An inverse modeling study in Fram Strait. Part II: Water mass distribution and transports

A water-mass analysis is carried out in Fram Strait, between 77.15 and 81.15°N, based on three-dimensional large-scale potential temperature and salinity distributions reconstructed from the MIZEX 84 hydrographic data collected in summer 1984. Combining these distributions with the geostrophic flow field derived from the same data in a companion paper (Schlichtholz and Houssais, 1999), the heat, fresh water and volume transports are estimated for each of the water masses identified in the strait. Twelve water masses are selected based on their different origins. Among them, the Polar Water (PW) enters Fram Strait from the Arctic Ocean both over the Greenland Slope and over the western slope of the Yermak Plateau. In the Atlantic Water (AW) range, four modes with distinct geographical distributions are indentified. In the Deep Water range, the Eurasian Basin Deep Water (EBDW) is confined to the Lena Trough and to the Molloy Deep area where it is involved in a cyclonic circulation. The warm and shallower mode of the Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW), concentrated to the west, is mainly seen as an outflow from the Arctic Ocean while the cold and deeper mode, essentially observed to the east, enters the strait from the Greenland Sea. Apart from the EBDW, there is a tendency for all water masses of polar origin to flow along the Greenland Slope. The two most abundant water masses, the AW and the NSDW, occupy as much as 67% of the total water volume. The southward net transport of PW through Fram Strait is about 1 Sv at 78.9°N. At the same latitude, the net transport of AW is southward and equal to about 1.7 Sv. Only the transport of the warm mode (AWw) is northward, amounting to 0.2 Sv. The overall net outflow of the Deep Waters to the Greenland Sea is about 2.6 Sv. Two upper water masses, the fresh (AWf) and the cold (AWc) mode of the AW, and one deep-water mass, the NSDW, appear to be produced in the strait, with production rates, between 77.6 and 79.9°N, of about 0.2, 1.0 and 1.7 Sv, respectively. A southward net fresh-water transport through the strait of about 2000 km³ yr⁻¹ (relative to a salinity of 34.93) is mainly due to the PW. The net heat transport relative to −0.1°C is northward, but undergoes a rapid northward decrease, suggesting an area-averaged surface heat loss of 50–100 W m⁻² in the strait.     

Cretan deep water outflow into the Eastern Mediterranean

A simple hydraulic model is used to estimate the deep water fluxes of Cretan Deep Water (CDW), through the Cretan Arc Straits and into the Eastern Mediterranean Basins. The input to the model consists of the height of the deep water reservoir above sill depth and its density difference from the overlying water masses. Data from four hydrographic cruises, which took place in 1995, 1991 and 1987, are used to estimate the depth of the reservoir above the sill and the density difference. The results show a significant CDW outflow of 0.75×10⁶ m³ s⁻¹ in early 1995. The outflow of CDW through Kassos Strait, in the east, is 0.53×10⁶ m³ s⁻¹, while 0.22×10⁶ m³ s⁻¹ outflows through the Antikithira Strait in the west. The model results agree with fluxes estimated from current meter observations.The CDW outflow has been neither steady nor uniform during the period 1987–95. In the Kassos Strait, the outflow commenced in 1987 and increased rapidly until 1991; since then, it appears to have stabilised. In the Antikithira Strait, in contrast, the outflow has increased steadily since 1987. Such modifications in the CDW outflow are associated with changes in its hydrographic characteristics. The salinity of CDW increased constantly, by approximately 0.1, between 1987 and 1995 while its temperature warmed, between 1987 and 1991, and then cooled.     

The circulation, water masses and sea-ice of Baffin Bay

The oceanographic, meteorological and sea-ice conditions in Baffin Bay are studied using historical hydrographic, satellite and meteorological data, and a set of current meter data from a mooring program of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. Baffin Bay is partially covered by sea-ice all year except August and September. The interannual variation of the ice extent is shown to be correlated with winter air temperature. Available hydrographic data were used to study the water masses and the horizontal and vertical distribution of temperature/salinity. Three water masses can be identified – Arctic Water in the upper 100–300 m of all regions except the southeast, West Greenland Intermediate Water at 300–800 m in most of the interior of Baffin Bay, and Deep Baffin Bay Water in all regions below 1200 m. The temperature and salinity in Baffin Bay have limited seasonal variability except in the upper 300 m of eastern Davis Strait, northern Baffin Bay and the mouth of Lancaster Sound. Summer data have a temperature minimum at 100 m, which suggests winter convection does not penetrate deeper than this depth. Current meter data and results of a circulation model indicate that the mean circulation is cyclonic. The seasonal variation of the currents is complex. Overall, summer and fall tend to have stronger currents than winter and spring at all depths. Among the different regions, the largest seasonal variation occurs at the mouth of Lancaster Sound and the Baffin Island slope. Model generated velocity fields show a basic agreement with the observed currents, and indicate strong topographic control in the vicinity of Davis Strait and on the Greenland shelves. The model also produces a southward counter current on the Greenland slope, which may explain the observed high horizontal shears over the Greenland slope. Estimates of the volume and fresh water transports through Lancaster, Jones and Smith Sounds are reviewed. Transports through Davis Strait are computed from the current meter data. The balance of freshwater budget and sensitivity of the thermohaline circulation to freshwater transport are discussed.     

Water fluxes through the Cretan Arc Straits, Eastern Mediterranean Sea: March 1994 to June 1995

Five research cruises were undertaken incorporating ADCP sections along the Cretan Arc Straits and CTD surveys covering the entire area of the Straits and the Cretan Sea. In addition, six moorings (with 15 current meters) were deployed within the Straits, which monitored flows in the surface (50 m), intermediate (250 m), and deep (50 m from the bottom) layers. The ADCP, CM, and CTD datasets enable the derivation of water transports through the Cretan Arc Straits to be assessed. Flow structure through the Cretan Arc Straits is not the typical flow regime with a surface inflow and deep outflow, instead there is a persistent deep outflow of Cretan Deep Water (CDW) (σ_θ>29.2) with an annual mean of ˜0.6 Sv, through the Antikithira and Kassos Straits at depths below 400 m and 500 m, respectively. CDW outflowing transports are higher (˜0.8 Sv) in April–June, and lower (˜0.3 Sv) in October–December. Within the upper water layer (0–˜400 m), the transport and the water exchanges through the Straits are controlled by local circulation features, which weaken substantially below 200 m. The Asia Minor Current (AMC) influences the Rhodes and the Karpathos Straits, resulting in a net inflow of water. In contrast, the Mirtoan/West Cretan Cyclone influences the Antikithira and Kithira Straits, where there is a net outflow. In the Kassos Strait, there is a complex interaction between the East Cretan Cyclone, the Ierapetra Anticyclone and the westward extension of the Rhodes Gyre, which results in a variable flow regime. There is a net inflow in autumn and early winter, and a switch to a net outflow in early spring and summer. The total inflow and outflow, throughout all of the Straits, ranged from ˜2 to ˜3.5 Sv, with higher values in autumn and early winter and lower in summer. The AMC carries ˜2 Sv of inflow through the Rhodes and Karpathos Straits, and this accounts for 60–80% of the total inflow. About 10–15% of the total outflow is of CDW, and a further 45–70% occurs through the upper 400 m of the Kithira and Antikithira Straits. The Kassos Strait exhibits a net inflow of ˜0.7 Sv in autumn and early winter, with a net outflow of ˜0.5 Sv in early spring and summer.     

A year in the physical oceanography of the Chukchi Sea: Moored measurements from autumn 1990–1991

Year-long time-series of temperature, salinity and velocity from 12 locations throughout the Chukchi Sea from September 1990 to October 1991 document physical transformations and significant seasonal changes in the throughflow from the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean for one year. In most of the Chukchi, the flow field responds rapidly to the local wind, with high spatial coherence over the basin scale—effectively the ocean takes on the lengthscales of the wind forcing. Although weekly transport variability is very large (ca. -2 to ), the mean flow is northwards, opposed by the mean wind (which is southward), but presumably forced by a sea-level slope between the Pacific and the Arctic, which these data suggest may have significant variability on long (order a year) timescales. The high flow variability yields a significant range of residence times for waters in the Chukchi (i.e. one to six months for half the transit) with the larger values applicable in winter.Temperature and salinity (TS) records show a strong annual cycle of freezing, salinization, freshening and warming, with sizable interannual variability. The largest seasonal variability is seen in the east, where warm, fresh waters escape from the buoyant, coastally trapped Alaskan Coastal Current into the interior Chukchi. In the west, the seasonally present Siberian Coastal Current provides a source of cold, fresh waters and a flow field less linked to the local wind. Cold, dense polynya waters are observed near Cape Lisburne and occasional upwelling events bring lower Arctic Ocean halocline waters to the head of Barrow Canyon. For about half the year, at least at depth, the entire Chukchi is condensed into a small region of TS-space at the freezing temperature, suggesting ventilation occurs to near-bottom, driven by cooling and brine rejection in autumn/winter and by storm-mixing all year.In 1990–1991, the ca. 0.8 Sv annual mean inflow through Bering Strait exits the Chukchi in four outflows—via Long Strait, Herald Valley, the Central Channel, and Barrow Canyon—each outflow being comparable (order 0.1–0.3 Sv) and showing significant changes in volume and water properties (and hence equilibrium depth in the Arctic Ocean) throughout the year. The clearest seasonal cycle in properties and flow is in Herald Valley, where the outflow is only weakly related to the local wind. In this one year, the outflows ventilate above and below (but not in) the Arctic halocline mode of 33.1 psu. A volumetric comparison with Bering Strait indicates significant cooling during transit through the Chukchi, but remarkably little change in salinity, at least in the denser waters. This suggests that, with the exception of (in this year small) polynya events, the salinity cycle in the Chukchi can be considered as being set by the input through Bering Strait and thus, since density is dominated by salinity at these temperatures, Bering Strait salinities are a reasonable predictor of ventilation of the Arctic Ocean.     

The shedding of mesoscale anticyclonic eddies from the Alaskan Stream and westward transport of warm water

The south-flowing waters of the Kamchatka and Oyashio Currents and west-flowing waters of the Alaskan Stream are key components of the western sub-Arctic Pacific circulation. We use CTD data, Argo buoys, WOCE surface drifters, and satellite-derived sea-level observations to investigate the structure and interannual changes in this system that arise from interactions among anticyclonic eddies and the mean flow. Variability in the temperature of the upstream Oyashio and Kamchatka Currents is evident by warming in mesothermal layer in 1994–2005 compared to 1990–1991. A major fraction of the water in these currents is derived directly from the Alaskan Stream. The stream also sheds large anticyclonic (Aleutian) eddies, averaging approximately 300 km in diameter with a volume transport significant in comparison with that of the Kamchatka Current itself. These eddies enclose pools of relatively warm and saline water whose temperature is typically 4 °C warmer and salinity is 0.4 greater than that of cold-core Kamchatka eddies in the same density range. Aleutian eddies drift at approximately 1.2 km d⁻¹ and retain their distinctive warm and salty characteristics for at least 2 years. Selected westward pathways during 1990–2004 are identified. If the shorter northern route is followed, Aleutian eddies remain close to the stream and persist sufficiently long to carry warm and saline water directly to the Kamchatka Current. This was observed during 1994–1997 with substantial warming of the waters in the Kamchatka Current and upstream Oyashio. If the eddies take a more southern route they detach from the stream but can still contribute significant quantities of warm and saline water to the upstream Oyashio, as in 2004–2005. However, the eddies following this southern route may dissipate before reaching the western boundary current region.     

A box model of Puget Sound

A classical two-layer box model has been used to calculate volume transports and vertical exchange coefficients for the Main Basin of Puget Sound. High river flow (January–February) and low flow (August–September) calculations, using salinity and runoff observations, show that basically two estuarine types exist within the basin under both flow conditions. Admiralty Inlet, the north entrance to the Main Basin, is similar to a partially mixed estuary with vigorous tidal mixing, so that horizontal and vertical salinity gradients are similar in winter and late summer. Within the deep main basin, two layer transports are proportional to salinity stratification and the vertical exchanges are low. Calculated summer transports are about a factor of two smaller than winter transports for the Main Basin. Model transports agree quite well with daily net transports estimated from current meters. Flushing times calculated by the model also agree with volume replacement times calculated using current meter data and by methods using oxygen deficits in the lower layer.     

基于南海北部开放航次观测的2004—2005年次表层盐度异常特征与形成机制

基于2004—2013年的南海北部开放航次数据和1980—2010年Simple Ocean Data Assimilation（SODA）数据,发现南海北部次表层水体盐度在2004—2005年间盐度显著增大,相比于气候态均值分别增加了0.1和0.14,而且温盐特征曲线显示盐度增大的现象主要发生在150m以浅。2004年净淡水通量仅略低于气候态均值,2005年净淡水通量则明显高于气候态均值,因此净淡水通量不会是导致此高盐事件的有利因素。我们进一步通过块体简化盐度收支方程,定量评估盐度收支方程里中平流输运项（包括跨海盆经吕宋海峡的平流输运项和南海海盆内部南北海盆之间的平流输运项）的贡献。发现在2004年,通过吕宋海峡进入南海北部的盐含量输运显著大于气候态均值,是导致南海北部上层水体盐度迅速增大的主要原因。为探究2005年南海北部盐度持续增强的原因,我们进一步比较2004年和2005年的平流项演变,发现相对于2004年,虽然2005年吕宋海峡盐含量输运略低于气候态均值,但南海内部南海南北海盆间（通过18°N断面进入南海北部）的盐含量输运增强,即在2005年,海盆内部经向平流盐输运的贡献是促使南海北部上层盐度继续增强的关键因素。     

Volume flux and fresh water transport associated with the East Icelandic Current

The importance of the circulation of fresh water within the Nordic Seas has frequently been pointed out, especially its effect on deep water formation and therefore possibly on the thermohaline circulation. The main source of fresh water is the East Greenland Current entering the Nordic Seas through Fram Strait. The Jan Mayen Polar Current and the East Icelandic Current (EIC) carry a part of the fresh water into the Greenland and Iceland Seas respectively. As a part of the EU project VEINS, Aanderaa current meters were deployed on two moorings within the EIC from June 1997 to June 1998 on a standard CTD section from Langanes, Northeast Iceland, to the central Iceland Sea in the direction towards Jan Mayen. The current was mainly concentrated along the slope where it was baroclinic, while over the deeper part a weak barotropic flow was observed. Geostrophic calculations, referenced to the current meter data, were used for estimating the volume flux and fresh water transport with the current. The total transport over the section towards the east was found to be 2.5 Sv. The fresh water transport relative to a salinity of 34.93, above 170 m, amounted to 5.5 mSv. This is roughly 4% of the fresh water transport through Fram Strait. This transport is put into a long-term perspective using hydrographic data from the Langanes section.     

Hydrographic changes in the Labrador Sea, 1960–2005

The Labrador Sea has exhibited significant temperature and salinity variations over the past five decades. The whole basin was extremely warm and salty between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, and fresh and cold between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. The full column salinity change observed between these periods is equivalent to mixing a 6 m thick freshwater layer into the water column of the early 1970s. The freshening and cooling trends reversed in 1994 starting a new phase of heat and salt accumulation in the Labrador Sea sustained throughout the subsequent years. It took only a decade for the whole water column to lose most of its excessive freshwater, reinstate stratification and accumulate enough salt and heat to approach its record high salt and heat contents observed between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. If the recent tendencies persist, the basin’s storages of salt and heat will fairly soon, likely by 2008, exceed their historic highs.The main process responsible for the net cooling and freshening of the Labrador Sea between 1987 and 1994 was deep winter convection, which during this period progressively developed to its record depths. It was caused by the recurrence of severe winters during these years and in its turn produced the deepest, densest and most voluminous Labrador Sea Water (LSW_1987–1994) ever observed. The estimated annual production of this water during the period of 1987–1994 is equivalent to the average volume flux of about 4.5 Sv with some individual annual rates exceeding 7.0 Sv. Once winter convection had lost its strength in the winter of 1994–1995, the deep LSW_1987–1994 layer lost “communication” with the mixed layer above, consequently losing its volume, while gaining heat and salt from the intermediate waters outside the Labrador Sea.While the 1000–2000 m layer was steadily becoming warmer and saltier between 1994 and 2005, the upper 1000 m layer experienced another episode of cooling caused by an abrupt increase in the air-sea heat fluxes in the winter of 1999–2000. This change in the atmospheric forcing resulted in fairly intense convective mixing sufficient to produce a new prominent LSW class (LSW₂₀₀₀) penetrating deeper than 1300 m. This layer was steadily sinking or deepening over the years following its production and is presently overlain by even warmer and apparently less dense water mass, implying that LSW₂₀₀₀ is likely to follow the fate of its deeper precursor, LSW_1987–1994. The increasing stratification of the intermediate layer implies intensification in the baroclinic component of the boundary currents around the mid-depth perimeter of the Labrador Sea.The near-bottom waters, originating from the Denmark Strait overflow, exhibit strong interannual variability featuring distinct short-term basin-scale events or pulses of anomalously cold and fresh water, separated by warm and salty overflow modifications. Regardless of their sign these anomalies pass through the abyss of the Labrador Sea, first appearing at the Greenland side and then, about a year later, at the Labrador side and in the central Labrador Basin.The Northeast Atlantic Deep Water (2500–3200 m), originating from the Iceland–Scotland Overflow Water, reached its historically freshest state in the 2000–2001 period and has been steadily becoming saltier since then. It is argued that LSW_1987–1994 significantly contributed to the freshening, density decrease and volume loss experienced by this water mass between the late 1960s and the mid 1990s via the increased entrainment of freshening LSW, the hydrostatic adjustment to expanding LSW, or both.     

Characteristics and variability of the Indonesian throughflow water at the outflow straits

Property structure and variability of the Indonesian Throughflow Water in the major outflow straits (Lombok, Ombai and Timor) are revised from newly available data sets and output from a numerical model. Emphasis is put on the upper layers of the Indonesian Throughflow that impacts the heat and freshwater fluxes of the South Equatorial Current in the Indian Ocean. During the April–June monsoon transition the salinity maximum signature of the North Pacific thermocline water is strongly attenuated. This freshening of the thermocline layer is more intense in Ombai and is related to the supply of fresh near-surface Java Sea water that is drawn eastward by surface monsoon currents and subject to strong diapycnal mixing. The freshwater exits to the Indian Ocean first through Lombok Strait and later through Ombai and Timor, with an advective phase lag of between one and five months. Because of these phase lags, the fresher surface and thermocline water is found in the southeast Indian Ocean from the beginning of the monsoon transition period in April through until the end of the southeast monsoon in September, a much longer time period than previously estimated.     

Seasonal variation in the Ra/Ra ratio of coastal water within the Sea of Japan: Implications for the origin and circulation patterns of the Tsushima Coastal Branch Current

In the current study, low-background γ-spectrometry was employed to determine the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra activity ratio and ¹³⁷Cs activity of 84 coastal water samples collected at six sites along the main island of Japan (Honshu Island) within the Sea of Japan, including the Tsushima Strait, and two other representative sites on Honshu Island (a Pacific shore and the Tsugaru Strait) at 1-month intervals in 2006.The ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio of coastal waters in the Sea of Japan exhibited similar patterns of seasonal variation, with minimum values during early summer (²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra = 0.6–0.8), maximum values during autumn (²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra = 1.5–3), and a time lag in their temporal changes ( 2.5 months and over  1300 km distance). However, the 2 other sites represented no clear periodic variation.In contrast to the positive correlation between ¹³⁷Cs activity (0.6–1.7 mBq/L) and salinity (15–35), the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio of coastal water samples from the Sea of Japan was not observed to correlate with salinity, and the increase in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio was not as marked (0.5–1; May–June 2004 and 2005) during the migration along Honshu Island. The input of land-derived water and/or the diffusion of radium from coastal sediments is unlikely to have affected the wide seasonal variation in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio observed in these water samples.The seasonal variation in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio recorded for the coastal waters of the Sea of Japan is considered to be mainly controlled by the remarkable changes in the mixing ratio of the ²²⁸Ra-poor Kuroshio and the ²²⁸Ra-rich continental shelf waters within the East China Sea (ECS). After passing through the Tsushima Strait, this water mass moves northeast along the coastline of the Sea of Japan as the Tsushima Coastal Branch Current (TCBC).     

Water masses and currents of deep circulation southwest of the Shatsky Rise in the western North Pacific

We conducted full-depth hydrographic observations in the southwestern region of the Northwest Pacific Basin in September 2004 and November 2005. Deep-circulation currents crossed the observation line between the East Mariana Ridge and the Shatsky Rise, carrying Lower Circumpolar Deep Water westward in the lower deep layer (θ<1.2 °C) and Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) and North Pacific Deep Water (NPDW) eastward in the upper deep layer (1.3–2.2 °C). In the lower deep layer at depths greater than approximately 3500 m, the eastern branch current of the deep circulation was located south of the Shatsky Rise at 30°24′–30°59′N with volume transport of 3.9 Sv (1 Sv=10⁶ m³ s⁻¹) in 2004 and at 30°06′–31°15′N with 1.6 Sv in 2005. The western branch current of the deep circulation was located north of the Ogasawara Plateau at 26°27′–27°03′N with almost 2.1 Sv in 2004 and at 26°27′–26°45′N with 2.7 Sv in 2005. Integrating past and present results, volume transport southwest of the Shatsky Rise is concluded to be a little less than 4 Sv for the eastern branch current and a little more than 2 Sv for the western branch current. In the upper deep layer at depths of approximately 2000–3500 m, UCDW and NPDW, characterized by high and low dissolved oxygen, respectively, were carried eastward at the observation line by the return flow of the deep circulation composing meridional overturning circulation. UCDW was confined between the East Mariana Ridge and the Ogasawara Plateau (22°03′–25°33′N) in 2004, whereas it extended to 26°45′N north of the Ogasawara Plateau in 2005. NPDW existed over the foot and slope of the Shatsky Rise from 29°48′N in 2004 and 30°06′N in 2005 to at least 32°30′N at the top of the Shatsky Rise. Volume transport of UCDW was estimated to be 4.6 Sv in 2004, whereas that of NPDW was 1.4 Sv in 2004 and 2.6 Sv in 2005, although the values for NPDW may be slightly underestimated, because they do not include the component north of the top of the Shatsky Rise. Volume transport of UCDW and NPDW southwest of the Shatsky Rise is concluded to be approximately 5 and 3 Sv, respectively. The pathways of UCDW and NPDW are new findings and suggest a correction for the past view of the deep circulation in the Pacific Ocean.     

Short-term temperature and salinity variations in the Tsushima Strait in 2004: Behavior of the surface low-salinity water in the strait

Temporal variations in temperature and salinity observed in 2004 were investigated on a short time scale in the Tsushima Strait. The data were obtained by long-term in situ measurements at Mitsushima and Futaoi Island using an instrument equipped with a piston-type wiper to avoid biofouling. In addition, the temperature and salinity values of the surface layer obtained by a commercial ferryboat between Hakata and Busan were used to investigate their spatiotemporal variations. Temperature and salinity variations with a time scale of several days had a negative correlation in the summer. This evidence suggests that a warm and less saline water mass, which is considered to be mainly the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW), flowed intermittently through the Tsushima Strait in summer. In late July 2004, a large low-salinity water mass was detected in the Tsushima Strait. At that time, the freshwater transport through the Tsushima Strait transiently reached about 12 × 10⁴ m³s⁻¹, which is estimated from observed acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data along a ferryboat line and inferred salinity profiles. This estimated value is more than double the maximum of the climatological monthly mean of the Changjiang discharge. Furthermore, salinity and surface current data obtained by high frequency ocean radar (HF radar) indicate that water properties at Mitsushima may occasionally represent part of the water flowing through the western channel via a countercurrent, although Mitsushima is geographically located in the eastern channel.     

Overrunning of shelf water in the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

Analyses of two years (1992 and 1993) of high-resolution sea surface temperature satellite images of the southern Mid Atlantic Bight (MAB), showed that unusually extensive overhang of shelf water occurs episodically, and coherently over along shelf distances of several 100 km. These episodes are dubbed overrunning of the Slope Sea by shelf water. The overrunning volume has a “face” and a “back” (southern and northern limit). It transports substantial quantities of shelf water southward, and does not retreat onto the shelf, but eventually joins the western edge of the Gulf Stream in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay. The combined analyses of satellite imagery and various in situ data further demonstrated that the shelf waters overrunning the Slope Sea were not mere surface features but reached depths between 40 and 60 m. Results confirm previous concepts on shelf circulation, shelf–slope exchange and fate of shelf water. They also shed new light on shelf water budget: overrunning of the Slope Sea and southwest transport by upper slope current constitutes an important conduit for shelf water transport. Winter storms move the shelf–slope front, and with it shelf water, offshore to distances 10–40 km. The offshore displacement of shelf water can be related to the onshore veering of the Gulf Stream near Cape Hatteras, producing a blocking effect on the shelf circulation. Such a blocking effect of the southwestward flow of shelf water in the MAB appeared to be the reason for the overrunning of shelf water off New Jersey. In addition, the excess fresh water discharge from the St. Lawerence was also observed to be related to the overflow of shelf water off New Jersey.     

An anticyclonic eddy in the intermediate layer of the Luzon Strait in Autumn 2005

The complicated flow pattern in the intermediate layer of the Luzon Strait could directly affect the efficiency of the water and energy exchange between the South China Sea (SCS) and the North Pacific. Here we present a subsurface anticyclonic eddy in the Luzon Strait deduced using observations conducted in October 2005. On the basis of the hydrographic and current measurements, an anticyclonic eddy was found in the intermediate layer, i.e., about 26.8–27.3σ_θ, 500–900 m. It captures part of the SCS Intermediate Water outflow in the northern Luzon Strait, and carries it to flow southward and then westward back into the SCS in the southern Luzon Strait, with volume transport of about 1.9 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹. The simulated results from Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model also suggest the existence of this anticyclonic eddy that develops and lingers for a month long.     

Structure of the strong tidal jet in the naruto strait

In order to clarify the structure of the strong tidal current at the Naruto Strait in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, the sea-level values were observed in the strait and the current measurements were made with an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP).The tidal volume transports for M₂ and S₂ tides were about 74×10³ and 26×10³ m³ sec^–1, respectively. The horizontal profile of the velocity at the phase of the strong tidal current compares favorably with a theoretical profile of the two-dimensional steady turbulent jet except for the side parts of the profile. Moreover, the entrainment rate of the surrounding water into the strong tidal jet was estimated from the difference of mass flux between two cross-sections at the strait, the entrainment rate and entrainment constant for both the northward and southward flows being about 1.3–2.5×10^–4m^–1 and about 0.03–0.05, respectively.     

Physical and biological characteristics of the pelagic system across Fram Strait to Kongsfjorden

The Fram Strait is very important with regard to heat and mass exchange in the Arctic Ocean, and the large quantities of heat carried north by the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) influence the climate in the Arctic region as a whole. A large volume of water and ice is transported through Fram Strait, with net water transport of 1.7–3.2 Sv southward in the East Greenland Current and a volume ice flux in the range of 0.06–0.11 Sv. The mean annual ice flux is about 866,000 km² yr⁻¹. The Kongsfjorden–Krossfjorden fjord system on the coast of Spitsbergen, or at the eastern extreme of Fram Strait, is mainly affected by the northbound transport of water in the WSC. Mixing processes on the shelf result in Transformed Atlantic Water in the fjords, and the advection of Atlantic water also carries boreal fauna into the fjords. The phytoplankton production is about 80 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in Fram Strait, and has been estimated both below and above this for Kongsfjorden. The zooplankton fauna is diverse, but dominated in terms of biomass by calanoid copepods, particularly Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus. Other important copepods include C. hyperboreus, Metridia longa and the smaller, more numerous Pseudocalanus (P. minutus and P. acuspes), Microcalanus (M. pusillus and M. pygmaeus) and Oithona similis. The most important species of other taxa appear to be the amphipods Themisto libellula and T. abyssorum, the euphausiids Thysanoessa inermis and T. longicaudata and the chaetognaths Sagitta elegans and Eukrohnia hamata. A comparison between the open ocean of Fram Strait and the restricted fjord system of Kongsfjorden–Krossfjorden can be made within limitations. The same species tend to dominate, but the Fram Strait zooplankton fauna differs by the presence of meso- and bathypelagic copepods. The seasonal and inter-annual variation in zooplankton is described for Kongsfjorden based on the record during July 1996–2002. The ice macrofauna is much less diverse, consisting of a handful of amphipod species and the polar cod. The ice-associated biomass transport of ice-amphipods was calculated, based on the ice area transport, at about 3.55 × 10⁶ ton wet weight per year or about 4.2 × 10⁵ t C yr⁻¹. This represents a large energy input to the Greenland Sea, but also a drain on the core population residing in the multi-year pack ice (MYI) in the Arctic Ocean. A continuous habitat loss of MYI due to climate warming will likely reduce dramatically the sympagic food source. The pelagic and sympagic food web structures were revealed by stable isotopes. The carbon sources of particulate organic matter (POM), being Ice-POM and Pelagic-POM, revealed different isotopic signals in the organisms of the food web, and also provided information about the sympagic–pelagic and pelagic–benthic couplings. The marine food web and energy pathways were further determined by fatty acid trophic markers, which to a large extent supported the stable isotope picture of the marine food web, although some discrepancies were noted, particularly with regard to predator–prey relationships of ctenophores and pteropods.     

Current estimates of freshwater flux through Arctic and subarctic seas

As the world warms, the expectation is that the freshwater outflows from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic will strengthen and may act to suppress the rate of the climatically-important Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Hitherto, however, we have lacked the system of measurements required to estimate the totality of the freshwater flux through subarctic seas. Though observations remain patchy and rudimentary in places, we piece-together the results from recent large-scale observational programmes together with associated modelling, to establish preliminary maps of the rates and pathways of freshwater flux through subarctic seas. These fluxes are calculated according to two reference salinities, S = 34.8 to conform with the majority of estimates reported in the literature, and S = 35.2, the salinity of the inflowing Atlantic water, to calculate the freshwater balance of the ‘Arctic Mediterranean’. We find that 148 mSv of freshwater enters the Nordic Seas across its northern boundary. There it is supplemented by around 54 mSv of freshwater from Baltic runoff, Norwegian runoff, P − E and Greenland ice melt, so that the total freshwater contribution to the Nordic Seas from all sources is 202 mSv. Of this, around 51 mSv of freshwater is estimated to pass south to the deep Atlantic in the dense water overflows leaving an assumed balance of 151 mSv to leave the Nordic Seas in the upper water export through Denmark Strait. The corresponding estimate for the freshwater outflow west of Greenland is 103 mSv relative to 35.2 so that the total freshwater flux reaching the North Atlantic through subarctic seas is around 300 mSv.     

Total organic carbon distribution and budget through the Strait of Gibraltar in April 1998

In order to investigate total organic carbon (TOC) exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar, samples were taken along two sections from the western (Gulf of Cádiz) and eastern (Western Alboran Sea) entrances of the Strait and at the middle of the Strait in April 1998. TOC was measured by using a high-temperature catalytic oxidation method. The results referenced here are based on a three-layer model of water mass exchange through the Strait, which includes the Atlantic inflow, Mediterranean outflow and an interface layer in between. All layers were characterised by a decrease of TOC concentrations from the Gulf of Cádiz to the Western Alboran Sea: from 60–79 to 59–66 μM C in the Atlantic inflow and from 40–60 to 38–52 μM C in the Mediterranean waters, respectively. TOC concentrations in the modified North Atlantic Central Water varied from 43 to 55 μM C. Intermediate TOC values were measured in the interface layer (43–60 μM C). TOC concentrations increased from the middle of the Strait towards continents indicating a contribution of organic carbon of photosynthetic origin along Spain and Morocco coasts or TOC accumulation due to upwelling in the northeastern part of the Strait. Our results indicate that the short-term variability caused by the tide greatly impacts the TOC distribution, particularly in the Gulf of Cádiz. The TOC input from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar varies from 0.9×10⁴ to 1.0×10⁴ mol C s⁻¹ (or 0.28×10¹² to 0.35×10¹² mol C year⁻¹, respectively). This estimate suggests that the TOC inflow and outflow through the Strait of Gibraltar are two and three orders of magnitude higher than reported via the Turkish Straits and Mediterranean River inputs.