Open and coastal seas interactions south of Japan represented by an ensemble Kalman filter

We investigated the feasibility of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) to reproduce oceanic conditions south of Japan. We have adopted the local ensemble transformation Kalman filter algorithm based on 20 members’ ensemble simulations of the parallelized Princeton Ocean Model (the Stony Brook Parallel Ocean Model) with horizontal resolution of 1/36°. By assimilating satellite sea surface height anomaly, satellite sea surface temperature, and in situ temperature and salinity profiles, we reproduced the Kuroshio variation south of Japan for the period from 8 to 28 February 2010. EnKF successfully reproduced the Kuroshio path positions and the water mass property of the Kuroshio waters as observed. It also detected the variation of the steep thermohaline front in the Kii Channel due to the intrusion of the Kuroshio water based on the observation, suggesting efficiency of EnKF for detection of open and coastal seas interactions with highly complicated spatiotemporal variability.     

Numerical study of surface water circulation around Sekisei Lagoon, southwest Japan

This paper discusses the variability of surface currents around Sekisei Lagoon using a nested grid ocean circulation model. We developed a triple-nested grid system that consists of a coarse-resolution (1/60° or ∼1.85 km) model off Taiwan, an intermediate-resolution (1/300° or ∼370 m) model around the Yaeyama Islands, and a fine-resolution (1/900° or ∼123 m) model of Sekisei Lagoon. The nested grid system was forced by wind and heat flux calculated from six-hourly atmospheric reanalysis data and integrated over the period from May to July 2003. The coarse-resolution model was driven by lateral boundary conditions calculated from daily ocean reanalysis data to include realistic variation of the Kuroshio and mesoscale eddies with spatial scales of ∼500–700 km in the open ocean. The tidal forcing was included in the intermediate-resolution model by interpolating sea level data obtained from a data-assimilative tidal model. The results were then used to drive the fine-resolution model to simulate the surface water circulation around Sekisei lagoon. Model results show that (1) currents inside the lagoon are mainly driven by tide and wind; (2) there exists a strong southwestward current along the bottom slope in the southeast portion of the lagoon; the current is mainly driven by remote mesoscale eddies and at times intensified by the local wind; (3) the flow relaxation scheme is effective in reducing biases along the open boundaries. The simulated currents were used to examine the retention and dispersion of passive particles in the surface layer. Results show that the surface dispersion in the strong open ocean current region is significantly higher than that inside the lagoon.     

Magma mingling in the Tungho area,Coastal Range of eastern Taiwan

Complex rocks, consisting of different lithologic breccias and sediments in the Tungho area of the southern Coastal Range, eastern Taiwan, were formed by magmas and magma–sediment mingling. Based on field occurrences, petrography, and mineral and rock compositions, three components including mafic magma, felsic magma, and sediments can be identified. The black breccias and white breccias were consolidated from mafic and felsic magma, respectively. Isotopic composition shows these two magmas may be from the same source. Compared to the white breccias, the black breccias show clast-supported structures, higher An values in plagioclase, higher contents of MgO, CaO, and Fe₂O₃ and lower SiO₂, greater enrichment in the light rare earth elements (LREE), and depletion in the heavy rare earth elements (HREE). The white breccias show matrix-supported blocks and mingling with tuffaceous sediments to form peperite. Physical and chemical evidence shows that the characteristics of these two components (mafic and felsic magmas) are still apparent in the mingled zone. According to their petrography, mafic and felsic magmas did not have much time for mingling. White intrusive structures and black flow structures show that mingling occurred before they solidified. Finally, the occurrence of mingling between magmas and sediments suggests that the mingling has taken place at the surface and not in the magma chamber.     

Tectonics and sedimentation around Kashinosaki Knoll: A subducting basement high in the eastern Nankai Trough

Abstract   When seamounts and other topographic highs on an oceanic plate are subducted, they cause significant deformation of the overriding plate and may act as asperities deeper in the seismogenic zone. Kashinosaki Knoll (KK) is an isolated basement high of volcanic origin on the subducting Philippine Sea Plate that will soon be subducted at the eastern Nankai Trough. Seismic reflection imaging reveals a thick accumulation of sediments (∼1200 m) over and around the knoll. The lower portion of the sedimentary section has a package of high-amplitude, continuous reflections, interpreted as turbidites, that lap onto steep basement slopes but are parallel to the gentler basement slopes. Total sediment thickness on the western and northern slopes is approximately 40–50% more than on the summit and southeastern slopes of KK. These characteristics imply that the basal sedimentary section northwest of KK was deposited by infrequent high-energy turbidity currents, whereas the area southeast of KK was dominated by hemipelagic sedimentation over asymmetric basement relief. From the sediment structure and magnetic anomalies, we estimate that the knoll likely formed near the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin in the early Miocene. Its origin differs from that of nearby Zenisu Ridge, which is a piece of the Shikoku Basin crust uplifted along a thrust fault related to the collision of the Izu–Bonin arc and Honshu. KK has been carried into the margin of the Nankai Trough, and its high topography is deflecting Quaternary trench turbidites to the south. When KK collides with the accretionary prism in about 1 My, the associated variations in sediment type and thickness around the knoll will likely result in complex local variations in prism deformation.     

Simultaneous vertical measurements of in situ pH and CO2 in the sea using spectrophotometric profilers

We have developed new systems capable of profiling to >1000 m for measuring in situ pH and fugacity of CO₂ (fCO₂) in the ocean using spectrophotometric analysis (pH and CO₂ profilers). The in situ pH is determined by detecting the color change of the pH indicator (m-cresol purple). It can withstand ambient pressure to 1000 m depth. The CO₂ profiler analyzed in situ fCO₂ by detecting the change of pH in an inner solution, equilibrated with the seawater through a gas permeable membrane. It can be operated to 2500 m depth. We used an amorphous fluoropolymer tubing form of AF-2400 for the gas permeable membrane due to its high gas permeability coefficients. The inner solution was a mixture of 2 μM bromocresol purple (BCP) and 5 μM sodium hydroxide. This system gave us a response time of 1 minute, which is twice as fast as previous systems. The precisions of pH and CO₂ profilers were within 0.002 and 2.5% respectively. We have used these profilers to study the North Pacific, obtaining good agreement with the difference between the data from profilers and a discrete bottle of 0.002 ± 0.005 pH (SE, n = 25) and −0.4 ± 3 μatm (SE, n = 31).     

Behavior of heavy metals and particulate matters in seawater expected from that of radioactive nuclides

Vertical profiles of²¹⁰Pb and²³⁰Th in the deep water were analyzed by using a simple one-dimensional model. Both nuclides are considered to settle down with the velocity of 1×10^–4 cm/sec. The diameter of particle corresponding to the velocity is calculated to be 5, while only about 10 % of the nuclides can be collected on filter paper with a pore size of 0.5. It is supposed that the nuclides exist in particulate materials which is changeable in size. This suggestion is supported from the following evidences. (1) The directly observed behavior of marine snow and the size distribution of particles observed with a coulter counter. (2) The existence of many chemical elements of which residence time is about 150 years. (3) Their possible existence as eutectic solid phases in the seawater. (4) The consistency of the observed accumulation rate of pelagic sediments with that estimated from the settling velocity. (5) The consistency of the decomposition rate of organic matter in the deep water estimated from the oxygen comsumption with that from the settling velocity.     

Determination of thorium isotopes in seawater by moored MnO2-fiber method

A method is described for the determination of Th isotopes (²³²Th,²³⁰Th,²²⁸Th and²²⁷Th) in seawater through analysis of Th adsorbed on MnO₂-impregnated fiber that has been moored in the deep sea for up to 10 months. Since the MnO₂-fiber adsorbs Th from seawater at a constant rate, natural²³⁴Th can be used as a yield monitor by making a correction for its decay during the period of deployment. The results obtained by the method showed good reproducibility and accuracy. The method has the advantage over the chemical coprecipitation method that the time and labor for sampling and processing a large-volume of seawater is reduced.     

Th and Pa isotopes in the waters of the western margin of the pacific near Japan: Evidence for release of228Ra and227Ac from slope sediments

Using the moored MnO₂-fiber method, we have obtained 38 determinations of Th and Pa isotope concentrations from 18 sites along the margin of the western North Pacific near Japan, from water depths of 1,330 to 5,873 m. From our data, we are able to show that (1)²²⁸Ra and²²⁷Ac are being supplied to the seawater from the slope sediments of Honshu, Japan, (2) our²³⁰Th and²³¹Pa concentrations match those obtained byin situ pumping with a MnO₂-fiber adsorber in the Japan and Izu-Ogasawara trenches but are significantly higher than those from the Panama and Guatemala basins, and (3) our²³²Th concentrations show a similar systematic decrease with depth as do those of trace metals like Mn, Al, Te and Bi whose concentrations are strongly controlled by particulate matter scavenging.In contrast, our data fail to show (1) that enhanced removal of²³⁰Th and²³¹Pa by scavenging from the water column is taking place near the western margins and (2) that²³¹Pa is being removed in preference to²³⁰Th from the water column to the marginal sediments. This is probably due to rapid mixing of the deep waters as compared to the scavenging rates of²³⁰Th and²³¹Pa in the water column and at the sediment/seawater interface.