One Dimensional Ecosystem Model Simulation of the Effects of Vertical Dilution by the Winter Mixing on the Spring Diatom Bloom

A one-dimensional ecosystem model has been used to investigate the processes relevant to the spring diatom bloom which play important roles in the biogeochemical cycle in the western subarctic Pacific. The model represents the plankton dynamics and the nutrient cycles in the spring diatom bloom; its results show the importance of dilution by deep mixing in winter. It is supposed that the vertically integrated biomass of phytoplankton decreases in the winter due to the decrease of photosynthesis, because the deep mixing transports phytoplankton to a layer with a low light level. However, the observed integrated diatom biomass increases as the mixed layer deepens. This is because the decrease of concentration due to dilution by mixing causes the diatom grazed pressure to be less significant than diatom photosynthesis. In other words, the effect of dilution on the grazed rate is more significant than the effect on the photosynthesis rate because the grazed rate depends on the concentrations of both diatom and grazer, whereas the photosynthesis rate depends only diatom concentration. The average specific diatom grazed rate, defined as grazed rate divided by diatom biomass, decreases by 35% associated with the deepening, while the average specific photosynthesis rate of diatom decreases by 11%. As a result, the average specific net diatom growth rate during the deep mixing is about 70% of its maximum during the spring diatom bloom. The deep mixing significantly affects the amplitude of the spring diatom bloom not only by the supply of nutrients but also by the dilution which drastically decreases the grazed pressure. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An East-West Comparison of the Transition Zone Coastal Pelagic Nekton of the North Pacific Ocean

During the 1980s and 1990s, scientific research cruises were conducted in both the eastern and western boundary regions of the North Pacific Ocean. The main purpose of these cruises was to examine the abundance and distribution patterns of juvenile salmon in coastal waters. These studies created one of the most extensive databases ever collected on the species composition of coastal Transition Zone epipelagic nekton in the North Pacific Ocean. Catch data from two purse seine and two surface trawl surveys (one each from off northern Japan and eastern Russia and off the West Coast of the U.S.) were examined using multivariate techniques to analyze the community structure of nektonic cephalopods, elasmobranchs, and teleosts in the coastal zone during the summer and autumn months. Juvenile salmonids are generally among the most common species caught, but in terms of overall abundance, other potential competitors with juvenile salmon, such as small squids and clupeoid fishes predominated the catches. Species diversity and dominance varied among areas and gear types. Distinct assemblages were found in each area, but the two regions had closely related species occupying similar ecological positions in each habitat. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Approaches to classifying benthic habitat quality

Implementing ecosystem-based management requires methods of assessing the quality of habitats to deliver the high-level objective of achieving healthy ecosystems. ‘Habitat’ has been interpreted in different ways and this has confused the debate over which attributes constitute ‘quality’. Three definitions of quality for habitats are advanced: ‘species’, ‘reference’ and ‘functional’ . Operational measures associated with these are evaluated in terms of their utility to deliver policy objectives. It is concluded that functional definitions/measures of quality are most appropriate to deliver ecosystem-based management although measures of species and reference quality may support assessment of the functional quality of habitats.     

Processes Causing the Temporal Changes in Si/N Ratios of Nutrient Consumptions and Export Flux during the Spring Diatom Bloom

Two processes are generally explained as causes of temporal changes in the stoichiometric silicon/nitrogen (Si/N) ratios of sinking particles and of nutrient consumption in the surface water during the spring diatom bloom: (1) physiological changes of diatom under the stress of photosynthesis of diatom and (2) differences of regeneration between silicon and nitrogen. We investigated which process plays an important role in these changes using a one-dimensional ecosystem model that explicitly represents diatom and the other non-silicious phytoplankton. The model was applied to station A7 (41°30′ N, 145°30′ E) in the western North Pacific, where diatom regularly blooms in spring. Model simulations show that the Si/N ratios of the flux exported by the sinking particles at 100 m depth and of nutrient consumptions in the upper 100 m surface water have their maxima at the end of the spring diatom bloom, the values and timings of which are significantly different from each other. Analyses of the model results show that the differences of regeneration between silicon and nitrogen mainly cause the temporal changes of the Si/N ratios. On the other hand, the physiological changes of diatoms under stress can hardly cause these temporal changes, because the effect of the change in the diatom's uptake ratio of silicon to nitrogen is cancelled by that in its sinking rate.     

Recent increase of DIC in the western North Pacific

The temporal variation of the total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) content in the western North Pacific is investigated by comparing the DIC distribution obtained from the data sets of three different periods, the GEOSECS data observed in 1973, the CO₂ dynamics Cruise data observed in 1982, and recent Japanese data sets observed during the early 1990s. The overall feature of the signal of temporal DIC change during 1973 and early 1990s agreed with that of former studies, and did not significantly change with the calculation scheme (the grid-selection method vs. the multiple regression method). The observed increase in DIC among the different time scales showed a good inner consistency, which also indicates the stability of the method used in the DIC change calculation. The apparent rate of increase of the DIC inventory in the upper 1000 m water column, however, differed significantly by the data set used for the calculation: It was 5.6±2.4 g C/m²/year, based on the data comparison between 1982 and the early 1990s, while it became 7.6±2.4 g C/m²/year when based on the data between 1973 and the early 1990s. This result provides us an information about the data-dependency on the former estimation of temporal DIC change.     

边界条件对北太平洋海盆尺度环流模式的影响

采用Stevens开边界条件,将一个闭边界海盆尺度环流模式改造成开边界模式,对20°S以北太平洋大尺度环流进行了系统模拟。考察了开边界和不同等密面扩散系数对北太平洋环流和温盐结构的影响。模式较好地再现了太平洋大尺度环流特征,模拟出了表层赤道流系(包括北赤道流、黑潮和北太平流)以及对应的顺时针环流,同时还较好地反映了温盐场的基本分布特征。从年平均的纬向平均温度和盐度的断面分布可以看出,温跃层深度呈“W”型分布,在亚极地海区有一个梯度比较大的盐度锋区。南边界打开后使得模拟的北太平洋中层水温度和盐度更低,低盐水舌加深和向南延伸加强,更加接近观测值。增加沿等密面扩散系数后得到的中层水强度更大,尤其是34.6等盐线更接近观测资料。质量输运流函数分布表明,赤道两边各有一个翻转区,亚极地地区也存在一个浅的翻转区,打开南边界可以消除因为闭边界存在产生的假的下沉流,这些都为将来进行示踪物模拟打下基础。     

北太平洋经向翻转环流年际变化的数值模拟

北太平洋经向翻转环流(NPMOC)是北太平洋所有经向翻转环流圈的总称,拥有5个环流圈结构.其中,热带环流圈(TC)、副热带环流圈(STC)和深层热带环流圈(DTC)位于北太平洋热带-副热带海域,是该海域间经向物质和能量交换的重要通道.主要运用NEMO模式对这3个经向翻转环流圈的年际变化特征和机理进行了研究.结果表明,TC、STC和DTC的经向流量都具有显著的年际变化特征:在El Nio期间,TC的南、北向流量均减弱,STC的北向流量增强、南向流量减弱,DTC的南向流量减弱;而在La Nia期间则相反.敏感性试验表明,在风应力强迫下得到的TC、STC南、北向流量和DTC南向流量的年际变化特征都很显著,并与在风应力、热通量和淡水通量共同强迫下得到的结果非常一致;而仅在热通量和淡水通量的强迫下,各分支流量的年际变化均较小.由此可见,风场驱动是引起北太平洋经向翻转环流年际变化的主要驱动因素,而热通量和淡水通量的影响却较小.     

A preliminary study on the intermediate water masses in the tropical West Pacific

INTRODUCTIONIntermediatewaterexistsinalloceansandhasreceivedattentionasanimportantpartoftheoceancirculation.ThefirstsystematicresearchontheintermediatewaterinthePacificwasdonebyReid(1965)andthenbyNitani(1972).ItisgenerallyconsideredthatthereexisttwokindsofintermediatewaterinthePacific.OneofthemisthelowsalinitywaterformedbysubsurfacemixinganddescendinginthenorthpartoftheSubantarcticConvergenceZone,whichisgenerallyknownastheSouthPacificintermediateWater(SPIW).TheSPIWmovesnorthwardata…     

Interdecadal Variation of the Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front: A Physical-Biological Model Simulation between 1960 and 1990

The interdecadal climate variability affects marine ecosystems in both the subtropical and subarctic gyres, consequently the position of the Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front (TZCF). A three-dimensional physical-biological model has been used to study interdecadal variation of the TZCF using a retrospective analysis of a 30-year (1960–1990) model simulation. The physical-biological model is forced with the monthly mean heat flux and surface wind stress from the COADS. The modeled winter mixed layer depth (MLD) shows the largest increase between 30°N and 40°N in the central North Pacific, with a value of 40–60% higher during 1979–90 relative to 1964–75 values. The winter Ekman pumping velocity difference between 1979–90 and 1964–75 shows the largest increase located between 30°N and 45°N in the central and eastern North Pacific. The modeled winter surface nitrate difference between 1979–90 and 1964–75 shows increase in the latitudinal band between 30°N and 45°N from the west to the east (135°E–135°W), the modeled nitrate concentration is about 10 to 50% higher during the period of 1979–90 relative to 1964–75 values depending upon locations. The increase in the winter surface nitrate concentration during 1979-90 is caused by a combination of the winter MLD increase and the winter Ekman pumping enhancement. The modeled nitrate concentration increase after 1976–77 enhances primary productivity in the central North Pacific. Enhanced primary productivity after the 1976–77 climatic shift contributes higher phytoplankton biomass and therefore elevates chlorophyll level in the central North Pacific. Increase in the modeled chlorophyll expand the chlorophyll transitional zone and push the TZCF equatorward. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Formation Process of North Pacific Intermediate Water Revealed by Profiling Floats Set to Drift on 26.7 σθ Isopycnal Surface

Six newly developed floats, which were set to drift on the 26.7 σ_θ isopycnal surface and to profile temperature, salinity and pressure above 1000 dbar once a week, were deployed in the Oyashio and Kuroshio Extension (KE) in order to examine the circulation, formation site and time scale of newly formed North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). The floats were deployed in February or May 2001, and the data from their deployments to December 2002 are analyzed here. Four of the six floats were deployed near the KE axis at around the first meander crest, and they moved eastward to 157°E–176°W at latitudes of 30°N–45°N. The other two floats deployed in the Oyashio water with low-potential vorticity near the south coast of Hokkaido moved southward to reach the KE front and then moved eastward to the same region as the first four floats. The temperature and salinity at 26.7 σ_θ measured by the profiling floats indicate that the source waters of NPIW, Oyashio and Kuroshio waters are drastically mixed and modified in the mixed water region west of 160°E. The floats were separated into the three paths east of 160°E between the Kuroshio Extension front and the north of Water-Mass front (nearly subarctic front). New NPIW is judged to be formed along these three paths since the vertical profiles of temperature and salinity are quite smooth, having a salinity minimum at about 26.7σ_θ along each path. Kuroshio-Oyashio isopycnal mixing ratios of the new NPIW are 7:3, 6:4 and 5:5 at 26.7σ_θ along the southern, middle and northern paths, respectively. Potential vorticity converges to about 14–15 × 10⁻¹¹ m⁻¹s⁻¹ along these paths. The time scale of new NPIW formation is estimated to be 1–1.5 years from the merger of Oyashio and Kuroshio waters to the formation of the new NPIW. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reconstruction of sea surface dimethylsulfide in the North Pacific during 1970s to 2000s

We proposed an empirical equation of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS, nM) using sea surface temperature (SST, K), sea surface nitrate (SSN, μM) and latitude (L, °N) to reconstruct the sea surface flux of DMS over the North Pacific between 25°N and 55°N: ln DMS = 0.06346 · SST − 0.1210 · SSN − 14.11 · cos(L) − 6.278 (R² = 0.63, p < 0.0001). Applying our algorithm to climatological hydrographic data in the North Pacific, we reconstructed the climatological distributions of DMS and its flux between 25 °N and 55 °N. DMS generally increased eastward and northward, and DMS in the northeastern region became to 2–5 times as large as that in the southwestern region. DMS in the later half of the year was 2–4 times as large as that in the first half of the year. Moreover, applying our algorithm to hydrographic time series datasets in the western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000, we found that DMS in the last three decades has shown linear increasing trends of 0.03 ± 0.01 nM year^− 1 in the subpolar region, and 0.01 ± 0.001 nM year^− 1 in the subtropical region, indicating that the annual flux of DMS from sea to air has increased by 1.9–4.8 μmol m^− 2 year^− 1. The linear increase was consistent with the annual rate of increase of 1% of the climatological averaged flux in the western North Pacific in the last three decades.     

Spatiotemporal Decreases of Nutrients and Chlorophyll-a in the Surface Mixed Layer of the Western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000

Using time series of hydrographic data in the wintertime and summertime obtained along 137°E from 1971 to 2000, we found that the average contents of nutrients in the surface mixed layer showed linear decreasing trends of 0.001∼0.004 μmol-PO₄ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 0.01∼0.04 μmol-NO₃ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ with the decrease of density. The water column Chl-a (CHL) and the net community production (NCP) had also declined by 0.27∼0.48 mg-Chl m⁻² yr⁻¹ and 0.08∼0.47 g-C-NCP m⁻² yr⁻¹ with a clear oscillation of 20.8±0.8 years. These changes showed a strong negative correlation with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index (PDO) with a time lag of 2 years (R = 0.89 ± 0.02). Considering the recent significant decrease of O₂ over the North Pacific subsurface water, these findings suggest that the long-term decreasing trend of surface-deep water mixing has caused the decrease of marine biological activity in the surface mixed layer with a bidecadal oscillation over the western North Pacific.     

Propagation of Rossby Waves over Ridges Excited by Interannual Wind Forcing in a Western North Pacific Model

Numerical experiments with a multi-level general circulation model have been performed to investigate basic processes of westward propagation of Rossby waves excited by interannual wind stress forcing in an idealized western North Pacific model with ocean ridges. When the wind forcing with an oscillation period of 3 years is imposed around 180°E and 30°N, far from Japan, barotropic waves excited by the wind can hardly cross the ridges, such as the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge. On the other hand, a large part of the first-mode baroclinic waves are transmitted across the ridges, having net mass transport. The propagation speed of the first-mode baroclinic wave is accelerated (decelerated) when an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation is formed at the sea surface, due to a deeper (shallower) upper layer, and to southward (slightly northward) drift of the circulation. Thus, when the anticyclonic circulation is formed on the northern side of the cyclonic one, they propagate almost together. The second-mode baroclinic waves converted from the first-mode ones on the ridges arrive south of Japan, although their effects are small. The resulting volume transport variation of the western boundary current (the Kuroshio) reaches about 60% of the Sverdrup transport variability estimated from the wind stress. These characteristics are common for the interannual forcing case with a longer oscillation period. In the intraseasonal and seasonal forcing cases, on the other hand, the transport variation is much smaller than those in the interannual forcing cases. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

长周期动力形态模型中地形演变方法探讨

PRD-LTMM是一个模拟和描述三角洲地形中、长期演变过程的动力形态模型.在长时间尺度的模拟过程中,必须从模型输入、模型物理系统本身到模型输出等各个角度考虑模拟约减处理.代表性输入条件是实现模型约减的基础,而地形时间的步长延长是提高长周期模型模拟效率的关键.延长技术通常有直接推延、时间中心推延、潮汐延展及泥沙输运率公式线性化等四种方法.通过系列敏感性试验,对PRD-LTMM模型选择潮汐延展技术来进行地形时间步长的延长处理,推延的时间长度为10 a,基于此条件下的PRD-LTMM在长周期模拟中不仅稳定性较好,而且结果也较精确.     

Kinetic Energy Variability in the North Indian Ocean Using a Numerical Model

The North Indian Ocean exhibits profound impact of variation in lower tropospheric winds. In the present study climatological monthly winds are used to force a nonlinear reduced gravity model of the North Indian Ocean to simulate climatological surface circulation and sea level anomaly for all 12 months of the year. The sea level anomalies agree reasonably well with satellite altimeter derived sea level anomalies. The model successfully simulates the varying eddy structure and current pattern of the North Indian Ocean. Finally, the kinetic energy variation in the North Indian Ocean with special reference to equatorial region and the boundaries is analyzed in detail.     

Kinetic Energy Variability in the North Indian Ocean Using a Numerical Model

The North Indian Ocean exhibits profound impact of variation in lower tropospheric winds. In the present study climatological monthly winds are used to force a nonlinear reduced gravity model of the North Indian Ocean to simulate climatological surface circulation and sea level anomaly for all 12 months of the year. The sea level anomalies agree reasonably well with satellite altimeter derived sea level anomalies. The model successfully simulates the varying eddy structure and current pattern of the North Indian Ocean. Finally, the kinetic energy variation in the North Indian Ocean with special reference to equatorial region and the boundaries is analyzed in detail.     

An Ecological-Physical Coupled Model with Ontogenetic Vertical Migration of Zooplankton in the Northwestern Pacific

A vertical one-dimensional ecosystem model with vertical migration of zooplankton was constructed and applied to Station A-7 off Sanriku district of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The model consists of an eight-compartment ecosystem model coupled with a physical model of the oceanic mixed layer. The transition of phytoplankton species responsible for the spring bloom is well reproduced by this model with vertical migration of zooplankton but is not simulated by the model without vertical migration. This new model also simulates an observed inter-annual variability of the spring bloom, with the timing and intensity of the simulated bloom in a given year depending upon the strength of mixing during the preceding winter. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The alpha/beta ocean distinction: A perspective on freshwater fluxes, convection, nutrients and productivity in high-latitude seas

Stratification is perhaps the most important attribute of oceans with regards to climate and biology. Two simple aspects of the ocean's climate system appear to have a surprisingly important role in transforming waters that feed the global thermohaline circulation, dominating patterns of biogeochemical flux and establishing macroecological domains. First, largely because of meridional distillation (mainly due to the atmospheric transport of freshwater across the Isthmus of Panama) the North Pacific is fresher than the North Atlantic. Second, largely because of zonal distillation (e.g., warming and evaporation at low latitudes and poleward transport of latent heat and moisture by the atmosphere) the upper layers of subtropical seas are permanently stratified by temperature (N_T²=gαdT/dz>0; here called alpha oceans), while the upper layers of high-latitude seas are permanently stratified by salinity (N_S²=gβdS/dz>0; here called beta oceans). The physical basis for the boundary separating alpha and beta oceans is unclear, but may lie in the thermodynamical equations published by Fofonoff [1961. Energy transformations in the sea. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Report Series 109, 82pp]. Nevertheless, it is clear that the resulting thermohaline distributions establish a ‘downhill journey’ of low-salinity (and nutrient-rich) waters from the North Pacific to the Arctic and then into the North Atlantic. The Arctic Ocean—itself—acts a double estuary, whereby waters entering from the North Atlantic become either denser through cooling (negative estuary) or lighter by freshening (positive estuary) as they circulate within the basin and then return to the North Atlantic as a variety of components of the ocean's conveyor. Intermediate and deep waters generally form within cyclonic beta oceans in close proximity to alphas systems. Similar patterns of stratification, nutrients and biogeographical boundaries persist in the Southern Hemisphere. It is thus argued that this simple distinction—alpha versus beta oceans—provides a broad, conceptual framework for simple interpretation of key physical and biological processes and rates, including the impacts of climate variability.     

Equatorward Spreading of a Passive Tracer with Application to North Pacific Interdecadal Temperature Variations

A simulation is conducted with a realistic ocean general circulation model to investigate the three dimensional spreading of a passive tracer prescribed at the sea surface with the same distribution as the interdecadal sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies observed in the North Pacific. The tracers reaching the equator have the same sign as the major oval-shaped SST anomaly pattern in the central North Pacific but with a magnitude reduced less than 10% of the mid-latitude SST anomaly. The mixing both with the water containing SST anomalies of an opposite sign off the west coast of North America, and with the Southern Hemisphere thermocline water both contribute to the reduced equatorial amplitude. On the way to the equator in the southwestern part of the subtropical gyre, the subducted water is replenished by tracers leaking from the recirculation region to the north. The simulated passive tracer field in the subsurface layers agrees with the observed interdecadal temperature anomalies, suggesting the relevance of the processes studied here to the thermocline variability in the real North Pacific.     

北太平洋鱿鱼渔场浮游植物种类组成和数量分布

分析了北太平洋鱿鱼渔场浮游植物种类组成、分布特点及其与环境、中心渔场的关系.初步鉴定出36属129种,种类组成以暖水性种类居多(占58.9%),虽然冷水性占种类比例较少(占10.9%),但在细胞数量上占明显优势(占总量的68.05%),出现热带、亚热带与亚寒带区系共存的局面;其平面分布不均,平均总量为54.60×103个/m3;冷暖水系对浮游植物种类组成及数量分布均有显著的影响;中心渔场的形成与浮游植物高值区有着密切的关系.