Processes Causing the Temporal Changes in Si/N Ratios of Nutrient Consumptions and Export Flux during the Spring Diatom Bloom

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.     

In Situ Measurement of Pinna nobilis Shells for Age and Growth Studies: A New Device

Abstract. Pinna nobilis Linnaeus 1758 is an endemic bivalve mollusc in the Mediterranean Sea, where it inhabits seagrass meadows, especially Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile. It is the largest bivalve in the Mediterranean, reaching lengths up to 120 cm. In its natural habitat, P. nobilis lives with the anterior part of the valve buried in the seabed, attached to Posidonia rhizomes by byssus threads.
This habit makes it impossible to measure its total length directly in situ. As the only way to determine the individual age is the relationship between age and total length, several equations have been proposed to estimate total length by relating it to the unburied parts of the shell. Such measurements are essential to ecological studies that consider age, growth, and population dynamics, and that evaluate the environmental factors that affect this species.
Accurately estimating total length depends on the accuracy and precision of the method employed to measure the unburied shell parts. In this paper, we point out the lack of precision of the instruments and methods used until now; we also demonstrate the reason for this imprecision. A new device to measure unburied parts of Pinna nobilis with a precision comparable to that obtained when measuring extracted valves is described. This device is unaffected by substratum type and reduces measurement time. The latter is a very important feature, because these procedures are usually performed whilst SCUBA diving. Finally, a growth equation has been fitted to the measurements obtained with the new device from a population located in Moraira (Alicante, western Mediterranean).     

Air-Sea Gas Transfer Velocity in Stormy Winter Estimated from Radon Deficiency

Thirteen vertical profiles of ²²⁶Ra and ²²²Rn in the near-surface water were obtained in the western North Pacific in winter, and the gas transfer velocities across the air-sea interface were estimated. The transfer velocities found by applying a steady state model varied widely from 2.1 to 30.2 m day⁻¹ with a mean of 9.4 m day⁻¹. The mean value is almost 5 times higher than that in summer in other oceans, and the maximum value is a record high for world oceans. This is partly due to the inadequacy of the steady state model, which overestimates when stronger winds blow in more recent days than the ²²²Rn half-life of about 4 days. In fact, a strong low pressure zone passed through the station about 2 days earlier, which was one of the low pressure zones that with a period of develop once a week or so in the northwestern North Pacific in winter. Instead of steady-state removal, if half of the radon removal occurred sporadically every 7 days, and the last removal took place two days before the observation, the transfer velocity would be 26 m day⁻¹. Our mean transfer velocity, which is less than 20% different from the steady state value including both overestimated and underestimated values, 9.4 ± 4.8 m day⁻¹, seems to represent the mean state of this region in winter. This suggests that the gas exchange fluxes under extremely rough conditions in the open ocean are larger than those estimated by using a transfer velocity equation with a linear or quadratic relationship with wind speed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evidence for the grazing hypothesis: Grazing reduces phytoplankton responses of the HNLC ecosystem to iron enrichment in the western subarctic pacific (SEEDS II)

A mesoscale iron-enrichment study (SEEDS II) was carried out in the western subarctic Pacific in the summer of 2004. The iron patch was traced for 26 days, which included observations of the development and the decline of the bloom by mapping with sulfur hexafluoride. The experiment was conducted at almost the same location and the same season as SEEDS (previous iron-enrichment experiment). However, the results were very different between SEEDS and SEEDS II. A high accumulation of phytoplankton biomass (∼18 mg chl m⁻³) was characteristic of SEEDS. In contrast, in SEEDS II, the surface chlorophyll-a accumulation was lower, 0.8 to 2.48 mg m⁻³, with no prominent diatom bloom. Photosynthetic competence in terms of F _v/F _m for the total phytoplankton community in the surface waters increased after the iron enrichments and returned to the ambient level by day 20. These results suggest that the photosynthetic physiology of the phytoplankton assemblage was improved by the iron enrichments and returned to an iron-stressed condition during the declining phase of the bloom. Pico-phytoplankton (<2 μm) became dominant in the chlorophyll-a size distribution after the bloom. We observed a nitrate drawdown of 3.8 μM in the patch (day 21), but there was no difference in silicic acid concentration between inside and outside the patch. Mesozooplankton (copepod) biomass was three to five times higher during the bloom-development phase in SEEDS II than in SEEDS. The copepod biomass increased exponentially. The grazing rate estimation indicates that the copepod grazing prevented the formation of an extensive diatom bloom, which was observed in SEEDS, and led to the change to a pico-phytoplankton dominated community towards the end of the experiment.     

中国多金属结核开辟区东、西两小区小型底栖动物的空间分布

利用 1 998年“大洋一号”调查船 DY95 - 8航次在中国多金属结核开辟区东、西两小区用多管取样器采集的沉积物样品 ,对小型底栖动物的组成、分布及其与环境因子的关系进行了研究。结果表明 :(1 )东、西两小区共有 1 6个类群的小型底栖动物 ,其中线虫类占居显著优势 ,在东、西两小区各占总栖息密度的 71 %和 6 4 %,其次为猛水蚤类和蜱螨类。 (2 )东、西两小区小型底栖动物类群平均栖息密度分别为 3 2 .47ind/1 0 cm2 和 1 8.0 5 ind/1 0 cm2 ,东小区高于西小区。小区各站位间的栖息密度平面分布差异显著。 (3 )东、西两小区小型底栖动物类群栖息密度的垂直分布趋势明显 ,由表层向底层 ,栖息密度逐渐降低。 (4)东、西两小区小型底栖动物空间分布与底质沉积物、结核覆盖率和底层流等环境因子密切相关 ,底质较硬、结核覆盖率较高以及底层流较强都不利于小型底栖动物的栖息。     

Diet of Phycis blennoides (Gadidae) in Relation to Fish Size and Season in the Western Mediterranean (Spain)

Abstract. Despite its commercial value, little is known about the feeding ecology of the greater forkbeard, Phycis blennoides (Brünnich 1768). The stomach contents of 2631 greater forkbeard were taken at monthly intervals off the coast of the Gulf of Valencia (western Mediterranean). They were examined in order to assess the diet and to determine the fish size- and season-related dietary variation of the species. Prey items were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. The basic food consisted of epibenthic species, mostly Decapoda, Mysidacea and Teleostei. A change in food composition based on fish size was observed and seasonal variation in diet was also recorded. The food overlap analysis indicated a high convergence in diet among similar size groups.     

Responses of carbon dioxide in western tropical Pacific to 1991~1993 ENSO event

On the basis of the data of the partial pressure of CO₂ (P_CO2)and the concentration of the total dissolved CO₂(T_CO2) in surface water during the expeditions in Nov.-Dec. 1991, the world ocean circulation experiment (WOCE) and Oct. 1992-Mar. 1993, the tropical ocean-global atmosphere coupled ocean-atmosphere response experiment (TOGA COARE) in the western tropical Pacific and of the comparison with data from 1986 to 1990 TOGA expeditions and that from Japan Meteorological Agency, the response of CO₂ in surface water to ENSO event is proved. The CO₂ signals indicated that the air-sea system in the western and central tropical Pacific from 1991 to 1993, except for a short period in autumn of 1992, was in a strong state of ENSO.
The change of CO₂ in the floating stations near 2°S, 155°E from Nov. 1992 to Mar. 1993 reflected the change of currents, water mass and its thermal and salt content during the forming and developing of ENSO.     

P矢量方法在南海夏季环流诊断计算中的应用

基于1998年6～7月南海调查航次的CTD资料,对南海环流采用最近发展的P矢量方法进行诊断计算.计算结果:黑潮向西入侵南海,然后做反气旋弯曲向东北方向流动,最终有通过巴士海峡流出南海的趋势.在南海北部存在一个气旋性环流,这个环流的强度和范围随深度增加而减小.该环流的冷中心位置随深度增加稍向南移.南海中部、越南以东海域存在一个明显的气旋涡和反气旋涡,尤其在200m及其以上水层均相当稳定,反气旋涡位于越南以东,其中心位置在11°53'N,111°50'E,气旋涡的中心位置在13°17'N,112°55'E,两者的尺度皆约为250km.吕宋岛西侧存在一个反气旋涡.在计算海区南部、巴拉望岛西南海域,100m以上层存在一个反气旋式涡.从各层流场分布均可以显示海流在西部强化的现象.     

南海西部表层沉积物钙质浮游生物分布与碳酸盐溶解

对南海西部300多个表层沉积样品中的浮游有孔虫和钙质超微化石定量分析表明，几乎所有样品均含浮游有孔虫、钙质超微化石，但丰度相差十分悬殊，浮游有孔虫丰度介于0．5～36673个／g之间，钙质超微化石丰度为0～1725个／10个视域，两者的分布规律相似。在陆坡区钙质浮游生物最富集，尤其在西沙群岛西南、南沙西部礁滩附近海区丰度最高；向深海盆区和陆架浅水区，钙质浮游生物丰度均下降。但从两者的丰度分布来看，其溶解程度不同，浮游有孔虫更容易溶解，在200～2000m水深区，丰度最高，2000m以下丰度锐减；而钙质超微化石的最富集区在500～3000m，且3000m以下仍较丰富。从碳酸盐的分布来看，本区碳酸盐的临界补偿深度(CCrD)为3500m，而CCD大于4300m，碳酸盐的溶解主要由有孔虫和钙质超微化石构成。