Comparison of the acid-base responses to CO2 and acidification in Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

To investigate whether the biological toxicity of aquatic hypercapnia is due to the direct effects of CO2 or to the effects of acidification of seawater by CO2, the Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) was subjected to seawater equilibrated with a gas mixture of air containing 5% CO2 (pH 6.18) or seawater acidified to the same pH with 1 N H2SO4. All the fish died within 72 h in the CO2 exposure group, whereas no mortality occurred in the acid group. Acid-base parameters as well as plasma ion concentrations were severely perturbed in the CO2 exposure group, whereas they were minimally affected in the acid group. These results clearly demonstrate that the mortality in the CO2 group is a direct result of the elevated levels of dissolved CO2 and not to the effects of the reduced water pH.     

Anthropogenic iodine-129 in seawater along a transect from the Norwegian coastal current to the North Pole

Variation in the concentrations of iodine-129 (129I, T1/2=15.7 Myr), a low-level radioactive component of nuclear fuel waste, is documented in surface waters and depth profiles collected during 2001 along a transect from the Norwegian Coastal Current to the North Pole. The surface waters near the Norwegian coast are found to have 20 times higher 129I concentration than the surface waters of the Arctic Ocean. The depth profiles of 129I taken in the Arctic Ocean reveal a sharp decline in the concentration to a depth of about 300-500 m followed by a weaker gradient extending down to the bottom. A twofold increase in the 129I concentration is observed in the upper 1000 m since 1996. Based on known estimates of marine transient time from the release sources (the nuclear reprocessing facilities at La Hague, France, and Sellafield, UK), a doubling in the 129I inventory of the top 1000 m of the Arctic Ocean is expected to occur between the years 2001 and 2006. As 129I of polar mixed layer and Atlantic layer of the Arctic Ocean is ventilated by the East Greenland Current into the Nordic Seas and North Atlantic Ocean, further dispersal and increase of the isotope concentration in these regions will be encountered in the near future.     

北太平洋上空臭氧总量长期变化趋势及其影响因素分析

本文基于1979-2014年臭氧总量的卫星遥感数据,利用多元线性回归模型对臭氧总量数据序列进行模拟计算,考察了北太平洋上空臭氧总量长期变化趋势及其影响因素的作用.结果表明,北太平洋地区大气臭氧总量长期变化呈现减少趋势,但是减少速率随季节和纬度带表现出差异性,在各纬度带臭氧峰值季节臭氧下降趋势最为显著.在0°-15°N地区臭氧高值出现在夏秋季节并在8月达到峰值,峰值月份臭氧年均下降率约为0.2DU/a;15°-30°N亚热带地区臭氧高值出现在春夏季并在5月达到峰值,峰值月份臭氧年均下降速率约为0.22DU/a;而在30°-45°N中纬度地区臭氧高值出现在冬春季并在2月达到峰值,峰值月份臭氧年均下降率0.75DU/a.在臭氧分布年平均态基础上,影响臭氧总量分布变化的因素主要有臭氧损耗物质（EESC）、太阳辐射周期（Solar）、准两年振荡（QBO）和厄尔尼诺-南方涛动（ENSO）等.其中,EESC导致臭氧损耗效应随着纬度升高而增大,在从低到高的三个纬度带损耗最大值分别为11DU、16DU和66DU;Solar增强导致臭氧增加,在三个纬度带的增加效应最大值分别为16DU、17DU和19DU;QBO@10 hPa和QBO@30 hPa对臭氧影响幅度基本在±10DU内波动,只有QBO@10 hPa对30°-45°N区域的影响作用达到14DU,值得注意的是QBO影响作用随着纬度变化存在相位差异,在0°-15°N区域臭氧变化与QBO呈现相同相位,而在15°-30°N和30°-45°N区域臭氧变化与QBO呈现相反相位;ENSO对各个纬度带臭氧影响幅度也在±10DU内,ENSO影响作用在不同纬度带也存在相位差异,臭氧总量变化在0°-15°N、15°-30°N区域与ENSO相位相反,在30°-45°N区域与ENSO相位一致.     

Secondary Calcification of Planktic Foraminifera from the Indian Sector of Southern Ocean

This study focused on planktic foraminifera in plankton tows and surface sediments from the western Indian sector of Southern Ocean in order to evaluate the potential foraminiferal secondary calcification and/or dissolution in the sediment. It is found that the symbiotic foraminiferal species are abundant in the subtropical region, whereas non-symbiotic species dominate in the sub-Antarctic and polar frontal regions. The distribution of the symbiotic and non-symbiotic foraminiferal species is controlled by temperature, salinity, light, nutrients and phytoplankton biomass. There is also a lateral southern extent in abundance of planktic foraminifera from surface sediments to plankton tows. The shell weights of the planktic foraminifera N. pachyderma, G. bulloides and G. ruber within the surface sediments are on an average heavier by 27%, 34% and 40% respectively than shells of the same size within the plankton tows, indicative of secondary calcification. The planktic foraminiferal isotopes show the presence of heavier isotopes in the surface sediment foraminifera as compared to plankton tows, thus confirming secondary calcification. Secondary calcification in G. ruber occurs in the euphotic zone, whereas in case of N. pachyderma and G. bulloides it is at deeper depths. We also observed a decrease in the shell spines in surface sediment foraminifera as compared to plankton tows, indicative of the morphological changes that foraminifera underwent during gametogenesis.     

Thorium isotopes as tracers of particles dynamics and deep water circulation in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (ANTARES IV)

Dissolved and particulate samples were collected to study the distribution of thorium isotopes (²³⁴Th, ²³²Th and ²³⁰Th) in the water column of the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (from 42°S to 47°S and from 60°E to 66°E, north of the Polar Front) during Austral summer 1999. Vertical profiles of excess ²³⁰Th (²³⁰Th_xs) increases linearly with depth in surface water (0–100 m) and a model was applied to estimate a residence time relative to the thorium scavenging (τ_scav). Low τ_scav in the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) are found, compared to those estimated in the Subtropical Front Zone (STZ). Changes in particle composition between the PFZ and STZ could influence the ²³⁰Th_xs scavenging efficiency and explain this difference. An innovative coupling between ²³⁴Th and ²³⁰Th_xs was then used to simultaneously constrain the settling velocities of small (0.6–60 μm) and large (above 60 μm) particles. Although the different hydrological and biogeochemical regimes visited during the ANTARES IV cruise did not explain the spatial variation of sinking velocity estimates, our results indicate that less particles may reach the seafloor north (60 ± 2 m d^− 1, station 8) than south of the Agulhas Return Current (119 ± 23 and 130 ± 5 m d^− 1 at stations 3 and 7, respectively). This information is essential for understanding particle transport and by extension, carbon export. In the deep water column, the ²³⁰Th_xs concentrations did not increase linearly with depth, probably due to lateral transport of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) from the Atlantic to the Indian sector, which renews the deep waters and decreases the ²³⁰Th_xs concentrations. A specific ²³⁰Th_xs transport model is applied in the deep water column and allows us to assess a “travel time” of NADW ranging from 2 to 15 years.     

Dissolved titanium distributions in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Although titanium is abundant in Earth's crust, its sources and distribution in the ocean are poorly understood. To elucidate its behavior, distributions of dissolved (< 0.2 μm) Ti were determined in surface waters and vertical profiles from the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB). Concentrations of Ti decreased from 390 pM at the Delaware Bay mouth to < 100 pM across the Delaware continental shelf. In vertical profiles, small increases in bottom waters suggest a possible flux of Ti from shelf sediments, consistent with previous reports of pore water enrichments of dissolved Ti in MAB sediments. Concentrations in surface waters of the outer shelf and slope ranged between 30 and 140 pM, with most values below 90 pM. Concentrations in a 1000 m vertical profile in the eastern Gulf Stream ranged between 110 and 280 pM, and showed a variable distribution attributed to the mixing of water masses in the outer MAB. A simple model of Ti sources to the MAB suggests that atmospheric deposition of dissolved Ti is comparable to net riverine contributions and therefore must be considered in applications of Ti as a tracer of oceanographic processes.     

Local remineralization patterns in the mesopelagic zone of the Eastern North Atlantic, off the NW Iberian Peninsula

The short-time-scale variability of the remineralization patterns in the domain of Eastern North Atlantic Central Waters (ENACW) off the NW Iberian Peninsula is studied based on biogeochemical data (oxygen, nutrient salts, total alkalinity, pH, dissolved organic matter and fluorescence of dissolved humic substances) collected weekly between May 2001 and April 2002. The temporal variability of inorganic variables points to an intensification of remineralization during the summer and autumn, with an increase of nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and a decrease of oxygen. During the subsequent winter mixing, there is a biogeochemical reset of the system, with lower nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and higher oxygen. In contrast to inorganic variables, the levels of dissolved organic matter in the ENACW seem to respond to short-term events probably associated with fast sinking particles, where solubilisation of organic matter prevails over remineralization. Applying a previously published stoichiometric model, we observed a vertical fractionation of organic-matter remineralization. Although there is a preferential remineralization of proteins and P compounds in the entire domain of ENACW, the percentage was higher in the upper ENACW (σ<27.10 kg/m³) than in the lower; the percentage of N and P compounds in the oxidised organic matter was >80% for the upper ENACW and 63% for the lower. Likewise, the redissolution of calcareous structures contributes about 6% and 13% to the carbon regenerated in the upper and lower layers of ENACW, respectively.     

Sensitivity of a global ocean model to increased run-off from Greenland

We study the reaction of a global ocean–sea ice model to an increase of fresh water input into the northern North Atlantic under different surface boundary conditions, ranging from simple restoring of surface salinity to the use of an energy balance model (EBM) for the atmosphere. The anomalous fresh water flux is distributed around Greenland, reflecting increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet and increasing fresh water export from the Arctic Ocean. Depending on the type of surface boundary condition, the large circulation reacts with a slow-down of overturning and gyre circulations. Restoring of the total or mean surface salinity prevents a large scale redistribution of the salinity field that is apparent under mixed boundary conditions and with the EBM. The control run under mixed boundary conditions exhibits large and unrealistic oscillations of the meridional overturning. Although the reaction to the fresh water flux anomaly is similar to the response with the EBM, mixed boundary conditions must thus be considered unreliable. With the EBM, the waters in the deep western boundary current initially become saltier and a new fresh water mass forms in the north-eastern North Atlantic in response to the fresh water flux anomaly around Greenland. After an accumulation period of several decades duration, this new North East Atlantic Intermediate Water spreads towards the western boundary and opens a new southward pathway at intermediate depths along the western boundary for the fresh waters of high northern latitudes.