Inah Seo

Sr‐Nd isotope composition and clay mineral assemblages in eolian dust from the central Philippine Sea over the last 600 kyr: Implications for the transport mechanism of Asian dust

Dust transport to the tropical/subtropical northwestern Pacific over the past 600 kyr was investigated using radiogenic isotopes (87Sr/86Sr and eNd), together with the clay mineral composition, of eolian dust preserved in a sediment core obtained from the Philippine Sea (12°30′N, 134°60′E). These data revealed the influence of two prevailing dust sources, namely, the Asian deserts and nearby volcanic arcs (e.g., the Luzon Arc), with average contributions of around 70% and 30%, respectively, from each. The clay mineral composition of the core resembled dust from the central Asian deserts (CADs; e.g., the Taklimakan Desert) as in the north-central Pacific, but published aerosol data collected near the study site during winter/spring have the mineralogical signature of dust originating from the East Asian deserts (EADs). These data indicate that the relative contribution of EAD dust increases with the northeasterly surface winds associated with the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) during winter/spring, but the Prevailing Westerlies and Trade Winds that carry dust from the CADs is the dominant transport agent in the overall dust budget of the study site. The results of this study contradict the prevailing view that direct dust transport by the EAWM winds in spring dominates the annual flux of eolian dust in the northwest Pacific.

Population dynamics of a high-latitude coral Alveopora japonica Eguchi from Jeju Island, off the southern coast of Korea

Although coral reefs are facing severe challenges from a variety of natural and anthropogenic stresses, there is anecdotal evidence that the high-latitude coral species Alveopora japonica Eguchi, 1968, has increased its population over the past two decades around Jeju Island, off the southern coast of Korea. The present study provides the first ecological data on this species. Alveopora japonica is opportunistically occupying the empty space left vacant following the recent kelp-forest decline. Colony abundance, age- and size-frequency distributions, lifespan, growth rates and biological characteristics such as surface area, weight and volume of two A. japonica populations in Jeju Island were investigated. Alveopora japonica around Jeju Island is characterised by a mean colony size of 30cm2, a slow growth rate (4.8mm year–1), and a short lifespan of 12–13 years, as determined by X-radiographic measurements. Alveopora japonica presented a dense population of 120 colonies m–2 on average. Population-age and -size structures at both sites reflected a healthy status and indicated a local stability, with a stationary size structure allowing population maintenance over time. The present study provided data to develop population-dynamics models to predict the potential outcomes of A. japonica populations to alternative management scenarios in Jeju Island.

Response of the Pacific inter-tropical convergence zone to global cooling and initiation of Antarctic glaciation across the Eocene Oligocene Transition

Approximately 34 million years ago across the Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT), Earth’s climate tipped from a largely unglaciated state into one that sustained large ice sheets on Antarctica. Antarctic glaciation is attributed to a threshold response to slow decline in atmospheric CO2 but our understanding of the feedback processes triggered and of climate change on the other contents is limited. Here we present new geochemical records of terrigenous dust accumulating on the sea floor across the EOT from a site in the central equatorial Pacific. We report a change in dust chemistry from an Asian affinity to a Central-South American provenance that occurs geologically synchronously with the initiation of stepwise global cooling, glaciation of Antarctica and aridification on the northern continents. We infer that the inter-tropical convergence zone of intense precipitation extended to our site during late Eocene, at least four degrees latitude further south than today, but that it migrated northwards in step with global cooling and initiation of Antarctic glaciation. Our findings point to an atmospheric teleconnection between extratropical cooling and rainfall climate in the tropics and the mid-latitude belt of the westerlies operating across the most pivotal transition in climate state of the Cenozoic Era.

Evaluation of Resuspended Sediments to Sinking Particles by Benthic Disturbance in the Clarion-Clipperton Nodule Fields

The geochemical properties of sinking particles and sediments in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone were examined to develop a quantitative indicator with which to evaluate the contribution of sediment resuspended by nodule mining activity to sinking particles. The ratio of lithogenic material to organic carbon varies from ∼3 in sinking particles to ∼211 in sediments. This ratio is easily measured and is not easily affected by degradation and/or dissolution in the water column. A mixing model indicates that the ratio may be used as a potential proxy for estimating the contribution of resuspended sediment derived from mining operations to sinking particles.

Movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone during the mid‐pleistocene transition and the response of atmospheric and surface ocean circulations in the central equatorial Pacific

This paper investigates the causes of a brief, but prominent, cooling episode (1.1–0.8 Ma) that occurred in the equatorial upwelling region of the Atlantic and Pacific during the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) using temporal changes in dust provenance, regional hydrology, and surface productivity recorded in a deep-sea sediment core from the central equatorial Pacific. The 87Sr/86Sr and ɛNd values of the inorganic silicate fraction indicate deposition of dust from Australia and Central/South America before 0.8 Ma, but a gradual increase in Asian dust deposition after 0.8 Ma. The change in dust provenance was accompanied by an increased dust flux and a decrease in surface productivity and salinity. These changes can be explained by the southward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and the direct influence of these features on the site after 0.8 Ma. Our results, together with previously published Atlantic data, suggest the northward position of the ITCZ between 1.1 and 0.9 Ma, and the southward position thereafter. The meridional movement of the ITCZ is in phase with the cooling and warming trend in upwelling regions in the equatorial Pacific and Atlantic, which suggests strengthening of southeast trades relative to its northern counterpart between 1.1 and 0.9 Ma as a plausible cause of this brief cooling event. The southward movement of the ITCZ from 0.9 to 0.8 Ma indicates more significant cooling in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than in the Southern Hemisphere, which is supportive of the interpretation that the NH ice sheet expanded significantly and stabilized after 0.9 Ma.

Southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone due to Northern Hemisphere cooling at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary

The Mi-1 glaciation (ca. 23 Ma), which marks the Oligocene-Miocene boundary, was an aberrant cooling event that led to a build-up of the Antarctic ice sheet, which reached the near-modern volume (or greater) from its ephemeral or partial existence. An increase of ∼1‰ in the δ18O of benthic foraminifera during this interval has been attributed to the development of Antarctic ice sheets and deep-water cooling. Without definitive evidence, Northern Hemisphere (NH) glaciation has not been a material consideration for the δ18O increase. Here we investigate the interhemispheric temperature contrast during Mi-1, with the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) at a site (10°31′N) in the East Pacific (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1333), to understand NH cooling and the possibility of NH glaciation. The measured 143Nd/144Nd, 87Sr/86Sr, and clay mineral compositions of eolian dust fractions indicate unequivocally the deposition of Asian dust during Mi-1, and of Central American and South American dust before and after Mi-1. This is attributed to the southward displacement of the ITCZ over Site U1333 during Mi-1. The ITCZ shifts toward the warmer hemisphere. Thus our results suggest that the cooling during Mi-1 was more significant in the NH than in the Southern Hemisphere, which underwent a sudden expansion of continental ice sheets. Our data call for a forcing mechanism to drive significant NH cooling during this episode. Based on the available data, we propose that the widespread growth of NH ice sheets and/or changes in the production of North Atlantic–origin deep water could be possible causes of the NH cooling at that time.

Reply to Comment by Xu et al. on “Sr‐Nd isotope composition and clay mineral assemblages in eolian dust from the central Philippine Sea over the last 600 kyr: Implications for the transport mechanism of Asian dust” by Seo et al.

Against Xu et al. (2016), who argued that East Asian Desert (EAD) dust that traveled on East Asian Winter Monsoon winds dominates over Central Asian Desert (CAD) dust in the Philippine Sea with presentation of additional data, we reconfirm Seo et al.s (2014) conclusion that CAD dust carried on the Prevailing Westerlies and Trade Winds dominates over EAD dust in overall dust budget of the central Philippine Sea. The relative contribution of dust from EADs and CADs using clay mineral composition should be evaluated with elimination of mineralogical contribution from the volcanic end-member which is enriched in kaolinite and overestimate the contribution of EAD dust.

Climatic evolution of the central equatorial Pacific since the Last Glacial Maximum

This paper investigates paleoceanographic changes at a central equatorial Pacific site (6°40′N, 177°28′W) since the last glacial maximum using planktic foraminifera assemblages, together with the oxygen isotope (δ18O) and Mg/Ca compositions of three species (Globigerinoides sacculifer, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, and Globorotalia tumida) that dwell in the mixed layer, upper thermocline, and lower thermocline, respectively. While the Mg/Ca-derived temperatures of the mixed layer and lower thermocline varied within a narrow range from 18 ka onward, the upper thermocline temperature increased by as much as 3°C during the last deglaciation (18–12 ka) with a simultaneous decrease of δ18O. These changes are best explained by an enhanced mixing of the upper ocean and a reduced habitat depth separation between P. obliquiloculata and G. sacculifer during the 18–12 ka interval. The planktic foraminifera assemblage during the same period resembles modern composition at subtropical central Pacific sites that are strongly influenced by the northeasterly Trades and North Equatorial Current (NEC). We suggest that the study site, presently under the control of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)-North Equatorial Countercurrent, had been influenced by the northeasterly Trades and NEC during the 18–12 ka interval. This interpretation is consistent with previous documentation of a more southerly location of the ITCZ during two Northern Hemisphere cooling events; the Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas, and implies that the mean annual position of the ITCZ was located south of the study site, by at least 2° of latitude.

Variability in Particle Mixing Rates in Sediments with Polymetallic Nodules in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific as Determined from Measurements of Excess 210 Pb

Radionuclide activities of 210Pb and 226Ra were measured to determine bioturbation coefficients (Db) in seven sediment cores from the Korean licensed block for polymetallic nodules in the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone. Variability in Db is considered in the context of the sedimentological, geochemical, and geotechnical properties of the sediments. Db values in the studied cores were estimated using a steady-state diffusion model and varied over a wide range from 1.1 to 293 cm2/yr with corresponding mixing depths (L) of 26 to 144 cm. When excepting for spurious results obtained from cores where diffusive mixing does not apply, Db values range from 1.1 to 9.0 cm2/yr with corresponding mixing depths (L) of 26 to 63 cm. Such wide variability in Db and L values is exceptional in sites with water depths of ∼5000 m and is attributed in this study to an uneven distribution of sediment layers with different shear strengths and total organic carbon (TOC) contents, caused by erosion events. The studied cores can be grouped into two categories based on lithologic associations: layers with high maximum shear strength (MSS) and low TOC content, showing a narrow range of Db values (1.1–9.0 cm2/yr); and layers with low MSS and high TOC content, yielding much higher Db values of over 30 cm2/yr. The distribution of different lithologies, and the resultant spatial variability in MSS and labile organic matter content, controls the presence and maximum burrowing depth of infauna by affecting their mobility and the availability of food. This study provides a unique case showing that shear strength, which relates to the degree of sediment consolidation, might be an important factor in controlling rates of bioturbation and sediment mixing depths.

Resource Assessment of Polymetallic Nodules Using Acoustic Backscatter Intensity Data from the Korean Exploration Area, Northeastern Equatorial Pacific

A high level of confidence in resource data is a key prerequisite for conducting a reliable economic feasibility study in deep water seafloor mining. However, the acquisition of accurate resource data is difficult when employing traditional point-sampling methods to assess the resource potential of polymetallic nodules, given the vast size of the survey area and high spatial variability in nodule distribution. In this study, we analyzed high-resolution acoustic backscatter intensity images to estimate nodule abundance and increase confidence levels in nodule abundance data. We operated a 120 kHz deep-towed sidescan sonar (DSL-120) system (1×1 m resolution) across a 75 km2 representative area in the Korean Exploration Area for polymetallic nodules in the Northeastern Equatorial Pacific. A deep-towed camera system was also run along two tracks in the same area to estimate the abundance of polymetallic nodules on the seafloor. Backscatter data were classified into four facies based on intensity. The facies with the weakest and strongest backscatter intensities occurred in areas of high slope gradient and basement outcrops, respectively. The backscatter intensities of the two other facies correlated well with the nodule abundances estimated from still-camera images. A linear fit between backscatter intensity and mean nodule abundance for 10 zones in the study area yielded an excellent correlation (r2 = 0.97). This allowed us to compile a map of polymetallic nodule abundance that shows greater resolution than a map derived from the extrapolation of point-sampling data. Our preliminary analyses indicate that it is possible to greatly increase the confidence level of nodule resource data if the relationship between backscatter intensity and nodule abundance is reliably established. This approach has another key advantage over point sampling and image analyses in that detailed maps of mining obstacles along the seafloor are produced when acquiring data on the abundance of polymetallic nodules. The key limitation of this work is a poor correlation between nodule coverage, as observed from photographs, and nodule abundance. Significant additional ground truth sampling using well located box cores should be completed to determine whether or not there is a real correlation between the backscatter and abundance.