Jellyfish patch formation investigated by aerial photography and drifter experiment

Jellyfish patch formation is investigated by conducting a drifter experiment combined with aerial photography of a sustained patch of the moon jellyfish in Hokezu Bay, Japan. Jellyfish patches are aggregations of individuals that are caused by a combination of swimming (active influence) and advection by currents (passive influence). The drifter experiment involved the injection of 49 drifters around a distinct surface patch of jellyfish within an area of approximately 300 m × 300 m. The drifters’ motion, caused only by the passive influence, was recorded in a series of 38 aerial photographs taken over approximately 1 h. The ambient uniform current field larger than the patch scale was estimated from the movement of the centroid position of drifters, while the distribution of horizontal divergence and relative vorticity around the patch was estimated from the time-derivative in areas of triangles formed by the drifters. The centroid positions of both drifters and patches moved stably toward the bay head at different speeds. The difference vector between the patch and drifter centroids was directed to the sun, and was opposite to the ambient current. The distributions of vorticity and divergence around patches exhibited inhomogeneity within the patch scale, and the drifters in this nonuniform current field aggregated near the convergence area within 1 h. The results suggest that horizontal patch formation is predominantly influenced by passive factors at the surface of Hokezu Bay. Furthermore, the upward swimming against downwelling may make sustained patch in surface layer.     

Spatial Patterns in Nutrient and In Vivo Fluorescence Distributions in the Marginal Ice Zone and the Seasonally Open Oceanic Zone in the Indian Sector of the Antarctic Ocean, in Austral Summer

Surface temperature, salinity, concentrations of silicate (Si) and nitrate + nitrite (N), and in vivo fluorescence (Fluor) were investigated in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) and the seasonally open oceanic zone (SOOZ) (32–40°E, 64–69°S) from February 23 to 28 1992. In the MIZ the mean Si and N were 67.8 ± 2.2 M and 32.5 ± 1.7 M, respectively. There was a trend that low N values coincided with high Fluor values. Observation conducted at one point (64°S, 38°E) revealed a diel variation pattern in Fluor. Applying this pattern of deviation from noon value, all Fluor data were normalized to value at local noon. In the MIZ a significant negative correlation was observed between the normalized Fluor and N but not Si. On the other hand, Si decreased continuously from south to north in the SOOZ and was negatively correlated with the normalized Fluor. Difference in Si concentration was about 30 M between the sea around 64°S and the MIZ, while the difference in N concentration was estimated as less than 10 M. If diatoms take up silicate and nitrogen at an approximate ratio of 1:1, additional nitrogenous nutrients other than nitrate and nitrite (e.g. ammonia, urea etc.) would be required. In this case, an f-ratio of lower than 33% is obtained. It is suggested that in the MIZ abundance of phytoplankton community dominated by non-diatom increases utilizing nitrate while in the SOOZ abundance of phytoplankton community dominated by diatoms increases consuming Si and regenerated nitrogen.     

Stability of Temperature and Conductivity Sensors of Argo Profiling Floats

After recalibration of the temperature and conductivity sensors of three Argo profiling floats recovered after operations for four to nine months, the results indicate that the floats basically showed no significant drift, either in temperature or salinity, and adequately fulfilled the accuracy requirement of the Argo project (0.005°C for temperature and 0.01 psu for salinity). Only the third float showed a significant offset in salinity of about −0.02 psu, as expected from comparison between the float data and the shipboard conductivity-temperature-depth data. This offset was caused by the operational error of the PROVOR-type float, in which the surface water was pumped immediately after the launch, fouling the conductivity sensor cell. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A theory of semigeostrophic gravity waves and its application to the intrusion of a density current along a coast

Semigeostrophic gravity waves associated with a coastal boundary current, which has finite and uniform potential vorticity and is bounded away from the coastline by a density front on the ocean surface, are investigated. It is shown that the semigeostrophic coastal current has two waves which are named here the Semigeostrophic Coastal Wave (SCW) and the Semigeostrophic Frontal Wave (SFW). The SCW becomes an elementary Kelvin wave at some limit while the SFW is caused by the existence of the surface density front. The SCW appears mainly as variations in the upper layer depth at the coast and as alongshore velocity at the density front. On the other hand, the SFW appears mainly as variations in the width of the current. When the weak nonlinearity and ageostrophic effect are included, these semigeostrophic gravity waves satisfy the Kortweg- de Vries equation, which suggests that the local changes in the width and/or velocity of the semigeostrophic coastal current propagate as wave-like disturbances.     

Validity of sea surface temperature observed with the TRITON buoy under diurnal heating conditions

In order to investigate the validity of buoy-observed sea surface temperature (SST), we installed special instruments to measure near-surface ocean temperature on the TRITON buoy moored at 2.07°N, 138.06°E from 2 to 13 March 2004, in addition to a standard buoy sensor for the regular SST measurement at 1.5-m depth. Large diurnal SST variations were observed during this period, and the variations of the temperatures at about 0.3-m depth could be approximately simulated by a one-dimensional numerical model. However, there was a notable discrepancy between the buoy-observed 1.5-m-depth SST (SST_1.5m) and the corresponding model-simulated temperature only during the daytime when the diurnal rise was large. The evaluation of the heat balance in the sea surface layer showed that the diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m in these cases could not be accounted for by solar heating alone. We examined the depth of the SST_1.5m sensor and the near-surface temperature observed from a ship near the buoy, and came to the conclusion that the solar heating of the buoy hull and/or a disturbance in the temperature field around the buoy hull would contribute to the excessive diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m observed with the TRITON buoy. However, the temperature around the hull was not sufficiently homogenized, as suggested in a previous paper. For the diurnal rise of the SST_1.5m exceeding 0.5 K, the daytime buoy data became doubtful, through dynamics that remain to be clarified. A simple formula is proposed to correct the unexpected diurnal amplitude of the buoy SST_1.5m.     

Steady Response of a Ventilated Thermocline to Enhanced Ekman Pumping

The steady response of the ventilated thermocline to an increase in Ekman pumping is investigated, focusing on the effect of the mixed layer depth distribution on the subsurface density anomaly. We consider only the subtropical gyre, and the mixed layer is assumed to be deep in the northwest and shallow elsewhere with a narrow transition zone separating the deep and shallow mixed layer regions. At the intersection of this narrow transition zone and the outcrop line, low potential vorticity fluid is subducted into and ventilates the thermocline. In such a situation, an enhancement of the Ekman pumping confined to the northern subtropical gyre leads to pronounced subsurface cold anomalies in the southern subtropics, which is free of anomalous forcing. These density anomalies are much greater than those that occur when either the mixed layer depth is zonally uniform or the Ekman pumping is enhanced in the whole subtropical gyre. They are caused by anomalous changes in the trajectory of the low potential vorticity fluid in response to anomalous Sverdrup flow. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A shipborne wave-recording system with digital data processing

A shipborne wave-recording system which consists of a sonic wave gauge, accelerometers, gyroscopes and a computer system is described. Signals from the measuring apparatus are fed directly into a shipborne digital computer system at a prescribed sampling rate. The time series of wave heights and the acceleration are transformed into Fourier series using an algorithm of Fast Fourier Transform. Errors contained in the observed wave heights due to ship motion are corrected in the Fourier series by using the Fourier coefficients for the vertical acceleration. Power spectra and waveforms can also be calculated in a short time with this system from Fourier coefficients. Examples of the observational results obtained in the central part of the East China Sea in 1969 are presented.     

Preserved paleo-oceanic plateaus in accretionary complexes: Implications for the contributions of the Pacific superplume to global environmental change

We have reinvestigated the mid-Cretaceous plume pulse in relation to paleo-oceanic plateaus from accretionary prisms in the circum-Pacific region, and we have correlated the Pacific superplume activity with catastrophic environmental changes since the Neoproterozoic. The Paleo-oceanic plateaus are dated at 75–150 Ma; they were generated in the Pacific superplume region and are preserved in accretionary prisms. The volcanic edifice composed of both modern and paleo-oceanic plateaus is up to 10.7 × 10⁶ km² in area and 19.1 × 10⁷ km³ in volume. The degassing rate of CO₂ (0.82 − 1.1 × 10¹⁸ mol/m.y.) suggests a significant impact on Cretaceous global warming. The synchronous occurrence of paleo-oceanic plateaus in accretionary complexes indicates that Pacific superplume pulse activities roughly coincided at the Permo-Triassic boundary and the Vendian–Cambrian boundary interval. The CO₂ expelled by the Pacific superplume probably contributed to environmental catastrophes. The initiation of the Pacific superplume contributed to the snowball Earth event near the Vendian–Cambrian boundary; this was one of the most dramatic events in Earth's history. The scale of the Pacific superplume activity roughly corresponds to the scale of drastic environmental change.     

Preparation of a New Geological Survey of Japan Geochemical Reference Material: Coral JCp-1

A new geochemical reference material, coral Porites sp. JCp-1 has been prepared by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ). Provisional values for twenty one major, minor and trace elements are presented. The homogeneity tests showed that all elements studied are considered to be homogeneously distributed.