Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

About: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a nonprofit organization based out in Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Mantle (geology). The organization has 5685 authors who have published 18396 publications receiving 1202050 citations. The organization is also known as: WHOI.

Relict Sediments on Continental Shelves of World

Abstract: The sediments that were deposited on the continental shelves during and immediately after the latest glacial stage of the Pleistocene Epoch are unrelated to their present environments. The rise of sea level during the past 19,000 yrs has caused previously deposited subaerial, lacustrine, and paludal sediments to become submerged in shallow-marine waters, and later to become deeply submerged. Land-laid or shallow-marine sediments which occur in deep water, such as those near the seaward edge of the continental shelf, are properly termed "relict." At present, the sediments exposed atop about 70 percent of the area of the continental shelves of the world can be identified as relict. Eventually, new detrital sediments that are contributed to the ocean by streams or shore eros on should prograde entirely across the continental shelf and bury the relict sediments. This burial should be hastened if the rise of sea level remains as slow as it has been during the past few thousand years; nevertheless, several tens of thousands of years probably will be required before most of the relict sediment becomes buried.

The effects of iron fertilization on carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean

Abstract: An unresolved issue in ocean and climate sciences is whether changes to the surface ocean input of the micronutrient iron can alter the flux of carbon to the deep ocean. During the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment, we measured an increase in the flux of particulate carbon from the surface mixed layer, as well as changes in particle cycling below the iron-fertilized patch. The flux of carbon was similar in magnitude to that of natural blooms in the Southern Ocean and thus small relative to global carbon budgets and proposed geoengineering plans to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep sea.

Stable isotope studies of the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles in the Black Sea and the Cariaco Trench

Abstract: Samples for stable isotope studies of possible chemosynthesis in anoxic basins were collected in 1986 in the Cariaco Trench and May 1988 in the Black Sea. POM (particulate organic matter) collected at oxic/anoxic interfaces in the water column showed no distinctive carbon or nitrogen isotopic compositions that could be associated with chemosynthetic bacteria. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions at POM concentration maxima near the top of the sulfide zone were −23%o and 4.5%o, respectively, in both the Black Sea and the Cariaco Trench. Measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the Black Sea indicated that carbon respired during decomposition at depth had an isotopic composition of −23%o and was isotopically similar to phytoplankton, with no distinctive component that could be attributed to chemosynthetic carbon. These results indicate that either the biomass of chemosynthetic bacteria in the oxic/anoxic interface zones is low relative to sinking phytoplankton or that chemoautotrophic bacteria have isotopic compositions similar to those of phytoplankton. In the uppermost 50 m of sulfidic waters in the Black Sea, sulfide isotopic compositions changed significantly in a region of sulfide consumption, increasing up to 5%o vs deep-water background values of −40.5%o. These increases in sulfide isotopic compositions may be due to sulfide oxidation mediated by MnO 2 or oxygen, but are not consistent with sulfide oxidation by photosynthetic bacteria. Growth experiments with sulfate-reducing bacteria suggested that part of the increase in sulfide isotopic compositions could be due to rapid rates of sulfate reduction in the oxic/anoxic interface regions.

Hydrography of the Labrador Sea during Active Convection

Abstract: The hydrographic structure of the Labrador Sea during wintertime convection is described. The cruise, part of the Deep Convection Experiment, took place in February‐March 1997 amidst an extended period of strong forcing in an otherwise moderate winter. Because the water column was preconditioned by previous strong winters, the limited forcing was enough to cause convection to approximately 1500 m. The change in heat storage along a transbasin section, relative to an occupation done the previous October, gives an average heat loss that is consistent with calibrated National Centers for Environmental Prediction surface heat fluxes over that time period (; 200 Wm 22). Deep overturning was observed both seaward of the western continental slope (which was expected), as well as within the western boundary current itself—something that had not been directly observed previously. These two geographical regions, separated by roughly the 3000-m isobath, produce separate water mass products. The offshore water mass is the familiar cold/fresh/dense classical Labrador Sea Water (LSW). The boundary current water mass is a somewhat warmer, saltier, lighter vintage of classical LSW (though in the far field it would be difficult to distinguish these products). The offshore product was formed within the cyclonic recirculating gyre measured by Lavender et al. in a region that is limited to the north, most likely by an eddy flux of buoyant water from the eastern boundary current. The velocity measurements taken during the cruise provide a transport estimate of the boundary current ‘‘throughput’’ and offshore ‘‘recirculation.’’ Finally, the overall trends in stratification of the observed mixed layers are described.