Sea Level Variations Associated with Upwelling/ Downwelling Along the West Coast of India

A three-dimensional numerical model is developed and used to study the coastal upwelling processes and corresponding seasonal changes in the sea level along the west coast of India. The upwelling and associated sea level variations are seen as a response of coastal ocean to pure wind stress forcing. The model is designed to represent coastal ocean physics by resolving surface and bottom Ekman layers as realistically as possible. The prognostic variables are the three components of the velocity field, temperature, salinity and turbulent energy. The governing equations together with their boundary conditions are solved by finite-difference techniques. Experiments are performed to investigate sea level fluctuations associated with the thermal response and alongshore currents of the coastal waters. The model is forced with mean monthly wind stress forcing of January, May, July and September representing northeast monsoon and different phases of the southwest monsoon. It is known from the observational study that the upwelling process reaches to the surface waters by May along the coastal waters of the extreme southwest peninsular region. The process is more intense in July compared to May and September and its strength decreases from south to north. However, during the northeast monsoon season, which is represented by January wind stress forcing in the model, downwelling is simulated along the coast. The model simulations of the coastal response are compared with the observations and are found to be in good agreement. The maximum computed vertical velocity of about 2.0 2 10 -3 cm s -1 is predicted in July in the southern region off the coast.     

Sea Level Variations Associated with Upwelling/ Downwelling Along the West Coast of India

A three-dimensional numerical model is developed and used to study the coastal upwelling processes and corresponding seasonal changes in the sea level along the west coast of India. The upwelling and associated sea level variations are seen as a response of coastal ocean to pure wind stress forcing. The model is designed to represent coastal ocean physics by resolving surface and bottom Ekman layers as realistically as possible. The prognostic variables are the three components of the velocity field, temperature, salinity and turbulent energy. The governing equations together with their boundary conditions are solved by finite-difference techniques. Experiments are performed to investigate sea level fluctuations associated with the thermal response and alongshore currents of the coastal waters. The model is forced with mean monthly wind stress forcing of January, May, July and September representing northeast monsoon and different phases of the southwest monsoon. It is known from the observational study that the upwelling process reaches to the surface waters by May along the coastal waters of the extreme southwest peninsular region. The process is more intense in July compared to May and September and its strength decreases from south to north. However, during the northeast monsoon season, which is represented by January wind stress forcing in the model, downwelling is simulated along the coast. The model simulations of the coastal response are compared with the observations and are found to be in good agreement. The maximum computed vertical velocity of about 2.0 ×10 -3 cm s -1 is predicted in July in the southern region off the coast.     

Evaluation of the ocean governance system in Korea

Considering the small land, dense population and poor natural resources, the oceans are important to Korea, but the recognition of oceans has been weak in Korean society. So ocean governance was fragmented in both institution and policies, which resulted in serious problems in the coastal waters and oceans. However, a series of maritime accidents and failures of policies increased the recognition of the coastal waters and resources and led to the establishment of one single ocean-related governmental agency in 1996. Over the last decade, the ocean governance in Korea has been successful and strong.     

Assimilation of surface currents into a regionalmodel over Qingdao coastal waters of China

Surface currents measured by high frequency （HF） radar arrays are assimilated into a regional ocean model over Qingdao coastal waters based on Kalman filter method. A series of numerical experiments are per- formed to evaluate the performance of the data assimilation schemes. In order to optimize the analysis pro- cedure in the traditional ensemble Kalman filter （ENKF）, a different analysis scheme called quasiensemble Kaman filter （QENKF） is proposed. The comparisons between the ENKF and the QENKF suggest that both them can improve the simulated error and the spatial structure. The estimations of the background error covariance （BEC） are also assessed by comparing three different methods： Monte Carlo method; Canadian quick covariance （CQC） method and data uncertainty engine （DUE） method. A significant reduction of the root-mean-square （RMS） errors between model results and the observations shows that the CQC method is able to better reproduce the error statistics for this coastal ocean model and the corresponding external forcing. In addition, the sensibility of the data assimilation system to the ensemble size is also analyzed by means of different scales of the ensemble size used in the experiments. It is found that given the balance of the computational cost and the forecasting accuracy, the ensemble size of 50 will be an appropriate choice in the Qingdao coastal waters.     

Comparative Analysis of Chlorophyll-a Distribution from SeaWiFS,MODIS-Aqua,MODIS-Terra and MERIS in the Arabian Sea

The variability of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) distribution derived from MODIS (on Aqua and Terra platforms) and MERIS sensors have been compared with SeaWiFS data in the Arabian Sea. MODIS Aqua has overestimated the SeaWiFS Chl-a within 25–32% in the coastal turbid (eutrophic) waters and underestimated in open ocean waters with error within 20%. However, there is no significant bias (?0.1 on log-scale) observed as the slope is well within 0.97-1.1 (log transformed). MODIS-Terra has underestimated the Chl-a concentration in open ocean waters by about 29–31%, which is higher than MODIS-Aqua. MODIS-Terra is observed to be more accurate than MODIS-Aqua in the coastal waters. MERIS is overestimating the SeaWiFS Chl-a with log RMS error of ～0.15 and log bias of ～0.13–0.2. The differences in the Chl-a estimates between each sensor are possibly due to differences in the sensor design, bio-optical algorithms and also due to the time differences between the satellites over passes. We have examined that the MERIS is performing similar to SeaWiFS and the MODIS-Aqua (Terra) data are reliable in open ocean (coastal) waters. However, Chl-a retrieval algorithms need to be improved especially for coastal turbid waters to continue with SeaWiFS data for long-term studies.     

The importance of estimating the contribution of the oceans to national economies

The oceans are in trouble. Poorly understood and unprecedented environmental and economic changes are underway in our world's oceans that will significantly affect life in the sea as well as on land. Only in the last thirty years has the contribution of the ocean sector to the economy been measured. An examination of these studies has exposed definitional, conceptual and methodological differences in measuring marine-related economic activity in the economy, making comparisons difficult. Both the ocean and the coastal economies face a world of volatile changes. In the ocean economy marine transport faces unpredictable fuel costs. Coastal tourism also faces losses from climate change impacts and sea level rise. Finally, a warming ocean and increasing acidification of the oceans from greenhouse gases is already affecting coral reefs and a range of fish stocks. Economic measures are important to predict these impacts, as are economic measures of the resilience of different areas of the ocean and coastal economies. This article demonstrates how knowledge of both the ocean, coastal and national economies can help governments address the future impacts and demands posed by nature and human populations on our coasts and oceans.     

Model simulations of carbon sequestration in the northwest Pacific by patch fertilization

Iron fertilization of nutrient-rich surface waters of the ocean is one possible way to help slow the rising levels of atmospheric CO₂ by sequestering it in the oceans via biological carbon export. Here, I use an ocean general circulation model to simulate a patch of nutrient depletion in the subpolar northwest Pacific under various scenarios. Model results confirm that surface fertilization is an inefficient way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere (Gnanadesikan et al., 2003), since only about 20% of the exported carbon comes initially from the atmosphere. Fertilization reduces future production and thus CO₂ uptake by utilizing nutrients that would otherwise be available later. Effectively, this can be considered as leakage when compared to a control run. This “effective” leakage and the actual leakage of sequestered CO₂ cause a significant, rapid decrease in carbon retention (only 30–45% retained after 10 years and less than 20% after 50 years). This contrasts markedly with the almost 100% retention efficiency for the same duration using the same model, when carbon is disposed directly into the northwest Pacific (Matsumoto and Mignone, 2005). As a consequence, the economic effectiveness of patch fertilization is poor in two limiting cases of the future price path of carbon. Sequestered carbon in patch fertilization is lost to the atmosphere at increasingly remote places as time passes, which would make monitoring exceedingly difficult. If all organic carbon from one-time fertilization reached the ocean bottom and remineralized there, acidification would be about −0.05 pH unit with O₂ depletion about −20 μmol kg⁻¹. These anomalies are probably too small to seriously threaten deep sea biota, but they are underestimated in the model because of its large grid size. The results from this study offer little to advocate purposeful surface fertilization as a serious means to address the anthropogenic carbon problem.     

Nickel utilization in phytoplankton assemblages from contrasting oceanic regimes

In most oceanic environments, dissolved nickel (Ni) concentrations are drawn down in surface waters with increasing concentrations at depth, implying a role for biology in the geochemical distribution of Ni. Studies with phytoplankton isolates from the surface ocean have established the biochemical roles of Ni in the assimilation of urea and oxidative defense. To determine if these requirements are relevant in natural marine planktonic assemblages, bottle-based fertilization experiments were used to test the effects of low-level additions of Ni, urea, or both Ni and urea to surface waters at several locations offshore of Peru and California, as well as in the Gulf of California. Urea and Ni+urea additions consistently promoted phytoplankton growth relative to control and +Ni treatments, except in a coastal upwelling site and Peruvian water. No effect was observed in the upwelling site, but in Peruvian waters urea additions resulted in increased phytoplankton pigments and phosphate drawdown only when Ni was added concurrently, suggesting a biochemically dependent Ni–urea colimitation. In the Gulf of California, Ni additions without urea resulted in increased abundances of cyanobacteria, picoeukaryotes, and the corresponding pigments. As urea additions showed the overall phytoplankton community was also urea-limited, it appears that the cyanobacteria and potentially the picoeukaryotes were colimited by Ni and urea in a biochemically independent fashion. In parallel, radiotracer-based uptake experiments were used to study the kinetics and spatial variation of biological Ni assimilation. In these experiments, the added radiotracer rarely equilibrated with the natural Ni present, precluding estimates a determination of in situ Ni uptake rates and suggesting that much of the natural Ni was not bioavailable. The lack of equilibration likely did not preclude the measurement of community Ni uptake kinetics, nor the comparison of measured rates between locations. The highest V_maxK_ρ^?1 values, which reflect a competitive advantage in Ni acquisition at low concentrations, were observed in stratified nitrogen-deplete communities, potentially linking Ni and nitrogen biogeochemistry in a manner consistent with the biochemical utilization of Ni. Overall, uptake rates were higher in the euphotic rather than non-euphotic zone communities, directly reconciling the nutrient-like depth profile of Ni. The Ni uptake rates observed at the nitrate-replete Fe-deplete Peru stations were an order of magnitude lower than the other sites. This result agrees with calculations suggesting that saturation of the cell surface with Ni and iron (Fe) transporters may limit uptake rates in low Fe waters.     

中国近海温带气旋的时空变化特征

基于1979-2012年共34年的ECMWF逐日4次平均海平面气压的再分析资料,采用英国雷丁大学气旋客观追踪算法,对出现在我国近海的温带气旋(气旋生命史1d以上,移动距离大于500km)的时空分布特征进行统计分析。结论包括以下几点:(1)1979-2012年进入中国近海的温带气旋平均每年45个,气旋数量呈现春夏多而秋冬少的特点。20世纪90年代初至今,气旋数量呈增加趋势,其中北部海区气旋数量增加达到显著水平,东部海区气旋数量表现为不显著减少,故认为影响中国近海的气旋路径有北移的趋势。(2)进入我国近海的温带气旋主要有4个生成源地,按比例由高到低分别是江淮气旋(38.9%),东海气旋(25.2%),黄河气旋(24.3%)以及蒙古气旋(11.6%)。气旋入海后,当大气海洋条件适合时,可以爆发性增长,气旋爆发性增长的主要区域在朝鲜半岛及以东洋面以及日本以东洋面,在我国近海气旋爆发的比例较小。(3)气旋生命史主要为1~7d,但生命史为1~4d的气旋比例最大,平均占气旋总数的52%,其中夏季长生命史气旋(大于10d)的比例最大,为8%,冬季最少,接近3%。冬季气旋最强,气压分布区间大;夏季弱气旋多,中心气压分布集中。     

Persistently declining oxygen levels in the interior waters of the eastern subarctic Pacific

Fifty years of measurements at Ocean Station Papa (OSP, 50°N, 145°W) show trends in the interior waters of the subarctic Pacific that are both impacted by short term (few years to bi-decadal) atmospheric or ocean circulation oscillations and by persistent climate trends. Between 1956 and 2006, waters below the ocean mixed layer to a depth of at least 1000 m have been warming and losing oxygen. On density surfaces found in the depth range 100-400 m (σ_θ = 26.3-27.0), the ocean is warming at 0.005-0.012 °C y⁻¹, whereas oxygen is declining at 0.39-0.70 μmol kg⁻¹ y⁻¹ or at an integrated rate of 123 mmol m⁻² y⁻¹ (decrease of 22% over 50 years). During this time, the hypoxic boundary (defined as 60 μmol O₂ kg⁻¹) has shoaled from ∼400 to 300 m. In the Alaska Gyre, the 26.2 isopycnal occasionally ventilates, whereas at OSP 26.0σ_θ has not been seen at the ocean surface since 1971 as the upper ocean continues to stratify. To interpret the 50 year record at OSP, the isopycnal transport of oxygenated waters within the interior of the subarctic Pacific is assessed by using a slightly modified “NO” parameter [Broecker, W., 1974. “NO” a conservative water-mass tracer. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 23, 100-107]. The highest nitrate-oxygen signature in interior waters of the North Pacific is found in the Bering Sea Gyre, Western Subarctic Gyre and East Kamchatka Current region as a consequence of winter mixing to the ∼26.6 isopycnal. By mixing with low NO waters found in the subtropics and Okhotsk Sea, this signature is diluted as waters flow eastward across the Pacific. Evidence of low NO waters flowing north from California is seen along the coasts of British Columbia and SE Alaska. Oxygen in the subsurface waters of the Alaskan Gyre was supplied ∼60% by subarctic and 40% by subtropical waters during WOCE surveys, whereas such estimates are shown to periodically vary by 20% at OSP. Other features discernable in the OSP data include periods of increased ventilation of deeper isopycnals on an ∼18 year cycle and strong, short term (few month) variability caused by passing mesoscale eddies. The potential impacts of declining oxygen on coastal ecosystems are discussed.     

Changes in ocean ventilation during the 21st Century in the CCSM3

Changes in the ventilation rate of the global ocean during the 20th and 21st centuries, as indicated by changes in the distribution of ideal age, are examined in a series of integrations of the Community Climate System Model version 3. The global mean age changes little in the 20th Century relative to pre-industrial conditions, but increases in the 21st Century, by an amount that is independent of the range of climate forcings considered. The increase is primarily due to a decrease in the ventilation rate of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), and to a lesser degree, North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Changes in a regional volumetric census of age indicate that the changes in AABW are predominantly for waters that are already older than 100 years, so will likely have a moderate direct feedback on oceanic uptake of CO₂ and other tracers. On the other hand, the changes in NADW occur most strongly in waters that are a few decades old, so are more likely to have a feedback on the climate system. While the global mean age increases, the age does not increase everywhere in the ocean. Regions newly exposed to strong atmospheric forcing as sea ice retreats experience an increase in convection and decreasing age. Age also decreases over a large volume of the lower thermocline as the rate of upwelling of old deep water decreases with the weakening of the thermohaline circulation.     

21世纪海上丝绸之路海洋上层热含量及热比容海平面异常变化

气候变暖背景下,全球平均海洋变暖和海平面上升显著,为人类社会的可持续发展带来巨大挑战。上层海洋热力状况是海平面变化的主导因子之一。本文围绕"21世纪海上丝绸之路"途经海区（文中简称为丝路海区）上层海洋热含量异常的区域性时空特征,分析探讨了丝路海区热比容海平面异常的时空变化、演变特征及可能影响,以期为"21世纪海上丝绸之路"海洋环境安全保障提供服务支撑。结果表明,自20世纪70年代中后期,丝路海区上层（0~700 m）海洋已明显变暖,尤其20世纪90年代中后期增暖幅度显著加大。近60年来,在丝路海区热带海洋中,西太平洋的北赤道流区及以北海域、东海黑潮流域以及南海北部和南部海区、阿拉伯海西北部海域、马来西亚西北部海域及南印度洋部分海域具有长期增暖趋势。热带西太平洋暖池区整体增暖不明显,主要与印度洋中部海域呈反位相变化,且明显受到季节和年际变化的调制。长江口附近沿岸、南海北部沿岸、中南半岛南部沿岸以及阿拉伯海西北部沿岸的近岸海域长期增暖明显,自20世纪90年代中后期,中南半岛东部和西部沿海、澳大利亚西部沿海以及我国东南沿海热比容海平面上升明显。近岸热比容海平面的季节演变对沿海地区社会和经济发展会造成一定影响。此外,东亚夏季风与东海、黄海和渤海热比容海平面的上升显著相关,同时,ENSO、太平洋年代际振荡和印度洋偶极子的发生也均与我国东南沿海和印度洋西部沿海热比容海平面上升明显关联。特别是,气候变暖情形下,各种区域性致灾因子和气候变率的协同影响会对丝路海区海岸带和沿海地区的防灾减灾与社会经济发展带来较大挑战,开展海岸带和沿海地区全球变化综合风险研究成为当前首要任务。     

Hydrographical characteristics and oxygen isotopic signatures of water in a coastal environment (Mangalore) along the southeastern Arabian Sea

Coastal marine environments are important links between the continents and the open ocean. The coast off Mangalore forms part of the upwelling zone along the southeastern Arabian Sea. The temperature, salinity, density, dissolved oxygen and stable oxygen isotope ratio (δ¹⁸O) of surface waters as well as those of bottom waters off coastal Mangalore were studied every month from October 2010 to May 2011. The coastal waters were stratified in October and November due to precipitation and runoff. The region was characterised by upwelled bottom waters in October, whereas the region exhibited a temperature inversion in November. The surface and bottom waters presented almost uniform properties from December until April. The coastal waters were observed to be most dense in January and May. Comparatively cold and poorly oxygenated bottom waters during the May sampling indicated the onset of upwelling along the region. δ¹⁸O of the coastal waters successfully documented the observed variations in the hydrographical characteristics of the Mangalore coast during the monthly sampling period. We also noted that the monthly variability in the properties of the coastal waters of Mangalore was related to the hydrographical characteristics of the adjacent open ocean inferred from satellite-derived surface winds, sea surface height anomaly data and sea surface temperatures.     

Effect of Salinity and Currents on Sea Level Variation Along the Indian Coast: A Numerical Study

The process of upwelling/sinking and associated sea level variations are seen as a response of coastal ocean to pure wind stress forcing. Further,precipitation and monsoonal floods, apart from the marine meteorological parameters, are expected to influence the sea level fluctuations along the coast. This study comprises determining the sea level from the various parameters together with the pure wind stress forcing, which is compared with the observed cycle. However, it is found that there is considerable difference between the computations and observations. This suggests that the sea level is dependent not just on the local forcing alone, but also on the induced background circulation as well. For example, the sea level changes along the east coast of India, particularly the northern region, are more sensitive to freshwater discharge from various rivers joining the Bay of Bengal. This is due to more frequently occurring pre- and postmonsoon cyclonic storms and the associated surges in the Bay of Bengal as compared to the Arabian Sea. Hence the salinity effects are particularly important in the coastal waters off the east coast of India during monsoon months (June-September). For the west coast of India, however, it is expected that the large-scale coastal circulation may play a role in determining sea level changes in addition to other forcings. The salinity effects are negligible along the west coast in the absence of any major river systems that join the Arabian Sea. The local advection currents caused by the offshore directed freshwater discharge from various estuaries joining the coastal bay also seemed to influence the sea level. In order to elucidate the essential dynamics involved and to study the effect of the remote forcing, a three-dimensional baroclinic, nonlinear numerical model is used with appropriate open boundary conditions. The local effect of the current has been incorporated in the west coast model by means of opening a channel at Cochin through which the rainwater is carried away to the model ocean. The low saline plume, cascading from north along the east cost of India, has been incorporated in the east coast model through a proper forcing applied at the northern boundary of the model. With the inclusion of these remote forcings in the models, the disagreement between the simulations and the observations is minimized.     

Effect of Salinity and Currents on Sea Level Variation Along the Indian Coast: A Numerical Study

The process of upwelling/sinking and associated sea level variations are seen as a response of coastal ocean to pure wind stress forcing. Further,precipitation and monsoonal floods, apart from the marine meteorological parameters, are expected to influence the sea level fluctuations along the coast. This study comprises determining the sea level from the various parameters together with the pure wind stress forcing, which is compared with the observed cycle. However, it is found that there is considerable difference between the computations and observations. This suggests that the sea level is dependent not just on the local forcing alone, but also on the induced background circulation as well. For example, the sea level changes along the east coast of India, particularly the northern region, are more sensitive to freshwater discharge from various rivers joining the Bay of Bengal. This is due to more frequently occurring pre- and postmonsoon cyclonic storms and the associated surges in the Bay of Bengal as compared to the Arabian Sea. Hence the salinity effects are particularly important in the coastal waters off the east coast of India during monsoon months (June-September). For the west coast of India, however, it is expected that the large-scale coastal circulation may play a role in determining sea level changes in addition to other forcings. The salinity effects are negligible along the west coast in the absence of any major river systems that join the Arabian Sea. The local advection currents caused by the offshore directed freshwater discharge from various estuaries joining the coastal bay also seemed to influence the sea level. In order to elucidate the essential dynamics involved and to study the effect of the remote forcing, a three-dimensional baroclinic, nonlinear numerical model is used with appropriate open boundary conditions. The local effect of the current has been incorporated in the west coast model by means of opening a channel at Cochin through which the rainwater is carried away to the model ocean. The low saline plume, cascading from north along the east cost of India, has been incorporated in the east coast model through a proper forcing applied at the northern boundary of the model. With the inclusion of these remote forcings in the models, the disagreement between the simulations and the observations is minimized.     

Ocean Tide Models Developed by Assimilating TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimeter Data into Hydrodynamical Model: A Global Model and a Regional Model around Japan

A global ocean tide model (NAO.99b model) representing major 16 constituents with a spatial resolution of 0.5° has been estimated by assimilating about 5 years of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data into barotropic hydrodynamical model. The new solution is characterized by reduced errors in shallow waters compared to the other two models recently developed; CSR4.0 model (improved version of Eanes and Bettadpur, 1994) and GOT99.2b model (Ray, 1999), which are demonstrated in comparison with tide gauge data and collinear residual reduction test. This property mainly benefits from fine-scale along-track tidal analysis of TOPEX/POSEIDON data. A high-resolution (1/12°) regional ocean tide model around Japan (NAO.99Jb model) by assimilating both TOPEX/POSEIDON data and 219 coastal tide gauge data is also developed. A comparison with 80 independent coastal tide gauge data shows the better performance of NAO.99Jb model in the coastal region compared with the other global models. Tidal dissipation around Japan has been investigated for M₂ and K₁ constituents by using NAO.99Jb model. The result suggests that the tidal energy is mainly dissipated by bottom friction in localized area in shallow seas; the M₂ ocean tidal energy is mainly dissipated in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea at the mean rate of 155 GW, while the K₁ energy is mainly dissipated in the Sea of Okhotsk at the mean rate of 89 GW. TOPEX/POSEIDON data, however, detects broadly distributed surface manifestation of M₂ internal tide, which observationally suggests that the tidal energy is also dissipated by the energy conversion into baroclinic tide.     

Hypoxia by degrees: Establishing definitions for a changing ocean

The marked increase in occurrences of low oxygen events on continental shelves coupled with observed expansion of low oxygen regions of the ocean has drawn significant scientific and public attention. With this has come the need for the establishment of better definitions for widely used terms such as “hypoxia” and “dead zones”. Ocean chemists and physicists use concentration units such as ??molO₂/kg for reporting since these units are independent of temperature, salinity and pressure and are required for mass balances and for numerical models of ocean transport. Much of the reporting of dead zone occurrences is in volumetric concentration units of mlO₂/l or mgO₂/l for historical reasons. And direct measurements of the physiological state of marine animals require reporting of the partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂) in matm or kPa since this provides the thermodynamic driving force for molecular transfer through tissue. This necessarily incorporates temperature and salinity terms and thus accommodates changes driven by climate warming and the influence of the very large temperature range around the world where oxygen limiting values are reported. Here we examine the various definitions used and boundaries set and place them within a common framework. We examine the large scale ocean pO₂ fields required for pairing with pCO₂ data for examination of the combined impacts of ocean acidification and global warming. The term “dead zones”, which recently has received considerable attention in both the scientific literature and the press, usually describes shallow, coastal regions of low oxygen caused either by coastal eutrophication and organic matter decomposition or by upwelling of low oxygen waters. While we make clear that bathyal low oxygen waters should not be confused with shallow-water “dead zones”, as deep water species are well adapted, we show that those waters represent a global vast reservoir of low oxygen water which can readily be entrained in upwelling waters and contribute to coastal hypoxia around the world and may be characterized identically. We examine the potential for expansion of those water masses onto continental shelves worldwide, thereby crossing limits set for many not adapted species.     

A review of the ocean science and technology partnership between US and Korea

In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Integrated Coastal and Ocean Resources Scientific and Technical Arrangement was signed to pursue scientific and technical cooperation in integrated coastal and ocean resources management in the mutual interest of the participants. Over the last 6 years, the cooperation has been very beneficial, particularly for advancing marine science and management programs in Korea, such as Deep Sea Aquaculture, Sea Grant College Program, Marine Protected Areas, and Ocean Observations. The benefits to NOAA from the cooperation include Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys, ocean and coastal observations, GEOSS program, and Global Program of Action. Also the cooperation has spillover effects on other ocean science and technological arrangement between US and Korea. This article reviews purpose, obstacles, and achievement of the cooperation and suggests recommendations for the future steps.     

Cycles of chemical substances in the atmosphere,the Sea and the sea-floor

Since 1960 when I was a senior student, I have studied natural phenomena observed in the hydrosphere and atmosphere by means of chemical elements. Each of the phenomena is, in general, very complicated and so I have attempted to depict the whole picture of material circulation in the marine environment by studying its various aspects at the same time. My chief strategy has been to use natural radio-nuclides as clocks of various phenomena, and to use sediment traps for the determination of vertical fluxes in the ocean. The many results I have obtained can be summarized as follows. 1. I have found that several sporadic events control the material exchange through the atmosphere. These include the strong winter monsoon and typhoons that transport sea-salt particles to the Japanese Islands, theKosa episodes that transport soil dust to the ocean, and storms that result in exchange of sparingly soluble gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide at the air-sea interface. I have also proved quantitatively that the source of aluminosilicate material in pelagic sediments is air-borne dust. 2. I have proposed a model,Settling model, for the removal of chemical substances from the ocean and found various lines of evidence supporting the model. This model predicts the reversibility in the existing state of insoluble chemical elements in seawater among large settling particles, small suspended particles and colloidal particles that pass through a membrane filter and explains well their behavior in the ocean. I have first precisely measured calcium and iodine in the ocean and have explained their distributions on the basis of the solution and redox equilibria. 3. Using chemical tracers, I have estimated the vertical eddy diffusion coefficients to be 1.2 cm²sec⁻¹ for the Pacific deep water, 0.5 cm²sec⁻¹ for the deep Bering Sea water and 3–80 cm²sec⁻¹ for the Pacific surface water, and have studied the structure of water masses in the western North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. I have also invented and applied a method for the calculation of the age of deep waters using radiocarbon. 4. I have calculated the rates of decomposition of organic matter and the regeneration rates of chemical components in the deep and bottom waters as well as coastal waters by modelling water circulation and mixing. Particulate fluxes and regeneration rates are larger in the deep waters beneath the more biologically productive surface waters. I have stressed the role of silicate in the marine ecosystem, especially in the succession of phytoplankton species. 5. I have quantitatively studied the migration of chemical elements during the early diagenesis of bottom sediments especially manganese using chemical and radiochemical techniques. Manganese is being actively recycled not only in coastal seas but also in pelagic sediments except in the highly oligotrophic subtropical ocean. This recycling can explain the formation of manganese nodules and enables us to balance the manganese budget in the ocean.     

New Eulerian-Lagrangian Method for Salinity Calculation

A difference scheme in curvilinear coordinates is put forward for calculation of salinity in estuaries and coastal waters, which is based on Eulerian-Lagrangian method. It combines first-order and second-order Lagrangian interpolation to reduce numerical dispersion and oscillation. And the length of the curvilinear grid is also considered in the interpolation. Then the scheme is used in estuary, coast and ocean model, and several numerical experiments for the Yangtze Estuary and the Hangzhou Bay are conducted to test it. These experiments show that it is suitable for simulations of salinity in estuaries and coastal waters with the models using curvilinear coordinates.