Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : The distributions of the bio-essential trace element dissolved cobalt (DCo) and the apparent particulate Co (PCo) are presented along the GEOTRACES-A02 deep section from 64(o) N to 50(o) S in the western Atlantic Ocean (longest section of international GEOTRACES marine environment program). PCo was determined as the difference between total cobalt (TCo, unfiltered samples) and DCo. DCo concentrations ranged from 14.7 pM to 94.3 pM, and PCo concentrations from undetectable values to 18.8 pM. The lowest DCo concentrations were observed in the subtropical domains, and the highest in the low-oxygenated Atlantic Central Waters (ACW), which appears to be the major reservoir of DCo in the western Atlantic. In the Antarctic Bottom Waters, the enrichment in DCo with aging of the water mass can be related to suspension and redissolution of bottom sediments a well as diffusion of DCo from abyssal sediments. Mixing and dilution of deep water masses, rather than scavenging of DCo onto settling particles, generated the meridional decrease of DCo along the southward large-scale circulation in the deep western Atlantic. Furthermore, the apparent scavenged profile of DCo observed in the deep waters likely resulted from the persistence of relatively high concentrations in intermediate waters and low DCo concentrations in underlaying bottom waters. We suggest that the 2010 Icelandic volcanic eruption could have been a source of DCo that could have been transported into the core of the Northeast Atlantic Deep Waters. At intermediate depths, the high concentrations of DCo recorded in the ACW linearly correlated with the apparent utilization of oxygen (AOU), indicating that remineralization of DCo could be significant (representing up to 37% of the DCo present). Furthermore, the preferential remineralization of phosphate (P) compared to Co in these low-oxygenated waters suggests a decoupling between the deep cycles of P and Co. The vertical diffusion of DCo from the ACW appears to be a significant source of DCo into the surface waters of the equatorial domain. Summarizing, the dilution due to mixing processes rather than scavenging of DCo and the above-mentioned remineralization could be the two major pathways controlling the cycling of DCo into the intermediate and deep western Atlantic.
Biogeosciences (1726-4170) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2014 , Vol. 11 , N. 6 , P. 1561-1580

Droits : Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00241/35223/33727.pdf
DOI:10.5194/bg-11-1561-2014
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00241/35223/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Deep-sea bivalves found at hydrothermal vents, cold seeps and organic falls are sustained by chemosynthetic bacteria which ensure part or all of their carbon nutrition. These symbioses are of prime importance for the functioning of the ecosystems. Similar symbioses occur in other bivalve species living in shallow and coastal reduced habitats worldwide. In recent years, several deep-sea species have been investigated from continental margins around Europe, West Africa, East America, the Gulf of Mexico, and from hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In parallel, numerous more easily accessible shallow marine species were studied. We here provide a summary of the current knowledge available on chemosymbiotic bivalves in the area ranging west-to-east from the Gulf of Mexico to Marmara Sea, and north-to-south from the Arctic to the Gulf of Guinea. Characteristics of symbioses in 51 species from the area are summarized for each of the five bivalve families documented to harbor chemosynthetic symbionts (Mytilidae, Vesicomyidae, Solemyidae, Thyasiridae and Lucinidae), and compared among families with special emphasis on ecology, life cycle, and connectivity. Chemosynthetic symbioses are a major adaptation to ecosystems and habitats exposed to reducing conditions, yet relatively little is known regarding their diversity and functioning apart from a few "model species" on which effort has focused over the last 30 yr. In the context of increasing concern about biodiversity and ecosystems, and increasing anthropogenic pressure on Oceans, we advocate for a better assessment of bivalve symbioses diversity in order to evaluate the capacities of these remarkable ecological and evolutionary units to withstand environmental change
Biogeosciences (1726-4170) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2013 , Vol. 10 , N. 5 , P. 3241-3267

Droits : Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24417/22431.pdf
DOI:10.5194/bg-10-3241-2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24417/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : From 10 to 8 ka BP (thousand years before present), paleoclimate records show an atmospheric and oceanic cooling in the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. During this interval, temperatures estimated from proxy data decrease by 0.8 degrees C over Antarctica and 1.2 degrees C over the Southern Ocean. In order to study the causes of this cooling, simulations covering the early Holocene have been performed with the climate model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM constrained to follow the signal recorded in climate proxies using a data assimilation method based on a particle filtering approach. The selected proxies represent oceanic and atmospheric surface temperature in the Southern Hemisphere derived from terrestrial, marine and glaciological records. Two mechanisms previously suggested to explain the 10-8 ka BP cooling pattern are investigated using the data assimilation approach in our model. The first hypothesis is a change in atmospheric circulation, and the second one is a cooling of the sea surface temperature in the Southern Ocean, driven in our experimental setup by the impact of an increased West Antarctic melting rate on ocean circulation. For the atmosphere hypothesis, the climate state obtained by data assimilation produces a modification of the meridional atmospheric circulation leading to a 0.5 degrees C Antarctic cooling from 10 to 8 ka BP compared to the simulation without data assimilation, without congruent cooling of the atmospheric and sea surface temperature in the Southern Ocean. For the ocean hypothesis, the increased West Antarctic freshwater flux constrainted by data assimilation (+100 mSv from 10 to 8 ka BP) leads to an oceanic cooling of 0.7 degrees C and a strengthening of Southern Hemisphere westerlies (+6 %). Thus, according to our experiments, the observed cooling in Antarctic and the Southern Ocean proxy records can only be reconciled with the reconstructions by the combination of a modified atmospheric circulation and an enhanced freshwater flux.
Climate Of The Past (1814-9324) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2013 , Vol. 9 , N. 2 , P. 887-901

Droits : Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29203/27584.pdf
DOI:10.5194/cp-9-887-2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29203/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most oligotrophic marine areas on earth where nitrogen fixation has formally believed to play an important role in carbon and nitrogen fluxes. Although this view is under debate, the diazotrophs responsible for this activity have still not been investigated in the open sea. In this study, we characterised the surface distribution and species richness of unicellular and filamentous diazotrophs across the Mediterranean Sea by combining microscopic counts with size fractionated in situ hybridization (TSA-FISH), and 16S rDNA and nifH genes phylogenies. These genetic analyses were possible owing to the development of a new PCR protocol adapted to scarce microorganisms that can detect as few as 1 cell ml(-1) in cultures. Low concentrations of diazotrophic cyanobacteria were detected and this community was dominated at 99.9% by picoplankton hybridized to the Nitro821 probe, specific for unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria (UCYN). Among filamentous cyanobacteria only 0.02 filament ml(-1) of Richelia were detected in the eastern basin, while small (0.7-1.5 mu m) and large (2.5-3.2 mu m) Nitro821-targeted cells were recovered at all stations with a mean concentration of 3.5 cell ml(-1). The affiliation of the small Nitro821-targeted cells to UCYN-A was confirmed by 16S and nifH phylogenies in the western Mediterranean Sea. In the central and the eastern Mediterranean Sea no 16S rDNA and nifH sequence from UCYN was obtained as cells concentration were close to, or below PCR detection limit. Bradyrhizobium sequences dominated nifH clone libraries from picoplanktonic size fractions. A few sequences of gamma-proteobacteria were also detected in the central Mediterranean Sea. While low phosphate and iron concentrations could explain the absence of Trichodesmium sp., the factors that prevent the development of UCYN-B and C remain unknown. We also propose that the dominating picoplankters probably developed specific strategies, such as associations with protists or particles, and/or photosynthetic activity, to acquire carbon for sustaining diazotrophy.
Biogeosciences (1726-4170) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2011 , Vol. 8 , N. 3 , P. 827-840

Droits : Author(s) 2011. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24392/22416.pdf
DOI:10.5194/bg-8-827-2011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24392/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Three methods for automatic detection of mesoscale coherent structures are applied to Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) fields in the South Atlantic. The first method is based on the wavelet packet decomposition of the SLA data, the second on the estimation of the Okubo-Weiss parameter and the third on a geometric criterion using the winding-angle approach. The results provide a comprehensive picture of the mesoscale eddies over the South Atlantic Ocean, emphasizing their main characteristics: amplitude, diameter, duration and propagation velocity. Five areas of particular eddy dynamics were selected: the Brazil Current, the Agulhas eddies propagation corridor, the Agulhas Current retroflexion, the Brazil-Malvinas confluence zone and the northern branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). For these areas, mean propagation velocities and amplitudes were calculated. Two regions with long duration eddies were observed, corresponding to the propagation of Agulhas and ACC eddies. Through the comparison between the identification methods, their main advantages and shortcomings were detailed. The geometric criterion presents the best performance, mainly in terms of number of detections, duration of the eddies and propagation velocities. The results are particularly good for the Agulhas Rings, which have the longest lifetimes of all South Atlantic eddies.
Ocean Science (1812-0784) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2011 , Vol. 7 , N. 3 , P. 317-334

Droits : Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. EGU
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15051/12378.pdf
DOI:10.5194/os-7-317-2011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15051/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February-March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent "ponding" of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean "homogenites". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7m long) was dedicated to a sedimentological analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclastics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies fine-grained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. Pb-210 and Cs-137 activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported Pb-210 decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a Cs-137 peak corresponding to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (M-w = 6.3 and M-w = 7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogenites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cumulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from Pb-210 decrease curve (0.5 mmyr(-1)) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five > M-6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.
Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences (1561-8633) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2012 , Vol. 12 , N. 5 , P. 1755-1767

Droits : Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/21990.pdf
DOI:10.5194/nhess-12-1755-2012
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Boundary Exchange (BE - exchange of elements between continental margins and the open ocean) has been emphasized as a key process in the oceanic cycle of neodymium (Nd) (Lacan and Jeandel, 2005a). Here, we use a regional eddy-permitting resolution Ocean General Circulation Model (1/4A degrees) of the North Atlantic basin to simulate the distribution of the Nd isotopic composition, considering BE as the only source. Results show good agreement with the data, confirming previous results obtained using the same parameterization of the source in a coarse resolution global model (Arsouze et al., 2007), and therefore the major control played by the BE processes in the Nd cycle on the regional scale. We quantified the exchange rate of the BE, and found that the time needed for the continental margins to significantly imprint the chemical composition of the surrounding seawater (further referred as characteristic exchange time) is of the order of 0.2 years. However, the timescale of the BE may be subject to large variations as a very short exchange time (a few days) is needed to reproduce the highly negative values of surface waters in the Labrador Sea, whereas a longer one (up to 0.5 years) is required to simulate the radiogenic influence of basaltic margins and distinguish the negative isotopic signatures of North Atlantic Deep Water from the more radiogenic southern origin water masses. This likely represents geographical variations in erosion fluxes and the subsequent particle load onto the continental margins. Although the parameterization of the BE is the same in both configurations of the model, the characteristic exchange time in the eddy-permitting configuration is significantly lower than the previous evaluations using a low resolution configuration (6 months to 10 years), but however in agreement with the available seawater Nd isotope data. This results highlights the importance of the model dynamics in simulating the BE process.
Ocean Science (1812-0784) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2010 , Vol. 6 , N. 3 , P. 789-797

Droits : Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed, EGU
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12412/9201.pdf
DOI:10.5194/os-6-789-2010
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12412/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Relict dune fields that are found as far south as 14 N in the modern-day African Sahel are testament to equatorward expansions of the Sahara desert during the Late Pleistocene. However, the discontinuous nature of dune records means that abrupt millennial-timescale climate events are not always resolved. High-resolution marine core studies have identified Heinrich stadials as the dustiest periods of the last glacial in West Africa although the spatial evolution of dust export on millennial timescales has so far not been investigated. We use the major-element composition of four high-resolution marine sediment cores to reconstruct the spatial extent of Saharan-dust versus river-sediment input to the continental margin from West Africa over the last 60 ka. This allows us to map the position of the sediment composition corresponding to the Sahara Sahel boundary. Our records indicate that the Sahara Sahel boundary reached its most southerly position (13 N) during Heinrich stadials and hence suggest that these were the periods when the sand dunes formed at 14 N on the continent. Heinrich stadials are associated with cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures which appear to have triggered abrupt increases of aridity and wind strength in the Sahel. Our study illustrates the influence of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on the position of the Sahara Sahel boundary and on global atmospheric dust loading.
Climate Of The Past (1814-9324) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2013 , Vol. 9 , N. 3 , P. 1181-1191

Droits : Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Access Climate of
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29240/27635.pdf
DOI:10.5194/cp-9-1181-2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29240/

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : The sea surface salinity (SSS) measured from space by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission has recently been revisited by the European Space Agency first campaign reprocessing. We show that, with respect to the previous version, biases close to land and ice greatly decrease. The accuracy of SMOS SSS averaged over 10 days, 100 x 100 km(2) in the open ocean and estimated by comparison to ARGO (Array for Real-Time Geostrophic Oceanography) SSS is on the order of 0.3-0.4 in tropical and subtropical regions and 0.5 in a cold region. The averaged negative SSS bias (-0.1) observed in the tropical Pacific Ocean between 5 degrees N and 15 degrees N, relatively to other regions, is suppressed when SMOS observations concomitant with rain events, as detected from SSM/Is (Special Sensor Microwave Imager) rain rates, are removed from the SMOS-ARGO comparisons. The SMOS freshening is linearly correlated to SSM/Is rain rate with a slope estimated to -0.14 mm(-1) h, after correction for rain atmospheric contribution. This tendency is the signature of the temporal SSS variability between the time of SMOS and ARGO measurements linked to rain variability and of the vertical salinity stratification between the first centimeter of the sea surface layer sampled by SMOS and the 5 m depth sampled by ARGO. However, given that the whole set of collocations includes situations with ARGO measurements concomitant with rain events collocated with SMOS measurements under no rain, the mean -0.1 bias and the negative skewness of the statistical distribution of SMOS minus ARGO SSS difference are very likely the mean signature of the vertical salinity stratification. In the future, the analysis of ongoing in situ salinity measurements in the top 50 cm of the sea surface and of Aquarius satellite SSS are expected to provide complementary information about the sea surface salinity stratification.
Ocean Science (1812-0784) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2013 , Vol. 9 , N. 1 , P. 183-192

Droits : Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25073/23161.pdf
DOI:10.5194/os-9-183-2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25073/