How are large western hemisphere warm pools formed?

During the boreal summer the Western Hemisphere warm pool (WHWP) stretches from the eastern North Pacific to the tropical North Atlantic and is a key feature of the climate of the Americas and Africa. In the summers following nine El Niño events during 1950–2000, there have been five instances of extraordinarily large warm pools averaging about twice the climatological annual size. These large warm pools have induced a strengthened divergent circulation aloft and have been associated with rainfall anomalies throughout the western hemisphere tropics and subtropics and with more frequent hurricanes. However, following four other El Niño events large warm pools did not develop, such that the mere existence of El Niño during the boreal winter does not provide the basis for predicting an anomalously large warm pool the following summer.In this paper, we find consistency with the hypothesis that large warm pools result from an anomalous divergent circulation forced by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Pacific, the so-called atmospheric bridge. We also find significant explanations for why large warm pools do not always develop. If the El Niño event ends early in the eastern Pacific, the Pacific warm anomaly lacks the persistence needed to force the atmospheric bridge and the Atlantic portion of the warm pool remains normal. If SST anomalies in the eastern Pacific do not last much beyond February of the following year, then the eastern North Pacific portion of the warm pool remains normal. The overall strength of the Pacific El Niño does not appear to be a critical factor. We also find that when conditions favor a developing atmospheric bridge and the winter atmosphere over the North Atlantic conforms to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern (as in 1957–58 and 1968–69), the forcing is reinforced and the warm pool is stronger. On the other hand, if a positive NAO pattern develops the warm pool may remain normal even if other circumstances favor the atmospheric bridge, as in 1991–92. Finally, we could find little evidence that interactions internal to the tropical Atlantic are likely to mitigate for or against the formation of the largest warm pools, although they may affect smaller warm pool fluctuations or the warm pool persistence.     

Th sorption and export models in the water column: A review

Over the past few decades, the radioisotope pair of ²³⁸U / ²³⁴Th has been widely and increasingly used to describe particle dynamics and particle export fluxes in a variety of aquatic systems. The present paper is one of five review articles dedicated to ²³⁴Th. It is focused on the models associated with ²³⁴Th whereas the companion papers (same issue) are focused on present and future methodologies and techniques (Rutgers van der Loeff et al.), C / ²³⁴Th ratios (Buesseler et al.), ²³⁴Th speciation (Santschi et al.) and present and future applications of ²³⁴Th [Waples, J.T., Benitez-Nelson, C.R., Savoye, N., Rutgers van der Loeff, M., Baskaran, M., Gustafsson, Ö., this issue. An Introduction to the application and future use of ²³⁴Th in aquatic systems. Marine Chemistry, FATE special issue]. In this paper, we review current ²³⁴Th scavenging models and discuss the relative importance of the non-steady state and physical terms associated with the most commonly used model to estimate ²³⁴Th flux. Based on this discussion we recommend that for future work the use of models should be accompanied by a discussion of the effect that model and data uncertainty have on the model results. We also suggest that future field work incorporate repeat occupations of sample sites on time scales of 1–4 weeks in order to evaluate steady state versus non-steady state estimates of ²³⁴Th export, especially during high flux events (> ca. 800 dpm m^− 2 d^− 1). Finally, knowledge of the physical oceanography of the study area is essential, particularly in ocean margins and in areas of established upwelling (e.g., Equatorial Pacific). These suggestions will greatly enhance the application of ²³⁴Th as a tracer of particle dynamics and flux in more complicated regimes.     

Sources and biogeochemical cycling of particulate selenium in the San Francisco Bay estuary

As part of a study of estuarine selenium cycling, we measured the concentration, chemical form (speciation), and distribution of particulate selenium under various river flow conditions in the North San Francisco Bay (from the Golden Gate to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers). We also conducted laboratory studies on the accumulation of selenium by phytoplankton, the critical first step in the transformation of dissolved to particulate selenium. Total particulate selenium concentration in the North SF Bay was relatively constant between high and low flow periods, ranging spatially from 0.05 to 0.35 nmol l⁻¹ and comprising between 5 and 12% of the total water column selenium inventory. Mean concentrations were generally highest in the Carquinez Strait–Suisun Bay region (salinity 0–17) and lowest in Central Bay. However, selenium content of suspended particles varied with river flow, with higher content during low flow (9.76 ± 4.17 nmol g⁻¹; mean ± sd; n = 67) compared to high flow (7.10 ± 4.24 nmol g⁻¹; n = 39). Speciation analyses showed that most particulate selenium is organic selenide (45 ± 27%), with a smaller proportion (typically <30%) of adsorbed selenite + selenate and a varying proportion (35 ± 28%) of elemental selenium. Based on the amount of elemental selenium in the seston (total suspended material), we calculate that resuspension of estuarine sediments could contribute 29–100% of particulate selenium in the water column. While selenium content of SF Bay seston (>0.4 μm) is relatively unenriched compared to phytoplankton (13.6–155 nmol g⁻¹ dry weight) on a mass basis, when normalized to carbon or nitrogen, seston contains a similar selenium concentration to SF Bay sediments or phytoplankton cultures. SF Bay seston is thus comprised of selenium-rich phytoplankton and phyto-detritus, but also inorganic clay mineral particles that effectively “dilute” total particulate selenium. Selenium concentrations in algal cultures (11 species) exposed to 90 nmol l⁻¹ selenite show relatively large differences in selenium accumulation, with the diatoms, chlorophytes and cryptophytes generally having lower selenium cell content (3.8 ± 2.7 × 10⁻⁹ nmol selenium cell⁻¹) compared to the dinoflagellates (193 ± 73 × 10⁻⁹ nmol selenium cell⁻¹). Because phytoplankton are such a rich (but variable) source of selenium, their dynamics could have a profound effect on the particulate selenium inventory in the North SF Bay.     

东海蛾螺属二新记录种(腹足纲,蛾螺科)

在整理近年来东海采集的蛾螺科Buccinidae标本时,鉴定出属于蛾螺属Buccinum Linnaeus,1758的两个中国新记录种:(1)白肋蛾螺Buccinum leucostoma Lischke,1872,采自于东海300—400m深的泥沙质海底;(2)古式蛾螺Buccinum koshikinum Okutani,1988采自于东海400m深的泥沙质海底。文中分别对这两个新记录种的形态特征、生活习性等进行了描述,并与相似种进行了分类学讨论。此外,文中还列出了中国海已报道的其他蛾螺属种类。     

瓦氏黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus vachellii)Toll样受体2(TLR2)基因克隆及免疫功能

为探究Toll样受体2(Toll-like receptor 2,TLR2)及下游免疫分子对瓦氏黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus vachellii)机体的保护作用,本研究采用RT-PCR及RACE法获得瓦氏黄颡鱼TLR2全长c DNA(2611bp),编码789个氨基酸残基,含有10个富含亮氨酸的重复序列(Leucine Rich Repeat,LRR)和Toll/IL-1R(Toll/IL-1 Receptor Domain,TIR)同源区结构域,属I型跨膜受体。序列同源性比对发现,瓦氏黄颡鱼TLR2 c DNA与斑点叉尾、鲤及虹鳟的同源性分别为78%、62%及49%。系统进化树分析表明,瓦氏黄颡鱼TLR2与斑点叉尾聚为一支。q RT-PCR分析表明,TLR2 m RNA在检测的组织中均有表达,且在头肾和脾脏中表达水平显著高于其他组织(P0.05)。嗜水气单胞菌感染能显著上调瓦氏黄颡鱼肝脏、头肾及脾脏中TLR2 m RNA表达(P0.05),分别在24h、48h及12h达到最大值。头肾中的TLR 2信号通路下游的髓样分化因子、半胱氨酸蛋白酶8、核转录因子kappa B、肿瘤坏死因子α、白细胞介素1βm RNA均显著上升(P0.05),分别在24h、12h、48h,48h和48h达到最大值。结果表明,嗜水气单胞菌感染激活了TLR2信号通路,通过上调表达,肿瘤坏死因子α,白细胞介素1β等。本研究表明,TLR2在瓦氏黄颡鱼抵御嗜水气单胞菌侵染的过程中发挥了重要的免疫作用。     

台湾海峡冬、夏季氮通量的数值模拟研究

本文建立了一个气候态驱动的台湾海峡物理-生态耦合模型（ROMS-NPZD）。与遥感观测数据的比较表明,模型能够较好地模拟出冬、夏季台湾海峡主要的温度和叶绿素分布特征。模型揭示了夏季台湾海峡营养盐输运的东、西通道,与南海次表层水的入侵通道一致;冬季,海峡中的营养盐来源于闽浙沿岸水和通过澎湖水道入侵的南海次表层水。模拟结果表明:夏季,通过海峡流入东海的氮主要为有机氮;冬季,闽浙沿岸流为海峡和南海北部陆架提供了丰富的营养盐,不仅如此,南海次表层水进入海峡的营养盐通量与夏季相当。     

Sub-inertial oscillations in the Black Sea generated by the semidiurnal tidal potential

The Black Sea shelf is a region of intense manifestation of various dynamical processes. Under the influence of different natural forces, eddy-wave phenomena develop here, which influence the general circulation of sea waters, biological productivity, and the condition of the engineering structures. Modern numerical models allow us to simulate and analyze the processes of the joint dynamics of marine circulation and large-scale waves. In this work, we study the spatiotemporal spectral characteristics of the sea level and velocity fluctuations formed due to atmospheric forcing and tidal potential. The hydrophysical fields are calculated using the Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS), σ model based on primitive equations. We use the CORE data as atmospheric forcing at the sea surface; the tidal potential is described by the semidiurnal lunar constituent M₂. Analyzing the simulation results makes it possible to emphasize that accounting for the semidiurnal tidal potential not only improves the accuracy of the sea-level calculation at coastal stations, but also generates subinertial baroclinic oscillations previously found in the Black Sea from the data of in situ observations.     

Holocene Faunal Trends in West Siberia and Their Causes

Based on an analysis of the transformation of vertebrate and invertebrate fauna of West Siberia in the Holocene, the classification and periodization of the main faunal trends are presented. Against the background of changing environmental conditions, the key regularities of the faunal dynamics, and the ways some species penetrate into the territory of the region and others disappear from the beginning of the Holocene to the present time have been indicated. Three global and four fluctuating trends are identified. The anthropogenic trend is ascertained separately. A conclusion is made about the prevailing causes of these changes, associated primarily with periodic climatic processes of different levels, determined by planetary geological and cosmic cycles. It is emphasized that, in the historical period, anthropogenic factors play a significant role in the regional faunal dynamics.     

东太平洋CC区西区表层沉积物黏土矿物和地球化学特征

本文以太平洋CC区西区12个表层沉积物样品作为研究对象,对其粒度、化学组分和矿物成分进行分析,讨论其沉积环境和物质来源。研究区地处深海,主要以深海黏土和硅钙质黏土为主,含有少量的硅质黏土、黏土质硅质软泥和黏土质钙质软泥。黏土矿物成分主要是蒙皂石和伊利石,含有部分的高岭石和绿泥石。黏土矿物组成表明,区内沉积物主要是陆源,由高空气流携带而来,南极底流和热液活动对其物源的来源有一定影响。沉积物地球化学特征也表明,物源以陆源为主,稀土元素分布曲线和北太平洋表层海水稀土曲线类似,且表现出强的Ce亏损,表明生物活动导致的生物沉降对表层沉积物也有一定的影响。     

Acoustic monitoring using bamboo set net in the Southern Sea of Korea

High-temporal resolution profiles of acoustic backscatter were collected from a traditional bamboo set net along the coast of the Southern Sea, Korea, using sideward-looking multi-beam imaging sonar. These data were used to examine the impact of variations in tidal cycles and current speeds on the bamboo set net. The relatively high influx of fish during the nighttime compared to the low influx and high outflux of fish during the daytime suggests visual avoidance of the net by the fish during the daytime. The observed diel variation in the captured fish flux was significantly correlated with the current speed (day: r = 0.35, p = 0.002, night: r = 0.60, p < 0.001). The ratio of influx and outflux of fish, and current speed were correlated in a linear relationship (day: r = 0.45, p < 0.001; night: r = 0.56, p < 0.001). The fish activity of those inhabiting the bamboo set nets appears to be greatly influenced by day-night differences and current speed. The present study enhances understanding of fish behavior via utilization of a bamboo set net in the coastal zone.