The physical properties of sea ice in the Odden ice tongue

The Odden ice tongue developed prominently during the winter of 1992–1993, but did not appear at all during the two subsequent winters of the ESOP period. During 1992–1993 the in situ sea-ice characteristics within Odden were studied on four occasions. In addition to direct observation and aerial photography, the measurement programme included retrieval and on-board analysis of frazil- and pancake-ice samples; wave measurements within Odden; and near-surface CTD measurements to examine the effect of melt on the upper ocean (reported in Brandon and Wadhams, 1999. The near surface hydrography beneath the Odden ice tongue, Deep-Sea Research, in press). This paper reports on the characteristics of the frazil- and pancake-ice observed and sampled during this season, expanding on early results (reported in Wadhams et al., 1996 Journal of Geographical Research 101(C8), 18 213–18 235). By combining the results of in situ sampling with the analysis of passive microwave and SAR data of the sea-ice extent through the winter, it was possible to estimate the salt flux into the ocean originating from brine release from sea ice during the growth phases of Odden.     

Mapping of ice in the Odden by satellite and airborne remote sensing

A detailed analysis of the ice conditions in the Odden area of the Greenland Sea was carried out using data from active and passive microwave sensors, supplemented by airborne data. The study focuses on the 1992–1993 winter season, the only winter during the period 1993–1995 in which an Odden feature formed. The analysis is structured as a hierarchy of spatial resolutions where the overview is obtained by the DMSP SSM/I microwave radiometers having spatial resolutions in the 15–50 km range. Further details in cloud-free situations are obtained by data from the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer, which is a scanner in the visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared range with a resolution of 1.1 km. The finest resolution of 25 m per pixel is obtained from the synthetic aperture radar on the ERS-1 satellite.     

北冰洋浮冰区湍流通量观测试验及参数化研究

利用2008年8月21～29日我国第3次北极考察期间在北冰洋海区(84°27′N,143°37′W～85°13′N,147°20′W)冰站观测的湍流资料及相关资料,对海冰近地层湍流通量及其特征参数进行了研究.结果表明:观测期间浮冰近地层始终存在逆温和逆湿层.这与我们以前(1999年在75°N和2003年在78°N)的观...     

海洋表层气泡运动规律的研究

建立了海洋表层气泡运动和半径变化的数学模型,通过计算发现一定深度的气泡存在一个临界半径;在一定初始深度气泡的半径小于临界半径时不能到达水面,随着时间的增长,气泡半径逐渐变小,直至最终溶解;气泡的半径大于临界半径时,气泡随着时间的增长,半径逐渐增大,直至达到水面破碎;气泡的初始深度不同,其临界半径也不同;半径在临界点附近的气泡的存活时间最长.对海洋表层气泡运动规律的研究对了解海洋表层气泡的分布规律有重要意义.     

On the wind profile near a wavy surface

The formation of the mean-wind profile near the rough surface of a fluid is discussed. Classical definitions of the profile’s characteristics are presented, the treatments of the parameters of a logarithmic profile are considered, and the meaning of major concept is refined. On the basis of the numerical model developed by Makin and Kudryavtsev for the dynamic boundary layer, the mean-wind profile is calculated for different stages of wind-wave evolution. Differences between the calculated profiles and the classical logarithmic profile are discussed. A treatment is given for the established differences.     

Modelling the annual cycle of landfast ice near Zhongshan Station,East Antarctica

A high resolution one-dimensional thermodynamic snow and ice(HIGHTSI) model was used to model the annual cycle of landfast ice mass and heat balance near Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica. The model was forced and initialized by meteorological and sea ice in situ observations from April 2015 to April 2016. HIGHTSI produced a reasonable snow and ice evolution in the validation experiments, with a negligible mean ice thickness bias of(0.003±0.06) m compared to in situ observations. To further examine the impact of different snow conditions on annual evolution of first-year ice(FYI), four sensitivity experiments with different precipitation schemes(0, half, normal, and double) were performed. The results showed that compared to the snow-free case,the insulation effect of snow cover decreased bottom freezing in the winter, leading to 15%–26% reduction of maximum ice thickness. Thick snow cover caused negative freeboard and flooding, and then snow ice formation,which contributed 12%–49% to the maximum ice thickness. In early summer, snow cover delayed the onset of ice melting for about one month, while the melting of snow cover led to the formation of superimposed ice,accounting for 5%–10% of the ice thickness. Internal ice melting was a significant contributor in summer whether snow cover existed or not, accounting for 35%–56% of the total summer ice loss. The multi-year ice(MYI)simulations suggested that when snow-covered ice persisted from FYI to the 10 th MYI, winter congelation ice percentage decreased from 80% to 44%(snow ice and superimposed ice increased), while the contribution of internal ice melting in the summer decreased from 45% to 5%(bottom ice melting dominated).     

A linear model for the structure of turbulence beneath surface water waves

The structure of turbulence in the ocean surface layer is investigated using a simplified semi-analytical model based on rapid-distortion theory. In this model, which is linear with respect to the turbulence, the flow comprises a mean Eulerian shear current, the Stokes drift of an irrotational surface wave, which accounts for the irreversible effect of the waves on the turbulence, and the turbulence itself, whose time evolution is calculated. By analysing the equations of motion used in the model, which are linearised versions of the Craik–Leibovich equations containing a ‘vortex force’, it is found that a flow including mean shear and a Stokes drift is formally equivalent to a flow including mean shear and rotation. In particular, Craik and Leibovich’s condition for the linear instability of the first kind of flow is equivalent to Bradshaw’s condition for the linear instability of the second. However, the present study goes beyond linear stability analyses by considering flow disturbances of finite amplitude, which allows calculating turbulence statistics and addressing cases where the linear stability is neutral. Results from the model show that the turbulence displays a structure with a continuous variation of the anisotropy and elongation, ranging from streaky structures, for distortion by shear only, to streamwise vortices resembling Langmuir circulations, for distortion by Stokes drift only. The TKE grows faster for distortion by a shear and a Stokes drift gradient with the same sign (a situation relevant to wind waves), but the turbulence is more isotropic in that case (which is linearly unstable to Langmuir circulations).     

Wind-wave coupled downward-bursting boundary layer (DBBL) beneath the sea surface

By synthesizing data of the turbulent structure beneath wind waves in laboratory tanks, with some re-analyses, we propose the existence of a particular turbulent boundary layer which is directly coupled with wind waves, a downward-bursting boundary layer (DBBL) in water beneath wind waves. The data set indicates that the depth of this layer is from 3 to 7, or about 5 times the significant wave height of wind waves. The data observed in laboratory tanks agree with data of acoustic observations of bubble clouds under breaking wind waves in the sea made by Thorpe (1986, 1992). It is inferred that DBBL is formed in equilibrium with the local wind waves, as a common feature from initially generated wind waves, young laboratory wind waves to mature wind waves in the sea.     

Phytoplankton biornass in relation to the surface hydrography of southern New Zealand and possible effects on the food chain

Abstract

The surface distribution of salinity, temperature, nitrate‐nitrogen (N0₃‐N), and chlorophyll a in the southern New Zealand, Foveaux Strait region in February 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980 was highly variable. The source of new nitrogen appears to be incursions of high‐salinity water west and east of Stewart Island. Although it seems likely that the source of this high‐nutrient, high‐salinity water is vertical, a horizontal advective source cannot be ruled out The chlorophyll a content of surface waters was not related directly to the NO3‐N concentrations. This lower food chain variability may be linked to variability in economically important species. Oysters grew twice as fast in the summer of 1978/79 as they did in 1979/80. But the mean chlorophyll a values were very similar for February of both years (2.5 and 2.2 μg 1^?1, respectively). The elevated NO₃‐N levels in 1979 may have resulted in much higher phytoplankton levels later that summer and resulted in the higher oyster growth rate that year. The mechanisms driving this variability have yet to be determined.     

Pigments in sediments beneath recently collapsed ice shelves: The case of Larsen A and B shelves,Antarctic Peninsula

In March 2002, 3200 km² of the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed off the Eastern Antarctic Peninsula (EAP). In the austral summer of 2006, sea floor sediment was recovered beneath the extinct Larsen B ice shelf and in a region off the Northern Antarctic Peninsula (NAP), which has been free of ice shelves for more than 1000 yr. To assess changes in the chemical composition of the sediment after ice shelf collapses, chlorophylls and pheophytins were measured in sediment cores at six stations. This is the first time that chlorophyll pigments have been analysed in sediment samples from regions under recently collapsed ice shelves. Five years after the ice shelf collapse, Chla and Chlc concentrations were similar in the interfacial sediment (upper 1 cm) of NAP and EAP regions. However, in EAP Chla and Chlc concentrations decreased more rapidly with depth in the sediment column and were negligible below 2 cm depth. The high Chla to Pheoa ratios indicated that sedimentary pigments found in EAP had undergone limited degradation suggesting that they were locally produced rather than laterally advected. Complementary information from excess ²¹⁰Pb activity and diatom valve distributions provided further evidence that the pigment fluxes to the seabed in EAP took place only after the ice shelf collapse.     

Acoustic scattering by an air-bubble near the sea surface

If the air bubble is near, and strongly interacting, with the (flat) surface of a liquid half-space, then the scattering cross section (SCS) of the bubble differs substantially from its value far-away from the interface. We present the exact solution for this scattering problem which is valid for any incidence direction of the (plane) sound waves, and for any bubble depth, obtained by the general method of images. The bubble is described as a continuous, spatially extended body, having an infinity of modes and resonances. The interaction with the boundary, or the image, is treated by a general, extended continuum approach. This benchmark solution makes use of the addition theorems for the spherical wavefunctions. The resulting SCS contains contributions from the bubble, its image, the incident wave, and the reflected wave from the boundary. It is expressed in terms of coupling coefficients, b_mn, which contain products of Wigner-3j symbols. The formulation is illustrated with many computed plots for bubbles at various depths, and the results compare favorably with earlier experimental observations. The approach also serves to describe scattering by fish near the sea surface, in an exact fashion     

The hydrography of the mid-latitude Northeast Atlantic Ocean: II: The intermediate water masses

The intermediate water masses in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between 31°N and 53°N were studied by analysis of the distributions of potential temperature, salinity, dissolved nutrients and oxygen. Sub-surface salinity minima are encountered everywhere in the area. At the northern and southern boundary they are connected with the presence of Sub-Arctic Intermediate Water and Antarctic Intermediate Water, respectively, but towards the European ocean margin the sub-surface salinity minima shift to shallower density levels. The sub-surface salinity minima observed west of the Iberian Peninsula represent a water mass formed by winter convection in the Porcupine Sea Bight and the northern Bay of Biscay. These minima gain salt by diapycnal mixing with the underlying Mediterranean Sea Outflow water and with the overlying permanent thermocline. The core of Antarctic Intermediate Water appears to contribute to the formation of Mediterranean Sea Outflow Water since it becomes entrained into the overflow near Gibraltar. This entrainment gives rise to an enhanced concentration of the nutrients in the Mediterranean water in the North Atlantic. The deep salinity minimum, due to the presence of Labrador Sea Water, is restricted mainly to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. In the Bay of Biscay this water type is strongly modified by enhanced diapycnal mixing near the continental slope. At all intermediate levels the continental slope in the Bay of Biscay seems to be a focal point for water mass modification by diapycnal mixing. Below the core of the Mediterranean Sea Outflow Water the Labrador Sea Water is also strongly modified. Its salinity is strongly enhanced by diapycnal mixing with the overlying core of Mediterranean Sea Outflow Water. An analysis of the oxygen and nutrient data indicates that the large spatial concentration differences at the level of the Labrador Sea Water are caused mainly by ageing of the water. The youngest water is observed at 52°N, and, especially in the Bay of Biscay and off south-west Portugal, the water at levels of about 1700 dbar are strongly enriched in nutrients and depleted in oxygen.     

热带太平洋海温异常对北极海冰的可能影响

本文利用1950-2015年间Hadley环流中心海冰和海温资料及NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,研究了热带太平洋海温异常对北极海冰的可能影响,并从大气环流和净表面热通量两个角度探讨了可能的物理机制。结果表明,在ENSO事件发展年的夏、秋季节,EP型与CP型El Niño事件与北极海冰异常的联系无明显信号。而La Niña事件期间北极海冰出现显著异常,并且EP型与CP型La Niña之间存在明显差异。EP型La Niña发生时,北极地区巴伦支海、喀拉海关键区海冰异常减少,CP型La Niña事件则对应着东西伯利亚海、楚科奇海地区海冰异常增加。在EP型La Niña发展年的夏、秋季节,热带太平洋海温异常通过遥相关波列,使得巴伦支海、喀拉海海平面气压为负异常并与中纬度气压正异常共同构成类似AO正位相的结构,形成的风场异常有利于北大西洋暖水的输入,同时造成暖平流,偏高的水汽含量进一步加强了净表面热通量收入,使得巴伦支海、喀拉海海冰异常减少。而在CP型La Niña发展年的夏季,东西伯利亚海、楚科奇海关键区受其东侧气旋式环流的影响,以异常北风分量占主导,将海冰从极点附近由北向南输送到关键区,海冰异常增加,而净表面热通量的作用较小。     

Asymmetrical turbid surface-plume deposition near ice-outlets of the Pleistocene Laurentide ice sheet in the Labrador Sea

 Ice-sheet drainage of glacial detritus into the sea involves size fractionation by ice-margin winnowing on a giant scale caused by the lower density of meltwater entering cold seawater. Despite its load of suspended sediment, the fresh water rises to or stays at the sea surface forming turbid surface plumes, whereas the coarse-grained sediment forms bed load. On the Labrador Slope south of the Hudson Strait turbid plumes were supplied by meltwater from the Pleistocene ice sheet (LIS). Sediments with the seismic characteristics of plume deposits occur in a 200-km-long slope sector up to 130 km seawards from the strait. The widespread distribution of these deposits is attributed to entrainment of the surface plumes by the south-flowing Labrador Current and suppressed flocculation due to the high detrital carbonate-content of the suspended sediment. Deposits with typical characteristics of surface plume deposits have been recovered within 20 km from former ice margin south of or in front of outlets, but not north of outlets. They consist of 1 to 2-cm-thick alternations of fine sandy silt/coarse silt layers with finer-grained clayey silt/silty clay, and for brevity are called plumites. Received: 6 August 1996/Revision received: 21 January 1997     

中国第四次北极科学考察期间北极点附近海冰和融池的航空遥感观测

An aerial photography has been used to provide validation data on sea ice near the North Pole where most polar orbiting satellites cannot cover. This kind of data can also be used as a supplement for missing data and for reducing the uncertainty of data interpolation. The aerial photos are analyzed near the North Pole collected during the Chinese national arctic research expedition in the summer of 2010(CHINARE2010). The result shows that the average fraction of open water increases from the ice camp at approximately 87°N to the North Pole, resulting in the decrease in the sea ice. The average sea ice concentration is only 62.0% for the two flights(16 and 19 August 2010). The average albedo(0.42) estimated from the area ratios among snow-covered ice,melt pond and water is slightly lower than the 0.49 of HOTRAX 2005. The data on 19 August 2010 shows that the albedo decreases from the ice camp at approximately 87°N to the North Pole, primarily due to the decrease in the fraction of snow-covered ice and the increase in fractions of melt-pond and open-water. The ice concentration from the aerial photos and AMSR-E(The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System) images at 87.0°–87.5°N exhibits similar spatial patterns, although the AMSR-E concentration is approximately 18.0%(on average) higher than aerial photos. This can be attributed to the 6.25 km resolution of AMSR-E, which cannot separate melt ponds/submerged ice from ice and cannot detect the small leads between floes. Thus, the aerial photos would play an important role in providing high-resolution independent estimates of the ice concentration and the fraction of melt pond cover to validate and/or supplement space-borne remote sensing products near the North Pole.     

The influence of hydrography on the distribution of phytoplankton in the southern Taiwan Strait

During the period August 1985 to May 1986, phytoplankton in the southern Taiwan Strait was collected and studied for distributional variability in relation to hydrography. The results indicated that maximum standing crops of phytoplankton occurred in October and May due to the outgrowth of certain species of diatoms and blue-green algae. The majority of phytoplankton appeared in the water in the top 25 m and occurred in distinct clusters under the influence of water movement. Multivariate analysis indicated that hydrographic parameters, which accounted for the variability of phytoplankton distribution, varied seasonally. Vertical, spatial and temporal variabilities were also apparent. The close relationship between hydrography and algal distribution justifies the use of variations in the phytoplankton population as a useful tracer of water movement.     

Extrapolation of upwelling irradiance just beneath the ocean surface from the in-water radiometric profile measurements

Accurate measurements of upwelling irradiance just beneath the ocean surface,E_u(λ,0^-),can be used to calculate ocean optical parameters,and further develop retrieval algorithms for remotely sensing water component concentrations.Due to the effects of sea surface waves,perturbation from instrument platform (ship),and instrument self-shading,E_u(λ,0^-) is often difficult to be accurately measured.This study presents a procedure for extrapolating the E_...     

吕宋海峡附近海域海表面高度季节内变化

利用1993～2017年海表面高度异常数据集,分析研究了西北太平洋季节内变化(20～120d)的整体分布特征,结果表明空间上季节内信号在20°N附近海域(16°～24°N)最强,时间上在6～8月达到一年中的最大值。在吕宋海峡东侧(123.875°E,20.125°N)季节内信号周期(70d)和传播速度(10.7～12.7cm/s)均大于吕宋海峡西侧(119.625°E, 20.125°N)(60 d, 6.5～7.8cm/s)。在大洋内部(123°～140°E, 18°～24°N)存在准90d的周期信号,传播速度约10.3cm/s。传播路径受黑潮的影响发生改变,由沿纬度西传转向向西北方向传播。第一斜压Rossby波理论对海表面高度季节内变化的周期和传播速度具有很好的解释性。