A theory of semigeostrophic gravity waves and its application to the intrusion of a density current along a coast

Semigeostrophic gravity waves associated with a coastal boundary current, which has finite and uniform potential vorticity and is bounded away from the coastline by a density front on the ocean surface, are investigated. It is shown that the semigeostrophic coastal current has two waves which are named here the Semigeostrophic Coastal Wave (SCW) and the Semigeostrophic Frontal Wave (SFW). The SCW becomes an elementary Kelvin wave at some limit while the SFW is caused by the existence of the surface density front. The SCW appears mainly as variations in the upper layer depth at the coast and as alongshore velocity at the density front. On the other hand, the SFW appears mainly as variations in the width of the current. When the weak nonlinearity and ageostrophic effect are included, these semigeostrophic gravity waves satisfy the Kortweg- de Vries equation, which suggests that the local changes in the width and/or velocity of the semigeostrophic coastal current propagate as wave-like disturbances.     

Influence of Mesoscale Eddies on Variations of the Kuroshio Path South of Japan

The influences of mesoscale eddies on variations of the Kuroshio path south of Japan have been investigated using time series of the Kuroshio axis location and altimeter-derived sea surface height maps for a period of seven years from 1993 to 1999, when the Kuroshio followed its non-large meander path. It was found that both the cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies may interact with the Kuroshio and trigger short-term meanders of the Kuroshio path, although not all eddies that approached or collided with the Kuroshio formed meanders. An anticyclonic eddy that revolves clockwise in a region south of Shikoku and Cape Shionomisaki with a period of about 5–6 months was found to propagate westward along about 30°N and collide with the Kuroshio in the east of Kyushu or south of Shikoku. This collision sometimes triggers meanders which propagate over the whole region south of Japan. The eddy was advected downstream, generating a meander on the downstream side to the east of Cape Shionomisaki. After the eddy passed Cape Shionomisaki, it detached from the Kuroshio and started to move westward again. Sometimes the eddy merges with other anticyclonic eddies traveling from the east. Coalescence of cyclonic eddies, which are also generated in the Kuroshio Extension region and propagate westward in the Kuroshio recirculation region south of Japan, into the Kuroshio in the east of Kyushu, also triggers meanders which mainly propagate only in a region west of Cape Shionomisaki. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A New Fall-Rate Equation for T-5 Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) by TSK

The accuracy of the manufacturer’s fall-rate equation for the T-5 Model of expendable bathythermograph (XBT) has been investigated based on about 300 collocated pairs of XBT-CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profiler) measurements in various climatological regions. We found that the equation systematically overestimates depth by about 5% for the T-5 produced by Tsurumi Seiki, Co. Ltd. (TSK), but almost no bias is associated with the T-5 produced by Sippican, Inc., in USA. The cause of this difference is not clear, because the two manufacturers’ T-5 probes are reported to have identical shape and weight in water. We propose a new fall-rate equation for the TSK T-5: z(t) = 6.54071t - 0.0018691t ², where z(t) is depth in meters at time, t, in seconds.     

Analysis of year-to-year variation of water temperature along the coast of the Japan sea

Mean monthly records of coastal sea surface temperature data (CSST) obtained from stations along the Japanese coasts of the Japan Sea and from those in the related seas for the period 1941–1984 were analyzed by using various methods of time series analysis, for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the year-to-year variations of the state of the Japan Sea. The year-to-year variations in the Japan Sea were found to be closely related to those in the East China Sea and in the western North Pacific. Specific results are as follows. (1) A sudden cooling in the early 1960's occurred in the southern stations of the Japan Sea and continued to the end of the analyzed data. (2) Variations, with about a 6-year periodicity, were observed at most stations, and were especially dominant in the southern stations of the Japan Sea (3) These variations could be traced back to the Kuroshio region of the East China Sea. (4) Variations, with about a 10-year periodicity, were also observed in the northern stations of the Japan Sea.     

North Pacific Subtropical Mode Waters Observed in Long XBT Cross Sections along 32.5°N Line

The S/V Shoyo, of the Hydrographic Department, Japan Coast Guard, has conducted high-density expendable bathythermograph (XBT) measurements along the 32.5°N line in the North Pacific every year from 1990 to 1993 as a part of the Japanese-World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). These XBT data are analyzed here, focusing on year-to-year variations of the inventory and core layer temperature (CLT) of the North Pacific subtropical mode water (NPSTMW). Large year-to-year changes are found in the NPSTMW CLTs estimated in longitudes between 140°E and 160°E. CLT values were found of 17.4°C in 1990, 17.1°C in 1991, 17.3°C in 1992 and 17.6°C in 1993. Inspection of the wintertime westerlies over the formation area and sea surface temperature distribution revealed that this change in CLT can be qualitatively attributed to the strength of atmospheric cooling in the formation area in the previous winter. Although a large year-to-year variation of NPSTMW inventory was also found, it is hard to state any relationship between CLT and atmospheric forcing. There is a possibility that different observational seasons may affect the inventory. It has also been found that the thermocline depth in 1991 was shallower in the sea area east of 180° than in 1992 and 1993. Associated with this change, the North Pacific central mode water (NPCMW), characterized by thermostad with temperatures ranging from 14°C to 11°C, appears in the sea area east of 180° in the 1992 and 1993 cross sections. The 1993 cross section, which ranged from the Japanese coast to the west coast of North America, possessed another thermostad in the surface layer, with a temperature of about 17°C in the eastern part of the cross section, off California. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Attenuation behaviour of tuffaceous sandstone and granite during microfracturing

Laboratory measurements of ultrasonic wave propagation in tuffaceous sandstone (Kimachi, Japan) and granite (Iidate, Japan) were performed during increasing fracturing of the samples. The fracturing was achieved by unconfined uniaxial compression up to and beyond the point of macrofracture of the specimen using a constant low strain rate. The observed variation of wave velocity (up to 40 per cent) due to the development of micro- and macrofractures in the rock is interpreted by rock models relating velocity changes to damage and crack density. The calculated density of the newly formed cracks reaches higher values for the sandstone than for the granite. Using the estimated crack densities, the attenuation behaviour is interpreted in terms of different attenuation mechanisms; that is, friction and scattering. Rayleigh scattering as described by the model of Hudson (1981 ) may explain the attenuation qualitatively if the largest plausible crack dimensions are assumed in modelling.     

国内外海洋深层水资源利用现状及展望

本文在介绍了海洋深层水的优良资源特性的基础上,系统介绍了世界各国在海藻养殖、鱼类养殖、蔬菜栽培、食品制造、酿酒、制冷、制盐、制冰及饮料生产等多方面应用海洋深层水的最新成果,并展望了今后海洋深层水研究开发的前景。     

Impact of quasi-decadal variability in the tropical Pacific on ENSO modulations

The impact of quasi-decadal (QD: 8 to 18 years) variability in the tropical Pacific on ENSO events is investigated. It is found that there is a significant difference in the behavior of ENSO events between the phases of positive and negative anomalies of the QD Niño-3.4 index. During the period of negative QD-scale Niño-3.4 index, ENSO events, especially La Niña events, occur more frequently, and larger amplitudes of thermal anomalies related to El Niño events appear over the central to eastern equatorial Pacific. Furthermore, propagations of upper ocean heat content anomaly and a phase relationship between upper ocean heat content and Niño-3 index in the equatorial Pacific, which have been pointed out by previous studies, are clearly detected during the period of negative QD Niño-3.4 index.     

Comparison of sea surface heights observed by TOPEX altimeter with sea level data at Chichijima

The sea surface heights (SSHs) observed by the TOPEX altimeter are compared with tide gauge data at Chichijima in Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands and hydrographic data taken around the islands, in order to quantitatively verify the altimeter observations and oceanic tide corrections by three tide models proposed by Cartwright and Ray (1991), Rayet al. (1994), and Maet al. (1994). First, performance of the new tide models is assessed by comparing tidal variations consisting of diurnal and semi-diurnal constituents with the tide gauge data at Chichijima. The tide model proposed by Rayet al. gives the smallest root-mean-squared (rms) difference of 2.61 cm. Errors in amplitude and phase in each tide model are evaluated by spectral analysis. The TOPEX SSHs corrected by the tide models are compared with sea level data at Chichijima. A long-term variation of a period of about 1 year is found in the residual between the SSHs and the Chichijima sea levels. This variation is also found in the difference between the dynamic height anomalies calculated from hydrographic data around the island and the Chichijima sea levels. By subtracting the long-term variation, the rms difference between the TOPEX SSHs and the Chichijima sea levels is reduced to about 4 cm and the slope of the regression line is improved to unity. The residual shows variations related to aliasing caused by incompleteness of the ocean tide correction with the repeat cycle of the altimeter observation.     

Variation of water system distribution in the Sanriku Coastal Area

We analyzed hydrographic data obtained monthly by the Iwate Prefectural Fisheries Laboratory during 1977–1981. Our attention was focussed on the classification of waters based on the Temperature-Salinity (T-S) scatter diagram analyses, and on the extraction of the mean state of their distribution for each season. The water system was defined as all waters occupying some specific region on the T-S plane, and the mean state for each season was expressed by the distribution of the mode water systems (i.e., the most commonly occuring water system).Because of the coexistence of the Tsugaru Warm Current, the Oyashio and the Kuroshio, and their large seasonal variability, the sea waters had a wide variety of T-S combinations. The detailed T-S scatter diagram analyses allowed us to classify the waters into six water systems. A time-longitude diagram of water systems and the distribution of mode water systems are presented. The latter showed clear seasonal variations of the Tsugaru Warm Current and the Oyashio.Though the water system analysis was successfully able to present the distribution of the various waters in the Sanriku Coastal Area and to clearly extract the mean state of sea conditions, it was found that the classification of water systems on the T-S plane was not complete in all cases for this area.