热带印度洋偶极子发生和演变机制的数值研究

对中国科学院大气物理研究所(IAP)大气科学和地球流体力学数值模拟国家重点实验室(LASG)发展的第三代海洋模式(L30T63 OGCM)进行了改进。分析了该模式1959年1月—1998年12月的40a积分结果，以此研究热带印度洋偶极子发生、发展和消亡的物理机制。对数值模拟结果的分析表明，赤道印度洋表面异常东风引起的异常环流结构是偶极子发生、发展的主要动力学原因，其表面异常东风转换为异常西风所引起的异常环流结构调整是偶极子消亡的主要动力学原因；海气界面热通量异常的交换对热带印度洋海表温度距平偶极子模态的形成和演变起着重要的作用；垂直输送作用是热带印度洋次表层海温偶极子模态发生和演变的主要物理机制。     

The contribution of atmospheric acid deposition to ocean acidification in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean

The absorption of anthropogenic CO₂ and atmospheric deposition of acidity can both contribute to the acidification of the global ocean. Rainfall pH measurements and chemical compositions monitored on the island of Bermuda since 1980, and a long-term seawater CO₂ time-series (1983–2005) in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda were used to evaluate the influence of acidic deposition on the acidification of oligotrophic waters of the North Atlantic Ocean and coastal waters of the coral reef ecosystem of Bermuda. Since the early 1980's, the average annual wet deposition of acidity at Bermuda was 15 ± 14 mmol m^− 2 year^− 1, while surface seawater pH decreased by 0.0017 ± 0.0001 pH units each year. The gradual acidification of subtropical gyre waters was primarily due to uptake of anthropogenic CO₂. We estimate that direct atmospheric acid deposition contributed 2% to the acidification of surface waters in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, although this value likely represents an upper limit. Acidifying deposition had negligible influence on seawater CO₂ chemistry of the Bermuda coral reef, with no evident impact on hard coral calcification.     

The distribution of chlorophyll-a and dominant planktonic components in the coastal transition zone off Concepción, central Chile, during different oceanographic conditions

The oceanographic setting and the planktonic distribution in the coastal transition zone off Concepción (∼35-38°S, ∼73-77°W), an area characterized by its high biological production, were assessed during two different seasons: austral spring with equatorward upwelling favorable winds and austral winter with predominately northerly winds. Oceanographic and biological data (total chlorophyll-a, particulate organic carbon, microplankton, large mesozooplankton >500 μm as potential consumers of microplankton) were obtained during two cruises (October 1998, July 1999) together with satellite imagery for wind stress, geostrophic flow, surface temperature, and chlorophyll-a data. The physical environment during the spring sampling was typical of the upwelling period in this region, with a well-defined density front in the shelf-break area and high concentrations of surface chlorophyll-a (>5 mg m⁻³) on the shelf over the Itata terrace. During the winter sampling, highly variable though weakly upwelling-favorable winds were observed along with lower surface chlorophyll-a values (<2 mg m⁻³) on the shelf. In the oceanic area (>100 km from the coast), cyclonic and anti-cyclonic eddies were evident in the flow field during both periods, the former coinciding with higher chlorophyll-a contents (∼1 mg m⁻³) than in the surrounding waters. Also, a cold, chlorophyll-a rich filament was well defined during the spring sampling, extending from the shelf out to 350-400 km offshore. Along a cross-shelf transect, the micro- and meso-planktonic assemblages displayed higher coastal abundances during the spring cruise but secondary peaks appeared in the oceanic area during the winter cruise, coinciding with the distribution of the eddies. These results suggest that the mesoscale features in this region, in combination with upwelling, play a role in potentially increasing the biological productivity of the coastal transition zone off Concepción.     

Determination of phospholipid fatty acid structures and stable carbon isotope compositions of deep-sea sediments of the Northwest Pacific, ODP site 1179

Sediment samples ranging from 0.05 to 278 m below sea floor (mbsf) at a Northwest Pacific deep-water (5564 mbsl) site (ODP Leg 191, Site 1179) were analyzed for phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). Total PLFA concentrations decreased by a factor of three over the first meter of sediment and then decreased at a slower rate to approximately 30 mbsf. The sharp decrease over the first meter corresponds to the depth of nitrate and Mn(IV) reduction as indicated by pore water chemistry. PLFA-based cell numbers at site 1179 had a similar depth profile as that for Acridine orange direct cell counts previously made on ODP site 1149 sediments which have a similar water depth and lithology. The mole percentage of straight chain saturated PLFAs increases with depth, with a large shift between the 0.95 and 3.95 mbsf samples. PLFA stable carbon isotope ratios were determined for sediments from 0.05 to 4.53 mbsf and showed a general trend toward more depleted δ¹³C values with depth. Both of these observations may indicate a shift in the bacterial community with depth across the different redox zones inferred from pore water chemistry data. The PLFA 10me16:0, which has been attributed to the bacterial genera Desulfobacter in many marine sediments, showed the greatest isotopic depletion, decreasing from − 20 to − 35‰ over the first meter of sediment. Pore water chemistry suggested that sulfate reduction was absent or minimal over this same sediment interval. However, 10me16:0 has been shown to be produced by recently discovered anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria which are known chemoautotrophs. The increasing depletion in δ¹³C of 10me16:0 with the unusually lower concentration of ammonium and linear decrease of nitrate concentration is consistent with a scenario of anammox bacteria mediating the oxidation of ammonium via nitrite, an intermediate of nitrate reduction.     

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.     

Subsurface Water Masses in the Central North Pacific Transition Region: The Repeat Section along the 18° Meridian

A repeat hydrographic section has been maintained over two decades along the 180° meridian across the subarctic-subtropical transition region. The section is naturally divided into at least three distinct zones. In the Subarctic Zone north of 46°N, the permanent halocline dominates the density stratification, supporting a subsurface temperature minimum (STM). The Subarctic Frontal Zone (SFZ) between 42°–46°N is the region where the subarctic halocline outcrops. To the south is the Subtropical Zone, where the permanent thermocline dominates the density stratification, containing a pycnostad of North Pacific Central Mode Water (CMW). The STM water colder than 4°C in the Subarctic Zone is originated in the winter mixed layer of the Bering Sea. The temporal variation of its core temperature lags 12–16 months behind the variations of both the winter sea surface temperature (SST) and the summer STM temperature in the Bering Sea, suggesting that the thermal anomalies imposed on the STM water by wintertime air-sea interaction in the Bering Sea spread over the western subarctic gyre, reaching the 180° meridian within a year or so. The CMW in this section originates in the winter mixed layer near the northern edge of the Subtropical Zone between 160°E and 180°. The CMW properties changed abruptly from 1988 to 1989; its temperature and salinity increased and its potential density decreased. It is argued that these changes were caused by the climate regime shift in 1988/1989 characterized by weakening of the Aleutian Low and the westerlies and increase in the SST in the subarctic-subtropical transition region. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Zonal Pathway for NADW in the South Atlantic

Several large deployments of neutrally buoyant floats took place within the Antarctic Intermediate (AAIW), North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), and the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) of the South Atlantic in the 1990s and a number of hydrographic sections were occupied as well. Here we use the spatially and temporally averaged velocities measured by these floats, combined with the hydrographic section data and various estimates of regional current transports from moored current meter arrays, to determine the circulation of the three major subthermocline water masses in a zonal strip across the South Atlantic between the latitudes of 19°S and 30°S. We concentrate on this region because the historical literature suggests that it is where the Deep Western Boundary Current containing NADW bifurcates. In support of this notion, we find that a net of about 5 Sv. of the 15–20 Sv that crosses 19°S does continue zonally eastward at least as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Once across the ridge it takes a circuit to the north along the ridge flanks before returning to the south in the eastern half of the Angola Basin. The data suggest that the NADW then continues on into the Indian Ocean. This scheme is discussed in the context of distributions of dissolved oxygen, silicate and salinity. In spite of the many float-years of data that were collected in the region a surprising result is that their impact on the computed solutions is quite modest. Although the focus is on the NADW we also discuss the circulation for the AAIW and AABW layers.