Model estimates for the mean gas exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere under the conditions of the present-day climate and its changes expected in the 21st century

Annual mean fluxes of CO₂ and oxygen across the sea surface are estimated with the use of numerical modeling for several regions located in the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio zones. The present-day climatic conditions and the climatic conditions expected in the middle and at the end of the 21st century are considered. Specific features of gas exchange under a strong wind that are associated with gas exchange by bubbles and with changes in the air-water difference of the gas concentrations were taken into account in the calculations. The estimates obtained differ substantially from the results based on the traditional approach, which disregards the above features. A considerable increase in the absorption of CO₂ by the ocean, which is mainly caused by the continuing increase in the CO₂ concentration in the air during its small changes in the ocean, is expected in the 21st century. At the same time, no trends are revealed in the annual mean fluxes of oxygen across the ocean surface. The conclusion is made that, in calculations of CO₂ absorption by the world ocean, it is necessary to take into account both specific features of gas transfer under a strong wind and an increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO₂.     

Assessment of the impact of the planetary scale on the decay of blocking and the use of phase diagrams and enstrophy as a diagnostic

It was shown that abrupt changes in the large-scale structure of atmospheric flows may lead to the rapid decay of blocking. Analysis of phase diagrams made it possible to identify when sharp changes occurred in the dynamics of the system. The connection of these changes to the decay of blocking was estimated for three blocking events in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition to phase diagrams, enstrophy was used as a diagnostic tool for the analysis of blocking events. From the results of this analysis, four scenarios for the decay mechanisms were determined: (i) decay with a lack of synoptic-scale support, (ii) decay with an active role for synoptic processes, and (iii–iv) either of these mechanisms in the interaction with an abrupt change in the character of the planetary-scale flow.     

Determination of temperature and humidity of air,wind speed,and sensible and latent heat fluxes on the ocean surface according to the satellite data

Formulas for the evaluation of temperature and humidity of air, wind speed, and sensible and latent heat fluxes on the ocean surface according to the satellite data on the sea-surface temperature and cloudiness are deduced on the basis of the analysis of many-year radiosonde, meteorological, shipborne, and satellite data. The proposed formulas can also be used for the interpretation of the results of remote sensing of the ocean and atmosphere by radiometers in the visible, infrared, and microwave regions. The transformations of radiation and sensible and latent heat fluxes are described depending on the sea-surface temperature for various cloudiness conditions. The computed values of the amount of water in the atmosphere agree with the radiosonde data obtained throughout the Earth, including the data of research vessels and stationary weather ships, as well as the data obtained in the ATEP test ranges and in the Arctic. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 56–70, March–April, 2007.     

Retrieval of total ozone in the mesosphere with a new model of electronic-vibrational kinetics of O<Subscript>3</Subscript> and O<Subscript>2</Subscript> photolysis products

The paper presents a new model of electronic-vibrational kinetics of the products of ozone and molecular oxygen photodissociation in the terrestrial middle atmosphere. The model includes 45 excited states of the oxygen molecules O₂(b ¹, Σ _g ⁺ ,v= 0−2), O₂ (a ¹Δ _g , v= 0−5), and O₂(X ³Σ _g ⁻ , v= 1−35) and of the metastable atom O (¹ D) and over 100 aeronomic reactions. The model takes into account the dependence of quantum yields of the production of O₂(a ¹Δ _g , v= 0−5) in a singlet channel of ozone photolysis in the Hartley band on the wavelength of photolytic emission. Taking account of the electronic-vibrational kinetics is important in retrieval of the vertical profiles of ozone concentration from measured intensities of the Atm and IR Atm emissions of the oxygen bands above 65 km and leads to an increase in the ozone concentration retrieved from the 1.27-μm emission, in contrast to the previous model of pure electronic kinetics. Sensitivity analysis of the new model is made for variations in the concentrations of atmospheric constituents ([O₂], [N₂], [O(³P)], [O₃], [CO₂]), the gas temperature, rate constants of the reactions, and quantum yields of the reaction products. A group of reactions that most strongly affect the uncertainty of ozone retrieval from measured intensities of atmospheric emissions of molecular oxygen O₂(b ¹Σ _g ⁺ , v) and O₂(a ¹Δ _g , v) has been determined. Original Russian Text ? V.A. Yankovsky, V.A. Kuleshov, R.O. Manuilova, A.O. Semenov, 2007, published in Izvestiya AN. Fizika Atmosfery i Okeana, 2007, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 557–569.     

The Levant Slumps and the Phoenician Structures: collapse features along the continental margin of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Two distinct series of slumps deform the upper part of the sedimentary sequence along the continental margin of the Levant. One series is found along the base of the continental slope, where it overlies the disrupted eastern edge of the Messinian evaporites. The second series of slumps transects the continental margin from the shelf break to the Levant Basin. It seemed that the two series were triggered by two unrelated, though contemporaneous, processes. The shore-parallel slumps were initiated by basinwards flow of the Messinian salt, that carried along the overlying Plio-Quaternary sediments. Seawater that percolated along the detachment faults dissolved the underlying salt to form distinctly disrupted structures. The slope-normal slumps are located on top of large canyons that cut into the pre-Messinian sedimentary rocks. A layer of salt is found in the canyons, and the Plio-Quaternary sediments were deposited on that layer. The slumps are bounded by large, NW-trending faults where post-Messinian faulted offset was measured. We presume that the flow of the salt in the canyons also drives the slope-normal slumps. Thus thin-skinned halokynetic processes generated the composite post-Tortonian structural patterns of the Levant margin. The Phoenician Structures are a prime example of the collapse of a distal continental margin due to the dissolution of a massive salt layer.     

Variations in the sedimentation in Kara Bogaz Gol Bay related to sea level fluctuations during the Novocaspian time

The structure of the bottom sediments in Kara Bogaz Gol Bay is correlated with the history of the sea level fluctuations in the Caspian Sea during the Novocaspian time based on the radiocarbon geochronology of the coastal and bottom sediments. Instrumental observations of the sea level and the hydrochemical regime of the bay are considered to substantiate the correlations obtained.     

Volcanogenic complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan (Comparative analysis)

Several coeval volcanogenic complexes indicating synchronous volcanic events in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk are defined. Volcanics from different-age complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk show many features in common and are attributed to the Pacific type of calc-alkaline series. They were formed in geodynamic settings of the active continental margin and point to its origination on the continental crust of the fragmented Asian continent margin. The volcanic rocks developed in the Sea of Japan reflect different rifting stages. The initial stage was marked by an eruption of calc-alkaline lavas (Paleocene-Eocene complex). At the stage of the marginal-sea spreading, erupted volcanics of the middle Miocene-Pliocene complex were melted from the depleted mantle and magmatism terminated by an eruption of postspreading Pliocene-Holocene volcanics melted from the enriched mantle EM I. Along with the differences, the magmatism in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk has some features in common. In both cases, the sialic component of the lithosphere substantially influenced the magma generation.     

Major variability modes and wind patterns over the Sea of Japan and adjacent areas

The expansion of wind fields observed at fixed times (four times daily) in complex empirical orthogonal functions is performed for the Japan Sea area (34°–53° N, 127°–143° E). The wind fields are taken from the 1998–2004 NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data with better spatial resolution (1° × 1°) than the standard product, which are publicly available on the Internet. Major modes of wind variability in the Japan Sea area are identified. The modes determine a general direction of air-mass transport throughout a year, zonal and meridional modulation, and a cyclonic and an anticyclonic eddy component. Objective classification of wind fields with respect to the prevailing flow direction is performed, and wind stress and wind-curl patterns are obtained for major events in the cold and warm periods of the year. The pattern obtained can be used in hydrodynamic numerical models of the general circulation of the Japan Sea.     

Comparisons between the influences of habitat, body size and season on the dietary composition of the sparid Acanthopagrus latus in a large marine embayment

Seasonal samples from Shark Bay on the west coast of Australia were used to determine (1) the habitats occupied by the juveniles and adults of Acanthopagrus latus in this large subtropical marine embayment and (2) the extent to which the dietary composition of this sparid is influenced by habitat type, body length and season. Sampling was undertaken in two habitat types in which A. latus was known to be abundant, namely mangrove (Avicennia marina) creeks and nearby rocky areas, the latter comprising sandstone boulders and/or limestone reefs. The mean total length ±95% CLs of A. latus was far lower in mangrove creeks, 126 ± 6.1 mm, than in rocky areas, 313 ± 4.7 mm. As A. latus attains maturity at ca. 245 mm, the juveniles of this species typically occupy mangrove areas and then, with increasing body size, move to nearshore rocky areas, where they become adults. The species composition of the food ingested by juvenile A. latus in mangrove creeks differed markedly from that of large juveniles and adults in rocky areas. Based on analyses of data for both habitat types combined, this difference was far greater than that between size classes and season, which was negligible. There were indications, however, that, overall within each habitat, the dietary composition did change seasonally, although not with body size. Acanthopagrus latus fed predominantly on mangrove material, sesarmid crabs and small gastropods in mangrove habitats, and mainly on Brachidontes ustulatus in rocky areas, where this mytilid bivalve is very abundant. The mangrove material, which contributed nearly 40% of its overall dietary volume in mangrove creeks, consisted mainly of lateral root primordia. This apparently unique food source for a teleost is presumably ingested through subsurface nipping, which would be facilitated by the mouth and dentitional characteristics of sparids. The almost total lack of correspondence in the dietary compositions of fish in the length class that was well represented in both mangrove and rocky areas illustrates the extent to which this sparid is capable of opportunistic feeding behaviour.