Characterizing the Navidad current interannual variability using coastal altimetry

In this study, the Navidad current, which flows along the northern coast of Spain in winter, is observed and characterized using coastal altimetry data over the period 1992–2002. This coastal current, marked by a strong interannual variability, is associated with eastward transport of warm waters along the shelf slope. Specific data editing and processing strategies have been applied to the along-track altimeter data, which allows us to retrieve altimetric sea level anomalies closer to the coast, with a better spatial coverage and improved quality when compared with standard altimetric products. The current variability observed upstream by in situ time series after November 1996 is well reproduced by the satellite across-track surface geostrophic current anomalies up until September 1999; this agreement degrades later in time. The combined use of satellite-derived current anomalies and sea-surface temperature anomalies allows us to develop indices of Navidad occurrences, in the first long-term, systematic survey of that current based on a multi-sensor approach. The satellite analyses confirm the previously identified Navidad occurrences in winter of 1995–1996, 1997–1998, and 2000–2001. Furthermore, a weak Navidad event was identified in winter 1996–1997. These four winters are associated with a negative North Atlantic Oscillation index in the previous fall, but the intensity of the Navidad is not correlated to the amplitude of that index.     

Decadal and long-term sea level variability in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean

In this study, we analysed decadal and long-term steric sea level variations over 1966–2007 period in the Indo-Pacific sector, using an ocean general circulation model forced by reanalysis winds. The simulated steric sea level compares favourably with sea level from satellite altimetry and tide gauges at interannual and decadal timescales. The amplitude of decadal sea level variability (up to ~5 cm standard deviation) is typically nearly half of the interannual variations (up to ~10 cm) and two to three times larger than long-term sea level variations (up to 2 cm). Zonal wind stress varies at decadal timescales in the western Pacific and in the southern Indian Ocean, with coherent signals in ERA-40 (from which the model forcing is derived), NCEP, twentieth century and WASWind products. Contrary to the variability at interannual timescale, for which there is a tendency of El Niño and Indian Ocean Dipole events to co-occur, decadal wind stress variations are relatively independent in the two basins. In the Pacific, those wind stress variations drive Ekman pumping on either side of the equator, and induce low frequency sea level variations in the western Pacific through planetary wave propagation. The equatorial signal from the western Pacific travels southward to the west Australian coast through equatorial and coastal wave guides. In the Indian Ocean, decadal zonal wind stress variations induce sea level fluctuations in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, through equatorial and coastal wave-guides. Wind stress curl in the southern Indian Ocean drives decadal variability in the south-western Indian Ocean through planetary waves. Decadal sea level variations in the south–western Indian Ocean, in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean and in the Bay of Bengal are weakly correlated to variability in the Pacific Ocean. Even though the wind variability is coherent among various wind products at decadal timescales, they show a large contrast in long-term wind stress changes, suggesting that long-term sea level changes from forced ocean models need to be interpreted with caution.     

Influence of tropical cyclones on sea surface temperature seasonal cycle and ocean heat transport

Recent studies suggested that tropical cyclones (TCs) contribute significantly to the meridional oceanic heat transport by injecting heat into the subsurface through mixing. Here, we estimate the long-term oceanic impact of TCs by inserting realistic wind vortices along observed TCs tracks in a 1/2° resolution ocean general circulation model over the 1978–2007 period. Warming of TCs’ cold wakes results in a positive heat flux into the ocean (oceanic heat uptake; OHU) of ~480 TW, consistent with most recent estimates. However, ~2/5 of this OHU only compensates the heat extraction by the TCs winds during their passage. Another ~2/5 of this OHU is injected in the seasonal thermocline and hence released back to the atmosphere during the following winter. Because of zonal compensations and equatorward transport, only one-tenth of the OHU is actually exported poleward (46 TW), resulting in a marginal maximum contribution of TCs to the poleward ocean heat transport. Other usually neglected TC-related processes however impact the ocean mean state. The residual Ekman pumping associated with TCs results in a sea-level drop (rise) in the core (northern and southern flanks) of TC-basins that expand westward into the whole basin as a result of planetary wave propagation. More importantly, TC-induced mixing and air-sea fluxes cool the surface in TC-basins during summer, while the re-emergence of subsurface warm anomalies warms it during winter. This leads to a ~10 % reduction of the sea surface temperature seasonal cycle within TCs basins, which may impact the climate system.     

Does sea surface temperature outside the tropical Pacific contribute to enhanced ENSO predictability?

In this paper we seek to identify inter-annual sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) patterns outside the tropical Pacific that may influence El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) through atmospheric teleconnections. We assume that a linear ENSO hindcast based on tropical Pacific warm water volume and Niño3.4 SSTA indices captures tropical Pacific intrinsic predictability inherent to recharge oscillator dynamics. This simple hindcast model displays statistically significant skill at the 95 % confidence level at leads of up to seven seasons ahead of the ENSO peak. Our results reveal that ENSO-independent equatorial wind stress anomalies only significantly improve the skill of that linear hindcast at the 95 % level in boreal spring and summer before the ENSO peak and in boreal fall, five seasons ahead of the ENSO peak. At those seasons, the robust large-scale SST patterns that provide a statistically significant enhancement of ENSO predictability are related to the Atlantic meridional mode and south Pacific subtropical dipole mode in spring, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the south Atlantic subtropical dipole mode in fall. While the first two regions display significant simultaneous correlations with western equatorial Pacific wind stress in three reanalyses (ERA-I, NCEP and NCEP2), the Indian Ocean Dipole and south Atlantic subtropical dipole mode correlation with Pacific winds is less robust amongst re-analyses. We discuss our results in view of other studies that suggest a remote influence of various regions on ENSO. Although modest, the sensitivity of our results to the dataset and to details of the analysis method illustrates that finding regions that influence ENSO from the statistical analysis of observations is a difficult task.     

Processes of interannual mixed layer temperature variability in the thermocline ridge of the Indian Ocean

Sea-surface temperature interannual anomalies (SSTAs) in the thermocline ridge of the southwestern tropical Indian Ocean (TRIO) have several well-documented climate impacts. In this paper, we explore the physical processes responsible for SSTA evolution in the TRIO region using a combination of observational estimates and model-derived surface layer heat budget analyses. Vertical oceanic processes contribute most to SSTA variance from December to June, while lateral advection dominates from July to November. Atmospheric fluxes generally damp SSTA generation in the TRIO region. As a result of the phase opposition between the seasonal cycle of vertical processes and lateral advection, there is no obvious peak in SSTA amplitude in boreal winter, as previously noted for heat content anomalies. Positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events and the remote influence of El Niño induce comparable warming over the TRIO region, though IOD signals peak earlier (November–December) than those associated with El Niño (around March–May). Mechanisms controlling the SSTA growth in the TRIO region induced by these two climate modes differ strongly. While SSTA growth for the IOD mostly results from southward advection of warmer water, increased surface shortwave flux dominates the El Niño SSTA growth. In both cases, vertical oceanic processes do not contribute strongly to the initial SSTA growth, but rather maintain the SSTA by opposing the effect of atmospheric negative feedbacks during the decaying phase.     

Morphometry of micrite particles in cretaceous microporous limestones of the Middle East: Influence on reservoir properties

Microporosity may account for a significant part of the total porosity of Cretaceous limestone reservoirs of the Middle East. In these microporous facies porosity is moderate to excellent (up to 35%) while permeability is poor to moderate (up to 190 mD). Micritic limestones also may form dense layers with very low porosity and permeability values.Micritic samples were collected from three fields of the Habshan and Mishrif Formations, to examine the spatial relationship with their porosity, permeability and pore throat radius distributions. Two key parameters of the micritic particles are studied using scanning electron microscopy: their morphology (shape and inter-crystal contacts), and their crystallometry.Results reveal that micrite matrixes can be subdivided into three petrophysical classes. Class C (strictly microporous limestones with coarse punctic-to-partially coalescent micrites) is made up of coarse (>2 μm) polyhedral to rounded micritic crystals, it has good to excellent porosity (8-28%), poor to moderate permeability (0.2-190 mD) and a mean pore threshold radius of more than 0.5 μm. The class C is usually observed in rudist shoal facies where relatively high hydrodynamic energy disfavoured deposition of the finer micritic crystals. It also developed within meteoric leaching intervals below exposure surfaces. Class F (strictly microporous limestones with fine punctic-to-partially coalescent micrites) is composed of fine (<2 μm) polyhedral to rounded micrites with poor to excellent porosity (3-35%), but permeability values of less than 10 mD and a mean pore threshold radius of less than 0.5 μm. It is mostly observed in sediments deposited in a low energy muddy inner platform setting. Class D (strictly microporous mud-dominated facies with compact anhedral to fused dense micrites) comprises subhedral to anhedral crystals with sutured contacts forming a dense matrix. It has very low porosity and permeability. Class D is only found in low energy muddy inner platform facies and forms inter-reservoir or caps rock layers in close association with stylolites and clay contents that usually exceed 10%.     

Morphodynamics and sedimentary structures of bedforms under supercritical‐flow conditions: New insights from flume experiments

Supercritical‐flow phenomena are fairly common in modern sedimentary environments, yet their recognition and analysis remain difficult in the stratigraphic record. This fact is commonly ascribed to the poor preservation potential of deposits from high‐energy supercritical flows. However, the number of flume data sets on supercritical‐flow dynamics and sedimentary structures is very limited in comparison with available data for subcritical flows, which hampers the recognition and interpretation of such deposits. The results of systematic flume experiments spanning a broad range of supercritical‐flow bedforms (antidunes, chutes‐and‐pools and cyclic steps) developed in mobile sand beds of variable grain sizes are presented. Flow character and related bedform patterns are constrained through time‐series measurements of bed configurations, flow depths, flow velocities and Froude numbers. The results allow the refinement and extension of some widely used bedform stability diagrams in the supercritical‐flow domain, clarifying in particular the morphodynamic relations between antidunes and cyclic steps. The onset of antidunes is controlled by flows exceeding a threshold Froude number. The transition from antidunes to cyclic steps in fine to medium‐grained sand occurs at a threshold mobility parameter. Sedimentary structures associated with supercritical bedforms developed under variable aggradation rates are revealed by means of combining flume results and synthetic stratigraphy. The sedimentary structures are compared with examples from field and other flume studies. Aggradation rate is seen to exert an important control on the geometry of supercritical‐flow structures and should be considered when identifying supercritical bedforms in the sedimentary record.     

Small Antarctic micrometeorites: A mineralogical and in situ oxygen isotope study

Abstract— We have investigated the texture, bulk chemistry, mineralogy, as well as the anhydrous minerals oxygen isotopic composition of 67 small Antarctic micrometeorites (AMMs) collected at Cap Prudhomme, Antarctica, and belonging to the currently poorly studied size fraction 25–50 μm. When compared to larger (50–400 μm) micrometeorites collected at the same site in Antarctica with the same techniques, no significant differences are found between the two populations. We therefore conclude that the population of Cap Prudhomme AMMs is homogeneous over the size range 25–400 μm. In contrast, small AMMs have different textures, mineralogy, and oxygen isotopic compositions than those of stratospheric interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Because small AMMs (<50 μm) overlap in size with IDPs, the differences between these two important sources of micrometeorites can no longer be attributed to a variation of the micrometeorite composition with size. Physical biases introduced by the collection procedures might account for these differences.