The three-dimensional structure and the seasonal variation of the North Pacific meridional overturning circulation (NPMOC) are analyzed based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation data and Argo profiling float data....The three-dimensional structure and the seasonal variation of the North Pacific meridional overturning circulation (NPMOC) are analyzed based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation data and Argo profiling float data. The NPMOC displays a multi-cell structure with four cells in the North Pacific altogether. The TC and the STC are a strong clockwise meridional cell in the low latitude ocean and a weaker clockwise meridional cell between 7°N and 18°N, respectively, while the DTC and the subpolar cell are a weaker anticlockwise meridional cell between 3°N and 15°N and a weakest anticlockwise meridional cell between 35°N and 50°N, respectively. The DTC, the TC and the STC are all of very strong seasonal variations. As to the DTC, the southward transport is strongest in fall and weakest in spring. For the TC, the northward transport is strongest in winter and weakest in spring, while the southward transport is strongest in fall and weakest in spring, which is associated with the strong southward fiow of the DTC in fall. As the STC, the northward transport is strongest in winter and weakest in summer, while the southward transport is strongest in summer and weakest in spring. This seasonal difference may be associated with the DTC. The zonal wind stress and the east-west slope of sea level play important roles in the seasonal variations of the TC, the STC and the DTC.展开更多
Mesoscale eddies play a key role in the ocean dynamics of the Southern Ocean, and eddy response to the climate changes has also been widely noted. Both eddy kinetic energy(EKE) and eddy detection algorithm are used ...Mesoscale eddies play a key role in the ocean dynamics of the Southern Ocean, and eddy response to the climate changes has also been widely noted. Both eddy kinetic energy(EKE) and eddy detection algorithm are used to study the eddy properties in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Consistent with previous works,the maps of the EKE illustrate that higher energy confines to the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone(APFZ) and decreases progressively from west to east. It also shows that the most significant increase in the EKE occurs in the western and central parts of the Pacific sector, where the baroclinicity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC) is much stronger. Statistical eddy properties reveal that both of the spatial pattern and interannual variation of the EKE are primarily due to the eddy amplitude and the eddy rotational speed, rather than the eddy number or the eddy radius. In general, these results furtherly confirm that anomalous westerly wind forcing associated with the positive Southern Annular Mode(SAM) index enhances the Southern Ocean eddy activity by strengthening the eddy properties.展开更多
The Southern Hemisphere subtropical supergyre at intermediate depths connects all three ocean basins and plays a significant role in responding and conveying the climate-change-related variations in the glob- al ocean...The Southern Hemisphere subtropical supergyre at intermediate depths connects all three ocean basins and plays a significant role in responding and conveying the climate-change-related variations in the glob- al ocean. On the basis of the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation/SODA) ocean reanalysis, the thermohaline variability and southward shift of the mid-depth supergyre are demonstrated. The steric height of the sub- surface relative to 1 500 m (400-1 500 m) from the SODA depicts exactly the flow patterns and variability of the oceanic supergyre. During 1958-2007 the water masses in the gyre interiors become cooler/fresher, with the significant exceptions of the Agulhas Current system and Agulhas leakage. The results also exhibit a pronounced strengthening of the inter-basin connection of the supergyre, and the strongest southward shift, by about 2.5° over the whole period, occurs in the central-south Pacific, which is associated with the changes in the basin-scale wind forcing.展开更多
Fronts, baroclinic transport, and mesoscale variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) along 115°E are examined on the basis of CTD data from two hydrographic cruises occupied in 1995 as a part of t...Fronts, baroclinic transport, and mesoscale variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) along 115°E are examined on the basis of CTD data from two hydrographic cruises occupied in 1995 as a part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE cruise I9S) and in 2004 as a part of CLIVAR/CO2 repeat hydrography program. The integrated baroclinic transport across I9S section is (97.2×106±2.2×106) m3/s relative to the deepest common level (DCL). The net transport at the north end of I9S, determined by the south Australian circulation system, is about 16.5× 106 m3/s westward. Relying on a consistent set of water mass criteria and transport maxima, the ACC baroclinic transport, (117×106±6.7×106) m3/s to the east, is carried along three fronts: the Subantarctic Front (SAF) at a mean latitude of 44°-49°S carries (50.6×106=t=13.4×106) m3/s; the Polar Front (PF), with the northern branch (PF-N) at 50.5°S and the southern branch (PF- S) at 58°S, carries (51.3×106±8.7×106) m3/s; finally, the southern ACC front (SACCF) and the southern boundary of the ACC (SB) consist of three cores between 59°S and 65°S that combined carry (15.2× 106±1.8× 106) m3/s. Mesoscale eddy features are identifiable in the CTD sections and tracked in concurrent maps of altimetric sea level anomalies (SLA) between 44°-48°S and 53°-57°S. Because of the remarkable mesoseale eddy features within the SAF observed in both the tracks of the cruises, the eastward transport of the SAF occurs at two latitude bands separating by 1°. Both the CTD and the altimetric data suggest that the mesoscale variability is concentrated around the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone (APFZ) and causes the ACC fronts to merge, diverge, and to fluctuate in intensity and position along their paths.展开更多
Based on the 50-year Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis data, we investigated the basic characteristics and seasonal changes of the meridional heat transport carried by the North Pacific Meridional Overt...Based on the 50-year Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis data, we investigated the basic characteristics and seasonal changes of the meridional heat transport carried by the North Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation. And we also examined the dynamical and thermodynamic mechanisms responsible for these heat transport variability at the seasonal time scale. Among four cells, the tropical cell (TC) is strongest with a northward heat transport (NHT) of (1.75±0.30) PW (1 PW=1.0×10^15 W) and a southward heat transport (SHT) of (-1.69±0.55) PW, the subtropical cell (STC) is second with a NHT of (0.71±0.65) PW and SHT of (-0.63±0.53) PW, the deep tropical cell (DTC) is third with a NHT of (0.18±0.03) PW and SHT of (-0.18±0.11) PW, while the subpolar cell (SPC) is weakest with a NHT of (0.09±0.05) PW and SHT of (-0.07±0.09) PW. These four cells all have diff erent seasonal changes in their NHT and SHT. Of all, the TC has stronger change in its SHT than in its NHT, so do both the DTC and SPC, but the seasonal change in the STC SHT is weaker than that in its NHT. Therefore, their dynamical and thermodynamic mechanisms are diff erent each other. The local zonal wind stress and net surface heat flux are mainly responsible for the seasonal changes in the TC and STC NHTs and SPC SHT, while the local thermocline circulations and sea temperature are primarily responsible for the seasonal changes of the TC, STC and DTC SHTs and SPC NHT.展开更多
Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products, we study the mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres (SHSGs) in this paper. The results show that the gyre strengths in...Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products, we study the mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres (SHSGs) in this paper. The results show that the gyre strengths in the SODA estimates are (55.9±9.8)×108 ma/s for the Weddell Gyre (WG), (37.0±6.4) ×106 ma/s for the Ross Gyre (RG), and (27.5±8.2)x 106 ma/s for the Australian-Antarctic Gyre (AG), respectively. There exists distinct connectivity between the adjacent gyres and then forms an oceanic super gyre structure in the southern subpolar oceans. And the interior exchanges are about (8.0±3.2)× 106 ma/s at around 70°E and (4.3±3.1)× 106 m3/s at around 140°E. The most pronounced variation for all three SHSGs occurs on the seasonal time scale, with generally stronger (weaker) SHSGs during austral winter (summer). And the seasonal changes of the gyre structures show that the eastern boundary of the WG and AG extends considerably further east during winter and the interior exchange in the super gyre structure increases accordingly. The WG and RG also show significant semi-annual changes. The correlation analyses confirm that the variations of the gyre strengths are strongly correlated with the changes in the local wind forcing on the semi-annual and seasonal time scales.展开更多
On the basis of the time series observations from a temperature chain and an acoustic Doppler current profiler on the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea, a sequence of internal solitary waves (ISWs) a...On the basis of the time series observations from a temperature chain and an acoustic Doppler current profiler on the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea, a sequence of internal solitary waves (ISWs) and background waves (BWs, including internal tides and near-inertial waves) on the continental shelf were captured simultaneously after the transit of Typhoon Neast in October 2011. These measurementsprovided a unique opportunity to explore the influence of BWs on the ISWs. The BWs appeared a conversion on the current strength and vertical mode structure during the observational period. The BWs were dominated by weak and mode-one waves before October 2 and then turned to strong and high-mode waves after that time. Meanwhile, the ISWs displayed different wave structures before and after October 2, which was closely related to BWs' changes. According to the current profiles of BWs, the high-mode wave structure with strong current could significantly strengthen the vertical shear of ISWs in the near-surface layer and promote the breaking of ISWs, and thus it may play an important role in affecting the background current condition.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Basic Research Development Program of China(973 Program)under contract Nos 2007CB816002,2007CB816005the innovative key project of Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No.KZCXZ-YW-201
文摘The three-dimensional structure and the seasonal variation of the North Pacific meridional overturning circulation (NPMOC) are analyzed based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation data and Argo profiling float data. The NPMOC displays a multi-cell structure with four cells in the North Pacific altogether. The TC and the STC are a strong clockwise meridional cell in the low latitude ocean and a weaker clockwise meridional cell between 7°N and 18°N, respectively, while the DTC and the subpolar cell are a weaker anticlockwise meridional cell between 3°N and 15°N and a weakest anticlockwise meridional cell between 35°N and 50°N, respectively. The DTC, the TC and the STC are all of very strong seasonal variations. As to the DTC, the southward transport is strongest in fall and weakest in spring. For the TC, the northward transport is strongest in winter and weakest in spring, while the southward transport is strongest in fall and weakest in spring, which is associated with the strong southward fiow of the DTC in fall. As the STC, the northward transport is strongest in winter and weakest in summer, while the southward transport is strongest in summer and weakest in spring. This seasonal difference may be associated with the DTC. The zonal wind stress and the east-west slope of sea level play important roles in the seasonal variations of the TC, the STC and the DTC.
基金The Chinese Polar Science Strategy Research Foundation under contract No.20150305the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.41406012+2 种基金the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.ZR2014DP011the Basic Scientific Research Fund for National Public Institutes of China under contract No.2015G05the Open Fund of the Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves,Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No.KLOCAW1405
文摘Mesoscale eddies play a key role in the ocean dynamics of the Southern Ocean, and eddy response to the climate changes has also been widely noted. Both eddy kinetic energy(EKE) and eddy detection algorithm are used to study the eddy properties in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Consistent with previous works,the maps of the EKE illustrate that higher energy confines to the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone(APFZ) and decreases progressively from west to east. It also shows that the most significant increase in the EKE occurs in the western and central parts of the Pacific sector, where the baroclinicity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC) is much stronger. Statistical eddy properties reveal that both of the spatial pattern and interannual variation of the EKE are primarily due to the eddy amplitude and the eddy rotational speed, rather than the eddy number or the eddy radius. In general, these results furtherly confirm that anomalous westerly wind forcing associated with the positive Southern Annular Mode(SAM) index enhances the Southern Ocean eddy activity by strengthening the eddy properties.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.41006013the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) under contract No.2008AA121701+1 种基金the Public Science and Technology Research Funds Projects of Ocean Institute of Oceanology,Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No.201205010the National Basic Research Program of China (973Program) under contract No.2010CB950301
文摘The Southern Hemisphere subtropical supergyre at intermediate depths connects all three ocean basins and plays a significant role in responding and conveying the climate-change-related variations in the glob- al ocean. On the basis of the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation/SODA) ocean reanalysis, the thermohaline variability and southward shift of the mid-depth supergyre are demonstrated. The steric height of the sub- surface relative to 1 500 m (400-1 500 m) from the SODA depicts exactly the flow patterns and variability of the oceanic supergyre. During 1958-2007 the water masses in the gyre interiors become cooler/fresher, with the significant exceptions of the Agulhas Current system and Agulhas leakage. The results also exhibit a pronounced strengthening of the inter-basin connection of the supergyre, and the strongest southward shift, by about 2.5° over the whole period, occurs in the central-south Pacific, which is associated with the changes in the basin-scale wind forcing.
基金The National High Technology Research and Development Program ("863" Program) of China under contract Nos 2008AA121701 and 2007AA092201the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.41006013
文摘Fronts, baroclinic transport, and mesoscale variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) along 115°E are examined on the basis of CTD data from two hydrographic cruises occupied in 1995 as a part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE cruise I9S) and in 2004 as a part of CLIVAR/CO2 repeat hydrography program. The integrated baroclinic transport across I9S section is (97.2×106±2.2×106) m3/s relative to the deepest common level (DCL). The net transport at the north end of I9S, determined by the south Australian circulation system, is about 16.5× 106 m3/s westward. Relying on a consistent set of water mass criteria and transport maxima, the ACC baroclinic transport, (117×106±6.7×106) m3/s to the east, is carried along three fronts: the Subantarctic Front (SAF) at a mean latitude of 44°-49°S carries (50.6×106=t=13.4×106) m3/s; the Polar Front (PF), with the northern branch (PF-N) at 50.5°S and the southern branch (PF- S) at 58°S, carries (51.3×106±8.7×106) m3/s; finally, the southern ACC front (SACCF) and the southern boundary of the ACC (SB) consist of three cores between 59°S and 65°S that combined carry (15.2× 106±1.8× 106) m3/s. Mesoscale eddy features are identifiable in the CTD sections and tracked in concurrent maps of altimetric sea level anomalies (SLA) between 44°-48°S and 53°-57°S. Because of the remarkable mesoseale eddy features within the SAF observed in both the tracks of the cruises, the eastward transport of the SAF occurs at two latitude bands separating by 1°. Both the CTD and the altimetric data suggest that the mesoscale variability is concentrated around the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone (APFZ) and causes the ACC fronts to merge, diverge, and to fluctuate in intensity and position along their paths.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41406012,41576060)the Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics(Second Institute of Oceanography)(No.SOED1613)+1 种基金the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine-Atmospheric Chemistry,State Oceanic Administration,China(No.GCMAC1501)the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers(No.U1406401)
文摘Based on the 50-year Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis data, we investigated the basic characteristics and seasonal changes of the meridional heat transport carried by the North Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation. And we also examined the dynamical and thermodynamic mechanisms responsible for these heat transport variability at the seasonal time scale. Among four cells, the tropical cell (TC) is strongest with a northward heat transport (NHT) of (1.75±0.30) PW (1 PW=1.0×10^15 W) and a southward heat transport (SHT) of (-1.69±0.55) PW, the subtropical cell (STC) is second with a NHT of (0.71±0.65) PW and SHT of (-0.63±0.53) PW, the deep tropical cell (DTC) is third with a NHT of (0.18±0.03) PW and SHT of (-0.18±0.11) PW, while the subpolar cell (SPC) is weakest with a NHT of (0.09±0.05) PW and SHT of (-0.07±0.09) PW. These four cells all have diff erent seasonal changes in their NHT and SHT. Of all, the TC has stronger change in its SHT than in its NHT, so do both the DTC and SPC, but the seasonal change in the STC SHT is weaker than that in its NHT. Therefore, their dynamical and thermodynamic mechanisms are diff erent each other. The local zonal wind stress and net surface heat flux are mainly responsible for the seasonal changes in the TC and STC NHTs and SPC SHT, while the local thermocline circulations and sea temperature are primarily responsible for the seasonal changes of the TC, STC and DTC SHTs and SPC NHT.
基金The Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation,China under contract No.ZR2014DP011the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.41406012+2 种基金the Basic Scientific Research Fund for National Public Institutes of China under contract No.2015G05the Chinese Polar Science Strategy Research Foundation under contract NO.20150305the Open Fund of the Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves,Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No.KLOCAW1405
文摘Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products, we study the mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres (SHSGs) in this paper. The results show that the gyre strengths in the SODA estimates are (55.9±9.8)×108 ma/s for the Weddell Gyre (WG), (37.0±6.4) ×106 ma/s for the Ross Gyre (RG), and (27.5±8.2)x 106 ma/s for the Australian-Antarctic Gyre (AG), respectively. There exists distinct connectivity between the adjacent gyres and then forms an oceanic super gyre structure in the southern subpolar oceans. And the interior exchanges are about (8.0±3.2)× 106 ma/s at around 70°E and (4.3±3.1)× 106 m3/s at around 140°E. The most pronounced variation for all three SHSGs occurs on the seasonal time scale, with generally stronger (weaker) SHSGs during austral winter (summer). And the seasonal changes of the gyre structures show that the eastern boundary of the WG and AG extends considerably further east during winter and the interior exchange in the super gyre structure increases accordingly. The WG and RG also show significant semi-annual changes. The correlation analyses confirm that the variations of the gyre strengths are strongly correlated with the changes in the local wind forcing on the semi-annual and seasonal time scales.
基金The National Nature Science Foundation of China under contract Nos U1133001,41030855 and 2013AA09A502
文摘On the basis of the time series observations from a temperature chain and an acoustic Doppler current profiler on the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea, a sequence of internal solitary waves (ISWs) and background waves (BWs, including internal tides and near-inertial waves) on the continental shelf were captured simultaneously after the transit of Typhoon Neast in October 2011. These measurementsprovided a unique opportunity to explore the influence of BWs on the ISWs. The BWs appeared a conversion on the current strength and vertical mode structure during the observational period. The BWs were dominated by weak and mode-one waves before October 2 and then turned to strong and high-mode waves after that time. Meanwhile, the ISWs displayed different wave structures before and after October 2, which was closely related to BWs' changes. According to the current profiles of BWs, the high-mode wave structure with strong current could significantly strengthen the vertical shear of ISWs in the near-surface layer and promote the breaking of ISWs, and thus it may play an important role in affecting the background current condition.