Dissolved and labile particulate Zr,Hf, Nb,Ta, Mo and W in the western North Pacific Ocean

Dissolved and labile particulate Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Mo and W were determined at stations K1 (51°N, 165°E), K2 (47°N, 160°E), KNOT (44°N, 155°E) and 35N (35°N, 160°E) in the western North Pacific Ocean. A portion of seawater for dissolved species (D) was passed through a 0.2 μm Nuclepore filter and acidified to pH 2.2 with HCl and HF. A portion of seawater for acid-dissolvable species (AD) was acidified without filtration. Labile particulate (LP) species is defined as AD minus D, which represents a chemically labile fraction of particulate species. D-Zr, Hf and Ta increase with depth, Nb shows a slight depletion in surface water, whereas Mo and W have a conservative vertical profile. The concentration range of D-Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta and W is 31–275, 0.14–0.95, 4.0–7.2, 0.08–0.29 and 40–51 pmol kg⁻¹, respectively, whereas that of Mo is 97–105 nmol kg⁻¹. LP-species of Zr, Hf and Ta account for 10–14% of AD in average and increase up to 25% below 4000 m, whereas those for Mo and W are negligible. In contrast, LP-Nb shows maxima (up to 27%) in surface water. We also found that D-Zr/Hf, Nb/Ta and Mo/W mole ratios generally increase in the order continental crust < river water < coastal sea < open ocean.     

In-situ diurnal sea surface temperature variations and near-surface thermal structure in the tropical hot event of the Indo-Pacific warm pool

Diurnal Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variations and the near-surface thermal structure of the tropical hot event (HE) have been investigated using advanced in-situ equatorial observations with hourly temporal resolution. The information on the HE area defined by the satellite cloud-free SSTs is used to sample the in-situ observations. The in-situ SSTs sampled for the HE conditions show that a maximum (minimum) SST has a histogram mode at 30.8°C (29.0°C), and frequently appears at 15:00 (07:00) local time. The amplitude of the diurnal SST variation (DSST) is defined by the difference between the maximum and minimum SSTs. The mean DSST during HEs is greater than 0.5°C, and has a maximum of about 0.75°C at the HE peak. The time series of mean DSST gradually increases (rapidly decreases) before (after) the peak. The satellite SST has a systematic positive bias against the corresponding daytime SST measured by the Triangle Trans-Ocean buoy Network. This bias is enhanced under conditions of large in-situ DSST. One-dimensional numerical model simulation suggests that the systematic bias is caused by the sharp vertical temperature gradient in the surface layer of HE. The near-surface thermal structure is generated by conditions of high insolation and low wind speed, which is the typical HE condition.