THE SECOND ORDER NONLINEAR PERIODIC CONVECTION & ITS STABILITY ANALYSIS OF THERMOHALINE DOUBLE-DIFFUSIVE SYSTEM

A straightforward analytic method of stability in strong nonlinear autonomous system is introduced into the stability analysis of the themohaline double-diffusive system. The perturbation technique is used to obtain conditions of existence and stability for linear and nonlinear periodic solutions. For linear periodic solution in infinitesimal motion, the existence range of monotonic branch and oscillatory branch are outlined. The oscillatory branch of nonlinear periodic solution in finite-amplitude motion has unstable periodic solution when μis smaller than critical value μc in this case of 0 < Rs-R12<<1. The stability conclusions under different direction of vortex are drawn out.

Three-dimensional thermohaline structure estimation derived from HY-2 satellite data over the Maritime Silk Road and its applications

Estimated ocean subsurface fields derived from satellite observations provide potential data sources for operational marine environmental monitoring and prediction systems.This study employs a statistic regression reconstruction method,in combination with domestic autonomous sea surface height and sea surface temperature observations from the Haiyang-2(HY-2)satellite fusion data,to establish an operational quasi-realtime three-dimensional(3D)temperature and salinity products over the Maritime Silk Road.These products feature a daily temporal resolution and a spatial resolution of 0.25°×0.25°and exhibit stability and continuity.We have demonstrated the accuracy of the reconstructed thermohaline fields in capturing the 3D thermohaline variations through comprehensive statistical evaluations,after comparing them against Argo observations and ocean analysis data from 2022.The results illustrate that the reconstructed fields effectively represent seasonal variations in oceanic subsurface structures,along with structural changes resulting from mesoscale processes,and the upper ocean’s responses to tropical cyclones.Furthermore,the incorporation of HY-2 satellite observations notably enhances the accuracy of temperature and salinity reconstructions in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and marginally improves salinity reconstruction accuracy in the North Indian Ocean when compared to the World Ocean Atlas 2018 monthly climatology thermohaline fields.As a result,the reconstructed product holds promise for providing quasi-real-time 3D temperature and salinity field information to facilitate fast decisionmaking during emergencies,and also offers foundational thermohaline fields for operational ocean reanalysis and forecasting systems.These contributions enhance the safety and stability of ocean subsurface activities and navigation.

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF LINEAR AND NONLINEAR PERIODIC CONVECTION IN THERMOHALINE DOUBLE－DIFFUSIVE SYSTEMS

A shortout analytic method of stability in Strong nonlinear autonomous system is introduced into stability analysis of the themohaline double-diffusive system.Using perturbation technique obtains conditions of existence and stability for linear and nonlinear periodic solutions.For linear periodic solution in infinitesimeal motion the existence range of monotomic branch and oscillatory branch are outilined.The oscillatory branch of nonlinear periodic solution in finite-amplitude motion has unstable periodic solution when μ is smaller than critical value μc in this case of 0<rs-rsc<<1The stability conclusions under different direction of vortex are drawn out .

A THEORETICAL SOLUTION FOR THE THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION IN THE SOUTHERN YELLOW SEA

Application of the thermocline equations in the thermocline areas and the boundary layer and the asymptotic matching techniques in each boundary in order to satisfy the surface and bottom conditions yielded a theoretical 2- D solution of the vertical thermohaline circulation of the Southern Yellow Sea in summer when the quasi-statically varying seasonal thermocline (density layer) is the background density structure , the deviations from which cause the secondary vertical circulation . The results show that the thermocline can be considered as an internal boundary or a barrier to the vertical heat advection so that in the central areas of the Southern Yellow Sea or the center of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YCWM)】 the downwelling in the upper layer and upwelling in the lower or bottom layer form a double cell vertical circulation . The solution is similar to Hu’s conceptual model ( 1986) in the central areas of the YCWM and is consistent with observed temperature . salinity and dissolved oxygen

Response of the Asian Summer Monsoon to Weakening of Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation

Various paleoclimate records have shown that the Asian monsoon was punctuated by numerous suborbital time-scale events, and these events were coeval with those that happened in the North Atlantic. This study investigates the Asian summer monsoon responses to the Atlantic Ocean forcing by applying an additional freshwater flux into the North Atlantic. The simulated results indicate that the cold North Atlantic and warm South Atlantic induced by the weakened Atlantic thermohaline circulation （THC） due to the freshwater flux lead to significantly suppressed Asian summer monsoon. The authors analyzed the detailed processes of the Atlantic Ocean forcing on the Asian summer monsoon, and found that the atmospheric teleconnection in the eastern and central North Pacific and the atmosphere-ocean interaction in the tropical North Pacific play the most crucial role. Enhanced precipitation in the subtropical North Pacific extends the effects of Atlantic Ocean forcing from the eastern Pacific into the western Pacific, and the atmosphere-ocean interaction in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean intensifies the circulation and precipitation anomalies in the Pacific and East Asia.

Abrupt Climate Change around 4 ka BP:Role of the Thermohaline Circulation as Indicated by a GCM Experiment

A great deal of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic evidence suggests that a predominant temperature drop and an aridiflcation occurred at ca. 4.0 ka BP. Palaeoclimate studies in China support this dedution. The collapse of ancient civilizations at ca. 4.0 ka BP in the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia has been attributed to climate-induced aridification. A widespread alternation of the ancient cultures was also found in China at ca. 4.0 ka BP in concert with the collapse of the civilizations in the Old World. Palaeoclimatic studies indicate that the abrupt climate change at 4.0 ka BP is one of the realizations of the cold phase in millennial scale climate oscillations, which may be related to the modulation of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC) over the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, this study conducts a numerical experiment of a GCM with SST forcing to simulate the impact of the weakening of the THC. Results show a drop in temperature from North Europe, the northern middle East Asia, and northern East Asia and a significant reduction of precipitation in East Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Peninsula, and the Yellow River Valley. This seems to support the idea that coldness and aridification at ca. 4.0 ka BP was caused by the weakening of the THC.

Seasonal characteristics and formation mechanism of the thermohaline structure of mesoscale eddy in the South China Sea

The seasonal characteristics and formation mechanism of the thermohaline structure of mesoscale eddy in the South China Sea are investigated using the latest eddy dataset and ARMOR3D data. Eddy-centric composites reveal that the horizontal distribution of temperature anomaly associated with eddy in winter is more of a dipole pattern in upper 50 m and tends to be centrosymmetric below 50 m, while in summer the distribution pattern is centrosymmetric in the entire water column. The horizontal distribution of eddy-induced salinity anomaly exhibits similar seasonal characteristics, except that the asymmetry of the salinity anomaly is weaker. The vertical distribution of temperature anomaly associated with eddy shows a monolayer structure, while the salinity anomaly demonstrates a triple-layer structure. Further analysis indicates that the vertical distribution of the anomalies is related to the vertical structure of background temperature and salinity fields, and the asymmetry of the anomalies in upper 50 m is mainly caused by the horizontal advection of background temperature and salinity.

Seasonal Variability of the Yellow Sea/East China Sea Surface Fluxes and Thermohaline Structure

We use the U.S. Navy's Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set (MOODS) forthe Yellow Sea/ East China Sea (YES) to investigate the climatological water mass features and theseasonal and non-seasonal variabilities of the thermohaline structure, and use the ComprehensiveOcean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) from 1945 to 1989 to investigate the linkage between the fluxes(momentum, heat, and moisture) across the air-ocean interface and the formation of the water massfeatures. After examining the major current systems and considering the local bathymetry and watermass properties, we divide YES into five regions: East China Sea (ECS) shelf, Yellow Sea (YS) Basin,Cheju bifurcation (CB) zone, Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) region, Kuroshio Current (KC) region. Thelong term mean surface heat balance corresponds to a heat loss of 30 W m^(-2) in the ESC and CBregions, a heat loss of 65 W m^(-2) in the KC and TWC regions, and a heat gain of 15 W m^(-2) in theYS region. The surface freshwater balance is defined by precipitation minus evaporation. The annualwater loss from the surface for the five subareas ranges from 1.8 to 4 cm month^(-1). The freshwater loss from the surface should be compensated for from the river run-off. The entire watercolumn of the shelf region (ECS, YS, and CB) undergoes an evident seasonal thermal cycle withmaximum values of temperature during summer and maximum mixed layer depths during winter. However,only the surface waters of the TWC and KC regions exhibit a seasonal thermal cycle.. We also foundtwo different relations between surface salinity and the Yangtze River run-off, namely, out-of-phasein the East China Sea shelf and in-phase in the Yellow Sea. This may confirm an earlier study thatthe summer fresh water discharge from the Yangtze River forms a relatively shallow, low salinityplume-like structure extending offshore on average towards the northeast.

Interannual variability in the Mindanao Eddy and its impact on thermohaline structure pattern

The major feature, interannual variability and variation cause of the Mindanao Eddy and its im- pact on the thermohaline structure are analyzed based on the Argo profiling float data, the history observed data and the SODA data. The analysis results show that the Mindanao Eddy is a per- manent cyclonic meso-scale eddy and spreads vertically from about 500 m depth upward do about 50 m depth. In addition to its strong seasonal variability, the Mindanao Eddy displays a remark- able interannual variability associated with ENSO. It strengthens and expands eastward during E1 Nifio while it weakens and retreats westward during La Nifia. The interannual variability in the Mindanao Eddy may be caused by the North Equatorial Counter Current, the North Equatorial Current, the Mindanao Current and the Indonesian Through Flow. The eddy variability can have a great influence on the thermohaline structure pattern in the local upper ocean. When the eddy is strong, the cold and low salinity water inside the eddy moves violently upward from deep layer, the thermoeline depth greatly shoals, and the subsurface high salinity water largely decreases ,with the upper mixed layer becoming thinner, and vice versa.

Seasonal variability in the thermohaline structure of the Western Pacific Warm Pool

Using the 28℃ isotherm to define the Western Pacific Warm Pool （WPWP）, this study analyzes the seasonal variability of the WPWP thermohaline structure on the basis of the monthly-averaged sea temperature and salinity data from 1950 to 2011, and the dynamic and thermodynamic mechanisms based on the monthly-averaged wind, precipitation, net heat fluxes and current velocity data. A△T=-0.4℃ is more suitable than other temperature criterion for determining the mixed layer （ML） and barrier layer （BL） over the WPWP using monthly-averaged temperature and salinity data. The WPWP has a particular thermohaline structure and can be vertically divided into three layers, i.e., the ML, BL, and deep layer （DL）. The BL thickness （BLT） is the thickest, while the ML thickness （MLT） is the thinnest. The MLT has a similar seasonal variation to the DL thickness （DLT） and BLT. They are all thicker in spring and fall but thinner in summer. The temperatures of the ML and BL are both higher in spring and autumn but lower in winter and summer with an annual amplitude of 0.15℃, while the temperature of the DL is higher in May and lower in August. The averaged salinities at these three layers are all higher in March but lower in September, with annual ranges of 0.41-0.45. Zonal currents, i.e., the South Equatorial Current （SEC） and North Equatorial Counter Current （NECC）, and winds may be the main dynamic factors driving the seasonal variability in the WPWP thermohaline structure, while precipitation and net heat fluxes are both important thermodynamic factors. Higher （lower） winds cause both the MLT and BLT to thicken （thin）, a stronger （weaker） NECC induces MLT, BLT, and DLT to thin （thicken）, and a stronger （weaker） SEC causes both the MLT and BLT to thicken （thin） and the DLT to thin （thicken）. An increase （decrease） in the net heat fluxes causes the MLT and BLT to thicken （thin） but the DLT to thin （thicken）, while a stronger （weaker） precipitation favors thinner （thicker） MLT but thicker （thinner） BLT and DLT. In addition, a stronger （weaker） NECC and SEC cause the temperature of the three layers to decrease （increase）, while the seasonal variability in salinity at the ML, BL, and DL might be controlled by the subtropical cell （STC）.

Analysis of thermohaline and current distribution characteristics of Zhejiang and Fujian waters in summer

This paper analyzed the distribution of thermohaline and circulation characteristics of Zhejiang and Fujian waters,based on the cross-sectional thermohaline data and on current data （up to 30 d duration） at fixed-point moorings,collected in the summer of 2006.We also performed low-pass filtering and spectrum analysis on the mooring submersible buoy data.Based on that analysis,we discussed the characteristics of low frequency currents and time-variations in these waters.The main conclusions are as follows.（1） There is a low salinity pinnate area near the Hangzhou Bay in summer,and outside the low salinity area,an obvious salinity front is present from surface to bottom near 123 E.There is also a temperature front below the surface at a corresponding position.（2） Bottom water of the Taiwan Warm Current comes from the subsurface of Kuroshio.（3） The direction of low frequency current at fixed anchor stations is N-NE or S,which mainly depends on the interaction of control currents in this waters.（4） Significant spectral peaks at all mooring stations are typically semidiurnal and diurnal tides.Semidiurnal tidal waves are the main ones in these waters,and have more energy closer to the shore.（5） Significant energy spectral peaks of middle period （3 to 8 d） of currents are responses to weather frequency.（6） Significant energy spectral peaks of long periods at the surface or bottom are probably responses to seasonal wind or bottom friction,while,the long period peaks of other depths can reflect cyclical changes of interactions between currents.We conclude that the pulsation period of the Taiwan Warm Current in these waters is 10-17 d.

Thermohaline structure inhomogeneity associated with polynia at the northern margin of Emery Ice-shelf

Based on the hydrographic data in austral summer during the 22nd Antarctic Expedition of China(2005/2006),some features can be found about the northern margin of Emery ice shelf as follows.The heat content in the surface layer(0-50 m) at the eastern end and the western end of the ice-shelf margin is much higher than that at the middle.The upper mixing-layer depth and the seasonal thermocline depth at the middle of the ice-shelf northern margin are much shallower than those at the both ends.However there is much less difference between the middle and the ends in the bottom layer.The remote sensing photos show that the inhomogeneity in the surface-layer water is closely related to the spatial distribution of the floes and polynia in the area.

Double-diffusive Fluxes of Salt and Heat in the Upper Layer of North Pacific Intermediate Water

Almost half of the oceanic water columns exhibit double-diffusion. The importance of double-diffusion in global oceans’ salt and heat fluxes, water-mass formation and mixing, and circulation is increasingly recognized. However, such an important physical process in the ocean has not been well studied. One of the reasons is the difficulty of parameterizing and quantifying the processes. The paper presented here attempts to quantify the double-diffusive fluxes of salt and heat in the ocean. Previous qualitative analysis by applying the water-mass Turner angle, mTu, to the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) layer showed a favorable condition for salt-fingering in the upper NPIW due to the overlying warm/salty water above the cold/fresh NPIW core, and a doubly-stable condition in the lower NPIW where potential temperature decreases with depth while salinity increases, inducing double stratification with respect to both potential temperature and salinity. The present study gives a quantitative estimate of double-diffusive fluxes of salt and heat contributed by salt-fingering in the upper NPIW layer.

The influence of thermohaline fronts on chlorophyll a concentrations during spring and summer in the southeastern Yellow Sea

A spatial and temporal variation in physiochemical parameters in the southeastern Yellow Sea （YS） is in- vestigated in the spring and summer of 2009 to 2011. Nutrient show a strong negative relationship with chlorophyll a （Chl a） concentration in spring, and the subsurface chlorophyll a maxima （SCM） layer was associated with the nitracline in summer. In summer, the SCM was usually found within or above the pyc- nocline and at the depths of shoals from the open sea to the coastal sea due to tidal and/or topographical fronts in the southernmost study area. High Chl a concentrations were found in the central southern YS, where the YS cold water layer expanded under the pycnocline and encountered water masses during spring and summer. After a typhoon in the summer of2011, Chl a concentration increased, especially in the central southern YS, where cold waters occurred below the pycnocline. The results suggest that the development of thermohaline fronts may play an important role in the growth and accumulation of phytoplankton biomass in the upper layer of the southeastern YS during spring and summer.

Simulation of Seasonal Circulations and Thermohaline Variabilities in the Gulf of Thailand

Based on the Princeton Ocean Model （POM）, the seasonal thermohaline feature and the ocean circulation in the Gulf of Thailand （GOT）, situated between 6°N to 14°N latitude and 99°E to 105°E longitude, were studied numerically with 37 × 97 orthogonal curvilinear grid and 10 vertical sigma levels conforming to a realistic bottom topography. A spin-up phase of the first model run was executed using wind stress calculated from climatological monthly mean wind, restoring-type surface heat and salt, and climatological monthly mean fresh water flux data. In this paper, the temperature and salinity fields taken from Levitus94 data sets and the calculated temperature and salinity from the model run for 12-month mean and for each season are presented where the winter, summer, rainy, and end of the rainy seasons of Thailand are represented by the months January, April, July, and October, respectively. The simulated circulations are also described. The results show that the temperature in the GoT is warmer than the temperature of the other parts connected to the South China Sea （SCS）. At any depth of inflow from SCS into the GoT, the salinity is high, but in the outflow from the GoT at the surface, the salinity is low. The strong circulations are clockwise during summer and the rainy seasons of Thailand, which are the East Asian monsoon periods, northeasterly and southwesterly during summer. They occur near Pattani and Narathiwat provinces during summer and in the central GoT during the rainy seasons. Sensitivity experiments were designed to investigate the effects of wind forcing and open boundary conditions. Wind forcing is shown to be the important factor for generating the circulation in the GoT. The lateral velocity at the open boundaries is of considerable importance to current circulation for the rainy and end of the rainy seasons, with insignificant effect for the winter and summer seasons of Thailand.

Optimal nonlinear excitation of decadal variability of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation

Nonlinear development of salinity perturbations in the Atlantic thermohaline circulation(THC) is investigated with a three-dimensional ocean circulation model,using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation method.The results show two types of optimal initial perturbations of sea surface salinity,one associated with freshwater and the other with salinity.Both types of perturbations excite decadal variability of the THC.Under the same amplitude of initial perturbation,the decadal variation induced by the freshwater perturbation is much stronger than that by the salinity perturbation,suggesting that the THC is more sensitive to freshwater than salinity perturbation.As the amplitude of initial perturbation increases,the decadal variations become stronger for both perturbations.For salinity perturbations,recovery time of the THC to return to steady state gradually saturates with increasing amplitude,whereas this recovery time increases remarkably for freshwater perturbations.A nonlinear(advective) feedback between density and velocity anomalies is proposed to explain these characteristics of decadal variability excitation.The results are consistent with previous ones from simple box models,and highlight the importance of nonlinear feedback in decadal THC variability.

A Three-Box Model of Thermohaline Circulation under the Energy Constraint

The driving mechanism of thermohaline circulation is still a controversial topic in physical oceanography.Classic theory is based on Stommel's two-box model under buoyancy constraint.Recently,Guan and Huang proposed a new viewpoint in the framework of energy constraint with a two-box model.We extend it to a three-box model,including the effect of wind-driven circulation.Using this simple model,we further study how ocean mixing impacts on thermohaline circulation under the energy constraint.

Three-Dimensional Structure of Optimal Nonlinear Excitation for Decadal Variability of the Thermohaline Circulation

The decadal variability of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation(THC) is investigated within a three-dimensional ocean circulation model using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation method. The results show that the optimal initial perturbations of temperature and salinity exciting the strongest decadal THC variations have similar structures: the perturbations are mainly in the northwestern basin at a depth ranging from 1500 to 3000 m. These temperature and salinity perturbations act as the optimal precursors for future modifications of the THC, highlighting the importance of observations in the northwestern basin to monitor the variations of temperature and salinity at depth. The decadal THC variation in the nonlinear model initialized by the optimal salinity perturbations is much stronger than that caused by the optimal temperature perturbations, indicating that salinity variations might play a relatively important role in exciting the decadal THC variability. Moreover, the decadal THC variations in the tangent linear and nonlinear models show remarkably different characteristics, suggesting the importance of nonlinear processes in the decadal variability of the THC.

Statistical characteristics and thermohaline properties of mesoscale eddies in the Bay of Bengal

The statistical characteristics and vertical thermohaline properties of mesoscale eddies in the Bay of Bengal are studied from the view of satellite altimetry data and Argo profiles.Eddy propagation preferences in different lifetimes,eddy evolution process,and geographical distribution of eddy kinetic properties are analyzed in this area.Eddies exist principally in the western Bay of Bengal,and most of them propagate westward.There is a clear southward(equatorward)preference for eddies with long lifetimes,especially for cyclones.Moreover,the eddies in different areas of the bay show different north-southward preferences.Evolution of eddy kinetic properties with lifetime shows that eddies have the significant three-stage feature:the growth period in the former one-fifth lifetime,the stable period in the middle two-fifth to four-fifth lifetime,and the dying period in the last one-fifth lifetime.Large-amplitude and high-intensity eddies occur only in the relatively confined regions of highly unstable currents,such as the East Indian Coastal Current and eastern Sri Lanka.Based on Argo profile data and climatology data,the eddy synthesis method was used to construct three-dimensional temperature and salt structures of eddies in this area.The mean temperature anomaly is negative/positive to the cyclonic/anticyclonic eddies in the upper 300×10^(4)Pa,and below this depth,the anomaly becomes weak.The salinity structures of positive anomalies inside cyclonic eddies and negative anomalies inside anticyclonic eddies in the Bay of Bengal are not consistent with other regions.Due to the special characteristics of the water mass in the bay,especially under the control of the low-salinity Bay of Bengal water at the surface and the Indian equatorial water in the deep ocean,the salinity of seawater shows a monotonic increase with depth.For regional varieties of temperature and salinity structures,as the eddies move westward,the temperature anomaly induced by the eddies increases,the effecting depth of the eddies deepens,and the salinity structures are more affected by inflows.In the north-south direction,the salinity structures of the eddies are associated with the local water masses,which comprise lowsalinity water in the northern bay due to the inflow of freshwater from rivers and salty water in the southern bay due to the invasion of Arabian Sea high-salinity water from the north Indian Ocean.

A three-dimensional numerical calculation of the wind-driven thermohaline and tide-induced Lagrangian residual current in the Bohai Sea

On the basis of a three-dimensional weakly nonliear theory of Lagrangian residual current in the Baroclinic shallow seas, a diagnostic numerical calculation of wind-driven, thermohaline and tide-induced Lagrangian residual current in the Bohai Sea is made. The model involves the Richardson number in the eddy viscosity coefficient, wind, thcrmolialine and tidal effects in the focing terms. The runoff of the Huanghe River and a part of the Huanghai Warm Water coming from the Huanghai Sea through the Bohai Sea Strait is also considered. The velocity-splitting method is adopted. The wind-driven circu lation, thermohaline circulation and the tide-induced Lagrangian residual circulation are also obtained individually and analysed. The dynamics of the three main eddies in the Lagrangian mean circulation is discussed. Finally, the numerical result is partly verified with the observed data.