Remote sensing of sea surface nutrient in the frontal zone of Changjiang diluted water and the Taiwan Warm Current

Field investigation was carried out during 4 to 15 April 2001 around the Changjiang River Estuary. The similar distribution of sea surface nutrients and suspended sediment (SS) concentration is attributed to the physical mixing of Changjiang diluted water (CDW) with the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC). On the basis of the observed positive relationship between total phosphorus (TP) and SS concentration, the sea surface TP is inversed from satellite SS data. SS is believed to be an ideal eutrophic state assessing index substitution for TP, the eutrophication classification critical value of SS adopted in this research was based on the linear model: cTP=0.000 6cSSsat 0.016 3, r2=0.564 5, n=32. Although lack of in-situ chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) measurement, a good relationship was observed between the in-situ DIN (dissolved inorganic nitrogen) concentration with near real time SeaWiFS absorption coefficient of CDOM (ACD) data: cDIN=1.406 5AACBsat-0.035 9,r2=0.741 5,n=16. This empirical regression algorithm was also utilized for inversing the DIN concentration from SeaWiFS ACD data, and for establishing the eutrophication classification critical value of satellite ACD data. The established remote eutrophication classification system was later used for seawater eutrophic state assessment. The evaluation suggested that the Zhoushan Fishing Ground especially the western border is affected seriously with the nutrient input. The nutrient is mainly from the terrestrial source transported by the Changjiang River runoff. The seawater quality classification precision was assessed by in-situ data, which suggested the seawater quality distribution is similar to the two classification systems, and the remote classification error is below 25%.     

Pleistocene surface water temperatures in the Benguela upwelling area

Analysis of carbonate microfossils (planktonic foraminifers and nannoplankton) in the DSDP Hole 362 Quaternary section made it possible to specify its zonal subdivision (almost all zones of Gartner’s high-resolution nannofossil scale are recognized), establish depositional environments, and restore past surface water temperatures. The latter appeared to be several degrees lower than their present-day values, which is evident from the anomalously high share of the subpolar species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sin. that constitutes 97% of the fossil assemblage in Lower Pleistocene sediments. It is shown that the Benguela upwelling existed throughout the entire Pleistocene, being less intense in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.     

Variability in estuarine water temperature gradients and influence on the distribution of zooplankton: a biogeographical perspective

Structure and variability of water temperature gradients and potential influence on distribution of two tropical zooplankters (the mysid Mesopodopsis africana and the copepod Acartia natalensis) and their temperate congenerics (M. wooldridgei and A. longipatella) was investigated over a 10-year period in the Mgazi Estuary, South Africa. Intra- and inter-monthly water temperatures were highly variable, driven primarily by the interactive effects of river runoff, tidal exchange and mouth state. Variability was greatest in summer, temperatures ranging between <13 °C (linked to nearshore upwelling and a wide open mouth) and >30 °C when the mouth was near-closed. A strong horizontal temperature gradient characterised the estuary, the upper reaches remaining consistently warmer compared to the lower estuary. In winter, abundance of the tropical zooplankters showed a positive and significant correlation with increasing distance upstream. No pattern was evident in summer. The temperate species reflected a negative trend in abundance moving upstream during both seasons, but correlations were not significant. In terms of climate change, future population responses remain uncertain. This uncertainty is primarily linked to ongoing changes in the relative dominance of key drivers influencing estuarine water temperatures. Estuary mouth state will also respond to changes in nearshore wind regimes and morphodynamics of the adjacent beach.     

The study of intermittent hydrophysical fields in the vicinity of the frontal zone

CTD data provided by the MGI-4204 and MARK-III probes are used to study the quasistationary subpolar front structure in the north-western Sea of Japan. In order to provide further insights into the intermittent scalar hydrophysical fields, the method of inhomogeneity identification using temperature pulsations calculated by the moving interval is suggested. The experimentally-derived inhomogeneity distribution is satisfactorily approximated by the exponential law.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Water-body preferences of dominant calanoid copepod species in the Angola-Benguela frontal zone

The distribution of five dominant calanoid copepods was related to different water masses in the Angola-Benguela Front system. Five water bodies were identified by principal component analysis, on the basis of abiotic parameter such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, silicate, nitrate and nitrite. These parameters were reduced to single factors and arranged along two principal component axes. The copepod species incuded females and copepodites C5 of Calanoides carinatus and females of Metridia lucens, Centropages brachiatus, Nannocalanus minor and Aetideopsis carinata. The water bodies identified in the frontal system were related to currents, upwelling processes, an oxygen minimum layer and biological modification. The different copepod species, as well as the two ontogenetic stages of C. carinatus, showed clear preference for specific water bodies, and their behavioural and physiological adaptations to the environment are discussed.     

Descending surface water at the antarctic marginal ice zone and its contribution to intermediate water: An ice-ocean model

This study concerns the unique physical mechanism of Ekman convergence at the marginal ice zone (ECMIZ) produced by the difference between air-ice drag and air-water drag. A coupled ice-ocean model is used to show the strength and distribution of the ECMIZ with respect to Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) formation, which is important for the uptake of carbon dioxide. Strong ECMIZ occurs in the Atlantic and Pacific sectors from July to October, matched in time and space with ice melting, while it is significantly weaker due to strongly divergent background winds in the Indian sector. Transport analysis by artificial tracer experiments reveals the interannual variability of the ECMIZ correlates well with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). The downward transport of surface water at the MIZ during a positive SAM (2001) is about 1.4 times as large as that during a negative SAM (2000). In particular the transport in the Atlantic sector is twice that in the Pacific sector in both years. Once the downward flux is analyzed in isolation, the contribution from synoptic scale variability is found to increase the volume transport of surface water in the eastern region of the Pacific. Assuming strong isopycnal mixing, we suggest that ECMIZ is an important mechanism supplying surface water to the formation of AAIW, and its zonal variability is responsible for the interbasin differences in AAIW properties. In particular, the increased ECMIZ and surface melt water input in the Atlantic sector would produce AAIW that is colder and fresher than in the Pacific.     

Arsenic and antimony species in surface transects and depth profiles across a frontal zone: The Chatham Rise,New Zealand

Measurements of total dissolved arsenic (As(III+V)) and antimony (Sb(III+V) and their simple methylated species are presented for samples collected from three vertical profiles and along three surface transects in the Chatham Rise region, east of New Zealand. As(III+V) concentrations showed a slight increase with depth (16–17 nM at 25 m to 20 nM at 100 m) whereas Sb(III+V) concentrations were conservative with depth (1.02–1.12 nM). Along the three surface water transects, As(III+V) and Sb(III+V) concentrations showed little variation, with average concentrations of 18±2 and 0.99±0.05 nM, respectively. Inorganic arsenic was not correlated with orthophosphate (r²=0.01). Monomethyl- and dimethyl-arsenic (MMAs, DMAs) concentrations (0.04–0.01 and 0.65–0.07 nM, respectively) decreased with depth, suggesting surface water production by biota and degradation at depth. Along the Chatham Rise transect, DMAs concentrations increased on the Rise (0.65 nM maximum) compared to waters north and south of the Rise (∼0.22 nM). Fluctuation in MMAs concentrations were also seen for water samples collected on the Chatham Rise. Monomethyl-, dimethyl- and trimethyl-antimony (MMSb, DMSb, TMSb) species were detected in water samples collected along all the three surface water transects suggesting surface water production by biota. Concentrations of MMSb, DMSb and TMSb in water samples were fairly constant along all the three surface transects (0.06–0.07, 0.015–0.025 and 0.005–0.015 nM, respectively), showing no significant enrichment on the Chatham Rise. These arsenic and antimony results support the current global view that inorganic As and Sb are conservative and the methyl species are of biological origin.     

The thermohaline fields and currents measured in the sub-arctic frontal zone of the Pacific Ocean

Based on the MEGAPOLYGON data, it is shown that the large-scale elements of the thermohaline structure and the fields of currents in the baroclinic layer (down to 1200 m) are well coordinated. The circulation has a two-layer structure with a transitory layer at a depth of 1200 m. The topography of the isopycnic surface of the layer's core is formed under the influence of small-scale and mesoscale processes which realize the trans-frontal exchange.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Simulation of the Seasonal Variability of Hydrothermodynamical Fields in Lake Kinneret

We discuss the results of a numerical experiment devoted to the investigation of the variability of the three-dimensional fields of temperature and current velocity brought about by the seasonal variability of external factors: solar radiation, atmospheric fields, discharge of the river Jordan, and water intake for economic necessities. We use a multilayer model in isopycnic coordinates with an upper mixed layer. We set atmospheric factors in the form of monthly average fields that are uniform over space and linearly interpolated in time. We compare the computed fields of heat flux and evaporation through the lake surface, level, temperature, and currents with data of observations. We note a qualitative agreement of temperature fields during the whole year and current velocities in winter when the lake is, in fact, barotropic. In summer when the lake is stratified, currents in the model turn out to be weaker than in observations.     

Variability of the distribution of the transparency and suspended matter: Concentration in the surface layer of the northwestern part of the Black Sea in the summer period

Particular features of the distribution of the transparency and particulate matter content, their variability, and their interdependence in the surface water layer (0–5 m) over the northwestern shelf and in the adjacent abyssal part of the Black Sea in the summer were considered on the basis of long-term simultaneous optical, biological, and hydrological observations (1979–1993). In the shelf regions with different river discharges and in the waters of the open part of the sea, the distributions of the transparency, the total particulate matter, and its organic components (organic carbon, nitrogen, and chlorophyll a), as well as the relative content of particulate organic carbon in the total amount of the particulate matter and the content of chlorophyll a in the particulate organic carbon, were considered. The distributions of the transparency and particulate matter and their dependence on the water dynamics are in good agreement. It was demonstrated that extreme anthropogenic eutrophication influences the western and northern coastal shelf areas. The water transparency and particulate organic matter distributions in the central shelf area subjected to the influence of transformed river water and the water properties of the southern part of the shelf, which is influenced by the waters of the open sea, were determined according to the particular structure of the phytoplankton, its abundance, and the processes of its production and destruction.     

Vertical and horizontal extension of the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern South Pacific Ocean

Recent hydrographic measurements within the eastern South Pacific (1999–2001) were combined with vertically high-resolution data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, high-resolution profiles and bottle casts from the World Ocean Database 2001, and the World Ocean Atlas 2001 in order to evaluate the vertical and horizontal extension of the oxygen minimum zone (<20 μmol kg⁻¹). These new calculations estimate the total area and volume of the oxygen minimum zone to be 9.82±3.60×10⁶ km² and 2.18±0.66×10⁶ km³, respectively. The oxygen minimum zone is thickest (>600 m) off Peru between 5 and 13°S and to about 1000 km offshore. Its upper boundary is shallowest (<150 m) off Peru, shoaling towards the coast and extending well into the euphotic zone in some places. Offshore, the thickness and meridional extent of the oxygen minimum zone decrease until it finally vanishes at 140°W between 2° and 8°S. Moving southward along the coast of South America, the zonal extension of the oxygen minimum zone gradually diminishes from 3000 km (15°S) to 1200 km (20°S) and then to 25 km (30°S); only a thin band is detected at ∼37°S off Concepción, Chile. Simultaneously, the oxygen minimum zone's maximum thickness decreases from 300 m (20°S) to less than 50 m (south of 30°S). The spatial distribution of Ekman suction velocity and oxygen minimum zone thickness correlate well, especially in the core. Off Chile, the eastern South Pacific Intermediate Water mass introduces increased vertical stability into the upper water column, complicating ventilation of the oxygen minimum zone from above. In addition, oxygen-enriched Antarctic Intermediate Water clashes with the oxygen minimum zone at around 30°S, causing a pronounced sub-surface oxygen front. The new estimates of vertical and horizontal oxygen minimum zone distribution in the eastern South Pacific complement the global quantification of naturally hypoxic continental margins by Helly and Levin [2004. Global distribution of naturally occurring marine hypoxia on continental margins. Deep-Sea Research I 51, 1159–1168] and provide new baseline data useful for studies on the role of oxygen in the degradation of organic matter in the water column and the related implications for biogeochemical cycles. Coastal upwelling zones along the eastern Pacific combine with general circulation to provide a mechanism that allows renewal of upper Pacific Deep Water, the most oxygen-poor and oldest water mass of the world oceans.     

Variability of suspended particulate matter concentrations and organic compounds in frontal zones of the Atlantic and Southern oceans

The concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate forms of the organic compounds (hydrocarbons, lipids, and chlorophyll a) were determined in the surface water layers of the Atlantic and Southern oceans during February to May of 2012 and 2014. It was found that the distribution of concentrations of the studied components is mainly affected by the location of frontal zones. When ice cover forms in the Southern Ocean, the changes in water temperature and phytoplankton development at the ice–water interface result in an increase of the concentrations of SPM, chlorophyll a, and, to a lesser extent, of lipids and hydrocarbons in the surface water layer. The occasional sharp increase of hydrocarbon concentrations caused by anthropogenic pollution was registered at local parts of water areas in the east of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the North and Baltic seas.     

Coefficient of horizontal eddy diffusion of a tracer on the water surface as a function of the wave age

A relationship between the statistical parameters of horizontal diffusion and the parameters of the energy-containing part of the frequency spectrum of sea-surface elevations is found depending on the wave age Ω and the ratio between the wind speed at 10 m and the phase velocity of the peak of a wave. It has been observed in [1–7] that the diffusion coefficient K(r) of a patch of size r increases as r ^β, where 1.15 < β < 4/3, and the patch area S(t) increases with time as t ^γ, where 2 < γ < 3. As was calculated in [15], in the energy-containing part of the elevation frequency spectrum, S(ω) ～ ω^?n , where n = 13/3 for young waves with Ω > 2, n = 4 for waves with 1.2 < ψ < 2, and n = 11/3 for developed waves with 0.83 < Ω < 1.2. It is found that β = (n + 1)/4 and γ = 8/(7 ? n). These relations explain the entire set of observed exponents: β = 4/3 and γ = 3 for young waves and β = 1.15 and γ = 2.34 for large sizes (up to 1000 km) and times (up to a month) when it is found here that β = 7/6 and γ = 2.4.     

Variability of the oxygen deficit near the H2S zone in the Black Sea

Historical oceanographic databases are statistically treated to obtain the mean multi-annual oxygen deficit distributions in the 70–90 m layer for the four seasons of the year. Generalization of the results from 1596 measurements has shown that the oxygen deficit is maintained only at one 1°×1° square at a level of 70–90%. This fact is accounted for by the rise of waters in the cyclonic gyre area. Conversely, small oxygen deficit values in the coastal areas are related to the sinking of water, this being consistent with the pattern of vertical circulation in the sea.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

The generation of intensive short-period internal waves in the frontal zone of a coastal upwelling

The measurements data provided by an antenna of distributed temperature sensors, mounted on an oceanographic tower in the South Crimea continental shelf area, were applied to study the mechanism for the generation of short-period internal waves with anomalous amplitudes in the Black Sea. For analysis, information was incorporated concerning the background hydrological and meteorological conditions that were observed during the experiment. A mathematical model for the phenomenon under study has been constructed, and calculations of the anomalous internal wave generation have been presented. The paper contains a comparative analysis of thein situ data and simulation results, and demonstrates a good qualitative/quantitative agreement between the parameters of internal waves. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

TMI、AMSR-E全球海表温度与Argo近海表温度的比较

本文将TMI（Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission （TRMM）Microwave Imager）和AMSR-E（Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System）卫星观测的全球海表温度与Argo浮标观测的近海表温度进行了比较。并检验了影响海温变化的因素,包括风速、水汽含量、液态云和地理位置。结果显示,TMI、AMSR-E海表温度与Argo近海表温度均明显相关。在低风速时,TMI、AMSR-E海表温度整体比Argo近海表温度高。在低风速时,TMI比AMSR-E海表温度更接近Argo近海表温度,但TMI海表温度在高纬可能没有经过良好校正。温度差异显示,在低水汽含量时,TMI和AMSR-E海表温度显示出暖的差异,代表TMI和AMSR-E海表温度在高纬均没有经过良好校正。黑潮延伸区的海表温度变化要比海潮区明显。春季在黑潮延伸区,卫星观测的海表温度与Argo近海表温度差异较小。在低风速时,TMI和AMSR-E海表温度均经过了良好校正,而TMI比AMSR-E效果更好。     

Average velocity field of the air flow over the water surface in a laboratory modeling of storm and hurricane conditions in the ocean

Laboratory experiments on studying the structure of the turbulent air boundary layer over waves were carried out at the Wind-Wave Channel of the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), in conditions modeling the near-water boundary layer of the atmosphere under strong and hurricane winds and the equivalent wind velocities from 10 to 48 m/s at the standard height of 10 m. A modified technique of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to obtain turbulent pulsation averaged velocity fields of the air flow over the water surface curved by a wave and average profiles of the wind velocity. The measurements showed that the logarithmic part of the velocity profile of the air flow in the channel was observed in the immediate vicinity from the water surface (at a distance of 30 mm) and could be detected only using remote methods (PIV). According to the measured velocity profiles, dependences of aerodynamic drag factors of the water surface on the wind velocity at a height of 10 m were retrieved; they were compared with results of contact measurements carried out earlier on the same setup. It is shown that they agree with an accuracy of up to 20%; at moderate and strong wind velocities the coincidence falls within the experimental accuracy.     

Methodological Approaches and Results of an Analysis of the Climatic Seasonal Course of Stable Stratification Parameters of a Dimictic Lake (Case Study of the Central Part of Lake Ladoga)

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - On the basis of general physical concepts of the thermic of a dimictic lake and the proposed methodological developments, the average climatic course of...     

Distribution and Seasonal Variability of Organic Matter in a Small Eutrophicated Salt Lake

Distribution and seasonal variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and surface active substances (SAS) were studied along the depth profile (15 m) in a small eutrophicated and periodically anoxic sea lake (Rogoznica Lake, Eastern Adriatic coast) in 1996 and 1997. The range of DOC concentrations was characteristic for productive coastal marine ecosystems (60% of samples in the range of 1–2 mg l⁻¹and 40% between 2 and 3 mg l⁻¹). Distribution of SAS concentrations was uniform and shifted toward higher concentrations in comparison to other coastal areas in the Adriatic Sea. Eutrophication in the lake is generated by nutrient recycling under anaerobic conditions. Systematically higher concentrations of chlorophyll a, DOC and SAS were determined at the chemocline in the bottom layer (10–12 m) than in the upper water layer (0·5–2 m). Seasonal variability of organic matter was discussed regarding distributions of microphytoplankton (cells >20 μm) and photosynthetic pigments as well as oxygen and salinity changes along the depth profile. The dissolved oxygen saturation reaching up to 300% in the water layer between 8 m and 10 m depths in May and June 1996, was correlated with enhanced concentrations of phytoplankton biomass (reflected as chl a and b, fucoxanthin, peridinin, zeaxanthin) and increased concentrations of DOC and SAS.     

Phytoplankton, nutrients and hydrography in the frontal zone between the Southwest Indian Subtropical gyre and the Southern Ocean

A survey was made of the Southwest Indian Ocean frontal region between 30 and 50°E containing the Agulhas Return, Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts. From CTD, SeaSoar and extracted samples the distribution of nitrate, silicate and chlorophyll a is shown to be strongly linked to the front and water mass structure, varying zonally and meridionally. Surface chlorophyll a concentrations were low to the north and south leaving a band of elevated chlorophyll between the Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts. The low concentration of chlorophyll a to the north, in Subtropical Water, was clearly due to nitrate limitation. Between the Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts, where the chlorophyll a concentrations were highest, the surface layer showed silicate depletion limiting diatom growth. South of the Subantarctic Front there were deep extending, low concentrations of chlorophyll a, but despite plentiful supplies of macro-nutrients and a well-stratified surface layer, high concentrations of chlorophyll a were absent. Changes from west to east were associated with the meandering of the Southern Ocean Fronts, especially the Subtropical Front, and their strength and proximity to each other. Concentrations of chlorophyll a peaked where the Agulhas Return, Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts were in close proximity. Combined frontal structures appear to have particularly pronounced vertical stability and are associated with enhanced upwelling of nutrients and leakage of nutrients across the front. Light levels are high within the shallow stable layer. Such conditions are clearly favourable for biological growth and support the development of larger-celled phytoplankton communities.