Statistical features of eddies approaching the Kuroshio east of Taiwan Island and Luzon Island

This study examined the statistical features of eddies approaching the Kuroshio east of Taiwan Island and Luzon Island. In total, 315 eddies (138 anticyclonic and 177 cyclonic eddies) were detected from 19.5 years of satellite altimeter sea-level data, with more than 95% of these eddies being generated in the ocean west of the Mariana Islands. Eddy trajectory statistics indicated that eddies frequently intrude into the Kuroshio regime at two latitude bands, namely 18°N–19°N and 22°N–23°N, with periods of 146 ± 62 and 165 ± 46 days, respectively. The interaction time is longer within the two active bands (33 ± 10 days at 18°N–19°N and 45 ± 17 days at 22°N–23°N) than at other latitudes. These two eddy-intrusion bands are associated with the northern and southern Subtropical Countercurrents (STCCs). These STCCs have a vertically reversed sign of the meridional potential vorticity gradient, thus providing a key energy source for eddy generation. In addition, when westward-propagating eddies approach the Ryukyu Islands, the southwestward recirculation flow east of the island chain as well as topographic effects cause some eddies to head southwestward to the east of Taiwan and intrude into the Kuroshio at 22°N–23°N, rather than to dissipate directly. Therefore, we suggest that the STCCs play a key role in inducing the eddies to frequently intrude into the Kuroshio at 18°N–19°N and 22°N–23°N. In addition, the Ryukyu Islands are responsible for concentrating the eddies within 22°N–23°N.     

Morphological identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alexandrium</Emphasis> species (Dinophyceae) from Jinhae-Masan Bay,Korea

Outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and dense blooms caused by Alexandrium species in Jinhae-Masan Bay, Korea have been nearly annual events for many years. However, excluding some Alexandrium species responsible for PSP, there are no critical reports on the morphology of Alexandrium species in this bay. To identify the Alexandrium species based on detailed morphological features, vegetative cells collected water samples and established by the incubation of resting cysts isolated from sediment trap samples were analyzed. Four species of Alexandrium were identified: Alexandrium affine, A. fundyense, A. catenella, and A. insuetum. Morphological features of these species were basically consistent with those outlined in previous studies. However, the ventral pore and the connecting pore on the sulcal plate, which have been accepted as diagnostic characteristics for the identification of A. fundyense and A. catenella, need to be reevaluated, indicating that useful morphological features for identifying these two species should be recommended to avoid confusion in the classification of species in genus Alexandrium.     

Observational climatology and characteristics of wintertime atmospheric blocking over Ural–Siberia

This study investigates the climatological aspects and temporal characteristics of wintertime Ural-Siberian blocking (USB, centered over 30°–100°E), for the period 1980/1981–2009/2010. Sixty-eight events are identified and their physical structure is diagnosed using thermodynamic and geostrophic vorticity tendency equations. In climatology, horizontal advections play a fundamental role in constructing a USB event, in which the anticyclonic center is a warm core in the troposphere and a cold core in the lower stratosphere. The decay of the thermal structure is related to diabatic cooling along the vertical structure and warm advection in the lower stratosphere. Meanwhile, the collapse of the height structure is caused primarily by cyclonic vorticity advection. A strong interrelationship exists between the intensity and extension of USB events. The temporal characteristics of USB events are analyzed by examining strong and weak events, which are of high and low intensity. The strong events are probably preceded by an open ridge over Europe and a cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean Sea, and their formation is followed by the stronger amplification of a Rossby wave packet across Eurasia. On the other hand, the weak events are likely to be triggered by surface cold anomalies over Siberia. Overall, the evolution of a USB event forms a dynamic linkage with the Siberian high, in which the decay stage of the USB event is accompanied by a southeastward migration of the Siberian high and a subsequent cold air outbreak in East Asia. These results advance our understanding of USB and its relationship with East Asian winter monsoon activities.     

Formation mechanisms of illite,chlorite and mixed-layer illite-chlorite in Triassic volcanogenic sediments from the Southland Syncline,New Zealand

Clay minerals from the three principal kinds of zeolitic sediments from the type area for zeolite facies alteration, the Triassic Murihiku Supergroup, Southland, New Zealand, have been studied by TEM. Bentonitic tuff consists largely of smectite and heulandite with minor illite; they occur as replacements of glass shards and are inferred to be direct alteration products of tuff alteration. Both analcime- and laumontite-rich tuffs contain chlorite, illite and mixed-layer illite-chlorite, including 11 mixed-layer sequences. Subhedral to euhedral phyllosilicate crystal shapes and other textural features imply that phyllosilicates crystallized from solution derived in part by dissolution of precursor smectite. Intralayer transitions involving illite and chlorite are inferred to be products of crystallization rather than direct alteration and replacement. Petrographically similar bentonitic and analcimized tuffs overlap each other in the stratigraphic section, supporting earlier observations that there is no systematic change in smectite relative to the illite plus chlorite derived from smectite in sections up to 8.5 km thick. The data imply that smectite may be metastable relative to illite plus chlorite. Permeability and fluid chemistry are inferred to be as significant as temperature in promoting reactions in clay minerals as well as zeolites during burial metamorphism.Contribution No. 436, from The Mineralogical Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109