Benthic Metabolism and Standing Stock in the Central and Northern Deep Red Sea

Abstract. Benthic metabolism and standing stocks were investigated in the deep Red Sea between 21^o and 27^oN, Activity was assessed by the determination of respiration rates with a shipboard method and by calculating oxygen consumption from the activity in the electron transport system. We attempted to compare results from different latitudes within the warm Red Sea and with data from cold Atlantic environments. Our investigations were part of an environmental risk assessment to evaluate future mining of metalliferous sediments from the Atlantis II Deep.     

Fine resolution 3D temperature fields off Kerguelen from instrumented penguins

The use of diving animals as autonomous vectors of oceanographic instruments is rapidly increasing, because this approach yields cost-efficient new information and can be used in previously poorly sampled areas. However, methods for analyzing the collected data are still under development. In particular, difficulties may arise from the heterogeneous data distribution linked to animals’ behavior. Here we show how raw temperature data collected by penguin-borne loggers were transformed to a regular gridded dataset that provided new information on the local circulation off Kerguelen. A total of 16 king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) were equipped with satellite-positioning transmitters and with temperature–time–depth recorders (TTDRs) to record dive depth and sea temperature. The penguins’ foraging trips recorded during five summers ranged from 140 to 600 km from the colony and 11,000 dives >100 m were recorded. Temperature measurements recorded during diving were used to produce detailed 3D temperature fields of the area (0–200 m). The data treatment included dive location, determination of the vertical profile for each dive, averaging and gridding of those profiles onto 0.1°×0.1° cells, and optimal interpolation in both the horizontal and vertical using an objective analysis. Horizontal fields of temperature at the surface and 100 m are presented, as well as a vertical section along the main foraging direction of the penguins. Compared to conventional temperature databases (Levitus World Ocean Atlas and historical stations available in the area), the 3D temperature fields collected from penguins are extremely finely resolved, by one order finer. Although TTDRs were less accurate than conventional instruments, such a high spatial resolution of penguin-derived data provided unprecedented detailed information on the upper level circulation pattern east of Kerguelen, as well as the iron-enrichment mechanism leading to a high primary production over the Kerguelen Plateau.     

In situ and satellite observations of the eastward migration of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre

During October 2003 an intensive oceanographic survey (BIOMEGA) was carried out in the Alboran Sea, coinciding with a migration event of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre (WAG). The observations gathered during that cruise constitute the first field evidence of a migrated stage of the WAG. In this work we present the main differences between the 3D hydrodynamic fields observed during BIOMEGA and those corresponding to a WAG located at its usual position. The migration of the gyre was followed by satellite (altimetry and sea surface temperature) imagery. The causes of the gyre migration are explored in terms of the quasi-geostrophic tendency equation, in particular of the dynamics governing scales larger than the Rossby radius of deformation. It is shown that the steady state gyre must be almost equivalent barotropic and that the key process to break down the stationarity would be a density advection at gyre scale. The mechanisms to explain the migration of the WAG proposed by previous authors are discussed in light of the explanation proposed in this work.     

A comparison of three marine ecosystems surrounding the Korean peninsula: Responses to climate change

This study uses a comparative approach to examine responses of marine ecosystems to climatic regime shifts. The three seas surrounding the Korean peninsula, the Japan/East Sea, the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea represent three contiguous but distinct ecosystems. Sampling has been carried out by the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute of South Korea since 1965, using the same methods in all three seas. Sampling was generally synoptic. Amplitude time series of 1st EOF modes for temperature, salinity, zooplankton biomass and concentrations of four major zooplankton taxa were used to determine whether the three marine ecosystems respond in a similar manner to climate variations. Temporal patterns of the variables were strongly similar among the three seas at decadal time scales, but very weakly similar at interannual scales. All three seas responded to a climatic regime shift that occurred in 1989. Temperature, zooplankton biomass and copepod concentrations increased in the late 1980s or early 1990s in all three seas. Concentrations of amphipods, chaetognaths and euphausiids also increased in the Japan/East Sea and the East China Sea, but not the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea ecosystem differs strongly from the other two seas, and water exchange between the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea is much weaker than that between the East China Sea and Japan/East Sea. Spatial patterns of zooplankton determined by the EOF analysis were closely related to currents and fronts in each of the three seas.     

Freshening of the Intermediate Waters in the Northern South China Sea over the PastSix Decades

The properties of salinity in the South China Sea (SCS), a significant marginal sea connecting the Pacific andIndian Oceans, are greatly influenced by the transport of fresh water flux between the two oceans. However, the long-termchanges in the intermediate water in the SCS have not been thoroughly studied due to limited data, particularly in relationto its thermodynamic variations. This study utilized reanalysis data products to identify a 60-year trend of freshening in theintermediate waters of the northern South China Sea (NSCS), accompanied by an expansion of low-salinity water. Thestudy also constructed salinity budget terms, including advection and entrainment processes, and conducted an analysis ofthe salinity budget to understand the impacts of external and internal dynamic processes on the freshening trend of theintermediate water in the NSCS. The analysis revealed that the freshening in the northwest Pacific Ocean and theintensification of intrusion through the Luzon Strait at intermediate levels are the primary drivers of the salinity changes inthe NSCS. Additionally, a weakened trend in the intensity of vertical entrainment also contributes to the freshening in theNSCS. This study offers new insights into the understanding of regional deep sea changes in response to variations in boththermodynamics and oceanic dynamic processes.     

Far beyond the Gulf: the implications of warfare for Asian labour migration

The implications of the Gulf War are assessed for the countries in Asia that send labor migrants to the Middle East. "This paper seeks to examine the effects of...the loss of remittances (and related issues, including return migration), primarily in terms of the long-term implications of the War for the future of contract labour migration in the Asian region...."