Hydrographic conditions in the Tsushima Strait revisited

Long-term averaged temperature and salinity distributions in the Tsushima Strait are investigated on the basis of a concurrent dataset of the eastern and western channels during 1971–2000. Both temperature and salinity show a clear seasonal variation with weak and strong stratifications in December–April and June–October, respectively. The largest standard deviations occur in summer around the thermocline for temperature and in the surface layer for salinity. This indicates large interannual variability in the development of a thermocline and low salinity water advection from the East China Sea. The water masses in both channels are distinctly different from each other; the water in the western channel is generally colder and fresher than that in the eastern channel throughout the year. Baroclinic transport based on the density distributions shows a seasonal variation with a single peak in August for the eastern channel and double peaks in April and August for the western channel. However, this cannot explain the seasonal variation in the total volume transport estimated from the sea level differences across the channels. The spatial distribution of baroclinic transport shows a year-round negative transport towards the East China Sea behind the Iki Island in the eastern part of the eastern channel. This negative transport reflects the baroclinic structure between the offshore Tsushima Current Water and cold coastal water. The corresponding southwestward currents are found in both Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and high frequency (HF) radars observations.     

Low-frequency variations of the characteristics of pycnocline in the North Atlantic and their correlation with the North-Atlantic oscillation

On the basis of processing of the oceanographic data accumulated for the water area of the North Atlantic in 1950–1999 (∼500,000 stations), we study seasonal and interannual variations of the principal characteristics of pycnocline within the range of σ_t = 25.5–27.5 conventional density units. It is shown that the interannual oscillations of these characteristics in the entire analyzed layer can be regarded as a superposition of fluctuations with periods from 2–3 to 10–12 yr. The typical ranges of these fluctuations for the depths of occurrence of isopycnic surfaces and the corresponding temperature and salinity are equal to 20–25 m, 1–1.5°C, and 0.25‰, respectively. The intensification of atmospheric circulation at middle latitudes is accompanied by the simultaneous deepening of the pycnocline and its heating in the central part of the North Subtropical Anticyclonic Gyre. At the same time, the process of weakening of the atmospheric circulation leads to the rise of the pycnocline and its cooling. The complete cycle of interaction of the North-Atlantic Oscillation with the anomalies of isopycnic characteristics (with regard for the period of their advection) is equal to ∼6–8 yr. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 29–48, March–April, 2007.     

Stable Isotopic Composition of Particulate Organic Carbon in the Caspian Sea

The data on the isotopic composition of particulate organic carbon (δ¹³C_POC) in the Caspian Sea water in summer–autumn 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013 are discussed in the paper. These data allowed as to reveal the predominant genesis of organic carbon in suspended particulate matter of the active seawater layer (from 0 to 40 m). The δ¹³C_POC =–27‰ (PDB) and δ¹³C_POC =–20.5‰ (PDB) values were taken as the reference data for terrigenous and planktonogenic organic matter, respectively. Seasonal (early summer, late summer, and autumn) variations in the composition of suspended particulate matter in the active sea layer were revealed. A shift of δ¹³C_POC towards greater values was seen in autumn (with a slight outburst in the development (bloom) of phytoplankton) in comparison with summer (with large accumulations and an extraordinary phytoplankton bloom confined to the thermocline area). The seasonal dynamics of autochthonous and allochthonous components in the suspended particulate matter of the Middle and Southern Caspian Sea was studied with the use of data on the concentration of particulate matter and chlorophyll a, the phytoplankton biomass and the POC content.     

2011年春、夏季黄、东海水团与水文结构分布特征

根据2011年春季(4月)夏季(8月)两个航次调查的CTD温盐资料,获得观测期间黄、东海主要水团特征:(1)夏季黄海冷水团10℃等温线在黄海海域中部30m以深,影响范围西至122°E南至34°N,最低温度为6.2℃,比气候态平均冷水团温度低约2℃;(2)夏季冲淡水以长江口为中心,呈半圆形向外扩展,并无明显NE转向,30.00等盐线在32°N断面上东至124°E,南至29.5°N,扩展范围与往年相比偏西1°左右,而在SE方向较往年有明显延伸扩展。水文结构特征为:(1)春季,温跃层主要在南黄海中部以西,跃层强度仅为0.10—0.40℃/m;密跃层主要在长江口以东,跃层强度0.20—0.30kg/m4;(2)夏季,温跃层强度最高值在长江口东北,跃层强度达到2.41℃/m,上界深度5.5m,厚度2.5m;黄海温跃层强度普遍强于东海,主要是冷水团区域表底显著的温度差异造成;密跃层强度高值区在33°N断面西侧海区,强度达到1.38kg/m4,上界深度5.5m,厚度约为1.5m;沿长江冲淡水舌轴方向的密跃层强度为0.30—0.60kg/m4,自西向东逐渐减弱。     

长江口及济州岛邻近海域温、盐、密度的跃层现象

本文根据CTD观测资料,分析了研究海区的温、盐、密度跃层的分布与变化,讨论了逆温逆盐层的分布区域,并从跃层角度出发,分析了深层水的涌升,黄海冷水团的上边界以及台湾暖流在东海北部的影响范围。     

Characteristics of variations of water properties and density structure around the Kuroshio in the East China Sea

Quarterly data of CTD at the PN line in the East China Sea during 1988–94 were analyzed to examine the variations of water properties and density structure in relation to the Kuroshio. The Kuroshio flows over the continental slope at the PN line. Water properties in the surface layer less than 100 db change greatly and show a clear seasonal cycle, while those in the subsurface layer are much less variable. The small isobaric variations in the subsurface layer are almost due to the vertical movement of isopycnals, on which the water properties vary little. The subsurface variations of salinity, temperature and isopycnal depth are classified into four groups occurring in the four regions, divided vertically by the middle of the main pycnocline and horizontally by the offshore edge of the Kuroshio, named Groups 1 (upper Kuroshio), 2 (upper offshore region), 3 (lower Kuroshio), and 4 (lower offshore region). The difference in averaged isopycnal depth between Groups 1 and 2 (3 and 4) is highly correlated with the vertical shear of the Kuroshio velocity in the upper (lower) pycnocline. The isopycnal depth of Groups 1 and 3 has little annual cycle (with large intraseasonal variations in Group 3), while that of Groups 2 and 4 shows a clear seasonal variation with the minimum in fall. As a result, the Kuroshio velocity is smallest in fall almost every year, although the amplitude of seasonal variation and the season of maximum velocity are different from year to year. Interannual variations of isopycnal depth are characterized by a large amplitude of Group 2 and an opposite phase between Groups 3 and 4, so that the variations of difference in isopycnal depth between Groups 1 and 2 and Groups 3 and 4, i.e., the upper and lower shear of the Kuroshio velocity, are comparably significant.     

Numerical Study of Formation of Dichothermal Water in the Bering Sea

A one-dimensional numerical model with a level-2.5 turbulent closure scheme to provide vertical mixing coefficients has been used to investigate the process by which the dichothermal water is formed in the Bering Sea, the density of which is about 26.6 sigma-theta. The water column to be simulated is assumed to move along a predetermined path. That is, the present model is of the Lagrangian-type. Surface boundary conditions are given using the climatologies of heat, freshwater and momentum fluxes. In order to obtain a plausible moving speed of the water column along the path, pre-liminary experiments were done using the surface fluxes in the central part of the Bering Sea for the initial temperature and salinity profiles at the entrance of the Sea. As a result, it was found that the temperature minimum layer, i.e., the dichothermal water with temperature similar to the climatology at the exit of the Bering Sea, was formed after about two years of integration. Based on the result, the movement speed of the water column along the path was set as 4.5 cm/s in the standard run. It was found that this model could plausibly reproduce the subsurface temperature minimum layer. That is, the dichothermal water was formed in the winter mixed layer process in the Bering Sea. The existence of the subsurface halocline (pycnocline) prohibited the deeper penetration of the winter mixed layer, and therefore water with a temperature colder than that under the mixed layer was formed in the mixed layer due to wintertime surface cooling. In the warming season this water remains as the subsurface temperature minimum layer between the upper seasonal thermocline and the lower halocline. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vertical structure of the M<Subscript>2</Subscript> tidal current in the Yellow Sea

The vertical structure of the M₂ tidal current in the Yellow Sea is analyzed from data acquired using an acoustic Doppler current profiler. The observed vertical profiles of the M₂ tidal current are decomposed into two rotating components of counter-clockwise and clockwise, and restructured using a simple one-point model with a constant vertical eddy viscosity. The analyzed results show that the internal fictional effect dominates the vertical structure of the tidal current in the bottom boundary layer. In the Yellow Sea, the effect of the bottom friction reduces the current speed by about 20–40% and induces the bottom phase advance by about 15–50 minutes. In the shallower coastal regions, the effects of bottom topography are more prominent on the vertical structure of tidal currents. The vertical profile of the tidal current in summer, when the water column is strongly stratified, is disturbed near the pycnocline layer. The stratification significantly influences the vertical shear and distinct seasonal variation of the tidal current.     

Subsurface Water Masses in the Central North Pacific Transition Region: The Repeat Section along the 18° Meridian

A repeat hydrographic section has been maintained over two decades along the 180° meridian across the subarctic-subtropical transition region. The section is naturally divided into at least three distinct zones. In the Subarctic Zone north of 46°N, the permanent halocline dominates the density stratification, supporting a subsurface temperature minimum (STM). The Subarctic Frontal Zone (SFZ) between 42°–46°N is the region where the subarctic halocline outcrops. To the south is the Subtropical Zone, where the permanent thermocline dominates the density stratification, containing a pycnostad of North Pacific Central Mode Water (CMW). The STM water colder than 4°C in the Subarctic Zone is originated in the winter mixed layer of the Bering Sea. The temporal variation of its core temperature lags 12–16 months behind the variations of both the winter sea surface temperature (SST) and the summer STM temperature in the Bering Sea, suggesting that the thermal anomalies imposed on the STM water by wintertime air-sea interaction in the Bering Sea spread over the western subarctic gyre, reaching the 180° meridian within a year or so. The CMW in this section originates in the winter mixed layer near the northern edge of the Subtropical Zone between 160°E and 180°. The CMW properties changed abruptly from 1988 to 1989; its temperature and salinity increased and its potential density decreased. It is argued that these changes were caused by the climate regime shift in 1988/1989 characterized by weakening of the Aleutian Low and the westerlies and increase in the SST in the subarctic-subtropical transition region. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of the Black-Sea climatic fields below the main pycnocline obtained on the basis of assimilation of the archival data on temperature and salinity in the numerical hydrodynamic model

We study model climatic temperature and salinity fields and the fields of currents in the 350–1000-m layer. The following specific features are revealed: Colder waters are observed in the regions with anticyclonic vorticity. At the same time, warmer waters are detected in the regions with cyclonic vorticity. This temperature effect can be explained by the elevation of temperature with depth below the main pycnocline. In the region of the Sevastopol anticyclone, at depths greater than 500 m, we observe a zone of cyclonic rotation of waters. Near the Caucasian coast, in the region of Gelendzhik, we reveal a narrow jet current existing at a depth of 350 m from March till July. Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 1, pp.3–15, January–February, 2009.     

On the rates of sulfide formation and oxidation in the Black Sea during the cold season

The rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation in the redox zone of the Black Sea and the rate of the hydrogen sulfide formation due to bacterial sulfate reduction in the upper layer of the anaerobic waters were measured during the period of February–April 1991. The measurements were made using a sulfur radioisotope under conditions close to those in situ. It was established that the hydrogen sulfide is oxidized in the layer where oxygen and hydrogen sulfide coexist, which is under the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide layer. The maximum rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation was recorded within the limits of the density values δτ of 16.20–16.30, while varying in the layer from 2 to 4.5 μM/day. The average rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation was 1.5–3 times higher than that during the warm season. Sulfide formation was not observed at most of the stations in the examined lower portion of the pycnocline layer (140 to 400 m depths). Noticeable sulfate reduction was detected only at one station on the northwestern shelf. A probable reason for such noticeable changes in the sulfur dynamics in the water mass of the Black Sea may be the intensified hydrodynamics in the upper layers of the water mass during the cold season. The data suggesting that hydrogen sulfide oxidation proceeds under the hydrogen sulfide boundary indicate the absence of the so called “suboxic zone” in this basin.     

Estimation of the long-term variability of hydrophysical characteristics of the Black Sea based on the assimilation of the climatic hydrological fields L and altimetry data

To study the long-term variability of the thermohaline and dynamic characteristics of the Black Sea, we use three versions of climatic fields, namely, the fields reconstructed in the model according to the old (1903–1982) and new (1903–2003) hydrological climatic data arrays of temperature and salinity and according to the data of satellite altimetry. The analysis of the altimetry-based climatic fields confirms the distinctions (established earlier according to the old and new data arrays) in the seasonal variability of the integral characteristics of temperature and salinity and in the structures of hydrophysical fields in the sea. It is shown that, in the winter-spring season, the thermohaline fields reconstructed according to the new and altimetry data arrays are characterized by a small elevation of the halocline (pycnocline) and the upper boundary of the cold intermediate layer. In all seasons, the altimetry-based surface geostrophic currents contain numerous mesoscale eddies with different signs of rotation. Moreover, in all seasons, the Rim Current reconstructed according to the altimetry data is characterized by a narrower jet almost along the entire its length. This jet is especially intense near the coasts of West Anatolia. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 4, pp. 3–17, July–August, 2006.     

2006年夏、冬季珠江口附近海域水文特征调查分析

根据珠江口外沿岸海域2006年夏季(7-8月)及冬季(2006年12月-2007年1月)航次的CTD调查资料,分析了调查海域夏季与冬季的温度、盐度分布,温度、盐度、密度跃层特征及其与上升流、中尺度涡旋和海流的关系.结果表明:1)夏季调查海域冲淡水扩展、上升流、中尺度涡等现象在温度、盐度分布中都有很明显的表征,并对跃层分布有显著的影响,形成了复杂的跃层类型;在冲淡水扩展的影响下,还形成了双跃层与障碍层现象.2)冬季海水混合剧烈,沿岸浅水区域跃层现象不明显,在陆坡深水区存在跃层现象.     

Transformation of black-sea waters in the Sea of Marmara

The analysis is performed on the basis of comparison of the hydrological characteristics of prestrait regions of the Sea of Marmara. It is shown that, in summer, the Black-Sea waters are weakly mixed with the Mediterranean waters and the levels of salinity in the prestrait regions differ by 0.6–0.9‰. In winter, the indicated difference increases and the level of salinity near the entrance of Dardanelles reaches 29‰ and exceeds the level observed near the entrance of Bosporus by 5.5‰. In the analyzed regions, we observe local temperature maxima and minima near the interface of two water masses. This is explained by the presence of strong seasonal variations of temperature for the Black-Sea waters and their absence for the Mediterranean waters. The physical mechanisms responsible for the seasonal variations of the intensity of transformations of the Black-Sea waters are discussed. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 49–55, March–April, 2007.     

Statistical structure of the large-scale fields of temperature and salinity in the Black Sea

In order to reconstruct the large-scale temperature and salinity fields by the method of optimal interpolation of the archival data, we compute the correlation functions and analyze the space and time variations of the statistical structure of the fields. On the sea surface, the thermohaline fields are spatially inhomogeneous. Thus, the correlation functions are anisotropic in the region of the northwest shelf and close to isotropic in the inner parts of the sea. The values of correlation length vary from season to season. In the layer of pycnocline, the temperature and salinity fields are anisotropic. In the zonal direction, the correlation length is 2–3 times greater than in the meridional direction. The indicated anisotropy becomes stronger in the winter season and weaker in the summer season as a consequence of the seasonal variability of large-scale circulation. We study the dependence of the error of reconstruction of the fields by the method of optimal interpolation on the form of approximation of the correlation functions with regard for anisotropy. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 1, pp. 51–65, January–February, 2008.     

1994年9月南沙群岛调查海区的跃层特征

对１９９４年９月南沙群岛海区综合考察的标准层资料，运用垂向梯度法，计算了调查海区温、盐及密度３种跃居所处的深度及各自的厚度和强度，并进行了相应的分析。文章还讨论了调查海区温、盐和密度的垂向最大梯度的分布。分析表明，调查海区同时存在着３种跃层现象，多跃层现象较普遍，温、盐和密度的垂向最大梯度所在深度较小。     

层化对东海大陆架潮流垂向结构的影响

利用ADCP对东海大陆架定点(26°30.052′N,122°35.998′E)连续观测6个多月的海流数据进行分析研究,结果表明:层化对该海域潮流的垂向结构有显著影响,层化导致潮流流速、潮流椭圆长轴、椭圆率和倾角在通过密度跃层时发生较大改变。9月份,东海大陆架存在较强的密度跃层,层化加强,海流流速、M2分潮潮流倾角和M2分潮潮流椭圆率在跃层深度以浅随深度显著增大,跃层处达最大,跃层以深随深度迅速减小;2月份,上层海洋混合较强,密度跃层强度最弱,潮流流速、潮流椭圆长轴、椭圆率和倾角在垂向上变化不大。     

Seasonal variation of <Superscript>228</Superscript>Ra/<Superscript>226</Superscript>Ra ratio in surface water from the East China Sea and the Tsushima Strait

A total of 21 surface water samples were collected on the east side of the East China Sea (ECS) (3 sites) and at the Tsushima Strait (1 site), and ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra activities were measured using low-background γ-spectrometry. The ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratios among the samples exhibited notable seasonal variation (²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra = 0.2–2.6) accompanying changes of salinity (31.7–34.7). Seasonal water circulation within the ECS is hypothesized to cause the change by altering the mixing ratio of ²²⁸Ra-rich continental shelf water and ²²⁸Ra-poor Kuroshio water.     

Intrusion of less saline shelf water into the Kuroshio subsurface layer in the East China Sea

The possible origin and cause of the less saline shelf water detected in the Kuroshio subsurface layer around the shelf edge of the East China Sea are investigated using observational results obtained in May 1998–2001 in conjunction with a dataset archived by Japan Oceanographic Data Center and a numerical model. The observations show that subsurface intrusions of less saline water are always detected in May in layers above 24.5σθ isopycnal surface, and that salinity inversions (i.e., areas in which the less saline water lies beneath the saline water) are detected around the trough of the Kuroshio frontal eddy (or wave). Analyses of the archived dataset reveal that the isopycnal surface of 24.5σθ is the deepest layer of the Kuroshio pycnocline outcropping to the sea surface on the shallow shelf in early spring. Outcropping isopycnals above 24.5σθ encounter a less saline water plume originating from the Changjiang, especially in the western East China Sea. Thereafter, the less saline water moves along isopycnal layers and reaches the Kuroshio front around the shelf edge. Numerical models demonstrate that, when the frontal wave captures the less saline water, the shelf water takes the form of a salinity inversion in the trough because isohalines in the frontal wave have a phase lag between the upper and lower layers in consequence of the baroclinic instability.     

Seasonal and interannual evolution of the mixed layer in the Antarctic Zone south of Tasmania

Seasonal and interannual variations of the mixed layer properties in the Antarctic Zone (AZ) south of Tasmania are described using 7 WOCE/SR3 CTD sections and 8 years of summertime SURVOSTRAL XBT and thermosalinograph measurements between Tasmania and Antarctica. The AZ, which extends from the Polar Front (PF) to the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF), is characterized by a 150 m deep layer of cold Winter Water (WW) overlayed in summer by warmer, fresher water mass known as Antarctic Surface Water (AASW). South of Tasmania, two branches of the PF divide the AZ into northern and southern zones with distinct water properties and variability. In the northern AZ (between the northern and southern branches of the PF), the mixed layer depth (MLD) is fairly constant in latitude, being 150 m deep in winter and around 40–60 m in summer. In the southern AZ, the winter MLD decreases from 150 m at the S-PF to 80 m at the SACCF and from 60 to 35 m in summer. Shallower mixed layers in the AZ-S are due to the decrease in the wind speed and stronger upwelling near the Antarctic Divergence. The WW MLD oscillates by ±15 m around its mean value and modest interannual changes are driven by winter wind stress anomalies.The mixed layer is on annual average 1.7 °C warmer, 0.06 fresher and 0.2 kg m⁻³ lighter in the northern AZ than in the southern AZ. The Levitus (1998) climatology is in agreement with the observed mean summer mixed layer temperature and salinity along the SURVOSTRAL line but underestimates the MLD by 10–20 m. The winter MLD in the climatology is also closed to that observed, but is 0.15 saltier than the observations along the AZ-N of the SR3 line. MLD, temperature and density show a strong seasonal cycle through the AZ while the mixed layer salinity is nearly constant throughout the year. During winter, the AZ MLD is associated with a halocline while during summer it coincides with a thermocline.Interannual variability of the AZ summer mixed layer is partly influenced by large scale processes such as the circumpolar wave which produces a warm anomaly during the summer 1996–1997, and partly by local mechanisms such as the retroflection of the S-PF which introduces cold water across the AZ-N.