Responses of carbon dioxide in western tropical Pacific to 1991~1993 ENSO event

On the basis of the data of the partial pressure of CO₂ (P_CO2)and the concentration of the total dissolved CO₂(T_CO2) in surface water during the expeditions in Nov.-Dec. 1991, the world ocean circulation experiment (WOCE) and Oct. 1992-Mar. 1993, the tropical ocean-global atmosphere coupled ocean-atmosphere response experiment (TOGA COARE) in the western tropical Pacific and of the comparison with data from 1986 to 1990 TOGA expeditions and that from Japan Meteorological Agency, the response of CO₂ in surface water to ENSO event is proved. The CO₂ signals indicated that the air-sea system in the western and central tropical Pacific from 1991 to 1993, except for a short period in autumn of 1992, was in a strong state of ENSO.
The change of CO₂ in the floating stations near 2°S, 155°E from Nov. 1992 to Mar. 1993 reflected the change of currents, water mass and its thermal and salt content during the forming and developing of ENSO.     

利用卫星遥感资料对南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋的分析

利用7年(1993～1999)月平均的SST卫星遥感资料，分析了南海北部陆架区域海洋表层温度锋在一年中的逐月变化特征，表明南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋存在明显的季节内变化。结合风场的卫星遥感资料，分析了东北季风对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，表明东北季风风速的增加有利于温度锋强度的增强。通过对黑潮南海流套入侵较强的1999年2月与流套入侵较弱的1998年2月的SST卫星遥感资料的对比分析，考察了黑潮南海流套的入侵对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，结果表明黑潮流套的较强入侵能够增加陆架温度锋的强度，对温度锋的走向也会产生一定的影响。     

南海中部海区次表层NO2^——N的最大值

本文根据1983年9月至1985年1月南海中部海区综合调查所获得的NO_2~--N及有关参数的观测资料,分析了该海区NO_2~--N的分布变化特征及其与环境因子的关系。结果表明,调查海区NO_2~--N含量的变化范围在0～0.54μmol/L之间,其中小于0.05μmol/L的测定值约占测定总数的82.1%,而大于0.05μmol/L测定值基本上出现在50～150m层。文中还对该海区次表层NO_2~--N最大值形成的机理作了初步探讨,指出密度跃层的终年存在、铵的氧化和浮游植物的代谢过程是调查海区次表层NO_2~--N最大值形成的主要因素。     

The regime shift of the 1920s and 1930s in the North Atlantic

During the 1920s and 1930s, there was a dramatic warming of the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Warmer-than-normal sea temperatures, reduced sea ice conditions and enhanced Atlantic inflow in northern regions continued through to the 1950s and 1960s, with the timing of the decline to colder temperatures varying with location. Ecosystem changes associated with the warm period included a general northward movement of fish. Boreal species of fish such as cod, haddock and herring expanded farther north while colder-water species such as capelin and polar cod retreated northward. The maximum recorded movement involved cod, which spread approximately 1200 km northward along West Greenland. Migration patterns of “warmer water” species also changed with earlier arrivals and later departures. New spawning sites were observed farther north for several species or stocks while for others the relative contribution from northern spawning sites increased. Some southern species of fish that were unknown in northern areas prior to the warming event became occasional, and in some cases, frequent visitors. Higher recruitment and growth led to increased biomass of important commercial species such as cod and herring in many regions of the northern North Atlantic. Benthos associated with Atlantic waters spread northward off Western Svalbard and eastward into the eastern Barents Sea. Based on increased phytoplankton and zooplankton production in several areas, it is argued that bottom-up processes were the primary cause of these changes. The warming in the 1920s and 1930s is considered to constitute the most significant regime shift experienced in the North Atlantic in the 20th century.     

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.     

南沙群岛海区晚第四纪碳酸盐沉积

本文研究了五个柱状沉积物的碳酸盐沉积。根据沉积物的陆源碎屑和生物骨屑ＣａＣＯ３沉积作用的特点，把本区沉积物分为五种沉积类；碳酸盐生物组成的门类较多，以有孔虫为主，其次为珊瑚，腹足类等；碳酸盐矿物以低镁方解石为主，还有高镁方解石和文石；与沉积物中ＣａＣＯ３有关的化学元素１０多种。这些元素和稀土元素的含量，比值等，是区分礁相，礁体过渡带和非礁相的标志。所有这些碳酸盐沉积作用的特点表明，区内存在着五种沉     

Geodynamic Evolution of the Eastern Segment of the Azores-Gibraltar Zone: The Gorringe Bank and the Gulf of Cadiz Region

Detailed structural interpretation of the recently acquired deep seismic multichannel profiles along the Iberian Atlantic Margins (IAM Project) provides new results on the geodynamic evolution of the eastern part of the Azores-Gibraltar plate boundary. Thrusting and folding of the oceanic basement and of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary cover of the Gorringe Bank region are consistent with the N–S convergence of Iberia and Africa. Compressive structures in the Gorringe Bank region are spread over a wide area. Deformation under compression took place mainly in Tertiary times, as is evidenced by a basal unconformity and several discontinuities in Tertiary sediments, although some deformation has also been recorded in Quaternary sediments. The compressive structures in the Gulf of Cadiz are E–W oriented thrusts, folds and related diapiric structures. N–S oriented transpressive deformation is likely to occur in the western Portuguese platform. There is no continuity of structures from the oceanic to the continental domain, suggesting that deformation transfers from one side to the other through a transcurrent fault zone. The fault contact between the two domains is located in the ocean-continent transition zone.     

A Stable Carbon Isotope Study of the Food-web in a Freshwater-deprived South African Estuary, with Particular Emphasis on the Ichthyofauna

The importance of macrophytes as food sources for estuarine nekton is unclear. Previous carbon isotope investigations in the macrophyte-dominated, freshwater-deprived Kariega Estuary showed that the bivalveSolen cylindraceusdid not utilize the dominant estuarine macrophytes found within the estuary as a primary food source. This finding prompted questions as to what the nekton of this estuary utilize as primary energy sources. δ¹³C analyses of the principal autochthonous and allochthonous primary carbon sources, as well as the dominant invertebrate and fish species, indicate that there are two main carbon pathways within the Kariega Estuary. The littoral community, which incorporates the majority of crustaceans, gobies, mullet and a sparid, utilizes δ¹³C enriched primary food sources namelySpartina maritima,Zosteracapensis and epiphytes. The channel fauna, which includes the zooplankton, zooplanktivorous and piscivorous fish, utilizes a primary food source depleted in δ¹³C, which is most likely a mixture of phytoplankton, terrestrial plant debris and C₄macrophyte detritus. The C₃saltmarsh macrophytesSarcocornia perennisandChenolea diffusa, as well as benthic microalgae, appear to be less important as primary food sources to the nekton of the Kariega Estuary.