Water masses in Thermaicos Gulf,north-western Aegean Sea

Physical oceanographic data were collected during September 1975 at stations in the shallow water (max. depth 45 m) embayments of Salonica Bay and Thermaicos Gulf, and comparisons are made with data collected during other seasons. The distribution of temperature and salinity in the water column indicated the following features: fresh surface water predominantly related to river discharge; an intermediate water mass, apparently formed by mixing between the fresh and open sea waters; a thermocline, and deep bottom water open sea characteristics. The summer distribution of density in the surface and bottom waters, and the seasonal variation in the pattern of surface salinity, suggested an anti-clockwise water circulation throughout the embayments.     

Buoyancy shutdown process for the development of the baroclinic jet structure of the Soya Warm Current during summer

The Soya Warm Current (SWC), which is the coastal current along the northeastern part of Hokkaido, Japan, has a notable baroclinic jet structure during summer. This study addresses the formation mechanism of the baroclinic jet by analyzing a realistic numerical model and conducting its sensitivity experiment. The key process is the interaction between the seasonal thermocline and the bottom Ekman layer on the slope off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido; the bottom Ekman transport causes subduction of the warm seasonal thermocline water below the cold lower-layer water, so the bottom mixed layer develops with a remarkable cross-isobath density gradient. Consequently, the buoyancy transport vanishes as a result of the thermal wind balance in the mixed layer. The SWC area is divided into two regions during summer: upstream, the adjustment toward the buoyancy shutdown is in progress; downstream, the buoyancy shutdown occurs. The buoyancy shutdown theory assesses the bottom-mixed-layer thickness to be 50 m, consistent with observations and our numerical results. The seasonal thermocline from June to September is strong enough to establish the dominance of the buoyancy shutdown process over the frictional spindown.     

Observation of the disturbances occurring in a discontinuity layer of Lake Biwa-Ko

Short-period temperature fluctuations were observed in the uppermost region of the seasonal thermocline in Lake Biwa-Ko, under the existence of the strong wind-stirring. In the observation period, the temperature profile had a sharp discontinuity at the bottom of the surface mixed layer, and a large gradient in the discontinuity layer of about 2-m thickness. The most dominant disturbances occurred in the discontinuity layer had the period of 2 to 3 minutes and the amplitude of about 1 m. They occurred intermittently with 5-to 15-minute intervals, and the growth and decay cycles were repeated locally. On the basis of these results, it is suggested that they were caused by the shear instability, and that such disturbances may control the erosion process of the seasonal thermocline.     

南海混合层年循环特征

通过分析Levitus1994版气候平均温盐资料，得到南海混合层的时空分布特征，剖析了混合层浓度及其内部温度的季节变化规律。资料分析表明：季风通风流场调整对南海混合层的时空分布着明显的影响。这种影响的复杂性在于它不但通过海洋表层Ekman效应来影响混合层深度，而且还通过大尺度环流造成的幅散或辐合来限制或促进混合层深度的发展。研究发现混合层深度与混合层内温度存在着如下关系：夏季最大混合层的形成是28℃等温线与混合层底达到相互贴合的过程；冬季最大混合层的形成是28℃水体完全消失并且等温度线与混合层达到相交最多、相交最为垂直的过程，这时对应着冬季南海北部温跃层的通风；大于或等于28℃的水体总是位于混合层以内。     

Production and transport of long-chain alkenones and alkyl alkenoates in a sea water column in the northwestern Pacific off central Japan

Sinking particles collected from year-long time-series sediment traps at 1674, 4180, 5687 and 8688 m depths, the underlying bottom sediment at 9200 m depth, and suspended particles from surface and subsurface waters in the northwestern North Pacific off Japan were analyzed for long-chain alkenones and alkyl alkenoates (A&A) which are derived mainly from Gephyrocapsacean algae, especially Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica. Alkenone temperature records in sediment trap samples at 1674 m were almost similar to observed sea surface temperatures (SST) with a time delay of one half to one full month. However, alkenone temperatures in trap samples were about slightly lower than measured SST in late spring to early fall. The lowering might be caused by formation of the seasonal thermocline. Nevertheless, these temperature drops observed in trap samples were smaller than those actually observed in a subsurface layer off central Japan. Vertical profiles of A&A concentrations and alkenone temperatures in suspended particles collected from the subsurface waters in early fall indicated that these compounds were produced mostly in a surface mixed layer above the depth of the chlorophyll maximum even in warm seasons. These results suggested that alkenone temperatures strongly reflected SST rather than the temperatures of thermocline waters in these study areas even in such a warm season. Pronounced maxima in A&A fluxes found in sediment trap samples at 1674 m in late spring to summer showed that A&A productions were highest during the periods of spring bloom, according to a time delay between alkenone temperatures and observed SST. Seasonal patterns of alkenone records in trap samples at 4180 and 5687 m could also preserve SST signals well, suggesting that A&A in deep sea waters were mainly derived from primary products in the surface layer. A&A fluxes tended to decrease with water depth, and the ratios of A&A to particulate organic carbon (POC) rapidly decreased in underlying bottom sediment. This clearly indicates that A&A were decomposed and diluted by other refractory organic materials in either the water column or the sediment–water interface. However, A&A compositions were consistently uniform between the trap samples and the underlying bottom sediments, so that A&A could not qualitatively alter during early diagenetic processes.     

大亚湾温跃层形成及其对有关环境要素的影响

温跃层是海洋环境中的一种重要物理现象,对海洋的环境生态系统有着重要的影响。大亚湾温跃层是受粤东上升流和夏季表层海水升温双重作用而形成的。通过对大亚湾海域水温、盐度、溶解氧等众多环境要素的长期调查取样分析显示,该海域温跃层是季节性温跃层,一般发生在每年的5—10月份,6月下旬到9月中旬分层现象比较显著,盐跃层和氧跃层会相伴发生。受核电站热排水的影响,湾西侧尤其是核电站前海域的温跃层较其它区域明显和持久。数据显示在温跃层发生期内,由于海水的分层效应,温度、盐度、pH值、DO、BOD5和COD、营养盐及叶绿素等都受到不同程度的影响,形成明显的表底层差异或层次梯度。     

Sedimentary and water column processes in the Oyster Grounds: a potentially hypoxic region of the North Sea

The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential causes of low oxygen levels in the bottom water of the Oyster Grounds region of the shallow southern North Sea, an area which provides suitable conditions for low oxygen levels to develop. At the end of the summer stratified period, relevant biogeochemical processes were investigated using a combination of sedimentary and water column rate measurements. Phytoplankton nitrate and ammonium uptake was measured throughout the water column using (15)N labelled isotopes and showed ammonium uptake dominated in the upper and bottom mixed layer with a maximum 294.4 micromol N m(-3)h(-1). In the deep chlorophyll maximum at the thermocline, primary production was dominated by nitrate uptake, with an average of 35.0 micromol N m(-3)h(-1), relative to ammonium uptake, with an average of 24.6 micromol N m(-3)h(-1). This high relative nitrate uptake will in part result in exportable new production to the isolated bottom mixed layer and sediments, as opposed to regenerated ammonium driven uptake. This biomass export was indicated by significant benthic oxygen consumption rates in the stratified region (782-1275 micromol O(2)m(-2)h(-1)micromol N m(-3)h(-1)) long after the end of the spring bloom. The sediments were also an active net source of nitrate, ammonium, phosphate and silicate into the bottom mixed layer of 4.4, 8.4, 2.3 and 68.8 micromol m(-2)h(-1), respectively. The export of new production within the thermocline to the bottom mixed layer and the consequent sediment oxygen consumption in the isolated bottom mixed layer in the Oyster Grounds are expected to have contributed to the low bottom water oxygen concentrations of 2.07 mg l(-1) (64.7 micromol l(-1)) measured. The long stratified period associated with this low oxygen is predicted to occur more regularly in the future and continued monitoring of this ecologically important region is therefore essential if the causes of these potentially damaging low oxygen levels are to be fully understood.     

Exploring the thermal cycle of the Northern North Sea area using a 3-D circulation model: the example of PROVESS NNS station

Within the framework of activities of the EC funded Project ‘Processes of Vertical Exchange in Shelf Seas’ (PROVESS), the seasonal thermal behaviour during 1998 at a station in the North Sea has been investigated using COHERENS, a three-dimensional fully non-linear hydrodynamic model. Extensive hydrographic measurements were carried out at the Northern North Sea (NNS) station, located at (59°20′N, 1°E). The collected data are used to validate the model results, showing an acceptable agreement between modelled temperatures and those obtained from CTDs and moored thermistors. This is valid both for surface and bottom temperatures, while the mixed layer thickness appears to be underestimated. A series of 3-D runs, testing different turbulence schemes, an internal wave mixing (IWM) parameterisation and the sensitivity to an increase of the surface stress, have been performed with the aim of assessing the relative importance of the advective and mixing processes. The model comparisons mostly evidenced differences in the behaviour of the bottom layer temperature during the last part of the year, which may be due to advection processes. The adoption of an internal wave mixing parameterisation, though managing to reproduce a deeper thermocline, overestimates the mixing around the period of the thermocline breakdown. The run adopting a wind stress increased by 50% provides a better agreement between observed and modelled thermocline. This applies also for surface velocities when compared to Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements, while the bottom ones appear slightly underestimated only in the U-component. The Northern North Sea site appears to be located close to a gyre induced by thermal fronts. Comparisons with nearby wind data measured by an oil rig and by the ships operating in the area seem to confirm that the wind forcing values adopted during the integration are underestimated.     

Inertial currents in the northern North sea

Current profiles were measured in the northern North Sea during the autumnal breakdown of stratification (September and October) in 1998. The site was in 110 m of water and the depth-averaged M₂ tidal current amplitudes were about 0.15 m s⁻¹. The surface and bed mixed layers were initially well separated. The measurements were made principally with Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) which gave good coverage of the majority of the water column.During a two-month period several episodes of inertial currents were observed, exhibiting a range of responses some of which corresponded very closely to that predicted by theory. The structure of the inertial currents was primarily first mode baroclinic, with no inertial energy in the depth-averaged current. This implies that the currents in the lower layer are strongly linked to those in the surface layer and also that dissipation could be generated by bed friction, but the nature of the link is unclear. The level of least motion coincided with the thermocline. Since the currents in the upper and lower layers are 180° out of phase, large shears can occur across the thermocline; occasionally the bulk Richardson number determined with a four-metre vertical resolution was less than one.Turbulence measurements suggest that when large inertial current shears are present across the thermocline, which exceed the buoyancy frequencies, then mixing within and across the thermocline is significant. Future experiments should concentrate on enhanced dissipation measurements around the thermocline and higher spatial resolution time series measurements of current and density.     

Resuspension of benthic fluff by tidal currents in deep stratified waters, northern North Sea

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and properties (particle size and settling velocity), water column and boundary layer dynamics were measured during a 60-d period at a site in 110 m water depth in the northern North Sea. The site was in stratified waters and measurements were made during September–November as the seasonal thermocline was progressively weakening. SPM concentration was low, c. 1 mg dm⁻³ in the surface mixed layer and maximum values of 2 mg dm⁻³ in the bottom mixed layer. The bottom layer was characterised by larger mean particle size. SPM signals in the two layers were decoupled at the start of the period, when the thermocline was strong, but were increasingly coupled as the thermocline progressively weakened. A spring-neap cycle of resuspension and deposition of SPM was observed in the bottom mixed layer. Bed shear stresses were too small to entrain the bottom sediment (a fine sand) but were competent to resuspend benthic fluff: threshold bed shear stress and threshold current velocity at 10 mab were 0.02–0.03 Pa. and 0.18 m s⁻¹, respectively. Maximum SPM concentration in the bottom layer preceded peak spring tide currents by 3 d. Simulation of fluff resupension by the PROWQM model confirms that this was due to a finite supply of benthic fluff: the fluff layer was stripped from the seabed so that fluff supply was zero by the time of peak spring flow. SPM was redeposited over neap tides. Fluff resuspension must have been enhanced by intermittent inertial currents in the bottom layer but unequivocal evidence for this was not seen. There was some resuspension due to wave activity. Settling velocity spectra were unimodal or bimodal with modal values of 2×10⁻⁴–2×10⁻³ mm s⁻¹ (long-term suspension component) and 0.2–5.7 mm s⁻¹ (resuspension component). The slowest settling particles remained in suspension at peak spring tides after the fluff layer had been exhausted. There was evidence of particle disaggregation during springs and aggregation during neaps.     

东、黄海典型海域叶绿素a含量的垂向变化与周日波动

2000年10月21至11月5日对东海与黄海典型海区进行了叶绿素a浓度的现场周日观测，地理环境和水文状况的差异使各海区的垂向变化与日波动表现各自的特征：东海观测站位在垂向上的分布比较单一，多数呈上混合层均匀分布型并在跃层以上递减；长江口受潮流影响大，偶而在底层峰值，而南黄海观测站位垂向布出现了均匀分布型与次表层双峰型两种，受潮流等影响，叶绿素a浓度的日变化在各海区间及各自的垂向上都有所差异；出现层化的测站，跃层以上日波动层以下明显；在E7测站的表层和长江口测站的底层都以半日周期为，而南黄海测站以全日周期为主。     

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.     

2006年冬季粤东沿岸下降流观测分析

根据珠江口及其附近海域2006年冬季(2006年12月至2007年1月)航次的CTD调查资料发现,由于表层水体冷却而产生的对流作用,以及东北季风、浪、流等强动力条件下,冬季陆架水体垂向混合均匀,但粤东近岸海域却存在显著的温跃层及逆盐跃层,其原因在于:东北季风的Ekman效应引起了陆架表层高温、高盐海水向岸输送,东北季风还驱动了西南向沿岸流,其底边界层的Ekman效应引起了沿岸底层低温、低盐海水离岸输送,这样就形成了陆架方向的次生环流,在沿岸海域则为下降流,并表现为沿岸海域的逆盐跃层及温跃层现象。在下降流显著的区域,溶解氧垂向分布均匀且浓度较高,这应归因于下降流将溶解氧浓度较高的表层水带入深层所致。     

东海PN断面夏季温盐及化学要素的分布特征

由东海PN断面夏季温鼻度及化学要素CTD资料分析表明，东海夏季的温跃层和盐跃层在次表层生成，其强度随着跃层自陆架坡折区至近岸和外海的上移逐渐减弱。陆架区近表层的温度和盐度呈垂直均匀分布，冲绳海槽次表层呈高温、高盐，近表层呈高温，近表层呈高温、低盐，底层呈低温、次高盐特征。溶解氧浓度自近岸到外海由低变高，表层至底层溶解氧浓度在陆架区由高变低，冲绳海槽区则先由低变高然后又由变低。总二氧化碳浓度自表层至底层和自陆架坡折区到近岸和外海由低变高。磷酸盐和硅酸盐浓度自近岸至外海由高变低，而自表层至底层由低变高。陆架区的近表层和陆架坡折区分别有一个高碱度区。温盐及化学要素的分布特征与夏季海区垂直环流的反气旋运动、长江冲淡水及黑潮水入侵和海面强热辐射有关。此外，化学要素分布还与夏季海区的温盐结构、表混合层与大气间二氧化碳气体交换及表混合层中碳和营养盐光合作用的利用有关。     

Seasonal variations in temperature,salinity and density in the southern coastal waters of the Caspian Sea

Variability in water temperature, salinity and density was investigated based on field measurements near Anzali Port, in the Southern Caspian Sea in 2008. Seasonal changes of seawater properties were mainly observed through the upper 100 m layer, while below this layer seasonal variations of the parameters were minor. Vertical structure of the temperature in the southern coastal waters of the Caspian Sea is characterized by a significant seasonal thermocline between 20–50 m depths with vertical variation in temperature about 16°C in midsummer (August). Decrease of the thermocline occurs with the general cooling of the air and sea surface water, and deepening of the mixed layer during late of autumn and winter. Seasonal averages of the salinity were estimated in a range of 12.27–12.37 PSU. The structure of thermocline and pycnocline indicated agreement between changes of temperature and density of seawater. Seasonal pycnocline was observed in position of the thermocline layer.     

南黄海浮游植物季节性变化的数值模拟与影响因子分析

用三维物理-生物耦合模式研究南黄海浮游植物(以叶绿素a为指标)的季节变化.对于物理模式采用Princeton ocean model(POM),对于生物模式考虑溶解无机营养盐(氮、磷、硅)、浮游植物、食草性浮游动物和碎屑.给定已知的初始场和外加边界强迫,模拟了观测到叶绿素a的主要时、空分布特征,如浮游植物的春、秋季水华和夏季次表层叶绿素a极大值现象等.研究表明,浮游植物春季水华最先发生于黄海中央海域,主要原因是该海域透明度较高,流速较小.春季水华开始于垂直对流减弱和层化开始形成之前(约3月底至4月上旬),显著地依赖水层的稳定性.水体层化以后(约5～9月)叶绿素a浓度高值区分布在南黄海的南部和锋区.夏季的南黄海中央海域,由于上混合层营养盐几乎耗尽,限制了浮游植物的生长,在紧贴温跃层下部的真光层,具有丰富的营养盐和合适的光照,次表层叶绿素a极大值得以形成.秋季(约9～11月份,略迟于海表面开始降温的时间,随地点不同而异)随垂直混合的增强,有利于营养盐向上输运,浮游植物出现一次较小的峰值.     

Hydrographic structure of the Kuroshio large meander-cold water mass region down to the deeper layers of the ocean

The hydrographic structure of the region of large meander of the Kuroshio and the large cold water mass, which were formed in 1975, was observed down to the ocean bottom, during three cruises of the R/VHakuho Maru in September 1975, September 1976, and December 1977. The analysis of observed data indicates the following common features: the horizontal gradient of the specific volume anomaly exists down to a 3,500 db surface, corresponding to the existence of baroclinic geostrophic current down to this depth. These facts demonstrate that the current of the Kuroshio is not confined to the upper layer during periods of existence of the large meander. On a T-S diagram, the Kuroshio water and the water in the large cold water mass can be discriminated down to a 5°C surface, but there is evidence of mixing due to conspicuous interleaving between the two water masses, near the thermocline. Below the thermocline, water types defined by points on the T-S diagram can be traced from a deeper level in the Kuroshio water to a shallower level in the cold water mass, indicating that in the deeper layers the Kuroshio water continues to be uplifted toward the center of the cold water mass. The same inference is also obtained from the distribution of dissolved oxygen.     

Winter-to-winter recurrence of sea surface temperature, salinity and mixed layer depth anomalies

The mean seasonal cycle of mixed layer depth (MLD) in the extratropical oceans has the potential to influence temperature, salinity and mixed layer depth anomalies from one winter to the next. Temperature and salinity anomalies that form at the surface and spread throughout the deep winter mixed layer are sequestered beneath the mixed layer when it shoals in spring, and are then re-entrained into the surface layer in the subsequent fall and winter. Here we document this ‘re-emergence mechanism’ in the North Pacific Ocean using observed SSTs, subsurface temperature fields from a data assimilation system, and coupled atmosphere–ocean model simulations. Observations indicate that the dominant large-scale SST anomaly pattern that forms in the North Pacific during winter recurs in the following winter. The model simulation with mixed layer ocean physics reproduced the winter-to-winter recurrence, while model simulations with observed SSTs specified in the tropical Pacific and a 50 m slab in the North Pacific did not. This difference between the model results indicates that the winter-to-winter SST correlations are the result of the re-emergence mechanism, and not of similar atmospheric forcing of the ocean in consecutive winters. The model experiments also indicate that SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific associated with El Niño are not essential for re-emergence to occur.The recurrence of observed SST and simulated SST and SSS anomalies are found in several regions in the central North Pacific, and are quite strong in the northern (>50°N) part of the basin. The winter-to-winter autocorrelation of SSS anomalies exceed those of SST, since only the latter are strongly damped by surface fluxes. The re-emergence mechanism also has a modest influence on MLD through changes in the vertical stratification in the seasonal thermocline.     

The diel vertical migration of the sound-scattering layer in the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water of the southeastern Yellow Sea：focus on its relationship with a temperature structure

Using the hydroacoustic method with a 200 kHz scientific echo sounding system,the diel vertical migration(DVM) of the sound-scattering layer(SSL) in the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water(YSBCW) of the southeastern Yellow Sea was studied in April(spring) and August(summer) of 2010 and 2011.For each survey,13–27 hours of acoustic data were continuously collected at a stationary station.The acoustic volume scattering strength(Sv) data were analyzed with temperature profile data.In the spring of both 2010 and 2011,the SSL clearly showed the vertical migration throughout the entire water column,moving from the surface layer at night to near the bottom during the day.Conductivity,temperature,and depth data indicated that the entire water column was well mixed with low temperature of about 8 C.However,the SSL showed different patterns in the summers of 2010 and 2011.In the summer of 2010(28 C at the surface),the SSL migrated to near the bottom during the day,but there were two SSLs above and below the thermocline at depth of 10–30 m at night.In the summer of 2011(20 C at the surface),the SSL extended throughout the entire water column at night,possibly owing to an abrupt change in sea weather conditions caused by the passage of a Typhoon Muifa over the study area.It was concluded that the DVM patterns in summer in the YSBCW area may be greatly influenced by a strengthened or weakened thermocline.     

Relationships between particle-grazing zooplankton and vertical phytoplankton distributions on the Texas continental shelf

This study compares vertical distributions of Penilia avirostris and Temora turbinata with vertical distributions of chlorophyll a over short time periods at a station in the north-western Gulf of Mexico in the summer and early fall of 1978. In June and July 1978 chlorophyll a and turbidity increased below the thermocline. In September 1978 chlorophyll a was concentrated in the upper mixed layer while turbidity was greatest near the bottom.In June and July P. avirostris and copepodites of T. turbinata were concentrated within the subsurface chlorophyll a layer. Adult T. turbinata were more widely distributed than the copepodites in June but apparently migrated diurnally in July. In September, abundance of all animals generally decreased slightly with depth. This change in animal distribution reflected changes in biotic and abiotic varlables between this cruise and previous cruises. In all cruises, animal distributions were positively correlated with chlorophyll a suggesting that food was the primary influence on distributions of these animals.