Seasonal Dependence of the North Pacific and North Atlantic SST Predictability and Forecast Skill

In this paper, the decadal predictability and forecast skill of the Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTA) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean were investigated by conducting three sets of perfect model forecast experiments using a global coupled general circulation model. The results show that the annual mean SSTA in the North Pacific is less predictable on decadal time scale, with the forecast skill notably weaker than that of the North Atlantic. By analyzing the predictability and forecast skill of seasonal mean SSTA, it is found that the decadal predictability and forecast skill of the winter mean (JFM) SSTA in the central and western North Pacific are significantly higher than those of other seasons, and the magnitude is comparable with that of the North Atlantic. The predictability and forecast skill of the North Atlantic SSTA also show seasonal variations. Further analysis indicates that the seasonal dependence of the SSTA decadal predictability and forecast skill in the North Pacific is due to the winter-to-winter reemergence mechanism of SSTA in the North Pacific, which results from the seasonal variation of the mixed layer depth of the North Pacific Ocean. While the seasonal dependence of the North Atlantic SSTA predictability and forecast skill might be related to seasonal variations of other processes, such as the Atlantic Decadal Oscillation. The results of this paper suggest that for decadal climate prediction, if the forecast skill of the seasonal mean is taken into account, we might obtain higher than annual mean forecast skill for some seasons.     

Indium and yttrium in North Atlantic and Mediterranean waters: comparison to the Pacific data

Vertical profiles of dissolved indium and yttrium were determined in the eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea to compare with those of the North Pacific reported earlier. The Y concentrations in the surface waters are 120 pmol/kg in the North Atlantic and 205 pmol/kg in the Mediterranean Sea, which are significantly higher than 80 pmol/kg in the North Pacific. The difference may be attributable to the different strength of input of Y to the oceans from fluvial and aeolian sources. In contrast, the deep water concentration of Y increases in the order of North Atlantic < Mediterranean < North Pacific. This trend is similar to that of dissolved Si, suggesting that Y is involved in the biogeochemical regeneration cycle. The vertical profiles of In are far more complex than Y. The In profile shows a systematic increase from 0.6 pmol/kg at the surface to 1.7 pmol/kg at 2100 m in the North Atlantic, whereas it is almost featureless at a mean concentration of 3.8 ± 0.6 pmol/kg in the Mediterranean Sea. The North Atlantic and Mediterranean In concentrations are considerably higher than those observed in the North Pacific (∼0.1 pmol/kg), and such a large interoceanic variation has been reported before only for Al and Ga. Like Al, the deep water In concentration that decreases in the order of Mediterranean > North > North Pacific exhibits an inverse trend of Y and nutrients. Indium is highly particle-reactive (47% association in the Mediterranean Sea), and must have a short mean oceanic residence time. However, the featureless dissolved In profile in the Mediterranean Sea is clearly different from the profiles of dissolved Al, showing increase with depth Hydes et al 1988, Measures and Edmond 1988, suggesting that significant fractionation of the two elements is taking place in the ocean.The interoceanic variations of dissolved In and Al may be ascribed to the different intensities of external input of which aeolian has been considered to be major rather than fluvial. However, the difference of In and Al concentrations in the deep waters of the above oceanic basins are significantly greater than those of other refractory elements, such as Ce, Ti, Hf, and Zr, whose major sources to the ocean are also considered to be aeolian. Furthermore, the In/Al ratios in seawater are about two orders of magnitude greater than the average crustal ratio. Thus, some additional sources, though not yet certain, may be required to explain the high concentrations of In in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean deep waters.     

Synchronous climate anomalies in the western North Pacific and North Atlantic regions during the last 14,000 years

A peat cellulose δ¹⁸O record spanning around 14,000 years from the Hani peat mire in northeastern China reveals several abrupt temperature anomalies in the period from the last deglaciation through the Holocene. The timing of these anomalies coincides well with the notable cooling events recorded respectively using the GISP2 ice core and ice-rafted sediment of the North Atlantic Ocean, such as the Older Dryas, Inter-Allerød, Younger Dryas, and the nine ice-rafted debris events. The results demonstrate that this repeating pattern of abrupt temperature deterioration is not limited to the North Atlantic area at high latitude but also exists in the western North Pacific region at middle latitude. The synchronous temperature anomalies possibly are resulted from the joint effects of meltwater discharge into the North Atlantic Ocean and reduced solar activity. In the period from around 8600 to 8200 cal. yrs BP the Hani peat record shows a broad δ¹⁸O peak that may reflect compound climate signals resulting from the two kinds of forcing factors: the temperature drop related to reduced solar activity at around 8600–8250 cal. yrs BP, and the temperature anomaly attributed to the meltwater effect at around 8220 ± 70 cal. yrs BP. This result may provide palaeo-temperature evidence for existence of the sharp “8.2 k” event in the western North Pacific region. In addition, our results have revealed that in the period from the last deglaciation through the Holocene the synchronous temperature anomalies before and after the “8.2 k” event seem to be related to meltwater outflow and reduced solar activity, respectively. It is important that the all temperature anomalies—whether because of reduced solar activity in the late Holocene or from meltwater discharge in the early Holocene—are accompanied by an abrupt decline in the Indian Ocean summer monsoon and abrupt strengthening of the East Asian summer monsoon. It is likely that reduced solar activity and meltwater outflow appear to modulate Earth system changes in the same direction. The influences could be compounded. Reduced solar activity and meltwater outburst both appear to act as triggers for occurrence of the El Niño phenomenon in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which may result in broad teleconnections between the temperature anomaly in the Northern Hemisphere and abrupt variation of the Asian monsoon.     

Special features of heat flow in transform faults of the North Atlantic and Southeast Pacific

The paper reports on the morphostructure and heat flow in zones of transform faults of the North Atlantic and the Southeast Pacific, focusing on the fundamental difference between heat flow in active and inactive parts of the faults. In the active parts, which are located between segments of the mid-ocean ridge (MOR), the measured heat flow is close to that observed in the rift zones of MORs. The heat flow is considered a joint effect of the thermal conductivity of the oceanic crust and convective heat and mass transfer by thermal waters inside the oceanic crust. In the inactive parts of the faults, with distance from the MOR, the heat flow decreases to the background rates typical of thalassocratons. The sedimentation rate in a fault zone and conductive heat flow refraction resulting from the heterogeneous thermal characteristics of the geological section are the factors that deflect heat flow.     

The mid- to late Holocene paleoceanographic changes in the northern North Atlantic

A high-resolution diatom record from core MD99-2275 shows a general paleoceanographic change in the northern North Atlantic since 5000 cal. a B.P. by Principle Component Analysis. Sea surface temperature (SST) increased gradually during 5000 and 3000 cal. a B.P. on the North Icelandic shelf as a result of increasing influence of warm Atlantic water mass from the Irminger Current. It apparently started to decrease since 3000 cal. a B.P. due to the weakening influence of warm water and enhanced influence of the Polar and Arctic water masses from the East Greenland Current and the East Icelandic Current. Abrupt decreases in SST and intrusions of Polar and Arctic water superimposed on the late Holocene cooling trend during 3000-2600, 1300-1000 and 600-200 cal. a B.P.. The paleoceanographic record revealed from core MD99-2275 corresponds well with δ¹⁸O record from the GISP2 and is generally consistent with other SST records based on diatom on the North Icelandic shelf. __________ Translated from Marine Science Bulletin, 2008, 27(5) [译自:海洋通报]     

The fit of the continents around the North Atlantic Ocean

A new reassembly of the continents around the North Atlantic Ocean is presented. The first criterion used for this reassembly is the identification of the structural framework related to the opening which consists of marginal fracture zones generated by offsets of the Rift. The Africa—North America, Eurasia—Greenland, Greenland—North America and Eurasia—North America adjustments are successively discussed. It is argued that the adjustments are best made at the 3000-meters isobath between Africa and North America and at the 2000-meters isobath for the younger rifts. The difference is attributed to subsidence and modification of continental margins with time. The importance of the Late Paleozoic tectonic phase in determining the subsequent pattern of Mesozoic rifting is emphasized.     

The aluminosilicate fraction of North Pacific manganese nodules

Nine nodules collected from throughout the deep North Pacific were analyzed for their mineralogy and major-element composition before and after leaching with Chester-Hughes solution. Data indicate that the mineral phillipsite accounts for the major part (> 75%) of the aluminosilicate fraction of all nodules. It is suggested that formation of phillipsite takes place on growing nodule surfaces coupled with the oxidation of absorbed manganous ion. All the nodules could be described as ternary mixtures of amorphous iron fraction (Fe-Ti-P), manganese oxide fraction (Mn-Mg Cu-Ni), and phillipsite fraction (Al-Si-K-Na), these fractions accounting for 96% of the variability of the chemical composition.     

Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres and their relation to the North Atlantic Alkaline Province

Geological mapping and diamond exploration in northern Quebec and Labrador has revealed an undeformed ultramafic dyke swarm in the northern Torngat Mountains. The dyke rocks are dominated by an olivine-phlogopite mineralogy and contain varying amounts of primary carbonate. Their mineralogy, mineral compositional trends and the presence of typomorphic minerals (e.g. kimzeyitic garnet), indicate that these dykes comprise an ultramafic lamprophyre suite grading into carbonatite. Recognized rock varieties are aillikite, mela-aillikite and subordinate carbonatite. Carbonatite and aillikite have in common high carbonate content and a lack of clinopyroxene. In contrast, mela-aillikites are richer in mafic silicate minerals, in particular clinopyroxene and amphibole, and contain only small amounts of primary carbonate. The modal mineralogy and textures of the dyke varieties are gradational, indicating that they represent end-members in a compositional continuum.

The Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres are characterized by high but variable MgO (10–25 wt.%), CaO (5–20 wt.%), TiO₂ (3–10 wt.%) and K₂O (1–4 wt.%), but low SiO₂ (22–37 wt.%) and Al₂O₃ (2–6 wt.%). Higher SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Na₂O and lower CO₂ content distinguish the mela-aillikites from the aillikites. Whereas the bulk rock major and trace element concentrations of the aillikites and mela-aillikites overlap, there is no fractional crystallization relation between them. The major and trace element characteristics imply related parental magmas, with minor olivine and Cr-spinel fractionation accounting for intra-group variation.

The Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres have a Neoproterozoic age and are spatially and compositionally closely related with the Neoproterozoic ultramafic lamprophyres from central West Greenland. Ultramafic potassic-to-carbonatitic magmatism occurred in both eastern Laurentia and western Baltica during the Late Neoproterozoic. It can be inferred from the emplacement ages of the alkaline complexes and timing of Late Proterozoic processes in the North Atlantic region that this volatile-rich, deep-seated igneous activity was a distal effect of the breakup of Rodinia. This occurred during and/or after the rift-to-drift transition that led to the opening of the Iapetus Ocean.     

Iceland and the North Atlantic: A review

Iceland is a special volcanic island in an anomalous ocean basin. A review of the unusual features shows that among others topography and gravity are broadly positive, spreading has been and still is complex, seismicity is slightly diffuse and the chemistry of the basalts is different from that at normal ridges. In summary we observe a tendency of lithospheric dispersal and spreading in the North Atlantic and its surroundings. These observations together with what is known about Icelandic crust, heat flow, tectonic history, etc., point to a hot mantle upwelling beneath Iceland. The shape of the upwelling currents is not known. Although at present much speculation is possible, the authors prefers to think of a broad rising region uplifting the lithospheric plates such that they tend to slide away from Iceland more forcefully than is the case from normal spreading ridges.     

North Pacific Radiolarian assemblages and their relationship to oceanographic parameters

A quantitative study of the distribution of Radiolaria in surface sediments of the North Pacific has demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing complete radiolarian thanatocoenoses as indicators of past oceanographic conditions.In samples from 36 core tops from the region 33° N-54° N, 148° E-140° W, 87–96% of all radiolarians encountered could be assigned to one of 120 taxa recognized. Q-mode factor analysis of distributional data for the 57 most abundant species yields four independent assemblages. Three of these reflect near-surface oceanographic conditions, and the fourth responds to bottom conditions. Regression-developed transfer functions describe the relationship between the assemblages and oceanographic parameters.     

The oceans and the physics of the Earth

The Earth is the only terrestrial planet to have seas, by which it is covered to the extent of seventy percent. The oceans determine the climate of the Earth and it is through them that life and civilization have evolved, but they also have major influence on physical processes in the solid Earth. Tidal friction leads to the Earth's spin slowing down with a consequent recession of the Moon from the Earth, while the presence of the oceans controls the tectonic evolution of the Earth through the formation of oceanic crust, the erosion of land and the accumulation of sediment, the formation of mountains and the establishment of isostatic balance.     

The long-term buffering of the oceans

The dissolved constituents being carried to the oceans by rivers cannot all be removed by sedimentary processes, including authigenesis. Direct introduction of formation waters to the oceans has no significant effect. Reaction of seawater with basaltic rocks is, however, potentially capable of removing the excess cations by a combination of low-temperature weathering (removing K⁺), and higher temperature hydrothermal reaction (removing Na⁺ and Mg²⁺), although these processes seem to release more silica than can be conveniently accounted for. Although these are essentially kinetic rather than equilibrium buffer mechanisms, they appear to be sufficient to have maintained a constant seawater composition (except for SiO₂) during the Phanerozoic.     

Progresses and Prospects for North Tropical Atlantic Mode Interannual Variability

North Tropical Atlantic Mode (NTAM) is the leading variability of the boreal spring sea surface temperature anomalies over the North Tropical Atlantic at interannual timescale. It is also known as the northern pole of the Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM). NTAM shows significant impact on the shift of Intertropical Convergence Zone, the precipitation of the surrounding countries, the quasi-biennial oscillation of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the recent global warming hiatus. Despite its distinct influence on global climate, NTAM has not received equivalent attention as other tropical variability (e.g. ENSO). By revisiting previous studies, this paper summarized the triggers and mechanisms responsible for the evolution and development of NTAM, including remote forcing from ENSO, south tropical Atlantic as well as North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), local air-sea coupling, and the interactions among different triggers. Also, this paper detailedly introduced the ability of CMIP5 (The fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) model simulation. The prominent model biases over the equatorial Atlantic significantly limit the study of NTAM. Finally, a future prospective of NTAM interannual variability was presented.     

Synthetic generation of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index

In this article synthetic records of longer duration than the historic records of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index were compared. The synthetic records were obtained using the year interchange method and the Svanidze fragments method, as well as the Fiering method. These records can be used in simulation models for the longterm analysis of the behavior of the teleconnection index, predominantly vis-á-vis climate change scenarios.     

Variations in temperature and extent of Atlantic Water in the northern North Atlantic during the Holocene

We compare six high-resolution Holocene, sediment cores along a S–N transect on the Norwegian–Svalbard continental margin from ca 60°N to 77.4°N, northern North Atlantic. Planktonic foraminifera in the cores were investigated to show the changes in upper surface and subsurface water mass distribution and properties, including summer sea-surface temperatures (SST). The cores are located below the axis of the Norwegian Current and the West Spitsbergen Current, which today transport warm Atlantic Water to the Arctic. Sediment accumulation rates are generally high at all the core sites, allowing for a temporal resolution of 10–10² years. SST is reconstructed using different types of transfer functions, resulting in very similar SST trends, with deviations of no more than ±1.0/1.5 °C. A transfer function based on the maximum likelihood statistical approach is found to be most relevant. The reconstruction documents an abrupt change in planktonic foraminiferal faunal composition and an associated warming at the Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition. The earliest part of the Holocene was characterized by large temperature variability, including the Preboreal Oscillations and the 8.2 k event. In general, the early Holocene was characterized by SSTs similar to those of today in the south and warmer than today in the north, and a smaller S–N temperature gradient (0.23 °C/°N) compared to the present temperature gradient (0.46 °C/°N). The southern proxy records (60–69°N) were more strongly influenced by slightly cooler subsurface water probably due to the seasonality of the orbital forcing and increased stratification due to freshening. The northern records (72–77.4°N) display a millennial-scale change associated with reduced insolation and a gradual weakening of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC). The observed northwards amplification of the early Holocene warming is comparable to the pattern of recent global warming and future climate modelling, which predicts greater warming at higher latitudes. The overall trend during mid and late Holocene was a cooling in the north, stable or weak warming in the south, and a maximum S–N SST gradient of ca 0.7 °C/°N at 5000 cal. years BP. Superimposed on this trend were several abrupt temperature shifts. Four of these shifts, dated to 9000–8000, 5500–3000 and 1000 and 400 cal. years BP, appear to be global, as they correlate with periods of global climate change. In general, there is a good correlation between the northern North Atlantic temperature records and climate records from Norway and Svalbard.     

Caledonides of the North Atlantic Region and Occurrence of Ophiolites

<正>There are few older orogens in the world,like the Caledonides,where it is possible to demonstrate many hundreds of kilometers of translation of allochthons,comparable to those in the Himalaya-Tibet mountain belt.In the North Atlantic region(Gee et al.,2008),the Caledonide Orogen has its main outcrop areas in the     

The North Atlantic Oscillation: A dominant factor in variations of oceanic circulation systems of the Atlantic Ocean

On the basis of altimetry data, the dynamics of the interaction between the subtropical anticyclonic (SA) and subpolar cyclonic (SC) gyres of the North Atlantic is considered. It is shown that the westerlies in the lower troposphere represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index are the main factor responsible for the dynamics of the gyres, which controls the inflow of warm Atlantic water into the Polar basin.