The tectonics of the Okhotsk Sea

The northern and central parts of the Okhotsk Sea form an epiMesozoic platform. The hetero-aged acoustic basement is represented by deformed geosynclinal rocks from Cretaceous to Precambrian in age. The slightly deformed sedimentary cover levelled the uneven surface of the acoustic basement, and this Upper Paleogene—Neogene cover filled up the system of the structural basins. The general NW—SE and W—E extensions of the taphrogenic horsts and grabens of the acoustic basement were formed due to extension and subsidence of the earth's crust during the late Paleogene—Neogene.     

日本海、鄂霍次克海和白令海的古海洋学研究进展

边缘海的存在使大陆和大洋之间的物质和能量交换变得相当复杂。在构造运动和海平面升降的控制下,边缘海和大洋之间时而连通时而隔绝,各种古气候变化信号都在一定程度上被放大。基于近期有关西北太平洋边缘海的古海洋学研究成果,简要概述了日本海、鄂霍次克海、白令海以及北太平洋地区自中新世以来的古气候和古海洋环境演化特征,并认为它们与全球其它地区一样也受控于因地球轨道参数变化引起的太阳辐射率的变化,大尺度的气候变化具有与地球轨道偏心率周期相对应的100ka周期,而41ka的小尺度周期则受地球自转轴斜率变化的控制。一些突发性的气候变化则是由气候不稳定性、海峡的关闭与开启和其它一些地球气候系统的非线性活动所驱动。但同时作为中高纬度边缘海,它们的古海平面、古海水温度、古洋流等古海洋环境因子的变化特征还受到冰盖扩张和退缩、构造运动、冰川性地壳均衡补偿、东亚季风等因素的影响,具有一定的区域特点。     

Ferromanganese crusts from the Sea of Okhotsk

New data on the microstructures and the mineral and chemical compositions of ferromanganese crusts obtained from the western slope of the Kuril Island Arc in the Sea of Okhotsk during cruises of the R/V Vulkanolog are discussed. The study of the crusts using analytical electron microscopy methods revealed that their manganese phase is represented by vernadite, Fe-vernadite, todorokite, asbolane, and asbolane-buserite, while the iron phase consists of hematite, hydrohematite, ferroxyhite, and magnetite. The assemblage of lithic minerals includes apatite, quartz, epidote, and montmorillonite. According to the chemical analysis, most of the crusts contain a significant share of volcanogenic and hydrothermal material, which is evident from the elevated values of the Mn and Ti modules, the low concentrations of some trace elements, and the positive Eu anomaly in the rare earth elements composition.     

Mud volcanoes and gas vents in the Okhotsk Sea area

Gas emissions from mud volcanoes on Sakhalin Island and water-column gas flares arising from cold seeps in the Okhotsk Sea appear to be related. They are likely activated by tectonic movements along the transform plate boundary separating the Okhotsk Sea Plate from the Eurasian and Amur plates. Gas vents (flares) and methane anomalies occur in the waters offshore Sakhalin Island, along with NE-SW-trending mounds and fluid escape structures on the seafloor. The intersection of the NE-striking transverse faults on land with the Central Sakhalin and Hokkaido-Sakhalin shear zones apparently determines the sites of mud volcanoes, a pattern that continues offshore where the intersection with the East Sakhalin and West Derugin shear zones determines the sites of the submarine gas vents.     

Distribution of alkalinity and dissolved calcium in the Sea of Okhotsk

During the summer seasons of 2002 and 2004, the total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved calcium (Ca) were studied at 41 stations in different areas of the Sea of Okhotsk: the Kuril depression, Deryugin Basin, the slopes of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island, and in Sakhalin Bay. It was shown that the distributions of the TA and Ca in the water mass of deep sea areas are determined by the processes of CaCO₃ formation and dissolution according to the relation Δ Ca = 0.5 Δ TA (1). The variations of the TA and Ca values observed in the upper 10-m layer and in the near-bottom layers of local depressions in the Deryugin Basin do not satisfy relationship (1). Probable reasons for this discrepancy are considered: organic matter mineralization, mixing of water masses with different preform TA and Ca values, sea ice melting, runoff from land, and sea bottom effects. It is shown that the enrichment in the alkalinity and calcium is caused by the Amur River runoff in the desalinated sea surface layer and by the high geochemical activity in the Deryugin Basin in the near-bottom 200-m layer of local depressions.     

Geochemical features of the Okhotsk Sea Cenozoic volcanism

Cenozoic volcanic rocks were discovered on major rises of the inner Okhotsk Sea. In this paper, these rocks are geochemically typified, and the geodynamic conditions of their formation reconstructed. For this purpose, mineralogical and geochemical analyses as well as radioisotope age determinations were carried out. The radioisotope age determinations show that the Cenozoic volcanic rocks were formed during the Paleogene–Pleistocene. Within this period, Eocene and Plio-Pleistocene volcanic complexes are particularly prominent. Mineralogical and geochemical analyses show that the rocks belong to the calc-alkaline volcanic series. The Eocene volcanic rocks were formed under subaerial conditions, whereas the Plio-Pleistocene volcanics were formed under submarine conditions. The results of the study suggest that the Okhotsk Sea Basin was formed during the destruction of the Asian continental margin, the Eocene volcanism reflecting subaerial, the Plio-Pleistocene volcanism submarine stages of the Okhotsk Sea evolution.     

The reflection of the present distribution of the primary production in the bottom sediments of the Sea of Okhotsk

Using the authors’ data obtained during expeditions to the Sea of Okhotsk during the last decade, the primary phytoplankton production and the distribution of organic carbon and chlorophyll a degradation products (chlorin) in the bottom sediments were studied. Using the authors’ and published data, the spatial distribution of the production and paleoproduction indicators was plotted. The ratios of the chlorin and C_org content in the sediments was considered, and the correlation between these parameters was revealed. It was shown that the average annual primary production of phytoplankton and the paleoproduction indices were maximum in the coastal and upwelling zones and decreased towards the sea’s center. A quantitative correlation was found between the distribution of the present primary production in the photic layer and that of the rates of the accumulation of organic matter buried within the surface sediments. As a result, it was shown that the content of chlorin and C_org in the marine bottom sediments may be used to reconstruct the paleoproduction variability of the past.     

Seasonal Variations of Water Masses and Sea Level in the Southwestern Part of the Okhotsk Sea

A new grid data set for the southwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea was compiled by using all the available hydrographic data from the Japan Oceanographic Data Center, World Ocean Atlas 1994 and the other additional data sources with the resolution of about 10 km. We examine the seasonal variations of areas and volumes of Soya Warm Current Water (SWCW) and East Sakhalin Current Water (ESCW) and show that the exchanges of these water masses drastically occur in April and November. The peculiar variation of sea level in this region is also related with the water mass exchange. Sea level at the Hokkaido coast of the Okhotsk Sea reaches its minimum in April about two months later than in the case of ordinary mid-latitude ocean, and its maximum in December besides the summer peak. The winter peak of sea level in December is caused by the advent of fresh and cold ESCW which is accumulated at the subsurface layers (20–150 m) through the Ekman convergence by the prevailing northerly wind. Sea level minimum in April is caused by the release of the convergence and the recovery of dense SWCW that is saline and much colder than that in summer.     

末次冰盛期以来鄂霍次克海北部陆架的海冰变化

本文通过高分辨率粒度分析,研究了鄂霍次克海北部陆架LV87-54-1岩芯记录的海冰活动历史。利用AnalySize程序对粒度数据进行端元分析,提取了3个端元,并将EM3作为海冰指标。EM3含量结果表明,末次冰盛期以来鄂霍次克海北部陆架以活动性海冰覆盖为主。末次冰盛期和海因里希冰阶1期（HS 1）时EM3含量最高,指示海冰活动强烈。冰期时北半球中高纬度气候变冷与北极涛动负相位是导致海冰大规模扩张的主要控制机制,东亚夏季风减弱与黑龙江入海径流量的减少促使鄂霍次克海生成更多的海冰。自波令−阿勒罗德间冰阶开始以来,鄂霍次克海北部陆架海冰生成急剧减少,在新仙女木时期海冰曾出现微弱峰值,随后又快速下降。自全新世以来,受北半球中高纬度气候变暖、秋季太阳辐射量升高、北极涛动正相位和东亚夏季风的增强共同影响,EM3含量一直稳定在较低水平,鄂霍次克海海冰的生成受到明显抑制。     

Simulated Pathways of the Northwestern Pacific Water in the Okhotsk Sea

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Water exchange between the Pacific Ocean and the Okhotsk Sea through the Kuril Straits and transport of Pacific waters into and from the Okhotsk Sea are...     

Winter Oceanographic Conditions in the Southwestern Part of the Okhotsk Sea and Their Relation to Sea Ice

In the southwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea, oceanographic and sea-ice observations on board the icebreaker Soya were carried out in February 1997. A mixed layer of uniform temperature nearly at the freezing point extending down to a depth of about 300 m was observed. This is much deeper than has previously been reported. It is suggested that this deep mixed layer originated from the north (off East Sakhalin), being advected along the shelf slope via the East Sakhalin Current, accompanied with the thick first-year ice (average thickness 0.6 m). This vertically uniform winter water, through mixing with the surrounding water, makes the surface water more saline (losing a characteristic of East Sakhalin Current Water) and the water in the 100–300 m depth zone less saline, colder, and richer in oxygen (a characteristic of the intermediate Okhotsk Sea water). The oceanographic structure and a heat budget analysis suggest that new ice zone, which often appears at ice edges, can be formed through preconditioning of thick ice advection and subsequent cooling by the latent heat release due to its melting. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vertical structure of water masses and silicon-phosphorus ratios in the west Bering Sea and in the Sea of Okhotsk

Using the data obtained from CTD stations and hydrochemical measurements (oxygen, silicates, and phosphates) performed by the Pacific Scientific Research Fishery Center (TINRO Center) in 2001–2004, vertical structures of water masses were considered for the western Bering Sea and for the deep-water depression of the Sea of Okhotsk. It was shown that definite values of the Si/P molar ratio were characteristic for the water mass boundaries within which linear relationships between these two elements were observed. The lower boundaries of cold intermediate layers in both seas are characterized by a value of Si/P = 23. The ratio for the main halocline (the layer of nutrient concentration jump) is equal to 32, while that for the intermediate layer is equal to 43 (47 in the Sea of Okhotsk). In the Bering Sea, linear relationships between the concentrations of these elements are determined by mixing of waters of different origin. The deep convection, regeneration of phosphates in the lower part of the surface layer, and the significant oxygen deficiency in the intermediate layer determine the doubled inclination of their ratio compared to the Redfield’s parameter. At the same time, in the Sea of Okhotsk, the determining role in linear relationships between the elements considered is played by the aeration of intermediate layer with near-bottom shelf waves, and by tidal mixing.     

Volcanogenic complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan (Comparative analysis)

Several coeval volcanogenic complexes indicating synchronous volcanic events in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk are defined. Volcanics from different-age complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk show many features in common and are attributed to the Pacific type of calc-alkaline series. They were formed in geodynamic settings of the active continental margin and point to its origination on the continental crust of the fragmented Asian continent margin. The volcanic rocks developed in the Sea of Japan reflect different rifting stages. The initial stage was marked by an eruption of calc-alkaline lavas (Paleocene-Eocene complex). At the stage of the marginal-sea spreading, erupted volcanics of the middle Miocene-Pliocene complex were melted from the depleted mantle and magmatism terminated by an eruption of postspreading Pliocene-Holocene volcanics melted from the enriched mantle EM I. Along with the differences, the magmatism in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk has some features in common. In both cases, the sialic component of the lithosphere substantially influenced the magma generation.     

Improvement of short-term sea ice forecast in the southern Okhotsk Sea

In this study, a numerical model of 7-day forecast of sea ice produced by the Japan Meteorological Agency was improved by the following approaches. First, a new ice dynamic model was introduced: the distributed mass/discrete floe model. The model takes account of discrete characteristics of ice floes and well simulates the ice edge location at low computational cost. Secondly, the grid size was reduced to 5 × 5 km for the future high resolution forecasts. Next, the sea surface current data was examined because it significantly influences sea ice movement. We applied two new datasets of HINO and Okhotsk Ocean General Circulation Model (Okhotsk OGCM), which are estimated by numerical simulations, for the 7-day forecast of sea ice. Ice southward speed in January and the whorl formations in February and March were well reproduced with Okhotsk OGCM datasets. Finally, the ocean heat flux at the ice-ocean interface was refined. As a result, we achieved an ice edge error reduction from 30.8 km to 23.5 km.     

Properties of sea ice and overlying snow in the Southern Sea of Okhotsk

The general properties of sea ice and overlying snow in the southern Sea of Okhotsk were examined during early February of 2003 to 2005 with the P/V “Soya”. Thin section analysis of crystal structure revealed that frazil ice (48% of total core length) was more prevalent than columnar ice (39%) and that stratigraphic layering was prominent with a mean layer thickness of 12 cm, indicating that dynamic processes are essential to ice growth. The mean thickness of ice blocks and visual observations suggest that ridging dominates the deformation process above thicknesses of 30 to 40 cm. As for snow, it was found that faceted crystals and depth hoar are dominant (78%), as which is also common in the Antarctic sea ice, and is indicative of the strong vertical temperature gradients within the snow. Stable isotope measurements (δ¹⁸O) indicate that snow ice occupies 9% of total core length and that the mass fraction of meteoric ice accounts for 1 to 2% of total ice volume, which is lower than the Antarctic sea ice. Associated with this, the effective fractionation coefficient during the freezing of seawater was also derived. Snow ice was characterized by lower density, higher salinity, and nearly twice the gas content of ice of seawater origin. In addition, it is shown that the surface brine volume fraction and freeboard are well correlated with ice thickness, indicating some promise for remote sensing approaches to the estimation of ice thickness.     

Late Quaternary polycystine radiolarian datum events in the Sea of Okhotsk

Five radiolarian datum events have been recorded in the Late Quaternary sediment section from the Sea of Okhotsk, using age assignments based on oxygen-isotope stratigraphy: the last occurrence datum (LOD) of Stylacontarium acquilonium (at about 329 ka), the LOD of Spongodiscus sp. (at about 287 ka), the LOD of Amphimelissa setosa (at about 72 ka), the LOD of Lychnocanoma nipponica sakaii (at about 28 ka), and the L. nipponica sakaii acme event (at about 72 ka). The LODs of S. acquilonium, Spongodiscus sp. and A. setosa appear to be synchronous in comparison with those in the Subarctic North Pacific, but the LOD and the acme event of L. nipponica sakaii show an apparent diachroneity with the corresponding North Pacific events.     

Characteristics of the Sôya Warm Current in the Okhotsk Sea

Characteristics of the Sôya Warm Current from Abashiri Bay to the area off the coast of the southern Kuril Islands are clarified by water mass analysis. The water flowing into the Okhotsk Sea as the Sôya Warm Current is divided into two: the Forerunner of the Sôya Warm Water (March to May) and the Sôya Warm Water (June to November). It is shown that in May the Sôya Warm Current flows in the subsurface layer (about 200–400m deep) in Abashiri Bay, and flows northeastward just off the coast of the Kuril Islands as a subsurface current reaching a region northwest of Etorofu Island by the end of May. The dissolved oxygen content is fairly effective in identifying the Forerunner of the Sôya Warm Water in the subsurface layer. The Sôya Warm Current shifts upwards to the surface layer in Abashiri Bay by early July, because the Sôya Warm Water with large thermosteric anomaly _t begins to flow into the Okhotsk Sea in June. It is shown that, in general, the major portion of the Sôya Warm Current flows northeastward just off the coast of the Kuril Islands during the summer season, although a minor branch of the current flows northward in the area off the Shiretoko Peninsula, and another minor branch flows out to the Pacific Ocean through the Nemuro Straits.     

Barotropic Response of the Sea of Okhotsk to Wind Forcing

We have examined wind-induced circulation in the Sea of Okhotsk using a barotropic model that contains realistic topography with a resolution of 9.25 km. The monthly wind stress field calculated from daily European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Re-Analysis data is used as the forcing, and the integration is carried out for 20 days until the circulation attains an almost steady state. In the case of November (a representative for the winter season from October to March), southward currents of velocity 0.1–0.3 m s⁻¹ occur along the bottom contours off the east of Sakhalin Island. The currents are mostly confined to the shelf (shallower than 200 m) and extend as far south as the Hokkaido coast. In the July case (a representative for the summer season from April to September), significant currents do not occur, even in the shallow shelves. The simulated southward current over the east Sakhalin shelf appears to correspond to the near-shore branch of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC), which was observed with the surface drifters. These seasonal variations simulated in our experiments are consistent with the observations of the ESC. Dynamically, the simulated ESC is interpreted as the arrested topographic wave (ATW), which is the coastally trapped flow driven by steady alongshore wind stress. The volume transport of the simulated ESC over the shelf reaches about 1.0 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹) in the winter season, which is determined by the integrated onshore Ekman transport in the direction from which shelf waves propagate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.