Microbial Biomass and Organic Nutrients in the Deep-Sea Sediments of the Central Indian Ocean Basin

In order to assess the impact of deep-sea mining on the in situ benthic life, we measured the microbial standing stock and concentration of organic nutrients in the deep-sea sediments of the Central Indian Ocean Basin in the Indian pioneer area. Sediments were collected using box core and grab samples during September 1996. The total bacterial numbers ranged from 10 10 -10 11 cells per g -1 dry weight sediment. There was a marginal decrease in the number of bacteria from surface to 30 cm depth, though the subsurface section registered a higher number than did the surface. The highest numbers were encountered at depths of 4-8 cm. The retrievable number of bacteria were two orders less in comparison with the direct total counts of bacteria. An almost homogeneous distribution of bacteria, total organic carbon, living biomass, and lipids throughout the depth of cores indicates active microbial and benthic processes in the deep sea sediments. On the other hand, a uniform distribution of total counts of bacteria, carbohydrates, and total organic carbon in all the cores indicates their stable nature and suggests that they can serve as useful parameters for long-term monitoring of the area after the benthic disturbance. Further studies on temporal variability in this region would not only verify the observed norms of distribution of these variables but would also help to understand restabilization processes after the simulated benthic disturbance.     

太平洋三海区热液烟囱物的氧同位素特征及形成温度

使用氧同位素方法 ,测试了西太平洋马里亚纳岛弧、马里亚纳海槽、冲绳海槽和东太平洋加拉帕戈斯裂谷的海底热液烟囱和硫化物全岩样品。结果表明 :马里亚纳岛弧上的埃斯梅拉尔达破火山口的热液硫化物的形成温度最高 (达 2 75℃ ) ,而成为高温产物的代表 ;冲绳海槽和加拉帕戈斯裂谷烟囱 ,表现为中高温类型 ,其氧同位素温度在 1 5 0℃左右 ;马里亚纳海槽以蛋白石为主要矿物的烟囱物 ,则显示出典型的低温热液类型 ,少量黄铁矿砂试样则表现出中温类型特征。但上述区域大都不同程度地存在有闪锌矿、黄铁矿、黄铜矿等中高温热液矿物 ,说明研究区除马里亚纳海槽明显有中低温热液活动类型外 ,其它区域皆具备中高温热液活动特征     

A singular evolutive extended Kalman filter to assimilate ocean color data in a coupled physical–biochemical model of the North Atlantic ocean

Within the European DIADEM project, a data assimilation system for coupled ocean circulation and marine ecosystem models has been implemented for the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas. One objective of this project is to demonstrate the relevance of sophisticated methods to assimilate satellite data such as altimetry, surface temperature and ocean color, into realistic ocean models. In this paper, the singular evolutive extended Kalman (SEEK) filter, which is an advanced assimilation scheme where three-dimensional, multivariate error statistics are taken into account, is used to assimilate ocean color data into the biological component of the coupled system. The marine ecosystem model, derived from the FDM model [J. Mar. Res. 48 (1990) 591], includes 11 nitrogen and carbon compartments and describes the synthesis of organic matter in the euphotic zone, its consumption by animals of upper trophic levels, and the recycling of detritic material in the deep ocean. The circulation model coupled to the ecosystem is the Miami isopycnic coordinate ocean model (MICOM), which covers the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans with an enhanced resolution in the North Atlantic basin. The model is forced with realistic ECMWF ocean/atmosphere fluxes, which permits to resolve the seasonal variability of the circulation and mixed layer properties. In the twin assimimation experiments reported here, the predictions of the coupled model are corrected every 10 days using pseudo-measurements of surface phytoplankton as a substitute to chlorophyll concentrations measured from space. The diagnostics of these experiments indicate that the assimilation is feasible with a reduced-order Kalman filter of small rank (of order 10) as long as a sufficiently good identification of the error structure is available. In addition, the control of non-observed quantities such as zooplankton and nitrate concentrations is made possible, owing to the multivariate nature of the analysis scheme. However, a too severe truncation of the error sub-space downgrades the propagation of surface information below the mixed layer. The reduction of the actual state vector to the surface layers is therefore investigated to improve the estimation process in the perspective of sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor (SeaWiFS) data assimilation experiments.     

Model simulations of carbon sequestration in the northwest Pacific by patch fertilization

Iron fertilization of nutrient-rich surface waters of the ocean is one possible way to help slow the rising levels of atmospheric CO₂ by sequestering it in the oceans via biological carbon export. Here, I use an ocean general circulation model to simulate a patch of nutrient depletion in the subpolar northwest Pacific under various scenarios. Model results confirm that surface fertilization is an inefficient way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere (Gnanadesikan et al., 2003), since only about 20% of the exported carbon comes initially from the atmosphere. Fertilization reduces future production and thus CO₂ uptake by utilizing nutrients that would otherwise be available later. Effectively, this can be considered as leakage when compared to a control run. This “effective” leakage and the actual leakage of sequestered CO₂ cause a significant, rapid decrease in carbon retention (only 30–45% retained after 10 years and less than 20% after 50 years). This contrasts markedly with the almost 100% retention efficiency for the same duration using the same model, when carbon is disposed directly into the northwest Pacific (Matsumoto and Mignone, 2005). As a consequence, the economic effectiveness of patch fertilization is poor in two limiting cases of the future price path of carbon. Sequestered carbon in patch fertilization is lost to the atmosphere at increasingly remote places as time passes, which would make monitoring exceedingly difficult. If all organic carbon from one-time fertilization reached the ocean bottom and remineralized there, acidification would be about −0.05 pH unit with O₂ depletion about −20 μmol kg⁻¹. These anomalies are probably too small to seriously threaten deep sea biota, but they are underestimated in the model because of its large grid size. The results from this study offer little to advocate purposeful surface fertilization as a serious means to address the anthropogenic carbon problem.     

Ocean Waves: Half-a-Century of Discovery

While the nature of most ocean waves has long been known and their basic physics understood since the nineteenth century, intense study of ocean waves during the second half of the twentieth century has taken the subject from the realm of mathematical exercises to that of practical engineering. Modern understanding of the generation, propagation and interactions of ocean waves with each other and with oceanic features has advanced to a quantitative level offering predictive capacity. This paper presents a brief qualitative review of advances in knowledge of sound waves, wind waves, tsunamis, tides, internal waves and long-period vorticity waves. The review is aimed at non-specialists who may benefit from an overview of the current state of the subject and access to a bibliography of general-interest references. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中太平洋CP25岩心的矿物、稀土元素及Sr、Nd同位素组成--晚新生代海底火山活动的证据

中太平洋ＣＰ２５岩心沉积物中钙十字沸石、蒙脱石／伊利石比值（Ｍ／Ｉ）、稀土元素含量、铈异常（δＣｅ）、铕异常（δＥｕ）及Ｓｒ、Ｎｄ同位素特征作为海底火山活动的证据,揭示了中太平洋海盆晚新生代以来火山活动和沉积的历史。其结果是,早中新世约２０～１７ＭａＢ．Ｐ．间,火山活动逐渐强烈,在１７ＭａＢ．Ｐ．最强烈,使得沉积物具有高Ｍ／Ｉ和∈Ｎｄ、低δＣｅ和８７Ｓｒ／８６Ｓｒ。１７～１ＭａＢ．Ｐ．发生沉积间断。１ＭａＢ．Ｐ．至现代,火山活动较早中新世减弱     

红河断裂构造带在东南亚的延伸特征及其大地构造意义

根据地质、地貌及地球物理资料分析,探讨展布于云南边陲哀牢山两侧的北西向断裂组成的红河断裂构造带,在东南亚的延伸特征。提出在该延伸带两侧沉积建造、构造活动,地球物理场和大地构造发展上均有显著差异。并进一步探讨该断裂构造带在大地构造上的意义。     

南沙群岛海域构造地层及构造运动

根据对“实验2”号调查船1987—1991年测得的反射地震剖面的解释,论述了南沙群岛海域的构造层划分、时代属性与分布发育特征。提出本区自白垩纪中期以来发生过两次重大的构造运动,形成两个裂谷作用构造旋回。     

大西洋中脊热液硫化物的矿物学研究

利用１９８９年在大西洋热液活动区采集的块状硫化物样品，采用矿相显微镜、电子显微镜和电子探针等手段，进行了矿物共生组合、矿物形态与成分标型及其演化特征研究。结果表明，大西洋热液成矿作用可以划分为热液期与沉积期两个成矿期，和石英－黄铁矿阶段、黄铁矿阶段、多金属硫化物阶段、胶状黄铁矿阶段和非晶质ＳｉＯ２阶段等５个成矿阶段；不同成矿阶段黄铁矿的共生矿物和矿物特征不同，在晶体形态上具有从单形晶－聚形晶－胶状     

Estimating the geostrophic velocity obtained by HF radar observations in the upstream area of the Kuroshio

A method to extract geostrophic current in the daily mean HF radar data in the Kuroshio upstream region is established by comparison with geostrophic velocity determined from the along-track altimetry data. The estimated Ekman current in the HF velocity is 1.2% (1.5%) and 48° (38°)-clockwise rotated with respect to the daily mean wind in (outside) the Kuroshio. Furthermore, additional temporal smoothing is found necessary to remove residual ageostrophic currents such as the inertial oscillation. After removal of the ageostrophic components, the HF geostrophic velocity agrees well with that from the altimetry data with rms difference 0.14 (0.12) m/s in (outside) the Kuroshio.