Seasonal cycle of circulation in the Antarctic Peninsula and the off-shelf transport of shelf waters into southern Drake Passage and Scotia Sea

The seasonal cycle of circulation and transport in the Antarctic Peninsula shelf region is investigated using a high-resolution (∼2 km) regional model based on the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). The model also includes a naturally occurring tracer with a strong source over the shelf (radium isotope ²²⁸Ra, t_1/2=5.8 years) to investigate the sediment Fe input and its transport. The model is spun-up for three years using climatological boundary and surface forcing and then run for the 2004–2006 period using realistic forcing. Model results suggest a persistent and coherent circulation system throughout the year consisting of several major components that converge water masses from various sources toward Elephant Island. These currents are largely in geostrophic balance, driven by surface winds, topographic steering, and large-scale forcing. Strong off-shelf transport of the Fe-rich shelf waters takes place over the northeastern shelf/slope of Elephant Island, driven by a combination of topographic steering, extension of shelf currents, and strong horizontal mixing between the ACC and shelf waters. These results are generally consistent with recent and historical observational studies. Both the shelf circulation and off-shelf transport show a significant seasonality, mainly due to the seasonal changes of surface winds and large-scale circulation. Modeled and observed distributions of ²²⁸Ra suggest that a majority of Fe-rich upper layer waters exported off-shelf around Elephant Island are carried by the shelfbreak current and the Bransfield Strait Current from the shallow sills between Gerlache Strait and Livingston Island, and northern shelf of the South Shetland Islands, where strong winter mixing supplies much of the sediment derived nutrients (including Fe) input to the surface layer.     

Distribution,provenance, and dispersal pattern of clay minerals in surface sediments,Bransfield Strait,Antarctica

Clay minerals of the surface sediments of Bransfield Strait, Antarctica, exhibit distinctive geographical distributions: kaolinite has the highest concentration near the shore of the South Shetland Islands in the northern strait (20%); chlorite, near Smith Island in the northwestern strait; illite, on the continental shelf off the Antarctic Peninsula in the southern strait (80%); and smectite, close to the Penguin and Bridgeman islands in the northeastern strait (25%). This distribution pattern, combined with hydrographic and climatic data for the strait, are used to infer clay mineral provenance and dispersal patterns.     

The Bransfield current system

We use hydrographic data collected during two interdisciplinary cruises, CIEMAR and BREDDIES, to describe the mesoscale variability observed in the Central Basin of the Bransfield Strait (Antarctica). The main mesoscale feature is the Bransfield Front and the related Bransfield Current, which flows northeastward along the South Shetland Island Slope. A laboratory model suggests that this current behaves as a gravity current driven by the local rotation rate and the density differences between the Transitional Zonal Water with Bellingshausen influence (TBW) and the Transitional Zonal Water with Weddell Sea influence (TWW). Below the Bransfield Front we observe a narrow (10 km wide) tongue of Circumpolar Deep Water all along the South Shetland Islands Slope. At the surface, the convergence of TBW and TWW leads to a shallow baroclinic front close to the Antarctic Peninsula (hereafter Peninsula Front). Between the Bransfield Front and the Peninsula Front we observe a system of TBW anticyclonic eddies, with diameters about 20 km that can reach 300 m deep. This eddy system could be originated by instabilities of the Bransfield Current. The Bransfield Current, the anticyclonic eddy system, the Peninsula Front and the tongue of Circumpolar Deep Water, are the dynamically connected components of the Bransfield Current System.     

Water Structure in the Bransfield Strait (Antarctica) in January 2020: Hydrophysical,Optical, and Hydrochemical Features

Oceanology - Abiotic characteristics of the waters in the Bransfield Strait were studied in a section from the South Shetland Islands to the Antarctic Peninsula. The Bransfield Current was recorded...     

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡区域重力场特征及异常分析

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡及周边区域是南极大陆火山、地震等新构造活动最活跃的地区,与南设得兰海沟、南设得兰群岛一同构成南极大陆边缘现存唯一的"沟-弧-盆"构造体系。本文基于"雪龙"船第28、第30航次实测数据及两个航次的国际共享资料,利用均衡改正数据处理方法获得布兰斯菲尔德海峡的莫霍面深度及其分布规律,分析深部构造-断裂的区域分布及其重力异常特征等。布兰斯菲尔德海峡内的空间重力异常呈条带状分布,走向总体与地形相近,布格重力异常则由两侧向中间升高,大致在坡折处形成异常场值为100×10-5 m/s2的分界线,在中央次海盆和东部次海盆海山处形成两个异常高值圈闭,异常值最高为150×10-5 m/s2。莫霍面深度以弧后扩张中心为最低值,向南设得兰群岛和南极半岛两个方向递增,深度从12 km递增至陆坡位置的24 km。     

东海沿岸海区垂直环流及其温盐结构动力过程研究I．环流的基本特征

利用三维斜压流体动力学模型 ,通过对东海沿岸海区冬、夏季的斜压环流及其温盐结构的数值研究 ,揭示研究海区垂直环流及其温盐结构的动力过程及其成因。垂直环流的模拟结果表明 :冬季 ,沿岸海区的垂直环流以逆时针流动 ,近表层为向岸流 ,沿岸为下降流 ,近表层以下为离岸流 ,其在外海有明显的上升趋势 ,沿岸下降流自表层至底层逐渐由强变弱 ;夏季 ,沿岸海区的垂直环流以顺时针流动 ,近表层以下为向岸流 ,沿岸为上升流 ,近表层为离岸流 ,其在外海有明显的下降趋势 ,沿岸上升流自底层至表层逐渐由弱变强。就整个沿岸海区而论 ,冬季沿岸下降流和夏季沿岸上升流的强度都随着岸界地形坡度、风速及风向与岸线偏角的变化而变化。沿岸下降流形成的主要原因是由于冬季东北风与岸界地形的耦合效应及海区温盐分布不均匀所致 ,而沿岸上升流形成的主要原因则是由于夏季西南风与岸界地形的耦合效应及海区温盐分布不均匀所致。     

Cross-shore separation of adult and juvenile euphausiids in a shelf-break alongshore current

Euphausiids are an important component of the zooplankton in boundary current upwelling regions, including the Pacific Northwest continental margin. Many aspects of euphausiid distribution and ecology in this region are well known. However, some features of their spatial and temporal distribution are less understood:

• How and why euphausiids aggregate near the shelf-break upwelling center.

• How and why there is (within an alongshore band of high abundance of all stages) spatial segregation of adults and larvae.

• Why, despite spatial association with upwelling, euphausiid abundance off Vancouver Island is weakly or negatively correlated at interannual time scales with upwelling intensity.

To address these, we made km-resolution surveys of adult, juvenile, and larval euphausiid horizontal distributions, water properties, and currents across the Vancouver Island shelf break in mid-to-late spring of two successive years. Survey timing was before (1997) and after (1998) the spring transition to upwelling conditions, and near the annual spring reproductive peak. In both years, early developmental stages occupied an alongshore band that was offset from the late juveniles and adults. The direction of the offset differed between the two surveys. Early life history stages (larvae and early juveniles) were shoreward of adults in April 1997 (downwelling-conditions), but seaward of adults in May 1998 (upwelling-conditions). Separation distance (order 5–10 km) was consistent with expected differences in cumulative wind-driven (and vertically-sheared) cross-shore transport of surface-dwelling larvae and early juveniles vs. transport of diel migratory late juveniles and adults. Separation direction was consistent with recent history of winds and Ekman transport—shoreward during poleward winds, and seaward into blue water (and usually into a strong equatorward current) during equatorward winds.     

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡及邻区地壳结构反演及构造解析

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡及邻区是南极半岛海域火山、地震等新构造运动最活跃的地区,由于前人对资料处理解释的差异,导致盆地的构造格局仍部分存疑。本文以研究区的卫星重力数据为基础,以多道反射地震和部分岩性资料为约束,采用重震联合反演方法构建了三条横跨研究区的地壳结构剖面,并进一步研究布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地的地壳结构。研究结果表明布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地莫霍面深度为33—38km。菲尼克斯板块俯冲消减下沉至南设得兰岛弧之下,导致南设得兰海沟的俯冲带后撤,产生3—4km厚的岩浆混染地壳,密度为2.9g/cm³。分析认为受板块运动和弧后扩张影响,沿布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地扩张脊分布的海底火山裂隙式喷发,并进一步导致盆地的持续性扩张。     

南海东北部及台湾海峡附近环流的一个耦合模式Ⅰ.模式的建立及背景

通过对南海东北部及台湾海峡邻近海域环流产生影响的各个动力因子进行量级分析,在Hurlburt等人数值模式的基础上,建立起分区性的正压、斜压耦合模式,以便能反映大陆架、大陆坡变化剧烈的底形效应对边缘海环流的影响。将该模式用于南海东北部及台湾海峡附近环流的数值研究。初步的试验计算结果表明,耦合模式能克服两层模式易发生"交面"和"交底"等现象的缺点,同时能反映斜压效应及底形效应的影响,使模拟的计算结果更切合实际,即：（1）黑潮通过巴士海峡侵入南海海域,并导致东沙群岛附近终年存在一个气旋涡;（2）台湾海峡西南海域的大陆架－大陆坡底形效应十分重要;（3）海水在台湾海峡的流动基本上为N向流动,流量约为2×10~6m~3·s-1;（4）模式中有类似于南海暖流的海流出现。     

The influence of shelf processes in delivering dissolved iron to the HNLC waters of the Drake Passage,Antarctica

Dissolved trace element distributions near Elephant Island in the Drake Passage show extremely high levels of dissolved Fe and Mn in waters above the shelf. The entrainment of this enriched shelf water by the Fe-poor Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) as it passes through the Shackleton Gap delivers an estimated 2.8×10⁶ mol yr⁻¹ dissolved Fe to the offshore waters of the Drake Passage. The magnitude and spatial distribution of dissolved Fe, Mn and Al over the shelf are consistent with a diagenetically produced sedimentary source, but are inconsistent with eolian or upwelling sources. The systematics of the Mn and Fe concentrations suggest that there are two distinct sources of dissolved Fe to the surface waters of this region. The highest Fe concentrations are associated with Bransfield Strait water, which can be identified by its characteristic temperature and salinity (T/S) properties both inside the Bransfield Strait and in the Bransfield Current outflow between Elephant and Clarence Islands. Most of the shelf area is dominated by a second water type with T/S properties that are typical of modified Antarctic Surface Water, which while also enriched has a lower Fe:Mn ratio.The predominantly linear relationships between the Fe and Mn concentrations at the stations in each of these water mass types suggest that the distribution of these elements is largely controlled by physical mixing processes and that biological removal of Fe on the shelf, while certainly occurring, is limited, perhaps as a result of rapid physical flushing processes and relatively slow biological growth rates. The consequent export of large quantities of this shelf-derived Fe into the ACC is likely responsible for the extensive regions of enhanced primary production seen in satellite imagery downstream of the Drake Passage.     

Oceanic Odyssey of a satellite-tracked drifter: North Pacific variability delineated by a single drifter trajectory

A near-surface satellite-tracked drifter launched off the east coast of the Kuril Islands on September 4,1993 began a 2.5-year Odyssey across the North Pacific Ocean. During its travels, the drifter encountered numerous energetic oceanographic regimes as it moved from the region of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench to the continental margin of the Kuril Islands, through Friza Strait into the Sea of Okhotsk, seaward again through Bussol’ Strait, and then eastward across the North Pacific. Oceanic features detected along the basin-wide trajectory include a quasi-permanent anticyclonic eddy over the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, open-ocean wind-driven inertial oscillations, coastal-trapped diurnal shelf waves, semidiurnal tidal currents, transient cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, through-strait flows, and wave-like mesoscale meanders. The single drifter track delineates the dynamically-rich variability of upper ocean currents, emphasizes the marked difference in flow dynamics between boundary and open ocean regions, and provides a time-scale for the movement of surface waters across the entire North Pacific.     

Circulation of the East China Sea,a numerical study

A three-dimensional, primitive-equation model is developed to study how the Kuroshio, the monsoon, the Yangtze River outflow and the buoyancy forcing from the South China Sea affect the circulation of the East China Sea. It is found that the Kuroshio water usually intrudes into the East China Sea from both sides of Taiwan Island. Winter winds enhance the Kuroshio intrusion from northeast of Taiwan, but weaken it from the Taiwan Strait. Summer winds act in the opposite way. The increased presence of the Kuroshio water in the East China Sea in winter can be largely attributed to the shoreward surface Ekman drift associated with the northerly wind. In summer, the-shaped plume emanating from the Taiwan Strait is, to a large extent, produced by the buoyancy forcing from the South China Sea.In summer, the bimodal distribution of the Yangtze River outflow is initially produced by the upwelling-favorable wind. Away from the Yangtze River, the far-field dispersal of the fresher water depends on the strength of the Kuroshio. A stronger Kuroshio enhances the seaward dispersal of the northern branch of the Yangtze outflow north of Taiwan, but reduces the southward penetration of the southern branch. In winter, downwelling-favorable winds confine the Yangtze River outflow to a narrow band forming nearshore coastal jet penetrating southward. The northern tip of Taiwan acts as a conduit, channeling the seaward dispersal of the fresher water. The model results interpret the observed circulation patterns.     

Structure and morphology of the west Reykjanes basin and the southeast Greenland continental margin

The continental-shelf morphology is dominated by glacial erosion and deposition. Erosion is prominent on the near-shore shelf and deposition along the outer shelf edge. The continental slope is characterized by delta-shaped progradations (glaciomarine-sediment fans) seaward of the shelf channels. Canyons cross the continental slope only in the region southeast of Cape Farewell. The continental rise is incised by a number of submarine canyons. Broad sediment ridges on the upper continental rise are probably canyon-eroded remains of extensive Plio-Pleistocene fans. A mid-ocean channel which crosses the continental rise is possibly related to the axis of maximum depth of Denmark Strait. Despite the presence of strong bottom currents, there is no indication of depositional sediment drifts along the continental margin of Greenland between Cape Farewell and Denmark Strait. This may be a function of high current velocity or low sediment load.Sea floor older than 60 m.y. B.P. is present just seaward of the Greenland continental margin implying either downwarped continental material or an early rift formed prior to the separation of Greenland from the European plate. A left lateral offset of anomalies 20 and 21 at 65°N indicates a major fracture zone related to the Greenland continental margin offset nearby.     

A review of the shelf-slope circulation along Australia’s southern shelves: Cape Leeuwin to Portland

A review is presented of the ocean circulation along Australia’s southern shelves and slope. Uniquely, the long, zonal shelf is subject to an equatorward Sverdrup transport that gives rise to the Flinders Current - a small sister to the world’s major Western Boundary Currents. The Flinders Current is strongest near the 600 m isobath where the current speeds can reach 20 cm/s and the bottom boundary layer is upwelling favourable. It is larger in the west but likely intermittent in both space and time due to possibly opposing winds, thermohaline circulation and mesoscale eddies. The Flinders Current may be important to deep upwelling within the ubiquitous canyons of the region.During winter, the Leeuwin Current and local winds act to drive eastward currents that average up to 20-30 cm/s. The currents associated with the intense coastal-trapped wave-field (6-12 day band) are of order 25-30 cm/s and can peak at 80-90 cm/s. Wintertime winds and cooling also lead to downwelling to depths of 200 m or more and the formation of dense coastal water within the Great Australian Bight and the South Australian Sea. Within the Great Australian Bight, the thermohaline circulation associated with this dense water is unknown, but may enhance the eastward shelf-edge, South Australian Current. The dense salty water formed within Spencer Gulf is known to cascade as a gravity current to depths of 200 m off Kangaroo Island. This dense water outflow and meanders in the shelf circulation also fix the locations of a sequence of quasi-permanent mesoscale eddies between the Eyre Peninsula and Portland.During summer, the average coastal winds reverse and surface heating leads to the formation of warm water in the western Great Australian Bight and the South Australian Sea. No significant exchange of shelf water and gulf water appears to occur due to the presence of a dense, nutrient-rich (sub-surface) pool that is upwelled off Kangaroo Island. The winds lead to weak average coastal currents (<10 cm/s) that flow to the north-west. In the Great Australian Bight, the wind stress curl can lead to an anticyclonic circulation gyre that can result in shelf-break downwelling in the western Great Australian Bight and the formation of the eastward, South Australian Current. In the east, upwelling favourable winds and coastal-trapped waves can lead to deep upwelling events off Kangaroo Island and the Bonney Coast that occur over 3-10 days and some 2-4 times a season. The alongshore currents here can be large (∼40 cm/s) and the vertical scales of upwelling are of order 150 m (off Kangaroo Island) and 250 m (off the Bonney Coast).Increasing evidence suggests that El Nino events (4-7 year period) can have a major impact on the winter and summer circulation. These events propagate from the Pacific Ocean and around the shelf-slope wave-guide of West Australia and into the Great Australian Bight. During winter El Nino events, the average shelf currents may be largely shut-down. During summer, the thermocline may be raised by up to 150 m. The nature and role of tides and surface waves is also discussed along with uncertainties in the general circulation and future research.     

Numerical investigation on propulsion of the counter-wind current in the northern South China Sea in winter

The propulsion of the winter counter-wind current in the northern South China Sea (SCS) is investigated with a regional, three-dimensional, primitive equation model. This current is usually called the SCS Warm Current (SCSWC). Model results well reproduced the banded structure of the Guangdong coastal current, the SCSWC and the slope current from the coast to the slope in the northern SCS in the climatological data. The across-shelf flow is active in the shelf break area. Both onshore and offshore flows exist; the net across-shelf transport is shoreward throughout the year, and is larger in winter than in other seasons. The joint effect of baroclinicity and relief (JEBAR) is the dominant forcing of the across-shelf transport in the shelf break area. The major mass source of the SCSWC is the onshore-veered slope current. It is the JEBAR effect that supplies the necessary negative vorticity to maintain the slope current flowing across the isobaths and veering to the right hand to feed the SCSWC. Analyses of the momentum fields indicate that the onshore pressure gradient in the outer shelf balances the Coriolis force induced by the northeastward SCSWC in the frame of geostrophy. In winter, such an onshore pressure gradient is mainly provided by the strong density contrast between waters of the shelf and of the upper slope, which results from the Kuroshio intrusion via the Luzon Strait. The notable intrusion of the Kuroshio in winter is crucial for maintaining the density structure in the shelf break area and facilitates the set-up of the onshore pressure gradient over the outer shelf.     

Diurnal shelf waves off Hamada on San'in Coast

The tidal current data observed off Hamada on San'in coast have shown the diurnal tidal currents to be larger than the semidiurnal ones by a factor of 5–8, although the ratio (K₁+O₁)/(M₂+S₂) for the tidal heights at Hamada is 1.3. Furthermore, the diurnal currents are found to be more remarkable on the shelf slope than on the shelf. We consider such diurnal current features as being due to the vortical mode waves, and show that the broad shelf and steep shelf slope off San'in coast allow 1st-mode interior shelf waves (ISWs) at a diurnal-period. Using a simple shelf model, it is shown that ISWs occur in response to the seaward component of diurnal tidal oscillations on the shelf and their propagation originates from the western entrance of the Tsushima Straits.     

A review on the South China Sea western boundary current

The advances in understanding the South China Sea (SCS) western boundary current (SCSwbc) have been reviewed since the works of Dale (1956) and Wyrtki (1961) in the middle of the 20th century. The features of the pattern of SCSwbc and the oceanic phenomena associated with it are focused on. The current is driven mainly by monsoon over the SCS and partially by winds over the tropical Pacific governed by the island rule. The SCSwbc exhibits strong seasonal variation in its direction and patterns. In winter, the current is strong and flows southwestward along the South China shelf and slope from the east of Dongsha Islands to the northern central Vietnamese coast, then turns to the south along the central and southern Vietnamese coast, and finally partially exits the SCS through the Karimata Strait. In summer and early fall, the SCSwbc can be divided into three segments based on their characteristics. The southern segment is stable, flowing northward from the Karimata Strait up to about 11 N, where it separates from the coast forming an eastward offshore current. The separation of the current from Vietnamese coast induces some striking features, such as upwelling and cold sea-surface temperature. The middle segment off the central Vietnamese coast may have a bimodal behavior: northward coastal current and meandering current in early summer (June-July), and cyclonic gyre in later summer and early fall (August-September). The northern segment is featured by the summer SCS Warm Current on the South China shelf and a southwestward subsurface current along the continental slope.     

Application of LICOM to the numerical study of the water exchangebetween the South China Sea and its adjacent oceans

1 IntroductionThe South China Sea (SCS) is the largestmarginal sea in the western Pacific (see Fig. 1). It con-nects with the SCS through the Taiwan Strait, with thePacific through the Luzon Strait, with the Sulu Seathrough the Mindoro and Balabac Straits and with theJava Sea and Andaman Sea through the Sunda Shelf(For convenience, here we refer to the section at 1.5°N,Fig. 2). It is shown that the seasonal SCS circulation ismostly affected by the summer/winter monsoon, andthe no…     

Exchange processes over a Middle Atlantic bight shelfbreak canyon

A synoptic oceanographic study was conducted in August 1978 at the Middle Atlantic shelfbreak along the shelf-slope front and over the Wilmington Canyon. Four masses (surface, cold pool, shelf, and slope waters) were identified from nutrients and hydrographic variables. Also identified were two pycnocline mixing regimes; one between cold pool and slope waters across the inverted thermocline at the bottom of the cold bool protruding off the shelf, and the other directly across the summer thermocline between slope and shelf waters seaward of the cold pool. These two distinct mixing regimes appear to provide some of the common means for water exchange across the shelf-slope front. The associated mixing may be promoted by the circulation and mixing anomalies induced over canyon topographies. Physical data suggested a cyclonic flow pattern over the Wilmington Canyon, with warm slope water moving up its axis and cold pool water moving off its southwest flank. The above water masses were best identified chemically on the basis of oxygen saturation due to the high apparent photosynthesis at the shelf-slope front. This high primary productivity at the front seems linked to the cold pool and its nutrient supplies.     

东海环流的一个两层模式

本文用一个两层原始方程数值模式，对东海的环流现象进行了机制性的探讨。从整体上来看，海区的一些主要流态特征彼此密切相关，且在动力上都是比较稳定的。黑潮在台湾东北的入侵主要表现在下层。底斜联合效应（ＪＥＢＡＲ）、惯性效应、摩擦效应都是这支入侵流态的发生机制，而底形与行星β效应则使它表现出向岛强化的特征。下层黑潮入侵后，大部分作反气旋回转，成为台湾暖流（ＴＷＣ）下层的外海分支。ＴＷＣ下层沿岸分支能否形成，则取决于黑潮入流上下流速比γ的大小，以及上层海峡入流是否北上。ＴＷＣ上层流动的形成是海峡水入侵后在β效应作用下的结果，它在温州外海也将分出一支向外海流去。文章指出，台湾东北的冷水块不是“尾涡”所致，而是下层黑潮舌状入侵的具体表征；台湾北部的暖涡则是上层ＴＷＣ北上时与冷水块相互作用的结果。此外，本文对钓鱼岛以北的锋涡与逆流现象也作了一些初步的分析与讨论。