Distribution of Living Larger Foraminifera NW of Sesoko-Jima, Okinawa, Japan

Abstract. Living, symbiont-bearing, larger foraminiferids restricted to the photic zone incorporate mechanisms blocking solar radiation and water current transportation. They can be divided in two groups according to their wall structure: 1, Families with opaque test walls, reducing light penetration: Peneroplids inhabit shallow-water environments from the intertidal ( Peneroplis in large numbers) down to 40 m ( Dendritina , preferring sandy substrates). Soritids are restricted to subtidal environments with less water turbulence and range from the reef moat down to 60 m. Amphisorus and Marginopora are common down to 30 m, whereas Parasorites is restricted to deeper parts of the reef slope. Alveolinella can be found in the upper 40 m of the reef slope. 2. Families with hyaline test walls, adjusted for light penetration: amphisteginids inhabit the whole photic zone, demonstrating a correlation of test flattening with increasing depth. Calcarinids cling with their spines to firm substrates such as algal thalli or macroids. Baculogypsina is restricted to high energetic regions on the reef flat. Calcarina inhabits similar environments, extending its distribution range within fore reefs down to 80 m. Baculogypsinoides is a dominant calcarinid genus from 30 to 70 m depth. Within nummulitids, Heterostegina prefers hard substrates on the reef slope, while Assilina (= Operculina ) is frequent in deeper parts and is independent of substrates. Sandy bottoms from 30 to 60 m are inhabited by the last living representative of the genus Nummulites, N. venosus . The giant foraminifer Cycloclypeus , with test sizes up to 7 cm, is restricted to fore reef areas below 50 m down to the base of the photic zone.     

Species richness of the genus Molgolaimus (Nematoda) from local to ocean scale along continental slopes

This study investigated the distribution of Molgolaimus species (Nematoda) at different hierarchical spatial scales and observed the turnover of species along bathymetrical transects and among transects in two separate geographical regions. Samples from six transects (200–2000 m) from the Southern Oceans (SO) and four bathymetric transects (50–2000 m) from the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) were compared. Of the 30 species recorded, only one was common to both regions. WIO had higher local species richness than the SO. In both regions, the local scale was the greatest contributor to the total species richness. In the SO, there was no difference between species turnover at the different spatial scales, however, in the WIO, the turnover along bathymetrical transects was higher than among separated transects. For the particular genus studied, the evidence suggests that the study area in WIO has more widespread species and was better sampled, while the SO has many restricted species and it is most probably characterized by different biogeographical provinces. At the ocean scale (i.e. WIO versus SO), evolutionary histories may have strongly influenced nematodes species composition, while at local and regional scales, ecological processes are probably promoting species co‐existence and speciation. The high co‐existence of certain species at local scale is partially explained by species preference for different sediment layers.     

Ocean bottom tiltmeter with acoustic data retrieval system implanted by a submersible

Sensitive Ocean Bottom Implanted Tiltmeters (OBITs) with a sophisticated data retrieval system have been developed in order to observe directly the subduction of oceanic lithosphere. The OBIT is the first long-term geophysical instrument which was designed to be deployed by a manned deep-sea submersible. When the OBIT is put on oceanic lithosphere which is bending and is about to subduct under a deep sea trench, the OBIT records the subduction by observing the tilt of the surface of the lithosphere. The OBIT system has a sensitivity of 10^-8 radian, which is enough to detect the ongoing subduction in months or years. The OBIT may give an answer to the question whether there are fluctuations in the subduction rate.Two OBITs were successfully deployed on a seaward slope of the Kuril Trench by the newly built French deep submersible, Nautile. The OBITs were installed on the northwest shoulder of Erimo seamount, at a depth of 3930 m, in the Kuril Trench. In order to attain stable long-term observations of crustal deformations, the sensing unit was cemented onto bare rock by mortar. We have not yet had an opportunity to recover the data.The life of the instruments is expected to be more than five years. An acoustic data transmission system has been developed for the OBIT data recovery. The stored data can be retrieved at any moment during the observation period, with no need to retrieve the instruments nor to interrupt the observation, by use of the acoustic system. The acoustic system has a high data transmission rate as well as extremely low power consumption. This will be the first long-term crustal deformation measurement on the sea floor.     

Food utilisation by coastal fish assemblages in rocky and soft bottoms on the Swedish west coast: Inference for identification of essential fish habitats

The concept of essential fish habitats (EFHs) is widely accepted for conservational and management purposes. EFHs are often considered as high quality habitats for fisheries species and subsequently of high values for society. In this study, fish and Substrate-Associated Prey (SAP) were sampled during the productive summer season 1998 (fish) and 2003 and 2004 (SAP) in shallow coastal rocky- and soft-bottom habitats on the Swedish west coast. The aim was to study the spatial and monthly variation of SAP as well as abundance and biomass of fish, and to examine if food items found in the diet of the fish assemblage were derived from SAP. We also examined if the diet of Ctenolabrus rupestris, a resident and abundant fish species in the shallow coastal habitats, and the diet of four seasonally abundant and commercially important fish species (Gadus morhua, Pleuronectes platessa, Salmo trutta and Scomber scombrus) were derived from SAP. There were significantly higher mean species number and abundance of the SAP assemblage on rocky compared to soft bottoms and the highest values were found on the rocky bottoms in August and in the shallowest (0–3 m) depth strata. There were no significant differences in number of fish species caught in the two habitats, although mean number of fish and mean biomass were significantly higher on rocky bottoms. Both habitats showed the same seasonal variation and the highest values of number of fish species, abundance and biomass were observed in June. On rocky bottoms, gastropods and amphipods were the most frequent food items in the diet of the entire fish assemblage and these items were also the most abundant SAP in this habitat. The dominant food items of the soft-bottom fish assemblage were decapods and fish, which were not common SAP. However, except for S. scombrus, the diet of the selected fish species showed a strong association to the SAP availability. Gadus morhua displayed the strongest association to SAP on rocky bottoms and P. platessa and C. rupestris to SAP on soft bottoms. Further, for C. rupestris, multivariate statistical analysis showed a significant association to the SAP assemblage on both rocky and soft bottoms. These results provide vital new information for the management and conservation of Essential Fish Habitats on the Swedish west coast.     

太平洋几种海面要素的升降趋势及其对海平面上升的影响

对ＣＯＡＤＳ资料中１９５０－１９９２年太平洋４°×８°方区的海水表层温度及海面气温、气压、风速序列数据，进行了时间序列分析。分析结果表明：太平洋海表气温和水温年上升率分别为０．００６３℃·ａ（－１）和０．００２６℃·ａ（－１）。两者的变化趋势在赤道太平洋都有一个年上升率高值区；而在东海以北的西北太平洋广大海区，都有一个年下降率的低值区。西太平洋海面气压呈上升趋势，东太平洋则相反。气温和水温的升降区域分布特征与风速分量增强和减弱的变化趋势有关。文章还指出，中国和日本沿岸今后几十年海平面变化趋势的预测模式，应以太平洋或全球海平面上升趋势的预测为基础，加上本海区海平面的局地变化订正。     

近岸浅海潮流数值模型及其应用

在Casulli提出的半隐式有限差分方法的基础上,通过改进底摩擦力公式以避免在超浅水域底摩擦项过大的缺点,对底摩擦项进行线性化处理以获得隐式效果,对平流项采用适当的差分格式以减小假扩散及对活动边界引入误差的传播,采用高效的选代格式提高运算速度,建立了适合于近岸浅海的潮流数值模型。该模型有良好的稳定性,计算时间步长不受CFL条件的限制。在防城港的潮流模拟中,模型的验证结果良好。     

Teleconnection of IOD signal in the upper troposphere over southern high latitudes

Evidence has been found for the teleconnection of Indian Ocean Dipole mode (IOD) events in the southern high latitude sea surface pressure field, although the mechanisms that might lead to such far-reaching links remain unresolved. Based on the teleconnection pattern between IOD and the climate anomaly in the upper troposphere, we propose one such mechanism here: the energy propagation theory of the atmospheric planetary wave. Ray traces of the atmospheric planetary waves suggest that the energy propagation of the waves could be responsible for the teleconnection between IOD and tropospheric climate anomalies in southern high latitudes.     

Surface geostrophic currents across the Antarctic circumpolar current in Drake Passage from 1992 to 2004

The Southern Ocean plays an important role in the global overturning circulation as a significant proportion of deep water is converted into intermediate and deeper water masses in this region. Recently, a secular trend has been reported in wind stress around the Southern Ocean and it is thought theoretically that the strength of the ACC is closely related to wind stress, so one consequence should be a corresponding increase in ACC transport and hence changes in the rate of the global overturning. There are no long-term data sets of ACC transport and so we must examine other data that may also respond to changing wind stress. Here we calculate surface currents in Drake Passage every seven days over 11.25 years from 1992 to 2004. We combine surface velocity anomalies calculated from satellite altimeter sea surface heights with measured surface currents. Since 1992, the UK has regularly occupied WOCE hydrographic section SR1b across the ACC in Drake Passage. From seven hydrographic sections surface currents are estimated by referencing relative geostrophic velocities from CTD sections with current measurements made by shipboard and lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers. Combining the seven estimates of surface currents with the altimeter data reduces bias in the estimates of average currents over time through Drake Passage and we show that surface current anomalies estimated by satellite and in situ observations are in good agreement. The strongest surface currents are found in the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts with average speeds of 50 cm/s and 35 cm/s, respectively and are inversely correlated, so that maximum westward flow in one corresponds to minimum westward flow in the other. The average cross-sectional weighted surface velocity from 1992 to 2004 is 16.7 ± 0.2 cm/s. A spectral analysis of the average surface current has only weakly increasing energy at higher frequencies and there is no dominant mode of variability. The standard deviation of the seven day currents is 0.68 cm/s and a running 12 month average has only a slightly smaller standard deviation of 0.52 ± 0.16 cm/s. The southern annular mode (SAM) measures the circumpolar average of wind stress and like the surface currents its spectrum has slightly increased energy at frequencies greater than 1 cpy. A cospectral analysis of these, averaging cospectra of five slightly overlapping 36 month segments improve statistical reliability, suggests that there is coherence between them at 1 cpy with the currents leading changes in the Southern annular mode. We conclude that the SAM and average Drake Passage surface currents are weakly correlated with no dominant co-varying modes, and hence predicting Southern Ocean transport variability from the SAM is not likely to give significant results and that secular trends in surface currents are likely to be masked by weekly and interannual variability.