North Pacific Synthesis of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study: Overview

This special issue is comprised of 13 papers, including this overview, and focuses on the synthesis of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) in the North Pacific which took place from 1997 through 2003. The effort was led by the JGOFS North Pacific Synthesis Group, with the aim of quantifying CO₂ drawdown by physical and biological pumps in the North Pacific by identifying and studying the regional, seasonal to inter-annual variations in the key processes, and understanding their regulating mechanisms. Emphasis was placed on the similarities and differences of the biogeochemical regimes in the eastern and western subarctic Pacific. Effort was also made to address the future research directions which arose from the scientific findings during the North Pacific JGOFS process study. A brief overview of the papers from view points of CO₂ drawdown by physical and biological pumps, spatial variability, and temporal variability from seasonal to decadal scales is made, followed by suggestions for the directions of future research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (Canada) in the NE subarctic Pacific

This volume of DSR II is dedicated to the Canadian Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) in the NE subarctic Pacific. This oceanic province is one of three High Nitrate Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) regions in the world oceans. Furthermore, this region is characterised by a shallow (ca. 100–120 m) permanent pycnocline during winter, which permits relatively high numbers of phytoplankton and micro-grazers to subsist over winter, which in turn strongly influences pelagic community structure. The 5-year field study encompassed two phases – phase 1 (seven voyages between September 1992 and May 1995), and the intensive phase 2 (six voyages between September 1995 and June 1997). Each voyage transected line P – from the coastal ocean westward to the open ocean. In addition to the JGOFS study, this volume also includes analyses of long time-series (>20 yr) data sets from Ocean Station Papa (OSP; 50°N 145°W) and other stations in the coastal and open ocean.     

The role of local models and data sets in the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study

The purpose of local studies within the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) is to determine something, typically a model with parameter values, that is useful for making regional or global estimates of fluxes. An iterative process of improvement should lead towards a model that fits available local data well, and local data that constrain the range of possible models well, so that the extrapolation from local to global can be made with confidence. This paper addresses issues in evaluating the fit of models and the constraining power of data. For illustrative purposes it treats the data and the form of the model as fixed, so that improvement is confined to the parameter values of the model. The plankton model of Fasham et al.(1990) (Journal of Marine Research, 48, 591–639) fits the data of the JGOFS North Atlantic Bloom Experiment of 1989 reasonably well, and that data set constrains the parameters of that model reasonably well. Studying their interplay suggests directions for improvement in both.     

Joint ventures as an export market: US groundfish

This article examines the growth of joint venture operations in the US Fishery Conservation Zone in the North Pacific since 1977. Joint ventures currently in operation are outlined and the foreign and domestic partners described. The most common joint ventures in the area are contractual joint ventures, which include over-the-side sales of fish, joint lease of processing ships and marketing, seafood trade agreements and joint ventures through US subsidiaries of foreign companies. Supply and demand factors in the joint venture market are analysed and it is pointed out that the joint ventures market does not satisfy the main principles of perfect competition. The author concludes that, because it is an imperfect market, US fishermen receive less for their fish than they would under pure competition conditions.     

The Southern Annular Mode and opposite-phased Basin Mode of the Southern Ocean circulation

Over the Southern Ocean the dominant modes of the atmospheric field are known as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) or Antarctic Oscillation, and the Pacific South American (PSA) pattern. Statistical analysis of sea surface wind (SSW) from satellite observation revealed two leading modes of SAM-like and PSA patterns. In the high latitudes, the SAM-like pattern of the SSW had a large amplitude over the Bellingshausen Basin and Australian-Antarctic Basin, with opposite phase between the two basins. On the intraseasonal time scale, large-scale sea surface height (SSH) also had notable variability, showing a basin-scale anti-phase mode over the two basins. To explain the response of oceanic variations to these atmospheric modes, we analyzed the relationship between the dominant modes of wind stress and large-scale SSH on the intraseasonal time scale. The SAM-like pattern of wind stress was correlated with the SSH variation over the two basins. The SSH basin mode was most simply explained by a simple barotropic response to the SAM-like mode of wind stress, with the curl of opposite phase between the two basins. We conclude that the zonal asymmetry of the wind field of the SAM plays an important role in driving the antiphase SSH basin modes.     

The deep waters from the Southern Ocean at the entry to the Argentine Basin

Hydrographic data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and South Atlantic Ventilation Experiment (SAVE) in the region of transition between the Scotia Sea and the Argentine Basin are examined to determine the composition of the deep water from the Southern Ocean that enters the Atlantic, and to describe the pathways of its constituents. The deep current that flows westward against the Falkland Escarpment is formed of several superposed velocity cores that convey waters of different origins: Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW), Southeast Pacific Deep Water (SPDW), and Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW).Different routes followed by the WSDW upstream of, and through, the Georgia Basin, lead to distinctions between the Lower-WSDW (σ₄>46.09) and the Upper-WSDW (46.04<σ₄ <46.09). The Lower-WSDW flows along the South Sandwich Trench, then cyclonically in the main trough of the Georgia Basin. Although a fraction escapes northward to the Argentine Basin, a comparison of the WOCE data with those from previous programmes shows that this component had disappeared from the southwestern Argentine Basin in 1993/1994. This corroborates previous results using SAVE and pre-SAVE data. A part of the Upper-WSDW, recognizable from different θ–S characteristics, flows through the Scotia Sea, then in the Georgia Basin along the southern front of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Northward leakage at this front is expected to feed the Argentine Basin through the northern Georgia Basin. The SPDW is originally found to the south of the Polar Front (PF) in Drake Passage. The northward veering of this front allows this water to cross the North Scotia Ridge at Shag Rocks Passage. It proceeds northward to the Argentine Basin around the Maurice Ewing Bank. The LCDW at the Falkland Escarpment is itself subdivided in two cores, of which only the denser one eventually underrides the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the Atlantic Ocean. This fraction is from the poleward side of the PF in Drake Passage. It also crosses the North Scotia Ridge at Shag Rocks Passage, then flows over the Falkland Plateau into the Atlantic. The lighter variety, from the northern side of the PF, is thought to cross the North Scotia Ridge at a passage around 55°W. It enters the Argentine Basin in the density range of the NADW.     

Decadal variability in an OGCM Southern Ocean: Intrinsic modes,forced modes and metastable states

An ocean general circulation model (OGCM) is used to identify a Southern Ocean southeast Pacific intrinsic mode of low frequency variability. Using CORE data a comprehensive suite of experiments were carried out to elucidate excitation and amplification responses of this intrinsic mode to low frequency forcing (ENSO, SAM) and stochastic forcing due to high frequency winds. Subsurface anomalies were found to teleconnect the Pacific and Atlantic regions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) thermocline. The Pacific region of the ACC is characterised by intrinsic baroclinic disturbances that respond to both SAM and ENSO, while the Atlantic sector of the ACC is sensitive to higher frequency winds that act to amplify thermocline anomalies propagating downstream from the Pacific. Non-stationary cluster analysis was used to identify the system’s dynamical regimes and characterise meta-stability, persistence and transitions between the respective states. This analysis reveals significant trends, indicating fundamental changes to the meta-stability of the ocean dynamics in response to changes in atmospheric forcing. Intrinsic variability in sea-ice concentration was found to be coupled to thermocline processes. Sea-ice variability localised in the Atlantic was most closely associated with high frequency weather forcing. The SAM was associated with a circumpolar sea-ice response whereas ENSO was found to be a major driver of sea-ice variability only in the Pacific. This simulation study identifies plausible mechanisms that determine the predictability of the Southern Ocean climate on multi-decadal timescales.     

Eddy mass transport for the Southern Ocean in an eddy-permitting global ocean model

The eddy-induced mass transport is diagnosed for the Southern Ocean in an eddy-permitting global ocean model (OCCAM). The focus is on the transport by transient eddies in the deep ocean. The transport streamfunction is calculated in four different combinations of coordinate system. Depending on the coordinate system employed, the strength of transient eddy transport varies from 6 Sv meridional transport in latitude-density coordinates to 20 Sv across-streamline transport in streamline-depth coordinates. It is shown that transient eddies as well as standing eddies are necessary for cancelling the Deacon cell.In the Antarctic bottom water density layer, the major contribution of the transient eddies towards net equatorward transport occurs (a) as a strong transport over the narrow Drake Passage and (b) as a weaker but systematic transport over a broader region in the southeast Pacific where the Antarctic circumpolar current breaks up into multiple jets. In contrast, in the North Atlantic deep water density layer the net poleward eddy transport is spread out almost everywhere. This suggests that attention to eddies should not be restricted to places where the eddy transport has large magnitude.     

南大洋作为大洋传输带循环的飞轮作用

末次冰期在20～10kaBP间到来并结束,这一时间跨度被一系列的突变气候序列所中断,特别是北大西洋从Heinrich1冷期向波令／阿勒罗德(B／A)暖期的快速转换,以及在南极具有极为相似的冷期转换已引起研究者的高度关注。在间冰期,劳伦和芬诺斯堪的亚冰盖融化的大量融溶水注入北大西洋,这种融溶水持续以大约0．1 Sv有规律的释放,已对位于北大西洋大洋传输带循环的“Achmes Heel”构成了威胁。早期数据和模拟工作表明,冰期时,温盐环流(THC)较间冰期弱,依据冰期传输带能量低的证据,自然就要涉及大洋循环的“飞轮”问题,     

The role of iron sources and transport for Southern Ocean productivity

Iron has been found to limit primary productivity in high nutrient, low chlorophyll regions of the oceans, including the Southern Ocean. Here we assess the relative magnitudes and geographical distributions of the sources of iron (sedimentary, atmospheric, icebergs and sea ice) to the Southern Ocean, and their impact on productivity. We present an iron cycling model, based on the assumptions of iron and light limitation of primary production, which is embedded in an eddy resolving ocean general circulation model. We find that the injection depth of the various iron inputs determines their availability for driving production because dissolved iron may be scavenged prior to it entering the illuminated mixed layer where it can drive primary production. The model suggests that production is predominantly regulated by sediment-derived iron sources rather than icebergs, sea ice or atmospheric dust. We note non-linear response in productivity to changes in the strength of one or more iron sources due to scavenging. Sea ice influences productivity by modifying the timing of iron supply to the euphotic zone. We also show that in the Scotia Sea the majority of productivity is driven by sediment-sourced iron from the Antarctic Peninsula, with additional local hotspots driven by island sources.     

Sensitivity of Southern Ocean circulation to wind stress changes: Role of relative wind stress

The influence of different wind stress bulk formulae on the response of the Southern Ocean circulation to wind stress changes is investigated using an idealised channel model. Surface/mixed layer properties are found to be sensitive to the use of the relative wind stress formulation, where the wind stress depends on the difference between the ocean and atmosphere velocities. Previous work has highlighted the surface eddy damping effect of this formulation, which we find leads to increased circumpolar transport. Nevertheless the transport due to thermal wind shear does lose sensitivity to wind stress changes at sufficiently high wind stress. In contrast, the sensitivity of the meridional overturning circulation is broadly the same regardless of the bulk formula used due to the adiabatic nature of the relative wind stress damping. This is a consequence of the steepening of isopycnals offsetting the reduction in eddy diffusivity in their contribution to the eddy bolus overturning, as predicted using a residual mean framework.     

2．5D重磁震联合反演在南黄海地质研究中的应用

以南黄海最新测量的2条重力、地震综合剖面为例,介绍了2．5D重磁震联合反演技术在南黄海综合地质地球物理研究中的应用,结果表明利用联合反演的方法可以检验地震解释结果,并通过反演为地震解释提供参考信息,以重磁为辅助手段,能有效提高地震解释的精确度。     

The seasonal succession of zooplankton in the Southern Ocean south of Australia,part II: The Sub-Antarctic to Polar Frontal Zones

Between October 2001 and March 2002 six transects were completed at monthly intervals in the Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ) and Inter-Sub-Antarctic Front Zone (ISAFZ)/Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) in the Southern Ocean south of Australia. Zooplankton were collected with a Continuous Plankton Recorder and NORPAC net and multivariate analysis was used to analyse the seasonal succession of communities. Despite strong, seasonally consistent, biogeographic differences between the SAZ and ISAFZ/PFZ, community structure in all zones was dominated by a suite of common taxa. These included the ubiquitous Oithona similis, foraminiferans and appendicularians (Core taxa), occurring in >97% of samples and contributing an average of 75% to total sample abundance, and Calanus simillimus, Rhincalanus gigas, Ctenocalanus citer, Clausocalanus brevipes, Clausocalanus laticeps, Oithona frigida, Limacina spp. and chaetognaths (Summer taxa), present in >57% of samples and occurring at seasonally high densities. Because of the dominance of the Core and Summer taxa, the seasonal succession was most clearly evident as a change in zooplankton densities. In October densities averaged <15 ind m⁻³, rising to 52 ind m⁻³ (max=92 ind m⁻³) in November, and subsequently increasing slowly through to January (ave=115 ind m⁻³; max=255 ind m⁻³). Densities peaked abruptly in February (ave=634 ind m⁻³; max=1593 ind m⁻³), and remained relatively high in March (ave=193 ind m⁻³; max=789 ind m⁻³). A latitudinal lag in seasonal development was observed with peak densities occurring first in the SAZ (February) and then in the ISAFZ/PFZ (March). The seasonal community succession was strongly influenced by species population cycles. The role of zooplankton in biogeochemical cycling in the SAZ and ISAFZ/PFZ was discussed in the light of past sediment trap data collected from the study area.     

Ocean and climate sciences taking grand challenges and extraordinary opportunities: introduction to COAA 2007 special sections

In this universe, the earth is a unique breeding ground for living beings. It bares the evolutions, sustains the survival and enriches the development of human species. The studies of history have indicated that minute changes of the earth＇ s environment may have caused great impacts on the vulnerable balanced ecological systems, endanger the living conditions for human beings and associated cultures. Thus, understanding the nature＇s governing rules of the earth, and clarifying its fundamental laws of sciences are everlasting research topics for the human pursuits.     

Ocean and climate sciences taking grand challenges and extraordinary opportunities: introduction to COAA 2007 special sections

In this universe, the earth is a unique breeding ground for living beings.It bares the evolutions, sustains the survival and enriches the development of human species.