Thermohaline staircases in the Warm-Core Ring off Cape Erimo,Hokkaido and their fluxes due to salt finger

Thermohaline staircases off Cape Erimo, Hokkaido are described and their physical properties are compared with those in other seas. The mean fluxes for heat and salt across the interface induced by salt finger were estimated as 105 cal cm^–2d^–1, and 0.03 g cm^–2d^–1, respectively. These values were in the same order as those in Caribbean Sea. The effective eddy diffusivities were also in the same order as the Caribbean ones. This suggests that the double-diffusive convection plays on important role on the water mass conversions occurring in the interfrontal zone between the Oyashio and the Kuroshio Waters.     

Annual and Seasonal Variations of the Sea Surface Heat Fluxes in the East Asian Marginal Seas

Based on the twice-daily marine atmospheric variables which were derived mostly from the weather maps for 18 years period from 1978 to 1995, the surface heat flux over the East Asian marginal seas was calculated at 0.5°×0.5° grid points twice a day. The annual mean distribution of the net heat flux shows that the maximum heat loss occurs in the central part of the Yellow Sea, along the Kuroshio axis and along the west coast of the northern Japanese islands. The area off Vladivostok turned out to be a heat-losing region, however, on the average, the amount of heat loss is minimum over the study area and the estuary of the Yangtze River also appears as a region of the minimum heat loss. The seasonal variations of heat flux show that the period of heat gain is longest in the Yellow Sea, and the maximum heat gain occurs in June. The maximum heat loss occurs in January over the study area, except the Yellow Sea where the heat loss is maximum in December. The annual mean value of the net heat flux in the East/Japan Sea is −108 W/m² which is about twice the value of Hirose et al. (1996) or about 30% higher than Kato and Asai (1983). For the Yellow Sea, it is about −89 W/m² and it becomes −75 W/m² in the East China Sea. This increase in values of the net heat flux comes mostly from the turbulent fluxes which are strongly dependent on the wind speed, which fluctuates largely during the winter season. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

东中国海碳循环时空变化特征:三维物理-生物地球化学数值模型研究

In the east of China's seas, there is a wide range of the continental shelf. The nutrient cycle and the carbon cycle in the east of China's seas exhibit a strong variability on seasonal to decadal time scales. On the basis of a regional ocean modeling system(ROMS), a three dimensional physical-biogeochemical model including the carbon cycle with the resolution(1/12)°×(1/12)° is established to investigate the physical variations, ecosystem responses and carbon cycle consequences in the east of China's seas. The ROMS-Nutrient Phytoplankton Zooplankton Detritus(NPZD) model is driven by daily air-sea fluxes(wind stress, long wave radiation, short wave radiation, sensible heat and latent heat, freshwater fluxes) that derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) reanalysis2 from 1982 to 2005. The coupled model is capable of reproducing the observed seasonal variation characteristics over the same period in the East China Sea. The integrated air-sea CO_2 flux over the entire east of China's seas reveals a strong seasonal cycle, functioning as a source of CO_2 to the atmosphere from June to October, while serving as a sink of CO_2 to the atmosphere in the other months. The 24 a mean value of airsea CO_2 flux over the entire east of China's seas is about 1.06 mol/(m~2·a), which is equivalent to a regional total of3.22 Mt/a, indicating that in the east of China's seas there is a sink of CO_2 to the atmosphere. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide in sea water in the east of China's seas has an increasing rate of 1.15 μatm/a(1μtm/a=0.101 325Pa), but p H in sea water has an opposite tendency, which decreases with a rate of 0.001 3 a~(–1) from 1982 to 2005.Biological activity is a dominant factor that controls the pCO_2 air in the east of China's seas, and followed by a temperature. The inverse relationship between the interannual variability of air-sea CO_2 flux averaged from the domain area and Ni?o3 SST Index indicates that the carbon cycle in the east of China's seas has a high correlation with El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO).     

南海南部与外海间的体积和热、盐输运及其对印尼贯穿流的贡献

根据中国近海高分辨率 ( 1 / 6°)环流模式的模拟结果 ,计算了南沙邻近海域与外海之间的海水体积、热量和盐量输运及其对印度尼西亚贯穿流的贡献。研究海域为 0°— 1 4°N的整个南海南部海域。计算得出 ,穿过研究海域流向印度尼西亚海域 ,最终流向印度洋的年平均体积、热量和盐量输运分别为 5 .2Sv( 1Sv =1× 1 0 6m3·s- 1 )、0 .5 7PW和 1 84Gg·s- 1 ,大约占印度尼西亚贯穿流相应输运量的 1 / 4。这一结果表明南海是全球大传送带这一全球海洋最主要热盐环流系统的重要通道之一。从南海流向印度尼西亚海域的通道以卡里马塔海峡为最主要 ,以下依次为巴拉巴克海峡、民都洛海峡和马六甲海峡。大的南向通量主要发生在冬、秋季 ,春末夏初总的通量向北。计算还得出输入本海区的热输运量比输出少 0 .0 64PW ,由这一结果推得 ,通过海 -气界面由大气进入海洋的年平均净热通量约为 30W·m- 2 。     

Tritium in the northwestern North Pacific

Vertical profiles of tritium in seawater were determined for samples collected during the period from 1988 to 1990 at fourteen stations in the northwestern North Pacific (the Oyashio region) including the Okhotsk Sea and the Bering Sea. The profiles usually had a maximum in the surface layer and decreased gradually with depth down to 1,000 m. The water column inventory of tritium averaged 63% of the total atmospheric input in this region.The horizontal distribution of tritium showed a maximum in the region facing the Okhotsk Sea near 45°N for every isopycnal surface of ₀ ranging from 26.60 to 27.40. The ages of the intermediate water were calculated for the respective isopycnal surfaces in the maximum region. This calculation assumed that the intermediate water was formed by the isopycnal mixing of two water masses—the Okhotsk Sea and the Bering Sea Component Waters, which had been produced in wintertime by the diapycnal mixing of the surface and the deep waters in the respective marginal seas. The results show that the intermediate water in this region was formed in the late 1980's for the water which has ₀ of 26.60 to 26.80 and about 1970 for the water which has ₀ of 27.00 to 27.40. Although we have estimated the mean ages of the intermediate water, the horizontal profile of dissolved oxygen suggests that the Okhotsk Sea Component Water is younger than the mean age.     

浅海地壳热流测量方法初探

根据１９８９～１９９１年，中国科学院海洋所与日本东京大学等单位合作在东海陆架地区进行了三个航次的海底热流调查资料．对浅海热流测量作业方法和资料处理技术进行探讨。     

Heat and Freshwater Budgets and Pathways in the Arctic Mediterranean in a Coupled Ocean/Sea-ice Model

The Arctic Mediterranean is important for climate studies because of its unique thermodynamic characteristics and its potential role in freshwater export, which would influences air-sea and ice-sea interactions and may change the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. It is difficult to obtain consistent and complete estimates of heat and freshwater budgets due to sparse observation. In this paper, we use a coupled Arctic ocean/sea-ice model with NCEP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research) reanalysis data, long-term gauged river runoff data, precipitation data and estimates of volume transports to examine heat and freshwater budgets and pathways in dynamically and thermodynamically consistence. The model implements Neptune effect, flux-corrected-transport algorithm and more sophisticated treatments of heat and freshwater fluxes. Uncertainties and deficiencies in the modeling were also evaluated. Results indicate that the Arctic Ocean is provided heat mainly from the Fram Strait branch of Atlantic water at about 46 TW, which is within the range in literature. The Barents Sea branch carries about 43 TW of net heat entering the Barents Sea, but only 2 TW of net heat enters the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic water is significantly modified in the Barents Sea. About 39 TW of heat is lost, which is consistent with the range of estimates by Simonsen and Haugan (1996). The model suggests 79,422 km³ of freshwater storage mainly distributing the Canada Basin, the Beaufort Sea and the Eurasian coast, which is in a good agreement with estimate by Aagaard and Carmack (1989). Freshwater origins from river runoff, precipitation and the Bering Strait throughflow. Liquid freshwater mainly exports via the Canadian Archipelago and Fram Strait at the rates of 3100 km³/yr and 1400 km³/yr. Sea-ice is dominantly transported through Fram Strait with 1923 km³/yr. Model discrepancies exist and climate drift is clear, which require comprehensive physical treatments of mixing processes and dense water processes in the model.     

海-气界面热通量算法的研究及在中国近海的应用

对计算海-气界面湍流热通量的Bulk算法的一些参数进行了改进。使用西沙实测资料、GSSTF2资料和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料以及改进后的算法,计算了中国近海地区的感热通量、潜热通量。计算结果与西沙实测资料、长年代的GSSTF2资料和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料进行比较验证,证明改进后的方法精度较高,基本可以保证湍流热通量的平均标准偏差在10W/m2左右,与多年的月平均做比较,相对偏差为25%左右;同时,不仅首次将计算热通量的空间尺度精确到0·1°×0·1°,而且基本模拟出了南海季风暴发期间热通量变化的主要特点以及中国近海热通量随季节、纬度和海岸地形的变化特征。     

影响北欧海和楚科奇海夏季细菌丰度和生产力的因素

Abundance and production of bacterioplankton were measured in the Nordic seas and Chukchi Sea during the5 th Chinese Arctic Research Expedition in summer 2012.The results showed that average bacterial abundances ranged from 3.31×10~(11) cells/m~3 to 2.25× 10~(11)cells/m~3,and average bacterial productions(calculated by carbon)were 0.46 mg/(m~3·d) and 0.54 mg/(m~3·d) in the Nordic seas and Chukchi Sea,respectively.T-test result showed that bacterial abundances were significantly different between the Nordic seas and Chukchi Sea,however,no significant difference was observed regarding bacterial productions.Based on the slope of lg bacterial biomass versus lg bacterial production,bacterial communities in the Nordic seas and Chukchi Sea were moderately dominated by bottom-up control.Both Pearson correlation analysis and multivariable linear regression indicated that temperature had significant positive correlation with bacterial abundance in the Chukchi Sea,while no correlations with productions in both areas.Meanwhile,Chl a had positive correlations with both bacterial abundance and production in these two regions.As the temperature and Chl a keep changing in the future,we suggest that both bacterial abundance and production been hanced in the Chukchi Sea but weaken in the Nordic seas,though the enhancement will not be dramatic as a result of higher pressure of predation and viral lysis.     

Annual dynamics of pelagic primary production and respiration in a shallow coastal basin

The Wadden Sea (North Sea, Europe) is a shallow coastal sea with high benthic and pelagic primary production rates. To date, no studies have been carried out in the Wadden Sea that were specifically designed to study the relation between pelagic respiration and production by comparable methods. Because previous studies have suggested that the import of primary-produced pelagic organic matter is important for benthic Wadden Sea carbon budgets, we hypothesised that on an annual average the northern Wadden Sea water column is autotrophic. To test this hypothesis, we studied annual dynamics of primary production and respiration at a pelagic station in a shallow tidal basin (List Tidal Basin, northern Wadden Sea). Since water depth strongly influences production estimates, we calculated primary production rates per unit area in two ways: on the basis of the mean water depth (2.7 m) and on the basis of 1 m depth intervals and their respective spatial extent in the List Tidal Basin. The latter more precise estimate yielded an annual primary production of 146 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. Estimates based on the mean water depth resulted in a 40% higher annual rate of 204 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. The total annual pelagic respiration was 50 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. The P/R ratio varied between seasons: from February to October the water column was autotrophic, with the highest P/R ratio of 4–5 during the diatom spring bloom in April/May. In autumn and winter the water column was heterotrophic. On an annual average, the water column of the List Tidal Basin was autotrophic (P/R 3). We suggest that a large fraction of the pelagic produced organic matter was respired locally in the sediment.     

Implications of estimated and measured thermal conductivity for oceanic heat flow studies

Heat flow data provide constraints on the thermal structure and evolution of the oceanic lithosphere. Because precise determination of the heat flux requires that both the thermal gradient and the thermal conductivity be well determined we have examined the thermal conductivities used in a new Pacific Basin heat flow data set. 43% of the 1600 heat flow determinations rely on values estimated by various methods, rather than directly measured. Although the measured and estimated conductivities have comparable means, the measured conductivities have a standard deviation 50% larger than the estimated, suggesting that the estimated values underestimate the actual variation. We investigate the limitations of using such estimates by examining factors controlling the variations of measured conductivity values. We find that the variation between the closest adjacent sites increases with increasing separation, such that sites within 200 km are on average noticeably closer in conductivity than sites further apart. Contributing to this effect may be the variation of conductivity with lithology (with mean conductivity highest for carbonate oozes, intermediate for deep-sea clays, and least for siliceous oozes) and a possible trend of decreasing conductivity with increasing seafloor depth. Tests with the measured data suggest that the best method for estimating conductivity is using the mean value measured within 200 km. The mean of a larger geographical region is a somewhat poorer predictor, and using the oceanwide mean and the value at the nearest site are poorer still. Approximately 29% of the estimated values were not based on measurements from a reference site. For most others, the reference site was the nearest measurement from the same cruise, typically a large distance away. For those sites where conductivity was not measured, 78% had measured conductivity within 200 km and were reestimated using the local mean, whereas the remaining 22% were reestimated using the regional mean. The resulting change in the estimated conductivity averaged 9% using the local mean and 6% using the regional mean. We suggest that such a procedure be used to improve the utility of the heat flow data set, as an alternative to discarding the large fraction of the available data that does not incorporate measured conductivities.     

Operating experience with a BM-04 wave-tide gauge

A BM-04 microprocessor wave-tide gauge developed at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology is used for the acquisition of data on the parameters of surface waves (the mean height \(\bar h\), the mean period \(\bar \tau \), the frequency spectrum S(ω), and so on) and the mean sea level ζ. As a wave gauge, the instrument can be deployed on the sea floor, on piles, and so on at depths down to 10 m in the near-shore zone and can be mounted on subsurface buoys offshore. As a tide gauge, the instrument can be used at depths down to 6000 m. The instruments were successfully tested and intercalibrated in the Black and Baltic seas and the Sea of Okhotsk.     

Tectonics of the Nereus Deep,Red Sea: A deep-tow investigation of a site of initial rifting

The Nereus Deep (23°N) lies in the central portion of the Red Sea, in a region which marks a transition between the nearly continuous axial rift valley of the southern Red Sea and the northern Red Sea, where a well defined axial rift is absent. The deep-tow survey and associated heat flow measurements reported here show that the Nereus Deep is a short segment of axial rift, and it is the northernmost deep where petrology, heat flow, magnetics, and morphology all indicate classic seafloor spreading. Heat flow measured in the Nereus Deep is characterized by non-linear gradients and closely-spaced variability indicative of active hydrothermal circulation associated with seafloor spreading. The two axial highs which we have mapped in Nereus differ markedly in that the southernmost appears younger or at least has had a more recent phase of volcanism. The two axial highs are offset left laterally approximately 2 km. This small offset or bend in the axial course has been labelled the Nereus shear zone, and, despite its small extent, it mimics many of the major features of small offset, slow-slipping transform faults. This shear zone may result from shear stresses associated with misalignments in succeeding volcanic episodes. The Nereus Deep appears to represent one of the earliest phases of seafloor spreading. The Red Sea seems to be opening towards the north, and the Nereus Deep is near the tip of propagation, but it is clear from this study that rift propagation in a site of initial rifting differs greatly from that observed along a well developed, fast spreading center like the East Pacific Rise.     

A carbon budget in Tokyo Bay

Organic carbon flux from eutrophicated Tokyo Bay to the Pacific Ocean is estimated as 260 ton C day^–1 based on the horizontal gradient of COD and the dispersion coefficient at the bay mouth. Also, carbon flux from the air or from the open ocean to Tokyo Bay is estimated as 156 ton C day^–1. If we suppose that five percent of the coastal seas in the world might be eutrophicated as Tokyo Bay and the organic carbon flux from the shelf to the open ocean in other coastal seas might be one third of that in Tokyo Bay, 1.12 G tons year^–1 would be transported from the eutrophicated coastal seas to the open ocean and such carbon flux may account for the missing sink in the global carbon budget.     

中国东部海域及周边地壳热流初探

本文根据在117°～135°E,21°50′～41°30′N范围内的500多个热流值,对中国东部海域及周边的热流分布特征及其与地质构造的关系进行了讨论。热流分析表明,冲绳海槽具有极高的热流值,为一现在正在活动的弧后张裂带。     

Age estimation of the Solomon Sea based on heat flow data

Several heat flow measurements were made during the NAT83 cruise in the central part of the Solomon Sea Basin. The average value of 87 mW/m² (2.08 HFU) calculated from these and other data indicates that the age of the Solomon Sea Basin may range from 24 to 44 Ma. This is supported by the water depth, of approximately 4,500 m, versus age relationship. There is a possibility that the Solomon Sea Basin is not a back-arc basin associated with an arc but was formerly a relatively large oceanic plate. The agreement in age from both heat flow and water depth data favors the latter hypothesis.     

Age estimation of the Solomon Sea based on heat flow data

Several heat flow measurements were made during the NAT83 cruise in the central part of the Solomon Sea Basin. The average value of 87 mW/m² (2.08 HFU) calculated from these and other data indicates that the age of the Solomon Sea Basin may range from 24 to 44 Ma. This is supported by the water depth, of approximately 4,500 m, versus age relationship. There is a possibility that the Solomon Sea Basin is not a back-arc basin associated with an arc but was formerly a relatively large oceanic plate. The agreement in age from both heat flow and water depth data favors the latter hypothesis.     

The deep-water motion through the Lifamatola Passage and its contribution to the Indonesian throughflow

In order to estimate the contribution of cold Pacific deep water to the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) and the flushing of the deep Banda Sea, a current meter mooring has been deployed for nearly 3 years on the sill in the Lifamatola Passage as part of the International Nusantara Stratification and Transport (INSTANT) programme. The velocity, temperature, and salinity data, obtained from the mooring, reflect vigorous horizontal and vertical motion in the lowest 500 m over the ～2000 m deep sill, with speeds regularly surpassing 100 cm/s. The strong residual flow over the sill in the passage and internal, mainly diurnal, tides contribute to this bottom intensified motion. The average volume transport of the deep throughflow from the Maluku Sea to the Seram Sea below 1250 m is 2.5 Sv (1 Sv=10⁶ m³/s), with a transport-weighted mean temperature of 3.2 °C. This result considerably increases existing estimates of the inflow of the ITF into the Indonesian seas by about 25% and lowers the total mean inflow temperature of the ITF to below 13 °C. At shallower levels, between 1250 m and the sea surface, the flow is directed towards the Maluku Sea, north of the passage. The typical residual velocities in this layer are low (～3 cm/s), contributing to an estimated northward flow of 0.9–1.3 Sv. When more results from the INSTANT programme for the other Indonesian passages become available, a strongly improved estimate of the mass and heat budget of the ITF becomes feasible.     

Dimethylsulfide in coastal zone of the East China Sea

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) in seawater were observed four times from February 1993 to August 1994 along a fixed section (PN line) in the East China Sea. The DMS concentrations showed remarkable temporal and spatial variations. The DMS concentrations were generally higher in the upper euphotic layer of the continental shelf zone in summer. The spatial variation, however, was more pronounced even in well mixed winter water, where the concentration of DMS varied widely from 3 to 106 ng-S/l in the continental shelf zone while the salinity was vertically almost uniform. This means that DMS in seawater is rapidly produced and decomposed with a time scale less than one month in the water column. The largest value of 376 ng-S/l was obtained at 5 m depth near the mouth of Changjiang River in August 1994. The mean concentrations in the surface 30 m layer in the continental shelf zone were 21, 54, 126 and 57 ng-S/l in February, October, June and August, respectively, which were about twice as large as those in the Kuroshio region. The mean fluxes of DMS from the East China Sea to the atmosphere are estimated to be 49 g-S/m²/day in winter and 194 g-S/m²/day in summer in the continental shelf zone, and to be 32 and 107 g-S/m²/day in the Kuroshio region.     

Potential effects of temperature on the benthic infaunal community on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf: Possible impacts of climate change

In the late 1950s, Soviet researchers collected benthic infaunal samples from the southeastern Bering Sea shelf. Approximately 17 years later, researchers at University of Alaska Fairbanks also sampled the region to assess infaunal biomass and abundance. Here, the two data sets were examined to document patterns and reveal any consistent differences in infaunal biomass among major feeding groups between the two time periods. No significant differences in the geometric mean biomass of all taxa pooled were indicated between the two study periods (1958–1959=49.1 g m⁻²; 1975–1976=60.8 g m⁻²; P=0.14); however, significant differences were observed for specific functional groups, namely carnivores, omnivores and surface detritivores. Of the 64 families identified from both data sets from all functional groups, 21 showed statistically significant (P0.05) differences in mean biomass. Of the 21 families showing significant differences, 19 (91%) of the families had higher mean biomass in the 1975–1976 data set. The above differences suggest a trend toward higher overall infaunal biomass for specific functional groups during mid 1970s compared with the late 1950s. Temperature measurements and literature data indicate that the mid-1970s was an unusually cold period relative to the period before and after, suggesting a mechanistic link between temperature changes and infaunal biomass. Food-web relationships and ecosystem dynamics in the southeastern Bering Sea indicate that during cold periods, infaunal biomass will be elevated relative to warm periods due to elevated carbon flux to the benthos and exclusion of benthic predators on infaunal invertebrates by the cold bottom water on the shelf. As long-term observations of temperature and sea-ice cover indicate a secular warming trend on the Bering Sea shelf, the potential changes in food-web relationships could markedly alter trophic structure and energy flow to apex consumers, potentially impacting the commercial, tourist and subsistence economies.