Distribution of methane content and methane fluxes in the Sea of Japan,Sea of Okhotsk,and near-Kuril Pacific

The spatial distribution of methane content and methane fluxes in the water in the north-western part of the Sea of Japan, in the Kuril basin of the Sea of Okhotsk, and in the near-Kuril part of the Pacific Ocean is studied using the data of marine research expeditions in 2005, 2010, and 2011. The studies revealed the significant variability of the methane flux depending on the source presence and on the sea surface conditions. The high emission of methane from water to the atmosphere is registered in the areas where its concentration exceeds the equilibrium values with the atmosphere. The use of the model of computation of the fields of currents and contaminant transport for the investigated water area enabled explaining the formation of the high concentration of methane in the center of vortices in the zones of sea water convergence in the water areas under study.     

The effect of oil films on water evaporation and oxygen content in sea water

The paper covers some results of laboratory and nature experiments on studying the effect of oil films on water evaporation rate and oxygen concentration in sea water. It is demonstrated that oil films on the sea surface reduce the rate of water evaporation by 15 to 33% due to diffusion resistance of oil film as well as energy resistance of monolayer of surface active substances at the film-water interface. Large oil spots may cause, in areas oversaturated with oxygen, increase of oxygen concentration in sea water under the oil spot due to decrease of gas exchange rate at the sea-atmosphere interface.     

Methane anomalies,its flux on the sea–atmosphere interface and their relations to the geological structure of the South-Tatar sedimentary basin (Tatar Strait,the Sea of Japan)

Marine Geophysical Research - The paper presents the effects of gasgeochemical survey in the upper layer and water column, as well as in bottom sediments in the Tatar Strait (the North of the Sea...     

Variations of atomic mercury concentration in atmospheric surface layer over the Ussuri Bay of the Sea of Japan during the typhoon Bolaven passage in 2012

Presented are the results of measuring the concentration of atomic mercury Hg⁰ on August 28–30, 2012 in the atmospheric surface layer over the Ussuri Bay in the Sea of Japan during the typhoon Bolaven passage. It is revealed that the Hg⁰ concentration during this period varied from 1.7 to 3.3 ng/m³. The maximum values were observed at the coming of mercury-enriched air masses from the Yellow Sea area at the simultaneous decrease in the air pressure and increase in the wind speed.     

Interseasonal Variability in Methane Concentrations and Fluxes at the Water–Atmosphere Boundary in the Western Sea of Okhotsk

Oceanology - Intra-annual variability in methane fluxes at the water–atmosphere boundary was shown for the first time in the water area of the Sea of Okhotsk east of Sakhalin Island. The...