Total Lipid and Fatty Acid Classes in Decomposing Mangrove Leaves of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bruguiera gymnorrhiza</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kandelia candel</Emphasis>: Significance with respect to Lipid Input

Changes in the concentration of total lipid and fatty acids (FAs) during the decomposition of mangrove leaves were investigated by field experiments using yellow leaves of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lamk. and Kandelia candel (L.) Druce, in order to quantify mangrove contribution to lipid and fatty acid inputs to marine sediments. Total lipid and total FA in the fresh (green and yellow) and decomposing leaves of both species were significantly higher during winter than summer. During decomposition, total lipid content and FA concentration, in particular branched chain fatty acids (BrFAs) and bacterial fatty acids (BFAs), increased to a maximum concentration in 45 days during winter and in 17 days during summer. Lipids were lost faster in K. candel leaf detritus than in B. gymnorrhiza leaf detritus in which >90% of the total lipid original weight was lost during the summer experiment and <60% during the winter experiment. The changes in the concentrations of total lipids and FAs in the decomposing leaves also indicate that mangrove leaves are significant sources of fatty acids and probably other lipid compounds to estuarine ecosystems and that tidal waters transport the lipids and FAs adsorbed to particulate matter from mangroves to adjacent estuarine sediments and the ocean.     

Scattering of Semidiurnal Internal Kelvin Wave at Step Bottom Topography

A three-dimensional, multi-level model was used to study the energy dissipation of semidiurnal internal Kelvin waves due to their interaction with bottom topography. A simplified topography consisting of a channel with an additional shallow bay was used to clarify the wave’s scattering process. When the first mode semidiurnal internal wave given at an open boundary arrives at the bay mouth, higher-mode internal waves are generated at a step bottom of the bay mouth. As a result, the energy of the first mode internal Kelvin wave is effectively decayed. The decay rate of the internal Kelvin wave depends on both the width and length of the additional bay. The maximum decay rate was found when a resonance condition occurs the bay, that is, the bay length is equal to a quarter of wave length of the first mode internal wave on the shallow region. The decay rate in the wide bay cases is higher than that in a narrow case, due to a contribution from the scattering due to the Poincare wave that emanates from the corners of the bay head. The decay rate with the additional bay is 1.1–1.8 times that of the case without the additional bay. The decay rate due to the scattering process is found to be of the same order as that of the internal and bottom friction.     

Possible Density Change of the Origin of North Pacific Intermediate Water Due to Double Diffusion in the Mixed Water Region

In this study we test Talley's hypothesis that Oyashio winter mixed-layer water (26.5–26.6σ _θ) increases its density to produce the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) salinity minimum (26.7– 26.8σ_θ) in the Mixed Water Region, assuming a combination of cabbeling and double diffusion. The possible density change of Oyashio winter mixed-layer water is discussed using an instantaneous ratio of the change of temperature and salinity along any particular intrusion (R _l ). We estimate the range of R _l ^DD required to convert Oyashio winter mixed-layer water to the NPIW salinity minimum due to double diffusion, and then assume double-diffusive intrusions as this conversion mechanism. A double-diffusive intrusion model is used to estimate R _l ^DD in a situation where salt fingering dominates vertical mixing, as well as to determine whether Oyashio winter mixed-layer water can become the NPIW salinity minimum. Possible density changes are estimated from the model R _l ^DD by assuming the amount of density change due to cabbeling. From these results, we conclude that Oyashio winter mixed-layer water contributes to a freshening of the lighter layer of the NPIW salinity minimum (around 26.70σ_θ) in the MWR.     

Numerical Simulation of Residual Circulation due to Bottom Rouglmess Variability Under Tidal Flows in A Semi-Enclosed Bay

Nowadays there are some chronic serious environmental problems, such as eutrophication, blue tide and so on, in a complicated coastal zone or a semi-enclosed bay, because the water exchanges between an inner bay and an outer sea is weak compared with the supply of contaminant. Under this situation, a method to improve the water quality by 3-dimensional small unsymmetrical structures has been proposed by Komatsu et al. In this paper, several numerical simulations of the tidal current and concentration for various arrangements of bottom roughness in a semi-enclosed model bay are carfled out with a depth-averaged 2-D numerical model. The model is solved by the hybrid finite analytic method with nonstaggered grid. And the SIMPLES algorithm with Rhie and Chow＇ s momentum interpolation technique is used for the simulation. The effect of Komatsu＇ s method for water purification is examined by numerical simulation. The result of numerical experiment indicates that it is possible to generate a new tidal residual current and to activate a tidal exchange by bottom roughness arrangement only.     

Paleoenvironment and sea-level change in the early Cretaceous Barents Sea—implications from near-shore marine sapropels

The late Volgian (early "Boreal" Berriasian) sapropels of the Hekkingen Formation of the central Barents Sea show total organic carbon (TOC) contents from 3 to 36 wt%. The relationship between TOC content and sedimentation rate (SR), and the high Mo/Al ratios indicate deposition under oxygen-free bottom-water conditions, and suggest that preservation under anoxic conditions has largely contributed to the high accumulation of organic carbon. Hydrogen index values obtained from Rock-Eval pyrolysis are exceptionally high, and the organic matter is characterized by well-preserved type II kerogen. However, the occurrence of spores, freshwater algae, coal fragments, and charred land-plant remains strongly suggests proximity to land. Short-term oscillations, probably reflecting Milankovitch-type cyclicity, are superimposed on the long-term trend of constantly changing depositional conditions during most of the late Volgian. Progressively smaller amounts of terrestrial organic matter and larger amounts of marine organic matter upwards in the core section may have been caused by a continuous sea-level rise.     

Nonlinear response of a moored buoy

The nonlinear dynamic analysis of a multipoint slack moored buoy is performed under the action of first and second order wave forces. The nonlinearity of the system is caused by the geometric nonlinearity of the mooring lines. The resulting nonlinear equation of motion is solved by an incremental time marching scheme. The nonlinear responses of the system are analysed to investigate different kinds of dynamic instability phenomena that may arise due to the nonlinearity of the system. As an illustrative example, a hollow cylindrical buoy anchored to the sea bed by means of six slack mooring lines is considered. The responses of the system are obtained and analysed for three regular waves namely, 5 m/5 s, 12 m/10 s and 18 m/15 s. The results of the study show that different kinds of instability phenomena like nT subharmonic oscillations, symmetry breaking bifurcation and aperiodic responses may occur in slack mooring systems. Further, a second order wave force may considerably influence the dynamic stability of such systems.     

A nitrate and silicate budget in the equatorial Pacific Ocean: a coupled physical–biological model study

A coupled physical–biological model was developed to simulate the low-silicate, high-nitrate, and low-chlorophyll (LSHNLC) conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and used to compute a detailed budget in the Wyrtki box (5°N–5°S, 180–90°W) for the major sources and cycling of nitrogen and silicon in the equatorial Pacific. With the incorporation of biogenic silicon dissolution, NH₄ regeneration from organic nitrogen and nitrification of ammonia in the model, we show that silicon recycling in the upper ocean is less efficient than nitrogen. As the major source of nutrients to the equatorial Pacific, the Equatorial Undercurrent provides slightly less Si(OH)₄ than NO₃ to the upwelling zone, which is defined as 2.5°N–2.5°S. As a result, the equatorial upwelling supplies less Si(OH)₄ than NO₃ into the euphotic zone in the Wyrtki box, having a Si/N supply ratio of about 0.85 (2.5 vs. 2.96 mmolm⁻² day⁻¹). More Si(OH)₄ than NO₃ is taken up with a Si/N ratio of 1.17 (2.72 vs. 2.33 mmolm⁻² day⁻¹) within the euphotic zone. The difference between upwelling supply and biological uptake is balanced by nutrient regeneration and horizontal advection. Excluding regeneration, the net silicate and nitrate uptakes are nearly equal (1.76 vs. 1.84 mmolm⁻² day⁻¹). However, biogenic silica export production is slightly higher than organic nitrogen (1.74 vs. 1.59 mmolm⁻² day⁻¹) following a 1.1 Si/N ratio. In the central equatorial Pacific, low silicate concentrations limit diatom growth; therefore non-diatom new production accounts for most of the new production. Higher silicate supply in the east maintains elevated diatom growth rates and new production associated with diatoms dominate upwelling zone. In contrast, the new production associated with small phytoplankton is nearly constant or decreases eastward along the equator. The total new production has a higher rate in the east than in the west, following the pattern of surface silicate. This suggests that silicate regulates the diatom production, total new production, and thereby carbon cycle in this area. The modeled mean primary production is 48.4 mmolCm⁻² day⁻¹, representing the lower end of direct field measurements, while new production is 15.0 mmolCm⁻² day⁻¹, which compares well with previous estimates.     

Modeling bed-load transport of coarse sediments in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire

Current, sea level and bed-load transport are investigated in the Lower Piscataqua River section of the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire, USA—a well-mixed and geometrically complex system with low freshwater input, having main channel tidal currents ranging between 0.5 and 2 m s⁻¹. Current and sea level forced by the M₂M₄M₆ tides at the estuarine mouth are simulated by a vertically averaged, non-linear, time-stepping finite element model. The hydrodynamic model uses a fixed boundary computational domain and accounts for flooding–drying of tidal flats by making use of a groundwater component. Inertia terms are neglected in comparison with pressure gradient and bottom friction terms, which is consistent with the observed principal dynamic balance for this section of the system. The accuracy of hydrodynamic predictions in the study area is demonstrated by comparison with four tidal elevation stations and two cross-section averaged current measurements. Simulated current is then used to model bed-load transport in the vicinity of a rapidly growing shoal located in the main channel of the lower system. Consisting of coarse sand and gravel, the shoal must be dredged every five to eight years. Two approaches are taken—an Eulerian parametric method in which nodal bed-load flux vectors are averaged over the tidal cycle and a Lagrangian particle tracking approach in which a finite number of sediment particles are released and tracked. Both methods yield pathways and accumulations in agreement with the observed shoal formation and the long-term rate of sediment accumulation in the shoal area.     

The bottom currents in the area of abyssal hills in the north-east tropical Pacific Ocean

The results of simultaneous measurements of the bottom (6.25 and 35 m above the bottom) currents, deep currents, and surface currents made at three points in the north-east tropical Pacific Ocean are given. The bottom intensification of the current velocity is revealed in a layer of 35–25 m above the bottom. The estimation of the thickness of the bottom boundary layer (BBL) indicates that the velocity intensification is observed over the boundary layer upper border. A 10-day long benthic storm with a maximum measured velocity of 13 cm/s was revealed 6 m above the bottom. As was found, the origin of the benthic storm is associated with the penetration of an anticyclonic eddy down to the bottom.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.