Preformed Cd and PO4 and the relationship between the two elements in the northwestern Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea

Preformed Cd and PO₄ were investigated in the northwestern Pacific (Station CM05) and the Okhotsk Sea (Station CM06), and the relationship between the two elements was examined. At CM05, from the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU)–Cd and PO₄ plot, the different molecular ratios of consumed O₂ to regenerated Cd and PO₄ were calculated to be 254,000 (Cd) and 96 (PO₄) for the shallow layer (30–99 m) and 613,000 (Cd) and 170 (PO₄) for the deep layer (below the oxygen minimum layer), which suggested the preferential remineralization of Cd and PO₄ in the shallow layer. At CM06, regeneration ratios of O₂/Cd, PO₄ were obtained only in the shallow layer (29–124 m) as 227,000 (Cd) and 75 (PO₄). The calculated preformed Cd and PO₄ concentrations in the shallow layer were 0.59 nM of Cd and 1.6 μM of PO₄ at CM05 and 0.35 nM of Cd and 0.95 μM of PO₄ at CM06. These concentrations were much higher than those (close to 0) in the low-latitude area, which was attributable to the supply of these constituents from deep water by the strong winter convection. In the deep layer, at CM05, preformed concentrations were 0.64 nM of Cd and 1.4 μM of PO₄. Preformed PO₄ generally agreed with previously reported values in the Pacific, which suggested that the concentrations of the initial PO₄ in the deep water were preserved as preformed through the movement to the northwestern Pacific. On the other hand, obtained preformed Cd in the northwestern Pacific deep water showed a somewhat higher value than that in the southwest Pacific. The possibility of the terrestrial input and remineralization of Cd by CaCO₃ dissolution during the northward movement was considered. A plot of Cd and PO₄ showed a linear relationship with slopes of 0.34 and 0.40 (nM/μM) at CM05 and CM06, respectively, which generally agreed with the reported values in the North Pacific.     

Environmental genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in the offshore zones of the Baltic and the North Seas

Micronuclei (MN), nuclear buds (NB) and fragmented-apoptotic cells (FA) were analyzed in mature peripheral blood and immature cephalic kidney erythrocytes of flounder (Platichthys flesus), dab (Limanda limanda) and cod (Gadus morhua) from 12 offshore sites in the Baltic Sea (479 specimens) and 11 sites in the North Sea (291 specimens), which were collected during three research vessel cruises in December 2002, 2003 and in September 2004. The highest levels of environmental genotoxicity (frequencies of MN up to 0.5‰, NB – up to 0.75‰) and cytotoxicity (FA – up to 0.53‰) were observed in flatfishes from areas close to oil and gas platforms in the North Sea and in zones related to the extensive shipping and potentially influenced by contamination from large European Rivers (Elbe, Vistula, Oder). In dab from the offshore zones of the North Sea, the levels of nuclear abnormalities were higher as compared to those in dab from the Baltic Sea. Responses in immature kidney erythrocytes were higher than in mature erythrocytes from peripheral blood. MN frequency lower than 0.05‰ (the Baltic Sea) and lower than 0.1‰ (the North Sea) could be suspected as a reference level in the peripheral blood erythrocytes of flatfish.     

Comparison between the magnetic and petrological characteristics of the peridotites from the gorringe ridge and the peridotites from the mid-ocean ridges

The purpose of our work was to obtain the most possible detailed information about the composition, concentration, and structural features of the magnetic minerals contained in the rock to reveal the differences in the magnetic properties of the peridotites under various circumstances of the mantle magmatism and different conditions of metamorphism. To do this, we examined and analyzed the magnetic and petrographic characteristics of four collections of oceanic and alpinotype spinel peridotites. The main object for comparing the magnetic characteristics was the Gorringe ridge, which lies in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The peridotite samples from the Gorringe ridge differ from the other collections in many magnetic parameters: I _n , χ, Q, I _rs /I _s , H _c , H _cr , and H _m . The principal question of our work was to clarify the nature of the Earth’s crust where the Gorringe ridge formed. This subject was studied many times in the literature, but the researchers did not reach a common opinion. In accordance with our data, the spinel peridotites from the Gorringe ridge represent a subcontinental lithosphere mantle of the Iberian continental margin. During the metamorphism, the formation of magnetite occurred in the peridotites of the Gorringe ridge in several stages and had a regressive character. Our investigations explain the results of the analysis of the anomalous magnetic field over the Gorringe ridge, which is characterized by sharp roughness and high intensity of the local signchanging anomalies.     

Canada and the law of the sea

This is a historical review of Canadian policy at the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. Canadian objectives with regard to the territorial sea, fisheries, pollution prevention and the continental shelf are outlined and the role played by the Canadian delegation at UNCLOS is described. The article then examines the impact of the Convention on Canada, particular attention being paid to the Canadian Exclusive Economic Zone and the Canadian role in the controversy over seabed mining. The author concludes by arguing that Canada was a major beneficiary of the Convention, but that US opposition has placed the future of the Convention in jeopardy.     

山东半岛东部南北岸典型砂质海岸沉积、地貌的横向差异及成因分析———以海阳万米海滩岸段和威海国际海水浴场岸段为例

根据2011年在海阳万米海滩岸段与威海国际海水浴场岸段调查获得的夏、冬两季海岸实测地形剖面与沉积物粒度数据,并收集相关水文资料,对南北两海岸地貌与沉积差异性进行分析,探讨了半岛东部南北岸典型砂质海岸动力环境的差异。研究结果表明,南部海岸宽广平缓,发育滩脊、滩肩、沙波纹等地貌,沉积物在水下岸坡上段以中粗砂、中细砂为主,水下岸坡以下段以粉砂、黏土质粉砂为主;北部海岸地形陡,发育滩肩陡坎、水下沙坝等地貌,沉积物以砾质砂为主。导致这些差异的动力为风、波浪、潮汐及沿岸流堆积。     

金塘大桥桥轴线优化及建桥对水流和航道的影响

金塘大桥跨越灰鳖洋,连接金塘岛沥港镇与宁波镇海新泓口,全长18.5 km,为舟山连岛工程的主体.该大桥工程所在海域潮汐为非正规浅海半日潮,历年最大潮差为3.67 m,多年平均潮差为1.91 m;潮流呈往复流特征,且基本平行于峡道走向.金塘大桥水域东侧微冲,西侧微淤,深泓摆幅较小,深槽稳定.在海床演变分析的基础上,运用数学模型进行了桥轴线的优化,由实体定床与动床模型探讨了建桥对水动力的影响.数学模型选用2002年3月和11月实测水文测验资料对模型进行率定和验证.物理模型选取中值粒径为0.2 mm的塑料沙作为动床试验的模型沙,选用2002年11月实测水文测验资料对定床模型进行验证,选用2002年11月和2003年4月两次水下地形资料对动床模型进行河床冲淤验证,验证精度均满足相关规范要求.研究结果表明,以推荐的方案建桥对桥位近区的潮位、流速与潮量的影响均较小.建桥后,下游高潮位有所抬高,上游高潮位有所降低;上游低潮位有所抬高,下游低潮位略有降低.由于桥墩的阻水作用,使该桥所在海域海流流速整体上略有减小,减小量一般在5%以内;桥墩间因海流集中使流速有所增加.建桥使主航道航深有所增加,桥位近区与远区分别冲刷0.6～0.8 m和0.1～0.2 m;西航道桥轴线近区冲刷0.4～0.5 m,远区淤积0.1～0.2 m.建桥对甬江口、金塘锚地、七里屿锚地均无明显的不良影响,对北仑港区基本没有影响.     

On the large-scale variability of the circulation and heat state of the ocean and atmosphere in the North Atlantic

A conclusion about two extreme regimes existing in the large-scale circulation in the North Atlantic has been drawn based on an analysis of the inter-annual variability of the analogue to the Rossby index, as well as that of the heat and dynamic characteristics in separate areas of the north subtropical circulation. The former is defined by a high level of circulation both in the atmosphere and in the subtropical water circulation. In the current century this regime was realized mainly in the years pertaining to the middle and end of a 22-year solar activity cycle (a 22-year cycle). The relatively low level of atmospheric circulation and the slackened water mass transport are typical of the second regime. It dominated mainly during the years relevant to the beginning and second half of a 22-year solar activity cycle.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

长江感潮河段潮波传播变化特征及影响因素分析

径潮相互作用是感潮河段水动力变化的典型特征,受其影响潮波传播具有明显的洪枯季及沿程变化。本文基于长江感潮河段天生港、江阴、镇江、南京、马鞍山及芜湖6个潮位站2002?2014年连续高低潮位资料及大通站月均流量数据,统计分析长江感潮河段潮波振幅衰减率、潮波传播速度及余水位坡度等传播特征值的洪枯季及沿程变化特征,并探讨这些潮波传播特征的变化规律及其主要影响因素。结果表明,潮波传播特征的洪枯季差异自上游至下游逐渐减小,其分界点位于天生港与江阴之间（其中,天生港和江阴站的多年平均洪枯季潮差差值约为0.01 m和?0.04 m）;径流动力对潮波衰减的影响主要位于江阴以上河段,江阴以下河段主要受潮汐动力控制;径流驱动下余水位坡度引起的余水位及水深增加,导致潮波传播的有效摩擦减小,当流量超过某个阈值时潮波振幅衰减反而减弱,特别是上游马鞍山-芜湖段最为明显,统计结果表明该河段流量阈值约为33 000 m3/s。本文分析结果作为前人研究的重要补充,可为长江河口感潮河段径潮相互作用机制研究及河口治理等提供基础参考。     

Study on the Kuroshio and the Tsushima Current

I summarize the variations of the path of the Kuroshio and of the Tsushima Current mainly based on the results of my studies. The Tsushima Current forms three branches just after it enters the Japan Sea through the Tsushima Strait. The first and third branch currents flow along the Japanese and Korean coasts, respectively, and the second branch current flows from the western channel of the Tsushima Strait to the west of the Oki Islands only in summer from June to August. Properties of the topographic waves which are thought to work on the formation of the second branch are described mainly in terms of the dispersion relations. The Kuroshio has three typical paths,i.e., the nearshore and offshore non-large-meander paths and the typical large-meander path. The Kuroshio alternately takes the nearshore and offshore paths in the non-large-meander period, occasionally changes from the nearshore nonlarge-meander path to the large-meander path and, after having taken the large-meander path for several years, changes to the offshore non-large-meander path. Sea levels south of Japan are clearly different between the non-large-meander and large-meander periods, while they are not different between the periods of the nearshore and offshore non-large-meander paths. But, sea level and water properties in the coastal region show remarkable features during short periods of transitions between the typical non-large-meander paths. Future problems and subjects of studies on these currents are indicated. Especially, importance of velocity monitoring of the Kuroshio is emphasized, and a design of the observation across the Tokara Strait is proposed.     

Oceanographic and climatologic controls on the compositions and fluxes of biogenic materials in the water column and sediments of the Cariaco Basin over the Late Holocene

Materials collected by sediment traps over a 3-y period and sedimentary horizons from a gravity core covering the last 6000 y were used to investigate the effects of climate-related processes such as wind-driven upwelling and regional rainfall on the production, export and burial of particulate organic matter in the Cariaco Basin. A variety of chemical analyses, including organic carbon and nitrogen, biogenic opal, calcite, lithogenic contents, stable carbon isotopic ratios of organic matter and the yields of CuO reaction products derived from distinct biochemicals such as amino acids, fatty acids and lignins, were carried out for this purpose. Principal component analyses were used to investigate the trends in this multivariate data set. These analyses reveal marked temporal differences in the composition of the materials sinking through the water column, which were related to distinct oceanographic and climatic forcings. For example, autochthonous fluxes, characterized by elevated contents of organic carbon and opal as well as high yields of amino acid and fatty acid reaction products, displayed peaks during periods of intense wind-driven upwelling. In contrast, allochthonous materials, characterized by elevated lithogenic contents and elevated yields of lignin-derived products, were more important during periods of high rainfall, low wind and enhanced stratification. In addition to the strong seasonal contrasts, there was significant temporal variability at both shorter (monthly) and longer (inter-annual) time scales. Hence, other factors, such as zooplankton grazing and El Niño effects on local climatology, may also be important. Examination of the gravity core record yielded several significant trends. For example, there was a marked increase in sediment accumulation rates from 5000 to ca. 700 y before present with concomitant increases in the concentrations of organic carbon, opal and most biomarkers. These results suggest that the Cariaco Basin experienced a marked increase in primary productivity and particle flux to the underlying sediments since the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Also within the sedimentary record, we observed distinct variations in the relative contributions of autochthonous and allochthonous organic matter. The frequency of these variations is roughly 1500 y and appears to match ice-rafted debris records from the North Atlantic. Such coincidence indicates cold periods within the Holocene, which are related to minima in insolation, may have led to the southern migration of the inter-tropical convergence zone and the enhancement of wind-driven upwelling, primary productivity and autochthonous organic matter flux to the seabed in the Cariaco Basin. Alternatively, during warm periods, the opposite climatic conditions would have increased both the thermal stratification of the water column and average rainfall in the Cariaco Basin, leading to elevated inputs of allochthonous materials.     

On the structure and the transport of the eastern Weddell Gyre

The circulation pattern and volume transports in the eastern Weddell Gyre are estimated on the basis of hydrographic data collected by R.V. Polarstern between 1989 and 1996. In the northeastern edge of the Weddell Gyre, eastward-flowing water masses from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Weddell Sea converge. Due to the strong effect of topographic constraints on ocean currents in the weakly stratified waters of high latitudes, the wedge-like structure of the Southwest Indian Ridge can cause the convergence. The increased shear leads to instabilities of the current at the eastern end of the ridge, which produce an intense mesoscale eddy field between 15° and 30°E. In the eddies, water from the Weddell cold regime and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current waters mix and form the water masses of the Weddell warm regime. These waters are advected southward and flow towards the westward southern rim current, which is driven by the Antarctic eastwind band. Hence, there is not a continous flow from the northern to the southern rim, but a decay of the mean flow in the northeast and a reformation in the south. Volume transports across the Greenwich Meridian, estimated on the basis of a combined CTD/ADCP data set, result in an eastward flow of 61 Sv in the northern rim current and a westward return flow of 66 Sv in the southern part of the gyre. The transport is about twice as high as previous estimates between Kapp Norvegia and the northern tip of the Antarctic Pensinsula, indicating a significant gyre circulation north of 70°S.     

渤海、黄海热结构分析

在多年观测资料基础上,以月平均风应力和周平均海表水温(SST)作为外强迫,对黄海、渤海热结构进行了数值模拟.模拟结果显示渤海的热结构特征自10月至翌年3月为水温垂直均一的冬季型;5～8月为分层结构(由上混合层、跃层、潮混合层组成)的夏季型.4月和9月为两型的过渡期,最低水温出现在2月,最高水温表层出现在8月,底层则在9～10月.黄海沿岸浅水区与渤海有相似的热结构,黄海冷水团和黄海暖流对其中央槽深水区的热结构有重要影响.对底层水的影响而言,前者夏季显著而后者冬季显著,从而导致黄海(槽)的底层水与环境相比呈现夏季冷而冬季暖的特征,底层水温基本上与表面水温的年变化反相;深水区的热结构与渤海相比,均一型结构(1～3月)变短,分层型结构(5～11月)变长,底温年变幅(5℃以内)变小,跃层强度增强.模拟结果还表明,黄海暖流的动力仍然是季风环流,而对黄海冷水团的形成和发展有无动力影响提出质疑.     

Main Tendency and Results ol the Investigation of the Kuroshie in the East ol Taiwan and the East China Sea

In this paper, the main tendency and results of the investigation of the Kuroshio in the east of Taiwan and the East China Sea are reviewed briefly since the beginning of the Cooperative Study of the Kuroshio and Adjacent Regions (CSK). The emphases are laid upon the following four aspects, i.e., (1) the variability of the Kuroshio, (2) the hydrography of the Kuroshio, (3) the air-sea interaction in the Kuroshio area and (4) the fisheries oceanography.     

Interactions between the Indonesian Throughflow and circulations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Circulations associated with the Indonesian Throughflow (IT), particularly concerning subsurface currents in the Pacific Ocean, are studied using three types of models: a linear, continuously stratified (LCS) model and a nonlinear, -layer model (LOM), both confined to the Indo-Pacific basin; and a global, ocean general circulation model (COCO). Solutions are wind forced, and obtained with both open and closed Indonesian passages. Layers 1-4 of LOM correspond to near-surface, thermocline, subthermocline (thermostad), and upper-intermediate (AAIW) water, respectively, and analogous layers are defined for COCO.The three models share a common dynamics. When the Indonesian passages are abruptly opened, barotropic and baroclinic waves radiate into the interiors of both oceans. The steady-state, barotropic flow field from the difference (open − closed) solution is an anticlockwise circulation around the perimeter of the southern Indian Ocean, with its meridional branches confined to the western boundaries of both oceans. In contrast, steady-state, baroclinic flows extend into the interiors of both basins, a consequence of damping of baroclinic waves by diapycnal processes (internal diffusion, upwelling and subduction, and convective overturning). Deep IT-associated currents are the subsurface parts of these baroclinic flows. In the Pacific, they tend to be directed eastward and poleward, extend throughout the basin, and are closed by upwelling in the eastern ocean and Subpolar Gyre. Smaller-scale aspects of their structure vary significantly among the models, depending on the nature of their diapycnal mixing.At the exit to the Indonesian Seas, the IT is highly surface trapped in all the models, with a prominent, deep core in the LCS model and in LOM. The separation into two cores is due to near-equatorial, eastward-flowing, subsurface currents in the Pacific Ocean, which drain layer 2 and layer 3 waters from the western ocean to supply water for the upwelling regions in the eastern ocean; indeed, depending on the strength and parameterization of vertical diffusion in the Pacific interior, the draining can be strong enough that layer 3 water flows from the Indian to Pacific Ocean. The IT in COCO lacks a significant deep core, likely because the model’s coarse bottom topography has no throughflow passage below 1000 m. Consistent with observations, water in the near-surface (deep) core comes mostly from the northern (southern) hemisphere, a consequence of the wind-driven circulation in the tropical North Pacific being mostly confined to the upper ocean; as a result, it causes the near-surface current along the New Guinea coast to retroflect eastward, but has little impact on the deeper New Guinea undercurrent.In the South Pacific, the IT-associated flow into the basin is spread roughly uniformly throughout all four layers, a consequence of downwelling processes in the Indian Ocean. The inflow first circulates around the Subtropical Gyre, and then bends northward at the Australian coast to flow to the equator within the western boundary currents. To allow for this additional, northward transport, the bifurcation latitude of the South Equatorial Current shifts southward when the Indonesian passages are open. The shift is greater at depth (layers 3 and 4), changing from about 14°S when the passages are closed to 19°S when they are open and, hence, accounting for the northward-flowing Great Barrier Reef Undercurrent in that latitude range.After flowing along the New Guinea coast, most waters in layers 1-3 bend offshore to join the North Equatorial Countercurrent, Equatorial Undercurrent, and southern Tsuchiya Jet, respectively, thereby ensuring that northern hemisphere waters contribute significantly to the IT. In contrast, much of the layer 4 water directly exits the basin via the IT, but some also flows into the subpolar North Pacific. Except for the direct layer 4 outflow, all other IT-associated waters circulate about the North Pacific before they finally enter the Indonesian Seas via the Mindanao Current.     

冬、夏季渤黄海表层沉积物粒度特征差异及其成因分析

对渤海、黄海海域冬、夏两季表层沉积物取样,通过激光粒度仪得出粒度参数,进而分析讨论冬季强的沿岸流的作用、黄海暖流、夏季冷水团的影响以及地形、海底地貌特征、物源特征等对表层沉积物分布造成的影响。结果表明,冬、夏两季渤黄海表层沉积物粒度特征总体上相差不大,但部分海域如渤海中北部、渤海中南部、北黄海西北部近渤海海峡北部海域、山东半岛东北部海域、南黄海中部沉积物粒度特征存在明显季节性差异。表层沉积物粒度特征季节性差异与地形地貌、沿岸流、黄海暖流、黄海冷水团及物源密切相关。本研究对于探讨渤黄海不同季节表层沉积物沉积特征的影响机制、了解渤黄海区海洋动力过程的季节差异有积极意义。     

Effects of the wind and thermal conditions variability on the structure and dynamics of the seawater in the Northeastern Black Sea

The atmospheric processes variability, which has a decisive influence on the air temperature and wind field characteristics in the Northeastern Black Sea is analyzed. Due to the standard experimental data collected in the 100 mile long ship transect abeam of Gelendzhik for the period of 1994?C2009, the typical features of the hydrological structure and the water circulation for the intervals of the regional climate cooling and warming have been recognized. According to the separate hydrologic surveys performed in the cold and warm periods, the prevailing wind direction??s impact on the formation of the water circulation was estimated.     

Analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of ecological variables and the nutrient budget in the Beibu Gulf

Based on a hydrodynamic-ecological model, the temperature, salinity, current, phytoplankton(Chl a),zooplankton, and nutrient(dissolved inorganic nitrogen, DIN, and dissolved inorganic phosphorous, DIP)distributions in the Beibu Gulf were simulated and the nutrient budget of 2015 was quantitatively analyzed. The simulated results show that interface processes and monsoons significantly influence the ecological processes in the gulf. The concentrations of DIN, DIP, phytoplankton and zooplankton are generally higher in the eastern and northern gulf than that in the western and southern gulf. The key regions affected by ecological processes are the Qiongzhou Strait in winter and autumn and the estuaries along the Guangxi coast and the Red River in summer.In most of the studied domains, biochemical processes contribute more to the nutrient budget than do physical processes, and the DIN and DIP increase over the year. Phytoplankton plays an important role in the nutrient budget; phytoplankton photosynthetic uptake is the nutrient sink, phytoplankton dead cellular release is the largest source of DIN, and phytoplankton respiration is the largest source of DIP. The nutrient flux in the connected sections of the Beibu Gulf and open South China Sea(SCS) inflows from the east and outflows to the south. There are 113 709 t of DIN and 5 277 t of DIP imported from the open SCS to the gulf year-around.     

Modelling of the propagation and transformation of riverine waters over the north-western shelf and in the abyssal part of the Black Sea

To study the propagation and transformation of riverine waters in the framework of a multilayer model based on primitive equations, the method of through counting is suggested, involving two types of grids, namely, a fine grid in the north-western shelf area and a large-sized grid in the deep sea. It has been shown that, in the absence of wind, riverine waters propagate over the shelf and along the western coast of the sea. North-easterly wind presses this flow against the shore, thus intensifying it; as a result of this, brackish waters turn out to be nearly entirely driven from the north-western shelf area and concentrate in the western section of the open sea where they form a layer that is quasi-homogeneous, in terms of salinity. Due to the forcing of the north-westerly wind, riverine waters penetrate into the interior of the shelf area and then move southward toward the open sea, mixing up with the upwelling abyssal saltier waters and forming a tongue of relatively brackish waters in the central part of the western half-basin. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Caribbean current variability and the influence of the Amazon and Orinoco freshwater plumes

The variability of the Caribbean Current is studied in terms of the influence on its dynamics of the freshwater inflow from the Orinoco and Amazon rivers. Sea-surface salinity maps of the eastern Caribbean and SeaWiFS color images show that a freshwater plume from the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers extends seasonally northwestward across the Caribbean basin, from August to November, 3–4 months after the peak of the seasonal rains in northeastern South America. The plume is sustained by two main inflows from the North Brazil Current and its current rings. The southern inflow enters the Caribbean Sea south of Grenada Island and becomes the main branch of the Caribbean Current in the southern Caribbean. The northern inflow (14°N) passes northward around the Grenadine Islands and St. Vincent. As North Brazil Current rings stall and decay east of the Lesser Antilles, between 14°N and 18°N, they release freshwater into the northern part of the eastern Caribbean Sea merging with inflow from the North Equatorial Current. Velocity vectors derived from surface drifters in the eastern Caribbean indicate three westward flowing jets: (1) the southern and fastest at 11°N; (2) the center and second fastest at 14°N; (3) the northern and slowest at 17°N. The center jet (14°N) flows faster between the months of August and December and is located near the southern part of the freshwater plume. Using the MICOM North Atlantic simulation, it is shown that the Caribbean Current is seasonally intensified near 14°N, partly by the inflow of river plumes. Three to four times more anticyclonic eddies are formed during August–December, which agrees with a pronounced rise in the number of anticyclonic looper days in the drifter data then. A climatology-forced regional simulation embedding only the northern (14°N) Caribbean Current (without the influence of the vorticity of the NBC rings), using the ROMS model, shows that the low salinity plume coincides with a negative potential vorticity anomaly that intensifies the center jet located at the salinity front. The jet forms cyclones south of the plume, which are moved northwestward as the anticyclonic circulation intensifies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, north of 14°N. Friction on the shelves of the Greater Antilles also generates cyclones, which propagate westward and eastward from 67°W.     

Stratigraphy and facies distribution of the Utsira formation and the Pliocene sequences in the northern North Sea

The Upper Cenozoic deposits of the northern North Sea have been analysed in order to establish a regional and detailed stratigraphy. The Utsira Formation is subdivided into four log-units and mapped, and two main depocentres are outlined. The lower part of the Utsira Formation consists of thick marine, mounded sand bodies, interpreted as overall stacked lowstand fan deposits, while the upper part of the formation consists of more clayey-silty intervals, indicating increased relative sea level. The succeeding progradational Pliocene deposits are subdivided into 13 high-frequency depositional sequences and are mapped. The sequences are grouped into four composite sequences. Each of the four Pliocene composite sequences is composed of one or two rather locally distributed, prograding sequences (lowstand sequence set), succeeded by one or two more widely distributed aggrading-prograding sequences (transgressive-highstand sequence set). Boundaries between the composite sequences are recorded as marked changes in distribution of depocentres and sequence architecture. The regional uplift of Scandinavia is believed to be the main control on sediment input, feeding the succeeding general prograding Pliocene sequences. Oscillations of the eustatic sea level punctuated the tectonically controlled progradation and affected variations in the accommodation space, and thus created the high-frequency sequences.