Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

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  Compound-Specific Radiocarbon Ages of Fatty Acids in Marine Sediments from the Western North Pacific

  Uchida, Masao; Shibata, Yasuyuki; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Kumamoto, Yuichiro; Yoneda, Minoru; Okhushi, Ken Ichi; Harada, Naomi; Hirota, Masashi; Mukai, Hitoshi; Tanaka, Atsushi; et al. (Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, 2001-01-01)

  Compound-specific radiocarbon analysis of five fatty-acid biomarkers was conducted for marine sediments collected from the western North Pacific. The fatty acids (C12 to C3 4) showed a typical bimodal distribution pattern with two maxima at C16 and C26. Their carbon isotopic compositions ranged from -25.1 per mil (C16) to -31.8 per mil (C28), suggesting that they derived from terrestrial higher plants and marine organisms. A large variations of 14C ages were found among the fatty acids detected in the same sedimentary horizon of the core, ranging from 530 BP (C18) to 3250 BP (C28). The results of 14C analysis of fatty acids could be divided into two groups, i.e., lower molecular weight (LMW) fatty acids (C16, C18) derived from marine organisms and higher molecular weight (HMW) fatty acids (C24, C26, C28) derived from terrestrial higher plants. The HMW fatty acids showed older ages, ranging from 2550 BP (C24) to 3250 BP (C28), than LMW fatty acids (530 BP [C18] to 1,820 years BP [C16]). On the other hand, bulk-phase total organic matter (TOM) showed the age of 2260 BP that is between those two groups, suggesting that it was likely a mixture of organic matter derived from marine and terrestrial sources. The compound specific 14C ages and delta-13C data of sedimentary fatty acids presented here could provide useful information to decipher the fate and transport process of terrestrial organic matter to marine sediments.
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  Variability and trends in the tropical Pacific and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation inferred from coral and lake archives

  Cole, Julia E.; Thompson, Diane Marie; Cole, Julia E.; Overpeck, Jonathan T.; Russell, Joellen; Beck, Warren; Tudhope, Alexander W. (The University of Arizona., 2013)

  The background state and changes associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean influence climate patterns all over the world. Understanding how the tropical Pacific will be impacted by climate change is therefore critical to accurate regional climate projections. However, sparse historical data coverage and strong natural variability in the basin make it difficult to assess the response of the tropical Pacific to anthropogenic climate change. Further, climate models disagree regarding the response of the basin to continued anthropogenic forcing into the future. Building off of the limited instrumental record, high-resolution records from coral and lake sediment archives can be used to assess the response of the tropical Pacific to past climate changes and to compare and assess climate model projections. In the present study, I use high-resolution coral and lake records from the equatorial Pacific to assess climate model projections and the response of the coupled ocean-atmospheric climate system in the basin (ocean temperature, salinity, winds, precipitation) to natural and anthropogenic forcing. Using a simple model of how climate is recorded by corals, we compare historical climate data and climate model simulations with coral paleoclimate records to assess climate model projections and address uncertainties in the historical data, models and paleoclimate records. We demonstrate that this simple model is able to capture variability and trend observed in the coral records, and show that the both sea surface temperature and salinity contribute to the observed coral trend. However, we find major discrepancies in the observed and climate model simulated trends in the tropical Pacific that may be attributed to uncertainties in model simulated salinity. We then assess 20th-century variability and trends in SST and salinity in the central tropical Pacific using replicated coral δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca records from the Republic of Kiribati and the central Line Islands. We find that the coral records from these sites display a warming and freshening trend superimposed on strong interannual and low-frequency variability. Further, we demonstrate an apparent strengthening of the E-W SST gradient across the dateline (between 173°E and 160°W) and a slight weakening of the N-S SST gradient due to enhanced warming along the equator and west of the dateline relative to other sites. However, we find no evidence of increased variability in the central Pacific, suggesting that there has not been an increase in central Pacific style ENSO events. Finally, we show that the salinity response to climate change may be very patchy within the basin. Using a new ~90 year coral Mn/Ca record from the central Pacific, we investigate variability and trends in tropical Pacific trade winds. First, we demonstrate a strong association between westerly wind anomalies and coral skeletal Mn/Ca, which recorded all of the major historical El Niño events of the 20th century. In this new long Mn/Ca record, we find a reduction in the amplitude and frequency of Mn/Ca pulses between 1893 and 1982, suggesting a decrease in westerly wind anomalies in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean. Finally, we use a sediment record from Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galápagos Archipelago to assess variability in the eastern tropical Pacific over the past ~6 thousand years. Based on results from long-term monitoring of the lake, we propose a new climate interpretation of the sediment record and find further evidence reduced mid-Holocene ENSO variability and a ramp up of ENSO variability starting around 1775 cal. years BP.
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  Radiocarbon in Particulate Matter from the Eastern Sub-Arctic Pacific Ocean: Evidence of a Source of Terrestrial Carbon to the Deep Sea

  Druffel, Ellen R. M.; Honjo, Susumu; Griffin, Sheila; Wong, C. S. (American Journal of Science, 1986-01-01)

  Carbon isotope ratios were measured in organic and inorganic carbon of settling particulate matter collected with a sediment trap at Ocean Station "P" in the Gulf of Alaska from March to October, 1983. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIG) in surface sea water collected during two different seasons in 1984 were analyzed using large gas proportional counters and revealed a minimum seasonal Delta-14C variation of 14 per mil. Results show that the 14C of calcium carbonate sedimenting to the deep sea is the same as that measured in surface water DIG. In contrast, particulate organic carbon (POC) had significantly higher Delta-14C values (by 25-70 per mil) than that in surface water DIG. Also, the delta-13C of the POC was markedly lower than previously reported values from other trap stations and marine particulate matter in general. Results from this study suggest that a significant amount of the POC settling to the deep sea at this pelagic station is of terrestrial origin, not strictly of marine origin as had previously been believed.