Seasonal variability of the surface chlorophyll “a” in the Drake Passage

The seasonal variability of the surface chlorophyll “a” (Chl-s) was studied for five different hydrological areas in the Drake Passage. The data were collected both in the field (December 2001–March 2002, and November 2007) and by satellite observations. One maximum of Chl-s was registered for the area northward of the Antarctic Polar Front in November 2007. This maximum moves southwards to the Antarctic and Continental Antarctic regions in December and January, respectively. The major factors affecting the phytoplankton growth were analyzed, namely, the decrease of the mixed water layer’s depth due to jogging during the austral late spring and summer and seasonal water temperature increase. The comparison of the field and satellite data allows us to conclude that the standard OC4v4 algorithm usually underreports the Chl-s concentration when it exceed 0.2 mg m⁻³.     

Reanalysis of seasonal and interannual variability of Black Sea fields for 1993–2012

A retrospective analysis has been done for the hydrophysical fields of the Black Sea for 1993–2012 with the assimilation of undisturbed monthly average profiles of temperature and salinity that were obtained by using an original procedure of joint processing of satellite altimetry and rare hydrological observations. The accuracy of the reconstructed fields of temperature and salinity of the Black Sea is evaluated by comparison with the data of sounding from the hydrological stations and the Argo floats. A comparative analysis is performed for the integral characteristics of the fields of temperature, salinity, and kinetic energy with the same characteristics of the reanalysis for 1992–2012 that assimilated the average annual profiles of temperature and salinity, surface temperature and altimetry level of the sea after being adjusted with respect to climate seasonal variability. The proposed procedure of the reanalysis execution allows a more precise reconstruction of the interannual variability of temperature and salinity stratification in the main pycnocline. The correlation between the annual and seasonal variability of the eddy of the wind friction tangential stress and the average kinetic energy at the levels is revealed.     

Simulation of the seasonal thermal structure in the Bobal Sea

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Simulation of the seasonal thermal structure in the Bohai Sea

The seasonal thermal structure in the Bohai Sea are examined with a three-dimensional boroclinic primitive equation model for shelf sea.The evolution of the seasonal thermal stratification is well simulated.The stratification appears early in April,first in the area off Qinhuangdao and it is well developed in the middle of May.It intensifies with synoptic and neap-spring fluctuations throughout the summer and reaches its maximum in the middle of July.Eventually,it is destroyed at the end of September.There are cold water belts between well-mixed and stratified regions.They are loGated on the mixed side of tidal fronts,and coincide with the isolines for a temperature difference of 1-2℃ between surface and bottom.The sea surface temperature (SST) distribution shows local maxima at the head of three bays and to the south of Qinhuangdao during the summer.The Bohai Sea responds to the variability in the atmospheric forcing and in tides with the synoptic and neap-spring variations of SST,as well as in the stratification and in variable positions of tidal fronts.     

Distribution of chlorophyll a and diatom in the sea ice of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Diatoms are major primary producers of microbial biomass in the Antarctica. They are found in the water and sea ice. The distribution, abundance of the ice diatoms and their relation to the environmental factors inside and outside the ice have been studied for its special role in the Antarctic Ocean ecology. In this paper we describe the abundance, distribution and composition of diatom assemblages in     

The size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in the Bering Sea during the summer of 2003

1Introduction Thephytoplanktonistheprimaryproducerofor- ganicsubstancesintheoceanandplaysanimportant roleinthesubstancecycleandenergyconversionof marineecosystem.Chlorophyllaconcentration(Chla) isanimportantindexmanifestingthelightenergy-au- totrophicbiomassinthesea.Primaryproductivityre- flectstheabilitytoconvertinorganiccarbonintoor- ganiccarbonbythephytoplanktonintheocean.Both Chlaandprimaryproductivityaretheimportantcon-tentsbeingstudiedinthemarineecosystemaswellas theimportantfoundationa…     

Multi-scale variability of subsurface temperature in the South China Sea

Using Morlet wavelet transform and harmonic analysis the multi-scale variability of subsurface temperature in the South China Sea is studied by analyzing one-year (from April 1998 to April 1999) ATLAS mooring data. By wavelet transform, annual and semi-annual cycle as well as intrasea-sonal variations are found, with different dominance, in subsurface temperature. For annual harmonic cycle, both the downward net surface heat flux and thermocline vertical movement partially control the subsurface temperature variability. For semi-annual cycle and intraseasonal variability, the subsurface temperature variability is mainly linked to the vertical displacement of thermocline.     

Distribution of artificial radionuclides in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea in 1989–1990

The result of research into the distribution of artificial radionuclides of¹³⁷Cs in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are reported. The data obtained permits consideration of the peculiarities of distribution of this radionuclide in the areas under investigation. The contribution of the Chernobyl radiocaesium to the total radioactivity of these water areas is estimated.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Distribution of chlorophyll a, photosynthesis and their relations to the environmental factors in the Central South China Sea

Some studies have been made on the variation of primary productivity in the Central South ChinaSea. This paper studies comprehensively the characteristics of chlorophyll a distributions in time andspace and the primary productivity, as well their relations to the environmental factors.Materals and methods During the comprehensive investigation in the Central South China Sea from September 1983 toDecember 1984, the distributions of chlorophyll a and primary productivity were studied. Figure 1shows the sampling stations and their range of investigation.     

Two drifting paths of Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during 2019-2020

The macroalgal blooms of floating brown algae Sargassum horneri are increasing in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during the past few years. However, the annual pattern of Sargassum bloom is not well characterized. To study the developing pattern and explore the impacts from hydro-meteorologic environment, high resolution satellite imageries were used to monitor the distribution, coverage and drifting of the pelagic Sargassum rafts in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from September 2019 to Au...     

Declined trends of chlorophyll a in the South China Sea over 2005-2019 from remote sensing reconstruction

Chlorophyll a concentration(CHL) is an important proxy of the marine ecological environment and phytoplankton production.Long-term trends in CHL of the South China Sea(SCS) reflect the changes in the ecosystem’s productivity and functionality in the regional carbon cycle.In this study,we applied a previously reconstructed15-a(2005-2019) CHL product,which has a complete coverage at 4 km and daily resolutions,to analyze the longterm trends of CHL in the SCS.Quantile regression was used to elaborat...     

Spatiotemporal variability of thermal front features in the Baltic Sea 2010–2011

Regions of the formation of the thermal front in the Baltic Sea (a direct manifestation of the lacustrine thermal bar), and its specific features, were analyzed on the basis of subsurface temperature and salinity. Data were obtained from 25 horizontal tows along sections in the southern and central parts of the Baltic Sea during spring 2010 and autumn/winter 2010/2011. The width of the front was approximately 5?C30 km, and the front lifetime was 1.5 months. Horizontal temperature ranged from 0.7 to 2.5°C; thus, the temperature gradient was one- to twofold larger than the long-term monthly mean equivalent. Analysis of hourly temperature and salinity data from the Arkona basin and at the Darss Sill, obtained at 2 m depth, indicated that the surface temperature increased during the transition through temperatures of maximum density at a rate of approximately 0.01?C0.02°C/h between 3?C5 days; which is 1.4- to 5-fold higher than values before and after this period. The thermal front simultaneously propagated along the main sea axis (due to the significant salinity and buoyancy flux variations from south to north), and from the shallow parts towards the deep parts of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the horizontal advection of the cold/warm waters clearly contributes to the speed increase of the thermal front at the end of the respective season. The speed of the thermal front propagation from south to north was approximately 28 km/day at the end of the spring period of 2010 (based on field data). This was considerably higher in comparison with the typical values of the lacustrine thermal bar speeds; however, it accords with estimates for a basin with depth/salinity horizontal variation.     

Circulation and its seasonal variability in region around the Kerguelen Plateau

A coupled ice-ocean isopycnal numerical model of the Southern Ocean is established tostudy the circulation and its seasonal variability in the region around the Kerguelen Plateau. An analysis of the simulated results shows significant stripe-like structure and non-zonal feature of the Antarctic Cir-cumpolar Current (ACC) in this region. ACC begins to bifurcate and to turn its direction before meeting the plateau. The southernmost branch of ACC is near to the Antarctic coast and displays its strong interaction with the westward Antarctic Slope Current. The northern branch of ACC has a tendency of annual variations while the southern one varies in a semiannual cycle. The variation phases of both branches are coincident with that of the wind stress in this region.     

Operational Forecast of Water Dynamics at the Black Sea Sub-Satellite Polygon “Gelendzhik”

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A σ-coordinate operational model for forecasting the state of waters at the Black Sea sub-satellite polygon in the area of Gelendzhik is presented....     

Acoustic investigations of gas “flares” in the Sea of Okhotsk

The results of acoustic investigations of over 250 gas “flares” (GFs) located in the depth range of 160–1400 m in the vicinity of the northeastern slope of Sakhalin Island are presented. Pronounced features in the GFs distribution by the seabed’s depth have been identified, which allowed dividing them into four groups corresponding to four depth intervals. The number of GFs per seabed unit area decreases, and the power of the individual GFs increases with depth. The average methane flux per seabed unit of area has been estimated for each depth interval. It has been demonstrated that the total quantity of methane emitted from the seabed in the form of bubbles in the studied area is ∼0.1 million tons per year.     

Preliminary study on seasonal succession and development pathway of phytoplankton community in the Bohai Sea

IThe Phytoplankton spoteS succession is a major characteristic Of PhytOPlankton behavior inthe an, and is Of major swificance tO PhytOPlankton d~cs and in coupling the PhytOPlankton cornxnunity to hasher trophic levels (Smayda, 1980). But another conception species ence that be defined by BraarUd often confUSeS with speCies sucCeSSion. Spotes su~ is thechange of speCies compeition within a given water mass resulting from changing physical,chemical and biological factors within the wa…     

On a new Siphonophora from the East China Sea and South China Sea

In the course of identifying the samples of Siphonophora from the East China Sea and South China Sea, a new Siphonophora, Vogtia microsticella sp. nov. , was noted. The new species is distinguished from other five species in the genus in nectophore as follows: Parahorse-shoe shaped with five bluntly rounded projections, the two projections below the ostium, i. e. the basal projections, approach each other. The dorsal facet is smooth without any gelatinous prominence. Smaller are the nectosac and the ostium.     

Distribution of chlorophyll a and some ecological factors in the Daya Bay

The marine environment, productivity and potential biotic resources in the waters of the Daya Bay were investigated by South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica from 1984 to 1986. The present paper deals mainly with the annual variation and distribution characteristics in chlorophyll a and with some of the ecological factors involved in chlorophyll distribution within the bay. Correlation models are established and discussed. The results could be helpful for further probing into ecosystem and for the exploitation-utilization of aquatic resources in this region.     

Spatial and seasonal variations of sea level in the Red Sea, 1958–2001

The present study investigated the variability of monthly mean sea level data and discussed its relation with climatic events in the Red Sea during 1958–2001. The data were obtained from Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA), for three different locations (north, central and south) in the Red Sea. Spatial and temporal variability as well as trends and periodicity of sea level time series records in the three locations was investigated using One-way ANOVA test, weighted running mean filter and autocorrelation spectral analysis. Results revealed that mean sea level in the northern Red Sea was permanently lower than its central and southern parts. Moreover, the mean sea level during winter and spring in the three locations was significantly higher than summer and autumn seasons. Increasing and decreasing of sea level trends with respect to time were also observed. Inter-decadal variations in sea level including a fairly regular quasi 2.5–2.7 year oscillation in all seasons were detected, although its amplitude varied among different cycles. Studying the cyclicity in the hydroclimatic record can resolve some of the complexities of the hydroclimate system. The sign of Quasi Biennial Oscillation, El Niño Southern Oscillation and sunspots events may have an important influence in sea level variations of the Red Sea.