Late Cenozoic Underthrusting of the Continental Margin off Northernmost California

The presence of magnetic anomaly 3, age 5 million years, beneath the continental slope off northernmost California, is evidence for underthrusting of the continental margin during the late Cenozoic. Folded and faulted strata near the base of the slope attest to deformation of the eastern edge of the turbidite sedimzents in the Gorda Basin; the deformation observed is exactly that expected from underthrusting. The relative motions of three crustal plates also suggest underthrusting, possibly with a major component of right-lateral slip.     

Freshwater peat on the continental shelf

Freshwater peats from the continental shelf off northeastern United States contain the same general pollen sequence as peats from ponds that are above sea level and that are of comparable radiocarbon ages. These peats indicate that during glacial times of low sea level terrestrial vegetation covered the region that is now the continental shelf in an unbroken extension from the adjacent land areas to the north and west.     

Sea levels 7,000 to 20,000 years ago

Relative sea levels for early post-Pleistocene time are best known from radiocarbon dates of sediments on the continental shelves off Texas and off northeastern United States. Differences in indicated rates of the rise of relative sea level and in depths of the shelf-breaks reveal differential vertical movement of the two shelves during this time, with the result that the Atlantic shelf has sunk with respect to the Texas shelf.     

Cross-shelf sediment transport by an anticyclonic eddy off northern california

A combination of satellite imagery, shipboard profiles, drifter tracks, and moored current observations reveals that an anticyclonic eddy off the coast of northern California transported plumes of suspended sediments from the continental shelf into the deep ocean. The horizontal scale of the eddy was about 90 kilometers, and the eddy remained over the continental shelf and slope for about 2 months during the summer of 1988. The total mass of sediments transported by the eddy was of order 105 metric tons. Mesoscale eddies are recurrent features in this region and occur frequently in eastern boundary currents. These results provide direct evidence that eddies export sediments from continental shelves.     

Migrations and growth of deep-sea lobsters, Homarus americanus

In distinct contrast to the restricted movements of coastal stocks of lobsters (Homarus americanus), those inhabiting the outer continental shelf undertake extensive seasonal migrations. Of 5710 tagged lobsters released on the outer continental shelf off New England from April 1968 to June 1969, 400 had been recaptured by April 1970. The distribution of the recoveries demonstrated shoalward migration in spring and summer and a return to the edge of the shelf in fall and winter. Deep-sea lobsters have a faster rate of growth than coastal lobsters; growth increments at molting and the frequency of molting are greater.     

Evidence for upwelling of corrosive "acidified" water onto the continental shelf

The absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean lowers the pH of the waters. This so-called ocean acidification could have important consequences for marine ecosystems. To better understand the extent of this ocean acidification in coastal waters, we conducted hydrographic surveys along the continental shelf of western North America from central Canada to northern Mexico. We observed seawater that is undersaturated with respect to aragonite upwelling onto large portions of the continental shelf, reaching depths of approximately 40 to 120 meters along most transect lines and all the way to the surface on one transect off northern California. Although seasonal upwelling of the undersaturated waters onto the shelf is a natural phenomenon in this region, the ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 has increased the areal extent of the affected area.     

Littoral of the northeastern United States: late quaternary warping

Isobases constructed from recently published data are strikingly parallel to both the edge of the continental shelf off the northeastern United States and the Fall Zone. Our analyses suggest that the downwarping recorded by these isobases may be explained by Daly's hypothesis of a collapsing peripheral or marginal "bulge."     

Radiuin-226 and radon-222 in the coastal waters of west Florida: high concentrations and atmospheric degassing

On the central portion of the west Florida continental shelf, radionuclide activities show unusually wide variations: radium-226 activities up to 350 disintegrations per minute per 100 liters, radon-222 activities up to 1300 disintegrations per minute per 100 liters, and deficiencies of radon-222 as low as -10 disintegrations per minute per 100 liters. Florida's phosphate-rich strata seerm to be the principal source of the radionuclides, with the transfer occurring directly from sediments or indirectly in streams, ground-water flow, and geothermal springs. Winter storm fronts may enhance radon degassing in the shelf waters.     

Continental margin of Western europe: slope progradation and erosion

Reflection profiling of the continental margin off western Europe shows seaward-dipping continental-slope deposits that have been dissected by submarine canyons west of the English Channel. These records refute previous interpretation of structural benches of older, nearly horizontal strata outcropping on the slope face.     

Spaceborne imaging radar: monitoring of ocean waves

A well-organized, very low energy ocean swell system off the East Coast of the United States was tracked with the Seasat synthetic aperture radar from deep water, across the continental shelf, and into shallow, water. The results indicate that spaceborne imaging radar may be used to accurately measure ocean wavelength and direction, even in coastal areas and in the presence of a mixed ocean.     

Offshore oil in the alaskan arctic

Oil and gas deposits in the Alaskan Arctic are estimated to contain up to 40 percent of the remaining undiscovered crude oil and oil-equivalent nature gas within U.S. jurisdiction. Most (65 to 70 percent) of these estimated reserves are believed to occur offshore beneath the shallow, ice-covered seas, of the Alaskan continental shelf. Offshore recovery operations for such areas are far from routine, with the primary problems associated with the presence of ice. Some problems that must be resolved if efficient, cost-effective, environmentally safe, year-round offshore production is to be achieved include the accurate estimation of ice forces on offshore structures, the proper placement of pipelines beneath ice-produced gouges in the sea floor, and the cleanup of oil spills in pack ice areas.     

Manganese flux from continental margin sediments in a transect through the oxygen minimum

The flux of manganese from continental margin sediments to the ocean was measured with a free-vehicle, benthic flux chamber in a transect across the continental shelf and upper slope of the California margin. The highest fluxes were observed on the shallow continental shelf. Manganese flux decreased linearly with bottom water oxygen concentration, and the lowest fluxes occurred in the oxygen minimum zone (at a depth of 600 to 1000 meters). Although the flux of manganese from continental shelf sediments can account for the elevated concentrations observed in shallow, coastal waters, the flux from sediments that intersect the oxygen minimum cannot produce the subsurface concentration maximum of dissolved manganese that is observed in the Pacific Ocean.     

Tropical reef corals: tolerance of low temperatures on the north carolin

Individual heads of two species of reef or herinatypic coral, Solenastrea hyades (Dana) and Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander), occur on rock outcrops on the inner continental shelf off North Carolina in waters where winter bottom temperatures are as low as 10.6 degrees C. These temperatures are significantly lower than previously assumed minimum temperatures for the survival of tropical reef corals in their natural environment.     

Upper wisconsinan till recovered on the continental shelf southeast of new England

Basal till was identified in two sediment cores collected about 69 kilometers southeast of Nantucket Island on the east and west sides of Great South Channel. These are the first samples of till collected on the outer continental shelf off the northeastern United States. The carbon-14 age of the total organic carbon in the tills provides a "no older than" age of about 20,000 years before present and suggests that the tills were deposited during the late Wisconsinan glaciation. This conclusion is in support of the hypothesis of an extensive Laurentide ice sheet that extended to the northern side of Georges Bank.     

Circulation and melting beneath the ross ice shelf

Thermohaline observations in the water column beneath the Ross Ice Shelf and along its terminal face show significant vertical stratification, active horizontal circulation, and net melting at the ice shelf base. Heat is supplied by seawater that moves southward beneath the ice shelf from a central warm core and from a western region of high salinity. The near-freezing Ice Shelf Water produced flows northward into the Ross Sea.     

Near extinction of a large, widely distributed fish

Are extinctions of marine vertebrates as rare and unlikely as current data indicate? Long-term research surveys on the continental shelf between the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and southern New England reveal that one of the largest skates in the northwest Atlantic, the barndoor skate (Raja laevis), is close to extinction. Forty-five years ago, research surveys on St. Pierre Bank (off southern Newfoundland) recorded barndoor skates in 10% of their tows; in the last 20 years, none has been caught, and this pattern of decline is similar throughout the range of the species.     

Methane-derived marine carbonates of pleistocene age

In some calcium carbonate-bearing sandstones from the edge of the continental shelf off the northeast United States, the deltaC(13) range is from -30 and -60 per mil for both aragonite and high-magnesium calcite. The deltaC(13) of co-existing shells of Modiolus sp. is normal (+ 1.7 to -2.7 per mil). The deltaO(18) values of around + 3.5 per mil in all samples suggest deposition at temperatures around 0 degrees C. Quaternary methane oxidized either chemically or microbiologically to carbon dioxide is the probable source of carbon in these carbonates.     

Deep-sea species diversity: decreased gastropod diversity at abyssal depths

Gastropod species diversity is low on the continental shelf, high on the continental slope and abyssal rise, and then decreases with increasing distance out onto the abyssal plain. Increased diversity below the continental shelf has been attributed to increased environmental stability. Decreased diversity on the abyss may result from extremely low productivity.     

Evolving subduction zones in the Western United States, as interpreted from igneous rocks

Variations in the ratio of K(2)O to SiO(2) in andesitic rocks suggest early and middle Cenozoic subduction beneath the western United States along two subparallel imbricate zones dipping about 20 degrees eastward. The western zone emerged at the continental margin, but the eastern zone was entirely beneath the continental plate. Mesozoic subduction apparently occurred along a single steeper zone.     

Core drilling through the ross ice shelf (antarctica) confirmed Basal freezing

New techniques that have been used to obtain a continuous ice core through the whole 416-meter thickness of the Ross Ice Shelf at Camp J-9 have demonstrated that the bottom 6 meters of the ice shelf consists of sea ice. The rate of basal freezing that is forming this ice is estimated by different methods to be 2 centimeters of ice per year. The sea ice is composed of large vertical crystals, which form the waffle-like lower boundary of the shelf. A distinct alignment of the crystals throughout the sea ice layer suggests the presence of persistent long-term currents beneath the ice shelf.