A modelling study of ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling in the Humber plume, UK

The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) has been coupled with a two-dimensional depth-averaged transport model of the Humber plume region and run to simulate 1988–1989. Simulations of the spatial and temporal variations in chlorophyll-a, nitrate, phosphate and suspended particulate matter distributions in winter, spring and summer show how the development of the spring bloom and subsequent maintenance of primary production is controlled by the physicochemical environment of the plume zone. Results are also shown for two stations, one characterised by the high nutrient and suspended matter concentrations of the plume and the other by the relatively low nutrient and sediment concentrations of the offshore waters. The modelled net primary production at the plume site was 105 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ and 127 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ offshore. Primary production was controlled by light limitation between October and March and by the availability of nutrients during the rest of the year. The phytoplankton nutrient demand is met by in-situ recycling processes during the summer. The likely effect of increasing and decreasing anthropogenic riverine inputs of nitrate and phosphate upon ecosystem function was also investigated. Modelling experiments indicate that increasing the nitrogen to silicate ratio in freshwater inputs increased the production of non-siliceous phytoplankton in the plume. The results of this model have been used to calculate the annual and quarterly mass balances describing the usage of inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and silicate within the plume zone for the period of the NERC North Sea survey (September 1988 to October 1989). The modelled Humber plume retains 3.9% of the freshwater dissolved inorganic nitrogen, 2.2% of the freshwater phosphate and 1.3% of the freshwater silicate input over the simulated seasonal cycle. The remainder is transported into the southern North Sea in either dissolved or particulate form. The reliability of these results is discussed.     

济州岛南部海区的双跃层现象

本文分析了济州岛南部区域温度双跃层现象的类型及其成因。特别阐明了双跃层的波状现象,指出:强流锋区的侧向效应,黑潮次—中层混合水的爬升,黄海冷水团边缘密度环流引起的侧向流动,以及上、下层流速、流向不一致引起的剪切作用,是导致双跃层波状现象的主要原因。发现上、下跃层之间存在着“跃层间环流”,这是一个有趣的海洋学现象,它将导致双扩散的发生和有利于双跃层的维持。     

黄海表面水温场的准周期变化分析

本文用能谱方法分析了黄海的海表面水温(SST)场的准周期变化。由分析结果清楚地看出,SST具有高频准周期变化:黄海北部以2.6—3.2,1.4—1.7,3.6—3.8和6.7个月的准周期为主;3.3—3.6,5,1.3—2.3及6.7个月在黄海南部占优势。同时,两个海域都有6.7和3.3年的明显的准周期变化。     

春季东海不同水域的表层叶绿素含量

利用１９９４年春季在东海及台湾海峡首次获得的表层水中绿素含量大面走航连续观测资料，结合温盐分布及以往的有关东海及台湾海峡的海流和上升流的结论，分析了春季东海表层叶绿素含量在不同水域的分布特征。结果表明，叶绿素含量分布与水文结构关系密切。叶绿素含量值随不同海流流域而变，但在各海流流域内基本不变，黑潮表层水的叶绿素含量最低，其次是台湾暖流表层水，长江冲淡水与江浙沿岸流域的叶绿素含量较高；黑潮西侧弱流剧     

春季东海表层水叶绿素a含量分布特征

依据“科学一号”调查船１９９４年４月在东海１０个断面上所进行的表层水连续走航观测资料，研究东海表层水叶绿素α含量在不同空间尺度上的分布特征和变化规律。结果表明，叶绿素α含量在陆架区高，在外海低；测区南部海域的含量一般高于北部海域。叶绿素α含量的分布形态变化很大，在某些外海深水区，叶绿素α含量连续百科公里没有显著变化，变化幅度小于０．２ｍｇ‘ｍ＾３；而在某些近海浅水区，叶绿素α含量在不到１公里范围内     

One new species of free-living marine nematodes (Enoplida,Anticomidae, Cephalanticoma) from the Huanghai Sea

One new species of free-living marine nematodes Cephalanticoma filicaudata sp. nov. from the Huanghai Sea, China is described and illustrated. Cephalanticoma filicaudata sp. nov. is characterized by well developed cephalic capsule, three teeth at the anterior of oesophagus, excretory pore opens posterior to cervical setae, only two cervical setae per file, body length longer than 5 200 μm, tail long and no ventral-lateral seta between the supplement and the cloacal opening. Types are deposited in the College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China.     

Mechanisms controlling the temporal variation of the sea ice edge in the Southern Ocean

This paper examines the mechanism controlling the short time-scale variation of sea ice cover over the Southern Ocean. Sea ice concentration and ice velocity datasets derived from images of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) are employed to reveal this mechanism. The contribution of both dynamic and thermodynamic processes to the change in ice edge location is examined by comparing the meridional velocity of ice edge displacement and sea ice drift. In the winter expansion phase, the thermodynamic process of new ice production off the ice edge plays an important role in daily advances of ice cover, whereas daily retreats are mostly due to southward ice drift. On the other hand, both advance and retreat of ice edges in the spring contraction phase are mostly caused by the dynamic process of the ice drift. Based on the above mechanism and the linear relation between the degree of ice production at the ice edge and northward wind speed, the seasonal advance of ice cover can be roughly reproduced using the meridional velocity of ice drift at the ice edge.     

Geographical distribution of fish catches and temperature variations in the northeast Atlantic since 1945

Warming of the northeast Atlantic is expected to affect the location and productivity of fish stocks. It is examined whether variations in catches of cod, herring, mackerel, anchovy and sardines in the ICES statistical areas are related to variations in ocean temperature. Temperatures at certain locations along the Norwegian coast are taken as proxies for temperatures in the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. It is found that the catches of cod in the North Sea are inversely correlated with temperature and that recruitment and catches of cod in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea are positively related to temperature. There is also some indication of a positive correlation between temperature and the catches of mackerel in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, and between temperature and the catches of sardines in the North Sea.     

Chalk shore platform erosion in the vicinity of sea defence structures and the impact of construction methods

Erosion of the intertidal chalk platform in the vicinity of groynes and seawalls is evident to the naked eye along many stretches of the engineered coastline of southeast England, leading to undermining and eventually failure of these structures. However, quantification of the magnitude and spatial extent of the erosion has been difficult to date because of a lack of data about the past elevation of the platform. The application of softcopy photogrammetry makes it possible to recreate past platform elevations from historic air photographs and to compare these with elevations from modern air photographs. Coastal sea defence structures have been installed along the chalk coast east of Brighton at various dates over the past 70 years. During this period, the construction methods have changed from predominantly manual labour to a reliance on heavy machines. The analysis of erosion patterns around structures built since the 1970s using heavy machinery show that surface lowering is 4 to 25 times greater in the vicinity of these structures than across the platform as a whole. In contrast, there is no similar pattern of increased erosion around structures built using predominantly manual labour in the 1930s. A four fold increase in average surface lowering is found also along a vehicle trackway that crosses the mid platform. Depressions developed by enhanced lowering in the front of seawalls generate their own dynamic of increased erosion by trapping pebbles and cobbles that enhance the abrasion of the chalk through bedload transport under standing waves in front of the walls.