The particle fluxes in sediment traps from Niulang Guyot area in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

The flux of settling particles in the ocean has been widely explored since 1980s due to its important role in biogenic elements cycling,especially in the transport of particulate organic carbon(POC)in the deep sea.However,research in the seamount area of the oligotrophic subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean is lacking.In this work,two sediment traps were deployed at the foot and another two at the hillside of Niulang Guyot from August2017 to July 2018.The magnitude and composition of particle fluxes were measured.The main factors influencing the spatial variations of the fluxes were evaluated.Our results indicated a low particulate flux from Niulang Guyot area in the Northwest Pacific Ocean,reflecting low primary productivity of the oligotrophic ocean.The total mass flux(TMF)decreased from 2.57 g/(m^(2)·a)to 0.56 g/(m^(2)·a)with increasing depth from 600 m to 4850 m.A clear seasonal pattern of TMF was observed,with higher flux in summer than that in winter.The peak flux of 26.52 mg/(m^(2)·d)occurred in August at 600 m,while the lowest value of 0.07 mg/(m^(2)·d)was shown in February at 4850 m.The settling particles at the deep layers had similar biochemical composition,with calcium carbonate(CaCO_(3))accounting for up to 90%,followed by organic matter and opal,characteristics of Carbonate Ocean.The POC flux decreased more rapidly in the twilight layer because of faster decomposition,remineralization,and higher temperature.A small fraction of POC was transported into the deep ocean by biological pump.Particle fluxes were mainly controlled by the calcareous ballasts besides the primary productivity of the surface water.The advection may be another important factor affecting the flux in the seamount area.The combination of settled matters rich in foraminiferal tests with topography and currents may be the reason for regulating the local abundance of benthos on seamounts.Our results will fill in the knowledge gap of sedimentation flux,improve the understanding of ecosystem in Niulang Guyot area,and eventually provide data support for the optimization of regional ecological modeling.

Performance Evaluation of Three Parameterizations on Internal Tidal Mixing in the Northern Pacific

The accurate assessment of the energy dissipation of internal tides(ITs)is of great importance because ITs contribute significantly to abyssal mixing.Thus,in this study,the IT-driven dissipation and diapycnal diffusion in the northern Pacific are esti-mated using parameterizations proposed by St.Laurent et al.(2002),Koch-Larrouy et al.(2007),and de Lavergne et al.(2020)(hereaf-ter referred to as LSJ02,KL07,and dL20,respectively).The performances of the three parameterizations are evaluated by comparing the calculated results with fine structure observations.In particular,the dissipation estimated by LSJ02 parameterization shows a bottom-intensified characteristic,with the patterns showing good agreement with the observations near seamounts.Moreover,43%of the results calculated using the LSJ02 parameterization have errors lower than one order of magnitude in the generation sites of ITs.Meanwhile,the strongest dissipation estimated by the KL07 parameterization shifts to the thermocline,with the results showing the highest level of consistency with observations in the generation sites.The proportion of results with errors lower than one order of magnitude is 80.7%.Furthermore,the results calculated by dL20 parameterization agree well with the observations in the upper and middle layers,with the parameterization showing an accurate estimation of the remote dissipation.The percentages of the errors lower than one order of magnitude between the dL20 parameterization and observations account for 77.1%and 88.7%in the genera-tion sites and far-field regions,respectively.

Analysis of monthly variability of thermocline in the South China Sea

This study analyzes monthly variability of thermocline and its mechanism in the South China Sea(SCS). The study is based on 51-year(1960–2010) monthly seawater temperature and surface wind stress data from Simple Ocean Data Assimilation(SODA), together with heat flux, precipitation and evaporation data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, respectively. The results reveal that the upper boundary depth(Z_(up)), lower boundary depth(Z _(low)), thickness(?Z) and intensity( T _z) of thermocline in the SCS show remarkable monthly variability. Being averaged for the deep basin of SCS, Z_(up) deepens gradually from May to the following January and then shoals from February to May, while Z low varies little throughout the whole year. Further diagnostics indicates that the monthly variability of Z_(up) is mainly caused by the buoyancy flux and wind stress curl. Using a linear method, the impacts of the buoyancy flux and wind stress curl on Z_(up) can be quantitatively distinguished. The results suggest that Z_(up) tends to deepen about 4.6 m when the buoyancy flux increases by 1×10^(-5) kg/(m?s ~3), while it shoals about 2.5 m when the wind stress curl strengthens by 1×10-^(7) N/m3.

North-south difference of water mass properties across the Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Two field observations were conducted around the Lembeh Strait in September 2015 and 2016, respectively.Evidences indicate that seawater around the Lembeh Strait is consisted of North Pacific Tropical Water(NPTW),North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW), North Pacific Tropical Intermediate Water(NPTIW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water(AAIW). Around the Lembeh Strait, there exist some north-south differences in terms of water mass properties. NPTIW is only found in the southern Lembeh Strait. Water mass with the salinity of 34.6 is only detected at 200–240 m between NPTW and NPTIW in the southern Lembeh Strait, and results from the process of mixing between the saltier water transported from the South Pacific Ocean and the lighter water from the North Pacific Ocean and Sulawesi Sea. According to the analysis on mixing layer depth, it is indicated that there exists an onshore surface current in the northern Lembeh Strait and the surface current in the Lembeh Strait is southward.These dramatic differences of water masses demonstrate that the less water exchange has been occurred between the north and south of Lembeh Strait. In 2015, the positive wind stress curl covering the northern Lembeh Strait induces the shoaling of thermocline and deepening of NPIW, which show that the north-south difference of airsea system is possible of inducing north-south differences of seawater properties.

A study of response of thermocline in the South China Sea to ENSO events

This paper investigates the response of the thermocline depth(TD) in the South China Sea(SCS) to the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) events using 51-year(from 1960 to 2010) monthly seawater temperature and surface wind stress data acquired from the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation(SODA), together with heat flux data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP), precipitation data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) and evaporation data from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution(WHOI). It is indicated that the response of the SCS TD to the El Ni?o or La Ni?a events is in opposite phase. On one hand, the spatial-averaged TDs in the SCS(deeper than 200 m) appear as negative and positive anomalies during the mature phase of the El Ni?o and La Ni?a events, respectively. On the other hand, from June of the El Ni?o year to the subsequent April, the spatial patterns of TD in the north and south of 12°N appear as negative and positive anomalies, respectively, but present positive and negative anomalies for the La Ni?a case. However, positive and negative TD anomalies occur almost in the entire SCS in May of the subsequent year of the El Ni?o and La Ni?a events, respectively. It is suggested that the response of the TD in the SCS to the ENSO events is mainly caused by the sea surface buoyancy flux and the wind stress curl.

Observation and simulation of the diffuse attenuation coefficient of downwelling irradiance in the Polar Ocean

The three-stream radiation transfer model is used to investigate the fluctuation in the underwater diffuse attenuation coefficient of downwelling irradiance in the polar ocean with a high solar zenith angle and different direct radiation proportions.First,the applicability of the three-stream radiation model in the polar region is validated by using 18 in situ observation data from September to October 2009 in the Beaufort Sea.Statistics show that in the absence of sea ice,the average relative errors between the simulation and observation values for 490 nm downwelling irradiance (E_(d)(490)) and its diffuse attenuation coefficient (K_(d)(490)) are 7.04%and 9.88%,respectively.At the stations surrounded by sea ice,the radiation is relatively small due to ice blocking,and the average relative errors simulated by the model reach 15.89%and 15.55%,respectively.Second,simulations with different chlorophyll concentrations and different proportions of direct radiation reveal that a high solar zenith angle has a greater impact on K_(d)(490) in the surface water.K_(d)(490) is less affected by the light field (affected by the solar zenith angle and the proportion of direct radiation) at depths greater than 30 m,and meets the linear relationship with the inherent optical parameters(the sum of the absorption coefficient and backscattering coefficient).The surface K_(d)(490) is still consistent with that at a depth of more than 50 meters under a high solar zenith angle,implying that the surface K_(d)(490) can also be considered as an inherent optical parameter at a high solar zenith angle (greater than 60 degrees).The relative error of obtaining surface K_(d)(490) by using the linear relationship at the 50 m layer is found to be less than 8%in the seawater with chlorophyll concentration greater than0.05 mg m^(-3).The effect of the solar zenith angle and proportion of direct radiation can be ignored when measuring the diffuse attenuation coefficient in the polar region.Finally,the model can correct the ice-induced fluctuation in downward irradiance,allowing for optical research of seawater beneath the ice in the polar ocean.

Responses of the Zhe-Min coastal current adjacent to Pingtan Island to the wintertime monsoon relaxation in 2006 and its mechanism

In conjunction with synchronous remotely sensed winds and sea surface temperature(SST),the spatiotemporal features of the Zhe-Min coastal current(ZMCC),especially responses of the ZMCC adjacent to Pingtan Island(PT) to the wintertime monsoon relaxation in 2006 and corresponding mechanism are investigated based on the field observations.In situ data are acquired from Conductivity-Temperature-Depth(CTD) cruise and Bottom-Mounted Moorings(BMM),which are conducted during a comprehensive survey for the Chinese Offshore Investigation and Assessment Project in winter 2006.It is revealed that the ZMCC is well mixed vertically in winter 2006.The ZMCC(<14°C) recedes during the relaxation of the wintertime monsoon and is accompanied by the enhanced northward shift of the warm,saline Taiwan Strait Mixed Water(TSMW,higher than 14°C and is constituted by the Taiwan Strait Warm Water and the Kuroshio Branch Water).And greatly enhanced southward intrusion of the ZMCC can be detected when the wintertime monsoon restores.Correspondingly,the thermal interface bounded by the ZMCC and the TSMW moves in the northwest/southeast direction,leading to periodic warm/cold reversals of the near-seabed temperature adjacent to the PT.By EOF(Empirical Orthogonal Function) analysis of the large-scale wind fields and wavelet power spectrum analysis of the water level,ocean current and the near-seabed temperature,responses of the ZMCC off the PT to wintertime monsoon relaxation are suggested to be attributed mainly to the southward propagating coastally trapped waves triggered by the impeding atmospheric fronts.As a result,ocean current and near-seabed temperature demonstrate significant quasi-5 d and quasi-10 d subtidal oscillations.By contrast,the onshore/offshore water accumulation resulted from Ekman advection driven by the local winds has minor contributions.

Responses of Guangdong coastal upwelling to the summertime typhoons of 2006

The effects of typhoon intrusion on the Guangdong coastal upwelling system were investigated on the basis of in situ CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) cruise observations and especially upward-looking ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profil- ers) measurements obtained from a comprehensive survey of the Guangdong coastal region carried out by the Chinese Off-shore Investigation and Assessment Project in the summer of 2006. It was found that northeastward geostrophic advection driven by the summer monsoon has a significant near-seabed onshore component adjacent to Shantou, which in conjunction with upper-level offshore Ekman flow, constitutes the canonical Guangdong coastal upwelling system. Further analyses suggested that the Guangdong coastal upwelling system is sensitive to subtle changes in the typhoon intensity and migration pathway. On one hand, as a typhoon approaches from north of the upwelling system (e.g. Typhoon 0604 (Bilis) and Typhoon 0605 (Kaemi)) in the early phase of intrusion, the enhanced southwesterly leads to exceptional enhancement of the onshore flow; i.e., enhanced upwelling. Afterward, irrespective of the forced ocean responses resulting from the stronger local winds (Typhoon 0604) or the moderate typhoon-induced inertial oscillations (Typhoon 0605), the situation is not conducive to sustaining a stable, persistent upwelling system. On the other hand, when there is typhoon intrusion south of the upwelling system (e.g. Typhoon 0606 (Prapiroon)), the favorable southwesterly tends to be substituted by an anomalous northeasterly, which destroys the traditional coastal upwelling pattern. However, the canonical upwelling system tends to recover within 1-2 days of the typhoon passing.