Phytoplankton growth and mortality during the 1995 Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon in the Arabian Sea

Phytoplankton growth rates and mortality rates were experimentally examined at eight stations in the Arabian Sea along the U.S. JGOFS cruise track during the 1995 Northeast Monsoon (January) and Spring Intermonsoon (March–April). Instantaneous growth rates averaged over an entire cruise were approximately twice as high during the NE Monsoon than during the Spring Intermonsoon period (overall averages of 0.84±0.29 (s.d.) versus 0.44±0.19 d⁻¹). Average herbivore grazing (mortality) rates, however, were quite similar for the two seasons (overall averages of 0.35±0.18 and 0.30±0.17 d⁻¹ for the NE Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon, respectively). The absolute amounts of phytoplankton biomass consumed during each season also were similar (29 and 25% of standing stock consumed d⁻¹ for the January and March–April cruises, respectively), as were the geographical trends of this removal. These seasonal trends in growth and removal rates resulted in net phytoplankton growth rates that were considerably higher during the January cruise (0.48 d⁻¹) than during the March–April cruise (0.14 d⁻¹). That is, phytoplankton production was more closely balanced during the Spring Intermonsoon season (87% of daily primary production consumed) relative to the NE Monsoon season (49% of daily primary production consumed). Station-to-station variability was high for rate measurements during either cruise. Nevertheless, there was a clear onshore–offshore trend in the absolute rate of removal of phytoplankton biomass (μg chlorophyll consumed l⁻¹ d⁻¹) during both cruises. Coastal stations had removal rates that were typically 2–4 times higher than removal rates at oceanic stations.     

春季黄海海雾中的激光衰减特性研究

海雾严重影响舰艇航行,而且在雾中舰载激光武器和激光雷达的工作效能受到制约。因此,研究激光在雾中的衰减特性对军事行动具有重要的科学意义。基于WRF中尺度气象研究模式,对2015年3月28日-4月1日的海雾过程进行模拟分析,发现使得海雾维持的是黄海南部输送来的暖湿气流,随后一个很强的冷高压使得风向转北,干冷平流切断了水汽输送,破坏了逆温层结构,海雾消散。考虑到春季黄海海雾产生和消散的天气形势,在海雾刚产生时,下风区的激光衰减系数小;海雾维持过程中,海雾雾区的外围衰减系数小;海雾快要消散时上风区衰减系数小。研究发现,海雾可以使得10.6μm红外激光的探测距离大大减小,在浓雾情况下,探测距离仅为正常情况下的2%。     

Short-period internal waves in the frontal zones of non-tidal seas (the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea)

This paper reports empirical data on short-period internal waves in the Black Sea and Aegean frontal zones, collected through the use of distributed temperature sensor arrays. Peculiar features of the behaviour and propagation of the internal waves in these zones are shown. It is shown that the wavefield is anisotropic and reduction of the wave lengths diminishes during the climb up a sloping pycnocline. The energy level of the spectra of internal wave oscillations in the frontal zones of non-tidal seas was found to be lower than that relating to oceanic frontal zones.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Underwater Acoustic Signaling of Bearded Seals (Erignatus barbatus) in the White Sea

Oceanology - The bearded seal occurs in virtually all Arctic seas. During the spring (pupping and mating season), this species is characterized by high underwater acoustic activity; studies...     

Abundance and biomass of nano- and microplankton during the 1995 Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon in the Arabian Sea

Phototrophic and heterotrophic nanoplankton (PNAN, HNAN; 2–20 μm protists) and microplankton (PMIC, HMIC; 20–200 μm protists and micrometazoa) are major components of the producer and consumer assemblages in oceanic plankton communities. Abundances and biomasses of these microorganisms were determined from samples collected along two transects during the Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon process cruises of the US JGOFS Arabian Sea Program in 1995. Vertical profiles of these assemblages were strongly affected by the presence of a subsurface oxygen minimum layer. Abundances of all four assemblages decreased dramatically below the top of this layer. Depth-integrated (0–160 m) abundances and biomasses of nanoplankton and microplankton were of similar magnitude for most samples. Exceptions to this rule were primarily due to PMIC (mostly diatom) species which dominated phytoplankton assemblages at a few stations during each season. Depth-integrated biomasses for the combined nano- and microplankton averaged over all stations for each cruise were surprisingly similar for the Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon seasons in this ecosystem (2.0 and 1.8 g C m⁻² [170 and 150 m moles C m⁻²] for the two seasons, respectively). Nano- and microplankton biomass for these two time periods constituted a signficant portion of the total amount of the particulate organic carbon (POC) in the water column. Summed over all stations, these assemblages constituted approximately 25–35% of the POC in the top 160 m of the northern Arabian Sea.     

南黄海春季水温分布特征的分析

利用美国海军的空间分辩率为10′×10′月平均的GDEM三维水温资料,研究了南黄海春季水温的分布特征及其演变过程。分析结果较清晰地显示了春季南黄海的水温分布如何从冬季的垂直均匀型过渡到夏季的层化结构。分析还表明:春季南黄海水温的水平和垂直结构皆比冬季更为复杂,并出现若干个较特殊的水文现象,例如,在34°40′~36°20′N的南黄海西侧出现了“青岛冷水团”,而在35°30′~37°20′N的南黄海东侧,初次发现存在着一个类似性质的冷水团,称其为“仁川外海冷水团”。此外,在冷水团的邻近海域还存在着中层冷水。     

Characteristics of trapped topographic waves in the northwest part of the Black Sea

We study trapped baroclinic topographic waves in the northwest shelf of the Black Sea for the actual slopes of the bottom and stratification. The time scales of trapped waves are determined. The space scales of the amplitude of oscillations are computed. It is shown that the vertical distribution of the amplitude of oscillations is in qualitative agreement with the experimentally observed distribution. The energy of topographic waves trapped by the sloping bottom is concentrated in the bottom layer, which agrees with the data of measurements. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 5, pp. 44–52, September–October, 2006.     

Climatic Characteristics of Temperature and Salinity Fields in Deep-Water Layers of the Black Sea

The systematic and random errors of reconstruction of the climatic variability of temperature and salinity in the Black Sea are analyzed on the basis of the archival deep-water data accumulated in 1955–1998. It is shown that, in order to describe the space variability of large-scale deep-water characteristics of the temperature fields with reasonable accuracy, one can use both the data of standard hydrological measurements and the CTD data. In this case, the systematic errors are practically indistinguishable against the background of random errors whose characteristic level is equal to 0.03°C. The random errors of evaluation of salinity are as large as about 0.04 and the corresponding systematic errors are not distinguished. The available archive of the data of deep-water measurements enables one to select space structures with characteristic dimensions of 2° in the latitudinal and longitudinal directions with temperature and salinity inhomogeneities exceeding 0.0035°C and 0.004, respectively. This is sufficient to confirm the fact of elevation of the bottom temperature in the central part of the sea is by about 0.015°C as compared with its peripheral parts.     

Arsenic and heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the Balaklava Bay (Black Sea)

We present the results of investigation of the contents of metals (As, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, V, Sr, Mn, Ti, and Fe) in the bottom sediments of the Balaklava Bay (Black Sea) carried out in July 2005. It is shown that the pollution of the bottom sediments with metals has a polyelemental character. We establish the specific features of changes in the contents of the analyzed elements and localize the sources of their appearance in the ecosystem. On the basis of the results of evaluation of the intensity of technogenic action upon the marine medium, we determine a group of toxic elements (As, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) accumulated in the bottom sediments of the bay in amounts significantly exceeding the background values typical of sediments of the Black Sea shelf. The comparative analysis of the degrees of pollution of the bay and some other coastal water areas with metals is performed.     

Spatiotemporal Changes in the Macrophytobenthos of Laspi Bay (Crimea,Black Sea)

Oceanology - Using a landscape approach, the paper presents for the first time the results of a comparative analysis of spatiotemporal changes in the macrophytobenthos, performed in the Laspi Bay...     

Viscous model of plate tectonics for the Black Sea region (in relation to the problem of the late Cenozoic evolution of the Black Sea basins)

A numerical model of the Black Sea region (Northeastern Mediterranean) is presented in which it is regarded as a part of the mosaic plate ensemble consisting of the fixed East European platform; the active Arabian, Adriatic, and Pannonian plates; and passive East and West Black Sea and Mysian microplates, which are embedded in a plastically deformable regional orogenic matrix. The fields of displacements, stresses, and deformations in the region are calculated by means of the finite element method within the framework of a linear-viscous rheology approach to a system with nonhomogeneous viscosities. The velocity field obtained is in good agreement with published data of direct observations of plate displacements in the region. In the pressure field, areas of low pressure and decompression are established in the western part of Black Sea and in the south of the Mysian microplate. The poles of rotation of the East and West Black Sea microplates and of the Mysian microplate are computed. For the latter two microplates, significant rotational components are suggested. The East Black Sea microplate acts mostly as indenter, which transmits the collisional motion from the Arabian plate to the southern edge of the East European platform including the Crimea. According to the geodynamical model, the rates of the Cenozoic sedimentation in the Black Sea depression at the collision stage (Oligocene-Pliocene) result from the greater compression of the East Black Sea microplate as compared to the West Black Sea microplate, which, probably, experienced a kind of extension.     

Basin-To-Basin and Year-To-Year Variation of Temperature and Salinity Characteristics in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Analysis of CTD data from four CREAMS expeditions carried out in summers of 1993–1996 produces distinct T-S relationships for the western and eastern Japan Basin, the Ulleung Basin and the Yamato Basin. T-S characteristics are mainly determined by salinity as it changes its horizontal pattern in three layers, which are divided by isotherms of 5°C and 1°C; upper warm water, intermediate water and deep cold water. Upper warm water is most saline in the Ulleung Basin and the Yamato Basin. Salinity of intermediate water is the highest in the eastern Japan Basin. Deep cold water has the highest salinity in the Japan Basin. T-S curves in the western Japan Basin are characterized by a salinity jump around 1.2–1.4°C in the T-S plane, which was previously found off the east coast of Korea associated with the East Sea Intermediate Water (Cho and Kim, 1994). T-S curves for the Japan Basin undergo a large year-to-year variation for water warmer than 0.6°C, which occupies upper 400 m. It is postulated that the year-to-year variation in the Japan Basin is caused by convective overturning in winter. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

北海狮水下声信号类型分析

以水族馆内圈养的北海狮为研究对象,利用长达29 h的连续被动声学观测数据,对北海狮水下声信号类型进行了研究。共检测出22 689个水下声信号,对时长、最小频率、最大频率和峰值频率这4个声学参数采用聚类分析方法将信号分为10种类型:单脉冲(SP)、哨声(WS)、咕咕声(GG)、咚咚声(DS)、狗吠声(BK)、吼叫声(WY)、嗡嗡声(BZ)、撞击声(BG)、单频声(SF)以及咩咩声(BT)。该分类方式涵盖了北海狮92.6%的水下发声。北海狮水下声信号时长的均值为5~1 244 ms,峰值频率一般小于10 kHz。10种类型信号的占比各有不同,BK,BT和BG信号的比例较高;SP,WS和BZ信号的比例次之;DS,WY,SF和GG信号的比例较低。对北海狮水下声信号类型的分析能帮助了解北海狮的声行为特征,对野外北海狮的声学观测具有重要的指导价值。     

深海RAP下的水声信道特性与通信技术研究

可靠声路径（Reliable Acoustic Path,RAP）是深海声传播的重要通道之一,其受界面影响较小,传播损失较低,可以传播到较远的距离,而且在临界深度以下,环境噪声较低;其次,可靠声路径有效避开了多途扩展现象,声线以结构稳定的直达声为主。在总结可靠声路径物理机理和声传播优势的基础上,对比分析了几种不同海洋参数条件下RAP声传播特性,然后采用射线模型仿真分析了RAP声信道内的接收声线结构,之后基于仿真的RAP信道进行了单载波通信性能的分析。仿真结果发现：在RAP声信道内,直达声能量高,传播损失低,声线结构稳定且多途扩展小,对环境变化不敏感,在35km左右的中远程距离内具有很高的信噪比;相同仿真条件下,RAP区域的误码率较同距离浅深度的接收低很多,而且RAP区域接收信号信噪比高出其他区域10 dB左右。该研究结果对于实现垂直方向上深海信息的跨域传输具有重要意义。     

春季黄海海-气湍流通量交换的特征

本文利用１９９６年４月中国和韩国第一次同时在黄海海域的调查资料,选用两种整体参数化公式分析春季黄海海气湍流通量交换特征。分析结果表明：动量通量和感热通量的高值区皆位于山东半岛和朝鲜西岸的近岸海域,而低值区则出现在长江口东北近海;在平稳天气条件下,表层各通量具有日变化特征,而强风条件下的感热、潜热和动量通量分别是平稳天气条件下的５．７倍、６．６倍和７倍。     

Vertical transport in the Black Sea

Investigations of the vertical exchange coefficientK _z , considering turbulent and advective transport, are summarized. The values ofK _z are determined from the climaticT, S characteristics, heat and salinity fluxes, and the rate of the low-Bosporus water transformation over the entire Black Sea water column; namely, in the upper mixed layer, the active layer, the cold intermediate layer, the halocline, and in the deep and near-bottom waters. A characteristic for annual fluctuations ofK _z in the active layer is given; it is noted that the coefficient tends to grow in transit from the centre of the cyclonic gyre toward its periphery.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Variability of suspended organic matter in the surface layer of the Black Sea (deep-sea areas)

The peculiarities of the distribution of the components of the suspended organic matter (SOM) and their interannual and seasonal variability have been analysed in the surface water layer and photic water layer of the Black Sea (the deep-sea areas) for the period of 1978–1995. The statistical assessment of the seasonal and monthly dynamics of the SOM components and their ratios was performed. The seasonal dynamics of the concentration of particulate organic carbon have been calculated based on the data on the Chlorophyll “a” (Chl “a”) concentration in the surface water layer based on the regression relationship between these two parameters measured in situ simultaneously. Taking these relationships into account, the interannual dynamics of the Chl “a” concentration have been analysed for the period of 1978–2010. It was found that the concentrations of the SOM components increased significantly in the 1980’s and early 1990’s with the maximum reached in the summer of 1992. It was also found that the seasonal interannual dynamics of the components of the SOM were mainly preconditioned by the interannual dynamics of the phytoplankton biomass, which, in turn, depended on the climatic conditions.     

Dissolved microelements (heavy metals) in the near-Danube part of the Black Sea in the autumn of 1997

We analyse the distribution of the dissolved forms of cadmium, lead, cobalt, copper, and manganese in the near-Danube part of the Black Sea and in a section made at 45° 10′N in the autumn of 1997. It is shown that the discharge of rivers results in the appearance of significant amounts of cadmium, lead, cobalt, copper, and manganese in the near-Danube region. Copper is the most labile element in this collection of metals. Its behaviour is correlated with the vital activity of diatomic algae. The distribution of dissolved manganese in the near-bottom region is correlated with the distribution of O₂. Indeed, the elevated concentrations of manganese are observed in the regions with low concentrations of oxygen. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

Numerical Modeling of Meteorological Sea Level Oscillations in the Black Sea

Oceanology - To study the features of short-period meteorological sea level oscillations, adaptation of the numerical Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to the Black Sea conditions was performed. The...