Holocene (8–3.5 kyr BP) sediments from a restricted estuary in southwest Florida (Charlotte Harbor). The distribution was dominated by a C36 diunsaturated (ω15,20) ethyl ketone, identical to the one present in Black Sea Unit 2 sediments. Other unusual alkenones were tentatively assigned as a C35:2 (ω15,20) methyl ketone, a C37:2 (ω17,22) methyl ketone and a C38:2 (ω17,22) ethyl ketone. In late Holocene sediments < 3.5 kyr BP, the common C37 to C39 alkenones were found. Compound-specific 14C, 13C, and D isotope measurements were used to constrain the possible origin of the alkenones. Conventional radiocarbon ages of alkenones and higher plant-derived long chain n-alcohols indicated no significant difference in age between mid-Holocene alkenones and higher plant n-alcohols. Both alcohols and alkenones were offset vs. calibrated ages of shell fragments in the same sediment core, which suggests they were pre-aged by 500–800 yr, implying resuspension and redistribution of the fine-grained sedimentary particles with which they are associated. The hydrogen isotopic (δD) composition (−190‰ to −200‰) of the C37 and C38 alkenones in the late Holocene sediments is in line with values for coastal haptophytes in brackish water. However, the unusual C36 and C38 alkenones from the mid Holocene sediments were enriched in D (by ca. 100‰) vs. the late Holocene alkenones. Also, δ13C values of mid-Holocene alkenones were consistently offset compared with late Holocene alkenones (−21‰ to −22‰ and −22‰ to −23‰, respectively). We suggest that the alkenones in Charlotte Harbor were produced by unknown alkenone-producing haptophyte.

Uplift and subsidence reveal a nonpersistent megathrust rupture boundary (Sitkinak Island, Alaska) - Briggs, Richard W.; Engelhart, Simon E.; Nelson, Alan R.; Dura, Tina; Kemp, Andrew C.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Corbett, D. Reide; Angster, Stephen J.; Bradley, Lee-Ann (Geophysical Research Letters, 2014)
We report stratigraphic evidence of land-level change and tsunami inundation along the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust during prehistoric and historical earthquakes west of Kodiak Island. On Sitkinak Island, cores and tidal outcrops fringing a lagoon reveal five sharp lithologic contacts that record coseismic land-level change. Radiocarbon dates, 137Cs profiles, computerized tomography scans, and microfossil assemblages are consistent with rapid uplift circa 290–0, 520–300, and 1050–790 cal yr B.P. and subsidence in A.D. 1964 and circa 640–510 cal yr B.P. Radiocarbon, 137Cs, and 210Pb ages bracketing a sand bed traced 1.5 km inland and evidence for sudden uplift are consistent with Russian accounts of an earthquake and tsunami in A.D. 1788. The mixed uplift and subsidence record suggests that Sitkinak Island sits above a nonpersistent boundary near the southwestern limit of the A.D. 1964 Mw 9.2 megathrust rupture.

Using Natural Abundance Radiocarbon To Trace the Flux of Petrocarbon to the Seafloor Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - Chanton, Jeffrey; Zhao, Tingting; Rosenheim, Brad E.; Joye, Samantha; Bosman, Samantha; Brunner, Charlotte; Yeager, Kevin M.; Diercks, Arne R.; Hollander, David (Environmental science & technology, 2014)
In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon accident released 4.6?6.0 ? 1011 grams or 4.1 to 4.6 million barrels of fossil petroleum derived carbon (petrocarbon) as oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Natural abundance radiocarbon measurements on surface sediment organic matter in a 2.4 ? 1010 m2 deep-water region surrounding the spill site indicate the deposition of a fossil-carbon containing layer that included 1.6 to 2.6 ? 1010 grams of oil-derived carbon. This quantity represents between 0.5 to 9.1% of the released petrocarbon, with a best estimate of 3.0?4.9%. These values may be lower limit estimates of the fraction of the oil that was deposited on the seafloor because they focus on a limited mostly deep-water area of the Gulf, include a conservative estimate of thickness of the depositional layer, and use an average background or prespill radiocarbon value for sedimentary organic carbon that produces a conservative value. A similar approach using hopane tracer estimated that 4?31% of 2 million barrels of oil that stayed in the deep sea settled on the bottom. Converting that to a percentage of the total oil that entered into the environment (to which we normalized our estimate) converts this range to 1.8 to 14.4%. Although extrapolated over a larger area, our independent estimate produced similar values.; In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon accident released 4.6?6.0 ? 1011 grams or 4.1 to 4.6 million barrels of fossil petroleum derived carbon (petrocarbon) as oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Natural abundance radiocarbon measurements on surface sediment organic matter in a 2.4 ? 1010 m2 deep-water region surrounding the spill site indicate the deposition of a fossil-carbon containing layer that included 1.6 to 2.6 ? 1010 grams of oil-derived carbon. This quantity represents between 0.5 to 9.1% of the released petrocarbon, with a best estimate of 3.0?4.9%. These values may be lower limit estimates of the fraction of the oil that was deposited on the seafloor because they focus on a limited mostly deep-water area of the Gulf, include a conservative estimate of thickness of the depositional layer, and use an average background or prespill radiocarbon value for sedimentary organic carbon that produces a conservative value. A similar approach using hopane tracer estimated that 4?31% of 2 million barrels of oil that stayed in the deep sea settled on the bottom. Converting that to a percentage of the total oil that entered into the environment (to which we normalized our estimate) converts this range to 1.8 to 14.4%. Although extrapolated over a larger area, our independent estimate produced similar values.

Validated age and growth estimates for Carcharhinus obscurus in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, with pre- and post management growth comparisons - Natanson, Lisa J.; Gervelis, Brian J.; Winton, Megan V.; Hamady, Li Ling; Gulak, Simon J. B.; Carlson, John K. (Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2014)
Age and growth estimates for the dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus, were derived from vertebral centra collected in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Sample collection spanned the years prior to and following the implementation ofmanagementmeasures (1963– 2010). Growth was compared pre- and post- population depletion and pre- and post- management to investigate the possibility of density-mediated shifts in age and growth parameters over time. There was no evidence of difference between periods for either sex. Additionally, bomb radiocarbon dating was used to determine the periodicity of band pair formation. Results support the traditional interpretation of annual band pairs up to approximately 11 years of age. After this time, vertebral counts considerably underestimate true age. Maximum validated ages were estimated to be between 38 and 42 years of age (an increase of 15 to 19 years over the band count estimates), confirming longevity to at least 42 years of age. Growth curves estimated using only validated data were compared to those generated using band pair counts. Logistic growth parameters derived from validated vertebral length-at-age data were L∞=261.5 cm FL, Lo=85.5 cm, to=4.89 year and g=0.15 year−1 for the sexes combined. Revised estimates of age at maturity were 17.4 years for males and 17.6 years for females.
Keywords: Age and growth; bomb radiocarbon; Dusky shark; Elasmobranch; Validation; Vertebrae

Vertebral Bomb Radiocarbon Suggests Extreme Longevity in White Sharks - Hamady, Li Ling; Natanson, Lisa J.; Skomal, Gregory B.; Thorrold, Simon R. (Plos One, 2014)
Conservation and management efforts for white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) remain hampered by a lack of basic demographic information including age and growth rates. Sharks are typically aged by counting growth bands sequentially deposited in their vertebrae, but the assumption of annual deposition of these band pairs requires testing. We compared radiocarbon (Delta C-14) values in vertebrae from four female and four male white sharks from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean (NWA) with reference chronologies documenting the marine uptake of C-14 produced by atmospheric testing of thermonuclear devices to generate the first radiocarbon age estimates for adult white sharks. Age estimates were up to 40 years old for the largest female (fork length [FL]: 526 cm) and 73 years old for the largest male (FL: 493 cm). Our results dramatically extend the maximum age and longevity of white sharks compared to earlier studies, hint at possible sexual dimorphism in growth rates, and raise concerns that white shark populations are considerably more sensitive to human-induced mortality than previously thought.
PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000329862500089

11,000 yrs of environmental change in the Northwest Passage: A multiproxy core record from central Parry Channel, Canadian High Arctic - Pieńkowski, A. J.; England, John H.; Furze, Mark F. A.; Blasco, Steve; Mudie, Peta J.; MacLean, Brian (Marine Geology, 2013)
Piston core 97022-004PC (74° 48.0′N 97°05.9′W; 267 m water depth) represents a rare paleoenvironmental archive from the understudied west-central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Lithological, biogeochemical, and microfossil (dinoflagellate cysts, non-pollen palynomorphs, benthic and planktonic foraminifera) characteristics, in combination with a chronostratigraphy based on seventeen radiocarbon dates, show seven prominent paleoenvironmental episodes since the end of the last regional glaciation. The basal diamict (Zone I) records decoupling of previously grounded glacial ice, followed by ice-proximal conditions (Zone IIa) commencing at ~ 10.8 cal ka BP (age-depth model extrapolation). After an interval of pervasive sea-ice (Zone IIb), ice-distal conditions are established (Zone IIc). Although sparse microfossils are present in glaciomarine sediments (Zone II), noticeable biological activity with heightened abundances and diversities across all groups begins in the postglacial Zone III (10.3–10.0 cal ka BP) when planktonic foraminifera (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma) appear. As planktonics are excluded from the study area today (due to shallow inter-channel sills), this likely signals the inflow of relatively warm and saline Atlantic-derived Arctic Intermediate Water below 250 m, presumably facilitated by glacio-isostatically enhanced deglacial water depths. The subsequent Zone IV (10.0–7.0 cal ka BP), characterized by heightened biological productivity in both plankton and benthos and reduced seasonal sea-ice cover, may correspond to a previously proposed Holocene Thermal Maximum. This apparent amelioration ends by the mid Holocene (Zone V; 7.0–5.7 cal ka BP) when Arctic Intermediate Water is excluded from the study area and water depths approach modern values. High-Arctic conditions with seasonal sea-ice cover, a circulation dominated by Arctic Ocean Surface Water, and microfossil assemblages similar to modern are found from ~ 5.7 cal ka BP onwards (Zones VI–VII). As only minor environmental fluctuations are apparent during the late Holocene, shorter-term climatic episodes (e.g. Little Ice Age) are not recognized in this record.
id: 2343

14.31 Radiocarbon Dating of Plant Macrofossils from Tidal-Marsh Sediment - Kemp, A. C.; Nelson, A. R.; Horton, B. P. (Treatise on Geomorphology, 2013)
Tidal-marsh sediment is an archive of Holocene environmental changes, including movements of sea and land levels, and extreme events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Accurate and precise radiocarbon dating of environmental changes is necessary to estimate rates of change and the recurrence interval (frequency) of events. Plant macrofossils preserved in growth position (or deposited soon after death) in tidal-marsh sediment are ideal samples for dating such changes. In this chapter, we focus on the selection of plant macrofossils for radiocarbon dating and the application of ages from different types of macrofossils to varied research projects, and make recommendations for selection and preparation of tidal-marsh samples for dating.
id: 2293

14C and 13C characteristics of higher plant biomarkers in Washington margin surface sediments - Feng, Xiaojuan; Benitez-Nelson, Bryan C.; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Prahl, Fredrick G.; McNichol, Ann P.; Xu, Li; Repeta, Daniel J.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2013)
Plant wax lipids and lignin phenols are the two most common classes of molecular markers that are used to trace vascular plant-derived OM in the marine environment. However, their 13C and 14C compositions have not been directly compared, which can be used to constrain the flux and attenuation of terrestrial carbon in marine environment. In this study, we describe a revised method of isolating individual lignin phenols from complex sedimentary matrices for 14C analysis using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and compare this approach to a method utilizing preparative capillary gas chromatography (PCGC). We then examine in detail the 13C and 14C compositions of plant wax lipids and lignin phenols in sediments from the inner and mid shelf of the Washington margin that are influenced by discharge of the Columbia River. Plant wax lipids (including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic (fatty) acids, n-alkanols, and n-aldehydes) displayed significant variability in both δ13C (−28.3‰ to −37.5‰) and Δ14C values (−204‰ to +2‰), suggesting varied inputs and/or continental storage and transport histories. In contrast, lignin phenols exhibited similar δ13C values (between −30‰ and −34‰) and a relatively narrow range of Δ14C values (−45‰ to −150‰; HPLC-based measurement) that were similar to, or younger than, bulk OM (−195‰ to −137‰). Moreover, lignin phenol 14C age correlated with the degradation characteristics of this terrestrial biopolymer in that vanillyl phenols were on average ∼500 years older than syringyl and cinnamyl phenols that degrade faster in soils and sediments. The isotopic characteristics, abundance, and distribution of lignin phenols in sediments suggest that they serve as promising tracers of recently biosynthesized terrestrial OM during supply to, and dispersal within the marine environment. Lignin phenol 14C measurements may also provide useful constraints on the vascular plant end member in isotopic mixing models for carbon source apportionment, and for interpretation of sedimentary records of past vegetation dynamics.
id: 2267

After the lava flow: The importance of external soil sources for plant colonization of recent lava flows in the central Oregon Cascades, USA - Deligne, Natalia I.; Cashman, Katharine V.; Roering, Joshua J. (Geomorphology, 2013)
Effusive volcanic eruptions repave landscapes rapidly with lava flows, resetting broad areas of the underlying landscape and ecosystem. The unique physical properties of lava pose interesting challenges for ecologic recovery, as lava is dense, sterile, and generally inhospitable towards life. In this study we examine two sites of recent volcanism in the central Oregon Cascades, notable for the juxtaposition of barren exposed lava and mature forests on lava flows of the same or roughly the same age. We use a combination of LiDAR analyses, field observations, and soil characterization to examine soil and vegetation at these two sites, and find that the presence of an external sediment or soil source, particularly flood-borne deposits or syn- or post-eruptive tephra, greatly facilitates plant establishment, growth, and survival. The nature of the external sources of sediment or soil dictates the geographic extent of forests on these young lava flows: flood-borne deposits cover localized regions near river channels, while tephra can cover large regions. In general, our results suggest that external sources of soil provide a substrate for plants to grow in along with key nutrients and sufficient moisture retention. We conclude that external sources of soil source are key for the initial recovery following an effusive volcanic disturbance, in particular in temperate climates. Thus, unrelated geomorphic processes, such as past glaciations that provide local sources of mobile sediments, or concurrent volcanic processes, such as tephra production, dictate the presence or absence of forests on young lava flows.
id: 2321

AMS radiocarbon investigation of the African baobab: Searching for the oldest tree - Patrut, Adrian; von Reden, Karl F.; Mayne, Diana H.; Lowy, Daniel A.; Patrut, Roxana T. (Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2013)
The Glencoe baobab, a very large specimen from South Africa, split twice in 2009. Several wood samples were collected from the eastern cavity, from the outer part of the main section and also from the largest broken segment which was connected to this section. These wood samples were processed and investigated by AMS radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon date of the oldest sample was found to be 1838 +/- 21 BP, which corresponds to a calibrated age of 1835 +/- 40 years. Thus, the Glencoe baobab becomes the oldest dated baobab and also the oldest angiosperm tree with accurate dating results. The distribution of dating results revealed that the Glencoe baobab is a multi-generation tree, with several standing or collapsed and partially fused stems, showing different ages. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
id: 2246; PT: J; CT: 12th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS); CY: MAR 20-25, 2011; CL: Wellington, NEW ZEALAND; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000313234300120

Anatomy of the La Jolla Submarine Canyon system; offshore southern California - Paull, C. K.; Caress, D. W.; Lundsten, E.; Gwiazda, R.; Anderson, K.; McGann, M.; Conrad, J.; Edwards, B.; Sumner, E. J. (Marine Geology, 2013)
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) carrying a multibeam sonar and a chirp profiler was used to map sections of the seafloor within the La Jolla Canyon, offshore southern California, at sub-meter scales. Close-up observations and sampling were conducted during remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives. Minisparker seismic-reflection profiles from a surface ship help to define the overall geometry of the La Jolla Canyon especially with respect to the pre-canyon host sediments. The floor of the axial channel is covered with unconsolidated sand similar to the sand on the shelf near the canyon head, lacks outcrops of the pre-canyon host strata, has an almost constant slope of 1.0° and is covered with trains of crescent shaped bedforms. The presence of modern plant material entombed within these sands confirms that the axial channel is presently active. The sand on the canyon floor liquefied during vibracore collection and flowed downslope, illustrating that the sediment filling the channel can easily fail even on this gentle slope. Data from the canyon walls help constrain the age of the canyon and extent of incision. Horizontal beds of moderately cohesive fine-grained sediments exposed on the steep canyon walls are consistently less than 1.232 million years old. The lateral continuity of seismic reflectors in minisparker profiles indicate that pre-canyon host strata extend uninterrupted from outside the canyon underneath some terraces within the canyon. Evidence of abandoned channels and point bar-like deposits are noticeably absent on the inside bend of channel meanders and in the subsurface of the terraces. While vibracores from the surface of terraces contain thin (
id: 2302

Annually Resolved Ice Core Records of Tropical Climate Variability over the Past similar to 1800 Years - Thompson, L. G.; Mosley-Thompson, E.; Davis, M. E.; Zagorodnov, V. S.; Howat, I. M.; Mikhatenko, V. N.; Lin, P. -N. (SCIENCE, 2013)
Ice cores from low Latitudes can provide a wealth of unique information about past climate in the tropics, but they are difficult to recover and few exist. Here, we report annually resolved ice core records from the Quelccaya ice cap (5670 meters above sea level) in Peru that extend back similar to 1800 years and provide a high-resolution record of climate variability there. Oxygen isotopic ratios (delta O-18) are linked to sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific, whereas concentrations of ammonium and nitrate document the dominant role played by the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the region of the tropical Andes. Quetccaya continues to retreat and thin. Radiocarbon dates on wetland plants exposed along its retreating margins indicate that it has not been smaller for at least six millennia.

Applications of accelerator mass spectrometry - Kutschera, Walter (International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2013)
Applications of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) evolved into multi-disciplinary research covering virtually every domain of our environment at large. The possibilities of applications are clearly coupled to technical developments of AMS, which will be covered by the accompanying article of H.-A. Synal. The present review therefore concentrates on describing AMS applications to the largest extent possible. Since the knowledge of the author on the many fields where AMS measurements are performed is, of course, limited, the selection of examples discussed in this review is somewhat biased. In order to compensate for this, a rather long list of references is presented, which should be consulted for a deeper understanding of the respective fields. The seven domains of our environment at large (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, cosmosphere, and technosphere) are being used as a guideline for the present review.
id: 2270

Assessing microbial carbon sources and potential PAH degradation using natural abundance 14C analysis - Mahmoudi, Nagissa; Fulthorpe, Roberta R.; Burns, Leanne; Mancini, Silvia; Slater, Greg F. (Environmental Pollution, 2013)
Natural abundance 14C analysis was applied to PLFAs collected from an industrial site in southern Ontario in order to assess microbial carbon sources and potential PAH biodegradation in soils. Δ14C of microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) at the site ranged from +54‰ to −697‰. Comparison of these values to surrounding carbon sources found that microbial carbon sources were derived primarily from vegetation and/or natural organic matter present in the soils rather than PAHs. This study highlights that microbes are able to utilize almost all available pools of organic matter including older pools which are thought to contain recalcitrant compounds. Furthermore, it shows that even with the presence of an active microbial community, there may be little biodegradation of PAHs. This study illustrates challenges in assessing microbial activity in the environment and the advantage of using natural abundance 14C analysis as a tool to elucidate microbial carbon sources.
id: 2268

Bomb radiocarbon dating of the endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni): investigations of age, growth and lifespan - Andrews, Allen H.; Leaf, Robert T.; Rogers-Bennett, Laura; Neuman, Melissa; Hawk, Heather; Cailliet, Gregor M. (Marine and Freshwater Research, 2013)
Understanding basic life-history characteristics of white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni), such as estimated lifespan, is critical to making informed decisions regarding the recovery of this endangered species. All predictive modelling tools used to forecast the status and health of populations following restoration activities depend on a validated estimate of adult lifespan. Of the seven Haliotis species in California, white abalone is considered to have the highest extinction risk and was the first marine invertebrate listed as an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Lifespan was previously estimated from observations of early growth; however, no study has generated ages for the largest white abalone. To address questions of age and growth, bomb radiocarbon (C-14) dating was used on shells from large white abalone. Measured bomb C-14 levels were compared to regional C-14 reference records to provide estimates of age, growth and lifespan. Bomb radiocarbon dating indicated that growth was variable among individuals, with a maximum estimated age of 27 years. The findings presented here provide support for previous age and growth estimates and an estimated lifespan near 30 years. These age data support the perception of a critical need for restoring the remnant aging and potentially senescent population.
id: 2351; PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000326166400004

C-14 and C-13 characteristics of higher plant biomarkers in Washington margin surface sediments - Feng, Xiaojuan; Benitez-Nelson, Bryan C.; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Prahl, Fredrick G.; McNichol, Ann P.; Xu, Li; Repeta, Daniel J.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, 2013)
Plant wax lipids and lignin phenols are the two most common classes of molecular markers that are used to trace vascular plant-derived OM in the marine environment. However, their C-13 and C-14 compositions have not been directly compared, which can be used to constrain the flux and attenuation of terrestrial carbon in marine environment. In this study, we describe a revised method of isolating individual lignin phenols from complex sedimentary matrices for C-14 analysis using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and compare this approach to a method utilizing preparative capillary gas chromatography (PCGC). We then examine in detail the C-13 and C-14 compositions of plant wax lipids and lignin phenols in sediments from the inner and mid shelf of the Washington margin that are influenced by discharge of the Columbia River. Plant wax lipids (including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic (fatty) acids, n-alkanols, and n-aldehydes) displayed significant variability in both delta C-13 (-28.3 parts per thousand to -37.5 parts per thousand) and Delta C-14 values (-204 parts per thousand to +2 parts per thousand), suggesting varied inputs and/or continental storage and transport histories. In contrast, lignin phenols exhibited similar delta C-13 values (between -30 parts per thousand and -34 parts per thousand) and a relatively narrow range of Delta C-14 values (-45 parts per thousand to -150 parts per thousand; HPLC-based measurement) that were similar to, or younger than, bulk OM (-195 parts per thousand to -137 parts per thousand). Moreover, lignin phenol C-14 age correlated with the degradation characteristics of this terrestrial biopolymer in that vanillyl phenols were on average similar to 500 years older than syringyl and cinnamyl phenols that degrade faster in soils and sediments. The isotopic characteristics, abundance, and distribution of lignin phenols in sediments suggest that they serve as promising tracers of recently biosynthesized terrestrial OM during supply to, and dispersal within the marine environment. Lignin phenol C-14 measurements may also provide useful constraints on the vascular plant end member in isotopic mixing models for carbon source apportionment, and for interpretation of sedimentary records of past vegetation dynamics. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A California Current bomb radiocarbon reference chronology and petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani) age validation - Haltuch, Melissa A.; Hamel, Owen S.; Piner, Kevin R.; McDonald, Patrick; Kastelle, Craig R.; Field, John C. (Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2013)

Carbon isotopic characterization of hydrophobic dissolved organic carbon in rainwater - Avery Jr, G. Brooks; Biswas, K. Farhana; Mead, Ralph; Southwell, Melissa; Willey, Joan D.; Kieber, Robert J.; Mullaugh, Katherine M. (Atmospheric Environment, 2013)
The 14C and 13C content of the hydrophobic fraction (C18 extractable) of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Wilmington North Carolina USA rainwater was determined for six rain events to elucidate potential sources. A two end member mass-balance calculation indicated that 42–61% of the hydrophobic DOC was of fossil fuel origin compared to previously published values (4–24%) for bulk rain DOC indicating a strong anthropogenic contribution to the hydrophobic component. All fossil fuel derived organic carbon in the bulk DOC (∼15% fossil fuel derived) could be accounted for in the hydrophobic fraction (∼52% fossil fuel derived) which represents approximately 1/3 of the bulk DOC. The δ13C values of the hydrophobic DOC were consistent (−28.8 ± 0.9‰) similar to that for terrestrial and fossil fuel derived organic carbon. This is in contrast to previously published bulk rain DOC δ13C values that displayed a strong influence of air-mass back-trajectory with δ13C values ranging from −20.8‰ (typical of marine organic carbon) for marine air-mass back-trajectory rain to −28.2‰ (typical of terrestrial or fossil fuel derived organic carbon) for terrestrial air-mass back-trajectory rain. The combination of 14C and 13C isotopic data strongly suggests that a large fraction of hydrophobic organic material in rain comes from incompletely combusted fossil fuels. Changes in energy usage patterns and efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions will alter the abundance of this hydrophobic material in the atmosphere which may impact the spectral distribution of sunlight reaching the earth's surface as well as the degree of oceanic primary productivity.
id: 2288

Carbon isotopic evidence for microbial control of carbon supply to Orca Basin at the seawater-brine interface - Shah, S. R.; Joye, S. B.; Brandes, J. A.; McNichol, A. P. (BIOGEOSCIENCES, 2013)
Orca Basin, an intraslope basin on the Texas-Louisiana continental slope, hosts a hypersaline, anoxic brine in its lowermost 200m in which limited microbial activity has been reported. This brine contains a large reservoir of reduced and aged carbon, and appears to be stable at decadal time scales: concentrations and isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic (DIC) and organic carbon (DOC) are similar to measurements made in the 1970s. Both DIC and DOC are more ``aged{''} within the brine pool than in overlying water, and the isotopic contrast between brine carbon and seawater carbon is much greater for DIC than DOC. While the stable carbon isotopic composition of brine DIC points towards a combination of methane and organic carbon remineralization as its source, radiocarbon and box model results point to the brine interface as the major source region for DIC, allowing for only limited oxidation of methane diffusing upwards from sediments. This conclusion is consistent with previous studies that identify the seawater-brine interface as the focus of microbial activity associated with Orca Basin brine. Isotopic similarities between DIC and DOC suggest a different relationship between these two carbon reservoirs than is typically observed in deep ocean basins. Radiocarbon values implicate the seawater-brine interface region as the likely source region for DOC to the brine as well as DIC.

Carbonate as sputter target material for rapid C-14 AMS - Longworth, Brett E.; Robinson, Laura F.; Roberts, Mark L.; Beaupré, Steven R.; Burke, Andrea; W. J. Jenkins (Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2013)
This paper describes a technique for measuring the C-14 content of carbonate samples by producing C- ions directly in the negative ion sputter source of an accelerator mass spectrometer CAMS) system. This direct analysis of carbonate material eliminates the time and expense of graphite preparation. Powdered carbonate is mixed with titanium powder, loaded into a target cartridge, and compressed. Beam currents for optimally-sized carbonate targets (0.09-0.15 mg C) are typically 10-20% of those produced by optimally-sized graphite targets (0.5-1 mg C). Modern (>0.8 Fm) samples run by this method have standard deviations of 0.009 Fm or less, and near-modern samples run as unknowns agree with values from traditional hydrolysis/graphite to better than 2%. Targets with as little as 0.06 mg carbonate produce useable ion currents and results, albeit with increased error and larger blank. In its current state, direct sputtering is best applied to problems where a large number of analyses with lower precision are required. These applications could include age surveys of deep-sea corals for determination of historic population dynamics, to identify samples that would benefit from high precision analysis, and for growth rate studies of organisms forming carbonate skeletons. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
id: 2244; PT: J; CT: 12th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS); CY: MAR 20-25, 2011; CL: Wellington, NEW ZEALAND; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000313234300064

Changes in sub-fossil chironomid assemblages in two Northern Patagonian lake systems associated to the occurrence of historical fires - Araneda, A.; Ortega, C.; Jana, P.; Torrejon, F.; Bertrand, S.; Vargas, P.; Fagel, N.; Alvarez, D.; Urrutia, R. (Journal of Paleolimnology, 2013)
Patagonia is commonly seen as an exceptionally pristine area because of its wildlife and practically unpolluted waters. However, during the twentieth century the burning of natural forests was one of the most important human activities in Northern Chilean Patagonia. Some estimations indicate that three million hectares were burned during the first three decades of the century. Hence the objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of the historical fires in Lake Burgos (45º42′S) and Lake Thompson (45º38′S) in Chilean Patagonia. The impact was measured by evaluating chironomid assemblage since they are sensitive enough to be used as an indicator of aquatic ecosystem health. Fires have a direct and drastic effect on a lake watershed but also indirectly affect a lake ecosystem, changing sedimentation patterns or increasing nutrient inputs. In the studied lakes the periods with higher prevalence of fires were identified by charcoal analysis, while organic matter and magnetic susceptibility allowed the confirmation of pre-fire and post-fire periods. The chironomid composition was evaluated through a PCA and an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) to test the significance among periods while a Detrended Correspondence Analysis was applied to the chironomid assemblage downcore to assess compositional structure and taxa turnover. In Lake Burgos the ANOSIM test indicated significant differences between the pre-fire and fire periods (p
id: 2121

Deciphering hemipelagites from homogenites through anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility. Paleoseismic implications (Sea of Marmara and Gulf of Corinth) - Campos, Corina; Beck, Christian; Crouzet, Christian; Demory, François; Van Welden, Aurélien; Eris, Kadir (Sedimentary Geology, 2013)
In closed marine basins and large lakes, gravity re-depositional processes often result in specific turbidites with two abruptly separated layers: a coarse graded lower term and an upper homogenous fine-grained term. An additional mixed term generally occurs in between, indicating to and from particle displacements. The later ones are related to oscillating bottom currents responsible for a high increase of the fine fraction segregation, within the reworked wasted mass. The whole sedimentary event is the association “homogenite + turbidite” (HmTu), which specific a settling condition area here characterized through Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS). Homogenites's magnetic foliation appears anomalously high with respect to their expected state of compaction, and strikingly higher than hemipelagites's values. We applied this approach to Late Pleistocene/Holocene sediments from the Sea of Marmara and from the Gulf of Corinth. Grain-size and other magnetic parameters related to mineralogy are added to better assess the granular array influence on AMS. As HmTu is considered as often related to earthquake-triggering and tsunami/seiche effects, AMS appears as a useful tool for subaqueous paleoseismic investigations. First, it may evidence the signature of paleo-earthquakes; second, it permits to decipher hemipelagic intervals which are inferred to represent the time elapsed between two successive reworking events.

The deglaciation and neoglaciation of Upernavik Isstrøm, Greenland - Briner, Jason P.; åkansson, Lena; Bennike, Ole (Quaternary Research, 2013)
We constrain the history of the Greenland Ice Sheet margin during the Holocene at Upernavik Isstrøm, a major ice stream in northwestern Greenland. Radiocarbon-dated sediment sequences from proglacial-threshold lakes adjacent to the present ice margin constrain deglaciation of the sites to older than 9.6 ± 0.1 ka. This age of deglaciation is confirmed with 10Be ages of 9.9 ± 0.1 ka from an island adjacent to the historical ice position. The lake sediment sequences also constrain the ice margin to have been less extensive than it is today for the remainder of the Holocene until ~ 1100 to ~ 700 yr ago, when it advanced into two lake catchments. The ice margin retreated back out of these lake catchments in the last decade. The early Holocene deglaciation in Melville Bugt, one of few locations around Greenland where a vast stretch of the current ice margin is marine-based, preceded deglaciation in most other parts of Greenland. Earlier deglaciation in this ice-sheet sector may have been caused by additional ablation mechanisms that apply to marine-based ice margins. Furthermore, despite ice-sheet models depicting this sector of Greenland as relatively stable throughout the Holocene, our data indicate a > 20 km advance-retreat cycle within the last millennium.

Diagenetic changes in Lake Superior sediments as seen from FTIR and 2D correlation spectroscopy - Li, Hongyu; Minor, Elizabeth C.; Zigah, Prosper K. (Organic Geochemistry, 2013)
Isotopic and elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), principal components analysis (PCA) and two dimensional (2D) correlation analysis, where core depth was used as perturbation, were used to study the diagenesis of organic matter (OM) in Lake Superior sediments. Changes in OM composition were examined at five lake stations over a depth range of 0–10 cm. PCA results show that depth-related changes among sites are similar, leading to an increased contribution from inorganic (and possibly refractory aromatic organic) components at each site, and a loss of contribution from other organic components. Synchronous spectra reveal that aliphatic esters and carbohydrates are degraded significantly with increasing depth, leading to an increased contribution from clay/biogenic silica/inactive carbohydrates. Asynchronous spectra show that, in general, carboxyl groups, including aliphatic ester and amide in protein, are degraded first, followed by a group of carbohydrates and then aromatic compounds and/or the SiO framework in clay and biogenic silica. Site dependent compositional variation occurs and appears to be influenced by topography and geology, e.g. the delivery of a larger load of terrestrial inorganic silicate minerals to certain sites and re-suspension/re-deposition, leading to less intensive down core variation at mid-lake central and eastern basin sites. The study demonstrates the usefulness of FTIR coupled with PCA and 2D correlation approaches for exploring structural changes in sedimentary material during diagenesis.
id: 2319

Distribution of Radiocarbon Ages in Soil Organic Matter by Thermal Fractionation - Plante, Alain F.; Beaupré, Steven R.; Roberts, Mark L.; Baisden, Troy (Radiocarbon, 2013)
id: 2346; PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000325752100093

The Duxbury Sunken Forest-Constraints for Local, Late Holocene Environmental Changes Resulting from Marine Transgression, Duxbury Bay, Eastern Massachusetts, USA - Gontz, Allen M.; Maio, Christopher V.; Rueda, Laura (JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH, 2013)
The present marine transgression has forced geological and ecological zones vertically higher and landward since the late Pleistocene. A recent investigation in Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts, identified 18 Juniperus virginiana tree stumps emergent on an intertidal flat immediately seaward of a small marsh and pond situated between two eroding drumlins. The position of each stump was mapped with global positioning system (GPS), and its elevation with respect to mean lower low water was surveyed. Samples were selected from four stumps with elevations ranging from 2.03 and 0.75 m above mean lower low water for radiocarbon dating. The samples returned calibrated ages between 2219 +/- 94 and 2867 +/- 79 cal YBP, with the topographically highest sample returning the youngest date. Stump positions suggest a landscape gradient of 1.4 mm/yr between 2000 and 3000 cal YBP. The results are comparable with high-resolution studies of sea level in eastern Massachusetts for the same time period. Comparison of the youngest paleostumps with modern living trees suggests a dramatic change in the landscape gradient, an increase to 1.8 mm/yr. While this is contrary to sea-level studies nearby, it may represent an increase in the energetics of Duxbury Bay and resultant coastal erosion as the bay floods. The site can be used to put the impacts of changing sea-level rates into a landscape evolution framework.
Keywords: Cape Cod Bay; Coastal evolution; paleoforest; Radiocarbon dating; sea level; tree stumps

Environmental isotopes and noble gases in the deep aquifer system of Kazan Trona Ore Field, Ankara, central Turkey and links to paleoclimate - Arslan, Sebnem; Yazicigil, Hasan; Stute, Martin; Schlosser, Peter (Quaternary Research, 2013)
Environmental isotopes and noble gases in groundwater samples from the Kazan Trona Ore Field are studied to establish the temperature change between the Holocene and the late Pleistocene. Noble gas temperatures (NGTs) presented in this study add an important facet to the global paleotemperature map in the region between Europe and North Africa. The groundwater system under investigation consists of three different aquifers named shallow, middle and deep in which δ18O and δ2H vary from − 8.10‰ to − 12.80‰ and from − 60.89‰ to − 92.60‰ VSMOW, respectively. The average isotopic depletion between unconfined and confined parts of the system is − 2.5‰ in δ18O and − 20‰ in δ2H. It is not possible to explain this depletion solely with the elevation effect. Recharge temperatures derived from dissolved atmospheric noble gases reflect the current average yearly ground temperatures (13°C) for samples collected near the recharge area but are 3 to 8°C lower than today's temperatures in the deep aquifer system. Low 14C activities and high He excesses in the confined parts of the aquifer system suggest that the water in the deep aquifer was recharged during the last Pleistocene under considerably cooler climatic conditions.
id: 2269

Evidence for a transgressive barrier within a regressive strandplain system: Implications for complex coastal response to environmental change - Hein, Christopher J.; FitzGerald, Duncan M.; Cleary, William J.; ALBERNAZ, MARCIO B.; De MENEZES, JOAO THADEU; Klein, Antonio H. da F. (Sedimentology, 2013)
Clastic, depositional strandplain systems have the potential to record changes in the primary drivers of coastal evolution: climate, sea-level, and the frequency of major meteorological and oceanographic events. This study seeks to use one such record from a southern Brazilian strandplain to highlight the potentially-complex nature of coastal sedimentological response to small changes in these drivers. Following a 2 to 4 m highstand at ca 5·8 ka in southern Brazil, falling sea-level reworked shelf sediment onshore, forcing coastal progradation, smoothing the irregular coastline and forming the 5 km wide Pinheira Strandplain, composed of ca 500 successive beach and dune ridges. Sediment cores, grab samples and >11 km of ground-penetrating radar profiles reveal that the strandplain sequence is composed of well-sorted, fine to very-fine quartz sand. Since the mid-Holocene highstand, the shoreline prograded at a rate of ca 1 to 2 m yr−1 through the deposition of a 4 to 6 m thick shoreface unit; a 1 to 3 m thick foreshore unit containing ubiquitous ridge and runnel facies; and an uppermost beach and foredune unit. However, the discovery of a linear, 100 m wide barrier ridge with associated washover units, a 3 to 4 m deep lagoon and 250 m wide tidal inlet within the strandplain sequence reveals a period of shoreline transgression at 3·3 to 2·8 ka during the otherwise regressive developmental history of the plain. The protected nature of Pinheira largely buffered it from changes in precipitation patterns, wave energy and fluvial sediment supply during the time of its formation. However, multiple lines of evidence indicate that a change in the rate of relative sea-level fall, probably due to either steric or ice-volume effects, may have affected this coastline. Thus, whereas these other potential drivers cannot be fully discounted, this study provides insights into the complexity of decadal-scale to millennial-scale coastal response to likely variability in sea-level change rates.

Export of submicron particulate organic matter to mesopelagic depth in an oligotrophic gyre - Close, H. G.; Shah, S. R.; Ingalls, A. E.; Diefendorf, A. F.; Brodie, E. L.; Hansman, R. L.; Freeman, K. H.; Aluwihare, L. I.; Pearson, A. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013)
Sixty percent of the world ocean by area is contained in oligotrophic gyres [Longhurst A (1995) Prog Oceanog 36:77-16], the biomass of which is dominated by picophytoplankton, including cyanobacteria and picoeukaryotic algae, as well as picoheterotrophs. Despite their recognized importance in carbon cycling in the surface ocean, the role of small cells and their detrital remains in the transfer of particulate organic matter (POM) to the deep ocean remains disputed. Because oligotrophic marine conditions are projected to expand under current climate trends, a better understanding of the role of small particles in the global carbon cycle is a timely goal. Here we use the lipid profiles, radiocarbon, and stable carbon isotopic signatures of lipids from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre to show that in the surface ocean, lipids from submicron POM (here called extra-small POM) are distinct from larger classes of suspended POM. Remarkably, this distinct extra-small POM signature dominates the total lipids collected at mesopelagic depth, suggesting that the lipid component of mesopelagic POM primarily contains the exported remains of small particles. Transfer of submicron material to mesopelagic depths in this location is consistent with model results that claim the biological origin of exported carbon should be proportional to the distribution of cell types in the surface community, irrespective of cell size [Richardson TL, Jackson GA (2007) Science 315:838-840]. Our data suggest that the submicron component of exported POM is an important contributor to the global biological pump, especially in oligotrophic waters.
Keywords: Biogeochemistry; biomarkers; carbon isotopes; Oceanography

Extensive recession of Cordillera Darwin glaciers in southernmost South America during Heinrich Stadial 1 - Hall, Brenda L.; Porter, Charles T.; Denton, George H.; Lowell, Thomas V.; Bromley, Gordon R. M. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
The geographic expression and phasing of events during the last termination are important for isolating mechanisms that caused Earth to emerge from the last ice age. Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; 14,600–18,000 yr BP) is a key because of the central role that its far-field effects had on the last termination in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we present new data from Cordillera Darwin that show rapid glacier recession in southern South America during HS1. This retreat was coeval with ice recession elsewhere in South America and New Zealand, with increased upwelling in the Southern Ocean, with warming of SSTs offshore of Chile, and with a rise in atmospheric CO2. Together, these data indicate a coherent and rapid response to the effects of HS1 in the middle and high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
id: 2331

First high-resolution marinopalynological stratigraphy of Late Quaternary sediments from the central part of the Bulgarian Black Sea area - Filipova-Marinova, Mariana; Pavlov, Danail; Coolen, Marco; Giosan, Liviu (Advancing Pleistocene and Holocene climate change research in the Carpathian-Balkan region, 2013)
Spores, pollen and dinoflagellate cysts of Late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments were analyzed from Giant Gravity Core 18 from the Black Sea continental slope, recovered from a water depth of 971 m. The investigated length of the core is 203.5 cm. It includes 3 lithological units: light grey clay, sapropels and coccolith-bearing ooze. The core was sampled at 5–10 cm intervals. Sampling of the interval 141.5–126 cm was carried out at every cm. AMS radiocarbon dating of bulk organic carbon was performed on 18 selected sediment layers. This chronological data allowed the first high-resolution pollen stratigraphy of Late Quaternary sediments from the western Black Sea area to be presented. The percentage spore–pollen diagram is divided into 6 local pollen assemblage zones. The trends in the vegetation dynamics and climate changes and the early history of migration of the majority of the arboreal taxa that nowadays occur in the Eastern Balkan Range were traced out. The palynological record suggests that open oak forests were spread in the Eastern Balkan Range at the beginning of the Holocene and shows early migration of the major temperate arboreal species such as Quercus, Ulmus, Tilia and Carpinus betulus. This vegetation palaeosuccession continues with the spreading of mixed oak forests from 8950 until 2620 cal. BP (8650 ± 40 until 3120 ± 35 14C BP) followed by destructive changes due to human impact and climate deterioration. A cooling of Holocene climate that is well known in the North Atlantic region as the “8200 yrs cold event” is identified for the first time in marine records from the Bulgarian Black Sea area. The assemblages of dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs were investigated to provide a reconstruction of surface seawater salinity and surface seawater temperature changes. Two main dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, one dominated by fresh- to brackish water species such as Spiniferites cruciformis and Pyxidinopsis psilata and a subsequent one, that is characterized by euryhaline marine Mediterranean species such as Lingulodinium machaerophorum, Spiniferites belerius, Spiniferites bentorii, Operculodinium centrocarpum and acritarchs Cymatiosphaera globulosa testified a change in SSS from low salinity (
id: 2330

A gas-accepting ion source for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry: Progress and applications - Roberts, M. L.; von Reden, K. F.; Burton, J. R.; McIntyre, C. P.; Beaupre, S. R. (Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2013)
The National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has developed an Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) system designed specifically for the analysis of 14C in a continuously flowing stream of carrier gas. A key part of the system is a gas-accepting microwave ion source. Recently, substantial progress has been made in the development of this source, having achieved ion currents rivaling that of a traditional graphite source (albeit at relatively low efficiency). Details and present performance of the gas source are given. Additionally, representative results obtained from coupling the source to both a gas chromatograph and gas bench are presented.
id: 2161

Great longevity of speckled hind ( Epinephelus drummondhayi), a deep-water grouper, with novel use of postbomb radiocarbon dating in the Gulf of Mexico - Andrews, Allen H.; Barnett, Beverly K.; Allman, Robert J.; Moyer, Ryan P.; Trowbridge, Hannah D.; Gillanders, Bronwyn (Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2013)
Growth characteristics are poorly understood for speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a tropical deep-water grouper of economic importance that is considered overfished. Age has been validated for early growth, but the validity of adult age estimates is unknown. A few studies of growth zones in otoliths have revealed maximum age estimates of 15–35 years, which have been uncritically assumed as longevity. To answer questions about adult age, bomb radiocarbon dating was used to provide validated age estimates. A novel aspect of this study was use of the postbomb radiocarbon decline period (ca. 1980–2004) to age younger fish, an approach that was validated with known-age otoliths. Bomb radiocarbon dating provided valid length-at-age estimates ranging from ∼5 years to more than 45 years. Age was unexpectedly greater than previous estimates for more than half the fish used in this study, and longevity may approach 60–80 years. This study extends the utility of bomb radiocarbon dating by more than 20 years and adds to the growing perspective that deep-water tropical fishes can be long-lived

Heightened hurricane activity on the Little Bahama Bank from 1350 to 1650 AD - van Hengstum, P.J.; Donnelly, J.P.; Toomey, M.R; Albury, N.A.; Lane, P.; Kakuk, B. (Elsevier, 2013)
Deciphering how the climate system has controlled North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity through the Holocene will require a larger observational network of prehistoric hurricane activity. Problematically, the tropical North Atlantic is dominated by carbonate landscapes that typically preserve poorer quality coastal sediment records in comparison to their temperate-region counterparts (e.g., sedimentation continuity and rate). Coastal karst basins (CKBs), such as sinkholes, blueholes, and underwater caves, are widely distributed on carbonate platforms and contain overlooked sedimentary records. Here we present a millennium of hurricane deposits on the Little Bahama Bank archived in a 165 cm core that was extracted from 69 m below sea level in a bluehole on Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas. The coarse- grained overwash deposits associated with both hurricanes Jeanne (2004) and Floyd (1999) were identified using radioisotopes (137Cs,14 C,210Pb), and indicate that the bluehole is sensitive to hurricane- induced sedimentation. Over the last millennium, the Little Bahama Bank experienced heightened hurricane activity from 1350 to 1650 AD. The simplest explanation for this active interval is that favorable climate conditions (El Niño, West African Monsoon, and sea surface temperatures) encouraged North Atlantic hurricane activity at that time. However, asynchronous hurricane activity at similar latitudes in the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico suggest that regional oceanography has modulated or amplified regional hurricane activity over the last millennium.
Keywords: Abaco; Bahamas; Blue hole; hurricanes; Paleotempestology

Heterogeneous rupture in the great Cascadia earthquake of 1700 inferred from coastal subsidence estimates - Wang, Pei-Ling; Engelhart, Simon E.; Wang, Kelin; Hawkes, Andrea D.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Nelson, Alan R.; Witter, Robert C. (Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2013)
Past earthquake rupture models used to explain paleoseismic estimates of coastal subsidence during the great A.D. 1700 Cascadia earthquake have assumed a uniform slip distribution along the megathrust. Here we infer heterogeneous slip for the Cascadia margin in A.D. 1700 that is analogous to slip distributions during instrumentally recorded great subduction earthquakes worldwide. The assumption of uniform distribution in previous rupture models was due partly to the large uncertainties of then available paleoseismic data used to constrain the models. In this work, we use more precise estimates of subsidence in 1700 from detailed tidal microfossil studies. We develop a 3-D elastic dislocation model that allows the slip to vary both along strike and in the dip direction. Despite uncertainties in the updip and downdip slip extensions, the more precise subsidence estimates are best explained by a model with along-strike slip heterogeneity, with multiple patches of high-moment release separated by areas of low-moment release. For example, in A.D. 1700, there was very little slip near Alsea Bay, Oregon (~44.4°N), an area that coincides with a segment boundary previously suggested on the basis of gravity anomalies. A probable subducting seamount in this area may be responsible for impeding rupture during great earthquakes. Our results highlight the need for more precise, high-quality estimates of subsidence or uplift during prehistoric earthquakes from the coasts of southern British Columbia, northern Washington (north of 47°N), southernmost Oregon, and northern California (south of 43°N), where slip distributions of prehistoric earthquakes are poorly constrained.

A High-Throughput, Low-Cost Method for Analysis of Carbonate Samples for C-14 - Roberts, Mark L.; Beaupré, Steven R.; Burton, Joshua R. (Radiocarbon, 2013)
id: 2345; PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000325752100044

The Holocene onset in the southwestern South Atlantic - Pivel, M. A. G.; Santarosa, A. C. A.; Toledo, F. A. L.; Costa, K. B. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2013)
In this paper we present a paleoceanographic reconstruction of the southwestern South Atlantic for the past 13 kyr based on faunal and isotopic analysis of planktonic foraminifera from a high-resolution core retrieved at the South Brazil Bight continental slope. Our record indicates that oceanographic changes in the southwestern South Atlantic during the onset of the Holocene were comparable in strength to those that occurred during the Younger Dryas. Full interglacial conditions started abruptly after 8.2 kyr BP with a sharp change in faunal composition and surface hydrography (SST and SSS). Part of the observed events may be explained in terms of changes in thermohaline circulation while the other part suggests a dominant role of winds. Our data indicate that during the Early Holocene upwelling was significantly strengthened in the South Brazil Bight promoting high productivity and preventing the establishment of the typically interglacial menardiiform species. In general terms, oceanographic changes recorded by core KF02 occurred in synchrony with Antarctica's climate.
id: 2323

Holocene temperature history at the western Greenland Ice Sheet margin reconstructed from lake sediments - Axford, Yarrow; Losee, Shanna; Briner, Jason P.; Francis, Donna R.; Langdon, Peter G.; Walker, Ian R. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
Predicting the response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to future climate change presents a major challenge to climate science. Paleoclimate data from Greenland can provide empirical constraints on past cryospheric responses to climate change, complementing insights from contemporary observations and from modeling. Here we examine sedimentary records from five lakes near Jakobshavn Isbræ in central West Greenland to investigate the timing and magnitude of major Holocene climate changes, for comparison with glacial geologic reconstructions from the region. A primary objective of this study is to constrain the timing and magnitude of maximum warmth during the early to middle Holocene positive anomaly in summer insolation. Temperature reconstructions from subfossil insect (chironomid) assemblages suggest that summer temperatures were warmer than present by at least 7.1 ka (the beginning of the North Lake record; ka = thousands of years before present), and that the warmest millennia of the Holocene occurred in the study area between 6 and 4 ka. Previous studies in the Jakobshavn region have found that the local Greenland Ice Sheet margin was most retracted behind its present position between 6 and 5 ka, and here we use chironomids to estimate that local summer temperatures were 2–3 °C warmer than present during that time of minimum ice sheet extent. As summer insolation declined through the late Holocene, summer temperatures cooled and the local ice sheet margin expanded. Gradual, insolation-driven millennial-scale temperature trends in the study area were punctuated by several abrupt climate changes, including a major transient event recorded in all five lakes between 4.3 and 3.2 ka, which overlaps in timing with abrupt climate changes previously documented around the North Atlantic region and farther afield at ∼4.2 ka.

Holocene variability in hydrology, vegetation, fire, and eolian activity in the Nebraska Sand Hills, USA - Schmieder, Jens; Fritz, Sherilyn C; Grimm, Eric C; Jacobs, Kimberly C; Brown, Kendrick J; Swinehart, James B; Porter, Stephen C (The Holocene, 2013)
This study combined multiple aquatic and terrestrial proxies, including diatoms, pollen, grain size, and bulk-sediment chemistry to reconstruct the history of three lake sites located in the central Sand Hills of Nebraska, USA. Long-term changes in effective moisture are evident at all sites, with significant changes occurring at ~6000, ~4000, and ~ 2000 cal. yr BP. Both aquatic and terrestrial indicators suggest that effective moisture was low between 10,000 and ~6000 cal. yr BP, and that this time interval was the driest period of the Holocene. The dominance of benthic and tychoplanktic diatom taxa indicates relatively shallow lake-level, high sand influx indicates moderately high eolian activity, and the pollen assemblage suggests xeric grasslands with abundant mud flats. About 6000 cal. yr BP, all three sites experienced an increase in effective moisture. Lake-level rise is indicated by increases in planktic and tychoplanktic diatoms relative to benthic taxa, while greater abundance of grass pollen and charcoal, and decreased eolian flux indicate stabilized dunes with dense vegetation sufficient to fuel local fires. A significant hydrologic shift recorded at all sites occurred at ~4000 cal. yr BP. This event was characterized by substantial lake-level rise, yet decreased grass cover and fire frequency, and increased eolian activity. Water-table rise may have been caused by a combination of factors including: (1) formation of dune-dams that blocked old drainage channels, (2) reduced grass cover and hence reduced evapotranspiration, and (3) changes in the frequency and duration of drought. The most likely cause(s) of the differential response of the terrestrial and aquatic systems at this time is not clear, none-the-less the late Holocene was not nearly as dry as the interval prior to 6000 cal. yr BP. The last ~2000 yr were characterized by several short-term fluctuations in lake level, including an interval of drought between 950 and 750 cal. yr BP, coincident with increased eolian activity during the latter part of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly.
Keywords: diatoms; drought; Holocene climate change; lakes; Nebraska Sand Hills; pollen

Improving a gas ion source for 14C AMS - Fahrni, S. M.; Wacker, L.; Synal, H. A.; Szidat, S. (Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Wellington, New Zealand, 20-25 March 2011, 2013)
For more than 4 years, gaseous samples of 1–50 μg carbon have been routinely measured with the gas ion source of the small AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometer) facility MICADAS (MIni CArbon DAting System) at ETH Zurich. The applied measurement technique offers a simple and fast way of 14C measurements without the need of sample graphitization. A major drawback of gaseous 14C measurements, however, is the relatively low negative ion current, which results in longer measurement times and lower precision compared to graphitized samples. In December 2009, a new, improved Cs sputter ion source was installed at MICADAS and we began to optimize conditions for the measurement of gaseous samples. 12C− currents from the new ion source were improved from initially 3 to 12–15 μA for routine measurements and the negative ion yield was increased by a factor of 2, reaching 8% on average during routine operation. Moreover, the new measurement settings enable a doubled CO2 flow, thus substantially reducing measurement times. The achieved performance allows closing the sample size gap between gaseous and solid samples and makes the gas ion source a promising tool for dating with a measurement precision of 5‰ on samples as small as 50 μg carbon.
id: 2304

The Last Glacial: Insights from continuous coring on the New Jersey continental shelf - Christensen, Beth A.; Alexander, Clark; Goff, John A.; Turner, R. Jessica; Austin Jr, James A. (Marine Geology, 2013)
Sedimentation on the Pleistocene New Jersey (NJ) shelf is complex, and results from the interaction of processes chiefly driven by glacioeustatic change. Erosion, non-deposition, downcutting and infilling combine to produce a complicated set of reflectors and sedimentary units that are best interpreted in the shallow subsurface with the aid of high resolution seismic reflection profiling. The highly variable lithology on the shelf has historically been an impediment to significant core recovery in this challenging environment. Coring using the AHC-800 drilling system provided continuous downcore recovery at three sites on the outer shelf. The sites targeted fluvial incisions, channel fill and exposure surfaces associated with glacial lowstands. The exceptional cores were analyzed using an integrated approach. Textural and benthic foraminiferal data were evaluated to determine the environment of deposition and estimate paleodepth. Carbon dating of wood and shell material provides the temporal framework for interpretation and K–Ar dating of hornblende crystals provides insights into the source region of sediments. Our integrated analysis indicates the NJ shelf was a dynamic environment from at least 45 ka. Estimates of sea level from this study are consistent with other studies from the Pleistocene NJ Margin. The oldest sediments (> 36 k.y.) recovered by drilling came from below (Site 3) and above (Site 1) R, a time-transgressive regional unconformity. Best estimates are for formation of R on the mid shelf, between MIS3b and the MIS3b/a transition, ~ 45 ka, under neritic conditions. Channels were incised during late MIS2, between ~ 30 and 16 ka. Channel infill was focused in a narrow time frame, during latest MIS 2 (16–14 ka), shortly after the shoreline began to migrate landward. Rates of 1–2 cm/yr are consistent with modern fluvial/ estuarine sedimentation rates. Reinvigoration and infilling of the channels around 14 ka is associated with meltwater pulse 1A. We find no evidence at our study area for jökelhlaup deposition associated with the Intra-Allerød cold period ~ 13 ka. Regional deposition (channel infill and interfluvial regions) was underway by latest MIS2/early MIS1 as sea level transgressed the shelf. The uppermost sediments are of Holocene to Recent age and are routinely and likely rapidly reworked, eroded and mixed by shelf processes. The sediment source during MIS3, as determined by hornblende age dates, was bimodal. Older sediments were derived from the Reading Prong/NJ Highlands and younger sediments were sourced from along the Hudson River. Delivery to the study area was through a more southerly paleo-Hudson position that may have resulted in formation of the outer shelf wedge through deltaic sedimentation during at least MIS 3b–3a.
id: 2317

Late Holocene expansion of Istorvet ice cap, Liverpool Land, east Greenland - Lowell, Thomas V.; Hall, Brenda L.; Kelly, Meredith A.; Bennike, Ole; Lusas, Amanda R.; Honsaker, William; Smith, Colby A.; Levy, Laura B.; Travis, Scott; Denton, George H. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
The Greenland Ice Sheet is undergoing dynamic changes that will have global implications if they continue into the future. In this regard, an understanding of how the ice sheet responded to past climate changes affords a baseline for anticipating future behavior. Small, independent ice caps adjacent to the Greenland Ice Sheet (hereinafter called “local ice caps”) are sensitive indicators of the response of Greenland ice-marginal zones to climate change. Therefore, we reconstructed late Holocene ice-marginal fluctuations of the local Istorvet ice cap in east Greenland, using radiocarbon dates of subfossil plants, 10Be dates of surface boulders, and analyses of sediment cores from both threshold and control lakes. During the last termination, the Istorvet ice cap had retreated close to its maximum Holocene position by ∼11,730 cal yr BP. Radiocarbon dates of subfossil plants exposed by recent recession of the ice margin indicate that the Istorvet cap was smaller than at present from AD 200 to AD 1025. Sediments from a threshold lake show no glacial input until the ice cap advanced to within 365 m of its Holocene maximum position by ∼AD 1150. Thereafter the ice cap remained at or close to this position until at least AD 1660. The timing of this, the most extensive of the Holocene, expansion is similar to that recorded at some glaciers in the Alps and in southern Alaska. However, in contrast to these other regions, the expansion in east Greenland at AD 1150 appears to have been very close to, if not at, a maximum Holocene value. Comparison of the Istorvet ice-cap fluctuations with Holocene glacier extents in Southern Hemisphere middle-to-high latitude locations on the Antarctic Peninsula and in the Andes and the Southern Alps suggests an out-of-phase relationship. If correct, this pattern supports the hypothesis that a bipolar see-saw of oceanic and/or atmospheric circulation during the Holocene produced asynchronous glacier response at some localities in the two polar hemispheres.
id: 2290

Late Holocene sedimentation and hydrologic development in a shallow coastal sinkhole on Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas - Kovacs, Shawn E.; van Hengstum, Peter J.; Reinhardt, Eduard G.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Albury, Nancy A. (Quaternary International, 2013)
It remains poorly understood how sea level drives environmental change and hydrographic development in coastal karst basins (underwater caves, sinkholes, blueholes, etc.) over millennial timescales. It was previously hypothesized that coastal karst basins (CKBs) transition from vadose, to littoral, then anchialine, and finally submarine environments as sea-level rise inundates coastal karst landscapes, but the initial flooding event of CKBs remains challenging to sample. Runway Sinkhole hosts a modern anchialine ecosystem located ∼225 m from Great Abaco Island coastline in The Bahamas, and its shallow water depth (∼1.8 mbsl) permits an investigation into the early environmental evolution and hydrographic development in a CKBs after inundation by sea-level rise. Four sediment cores were collected from Runway Sinkhole, and late Holocene environmental change was reconstructed with benthic foraminiferal paleoecology, organic matter geochemistry (OM%, δ13Corg, and C:N), X-radiography, and radiocarbon dating. Despite some uncertainties associated with the chronology, it appears that Holocene sea-level rise initially flooded Runway Sinkhole and created a littoral environment at least by ∼3.9 ka, whereafter a detrital peat deposit accumulated in the sinkhole. This detrital peat had a high organic matter content (mean 88%), a δ13Corg value indicative of organic matter derived from C3 plants including mangroves (−28‰), and an unknown calcareous microfossil suggestive of a non-marine habitat in the sinkhole. A shift to carbonate sand deposition, organic matter with more marine-influenced δ13Corg values (−23‰), and expansion of euryhaline (Bolivina striatula, Elphidium poeyanum, and Triloculina bermudezi) and anchialine (Physalidia simplex and Conicospirillina exleyi) benthic foraminifera at ∼1.2 ka marks the onset of modern anchialine environmental conditions at the sediment–water interface (∼1.8 mbsl). These results suggest that relative sea-level rise in the Bahamas forced environmental change in Runway sinkhole at ∼1.2 ka, and indicate that peat deposits in coastal sinkholes must be verified as in-situ before being utilized as sea-level indicators.

Late Pleistocene–Holocene sedimentary records of climate and lake-level changes in Lake Hazar, eastern Anatolia, Turkey - Eriş, Kürşad Kadir (Terrestrial archives of the Mediterranean, 2013)
The sedimentary record of Lake Hazar has been documented by detailed seismo- and chronostratigraphic analyses using high-resolution seismic profiles and sediment cores. In this study, two main seismic stratigraphic units can be confidently correlated with sediment cores using lithology and physical properties. As a result of radiocarbon AMS dating, these sedimentary units presumably cover the period from the late Pleistocene to Holocene. The Holocene sequence of the lake infills can be subdivided into five subunits, each subject to distinctive hydrological and sedimentological processes due to fluctuating lake level. The elevations of these deposits including coastal paleo-terraces provide history of the lake level changes. In Lake Hazar, the maximum lowstand lake level occurred during the transition from the Younger Dryas to Holocene, when the −73 m wave-cut terrace was formed as the main shelf-crossing unconformity surface. The beginning of the Holocene was associated with a abrupt lake level rise and resultant deepening. Analysis of the Lake Hazar terraces has the potential to provide complementary data on the chronology of past lake level and lake volume changes, and their link to past climate change. The continued rising lake level during beginning of the Holocene was modulated by stillstands at −63 m and −56 m, as indicated by broad coastal paleo-terraces across the northern shelf. The main shelf-margin sedimentary system for the Holocene period is composed of three distinct buried deltaic-complexes that were presumably sourced from the Kürkçayı River, the largest input into Lake Hazar. The 3rd millennium crisis at around 3 14C ka BP is recorded in the seismic and core data when the cold and dry climatic condition gave rise to a significant lake level drop.
id: 2322

Late Wisconsinan glaciation and postglacial relative sea-level change on western Banks Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago - Lakeman, Thomas R.; England, John H. (Quaternary Research, 2013)
The study revises the maximum extent of the northwest Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) in the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) during the last glaciation and documents subsequent ice sheet retreat and glacioisostatic adjustments across western Banks Island. New geomorphological mapping and maximum-limiting radiocarbon ages indicate that the northwest LIS inundated western Banks Island after ~ 31 14C ka BP and reached a terminal ice margin west of the present coastline. The onset of deglaciation and the age of the marine limit (22–40 m asl) are unresolved. Ice sheet retreat across western Banks Island was characterized by the withdrawal of a thin, cold-based ice margin that reached the central interior of the island by ~ 14 cal ka BP. The elevation of the marine limit is greater than previously recognized and consistent with greater glacioisostatic crustal unloading by a more expansive LIS. These results complement emerging bathymetric observations from the Arctic Ocean, which indicate glacial erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to depths of up to 450 m.
id: 2282

Long-term variations in Iceland–Scotland overflow strength during the Holocene - Thornalley, D. J. R.; Blaschek, M.; Davies, F. J.; Praetorius, S.; Oppo, D. W.; McManus, J. F.; Hall, I. R.; Kleiven, H.; Renssen, H.; McCave, I. N. (Climate of the Past, 2013)
The overflow of deep water from the Nordic seas into the North Atlantic plays a critical role in global ocean circulation and climate. Approximately half of this overflow occurs via the Iceland–Scotland (I–S) overflow, yet the history of its strength throughout the Holocene (~ 0–11 700 yr ago, ka) is poorly constrained, with previous studies presenting apparently contradictory evidence regarding its long-term variability. Here, we provide a comprehensive reconstruction of I–S overflow strength throughout the Holocene using sediment grain size data from a depth transect of 13 cores from the Iceland Basin. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the main axis of the I–S overflow on the Iceland slope was shallower during the early Holocene, deepening to its present depth by ~ 7 ka. Our results also reveal weaker I–S overflow during the early and late Holocene, with maximum overflow strength occurring at ~ 7 ka, the time of a regional climate thermal maximum. Climate model simulations suggest a shoaling of deep convection in the Nordic seas during the early and late Holocene, consistent with our evidence for weaker I–S overflow during these intervals. Whereas the reduction in I–S overflow strength during the early Holocene likely resulted from melting remnant glacial ice sheets, the decline throughout the last 7000 yr was caused by an orbitally induced increase in the amount of Arctic sea ice entering the Nordic seas. Although the flux of Arctic sea ice to the Nordic seas is expected to decrease throughout the next century, model simulations predict that under high emissions scenarios, competing effects, such as warmer sea surface temperatures in the Nordic seas, will result in reduced deep convection, likely driving a weaker I–S overflow.

Maintenance of large deltas through channelization: Nature vs. humans in the Danube delta - Giosan, Liviu; Constantinescu, Stefan; Filip, Florin; Deng, Bing (Anthropocene, 2013)
Over the last half century, while the total sediment load of the Danube dramatically decreased due to dam construction on tributaries and its main stem, a grand experiment was inadvertently run in the Danube delta: the construction of a dense network of canals, which almost tripled the water discharge toward the interior of the delta plain. We use core-based and chart-based sedimentation rates and patterns to explore the delta transition from the natural to an anthropogenic regime, to understand the effects of far-field damming and near-field channelization, and to construct a conceptual model for delta development as a function sediment partition between the delta plain and the delta coastal fringe. We show that sediment fluxes increased to the delta plain due to channelization counteracting sea level rise. In turn, the delta coastal fringe was most impacted by the Danube's sediment load collapse. Furthermore, we suggest that morphodynamic feedbacks at the river mouth are crucial in trapping sediment near the coast and constructing wave-dominated deltas or lobes. Finally, we suggest that increased channelization that mimics and enhances natural processes may provide a simple solution for keeping other delta plains above sea level and that abandonment of wave-dominated lobes may be the most long term efficient solution for protecting the internal fluvial regions of deltas and provide new coastal growth downcoast.

Middle Wisconsin glacial advance into the Appalachian Plateau, Sixmile Creek, Tompkins Co., NY - Karig, Daniel E.; Miller, Norton G. (Quaternary Research, 2013)
Areal mapping of the middle Wisconsin varved clay site along Sixmile Creek near Ithaca, New York, has revealed a much more widespread and varied array of sediments than previously thought. Lacustrine clays, some varved, are interbedded with sands and gravels interpreted as sub-aqueous fan deposits, and both are overlain by a deformation till. Nine radiocarbon dates indicate a 34–37 14C ka BP age for the lacustrine sediment, with the deformation till less than a few thousand years younger. Beneath this sequence is a deposit dated at ± 42 14C ka BP. Both strata represent a tundra climate with a mean July temperature of about 10°C. The Sixmile Creek deformation till must correlate with the 35 14C ka BP till along the Genesee River, 125 km to the NW, and defines a Cherrytree stade glacial advance into the Appalachian Plateau, much further south than what has generally been accepted. Such an advance would require drainage from a proglacial lake in the western Ontario basin to flow westward instead of northeastward. The Sixmile strata suggest a colder than accepted middle Wisconsin stage. Recent data indicate that this stage is one of progressive cooling, with large climatic fluctuations.

Mid-Late Holocene coastal environmental changes in southeastern Sri Lanka: New evidence for sea level variations in southern Bay of Bengal - Ranasinghe, R. N.; Ortiz, J. D.; Moore, A. L.; McAdoo, B.; Wells, N.; Siriwardana, C. H. E. R.; Wijesundara, D. T. D. S. (QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, 2013)
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami highlighted the need to better understand the dynamics of the South Asian coastlines. Very little knowledge on paleo-coastal variability hinders the development of a paleo-tsunami chronology of the western Bay of Bengal. Also, limited sea level records for the southern Bay of Bengal are remarkably different from rest of the Indian Ocean due to alternating highstands and lowstands during mid-late Holocene. This study was undertaken to recognize how the coastal environment in tectonically stable eastern and southeastern coasts of Sri Lanka changed during mid-late Holocene and to derive evidence of sea level variability. Sediment cores were collected from Kirinda and Panama estuaries, Okanda lagoon and Vakarai beach ridge plain, situated on the eastern and southeastern coasts of Sri Lanka. Physical and chemical variations in sediments, caused by the coastal environmental changes occurred due to fluctuating eustatic sea level, were determined using X-ray fluorescence, visible reflectance, magnetic susceptibility and grain size. Chronology of events were developed using AMS C-14 dates on bulk organic matter, wood, inorganic carbonate and mollusk shells. Results suggest that key periods of transition in the coastal environment in the studied area occurred between about 7300 and 3000 BP. Submergence of coastal environments by mid-Holocene transgression began around 7300 BP. Barrier development initiated at the end of the submergence phase around 4900 BP. Onset of beach ridge development in areas with high sediment supply took place around 4000 BP and continued later than 2400 BP. Marine influence ended around 3000 BP. These coastal environmental changes suggest that Holocene transgression, which started flooding southeastern coastal lowlands, either slowed or the sea level stabilized around 4900 BP. Sea level fell down to its present level at around 3000 BP by the subsequent slow regression. Some cores carry evidence for a possible pause in the transgression or a short lowstand that ended around 5200 BR (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

A model for drowned terrestrial habitats with associated archeological remains in the northwestern Gulf of Maine, USA - Kelley, Joseph T.; Belknap, Daniel F.; Kelley, Alice R.; Claesson, Stefan H. (Marine Geology, 2013)
Marine geophysical techniques and geological measurement of sea-level change allow detailed mapping of seafloor archeological sites and development of models. In the northwestern Gulf of Maine, the lowstand of sea level is only at − 60 m depth, but a prolonged stasis during the late Quaternary sea-level rise, herein termed the slowstand, occurred between 11,500 and 7500 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP) at depths of 15–25 m. This slowdown caused substantial erosion of glacial deposits and formed terrestrial beaches, wetlands and lakes. These landforms attracted people, whose tools were later discovered during present day scallop-fishing activities. Our study areas at the Green Islands and Bass Harbor are within the lowstand and slowstand depth ranges, but at highly exposed and sheltered sites, respectively. The Green Islands site has lost most of its former terrestrial sediment and there is no longer any context for recovered artifacts. At the protected Bass Harbor site, the remains of eroded moraines are associated with drowned spits and a former lacustrine/estuarine basin. Cores at the Bass Harbor location encountered freshwater peat deposits and numerous shallow subtidal shell and plant fossils all deposited during the slowstand. The two most important controls on the preservation of terrestrial landforms and associated human artifacts in the northwestern Gulf of Maine are the rate of sea-level rise and degree of shelter of the site from waves.
id: 2285

Moisture and temperature changes associated with the mid-Holocene Tsuga decline in the northeastern United States - Marsicek, Jeremiah P.; Shuman, Bryan; Brewer, Simon; Foster, David R.; Oswald, W. Wyatt (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
A decline of hemlock (Tsuga) populations at ca 5.5 ka (thousands of calibrated radiocarbon years before 1950 AD) stands out as the most abrupt vegetation change of the Holocene in North America, but remains poorly understood after decades of study. Recent analyses of fossil pollen have revealed a concurrent, abrupt oak (Quercus) decline and increases in the abundance of beech (Fagus) and pine (Pinus) on Cape Cod in eastern Massachusetts, but the replacement of drought-tolerant oaks by moisture-sensitive beeches appears inconsistent with low lake levels in the region at the same time. The oak and beech changes are also limited to coastal areas, and the coastal-inland differences require an explanation. Here, we develop a new lake-level reconstruction from Deep Pond, Cape Cod by using a transect of sediment cores and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles to constrain the past elevations of the sandy, littoral zone of the pond. The reconstruction shows that a series of multi-century episodes of low water coincide with the abrupt hemlock and oak declines, and interrupt subsequent phases of hemlock recovery. The lake-level variations equal precipitation deficits of ∼100 mm superimposed on a Holocene long moisture increase of >400 mm. However, because moisture deficits do not easily explain the oak and beech changes, we also evaluate how the climate preferences of the regional vegetation changed over time by matching the fossil pollen assemblages from Deep Pond with their modern equivalents. Reconstructions of the precipitation requirements of the vegetation correlate well even in detail with the lake-level record (r = 0.88 at Deep Pond), and indicate close tracking of effective moisture (precipitation minus evapotranspiration) by the vegetation despite the abrupt species declines, which could have decoupled climate and vegetation trends. Reconstructions of the temperature preferences of the vegetation indicate that coastal sites may have cooled by 0.5–2.5 °C after ca 5.5 ka, while inland sites warmed by 0.5–1 °C. The change in coastal temperature preferences agrees with sea surface cooling in the western Atlantic Ocean of >1 °C. Consequently, the persistence of low hemlock abundance after 5.5 ka in the northeast U.S. may have resulted from oceanic changes that produced multi-century droughts and thus delayed the post-decline recovery of hemlock populations.

Molecular and isotopic insights into particulate organic carbon sources and dynamics in Jordan Basin, Gulf of Maine - Hwang, Jeomshik; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Pilskaln, Cynthia H.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (Continental Shelf Research, 2013)
The carbon isotope and lipid biomarker composition of suspended particles and surface sediment was measured to examine the impact of sediment supply, redistribution and post-depositional alteration processes on organic matter cycling in the Gulf of Maine, a semi-enclosed shelf sea in the northwest Atlantic. A beam attenuation profile revealed a >50 m-thick benthic nepheloid layer (BNL) in the Jordan Basin at the time of sampling (April 2006). The relatively low radiocarbon content of suspended particulate organic carbon (POC) in the BNL indicates that up to 82% of the POC in this layer was supplied from resuspension of sediment. The concentration of alkenones normalized to POC increased with increasing depth in the water column and was highest in the surface sediment. In contrast to these markers of surface ocean photoautotrophy, the vertical profiles for the concentration and composition of short-chain (C14–C18) n-alkanoic acids provided evidence for enhanced heterotrophic processes near the top of the BNL. Suspended POC samples from two depths within the BNL exhibited marked differences in radiocarbon content and fatty acid composition, suggesting that biological activity and associated processes within the BNL are vertically heterogeneous.

Old ages of two historical Romanian trees assessed by AMS radiocarbon dating - Patrut, Adrian; von Reden, Karl F.; Lowy, Daniel A.; Patrut, Roxana T.; Vaida, D. Lucian; Margineanu, Dragos (Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2013)
Two large Romanian poplars are considered to be associated with significant historical events of the past. In order to verify these claims, wood samples collected from the broken trunks of the two poplars were radiocarbon dated by AMS. The oldest radiocarbon dates were found to be 275 +/- 20 bp for the black poplar of Mocod and 316 +/- 22 bp for the gray poplar of Rafaila. These values correspond to calibrated ages of 365 +/- 10 and 465 +/- 25 years, respectively. The dating results indicate old ages for the two trees, i.e., 455 years for the Mocod poplar and 560 years for the Rafaila poplar. Such age values validate historical information on the two large Romanian trees. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
id: 2245; PT: J; CT: 12th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS); CY: MAR 20-25, 2011; CL: Wellington, NEW ZEALAND; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000313234300119

Onshore-offshore surficial geologic map of the Newburyport East and northern half of the Ipswich Quadrangles, Massachusetts - Hein, C.J.; FitzGerald, D.M.; Barnhardt, W.A.; Stone, B.D. (Geologic Map, 2013)
This geologic map shows the distribution of surficial subaerial and subaqueous materials in the Newburyport East and northern half of the Ipswich 7.5' quadrangles (northeast Massachusetts) and the area of the Gulf of Maine immediately offshore, to an approximate depth of 80 m below modern mean sea level (MSL). This map was compiled from the onshore surficial geologic map of Stone et al. (2006) and the offshore surficial mapping of Barnhardt et al. (2009), and includes newly mapped shallow offshore geologic features. Onshore and offshore units are continuous across the shallow- water zone (0-20 m below MSL). The definition of map units is based on lithologic characteristics (grain size, mineralogy and structure), stratigraphic relationships and relative ages, and sedimentologic processes. The map describes the evolution of the surficial geology in terms of the sediment sources, transportation mechanisms, and depositional, post-depositional and modern processes that have acted on the late Quaternary sediments that compose these units. Cross sections are derived from subsurface data compiled from the literature and collected as part of this study. This maps supersedes MGS OFR 2011-01

Organic carbon export from the Greenland ice sheet - Bhatia, Maya P.; Das, Sarah B.; Xu, Li; Charette, Matthew A.; Wadham, Jemma L.; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B. (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2013)
Glacial meltwater exports a unique type of organic carbon to marine systems, distinct from non-glacially derived riverine export, potentially capable of stimulating downstream marine primary productivity. Here, we describe for the first time the bulk-level dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) isotopic composition of glacial meltwater draining the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). These data, in conjunction with an earlier study that investigated the molecular-level composition of GrIS dissolved organic matter, collectively describe the concentration, radiocarbon content, and lability of organic carbon in subglacial discharge from a land-terminating outlet glacier during a melt season. By scaling up our measurements across the ice sheet, we estimate that the annual DOC flux from the GrIS (0.08 Tg/y) is equivalent to that from a small Arctic river (discharge (Q) 200 km3/y). The DOC flux is derived primarily from beneath the glacier (subglacial) (>75%) in the early season, and from surface ice-melt (up to 100%) transmitting through the subglacial environment at the peak of the meltseason. The POC flux is primarily derived from the subglacial environment throughout the meltseason. The early season (low flow) glacier discharge contains higher DOC concentrations (0.5–4.1 mg L−1), and exports more enriched carbon (Δ14CDOC ∼ −250‰) compared to the peak season (high flow) discharge, when the concentrations are lower (0.1–0.6 mg L−1) and the Δ14C is more depleted (Δ14CDOC ∼ −400‰). Conversely, the POC export (1.4–13.2 mg L−1, Δ14CPOC ∼ −250‰) shows no temporal variation in either concentration or radiocarbon content throughout the meltseason. Dissolved ion loads in concomitant samples reflected the seasonal evolution of the subglacial drainage system, confirming the influence of subglacial hydrology on the composition of the bulk carbon pools. Based on this work, we conclude that (1) different mechanisms control the DOC and POC flux from glacial systems; (2) chemically-distinct DOC pools are accessed by seasonally-evolving hydrological flow-paths; and (3) the GrIS can deliver labile carbon, which may also be 14C-depleted, to downstream proglacial and marine environments.
id: 2276

Paleoclimate changes of the last 1000 yr on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau recorded by elemental, isotopic, and molecular organic matter proxies in sediment from glacial Lake Ximencuo - Pu, Yang; Nace, Trevor; Meyers, Philip A.; Zhang, Hucai; Wang, Yongli; Zhang, Chuanlun L.; Shao, Xiaohua (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2013)
Total organic carbon (Corg) and nitrogen (Ntot) concentrations and isotope compositions and n-alkane and n-alkan-ol molecular biomarker compositions were measured in two parallel sediment cores from Lake Ximencuo, a typical glacial lake on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP), to reconstruct local climatic variations during the past 1000 yr. Concentrations of Corg and Ntot vary similarly with changes in precipitation recorded by tree rings in Dulan, northeastern QTP, indicating their close relation to precipitation. Carbon Preference Index (CPI) values of C22–C33 n-alkanes and C22–C28 n-alkan-1-ols and Average Chain Length (ACL) values of C27–C33 n-alkanes generally negatively correlate with δ13Corg and δ15Ntot and also vary comparably with the oxygen isotope temperature record from the Dunde ice core, northeastern QTP. These patterns indicate that high CPI values and negative shifts of the δ13Corg and δ15Ntot correspond to warmer conditions that favor the growth of vascular land plants and that lower values and positive shifts correspond to cooler conditions in the Lake Ximencuo locality. This observation contradicts previous interpretations from peat and modern soil studies that conclude that the CPI indices were controlled by microbial degradation under different climate conditions. Here we propose that the changes of organic matter sources under different climate regimes, combined with physiological adjustments of vascular plants to different air temperatures, might yield different CPI responses to climate changes in glacial plateau lakes. Air temperature and precipitation increases and decreases reconstructed in this 1000-yr study were generally independent of each other, but they both occurred at centennial or multi-centennial scales. The interaction between subtropical (Asian Monsoon) and mid-latitude (Westerly) atmospheric circulation systems probably dominated the local precipitation variations in the Lake Ximencuo catchment, whereas solar insolation, volcanism and greenhouse gas variations were likely responsible for the air temperature changes that are recorded in the lake sediments and that are consistent with regional temperature variations in the eastern QTP.
id: 2310

Persistent export of 231Pa from the deep central Arctic Ocean over the past 35,000 years - Hoffmann, Sharon S.; McManus, Jerry F.; Curry, William B.; Brown-Leger, L. Susan (Nature, 2013)
The Arctic Ocean has an important role in Earth’s climate, both through surface processes1 such as sea-ice formation and transport, and through the production and export of waters at depth that contribute to the global thermohaline circulation2, 3. Deciphering the deep Arctic Ocean’s palaeo-oceanographic history is a crucial part of understanding its role in climatic change. Here we show that sedimentary ratios of the radionuclides thorium-230 (230Th) and protactinium-231 (231Pa), which are produced in sea water and removed by particle scavenging on timescales of decades to centuries, respectively4, record consistent evidence for the export of 231Pa from the deep Arctic and may indicate continuous deep-water exchange between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans throughout the past 35,000 years. Seven well-dated box-core records provide a comprehensive overview of 231Pa and 230Th burial in Arctic sediments during glacial, deglacial and interglacial conditions. Sedimentary 231Pa/230Th ratios decrease nearly linearly with increasing water depth above the core sites, indicating efficient particle scavenging in the upper water column and greater influence of removal by lateral transport at depth. Although the measured 230Th burial is in balance with its production in Arctic sea water, integrated depth profiles for all time intervals reveal a deficit in 231Pa burial that can be balanced only by lateral export in the water column. Because no enhanced sink for 231Pa has yet been found in the Arctic, our records suggest that deep-water exchange through the Fram strait may export 231Pa. Such export may have continued for the past 35,000 years, suggesting a century-scale replacement time for deep waters in the Arctic Ocean since the most recent glaciation and a persistent contribution of Arctic waters to the global ocean circulation.
Keywords: Marine chemistry; Palaeoceanography; Palaeoclimate

Pleistocene sequence stratigraphy of the shallow continental shelf, offshore New Jersey: Constraints of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Leg 313 core holes - Miller, Kenneth G.; Sugarman, Peter J.; Browning, James V.; Sheridan, Robert E.; Kulhanek, Denise K.; Monteverde, Donald H.; Wehmiller, John F.; Lombardi, Christopher; Feigenson, Mark D. (GEOSPHERE, 2013)
We used cores and logs from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 313 to generate biostratigraphic, lithofacies, biofacies, and geochemical data that constrain the ages and paleoenvironments of Pleistocene sequences. We integrate sequence stratigraphy on cores with new seismic stratigraphic data to interpret the Pleistocene history of the Hudson shelf valley and paleoenvironmental and sea-level changes on the inner to middle continental shelf. Improved age control compared to previous studies is provided by integrated calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, Sr isotopic stratigraphy, and amino acid racemization. We recognize four upper Pleistocene-Holocene sequences: sequence uP1 is correlated with Marine Isotope Chrons (MIC; ``chron{''} is the correct stratigraphic term for a time unit, not ``stage{''}) 7 or 5e, sequence uP2 with MIC 5c, sequence uP3 with MIC 5a, and sequence uP4 with the latest Pleistocene to Holocene (MIC 1-2). However, within our age resolution it is possible that sequences uP2 and uP3 correlate with MIC 4-3c and 3a, respectively, as suggested by previous studies. Lower Pleistocene sequences lP1 and lP2 likely correlate with peak interglacials (e. g., MIC 31 and MIC 45 or 47, respectively). Thus, we suggest that preservation of sequences occurs only during peak eustatic events (e. g., MIC 45 or 47, MIC 31, and MIC 5), unless they are preserved in eroded valleys. The architecture of the Pleistocene deposits at Sites M27 and M29 is one of thin remnants of highstand and transgressive systems tracts, with lowstand deposits only preserved in the thalwegs of incised valleys. Incised valleys at the bases of sequences uP3 (IODP Site M27) and uP2 (IODP Site M29) document more southward courses of the paleo-Hudson valley, compared to the more southeastward course of the MIC 1-2 paleo-Hudson valley. The patchy distribution of Pleistocene sequences beneath the New Jersey inner-middle continental shelf is due to low accommodation during an interval of large eustatic changes; this predicts that sequences in such settings will be discontinuous, patchy, and difficult to correlate, consistent with previous studies in Virginia and North Carolina.

Prominent bacterial heterotrophy and sources of C-13-depleted fatty acids to the interior Canada Basin - Shah, S. R.; Griffith, D. R.; Galy, V.; McNichol, A. P.; Eglinton, T. I. (BIOGEOSCIENCES, 2013)
In recent decades, the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean has experienced rapidly decreasing summer sea ice coverage and freshening of surface waters. It is unclear how these changes translate to deeper waters, particularly as our baseline understanding of organic carbon cycling in the deep basin is quite limited. In this study, we describe full-depth profiles of the abundance, distribution and carbon isotopic composition of fatty acids from suspended particulate matter at a seasonally ice-free station and a semi-permanently ice-covered station. Fatty acids, along with suspended particulate organic carbon (POC), are more concentrated and C-13-enriched under ice cover than in ice-free waters. But this influence, apparent at 50 m depth, does not propagate downward below 150m depth, likely due to the weak biological pump in the central Canada Basin. Branched fatty acids have delta C-13 values that are similar to suspended POC at all depths and are more C-13-enriched than even-numbered saturated fatty acids at depths above 3000 m. These are likely to be produced in situ by heterotrophic bacteria incorporating organic carbon that is isotopically similar to total suspended POC. Below surface waters, there is also the suggestion of a source of saturated even-numbered fatty acids which could represent contributions from laterally advected organic carbon and/or from chemoautotrophic bacteria. At 3000 m depth and below, a greater relative abundance of long-chain (C20-24), branched and unsaturated fatty acids is consistent with a stronger influence of re-suspended sedimentary organic carbon. At these deep depths, two individual fatty acids (C-12 and iso-C-17) are significantly depleted in C-13, allowing for the possibility that methane oxidizing bacteria contribute fatty acids, either directly to suspended particulate matter or to shallow sediments that are subsequently mobilized and incorporated into suspended particulate matter within the deep basin.

Quantifying overwash flux in barrier systems: An example from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA - Carruthers, Emily A.; Lane, D. Philip; Evans, Rob L.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Ashton, Andrew D. (Marine Geology, 2013)
Coastal barriers are particularly susceptible to the effects of accelerated sea-level rise and intense storms. Over centennial scales, barriers are maintained via overtopping during storms, which causes deposition of washover fans on their landward sides. Understanding barrier evolution under modern conditions can help evaluate the likelihood of future barrier stability. This study examines three washover fans on the undeveloped south shore of Martha's Vineyard using a suite of vibracores, ground penetrating radar, high resolution dGPS, and LiDAR data. From these data, the volumes of the deposits were determined and range from 2.1 to 2.4 × 104 m3. Two of these overwash events occurred during Hurricane Bob in 1991. The water levels produced by this storm have a calculated return interval of ~ 28 years, implying an onshore sediment flux of 2.4–3.4 m3/m/yr. The third washover was deposited by a nor'easter in January 1997, which has a water level return interval of ~ 6 years, suggesting a flux of 8.5 m3/m/yr. These onshore fluxes are smaller than the erosional flux of sediment resulting from shoreline retreat, suggesting that the barrier is not in long-term equilibrium, a result supported by the thinning of the barrier in recent years.
Keywords: barrier system; Coastal evolution; overwash flux; sea-level rise; storm impacts

Radiocarbon Dating of Basal Peats Supports Separation of Lake Superior from Lakes Michigan-Huron about 1250 years ago - Yu, Shi-Yong; Colman, Steven M.; Milne, Glenn A. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2013)
Lake Superior represents an important component of the aquatic ecosystem in North America. Along its south shore, ongoing lake-level rise, accelerated erosion, and wetland loss are major environmental concerns to coastal communities. A better prediction of the future of this shore requires placing the instrumental lake-level records in a geological context. However, our knowledge of the late-Holocene history of the world's largest freshwater body remains fragmentary. Here we present a sedimentary record of late-Holocene relative lake-level changes by dating transgressive basal peats resting directly on a sandy substrate along a bathymetric gradient in Bark Bay Slough, Wisconsin. Our record shows a moderate lake-level rise at 1.4±0.2 mm/yr from about 2200 to 1250 cal yr BP as a result of relatively slow differential uplift of Bark Bay relative to the controlling outlet at Port Huron. The rise accelerated to 2.3±0.2 mm/yr at about 1250 cal yr BP when Sault Ste. Marie emerged as the controlling outlet, thereby separating Superior from Lakes Michigan–Huron and giving rise to the modern hydrographic regime of the upper Great Lakes. The timing of this event in our record is about 1000 yr later than that estimated in most previous studies, but our data complement and confirm the younger age of lake separation inferred using a different methodology. Our results not only provide pertinent information for hydrological regulation, navigation operation, and infrastructural design in the upper Great Lakes, but also provide insight into freshwater wetland succession on flooded coasts.

Recharge Sources and Residence Times of Groundwater as Determined by Geochemical Tracers in the Mayfield Area, Southwestern Idaho, 2011–12 - Hopkins, C. B. (Scientific Investigations Report, 2013)

Reconstructing 7000 years of North Atlantic hurricane variability using deep-sea sediment cores from the western Great Bahama Bank - Toomey, Michael R.; Curry, William B.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; van Hengstum, Peter J. (Paleoceanography, 2013)
[1] Available overwash records from coastal barrier systems document significant variability in North Atlantic hurricane activity during the late Holocene. The same climate forcings that may have controlled cyclone activity over this interval (e.g., the West African Monsoon, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)) show abrupt changes around 6000 yrs B.P., but most coastal sedimentary records do not span this time period. Establishing longer records is essential for understanding mid-Holocene patterns of storminess and their climatic drivers, which will lead to better forecasting of how climate change over the next century may affect tropical cyclone frequency and intensity. Storms are thought to be an important mechanism for transporting coarse sediment from shallow carbonate platforms to the deep-sea, and bank-edge sediments may offer an unexplored archive of long-term hurricane activity. Here, we develop this new approach, reconstructing more than 7000 years of North Atlantic hurricane variability using coarse-grained deposits in sediment cores from the leeward margin of the Great Bahama Bank. High energy event layers within the resulting archive are (1) broadly correlated throughout an offbank transect of multi-cores, (2) closely matched with historic hurricane events, and (3) synchronous with previous intervals of heightened North Atlantic hurricane activity in overwash reconstructions from Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Bahamas. Lower storm frequency prior to 4400 yrs B.P. in our records suggests that precession and increased NH summer insolation may have greatly limited hurricane potential intensity, outweighing weakened ENSO and a stronger West African Monsoon—factors thought to be favorable for hurricane development.

Reconstructing mid-late Holocene cyclone variability in the Central Pacific using sedimentary records from Tahaa, French Polynesia - Toomey, Michael R.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Woodruff, Jonathan D. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
We lack an understanding of the geographic and temporal controls on South Pacific cyclone activity. Overwash records from backbarrier salt marshes and coastal ponds have been used to reconstruct tropical cyclone strikes in the North Atlantic basin. However, these specific backbarrier environments are scarce in the South Pacific, with cyclone records limited primarily to the period of modern observation. This instrumental record suggests a correlation with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but longer records are necessary to test this relationship over geologic timescales and explore other potential climate drivers of tropical cyclone variability. Deep lagoons behind coral reefs are widespread in the Pacific and provide an alternative setting for developing long-term sedimentary reconstructions of tropical cyclone occurrence. Coarse-grained event deposits within the sediments of a back-reef lagoon surrounding Tahaa reveal a 5000-year record of cyclone occurrences. Timing of recent high-energy deposits matches well with observed tropical cyclone strikes and indicates coarse deposits are storm derived. Longer records show tropical cyclone activity was higher from 5000 to 3800 and 2900 to 500 yrs BP. Comparison to records from the North Pacific (out-of-phase) and North Atlantic (in phase) suggests a coordinated pattern of storm activity across tropical cyclone basins over the mid-late Holocene. The changes in tropical cyclone activity we observe in the South Pacific and across other basins may be related to ENSO as well as precession driven changes in ocean-atmosphere thermal gradients.

Reconstructing mid-late Holocene cyclone variability in the Central Pacific using sedimentary records from Tahaa, French Polynesia - Toomey, Michael R.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Woodruff, Jonathan D. (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
We lack an understanding of the geographic and temporal controls on South Pacific cyclone activity. Overwash records from backbarrier salt marshes and coastal ponds have been used to reconstruct tropical cyclone strikes in the North Atlantic basin. However, these specific backbarrier environments are scarce in the South Pacific, with cyclone records limited primarily to the period of modern observation. This instrumental record suggests a correlation with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but longer records are necessary to test this relationship over geologic timescales and explore other potential climate drivers of tropical cyclone variability. Deep lagoons behind coral reefs are widespread in the Pacific and provide an alternative setting for developing long-term sedimentary reconstructions of tropical cyclone occurrence. Coarse-grained event deposits within the sediments of a back-reef lagoon surrounding Tahaa reveal a 5000-year record of cyclone occurrences. Timing of recent high-energy deposits matches well with observed tropical cyclone strikes and indicates coarse deposits are storm derived. Longer records show tropical cyclone activity was higher from 5000 to 3800 and 2900 to 500 yrs BP. Comparison to records from the North Pacific (out-of-phase) and North Atlantic (in phase) suggests a coordinated pattern of storm activity across tropical cyclone basins over the mid-late Holocene. The changes in tropical cyclone activity we observe in the South Pacific and across other basins may be related to ENSO as well as precession driven changes in ocean-atmosphere thermal gradients.
Keywords: enso; Precession; South Pacific; tropical cyclones

Resolving varve and radiocarbon chronology differences during the last 2000 years in the Santa Barbara Basin sedimentary record, California - Hendy, Ingrid L.; Dunn, L.; Schimmelmann, A.; Pak, D. K. (Quaternary International, 2013)
Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) is well known for producing high quality paleoclimate reconstructions, but the validity of correlations between the basin and other regions rests upon age model accuracy. Yet, the two independent and well-established chronologies based on varve counting and radiocarbon dating do not consistently agree during the last two millennia. Here the validity of age model assumptions is tested including whether 1) the regional reservoir age of surface waters was invariably 641 ± 119 years through time, and/or 2) SBB laminae couplets are consistently annual varves and counted with sufficient precision. This high-resolution 14C study of SBB sediments compares 49 mixed planktonic foraminiferal carbonate and 20 terrestrial organic carbon 14C dates to the varve chronology, to extend the high-resolution paleoclimate chronology of the basin back ∼2000 years. Evidence indicates that regional reservoir ages do not remain constant through time with ΔR, (i.e. regional reservoir age minus variations in the global mixed-layer ocean reservoir age) fluctuating between 80 and 350 years. Second, there is a consistent (R2 = 0.96) undercounting of the varves between 150 and ∼1700 AD based on a new varying ΔR 14C chronology, indicating that some laminae couplets may not be annual. Loss of varves may occur when low riverine input and infrequent winter storm activity during drought intervals fail to supply a siliciclastic layer.
id: 2289

Sea-level change during the last 2500 years in New Jersey, USA - Kemp, Andrew C.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Vane, Christopher H.; Bernhardt, Christopher E.; Corbett, D. Reide; Engelhart, Simon E.; Anisfeld, Shimon C.; Parnell, Andrew C.; Cahill, Niamh (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013)
Relative sea-level changes during the last ∼2500 years in New Jersey, USA were reconstructed to test if late Holocene sea level was stable or included persistent and distinctive phases of variability. Foraminifera and bulk-sediment δ13C values were combined to reconstruct paleomarsh elevation with decimeter precision from sequences of salt-marsh sediment at two sites using a multi-proxy approach. The additional paleoenvironmental information provided by bulk-sediment δ13C values reduced vertical uncertainty in the sea-level reconstruction by about one third of that estimated from foraminifera alone using a transfer function. The history of sediment deposition was constrained by a composite chronology. An age–depth model developed for each core enabled reconstruction of sea level with multi-decadal resolution. Following correction for land-level change (1.4 mm/yr), four successive and sustained (multi-centennial) sea-level trends were objectively identified and quantified (95% confidence interval) using error-in-variables change point analysis to account for age and sea-level uncertainties. From at least 500 BC to 250 AD, sea-level fell at 0.11 mm/yr. The second period saw sea-level rise at 0.62 mm/yr from 250 AD to 733 AD. Between 733 AD and 1850 AD, sea level fell at 0.12 mm/yr. The reconstructed rate of sea-level rise since ∼1850 AD was 3.1 mm/yr and represents the most rapid period of change for at least 2500 years. This trend began between 1830 AD and 1873 AD. Since this change point, reconstructed sea-level rise is in agreement with regional tide-gauge records and exceeds the global average estimate for the 20th century. These positive and negative departures from background rates demonstrate that the late Holocene sea level was not stable in New Jersey.

Seasonal climate change across the Roman Warm Period/Vandal Minimum transition using isotope sclerochronology in archaeological shells and otoliths, southwest Florida, USA - Wang, Ting; Surge, Donna; Walker, Karen Jo (Quaternary International, 2013)
Archaeological evidence suggests that southwest Florida experienced variably warmer and wetter climate during the Roman Warm Period (RWP; 300 BC–550 AD) relative to the Vandal Minimum (VM; 550–800 AD). This hypothesis was tested by reconstructing seasonal-scale climate conditions for the latter part of the RWP (1–550 AD) by using high-resolution oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) of archaeological shells (Mercenaria campechiensis) and otoliths (Ariopsis felis). Eight shells radiocarbon-dated to 150–550 AD recorded that the RWP summers at 150–250 AD were insignificantly different from today and the RWP summers at 250–350 AD and 450–550 AD were drier relative to today. Eight otoliths indicate that the winters were variable during the RWP, colder than today at 150–200 AD and 250–300 AD, similar to today at 200–250 AD, 300–350 AD and 450–500 AD, and warmer than today at 500–550 AD. The climate reconstructions agree with archaeological observations and are partially coherent with the history of sea-level change, with a drying and cooling trend at the 95% confidence level across the RWP/VM transition. The climate transition is not only consistent with falling sea level, but also coherent with reduced solar radiation. Reduced solar radiation may have triggered a change in atmospheric circulation patterns that precipitated the observed climate transition.
id: 2298

Sedimentological and geomorphological imprints of Holocene tsunamis in southwestern Spain: An approach to establish the recurrence period - Ruiz, Francisco; Rodríguez-Vidal, Joaquín; Abad, Manuel; Cáceres, Luis M.; Carretero, María I.; Pozo, Manuel; Rodríguez-Llanes, José M.; Gómez-Toscano, Francisco; Izquierdo, Tatiana; Font, Eric; Toscano, Antonio (Continental Shelf Drowned Landscapes (INQUA-CMP and IGCP-526), 2013)
This paper reviews the sedimentological and geomorphological imprints of prehistoric and historical tsunamis in the four main estuaries of SW Spain. These imprints include beach erosion, filling of intertidal channels, deposition of bioclastic layers, washover fans and reworked aeolian sheets and the breaching of spits and tombolos. Most of these imprints were caused by the 218–209 BC and AD 1755 tsunamis, although evidence of other tsunamis has been identified. In these two events, effects on human populations were severe and diverse, such as human loss of life, changes in coastal settlements and international borders, damage to port infrastructure or flooding of marsh and inhabited areas. New radiocarbon reservoir data were included in order to obtain an approach to the recurrence period of these high-energy events (700–1000 years) in this area.

Sedimentological and Geophysical Signatures of A Relict Tidal Inlet Complex Along A Wave-Dominated Barrier: Assateague Island, Maryland, U.S.A - Seminack, C. T.; Buynevich, I. V. (Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2013)
Assateague Island is a classic example of a wave-dominated, retrograding barrier island, with its recent geological history punctuated by episodes of overwash and breaching (comparable to the Outer Banks, North Carolina; northern New Jersey coast; Long Island, New York, etc.). This study aims to provide high-resolution data of a paleo-inlet which may lead to a more precise evolutionary model of other wave-dominated barrier islands. The study focuses on a historically stable segment fronting the Green Run Bay. The site lies north of the historical Green Run Inlet (active until 1880); however, there is no morphological or historical evidence of this inlet occupying the more northerly position, thus suggesting that the study site may represent a relict part of the barrier. High-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) images, complemented with sediment cores and multi-dating techniques, were used to reconstruct the geological legacy of the Green Run Bay segment. The findings indicate that a shallow backbarrier channel, still visible within the Green Run Bay, can be traced to a large (> 380 m wide, 3.0–3.5 m thick) channel cut-and-fill structure beneath the barrier. The channel fill consists of tangential- to sigmoidal-oblique, southward-dipping reflections downlapping onto channel lag facies, which overlie subhorizontal bay-fill strata. Mollusks from the bay fill yield calibrated ages of 4419–2018 yr BP. The paleo-channel facies overlying the bay deposits exhibit a fining-upward sequence, with a mean grain size decreasing from 0.44 to 2.43 φ (0.74 to 0.19 mm). Optically stimulated luminescence dating places the middle part of the inlet fill at 730–590 yr BP. The paleo-channel fill does not extend to the south and therefore is a separate relict feature that predates the historical Green Run Inlet. The paleo-tidal prism of the relict channel was at least 17 × 106 m3, which is comparable to many wave-dominated historical and active inlets along the Atlantic Seaboard. Findings in this study provide the geological background for coastal hazard assessments and offer a mesoscale example of inlet-facies architecture in wave-dominated barrier sequences identified in the rock record.

Separation of Lake Superior from Lakes Michigan–Huron about 1250 yr ago - Yu, Shi-Yong; Colman, Steven M.; Milne, Glenn A. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2013)
Lake Superior represents an important component of the aquatic ecosystem in North America. Along its south shore, ongoing lake-level rise, accelerated erosion, and wetland loss are major environmental concerns to coastal communities. A better prediction of the future of this shore requires placing the instrumental lake-level records in a geological context. However, our knowledge of the late-Holocene history of the world's largest freshwater body remains fragmentary. Here we present a sedimentary record of late-Holocene relative lake-level changes by dating transgressive basal peats resting directly on a sandy substrate along a bathymetric gradient in Bark Bay Slough, Wisconsin. Our record shows a moderate lake-level rise at 1.4±0.2 mm/yr from about 2200 to 1250 cal yr BP as a result of relatively slow differential uplift of Bark Bay relative to the controlling outlet at Port Huron. The rise accelerated to 2.3±0.2 mm/yr at about 1250 cal yr BP when Sault Ste. Marie emerged as the controlling outlet, thereby separating Superior from Lakes Michigan–Huron and giving rise to the modern hydrographic regime of the upper Great Lakes. The timing of this event in our record is about 1000 yr later than that postulated in most previous studies. Our results not only provide pertinent information for hydrological regulation, navigation operation, and infrastructural design in the upper Great Lakes, but also provide insight into freshwater wetland succession on flooded coasts.
id: 2336

Should dates trump context? Evaluation of the Cave 7 skeletal assemblage radiocarbon dates - Geib, Phil R.; Hurst, Winston B. (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013)
“Massacre” was the accepted interpretation for a prehistoric skeletal assemblage of around 90 individuals from Cave 7 in the SE Utah of the North American Southwest since the 1890s. Coltrain and others (Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 2220–2230) rejected this account based on a dispersed suite of AMS radiocarbon dates on purified bone collagen from the interred individuals. Since dates from skeletons exhibiting perimortem damage were scattered across some 400 radiocarbon years, Coltrain et al. argued for multiple interments of victims of violence and related kin spread across several centuries. The temporal placement of interment events in Cave 7 clearly cannot be known independent of radiocarbon assays but such assays should not be privileged above contextual information about which individuals were interred together unless verified by an independent dating laboratory. Only by ignoring important information about burial context in the 1893 field record can the dates of Coltrain et al. be accepted as accurate estimates of time of death. We redated residual collagen from 11 of the Cave 7 individuals because of significant contextual anomalies with some of the prior results. The new assays combined with contextual evidence demonstrate that some of Coltrain et al.’s dates are either too old or too young; the dates are neither sufficiently accurate (true estimates of sample age) nor sufficiently precise (small confidence intervals) to refute a single-event massacre or to confirm multiple interment events in Cave 7. Nonetheless, dates that meet these criteria disclose at least two interment events, a large one of mostly adult males, many exhibiting perimortem damage (a massacre assemblage), and a small one consisting of an adult female with three children. A third interment event of a few adult females and child is possible based primarily on context since the date distribution in this case overlaps substantially with that of the massacre victims; context also hints at other interment events. Aside from chronology we clarify the number of Basketmaker individuals interred at the site and the incidence of perimortem violence. A single-event mass killing continues to be the most likely interpretation for around 58 individuals, mostly adult males (at least 35) but also adult females and children. This incident occurred between cal. AD 20–80 and doubtless had a significant social impact at the time because of its scale, reverberating throughout the early farming communities of the Southwest.
id: 2281

Source, diagenesis, and fluxes of particulate organic carbon along the western Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea) - Tesi, T.; Langone, L.; Giani, M.; Ravaioli, M.; Miserocchi, S. (Marine Geology, 2013)
In this study, we investigated the modern organic carbon (OC) cycling along the clinoform-shaped deposit that developed after the attainment of the modern sea-level in the Adriatic Sea (~ 5.5 kyr cal BP). Newly acquired data were combined with published results to characterize the (i) origin, (ii) diagenesis, and (iii) fluxes of OC along the Adriatic clinoform. δ13C, Δ14C, and lignin phenols were used to constrain the composition of OC accumulating in surface sediments. Sediment cores collected at different water depths were used to describe the early diagenesis during burial in different regions. In addition, on the basis of an extensive number of accumulation rates and OC data, we assessed the flux of OC to the seabed and its burial. Our results showed that terrigenous OC is the dominant OC source in the Po prodelta mainly in the form of pre-aged soil-derived OC and vascular plant fragments. Along the clinoform, both Δ14C and the concentration of lignin-derived phenols decreased with increasing distance from the Po prodelta indicating the influence of an additional pool of aged OC that gradually becomes more important because of its selective preservation during the sediment transport. As a result, degradation rates (k) decreased along the clinoform as a function of the sediment oxidative history. The calculated half-life of reactive OC (t1/2) was ~ 14.6 yrs in the Po prodelta whereas topset/forest deposits south of this region exhibited higher values, ~ 100 yrs, indicating the presence of refractory material. In the distal bottomset region, the t1/2 was particularly high ranging from ~ 255 to ~ 912 yrs. Because of the significant southward component of the sediment transport, the OC deposition in the southern surface sediments exceeded the local OC input via rivers (ratio deposition/input 1.2). Conversely, the northern Adriatic was characterized by a marked imbalance (ratio deposition/input 0.3–0.5). According to our calculations, the OC flux to the seabed along the clinoform was ~ 309 Gg of C per year whereas the OC burial was ~ 180 Gg of C per year, corresponding to an overall burial efficiency of ~ 59%.
id: 2335

Stratigraphy and wiggle-matching-based age-depth model of late Holocene marine sediments in Beppu Bay, southwest Japan - Kuwae, Michinobu; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Ikehara, Ken; Irino, Tomohisa; Takemura, Keiji; Sagawa, Takuya; Sakamoto, Tatsuhiko; Ikehara, Minoru; Takeoka, Hidetaka (New Global Perspectives on Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Paleoceanography, Paleoclimatology, and Tectonics in the East Asia and Western Pacific, 2013)
We analyzed the lithology, magnetic susceptibility, bulk density, and X-ray radiographs of 14 sediment cores (1–9 m long) from Beppu Bay in the western Seto Inland Sea, Japan, to establish the late Holocene stratigraphy in the deepest part of the bay and to develop an age–depth model for the sediments there. The cores contained 18 thick (major event) high-density layers (16 turbidites and two volcanic ash; >1 cm thick), and both lithological observations and density variations in the hemipelagic mud that is dominant in the cores revealed a further 55 thin (minor event) high-density layers (
id: 2295

Surface production fuels deep heterotrophic respiration in northern peatlands - Elizabeth Corbett, J.; Burdige, David J.; Tfaily, Malak M.; Dial, Angela R.; Cooper, William T.; Glaser, Paul H.; Chanton, Jeffrey P. (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2013)
[1] Multiple analyses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from pore waters were conducted to define the processes that govern carbon balance in peatlands: (1) source, reactivity, and transport of DOC with respect to vegetation, peat, and age of carbon substrate, (2) reactivity of DOC with respect to molecular size, and (3) lability to photoxidation of surficial DOC. We found that surface organic production fuels heterotrophic respiration at depth in advection-dominated peatlands, especially in fens. Fen DOC was Δ14C enriched relative to the surrounding fen peat, and fen respiration products were similar to this enriched DOC indicating that DOC was the main microbial substrate. Bog DOC was more variable showing either enrichment in ∆14C at depth or ∆14C values that follow peat values. This variability in bogs is probably controlled by the relative importance of vertical transport of labile carbon substrates within the peat profile versus DOC production from bog peat. These results extended our set of observations to 10 years at one bog-fen pair and add two additional bog-fen pairs to our series of observations. Anaerobic incubations of peat, rinsed free of residual DOC, produced DOC and respiration products that were strikingly similar to the peat values in a bog and two fens. This result demonstrated conclusively that downward advection is the process responsible for the presence of modern DOC found at depth in the peat column. Fen DOC has lower C/N values and up to twice as much LMW (<1 kDa) DOC as bogs due to differences in organic inputs and greater microbial processing. Fluorescence irradiation experiments showed that fen DOC is more photolabile than bog DOC.

Three approaches to radiocarbon calibration of amino acid racemization in Mulinia lateralis from the Holocene of the Chesapeake Bay, USA - Simonson, Amy E.; Lockwood, Rowan; Wehmiller, John F. (Amino Acid Racemization, 2013)
A radiocarbon-calibrated aminochronology, based on the bivalve Mulinia lateralis, is presented for Chesapeake Bay core MD03-2661, a 25 m piston core drilled near Kent Island (38°53.21′N; 76°23.89′W) during the 2003 USGS Marion-Dufresne cruise. Three separate approaches were used to calibrate amino acid racemization (AAR) data for aspartic acid with radiocarbon data. For the first approach, a direct or paired analysis calibration incorporated eight articulated specimens, thereby allowing for the application of AAR and radiocarbon analysis of the same specimen and effectively eliminating both intrashell variability and time averaging as factors in the calibration. A second direct approach relied on valves that were bilaterally split to facilitate both AAR and radiocarbon dating, thus effectively eliminating time averaging effects from this calibration. For the third indirect approach, nine independent radiocarbon dates were combined with 129 Asx D/L ratios from the same core depths to produce an indirect calibration model, from which intershell variability and time averaging could be estimated. Variability in AAR ratios was recognized from a myriad of sources, including analytical error, intrashell variability, inherent variability, time averaging, and contamination. The majority of this variability was controlled for through experimental design or by the application of these three independent calibration approaches. The direct calibration of articulated shells and the indirect calibration yielded virtually identical age models, well within their respective 95% confidence intervals. This study establishes an aminostratigraphic reference section for the Holocene record of the Chesapeake Bay and demonstrates the usefulness of multiple calibration approaches and the potential utility of AAR for future studies of sedimentary processes and chronologies in the bay.
id: 2292

Transient stratification as the cause of the North Pacific productivity spike during deglaciation - Lam, Phoebe J.; Robinson, Laura F.; Blusztajn, Jerzy; Li, Camille; Cook, Mea S.; McManus, Jerry F.; Keigwin, Lloyd D. (Nature Geoscience, 2013)
During the Bølling–Allerød warm period of the last deglaciation, about 14 kyr ago, there was a strong and pervasive spike in primary productivity in the North Pacific Ocean1. It has been suggested that this productivity event was caused by an influx of the micronutrient iron from surrounding continental shelves as they were flooded by sea-level rise2. Here we test this hypothesis by comparing numerous proxies of productivity with iron flux and provenance measured from a core from the subarctic Pacific Ocean. We find no evidence for an abrupt deglacial pulse of iron from any source at the time of peak productivity. Instead, we argue that the deglacial productivity peak was caused by two stepwise events. First, deep convection during early deglaciation increased nutrient supply to the surface but also increased the depth of the mixed layer, which pushed surface production deeper in the water column and induced light limitation. A subsequent input of meltwater from northern American ice sheets then stratified the water column, which relieved light limitation while leaving the surface waters enriched in nutrients. We conclude that iron plays, at most, a secondary role in controlling productivity during the glacial and deglacial periods in the subarctic Pacific Ocean.
Keywords: Biogeochemistry; Marine biology; Marine chemistry; Palaeoceanography

Treatise on Geomorphology8.26 Climate Change Impacts on Cold Climates - Baroni, C. (Elsevier, 2013)
Since the onset of Cenozoic ice sheets, cold climate regions have played a leading role in planetary energy balance, atmospheric and global oceanic circulations. Glacial and periglacial processes in polar regions act as morphogenetic agents for landscape sculpting providing landforms and deposits that represent valuable records for investigating the amplitude of key phases of Cenozoic glacial history. Glacio-eustatic sea-level variations induce revolutionary environmental changes across the entire planet. Changes in periglacial processes also influence cold region hydrology, ecosystems, and soil carbon storage. Climatic and environmental changes in cold regions cause adaptation through ecological and evolutionary responses by organisms.
Keywords: Adélie penguins; Antarctica; Arctic; Cenozoic; Climate change; Elephant seals; glacial history; Holocene; Icehouse

Tropical cyclone wind speed constraints from resultant storm surge deposition: A 2500 year reconstruction of hurricane activity from St. Marks, FL - Brandon, Christine M.; Woodruff, Jonathan D.; Lane, D. Phil; Donnelly, Jeffrey P. (Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2013)
[1] Recent work suggests that the patterns of intense (≥category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) hurricane strikes over the last few millennia might differ from that of overall hurricane activity during this period. Prior studies typically rely on assigning a threshold storm intensity required to produce a sedimentological overwash signal at a particular coastal site based on historical analogs. Here, we improve on this approach by presenting a new inverse-model technique that constrains the most likely wind speeds required to transport the maximum grain size within resultant storm deposits. As a case study, the technique is applied to event layers observed in sediments collected from a coastal sinkhole in northwestern Florida. We find that (1) simulated wind speeds for modern deposits are consistent with the intensities for historical hurricanes affecting the site, (2) all deposits throughout the ∼2500 year record are capable of being produced by hurricanes, and (3) a period of increased intense hurricane frequency is observed between ∼1700 and ∼600 years B.P. and decreased intense storm frequency is observed from ∼2500 to ∼1700 and ∼600 years B.P. to the present. This is consistent with prior reconstructions from nearby sites. Changes in the frequency of intense hurricane strikes may be related to the degree of penetration of the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.

An ~11,200 cal yr BP paleolimnological perspective for the archeological findings at Quartz Lake, Alaska - Wooller, M. J.; Kurek, J.; Gaglioti, B. V.; Cwynar, L. C.; Bigelow, N.; Reuther, J. D.; Gelvin-Reymiller, C.; Smol, J. P. (Journal of Paleolimnology, 2012)
Wetlands and lakes in the Tanana Valley, Alaska, have provided important resources for prehistoric humans who inhabited this region. We examine an ~11,200 cal yr BP record of environmental and paleolimnological changes from Quartz Lake in the middle Tanana Valley. Our data are also presented in the context of recent archaeological findings in the lake’s general vicinity that have 18 associated AMS 14C dates. We analyzed the stable-carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of total organic matter from the core, coupled with oxygen and carbon isotope analyses of Pisidiidae shells (fingernail clams), in addition to chironomid assemblage changes. Lacustrine sediments began to accumulate at ~11,200 cal yr BP. Initially, autochthonous production was low and allochthonous organic input was negligible between 11,000 and 10,500 cal yr BP, and were associated with relatively cool conditions at Quartz Lake at ~10,700 cal yr BP. After 10,500 cal yr BP, autochthonous production was higher coincident with a shift to chironomid assemblages dominated by taxa associated with warmer summer climates. A decrease in δ13C values of total organic carbon (TOC) and organic content of the sediment between 9,000 and 4,000 cal yr BP may indicate declining autochthonous primary production. This period ended with an abrupt (~7 ‰) decrease in the δ18O values from Pisidiidae shells at ~3,000 cal yr BP, which we hypothesize represented an episodic connection (flood) of the lake with flow from the nearby (~6 km) Tanana River. Our findings coincide with evidence for major flooding at other locations connected to the Tanana River and further afield in Alaska. From ~3,000 cal yr BP Quartz Lake subsequently appeared to become a relatively closed system, as indicated by the δ18OPisidiidae and δ13CPisidiidae data that are positively correlated and generally higher, which also correlates with a shift to moderately higher abundances of littoral chironomids. The cause of the transition to closed-basin conditions may have been geomorphic rather than climatic. This evidence of a progressively stronger evaporative influence on the lake’s closed hydrology after ~3,000 cal yr BP is consistent with our modern δ18O and δD water data from Quartz Lake that plot along a regional evaporative line we base on isotopic measurements from other local lakes and rivers.
id: 2134

Anomalous biogeochemical behavior of cadmium in subantarctic surface waters: Mechanistic constraints from cadmium isotopes - Gault-Ringold, Melanie; Adu, Toyin; Stirling, Claudine H.; Frew, Russell D.; Hunter, Keith A. (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2012)
Cadmium, a highly toxic metal, exhibits a nutrient-type profile in the oceans that is closely correlated to that of the major nutrients phosphate and nitrate. Despite its complexity, the relationship between cadmium and phosphate has been used to infer historic phosphate utilization and biological controls on oceanic CO2 concentrations. Cadmium isotopes offer the potential to constrain the mechanisms controlling cadmium cycling in the oceans, reducing uncertainty associated with the cadmium paleonutrient proxy. Using techniques in double spiking and MC-ICPMS, we report seasonal Cd isotopic and concentration data along with major nutrients and other essential trace metal (Fe, Zn, and Co) concentrations from subantarctic surface waters. We show, for the first time, a 50-fold seasonal decrease in dissolved cadmium concentrations in subantarctic waters that is due to biological uptake. However, this drawdown in Cd is decoupled from phosphate and shows no coincident shift in cadmium isotopic composition. These data, along with the preferential removal of Cd from surface waters relative to Zn, imply that cadmium is supply-limited to phytoplankton and may have a more significant biological role in these low Zn subantarctic surface waters than in regions with higher Zn concentrations.
id: 2339

Anthropogenic aerosols as a source of ancient dissolved organic matter in glaciers - Stubbins, Aron; Hood, Eran; Raymond, Peter A.; Aiken, George R.; Sleighter, Rachel L.; Hernes, Peter J.; Butman, David; Hatcher, Patrick G.; Striegl, Robert G.; Schuster, Paul; Abdulla, Hussain A. N.; Vermilyea, Andrew W.; et al. (Nature Geoscience, 2012)
Glacier-derived dissolved organic matter represents a quantitatively significant source of ancient, yet highly bioavailable carbon to downstream ecosystems1. This finding runs counter to logical perceptions of age–reactivity relationships, in which the least reactive material withstands degradation the longest and is therefore the oldest2. The remnants of ancient peatlands and forests overrun by glaciers have been invoked as the source of this organic matter1, 3, 4. Here, we examine the radiocarbon age and chemical composition of dissolved organic matter in snow, glacier surface water, ice and glacier outflow samples from Alaska to determine the origin of the organic matter. Low levels of compounds derived from vascular plants indicate that the organic matter does not originate from forests or peatlands. Instead, we show that the organic matter on the surface of the glaciers is radiocarbon depleted, consistent with an anthropogenic aerosol source. Fluorescence spectrophotometry measurements reveal the presence of protein-like compounds of microbial or aerosol origin. In addition, ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry measurements document the presence of combustion products found in anthropogenic aerosols. Based on the presence of these compounds, we suggest that aerosols derived from fossil fuel burning are a source of pre-aged organic matter to glacier surfaces. Furthermore, we show that the molecular signature of the organic matter is conserved in snow, glacier water and outflow, suggesting that the anthropogenic carbon is exported relatively unchanged in glacier outflows.
Keywords: Atmospheric chemistry; Biogeochemistry; Cryospheric science

Apparent oxygen utilization rates calculated from tritium and helium-3 profiles at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site - Stanley, R. H. R.; Doney, S. C.; W. J. Jenkins; Lott, D. E., III (Biogeosciences, 2012)
We present three years of Apparent Oxygen Utilization Rates (AOUR) estimated from oxygen and tracer data collected over the ocean thermocline at monthly resolution between 2003 and 2006 at the Bermuda Atlantic Timeseries Study (BATS) site. We estimate water ages by calculating a transit time distribution from tritium and helium-3 data. The vertically integrated AOUR over the upper 500 m, which is a regional estimate of export, during the three years is 3.1 +/- 0.5 mol O-2 m(-2) yr(-1). This is comparable to previous AOUR-based estimates of export production at the BATS site but is several times larger than export estimates derived from sediment traps or Th-234 fluxes. We compare AOUR determined in this study to AOUR measured in the 1980s and show AOUR is significantly greater today than decades earlier because of changes in AOU, rather than changes in ventilation rates. The changes in AOU are likely a methodological artefact associated with problems with early oxygen measurements.
id: 2253; PT: J; TC: 0; UT: WOS:000305830000003