Interactions between mesoscale eddy variability and Indian Ocean dipole events in the Southeastern tropical Indian Ocean—case studies for 1994 and 1997/1998

Interannual modulation of mesoscale eddy activity at the intraseasonal timescale in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean and its relation to the Indian Ocean dipole mode (IOD) events are investigated using results from a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. The model reproduces observed characteristics of the intraseasonal variability and its interannual modulation fairly well, with large variances of the intraseasonal variability during the 1994 and 1997/1998 IOD events. Large negative temperature anomaly off the coasts of Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands in boreal summer, due to seasonal variation and interannual anomaly, extended further to the east in 1994, and the associated strong Indonesian throughflow enhanced the baroclinic instability in the upper layer, generating anomalously large mesoscale eddy activity. The eddy heat transport, in turn, significantly affected decaying phase of the 1994 IOD event. On the other hand, the development of the cold region off the Java Island associated with the 1997/1998 IOD event occurred in boreal winter, causing weaker baroclinic instability and hence weaker eddy activity off Java. This led to little influence on the heat budget in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean for the 1997/1998 IOD event.     

Air–sea interface fluxes over the Indian Ocean during INDOEX,IFP-99

The Intensive Field Phase of Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX, IFP-99) was carried onboard Oceanic Research Vessel Sagar Kanya during January 20–March 12, 1999 over the latitudinal range 15°N–20°S and the longitudinal range 63°E–77°E. The present study deals with the spatial variation of air–sea fluxes over the Indian Ocean during the INDOEX, IFP-99 campaign. Drag coefficient (C_D), and sensible heat (C_H) and water vapor (C_E) exchange coefficients are determined using an iterative scheme. The estimated values of these coefficients are utilized for the computation of air–sea fluxes using the bulk aerodynamic method. The variations of air–sea flux estimates are studied with respect to the variation of wind speed.     

Interannual variability of the air–sea CO2 flux in the north Indian Ocean

A simple biogeochemical model coupled to an offline ocean tracer transport model driven by reanalysis ocean data is used to simulate the seasonal and interannual CO $_2$ flux variability in the northern Indian Ocean. The maximum of seasonal and interannual CO $_2$ emission variances in the northern Indian Ocean are located in the coastal Arabian Sea (AS) and Southern Peninsular India (SP) with a basin-wide seasonal amplitude and standard deviation of 0.044 $\pm $ 0.04 Pg C year $^{-1}$ . The area integrated CO $_2$ emissions from these two regions in the model are significantly correlated (above a 95 % level) with the observations of Takahashi et al. (Deep-Sea Res-II, 56:554–577, 2009). The interannual anomalies of CO $_2$ emission from the AS and SP are found as 40 and 30 % of their respective seasonal amplitudes. Both the Arabian Sea (AS) and Southern Peninsular India (SP) interannual CO $_2$ emission anomalies show a 3–4-year variability. The correlations of AS and SP CO $_2$ emission anomalies with the Indian Ocean Dipole/Zonal Mode (IODZM) and Southern Oscillation (SO) indices from 1980 to 1999 are 0.35, 0.21 and 0.32, 0.01 respectively. A 5-year window moving correlation analysis shows that the relationship of AS and SP CO $_2$ emission to the SO and IODZM are complementary to each other. During the years when the correlation of air–sea CO $_2$ emission with the IODZM is stronger, the corresponding correlation with the SO is weaker or opposite. The total change in pCO $_2$ is broken down into changes induced by the individual components such as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), sea surface temperature (SST), alkalinity, and salinity and found that (1) the effect of SST in the AS CO $_2$ emission increases (decreases) when the correlation of CO $_2$ emission with the IODZM is positive (negative), and (2) the SP CO $_2$ emission is strongly controlled by the circulation-driven DIC changes; however, this relation is found to be weaker when the SO correlates negatively with the SP CO $_2$ emission.     

Tide Gauge Observations of 2004–2007 Indian Ocean Tsunamis from Sri Lanka and Western Australia

Tide gauge data collected from Sri Lanka (three stations) and Western Australia (eleven stations) during the Indian Ocean tsunamis, which occurred in December 2004, March 2005, July 2006, and September 2007, and incorporated five tsunamis, were examined to determine tsunami behaviour during these events. During the December 2004 tsunami, maximum wave heights of 3.87 m and 1.75 m were recorded at Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bunbury (Western Australia), respectively. The results indicated that although the relative magnitudes of the tsunamis varied, the tsunami behaviour at each station was similar. This was due to the effect of the local and regional topography. At all tide gauges, the spectral energy corresponding to periods between 20 and 85 minutes increased during the tsunami. The sea-level data obtained from the west and south coasts of Sri Lanka (Colombo and Kirinda) indicated the importance of wave reflections from the Maldives Island chain, which produced the maximum wave two to three hours after the arrival of the first wave. In contrast, Trincomalee on the east coast did not show evidence of a reflected wave. Similarly, along the west coast of Australia, the highest waves occurred 15 hours after the arrival of the first wave. Here, based on travel times, we postulated that the waves were reflected from the Mascarene Ridge and/or the Island of Madagascar. Reflected waves were not present in the 2006 tsunami, where the primary waves propagated away from topographic features. One of the main influences of the tsunami was to set up oscillations at the local resonance frequency. Because Sri Lanka and Western Australia have relatively straight coastlines, these oscillations were related to the fundamental period of the shelf oscillation. For Colombo, this corresponded to 75-minute period, whereas in Geraldton and Busselton (Australia), the four-hour period was most prominent; at Jurien Bay and Fremantle, the resonance period was 2.7 hours.     

Anatomy of Piton de la Fournaise volcano (La Réunion, Indian Ocean)

The aim of this work is to propose a general model of Piton de la Fournaise volcano using information from geological and geophysical studies. Firstly, we make a graphical compilation of all available geophysical information along a W–E profile. Secondly, we construct a geological section that integrates both the geophysical information and the geological information. The lithosphere beneath Piton de la Fournaise is not significantly flexed, and the crust is underlain by an underplating body, which might represent the deep magma reservoir for La Réunion volcanism. Piton de la Fournaise is a relatively thin volcano lying on a huge volcanic construction attributed mostly to Les Alizés volcano. Indeed, if the differentiated rocks observed at the bottom of the Rivière des Remparts are the top of Les Alizés volcano, the interface with Piton de La Fournaise may be located at about sea level beneath the summit area. The endogenous constructions (intrusive complexes) related to Les Alizés and Piton de la Fournaise volcanoes represent a large volume. The huge intrusive complex of Les Alizés volcano probably rests on the top of the oceanic crust and appears to have a buttressing effect for the present eastern volcano-tectonic activity of Piton de la Fournaise. The early Piton de la Fournaise edifice was built around a focus located beneath the Plaine des Sables area. The center subsequently moved 5–6?km eastward to its current location. The dense, high-velocity body beneath the Plaines des Sables and the western part of the Enclos probably corresponds to the hypovolcanic intrusive complex that developed before the volcanic center shifted to its present-day position. Magma reservoirs may have existed, and may still exist, as illustrated by the March 1998 crisis, at the mechanical and density interface between the oceanic crust and the Les Alizés edifice. Strong evidence also exists for the presence of a shallower magma reservoir located near sea level beneath the summit. The March 1998 pre-eruptive seismic pattern (location and upward migration) seems to be evidence for a transfer of magma between the two reservoirs. The dominant structural feature of the central zone is a collapse structure beneath the summit craters, above the inferred magma reservoir near sea level. The collapsed column constitutes a major mechanical heterogeneity and concentrates most of the seismic, intrusive, and hydrothermal activity because of its higher permeability and weaker mechanical strength.     

Identifying rift zones on volcanoes: an example from La Réunion island,Indian Ocean

We describe a methodology for identifying complex rift zones on recent or active volcanoes, where structures hidden by recent deposits and logistical conditions might prevent carrying out detailed fieldwork. La Réunion island was chosen as a test-site. We used georeferenced topographic maps, aerial photos and digital terrain models to perform a statistical analysis of several morphometric parameters of pyroclastic cones. This provides a great deal of geometric information that can help in distinguishing the localisation and orientation of buried magma-feeding fractures, which constitute the surface expression of rift zones. It also allowed the construction of a complete GIS database of the pyroclastic cones. La Réunion is a perfect example where past and active volcanic rift zones are mostly expressed by clusters of monogenic centres. The data has been validated in the field and compared and integrated with the distribution and geometry of dyke swarms. Results show the presence of several main and secondary rift segments of different ages, locations and orientations, whose origin is discussed considering regional tectonics, local geomorphology, and volcano deformation.     

A statistic of water mass intrusions in the south Indian Ocean between 100° E and 110° E

Ocean Dynamics - The concept of water type richness wtr and inversion count inv is introduced and applied to high-resolution Argo float data in a meridional strip in the southern Indian Ocean as a...     

Influences of Indian Ocean interannual variability on different stages of El Nio: A FOAM1.5 model approach

Both the tropical Indian and tropical Pacific Oceans are active atmosphere-ocean interactive regions with robust interannual variability, which also constitutes a linkage between the two basins in the mode of variability. Using a global atmosphereocean coupled model, we conducted two experiments(CTRL and PC) to explore the contributions of Indian Ocean interannual sea surface temperature(SST) modes to the occurrence of El Ni?o events. The results show that interannual variability of the SST in the Indian Ocean induces a rapid growth of El Ni?o events during the boreal autumn in an El Ni?o developing year. However, it weakens El Ni?o events or even promotes cold phase conversions in an El Ni?o decaying year. Therefore, the entire period of the El Ni?o is shortened by the interannual variations of the Indian Ocean SST. Specifically, during the El Ni?o developing years, the positive Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD) events force an anomalous Walker circulation, which then enhances the existing westerly wind anomalies over the west Pacific. This will cause a warmer El Ni?o event, with some modulations by ocean advection and oceanic Rossby and Kelvin waves. However, with the onset of the South Asian monsoon, the Indian Ocean Basin(IOB) warming SST anomalies excite low level easterly wind anomalies over the west tropical Pacific during the El Ni?o decaying years. As a result, the El Ni?o event is prompted to change from a warm phase to a cold phase. At the same time, an associated atmospheric anticyclone anomaly appears and leads to a decreasing precipitation anomaly over the northwest Pacific. In summary, with remote forcing in the atmospheric circulation, the IOD mode usually affects the El Ni?o during the developing years, whereas the IOB mode affects the El Ni?o during the decaying years.     

Introduction to “Tsunami Science Four Years After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Part I: Modelling and Hazard Assessment”

In this introduction we briefly summarize the 14 contributions to Part I of this special issue on Tsunami Science Four Years after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. These papers are representative of the new tsunami science being conducted since the occurrence of that tragic event. Most of these were presented at the session: Tsunami Generation and Hazard, of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXIV General Assembly held at Perugia, Italy, in July of 2007. That session included over one hundred presentations on a wide range of topics in tsunami research. The papers grouped into Part I, and introduced here, cover topics directly related to tsunami mitigation such as numerical modelling, hazard assessment and databases. Part II of this special issue, Observations and Data Analysis, will be published in a subsequent volume of Pure and Applied Geophysics.     

Introduction to “Tsunami Science Four Years After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Part II: Observation and Data Analysis”

In this introduction we briefly summarize the fourteen contributions to Part II of this special issue on Tsunami Science Four Years After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. These papers are representative of the new tsunami science being conducted since the occurrence of that tragic event. Most of these were presented at the session: Tsunami Generation and Hazard, of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXIV General Assembly held at Perugia, Italy, in July of 2007. That session included over one hundred presentations on a wide range of topics in tsunami research. The papers grouped into Part II, and introduced here, cover field observations of recent tsunami’s, modern studies of historical events, coastal sea-level observations and case studies in tsunami data analysis.     

Pb,Hf and Nd isotope compositions of the two Réunion volcanoes (Indian Ocean): A tale of two small-scale mantle “blobs”?

Pb, Hf, Nd and Sr isotopes of basaltic lavas from the two Réunion Island volcanoes are reported in order to examine the origin of the sources feeding these volcanoes and to detect possible changes through time. Samples, chosen to cover the whole lifetime of the two volcanoes (from 2 Ma to present), yield a chemically restricted (compared to OIB lavas) but complex distribution. Réunion plume isotopic characteristics have been defined on the basis of the composition of uncontaminated shield-building lavas from the Piton de la Fournaise volcano. The average ?_Nd, ?_Hf, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb isotope ratios calculated for this component are + 4.4, + 9.1, 0.70411, 18.97, 15.59 and 39.03, respectively. In Pb–Pb isotope space, each volcano defines a distinct linear trend but slight variations are also detected within the various volcanic sequences. The Piton des Neiges volcano yields a distinct and significantly more scattered isotopic distribution than Piton de la Fournaise for both Pb, Hf and Nd isotope tracers. A principal component analysis of the Pb isotope data from Piton de la Fournaise reveals a major contribution of the C and EM-1 components (with a clear Dupal flavor) as main components for the modern Réunion plume. The same components have been identified for Piton des Neiges but with a stronger participation of a depleted mantle component and a weaker EM-1 contribution. The compositional change of the lavas erupted by the Piton des Neiges and Piton de la Fournaise volcanoes is attributed to the impingement of two small-scale blobs of plume material at the base of the Réunion lithosphere. Compared to other hot-spots worldwide, in particular Hawaii and Kerguelen, magmas beneath Réunion are generated from a considerably more homogeneous, compositionally more primitive plume higher in ²⁰⁶Pb. Although shallow-level contamination processes have been locally detected they did not alter significantly the composition of the plume magmas. This is tentatively attributed to mantle dynamics producing small, high-velocity blobs that ascend rapidly through the lithosphere, and to the lack of a well-developed magma chamber at depth in the lithosphere.     

Diagnosing Climate Feedbacks in Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Models

We review the methodologies used to quantify climate feedbacks in coupled models. The method of radiative kernels is outlined and used to illustrate the dependence of lapse rate, water vapor, surface albedo, and cloud feedbacks on (1) the length of the time average used to define two projected climate states and (2) the time separation between the two climate states. Except for the shortwave component of water vapor feedback, all feedback processes exhibit significant high-frequency variations and intermodel variability of feedback strengths for sub-decadal time averages. It is also found that the uncertainty of lapse rate, water vapor, and cloud feedback decreases with the increase in the time separation. The results suggest that one can substantially reduce the uncertainty of cloud and other feedbacks with the accumulation of accurate, long-term records of satellite observations; however, several decades may be required.     

A numerical study on the mixed layer depth variability and its influence on the sea surface temperature during 2013–2014 in the Bay of Bengal and Equatorial Indian Ocean

Ocean Dynamics - This study addresses the air–sea interaction processes and mixed layer variability, which cause the intraseasonal oscillations in the sea surface temperature (SST) during...     

The critical role of Indian summer monsoon on the remote forcing between Indian and Northwest Pacific during El Nio decaying year

Recent studies have found a connection between Indian Ocean Basin Warming and the anomalous Northwest Pacific Anticyclone(ANPWA) during El Ni?o decaying year.This study focuses on the necessary condition for this connection by using observation and numerical simulation.The seasonal transition of the Indian Ocean sea surface wind is critical to the climatic effect of Indian Ocean Basin Warming.When the South Asian Summer Monsoon reaches its peak,the background wind becomes desirable for basin warming,which then affects the climate in the Northwest Pacific.Via the Kelvin waves and Ekman divergence,the wind anomalies exist in the lower atmosphere east of the Indian Ocean warm Sea Surface Temperature(SST) anomalies,and intensify and sustain the ANWPA throughout the El Nio decaying summer.This impact plays an important role in the inter-annual variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon.