How are large western hemisphere warm pools formed?

During the boreal summer the Western Hemisphere warm pool (WHWP) stretches from the eastern North Pacific to the tropical North Atlantic and is a key feature of the climate of the Americas and Africa. In the summers following nine El Niño events during 1950–2000, there have been five instances of extraordinarily large warm pools averaging about twice the climatological annual size. These large warm pools have induced a strengthened divergent circulation aloft and have been associated with rainfall anomalies throughout the western hemisphere tropics and subtropics and with more frequent hurricanes. However, following four other El Niño events large warm pools did not develop, such that the mere existence of El Niño during the boreal winter does not provide the basis for predicting an anomalously large warm pool the following summer.In this paper, we find consistency with the hypothesis that large warm pools result from an anomalous divergent circulation forced by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Pacific, the so-called atmospheric bridge. We also find significant explanations for why large warm pools do not always develop. If the El Niño event ends early in the eastern Pacific, the Pacific warm anomaly lacks the persistence needed to force the atmospheric bridge and the Atlantic portion of the warm pool remains normal. If SST anomalies in the eastern Pacific do not last much beyond February of the following year, then the eastern North Pacific portion of the warm pool remains normal. The overall strength of the Pacific El Niño does not appear to be a critical factor. We also find that when conditions favor a developing atmospheric bridge and the winter atmosphere over the North Atlantic conforms to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern (as in 1957–58 and 1968–69), the forcing is reinforced and the warm pool is stronger. On the other hand, if a positive NAO pattern develops the warm pool may remain normal even if other circumstances favor the atmospheric bridge, as in 1991–92. Finally, we could find little evidence that interactions internal to the tropical Atlantic are likely to mitigate for or against the formation of the largest warm pools, although they may affect smaller warm pool fluctuations or the warm pool persistence.     

Microcoleus autumnalis and filamentous algae-dominated mats and chlorophyll-a increase with agricultural land use but respond differently to associated nutrient and sediment enrichment

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the impact of pastoral land use and nutrient and fine sediment inputs on Microcoleus autumnalis and filamentous algae-dominated mats, and benthic chlorophyll-a in streams (lower North Island, New Zealand). Surveying and sampling was undertaken monthly at 61 sites spanning a wide gradient in catchment cover and environmental conditions. Two boosted regression tree models were built. The first models included pastoral land cover and five environmental variables as predictors. In the second model pastoral land cover was replaced by nutrient/sediment data. The abundance of the two mat types and chlorophyll-a increased when pastoral land cover was between 20% and 70% (model 1). Replacement of pastoral land cover by nutrient/sediment data (model 2) slightly improved the model fit for all three periphyton variables. Microcoleus autumnalis-dominant mats increased with dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations up to ca. 0.6?mg?L^?1, and in streams with more frequent flushes. In contrast, filamentous algal-dominated mats increased with turbidity, and in streams with less frequent flushes. Chlorophyll-a generally followed the response of the dominant periphyton type. Increased knowledge on responses of specific periphyton types, rather than total biomass, to environmental variables is essential to guide effective management strategies.     

The Loyalty—New Hebrides Arc collision: Effects on the Loyalty Ridge and basin system,Southwest Pacific (first results of the ZoNéCo programme)

The ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises of Ifremer's Research Vessel L'Atalante, collected new swath bathymetry and geophysical data over the southern and northern segments of the basins and ridges forming the Loyalty system. Between the two surveyed areas, previous studies found evidence for the resistance of the Loyalty Ridge to subduction beneath the New Hebrides trench near 22°S–169°E. On the subducted plate, except for seismicity related to the downbending of the Australian plate, recorded shallow seismicity is sparse within the Loyalty system (Ridge and Basin) where reliable focal mechanism solutions are almost absent.Swath bathymetry, seismic reflection and magnetic data acquired during the ZoNéCo 1 and 2 cruises revealed a transverse asymmetric morphology in the Loyalty system, and an along-strike horst and graben structure on the discontinuous Loyalty Ridge. South of 23°50S and at 20°S, the two WSW-ENE-trending fault systems, respectively, sinistral and dextral, that crosscut the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system, are interpreted as due to the early effects of collision with the New Hebrides Arc. A NNW-SSE trend, evident along the whole Loyalty system and on the island of New Caledonia, is interpreted as an inherited structural trend that may have been reactivated through flexure of the Australian lithospheric plate at the subduction zone.Overall then, the morphology, structure and evolution of the southern and northern segments of the Loyalty system probably result from the combined effects of the Australian plate lithospheric bulge, the active Loyalty-New Hebrides collision and the overthrust of the New Caledonian ophiolite.     

西太平洋暖池区热带波动的天气效应

为了探讨西太平洋暧地区热带波动的天气效应，利用1980年2－9月140°E日本静止卫星纬度时间剖面卫星云图，分析了5d和14d左右周期热带波动云的演变特征，井综合分析了14d周期的云系演变型式与流场的关系，为预报热带中期天气变化规律提供了依据；热带波动中30－60d大气低频振荡的云量变化最显著，北半球夏半年热带波动的天气压主要在10°N－0°，各半年在10°N－10°S，超过这个区域热带云量的港分布型式就有明显的变化。     

The Sponge Population of the Cabrera Archipelago (Balearic Islands): Characteristics, Distribution, and Abundance of the Most Representative Species

Abstract. The abundance, distribution, and species richness of the littoral sponges (0–55 m) from the Cabrera Archipelago (Balearic Islands) were studied along light gradients from the surface to the sea bottom and from cave mouths to their inner parts. A total of 98 species (11 Calcarea and 87 Demospongiae ) were recorded, 8 of which are new records for the Spanish coast.
Cluster and correspondence analyses enabled the identification of a sciophilous sponge group including three subgroups: sponges found only in semi-dark cave habitats, a subgroup common to the coralligenous, precoralligenous, and semi-dark cave biocoenoses, and a third subgroup exclusive to the coralligenous biocoenosis. A small number of photophilic species and other species having a wide bathymetric distribution made up another separate group. No species clusters for the different semi-sciophilous (either fleshy or carbonate) or photophilic seaweed communities were discernible. The number of sponge species was negatively correlated with the irradiance level.     

Two new species of Lecithochirium LUKE, 1901(Trematodes: Hemiuridae)

1.Lecithochiriumfukenensissp.nov.(Fig.1)(Basedon6wholemounts)ThisspiceswascollectedinthestomachofTrichiurushaumelafromXiamenandNan'ao.Bodydividedintosomaandecsoma.Soma1,31~3.48×0.426~1.05(2.69×0.737),ecsoma0.22~0.80(0.448)longwhenprotruded,usuallycomple…     

一种提高粘土矿物去除赤潮生物能力的新方法

在研究粘土颗粒与赤潮生物絮凝作用的基础上，建立了粘土表面改性对其絮凝作用影响的理论模型，认为改变粘土颗粒的表面性质提高其去除赤潮生物能力的主要途径，提出在粘土中引入ＰＡＣＳ（聚羟基氯化铝）的改性方法。结果表明，对于微型原甲藻（Ｐｒｏｒｏ－ｃｅｎｔｒｕｍ ｍｉｎｉｍｕｎ）体系，粘土中引入微量ＰＡＣＳ后，其去除率达９０％以上的高岭土用量由原来的２ｇ／Ｌ降至０．１ｇ／Ｌ，去除效率提高近２０倍。考察了ＰＡ     

Correspondence between the distribution of hydrodynamic time parameters and the distribution of biological and chemical variables in a semi-enclosed coral reef lagoon

Hydrodynamic modeling can be used to spatially characterize water renewal rates in coastal ecosystems. Using a hydrodynamic model implemented over the semi-enclosed Southwest coral lagoon of New Caledonia, a recent study computed the flushing lag as the minimum time required for a particle coming from outside the lagoon (open ocean) to reach a specific station [Jouon, A., Douillet, P., Ouillon, S., Fraunié, P., 2006. Calculations of hydrodynamic time parameters in a semi-opened coastal zone using a 3D hydrodynamic model. Continental Shelf Research 26, 1395–1415]. Local e-flushing time was calculated as the time requested to reach a local grid mesh concentration of 1/e from the precedent step. Here we present an attempt to connect physical forcing to biogeochemical functioning of this coastal ecosystem. An array of stations, located in the lagoonal channel as well as in several bays under anthropogenic influence, was sampled during three cruises. We then tested the statistical relationships between the distribution of flushing indices and those of biological and chemical variables. Among the variables tested, silicate, chlorophyll a and bacterial biomass production present the highest correlations with flushing indices. Correlations are higher with local e-flushing times than with flushing lags or the sum of these two indices. In the bays, these variables often deviate from the relationships determined in the main lagoon channel. In the three bays receiving significant riverine inputs, silicate is well above the regression line, whereas data from the bay receiving almost insignificant freshwater inputs generally fit the lagoon channel regressions. Moreover, in the three bays receiving important urban and industrial effluents, chlorophyll a and bacterial production of biomass generally display values exceeding the lagoon channel regression trends whereas in the bay under moderate anthropogenic influence values follow the regressions obtained in the lagoon channel. The South West lagoon of New Caledonia can hence be viewed as a coastal mesotrophic ecosystem that is flushed by oligotrophic oceanic waters which subsequently replace the lagoonal waters with water considerably impoverished in resources for microbial growth. This flushing was high enough during the periods of study to influence the distribution of phytoplankton biomass, bacterial production of biomass and silicate concentrations in the lagoon channel as well as in some of the bay areas.     

杰氏风暴潮预报方法在珠海及粤西海域的应用

本文通过杰氏风暴潮预报方法对历史上给珠海和粤西海域造成较大影响的台风增水事件进行后报试验,并通过统计分析方法对原有的预报公式进行订正,总结出适合珠海及粤西海域的风暴潮预报公式.利用5a的时间对珠海及粤西海域的台风增水进行试报,结果表明预报准确率分别达95.0%和87.6%,尤其对一些增水较大、影响较严重的台风增水预报相对更加准确,预报准确率均达90.0%以上.这说明订正后的公式对珠海及粤西海域的风暴潮预报能得到较好的预报效果.