Daily Variations in Nutrient Concentrations of Seawater at 321 m Depth in Toyama Bay, Japan Sea

Nutrient concentrations (nitrate + nitrite, phosphate and silicate) in deep seawater (321 m depth) of Toyama Bay, Japan, were measured from August 1996 to July 1997 to determine the magnitude of daily variations. Significant daily variations were observed; concentrations ranged from 4.42 to 22.4 µM for nitrate + nitrite, from 0.86 to 1.98 µM for phosphate, and from 9.91 to 47.7 µM for silicate, respectively. However, there were not significant relationships between nutrient concentrations and water temperature, or between nutrients and salinity. Since temperature and salinity in the >300 m depth layer were constant through the year, the results suggest that there may be water masses with different nutrient concentrations in the deep layers (at about 320 m depth) of the bay, and a horizontal advection of these water masses may be responsible for the observed daily variations.     

Wind Fields over Funka Bay and Their Effect on Water Circulation in the Bay

Horizontal wind fields over Funka Bay during cold air outbreaks were simulated using a 3-D meso-scale atmospheric model. The simulated wind fields over the bay have a positive curl in the north and a negative curl in the south. These wind fields were used to simulate the current in Funka Bay using a barotropic ocean model. The simulated current pattern was composed of two vortices—one with anti-clockwise vorticity in the north and the other with clockwise vorticity in the south—and was in the opposite direction to that simulated by the uniform wind fields. This is because the wind stress curl effect on the vorticity production in Funka Bay opposes and overwhelms the bathymetry torque effect during cold air outbreaks. These results show that the non-uniformity of the wind fields caused by the land topography around a shallow lake or bay cannot be neglected in simulating its currents.     

U–Th dating of carbonate nodules from methane seeps off Joetsu, Eastern Margin of Japan Sea

We performed U–Th radioactive disequilibrium analyses of carbonate nodules and sediment samples recovered from methane seep sites off Joetsu, of the eastern margin of Japan Sea, to decipher the active period of the methane seep. The carbonates contain ²³⁰Th, part of which is located in detritus such as silicate and organics, at the time of precipitation. The initial ²³⁰Th renders accurate dating with U–Th radioactive disequilibrium method difficult. We assessed the feasibility of correction using radioactive disequilibrium data of ambient sediment to overcome this difficulty. A (²³⁰Th/²³²Th)–(²³⁴U/²³²Th) isochron drawn by three chips divided from a carbonate nodule (PC05-04-50) passed through data points of local sediments. We conclude that the problem of initial ²³⁰Th can be resolved by measurements of local sediments. Results show that carbonate nodules include local sediment as impurities. Furthermore, the results of trace element analyses such as Rb, Zr, Nb, REE, Pb, and Th also support the idea.In all, 18 carbonate samples were dated with correction of initial ²³⁰Th using the mean value of local sediment in this study. The U–Th correction ages show 12–35ka with an isochron age of 26 ± 3ka. Results indicate that during the time interval of U–Th ages, from 12ka to 35ka, environmental conditions must have been favorable for enhanced methane flux through sediment. The extensive methane flow period at 20ka accords with the lowest-stand sea level during the last glacial age. Results of this study also suggest that U–Th ages of carbonate are useful as a reliable chronometer with regard to methane seep activation. In order to acquire U–Th ages of carbonate at methane seep sites, however, it is important to evaluate the amount of initial ²³⁰Th accurately using the value of sediment.     

Existence of eddies at crossroad of the Indonesian seas

An eddy-resolving Indo-Pacific ocean circulation model was applied to highlight the behavior of eddies throughout the Indonesian seas. The complexity of the topography and coastline at the entrance of the Makassar Strait induce an eddy-type throughflow, instead of a straightforward flow. A sill and a narrow passage in the Makassar strait creates a barrier and impedes the continuation of eddies from the Pacific ocean, but the existence of a steep deep basin (>500 m depth) between the Java and Flores seas indicates a possible area for eddies. Based on our numerical results, we described the presence of a unique eddy structure north of Lombok Island, which we designated the “Lombok Eddy” and verified it by performing a drifter release field experiment and reviewing monthly mean climatology data from the World Ocean Atlas 2001 and XBT PX2 track data. NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, satellite observation data, and mixed layer depth analysis were also used to confirm these processes. By analyzing numerical simulation results and available temperature datasets, two additional eddies were found. All eddies form primarily due to eastward local winds correlated with seasonal monsoon winds during the austral summer. These eddies vary synchronously at an interannual time scale. Together, they are referred to as the Lombok Eddy Train (LET), which affects the surface layer down to a depth of 60 m, and the intensity of the eddy system is strongly affected by mixed layer depth variability from December to February.     

Variation of the southward interior flow of the North Pacific subtropical gyre,as revealed by a repeat hydrographic survey

Baroclinic variations of the southward flow in the interior region of the North Pacific subtropical gyre are presented with five hydrographic sections from San Francisco to near Japan during 2004–2006. The volume transport averaged temperature of the interior flow, which varies vigorously by a maximum of 0.8°C, is negatively correlated with the transport in the layer of density 24.5–26.5σ _θ, associated with changes in the vertical current structure. Transport variation in this density layer is thus mainly responsible for the thermal impact of the interior flow on the heat transport of the subtropical gyre.     

Activities of Parent Comets and Related Meteor Showers

The activity of a meteor shower is thought to be proportional to the activities through time of the parent comet. Recent applications of the dust trail theory provide us not only with a new method to forecast the occurrences and intensities of shower activities, but it is also offers a new approach to explore the history of past activities of the parent comet by retro-tracking its associated meteor showers. We introduce the result of an effort for relating meteor shower activities to the parent comet activities for which we chose the October Draconids and comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in this paper.     

Dichothermal layer deepening in relation with halocline depth change associated with northward shrinkage of North Pacific western subarctic gyre in early 2000s

In the western subarctic North Pacific, a wind-driven cyclonic circulation, called the western subarctic gyre (WSAG), exists. We examined year-to-year changes of the gyre and hydrographic structures, applying the altimetry-based gravest empirical mode (AGEM) method to hydrographic and altimetric sea surface height (SSH) data, and relation to the in situ variation of the temperature minimum layer, i.e., the dichothermal layer, depth at station K2 (47^° N, 160^° E). The AGEM-based geostrophic volume transport and the streamfunction of the WSAG in the top 1000-dbar layer show that the gyre changes substantially. From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, the gyre shrunk northward. Due to the shrinkage, the halocline bottom, which is equivalent to the top of the main pycnocline, deepens at K2 outside the central part of the gyre. The downward displacement of the dichothermal layer at K2 was found to be significantly related to that of the underlying halocline due to the northward shrinkage of the WSAG.     

Can a minimalist model of wind forced baroclinic Rossby waves produce reasonable results?

The linear theory predicts that Rossby waves are the large scale mechanism of adjustment to perturbations of the geophysical fluid. Satellite measurements of sea level anomaly (SLA) provided sturdy evidence of the existence of these waves. Recent studies suggest that the variability in the altimeter records is mostly due to mesoscale nonlinear eddies and challenges the original interpretation of westward propagating features as Rossby waves. The objective of this work is to test whether a classic linear dynamic model is a reasonable explanation for the observed SLA. A linear-reduced gravity non-dispersive Rossby wave model is used to estimate the SLA forced by direct and remote wind stress. Correlations between model results and observations are up to 0.88. The best agreement is in the tropical region of all ocean basins. These correlations decrease towards insignificance in mid-latitudes. The relative contributions of eastern boundary (remote) forcing and local wind forcing in the generation of Rossby waves are also estimated and suggest that the main wave forming mechanism is the remote forcing. Results suggest that linear long baroclinic Rossby wave dynamics explain a significant part of the SLA annual variability at least in the tropical oceans.