一个理想河口中拦门沙的存在对河口羽流扩展的影响

河口羽流是河口冲淡水在陆架中扩展的主要形式, 其扩展受到诸多动力与地形因素的影响, 口门拦门沙就是其中之一。以一个理想化的河口为例, 采用区域海洋模型(regional ocean modelling system, ROMS), 研究口门拦门沙对河口羽流扩展的影响, 具体包括拦门沙对羽流的出流状态、扩展范围以及远场区沿岸流淡水输运的影响。研究结果表明, 拦门沙增加了口门处的水体分层, 减小了羽流出流速度, 增大了羽流凸出体的半径, 减小了远场区沿岸流宽度, 并进而减少了沿岸流中的淡水输送。本项研究对地形因素对河口羽流的扩展研究以及陆源物质的向海输运等均具有重要意义。     

波浪辐射应力对海流模式影响的数值分析

将波浪辐射应力,特别是地转意义下的波浪辐射应力引入海流数值模式POM(princeton ocean model),在渤海海域进行了初步的数值研究。在目前的数值分析中仅考虑了波浪辐射应力的横向分量(也是最重要的分量)。在POM模式中引入非地转和地转意义下的波浪辐射应力两种方案,并与原模式直接运行(即不考虑波浪辐射应力)的结果进行比较。比较显示,波浪辐射应力,特别是地转意义下的波浪辐射应力对海流模式结果的影响不容忽略。在海浪场存在的条件下,由风应力和地转意义下浪致作用力共同作用产生的海流强度应比理论上Ekman漂流的强度大,尤其是在浪致作用力显著的表层,表层流将明显增强,且不会完全符合Ekman漂流理论的转向规律。     

The wind-induced drift velocity of the freshwater layer on the sea’s surface

The effect of an unsteady river plume on the wind drift was studied. Initially, the plume occurs as a horizontal homogeneous near-surface layer with a low density and different thicknesses being washed around by the wind in the course of time due to the vertical mixing with the underlying waters. This process is described using the one-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model (POM) with the integrated turbulence submodel. A series of numerical experiments yielded the empirical dependence of the normalized surface drift velocity modulus on the nondimensional parameters: the Ekman numbers and the relations between the buoyancy and Coriolis forces.     

基于高精度海洋动力模型的珠江口羽状流季节和年际变化规律研究

基于高精度海洋动力模型FVCOM (finite-volume community ocean model), 模拟分析了1999—2010年珠江口羽状流的季节和年际变化规律, 并结合经验正交函数(empirical orthogonal function, EOF)分析探讨了影响珠江口羽状流扩展变化的主要动力因子。采用模拟时段内的现场观测数据对多年模拟结果进行验证, 结果表明模型具有较高的精度, 能够较好地模拟珠江口羽状流的扩展变化规律。模拟结果显示, 珠江口羽状流存在显著的季节变化。夏季, 受大径流和西南风的影响, 羽状流的扩展呈现双向特征, 即粤西沿岸扩展和粤东离岸扩展同时存在, 扩展范围最大; 冬季, 径流衰减为最小值, 风场转变为强烈的东北风, 羽状流被紧紧挤压在西岸, 形成狭窄的条带状, 扩展范围最小; 春、秋两季属于过渡季节, 羽状流扩展情况类似, 均表现为沿岸向粤西扩展。年际变化层面, 夏季羽状流的年际变化最为显著, 呈现粤东扩展占优型、近似对称型和粤西扩展占优型三种形态; 春季羽状流的年际变化次之, 羽状流的差异主要体现在珠江口和粤西海域; 秋、冬两季羽状流的年际变化较小, 尤以冬季最小。EOF分析的第一模态可以解释整体变化的91.2%, 反映了径流量对珠江口羽状流的影响; 第二模态可以解释整体变化的4.1%, 反映了盛行风对珠江口羽状流的影响。     

Spreading of river water in Suruga Bay

We have investigated the spreading of river water in Suruga Bay by performing numerical experiments and conducting field surveys with drifting buoys. There are clear seasonal variations in the large river discharges into the bay: increased discharge in the rainy summer season and decreased discharge in the dry winter season. The numerical model reproduces the main feature that has been observed in the actual sea: the river water extends gradually from the northwestern to the southeastern regions in the bay, especially in summer. The river water spreading is greatly influenced by the bottom topography of the bay: the Fuji River water spreads over a deep continental slope as a surface-advected plume and extends well offshore, since a large bulge (anticyclonic eddy at the river mouth) extends well offshore and effectively transports the river water offshore. On the other hand, the Oi River water tends to flow parallel to isobaths (along a coastline) on a shallow continental shelf as a bottomadvected plume. Moreover, the influences of seasonal variations in the stratification and a bay-scale, wind-driven circulation are also investigated. Trajectories of the drifting buoys, which were released around the Fuji River mouth, certainly suggest that the bulge exists there.     

Current Structure and Behavior of the River Plume in Suo-Nada

The behavior of a river plume in Suo-Nada, Japan, has been studied using a primitive equation numerical model, the Princeton Ocean Model. Special attention has been paid to the current structure and behavior of the anticyclonic eddy (bulge) induced by high freshwater inflow changing on a timescale of one week. First, the freshwater is supplied from a river to a rectangular basin with a simple topography. When the river discharge subsides after reaching its peak value, the bulge propagates upstream (i.e., opposite to the direction of the Kelvin wave propagation). Next, the freshwater is supplied from eight major rivers to the basin with realistic topography. The less saline water mass in the southern part of Suo-Nada propagates to the west (i.e., upstream) after the river discharge subsides. This is consistent with an observed phenomenon, viz., that the less saline water mass appears in the western part of Suo-Nada, suggesting that the upstream propagation of the bulge is possible in the real ocean. Finally, the cause of the upstream propagation is considered. Onshore currents appear in the bottom layer beneath the bulge, propagating upstream. They produce an anticyclonic barotropic eddy due to the conservation of potential vorticity. The current component associated with the eddy crosses normally to the isohaline in the upper layer, and therefore transports the bulge upstream. No other current component (such as surface current velocity minus vertically-averaged value) is responsible for the upstream propagation of the bulge. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Surface circulation and vertical structure of current off the Keum River estuary,Korea in later spring 2008

To examine the surface circulation and vertical structure of currents in the region of the Keum River (KR) plume, we analyzed the subinertial surface currents obtained by high frequency radar and the vertical profiles of currents measured at a station (M1) located 10 km distance from the estuary mouth for one month in late spring 2008. Monthly-mean surface circulation is composed of the westward flow from the estuary mouth and the northward flow in the offshore. These surface mean currents are a gradient (geostrophic) current around the monthly-mean plume bulge. Dominant variabilities of the surface currents, winds, and KR-outflow are decomposed by the Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF). The first current EOF mode, explaining 39% of total variation, is primarily related to the first wind EOF mode varying along the coast and the second current mode, explaining 33% of total variation, is mainly related to the first KR-outflow EOF mode varying along the mean KR-outflow direction. Meanwhile, vertical profile of the monthly-mean current at M1 shows a two-layer structure of the current flowing offshore (onshore) in the upper (lower) layer because the water column is divided by a pycnocline at 7-9 m depths below the plume water. This two layer structure is a background persisting current structure, at least in spring, maintained by the geostrophic balance induced by the sea level slope and density gradient along the line normal to the westward mean surface current direction due to monthly-mean plume bulge off the KR estuary. EOF analysis of vertical current profiles reveals that the first mode, explaining 43% of total variation, represents the two-layer structure of the current variability. The upper-layer current varies along a line normal to the mainland coastline and the low-layer one varies approximately along a line parallel to the coastline, with direction difference of about 115° between the upper-and low-layer. From the correlation analysis it is found that 60% of the first mode variation is influenced by the first mode of KR-outflow and 36% by the first mode of wind. Any forcing modes of KR-outflow and wind influencing the other current vertical modes could not be found in the present study.     

Horizontal flux of nutrients and plankton across and along the British Columbia continental margin

We report rate estimates for the horizontal transport of realized and potential “new” production across and along the Vancouver Island continental margin. Measurements consisted of three summer-season surveys (1993–1995) of water properties, chlorophyll and dissolved nutrient concentrations, zooplankton biomass and community composition. Sampling was done along paired 350-km station lines extending parallel to and approximately 25 km seaward of the shelf break. Horizontal transport of nutrients and plankton biomass was estimated from cross-products of concentration fields with cross-shore and alongshore geostrophic velocity fields and with space- and time-averaged estimates of Ekman volume transport. Because concentrations of nutrients and phytoplankton were low in the upper 30–50 m, their horizontal flux within the Ekman layer was relatively small (order 10% of geostrophic transport). Geostrophic transport was strongly localized and was correlated vertically with concentration gradients, and horizontally with eddies and meanders of the alongshore geostrophic currents. Net geostrophic transport was a small difference between larger localized seaward and shoreward components. Upper layer (0–50 m) transports of nutrients and phytoplankton biomass were of roughly similar magnitude. Both were much larger than transport of zooplankton biomass. Total cross-shore flux was a small fraction (<10%) of the estimated total productivity shoreward of the sampling lines. Direction and magnitude varied among survey periods, but for all 1990s surveys appear to have been weaker than in the mid-1980s, when summer-season averaged upwelling-favorable winds were stronger and the shelf-break current was faster.     

2000年8月长江口外海区冲淡水和羽状锋的观测

采用CTD、多参数环境监测系统 YSI等仪器设备 ,于 2 0 0 0年 8月在长江口外海区对长江冲淡水结构、羽状锋等进行了现场观测。 2 0 0 0年 8月长江冲淡水出口门后 ,朝东北偏北流动 ,而当年 8月为长江径流量偏小的月份。通过动力分析指出了近口门段长江冲淡水分布类型与径流量的关系。长江冲淡水主流在近口门附近朝东北偏北扩展后 ,在科氏力作用下朝东南扩展 ,在转向区域为沿水下河谷北上的高盐台湾暖流水。高盐的台湾暖流水和长江冲淡水混合 ,生成口外羽状锋 ,强度大 ,阻挡了长江冲淡水向东扩展 ,并使冲淡水在当年径流量偏小情况下朝东北偏北运动。部分台湾暖流水在中下层能穿越长江口外而向北流动。羽状锋主要存在于长江口外 1 2 2 .6°E附近的 1 5m水层之上。在浙江沿岸、长江口外水下低谷西侧、吕泗近岸存在着上升流现象     

Wind-driven variability of the Amazon River plume on the continental shelf during the peak outflow season

The hypothesis that variations of the Amazon plume are forced primarily by wind is further explored through a series of simplified numerical model simulations. The wind's role in the change in plume structure and the nature of this change are investigated for two events: a shift in wind direction from westward to southeastward and a reduction in magnitude of the westward wind speed. Under winds with a southeastward component, the plume is confined to below 5°N; this simulation represents a rare but illustrative event showing how the balance of forces is quickly adjusted under changing winds. The freshest portions of the plume expand eastward, but are confined near the river mouth, as observed. The cross-shelf and alongshelf dynamic balances are similar in magnitude to those with westward wind stress, but the balance between the equatorial jet and buoyancy-driven cross-shelf flow is altered, controlling a new along-shelf position of the front. During wind-relaxation events, the plume widens near the mouth as a result of strong, eastward cross-shelf velocities associated with an equatorial Kelvin wave.     

Seasonal and spatial distributions of phytoplankton biomass associated with monsoon and oceanic environments in the South China Sea

Seasonal variations of phytoplankton/chlorophyll-a （Chl-a） distribution, sea surface wind, sea height anomaly, sea surface temperature and other oceanic environments for long periods are analyzed in the South China Sea （SCS）, especially in the two typical regions off the east coast of Vietnam and off the northwest coast of Luzon, using remote sensing data and other oceanographic data. The results show that seasonal and spatial distributions of phytoplankton biomass in the SCS are primarily influenced by the monsoon winds and oceanic environments. Off the east coast of Vietnam, Chl-a concentration is a peak in August, a jet shape extending into the interior SCS, which is associated with strong southwesterly monsoon winds, the coastal upwetling induced by offshore Ekman transport and the strong offshore current in the western SCS. In December, high Chl-a concentration appears in the upwelling region off the northwest coast of Luzon and spreads southwestward. Strong mixing by the strong northeasterly monsoon winds, the cyclonic circulation, southwestward coastal currents and river discharge have impacts on distribution of phytoplankton, so that the high phytoplankton biomass extends from the coastal areas over the northern SCS to the entire SCS in winter. These research activities could be important for revealing spatial and temporal patterns of phytoplankton and their interactions with physical environments in the SCS.     

Spreading of the Amur River plume in the Amur Liman,Sakhalin Gulf,and the Strait of Tartary

This work focuses on a study of the Amur plume spreading during ice-free periods in the Amur Liman and adjacent areas of Sakhalin Gulf and the Strait of Tartary. It was found from MERIS/EnviSat satellite imagery, MERRA wind reanalysis, and Amur discharge data in 2002–2011 that regular transport of Amur plume waters from the Amur Liman to Sakhalin Gulf occurs in June–October. This process is caused by flood discharge of the Amur River in the absence of strong northern winds or when southern winds are strong during periods of moderate discharge. Estimates for the frequency and duration of this process have shown that it occurs on average during half of the days in June–October and can continue up to 2.5 months. Spreading of the Amur plume to the Strait of Tartary is a significantly rarer event. This process takes place only during the Amur’s freshet periods and for strong western wind forcing, which induces southward Ekman transport. The average duration of this process during the ice-free season is estimated as 15 days; however, in individual years, it can be as short as several days.     

Transport of chemical components in sea ice and under-ice water during melting in the seasonally ice-covered Saroma-ko Lagoon,Hokkaido, Japan

Physico-chemical properties in the brine and under-ice water were measured in Saroma-ko Lagoon on the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan, which is connected to the Sea of Okhotsk, during the period from mid-February through mid-March 2006. The brine within brine channels of the sea ice was collected with a new sampling method examined in this study. Salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), dissolved oxygen (DO), nutrients and oxygen isotopic ratio (δ¹⁸O) contained in the brine within brine channels of the sea ice and in the under-ice water varied largely in both time and space during the ice melt period, when discharge from Saromabetsu River located on the southeast of the lagoon increased markedly due to the onset of snow melting. The under-ice plume expands as far as 4.5 km from the river mouth at mid-March 2006, transporting chemical components supplied from the river into the lagoon. The under-ice river water was likely transported into the sea ice through well-developed brine channels in the sea ice due to upward flushing of water through brine channels occurred by loading of snowfalls deposited over the sea ice. These results suggest that the river water plume plays an important role in supplying chemical components into the sea ice, which may be a key process influencing the biogeochemical cycle in the seasonally ice-covered Saroma-ko Lagoon.     

瓯江河口盐度层化数值研究

瓯江口是一个径流量变化剧烈的强潮河口。本文基于非结构网格FVCOM模型,建立瓯江口海域大范围三维数学模型,研究不同时间尺度（潮周期、大-小潮）的盐度变化,并利用势能异常动力方程对数值模拟结果分析了瓯江口层化过程的动力机制。同时,利用河口R_i数和层化参数△s/<s>研究了不同时间尺度的层化稳定性及其空间变化,得出决定层化状态的潮差和径流量的阈值。结果显示：瓯江北口上段、中段和口门在潮差分别超过3.8m、4.0m和4.6m时呈完全混合状态。当径流量小于280 m³/s或大于510 m³/s,北口上段持续完全混合;而在口门附近,完全混合和层化的临界径流量约为280 m³/s。研究认为瓯江河口北口存在周期性的层化,北口下段在落潮和涨潮初期呈部分混合状态,而其它时段为完全混合。上段只在落潮初期存在层化。层化增强主要是纵向对流与横向速度剪切导致,而湍混合和纵向潮应力是层化减弱的主要因素。     

Spatial variation in river runoff into a coastal area — An ecological approach

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were used to investigate spatial variation in terrestrial particulate organic matter (POM) input to a coastal area off the Tagus river estuary. Isotopic variation in higher trophic level organisms was also examined, along the coast. This study was carried out in late summer, after a period of 3 months of low river flow. The overall aim was to determine if under such conditions the coastal area is enriched by the river plume and, particularly, if lower secondary productivity should be expected in some areas. Spatial variation was detected as a gradient of decreasing terrestrial input with increasing distance from the river. It was concluded that terrestrial carbon input was also incorporated into higher trophic levels and that organisms with lower mobility are more sensitive to the gradient in terrestrial input. Even in low flow conditions the whole fishing area remained under the influence of the river plume, which still accounted for 24% of the total POM 30 km from the river mouth. Additionally, δ¹⁵N values indicated pollution input from the river Tagus.     

A comparison between geostrophic and observed winds at a Japan Meteorological Agency Buoy in the East China Sea

Geostrophic winds (v _g) calculated over the East China Sea from surface pressure maps are compared to observed winds (v _o) from a Japan Meteorological Agency Ocean Data Buoy for the period of January-April 1986. For mean winds, the average counterclockwise veering angle fromv _g tov ₀ is 32° and there is no difference in speed. For fluctuating winds, the Ekman veering and speed reduction fromv _g tov ₀ are respectively 16° and 2%. Co-spectral analysis of the two time series indicates very high coherency and a slight lead in phase by the buoy observations. The phase difference is consistent with the general movement of fronts from west to east and the fact that the geostrophic winds are calculated for a point 155 km to the southeast of the buoy.     

Areas of the global major river plumes

River plumes are the regions where the most intense river-sea-land interaction occurs, and they are characterized by complex material transport and biogeochemical processes. However, due to their highly dynamic nature, global river plume areas have not yet been determined for use in synthetic studies of global oceanography. Based on global climatological monthly averaged salinity data from the NOAA World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09), and monthly averaged salinity contour maps of the East and South China Seas from the Chinese Marine Atlas, we extract the monthly plume areas of major global rivers using a geographic information system (GIS) technique. Only areas with salinities that are three salinity units lower than the average salinity in each ocean are counted. This conservative estimate shows that the minimum and maximum monthly values of the total plume area of the world’s 19 largest rivers are 1.72 × 10 6 km 2 in May and 5.38 × 10 6 km 2 in August. The annual mean area of these river plumes (3.72 × 10 6 km 2 ) takes up approximately 14.2% of the total continental shelves area worldwide (26.15 × 10 6 km 2 ). This paper also presents river plume areas for different oceans and latitude zones, and analyzes seasonal variations of the plume areas and their relationships with river discharge. These statistics describing the major global river plume areas can now provide the basic data for the various flux calculations in the marginal seas, and therefore will be of useful for many oceanographic studies.     

Contributions to dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (A.C.C.) (I. Zonal transport)

Scaling of the equations of motion of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current indicates that the Rossby number and the Ekman number are 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻⁵ but the vertical Ekman number may reach unity in the bottom boundary layer. The equations of motion are integrated vertically from the surface to the bottom and averaged over a latitude circle. The resulting equation in the meridional direction is predominantly geostrophic, whereas the main terms of the equation in the zonal direction are the wind stress and the bottom stress. When the vertical eddy viscosity near the bottom is of the order of 10²cm²/sec, the total zonal transport through the Drake Passage computed from the balance of the wind stress and the bottom stress equals 260×10⁶m³/sec, the amount determined byReid andNowlin (1970) from observations. The northward transport reduces the eastward transport corresponding to the wind stress of the westerlies in the A. C. C. through the Coriolis' term in the vertically integrated equation of motion of the zonal direction. South of the Drake Passage, such reduction reaches about ten percent of the wind-driven transport mainly due to the peripheral water discharge. North of the Drake Passage, the northward transport may be generated by the effect of the South American coast which prevents free eastward movement of the A. C. C., causing a wake to the east. This transport may contribute to a part of the northward transport of the bottom water postulated byMunk (1966). The effect of the horizontal eddy viscosity in the zonal transport equation is negligible except near the Antarctic coast, if the eddy viscosity is less than 10⁹cm²/sec.     

The seasonal cycle of diabatic heat storage in the Pacific Ocean

This study quantifies uncertainties in closing the seasonal cycle of diabatic heat storage (DHS) over the Pacific Ocean from 20°S to 60°N through the synthesis of World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) reanalysis products from 1993 to 1999. These products are DHS from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO); near-surface geostrophic and Ekman currents from Earth and Space Research (ESR); and air-sea heat fluxes from Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and European Center for Mid-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). With these products, we compute residual heat budget components by differencing long-term monthly means from the long-term annual mean. This allows the seasonal cycle of the DHS tendency to be modeled. Everywhere latent heat flux residuals dominate sensible heat flux residuals, shortwave heat flux residuals dominate longwave heat flux residuals, and residual Ekman heat advection dominates residual geostrophic heat advection, with residual dissipation significant only in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. The root-mean-square (RMS) of the differences between observed and model residual DHS tendencies (averaged over 10° latitude-by-20° longitude boxes) is <20 W m⁻² in the interior ocean and <100 W m⁻² in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. This reveals that the residual DHS tendency is driven everywhere by some mix of residual latent heat flux, shortwave heat flux, and Ekman heat advection. Suppressing bias errors in residual air-sea turbulent heat fluxes and Ekman heat advection through minimization of the RMS differences reduces the latter to <10 W m⁻² over the interior ocean and <25 W m⁻² in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. This reveals air-sea temperature and specific humidity differences from in situ surface marine weather observations to be a principal source of bias error, overestimated over most of ocean but underestimated near the Intertropical Convergence Zone.