Tropical South Atlantic influence on Northeastern Brazil precipitation and ITCZ displacement during the past 2300 years.

Recent paleoclimatic studies suggest that changes in the tropical rainbelt across the Atlantic Ocean during the past two millennia are linked to a latitudinal shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) driven by the Northern Hemisphere (NH) climate. However, little is known regarding other potential drivers that can affect tropical Atlantic rainfall, mainly due to the scarcity of adequate and high-resolution records. In this study, we fill this gap by reconstructing precipitation changes in Northeastern Brazil during the last 2,300 years from a high-resolution lake record of hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes. We find that regional precipitation along the coastal area of South America was not solely governed by north-south displacements of the ITCZ due to changes in NH climate, but also by the contraction and expansion of the tropical rainbelt due to variations in sea surface temperature and southeast trade winds in the tropical South Atlantic Basin.

PAH transport by sinking particles in the open Mediterranean Sea: a 1 year sediment trap study.

One year time series of sinking particles were collected at two depths in the open Mediterranean Sea and analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Average total PAH concentrations were 593+/-284 ng g(-1) at 250 m and 551 +/- 198 ng g(-1) at 2850 m. Total PAH fluxes averaged 73 +/- 58 ng m(-2) d(-1) at 250 m and 53 +/- 39 ng m(-2) d(-1) at 2850 m. Contamination levels and, thus, exposure of marine organisms to PAH are comparable in surface and deep waters. Deep waters appear as a significant, yet overlooked, PAH sink. PAH temporal patterns show noticeable seasonality. This is partly due to varying levels of specific components such as the winter increase of pyrolytic PAH. Downward transport processes and the nature of sinking particles also impact on PAH fluxes, as inferred during periods of increasing productivity. Different phase-associations and interactions with particulate organic carbon for low-MW fossil PAH and high-MW pyrolytic PAH influence their downward transport efficiency.

Vertical fluxes of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon fluxes were measured in time series sediment trap samples at 200 m and at 1000 m depths in the open Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, from December 2000 to July 2002. Averaged fluxes of n-alkanes, UCM and T-PAH(35) were 2.96 ± 2.60 µg m(-2) d(-1), 64 ± 60 µg m(-2) d(-1) and 0.68 ± 0.59 µg m(-2) d(-1), respectively. Molecular compositions of both hydrocarbon classes showed a contamination in petrogenic hydrocarbons well above the background levels of such an open site, whereas pyrolytic hydrocarbons stand in the range of other open Mediterranean locations. Fluxes displayed ample interannual and seasonal variabilities, mainly related to mass flux variation while concentration evolutions trigger secondary changes in pollutant fluxes. High lithogenic flux events exported particles with a larger pollutant load than biogenic particles formed during the spring bloom and during the summer. Sinking hydrocarbons were efficiently transported from 200 m to 1000 m.