Carbon Dioxide Flux at the Water–Air Boundary at the Continental Slope in the Kara Sea

Oceanology - The values and direction of carbon dioxide flux in the area of the continental slope in the north of the Kara Sea (St. Anna Trough) are calculated based on field studies in 2020 within...     

On the Engelund–Fredsøe Channel-Stability Problem

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - To settle the Engelund–Fredsøe channel-stability problem, a condition is defined in this paper which makes it possible to determine the value...     

On the Mechanism of Decadal Oscillations in the Ocean–Atmosphere System

The aim of the work is to check the hypothesis that quasiperiodic oscillations of meridional heat transport intensified by a positive feedback existing in the ocean–atmosphere system in subtropical regions is one of the principal factors governing the decadal variability of various hydrophysical fields in the North Atlantic. We use a simple three-box model of the North Atlantic with one lower and two upper boxes and meridional circulation for typical parameters of the ocean–atmosphere system. It is assumed that the decadal anomalies of sea-level pressure are proportional to the anomalies of sea-surface temperature. The deduced system of ordinary differential equations for the temperature of the upper two boxes with quadratic nonlinearity and the behavior of the solution in the vicinity of the stationary point are analyzed by using standard procedures for the investigation of linearized equations for small perturbations. It is shown that, for typical parameters of the ocean–atmosphere system, oscillating solutions for the sea-surface temperature with periods of 10–20yr can be realized even without taking salinity into account.     

Studies on the Adelie penguin at cape Royds 1964–65 and 1965–66

The adult population of the colony, egg sizes, incubation watches, and egg and chick mortality are considered for the 1964–65 and 1965–66 breeding seasons. In 1964–65 1,051 breeding pairs were recorded and 1,467 chicks survived to leave the colony: this represents 67.5% of eggs laid. In 1965–66 1,186 breeding pairs successfully reared 1,390 chicks: 57.0% of eggs laid. Egg and chick mortality over four breeding seasons is considered, with special reference to ice conditions in McMurdo Sound. Dimensions of 349 eggs are given, including those for clutches produced by 33 known females in successive seasons. Breeding success of known pairs of birds is discussed. Birds breeding for the first time appear to lay a single, small egg and to be unsuccessful; experienced breeders which change their mate are usually unsuccessful. Observations are made on chick plumage and panting. A prone sleeping posture in which the bill is directed towards the axilla is described and illustrated. Some observations on the South Polar Skua are recorded.     

On the processes controlling shelf–basin exchange and outer shelf dynamics in the Bering Sea

We use a 9-km pan-Arctic ice–ocean model to better understand the circulation and exchanges in the Bering Sea, particularly near the shelf break. This region has, historically, been undersampled for physical, chemical, and biological properties. Very little is known about how water from the deep basin reaches the large, shallow Bering Sea shelf. To address this, we examine here the relationship between the Bering Slope Current and exchange across the shelf break and resulting mass and property fluxes onto the shelf. This understanding is critical to gain insight into the effects that the Bering Sea has on the Arctic Ocean, especially in regard to recent indications of a warming climate in this region. The Bering Sea shelf break region is characterized by the northwestward-flowing Bering Slope Current. Previously, it was thought that once this current neared the Siberian coast, a portion of it made a sharp turn northward and encircled the Gulf of Anadyr in an anticyclonic fashion. Our model results indicate a significantly different circulation scheme whereby water from the deep basin is periodically moved northward onto the shelf by mesoscale processes along the shelf break. Canyons along the shelf break appear to be more prone to eddy activity and, therefore, are associated with higher rates of on-shelf transport. The horizontal resolution configured in this model now allows for the representation of eddies with diameters greater than 36 km; however, we are unable to resolve the smaller eddies.     

Physical Modeling of Structure Formation at the Early Stages of the Iberia–Newfoundland Separation

Oceanology - The features of structure formation on the adjacent margins of Iberia and Newfoundland are considered based on an analysis of geological and geophysical data and physical modeling....     

On the identification of ship coupled heave–pitch motions using neural networks

This paper outlines a procedure for the derivation of the differential equations describing the free response of a heaving and pitching ship from its stationary response to random waves. The coupled heave–pitch motion of a ship in random seas is modelled as a multi-dimensional Markov process. The partial differential equation describing the transition probability density function, known as the Fokker-Planck equation, for this process is derived. The Fokker-Planck equation is used to derive the random decrement equations for the coupled heave–pitch motion. The parameters in these equations are then identified using a neural network approach. The method is validated using numerical simulations and experimental results. The experimental data was obtained using an icebreaker ship model heaving and pitching in random waves. It is shown that the method produces good results when the system is lightly damped. An extension for using this method to identify couple heave–pitch motion in realistic seas is suggested.     

Sea-floor methane blow-out and global firestorm at the K–T boundary

 A previously unsuspected source of fuel for the global firestorm recorded by soot in the Cretaceous–Tertiary impact layer may have resided in methane gas associated with gas hydrate in the end-Cretaceous seafloor. End-Cretaceous impact-generated shock and megawaves would have had the potential to initiate worldwide oceanic methane gas blow-outs from these deposits. The methane would likely have ignited and incompletely combusted. This large burst of methane would have been followed by longer-term methane release as a part of a positive thermal feedback in the disturbed ocean-atmosphere system. Received: 16 September 1998 / revision received: 11 January 1999     

Sea-surface acoustic backscattering measurement at 6–25 kHz in the Yellow Sea

Sea-surface acoustic backscattering measurements at moderate to high frequencies were performed in the shallow water of the south Yellow Sea, using omnidirectional spherical sources and omnidirectional hydrophones. Sea-surface backscattering data for frequencies in the 6–25 k Hz range and wind speeds of(3.0±0.5)and(4.5±1.0) m/s were obtained from two adjacent experimental sites, respectively. Computation of sea-surface backscattering strength using bistatic transducer is described. Finally, we calculated sea-surface backscattering strengths at grazing angles in the range of 16°–85°. We find that the measured backscattering strengths agree reasonably well with those predicted by using second order small-roughness perturbation approximation method with "PM" roughness spectrum for all frequencies at grazing angles ranged from 40° to 80°. The backscattering strengths varied slightly at grazing angles of 16°–40°, and were much stronger than roughness scattering. It is speculated that scattering from bubbles dominates the backscattering strengths at high wind speeds and small grazing angles. At the same frequencies and moderate to high grazing angles, the results show that the backscattering strengths at a wind speed of(4.5±1.0) m/s were approximately 5 d B higher than those at a wind speed of(3.0±0.5) m/s. However, the discrepancies of backscattering strength at low grazing angles were more than 10 d B. Furthermore the backscattering strengths exhibited no significant frequency dependence at 3 m/s wind speed. At a wind speed of 4.5 m/s, the scattering strengths increased at low grazing angles but decreased at high grazing angles with increasing grazing angle.     

Note on the CO2 air–sea gas exchange at high temperatures

The temperature dependency of ocean–atmosphere gas transfer velocities is commonly estimated in terms of Schmidt numbers, i.e. the ratio of kinematic viscosity to diffusivity. In numerical models least square regressions are used to fit the limited number of experimentally derived Schmidt numbers to a function of temperature. For CO₂ a well established fit can be found in the literature. This fit constitutes an integral part in standardized carbon cycle simulation projects (e.g. C4MIP, OC4MIP, Friedlingstein et al., 2006). However, the fit is valid only in the range where diffusivity measurements exist, i.e., from 0 to about 30 °C. In many climate warming simulations like e.g. the MPI contribution to the fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report (IPCC AR 4), sea surface temperatures largely exceed the validated range and approach or even reach the range, where the standard fits leave the physically meaningful range. Thus, this paper underlines the demand for new measurements of seawater diffusivities for CO₂ and other trace gases especially for the temperature range >30 °C.In this paper we provide improved fits for the temperature dependence of the Schmidt number. For carbon dioxide our fit is compared to the established fit under identical climate change simulations carried out with the 3D-carbon cycle model HAMOCC. We find that in many tropical and subtropical high temperature regions the established fit leads to unrealistically short adaption times of the surface water pCO₂ to altered atmospheric pCO₂. In regions where the local oceanic pCO₂ is not primarily controlled by the atmospheric boundary pCO₂ but by other processes such as biological activity, the atmosphere ocean pCO₂ gradient is clearly underestimated when using the established fit. The effect on global oceanic carbon uptake in a greenhouse world is rather small and the potential climate feedback introduced by this bias seems to be negligible. However, the bias will clearly gain in significance the more regions warm up to over 30 °C. On a regional scale, especially in coastal regions at low latitudes, the effect is not negligible and a different steady state is approached.     

On the Taiwan Warm Current Water

Using our data from special observation in the source area of the Taiwan Warm Current from 19S2 to 1985) and historical data, the authors conducted studies to clarify the temperature and salinity characteristics, variability, and origin of the Taiwan Warm Current Water, and its influence on the expanding direction of the Changjiang Diluted Water.The main results of these studies are briefly given below. (1) The Taiwan Warm Current Water can be divided into two parts:the Surface Water of the Taiwan Warm Current and the Deep Water of the Taiwan Warm Current; the former is formed due to the mixing of the Kuroshio Surface Water flowing northward along the east coast of Taiwan with the Taiwan Strait Water; the latter completed originates from Kuroshio Subsurface Water to the east of Taiwan. It is characterized by lower temperature and higher salinity in summer and the characteristics of temperature and salinity are more stable. The maximum seasonal variational range and maximum secular variational range of t     

Peculiarities of the Distribution of Particulate Matter at the Water–Atmosphere Geochemical Barrier in Transoceanic Sections

Oceanology - The article presents the results of studies on the grain size distribution of aerosols and surface waters (cruise 31 of the R/V Akademik Nikolay Strakhov in December 2015–January...     

On the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current Water

ＯｎｔｈｅｏｒｉｇｉｎｏｆｔｈｅＴｓｕｓｈｉｍａＷａｒｍＣｕｒｒｅｎｔＷａｔｅｒ￥ＴａｎｇＹｕｘｉａｎｇａｎｄＨｅｕｎｇ－ＪａｅＬｉｅ（ＦｉｒｓｔｉｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅＯｆＯｃｅａｎｏｇｒａｐｈｙ，ＳｔａｔｅＯｃｅａｎｉｃＡｄｍｉｎｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎ，Ｑ...     

Upward transport of iron at the west shelf edge–slope of the Okinawa Trough in the East China Sea

We studied the behavior of chemical substances in the upper 300 m of the water column across the continental shelf–slope interface in the East China Sea off the Okinawa Trough. The behaviors of iron, inorganic nutrients, and humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter were strongly influenced by the extensive water exchange between the East China Sea and the Kuroshio Current across the shelf break and slope via upwelling and frontal processes. We attributed the high humic-like fluorescent intensity at the subsurface of the shelf break and slope regions to the lateral supply of humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter from the shelf sediments to the outer shelf region due to the intrusion of shelf water into Kuroshio subsurface water. We found that the behavior of iron at the continental shelf–slope was remarkably different from the conservative mixing of inorganic nutrients and humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter. In deep and bottom waters at the shelf–slope, high total iron concentrations, which were closely related to water transmittance, possibly resulted from the swept transport of iron-rich resuspended sediments over the shelf floor from the slope by the invading Kuroshio Intermediate Water close to the bottom.     

Variations in the atmospheric aerosol optical depth from the data obtained at the Russian actinometric network in 1976–2006

The results of an analysis of variations in the optical depth of a vertical atmospheric column on the basis of a 30-year (1976–2006) series of observations obtained by the Russian actinometric network are generalized. This analysis is based on the Atmosphere Transparency special-purpose database created at the Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory on the basis of observational data obtained at the actinometric stations of the Russian Hydrometeorological Research Center. The general regularities of spatial variations in the atmospheric optical depth (AOD) over Russia are revealed: there is a monotonic decrease from the southwest to the northeast, with localized areas having different aerosol loads due to the global and regional factors of their formation. A spatiotemporal structure of the anomalies of AOD annual values within the time interval under consideration, including the El Chichon (1982) and Pinatubo (1991) eruptions, is studied.     

Satellite altimeter observations of nonlinear Rossby eddy–Kuroshio interaction at the Luzon Strait

Satellite altimeter sea level data from 1993 to 2008 are used to analyze the interaction of nonlinear Rossby eddies with the Kuroshio at the Luzon Strait (LS). The sea level anomaly data show that the west Pacific (WP) is a source of nonlinear Rossby eddies, and the South China Sea (SCS) is a sink. The LS serves as a gateway between the two. The scale analysis indicates that eddies with a radius larger than 150 km are strong enough to significantly alter the Kuroshio and are able to modify the local circulation pattern. Statistical analysis indicates that the probability for eddies to penetrate through the Kuroshio may reach at least 60%. A case study of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy passing through the LS in June–July 2004 indicates that the Kuroshio behaves as an unsteady flow with its stream path frequently modified, in a way of cutting off, meandering and branching during its interaction with the eddy. We therefore suggest that nonlinear Rossby eddies may play a significant role in modification of the local circulation system near the LS and in exchanges of the mass, momentum and energy between the WP and the SCS.     

On the Spectral Moments of Wind Waves

In order to obtain high order spectral moments, the residual moment , as proposed by De-nis, is presented for approximate estimation of spectral moment Glazman's partial averaging idea isdiscussed. It is pointed out that Glazman's method and definition of non-dimensional spectral moment can not be used to es-timate spectral moments for engineering purposes and that method is not supported by theory and computation. The non-dimensional spectral moment of PM spectrum, which should be expressed as is related to wind speed. The0 - 8th moments of PM spectrum are estimated for wind speeds of 10, 20 and 30 m/s and some discussions are given.     

On the stability of fronts near shelfbreak

Using a two-dimensional semi-geostrophic model. the stability of fronts near shelf break (shelfbreak font, western boundary current front) and its mechanism are studied. We find that the stability of the front is related to the frontal structure. In general, the increase of the lower layer depth lowers the unstable growth rate (a1). (1) The shelfbreak front is baroclinically unstable and ai increases with the increase of the bottom slope, different from the conclusion of Flagg and Beardsley (1978). (2) A western boundary current front with uniform vorticity in the upper layer is barotropically unstable, due to the strong horizontal shear of the mean current. The unstable growth rate of this front for a realistic topography is only one seventh of that of the flat bottom case. (3) For a western boundary current front with hyperbolic tangent structure, we find its wave propagation speed to be about 0. 5 m/s, in agreement with the observed values. The front is baroclinically unstable. (4)The unstable growth     

On the Spectrum Width of Wind Waves

Based on the universal expression of wind wave spectra, four commonly used definitions of the spectrum width are re-examined. The results show that the non-dimensional spectrum width can measure the width of non-dimensional spectra hut it does not reflect the developing state of the spectra. The dimensional spectrum width expresses the degree of concentration of wave energy of the spectrum in (he process of wind wave growth. Tests show that the spectrum width presented by Wen et al. can objectively measure the degree of concentration of wave energy of the spectrum, reflect the state of wind wave growth, and provides a better result for practical application. The rules for definition of the spectrum width are discussed.