scholarly journals Evidence of old carbon in the deep water column of the Panama Basin from natural radiocarbon measurements

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1733-1736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen R. M. Druffel ◽  
Sheila Griffin ◽  
Susumu Honjo ◽  
Steven J. Manganini
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water

scholarly journals The response of water column and sedimentary environments to the advent of the Messinian salinity crisis: insights from an onshore deep-water section (Govone, NW Italy)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mathia Sabino ◽  
Francesco Dela Pierre ◽  
Marcello Natalicchio ◽  
Daniel Birgel ◽  
Susanne Gier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Messinian Salinity Crisis ◽  
Sedimentary Environments ◽  
Water Column Stratification ◽  
Stratigraphic Architecture ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
Oxygen Stable Isotope ◽  
Nw Italy

Abstract During Messinian time, the Mediterranean underwent hydrological modifications culminating 5.97 Ma ago with the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC). Evaporite deposition and alleged annihilation of most marine eukaryotes were taken as evidence of the establishment of basin-wide hypersalinity followed by desiccation. However, the palaeoenvironmental conditions during the MSC are still a matter of debate, chiefly because most of its sedimentary record is buried below the abyssal plains of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. To shed light on environmental change at the advent and during the early phase of the MSC, we investigated the Govone section from the Piedmont Basin (NW Italy) using a multidisciplinary approach (organic geochemical, petrographic, and carbon and oxygen stable isotope analyses). The Govone section archives the onset of the crisis in a succession of organic-rich shales and dolomite-rich marls. The MSC part of the succession represents the deep-water equivalent of sulphate evaporites deposited at the basin margins during the first phase of the crisis. Our study reveals that the onset of the MSC was marked by the intensification of water-column stratification, rather than the establishment of widespread hypersaline conditions. A chemocline divided the water column into an oxygen-depleted, denser and more saline bottom layer and an oxygenated, upper seawater layer influenced by freshwater inflow. Vertical oscillations of the chemocline controlled the stratigraphic architecture of the sediments pertaining to the first stage of the MSC. Accordingly, temporal and spatial changes of water masses with different redox chemistries must be considered when interpreting the MSC event.

scholarly journals Limited mid-water scavenging of trawl discards

2003 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Erzini ◽  
Pedro Monteiro ◽  
Artur Araújo ◽  
Margarida Castro
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Sea Birds ◽  
Trawl Fishing ◽  
Southern Portugal ◽  
Catch Rates ◽  
Electric Fishing ◽  
Scavenging Rates

The consumption or scavenging of fish in the water column at depths from 75 to 275 m in Algarve (southern Portugal) trawl fishing grounds was evaluated. Longlines were used to suspend baits throughout the water column while electric fishing reels were used to simulate sinking discards. Eighteen species were caught, with higher catch rates near the surface than near the bottom. However, scavenging rates were generally highest near the bottom and lowest in the middle of the water column. At depths less than 100 m the majority or all the fish were scavenged throughout the water column, while at depths greater than 200 m most of the fish were untouched after periods of time greater than would be required for them to sink to the bottom. Since other studies have shown that most small fish discards are scavenged at the surface by sea birds and most of the discarded species that sink are either too large or not attractive to pelagic predators, these results suggest that mid-water scavenging of trawl discards in deep water is relatively unimportant.

Elevated turbidity and dissolved manganese in deep water column near 10°47’S Central Indian Ridge: studies on hydrothermal activities

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Durbar Ray ◽  
K. A. KameshRaju ◽  
A. Srinivas Rao ◽  
L. SuryaPrakash ◽  
Abhay V. Mudholkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Central Indian Ridge ◽  
Indian Ridge ◽  
Hydrothermal Activities

scholarly journals Concept Tests for a New Wire Flying Vehicle Designed to Achieve High Horizontal Resolution Profiling in Deep Water

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 1657-1671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Roman ◽  
Dave Hebert
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Vehicle Body ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Ship Speed

Abstract Efficiently profiling the water column to achieve both high vertical and horizontal resolution from a moving vessel in deep water is difficult. Current solutions, such as CTD tow-yos, moving vessel profilers, and undulating tow bodies, are limited by ship speed or water depth. As a consequence, it is difficult to obtain oceanographic sections with sufficient resolution to identify many relevant scales over the deeper sections of the water column. This paper presents a new concept for a profiling vehicle that slides up and down a towed wire in a controlled manner using the lift created by wing foils. The wings provide a novel low-power method of propulsion along the cable by using the free stream velocity of the wire moving through the water in similar fashion to a sailboat sailing up wind. Scale model tests show a wide range of achievable profiling glide slopes for tow cable angles between vertical and 45°, and effective isolation of cable strum vibration from the towed vehicle body. The concept is not depth limited and will offer two-dimensional resolution that meets or exceeds current undulating tow bodies over the full water column. Additionally, this system could be used simultaneously with many other deep towed instrument packages to produce complementary datasets.

scholarly journals First access to the ocean beneath Ekströmisen, Antarctica, by means of hot-water drilling

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 110-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Nixdorf ◽  
H. Oerter ◽  
H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Valuable Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ultrasonic Echo

A hot-water drill developed during the past 2 years at Alfred-Wegener- Institut was used to penetrate Ekströmisen several times near the German wintering-over base, Neumayer (70°39´S, 08° 15´W). The drilling operation was very successful and the initial large diameter (≥ 35 cm) allowed easy access to the ocean. One hole was used to install an ultrasonic echo-sounder which recorded the ablation at the ice-shelf bottom continuously. Another hole was destined for emplacement of a thermistor string throughout the 237 m thick ice shelf for ice-temperature measurements. Several CTD profiles in the 175 m deep water column and the analysis of water samples provided valuable data for the understanding of ice-shelf-ocean interactions.

Methane emissions from abandoned offshore wells– First data from a 2019 research cruise to the Dogger Bank, German North Sea

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Blumenberg ◽  
Stefan Schlömer ◽  
Miriam Römer ◽  
Katja Heeschen ◽  
Hendrik Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Shallow Gas ◽  
Dogger Bank ◽  
Central North Sea

<p>Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas and, considering a period of 100 years, has a more than 30 times higher “global warming potential” than carbon dioxide. Emissions from the production, storage, distribution and use of fossil energy resources in recent years sum up to about 15 % of global methane emissions with numbers still being under discussion and topic of numerous research programs.</p><p>Abandoned oil and gas wells are one of the sources of methane from the oil and gas sector. Recent studies found escaping methane at selected abandoned drill holes in the central North Sea. Assuming this would hold for one third of the ~11.000 wells in the region, the process would introduce significant amounts of methane at shallow water depth. Interestingly, the collected methane was of biogenic rather than thermogenic origin, potentially escaping from shallow gas pockets. Likely, this methane was mobilized by mechanical disturbance of the sediments through the drilling operation and the well section has served as a pathway thereafter. However, little is known about the number of wells affected and the relevance for the amounts of methane realeased.</p><p>During a research cruise with the German research vessel Heincke in July, 2019, we studied seafloor characteristics, water column anomalies and sediment methane geochemistry and further inspected visually nine abandoned well sites at ~40 m water depth in the German sector of the central North Sea (Dogger Bank). The cruise targeted different situations, including known seeps in the Dutch part of the Dogger Bank, well sites of different ages and an area where abandoned wells penetrate shallow gas pockets. First data demonstrate that at none of the studied sites concentrations of dissolved methane were enriched in the upper water column. For most sites, sediment and deep water methane data demonstrate concentrations in the range known as background for that area (i.e., deep water methane close to ~ 10 nM). At one site with high indications for the presence of shallow gas pockets, we observed methane abundances several times enriched compared to background. However, the enrichments also occurred 500 m away from the drill site and did not increase towards the center. Based on our data we argue for an active natural seep situation rather than a leaking well and underline that natural seeps may challenge the identification of potentially leaking wells.</p>

scholarly journals An exploratory study of heterotrophic protists of the mesopelagic Mediterranean Sea

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 616-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R Dolan ◽  
Maria Ciobanu ◽  
Sophie Marro ◽  
Laurent Coppola
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Coastal Site ◽  
Water Column Stratification ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Column Structure ◽  
Surface Water Samples ◽  
Water Community

Abstract Is there a mesopelagic protist fauna composed of species different from that of the overlying surface community? Does the mesopelagic community show seasonal changes in abundances and species composition? We addressed these questions by considering three distinct groups in which species identification is relatively unambiguous: tintinnid ciliates, phaeodarian radiolarians, and amphisolenid dinoflagellates. We sampled weekly at 250 m and 30 m depth from January to June a deep-water coastal site characterized by seasonal changes in water column structure; notably, in winter the mixed layer extends down into mesopelagic depths. We found a deep-water community of tintinnid ciliates comprised of forms apparently restricted to deep waters and species also found in the surface layer. This latter group was dominant during the winter mixis period when tintinnid concentrations were highest and subsequently declined with water column stratification. Phaeodarian radiolarians and the amphisolenid dinoflagellates were regularly found in deep samples but were largely absent from surface water samples and showed distinct patterns in the mesopelagic. Phaeodarian radiolarians declined with water column mixing and then increased in concentration with water column stratification whilst amphisolenid dinoflagellates concentrations showed no pattern but species composition varied. We conclude that for all three protists groups there appear to be both distinct mesopelagic forms and seasonal patterns.

scholarly journals Deflection of natural oil droplets through the water column in deep-water environments: The case of the Lower Congo Basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 44-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Jatiault ◽  
Damien Dhont ◽  
Lies Loncke ◽  
Xavier Durrieu de Madron ◽  
Dominique Dubucq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Oil Droplets ◽  
Natural Oil

Southern ocean–sea-ice interaction: implications for climate and modelling

1990 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas G. Martinson
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Stable Region ◽  
Deep Water Formation ◽  
Sea Ice Thickness ◽  
Water Column Stability ◽  
Water Formation ◽  
Ocean Region

ABSTRACTThe ocean/sea-ice interaction of the Antarctic open ocean region is described through a one-dimensional model. The model includes processes responsible for maintaining stability in this marginally stable region and reveals the importance of the various processes controlling deep water formation/ventilation and sea-ice thickness and their sensitivity to climate change. This information is used to estimate changes, as they impact water column stability, induced by glacial conditions. Increased stability is conducive to greater ice cover and less deep water formation/ventilation; decreased stability conducive to the opposite.Sensitivity studies show that the system is destabilised given: (1) shallowing of the pycnocline (induced by increased gyre vigor); (2) decrease in the ratio of heat to salt through the pycnocline (induced by introducing a colder and/or saltier deep water or by increasing the salinity of the surface water); (3) decreased pycnocline strength (induced by a fresher deep water or saltier surface water) and (4) increased atmospheric heat loss. Most of the assumed glacial conditions drive the system toward destabilisation, but the critical effect of changes in NADW characteristics depends strongly on the temperature and salinity of the replacement water. The importance of this deep water influence is evident today—as little as 3Wm−2 in the upper ocean heat balance or an additional 15 cm of ice growth is sufficient to overturn the water column in some regions.

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