Increased Stratification and Decreased Lower Trophic Level Productivity in the Oyashio Region of the North Pacific: A 30-Year Retrospective Study

An analysis of the time series data sets collected from the 1960s to 1990s in the Oyashio Water revealed signs of alteration in the physical, chemical and biological properties of the water column in the western subarctic North Pacific. Wintertime salinity, phosphate concentration and apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) in the subsurface increased linearly over the 30 years. At the same time, salinity and phosphate in the surface mixed layer decreased. An increase in the density gradient in the surface and subsurface suggested that the water column stratification intensified, reducing the vertical exchange of water properties during the period. The Net Community Production (NCP), estimated from the phosphate consumption from February through August, also declined. Water column Chl a was approximately halved and diatoms decreased by one order of magnitude in spring, consistent with the multi-decadal decreasing trend of NCP. Zooplankton biomass was also nearly halved during the same period. In contrast, wintertime Chl a increased by 63% and diatom abundance doubled. Developmental timing became earlier in Neocalanus flemingeri, and spring occurrence of N. plumchrus increased after the 1980s. Reduced vertical water exchange might have limited nutrient supply to the level, decreasing winter-summer NCP for these three decades. It is speculated that, in the meantime, the earlier stabilization of the surface layer might have enhanced wintertime diatom production in the Oyashio's light-limited environment. This condition could allow zooplankton to effectively utilize diatoms from earlier timing, resulting in the apparent early developmental timing and abundance increase. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Perspectives on Biological Research for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Ocean Sequestration

Feasibility studies recently suggest that sequestration of anthropogenic CO₂ in the deep ocean could help reduce the atmospheric CO₂ concentration. However, implementation of this strategy could have a significant environmental impact on marine organisms. This has highlighted the urgent need of further studies concerning the biological impact of CO₂ ocean sequestration. In this paper we summarize the recent literature reporting on the biological impact of CO₂ and discuss the research work required for the future. Although fundamental research of the effect of CO₂ on marine organisms before the practical consideration of CO₂ ocean sequestration was limited, laboratory and field studies concerning biological impacts have been increasing after the first international workshop in 1991 discussing CO₂ ocean sequestration. Acute impacts of CO₂ ocean sequestration could be determined by laboratory and field experiments and assessed by simulation models as described by the following papers in this section. On the other hand, chronic effects of CO₂ ocean sequestration, those directly related to the marine ecosystem, would be difficult to verify by means of experiments and to assess using ecosystem models. One of the practical solutions for this issue implies field experiments starting with controlled small scale and eventually to a large scale of CO₂ injection intended to determine ecosystem alteration. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

In Situ Measurement of the Lobate Ctenophore Bolinopsis Mikado (Moser) Abundance by the Video Recording System

A video recording system (VRS) with dark-field illumination was designed for continuous observation of the lobate ctenophore Bolinopsis mikado on spatial distribution, abundance and size distribution. In situ operation proved that the VRS was capable to discriminate B. mikado larger than 15 mm in total length at the towing speed around 0.5 m s^–1. The VRS was useful to determine spatial distribution of B. mikado biomass, since it measured the abundance and size composition simultaneously.     

An improved method for the determination of phytoplankton chlorophyll using N,N-dimethylformamide

Non volatile N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at room temperature is proposed as a new solvent for determining the chlorophylla in cultured and natural phytoplankton samples. Advantages of DMF compared to the solvents ordinarily used are (1) higher extraction efficiency, (2) rapid extraction time of 30 min, (3) simple extraction procedure requiring neither extra heating nor grinding, but soaking, and (4) a long stable life of chlorophylla (at least one month at 5°C in the dark).     

Response of a two-layer ocean with a baroclinic current to a moving storm,part I

A storm moves with a constant speed parallel to a stationary geostrophic current which flows only in the upper layer of a two-layer, infinite ocean. It is assumed that the lower layer is motionless. The quasi-geostrophic approximation is valid for a moving speed less than 4 ms^–1 for a storm radius of 100 km. The primary change of the upper layer thickness is caused by the wind stress divergence and the time integral of the wind stress curl. A cyclonic storm generates upwelling in its wake. The effect of the stationary flow similar to a western boundary current is minor by an order of magnitude and noticeable only on the left edge of the flow. Scaling of equations of motion and continuity for a more general upper geostrophic flow leads to expansion with a parametera ²=gH _m(fL)^–2, whereg is reduced gravity,H _m is the maximum thickness of the upper layer,f is Coriolis' parameter andL is the storm radius. The zeroth order perturbations of transport and thickness do not include the stationary flow which appears only in the first order perturbations ina ². When there is a coast, the change of the interface near the coast is dependent on the time integral of the wind stress component parallel to the coast, thus leading to upwelling or downwelling according to the center being to the left or right of the coastline.     

Barotropic disturbances caused by a point storm in aβ-plane ocean

Barotropic equation for vorticity balance in the-plane is solved for a volume transport stream function with a northward moving wind stress torque concentrated at a point (tweak). Asymptotic techniques are applied to the solution expressed by Fourier type integrals. In the front zone (northern half from the tweak) the stream function behaves asO(¦X¦^–5) whereX is a scaled eastward coordinate. In the wake, the stream function behaves asO(¦X¦^–1/2) within a wedge bounded by the westward axis and a line directed SSE approximately, but behaves asO(¦X¦^–5) in the rest of the half plane. On these boundaries it behaves asO(¦X¦^–5/2) andO(¦X¦^–1/3), respectively. East-west asymmetry is a result of asymmetry in zonal propagation of the planetary waves, which also cause the wavy pattern of the streamline in the western half of the wake. Friction is most effective in decreasing the stream function in the south to SSW sector and least effective to the west. Effect of divergence changes the wave pattern in the western half of the wake but does not change magnitude of the stream function. It is speculated that abnormal changes in daily mean sea levels observed in 1965 to 1971 along the south coast of Japan may be caused by the wake effect of moving typhoons east off Japan.     

Transport mechanism of suspended matter above the shelf slope at the mouth of Tokyo Bay

Transport mechanism of suspended matter above the shelf slope is investigated with the use of the moorings of time-series sediment trap, current meter and nephelometer at three stations at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, Japan during 21 to 25 August 1993. Tidal pump mechanism is effective for the transport of suspended matter at the shelf edge, but the boring-like flood tidal current resuspends the settled suspended matter, on the bottom of shelf slope and the resuspended matter is resulted to be moved upslope in one tidal cycle at 10 m above the bottom of shelf slope.     

Incorporation rate measurements of <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be, <Superscript>230</Superscript>Th, <Superscript>231</Superscript>Pa,and <Superscript>239,240</Superscript>Pu radionuclides in manganese crust in the Pacific Ocean: A search for extraterrestrial material

In order to estimate the deposition rate of extraterrestrial material onto a manganese crust in a search for supernova debris, we analyzed the contents of ¹⁰Be, ²³⁰Th, ²³¹Pa, and ^239,240Pu in a sample of manganese crust collected from the North Pacific Ocean. On the basis of the depth profile of ¹⁰Be, the growth rate of the manganese crust was determined to be 2.3 mm Myr⁻¹. The uptake rates of ¹⁰Be, ²³⁰Th, and ²³¹Pa onto the manganese crust were estimated to be 0.22–0.44%, 0.11–0.73%, and 1.4–4.5%, respectively, as compared to the deposition rates onto the deep-sea sediments near the sampling station, while that for ^239,240Pu was 0.14% as compared to the total inventory of seawater and sediment column. Assuming that sinking particles represent 0.11–4.5% of the uptake rates, the deposition rate of extraterrestrial material onto the manganese crust was estimated to be 2–800 μg cm⁻²Myr⁻¹ according to the uptake of ¹⁰Be onto the manganese crust. Further, our estimate is similar to the value of 9–90 μg cm^{− 2}Myr⁻¹ obtained using the integrated global production rate of ¹⁰Be and the deposition rate of ¹⁰Be onto the manganese crust.