Eddy Diffusion Coefficients of Suspended Particulate Matter: Effects of Wind Energy Transfer and Stratification

Gross sedimentation rates (GSR) have been measured using sediment traps placed at nine different levels above the bed (0·3, 0·5, 0·8, 1·0, 2·0, 4·0, 6·0, 8·0 and 10·0 m). The sediment traps were deployed for 1·25 years and recovered 28 times during the study period. Low average GSR values of 5·5 g m^-2 day^-1 were obtained at 10·0 m, and high average GSR values of 114·8 g m^-2 day^-1 were obtained at 0·3 m. An expression for the eddy diffusion coefficient of suspended particulate matter (K_s), based on the measured GSR is given. The expression has been used for modelling of K_s at the different trap levels above the bed. High values (≈42 cm² s^-1) of K_s were obtained at the upper traps, whereas low values (≈2 cm² s^-1) were obtained near the bed. Comparison between level of turbulent energy in terms of shear stress at the boundaries of the water column, i.e. from the wind and the bed flow, showed that wind energy exceeded that of the bed flow by a factor 16. At 5·0 m K_s was positively correlated (r=0·66) to the eddy diffusion coefficient of momentum (K_m) derived from the wind energy transfer to the water, giving an average β of 0·5 for K_s =βK_m. The density difference between surface and bottom waters has been designated a parameter of stratification, and is discussed in relation to variations of K_s and K_m .     

Meteorological Observations 2002 at the Arctic Station,Qeqertarsuaq (69°15'N), Central West Greenland

An automatic meteorological station has been operating at the Arctic Station (69°15'N, 53°31'W) in West Greenland since 1990. This paper summarises meteorological parameters during 2002, including snow cover, ground temperatures and active layer development, and air temperatures at the Station during the last 12 years are compared to large scale trends during the last century.

A compilation of 93 sedimentation rate determinations based on ²¹⁰Pb dating has been carried out for the North Sea-Baltic Sea transition area from a database containing 165 determinations carried out by Danish institutions. In the depositional parts of the area sedimentation rates generally range 25–6403 g m^?2 y^?1. An extreme rate of 13351 g m^?2 y^?1 is observed on a station in the Skagerrak. Sedimentation rates significantly increase with depth indicating that the Skagerrak and northern parts of the Kattegat as well as the deep basins in the Baltic Sea act as depocentres for fine-grained sediments. Apparently, sedimentation rates have increased in recent years.     

Inter-annual and seasonal variations in the air–sea CO2 balance in the central Baltic Sea and the Kattegat

We estimated the net annual air–sea exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂) using monitoring data from the East Gotland Sea, Bornholm Sea, and Kattegat for the 1993–2009 period. Wind speed and the sea surface partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂^w), calculated from pH, total alkalinity, temperature, and salinity, were used for the flux calculations. We demonstrate that regions in the central Baltic Sea and the Kattegat alternate between being sinks (−) and sources (+) of CO₂ within the −4.2 to +5.2 mol m⁻² yr⁻¹ range. On average, for the 1994–2008 period, the East Gotland Sea was a source of CO₂ (1.64 mol m⁻² yr⁻¹), the Bornholm Sea was a source (2.34 mol m⁻² yr⁻¹), and the Kattegat was a sink (−1.16 mol m⁻² yr⁻¹). Large inter-annual and regional variations in the air–sea balance were observed. We used two parameterizations for the gas transfer velocity (k) and the choice varied the air–sea exchange by a factor of two. Inter-annual variations in pCO₂^w between summers were controlled by the maximum concentration of phosphate in winter. Inter-annual variations in the CO₂ flux and gas transfer velocity were larger between winters than between summers. This indicates that the inter-annual variability in the total flux was controlled by winter conditions. The large differences between the central Baltic Sea and Kattegat were considered to depend partly on the differences in the mixed layer depth.     

Sub-recent nitrogen-isotope trends in sediments from Skagerrak (North Sea) and Kattegat: Changes in N-budgets and N-sources?

We determined ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratios of total nitrogen in surface sediments and dated sediment cores to reconstruct the history of N-loading of the North Sea. The isotopic N composition in modern surface sediments is equivalent to and reflects the isotopic mixture of oceanic nitrate on the one hand (δ¹⁵N = 5‰) and the imprint of river-borne nitrogen input into the SE North Sea (δ¹⁵N up to 12‰ in estuaries of the SE North Sea) on the other hand. We compare the results with δ¹⁵N records from pre-industrial sediment intervals in cores from the Skagerrak and Kattegat areas, which both constitute significant depositional centres for N in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea/North Sea transition. As expected, isotopically enriched anthropogenic nitrogen was found in the two records from the Kattegat area, which is close to eutrophication sources on land. Enrichment of δ¹⁵N in cores from the Skagerrak – the largest sediment sink for nitrogen in the entire North Sea – was not significant and values were similar to those found in sediment layers representing pre-industrial conditions. We interpret this isotopic uniformity as an indication that most riverine reactive nitrogen with its characteristic isotopic signature is removed by denitrification in shallow shallow-water sediments before reaching the main sedimentary basin of the North Sea.     

Theoretical and practical aspects on benthic quality assessment according to the EU-Water Framework Directive – Examples from Swedish waters

A previously presented objective method to calculate each species sensitivity to disturbance is here slightly modified and implemented in the Benthic Quality Index (BQI) for marine benthic invertebrates. A framework for assessment of water bodies based on multi-site BQI-values is also presented, where a certain variation of BQI-values is allowed to cover the heterogeneity within each water body. The 20th percentile, using bootstrapping, from the available sites’ BQI-values is compared with the status boundaries for quality assessment. The reliability of the assessment depends on the background information available for the boundary setting as well as the number of sampling sites included in the assessment. Agreement between time series of quality assessments in areas with known changes in anthropogenic disturbances is encouraging. Problems associated with water body assessment based on few or no samples, as well as multiple sampling occasions during the 6-yr WFD cycle are discussed.     

Variations in the Baltic Sea wave fields

The surface waves in the Baltic Sea are hindcast with the spectral wave model HYPAS during a 12-month period. The model results show a strong temporal and spatial variation in the wave field due to the physical dimensions of the different basins and the predominant wind field. The highest waves in the area are found in the outer part of Skagerrak, as well as in the central and southern parts of the Baltic Proper. To get significant waves above 6 m high, strong winds (15–20 m/s) must have been blowing for 6 to 24 h from a favourable direction over a deep area.     

Summer algal blooms in a coastal ecosystem: the role of atmospheric deposition versus entrainment fluxes

The nitrogen inputs from atmospheric deposition and bottom water entrainment to the surface layer were modelled in the summer period (May–September) over a 11-year period (1989–1999) and compared to investigate the significance of these fluxes for generating blooms in the Kattegat. In the summer periods the average atmospheric deposition was 2.81 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹ compared to average entrainment fluxes of 5.42 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹, 1.21 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹ and 1.15 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹ for the northern, central and southern part of the Kattegat, respectively. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition alone could not sustain biomass increases associated with observed blooms and entrainment fluxes dominated the high nitrogen inputs to the surface layer. The potential for a bloom through growth was typically obtained after several days of high nitrogen inputs from entrainment in the frontal area of the northern Kattegat and to some extent from atmospheric deposition. The modelled nitrogen input in this area could account directly for 30% of the observed blooms in the Northern sub-basin, and through advective transport 24% and 19% of the observed blooms in the central and southern Kattegat. The direct nitrogen inputs through atmospheric deposition and entrainment to the central and southern sub-basins were small and could not be linked to any bloom observation.     

Response of the Baltic Sea to climate change—theory and observations

The dynamics controlling the response of the Baltic Sea to changed atmospheric and hydrologic forcing are reviewed and demonstrated using simple models. The response time for salt is 30 times longer than for heat in the Baltic Sea. In the course of a year, the Baltic Sea renews most of its heat but only about 3% of its salt. On the seasonal scale, surface temperature and ice-coverage are controlled by the atmospheric conditions over the Baltic Sea as demonstrated by e.g. the strong inter-annual variations in winter temperature and ice-coverage due to variations in dominating wind directions causing alternating mild and cold winters. The response of surface temperature and ice-coverage in the Baltic Sea to modest climate change may therefore be predicted using existing statistics. Due to the long response time in combination with complicated dynamics, the response of the salinity of the Baltic Sea cannot be predicted using existing statistics but has to be computed from mechanistic models. Salinity changes primarily through changes in the two major forcing factors: the supply of freshwater and the low-frequency sea level fluctuations in the Kattegat. The sensitivity of Baltic Sea salinity to changed freshwater supply is investigated using a simple mechanistic steady-state model that includes baroclinic geostrophic outflow from the Kattegat, the major dynamical factor controlling the freshwater content in the Kattegat and thereby the salinity of water flowing into the Baltic Sea. The computed sensitivity of Baltic Sea surface salinity to changes of freshwater supply is similar to earlier published estimates from time-dependent dynamical models with higher resolution. According to the model, the Baltic Sea would become fresh at a mean freshwater supply of about 60 000 m³ s⁻¹, i.e. a 300% increase of the contemporary supply. If the freshwater supply in the different basins increased in proportion to the present-day supply, the Bothnian Bay would become fresh already at a freshwater supply of about 37 000 m³ s⁻¹ and the Bothnian Sea at a supply of about 45 000 m³ s⁻¹. The assumption of baroclinic geostrophic outflow from the Kattegat, crucial for the salinity response of the Baltic Sea to changed freshwater supply, is validated using daily salinity profiles for the period 1931–1977 from lightship Läsö Nord.