Marine Geology Bottom Water
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Numerical Modelling, Durham, N. H. October 17, 1972. To he published by National Academy of Sciences. Jordon, A. L. 19731). Varieties and variations of Antarctic Marine Geology Bottom Water. Colioquim on Processes of Formation of Oceanic Deep Waters. October 4-7, 1972. To be published by CNEXO. N. D. WATKINS Gordon, A. L., and R. 1). Goldberg. 1970. Circumpolar Graduate School of Oceanography characteristics of antarctic waters. Antarctic Map Folio University of Rhode Island Series, 13. Gordon, A. I,., and P. Tchernia. 1972. Waters of the conti- nental margin off Adélie Coast, Antarctica. Antarctic Re- Ten years ago, when the Eltan.in program began, search Series, 19: 59-70. marine geology was a simpler science than it is to- Gordon, A. I.., and J. Bye. 1972. Surface dynamic topography (lay. At that time it was, in general terms, concerned of antarctic waters. Journal of Geophysical Research, with the physiography, tectonics, and genesis of the 77(30): 5993-5999. Hollister, C., and R. Elder. 1969. Contour currents in the sea floor; the distribution and variation of sedi- Weddell Sea. Deep-Sea Research, 16: 99-101. ments; and an understanding of the associated lvanenkov, V. N., and F. A. Gubin. 1960. Water masses and roles of organic and inorganic materials and dy- hydrocheinistry of the western and southern parts of the Indian Ocean. Akad. nauk. SSSR. Trudy, 22: 33-115. Trans- namic factors modifying the distribution of these lations in Soviet Oceanography. (American Geophysical sediments. While this description is still largely union), 22: 27-99. valid, it has become virtually impossible to satis- Jacobs, .. .S. 1965. Physical and chemical oceanographic ob- factorily isolate marine geology from marine geo- Eltanin Cruises servations in the southern oceans, IISNS physics, niicropaleoniology, and (to an increasing 7-15. Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Report, 1- CU-1-65. 321 p. extent) sonic aspects of physical oceanography. Jacobs, S. S. 1966. Physical and chemical oceanographic ob- Knowledge of sea floor genesis, tectonics, and over- servations in the southern oceans, IJSNS Eltanin Cruises lying sediment thickness and distribution results 16-21. Lam on t-Dohertv Geological Observatory. Report, 1-CU-1-66. 128 p. from geophysical means; micropaleontology is the Jacobs, S. S., and A. F. Amos. 1967. Physical and chemical discipline required to understand sediment origin oceanographic observations in the southern oceans, USNS and variation in time and space; and physical Eltanin Cruises 22-27. Lam out-Doherty Geological Observa- oceanography can provide limits on the water mass tory. Report, 1-CU-1-67. 287 p. Jacobs, S. S., P. M. Bruchhausen, and E. B. Bauer. 1970a. dynamics and boundaries, critically effecting sedi- Eltanin reports, Cruises 32-36. l.a mont -Doherty Geological ment type and ])road accumulation patterns. This Observatory. 463 p. essential broadening of the science (luring the last Jacobs, S. S. et al. 1972. Eltanin reports, Cruises 37-46. La- decade has been paralleled by the so-called revolu- mont-Doherty Geological Observatory. 490 p. Jacobs, S. S., A. F. Amos. and P. M. Bruchhausen. 1970b. tion in the earth sciences, which is based almost Ross Sea oceanography and Antarctic Bottom Water for- completely on the recognition of mobility in sea mat ion. Deep-Sea Research, 17: 935-962. floor and continental configuration. Lynn. R., and J . Reid. 1968. Characteristics and circulation of The contribution of the Eltanin marine geology deep and abyssal waters. Deep-Sea Research, 15: 577-598. Lusquinos, A. 1963. Extreme temperatures in the Weddell program as summarized here must therefore over- Sea. Bergen, Norway, Arhok University. No. 23. 19 p. lap somewhat with the geophysics and micropale- Mackintosh, N. 1946. The Antarctic Convergence and the ontology programs in particular as presented else- distribution of surface temperature in antarctic waters, where in this issue. It is still too early to evaluate Discovery Report 23: 177-212. most of the contributions from the last series of Mckee, W. D. 1971. A note on the sea level oscillations in the neighbourhood of the Drake Passage. Deep-Sea Re- cruises in the southeastern Indian Ocean (between search, 18 (5) : 547-549. 39 and 55) since they have not yet been published. Reid, J. I.., and W. Nowlin. 1971. Transport of water through the Drake Passage. Deep-Sea Research, 18(1): 51-64. Background Scripps Institution of Oceanography et al. 1969. Physical and chemical data from the Scorpio Expedition in the South The relative advance in knowledge of the marine Pacific Ocean aboard USNS Eltanin Cruises 28 and 29. geology of the southern ocean provided by the Sb-REF. Report, 69-56. 95 p. Elta n in program compares favorably with resulting Seabrooke, J ., G. Hufford, and R. Elder. 1971. Formation of advances in other scientific activities. For example, Antarctic Bottom Water in the Weddell Sea, journal of several hundred hydrological stations had been oc- Geophysical Research, 76(9): 2164-2178. cupied by the end of the 1950s (Deacon, 1964) ichernia, 1. 1951. Coinpte-rendu preliminaire des observa- tions oceanographiques faites par le batiment polaire whereas according to Ewing and Heezen (1956) "Commandant Charcot" pendant la campagne 1949-1950, only four piston cores with any observable Paris, Bulletin (1 Information. COEC 3 (1) : 13-22; 3 (2) stratigraphic variation had been recovered. Never- 40-57. theless, using grab samples or gravity cores, Phillipi Wexier, H. 1959. The antarctic convergence-or divergence? (1910), Schott (1939), and Hough (1950, 1956) In: The Atmosphere and Sea in Motion (Bert Bolin, e(1.) New York, Rockefeller Institute Press. p. 106-120. had described marine sediments from the subant- May-June 1973 69 arctic sea floor and had recognized the paleoclimatic curring during the last 1 to 2 million years. Thu significance of intercalated silicious ooze, carbon- little advance had been made on the ideas of earl) ates, and glacial-marine sediment, but no age con- 20th century geologists. trol was available. As early as 1937, Deacon (1937) Further and wider evaluation of the status oi had pointed out that the region between the pack marine geological and geophysical problems in th ice and the Subantarctic Convergence was biologi- subantarctic region, as of the mid 1950s, was pub- cally the worlds most productive marine environ- lished by Ewing and Heezen (1956). Thus the stag( ment, with a corresponding sedimentary signifi- was set for the Eltanin cruises to begin in 1963. cance. The most important contribution during the period immediately preceding the Eltanin program was Litizens (1960) description of bottom sedi- Contributions from the Eltanin program ments including some submarine moraines in the Physiography. The Eltanin program has been in- subantarctic of the Indian Ocean. strumental in providing much fine detail in the The broad physiographic framework of the physiography of the Scotia Sea, South Pacific, and southern ocean sea floor was well known by the late southeast Indian Ocean. 1950s, particularly as the result of cruises of Dis- Heezen and Johnson (1965) refined earlier sur- covery, as summarized by Heardman (1948) veys of the South Sandwich Trench, during cruise In the early 1960s the glacial history of Antarc- 8. The detailed physiography was supplemented by tica was, with only rare exceptions, considered to seismic profiling which revealed, when compared to be closely related to the Arctic events. Initiation of other trenches, an unexpectedly thin sediment the present antarctic glaciation was envisaged as oc- cover. Cruises through 22 enabled Heezen et al. HYSIOGRAPHIC PROVINCES $ H ( LI - SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN $ , N . MANAMP 5OUrH AUSTRALIAN ADrSSAL PLAIN w WA1 .. Z QL AUSTRA4 I ) ANURCrIC DSCOMPANCE rASMAN Figure 1. DASIN Physiographic map of the so southeast Indian Ocean SOUTHEAST - (Hayes and Conolly, 1972). \ 1 tiiw LOWER LOWER UPPEp j RISE \--( d I\ -< .\ 70 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL 270 180 Figure 2. Eltanin core locations. 90 (1966) to present details of the Scotia Sea physiog- subdued ridge topography is interrupted by a 400 raphy. When cruises began in the South Pacific, per- km. wide zone of very irregular features. To the east haps the worlds longest fracture zone was dis- of this, but west of the Macquarie Ridge, a series covered: the Eltanin Fracture Zone offsets the East of five or six major offsets in the midoceanic ridge Pacific Rise by about 1000 km. During cruise 29 a system are now well-defined (fig. 1). Data from possible extension of the fracture zone to the north- this same series of cruises has been added to many east, in the form of the Louisville Ridge, was de- results from the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office tected by Hayes and Ewing (1971). Another feature and the Australian and New Zealand Hydrographic named after the vessel is the Eltanin Seamount, on Office to provide fine definition of the Antarctic the Chile Ridge. continental shelf south of Australia, to the extent Not surprisingly the South Pacific cruises have that several glacial troughs up to 2000 meters deep shown that earlier concepts of the form of the were identified. Bellinghausen Basin were oversimplified (Heezen Bottom Photography. Extensive contributions et al., 1966; Hollister and Heezen, 1967). and innovations have resulted from the very large The major contribution to southern ocean phy- Eltanin bottom photograph collection (Simmons siography from Eltanin cruises is for the region and Landrum, 1973) . The early cruises enabled south of Australia and New Zealand. Hayes and Heezen and Johnson (1965), Heezen et al. (1966), Conolly (1972) identified a possibly unique mid- and Hollister and Elder (1969) to detect the effects ocean ridge feature, which they call the Australian- of bottom currents on sediments in the Scotia Sea, Antarctic discordance (fig. 1): otherwise relatively the South Sandwich Trench, and the northern part May-June 1973 71 of the Weddell Sea. Contour currents were identi- Sedirnentology.