Beneath the surface: Characteristics of oceanic ecosystems under weak mixing conditions – A theoretical investigation

This study considers an important biome in aquatic environments, the subsurface ecosystem that evolves under low mixing conditions, from a theoretical point of view. Employing a conceptual model that involves phytoplankton, a limiting nutrient and sinking detritus, we use a set of key characteristics (thickness, depth, biomass amplitude/productivity) to qualitatively and quantitatively describe subsurface biomass maximum layers (SBMLs) of phytoplankton. These SBMLs are defined by the existence of two community compensation depths in the water column, which confine the layer of net community production; their depth coincides with the upper nutricline. Analysing the results of a large ensemble of simulations with a one-dimensional numerical model, we explore the parameter dependencies to obtain fundamental steady-state relationships that connect primary production, mortality and grazing, remineralization, vertical diffusion and detrital sinking. As a main result, we find that we can distinguish between factors that determine the vertically integrated primary production and others that affect only depth and shape (thickness and biomass amplitude) of this subsurface production layer. A simple relationship is derived analytically, which can be used to estimate the steady-state primary productivity in the subsurface oligotrophic ocean. The fundamental nature of the results provides further insight into the dynamics of these “hidden” ecosystems and their role in marine nutrient cycling.     

Metridia pacifica in Dabob Bay, Washington: The diatom effect and the discrepancy between high abundance and low egg production rates

Information on life cycle strategies and reproductive parameters of Metridia pacifica is scarce, despite its importance in the zooplankton of the subarctic Pacific. In many regions it occurs in high abundance, but reproductive rates, when reported, are usually low. This discrepancy was studied in Dabob Bay, Washington, USA, in the context of an investigation of the effect of diatom blooms on the reproductive success of copepod grazers.In situ egg production rates of M. pacifica were measured in spring and mid-summer with standard methods (multi-wells) and a new incubation chamber (spawning towers) that separates the spawning female from its eggs and allows the eggs to develop undisturbed. Many females did not produce eggs, possibly due to a high fraction of immature individuals. Egg production rates were variable, but clutch sizes were higher in spawning towers, and estimates of female egg cannibalism revealed that females consume many eggs shortly after their release. Thus, a separation of females and eggs is mandatory for accurate measurements of M. pacifica egg production rates. The maximum clutch sizes recorded in our study were comparable to measurements for other calanoids. However, unviable eggs were a large fraction of those spawned, independent of incubation method, especially in late winter and early spring. In order to assess whether the diatom effect may be responsible for low viability of embryos and nauplii, we also measured in situ grazing. Adult females were omnivorous, but they ingested some diatoms that rank among the strongest anti-mitotic toxin producers known so far. Although M. pacifica’s vertical migration behavior suggests opportunistic feeding on abundant food during their short stay in the phytoplankton-rich surface, they often ignored the food items that contributed most to microplankton carbon concentrations. Thus, their feeding strategy remains ambiguous. Due to severe reproductive failure early in the season, recruitment was impaired in spring, while the population increased, reaching high abundance in mid-summer when reproductive output was low. While advection and interannual variability in bloom conditions might compensate for the losses described here, the paradox of high Metridia abundance versus low reproductive success still requires further investigation, and methodological constraints need to be ruled out in future studies.     

Elucidating the dynamics and mixing agents of a shallow fjord through age tracer modelling

The mixing agents and their role in the dynamics of a shallow fjord are elucidated through an Eulerian implementation of artificial tracers in a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The time scales of vertical mixing in this shallow estuary are short, and the artificial tracers are utilized in order to reveal information not detectable in the temperature or salinity fields. The fjord's response to external forcing is investigated through a series of model experiments in which we quantify vertical mixing, transport time scales of fresh water runoff and estuarine circulation in relation to external forcing.Using age tracers released at surface and bottom, we quantify the time scales of downward mixing of surface water and upward mixing of bottom water. Wind is shown to be the major agent for vertical mixing at nearly all depth levels in the fjord, whereas the tide or external sea level forcing is a minor agent and only occasionally more important just close to the bottom. The time scale of vertical mixing of surface water to the bottom or ventilation time scale of bottom water is estimated to be in the range 0.7 h to 9.0 days, with an average age of 2.7 days for the year 2004.The fjord receives fresh water from two streams entering the innermost part of the fjord, and the distribution and age of this water are studied using both ageing and conservative tracers. The salinity variations outside this fjord are large, and in contrast to the salinity, the artificial tracers provide a straight forward analysis of river water content. The ageing tracer is used to estimate transport time scales of river water (i.e. the time elapsed since the water left the river mouth). In May 2004, the typical age of river water leaving the fjord mouth is 5 days. As the major vertical mixing agent is wind, it controls the estuarine circulation and export of river water. When the wind stress is set to zero, the vertical mixing is reduced and the vertical salinity stratification is increased, and the river water can be effectively exported out of the fjord.We also analyse the river tracer fields and salinity field in relation to along estuary winds in order to detect signs of wind-induced straining of the along estuary density gradient. We find that events of down estuary winds are primarily associated with a reduced along estuary salinity gradient due to increased surface salinity in the innermost part of the fjord, and with an overall decrease in vertical stratification and river water content at the surface. Thus, our results show no apparent signs of wind-induced straining in this shallow fjord but instead they indicate increased levels of vertical mixing or upwelling during down estuary wind events.     

Spatial and temporal variability of microplankton and detritus, and their export to the shelf sediments in the upwelling area off Concepción, Chile (∼36°S), during 2002-2005

Seasonal variations in diversity and biomass of diatoms, tintinnids, and dinoflagellates and the contribution of microplankton and faecal material to the vertical flux of particulates were investigated at one time series station T (station 18) between 2002 and 2005 and at a grid of stations during November 2004 in the coastal and oceanic area off Concepción (36°S), Chile. The variations were analysed in relation to water column temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentration, offshore Ekman transport, and chlorophyll-a concentration. Abundance was estimated as cell numbers per litre and biomass in terms of biovolume and carbon units.A sharp decrease with depth was observed in the abundance of both phytoplankton and microzooplankton during the whole annual cycle; over 70% of their abundance was concentrated in the upper 10 m of the water column. Also, a clear seasonality in microplankton distribution was observed at station T, with maxima for diatoms, tintinnids, and dinoflagellates every summer (centred on January) from 2002 to 2005.On the grid of stations, the maximum integrated (0-50 m) micro-phytoplankton abundances (>1 × 10⁹ cells m⁻²) occurred at the coastal stations, an area directly influenced by upwelling. A similar spatial distribution was observed for the integrated (0-200 m) faecal carbon (with values up to 632 mg C m⁻²). Tintinnids were distributed in all the first 300 miles from the coast and dinoflagellates were more abundant in oceanic waters.At station T, the average POC export production (below 50 m depth) was 16.6% (SD = 17%; range 2-67%; n = 16). The biological-mediated fluxes of carbon between the upper productive layer and the sediments of the continental shelf off Concepción depend upon key groups of phytoplankton (Thalassiosira spp., Chaetoceros spp.) and zooplankton (euphausiids) through the export of either cells or faecal material, respectively.     

渤黄东海混合层化演变规律的研究进展

较详细地综述了渤黄东海混合层化演变过程与规律的研究进展情况，主要包括：混合和层化过程的分布规律与季节变化特性，采用水温垂直剖面自相关函数的半经验预报模式，动力学和热力学的数值预报模式。     

近海海面上水汽向上输送的季节性差异

本文分析了雷达观测结果，发现近海海面上的水汽向上输送随季节而变化，由于季节的变化和不同的天气情况，海表面大气现象在雷达中有不同的显示，根据这些显示得到了不同的信息，由此而得出春秋两季海表面水汽向上输送量的不同。     

秦皇岛砂滩海洋线虫的数量研究

在两年的周期内,对秦皇岛4个砂滩的海洋线虫进行了6次芯样采集。灯塔、新煤码头、汤河口和北戴河赤土山4个砂滩均系分选好的细砂或中细砂,其中值粒径为140-285μm。对连续16个芯样计数的变异性所做的测试证明,1,2和3个芯样计算所得95％C.L.分别是0.539X—1.855X,0.647X—1.547X和0.700X—1.428X。秦皇岛砂滩海洋线虫的年平均密度:中潮带上区为1381±441 inds.10cm~(-2)。中潮带下区为1264±538 inds.10cm~(-2)。灯塔和新煤码头砂滩,8月出现高密度值,与温度的季节变化相符合,而汤河口则出现最低值,可能与污染物的大量排出有关。多数砂滩的大部分芯样显示了明显的重直分布,即种群数量的大部分集中在芯样顶部的两个分层:0～4和5～8cm。没有发现垂直分布的季节变化趋势。与世界其他海区砂滩的资料进行了比较。     

Aspects of Deep Ocean Mixing

The turbulent motions responsible for ocean mixing occur on scales much smaller than those resolved in numerical simulations of oceanic flows. Great progress has been made in understanding the sources of energy for mixing, the mechanisms, and the rates. On the other hand, we still do not have adequate answers to first order questions such as the extent to which the thermohaline circulation of the ocean, and hence the earth's climate, is sensitive to the present mixing rates in the ocean interior. Internal waves, generated by either wind or flow over topography, appear to be the principle cause of mixing. Mean and eddy flows over topography generate internal lee waves, while tidal flows over topography generate internal tides. The relative importance of these different internal wave sources is unknown. There are also great uncertainties about the spatial and temporal variation of mixing. Calculations of internal tide generation are becoming increasingly robust, but we do not know enough about the subsequent behavior of internal tides and their eventual breakdown into turbulence. It does seem, however, that most internal tide energy flux is radiated away from generation sites as low modes that propagate over basin scales. The mechanisms of wave-wave interaction and topographic scattering both act to transfer wave energy from low modes to smaller dissipative scales. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Longshore drift estimation using fluorescent tracers: New insights from an experiment at Comporta Beach, Portugal

A fluorescent sand-tracer experiment was performed at Comporta Beach (Portugal) with the aim of acquiring longshore sediment transport data on a reflective beach, the optimization of field and laboratory tracer procedures and the improvement of the conceptual model used to support tracer data interpretation.

The field experiment was performed on a mesotidal reflective beach face in low energetic conditions (significant wave height between 0.4 and 0.5 m). Two different colour tracers (orange and blue) were injected at low tide and sampled in the two subsequent low tides using a high resolution 3D grid extending 450 m alongshore and 30 m cross-shore. Marked sand was detected using an automatic digital image processing system developed in the scope of the present experiment.

Results for the two colour tracers show a remarkable coherence, with high recovery rates attesting data validity. Sand tracer displayed a high advection velocity, but with distinct vertical distribution patterns in the two tides: in the first tide there was a clear decrease in tracer advection velocity with depth while in the second tide, the tracer exhibited an almost uniform vertical velocity distribution. This differing behaviour suggests that, in the first tide, the tracer had not reached equilibrium within the transport system, pointing to a considerable time lag between injection and complete mixing. This issue has important implications for the interpretation of tracer data, indicating that short term tracer experiments tend to overestimate transport rates. In this work, therefore, longshore estimates were based on tracer results obtained during the second tide.

The estimated total longshore transport rate at Comporta Beach was 2 × 10^− 3 m³/s, more than four times larger than predicted using standard empirical longshore formulas. This discrepancy, which results from the unusually large active moving layer observed during the experiment, confirms the idea that most common longshore transport equations under-estimate total sediment transport in plunging/surging waves.     

黄海溶解氧垂直分布最大值的成因

本文对黄海溶解氧垂直分布中最大值的成因进行了探讨．认为：浮游植物春花期光合作用产生的大量氧，是溶解氧垂直分布最大值得以在春季（5月）形成的基础；而良好的温、密跃层的存在是氧最大值得以形成的必要条件，夏季叶绿素最大值层中较强的光合作用，是氧最大值在夏季得以维持甚至增强的主要原因．提出：黄海春、夏季溶解氧垂直分布中的最大值并非主要由冬季保持而来．