A ∼6100 14C yr record of El Niño activity from the Galápagos Islands

Lithostratigrahic and mineralogic analyses of sediments from hypersaline Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galápagos Islands, provide evidence of past El Niño frequency and intensity. Laminated sediments indicate that at least 435 moderate to very strong El Niño events have occurred since 6100 ¹⁴C yr BP (7130 cal yr BP), and that frequency and intensity of events increased at about 3000 ¹⁴C yr BP (3100 cal yr BP). El Niño activity was present between 6100 and 4000 ¹⁴C yr BP (4600 cal yr BP) but infrequent. The Bainbridge record indicates that there has been considerable millennial-scale variability in El Niño since the mid-Holocene.     

Dynamics of upper tropospheric stationary wave anomalies induced by ENSO during the northern summer: A GCM study

Ensemble seasonal integrations are carried out with the COLA GCM, with a view to understand the dynamical connection between warm SST anomalies in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific Ocean and the upper level stationary wave anomalies seen during drought years over the Indian summer monsoon region. In addition, experiments with and without orography are performed in order to examine the role of the Himalayas in modulating the El Niño induced stationary wave anomalies over the summer monsoon region. The GCM simulations show a statistically significant weakening of the summer monsoon activity over India in response to the SST forcing in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This weakening of the summer monsoon appears to be largely related to modifications of the local Hadley and Walker cells over the summer monsoon region. In addition, it is seen that the anomalous ENSO divergent forcing over the tropical Pacific Ocean can act as a potential source for Rossby wave dispersion. Here one finds the possibility of meridionally propagating Rossby waves, which emanate from the ENSO forcing region, to interact with the subtropical westerlies and generate anomalous highs and lows in the subtropics and extratropics. The quasi-stationary perturbations seen over west Asia, Pakistan and northwest India during drought years, seem to be generated by the above mechanism. An alternate mechanism that could be important for the persistence of the quasi-stationary perturbations seems to be based on the dynamic excitation of middle latitude normal modes which can extract energy from the zonally varying unstable basic flow. It is seen from the GCM simulations, that the Himalayan orography plays a crucial role in anchoring the El Niño induced extratropical westerly troughs far to the west in the high latitude belt. In the absence of orography it is seen that the ENSO induced extra-tropical cyclonic anomalies tend to intrude southward into the monsoon region thereby destroying the regional scale circulations completely. Another effect due to the Himalayas is to generate lee waves on the eastern side of the topographic barrier which encircle the globe in the subtropics and midlatitudes.     

赤道太平洋对流活动异常对我国夏季降水和气温的影响

利用月平均ＯＬＲ、降水和气温资料,研究了ＥＮＳＯ期间赤道太平洋对流活动与我国夏季降水和气温的关系。结果表明：春季、夏季中、西太平洋对流活动异常与我国夏季江淮地区的降水有密切关系;春季和前一年冬季西太平洋对流活动异常与东北地区夏季降水有显著相关。前一年冬季中、西太平洋对流活动异常与我国降水的显著相关区是不同的,前者为华南、西南地区,后者为东北至内蒙古一带。气温与同期中、西太平洋对流活动的相关不显著。     

1997年的强ENSO事件

根据目前的海洋－大气资料,对普遍关注的１９９７年３月在热带太平洋开始形成的一次新的强ＥＮＳＯ事件进行了诊断研究,结果表明：赤道中、东太平洋大范围持续增温１－４℃、热带印度海洋温也同步增暖。ＳＯＩ持续异常低值,但还不及１９８２／１９９３年的工。赤道太平洋对流层低层信风异常减弱,高层东风加强。ＯＬＲ低值中心和最大负距平中心东移,赤道中太平洋对流活动加强。环太平洋沿岸热带地区出现明显旱涝异常。此次ＥＮＳ     

Discharge and suspended sediment transport in the Ayeyarwady River,Myanmar: centennial and decadal changes

Among the large rivers rising on the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent high mountains, the discharge and suspended sediment load of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River are the least well known. Data collected between 1969 and 1996 at Pyay (Prome) are analysed to provide the best available modern estimate of discharge (379 ± 47 × 10⁹ m³/year) and suspended sediment load (325 ± 57 × 10⁶ t/year) for the river upstream of the delta head. A statistical comparison with data collected in the nineteenth century (1871 to 1879) shows discharge has significantly decreased in the last ～100 years. Regression and correlation analyses between discharge in the modern period and indices of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) show a relationship. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interannual sea level variability in the South China Sea and its response to ENSO

Sea level observed by altimeter during the 1993–2004 period, thermosteric sea level from 1945 through 2004, and tide gauge records are analyzed to investigate the interannual variability of sea level in the South China Sea (SCS) and its relationship with ENSO (El Niño and Southern Oscillation). Both the interannual variations of the observed sea level and the thermosteric sea level are closely related to ENSO. An ‘enigma’ that the SST and sea level in the SCS have inverse response to ENSO is revealed. It is found that the thermosteric sea level has an excellent correspondence to seawater temperature at 100 m depth, and their variations are unsynchronized to SST. Detailed analysis denotes that the warming of seawater occurs only in the upper 75 m during and after the mature phase of El Niño, while the cooling appears in the layers deeper than 75 m during El Niño years. The volume transports between the SCS and the adjacent oceans and the anomalous Ekman pumping contribute a lot for the sea level fall in the developing stage of El Niño, while the mass exchange, which is dominated by precipitation, plays a more significant role in the following continuous negative sea level anomalies.     

南海海面高度变化及其与太平洋上涛动信号的关系

本文使用循环平稳经验正交函数(CSEOF)方法分析了南海海面高度(SCS-SSH)的时空变化模态,并对它们与太平洋海盆尺度振荡的关系进行了探讨分析。结果表明,SCS-SSH的第一个CSEOF模态是季节变化模态,其变化强度受到一个与厄尔尼诺-南方涛动(ENSO)有关的低频信号的调制,即在厄尔尼诺期间季节变化的幅度减弱(最大可降低30%,1997/98)而在拉尼娜期间季节变化增强。SCS-SSH的第二个CSEOF模态是年际-年代际尺度的低频变化模态,其空间模态的月与月之间的差异微弱,而时间模态和太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)指数高度相关。然后,我们使用独立成分分析(ICA)方法提取了太平洋中的五个主要振荡成分,并检验了它们对SCS-SSH变化的各自影响。分析表明,纯粹的ENSO模态(类似于太平洋东部型ENSO)对SCS-SSH的低频变化的影响比较微弱,而ENSO的红化模态(类似于太平洋中部型ENSO)对SCS-SSH的低频变化具有明显影响。由于ENSO的红化模态是PDO信号的一个主要成分,这一结果解释了为什么在影响SCS-SSH的低频变化上PDO比ENSO更重要。径向鞍型振荡模态、黑潮延伸体处的增温模态、以及赤道的降温模态也由ICA方法提取出来,但它们对SCS-SSH低频变异的影响微弱。进一步的分析表明,太平洋的涛动信号可能以不同的方式来影响南海海面高度变化和海表温度变化。     

The Asymmetry of Subsurface Temperature Anomalies Associated with ENSO in the Equatorial Western Pacific

The phenomenon of ENSO asymmetry has been recognized for many years, but most studies have focused on the asymmetry of surface temperature anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific. Here, the authors investigate the temperature asymmetry associated with ENSO in the subsurface of the western Pacific through analysis of observations and numerical experiments with an ocean GCM. Both the observation and simulation exhibit significant ENSO asymmetry, characterized by negative temperature skewness in the equatorial western Pacific and positive skewness in the eastern Pacific. Heat budget analysis reveals that nonlinear dynamical heating results in the positive temperature asymmetry in the equatorial eastern Pacific, but tends to weaken the negative temperature asymmetry in the equatorial western Pacific. The climatological meridional current transports the temperature anomalies and corresponding negative asymmetry from the off-equator region to the equator in the subsurface of the western Pacific. Through a sensitivity experiment with reversed wind stress forcing, the authors suggest that the skewness of the wind stress anomalies does not contribute to the negative temperature asymmetry in the western Pacific in the first-order approximation, while the internal nonlinear dynamics does play a key role. The study suggests that, as a result of nonlinear processes, the oceanic responses to anomalous wind stress are nonlinear and asymmetric in the tropical Pacific.     

El Niño and decadal effects on sea‐level variability in northern New Zealand: A wavelet analysis

Sea‐level data from two sites in northern New Zealand, along with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), are analysed for interannual and decadal variability using wavelets. The analysis shows, using statistically significant wavelet power, there is a significant relationship between mean sea level (MSL) and SOI. However, the relationship is highly variable, both in magnitude and in the range of time‐scales over which it occurs. This non‐stationarity necessitates the use of techniques such as wavelets for analysis. An interdecadal response in MSL around northern New Zealand has been isolated, with shifts occurring in 1950 and the late 1970s. This behaviour in MSL appears to coincide with shifts in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, thought previously to be largely centred in the North Pacific. A strong correlation between SOI and sea surface temperature (SST) is also demonstrated. This relationship appears to be stable in magnitude (a large change in SOI produces a large change in SST) and to occur over the same range of time‐scales. More SST and MSL data are required for other parts of New Zealand to determine whether these findings apply elsewhere.