A repeat hydrographic section has been maintained over two decades along the 180° meridian across the subarctic-subtropical
transition region. The section is naturally divided into at least three distinct zones. In the Subarctic Zone north of 46°N,
the permanent halocline dominates the density stratification, supporting a subsurface temperature minimum (STM). The Subarctic
Frontal Zone (SFZ) between 42°–46°N is the region where the subarctic halocline outcrops. To the south is the Subtropical
Zone, where the permanent thermocline dominates the density stratification, containing a pycnostad of North Pacific Central
Mode Water (CMW). The STM water colder than 4°C in the Subarctic Zone is originated in the winter mixed layer of the Bering
Sea. The temporal variation of its core temperature lags 12–16 months behind the variations of both the winter sea surface
temperature (SST) and the summer STM temperature in the Bering Sea, suggesting that the thermal anomalies imposed on the STM
water by wintertime air-sea interaction in the Bering Sea spread over the western subarctic gyre, reaching the 180° meridian
within a year or so. The CMW in this section originates in the winter mixed layer near the northern edge of the Subtropical
Zone between 160°E and 180°. The CMW properties changed abruptly from 1988 to 1989; its temperature and salinity increased
and its potential density decreased. It is argued that these changes were caused by the climate regime shift in 1988/1989
characterized by weakening of the Aleutian Low and the westerlies and increase in the SST in the subarctic-subtropical transition
region.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
Two processes are generally explained as causes of temporal changes in the stoichiometric silicon/nitrogen (Si/N) ratios of
sinking particles and of nutrient consumption in the surface water during the spring diatom bloom: (1) physiological changes
of diatom under the stress of photosynthesis of diatom and (2) differences of regeneration between silicon and nitrogen. We
investigated which process plays an important role in these changes using a one-dimensional ecosystem model that explicitly
represents diatom and the other non-silicious phytoplankton. The model was applied to station A7 (41°30′ N, 145°30′ E) in
the western North Pacific, where diatom regularly blooms in spring. Model simulations show that the Si/N ratios of the flux
exported by the sinking particles at 100 m depth and of nutrient consumptions in the upper 100 m surface water have their
maxima at the end of the spring diatom bloom, the values and timings of which are significantly different from each other.
Analyses of the model results show that the differences of regeneration between silicon and nitrogen mainly cause the temporal
changes of the Si/N ratios. On the other hand, the physiological changes of diatoms under stress can hardly cause these temporal
changes, because the effect of the change in the diatom's uptake ratio of silicon to nitrogen is cancelled by that in its
sinking rate. 相似文献
Several large deployments of neutrally buoyant floats took place within the Antarctic Intermediate (AAIW), North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), and the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) of the South Atlantic in the 1990s and a number of hydrographic sections were occupied as well. Here we use the spatially and temporally averaged velocities measured by these floats, combined with the hydrographic section data and various estimates of regional current transports from moored current meter arrays, to determine the circulation of the three major subthermocline water masses in a zonal strip across the South Atlantic between the latitudes of 19°S and 30°S. We concentrate on this region because the historical literature suggests that it is where the Deep Western Boundary Current containing NADW bifurcates. In support of this notion, we find that a net of about 5 Sv. of the 15–20 Sv that crosses 19°S does continue zonally eastward at least as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Once across the ridge it takes a circuit to the north along the ridge flanks before returning to the south in the eastern half of the Angola Basin. The data suggest that the NADW then continues on into the Indian Ocean. This scheme is discussed in the context of distributions of dissolved oxygen, silicate and salinity. In spite of the many float-years of data that were collected in the region a surprising result is that their impact on the computed solutions is quite modest. Although the focus is on the NADW we also discuss the circulation for the AAIW and AABW layers. 相似文献
Identification of the distinctive circulation patterns of storminess on the Atlantic margin of Europe forms the main objective of this study; dealing with storm frequency, intensity and tracking. The climatology of the extratropical cyclones that affect this region has been examined for the period 1940–1998. Coastal meteorological data from Ireland to Spain have been linked to the cyclone history for the North Atlantic in the analysis of storm records for European coasts. The study examines the evolution in the occurrence of storms since the 1940s and also their relationship with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Results indicate a seasonal shift in the wind climate, with regionally more severe winters and calmer summers established. This pattern appears to be linked to a northward displacement in the main North Atlantic cyclone track.
An experiment with the ECHAM4 A-GCM at high resolution (T106) has also been used to model the effect of a greenhouse gases induced warming climate on the climatology of coastal storms in the region. The experiment consists of (1), a 30-year control time-slice representing present-day equivalent CO2 concentrations and (2), a 30-year perturbed period corresponding to a time when the radiative forcing has doubled in terms of equivalent CO2 concentrations. The boundary conditions have been obtained from an atmosphere-ocean coupled OA-GCM simulation at low horizontal resolution. An algorithm was developed to allow the identification of individual cyclone movements in selected coastal zones. For most of the northern part of the study region, covering Ireland and Scotland, results describe the establishment by ca. 2060 of a tendency for fewer but more intense storms.
The impacts of these changes in storminess for the vulnerability of European Atlantic coasts are considered. For low-lying, exposed and ‘soft’ sedimentary coasts, as in Ireland, these changes in storminess are likely to result in significant localised increases in coastal erosion. 相似文献
A model based on that of Kishi et al. (2001) has been extended to 15 compartments including silicon and carbon cycles. This model was applied to Station A7 off
Hokkaido, Japan, in the Northwestern Pacific. The model successfully simulated the observations of: 1. a spring bloom of diatoms;
2. large seasonal variations of nitrate and silicate concentrations in the surface water; and 3. large inter-annual variations
in chlorophyll-a. It also reproduced the observed features of the seasonal variations of carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2)—a peak in pCO2 in winter resulting from deep winter convection, a rapid decrease in pCO2 as a result of the spring bloom, and an almost constant pCO2 from summer through fall (when the effect of increasing temperature cancels the effect of biological production). A comparison
of cases with and without silicate limitation shows that including silicate limitation in the model results in: 1. decreased
production by diatoms during summer; and 2. a transition in the dominant phytoplankton species, from diatoms to other species
that do not take up silicate. Both of these phenomena are observed at Station A7, and our results support the hypothesis that
they are caused by silicate limitation of diatom growth.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献