Impact of Two "El Niño" Events of Different Intensity on the Hypoxic Soft Bottom Macrobenthos off the Central Peruvian wast

Abstract. Monthly changes in the community structure of hypoxic soft-bottom macrobenthos have been studied at a station at 34 m depth in Ancón Bay (Peru) before and during two El Niño (EN) events. Of these events, 1982-83 is considered the strongest, and 1991–93 one of the most prolonged in the 20th century. On the oceanographic scale, EN 1982–83 ranges as "very strong", whereas EN 1991–93 ranges as "moderate".
The thermal anomalies at the station during EN 1982–83 (+ 7.8 °C) were almost twice those of EN 1991–93 (+ 4.1 °C). However, the community changes were not in all cases proportional to the extent of warming. Species numbers increased in a similar way (up to 24 species from near zero in each of the two events), but maximum faunal density was five times higher, and mean biomass was twice as high in 1982–83 compared with the event a decade later. Species diversity was slightly higher during EN 1982–83, whereas successional and trophic changes occurred on a broader scale during EN 1991–93. On the whole, the impact of the long-lasting event on the small soft-bottom macrofauna was not much weaker than that of the exceptionally strong event.
The authors discuss the mechanisms which may be responsible for the differences and similarities encountered in the benthic community dynamics during these two events. Both in the unusually strong and the unusually long EN, the community revealed a pattern of early biological response several months ahead of the onset of local warming which marks the official begin of EN. The question is addressed to what extent the increase of certain parameters in the benthic community could be used for predictive purposes.     

48 ka以来日本海Ulleung海盆南部的海洋沉积环境演化

晚第四纪以来伴随底层水含氧量的剧烈变化,浅色和深色沉积层的交替出现是日本海半远洋沉积物的主要特征。沉积特征分析表明,日本海Ulleung海盆南部KCES1孔的沉积物具有四种不同的沉积构造:均质、纹层、纹层状和混杂构造。深色沉积层一般具有纹层和纹层状构造,并且与我国内陆的千年尺度东亚夏季风强弱变化记录有很好的对应关系,表明纹层沉积物也具有千年尺度的变化规律,从而进一步说明了冰川性海平面变化和东亚夏季风波动应该是Ulleung海盆南部底层水溶解氧含量变化的主要原因。在暖期,在东亚夏季风降水相对增强的影响下,低温、低盐的东海沿岸水对日本海表层水体的贡献要大于对马暖流的贡献,日本海水体间的交换减弱,最终造成缺氧的海底沉积环境。在冷期,夏季风强度的减弱(冬季风增强)加快了日本海西北部深层水的生成,Ulleung海盆南部的底层水含氧量高,相应地沉积了具均质构造的浅色沉积物;在末次盛冰期最低海平面时,日本海成为一个封闭的海盆,降雨量高于蒸发量,水体出现分层,底层水处于停滞缺氧状态。自距今17.5 ka(日历年,下同)以来底层水含氧量较高,对马暖流逐渐成为影响日本海海洋沉积环境的主要因素。Ulleung海盆南部底层水的含氧量在YD期间有一定程度的降低,东海沿岸水的短暂强盛制约了深层水的流通。自距今10.5 ka以来对马暖流强盛,日本海海底处于富氧的沉积环境。     

日本海西南陆坡全新世对马暖流演化的沉积学和地球化学记录

对日本海西南陆坡对马暖流主流轴下方高沉积速率沉积物柱状样,进行了沉积学和地球化学系统研究,以探讨全新世以来对马暖流在研究区的形成与演化,并得出了与附近地区古海洋学方法非常相近的结果,从而为今后研究区的对马暖流演化研究提供了沉积学和地球化学指标。据此,该柱状样中所记录的对马暖流演化可划分为5个主要阶段。全新世初期(9.6 kaBP),对马暖流开始进入日本海,其强度较弱,同时,伴随着富营养东海沿岸水的影响,海底环境由还原性向氧化性转变;6.5 kaBP时,对马暖流控制下的日本海南部现代对流模式最终建立起来,东海沿岸水的影响基本消失,随后,对马暖流明显减弱;3.0 kaBP时,对马暖流再次增强并基本达到现在水平,且在随后的3 ka里保持总体稳定,期间在2.0~0.7 kaBP存在一次较弱的减弱过程。     

The shedding of mesoscale anticyclonic eddies from the Alaskan Stream and westward transport of warm water

The south-flowing waters of the Kamchatka and Oyashio Currents and west-flowing waters of the Alaskan Stream are key components of the western sub-Arctic Pacific circulation. We use CTD data, Argo buoys, WOCE surface drifters, and satellite-derived sea-level observations to investigate the structure and interannual changes in this system that arise from interactions among anticyclonic eddies and the mean flow. Variability in the temperature of the upstream Oyashio and Kamchatka Currents is evident by warming in mesothermal layer in 1994–2005 compared to 1990–1991. A major fraction of the water in these currents is derived directly from the Alaskan Stream. The stream also sheds large anticyclonic (Aleutian) eddies, averaging approximately 300 km in diameter with a volume transport significant in comparison with that of the Kamchatka Current itself. These eddies enclose pools of relatively warm and saline water whose temperature is typically 4 °C warmer and salinity is 0.4 greater than that of cold-core Kamchatka eddies in the same density range. Aleutian eddies drift at approximately 1.2 km d⁻¹ and retain their distinctive warm and salty characteristics for at least 2 years. Selected westward pathways during 1990–2004 are identified. If the shorter northern route is followed, Aleutian eddies remain close to the stream and persist sufficiently long to carry warm and saline water directly to the Kamchatka Current. This was observed during 1994–1997 with substantial warming of the waters in the Kamchatka Current and upstream Oyashio. If the eddies take a more southern route they detach from the stream but can still contribute significant quantities of warm and saline water to the upstream Oyashio, as in 2004–2005. However, the eddies following this southern route may dissipate before reaching the western boundary current region.     

Understanding El Niño — The importance of Grey Literature in Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management

Access to information about past states of the environment and social systems is fundamental to understand, and cope with, the challenges of climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources at the onset of the 21st century. The loss of (old) data is a major threat to understanding better and mitigating long-term effects of human activities and anthropogenic changes to the environment. Although this is intuitively evident for old and local literature of any kind, even present-day international publishing of papers without the underlying raw data makes access to basic information a crucial issue. Here, we summarise experience resulting from a EU-funded International Science & Technology Cooperation (INCO) project (CENSOR) addressing Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management in the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) context. We show that indeed “Grey Literature” is still one of the most important sources of knowledge about natural science research and management of natural resource systems in Latin American countries. We argue that public archiving of original data of present-day research and old (Grey) Literature and easy public access are important for appreciating today's global environmental challenges caused by human activities, both past and present.     

Direct Measurements of Deep Currents in the Northern Japan Sea

Long-term current measurements by means of subsurface moorings were made for the first time at seven sites in the Japan Basin, the northern part of the Japan Sea. The objective was to directly explore the velocity field in the highly homogeneous deep water mass (the Japan Sea Proper Water) that occupies depths below 500 m. On each mooring three current meters were equipped at an approximately equal distance below about 1000 m depth. Duration of the measurements was 1 to 3 years depending on specific site. This paper describes the basic data set from the moored measurements. It is found that the deep water of the Japan Basin is very energetic with eddies and vertically coherent currents of the order of 0.1 m/s. Surprisingly, the currents and eddies exhibit strong seasonal dependence even in the deepest layers of the Basin. The observed new current features are discussed in comparison with conventional deep circulation pictures derived from hydrographic data. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国近海浮游桡足类中华哲水蚤（Calanussinicus Brodsky）的分子系统地理学和种群遗传结构研究

Planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus is the dominant meso-zooplankton in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. To better understand its population dynamics and phylogeographic patterns, 243 C. sinicus individuals were collected from seven locations across the shelf waters of China and its population genetics was studied by mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I(mtCOI) sequences analyses. Thirty-nine different sequences, or haplotypes, were detected with moderate haplotype diversity(h=0.749) and low nucleotide diversity(π=0.003) for all populations. The evolutionary divergence between geographic populations varied from 0.24% to 0.37%, indicative of very limited genetic differentiation. Visualized minimum spanning network(MSN) and phylogenetic analysis of all the detected haplotypes did not reveal any clear phylogeographic pattern. Furthermore, AMOVA data showed no significant spatial population differentiation existed among the individuals collected across China shelf waters. Pairwise FST values showed that population collected from northwest of the East China Sea(ECS) displayed a low difference to other populations. Mismatch distribution analyses and neutrality tests indicated that C. sinicus might undergo a demographic/population expansion. No significant population genetic structuring was detected, indicating an extensive gene flow among the C. sinicus populations. Our results provide molecular evidence for the hypothesis that C. sinicus in the northwestern South China Sea in winter is transported from the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea by the China Coastal Current during the northeast monsoon period.     

东海西部陆架海域水团的季节特征分析

On the basis of the CTD data and the modeling results in the winter and summer of 2009, the seasonal characteristics of the water masses in the western East China Sea shelf area were analyzed using a cluster analysis method. The results show that the distributions and temperature-salinity characteristics of the water masses in the study area are of distinct seasonal difference. In the western East China Sea shelf area, there are three water masses during winter, i.e., continental coastal water（CCW）, Taiwan Warm Current surface water（TWCSW） and Yellow Sea mixing water（YSMW）, but four ones during summer, i.e., the CCW, the TWCSW, Taiwan Warm Current deep water（TWCDW） and the YSMW. Of all, the CCW, the TWCSW and the TWCDW are all dominant water masses. The CCW, primarily characterized by a low salinity, has lower temperature, higher salinity and smaller spatial extent in winter than in summer. The TWCSW is warmer, fresher and smaller in summer than in winter, and it originates mostly from the Kuroshio surface water（KSW） northeast of Taiwan, China and less from the Taiwan Strait water during winter, but it consists of the strait water and the KSW during summer. The TWCDW is characterized by a low temperature and a high salinity, and originates completely in the Kuroshio subsurface water northeast of Taiwan.     

冬季南黄海浮游动物群落结构及其对黄海暖流的指示

2009年12月和2010年1月对南黄海进行浮游动物采集, 以了解冬季浮游动物群落结构及其对黄海暖流的指示作用。结果表明, 南黄海冬季仍然以温带和暖温带种为主, 中华哲水蚤Calanus sinicus、强壮滨箭虫Aidanosagitta crassa、细足法Themisto gracilipes等温带和暖温带种类在浮游动物数量组成中具有较大优势。与此同时, 一些暖水种在调查海域局部出现。2009年12月暖水种仅分布在南黄海东南部黄海暖流源地附近。位于黄海中部的调查区东侧温盐层化现象明显, 近底层低温、高盐、高营养盐的水文特征体现了黄海冷水团的残留; 2010年1月在35°—36°N区域暖水种种类明显增加, 截平头水蚤Paracandacia truncata、长尾基齿哲水蚤Clausocalanus furcatus出现的位置与暖流路径相吻合, 海洋真刺水蚤Euchaeta rimana数量相比12月有明显向北推进的趋势。主成分分析显示暖水种的分布与温度有良好的相关性。Shannon-Weaver指数、丰富度指数、均匀度指数等没有呈现明显的分布规律, 对黄海暖流的指示作用不如种类明显。     

台湾岛以东海域束毛藻种群的组成与分布

分别对1996年5月和1997年7月台湾岛以东黑潮及邻近海域51个采样站位的87份网采浮游植物进行了分析,总结了束毛藻种群的物种构成和丰度分布特征,并初步探讨了水动力条件、温盐、营养盐及其他元素对束毛藻生长及分布的影响.结果表明,调查区的束毛藻种群由铁氏束毛藻(Trichodesmium thiebautii)、汉氏束毛藻(Trichodesmium hildebrandtii)和红海束毛藻(Trichodesmium erythraeum)组成,前者分布最为普遍,检出率100%,丰度最大.1996年5月束毛藻平均藻丝体密度为44.55伊102 filaments/m3,铁氏束毛藻占91%,在吕宋海峡密集,总体呈现西南高,东北低的分布态势.1997年7月束毛藻平均藻丝体密度为152.72伊102 filaments/m3,铁氏束毛藻占99%,除吕宋海峡外,台湾东北部海域为次高值区,总体呈现西南高,中部和东部低的分布态势.较之邻近海区结果,台湾岛以东黑潮及邻近海域的束毛藻平均藻丝体密度高于太平洋赤道热带海域、南黄海和东海陆架区、东海产卵场,低于台湾海峡西侧20 m 以浅和东海低氧区.在台湾岛以东海域,束毛藻的丰度分布由其特定的地理位置和黑潮流向所决定,高温高盐的黑潮水系利于束毛藻的增殖,束毛藻的丰度分布与 Fe、P 等化学因子的关系有待进一步寻找证据.