High-frequency cyclicity in the Mediterranean Messinian evaporites: evidence for solar-lunar climate forcing

The deposition of varved sedimentary sequences is usually controlled by climate conditions. The study of two Late Miocene evaporite successions (one halite and the other gypsum) consisting of annual varves has been carried out to reconstruct the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions existing during the acme of the Messinian salinity crisis, ~ 6 Ma, when thick evaporite deposits accumulated on the floor of the Mediterranean basin. Spectral analyses of these varved evaporitic successions reveal significant periodicity peaks at around 3-5, 9, 11-13, 20-27 and 50-100 yr. A comparison with modern precipitation data in the western Mediterranean shows that during the acme of the Messinian salinity crisis the climate was not in a permanent evaporitic stage, but in a dynamic situation where evaporite deposition was controlled by quasi-periodic climate oscillations with similarity to modern analogs including Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, El Ni\~no Southern Oscillation, and decadal to secular lunar- and solar-induced cycles. Particularly we found a significant quasi-decadal oscillation with a prominent 9-year peak that is commonly found also in modern temperature records and is present in the contemporary Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index. These cyclicities are common to both ancient and modern climate records because they can be associated with solar and solar-lunar tidal cycles.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 1 Tabl

ALBATROSS cruise report

This proposal seeks support for a study of the influence of the Scotia Sea on global ocean circulation. During a 35 day research cruise using RRS James Clark Ross, we shall undertake a high quality hydrographic and tracer survey of the southwest Atlantic in the form of an enclosed box. This box incorporates repeats of three hydrographic sections completed during the last decade, so we shall detect any changes in water mass properties. It crosses the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) twice and so enables us to quantify its transport. The Scotia Sea is a region believed to exhibit intense water mass modi?cation. Deep waters from the Weddell Sea escape through narrow passages into the Argentine Basin and are also entrained into the eastward flowing ACC. Deep waters flowing east through Drake Passage are believed to undergo freshening and cooling in the Scotia Sea. When taken together with previous hydrographic sections, our survey will complete a set of boxes, so we shall use inverse techniques to determine horizontal and surface fluxes of heat and freshwater in the Weddell Sea, Scotia Sea and Southwest Atlantic. Thus we shall quantify the r^ole of the Scotia Sea in the ocean-atmosphere climate system

“Apostle of Ethnology”: Agnes C. L. Donohugh’s Missiological Anthropology between the World Wars

Agnes C. L. Donohugh (1876–1966) taught at Hartford Theological Seminary’s Kennedy School of Missions between 1918 and 1944, the leading graduate program in mission studies in North America prior to World War II. The first missionary student of Franz Boas at Columbia University, Donohugh influenced the shape of graduate anthropological education for missionaries in America more than anyone else in the interwar period. Donohugh’s story provides a window into understanding how anthropology was first used in mission education in America

Evaluating Opportunities for Transit Signal Priority in Southern New Jersey

This study examines traffic signal and surface transit routes in Mercer, Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties and develops a method of scoring corridors on their likelihood for successful and cost-effective TSP and related signals investments. To develop a TSP prioritization framework, the study team has built upon prior data gathering, analysis, and mapping work. The screening tool identifies the corridors where TSP is likely to be the most effective and have the greatest operational benefits for transit and all road users

Seismic properties of the crust and uppermost mantle of North America

Seismic refraction profiles for the North American continent were compiled. The crustal models compiled data on the upper mantle seismic velocity (P sub n), the crustal thickness (H sub c) and the average seismic velocity of the crystalline crust (V sub p). Compressional wave parameters were compared with shear wave data derived from surface wave dispersion models and indicate an average value for Poisson's ratio of 0.252 for the crust and of 0.273 for the uppermost mantle. Contour maps illustrate lateral variations in crustal thickness, upper mantle velocity and average seismic velocity of the crystalline crust. The distribution of seismic parameters are compared with a smoothed free air anomaly map of North America and indicate that a complidated mechanism of isostatic compensation exists for the North American continent. Several features on the seismic contour maps also correlate with regional magnetic anomalies

Oceanus.

v. 16, no. 1 (1971

Passive tracers in a general circulation model of the Southern Ocean

Passive tracers are used in an o?-line version of the United Kingdom Fine Resolution Antarctic Model (FRAM) to highlight features of the circulation and provide information on the inter-ocean exchange of water masses. The use of passive tracers allows a picture to be built up of the deep circulation which is not readily apparent from examination of the velocity or density ®elds. Comparison of observations with FRAM results gives good agreement for many features of the Southern Ocean circulation. Tracer distributions are consistent with the concept of a global ``conveyor belt'' with a return path via the Agulhas retro¯ection region for the replenishment of North Atlantic Deep Water

The applicability of the T/S method to geopotential anomaly computations in the Northeast Atlantic

Methods are tested for computing geopotential anomalies from temperature data in the subtropical Northeast Atlantic. Mean temperature-salinity, salinity-depth and density-depth relationships are determined for 3 x 3° squares, using hydrographie data from World Oceanographie Data Centre A. Geopotential anomalies computed from observed temperatures and salinities from these mean relationships are compared with anomalies from the original temperature and salinity data. For 0-500 dbar, geopotential anomalies can be weil approximated, and the methods also work reasonably weil for 0-1000 dbar. The approximation is poor for 0-2000 dbar. Appropriate methods for obtaining the best results in each 3 x 3° square are specified. The method is applied to a particular subset of the data

Evaluating the Response of Mediterranean-Atlantic Saltmarshes to Sea-Level Rise

Saltmarshes provide high-value ecological services and play an important role in coastal ecosystems and populations. As the rate of sea level rise accelerates in response to climate change, saltmarshes and tidal environments and the ecosystem services that they provide could be lost in those areas that lack sediment supply for vertical accretion or space for landward migration. Predictive models could play an important role in foreseeing those impacts, and to guide the implementation of suitable management plans that increase the adaptive capacity of these valuable ecosystems. The SLAMM (sea-level affecting marshes model) has been extensively used to evaluate coastal wetland habitat response to sea-level rise. However, uncertainties in predicted response will also reflect the accuracy and quality of primary inputs such as elevation and habitat coverage. Here, we assessed the potential of SLAMM for investigating the response of Atlantic-Mediterranean saltmarshes to future sea-level rise and its application in managerial schemes. Our findings show that SLAMM is sensitive to elevation and habitat maps resolution and that historical sea-level trend and saltmarsh accretion rates are the predominant input parameters that influence uncertainty in predictions of change in saltmarsh habitats. The understanding of the past evolution of the system, as well as the contemporary situation, is crucial to providing accurate uncertainty distributions and thus to set a robust baseline for future prediction