Wave Activity and Its Changes in the Troposphere and Stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere in Winters of 1979–2016

An analysis of spectra of wave disturbances with zonal wave numbers 1 ≤ k ≤ 10 is carried out using winter (November to March) ERA-Interim reanalysis geopotential data in the troposphere and stratosphere for 1979–2016. Contributions of eastward-traveling (E), westward-traveling (W), and stationary (S) waves are estimated. The intensification of wave activity is observed in the tropical troposphere and stratosphere and in the upper stratosphere of the entire Northern Hemisphere. The intensification of wave activity in the tropics and subtropics is noted for waves of all types (E, W, and S), while in the middle and higher latitudes it is related mainly to stationary and eastward waves. Near the subtropical tropopause, the energy of stationary waves has increased in recent decades. In addition, in the tropical and subtropical troposphere and in the subtropical lower stratosphere, the energy of the eastward-traveling waves in El Niño years may be one and a half times or twice the energy in La Niña years. The spectrally weighted zonal wave numbers for waves of all types (E, W, and S) are the largest in the upper subtropical troposphere. The spectrally weighted zonal wave number for W and S waves is correlated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation index and varies by 15% in 1979–2016 (on an interdecadal time scale). The spectrally weighted wave period is larger in the stratosphere than in the troposphere. It is maximal in the middle extratropical stratosphere. The spectrally weighted wave periods correlate with the activity of sudden stratospheric warmings. The sign of this correlation depends on the latitude, atmospheric layer, and zonal wave number.     

Frequency of Summer Atmospheric Blockings in the Northern Hemisphere in Different Phases of El Niño and Pacific Decadal and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillations

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Regional anomalies in the frequency of atmospheric blockings in the Northern Hemisphere detected on the basis of reanalysis data since 1979 during...     

The First Results of Monitoring the Formation and Destruction of the Ice Cover in Winter 2014–2015 on Ilmen Lake according to the Measurements of Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The launch of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) opens up new opportunities for studying and monitoring the land and inland waters. It is the...     

Features of the Spatiotemporal Variability of the Advective Heat Transfer in the Troposphere over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the Northern Hemisphere for 1979–2018

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - An analysis of the spatiotemporal variability of advective heat transfer in the atmosphere over the oceans in the Northern Hemisphere has been carried...     

Climate-Related Changes in the Vegetation Cover of the Taiga and Tundra of West Siberia over the Period of 1982–2015 Based on Satellite Data

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - This paper presents the results of a trend and correlation analysis of the air temperature and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)...     

Study of the State and Variability of the Northwestern Japan Sea in the Autumn–Winter Period on Cruise 62 of the R/V Akademik Oparin

Oceanology - The results of research carried out on cruise 62 of the R/V Akademik Oparin from December 14 to 29, 2020 continued monitoring of the interannual variability of the Japan Sea water...     

Biо-Optical Characteristics in a Large-Scale Survey Area in the Northern Tropical Zone of the Atlantic Ocean and Their Relationship with Water Dynamics

Oceanology - The article presents data of the beam attenuation coefficient, Secchi disk depth, and chlorophyll concentration in a survey area in the northern tropical zone of the Atlantic Ocean in...     

Tendencies in Coccolithophorid Blooms in Some Marine Environments of the Northern Hemisphere according to the Data of Satellite Observations in 1998–2013

Based on the method developed for the delineation of E. huxleyi blooms, a new technique is achieved for (1) the automated detection of E. huxleyi blooms among coexisting massive blooms of microalgae species of other phytoplankton groups and (2) quantifying the boom surface of this type of coccolithophores. As a result, according to the data of the Climate Change Initiative Ocean Colour (OC CCI) for 1998–2013, we have obtained multiyear time series of variability in both the incidence of E. huxleyi bloom and its area in the North, Norwegian, Greenland, Barents, and Bering seas. It is found that E. huxleyi blooms propagate within the intra-annual cycle from the studied middle-latitude marine areas towards the northern areas of the Northern Atlantic Ocean (NAO) and the Arctic Ocean (AO) following the pathways of the main Gulfstream and its branches. It is also found that E. huxleyi blooms are formed annually, initially in the vicinity of the British Islands; then they successively emerge in the northward direction following the western coast of the Great Britain, turn over its northern extremity to reach, firstly, the North Sea (in May), the Norwegian Sea, and finally the Greenland Sea (in June). Then they burst out in the Barents Sea, where the typical period of blooming lasts until late August and, in some years, even to mid-September. We determine the patterns of maximal rates and duration of blooms for each of the seas studied in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. As for the Bering Sea, the temporal and spatial variability in the growth of E. huxleyi has an irregular pattern: after a period of remarkably high expression of this phenomenon in 1998–2001, there was an abrupt decrease in both the number and, especially, extent of bloom areas.     

Analysis of Methane Concentration Anomalies over Burned Areas of the Boreal and Arctic Zone of Eastern Siberia in 2018–2019 Using TROPOMI Data

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Results are presented from a spatiotemporal analysis of dynamics of the methane concentrations over Yakutia in May–September 2018–2019,...     

Relationship between biogeochemical features of biogenic elements and flocculation in the Changjiang Estuary

ＲｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐｂｅｔｗｅｅｎｂｉｏｇｅｏｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｆｅａｔｕｒｅｓｏｆｂｉｏｇｅｎｉｃｅｌｅｍｅｎｔｓａｎｄｆｌｏｃｃｕｌａｔｉｏｎｉｎｔｈｅＣｈａｎｇｊｉａｎｇＥｓｔｕａｒｙ￥ＬｉｎＹｉ＇ａｎ；ＴａｎｇＲｅｎｙｏｕ；ＬｉＹａｎ；Ｄｏ...     

Dynamics of structural and functional characteristics of zooplankton in the Northern Sea of Okhotsk in the “Warm” and “Cold” years

An analysis of the structural and functional characteristics of zooplankton community and their coupling with the synoptic situation was carried out for the spring period in the northern Sea of Okhotsk. The years of 2000 and 2001 may be referred to as “cold” type due to the significant extent of the ice-covered area. Based on the ice cover extent, the years of 2004 and 2005 may be referred to as “warm” years due to the decreased extent of the ice-covered area. The “cold” and “warm” years did not significantly differ from each other in terms of the total zooplankton biomass. In the northeast Sea of Okhotsk, the zooplankton abundance increased during the “cold” years, while, in its northwestern part, the zooplankton abundance increased during the “warm” years. The different types of years significantly differ in the species structure of the macrozooplankton community. The abundance of copepods was higher in the “warm” years, whereas the chaetognath abundance increased in the “cold” ones. These features of the dynamics and distribution of zooplankton in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk also affected its productivity. The higher production of the elements of the zooplankton community that was revealed in the “warm” years was caused by the increase in the seasonal P/B ratio of both nonpredatory and predatory species. In the “warm” years, the production of nonpredatory zooplankton was higher in the northwest, while, in the “cold” years, it was higher in the northeast of the area.     

Stress–Strain State and GPS Kinematics of the Lithosphere in the Northern Part of Eurasia

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The neomobilist plate tectonic concept is currently at the forefront of geotectonics. This concept is based on the idea of the division of the...     

Characteristics of Winter Surface Air Temperature Anomalies in Moscow in 1970–2016 under Conditions of Reduced Sea Ice Area in the Barents Sea

On the basis of observational data on daily mean surface air temperature (SAT) and sea ice concentration (SIC) in the Barents Sea (BS), the characteristics of strong positive and negative winter SAT anomalies in Moscow have been studied in comparison with BS SIC data obtained in 1949–2016. An analysis of surface backward trajectories of air-particle motions has revealed the most probable paths of both cold and warm air invasions into Moscow and located regions that mostly affect strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow. Atmospheric circulation anomalies that cause strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow have been revealed. Changes in the ways of both cold and warm air invasions have been found, as well as an increase in the frequency of blocking anticyclones in 2005–2016 when compared to 1970–1999. The results suggest that a winter SIC decrease in the BS in 2005–2016 affects strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow due to an increase in the frequency of occurrence of blocking anticyclones to the south of and over the BS.     

Relationship between the characteristics of landforms and sediments as well as the plume front in the Hangzhou Bay

Sedimentary environments in the Hangzhou Bay are introduced by a three-subregional landform pattern and a sedimentation map with six major sedimentation types. The geographic setting, sediment transportation and sedimentation in different subregions are discussed with sediment grain parameters. Sedimentary basin suffering from effect of plume front can be identified by the fine sediments with median ( Mdφ ) 7φ-8φ, clay content 30% - 40% and silt 60% - 70%. Sediment transportation along the plume front seems not to be a direct effect on sedimentary formation of the shoals fringing the south coast of the Hangzhou Bay.     

Dynamics of upwelling in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea and associated shelf–basin fluxes

Data from a high-resolution mooring array deployed across the Alaskan Beaufort shelfbreak and slope, together with an idealized numerical model, are used to investigate the dynamics of wind-driven upwelling and the magnitude of the resulting shelf–basin exchange. The analysis focuses on a single storm event in November 2002 when the sea-ice concentration was 50–70%. The normally eastward-flowing shelfbreak jet was reversed to the west, and the secondary circulation near the shelfbreak was characterized by offshore flow in the upper layer and a nearly equal amount of onshore flow at depth. Ekman theory accurately predicts the strength of the secondary circulation when one takes into account the ice–ocean stress. The depth-integrated alongstream momentum balance reveals that, near the shelf edge, the reversed jet is driven by a combination of the surface stress and divergence of cross-stream momentum flux. The reversed jet is primarily spun-down – before the winds subside – by the alongstream pressure gradient that likely results from the variation in sea surface height. The shelf–basin fluxes of heat, freshwater, and nitrate resulting from the storm are substantial. Much of the yearly supply of heat to the Beaufort shelf from the inflowing Pacific water through Bering Strait was fluxed offshore, and the amount of freshwater transported into the basin represents a substantial fraction of the year-to-year variation in the freshwater inventory of the Beaufort Gyre. The on-shelf flux of nitrate from 4 to 5 such storms could account for most of the net annual primary production that occurs on the Beaufort shelf.     

Interseasonal Variability in Methane Concentrations and Fluxes at the Water–Atmosphere Boundary in the Western Sea of Okhotsk

Oceanology - Intra-annual variability in methane fluxes at the water–atmosphere boundary was shown for the first time in the water area of the Sea of Okhotsk east of Sakhalin Island. The...     

Relationship between Natural Climate Variability and Equilibrium Sensitivity in the Climate Model of the Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences to Increasing СО2

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The amplitude of natural climate variability is considered in several versions of the Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences...     

Dynamics of REE accumulation and fractionation in the subcolloidal fraction of bottom sediments in the Razdol’naya River–Amur Bay section,Sea of Japan

The REE contents (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) are determined by atomic emission spectroscopy in the subcolloidal fraction of bottom sediments in the Razdol’naya River–Amur Bay section. The mean contents of lanthanides in soils and river bottom sediments (before the mixing zone) are calculated. The increase in REE content and the fractioning in the series from light to middle and heavy REE in sediments of different estuary zones (river, water mixing, and marine), with the latter related to flocculation, sorption on iron and manganese hydroxides, clay minerals (hydromica, smectites), and lifetime accumulation of marine plankton, are dtermined. Via extraction of 0.5 N sodium hydroxide solution, the content of lanthanides associated with humic substances of subcolloidal fraction from the Amur Bay sediments are determined: 1.3 to 8.2% of La; 1.1 to 11% of Ce; and 0.3 to 1.5 of Gd.     

Palynology and petroleum potential of the Kazhdumi Formation (Cretaceous: Albian–Cenomanian) in the South Pars field,northern Persian Gulf

The Kazhdumi Formation of the Bangestan Group is a well-known source rock that has produced abundant oil in most petroleum fields in the Zagros Basin, which stretches from northwest to southwest Iran over hundreds of kilometres. The formation reaches a thickness of 230 m at the type section in northwest Zagros but thins out to 40–50 m in wells studied from the South Pars giant petroleum field, where it comprises mainly grey shales with occasional intercalations of marls and sandstones. South Pars, best known as the Iranian part of the world's largest non-associated gas field, contains small quantities of oil above and below the Kazhdumi Formation.