Numerical modelling of the seasonal variability of the North and Tropical Atlantic currents using an adaptation approach

The paper reports computed data on the seasonal variability of the Atlantic Ocean currents which were obtained through numerical integration (using conservative difference schemes) of non-linear equations of hydrothermodynamics taking into account an upper quasi-homogeneous layer and the bottom topography. The seasonal variability of the meridional heat transfer is discussed. The results were obtained using an adaptation approach.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Errors in recent ocean tide models: possible origin and cause

Recently, the TOPEX/POSEIDON Science Working Team has recommended the FES95.2.1 and CSR3.0 ocean tide models for reprocessing the TOPEX/POSEIDON Geophysical Data Records. Without doubt, the performance of these models, especially in the deep oceans, is excellent. However, from a comparison of these hydrodynamically consistent models with the purely empirical DW3.2 and DEOS96.1 models, it appears that FES95.2.1 and CSR3.0 are affected by basin boundary related errors which are caused by the basin-wise solution procedure of the FES ocean tide model series. In their turn, the empirical DW3.2 and DEOS96.1 models seem to suffer from significant errors in the Antarctic seas due to the seasonal growth and decay of Antarctic sea ice. Also, bathymetry-induced differences were found between the hydrodynamically consistent models and the empirical models. Concerning these differences, TOPEX/POSEIDON and ERS-1 crossover statistics unfortunately do not provide conclusive results on which models are in error.     

The biokinetic behavior of Tc in juvenile Coho Salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum)

Juvenile coho salmon, Onchorynchus kisutch, were exposed to ^95mTc in both saltwater and freshwater to study the biokinetic behavior of this element in an anadromous fish. In freshwater, equilibrium whole-body concentration factors (CF₅) ranged from 28 to 32 in two separate experiments, in sharp contrast to an equilibriumCF of < 5 in saltwater. While the uptake kinetics were unimodal in saltwater, in freshwater, biomodal uptake kinetics were observed.Technetium-95m retention was biphasic in freshwater depuration experiments, an initial rapid loss of 21% to 26% of the steady-state activity with an elimination half-life of 3 to 5 days was followed by a slower loss rate, with a whole-body elimination half-life ranging from 23 to 33 days. In saltwater, retention was monophasic with an elimination half-life of 5–16 days. Dramatic decreases in ^95mTc body burdens when freshwater-labeled fish are transferred to Tc-labeled saltwater indicate that the changes in physiology accompanying saltwater acclimation lead to the loss of ^95mTc.     

The application of isotopic and biogeochemical markers to the study of the biochemistry of organic matter in a macrotidal estuary, the Loire, France

The biogeochemistry of organic matter in a macrotidal estuary, the Loire, France, has been studied for two years during different seasons. Both particulate matter and sediment have been sampled in the riverine zone, in the maximum turbidity zone and in the ocean near the river mouth. Two techniques have been used: carbon isotopic ratio determination and analysis of lipid-marker signatures in the n-alkane, n-alkene and fatty acid series. For the period corresponding to the output of the maximum turbidity zone in the ocean, the complete change of organic matter, continental in nature in the inner estuary, pure marine in the outer estuary is well illustrated by the decrease of δ¹³C values and of carbon preference index of n-alkanes. Input sources of organic matter by continental plants, plankton and micro-organisms are discussed from biogeochemical-marker analyses data along with the processes of accumulation of particles and their evolution with the season. Some criteria for evidencing the nature of various organic-matter pools are assessed and compared in different chemical-marker series as follows: high molecular weight n-alkanes and fatty acids, perylene for continental imprints, polyunsaturated 18-, 20- and 22-carbon fatty acids, n-C₁₇, n-alkenes and squalene for algae imprints, branched iso and anteiso fatty acids, Δ11-C_18:1 for microbial imprints.     

Spectral-temporal structure of variations in the atmospheric total ozone in central Eurasia

The results of long-term (1980–2003) systematic measurements of the total ozone content at the Issyk Kul station (42.6° N, 77.0° E; 1650 m above sea level) are presented. The statistical characteristics and spectral structure of variations in the total ozone and the main tendencies of its temporal variability are determined. It is found that the total ozone content decreased in 1980–2003 at an average rate of (?1.29±0.08) DU/yr. The results of Fourier and wavelet analyses have shown that only oscillations with periods of 12, 27–29, and 102–105 months are rather stable and can be represented as harmonic oscillations. Oscillations with periods shorter than six months have the character of periodically arising pulsations. Among these, oscillations with periods of 27–29 and 34–37 days can be distinguished. It is noted that the spectral-temporal structure of variations in the total ozone content obtained from ground-based measurements at the Issyk Kul station is in good agreement with the corresponding structure obtained from TOMS satellite measurements.     

A detailed survey near Mount Eratosthenes Eastern Mediterranean

A detailed marine survey made to the South West of Mount Eratosthenes is described. The results show the existence of a narrow zone of WNW trending deformed sediment west of the mount surrounded by an evaporite sequence in different stages of deformation.This work was intended to settle the conflict between the results of three previous interpretations of the tectonic structure of this area. We see the area being characterised by five areas with different degrees of tectonic deformation yet showing little causal relationship to overburden of Nile Cone sediments. A fault controlled cliff coincides with the previously described salt wall and strike slip fault yet we see no evidence for its diapiric origin nor positive evidence for strike slip motion along it. We concur with the previously observed area of higher free-air gravity anomalies termed the Eratosthenes tectonic zone, although it is traversed by several boundaries between areas of different deformation. Our results thus show some agreements and some re-interpretations of the observations. This complicated region is not yet fully understood however.     

Algorithm for non-hydrostatic dynamics in the Regional Oceanic Modeling System

A non-hydrostatic algorithm for the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) is proposed. It is based on a decomposition technique for hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic pressure. The algorithm has a pressure-correction scheme with split-explicit time-stepping for baroclinic and barotropic vertical modes with a free surface. The algorithm implementation requires solving a Poisson equation for a non-hydrostatic pressure that has a non-symmetric matrix in discrete form. The efficiency of a different class of solvers and preconditioners were tested. The algorithm is successfully implemented with several examples where non-hydrostatic effects are important. These include standing external gravity waves; strongly nonlinear internal wave generation and transformation; stratified shear instability and its associated mixing; and nonlinear internal tidal generation over a ridge. The corresponding changes in the pre-processing and post-processing infrastructure in the existing hydrostatic ROMS code were performed to implement parallel elliptic solvers and a new set of dynamical equations.     

The First Law of Thermodynamics in a salty ocean

The First Law of Thermodynamics is developed from fundamentals for open, non-equilibrium systems of seawater in motion, exchanging salt and freshwater internally and with their surroundings, and varying continuously in temperature, pressure, and salinity. The aim is clarity and consistency of concepts – and precision in the accompanying vocabulary. Particular attention is given to the way in which salinity variation plays out in the logical structures. The arbitrary constants in the thermodynamic potentials and the various First Law equations are highlighted, in order to remove them, and to recover the physically meaningful content. When this is done, it is seen that salinity variations have little consequence in application of the First Law to the ocean, apart from affecting values of coefficients.