Modeling Biogeochemical-Physical Interactions and Carbon Flux in the Sargasso Sea (Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site)

Science.gov (United States)

Signorini, Sergio R.; McClain, Charles R.; Christian, James R.

2001-01-01

An ecosystem-carbon cycle model is used to analyze the biogeochemical-physical interactions and carbon fluxes in the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site for the period of 1992-1998. The model results compare well with observations (most variables are within 8% of observed values). The sea-air flux ranges from -0.32 to -0.50 mol C/sq m/yr, depending upon the gas transfer algorithm used. This estimate is within the range (-0.22 to -0.83 mol C/sq m/yr) of previously reported values which indicates that the BATS region is a weak sink of atmospheric CO2. The overall carbon balance consists of atmospheric CO2 uptake of 0.3 Mol C/sq m/yr, upward dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) bottom flux of 1.1 Mol C/sq m/yr, and carbon export of 1.4 mol C/sq m/yr via sedimentation. Upper ocean DIC levels increased between 1992 and 1996 at a rate of approximately 1.2 (micro)mol/kg/yr, consistent with observations. However, this trend was reversed during 1997-1998 to -2.7 (micro)mol/kg/yr in response to hydrographic changes imposed by the El Nino-La Nina transition, which were manifested in the Sargasso Sea by the warmest SST and lowest surface salinity of the period (1992-1998).

“Madwoman in the Post-Colonial Era” A Study of the Female Voice in Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nushrat Azam

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to analyze the mediums and effects of voice and silence in the life of a female character of the re-written post-colonial text Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. The analysis shows how a re-written text can give a new meaning to a character and story of a novel, where the character of Antoinette tells the untold story of Bertha in Jane Eyre. The method of investigation for this research is analytical and descriptive; the research was completed by analyzing the events, actions and the interactions of the female character, Antoinette with the other major characters in the novel in order to identify how the character of Antoinette was portrayed throughout the novel. It is understood through the study of the text, that the post-colonial novel gave the female voice much more importance than its previous counterpart. This represents the early post-colonial times during which women were starting to gain liberation but had still not completely moved on from the notions of patriarchal societies that they had grown up in.

Photosynthetic oxygen production in a warmer ocean: the Sargasso Sea as a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Katherine; Bendtsen, Jørgen

2017-09-13

Photosynthetic O 2 production can be an important source of oxygen in sub-surface ocean waters especially in permanently stratified oligotrophic regions of the ocean where O 2 produced in deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) is not likely to be outgassed. Today, permanently stratified regions extend across approximately 40% of the global ocean and their extent is expected to increase in a warmer ocean. Thus, predicting future ocean oxygen conditions requires a better understanding of the potential response of photosynthetic oxygen production to a warmer ocean. Based on our own and published observations of water column processes in oligotrophic regions, we develop a one-dimensional water column model describing photosynthetic oxygen production in the Sargasso Sea to quantify the importance of photosynthesis for the downward flux of O 2 and examine how it may be influenced in a warmer ocean. Photosynthesis is driven in the model by vertical mixing of nutrients (including eddy-induced mixing) and diazotrophy and is found to substantially increase the downward O 2 flux relative to physical-chemical processes alone. Warming (2°C) surface waters does not significantly change oxygen production at the DCM. Nor does a 15% increase in re-mineralization rate (assuming Q 10  = 2; 2°C warming) have significant effect on net sub-surface oxygen accumulation. However, changes in the relative production of particulate (POM) and dissolved organic material (DOM) generate relatively large changes in net sub-surface oxygen production. As POM/DOM production is a function of plankton community composition, this implies plankton biodiversity and food web structure may be important factors influencing O 2 production in a warmer ocean.This article is part of the themed issue 'Ocean ventilation and deoxygenation in a warming world'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Carbon dioxide seasonal cycle in the sea euphotic zone - a study in the Sargasso Sea; Cycle saisonnier du CO{sub 2} dans la zone euphotique marine - une etude dans la mer des sargasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marchal, O

1996-05-28

Between 1750 and 1990, the human activities (mainly fossil carbon combustion and deforestation) have lead to an increase of the CO{sub 2} concentration in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, the carbon dioxide actively takes part to the greenhouse effect and then to the energetic balance of the climatic system. The study which is carried out consists of the forecasting of the CO{sub 2} future concentrations in the atmosphere (from 10, 100 years). The chosen site (BATS: Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study) is located in the Sargasso Sea. The factors leading to seasonal variations have been determined. Several bio-geochemical models have been developed in order to on the one hand simulate the seasonal dynamics of the mixture layer observed in the Bats site and on the other hand explain the main characteristics of the observed phytoplankton seasonal cycle, of its nutriments and of the dissolved oxygen. (O.M.). 375 refs.

Ocean time-series reveals recurring seasonal patterns of virioplankton dynamics in the northwestern Sargasso Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Rachel J; Breitbart, Mya; Lomas, Michael W; Carlson, Craig A

2012-02-01

There are an estimated 10(30) virioplankton in the world oceans, the majority of which are phages (viruses that infect bacteria). Marine phages encompass enormous genetic diversity, affect biogeochemical cycling of elements, and partially control aspects of prokaryotic production and diversity. Despite their importance, there is a paucity of data describing virioplankton distributions over time and depth in oceanic systems. A decade of high-resolution time-series data collected from the upper 300 m in the northwestern Sargasso Sea revealed recurring temporal and vertical patterns of virioplankton abundance in unprecedented detail. An annual virioplankton maximum developed between 60 and 100 m during periods of summer stratification and eroded during winter convective mixing. The timing and vertical positioning of this seasonal pattern was related to variability in water column stability and the dynamics of specific picophytoplankton and heterotrophic bacterioplankton lineages. Between 60 and 100 m, virioplankton abundance was negatively correlated to the dominant heterotrophic bacterioplankton lineage SAR11, as well as the less abundant picophytoplankton, Synechococcus. In contrast, virioplankton abundance was positively correlated to the dominant picophytoplankton lineage Prochlorococcus, and the less abundant alpha-proteobacteria, Rhodobacteraceae. Seasonally, virioplankton abundances were highly synchronous with Prochlorococcus distributions and the virioplankton to Prochlorococcus ratio remained remarkably constant during periods of water column stratification. The data suggest that a significant fraction of viruses in the mid-euphotic zone of the subtropical gyres may be cyanophages and patterns in their abundance are largely determined by Prochlorococcus dynamics in response to water column stability. This high-resolution, decadal survey of virioplankton abundance provides insight into the possible controls of virioplankton dynamics in the open ocean.

The Oceanic Flux Program: A three decade time-series of particle flux in the deep Sargasso Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, J. C.; Conte, M. H.

2010-12-01

The Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), 75 km SE of Bermuda, is the longest running time-series of its kind. Initiated in 1978, the OFP has produced an unsurpassed, nearly continuous record of temporal variability in deep ocean fluxes, with a >90% temporal coverage at 3200m depth. The OFP, in conjunction with the co-located Bermuda-Atlantic Time Series (BATS) and the Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM) time-series, has provided key observations enabling detailed assessment of how seasonal and non-seasonal variability in the deep ocean is linked with the overlying physical and biogeochemical environment. This talk will focus on the short-term flux variability that overlies the seasonal flux pattern in the Sargasso Sea, emphasizing episodic extreme flux events. Extreme flux events are responsible for much of the year-to-year variability in mean annual flux and are most often observed during early winter and late spring when surface stratification is weak or transient. In addition to biological phenomena (e.g. salp blooms), passage of productive meso-scale features such as eddies, which alter surface water mixing characteristics and surface export fluxes, may initiate some extreme flux events. Yet other productive eddies show a minimal influence on the deep flux, underscoring the importance of upper ocean ecosystem structure and midwater processes on the coupling between the surface ocean environment and deep fluxes. Using key organic and inorganic tracers, causative processes that influence deep flux generation and the strength of the coupling with the surface ocean environment can be identified.

Salp contributions to vertical carbon flux in the Sargasso Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Joshua P.; Steinberg, Deborah K.

2016-07-01

We developed a one-dimensional model to estimate salp contributions to vertical carbon flux at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre for a 17-yr period (April 1994 to December 2011). We based the model parameters on published rates of salp physiology and experimentally determined sinking and decomposition rates of salp carcasses. Salp grazing was low during non-bloom conditions, but routinely exceeded 100% of chlorophyll standing stock and primary production during blooms. Fecal pellet production was the largest source of salp carbon flux (78% of total), followed by respiration below 200 m (19%), sinking of carcasses (3%), and DOC excretion below 200 m (salp-mediated carbon flux. Seasonally, salp flux was higher during spring-summer than fall-winter, due to seasonal changes in species composition and abundance. Salp carbon export to 200 m was on average 2.3 mg C m-2 d-1 across the entire time series. This is equivalent to 11% of the mean 200 m POC flux measured by sediment traps in the region. During years with significant salp blooms, however, annually-averaged salp carbon export was the equivalent of up to 60% of trap POC flux at 200 m. Salp carbon flux attenuated slowly, and at 3200 m the average modeled carbon from salps was 109% of the POC flux measured in sediment traps at that depth. Migratory and carcass carbon export pathways should also be considered (alongside fecal pellet flux) as facilitating carbon export to sequestration depths in future studies.

Counterintuitive effect of fall mixed layer deepening on eukaryotic new production in the Sargasso Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Fawcett, S. E.; Lomas, M. W.; Ward, B. B.; Sigman, D. M.

2012-12-01

The Sargasso Sea is characterized by a short period of deep vertical mixing in the late winter and early spring, followed by strong thermal stratification during the summer. Stratification persists into the fall, impeding the upward flux of nitrate from depth so that recycled forms of nitrogen (N) such as ammonium are thought to support most primary production. We collected particles from surface waters during March, July, October, and December, used flow cytometry to separate the prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton, and analyzed their respective 15N/14N. In all months, the 15N/14N of the prokaryotic genera, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, was low, indicative of reliance on recycled N throughout the year. In July, the 15N/14N of eukaryotic phytoplankton was variable but consistently higher than that of the prokaryotes, reflecting eukaryotic consumption of subsurface nitrate. Two eukaryotic profiles from October and December were similar to those from July. In three other fall profiles, the eukaryotes had a 15N/14N similar to that of the prokaryotes, suggesting a switch toward greater reliance on recycled N. This change in the dominant N source supporting eukaryotic production appears to be driven by the density structure of the upper water column. The very shallow low-density surface "mixed layer" (≤20 m) that develops in early-to-mid summer does not contribute to stratification at the base of the euphotic zone, and subsurface nitrate can mix up into the lower euphotic zone, facilitating continued production. The deepening of the mixed layer into the fall, typically taken as an indication of weaker overall stratification, actually strengthens the isolation of the euphotic zone as a whole, reducing the upward supply of nitrate to the photosynthetically active layer. The same counterintuitive dynamic explains the latitudinal patterns in a set of three October depth profiles. Two northern stations (32°N and 27°N) were characterized by a thick, low

Geochemistry of Slow-Growing Corals: Reconstructing Sea Surface Temperature, Salinity and the North Atlantic Oscillation

Science.gov (United States)

2007-06-01

Number 8, October 1989) The island of Bermuda (64°W, 32°N) (Fig. 1.3) located in the western sub- tropical Atlantic is an excellent location for examining...lobata at Clipperton Atoll, Coral Reefv, 18, 13-27, 1999. Lough, J. M., A strategy to improve the contribution of coral data to high-resolution...to evaluate winter Sr/Ca. The island of Bermuda (64°W, 32°N) is located in the Sargasso Sea in the sub-tropical North Atlantic. This site is

Patterns of ecological specialization among microbial populations in the Red Sea and diverse oligotrophic marine environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Luke R; Field, Chris; Romanuk, Tamara; Ngugi, David; Siam, Rania; El Dorry, Hamza; Stingl, Ulrich

2013-06-01

Large swaths of the nutrient-poor surface ocean are dominated numerically by cyanobacteria (Prochlorococcus), cyanobacterial viruses (cyanophage), and alphaproteobacteria (SAR11). How these groups thrive in the diverse physicochemical environments of different oceanic regions remains poorly understood. Comparative metagenomics can reveal adaptive responses linked to ecosystem-specific selective pressures. The Red Sea is well-suited for studying adaptation of pelagic-microbes, with salinities, temperatures, and light levels at the extreme end for the surface ocean, and low nutrient concentrations, yet no metagenomic studies have been done there. The Red Sea (high salinity, high light, low N and P) compares favorably with the Mediterranean Sea (high salinity, low P), Sargasso Sea (low P), and North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (high light, low N). We quantified the relative abundance of genetic functions among Prochlorococcus, cyanophage, and SAR11 from these four regions. Gene frequencies indicate selection for phosphorus acquisition (Mediterranean/Sargasso), DNA repair and high-light responses (Red Sea/Pacific Prochlorococcus), and osmolyte C1 oxidation (Red Sea/Mediterranean SAR11). The unexpected connection between salinity-dependent osmolyte production and SAR11 C1 metabolism represents a potentially major coevolutionary adaptation and biogeochemical flux. Among Prochlorococcus and cyanophage, genes enriched in specific environments had ecotype distributions similar to nonenriched genes, suggesting that inter-ecotype gene transfer is not a major source of environment-specific adaptation. Clustering of metagenomes using gene frequencies shows similarities in populations (Red Sea with Pacific, Mediterranean with Sargasso) that belie their geographic distances. Taken together, the genetic functions enriched in specific environments indicate competitive strategies for maintaining carrying capacity in the face of physical stressors and low nutrient availability.

Patterns of ecological specialization among microbial populations in the Red Sea and diverse oligotrophic marine environments

KAUST Repository

Thompson, Luke R

2013-05-11

Large swaths of the nutrient-poor surface ocean are dominated numerically by cyanobacteria (Prochlorococcus), cyanobacterial viruses (cyanophage), and alphaproteobacteria (SAR11). How these groups thrive in the diverse physicochemical environments of different oceanic regions remains poorly understood. Comparative metagenomics can reveal adaptive responses linked to ecosystem-specific selective pressures. The Red Sea is well-suited for studying adaptation of pelagic-microbes, with salinities, temperatures, and light levels at the extreme end for the surface ocean, and low nutrient concentrations, yet no metagenomic studies have been done there. The Red Sea (high salinity, high light, low N and P) compares favorably with the Mediterranean Sea (high salinity, low P), Sargasso Sea (low P), and North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (high light, low N). We quantified the relative abundance of genetic functions among Prochlorococcus, cyanophage, and SAR11 from these four regions. Gene frequencies indicate selection for phosphorus acquisition (Mediterranean/Sargasso), DNA repair and high-light responses (Red Sea/Pacific Prochlorococcus), and osmolyte C1 oxidation (Red Sea/Mediterranean SAR11). The unexpected connection between salinity-dependent osmolyte production and SAR11 C1 metabolism represents a potentially major coevolutionary adaptation and biogeochemical flux. Among Prochlorococcus and cyanophage, genes enriched in specific environments had ecotype distributions similar to nonenriched genes, suggesting that inter-ecotype gene transfer is not a major source of environment-specific adaptation. Clustering of metagenomes using gene frequencies shows similarities in populations (Red Sea with Pacific, Mediterranean with Sargasso) that belie their geographic distances. Taken together, the genetic functions enriched in specific environments indicate competitive strategies for maintaining carrying capacity in the face of physical stressors and low nutrient availability. 2013 The

Source/process apportionment of major and trace elements in sinking particles in the Sargasso sea

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, S.; Conte, M. H.

2009-01-01

Elemental composition of the particle flux at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time-series site off Bermuda was measured from January 2002 to March 2005. Eighteen elements (Mg, Al, Si, P, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Ba and Pb) in sediment trap material from 500, 1500 and 3200 m depths were quantified using fusion-HR-ICPMS. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used to elucidate sources, elemental associations and processes that affect geochemical behavior in the water column. Results provide evidence for intense elemental cycling between the sinking flux material and the dissolved and suspended pools within mesopelagic and bathypelagic waters. Biological processing and remineralization rapidly deplete the sinking flux material in organic matter and associated elements (N, P, Cd, Zn) between 500 and 1500 m depth. Suspended particle aggregation, authigenic mineral precipitation, and chemical scavenging enriches the flux material in lithogenic minerals, barite and redox sensitive elements (Mn, Co, V, Fe). A large increase in the flux of lithogenic elements is observed with depth and confirms that the northeast Sargasso is a significant sink for advected continental materials, likely supplied via Gulf Stream circulation. PMF resolved major sources that contribute to sinking flux at all depths (carbonate, high-Mg carbonate, opal, organic matter, lithogenic material, and barite) as well as additional depth-specific elemental associations that contribute about half of the compositional variability in the flux. PMF solutions indicate close geochemical associations of barite-opal, Cd-P, Zn-Co, Zn-Pb and redox sensitive elements in the sinking flux material at 500 m depth. Major reorganizations of element associations occur as labile carrier phases break down and elements redistribute among new carrier phases deeper in the water column. Factor scores show strong covariation and similar temporal phasing among the three trap depths and indicate a tight

Heading south or north: novel insights on European silver eel Anguilla anguilla migration in the North Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huisman, Jeroen; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Deneudt, K.; Goethals, Peter; Moens, Tom; Nagelkerke, Leopold A.J.; Nolting, Carsten; Reubens, Jan; Schollema, Peter Paul; Winter, Hendrik V.; Mouton, Ans

2016-01-01

The European eel Anguilla anguilla L. is a critically endangered fish species that migrates from coastal and freshwater habitats to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. However, the exact migration routes and destination of European eel are still unknown. We are the first to observe southward migrating

A “Rosetta Stone” for metazoan zooplankton: DNA barcode analysis of species diversity of the Sargasso Sea (Northwest Atlantic Ocean)

Science.gov (United States)

Bucklin, Ann; Ortman, Brian D.; Jennings, Robert M.; Nigro, Lisa M.; Sweetman, Christopher J.; Copley, Nancy J.; Sutton, Tracey; Wiebe, Peter H.

2010-12-01

Species diversity of the metazoan holozooplankton assemblage of the Sargasso Sea, Northwest Atlantic Ocean, was examined through coordinated morphological taxonomic identification of species and DNA sequencing of a ˜650 base-pair region of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) as a DNA barcode (i.e., short sequence for species recognition and discrimination). Zooplankton collections were made from the surface to 5,000 meters during April, 2006 on the R/V R.H. Brown. Samples were examined by a ship-board team of morphological taxonomists; DNA barcoding was carried out in both ship-board and land-based DNA sequencing laboratories. DNA barcodes were determined for a total of 297 individuals of 175 holozooplankton species in four phyla, including: Cnidaria (Hydromedusae, 4 species; Siphonophora, 47); Arthropoda (Amphipoda, 10; Copepoda, 34; Decapoda, 9; Euphausiacea, 10; Mysidacea, 1; Ostracoda, 27); and Mollusca (Cephalopoda, 8; Heteropoda, 6; Pteropoda, 15); and Chaetognatha (4). Thirty species of fish (Teleostei) were also barcoded. For all seven zooplankton groups for which sufficient data were available, Kimura-2-Parameter genetic distances were significantly lower between individuals of the same species (mean=0.0114; S.D. 0.0117) than between individuals of different species within the same group (mean=0.3166; S.D. 0.0378). This difference, known as the barcode gap, ensures that mtCOI sequences are reliable characters for species identification for the oceanic holozooplankton assemblage. In addition, DNA barcodes allow recognition of new or undescribed species, reveal cryptic species within known taxa, and inform phylogeographic and population genetic studies of geographic variation. The growing database of "gold standard" DNA barcodes serves as a Rosetta Stone for marine zooplankton, providing the key for decoding species diversity by linking species names, morphology, and DNA sequence variation. In light of the pivotal position of zooplankton in ocean

Putting SEA in context: A discourse perspective on how SEA contributes to decision-making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Runhaar, Hens

2009-01-01

Over the last couple of years there is an ongoing debate in the environmental assessment literature about the contribution of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to public decision-making and how this can be understood and enhanced by better incorporating insights from policy analysis, planning theory and political sciences. By explicitly framing SEA as an element in a process where stakeholders with diverging interests struggle, acceptability of SEA processes and results by stakeholders has become an important element in SEA evaluation. In addition, the importance of other context variables, such as the institutional organisation, and the need for SEA to adapt to this context, is stressed. Thus far, publications in this area have been dealing with the operationalisation of SEA's 'contribution', typologies of roles that SEA can or should play in different policy settings and on factors that stimulate or impede SEA to play these roles. In this paper an alternative approach is suggested that starts from the deliberative processes around a particular policy issue or decision supported by SEA. Of particular interest are 'discourses': the frames through which groups of actors give meaning to aspects of the policy issues and decisions that are supported by SEA. Discourses do not only reflect conflicts of interests and power play, but also the ways in which actors perceive and understand aspects of the world. Decision-making is conceptualised as a 'system of competing discourse coalitions and their struggles to 'control shared meanings' and to gain acceptance of their framing of a policy issue' [Durning D. A review of Fischer and Forrester (1993) The argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning. Policy Sci 1995;28(1):102-8]. SEA is one of the events in this process that may impact upon dominant discourses. Discourse analysis allows for an understanding of arguments that are considered legitimate for (not) incorporating particular elements of SEA. In addition it

Disconnected-Sea Quarks Contribution to Nucleon Electromagnetic Form Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Sufian, Raza Sabbir

We present comprehensive analysis of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors. The lattice QCD estimates of strange quark magnetic moment GsM (0) = -0.064(14)(09) microN and the mean squared charge radius E = -0.0043(16)(14) fm2 are more precise than any existing experimental measurements and other lattice calculations. The lattice QCD calculation includes ensembles across several lattice volumes and lattice spacings with one of the ensembles at the physical pion mass. We have performed a simultaneous chiral, infinite volume, and continuum extrapolation in a global fit to calculate results in the continuum limit. We find that the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is -0.022(11)(09) microN and to the nucleon mean square charge radius is -0.019(05)(05) fm 2. The most important outcome of this lattice QCD calculation is that while the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is small at about 1%, a negative 2.5(9)% contribution to the proton charge radius and a relatively larger positive 16.3(6.1)% contribution to the neutron charge radius come from the sea quarks in the nucleon. For the first time, by performing global fits, we also give predictions of the light-sea and strange quarks contributions to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors at the physical point and in the continuum and infinite volume limits in the momentum transfer range of 0 ≤ Q2 ≤ 0.5 GeV2.

Deep Ocean Contribution to Sea Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, L.; Sun, W.; Tang, H.; Wang, Q.

2017-12-01

The ocean temperature and salinity change in the upper 2000m can be detected by Argo floats, so we can know the steric height change of the ocean. But the ocean layers above 2000m represent only 50% of the total ocean volume. Although the temperature and salinity change are small compared to the upper ocean, the deep ocean contribution to sea level might be significant because of its large volume. There has been some research on the deep ocean rely on the very sparse situ observation and are limited to decadal and longer-term rates of change. The available observational data in the deep ocean are too spares to determine the temporal variability, and the long-term changes may have a bias. We will use the Argo date and combine the situ data and topographic data to estimate the temperature and salinity of the sea water below 2000m, so we can obtain a monthly data. We will analyze the seasonal and annual change of the steric height change due to the deep ocean between 2005 and 2016. And we will evaluate the result combination the present-day satellite and in situ observing systems. The deep ocean contribution can be inferred indirectly as the difference between the altimetry minus GRACE and Argo-based steric sea level.

Thermosteric contribution of warming oceans to the global sea level variations

OpenAIRE

Bâki Iz H.

2016-01-01

Thermosteric contribution of warming oceans to the global sea level variations during the last century was evaluated at globally distributed 27 tide gauge stations with records over 80 years. The assessment was made using a recently proposed lagged model inclusive of a sea level trend, long and decadal periodicities, and lagged sea surface temperature measurements. The new model solutions revealed that almost all the long period periodic sea level changes experienced a...

Fate of water pumped from underground and contributions to sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Yoshihide; Lo, Min-Hui; Yeh, Pat J.-F.; Reager, John T.; Famiglietti, James S.; Wu, Ren-Jie; Tseng, Yu-Heng

2016-08-01

The contributions from terrestrial water sources to sea-level rise, other than ice caps and glaciers, are highly uncertain and heavily debated. Recent assessments indicate that groundwater depletion (GWD) may become the most important positive terrestrial contribution over the next 50 years, probably equal in magnitude to the current contributions from glaciers and ice caps. However, the existing estimates assume that nearly 100% of groundwater extracted eventually ends up in the oceans. Owing to limited knowledge of the pathways and mechanisms governing the ultimate fate of pumped groundwater, the relative fraction of global GWD that contributes to sea-level rise remains unknown. Here, using a coupled climate-hydrological model simulation, we show that only 80% of GWD ends up in the ocean. An increase in runoff to the ocean accounts for roughly two-thirds, whereas the remainder results from the enhanced net flux of precipitation minus evaporation over the ocean, due to increased atmospheric vapour transport from the land to the ocean. The contribution of GWD to global sea-level rise amounted to 0.02 (+/-0.004) mm yr-1 in 1900 and increased to 0.27 (+/-0.04) mm yr-1 in 2000. This indicates that existing studies have substantially overestimated the contribution of GWD to global sea-level rise by a cumulative amount of at least 10 mm during the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. With other terrestrial water contributions included, we estimate the net terrestrial water contribution during the period 1993-2010 to be +0.12 (+/-0.04) mm yr-1, suggesting that the net terrestrial water contribution reported in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report report is probably overestimated by a factor of three.

Recent Changes in Land Water Storage and Its Contribution to Sea Level Variations

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Yoshihide; Reager, John T.; Chao, Benjamin F.; Wang, Jida; Lo, Min-Hui; Song, Chunqiao; Li, Yuwen; Gardner, Alex S.

2016-01-01

Sea level rise is generally attributed to increased ocean heat content and increased rates glacier and ice melt. However, human transformations of Earth's surface have impacted water exchange between land, atmosphere, and ocean, ultimately affecting global sea level variations. Impoundment of water in reservoirs and artificial lakes has reduced the outflow of water to the sea, while river runoff has increased due to groundwater mining, wetland and endorheic lake storage losses, and deforestation. In addition, climate-driven changes in land water stores can have a large impact on global sea level variations over decadal timescales. Here, we review each component of negative and positive land water contribution separately in order to highlight and understand recent changes in land water contribution to sea level variations.

Updating the results of glacier contribution to the sea level change

Science.gov (United States)

Dyurgerov, Mark B.; Abdalati, Waleed Dr. (Technical Monitor)

2005-01-01

I have completed an update of global glacier volume change. All data of glacier annual mass balances, surface area over the period 1945/46 till 2004, outside the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets were included in this update. As the result global glacier volume change have been calculated, also in terms of glacier contribution to sea level change. These results were sent to Working Group 1 and 2 of IPCC-4 as the basis for modeling of sea level towards the end of 2100. In this study I have concentrated on studying glacier systems of different scales, from primary (e.g. Devon ice cap) to regional (e.g. Canadian Arctic), continental scale (e,g., entire Arctic), and global (e.g., change in glacier volume and contribution to sea level rise).

Romanian contribution to the regional study of Black Sea radioactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bologa, S.

1993-01-01

In the Black Sea area, polluting mineral exploitation, abusive fishing, unrestricted shipping activities and dumping of toxic wastes were done. Pollutant load carried by the Danube and other northern rivers, such as: Dnieper, Dniester, Bug, etc to the Black Sea, industrial and municipal discharges of air and water pollutants, pollution from ship traffic (particularly in the Constanta harbour area) contributed to the ecological degradation of the sea. Radioactivity monitoring as well as radioecological research are part of environmental assessments and protection strategies in Romania. The Romanian contribution consisted in participation in research contracts and coordinated research programs with IAEA-Vienna/Marine Environment Laboratory-Monaco between 1987-1992, in the program 'Global Inventory of Radioactivity in the Mediterranean Sea' (GIRMED) launched by IAEA after the XXXIst Congress and General assembly of the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea by the Committee of Marine Radioactivity in 1988 and in the Co-operative Marine Science Program for the Black Sea (CoMSBlack) trough its Working group on radiochemistry and radioecology. This group includes Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Natural and artificial radionuclide (K-40, Ac-228, Ra-226, Ru-106, Ag-110m, Cs-137 and, starting in 1992, Sr-90) space and time distribution data were used for computation of in situ distribution coefficients and concentration factors (CFs) as well as for external and internal dose assessments in the Romanian sector. CFs of marine sediments, seaweeds and molluscs were measured in laboratory conditions. (author)

Southern Ocean CO2 sink: the contribution of the sea ice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Delille, B.; Vancoppenolle, Martin; Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier

2014-01-01

at the air-sea ice interface. The sea ice changes from a transient source to a sink for atmospheric CO2. We upscale these observations to the whole Antarctic sea ice cover using the NEMO-LIM3 large-scale sea ice-ocean and provide first esti- mates of spring and summer CO2 uptake from the atmosphere...... by Antarctic sea ice. Over the spring- summer period, the Antarctic sea ice cover is a net sink of atmospheric CO2 of 0.029 Pg C, about 58% of the estimated annual uptake from the Southern Ocean. Sea ice then contributes significantly to the sink of CO2 of the Southern Ocean....... undersaturation while the underlying oceanic waters remains slightly oversaturated. The decrease from winter to summer of pCO2 in the brines is driven by dilution with melting ice, dissolution of carbonate crystals, and net primary production. As the ice warms, its permeability increases, allowing CO2 transfer...

Reconciling projections of the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Tamsin; Holden, Philip; Edwards, Neil; Wernecke, Andreas

2017-04-01

Two recent studies of the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise this century had best estimates that differed by an order of magnitude (around 10 cm and 1 m by 2100). The first, Ritz et al. (2015), used a model calibrated with satellite data, giving a 5% probability of exceeding 30cm by 2100 for sea level rise due to Antarctic instability. The second, DeConto and Pollard (2016), used a model evaluated with reconstructions of palaeo-sea level. They did not estimate probabilities, but using a simple assumption here about the distribution shape gives up to a 5% chance of Antarctic contribution exceeding 2.3 m this century with total sea level rise approaching 3 m. If robust, this would have very substantial implications for global adaptation to climate change. How are we to make sense of this apparent inconsistency? How much is down to the data - does the past tell us we will face widespread and rapid Antarctic ice losses in the future? How much is due to the mechanism of rapid ice loss ('cliff failure') proposed in the latter paper, or other parameterisation choices in these low resolution models (GRISLI and PISM, respectively)? How much is due to choices made in the ensemble design and calibration? How do these projections compare with high resolution, grounding line resolving models such as BISICLES? Could we reduce the huge uncertainties in the palaeo-study? Emulation provides a powerful tool for understanding these questions and reconciling the projections. By describing the three numerical ice sheet models with statistical models, we can re-analyse the ensembles and re-do the calibrations under a common statistical framework. This reduces uncertainty in the PISM study because it allows massive sampling of the parameter space, which reduces the sensitivity to reconstructed palaeo-sea level values and also narrows the probability intervals because the simple assumption about distribution shape above is no longer needed. We present reconciled probabilistic

MIS 5e relative sea-level changes in the Mediterranean Sea: Contribution of isostatic disequilibrium

Science.gov (United States)

Stocchi, Paolo; Vacchi, Matteo; Lorscheid, Thomas; de Boer, Bas; Simms, Alexander R.; van de Wal, Roderik S. W.; Vermeersen, Bert L. A.; Pappalardo, Marta; Rovere, Alessio

2018-04-01

Sea-level indicators dated to the Last Interglacial, or Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, have a twofold value. First, they can be used to constrain the melting of Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets in response to global warming scenarios. Second, they can be used to calculate the vertical crustal rates at active margins. For both applications, the contribution of glacio- and hydro-isostatic adjustment (GIA) to vertical displacement of sea-level indicators must be calculated. In this paper, we re-assess MIS 5e sea-level indicators at 11 Mediterranean sites that have been generally considered tectonically stable or affected by mild tectonics. These are found within a range of elevations of 2-10 m above modern mean sea level. Four sites are characterized by two separate sea-level stands, which suggest a two-step sea-level highstand during MIS 5e. Comparing field data with numerical modeling we show that (i) GIA is an important contributor to the spatial and temporal variability of the sea-level highstand during MIS 5e, (ii) the isostatic imbalance from the melting of the MIS 6 ice sheet can produce a >2.0 m sea-level highstand, and (iii) a two-step melting phase for the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets reduces the differences between observations and predictions. Our results show that assumptions of tectonic stability on the basis of the MIS 5e records carry intrinsically large uncertainties, stemming either from uncertainties in field data and GIA models. The latter are propagated to either Holocene or Pleistocene sea-level reconstructions if tectonic rates are considered linear through time.

Resolving the Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise: a hierarchical modelling framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Zammit-Mangion, Andrew; Rougier, Jonathan; Bamber, Jonathan; Schön, Nana

2014-06-01

Determining the Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise from observational data is a complex problem. The number of physical processes involved (such as ice dynamics and surface climate) exceeds the number of observables, some of which have very poor spatial definition. This has led, in general, to solutions that utilise strong prior assumptions or physically based deterministic models to simplify the problem. Here, we present a new approach for estimating the Antarctic contribution, which only incorporates descriptive aspects of the physically based models in the analysis and in a statistical manner. By combining physical insights with modern spatial statistical modelling techniques, we are able to provide probability distributions on all processes deemed to play a role in both the observed data and the contribution to sea-level rise. Specifically, we use stochastic partial differential equations and their relation to geostatistical fields to capture our physical understanding and employ a Gaussian Markov random field approach for efficient computation. The method, an instantiation of Bayesian hierarchical modelling, naturally incorporates uncertainty in order to reveal credible intervals on all estimated quantities. The estimated sea-level rise contribution using this approach corroborates those found using a statistically independent method. © 2013 The Authors. Environmetrics Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Resolving the Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise: a hierarchical modelling framework†

Science.gov (United States)

Zammit-Mangion, Andrew; Rougier, Jonathan; Bamber, Jonathan; Schön, Nana

2014-01-01

Determining the Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise from observational data is a complex problem. The number of physical processes involved (such as ice dynamics and surface climate) exceeds the number of observables, some of which have very poor spatial definition. This has led, in general, to solutions that utilise strong prior assumptions or physically based deterministic models to simplify the problem. Here, we present a new approach for estimating the Antarctic contribution, which only incorporates descriptive aspects of the physically based models in the analysis and in a statistical manner. By combining physical insights with modern spatial statistical modelling techniques, we are able to provide probability distributions on all processes deemed to play a role in both the observed data and the contribution to sea-level rise. Specifically, we use stochastic partial differential equations and their relation to geostatistical fields to capture our physical understanding and employ a Gaussian Markov random field approach for efficient computation. The method, an instantiation of Bayesian hierarchical modelling, naturally incorporates uncertainty in order to reveal credible intervals on all estimated quantities. The estimated sea-level rise contribution using this approach corroborates those found using a statistically independent method. © 2013 The Authors. Environmetrics Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:25505370

The future sea-level rise contribution of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Machguth, H.; Rastner, P.; Bolch, T.

2013-01-01

We calculate the future sea-level rise contribution from the surface mass balance of all of Greenland's glaciers and ice caps (GICs, ~90 000 km2) using a simplified energy balance model which is driven by three future climate scenarios from the regional climate models HIRHAM5, RACMO2 and MAR...... experiments suggest that mass loss could be higher by 20–30% if a strong lowering of the surface albedo were to take place in the future. It is shown that the sea-level rise contribution from the north-easterly regions of Greenland is reduced by increasing precipitation while mass loss in the southern half...... feedback mechanisms are considered. The mass loss of all GICs by 2098 is calculated to be 2016 ± 129 Gt (HIRHAM5 forcing), 2584 ± 109 Gt (RACMO2) and 3907 ± 108 Gt (MAR). This corresponds to a total contribution to sea-level rise of 5.8 ± 0.4, 7.4 ± 0.3 and 11.2 ± 0.3 mm, respectively. Sensitivity...

Evaluation of the Precision of Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperature Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, F.; Cornillon, P. C.; Guan, L.

2016-02-01

A great deal of attention has been focused on the temporal accuracy of satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) fields with little attention being given to their spatial precision. Specifically, the primary measure of the quality of SST fields has been the bias and variance of selected values minus co-located (in space and time) in situ values. Contributing values, determined by the location of the in situ values and the necessity that the satellite-derived values be cloud free, are generally widely separated in space and time hence provide little information related to the pixel-to-pixel uncertainty in the retrievals. But the main contribution to the uncertainty in satellite-derived SST retrievals relates to atmospheric contamination and because the spatial scales of atmospheric features are, in general, large compared with the pixel separation of modern infra-red sensors, the pixel-to-pixel uncertainty is often smaller than the accuracy determined from in situ match-ups. This makes selection of satellite-derived datasets for the study of submesoscale processes, for which the spatial structure of the upper ocean is significant, problematic. In this presentation we present a methodology to characterize the spatial precision of satellite-derived SST fields. The method is based on an examination of the high wavenumber tail of the 2-D spectrum of SST fields in the Sargasso Sea, a low energy region of the ocean close to the track of the MV Oleander, a container ship making weekly roundtrips between New York and Bermuda, with engine intake temperatures sampled every 75 m along track. Important spectral characteristics are the point at which the satellite-derived spectra separate from the Oleander spectra and the spectral slope following separation. In this presentation a number of high resolution 375 m to 10 km SST datasets are evaluated based on this approach.

Sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment and charge radius at the physical point

Science.gov (United States)

Sufian, Raza Sabbir; Yang, Yi-Bo; Liang, Jian; Draper, Terrence; Liu, Keh-Fei; χ QCD Collaboration

2017-12-01

We report a comprehensive analysis of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment, charge radius, and the electric and magnetic form factors. The lattice QCD calculation includes ensembles across several lattice volumes and lattice spacings with one of the ensembles at the physical pion mass. We adopt a model-independent extrapolation of the nucleon magnetic moment and the charge radius. We have performed a simultaneous chiral, infinite volume, and continuum extrapolation in a global fit to calculate results in the continuum limit. We find that the combined light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is μM(DI )=-0.022 (11 )(09 ) μN and to the nucleon mean square charge radius is ⟨r2⟩E(DI ) =-0.019 (05 )(05 ) fm2 which is about 1 /3 of the difference between the ⟨rp2⟩E of electron-proton scattering and that of a muonic atom and so cannot be ignored in obtaining the proton charge radius in the lattice QCD calculation. The most important outcome of this lattice QCD calculation is that while the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is small at about 1%, a negative 2.5(9)% contribution to the proton mean square charge radius and a relatively larger positive 16.3(6.1)% contribution to the neutron mean square charge radius come from the sea quarks in the nucleon. For the first time, by performing global fits, we also give predictions of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contributions to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors at the physical point and in the continuum and infinite volume limits in the momentum transfer range of 0 ≤Q2≤0.5 GeV2 .

Global Marine Science and Carlsberg - The Golden Connections of Johannes Schmidt (1877-1933) (Med dansksproget resume)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Bo

for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Danish state and several private companies. Launching 26 oceangoing expeditions Schmidt made landmark discoveries such as the breeding ground for the Atlantic eel in the Sargasso Sea. The scientific frontier was pushed literally kilometres into the deep sea and across...

Global Marine Science and Carlsberg

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Bo

for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Danish state and several private companies. Launching 26 oceangoing expeditions Schmidt made landmark discoveries such as the breeding ground for the Atlantic eel in the Sargasso Sea. The scientific frontier was pushed literally kilometres into the deep sea and across...

The relative contributions of biological and abiotic processes to carbon dynamics in subarctic sea ice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Dorte Haubjerg; Thomas, David; Rysgaard, Søren

2013-01-01

Knowledge on the relative effects of biological activity and precipitation/dissolution of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in influencing the air-ice CO2 exchange in sea-ice-covered season is currently lacking. Furthermore, the spatial and temporal occurrence of CaCO3 and other biogeochemical parameters...... in sea ice are still not well described. Here we investigated autotrophic and heterotrophic activity as well as the precipitation/dissolution of CaCO3 in subarctic sea ice in South West Greenland. Integrated over the entire ice season (71 days), the sea ice was net autotrophic with a net carbon fixation...... and CaCO3 precipitation. The net biological production could only explain 4 % of this sea-ice-driven CO2 uptake. Abiotic processes contributed to an air-sea CO2 uptake of 1.5 mmol m(-2) sea ice day(-1), and dissolution of CaCO3 increased the air-sea CO2 uptake by 36 % compared to a theoretical estimate...

The land-ice contribution to 21st-century dynamic sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, T.; Ridley, J.; Pardaens, A. K.; Hurkmans, R. T. W. L.; Payne, A. J.; Giesen, R. H.; Lowe, J. A.; Bamber, J. L.; Edwards, T. L.; Oerlemans, J.

2014-06-01

Climate change has the potential to influence global mean sea level through a number of processes including (but not limited to) thermal expansion of the oceans and enhanced land ice melt. In addition to their contribution to global mean sea level change, these two processes (among others) lead to local departures from the global mean sea level change, through a number of mechanisms including the effect on spatial variations in the change of water density and transport, usually termed dynamic sea level changes. In this study, we focus on the component of dynamic sea level change that might be given by additional freshwater inflow to the ocean under scenarios of 21st-century land-based ice melt. We present regional patterns of dynamic sea level change given by a global-coupled atmosphere-ocean climate model forced by spatially and temporally varying projected ice-melt fluxes from three sources: the Antarctic ice sheet, the Greenland Ice Sheet and small glaciers and ice caps. The largest ice melt flux we consider is equivalent to almost 0.7 m of global mean sea level rise over the 21st century. The temporal evolution of the dynamic sea level changes, in the presence of considerable variations in the ice melt flux, is also analysed. We find that the dynamic sea level change associated with the ice melt is small, with the largest changes occurring in the North Atlantic amounting to 3 cm above the global mean rise. Furthermore, the dynamic sea level change associated with the ice melt is similar regardless of whether the simulated ice fluxes are applied to a simulation with fixed CO2 or under a business-as-usual greenhouse gas warming scenario of increasing CO2.

Biogeochemical responses to late-winter storms in the Sargasso Sea, III—Estimates of export production using 234Th: 238U disequilibria and sediment traps

Science.gov (United States)

Maiti, Kanchan; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia R.; Lomas, Michael W.; Krause, Jeffrey W.

2009-06-01

between our observations and geochemical-based estimates of particle export. Comparison of PON export rates with simultaneous measurements of NO 3- uptake derived new production rates suggest that only a fraction, rates were more than a factor of two higher ( prates of bSiO 2 relative to POC and PON, this transport may, over time, slowly decrease water column silicate inventories, and further drive the Sargasso Sea towards increasing silica limitation. These storm events may further affect the quality of the POC and PON exported, given the large association of this material with diatoms during these periods.

Past and future contribution of global groundwater depletion to sea-level rise

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wada, Y.; Beek, L.P.H. van; Sperna Weiland, F.C.; Chao, B.; Wu, Y.-H.; Bierkens, M.F.P.

2012-01-01

Recent studies suggest the increasing contribution of groundwater depletion to global sea-level rise. Groundwater depletion has more than doubled during the last decades, primarily due to increase in water demand, while the increase in water impoundments behind dams has been tapering off since

The future sea-level rise contribution of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machguth, H; Rastner, P; Bolch, T; Mölg, N; Sørensen, L Sandberg; Aðalgeirsdottir, G; Van Angelen, J H; Van den Broeke, M R; Fettweis, X

2013-01-01

We calculate the future sea-level rise contribution from the surface mass balance of all of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps (GICs, ∼90 000 km 2 ) using a simplified energy balance model which is driven by three future climate scenarios from the regional climate models HIRHAM5, RACMO2 and MAR. Glacier extent and surface elevation are modified during the mass balance model runs according to a glacier retreat parameterization. Mass balance and glacier surface change are both calculated on a 250 m resolution digital elevation model yielding a high level of detail and ensuring that important feedback mechanisms are considered. The mass loss of all GICs by 2098 is calculated to be 2016 ± 129 Gt (HIRHAM5 forcing), 2584 ± 109 Gt (RACMO2) and 3907 ± 108 Gt (MAR). This corresponds to a total contribution to sea-level rise of 5.8 ± 0.4, 7.4 ± 0.3 and 11.2 ± 0.3 mm, respectively. Sensitivity experiments suggest that mass loss could be higher by 20–30% if a strong lowering of the surface albedo were to take place in the future. It is shown that the sea-level rise contribution from the north-easterly regions of Greenland is reduced by increasing precipitation while mass loss in the southern half of Greenland is dominated by steadily decreasing summer mass balances. In addition we observe glaciers in the north-eastern part of Greenland changing their characteristics towards greater activity and mass turnover. (letter)

Comparison of different statistical methods for estimation of extreme sea levels with wave set-up contribution

Science.gov (United States)

Kergadallan, Xavier; Bernardara, Pietro; Benoit, Michel; Andreewsky, Marc; Weiss, Jérôme

2013-04-01

Estimating the probability of occurrence of extreme sea levels is a central issue for the protection of the coast. Return periods of sea level with wave set-up contribution are estimated here in one site : Cherbourg in France in the English Channel. The methodology follows two steps : the first one is computation of joint probability of simultaneous wave height and still sea level, the second one is interpretation of that joint probabilities to assess a sea level for a given return period. Two different approaches were evaluated to compute joint probability of simultaneous wave height and still sea level : the first one is multivariate extreme values distributions of logistic type in which all components of the variables become large simultaneously, the second one is conditional approach for multivariate extreme values in which only one component of the variables have to be large. Two different methods were applied to estimate sea level with wave set-up contribution for a given return period : Monte-Carlo simulation in which estimation is more accurate but needs higher calculation time and classical ocean engineering design contours of type inverse-FORM in which the method is simpler and allows more complex estimation of wave setup part (wave propagation to the coast for example). We compare results from the two different approaches with the two different methods. To be able to use both Monte-Carlo simulation and design contours methods, wave setup is estimated with an simple empirical formula. We show advantages of the conditional approach compared to the multivariate extreme values approach when extreme sea-level occurs when either surge or wave height is large. We discuss the validity of the ocean engineering design contours method which is an alternative when computation of sea levels is too complex to use Monte-Carlo simulation method.

High contributions of sea ice derived carbon in polar bear (Ursus maritimus) tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Thomas A; Galicia, Melissa P; Thiemann, Gregory W; Belt, Simon T; Yurkowski, David J; Dyck, Markus G

2018-01-01

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) rely upon Arctic sea ice as a physical habitat. Consequently, conservation assessments of polar bears identify the ongoing reduction in sea ice to represent a significant threat to their survival. However, the additional role of sea ice as a potential, indirect, source of energy to bears has been overlooked. Here we used the highly branched isoprenoid lipid biomarker-based index (H-Print) approach in combination with quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to show that sympagic (sea ice-associated), rather than pelagic, carbon contributions dominated the marine component of polar bear diet (72-100%; 99% CI, n = 55), irrespective of differences in diet composition. The lowest mean estimates of sympagic carbon were found in Baffin Bay bears, which were also exposed to the most rapidly increasing open water season. Therefore, our data illustrate that for future Arctic ecosystems that are likely to be characterised by reduced sea ice cover, polar bears will not only be impacted by a change in their physical habitat, but also potentially in the supply of energy to the ecosystems upon which they depend. This data represents the first quantifiable baseline that is critical for the assessment of likely ongoing changes in energy supply to Arctic predators as we move into an increasingly uncertain future for polar ecosystems.

Effect of uncertainty in surface mass balance–elevation feedback on projections of the future sea level contribution of the Greenland ice sheet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. L. Edwards

2014-01-01

Régional: Fettweis, 2007 climate projections are for 2000–2199, forced by the ECHAM5 and HadCM3 global climate models (GCMs under the SRES A1B emissions scenario. The additional sea level contribution due to the SMB–elevation feedback averaged over five ISM projections for ECHAM5 and three for HadCM3 is 4.3% (best estimate; 95% credibility interval 1.8–6.9% at 2100, and 9.6% (best estimate; 95% credibility interval 3.6–16.0% at 2200. In all results the elevation feedback is significantly positive, amplifying the GrIS sea level contribution relative to the MAR projections in which the ice sheet topography is fixed: the lower bounds of our 95% credibility intervals (CIs for sea level contributions are larger than the "no feedback" case for all ISMs and GCMs. Our method is novel in sea level projections because we propagate three types of modelling uncertainty – GCM and ISM structural uncertainties, and elevation feedback parameterisation uncertainty – along the causal chain, from SRES scenario to sea level, within a coherent experimental design and statistical framework. The relative contributions to uncertainty depend on the timescale of interest. At 2100, the GCM uncertainty is largest, but by 2200 both the ISM and parameterisation uncertainties are larger. We also perform a perturbed parameter ensemble with one ISM to estimate the shape of the projected sea level probability distribution; our results indicate that the probability density is slightly skewed towards higher sea level contributions.

Recent Primary Production and Small Phytoplankton Contribution in the Yellow Sea during the Summer in 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Hyo Keun; Kang, Jae Jung; Lee, Jae Hyung; Kim, Myungjoon; Ahn, So Hyun; Jeong, Jin-Yong; Yun, Mi Sun; Han, In-Seong; Lee, Sang Heon

2018-05-01

The high nutrient concentration associated with the mixing dynamics of two warm and cold water masses supports high primary production in the Yellow Sea. Although various environmental changes have been reported, no recent information on small phytoplankton contribution to the total primary production as an important indicator for marine ecosystem changes is currently available in the Yellow Sea. The major objective of this study is to determine the small (values decades ago. The higher contributions of small phytoplankton to the total chlorophyll a concentration and primary production might be caused by P-limited conditions and this resulted in lower chlorophyll a concentration and total primary production in this study compared to previous studies.

High contributions of sea ice derived carbon in polar bear (Ursus maritimus tissue.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas A Brown

Full Text Available Polar bears (Ursus maritimus rely upon Arctic sea ice as a physical habitat. Consequently, conservation assessments of polar bears identify the ongoing reduction in sea ice to represent a significant threat to their survival. However, the additional role of sea ice as a potential, indirect, source of energy to bears has been overlooked. Here we used the highly branched isoprenoid lipid biomarker-based index (H-Print approach in combination with quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to show that sympagic (sea ice-associated, rather than pelagic, carbon contributions dominated the marine component of polar bear diet (72-100%; 99% CI, n = 55, irrespective of differences in diet composition. The lowest mean estimates of sympagic carbon were found in Baffin Bay bears, which were also exposed to the most rapidly increasing open water season. Therefore, our data illustrate that for future Arctic ecosystems that are likely to be characterised by reduced sea ice cover, polar bears will not only be impacted by a change in their physical habitat, but also potentially in the supply of energy to the ecosystems upon which they depend. This data represents the first quantifiable baseline that is critical for the assessment of likely ongoing changes in energy supply to Arctic predators as we move into an increasingly uncertain future for polar ecosystems.

Contribution of sea ice microbial production to Antarctic benthic communities is driven by sea ice dynamics and composition of functional guilds.

Science.gov (United States)

Wing, Stephen R; Leichter, James J; Wing, Lucy C; Stokes, Dale; Genovese, Sal J; McMullin, Rebecca M; Shatova, Olya A

2018-04-28

Organic matter produced by the sea ice microbial community (SIMCo) is an important link between sea ice dynamics and secondary production in near-shore food webs of Antarctica. Sea ice conditions in McMurdo Sound were quantified from time series of MODIS satellite images for Sept. 1 through Feb. 28 of 2007-2015. A predictable sea ice persistence gradient along the length of the Sound and evidence for a distinct change in sea ice dynamics in 2011 were observed. We used stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) of SIMCo, suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) and shallow water (10-20 m) macroinvertebrates to reveal patterns in trophic structure of, and incorporation of organic matter from SIMCo into, benthic communities at eight sites distributed along the sea ice persistence gradient. Mass-balance analysis revealed distinct trophic architecture among communities and large fluxes of SIMCo into the near-shore food web, with the estimates ranging from 2 to 84% of organic matter derived from SIMCo for individual species. Analysis of patterns in density, and biomass of macroinvertebrate communities among sites allowed us to model net incorporation of organic matter from SIMCo, in terms of biomass per unit area (g/m 2 ), into benthic communities. Here, organic matter derived from SIMCo supported 39 to 71 per cent of total biomass. Furthermore, for six species, we observed declines in contribution of SIMCo between years with persistent sea ice (2008-2009) and years with extensive sea ice breakout (2012-2015). Our data demonstrate the vital role of SIMCo in ecosystem function in Antarctica and strong linkages between sea ice dynamics and near-shore secondary productivity. These results have important implications for our understanding of how benthic communities will respond to changes in sea ice dynamics associated with climate change and highlight the important role of shallow water macroinvertebrate communities as sentinels of change for the Antarctic marine

The contribution of ship emissions to air pollution in the North Sea regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matthias, Volker, E-mail: volker.matthias@gkss.d [GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, 21502 Geesthacht (Germany); Bewersdorff, Ines [GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, 21502 Geesthacht (Germany); Aulinger, Armin, E-mail: armin.aulinger@gkss.d [GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, 21502 Geesthacht (Germany); Quante, Markus, E-mail: markus.quante@gkss.d [GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, 21502 Geesthacht (Germany)

2010-06-15

As a consequence of the global distribution of manufacturing sites and the increasing international division of labour, ship traffic is steadily increasing and is becoming more and more important as an origin of air pollution. This study investigates the impact of ship emissions in coastal areas of the North Sea under conditions of the year 2000 by means of a regional chemistry transport model which runs on a sufficiently high resolution to study air pollution in coastal regions. It was found that northern Germany and Denmark in summer suffer from more than 50% higher sulphate, nitrate and ammonium aerosol concentrations due to contributions from ships. The implementation of a sulphur emission control area (SECA) in the North Sea, as it was implemented at the end of 2007, directly results in reduced sulphur dioxide and sulphate aerosol concentrations while nitrate aerosol concentrations are slightly increased. - Ship emissions lead to significantly enhanced air pollution by secondary inorganic aerosols in North Sea coastal areas.

QUANTIFYING REGIONAL SEA LEVEL RISE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diandong Ren

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study projects the sea level contribution from the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS through to 2100, using a recently developed ice dynamics model forced by atmospheric parameters derived from three different climate models (CGCMs. The geographical pattern of the near-surface ice warming imposes a divergent flow field favoring mass loss through enhanced ice flow. The calculated average mass loss rate during the latter half of the 21st century is ~0.64±0.06 mm/year eustatic sea level rise, which is significantly larger than the IPCC AR4 estimate from surface mass balance. The difference is due largely to the positive feedbacks from reduced ice viscosity and the basal sliding mechanism present in the ice dynamics model. This inter-model, inter-scenario spread adds approximately a 20% uncertainty to the IPCC ice model estimates. The sea level rise is geographically non-uniform and reaches 1.69±0.24 mm/year by 2100 for the northeast coastal region of the United States, amplified by the expected weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC. In contrast to previous estimates, which neglected the GrIS fresh water input, both sides of the North Atlantic Gyre are projected to experience sea level rises. The impacts on a selection of major cities on both sides of the Atlantic and in the Pacific and southern oceans also are assessed. The other ocean basins are found to be less affected than the Atlantic Ocean.

Chemical Contaminants Found in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta)

Science.gov (United States)

Athey, S. N.; Seaton, P. J.; Mead, R. N.

2016-02-01

Plastic is becoming increasingly more abundant in the marine environment. Plastic ingestion has been shown to be a source of exposure to a variety of harmful compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalates, which are known for their negative physiological effects on the endocrine system as well as their ability to adsorb and leach from plastic into the bodies of marine organisms. The physiological effects of these compounds on loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) still remain unknown. This study investigated the presence of toxicants on marine plastic samples collected from Bermuda, the Sargasso Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean. Gas chromatography/triple quadruple mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed PAHs were present on many plastic debris samples. Plastic additives such as phthalates and (BPA) were also found. ΣPAH concentrations for anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, and benzo[k]fluoranthene for 2013 environmental plastic samples averaged 26.7ng/g of plastic. This study also examined the presence of these compounds in fluids from the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine from two adult loggerhead turtles. GC/MS analysis also showed the presence of BPA and phthalates on plastic samples, as well as in two out of the six gastrointestinal fluids samples. Average ΣPAH concentration for GI fluids for the loggerheads in the study was 58.7 ng/mL. This study showed plastic could be a significant source of PAHs in sea turtles and the first to detect PAHs in sea turtle GI fluid. Loggerhead sea turtles are a long living species and could accumulate high concentrations of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals throughout their lifetime.

The plutonium as transfer tracer and particulates contribution accumulating from the Rhone to the north-western Mediterranean sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noel, M.H.

1996-01-01

To follow the alluvial deposits from the Rhone in Mediterranean Sea, since the principle hydroelectric constructions (1960), it was necessary to find an adequate tracer. The plutonium isotopes have satisfied to the different characteristics. The specificity of the Rhone contribution is bound to the existence of the irradiated spent fuels reprocessing plant of Marcoule; the releases of this plant are characterized by the predominance of Plutonium 238. The results of this study show that the percentage of sediments coming from the Rhone in the recent contribution, is low beyond the pro delta: less than 5% of the sediment of the continental shelf concern the Rhone contribution. However, there are two zones for which the contribution is important and could play a role in the particulate transfer towards the high sea. (N.C.). 157 refs., 60 figs., 50 tabs

Temperature, salinity, microplankton abundance and other data from three cruises of the R/V Cape Hatteras in the NW Atlantic to study bacterial activity, August 2001 - March 2002 (NODC Accession 0001675)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data is from three cruises on the R/V Cape Hatteras taken in Aug and October 2001, and March 2002 from Boothbay Harbor Maine to the Sargasso Sea. The purpose of...

Sea ice contribution to the air-sea CO(2) exchange in the Arctic and Southern Oceans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rysgaard...[], Søren; Bendtsen, Jørgen; Delille, B.

2011-01-01

Although salt rejection from sea ice is a key process in deep-water formation in ice-covered seas, the concurrent rejection of CO(2) and the subsequent effect on air-sea CO(2) exchange have received little attention. We review the mechanisms by which sea ice directly and indirectly controls the air......-sea CO(2) exchange and use recent measurements of inorganic carbon compounds in bulk sea ice to estimate that oceanic CO(2) uptake during the seasonal cycle of sea-ice growth and decay in ice-covered oceanic regions equals almost half of the net atmospheric CO(2) uptake in ice-free polar seas. This sea......-sea CO(2) exchange during winter, and (3) release of CO(2)-depleted melt water with excess total alkalinity during sea-ice decay and (4) biological CO(2) drawdown during primary production in sea ice and surface oceanic waters....

EU Contribution to Strengthening Regional Development and Cooperation in the Black Sea Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Voicu-Dorobanțu Roxana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available EU's agenda had for some time a topic (at least at an idea level about the “strengthening ofcooperation in the Black Sea Region.” It faced an interesting paradox: the lack of (or, in the caseof existence, sub-optimal economic relations between countries in this area, regardless of theirgeographical proximity. The paradoxical situation considered to be mostly due to their differenthistorical and political backgrounds. Therefore, a form of support of regional development in thearea was necessary, as it has been considered in EU's Black Sea Synergy, which encouragescooperation between countries in the Basin while offering a forum for solving common issues andpromoting political and economic reform. Regional cooperation in various areas stems from a highpolitical involvement as the main initiator but requires a strong involvement and participation ofboth civil society and private sector as main drivers of cross-border cooperation. Our paperfocuses, apart from its conceptual research background, on mapping the effective outcomes of theEU initiatives in the area and on providing future perspectives for EU contribution tostrengthening regional development and cooperation in the Black Sea Basin.

Contribution of mesoscale processes to nutrient budgets in the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Resplandy, L; Levy, M.; Madec, G.; Pous, S.; Aumont, O.; DileepKumar, M.

Contribution of mesoscale processes to nutrient1 budgets in the Arabian Sea2 L. Resplandy, 1 M. L´evy, 1 G. Madec, 1,2 S. Pous, 1 O. Aumont, 3 D. Kumar 4 L. Resplandy, LOCEAN, UPMC, BC100, 4 place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris cedex 05, France. (lrlod... is constant and set to 122/16 [Takahashi et al., 1985]. To ensure positive values, biogeo-141 chemical tracers are advected with the positive Monotone Upstream-centered Schemes for142 Conservation Laws [Van Leer, 1979; L´evy et al., 2001] and dissipated along...

Contribution of climate-driven change in continental water storage to recent sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Milly, P. C. D.; Cazenave, A.; Gennero, C.

2003-01-01

Using a global model of continental water balance, forced by interannual variations in precipitation and near-surface atmospheric temperature for the period 1981–1998, we estimate the sea-level changes associated with climate-driven changes in storage of water as snowpack, soil water, and ground water; storage in ice sheets and large lakes is not considered. The 1981–1998 trend is estimated to be 0.12 mm/yr, and substantial interannual fluctuations are inferred; for 1993–1998, the trend is 0.25 mm/yr. At the decadal time scale, the terrestrial contribution to eustatic (i.e., induced by mass exchange) sea-level rise is significantly smaller than the estimated steric (i.e., induced by density changes) trend for the same period, but is not negligibly small. In the model the sea-level rise is driven mainly by a downtrend in continental precipitation during the study period, which we believe was generated by natural variability in the climate system. PMID:14576277

Temporal variations in dimethylsulphoniopropionate and dimethyl sulphide in the Zuari estuary, Goa (India)

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Shenoy, D.M.; Patil, J.S.

. F., & Wakeham, S. G. (1998). Temporal variability of dimethyl sulfide and dimethylsulfoniopropionate in the Sargasso Sea. DeepSeaRes.PartI, 45, 2085– 2104. DeSouza, M. P., & Yoch, D. C. (1996). Differential metabolism of dimethyl...) measurements and a procedure to predict sea surface DMS as a function of latitude, longitude, and month.GlobalBiogeochemicalCycles,13, 399–444. Kiene, R. P. (1990). Dimethyl sulfide production from dimethyl-sulfoniopropionate in coastal seawater samples...

A reconciled estimate of glacier contributions to sea level rise: 2003 to 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Alex S; Moholdt, Geir; Cogley, J Graham; Wouters, Bert; Arendt, Anthony A; Wahr, John; Berthier, Etienne; Hock, Regine; Pfeffer, W Tad; Kaser, Georg; Ligtenberg, Stefan R M; Bolch, Tobias; Sharp, Martin J; Hagen, Jon Ove; van den Broeke, Michiel R; Paul, Frank

2013-05-17

Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are losing large amounts of water to the world's oceans. However, estimates of their contribution to sea level rise disagree. We provide a consensus estimate by standardizing existing, and creating new, mass-budget estimates from satellite gravimetry and altimetry and from local glaciological records. In many regions, local measurements are more negative than satellite-based estimates. All regions lost mass during 2003-2009, with the largest losses from Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes, and high-mountain Asia, but there was little loss from glaciers in Antarctica. Over this period, the global mass budget was -259 ± 28 gigatons per year, equivalent to the combined loss from both ice sheets and accounting for 29 ± 13% of the observed sea level rise.

Contribution of glacier melt to sea-level rise since AD 1865: a regionally differentiated calculation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zuo, Z.; Oerlemans, J.

1997-01-01

The contribution of glacier melt, including the Greenland ice-sheet, to sea-level change since AD 1865 is estimated on the basis of modelled sensitivity of glacier mass balance to climate change and historical temperature data. Calculations are done in a regionally differentiated manner to overcome

Seasonal and interannual variability in deep ocean particle fluxes at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP)/Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) site in the western Sargasso Sea near Bermuda

Science.gov (United States)

Conte, Maureen H.; Ralph, Nate; Ross, Edith H.

Since 1978, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time-series sediment traps have measured particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. There is currently a 20+yr flux record at 3200-m depth, a 12+yr flux at 1500-m depth, and a 9+yr record at 500-m depth. Strong seasonality is observed in mass flux at all depths, with a flux maximum in February-March and a smaller maximum in December-January. There is also significant interannual variability in the flux, especially with respect to the presence/absence of the December-January flux maximum and in the duration of the high flux period in the spring. The flux records at the three depths are surprisingly coherent, with no statistically significant temporal lag between 500 and 3200-m fluxes at our biweekly sample resolution. Bulk compositional data indicate an extremely rapid decrease in the flux of organic constituents with depth between 500 and 1500-m, and a smaller decrease with depth between 1500 and 3200-m depth. In contrast, carbonate flux is uniform or increases slightly between 500 and 1500-m, possibly reflecting deep secondary calcification by foraminifera. The lithogenic flux increases by over 50% between 500 and 3200-m depth, indicating strong deep water scavenging/repackaging of suspended lithogenic material. Concurrent with the rapid changes in flux composition, there is a marked reduction in the heterogeneity of the sinking particle pool with depth, especially within the mesopelagic zone. By 3200-m depth, the bulk composition of the sinking particle pool is strikingly uniform, both seasonally and over variations in mass flux of more than an order of magnitude. These OFP results provide strong indirect evidence for the intensity of reprocessing of the particle pool by resident zooplankton within mesopelagic and bathypelagic waters. The rapid loss of organic components, the marked reduction in the heterogeneity of the bulk composition of the flux, and the increase in terrigenous fluxes with depth are most

Speciation and demographic history of Atlantic eels (Anguilla anguilla and A. rostrata) revealed by mitogenome sequencing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, M.W.; Pujolar, J.M.; Gilbert, M.T.P.

2014-01-01

Processes leading to speciation in oceanic environments without obvious physical barriers remain poorly known. European and American eel (Anguilla anguilla and A. rostrata) spawn in partial sympatry in the Sargasso Sea. Larvae are advected by the Gulf Stream and other currents towards the Europea...

Constraining the Antarctic contribution to interglacial sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Naish, T.; Mckay, R. M.; Barrett, P. J.; Levy, R. H.; Golledge, N. R.; Deconto, R. M.; Horgan, H. J.; Dunbar, G. B.

2015-12-01

Observations, models and paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that Antarctica's marine-based ice sheets behave in an unstable manner with episodes of rapid retreat in response to warming climate. Understanding the processes involved in this "marine ice sheet instability" is key for improving estimates of Antarctic ice sheet contribution to future sea-level rise. Another motivating factor is that far-field sea-level reconstructions and ice sheet models imply global mean sea level (GMSL) was up to 20m and 10m higher, respectively, compared with present day, during the interglacials of the warm Pliocene (~4-3Ma) and Late Pleistocene (at ~400ka and 125ka). This was when atmospheric CO2 was between 280 and 400ppm and global average surface temperatures were 1- 3°C warmer, suggesting polar ice sheets are highly sensitive to relatively modest increases in climate forcing. Such magnitudes of GMSL rise not only require near complete melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but a substantial retreat of marine-based sectors of East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent geological drilling initiatives on the continental margin of Antarctica from both ship- (e.g. IODP; International Ocean Discovery Program) and ice-based (e.g. ANDRILL/Antarctic Geological Drilling) platforms have provided evidence supporting retreat of marine-based ice. However, without direct access through the ice sheet to archives preserved within sub-glacial sedimentary basins, the volume and extent of ice sheet retreat during past interglacials cannot be directly constrained. Sediment cores have been successfully recovered from beneath ice shelves by the ANDRILL Program and ice streams by the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Sub-glacial Access Research Drilling) Project. Together with the potential of the new RAID (Rapid Access Ice Drill) initiative, these demonstrate the technological feasibility of accessing the subglacial bed and deeper sedimentary archives. In this talk I will outline the

Contribution of mesoscale eddies to Black Sea ventilation

Science.gov (United States)

Capet, Arthur; Mason, Evan; Pascual, Ananda; Grégoire, Marilaure

2017-04-01

The shoaling of the Black Sea oxycline is one of the most urgent environmental issues in the Black Sea. The permanent oxycline derives directly from the Black Sea permanent stratification and has shoaled alarmingly in the last decades, due to a shifting balance between oxygen consumption and ventilation processes (Capet et al. 2016). The understanding of this balance is thus of the utmost importance and requires to quantify 1) the export of nutrients and organic materials from the shelf regions to the open sea and 2) the ventilation processes. These two processes being influenced by mesoscale features, it is critical to understand the role of the semi-permanent mesoscale structures in horizontal (center/periphery) and vertical (diapycnal and isopycnal) exchanges. A useful insight can be obtained by merging observations from satellite altimeter and in situ profilers (ARGO). In such composite analyses, eddies are first automatically identified and tracked from altimeter data (Mason et al. 2014, py-eddy-tracker). Vertical ARGO profiles are then expressed in terms of their position relative to eddy centers and radii. Derived statistics indicate how consistently mesoscale eddies alter the vertical structure, and provide a deeper understanding of the associated horizontal and vertical fluxes. However, this data-based approach is limited in the Black Sea due to the lower quality of gridded altimetric products in the vicinity of the coast, where semi-permanent mesoscale structures prevail. To complement the difficult analysis of this sparse dataset, a compositing methodology. is also applied to model outputs from the 5km GHER-BHAMBI Black Sea implementation (CMEMS BS-MFC). Characteristic biogeochemical anomalies associated with eddies in the model are analyzed per se, and compared to the observation-based analysis. Capet, A., Stanev, E. V., Beckers, J.-M., Murray, J. W., and Grégoire, M.: Decline of the Black Sea oxygen inventory, Biogeosciences, 13, 1287-1297, doi:10

Sea ice contribution to the air-sea CO{sub 2} exchange in the Arctic and Southern Oceans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rysgaard, Soeren (Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Inst. of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark); Centre for Earth Observation Science, CHR Faculty of Environment Earth and Resources, Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg (Canada)), e-mail: rysgaard@natur.gl; Bendtsen, Joergen (Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Inst. of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark); Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Inst., Univ. of Copenhagen, Copenhagen O (Denmark)); Delille, Bruno (Unit' e d' Oceanographie Chimique, Interfacultary Centre for Marine Research, Universite de Liege, Liege (Belgium)); Dieckmann, Gerhard S. (Alfred Wegener Inst. for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)); Glud, Ronnie N. (Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Inst. of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark); Scottish Association of Marine Sciences, Scotland UK, Southern Danish Univ. and NordCee, Odense M (Denmark)); Kennedy, Hilary; Papadimitriou, Stathys (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor Univ., Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales (United Kingdom)); Mortensen, John (Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Inst. of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark)); Thomas, David N. (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor Univ., Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales (United Kingdom); Finnish Environment Inst. (SYKE), Marine Research Centre, Helsinki (Finland)); Tison, Jean-Louis (Glaciology Unit, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, (Belgium))

2011-11-15

Although salt rejection from sea ice is a key process in deep-water formation in ice-covered seas, the concurrent rejection of CO{sub 2} and the subsequent effect on air-sea CO{sub 2} exchange have received little attention. We review the mechanisms by which sea ice directly and indirectly controls the air-sea CO{sub 2} exchange and use recent measurements of inorganic carbon compounds in bulk sea ice to estimate that oceanic CO{sub 2} uptake during the seasonal cycle of sea-ice growth and decay in ice-covered oceanic regions equals almost half of the net atmospheric CO{sub 2} uptake in ice-free polar seas. This sea-ice driven CO{sub 2} uptake has not been considered so far in estimates of global oceanic CO{sub 2} uptake. Net CO{sub 2} uptake in sea-ice-covered oceans can be driven by; (1) rejection during sea-ice formation and sinking of CO{sub 2}-rich brine into intermediate and abyssal oceanic water masses, (2) blocking of air-sea CO{sub 2} exchange during winter, and (3) release of CO{sub 2}-depleted melt water with excess total alkalinity during sea-ice decay and (4) biological CO{sub 2} drawdown during primary production in sea ice and surface oceanic waters

Contribution of vertical land motions to coastal sea level variations: a global synthesis of multisatellite altimetry, tide gauge and GPS measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer, Julia; Allemand, Pascal

2016-04-01

Coastal sea level variations result from a complex mix of climatic, oceanic and geodynamical processes driven by natural and anthropogenic constraints. Combining data from multiple sources is one solution to identify particular processes and progress towards a better understanding of the sea level variations and the assessment of their impacts at coast. Here, we present a global database merging multisatellite altimetry with tide gauges and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. Vertical land motions and sea level variations are estimated simultaneously for a network of 886 ground stations with median errors lower than 1 mm/yr. The contribution of vertical land motions to relative sea level variations is explored to better understand the natural hazards associated with sea level rise in coastal areas. Worldwide, vertical land motions dominate 30 % of observed coastal trends. The role of the crust is highly heterogeneous: it can amplify, restrict or counter the effects of climate-induced sea level change. A set of 182 potential vulnerable localities are identified by large coastal subsidence which increases by several times the effects of sea level rise. Though regional behaviours exist, principally caused by GIA (Glacial Isostatic Adjustment), the local variability in vertical land motion prevails. An accurate determination of the vertical motions observed at the coast is fundamental to understand the local processes which contribute to sea level rise, to appraise its impacts on coastal populations and make future predictions.

Pacific Missile Range Facility Intercept Test Support. Environmental Assessment/Overseas Environmental Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

will cut in half the amount of petroleum used in Government vehicles through phased adoption of hybrid , electric, and flex fuel vehicles; and (4...some consolidated limestones (cemented beach rock or raised coral reefs). Common plants found in rocky intertidal habitats include sea lettuce ...Common plants found in Niihau’s rocky intertidal habitats include sea lettuce , Sargasso or kala, coralline red algae, red fleshy algae, brown algae, and

Studies on food organisms of pelagic fishes as revealed by the 1979 North Atlantic Eel Expedition

Science.gov (United States)

Appelbaum, S.

1982-09-01

The extent to which pelagic fishes occurring in the Sargasso Sea and adjacent parts of the Atlantic prey on leptocephali (Anguilliformes) was investigated. Most of the fishes examined (c. 95%) were collected using a commercial pelagical trawl. The stomach contents of about 1000 fishes (25 species of 10 families), mostly belonging to the suborders Myctophoidei, Stomiatoidei and the order Anguilliformes, were examined. The remains of invertebrates, mainly crustaceans, molluscs, tunicates, chaetognaths, and siphonophores were found in 28.8 % of the stomachs. Fishes, mostly myctophids or fish remains, were observed in 11.2 % of the stomachs; 18.7 % contained unidentified items and 40.6 % were empty. Leptocephali ( Ariosoma spp. and Gnathophis sp.) were found in the alimentary tract of 0.5 % of the fishes examined, exclusively represented by the myctophid, Ceratoscopelus warmingii. This report indicates that the Sargasso Sea population of Anguilla leptocephali, economically the most important eel, is not seriously affected by predation of oceanic fish species considered in this study.

Contributions of internal climate variability to mitigation of projected future regional sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, A.; Bates, S. C.

2017-12-01

Observations indicate that the global mean surface temperature is rising, so does the global mean sea level. Sea level rise (SLR) can impose significant impacts on island and coastal communities, especially when SLR is compounded with storm surges. Here, via analyzing results from two sets of ensemble simulations from the Community Earth System Model version 1, we investigate how the potential SLR benefits through mitigating the future emission scenarios from business as usual to a mild-mitigation over the 21st Century would be affected by internal climate variability. Results show that there is almost no SLR benefit in the near term due to the large SLR variability due to the internal ocean dynamics. However, toward the end of the 21st century, the SLR benefit can be as much as a 26±1% reduction of the global mean SLR due to seawater thermal expansion. Regionally, the benefits from this mitigation for both near and long terms are heterogeneous. They vary from just a 11±5% SLR reduction in Melbourne, Australia to a 35±6% reduction in London. The processes contributing to these regional differences are the coupling of the wind-driven ocean circulation with the decadal scale sea surface temperature mode in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, and the changes of the thermohaline circulation and the mid-latitude air-sea coupling in the Atlantic.

Evidence for aggregation and export of cyanobacteria and nano-eukaryotes from the Sargasso Sea euphotic zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. W. Lomas

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Pico-plankton and nano-plankton are generally thought to represent a negligible fraction of the total particulate organic carbon (POC export flux in oligotrophic gyres due to their small size, slow individual sinking rates, and tight grazer control that leads to high rates of recycling in the euphotic zone. Based upon recent inverse modeling and network analysis however, it has been hypothesized that pico-plankton, including the cyanobacteria Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, and nano-plankton contribute significantly to POC export, via formation and gravitational settling of aggregates and/or consumption of those aggregates by mesozooplankton, in proportion to their contribution to net primary production. This study presents total suspended particulate (>0.7 μm and particle size-fractionated (10–20 μm, 20–53 μm, >53 μm pigment concentrations from within and below the euphotic zone in the oligotrophic subtropical North Atlantic, collected using Niskin bottles and large volume in-situ pumps, respectively. Results show the indicator pigments for Synechococcus, Prochlorococcus and nano-eukaryotes are; (1 found at depths down to 500 m, and; (2 essentially constant, relative to the sum of all indicator pigments, across particle size fractions ranging from 10 μm to >53 μm. Based upon the presence of chlorophyll precursor and degradation pigments, and that in situ pumps do not effectively sample fecal pellets, it is concluded that these pigments were redistributed to deeper waters on larger, more rapidly sinking aggregates likely by gravitational settling and/or convective mixing. Using available pigment and ancillary data from these cruises, these Synechococcus, Prochlorococcus and nano-plankton derived aggregates are estimated to contribute 2–13% (5 ± 4%, 1–20% (5 ± 7%, and 6–43% (23 ± 14% of the total sediment trap POC flux measured on the same cruises, respectively. Furthermore, nano

Wind and Wave Setup Contributions to Extreme Sea Levels at a Tropical High Island: A Stochastic Cyclone Simulation Study for Apia, Samoa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ron Karl Hoeke

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Wind-wave contributions to tropical cyclone (TC-induced extreme sea levels are known to be significant in areas with narrow littoral zones, particularly at oceanic islands. Despite this, little information exists in many of these locations to assess the likelihood of inundation, the relative contribution of wind and wave setup to this inundation, and how it may change with sea level rise (SLR, particularly at scales relevant to coastal infrastructure. In this study, we explore TC-induced extreme sea levels at spatial scales on the order of tens of meters at Apia, the capitol of Samoa, a nation in the tropical South Pacific with typical high-island fringing reef morphology. Ensembles of stochastically generated TCs (based on historical information are combined with numerical simulations of wind waves, storm-surge, and wave setup to develop high-resolution statistical information on extreme sea levels and local contributions of wind setup and wave setup. The results indicate that storm track and local morphological details lead to local differences in extreme sea levels on the order of 1 m at spatial scales of less than 1 km. Wave setup is the overall largest contributor at most locations; however, wind setup may exceed wave setup in some sheltered bays. When an arbitrary SLR scenario (+1 m is introduced, overall extreme sea levels are found to modestly decrease relative to SLR, but wave energy near the shoreline greatly increases, consistent with a number of other recent studies. These differences have implications for coastal adaptation strategies.

Silicate:nitrate ratios of upwelled waters control the phytoplankton community sustained by mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical North Atlantic and Pacific

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. S. Bibby

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical gyres physically perturb the water column and can introduce macronutrients to the euphotic zone, stimulating a biological response in which phytoplankton communities can become dominated by large phytoplankton. Mesoscale eddies may therefore be important in driving export in oligotrophic regions of the modern ocean. However, the character and magnitude of the biological response sustained by eddies is variable. Here we present data from mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea (Atlantic and the waters off Hawai'i (Pacific, alongside mesoscale events that affected the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS over the past decade. From this analysis, we suggest that the phytoplankton community structure sustained by mesoscale eddies is predetermined by the relative abundance of silicate over nitrate (Si^* in the upwelled waters. We present data that demonstrate that mode-water eddies (MWE in the Sargasso Sea upwell locally formed waters with relatively high Si^* to the euphotic zone, and that cyclonic eddies in the Sargasso Sea introduce waters with relatively low Si^*, a signature that originated in the iron-limited Southern Ocean. We propose that this phenomenon can explain the observed dominance of the phytoplankton community by large-diatom species in MWE and by small prokaryotic phytoplankton in cyclonic features. In contrast to the Atlantic, North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW with high Si^* may influence the cyclonic eddies in waters off Hawai'i, which also appear capable of sustaining diatom populations. These observations suggest that the structure of phytoplankton communities sustained by eddies may be related to the chemical composition of the upwelled waters in addition to the physical nature of the eddy.

Sea level trends in South East Asian Seas (SEAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Strassburg, M. W.; Hamlington, B. D.; Leben, R. R.; Manurung, P.; Lumban Gaol, J.; Nababan, B.; Vignudelli, S.; Kim, K.-Y.

2014-10-01

Southeast Asian Seas (SEAS) span the largest archipelago in the global ocean and provide a complex oceanic pathway connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The SEAS regional sea level trends are some of the highest observed in the modern satellite altimeter record that now spans almost two decades. Initial comparisons of global sea level reconstructions find that 17 year sea level trends over the past 60 years exhibit good agreement in areas and at times of strong signal to noise associated decadal variability forced by low frequency variations in Pacific trade winds. The SEAS region exhibits sea level trends that vary dramatically over the studied time period. This historical variation suggests that the strong regional sea level trends observed during the modern satellite altimeter record will abate as trade winds fluctuate on decadal and longer time scales. Furthermore, after removing the contribution of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) to sea level trends in the past twenty years, the rate of sea level rise is greatly reduced in the SEAS region. As a result of the influence of the PDO, the SEAS regional sea level trends during 2010s and 2020s are likely to be less than the global mean sea level (GMSL) trend if the observed oscillations in wind forcing and sea level persist. Nevertheless, long-term sea level trends in the SEAS will continue to be affected by GMSL rise occurring now and in the future.

Contribution of Nutrients and some Trace Metals from a Huge Egyptian Drain to the SE-Mediterranean Sea, west of Alexandria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.A. EL-RAYIS

2006-06-01

The present work is a monthly study over a year of levels of concentration of some mainly trace elements (nutrients and some heavy metals in the proper water of the drain before mixing and in the effl uent from the lake, and calculations of both the concentrations and the corresponding expected loads of these elements contributed by the drain to the sea. The results revealed that the respective loads to the sea are 77380 ton/year for total suspended matter, 823 tons/year for dissolved PO4 -P, 4745 tons/year for inorganic N, 23.7 tons/year for Fe, 3.28 tons/year for Mn, 5.84 tons/year for Cu, 2.9 ton/year for Cd, and 24 tons/year for Zn. The elements loaded by the lake effl uent represent values ranging between 8 and 57.5% of the total load contributed by the drain to the sea. The plant nutrients (ammonia and reactive phosphorus are of values exceeding 44%.

Greenland ice-sheet contribution to sea-level rise buffered by meltwater storage in firn.

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, J; Humphrey, N; Pfeffer, W T; Brown, J; Fettweis, X

2012-11-08

Surface melt on the Greenland ice sheet has shown increasing trends in areal extent and duration since the beginning of the satellite era. Records for melt were broken in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012. Much of the increased surface melt is occurring in the percolation zone, a region of the accumulation area that is perennially covered by snow and firn (partly compacted snow). The fate of melt water in the percolation zone is poorly constrained: some may travel away from its point of origin and eventually influence the ice sheet's flow dynamics and mass balance and the global sea level, whereas some may simply infiltrate into cold snow or firn and refreeze with none of these effects. Here we quantify the existing water storage capacity of the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet and show the potential for hundreds of gigatonnes of meltwater storage. We collected in situ observations of firn structure and meltwater retention along a roughly 85-kilometre-long transect of the melting accumulation area. Our data show that repeated infiltration events in which melt water penetrates deeply (more than 10 metres) eventually fill all pore space with water. As future surface melt intensifies under Arctic warming, a fraction of melt water that would otherwise contribute to sea-level rise will fill existing pore space of the percolation zone. We estimate the lower and upper bounds of this storage sink to be 322 ± 44 gigatonnes and  1,289(+388)(-252) gigatonnes, respectively. Furthermore, we find that decades are required to fill this pore space under a range of plausible future climate conditions. Hence, routing of surface melt water into filling the pore space of the firn column will delay expansion of the area contributing to sea-level rise, although once the pore space is filled it cannot quickly be regenerated.

Simulated migration of European eel (Anguilla anguilla, Linnaeus 1758)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ginneken, van V.J.T.

2006-01-01

The European eel ( Anguillaanguilla L.) is a catadromic fish species with its spawning grounds thousands of kilometers away in the ocean, possibly theSargasso Sea. The objective of this study was to elucidate this oceanic phase of migration

Toxoplasma gondii, source to sea: higher contribution of domestic felids to terrestrial parasite loading despite lower infection prevalence.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanwormer, Elizabeth; Conrad, Patricia A; Miller, Melissa A; Melli, Ann C; Carpenter, Tim E; Mazet, Jonna A K

2013-09-01

Environmental transmission of Toxoplasma gondii, a global zoonotic parasite, adversely impacts human and animal health. Toxoplasma is a significant cause of mortality in threatened Southern sea otters, which serve as sentinels for disease threats to people and animals in coastal environments. As wild and domestic felids are the only recognized hosts capable of shedding Toxoplasma oocysts into the environment, otter infection suggests land-to-sea pathogen transmission. To assess relative contributions to terrestrial parasite loading, we evaluated infection and shedding among managed and unmanaged feral domestic cats, mountain lions, and bobcats in coastal California, USA. Infection prevalence differed among sympatric felids, with a significantly lower prevalence for managed feral cats (17%) than mountain lions, bobcats, or unmanaged feral cats subsisting on wild prey (73-81%). A geographic hotspot of infection in felids was identified near Monterey Bay, bordering a high-risk site for otter infection. Increased odds of oocyst shedding were detected in bobcats and unmanaged feral cats. Due to their large populations, pet and feral domestic cats likely contribute more oocysts to lands bordering the sea otter range than native wild felids. Continued coastal development may influence felid numbers and distribution, increase terrestrial pathogens in freshwater runoff, and alter disease dynamics at the human-animal-environment interface.

The contribution to future flood risk in the Severn Estuary from extreme sea level rise due to ice sheet mass loss

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, N.; Bates, P. D.; Siddall, M.

2013-12-01

The rate at which sea levels will rise in the coming century is of great interest to decision makers tasked with developing mitigation policies to cope with the risk of coastal inundation. Accurate estimates of future sea levels are vital in the provision of effective policy. Recent reports from UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) suggest that mean sea levels in the UK may rise by as much as 80 cm by 2100; however, a great deal of uncertainty surrounds model predictions, particularly the contribution from ice sheets responding to climatic warming. For this reason, the application of semi-empirical modelling approaches for sea level rise predictions has increased of late, the results from which suggest that the rate of sea level rise may be greater than previously thought, exceeding 1 m by 2100. Furthermore, studies in the Red Sea indicate that rapid sea level rise beyond 1m per century has occurred in the past. In light of such research, the latest UKCIP assessment has included a H++ scenario for sea level rise in the UK of up to 1.9 m which is defined as improbable but, crucially, physically plausible. The significance of such low-probability sea level rise scenarios upon the estimation of future flood risk is assessed using the Somerset levels (UK) as a case study. A simple asymmetric probability distribution is constructed to include sea level rise scenarios of up to 1.9 m by 2100 which are added to a current 1:200 year event water level to force a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of coastal inundation. From the resulting ensemble predictions an estimation of risk by 2100 is established. The results indicate that although the likelihood of extreme sea level rise due to rapid ice sheet mass loss is low, the resulting hazard can be large, resulting in a significant (27%) increase to the projected annual risk. Furthermore, current defence construction guidelines for the coming century in the UK are expected to account for 95% of the sea level rise distribution

228Ra and 228Th concentrations in GEOSECS Atlantic surface waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y.H.; Toggweiler, J.R.; Feely, H.W.

1980-01-01

An average 228 Ra flux of 0.6 +- 0.1 dpm cm -2 yr -1 from continental shelf sediments can maintain the estimated total 228 Ra inventory of about 5x10 17 dpm in Atlantic surface waters. By fitting 228 Ra and potential temperature data to Munk's vertical advection-diffusion model, upwelling rates of 17 +- 10 m yr -1 and vertical eddy diffusion coefficients of 0.4 +- 0.2 cm 2 s -1 were obtained in the upper water column of the equatorial Atlantic. The downward fluxes of particulate 228 Th across the 350-m water depth are about 0.01 to 0.04 dpm cm -2 yr -1 in the Sargasso Sea and in the regions south of 12 0 N and about 0.06 to 0.11 dpm cm -2 yr -1 in the northern temperate region (excluding the Sargasso Sea). The shorter half-removal time of 228 Th in the equatorial (10 0 S to 20 0 N) and the northern region (35 0 to 65 0 N) are related to higher biological productivity there. (author)

Sea-level changes on multiple spatial scales: estimates and contributing processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frederikse, T.

2018-01-01

Being one of the major consequences of anthropogenic climate change, sea level rise forms a threat for many coastal areas and their inhabitants. Because all processes that cause sea-level changes have a spatially-varying fingerprint, local sea-level changes deviate substantially from the global

Contemporary Arctic Sea Level

Science.gov (United States)

Cazenave, A. A.

2017-12-01

During recent decades, the Arctic region has warmed at a rate about twice the rest of the globe. Sea ice melting is increasing and the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerated rate. Arctic warming, decrease in the sea ice cover and fresh water input to the Arctic ocean may eventually impact the Arctic sea level. In this presentation, we review our current knowledge of contemporary Arctic sea level changes. Until the beginning of the 1990s, Arctic sea level variations were essentially deduced from tide gauges located along the Russian and Norwegian coastlines. Since then, high inclination satellite altimetry missions have allowed measuring sea level over a large portion of the Arctic Ocean (up to 80 degree north). Measuring sea level in the Arctic by satellite altimetry is challenging because the presence of sea ice cover limits the full capacity of this technique. However adapted processing of raw altimetric measurements significantly increases the number of valid data, hence the data coverage, from which regional sea level variations can be extracted. Over the altimetry era, positive trend patterns are observed over the Beaufort Gyre and along the east coast of Greenland, while negative trends are reported along the Siberian shelf. On average over the Arctic region covered by satellite altimetry, the rate of sea level rise since 1992 is slightly less than the global mea sea level rate (of about 3 mm per year). On the other hand, the interannual variability is quite significant. Space gravimetry data from the GRACE mission and ocean reanalyses provide information on the mass and steric contributions to sea level, hence on the sea level budget. Budget studies show that regional sea level trends over the Beaufort Gyre and along the eastern coast of Greenland, are essentially due to salinity changes. However, in terms of regional average, the net steric component contributes little to the observed sea level trend. The sea level budget in the Arctic

Elevated CO2 enhances biological contributions to elevation change in coastal wetlands by offsetting stressors associated with sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Cherry, J.A.; McKee, K.L.; Grace, J.B.

2009-01-01

1. Sea-level rise, one indirect consequence of increasing atmospheric CO2, poses a major challenge to long-term stability of coastal wetlands. An important question is whether direct effects of elevated CO 2 on the capacity of marsh plants to accrete organic material and to maintain surface elevations outweigh indirect negative effects of stressors associated with sea-level rise (salinity and flooding). 2. In this study, we used a mesocosm approach to examine potential direct and indirect effects of atmospheric CO2 concentration, salinity and flooding on elevation change in a brackish marsh community dominated by a C3 species, Schoenoplectus americanus, and a C4 grass, Spartina patens. This experimental design permitted identification of mechanisms and their role in controlling elevation change, and the development of models that can be tested in the field. 3. To test hypotheses related to CO2 and sea-level rise, we used conventional anova procedures in conjunction with structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM explained 78% of the variability in elevation change and showed the direct, positive effect of S. americanus production on elevation. The SEM indicated that C3 plant response was influenced by interactive effects between CO2 and salinity on plant growth, not a direct CO2 fertilization effect. Elevated CO2 ameliorated negative effects of salinity on S. americanus and enhanced biomass contribution to elevation. 4. The positive relationship between S. americanus production and elevation change can be explained by shoot-base expansion under elevated CO 2 conditions, which led to vertical soil displacement. While the response of this species may differ under other environmental conditions, shoot-base expansion and the general contribution of C3 plant production to elevation change may be an important mechanism contributing to soil expansion and elevation gain in other coastal wetlands. 5. Synthesis. Our results revealed previously unrecognized interactions and

Intertextual Realms: Towards a Chronotopic Model of Intertextuality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birgit Spengler

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Since the 1966 publication of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, it has become a literary fashion to re-imagine well-known, and often canonical, fictional texts from the perspective of 'the minor,' a character whose marginalized existence within the literary classic tends to reflect relations of power and privilege in the extra-fictional realm.

Spatial variation of biogenic sulfur in the south Yellow Sea and the East China Sea during summer and its contribution to atmospheric sulfate aerosol.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Sheng-Hui; Yang, Gui-Peng; Zhang, Hong-Hai; Yang, Jian

2014-08-01

Spatial distributions of biogenic sulfur compounds including dimethylsulfide (DMS), dissolved and particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPd and DMSPp) were investigated in the South Yellow Sea (SYS) and the East China Sea (ECS) in July 2011. The concentrations of DMS and DMSPp were significantly correlated with the levels of chlorophyll a in the surface water. Simultaneously, relatively high ratio values of DMSP/chlorophyll a and DMS/chlorophyll a occurred in the areas where the phytoplankton community was dominated by dinoflagellates. The DMSPp and chlorophyll a size-fractionation showed that larger nanoplankton (5-20 μm) was the most important producer of DMSPp in the study area. The vertical profiles of DMS and DMSP were characterized by a maximum at the upper layer and the bottom concentrations were also relatively higher compared with the overlying layer of the bottom. In addition, a positive linear correlation was observed between dissolved dimethylsulfoxide (DMSOd) and DMS concentrations in the surface waters. The sea-to-air fluxes of DMS in the study area were estimated to be from 0.03 to 102.35 μmol m(-2) d(-1) with a mean of 16.73 μmol m(-2) d(-1) and the contribution of biogenic non-sea-salt SO4(2-) (nss-SO4(2-)) to the measured total nss-SO4(2-) in the atmospheric aerosol over the study area varied from 1.42% to 30.98%, with an average of 8.2%. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sea level trends in Southeast Asian seas

Science.gov (United States)

Strassburg, M. W.; Hamlington, B. D.; Leben, R. R.; Manurung, P.; Lumban Gaol, J.; Nababan, B.; Vignudelli, S.; Kim, K.-Y.

2015-05-01

Southeast Asian seas span the largest archipelago in the global ocean and provide a complex oceanic pathway connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans. The Southeast Asian sea regional sea level trends are some of the highest observed in the modern satellite altimeter record that now spans almost 2 decades. Initial comparisons of global sea level reconstructions find that 17-year sea level trends over the past 60 years exhibit good agreement with decadal variability associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and related fluctuations of trade winds in the region. The Southeast Asian sea region exhibits sea level trends that vary dramatically over the studied time period. This historical variation suggests that the strong regional sea level trends observed during the modern satellite altimeter record will abate as trade winds fluctuate on decadal and longer timescales. Furthermore, after removing the contribution of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) to sea level trends in the past 20 years, the rate of sea level rise is greatly reduced in the Southeast Asian sea region. As a result of the influence of the PDO, the Southeast Asian sea regional sea level trends during the 2010s and 2020s are likely to be less than the global mean sea level (GMSL) trend if the observed oscillations in wind forcing and sea level persist. Nevertheless, long-term sea level trends in the Southeast Asian seas will continue to be affected by GMSL rise occurring now and in the future.

Contemporary sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Cazenave, Anny; Llovel, William

2010-01-01

Measuring sea level change and understanding its causes has considerably improved in the recent years, essentially because new in situ and remote sensing observations have become available. Here we report on most recent results on contemporary sea level rise. We first present sea level observations from tide gauges over the twentieth century and from satellite altimetry since the early 1990s. We next discuss the most recent progress made in quantifying the processes causing sea level change on timescales ranging from years to decades, i.e., thermal expansion of the oceans, land ice mass loss, and land water-storage change. We show that for the 1993-2007 time span, the sum of climate-related contributions (2.85 +/- 0.35 mm year(-1)) is only slightly less than altimetry-based sea level rise (3.3 +/- 0.4 mm year(-1)): approximately 30% of the observed rate of rise is due to ocean thermal expansion and approximately 55% results from land ice melt. Recent acceleration in glacier melting and ice mass loss from the ice sheets increases the latter contribution up to 80% for the past five years. We also review the main causes of regional variability in sea level trends: The dominant contribution results from nonuniform changes in ocean thermal expansion.

Understanding the Steric Height Long Term Variability at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) Site with a Neutral Density Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Goncalves Neto, A.; Johnson, R. J.; Bates, N. R.

2016-02-01

Rising sea level is one of the main concerns for human life in a scenario with global atmosphere and ocean warming, which is of particular concern for oceanic islands. Bermuda, located in the center of the Sargasso Sea, provides an ideal location to investigate sea level rise since it has a long term tide gauge (1933-present) and is in close proximity to deep ocean time-series sites, namely, Hydrostation `S' (1954-present) and the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study site (1988-present). In this study, we use the monthly CTD deep casts at BATS to compute the contribution of steric height (SH) to the local sea surface height (SSH) for the past 24 years. To determine the relative contribution from the various water masses we first define 8 layers (Surface Layer, Upper Thermocline, Subtropical Mode-Water, Lower Thermocline, Antarctic Intermediate Water, Labrador Sea Water, Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water, Denmark Strait Overflow Water) based on neutral density criteria for which SH is computed. Additionally, we calculate the thermosteric and halosteric components for each of the defined neutral density layers. Surprisingly, the results show that, despite a 3.3mm/yr sea level rise observed at the Bermuda tide gauge, the steric contribution to the SSH at BATS has decreased at a rate of -1.1mm/yr during the same period. The thermal component is found to account for the negative trend in the steric height (-4.4mm/yr), whereas the halosteric component (3.3mm/yr) partially compensates the thermal signal and can be explained by an overall cooling and freshening at the BATS site. Although the surface layer and the upper thermocline waters are warming, all the subtropical and polar water masses, which represent most of the local water column, are cooling and therefore drive the overall SH contribution to the local SSH. Hence, it suggests that the mass contribution to the local SSH plays an important role in the sea level rise, for which we investigate with GRACE data.

Wind-sea surface temperature-sea ice relationship in the Chukchi-Beaufort Seas during autumn

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Stegall, Steve T.; Zhang, Xiangdong

2018-03-01

Dramatic climate changes, especially the largest sea ice retreat during September and October, in the Chukchi-Beaufort Seas could be a consequence of, and further enhance, complex air-ice-sea interactions. To detect these interaction signals, statistical relationships between surface wind speed, sea surface temperature (SST), and sea ice concentration (SIC) were analyzed. The results show a negative correlation between wind speed and SIC. The relationships between wind speed and SST are complicated by the presence of sea ice, with a negative correlation over open water but a positive correlation in sea ice dominated areas. The examination of spatial structures indicates that wind speed tends to increase when approaching the ice edge from open water and the area fully covered by sea ice. The anomalous downward radiation and thermal advection, as well as their regional distribution, play important roles in shaping these relationships, though wind-driven sub-grid scale boundary layer processes may also have contributions. Considering the feedback loop involved in the wind-SST-SIC relationships, climate model experiments would be required to further untangle the underlying complex physical processes.

Modeling the buoyancy-driven Black Sea Water outflow into the North Aegean Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolaos Kokkos

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A three-dimensional numerical model was applied to simulate the Black Sea Water (BSW outflux and spreading over the North Aegean Sea, and its impact on circulation and stratification–mixing dynamics. Model results were validated against satellite-derived sea surface temperature and in-situ temperature and salinity profiles. Further, the model results were post-processed in terms of the potential energy anomaly, ϕ, analyzing the factors contributing to its change. It occurs that BSW contributes significantly on the Thracian Sea water column stratification, but its signal reduces in the rest of the North Aegean Sea. The BSW buoyancy flux contributed to the change of ϕ in the Thracian Sea by 1.23 × 10−3 W m−3 in the winter and 7.9 × 10−4 W m−3 in the summer, significantly higher than the corresponding solar heat flux contribution (1.41 × 10−5 W m−3 and 7.4 × 10−5 W m−3, respectively. Quantification of the ϕ-advective term crossing the north-western BSW branch (to the north of Lemnos Island, depicted a strong non-linear relation to the relative vorticity of Samothraki Anticyclone. Similar analysis for the south-western branch illustrated a relationship between the ϕ-advective term sign and the relative vorticity in the Sporades system. The ϕ-mixing term increases its significance under strong winds (>15 m s−1, tending to destroy surface meso-scale eddies.

Metabolism of DMSP, DMS and DMSO by the cultivable bacterial community associated with the DMSP-producing dinoflagellate Scrippsiella trochoidea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Hatton, A.D.; Shenoy, D.M.; Hart, M.C.; Mogg, A.; Green, D.H.

populations in the Sargasso Sea (del Valle et al. 2007), North Sea (Zubkov et al. 2002) and Gulf of Mexico (Vila-Costa et al. 2006). Instead, there is now a body of evidence, which supports the hypothesis that DMS oxidation to DMSO may be the major pathway... of Mexico. Limnol Oceanogr 45(4):849–861 Kiene RP, Linn LJ (2000b) The fate of dissolved dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in seawater: tracer studies using 35S-DMSP. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64(16):2797–2810 Kiene RP, Linn LJ, Bruton JA (2000) New...

A century of research on the larval distributions of the Atlantic eels: a re-examination of the data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, Michael J.; Bonhommeau, Sylvain; Munk, Peter

2015-01-01

The spawning areas of the Atlantic freshwater eels were discovered about a century ago by the Danish scientist Johannes Schmidt who after years of searching found newly hatched larvae of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla, and the American eel, Anguilla rostrata, in the southern Sargasso Sea...... comprehensive database that includes 22612 A. anguilla and 9634 A. rostrata leptocephali, which provides a detailed view of the spatial and temporal distributions and size of the larvae across the Atlantic basin and in the Mediterranean Sea. The differences in distributions, maximum sizes, and growth rates...

Small phytoplankton contribution to the standing stocks and the total primary production in the Amundsen Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. H. Lee

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Small phytoplankton are anticipated to be more important in a recently warming and freshening ocean condition. However, little information on the contribution of small phytoplankton to overall phytoplankton production is currently available in the Amundsen Sea. To determine the contributions of small phytoplankton to total biomass and primary production, carbon and nitrogen uptake rates of total and small phytoplankton were obtained from 12 productivity stations in the Amundsen Sea. The daily carbon uptake rates of total phytoplankton averaged in this study were 0.42 g C m−2 d−1 (SD  =  ± 0.30 g C m−2 d−1 and 0.84 g C m−2 d−1 (SD  =  ± 0.18 g C m−2 d−1 for non-polynya and polynya regions, respectively, whereas the daily total nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium uptake rates were 0.12 g N m−2 d−1 (SD  =  ± 0.09 g N m−2 d−1 and 0.21 g N m−2 d−1 (SD  =  ± 0.11 g N m−2 d−1, respectively, for non-polynya and polynya regions, all of which were within the ranges reported previously. Small phytoplankton contributed 26.9 and 27.7 % to the total carbon and nitrogen uptake rates of phytoplankton in this study, respectively, which were relatively higher than the chlorophyll a contribution (19.4 % of small phytoplankton. For a comparison of different regions, the contributions for chlorophyll a concentration and primary production of small phytoplankton averaged from all the non-polynya stations were 42.4 and 50.8 %, which were significantly higher than those (7.9 and 14.9 %, respectively in the polynya region. A strong negative correlation (r2 = 0. 790, p<0. 05 was found between the contributions of small phytoplankton and the total daily primary production of phytoplankton in this study. This finding implies that daily primary production decreases as small phytoplankton contribution increases, which is

Constraining the Antarctic contribution to global sea-level change: ANDRILL and beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Naish, Timothy

2016-04-01

Observations, models and paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that Antarctica's marine-based ice sheets behave in an unstable manner with episodes of rapid retreat in response to warming climate. Understanding the processes involved in this "marine ice sheet instability" is key for improving estimates of Antarctic ice sheet contribution to future sea-level rise. Another motivating factor is that far-field sea-level reconstructions and ice sheet models imply global mean sea level (GMSL) was up to 20m and 10m higher, respectively, compared with present day, during the interglacials of the warm Pliocene (~4-3Ma) and Late Pleistocene (at ~400ka and 125ka). This was when atmospheric CO2 was between 280 and 400ppm and global average surface temperatures were 1 to 3°C warmer, suggesting polar ice sheets are highly sensitive to relatively modest increases in climate forcing. Such magnitudes of GMSL rise not only require near complete melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but a substantial retreat of marine-based sectors of East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent geological drilling initiatives on the continental margin of Antarctica from both ship- (e.g. IODP; International Ocean Discovery Program) and ice-based (e.g. ANDRILL/Antarctic Geological Drilling) platforms have provided evidence supporting retreat of marine-based ice. However, without direct access through the ice sheet to archives preserved within sub-glacial sedimentary basins, the volume and extent of ice sheet retreat during past interglacials cannot be directly constrained. Sediment cores have been successfully recovered from beneath ice shelves by the ANDRILL Program and ice streams by the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Sub-glacial Access Research Drilling) Project. Together with the potential of the new RAID (Rapid Access Ice Drill) initiative, these demonstrate the technological feasibility of accessing the subglacial bed and deeper sedimentary archives. In this talk I will outline the

Sea quark contribution to the dynamical mass and light quark content of a nucleon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.P.

1995-01-01

We calculate the flavor mixing in the wave function of a light valence quark. For this, we use the idea of dynamical symmetry breaking. A sea quark of a different flavor may appear through the vacuum polarization of a gluon propagator which appears in the gap equation for the dynamical mass. We have also used the fact that any one of these quark lines may undergo condensation. The dependence of the dynamical mass, generated in this way, on the sea quark mass up to quadratic terms has been retained. The momentum dependence is like 1/p 4 , in contrast with the 1/p 2 kind of dependence which occurs for the leading term of the dynamical mass in the subasymptotic region. The extension of the result to the ''mass shell'' yields σ πN =53--54 MeV for the pion-nucleon σ term and m s left-angle p|bar ss|p right-angle=122--264 meV for the strange quark contribution to the proton mass, for different values of parameters. These are in reasonable agreement with current phenomenological estimates of these quantities

Strange sea quark effects for low lying baryons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Upadhyay, A.; Batra, Meenakshi

2013-01-01

Assuming hadrons as an ensemble of quark-gluon Fock states, contributions from sea quarks and gluons can be studied in detail for ground state baryons. Spin crisis of nucleons say that only a small fraction of proton spin is carried by valence quarks. Rest part is distributed among gluons and sea which includes both strange and non-strange quark-anti-quark pairs. This necessitates the study of strange sea quark contribution for other baryons too due to higher mass and presence of strange quark in valence part. Recent studies have also studied strange sea contribution for baryons using different models. We implement the statistical modeling techniques to compute strange sea quark content for baryon octet. Statistical model has already been applied to study sea quark content for nucleons in the form of scalar, vector and tensor sea. In our present work the same idea has been extended for strange sea to probe the structure in more detail. (author)

Aerosol sources and their contribution to the chemical composition of aerosols in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during summertime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Sciare

2003-01-01

Full Text Available A detailed study on the temporal variability of compounds important in controlling aerosol chemical composition was performed during a one-month experiment conducted during summer 2000 at a background site on Crete, in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Contribution of different aerosol sources in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin could be investigated at this location since the site is influenced by a wide range of air masses originating mainly in Europe and Africa. Chemical apportionment was performed for various air mass origins and showed a strong impact of anthropogenic emissions in the Turkey and Central Europe sectors, with black carbon (BC and non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO4 concentrations higher than observed in the Eastern and Western Europe sectors. High levels of non-sea-salt calcium (nss-Ca were associated with air masses from Africa but also from Central Turkey. Evidence was found that BC calculation based on light absorbance during dust events was biased. This quality-controlled high temporal resolution dataset allowed to investigate in detail the source-receptor relationships responsible for the levels of BC, nss-SO4 and sulfur dioxide (SO2, observed in Crete. Among the results obtained from this model, the major contribution of Turkey and Central Europe was confirmed in terms of anthropogenic emissions. Comparisons with remote optical properties obtained from Satellite observations (SEAWIFS north of Crete indicates that our ground based aerosol characterization was suitable for describing aerosol properties in the atmospheric column for most of the time during the campaign.

(Pre-) calibration of a Reduced Complexity Model of the Antarctic Contribution to Sea-level Changes

Science.gov (United States)

Ruckert, K. L.; Guan, Y.; Shaffer, G.; Forest, C. E.; Keller, K.

2015-12-01

(Pre-) calibration of a Reduced Complexity Model of the Antarctic Contribution to Sea-level ChangesKelsey L. Ruckert1*, Yawen Guan2, Chris E. Forest1,3,7, Gary Shaffer 4,5,6, and Klaus Keller1,7,81 Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA 2 Department of Statistics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA 3 Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA 4 GAIA_Antarctica, University of Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile 5 Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones, La Serena, Chile 6 Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark 7 Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA 8 Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA * Corresponding author. E-mail klr324@psu.eduUnderstanding and projecting future sea-level changes poses nontrivial challenges. Sea-level changes are driven primarily by changes in the density of seawater as well as changes in the size of glaciers and ice sheets. Previous studies have demonstrated that a key source of uncertainties surrounding sea-level projections is the response of the Antarctic ice sheet to warming temperatures. Here we calibrate a previously published and relatively simple model of the Antarctic ice sheet over a hindcast period from the last interglacial period to the present. We apply and compare a range of (pre-) calibration methods, including a Bayesian approach that accounts for heteroskedasticity. We compare the model hindcasts and projections for different levels of model complexity and calibration methods. We compare the projections with the upper bounds from previous studies and find our projections have a narrower range in 2100. Furthermore we discuss the implications for the design of climate risk management strategies.

Contribution of hedgehog signaling to the establishment of left-right asymmetry in the sea urchin.

Science.gov (United States)

Warner, Jacob F; Miranda, Esther L; McClay, David R

2016-03-15

Most bilaterians exhibit a left-right asymmetric distribution of their internal organs. The sea urchin larva is notable in this regard since most adult structures are generated from left sided embryonic structures. The gene regulatory network governing this larval asymmetry is still a work in progress but involves several conserved signaling pathways including Nodal, and BMP. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of Hedgehog signaling and it's contribution to left-right asymmetry. We report that Hh signaling plays a conserved role to regulate late asymmetric expression of Nodal and that this regulation occurs after Nodal breaks left-right symmetry in the mesoderm. Thus, while Hh functions to maintain late Nodal expression, the molecular asymmetry of the future coelomic pouches is locked in. Furthermore we report that cilia play a role only insofar as to transduce Hh signaling and do not have an independent effect on the asymmetry of the mesoderm. From this, we are able to construct a more complete regulatory network governing the establishment of left-right asymmetry in the sea urchin. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sea surface temperature contributes to marine crocodylomorph evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Jeremy E; Amiot, Romain; Lécuyer, Christophe; Benton, Michael J

2014-08-18

During the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, four distinct crocodylomorph lineages colonized the marine environment. They were conspicuously absent from high latitudes, which in the Mesozoic were occupied by warm-blooded ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Despite a relatively well-constrained stratigraphic distribution, the varying diversities of marine crocodylomorphs are poorly understood, because their extinctions neither coincided with any major biological crises nor with the advent of potential competitors. Here we test the potential link between their evolutionary history in terms of taxic diversity and two abiotic factors, sea level variations and sea surface temperatures (SST). Excluding Metriorhynchoidea, which may have had a peculiar ecology, significant correlations obtained between generic diversity and estimated Tethyan SST suggest that water temperature was a driver of marine crocodylomorph diversity. Being most probably ectothermic reptiles, these lineages colonized the marine realm and diversified during warm periods, then declined or became extinct during cold intervals.

Arctic Sea Level During the Satellite Altimetry Era

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carret, A.; Johannessen, J. A.; Andersen, Ole Baltazar

2017-01-01

Results of the sea-level budget in the high latitudes (up to 80°N) and the Arctic Ocean during the satellite altimetry era. We investigate the closure of the sea-level budget since 2002 using two altimetry sea-level datasets based on the Envisat waveform retracking: temperature and salinity data....... However, in terms of regional average over the region ranging from 66°N to 80°N, the steric component contributes little to the observed sea-level trend, suggesting a dominant mass contribution in the Arctic region. This is confirmed by GRACE-based ocean mass time series that agree well with the altimetry......-based sea-level time series. Direct estimate of the mass component is not possible prior to GRACE. Thus, we estimated the mass contribution from the difference between the altimetry-based sea level and the steric component. We also investigate the coastal sea level with tide gauge records. Twenty coupled...

Warming in the Nordic Seas, North Atlantic storms and thinning Arctic sea ice

Science.gov (United States)

Alexeev, Vladimir A.; Walsh, John E.; Ivanov, Vladimir V.; Semenov, Vladimir A.; Smirnov, Alexander V.

2017-08-01

Arctic sea ice over the last few decades has experienced a significant decline in coverage both in summer and winter. The currently warming Atlantic Water layer has a pronounced impact on sea ice in the Nordic Seas (including the Barents Sea). More open water combined with the prevailing atmospheric pattern of airflow from the southeast, and persistent North Atlantic storms such as the recent extremely strong Storm Frank in December 2015, lead to increased energy transport to the high Arctic. Each of these storms brings sizeable anomalies of heat to the high Arctic, resulting in significant warming and slowing down of sea ice growth or even melting. Our analysis indicates that the recently observed sea ice decline in the Nordic Seas during the cold season around Svalbard, Franz Joseph Land and Novaya Zemlya, and the associated heat release from open water into the atmosphere, contributed significantly to the increase in the downward longwave radiation throughout the entire Arctic. Added to other changes in the surface energy budget, this increase since the 1960s to the present is estimated to be at least 10 W m-2, which can result in thinner (up to at least 15-20 cm) Arctic ice at the end of the winter. This change in the surface budget is an important contributing factor accelerating the thinning of Arctic sea ice.

Effect of the addition of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii on the gut microbiota composition and contribution to the well-being of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L.)

OpenAIRE

Silvi, Stefania; Nardi, Miria; Sulpizio, Roberto; Orpianesi, Carla; Caggiano, Massimo; Carnevali, Oliana; Cresci, Alberto

2011-01-01

The present study aimed to test the effects of probiotic treatment on gut microbiota and the contribution to the well-being of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L.). A bacterial strain of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii (AS13B), isolated from adult European sea bass gut, was administered during sea bass development using Brachionus plicatilis and/or Artemia salina as carriers. The effective strain colonization and modulation of the gut microbiota, the mortality and the cor...

Baltic Sea: Radionuclides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sven Poul; Lüning, Maria; Ilus, Erkki

2011-01-01

The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The second most important source is global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests carried out during the late 1950s and early 1960s...... about 14%. For 90Sr in the Baltic Sea, input from atmospheric fallout from nuclear weapons tests has contributed about 81%, while the contribution from Chernobyl fallout was about 13%. Cesium-137 is the main indicator of Baltic seawater with respect to anthropogenic radioactivity. The highest...... concentrations in seawater during 1999–2006 were found in the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea. The general trend is steadily decreasing. Concentrations of anthropogenic radioactivity in fish generally show decreasing trends in agreement with concentrations in seawater. Among freshwater fish, pike showed large...

Baltic Sea: Radionuclides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sven Poul; Lüning, Maria; Ilus, Erkki

2010-01-01

The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The second most important source is global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests carried out during the late 1950s and early 1960s...... about 14%. For 90Sr in the Baltic Sea, input from atmospheric fallout from nuclear weapons tests has contributed about 81%, while the contribution from Chernobyl fallout was about 13%. Cesium-137 is the main indicator of Baltic seawater with respect to anthropogenic radioactivity. The highest...... concentrations in seawater during 1999–2006 were found in the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea. The general trend is steadily decreasing. Concentrations of anthropogenic radioactivity in fish generally show decreasing trends in agreement with concentrations in seawater. Among freshwater fish, pike showed large...

Lead precipitation fluxes at tropical oceanic sites determined from 210Pb measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Settle, D.M.; Patterson, C.C.; Turekian, K.K.; Cochran, J.K.

1982-01-01

Concentrations of lead, 210 Pb, and 210 Po were measured in rain selected for least influence by local sources of contamination at several tropical and subtropical islands (Enewetak; Pigeon Key, Florida; and American Samoa) and shipboard stations (near Bermuda and Tahiti). Ratios expressed as ng Pb/dpm 210 Pb in rain were 250--900 for Pigeon Key (assuming 12% adsorption for 210 Pb and no adsorption for lead), depending on whether the air masses containing the analyzed rain came from the Caribbean or from the continent, respectively; about 390 for the northern Sargasso Sea downwind from emissions of industrial lead in North America; 65 for Enewetak, remote from continental emissions of industrial lead in the northern hemisphere; and 14 near Tahiti, a remote location in the southern hemisphere where industrial lead emissions to the atmosphere are much less than in the northern hemisphere. (The American Samoa sample yielded a higher ratio than Tahiti; the reason for this is not clear but may be due to local Pb sources). The corresponding fluxes of lead to the oceans, based on measured or modeled 210 Pb precipitation fluxes, are about 4 ng Pb/cm 2 y for Tahiti, 10 for Enewetak, and 270 for the Sargasso Sea site, and between 110 to 390 at Pigeon Key

Investigating Arctic Sea Ice Survivability in the Beaufort Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Tooth

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Arctic sea ice extent has continued to decline in recent years, and the fractional coverage of multi-year sea ice has decreased significantly during this period. The Beaufort Sea region has been the site of much of the loss of multi-year sea ice, and it continues to play a large role in the extinction of ice during the melt season. We present an analysis of the influence of satellite-derived ice surface temperature, ice thickness, albedo, and downwelling longwave/shortwave radiation as well as latitude and airborne snow depth estimates on the change in sea ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea from 2009 to 2016 using a Lagrangian tracking database. Results from this analysis indicate that parcels that melt during summer in the Beaufort Sea reside at lower latitudes and have lower ice thickness at the beginning of the melt season in most cases. The influence of sea ice thickness and snow depth observed by IceBridge offers less conclusive results, with some years exhibiting higher thicknesses/depths for melted parcels. Parcels that melted along IceBridge tracks do exhibit lower latitudes and ice thicknesses, however, which indicates that earlier melt and breakup of ice may contribute to a greater likelihood of extinction of parcels in the summer.

Present day sea level changes: observation and causes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lombard, A.

2005-11-01

Whereas sea level has changed little over the last 2000 years, it has risen at a rate of about 2 mm/year during the 20. century. This unexpected sea level rise has been attributed to the anthropogenic global warming, recorded over several decades. Sea level variations have been measured globally and precisely for about 12 years due to satellite altimeter missions Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1. These observations indicate a global mean sea level rise of about 3 mm/year since 1993, a value significantly larger than observed during previous decades. Recent observations have allowed us to quantify the various climatic factors contributing to observed sea level change: thermal expansion of sea water due to ocean warming, melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets, and changes in the land water reservoirs. A water budget based on these new observations allows us to partly explain the observed sea level rise. In particular, we show that the thermal expansion explains only 25% of the secular sea level rise as recorded by tide-gauges over the last 50 years, while it contributes about 50% of sea level rise observed over the last decade. Meanwhile, recent studies show that glacier and ice sheet melting could contribute the equivalent of 1 mm/year in sea level rise over the last decade. In addition, the high regional variability of sea level trends revealed by satellite altimetry is mainly due to thermal expansion. There is also an important decadal spatio-temporal variability in the ocean thermal expansion over the last 50 years, which seems to be controlled by natural climate fluctuations. We question for the first time the link between the decadal fluctuations in the ocean thermal expansion and in the land reservoirs, and indeed their climatic contribution to sea level change. Finally a preliminary analysis of GRACE spatial gravimetric observations over the oceans allows us to estimate the seasonal variations in mean sea level due to ocean water mass balance variations

On contribution of horizontal and intra-layer convection to the formation of the Baltic Sea cold intermediate layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Chubarenko

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Seasonal cascades down the coastal slopes and intra-layer convection are considered as the two additional mechanisms contributing to the Baltic Sea cold intermediate layer (CIL formation along with conventional seasonal vertical mixing. Field measurements are presented, reporting for the first time the possibility of denser water formation and cascading from the Baltic Sea underwater slopes, which take place under fall and winter cooling conditions and deliver waters into intermediate layer of salinity stratified deep-sea area. The presence in spring within the CIL of water with temperature below that of maximum density (Tmd and that at the local surface in winter time allows tracing its formation: it is argued that the source of the coldest waters of the Baltic CIL is early spring (March–April cascading, arising due to heating of water before reaching the Tmd. Fast increase of the open water heat content during further spring heating indicates that horizontal exchange rather than direct solar heating is responsible for that. When the surface is covered with water, heated above the Tmd, the conditions within the CIL become favorable for intralayer convection due to the presence of waters of Tmd in intermediate layer, which can explain its well-known features – the observed increase of its salinity and deepening with time.

Seasonal variability of the Red Sea, from GRACE time-variable gravity and altimeter sea surface height measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Wahr, John; Smeed, David; Leuliette, Eric; Swenson, Sean

2014-05-01

Seasonal variability of sea surface height and mass within the Red Sea, occurs mostly through the exchange of heat with the atmosphere and wind-driven inflow and outflow of water through the strait of Bab el Mandab that opens into the Gulf of Aden to the south. The seasonal effects of precipitation and evaporation, of water exchange through the Suez Canal to the north, and of runoff from the adjacent land, are all small. The flow through the Bab el Mandab involves a net mass transfer into the Red Sea during the winter and a net transfer out during the summer. But that flow has a multi-layer pattern, so that in the summer there is actually an influx of cool water at intermediate (~100 m) depths. Thus, summer water in the southern Red Sea is warmer near the surface due to higher air temperatures, but cooler at intermediate depths (especially in the far south). Summer water in the northern Red Sea experiences warming by air-sea exchange only. The temperature profile affects the water density, which impacts the sea surface height but has no effect on vertically integrated mass. Here, we study this seasonal cycle by combining GRACE time-variable mass estimates, altimeter (Jason-1, Jason-2, and Envisat) measurements of sea surface height, and steric sea surface height contributions derived from depth-dependent, climatological values of temperature and salinity obtained from the World Ocean Atlas. We find good consistency, particularly in the northern Red Sea, between these three data types. Among the general characteristics of our results are: (1) the mass contributions to seasonal SSHT variations are much larger than the steric contributions; (2) the mass signal is largest in winter, consistent with winds pushing water into the Red Sea through the Strait of Bab el Mandab in winter, and out during the summer; and (3) the steric signal is largest in summer, consistent with summer sea surface warming.

Temporal variability in SeaWiFS derived apparent optical properties in European seas

Science.gov (United States)

Vantrepotte, V.; Mélin, F.

2010-02-01

The 10-year record of ocean color data provided by the SeaWiFS mission is an important asset for monitoring and research activities conducted on the optically complex European seas. This study makes use of the SeaWiFS data set of normalized water leaving radiances LWN to study the major characteristics of temporal variability associated with optical properties across the entire European domain. Specifically, the time series of LWN and associated band ratios are decomposed into terms representing a fixed seasonal cycle, irregular variations and trends, and the contribution of these components to the total variance is described for the various basins. The diversity of the European waters is fully reflected by the range of results varying with regions and wavelengths. Generally, the Mediterranean and Baltic seas appear as two end-members with, respectively, high and low contributions of the seasonal component to the total variance. The existence of linear trends affecting the satellite products is also explored for each basin. By focusing the analysis on LWN and band ratios, the validity of the results is not limited by the varying levels of uncertainty that characterize derived products such as the concentration of chlorophyll a in optically complex waters. Statistically significant, and in some cases large, trends are detected in the Atlantic Ocean west of the European western shelf, the central North Sea, the English Channel, the Black Sea, the northern Adriatic, and various regions of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern Baltic Sea, revealing changes in the concentrations of optically significant constituents in these regions.

Magnetic Compass Orientation in the European Eel

OpenAIRE

Durif, Caroline M. F.; Browman, Howard I.; Phillips, John B.; Skiftesvik, Anne Berit; V?llestad, L. Asbj?rn; Stockhausen, Hans H.

2013-01-01

European eel migrate from freshwater or coastal habitats throughout Europe to their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea. However, their route (~ 6000 km) and orientation mechanisms are unknown. Several attempts have been made to prove the existence of magnetoreception in Anguilla sp., but none of these studies have demonstrated magnetic compass orientation in earth-strength magnetic field intensities. We tested eels in four altered magnetic field conditions where magnetic North was set at ge...

Sources of Conflict in the Middle East - The Haves and Have Nots

Science.gov (United States)

1993-04-01

aircraft passed over the pyramids of Giza . From the air they were awe inspiring symbols of a great civilization. Landing at Cairo’s international...airport, we passed through a sargasso sea of bureaucracy and boarded a bus for a trip to those same pyramids . On the way we passed through the city of...time next to absolute poverty stood magnificent palaces, luxurious hotels and imposing government edifices. Arriving at the pyramids , we were

Assessing the Contribution of Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity to Coral δ18O using a Weighted Forward Model

Science.gov (United States)

Horlick, K. A.; Thompson, D. M.; Anderson, D. M.

2015-12-01

The isotopic ratio of 16O/18O (δ18O) in coral carbonate skeletons is a robust, high-resolution proxy for sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) variability predating the instrumental record. Although SST and δ18O-water (correlated to SSS) variability both contribute to the δ18O signal in the coral carbonate archive, the paucity and limited temporal span of SST and SSS instrumental observations limit the ability to differentiate respective SST and SSS contribution to each δ18O record. From instrumental datasets such as HadISST v.3, ERSST, SODA, and Delcroix (2011), we forward model the δ18O ("pseudoproxy") signal using the linear bivariate forward model from Thompson 2011 ("pseudoproxy"= a1(SST)+a2(SSS)). By iteratively weighting (between 0 and 1 by 0.005) the relative contribution of SST and SSS terms to the δ18O "pseudoproxy" following Gorman et al. 2012 method, we derive the percent contributions of SST and SSS to δ18O at each site based on the weights that produce the optimal correlation to the observed coral δ18O signal. A Monte Carlo analysis of error propagation in the weighted and unweighted pseudoproxy time series was used to determine how well the weighted and unweighted forward models captured observed δ18O variance. Across the south-western Pacific (40 sites) we found that SST contributes from less than 8 to more than 78% of the variance. This work builds upon this simple forward model of coral δ18O and improves our understanding of potential sources of differences in the observed and forward modeled δ18O variability. These results may also improve SST and SSS reconstructions from corals by highlighting the reef areas whose coral δ18O signal is most heavily influenced by SST and SSS respectively. Using an inverse approach, creating a transfer function, local SST and SSS could also be reconstructed based on the site-specific weights and observed coral δ18O time series.

Sensitivity of modeled atmospheric nitrogen species and nitrogen deposition to variations in sea salt emissions in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Neumann

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Coarse sea salt particles are emitted ubiquitously from the ocean surface by wave-breaking and bubble-bursting processes. These particles impact the atmospheric chemistry by affecting the condensation of gas-phase species and, thus, indirectly the nucleation of new fine particles, particularly in regions with significant air pollution. In this study, atmospheric particle concentrations are modeled for the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions in northwestern Europe using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ modeling system and are compared to European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP measurement data. The sea salt emission module is extended by a salinity-dependent scaling of the sea salt emissions because the salinity in large parts of the Baltic Sea is very low, which leads to considerably lower sea salt mass emissions compared to other oceanic regions. The resulting improvement in predicted sea salt concentrations is assessed. The contribution of surf zone emissions is considered separately. Additionally, the impacts of sea salt particles on atmospheric nitrate and ammonium concentrations and on nitrogen deposition are evaluated. The comparisons with observational data show that sea salt concentrations are commonly overestimated at coastal stations and partly underestimated farther inland. The introduced salinity scaling improves the predicted Baltic Sea sea salt concentrations considerably. The dates of measured peak concentrations are appropriately reproduced by the model. The impact of surf zone emissions is negligible in both seas. Nevertheless, they might be relevant because surf zone emissions were cut at an upper threshold in this study. Deactivating sea salt leads to minor increases in NH3 +  NH4+ and HNO3 +  NO3− and a decrease in NO3− concentrations. However, the overall effect on NH3 +  NH4+ and HNO3 +  NO3− concentrations is smaller than the deviation from the measurements. Nitrogen wet deposition is

NASA Kennedy Space Center: Contributions to Sea Turtle Science and Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Provancha, Jane A.; Phillips, Lynne V.; Mako, Cheryle L.

2018-01-01

, and universities (UCF, University of Toronto, Texas A&M, UF). This presentation will review the various studies and collaborations on sea turtles at KSC that include: nest distributions and success, stranding network development, aerial survey testing for nest counts, predator control assessments, the earliest baseline blood chemistry health determinations on nesting females, stress hormones in nesting females, multi-year study of hatchling sex ratios, genetics, species composition, abundance and distribution of in-water juveniles, turtle cold stun response, exterior lighting impacts and control, and satellite tag tracking of post-nesting turtles in the vicinity of near shore shoals and sand mining sites. Through these studies, monitoring, and recommendations, KSC has provided excellent stewardship and protection of the local environment. While conducting its space program mission, KSC has also made significant contributions of information for agencies charged with the conservation and management of these species

Proceedings of the Gulf Stream Workshop Held at West Greenwich, Rhode Island on 23-26 April 1985,

Science.gov (United States)

1985-04-01

from the cooler (blue-to- green ) slope water to the warmer (yellow-to-red) waters of the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea. Further use. of satellite...baroclinic instability. In fact, Hogg (1985) has shown that these motions closely resemble those predicted by the Gill, Green and Simmons (1974...experiment in which observations in .., e form of 4x instead of Ay were provtied c"velocity" instea of "svrearmfunctaon"). The behavor of the error

Investigation on tsunami effects in the central Adriatic Sea during the last century – a contribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Maramai

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In this work we present the result of a study aimed at examining the Italian earthquake sequences that occurred in the area of the central Adriatic sea with the purpose of understanding whether some of them were accompanied by tsunami effects. The motivation for this research was the update and enrichment of the Italian Tsunami Catalogue. The result was that evidence was found for two new cases of earthquake-induced tsunamis: these are the August 1916 Rimini and the October 1930 Ancona events. The bulk of the present research consisted in collecting all the available data on the earthquakes that affected the selected area in the past century and in identifying those potentially capable of generating tsunamis. During the study all the available material was gathered, which includes specific monographs and scientific papers, articles available in contemporary chronicles and in local and national newspapers. The final result of this research will improve our knowledge of the tsunamigenic activity of the central Adriatic sea and contribute to the assessment of the tsunami hazard and risk along these coasts, that especially in the peak season form one of the most densely populated areas of the Italian peninsula with flat and large beaches and water front resorts crowded of tourists.

Contributions to the Pleistocene Coral Reefs of the Red Sea Coast, Egypt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Sorogy, A.S.

2008-01-01

The Pleistocene coral reefs of the Red Sea coast form discontinuous strip in three morphological units, with elevations range from 10 to 35 m above the present sea level and with maximum width of about 550 m. The morphological steps of the studied reefal units are caused by on-lap during different sea levels, by tectonics, or by erosion during transgression. Facies patterns within reefs exhibit lateral and vertical changes. The lateral development of each unit begins at the shore, covering the whole lagoonal facies and ends at the upper reef slope. These changes either reflect transitions within the depositional environment or they are related to minor/major sea level fluctuations. The vertical pattern shows a transgressive sequence in the lower (youngest) and the upper (oldest) units and a regressive one in the middle unit. Eighty-eight scleractinian species have been identified. They belong to 3 suborders, 8 families and 27 genera. The straitigraphic range of the majority of the identified species, which have been previously recorded from the recent sediments of study area is extended here to the Pleistocene age. The paleo- and -biogeographic distribution of the studied species indicated that all belong to Indo-Pacific affinity as well as Atlantic-Mediterranean for very few. (author)

Holocene sea level, a semi-empirical contemplation

Science.gov (United States)

Bittermann, K.; Kemp, A.; Vermeer, M.; Rahmstorf, S.

2017-12-01

Holocene eustatic sea level from approximately -10,000-1800 CE was characterized by an increase of about 60m, with the rate progressively slowing down until sea level almost stabilizes between 500-1800 CE. Global and northern-hemisphere temperatures rose from the last glacial termination until the `Holocene Optimum'. From ­­there, up to the start of the recent anthropogenic rise, they almost steadily decline. How are the sea-level and temperature evolutions linked? We investigate this with semi-empirical sea-level models. We found that, due to the nature of Milankovitch forcing, northern-hemisphere temperature (we used the Greenland temperature by Vinther et al., 2009) is a better model driver than global mean temperature because the evolving mass of northern-hemisphere land ice was the dominant cause of Holocene global sea-level trends. The adjustment timescale for this contribution is 1200 years (900-1500 years; 90% confidence interval). To fit the observed sea-level history, the model requires a small additional constant rate (Bittermann 2016). This rate turns out to be of the same order of magnitude as reconstructions of Antarctic sea-level contributions (Briggs et al. 2014, Golledge et al. 2014). In reality this contribution is unlikely to be constant but rather has a dominant timescale that is large compared to the time considered. We thus propose that Holocene sea level can be described by a linear combination of a temperature driven rate, which becomes negative in the late Holocene (as Northern Hemisphere ice masses are diminished), and a positive, approximately constant term (possibly from Antarctica), which starts to dominate from the middle of the Holocene until the start of industrialization. Bibliography: Bittermann, K. 2016. Semi-empirical sea-level modelling. PhD Thesis University of Potsdam. Briggs, R.D., et al. 2014. A data-constrained large ensemble analysis of Antarctic evolution since the Eemian. Quaternary science reviews, 103, 91

The multimillennial sea-level commitment of global warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Levermann, Anders; Clark, Peter U; Marzeion, Ben; Milne, Glenn A; Pollard, David; Radic, Valentina; Robinson, Alexander

2013-08-20

Global mean sea level has been steadily rising over the last century, is projected to increase by the end of this century, and will continue to rise beyond the year 2100 unless the current global mean temperature trend is reversed. Inertia in the climate and global carbon system, however, causes the global mean temperature to decline slowly even after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased, raising the question of how much sea-level commitment is expected for different levels of global mean temperature increase above preindustrial levels. Although sea-level rise over the last century has been dominated by ocean warming and loss of glaciers, the sensitivity suggested from records of past sea levels indicates important contributions should also be expected from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Uncertainties in the paleo-reconstructions, however, necessitate additional strategies to better constrain the sea-level commitment. Here we combine paleo-evidence with simulations from physical models to estimate the future sea-level commitment on a multimillennial time scale and compute associated regional sea-level patterns. Oceanic thermal expansion and the Antarctic Ice Sheet contribute quasi-linearly, with 0.4 m °C(-1) and 1.2 m °C(-1) of warming, respectively. The saturation of the contribution from glaciers is overcompensated by the nonlinear response of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As a consequence we are committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m °C(-1) within the next 2,000 y. Considering the lifetime of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, this imposes the need for fundamental adaptation strategies on multicentennial time scales.

Accelerated contributions of Canada's Baffin and Bylot Island glaciers to sea level rise over the past half century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Gardner

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Canadian Arctic glaciers have recently contributed large volumes of meltwater to the world's oceans. To place recently observed glacier wastage into a historical perspective and to determine the region's longer-term (~50 years contribution to sea level, we estimate mass and volume changes for the glaciers of Baffin and Bylot Islands using digital elevation models generated from airborne and satellite stereoscopic imagery and elevation postings from repeat airborne and satellite laser altimetry. In addition, we update existing glacier mass change records from GRACE satellite gravimetry to cover the period from 2003 to 2011. Using this integrated approach, we find that the rate of mass loss from the region's glaciers increased from 11.1 ± 3.4 Gt a⁻¹ (271 ± 84 kg m⁻² a⁻¹ for the period 1963–2006 to 23.8 ± 6.1 Gt a⁻¹ (581 ± 149 kg m⁻² a⁻¹ for the period 2003–2011. The doubling of the rate of mass loss is attributed to higher temperatures in summer with little change in annual precipitation. Through both direct and indirect effects, changes in summer temperatures accounted for 70–98% of the variance in the rate of mass loss, to which the Barnes Ice Cap was found to be 1.7 times more sensitive than either the Penny Ice Cap or the region's glaciers as a whole. This heightened sensitivity is the result of a glacier hypsometry that is skewed to lower elevations, which are shown to have a higher mass change sensitive to temperature compared to glacier surfaces at higher elevations. Between 2003 and 2011 the glaciers of Baffin and Bylot Islands contributed 0.07 ± 0.02 mm a⁻¹ to sea level rise accounting for 16% of the total contribution from glaciers outside of Greenland and Antarctica, a rate much higher than the longer-term average of 0.03 ± 0.01 mm a⁻¹ (1963 to 2006.

Bioinformatics for whole-genome shotgun sequencing of microbial communities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin Chen

2005-07-01

Full Text Available The application of whole-genome shotgun sequencing to microbial communities represents a major development in metagenomics, the study of uncultured microbes via the tools of modern genomic analysis. In the past year, whole-genome shotgun sequencing projects of prokaryotic communities from an acid mine biofilm, the Sargasso Sea, Minnesota farm soil, three deep-sea whale falls, and deep-sea sediments have been reported, adding to previously published work on viral communities from marine and fecal samples. The interpretation of this new kind of data poses a wide variety of exciting and difficult bioinformatics problems. The aim of this review is to introduce the bioinformatics community to this emerging field by surveying existing techniques and promising new approaches for several of the most interesting of these computational problems.

Arctic sea ice decline contributes to thinning lake ice trend in northern Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Alexeev, Vladimir; Arp, Christopher D.; Jones, Benjamin M.; Cai, Lei

2016-01-01

Field measurements, satellite observations, and models document a thinning trend in seasonal Arctic lake ice growth, causing a shift from bedfast to floating ice conditions. September sea ice concentrations in the Arctic Ocean since 1991 correlate well (r = +0.69,p Research and Forecasting model output produced a 7% decrease in lake ice growth when 2007/08 sea ice was imposed on 1991/92 climatology and a 9% increase in lake ice growth for the opposing experiment. Here, we clearly link early winter 'ocean-effect' snowfall and warming to reduced lake ice growth. Future reductions in sea ice extent will alter hydrological, biogeochemical, and habitat functioning of Arctic lakes and cause sub-lake permafrost thaw.

Sea Ice Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Arrigo, Kevin R.

2014-01-01

Polar sea ice is one of the largest ecosystems on Earth. The liquid brine fraction of the ice matrix is home to a diverse array of organisms, ranging from tiny archaea to larger fish and invertebrates. These organisms can tolerate high brine salinity and low temperature but do best when conditions are milder. Thriving ice algal communities, generally dominated by diatoms, live at the ice/water interface and in recently flooded surface and interior layers, especially during spring, when temperatures begin to rise. Although protists dominate the sea ice biomass, heterotrophic bacteria are also abundant. The sea ice ecosystem provides food for a host of animals, with crustaceans being the most conspicuous. Uneaten organic matter from the ice sinks through the water column and feeds benthic ecosystems. As sea ice extent declines, ice algae likely contribute a shrinking fraction of the total amount of organic matter produced in polar waters.

Nonlinear Relationships Between Particulate Absorption and Chlorophyll: Detritus or Pigment Packaging

Science.gov (United States)

1993-06-15

for another polar area. For samples from Antartic waters, the mean a*pan(4 3 5 ), normalized to chl a + pheo, was 0.0 18 m2 (mg chl a)-I (Mitchell and...specific absorption coefficients, was suggested as the cause of relatively low mean specific absorption coefficients in the Antartic . The values of c1...moored optical sensors in the Sargasso Sea. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 7399-7412. Mitchell, B.G., and 0. Holm-Hansen 1991. Bio-optical properties of Antartic

IAEA-MEL's contribution to the investigation of the Kara Sea dumping sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osvath, I.; Ballestra, S.; Baxter, M.S.; Gastaud, J.; Hamilton, T.; Harms, I.; Liong Wee Kwong, L.; Parsi, P.; Povinec, P.P.

1995-01-01

Since 1992 the International Atomic Energy Agency's Marine Environment Laboratory (IAEA-MEL) has participated in the international programmes devoted to assessment of the environmental and radiological consequences of actual and potential releases of radionuclides to the Arctic Seas. Upon invitation from the Russian and Norwegian authorities IAEA-MEL has collaborated in the Scientific work of the international expert groups on board five investigatory cruises to the Kara and Barents Seas and to the site of the sunken Komsomolets submarine. In-situ underwater γ-spectrometric measurements and laboratory-based analytical work on samples collected during these expeditions have been carried out. IAEA-MEL activities also include organisation of intercomparison exercises for radionuclides in sediment, seawater and biota from the Barents and Kara Seas, provision of a global marine radioactivity database facility including a comprehensive Arctic section, radiometric methodological developments, modelling of radionuclide dispersal on local, regional and global scales and dose assessment. 8 refs., 3 figs

Context awareness and sensitivity in SEA implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilding-Rydevik, Tuija; Bjarnadottir, Holmfridur

2007-01-01

The Impact Assessment research community repeatedly asserts that the implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should take the issue of context into consideration. The primary aim of this paper then is to attempt to give substance to the concept of 'context' in relation to the implementation of SEA. The second aim is to discuss the relevance of context consciousness and sensitivity in relation to one of the main aims given to SEA implementation i.e. to contribute to the 'integration' of environmental perspectives in planning processes. Context must be defined in relation to a certain question. In this paper the question in focus is the assumption that SEA implementation will contribute to integration of environmental issues in planning processes. Research results relating to the use of environmental tools, like for example SEA, and experiences of integration efforts, strongly indicate that the use of a single tool like SEA is not enough to achieve this integration. The current 'context free' normative and procedural assumptions concerning the aim of SEA implementation and 'best practice' in term of SEA can be criticised on the same grounds as normative and procedural planning theories, as being context free. The assumptions behind the current formulations of the aim and best practice of SEA need to be revisited. A firm empirical and theoretical knowledge and discussion is needed, especially in relation to the issue of context and integration. This paper provides a starting point in this direction

ACCELERATION OF SEA LEVEL RISE OVER MALAYSIAN SEAS FROM SATELLITE ALTIMETER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. I. A. Hamid

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Sea level rise becomes our concern nowadays as a result of variously contribution of climate change that cause by the anthropogenic effects. Global sea levels have been rising through the past century and are projected to rise at an accelerated rate throughout the 21st century. Due to this change, sea level is now constantly rising and eventually will threaten many low-lying and unprotected coastal areas in many ways. This paper is proposing a significant effort to quantify the sea level trend over Malaysian seas based on the combination of multi-mission satellite altimeters over a period of 23 years. Eight altimeter missions are used to derive the absolute sea level from Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS. Data verification is then carried out to verify the satellite derived sea level rise data with tidal data. Eight selected tide gauge stations from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are chosen for this data verification. The pattern and correlation of both measurements of sea level anomalies (SLA are evaluated over the same period in each area in order to produce comparable results. Afterwards, the time series of the sea level trend is quantified using robust fit regression analysis. The findings clearly show that the absolute sea level trend is rising and varying over the Malaysian seas with the rate of sea level varies and gradually increase from east to west of Malaysia. Highly confident and correlation level of the 23 years measurement data with an astonishing root mean square difference permits the absolute sea level trend of the Malaysian seas has raised at the rate 3.14 ± 0.12 mm yr-1 to 4.81 ± 0.15 mm yr-1 for the chosen sub-areas, with an overall mean of 4.09 ± 0.12 mm yr-1. This study hopefully offers a beneficial sea level information to be applied in a wide range of related environmental and climatology issue such as flood and global warming.

Acceleration of Sea Level Rise Over Malaysian Seas from Satellite Altimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Hamid, A. I. A.; Din, A. H. M.; Khalid, N. F.; Omar, K. M.

2016-09-01

Sea level rise becomes our concern nowadays as a result of variously contribution of climate change that cause by the anthropogenic effects. Global sea levels have been rising through the past century and are projected to rise at an accelerated rate throughout the 21st century. Due to this change, sea level is now constantly rising and eventually will threaten many low-lying and unprotected coastal areas in many ways. This paper is proposing a significant effort to quantify the sea level trend over Malaysian seas based on the combination of multi-mission satellite altimeters over a period of 23 years. Eight altimeter missions are used to derive the absolute sea level from Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS). Data verification is then carried out to verify the satellite derived sea level rise data with tidal data. Eight selected tide gauge stations from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are chosen for this data verification. The pattern and correlation of both measurements of sea level anomalies (SLA) are evaluated over the same period in each area in order to produce comparable results. Afterwards, the time series of the sea level trend is quantified using robust fit regression analysis. The findings clearly show that the absolute sea level trend is rising and varying over the Malaysian seas with the rate of sea level varies and gradually increase from east to west of Malaysia. Highly confident and correlation level of the 23 years measurement data with an astonishing root mean square difference permits the absolute sea level trend of the Malaysian seas has raised at the rate 3.14 ± 0.12 mm yr-1 to 4.81 ± 0.15 mm yr-1 for the chosen sub-areas, with an overall mean of 4.09 ± 0.12 mm yr-1. This study hopefully offers a beneficial sea level information to be applied in a wide range of related environmental and climatology issue such as flood and global warming.

Intermittent sea-level acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Olivieri, M.; Spada, G.

2013-10-01

Using instrumental observations from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL), we provide a new assessment of the global sea-level acceleration for the last ~ 2 centuries (1820-2010). Our results, obtained by a stack of tide gauge time series, confirm the existence of a global sea-level acceleration (GSLA) and, coherently with independent assessments so far, they point to a value close to 0.01 mm/yr2. However, differently from previous studies, we discuss how change points or abrupt inflections in individual sea-level time series have contributed to the GSLA. Our analysis, based on methods borrowed from econometrics, suggests the existence of two distinct driving mechanisms for the GSLA, both involving a minority of tide gauges globally. The first effectively implies a gradual increase in the rate of sea-level rise at individual tide gauges, while the second is manifest through a sequence of catastrophic variations of the sea-level trend. These occurred intermittently since the end of the 19th century and became more frequent during the last four decades.

Assessing Flood Risk Under Sea Level Rise and Extreme Sea Levels Scenarios: Application to the Ebro Delta (Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Sayol, J. M.; Marcos, M.

2018-02-01

This study presents a novel methodology to estimate the impact of local sea level rise and extreme surges and waves in coastal areas under climate change scenarios. The methodology is applied to the Ebro Delta, a valuable and vulnerable low-lying wetland located in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Projections of local sea level accounting for all contributions to mean sea level changes, including thermal expansion, dynamic changes, fresh water addition and glacial isostatic adjustment, have been obtained from regionalized sea level projections during the 21st century. Particular attention has been paid to the uncertainties, which have been derived from the spread of the multi-model ensemble combined with seasonal/inter-annual sea level variability from local tide gauge observations. Besides vertical land movements have also been integrated to estimate local relative sea level rise. On the other hand, regional projections over the Mediterranean basin of storm surges and wind-waves have been used to evaluate changes in extreme events. The compound effects of surges and extreme waves have been quantified using their joint probability distributions. Finally, offshore sea level projections from extreme events superimposed to mean sea level have been propagated onto a high resolution digital elevation model of the study region in order to construct flood hazards maps for mid and end of the 21st century and under two different climate change scenarios. The effect of each contribution has been evaluated in terms of percentage of the area exposed to coastal hazards, which will help to design more efficient protection and adaptation measures.

Ship emissions and the use of current air cleaning technology: contributions to air pollution and acidification in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Claremar, Björn; Haglund, Karin; Rutgersson, Anna

2017-10-01

The shipping sector is a significant contributor to emissions of air pollutants in marine and coastal regions. In order to achieve sustainable shipping, primarily through new regulations and techniques, greater knowledge of dispersion and deposition of air pollutants is required. Regional model calculations of the dispersion and concentration of sulfur, nitrogen, and particulate matter, as well as deposition of oxidized sulfur and nitrogen from the international maritime sector in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, have been made for the years 2011 to 2013. The contribution from shipping is highest along shipping lanes and near large ports for concentration and dry deposition. Sulfur is the most important pollutant coupled to shipping. The contribution of both SO2 concentration and dry deposition of sulfur represented up to 80 % of the total in some regions. WHO guidelines for annual concentrations were not trespassed for any analysed pollutant, other than PM2.5 in the Netherlands, Belgium, and central Poland. However, due to the resolution of the numerical model, 50 km × 50 km, there may be higher concentrations locally close to intense shipping lanes. Wet deposition is more spread and less sensitive to model resolution. The contribution of wet deposition of sulfur and nitrogen from shipping was up to 30 % of the total wet deposition. Comparison of simulated to measured concentration at two coastal stations close to shipping lanes showed some underestimations and missed maximums, probably due to resolution of the model and underestimated ship emissions. A change in regulation for maximum sulfur content in maritime fuel, in 2015 from 1 to 0.1 %, decreases the atmospheric sulfur concentration and deposition significantly. However, due to costs related to refining, the cleaning of exhausts through scrubbers has become a possible economic solution. Open-loop scrubbers meet the air quality criteria but their consequences for the marine environment are largely unknown

Ship emissions and the use of current air cleaning technology: contributions to air pollution and acidification in the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Claremar

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The shipping sector is a significant contributor to emissions of air pollutants in marine and coastal regions. In order to achieve sustainable shipping, primarily through new regulations and techniques, greater knowledge of dispersion and deposition of air pollutants is required. Regional model calculations of the dispersion and concentration of sulfur, nitrogen, and particulate matter, as well as deposition of oxidized sulfur and nitrogen from the international maritime sector in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, have been made for the years 2011 to 2013. The contribution from shipping is highest along shipping lanes and near large ports for concentration and dry deposition. Sulfur is the most important pollutant coupled to shipping. The contribution of both SO2 concentration and dry deposition of sulfur represented up to 80 % of the total in some regions. WHO guidelines for annual concentrations were not trespassed for any analysed pollutant, other than PM2.5 in the Netherlands, Belgium, and central Poland. However, due to the resolution of the numerical model, 50 km  ×  50 km, there may be higher concentrations locally close to intense shipping lanes. Wet deposition is more spread and less sensitive to model resolution. The contribution of wet deposition of sulfur and nitrogen from shipping was up to 30 % of the total wet deposition. Comparison of simulated to measured concentration at two coastal stations close to shipping lanes showed some underestimations and missed maximums, probably due to resolution of the model and underestimated ship emissions. A change in regulation for maximum sulfur content in maritime fuel, in 2015 from 1 to 0.1 %, decreases the atmospheric sulfur concentration and deposition significantly. However, due to costs related to refining, the cleaning of exhausts through scrubbers has become a possible economic solution. Open-loop scrubbers meet the air quality criteria but their consequences for

The contribution to nitrogen deposition and ozone formation in South Norway from atmospheric emissions related to the petroleum activity in the North Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solberg, S; Walker, S -E; Knudsen, S; Lazaridis, M; Beine, H J; Semb, A

1999-03-01

A photochemical plume model has been developed and refined. The model is designed to simulate the advection and photochemistry for several simultaneous point sources as well as the atmospheric mixing. the model has been used to calculate nitrogen deposition and ozone formation due to offshore emissions in the North Sea. Based on meteorological data for 1992 the calculations give a total contribution of 60-80 mg (N)/m{sub 2} at most in South Norway. Emission from British and Norwegian sector is calculated to contribute less than 5% each to the AOT40 index for ozone. (author)

The contribution to nitrogen deposition and ozone formation in South Norway from atmospheric emissions related to the petroleum activity in the North Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solberg, S.; Walker, S.-E.; Knudsen, S.; Lazaridis, M.; Beine, H.J.; Semb, A.

1999-03-01

A photochemical plume model has been developed and refined. The model is designed to simulate the advection and photochemistry for several simultaneous point sources as well as the atmospheric mixing. the model has been used to calculate nitrogen deposition and ozone formation due to offshore emissions in the North Sea. Based on meteorological data for 1992 the calculations give a total contribution of 60-80 mg (N)/m 2 at most in South Norway. Emission from British and Norwegian sector is calculated to contribute less than 5% each to the AOT40 index for ozone. (author)

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-01-01

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28–56 cm, 37–77 cm, and 57–131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The “constrained extrapolation” approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections. PMID:26903648

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-03-08

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28-56 cm, 37-77 cm, and 57-131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The "constrained extrapolation" approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections.

Coupling of dimethylsulfide oxidation to biomass production by a marine flavobacterium

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Green, D.H.; Shenoy, D.M.; Hart, M.C.; Hatton, A.D.

. Stirling, and J. R. Quayle. 1982. Co-metabolism [and discussion]. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 297:481-496. 7. del Valle, D. A., D. J. Kieber, and R. P. Kiene. 2007. Depth-dependent fate of biologically- consumed dimethylsulfide in the Sargasso Sea. Mar Chem.... Klenk. 1985. Measurement of protein using bicinchoninic acid. Anal Biochem 150:76-85. 27. Vila-Costa, M., D. A. del Valle, J. M. Gonzalez, D. Slezak, R. P. Kiene, O. Sanchez, and R. Simo. 2006. Phylogenetic identification and metabolism of marine...

The contribution of apoptosis and necrosis in freezing injury of sea urchin embryonic cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Boroda, Andrey V; Kipryushina, Yulia O; Yakovlev, Konstantin V; Odintsova, Nelly A

2016-08-01

Sea urchins have recently been reported to be a promising tool for investigations of oxidative stress, UV light perturbations and senescence. However, few available data describe the pathway of cell death that occurs in sea urchin embryonic cells after cryopreservation. Our study is focused on the morphological and functional alterations that occur in cells of these animals during the induction of different cell death pathways in response to cold injury. To estimate the effect of cryopreservation on sea urchin cell cultures and identify the involved cell death pathways, we analyzed cell viability (via trypan blue exclusion test, MTT assay and DAPI staining), caspase activity (via flow cytometry and spectrophotometry), the level of apoptosis (via annexin V-FITC staining), and cell ultrastructure alterations (via transmission electron microscopy). Using general caspase detection, we found that the level of caspase activity was low in unfrozen control cells, whereas the number of apoptotic cells with activated caspases rose after freezing-thawing depending on cryoprotectants used, also as the number of dead cells and cells in a late apoptosis. The data using annexin V-binding assay revealed a very high apoptosis level in all tested samples, even in unfrozen cells (about 66%). Thus, annexin V assay appears to be unsuitable for sea urchin embryonic cells. Typical necrotic cells with damaged mitochondria were not detected after freezing in sea urchin cell cultures. Our results assume that physical cell disruption but not freezing-induced apoptosis or necrosis is the predominant reason of cell death in sea urchin cultures after freezing-thawing with any cryoprotectant combination. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interannual Variability of the Sea-Ice-Induced Salt Flux in the Greenland Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Leif Toudal; Coon, M.D.

2001-01-01

The Greenland Sea is one of the few places in the World Ocean where deep convection takes place. The convection process is initiated by a density increase originating from rapid cooling and/or a salt flux to the upper layer of the ocean due to brine rejection from ice formation (Rudels, 1990......; Visbeck and others, 1995). The predominant ice types in the Greenland Sea arc frazil/grease ice and pancake ice. A numerical model has been developed relating ice formation and decay of these ice types as observed by the SMMR and SSM/I microwave radiometers and evaluating their contribution to salt...... redistribution in the Greenland Sea. The model has been used to calculate spatial distribution of the annual integrated net salt flux to the Greenland Sea from ice production and advection for the period 1979-97....

The origin of sea salt in snow on Arctic sea ice and in coastal regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Domine

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Snow, through its trace constituents, can have a major impact on lower tropospheric chemistry, as evidenced by ozone depletion events (ODEs in oceanic polar areas. These ODEs are caused by the chemistry of bromine compounds that originate from sea salt bromide. Bromide may be supplied to the snow surface by upward migration from sea ice, by frost flowers being wind-blown to the snow surface, or by wind-transported aerosol generated by sea spray. We investigate here the relative importance of these processes by analyzing ions in snow near Alert and Ny-Ålesund (Canadian and European high Arctic in winter and spring. Vertical ionic profiles in the snowpack on sea ice are measured to test upward migration of sea salt ions and to seek evidence for ion fractionation processes. Time series of the ionic composition of surface snow layers are investigated to quantify wind-transported ions. Upward migration of unfractionated sea salt to heights of at least 17cm was observed in winter snow, leading to Cl- concentration of several hundred µM. Upward migration thus has the potential to supply ions to surface snow layers. Time series show that wind can deposit aerosols to the top few cm of the snow, leading also to Cl- concentrations of several hundred µM, so that both diffusion from sea ice and wind transport can significantly contribute ions to snow. At Ny-Ålesund, sea salt transported by wind was unfractionated, implying that it comes from sea spray rather than frost flowers. Estimations based on our results suggest that the marine snowpack contains about 10 times more Na+ than the frost flowers, so that both the marine snowpack and frost flowers need to be considered as sea salt sources. Our data suggest that ozone depletion chemistry can significantly enhance the Br- content of snow. We speculate that this can also take place in coastal regions and contribute to propagate ODEs inland. Finally, we stress the need to measure snow physical parameters

The spatial distribution of silicoflagellates in the region of the Gulf Stream warm-core ring 82B: application to water mass tracer studies

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Kozo; Blackwelder, Patricia L.

1992-03-01

To delineate potential water mass affinities, we investigated silicoflagellates from the region of Gulf Stream warm-core ring (WCR) 82B in the northwestern Atlantic. Silicoflagellates from 202 samples from N-S and an E-W transects across WCR 82B during late April were analysed. Shelf to Sargasso Sea transects, one completed in early May and the other in June 1982 were also examined. Eight to 11 vertical profiles to 200 m comprised each of the transects. Six taxa of silicoflagellates were found in the samples studied and a total of more than 8000 specimens were encountered. Three major taxa dominated standing stocks: Distephanus speculum, Dictyocha messanensis (intermediate-sized form) and D. mandrai. D. speculum, considered a cold-water taxon in the literature, showed a higher standing stock in the cooler high-velocity region (HVR) of the warm-core ring, continental shelf (SH) and slope (SL) waters. Fewer were present in the wanner ring center (RC), Gulf Stream (GS) and Sargasso Sea (SS). D. mandrai showed a similar distribution to that of D. speculum, but its preference for slightly warmer waters (>~10°C) was noted. In contrast, Dictyocha messanensis (intermediate-sized) and Distephanus pulchra, known to be warm-water taxa, were relatively abundant in the warm ring center. In contrast to standing stock data, ratios between cold- and warm-water taxa correlate well with temperature and salinity in the warm-core ring. Since these ratios are not effected by convective loss, they are excellent water mass tracers in this system. Distribution of the silicoflagellate taxa suggests that WCR82B April had a higher affinity with the Gulf Stream than the Sargasso Sea. Scores derived from factor analysis indicate that silicoflagellate species distributions are highly correlative with water masses. This was evident from correlations with temperature, salinity and with distance from ring center. Nutrients were generally not correlated with species data. This may be due to deep

Spume Drops: Their Potential Role in Air-Sea Gas Exchange

Science.gov (United States)

Monahan, Edward C.; Staniec, Allison; Vlahos, Penny

2017-12-01

After summarizing the time scales defining the change of the physical properties of spume and other droplets cast up from the sea surface, the time scales governing drop-atmosphere gas exchange are compared. Following a broad review of the spume drop production functions described in the literature, a subset of these functions is selected via objective criteria, to represent typical, upper bound, and lower bound production functions. Three complementary mechanisms driving spume-atmosphere gas exchange are described, and one is then used to estimate the relative importance, over a broad range of wind speeds, of this spume drop mechanism compared to the conventional, diffusional, sea surface mechanism in air-sea gas exchange. While remaining uncertainties in the wind dependence of the spume drop production flux, and in the immediate sea surface gas flux, preclude a definitive conclusion, the findings of this study strongly suggest that, at high wind speeds (>20 m s-1 for dimethyl sulfide and >30 m s-1 for gases such a carbon dioxide), spume drops do make a significant contribution to air-sea gas exchange.Plain Language SummaryThis paper evaluates the existing spume drop generation functions available to date and selects a reasonable upper, lower and mid range function that are reasonable for use in air sea exchange models. Based on these the contribution of spume drops to overall air sea gas exchange at different wind speeds is then evaluated to determine the % contribution of spume. Generally below 20ms-1 spume drops contribute <1% of gas exchange but may account for a significant amount of gas exchange at higher wind speeds.

The influence of the summer sea breeze on thermal comfort in Funchal (Madeira). A contribution to tourism and urban planning.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopes, Antonio; Lopes, Sergio; Joao Alcoforado, Maria [Univ. de Lisboa (Portugal). Centro der Estudos Geograficos; Matzarakis, Andreas [Freiburg Univ. (Germany). Meteorological Inst.

2011-10-15

Tourism plays a crucial role for the development of coastal areas. Despite the mildness of Madeira's climate, very hot days can occur during summer, a situation to which most tourists from northern Europe (the majority of foreign tourists) are poorly adapted. As sea breezes strongly contribute to moderate heat stress in urban environments, their influence on the thermal comfort on the island has been studied. Sea breezes occurred on 84 % of the days during the period under study (May to October 2006). They usually start around 09:30 h and end after 22:00 h, with an average duration of about 12:50 hours and a mean velocity of 2.9 m/s. Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) was used to evaluate the thermal comfort of a sample of days during the summer of 2006. It was concluded that most of the sites in the city are ''slightly comfortable'' during normal days with sea breeze, but only shore sites and the highest green areas offer some comfort during hot days. Inside the city, the thermal perception is generally ''hot'' and strong heat stress can occur. As sea breezes are important to mitigate heat stress, some basic guidelines were presented: urban planners should take advantage of this wind system avoiding dense construction near the shoreline that would act as a barrier to the renewal of the air inside the city. In terms of tourism, planners and local authorities should provide solutions to mitigate the negative effects during hot periods, creating a system to warn and relocate more vulnerable tourists to places near the shore line, to the mountains, to gardens and air-conditioned buildings. In combination with other components (beauty of the island, gastronomy, cultural values and safety), climate information can be a factor of attractiveness to tourists. (orig.)

Flooded! An Investigation of Sea-Level Rise in a Changing Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Gillette, Brandon; Hamilton, Cheri

2011-01-01

Explore how melting ice sheets affect global sea levels. Sea-level rise (SLR) is a rise in the water level of the Earth's oceans. There are two major kinds of ice in the polar regions: sea ice and land ice. Land ice contributes to SLR and sea ice does not. This article explores the characteristics of sea ice and land ice and provides some hands-on…

The carbon budget of the North Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomas, H.; Bozec, Y.; Baar, H.J.W. de; Elkalay, K.; Frankignoulle, M.; Schiettecatte, L.-S.; Kattner, G.; Borges, A.V.; Gattuso, J.-P.

2005-01-01

A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea on the NW European continental shelf. The carbon exchange fluxes with the North Atlantic Ocean dominate the gross carbon budget. The net carbon budget – more relevant to the issue of the contribution of the coastal ocean to the

Assessing the role of internal climate variability in Antarctica's contribution to future sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, C. Y.; Forest, C. E.; Pollard, D.

2017-12-01

The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) has the potential to be a major contributor to future sea-level rise (SLR). Current projections of SLR due to AIS mass loss remain highly uncertain. Better understanding of how ice sheets respond to future climate forcing and variability is essential for assessing the long-term risk of SLR. However, the predictability of future climate is limited by uncertainties from emission scenarios, model structural differences, and the internal variability that is inherently generated within the fully coupled climate system. Among those uncertainties, the impact of internal variability on the AIS changes has not been explicitly assessed. In this study, we quantify the effect of internal variability on the AIS evolutions by using climate fields from two large-ensemble experiments using the Community Earth System Model to force a three-dimensional ice sheet model. We find that internal variability of climate fields, particularly atmospheric fields, among ensemble members leads to significantly different AIS responses. Our results show that the internal variability can cause about 80 mm differences of AIS contribution to SLR by 2100 compared to the ensemble-mean contribution of 380-450 mm. Moreover, using ensemble-mean climate fields as the forcing in the ice sheet model does not produce realistic simulations of the ice loss. Instead, it significantly delays the onset of retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet for up to 20 years and significantly underestimates the AIS contribution to SLR by 0.07-0.11 m in 2100 and up to 0.34 m in the 2250's. Therefore, because the uncertainty caused by internal variability is irreducible, we seek to highlight a critical need to assess the role of internal variability in projecting the AIS loss over the next few centuries. By quantifying the impact of internal variability on AIS contribution to SLR, policy makers can obtain more robust estimates of SLR and implement suitable adaptation strategies.

« Et ils ne vécurent pas heureux » : la fin de Jane Eyre réécrite dans Charlotte de D.M. Thomas “And they didn’t live happily ever after”: D.M. Thomas’s Rewriting of the Ending of Jane Eyre in Charlotte

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armelle Parey

2009-10-01

Full Text Available D.M. Thomas’s rewriting of Jane Eyre in Charlotte (2000 takes the shape of a transformation of the ending which enables the second Mrs Rochester’s story to be continued in the West Indies, thus also acknowledging Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea as another intertext. In order to challenge the narrative and ideological hierarchy of the source text by rewriting its ending, the pastiche defamiliarises it while some chapters set in 1999 move the limits of rewriting and take the reader into a narrative spiral.

Temperature effects on gene expression and morphological development of European eel, Anguilla anguilla larvae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Politis, Sebastian Nikitas; Mazurais, David; Servili, Arianna

2017-01-01

°C as the optimal temperature for offspring of European eel. Furthermore, our results suggest that the still enigmatic early life history stages of European eel may inhabit the deeper layer of the Sargasso Sea and indicate vulnerability of this critically endangered species to increasing ocean......Temperature is important for optimization of rearing conditions in aquaculture, especially during the critical early life history stages of fish. Here, we experimentally investigated the impact of temperature (16, 18, 20, 22 and 24°C) on thermally induced phenotypic variability, from larval hatch...

Formation of Barents Sea Branch Water in the north-eastern Barents Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidar S. Lien

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The Barents Sea throughflow accounts for approximately half of the Atlantic Water advection to the Arctic Ocean, while the other half flows through Fram Strait. Within the Barents Sea, the Atlantic Water undergoes considerable modifications before entering the Arctic Ocean through the St. Anna Trough. While the inflow area in the south-western Barents Sea is regularly monitored, oceanographic data from the outflow area to the north-east are very scarce. Here, we use conductivity, temperature and depth data from August/September 2008 to describe in detail the water masses present in the downstream area of the Barents Sea, their spatial distribution and transformations. Both Cold Deep Water, formed locally through winter convection and ice-freezing processes, and Atlantic Water, modified mainly through atmospheric cooling, contribute directly to the Barents Sea Branch Water. As a consequence, it consists of a dense core characterized by a temperature and salinity maximum associated with the Atlantic Water, in addition to the colder, less saline and less dense core commonly referred to as the Barents Sea Branch Water core. The denser core likely constitutes a substantial part of the total flow, and it is more saline and considerably denser than the Fram Strait branch as observed within the St. Anna Trough. Despite the recent warming of the Barents Sea, the Barents Sea Branch Water is denser than observed in the 1990s, and the bottom water observed in the St. Anna Trough matches the potential density at 2000 m depth in the Arctic Ocean.

Seeking an optimal algorithm for a new satellite-based Sea Ice Drift Climate Data Record : Motivations, plans and initial results from the ESA CCI Sea Ice project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lavergne, T.; Dybkjær, Gorm; Girard-Ardhuin, Fanny

The Sea Ice Essential Climate Variable (ECV) as defined by GCOS pertains of both sea ice concentration, thickness, and drift. Now in its second phase, the ESA CCI Sea Ice project is conducting the necessary research efforts to address sea ice drift.Accurate estimates of sea ice drift direction an...... in the final product. This contribution reviews the motivation for the work, the plans for sea ice drift algorithms intercomparison and selection, and early results from our activity....

Minimum and Maximum Potential Contributions to Future Sea Level Rise from Polar Ice Sheets

Science.gov (United States)

Deconto, R. M.; Pollard, D.

2017-12-01

New climate and ice-sheet modeling, calibrated to past changes in sea-level, is painting a stark picture of the future fate of the great polar ice sheets if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. This is especially true for Antarctica, where a substantial fraction of the ice sheet rests on bedrock more than 500-meters below sea level. Here, we explore the sensitivity of the polar ice sheets to a warming atmosphere and ocean under a range of future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. The ice sheet-climate-ocean model used here considers time-evolving changes in surface mass balance and sub-ice oceanic melting, ice deformation, grounding line retreat on reverse-sloped bedrock (Marine Ice Sheet Instability), and newly added processes including hydrofracturing of ice shelves in response to surface meltwater and rain, and structural collapse of thick, marine-terminating ice margins with tall ice-cliff faces (Marine Ice Cliff Instability). The simulations improve on previous work by using 1) improved atmospheric forcing from a Regional Climate Model and 2) a much wider range of model physical parameters within the bounds of modern observations of ice dynamical processes (particularly calving rates) and paleo constraints on past ice-sheet response to warming. Approaches to more precisely define the climatic thresholds capable of triggering rapid and potentially irreversible ice-sheet retreat are also discussed, as is the potential for aggressive mitigation strategies like those discussed at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) to substantially reduce the risk of extreme sea-level rise. These results, including physics that consider both ice deformation (creep) and calving (mechanical failure of marine terminating ice) expand on previously estimated limits of maximum rates of future sea level rise based solely on kinematic constraints of glacier flow. At the high end, the new results show the potential for more than 2m of global mean sea level rise by 2100

Contribution of Bicarbonate Assimilation to Carbon Pool Dynamics in the Deep Mediterranean Sea and Cultivation of Actively Nitrifying and CO2-Fixing Bathypelagic Prokaryotic Consortia.

Science.gov (United States)

La Cono, Violetta; Ruggeri, Gioachino; Azzaro, Maurizio; Crisafi, Francesca; Decembrini, Franco; Denaro, Renata; La Spada, Gina; Maimone, Giovanna; Monticelli, Luis S; Smedile, Francesco; Giuliano, Laura; Yakimov, Michail M

2018-01-01

Covering two-thirds of our planet, the global deep ocean plays a central role in supporting life on Earth. Among other processes, this biggest ecosystem buffers the rise of atmospheric CO 2 . Despite carbon sequestration in the deep ocean has been known for a long time, microbial activity in the meso- and bathypelagic realm via the " assimilation of bicarbonate in the dark " (ABD) has only recently been described in more details. Based on recent findings, this process seems primarily the result of chemosynthetic and anaplerotic reactions driven by different groups of deep-sea prokaryoplankton. We quantified bicarbonate assimilation in relation to total prokaryotic abundance, prokaryotic heterotrophic production and respiration in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea. The measured ABD values, ranging from 133 to 370 μg C m -3 d -1 , were among the highest ones reported worldwide for similar depths, likely due to the elevated temperature of the deep Mediterranean Sea (13-14°C also at abyssal depths). Integrated over the dark water column (≥200 m depth), bicarbonate assimilation in the deep-sea ranged from 396 to 873 mg C m -2 d -1 . This quantity of produced de novo organic carbon amounts to about 85-424% of the phytoplankton primary production and covers up to 62% of deep-sea prokaryotic total carbon demand. Hence, the ABD process in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea might substantially contribute to the inorganic and organic pool and significantly sustain the deep-sea microbial food web. To elucidate the ABD key-players, we established three actively nitrifying and CO 2 -fixing prokaryotic enrichments. Consortia were characterized by the co-occurrence of chemolithoautotrophic Thaumarchaeota and chemoheterotrophic proteobacteria. One of the enrichments, originated from Ionian bathypelagic waters (3,000 m depth) and supplemented with low concentrations of ammonia, was dominated by the Thaumarchaeota "low-ammonia-concentration" deep-sea ecotype

Contribution of Bicarbonate Assimilation to Carbon Pool Dynamics in the Deep Mediterranean Sea and Cultivation of Actively Nitrifying and CO2-Fixing Bathypelagic Prokaryotic Consortia

Science.gov (United States)

La Cono, Violetta; Ruggeri, Gioachino; Azzaro, Maurizio; Crisafi, Francesca; Decembrini, Franco; Denaro, Renata; La Spada, Gina; Maimone, Giovanna; Monticelli, Luis S.; Smedile, Francesco; Giuliano, Laura; Yakimov, Michail M.

2018-01-01

Covering two-thirds of our planet, the global deep ocean plays a central role in supporting life on Earth. Among other processes, this biggest ecosystem buffers the rise of atmospheric CO2. Despite carbon sequestration in the deep ocean has been known for a long time, microbial activity in the meso- and bathypelagic realm via the “assimilation of bicarbonate in the dark” (ABD) has only recently been described in more details. Based on recent findings, this process seems primarily the result of chemosynthetic and anaplerotic reactions driven by different groups of deep-sea prokaryoplankton. We quantified bicarbonate assimilation in relation to total prokaryotic abundance, prokaryotic heterotrophic production and respiration in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea. The measured ABD values, ranging from 133 to 370 μg C m−3 d−1, were among the highest ones reported worldwide for similar depths, likely due to the elevated temperature of the deep Mediterranean Sea (13–14°C also at abyssal depths). Integrated over the dark water column (≥200 m depth), bicarbonate assimilation in the deep-sea ranged from 396 to 873 mg C m−2 d−1. This quantity of produced de novo organic carbon amounts to about 85–424% of the phytoplankton primary production and covers up to 62% of deep-sea prokaryotic total carbon demand. Hence, the ABD process in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea might substantially contribute to the inorganic and organic pool and significantly sustain the deep-sea microbial food web. To elucidate the ABD key-players, we established three actively nitrifying and CO2-fixing prokaryotic enrichments. Consortia were characterized by the co-occurrence of chemolithoautotrophic Thaumarchaeota and chemoheterotrophic proteobacteria. One of the enrichments, originated from Ionian bathypelagic waters (3,000 m depth) and supplemented with low concentrations of ammonia, was dominated by the Thaumarchaeota “low-ammonia-concentration” deep-sea

Sea-level trend in the South China Sea observed from 20 years of along-track satellite altimetric data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheng, Yongcun; Xu, Qing; Andersen, Ole Baltazar

2014-01-01

The sea-level trend in the South China Sea (SCS) is investigated based on 20 years of along-track data from TOPEX and Jason-1/2 satellite altimetry. The average sea-level rise over all the regions in the study area is observed to have a rate of 5.1 ± 0.8 mm year-1 for the period from 1993 to 2012....... The steric sea level contributes 45% to the observed sea-level trend. These results are consistent with previous studies. In addition, the results demonstrate that the maximum sea-level rise rate of 8.4 mm year-1 is occurring off the east coast of Vietnam and eastern part of SCS. During 2010-2011, the La...... Niña event was highly correlated with the dramatic sea-level rise in the SCS; La Niña events were also associated with the maximum rate of sea rise off the east coast of Vietnam, which occurred during 1993 and 2012. We also evaluated the trends in the geophysical (e.g. dynamical atmospheric correction...

Air-sea interactions and exchanges

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Naqvi, S.W.A

To support the idea that the Arabian Sea makes a significant contribution to biogeochemical ocean-atmosphere transfer processes, quantification of parameters such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, ammonia and dimethylsulphide was carried...

Recovery of uranium from sea-water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Llewelyn, G.I.W.

1976-01-01

The possibility of extraction of uranium from sea-water on a sufficiently large scale to contribute significantly to national UK requirements is placed in perspective. It seems unlikely that there are sites around the UK coast where this could be achieved, and insufficient work has been done to be confident that sites exist anywhere to enable uranium extraction to be carried out on a large scale. Process techniques have been developed on a small scale, but extensive further research work would be necessary to reduce appreciably the present uncertainties. It would be unwise to expect uranium from sea-water to contribute significant amounts to the world's uranium demand for thermal reactors on an acceptable timescale. (author)

Hard time to be parents? Sea urchin fishery shifts potential reproductive contribution of population onto the shoulders of the young adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Loi

2017-03-01

undersized ones. Conversely, the high density of the undersized individuals released a similar amount of gametes to the commercial-size class in the low-pressure zone. Discussion Overall, the lack of the commercial-size class in the high-pressure zone does not seem to be very alarming for the self-supporting capacity of the population, and the reproductive potential contribution seems to depend more on the total density of fertile sea urchins than on their size. However, since population survival in the high-pressure zone is supported by the high density of undersized sea urchins between 30 and 50 mm, management measures should be addressed to maintain these sizes and to shed light on the source of the larval supply.

Probabilistic reanalysis of twentieth-century sea-level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Hay, Carling C; Morrow, Eric; Kopp, Robert E; Mitrovica, Jerry X

2015-01-22

Estimating and accounting for twentieth-century global mean sea level (GMSL) rise is critical to characterizing current and future human-induced sea-level change. Several previous analyses of tide gauge records--employing different methods to accommodate the spatial sparsity and temporal incompleteness of the data and to constrain the geometry of long-term sea-level change--have concluded that GMSL rose over the twentieth century at a mean rate of 1.6 to 1.9 millimetres per year. Efforts to account for this rate by summing estimates of individual contributions from glacier and ice-sheet mass loss, ocean thermal expansion, and changes in land water storage fall significantly short in the period before 1990. The failure to close the budget of GMSL during this period has led to suggestions that several contributions may have been systematically underestimated. However, the extent to which the limitations of tide gauge analyses have affected estimates of the GMSL rate of change is unclear. Here we revisit estimates of twentieth-century GMSL rise using probabilistic techniques and find a rate of GMSL rise from 1901 to 1990 of 1.2 ± 0.2 millimetres per year (90% confidence interval). Based on individual contributions tabulated in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this estimate closes the twentieth-century sea-level budget. Our analysis, which combines tide gauge records with physics-based and model-derived geometries of the various contributing signals, also indicates that GMSL rose at a rate of 3.0 ± 0.7 millimetres per year between 1993 and 2010, consistent with prior estimates from tide gauge records.The increase in rate relative to the 1901-90 trend is accordingly larger than previously thought; this revision may affect some projections of future sea-level rise.

Potential contribution of surface-dwelling Sargassum algae to deep-sea ecosystems in the southern North Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Philip; Minzlaff, Ulrike; Schoenle, Alexandra; Schwabe, Enrico; Hohlfeld, Manon; Jeuck, Alexandra; Brenke, Nils; Prausse, Dennis; Rothenbeck, Marcel; Brix, Saskia; Frutos, Inmaculada; Jörger, Katharina M.; Neusser, Timea P.; Koppelmann, Rolf; Devey, Colin; Brandt, Angelika; Arndt, Hartmut

2018-02-01

Deep-sea ecosystems, limited by their inability to use primary production as a source of carbon, rely on other sources to maintain life. Sedimentation of organic carbon into the deep sea has been previously studied, however, the high biomass of sedimented Sargassum algae discovered during the VEMA Transit expedition in 2014/2015 to the southern North Atlantic, and its potential as a regular carbon input, has been an underestimated phenomenon. To determine the potential for this carbon flux, a literature survey of previous studies that estimated the abundance of surface water Sargassum was conducted. We compared these estimates with quantitative analyses of sedimented Sargassum appearing on photos taken with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) directly above the abyssal sediment during the expedition. Organismal communities associated to Sargassum fluitans from surface waters were investigated and Sargassum samples collected from surface waters and the deep sea were biochemically analyzed (fatty acids, stable isotopes, C:N ratios) to determine degradation potential and the trophic significance within deep-sea communities. The estimated Sargassum biomass (fresh weight) in the deep sea (0.07-3.75 g/m2) was several times higher than that estimated from surface waters in the North Atlantic (0.024-0.84 g/m2). Biochemical analysis showed degradation of Sargassum occurring during sedimentation or in the deep sea, however, fatty acid and stable isotope analysis did not indicate direct trophic interactions between the algae and benthic organisms. Thus, it is assumed that components of the deep-sea microbial food web form an important link between the macroalgae and larger benthic organisms. Evaluation of the epifauna showed a diverse nano- micro-, meio, and macrofauna on surface Sargassum and maybe transported across the Atlantic, but we had no evidence for a vertical exchange of fauna components. The large-scale sedimentation of Sargassum forms an important trophic link

Circulation and hydrological characteristics of the North Aegean Sea: a contribution from real-time buoy measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. NITTIS

2002-06-01

Full Text Available In the framework of the POSEIDON Project, a network of open sea oceanographic buoys equipped with meteorological and oceanographic sensors has been operational in the Aegean Sea since 1998. The analysis of upper-ocean physical data (currents at 3m, temperature and salinity at 3-40m depths collected during the last 2 years from the stations of the North Aegean basin indicates a strong temporal variability of flow field and hydrological characteristics in both synoptic and seasonal time scales. The northern part of the basin is mainly influenced by the Black Sea Water outflow and the mesoscale variability of the corresponding thermohaline fronts, while the southern stations are influenced by the general circulation of the Aegean Sea with strong modulations caused by the seasonally varying atmospheric forcing.

Air-sea heat flux control on the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass intensity and implications for its prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Junying; Shi, Jie; Guo, Xinyu; Gao, Huiwang; Yao, Xiaohong

2018-01-01

The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM), which occurs during summer in the central Yellow Sea, plays an important role in the hydrodynamic field, nutrient cycle and biological species. Based on water temperature observations during the summer from 1978 to 1998 in the western Yellow Sea, five specific YSCWM years were identified, including two strong years (1984 and 1985), two weak years (1989 and 1995) and one normal year (1992). Using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, the YSCWM formation processes in these five years were simulated and compared with observations. In general, the YSCWM began forming in spring, matured in summer and gradually disappeared in autumn of every year. The 8 °C isotherm was used to indicate the YSCWM boundary. The modelled YSCWM areas in the two strong years were approximately two times larger than those in the two weak years. Based on the simulations in the weak year of 1995, ten numerical experiments were performed to quantify the key factors influencing the YSCWM intensity by changing the initial water condition in the previous autumn, air-sea heat flux, wind, evaporation, precipitation and sea level pressure to those in the strong year of 1984, respectively. The results showed that the air-sea heat flux was the dominant factor influencing the YSCWM intensity, which contributed about 80% of the differences of the YSCWM average water temperature at a depth of 50 m. In addition, the air-sea heat flux in the previous winter had a determining effect, contributing more than 50% of the differences between the strong and weak YSCWM years. Finally, a simple formula for predicting the YSCWM intensity was established by using the key influencing factors, i.e., the sea surface temperature before the cooling season and the air-sea heat flux during the cooling season from the previous December to the current February. With this formula, instead of a complicated numerical model, we were able to roughly predict the YSCWM intensity for the

Vulnerability of marginal seas to sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Gomis, Damia; Jordà, Gabriel

2017-04-01

Sea level rise (SLR) is a serious thread for coastal areas and has a potential negative impact on society and economy. SLR can lead for instance to land loss, beach reduction, increase of the damage of marine storms on coastal infrastructures and to the salinization of underground water streams. It is well acknowledged that future SLR will be inhomogeneous across the globe, with regional differences of up to 100% with respect to global mean sea level (GMSL). Several studies have addressed the projections of SLR at regional scale, but most of them are based on global climate models (GCMs) that have a relatively coarse spatial resolution (>1°). In marginal seas this has proven to be a strong limitation, as their particular configurations require spatial resolutions that are not reachable by present GCMs. A paradigmatic case is the Mediterranean Sea, connected to the global ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow passage of 14 km width. The functioning of the Mediterranean Sea involves a variety of processes including an overturning circulation, small-scale convection and a rich mesoscale field. Moreover, the long-term evolution of Mediterranean sea level has been significantly different from the global mean during the last decades. The observations of present climate and the projections for the next decades have lead some authors to hypothesize that the particular characteristics of the basin could allow Mediterranean mean sea level to evolve differently from the global mean. Assessing this point is essential to undertake proper adaptation strategies for the largely populated Mediterranean coastal areas. In this work we apply a new approach that combines regional and global projections to analyse future SLR. In a first step we focus on the quantification of the expected departures of future Mediterranean sea level from GMSL evolution and on the contribution of different processes to these departures. As a result we find that, in spite of its particularities

Factors controlling vertical fluxes of prrticles in the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Nair, T.M.B.; Ramaswamy, V.; Parthiban, G.; Shankar, R.

)) in the western Arabian Sea. Carbonate contributed mainly by foraminifers and coccolithophorids, are the dominant component in all the traps. Opal fluxes were maximum in the western Arabian Sea. At all the locations, lithogenic percentages increased with depth...

An Investigation of the Radiative Effects and Climate Feedbacks of Sea Ice Sources of Sea Salt Aerosol

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz, H. M.; Alexander, B.; Bitz, C. M.; Jaegle, L.; Burrows, S. M.

2017-12-01

In polar regions, sea ice is a major source of sea salt aerosol through lofting of saline frost flowers or blowing saline snow from the sea ice surface. Under continued climate warming, an ice-free Arctic in summer with only first-year, more saline sea ice in winter is likely. Previous work has focused on climate impacts in summer from increasing open ocean sea salt aerosol emissions following complete sea ice loss in the Arctic, with conflicting results suggesting no net radiative effect or a negative climate feedback resulting from a strong first aerosol indirect effect. However, the radiative forcing from changes to the sea ice sources of sea salt aerosol in a future, warmer climate has not previously been explored. Understanding how sea ice loss affects the Arctic climate system requires investigating both open-ocean and sea ice sources of sea-salt aerosol and their potential interactions. Here, we implement a blowing snow source of sea salt aerosol into the Community Earth System Model (CESM) dynamically coupled to the latest version of the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE5). Snow salinity is a key parameter affecting blowing snow sea salt emissions and previous work has assumed constant regional snow salinity over sea ice. We develop a parameterization for dynamic snow salinity in the sea ice model and examine how its spatial and temporal variability impacts the production of sea salt from blowing snow. We evaluate and constrain the snow salinity parameterization using available observations. Present-day coupled CESM-CICE5 simulations of sea salt aerosol concentrations including sea ice sources are evaluated against in situ and satellite (CALIOP) observations in polar regions. We then quantify the present-day radiative forcing from the addition of blowing snow sea salt aerosol with respect to aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. The relative contributions of sea ice vs. open ocean sources of sea salt aerosol to radiative forcing in polar regions is

A scaling approach to project regional sea level rise and its uncertainties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Perrette

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change causes global mean sea level to rise due to thermal expansion of seawater and loss of land ice from mountain glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets. Locally, sea level can strongly deviate from the global mean rise due to changes in wind and ocean currents. In addition, gravitational adjustments redistribute seawater away from shrinking ice masses. However, the land ice contribution to sea level rise (SLR remains very challenging to model, and comprehensive regional sea level projections, which include appropriate gravitational adjustments, are still a nascent field (Katsman et al., 2011; Slangen et al., 2011. Here, we present an alternative approach to derive regional sea level changes for a range of emission and land ice melt scenarios, combining probabilistic forecasts of a simple climate model (MAGICC6 with the new CMIP5 general circulation models. The contribution from ice sheets varies considerably depending on the assumptions for the ice sheet projections, and thus represents sizeable uncertainties for future sea level rise. However, several consistent and robust patterns emerge from our analysis: at low latitudes, especially in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, sea level will likely rise more than the global mean (mostly by 10–20%. Around the northeastern Atlantic and the northeastern Pacific coasts, sea level will rise less than the global average or, in some rare cases, even fall. In the northwestern Atlantic, along the American coast, a strong dynamic sea level rise is counteracted by gravitational depression due to Greenland ice melt; whether sea level will be above- or below-average will depend on the relative contribution of these two factors. Our regional sea level projections and the diagnosed uncertainties provide an improved basis for coastal impact analysis and infrastructure planning for adaptation to climate change.

Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf

Science.gov (United States)

Sparrow, Katy J.; Kessler, John D.; Southon, John R.; Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix; Schreiner, Kathryn M.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Miller, John B.; Lehman, Scott J.; Xu, Xiaomei

2018-01-01

In response to warming climate, methane can be released to Arctic Ocean sediment and waters from thawing subsea permafrost and decomposing methane hydrates. However, it is unknown whether methane derived from this sediment storehouse of frozen ancient carbon reaches the atmosphere. We quantified the fraction of methane derived from ancient sources in shelf waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a region that has both permafrost and methane hydrates and is experiencing significant warming. Although the radiocarbon-methane analyses indicate that ancient carbon is being mobilized and emitted as methane into shelf bottom waters, surprisingly, we find that methane in surface waters is principally derived from modern-aged carbon. We report that at and beyond approximately the 30-m isobath, ancient sources that dominate in deep waters contribute, at most, 10 ± 3% of the surface water methane. These results suggest that even if there is a heightened liberation of ancient carbon–sourced methane as climate change proceeds, oceanic oxidation and dispersion processes can strongly limit its emission to the atmosphere.

Changes in extreme regional sea level under global warming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brunnabend, S. E.; Dijkstra, H. A.; Kliphuis, Michael; Bal, Henri E.; Seinstra, Frank J.; van Werkhoven, Ben; Maassen, J.; van Meersbergen, Maarten

2017-01-01

An important contribution to future changes in regional sea level extremes is due to the changes in intrinsic ocean variability, in particular ocean eddies. Here, we study a scenario of future dynamic sea level (DSL) extremes using a high-resolution version of the Parallel Ocean Program and

Sea Level Changes: Determination and Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Woodworth, P. L.; Pugh, D. T.; DeRonde, J. G.; Warrick, R. G.; Hannah, J.

The measurement of sea level is of fundamental importance to a wide range of research in climatology, oceanography, geology and geodesy. This volume attempts to cover many aspects of the field. The volume opens with a description by Bolduc and Murty of one of the products stemming from the development of tide gauge networks in the northern and tropical Atlantic. This work is relevant to the growth of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), the main goal of which is to provide the world with an efficient, coherent sea level monitoring system for océanographie and climatological research. The subsequent four papers present results from the analysis of existing tide gauge data, including those datasets available from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level and the TOGA Sea Level Center. Two of the four, by Wroblewski and by Pasaric and Orlic, are concerned with European sea level changes, while Yu Jiye et al. discuss inter-annual changes in the Pacific, and Wang Baocan et al. describe variability in the Changjiang estuary in China. The papers by El- Abd and A wad, on Red Sea levels, are the only contributions to the volume from the large research community of geologists concerned with sea level changes.

The plutonium as transfer tracer and particulates contribution accumulating from the Rhone to the north-western Mediterranean sea; Le plutonium comme traceur du transfert et de l`accumulation des apports particulaires du Rhone en Mediterranee nord-occidentale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noel, M.H.

1996-03-29

To follow the alluvial deposits from the Rhone in Mediterranean Sea, since the principle hydroelectric constructions (1960), it was necessary to find an adequate tracer. The plutonium isotopes have satisfied to the different characteristics. The specificity of the Rhone contribution is bound to the existence of the irradiated spent fuels reprocessing plant of Marcoule; the releases of this plant are characterized by the predominance of Plutonium 238. The results of this study show that the percentage of sediments coming from the Rhone in the recent contribution, is low beyond the pro delta: less than 5% of the sediment of the continental shelf concern the Rhone contribution. However, there are two zones for which the contribution is important and could play a role in the particulate transfer towards the high sea. (N.C.). 157 refs., 60 figs., 50 tabs.

Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Changes and Impacts (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Nghiem, S. V.

2013-12-01

The extent of springtime Arctic perennial sea ice, important to preconditioning summer melt and to polar sunrise photochemistry, continues its precipitous reduction in the last decade marked by a record low in 2012, as the Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury Experiment (BROMEX) was conducted around Barrow, Alaska, to investigate impacts of sea ice reduction on photochemical processes, transport, and distribution in the polar environment. In spring 2013, there was further loss of perennial sea ice, as it was not observed in the ocean region adjacent to the Alaskan north coast, where there was a stretch of perennial sea ice in 2012 in the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea. In contrast to the rapid and extensive loss of sea ice in the Arctic, Antarctic sea ice has a trend of a slight increase in the past three decades. Given the significant variability in time and in space together with uncertainties in satellite observations, the increasing trend of Antarctic sea ice may arguably be considered as having a low confidence level; however, there was no overall reduction of Antarctic sea ice extent anywhere close to the decreasing rate of Arctic sea ice. There exist publications presenting various factors driving changes in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. After a short review of these published factors, new observations and atmospheric, oceanic, hydrological, and geological mechanisms contributed to different behaviors of sea ice changes in the Arctic and Antarctic are presented. The contribution from of hydrologic factors may provide a linkage to and enhance thermal impacts from lower latitudes. While geological factors may affect the sensitivity of sea ice response to climate change, these factors can serve as the long-term memory in the system that should be exploited to improve future projections or predictions of sea ice changes. Furthermore, similarities and differences in chemical impacts of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice changes are discussed. Understanding sea ice changes and

Assessing Pigment-Based Phytoplankton Community Distributions in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Kheireddine, Malika

2017-05-10

Pigment-based phytoplankton community composition and primary production were investigated for the first time in the Red Sea in February-April 2015 to demonstrate how the strong south to north environmental gradients determine phytoplankton community structure in Red Sea offshore regions (along the central axis). Taxonomic pigments were used as size group markers of pico, nano-, and microphytoplankton. Phytoplankton primary production rates associated with the three phytoplankton groups (pico-, nano-, and microphytoplankton) were estimated using a bio-optical model. Pico- (Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus sp.) and Nanophytoplankton (Prymnesiophytes and Pelagophytes) were the dominant size groups and contributed to 49 and 38%, respectively, of the phytoplankton biomass. Microphytoplankton (diatoms) contributed to 13% of the phytoplankton biomass within the productive layer (1.5 Zeu). Sub-basin and mesoscale structures (cyclonic eddy and mixing) were exceptions to this general trend. In the southern Red Sea, diatoms and picophytoplankton contributed to 27 and 31% of the phytoplankton biomass, respectively. This result induced higher primary production rates (430 ± 50 mgC m−2 d−1) in this region (opposed to CRS and NRS). The cyclonic eddy contained the highest microphytoplankton proportion (45% of TChla) and the lowest picophytoplankton contribution (17% of TChla) while adjacent areas were dominated by pico- and nano-phytoplankton. We estimated that the cyclonic eddy is an area of enhanced primary production, which is up to twice those of the central part of the basin. During the mixing of the water column in the extreme north of the basin, we observed the highest TChla integrated (40 mg m−2) and total primary production rate (640 mgC m−2 d−1) associated with the highest nanophytoplankton contribution (57% of TChla). Microphytoplankton were a major contributor to total primary production (54%) in the cyclonic eddy. The contribution of picophytoplankton

Assessing Pigment-Based Phytoplankton Community Distributions in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Kheireddine, Malika; Ouhssain, Mustapha; Claustre, Hervé ; Uitz, Julia; Gentili, Bernard; Jones, Burton

2017-01-01

Pigment-based phytoplankton community composition and primary production were investigated for the first time in the Red Sea in February-April 2015 to demonstrate how the strong south to north environmental gradients determine phytoplankton community structure in Red Sea offshore regions (along the central axis). Taxonomic pigments were used as size group markers of pico, nano-, and microphytoplankton. Phytoplankton primary production rates associated with the three phytoplankton groups (pico-, nano-, and microphytoplankton) were estimated using a bio-optical model. Pico- (Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus sp.) and Nanophytoplankton (Prymnesiophytes and Pelagophytes) were the dominant size groups and contributed to 49 and 38%, respectively, of the phytoplankton biomass. Microphytoplankton (diatoms) contributed to 13% of the phytoplankton biomass within the productive layer (1.5 Zeu). Sub-basin and mesoscale structures (cyclonic eddy and mixing) were exceptions to this general trend. In the southern Red Sea, diatoms and picophytoplankton contributed to 27 and 31% of the phytoplankton biomass, respectively. This result induced higher primary production rates (430 ± 50 mgC m−2 d−1) in this region (opposed to CRS and NRS). The cyclonic eddy contained the highest microphytoplankton proportion (45% of TChla) and the lowest picophytoplankton contribution (17% of TChla) while adjacent areas were dominated by pico- and nano-phytoplankton. We estimated that the cyclonic eddy is an area of enhanced primary production, which is up to twice those of the central part of the basin. During the mixing of the water column in the extreme north of the basin, we observed the highest TChla integrated (40 mg m−2) and total primary production rate (640 mgC m−2 d−1) associated with the highest nanophytoplankton contribution (57% of TChla). Microphytoplankton were a major contributor to total primary production (54%) in the cyclonic eddy. The contribution of picophytoplankton

Seasonal variation of 228Ra/226Ra ratio in seaweed: implications for water circulation patterns in coastal areas of the Noto Peninsula, Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, M.; Kofuji, H.; Yamamoto, M.; Komura, K.

2005-01-01

To examine water circulation patterns of coastal water, 72 seaweed (Sargasso) samples and 27 coastal water samples were collected from coastal areas of the Noto Peninsula, Japan, during the period from December 1998 to June 2002. The 228 Ra and 226 Ra activities of those samples were measured by low-background γ-ray spectrometry. There was a wide range of activities of 228 Ra (0.5-2 Bq/kg-fresh) and 226 Ra (0.5-1.2 Bq/kg-fresh) in the Sargasso samples. The 228 Ra/ 226 Ra activity ratio of Sargasso samples exhibited seasonal variation with minimum values in June ( 228 Ra/ 226 Ra = ∼1) and maximum values in December (1.5-2.5), which was mainly governed by changes in 228 Ra activity. It is also notable that the seasonal variation of the 228 Ra/ 226 Ra ratio of Sargasso is in approximate agreement with that of the ambient coastal water. Sargasso samples appear to have retained the 228 Ra/ 226 Ra ratio of the ambient coastal waters, and the temporal variations in that ratio provide insight into seasonal changes in water circulation in the Noto Peninsula coastal area

Seasonality and vertical structure of microbial communities in an ocean gyre.

Science.gov (United States)

Treusch, Alexander H; Vergin, Kevin L; Finlay, Liam A; Donatz, Michael G; Burton, Robert M; Carlson, Craig A; Giovannoni, Stephen J

2009-10-01

Vertical, seasonal and geographical patterns in ocean microbial communities have been observed in many studies, but the resolution of community dynamics has been limited by the scope of data sets, which are seldom up to the task of illuminating the highly structured and rhythmic patterns of change found in ocean ecosystems. We studied vertical and temporal patterns in the microbial community composition in a set of 412 samples collected from the upper 300 m of the water column in the northwestern Sargasso Sea, on cruises between 1991 and 2004. The region sampled spans the extent of deep winter mixing and the transition between the euphotic and the upper mesopelagic zones, where most carbon fixation and reoxidation occurs. A bioinformatic pipeline was developed to de-noise, normalize and align terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) data from three restriction enzymes and link T-RFLP peaks to microbial clades. Non-metric multidimensional scaling statistics resolved three microbial communities with distinctive composition during seasonal stratification: a surface community in the region of lowest nutrients, a deep chlorophyll maximum community and an upper mesopelagic community. A fourth microbial community was associated with annual spring blooms of eukaryotic phytoplankton that occur in the northwestern Sargasso Sea as a consequence of winter convective mixing that entrains nutrients to the surface. Many bacterial clades bloomed in seasonal patterns that shifted with the progression of stratification. These richly detailed patterns of community change suggest that highly specialized adaptations and interactions govern the success of microbial populations in the oligotrophic ocean.

Response of Antarctic sea surface temperature and sea ice to ozone depletion

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, D.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Kostov, Y.; Marshall, J.; Seviour, W.; Waugh, D.

2017-12-01

The influence of the Antarctic ozone hole extends all the way from the stratosphere through the troposphere down to the surface, with clear signatures on surface winds, and SST during summer. In this talk we discuss the impact of these changes on the ocean circulation and sea ice state. We are notably motivated by the observed cooling of the surface Southern Ocean and associated increase in Antarctic sea ice extent since the 1970s. These trends are not reproduced by CMIP5 climate models, and the underlying mechanism at work in nature and the models remain unexplained. Did the ozone hole contribute to the observed trends?Here, we review recent advances toward answering these issues using "abrupt ozone depletion" experiments. The ocean and sea ice response is rather complex, comprising two timescales: a fast ( 1-2y) cooling of the surface ocean and sea ice cover increase, followed by a slower warming trend, which, depending on models, flip the sign of the SST and sea ice responses on decadal timescale. Although the basic mechanism seems robust, comparison across climate models reveal large uncertainties in the timescales and amplitude of the response to the extent that even the sign of the ocean and sea ice response to ozone hole and recovery remains unconstrained. After briefly describing the dynamics and thermodynamics behind the two-timescale response, we will discuss the main sources of uncertainties in the modeled response, namely cloud effects and air-sea heat exchanges, surface wind stress response and ocean eddy transports. Finally, we will consider the implications of our results on the ability of coupled climate models to reproduce observed Southern Ocean changes.

Comparative metagenomics of the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Mineta, Katsuhiko

2016-01-26

Metagenome produces a tremendous amount of data that comes from the organisms living in the environments. This big data enables us to examine not only microbial genes but also the community structure, interaction and adaptation mechanisms at the specific location and condition. The Red Sea has several unique characteristics such as high salinity, high temperature and low nutrition. These features must contribute to form the unique microbial community during the evolutionary process. Since 2014, we started monthly samplings of the metagenomes in the Red Sea under KAUST-CCF project. In collaboration with Kitasato University, we also collected the metagenome data from the ocean in Japan, which shows contrasting features to the Red Sea. Therefore, the comparative metagenomics of those data provides a comprehensive view of the Red Sea microbes, leading to identify key microbes, genes and networks related to those environmental differences.

Atmospheric input of trace substances into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Stoffeintrag in Nord- und Ostsee ueber die Atmosphaere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grassl, H; Eppel, D; Petersen, G; Schneider, B; Weber, H; Gandrass, J; Reinhardt, K H; Wodarg, D; Fliess, J

1989-01-01

The concentrations and deposition of atmospheric trace substances were measured over the Kiel Bight and the Southern North Sea. A European longrange-transport model was used to calculate the atmospheric concentrations of trace metals and their deposition into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Natural and anthropogenic emitted element concentrations could be separated definitely by the measurements, and preferred transport directions of anthropogenic contributions could be found. Concentrations measured over the North Sea could be related to the surrounding emission areas by airmass trajectory analyses. The deposition measurements show that the main removal process is due to deposition by precipitation. Calculated and measured concentrations at several receptor points agreed well. The model results confirm the dominating role of wet deposition. It could be shown that extrapolations from measurements at coastal stations to the whole sea area tend to overestimate the total deposition into North Sea and Baltic Sea. (orig.) With 78 refs., 26 tabs., 85 figs.

TO THE TOPIC ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE BIO-RESOURCES STOCKS OF THE CASPIAN SEA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. T. Asanov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The purpose of the work was to assess the activity of international organizations and determine theirs contribution to the preservation and rational use of water biological resources of the Caspian Sea and their inhabitant in the period after 1991.Results. The work presents a high management level of the state of water-biological resources during the history of the fishery basin. The management level of stocks, carried out by one country, including protection measures and artificial reproduction, allows to quickly respond to the dangers till the end of the XX century. It is shown that the activity of many out-regional and (or non-state international organizations, heightened during the last the last-day period, is limited to piece of information, comprised of data collection about basin and preparing of the base for the adoption of binding decisions in the international legal field , often there is in a negative context for the Russian Federation. It is noted the leading input of specialized state departments, institutes and organizations to the protection, reproduction, researching of water bio-resources and their inhabitant, the results of which were integrated in the frames of work of the Commission on water bio-resources of the Caspian Sea.Main conclusions. The abstract presents suggestions on activity of designated global institution taking into account the beginning of the Agreement on protection and rational use of water biological resources of the Caspian Sea. The article presents proposals for the activity of international organizations at the Caspian basin. 

Observation-Driven Estimation of the Spatial Variability of 20th Century Sea Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlington, B. D.; Burgos, A.; Thompson, P. R.; Landerer, F. W.; Piecuch, C. G.; Adhikari, S.; Caron, L.; Reager, J. T.; Ivins, E. R.

2018-03-01

Over the past two decades, sea level measurements made by satellites have given clear indications of both global and regional sea level rise. Numerous studies have sought to leverage the modern satellite record and available historic sea level data provided by tide gauges to estimate past sea level rise, leading to several estimates for the 20th century trend in global mean sea level in the range between 1 and 2 mm/yr. On regional scales, few attempts have been made to estimate trends over the same time period. This is due largely to the inhomogeneity and quality of the tide gauge network through the 20th century, which render commonly used reconstruction techniques inadequate. Here, a new approach is adopted, integrating data from a select set of tide gauges with prior estimates of spatial structure based on historical sea level forcing information from the major contributing processes over the past century. The resulting map of 20th century regional sea level rise is optimized to agree with the tide gauge-measured trends, and provides an indication of the likely contributions of different sources to regional patterns. Of equal importance, this study demonstrates the sensitivities of this regional trend map to current knowledge and uncertainty of the contributing processes.

Tracer signals of the intermediate layer of the Arabian Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Rhein, Monika; Stramma, Lothar; Plähn, Olaf

In 1995, hydrographic and chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs, components F11, F12) measurements were carried out in the Gulf of Aden, in the Gulf of Oman, and in the Arabian Sea. In the Gulf of Oman, the F12 concentrations in the Persian Gulf outflow (PGW) at about 300m depth were significantly higher than in ambient surface water with saturations reaching 270%. These high values could not be caused by air-sea gas exchange. The outflow was probably contaminated with oil, and the lipophilic character of the CFCs could then lead to the observed supersaturations. The intermediate F12 maximum decreased rapidly further east and south. At the Strait of Bab el Mandeb in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea outflow (RSW) was saturated with F12 to about 65% at 400m depth, and decreased to 50% while descending to 800m depth. The low saturation is not surprising, because the outflow contains deep and intermediate water masses from the Red Sea which were isolated from the surface for some time. The tracer contributions to the Arabian Sea for Indian Central Water (ICW) and PGW are about equal, while below 500m depth the RSW contribution greatly exceeds ICW. Modeling the CFC budget of the Arabian Sea, the inflow of ICW north of 12°N is estimated to be 1-6 Sv, depending mainly on the strength of the flow of Red Sea Water into the Arabian Sea.

Behaviour of stocked and naturally recruited European eels during migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westerberg, Håkan; Sjöberg, Niklas; Lagenfelt, Ingvar

2014-01-01

An objection to the stocking of translocated eels as a management measure for the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) is that these eels may lack the ability to find their way back to the spawning area in the Sargasso Sea because the translocation will confuse their imprinted navigation. We...... behaviour could be monitored by acoustic tagging, in addition to using archival and satellite tags to track the subsequent marine migration. In the second year, the eels were released on the open coast and only their marine migration was investigated. Eels were tracked more than 2000 km along a route that...

Distributions and sea-to-air fluxes of chloroform, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, chlorodibromomethane and bromoform in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea during spring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Zhen; Yang, Gui-Peng; Lu, Xiao-Lan; Zhang, Hong-Hai

2013-01-01

Halocarbons including chloroform (CHCl 3 ), trichloroethylene (C 2 HCl 3 ), tetrachloroethylene (C 2 Cl 4 ), chlorodibromomethane (CHBr 2 Cl) and bromoform (CHBr 3 ) were measured in the Yellow Sea (YS) and the East China Sea (ECS) during spring 2011. The influences of chlorophyll a, salinity and nutrients on the distributions of these gases were examined. Elevated levels of these gases in the coastal waters were attributed to anthropogenic inputs and biological release by phytoplankton. The vertical distributions of these gases in the water column were controlled by different source strengths and water masses. Using atmospheric concentrations measured in spring 2012 and seawater concentrations obtained from this study, the sea-to-air fluxes of these gases were estimated. Our results showed that the emissions of C 2 HCl 3 , C 2 Cl 4, CHBr 2 Cl, and CHBr 3 from the study area could account for 16.5%, 10.5%, 14.6%, and 3.5% of global oceanic emissions, respectively, indicating that the coastal shelf may contribute significantly to the global oceanic emissions of these gases. -- Highlights: ► Distributions of the VHCs were studied in the YS and the ECS. ► Elevated levels of VHCs were related to terrestrial input from the Yangtze River. ► Biogenic production from diatoms was an important source of the VHCs. ► Shelf seas could significantly contribute to the global oceanic VHCs emission. -- The elevated levels of the volatile halocarbons in the coastal waters were attributed to anthropogenic inputs and biological release by phytoplankton (e.g., diatoms)

Effect of specific pathways to 1.5°C global warming on the contribution of Greenland to sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Humbert, A.; Rückamp, M.; Falk, U.; Frieler, K.

2017-12-01

Sea level rise associated with changing climate is expected to pose a major challenge for societies. Here, we estimate the future contribution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) to sea level change in terms of different emission scenarios. We investigate the effect of different pathways of global warming on the dynamics and mass balance of the GrIS with a focus on scenarios in line with limiting global warming to 2.0° or even 1.5° by the end of 2100 (Paris Agreement). We particularly address the issue of peak and decline scenarios temporarily exceeding a given temperature limit. This kind of overshooting might have strong effects on the evolution of the GrIS. Furthermore, we investigate the long-term effects of different levels of climate change to estimate the threshold for stabilizing the GrIS. For modeling the flow dynamics and future evolution of the GrIS, we apply the thermo-mechanical coupled Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). The model is forced with anomalies for temperature and surface mass balance derived from different GCM data from the CMIP5 RCP2.6 scenario provided from the ISIMIP2b project. In order to obtain these anomalies from the GCM data, a surface energy balance model is applied.

Towards a unified estimate of arctic glaciers contribution to sea level rise since 1972.

Science.gov (United States)

Dehecq, A.; Gardner, A. S.; Alexandrov, O.; McMichael, S.

2017-12-01

Glaciers retreat contributed to about 1/3 of the observed sea level rise since 1971 (IPCC). However, long term estimates of glaciers volume changes rely on sparse field observations and region-wide satellite observations are available mostly after 2000. The recently declassified images from the reconnaissance satellite series Hexagon (KH9), that acquired 6 m resolution stereoscopic images from 1971 to 1986, open new possibilities for glaciers observation. But the film-printed images represent a processing challenge. Here we present an automatic workflow developed to generate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) at 24 m resolution from the raw scanned KH9 images. It includes a preprocessing step to detect fiducial marks and to correct distortions of the film caused by the 40-year storage. An estimate of the unknown satellite position is obtained from a crude geolocation of the images. Each stereo image pair/triplet is then processed using the NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline to derive an unscaled DEM using standard photogrammetric techniques. This DEM is finally aligned to a reference topography, to account for errors in translation, rotation and scaling. In a second part, we present DEMs generated over glaciers in the Canadian Arctic and analyze glaciers volume changes from 1970 to the more recent WorldView ArcticDEM.

Sargasso Sea phosphorus biogeochemistry: an important role for dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. W. Lomas

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Inorganic phosphorus (SRP concentrations in the subtropical North Atlantic are some of the lowest in the global ocean and have been hypothesized to constrain primary production. Based upon data from several transect cruises in this region, it has been hypothesized that dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP supports a significant fraction of primary production in the subtropical North Atlantic. In this study, a time-series of phosphorus biogeochemistry is presented for the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site, including rates of phosphorus export. Most parameters have a seasonal pattern, although year-over-year variability in the seasonal pattern is substantial, likely due to differences in external forcing. Suspended particulate phosphorus exhibits a seasonal maximum during the spring bloom, despite the absence of a seasonal peak in SRP. However, DOP concentrations are at an annual maximum prior to the winter/spring bloom and decline over the course of the spring bloom while whole community alkaline phosphatase activities are highest. As a result of DOP bioavailability, the growth of particles during the spring bloom occurs in Redfield proportions, though particles exported from the euphotic zone show rapid and significant remineralization of phosphorus within the first 50 m below the euphotic zone. Based upon DOP data from transect cruises in this region, the southward cross gyral flux of DOP is estimated to support ~25% of annual primary production and ~100% of phosphorus export. These estimates are consistent with other research in the subtropical North Atlantic and reinforce the hypothesis that while the subtropics may be phosphorus stressed (a physiological response to low inorganic phosphorus, utilization of the DOP pool allows production and accumulation of microbial biomass at Redfield proportions.

Nature/culture/seawater.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmreich, Stefan

2011-01-01

Seawater has occupied an ambiguous place in anthropological categories of "nature" and "culture." Seawater as nature appears as potentiality of form and uncontainable flux; it moves faster than culture - with culture frequently figured through land-based metaphors - even as culture seeks to channel water's (nature's) flow. Seawater as culture manifests as a medium of pleasure, sustenance, travel, disaster. I argue that, although seawater's qualities in early anthropology were portrayed impressionistically, today technical, scientific descriptions of water's form prevail. For example, processes of globalization - which may also be called "oceanization" - are often described as "currents," "flows," and "circulations." Examining sea-set ethnography, maritime anthropologies, and contemporary social theory, I propose that seawater has operated as a “theory machine” for generating insights about human cultural organization. I develop this argument with ethnography from the Sargasso Sea and in the Sea Islands. I conclude with a critique of appeals to water's form in social theory.

Sea Ice Retreat and its Impact on the Intensity of Open-Ocean Convection in the Greenland and Iceland Seas

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, K.; Våge, K.; Pickart, R. S.; Renfrew, I.

2016-12-01

The air-sea transfer of heat and freshwater plays a critical role in the global climate system. This is particularly true for the Greenland and Iceland Seas, where these fluxes drive ocean convection that contributes to Denmark Strait Overflow Water, the densest component of the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This buoyancy transfer is most pronounced during the winter downstream of the ice edge, where the cold and dry Arctic air first comes in contact with the relatively warm ocean surface. Here we show that the wintertime retreat of sea ice in the region, combined with different rates of warming for the atmosphere and sea surface of the Greenland and Iceland Seas, has resulted in statistically significant reductions of approximately 20% in the magnitude of the winter air-sea heat fluxes since 1979. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that modes of climate variability other than the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are required to fully characterize the regional air-sea interaction in this region. Mixed-layer model simulations imply that a continued decrease in atmospheric forcing will exceed a threshold for the Greenland Sea whereby convection will become depth limited, reducing the ventilation of mid-depth waters in the Nordic Seas. In the Iceland Sea, further reductions have the potential to decrease the supply of the densest overflow waters to the AMOC.

Global ship accidents and ocean swell-related sea states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Zhang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available With the increased frequency of shipping activities, navigation safety has become a major concern, especially when economic losses, human casualties and environmental issues are considered. As a contributing factor, the sea state plays a significant role in shipping safety. However, the types of dangerous sea states that trigger serious shipping accidents are not well understood. To address this issue, we analyzed the sea state characteristics during ship accidents that occurred in poor weather or heavy seas based on a 10-year ship accident dataset. Sea state parameters of a numerical wave model, i.e., significant wave height, mean wave period and mean wave direction, were analyzed for the selected ship accident cases. The results indicated that complex sea states with the co-occurrence of wind sea and swell conditions represent threats to sailing vessels, especially when these conditions include similar wave periods and oblique wave directions.

Global ship accidents and ocean swell-related sea states

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiwei; Li, Xiao-Ming

2017-11-01

With the increased frequency of shipping activities, navigation safety has become a major concern, especially when economic losses, human casualties and environmental issues are considered. As a contributing factor, the sea state plays a significant role in shipping safety. However, the types of dangerous sea states that trigger serious shipping accidents are not well understood. To address this issue, we analyzed the sea state characteristics during ship accidents that occurred in poor weather or heavy seas based on a 10-year ship accident dataset. Sea state parameters of a numerical wave model, i.e., significant wave height, mean wave period and mean wave direction, were analyzed for the selected ship accident cases. The results indicated that complex sea states with the co-occurrence of wind sea and swell conditions represent threats to sailing vessels, especially when these conditions include similar wave periods and oblique wave directions.

Last Interglacial climate and sea-level evolution from a coupled ice sheet-climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Goelzer, Heiko; Huybrechts, Philippe; Loutre, Marie-France; Fichefet, Thierry

2016-12-01

As the most recent warm period in Earth's history with a sea-level stand higher than present, the Last Interglacial (LIG, ˜ 130 to 115 kyr BP) is often considered a prime example to study the impact of a warmer climate on the two polar ice sheets remaining today. Here we simulate the Last Interglacial climate, ice sheet, and sea-level evolution with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM v.1.3, which includes dynamic and fully coupled components representing the atmosphere, the ocean and sea ice, the terrestrial biosphere, and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. In this setup, sea-level evolution and climate-ice sheet interactions are modelled in a consistent framework.Surface mass balance change governed by changes in surface meltwater runoff is the dominant forcing for the Greenland ice sheet, which shows a peak sea-level contribution of 1.4 m at 123 kyr BP in the reference experiment. Our results indicate that ice sheet-climate feedbacks play an important role to amplify climate and sea-level changes in the Northern Hemisphere. The sensitivity of the Greenland ice sheet to surface temperature changes considerably increases when interactive albedo changes are considered. Southern Hemisphere polar and sub-polar ocean warming is limited throughout the Last Interglacial, and surface and sub-shelf melting exerts only a minor control on the Antarctic sea-level contribution with a peak of 4.4 m at 125 kyr BP. Retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet at the onset of the LIG is mainly forced by rising sea level and to a lesser extent by reduced ice shelf viscosity as the surface temperature increases. Global sea level shows a peak of 5.3 m at 124.5 kyr BP, which includes a minor contribution of 0.35 m from oceanic thermal expansion. Neither the individual contributions nor the total modelled sea-level stand show fast multi-millennial timescale variations as indicated by some reconstructions.

The contribution of deep-sea macrohabitat heterogeneity to global nematode diversity

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Vanreusel, A.; Fonseca, G.; Danovaro, R.; DaSilva, M.C.; Esteves, A.M.; Ferrero, T.; Gad, G.; Galtsova, V.; Gambi, C.; Genevois, V.F.; Ingels, J.; Ingole, B.S.; Lampadariou, N.; Merckx, B.; Miljutina, M.; Muthumbi, A.; Netto, S.; Portnova, D.; Radziejewska, T.; Raes, M.; Tchesunov, A.; Vanaverbeke, J.; Van Gaever, S.; Venekey, V.; Bezerra, T.N.; Flint, H; Copley, J.; Pape, E; Zeppilli, D.; Martinez, P.A.; Galeron, J.

An edited version of this paper was published by Blackwell Verlag GmbH. Copyright [2010] Abstract : The great variety of geological and hydrological settings in the deep-sea generates many different habitats, some of them only recently explored whereas... were assumed to be the main driving factors for differences in benthic standing stock, biodiversity and community composition of the benthos (Grassle, 1989; Gage and Tyler, 1991). However, through increasing exploration by means of bathymetric...

Relative contributions of local wind and topography to the coastal upwelling intensity in the northern South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dongxiao; Shu, Yeqiang; Xue, Huijie; Hu, Jianyu; Chen, Ju; Zhuang, Wei; Zu, TingTing; Xu, Jindian

2014-04-01

Topographically induced upwelling caused by the interaction between large-scale currents and topography was observed during four cruises in the northern South China Sea (NSCS) when the upwelling favorable wind retreated. Using a high-resolution version of the Princeton Ocean Model, we investigate relative contributions of local wind and topography to the upwelling intensity in the NSCS. The results show that the topographically induced upwelling is sensitive to alongshore large-scale currents, which have an important contribution to the upwelling intensity. The topographically induced upwelling is comparable with the wind-driven upwelling at surface and has a stronger contribution to the upwelling intensity than the local wind does at bottom in the near-shore shelf region. The widened shelf to the southwest of Shanwei and west of the Taiwan Banks intensifies the bottom friction, especially off Shantou, which is a key factor for topographically induced upwelling in terms of bottom Ekman transport and Ekman pumping. The local upwelling favorable wind enhances the bottom friction as well as net onshore transport along the 50 m isobath, whereas it has less influence along the 30 m isobath. This implies the local wind is more important in upwelling intensity in the offshore region than in the nearshore region. The contribution of local upwelling favorable wind on upwelling intensity is comparable with that of topography along the 50 m isobath. The effects of local upwelling favorable wind on upwelling intensity are twofold: on one hand, the wind transports surface warm water offshore, and as a compensation of mass the bottom current transports cold water onshore; on the other hand, the wind enhances the coastal current, and the bottom friction in turn increases the topographically induced upwelling intensity.

The politics of SEA indicators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gao, Jingjing; Kørnøv, Lone; Christensen, Per

2013-01-01

The use of indicators is not only technical and science-led, but also a value-laden social process, and thus concerns public participation, political judgment and decision-making. This article approaches the Chinese SEA indicator system from a science-policy interface and aims at: 1) contributing...

Intercomparison of passive microwave sea ice concentration retrievals over the high-concentration Arctic sea ice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

andersen, susanne; Tonboe, R.; Kaleschke, L.

2007-01-01

[1] Measurements of sea ice concentration from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) using seven different algorithms are compared to ship observations, sea ice divergence estimates from the Radarsat Geophysical Processor System, and ice and water surface type classification of 59 wide...... with sensor noise between 1.3 and 1.8%. This is in accord with variability estimated from analysis of SSM/I time series. Algorithms, which primarily use 85 GHz information, consistently give the best agreement with both SAR ice concentrations and ship observations. Although the 85 GHz information is more...... sensitive to atmospheric influences, it was found that the atmospheric contribution is secondary to the influence of the surface emissivity variability. Analysis of the entire SSM/I time series shows that there are significant differences in trend between sea ice extent and area, using different algorithms...

Denitrification processes in the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Naqvi, S.W.A.

rate in the vicinity of 30 Tg Ny@u-1@@, but the extent of benthic contribution remains unknown. A decoupling of denitrification from primary production, unique to the Arabian Sea, is revealed by nitrite, Electron Transport System (ETS) activity...

Light flavor asymmetry of nucleon sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Huiying; Zhang, Xinyu; Ma, Bo-Qiang

2011-01-01

The light flavor antiquark distributions of the nucleon sea are calculated in the effective chiral quark model and compared with experimental results. The contributions of the flavor-symmetric sea-quark distributions and the nuclear EMC effect are taken into account to obtain the ratio of Drell-Yan cross sections σ pD /2σ pp , which can match well with the results measured in the FermiLab E866/NuSea experiment. The calculated results also match the anti d(x)- anti u(x) measured in different experiments, but unmatch the behavior of anti d(x)/ anti u(x) derived indirectly from the measurable quantity σ pD /2σ pp by the FermiLab E866/NuSea Collaboration at large x. We suggest to measure again anti d(x)/ anti u(x) at large x from precision experiments with careful treatment of the experimental data. We also propose an alternative procedure for experimental data treatment. (orig.)

Improved simulation of Antarctic sea ice due to the radiative effects of falling snow

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J.-L. F.; Richardson, Mark; Hong, Yulan; Lee, Wei-Liang; Wang, Yi-Hui; Yu, Jia-Yuh; Fetzer, Eric; Stephens, Graeme; Liu, Yinghui

2017-08-01

Southern Ocean sea-ice cover exerts critical control on local albedo and Antarctic precipitation, but simulated Antarctic sea-ice concentration commonly disagrees with observations. Here we show that the radiative effects of precipitating ice (falling snow) contribute substantially to this discrepancy. Many models exclude these radiative effects, so they underestimate both shortwave albedo and downward longwave radiation. Using two simulations with the climate model CESM1, we show that including falling-snow radiative effects improves the simulations relative to cloud properties from CloudSat-CALIPSO, radiation from CERES-EBAF and sea-ice concentration from passive microwave sensors. From 50-70°S, the simulated sea-ice-area bias is reduced by 2.12 × 106 km2 (55%) in winter and by 1.17 × 106 km2 (39%) in summer, mainly because increased wintertime longwave heating restricts sea-ice growth and so reduces summer albedo. Improved Antarctic sea-ice simulations will increase confidence in projected Antarctic sea level contributions and changes in global warming driven by long-term changes in Southern Ocean feedbacks.

Sources of the deep water masses in the northern Red Sea

OpenAIRE

Said, M.A.

1998-01-01

The hydrographic structure of the northern Red Sea indicated that, the surface waters of temperature around 22°C, salinity of 40.1OO%o and dt = 28.1 might sink to depths between 400-500 m by convective overturn, contributing to the formation of the mid-deep Red Sea waters. Below the 500 db depth down to the bottom the water column is stable. The geostrophic circulation clearly indicated an inflow of water from the Red Sea towards NNW, along the main axis of the sea. Arriving at the nort...

Commerce, Research and Education: Contributions and Challenges of Marine Extension Work in NOAA Sea Grant Program-Puerto Rico, Michigan and National office

Science.gov (United States)

Aleman Diaz, A.

2006-12-01

The National Sea Grant program represents NOAA's nationwide university-based program in support of coastal resource use and conservation. This program is composed of 30 university-based programs that work with local coastal communities. This study focuses on a historical and multi-sited ethnographic approach that analyzes two Sea Grant Programs and their connection to the overarching NOAA national goals from 1980- 2000.The project aims to offer insight on how the extension agent position facilitates the resolution of coastal and marine management and tourism issues. The extension agents are staff who have an extensive knowledge of available coastal resources and have the role of translating this information to coastal stakeholders. Additionally, these agents assess the needs of coastal communities and report back to the program making their role into a position that can effectively alter and/or contribute to institutional and environmental management programs at broader, cross-country and global levels. The extension programs in Michigan and Puerto Rico were examined to understand how local programs respond to cultural and regional processes shaping marine extension and the management of issues faced by coastal stakeholders. A total of 36 semi- structured in-depth interviews were completed at each site, to address the following questions: (1) How do extension agents view their role at the Puerto Rico and Michigan offices and in the Sea Grant program? How do they view the conditions of their work? (2) How do their views compare to the accomplishments by each Sea Grant administration and internal inquiries? How do their views reveal conditions documented in Puerto Rico and Michigan (e.g., social, cultural, political, economic, etc)? (3) What kind of strategies do agents develop for the management of specific coastal and tourism related projects? (4) How do the Puerto Rico and Michigan offices coordinate their work, and collaborate with other "college" programs and

Sea level and turbidity controls on mangrove soil surface elevation change

Science.gov (United States)

Lovelock, Catherine E.; Fernanda Adame, Maria; Bennion, Vicki; Hayes, Matthew; Reef, Ruth; Santini, Nadia; Cahoon, Donald R.

2015-01-01

Increases in sea level are a threat to seaward fringing mangrove forests if levels of inundation exceed the physiological tolerance of the trees; however, tidal wetlands can keep pace with sea level rise if soil surface elevations can increase at the same pace as sea level rise. Sediment accretion on the soil surface and belowground production of roots are proposed to increase with increasing sea level, enabling intertidal habitats to maintain their position relative to mean sea level, but there are few tests of these predictions in mangrove forests. Here we used variation in sea level and the availability of sediments caused by seasonal and inter-annual variation in the intensity of La Nina-El Nino to assess the effects of increasing sea level on surface elevation gains and contributing processes (accretion on the surface, subsidence and root growth) in mangrove forests. We found that soil surface elevation increased with mean sea level (which varied over 250 mm during the study) and with turbidity at sites where fine sediment in the water column is abundant. In contrast, where sediments were sandy, rates of surface elevation gain were high, but not significantly related to variation in turbidity, and were likely to be influenced by other factors that deliver sand to the mangrove forest. Root growth was not linked to soil surface elevation gains, although it was associated with reduced shallow subsidence, and therefore may contribute to the capacity of mangroves to keep pace with sea level rise. Our results indicate both surface (sedimentation) and subsurface (root growth) processes can influence mangrove capacity to keep pace with sea level rise within the same geographic location, and that current models of tidal marsh responses to sea level rise capture the major feature of the response of mangroves where fine, but not coarse, sediments are abundant.

Vertical distribution and isotopic composition of living planktonic foraminifera in the western North Atlantic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairbanks, R.G.; Wiebe, P.H.; Be, A.W.H.

1980-01-01

Thirteen species of planktonic foraminifera collected with vertically stratified zooplankton tows in the slope water, Gulf Stream cold core ring, and northern Sargasso Sea show significant differences in their vertical distributions in the upper 200 meters of these different hydrographic regimes. Gulf Stream cold core rings may be responsible for a southern displacement of the faunal boundary associated with the Gulf Stream when reconstructed from the deep-sea sediment record. Oxygen isotope analyses of seven species reveal that nonspinose species (algal symbiont-barren) apparently calcify in oxygen isotope equilibrium, whereas spinose species usually calcify out of oxygen isotope equilibrium by approximately -0.3 to -0.4 per mil in delta 18 O values. The isotope data indicate that foraminifera shells calcify in depth zones that are significantly narrower than the overall vertical distribution of a species would imply

Present-day sea level rise: a synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cazenave, A.; Llovel, W.; Lombard, A.

2008-01-01

Measuring sea level change and understanding its causes have improved considerably in the recent years, essentially because new in situ and remote sensing data sets have become available. Here we report on the current knowledge of present-day sea level change. We briefly present observational results on sea level change from satellite altimetry since 1993 and tide gauges for the past century. We next discuss recent progress made in quantifying the processes causing sea level change on time scales ranging from years to decades, i.e., thermal expansion, land ice mass loss and land water storage change. For the 1993-2003 decade, the sum of climate-related contributions agree well (within the error bars) with the altimetry-based sea level, half of the observed rate of rise being due to ocean thermal expansion, land ice plus land waters explaining the other half. Since about 2003, thermal expansion increase has stopped, whereas the sea level continues to rise, although at a reduced rate compared to the previous decade (2.5 mm/yr versus 3.1 mm/yr). Recent increases in glacier melting and ice mass loss from the ice sheets appear able to account alone for the rise in sea level reported over the last five years. (authors)

Zonal surface wind jets across the Red Sea due to mountain gap forcing along both sides of the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Jiang, Houshuo

2009-01-01

[1] Mesoscale atmospheric modeling over the Red Sea, validated by in-situ meteorological buoy data, identifies two types of coastal mountain gap wind jets that frequently blow across the longitudinal axis of the Red Sea: (1) an eastward-blowing summer daily wind jet originating from the Tokar Gap on the Sudanese Red Sea coast, and (2) wintertime westward-blowing wind-jet bands along the northwestern Saudi Arabian coast, which occur every 10-20 days and can last for several days when occurring. Both wind jets can attain wind speeds over 15 m s-1 and contribute significantly to monthly mean surface wind stress, especially in the cross-axis components, which could be of importance to ocean eddy formation in the Red Sea. The wintertime wind jets can cause significant evaporation and ocean heat loss along the northeastern Red Sea coast and may potentially drive deep convection in that region. An initial characterization of these wind jets is presented. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

The Red Sea: An Arena for Wind-Wave Modeling in Enclosed Seas

KAUST Repository

Langodan, Sabique

2016-12-01

Wind and waves play a major role in important ocean dynamical processes, such as the exchange of heat, momentum and gases between atmosphere and ocean, that greatly contributes to the earth climate and marine lives. Knowledge on wind and wave weather and climate is crucial for a wide range of applications, including oceanographic studies, maritime activities and ocean engineering. Despite being one of the important world shipping routes, the wind-wave characteristics in the Red Sea are yet to be fully explored. Because of the scarcity of waves data in the Red Sea, numerical models become crucial and provide very powerful tools to extrapolate wind and wave data in space, and backward and forward in time. Unlike open oceans, enclosed basins wave have different characteristics, mainly because of their local generation processes. The complex orography on both sides of the Red Sea makes the local wind, and consequently wave, modeling very challenging. This thesis considers the modeling of wind-wave characteristics in the Red Sea, including their climate variability and trends using state-of-the-art numerical models and all available observations. Different approaches are investigated to model and understand the general and unusual wind and wave conditions in the basin using standard global meteorological products and customised regional wind and wave models. After studying and identifying the main characteristics of the wind-wave variability in the Red Sea, we demonstrate the importance of generating accurate atmospheric forcing through data assimilation for reliable wave simulations. In particular, we show that the state-of-the-art physical formulation of wave models is not suitable to model the unique situation of the two opposing wind-waves systems in the Red Sea Convergence Zone, and propose and successfully test a modification to the input and white-capping source functions to address this problem. We further investigate the climate variability and trends of wind

IFREMER-ADEME colloquium 'Offshore renewable energies: offshore wind energy - sea currents and waves. Collection of abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-10-01

This document contains programme and abstracts of contributions presented during a colloquium. These contributions first addresses the context, and regulatory and economic aspects of offshore wind and sea energy: specificities related to the Public Maritime Domain for the implantation of offshore wind turbines, economy of sea energies within a perspective of de-carbonation of the world energy sector, case of offshore wind turbines and assessment of economic impacts of the implantation of sea renewable energy production units, financing stakes for offshore wind energy projects. A second set of contribution addresses the state-of -the-art and feedbacks for offshore wind energy installations. The third set addresses the assessment of resource potential, measurements, models and production prediction for offshore wind energy: case of French coasts, use of radar for remote sensing, wind climatology modelling, data acquisition for wind farm and data processing. The fourth set of contributions addresses the state-of-the-art, feedback, and R and D for sea current energy, while the fifth one addressed the same aspects for sea wave energy. Technology, installations, maintenance and storage in the field of wind energy are then addressed, and the last set deals with environmental and social-economical impacts of sea renewable energies

PHYSICAL EXCHANGES AT THE AIR-SEA INTERFACE UK-SOLAS Field Measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brooks, Ian M.; Yelland, Margaret J.; Upstill-Goddard, Robert C.; Nightingale, Philip D.; Archer, Steve; d'Asaro, Ericic; Beale, Rachael; Beatty, Cory; Blomquist, Byron; Bloom, A. Anthony; Brooks, Barbara J.; Cluderay, John; Coles, David; Dacey, John; DeGrandpre, Michael; Dixon, Jo; Drennan, William M.; Gabriele, Joseph; Goldson, Laura; Hardman-Mountford, Nick; Hill, Martin K.; Horn, Matt; Hsueh, Ping-Chang; Huebert, Barry; de Leeuw, Gerrit; Leighton, Timothy G.; Liddicoat, Malcolm; Lingard, Justin J. N.; McNeil, Craig; McQuaid, James B.; Moat, Ben I.; Moore, Gerald; Neill, Craig; Norris, Sarah J.; O'Doherty, Simon; Pascal, Robin W.; Prytherch, John; Rebozo, Mike; Sahlee, Erik; Salter, Matt; Schuster, Ute; Skjelvan, Ingunn; Slagter, Hans; Smith, Michael H.; Smith, Paul D.; Srokosz, Meric; Stephens, John A.; Taylor, Peter K.; Telszewski, Maciej; Walsh, Roisin; Ward, Brian; Woolf, David K.; Young, Dickon; Zemmelink, Henk

As part of the U. K. contribution to the international Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study, a series of three related projects-DOGEE, SEASAW, and HiWASE-undertook experimental studies of the processes controlling the physical exchange of gases and sea spray aerosol at the sea surface. The studies

Seasonal variability of the Red Sea, from satellite gravity, radar altimetry, and in situ observations

Science.gov (United States)

Wahr, John; Smeed, David A.; Leuliette, Eric; Swenson, Sean

2014-08-01

Seasonal variations of sea surface height (SSH) and mass within the Red Sea are caused mostly by exchange of heat with the atmosphere and by flow through the strait opening into the Gulf of Aden to the south. That flow involves a net mass transfer into the Red Sea during fall and out during spring, though in summer there is an influx of cool water at intermediate depths. Thus, summer water in the south is warmer near the surface due to higher air temperatures, but cooler at intermediate depths. Summer water in the north experiences warming by air-sea exchange only. The temperature affects water density, which impacts SSH but has no effect on mass. We study this seasonal cycle by combining GRACE mass estimates, altimeter SSH measurements, and steric contributions derived from the World Ocean Atlas temperature climatology. Among our conclusions are: mass contributions are much larger than steric contributions; the mass is largest in winter, consistent with winds pushing water into the Red Sea in fall and out during spring; the steric signal is largest in summer, consistent with surface warming; and the cool, intermediate-depth water flowing into the Red Sea in spring has little impact on the steric signal, because contributions from the lowered temperature are offset by effects of decreased salinity. The results suggest that the combined use of altimeter and GRACE measurements can provide a useful alternative to in situ data for monitoring the steric signal.

Upper Limit for Regional Sea Level Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Jackson, Luke; Riva, Riccardo; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John

2016-04-01

With more than 150 million people living within 1 m of high tide future sea level rise is one of the most damaging aspects of warming climate. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (AR5 IPCC) noted that a 0.5 m rise in mean sea level will result in a dramatic increase the frequency of high water extremes - by an order of magnitude, or more in some regions. Thus the flood threat to the rapidly growing urban populations and associated infrastructure in coastal areas are major concerns for society. Hence, impact assessment, risk management, adaptation strategy and long-term decision making in coastal areas depend on projections of mean sea level and crucially its low probability, high impact, upper range. With probabilistic approach we produce regional sea level projections taking into account large uncertainties associated with Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets contribution. We calculate the upper limit (as 95%) for regional sea level projections by 2100 with RCP8.5 scenario, suggesting that for the most coastlines upper limit will exceed the global upper limit of 1.8 m.

Swimming physiology of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla L.): energetic costs and effects on sexual maturation and reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Palstra, Arjan P; van den Thillart, Guido E E J M

2010-09-01

The European eel migrates 5,000-6,000 km to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce. Because they venture into the ocean in a pre-pubertal state and reproduce after swimming for months, a strong interaction between swimming and sexual maturation is expected. Many swimming trials have been performed in 22 swim tunnels to elucidate their performance and the impact on maturation. European eels are able to swim long distances at a cost of 10-12 mg fat/km which is 4-6 times more efficient than salmonids. The total energy costs of reproduction correspond to 67% of the fat stores. During long distance swimming, the body composition stays the same showing that energy consumption calculations cannot be based on fat alone but need to be compensated for protein oxidation. The optimal swimming speed is 0.61-0.67 m s(-1), which is approximately 60% higher than the generally assumed cruise speed of 0.4 m s(-1) and implies that female eels may reach the Sargasso Sea within 3.5 months instead of the assumed 6 months. Swimming trials showed lipid deposition and oocyte growth, which are the first steps of sexual maturation. To investigate effects of oceanic migration on maturation, we simulated group-wise migration in a large swim-gutter with seawater. These trials showed suppressed gonadotropin expression and vitellogenesis in females, while in contrast continued sexual maturation was observed in silver males. The induction of lipid deposition in the oocytes and the inhibition of vitellogenesis by swimming in females suggest a natural sequence of events quite different from artificial maturation protocols.

Sea level: measuring the bounding surfaces of the ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Tamisiea, Mark E.; Hughes, Chris W.; Williams, Simon D. P.; Bingley, Richard M.

2014-01-01

The practical need to understand sea level along the coasts, such as for safe navigation given the spatially variable tides, has resulted in tide gauge observations having the distinction of being some of the longest instrumental ocean records. Archives of these records, along with geological constraints, have allowed us to identify the century-scale rise in global sea level. Additional data sources, particularly satellite altimetry missions, have helped us to better identify the rates and causes of sea-level rise and the mechanisms leading to spatial variability in the observed rates. Analysis of all of the data reveals the need for long-term and stable observation systems to assess accurately the regional changes as well as to improve our ability to estimate future changes in sea level. While information from many scientific disciplines is needed to understand sea-level change, this review focuses on contributions from geodesy and the role of the ocean's bounding surfaces: the sea surface and the Earth's crust. PMID:25157196

USE OF SEA BUCKTHORN FRUITS IN THE PASTRY MANUFACTURING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RODICA A. STURZA

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Different researches on optimizing the shelf life of pastries (gingerbread, sponge cakes that are produced by adding sea buckthorn flour (2 - 4 % by weight of the flour used are presented in this study. This study shows the impact of biologically active substances on structural and mechanical, physicochemical, microbiological properties as well as the antioxidant activity of products under the conditions of in vitro gastric digestion. It has been demonstrated that the sea buckthorn flour increases the porosity of pastries, reduces the wet gluten amount and this contributes to moisture loss. The organoleptic assessment indicates that the addition of 2 % sea buckthorn flour improves the appearance, the color and the consistency of pastries. Microbiological analysis showed that samples with added sea buckthorn flour exhibit microbiological stability due to the sea buckthorn chemical composition. The antiradical activity DPPH• in conditions of in vitro gastric digestion of the samples with added sea buckthorn flour increases in a positive way, indicating a clearly positive effect on health.

Improved measurements of mean sea surface velocity in the Nordic Seas from synthetic aperture radar

Science.gov (United States)

Wergeland Hansen, Morten; Johnsen, Harald; Engen, Geir; Øie Nilsen, Jan Even

2017-04-01

The warm and saline surface Atlantic Water (AW) flowing into the Nordic Seas across the Greenland-Scotland ridge transports heat into the Arctic, maintaining the ice-free oceans and regulating sea-ice extent. The AW influences the region's relatively mild climate and is the northern branch of the global thermohaline overturning circulation. Heat loss in the Norwegian Sea is key for both heat transport and deep water formation. In general, the ocean currents in the Nordic Seas and the North Atlantic Ocean is a complex system of topographically steered barotropic and baroclinic currents of which the wind stress and its variability is a driver of major importance. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Doppler centroid shift has been demonstrated to contain geophysical information about sea surface wind, waves and current at an accuracy of 5 Hz and pixel spacing of 3.5 - 9 × 8 km2. This corresponds to a horizontal surface velocity of about 20 cm/s at 35° incidence angle. The ESA Prodex ISAR project aims to implement new and improved SAR Doppler shift processing routines to enable reprocessing of the wide swath acquisitions available from the Envisat ASAR archive (2002-2012) at higher resolution and better accuracy than previously obtained, allowing combined use with Sentinel-1 and Radarsat-2 retrievals to build timeseries of the sea surface velocity in the Nordic Seas. Estimation of the geophysical Doppler shift from new SAR Doppler centroid shift retrievals will be demonstrated, addressing key issues relating to geometric (satellite orbit and attitude) and electronic (antenna mis-pointing) contributions and corrections. Geophysical Doppler shift retrievals from one month of data in January 2010 and the inverted surface velocity in the Nordic Seas are then addressed and compared to other direct and indirect estimates of the upper ocean current, in particular those obtained in the ESA GlobCurrent project.

Another possible risk for the Mediterranean Sea? Aspergillus sydowii discovered in the Port of Genoa (Ligurian Sea, Italy).

Science.gov (United States)

Greco, G; Capello, M; Cecchi, G; Cutroneo, L; Di Piazza, S; Zotti, M

2017-09-15

Aspergillus sydowii is a cosmopolitan fungus that has been responsible for the mass destruction of coral in the Caribbean Sea over the last 15years. To our knowledge, this study has found the first case of A. sydowii in the Mediterranean Sea, in marine-bottom sediments, water and calcareous shells of bivalve molluscs sampled during a campaign to characterise the mycobiota in the Port of Genoa (Italy). The area is characterised by adverse environmental conditions (high turbidity, organic pollution and high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds). These parameters, in combination with a rising temperature, could contribute to A. sydowii bloom and dispersal. This fungal strain may have been imported into the Port of Genoa in the bilge water of vessels or by torrent input. This work represents the first step in the implementation of a monitoring programme to safeguard calcareous sponges and sea fan corals endemic in the Mediterranean Sea. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Danovaro

Full Text Available Deep-sea ecosystems represent the largest biome of the global biosphere, but knowledge of their biodiversity is still scant. The Mediterranean basin has been proposed as a hot spot of terrestrial and coastal marine biodiversity but has been supposed to be impoverished of deep-sea species richness. We summarized all available information on benthic biodiversity (Prokaryotes, Foraminifera, Meiofauna, Macrofauna, and Megafauna in different deep-sea ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea (200 to more than 4,000 m depth, including open slopes, deep basins, canyons, cold seeps, seamounts, deep-water corals and deep-hypersaline anoxic basins and analyzed overall longitudinal and bathymetric patterns. We show that in contrast to what was expected from the sharp decrease in organic carbon fluxes and reduced faunal abundance, the deep-sea biodiversity of both the eastern and the western basins of the Mediterranean Sea is similarly high. All of the biodiversity components, except Bacteria and Archaea, displayed a decreasing pattern with increasing water depth, but to a different extent for each component. Unlike patterns observed for faunal abundance, highest negative values of the slopes of the biodiversity patterns were observed for Meiofauna, followed by Macrofauna and Megafauna. Comparison of the biodiversity associated with open slopes, deep basins, canyons, and deep-water corals showed that the deep basins were the least diverse. Rarefaction curves allowed us to estimate the expected number of species for each benthic component in different bathymetric ranges. A large fraction of exclusive species was associated with each specific habitat or ecosystem. Thus, each deep-sea ecosystem contributes significantly to overall biodiversity. From theoretical extrapolations we estimate that the overall deep-sea Mediterranean biodiversity (excluding prokaryotes reaches approximately 2805 species of which about 66% is still undiscovered. Among the biotic components

Polar bear population dynamics in the southern Beaufort Sea during a period of sea ice decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Bromaghin, Jeffrey F; Mcdonald, Trent L; Stirling, Ian; Derocher, Andrew E; Richardson, Evan S; Regehr, Eric V; Douglas, David C; Durner, George M; Atwood, Todd; Amstrup, Steven C

2015-04-01

In the southern Beaufort Sea of the United States and Canada, prior investigations have linked declines in summer sea ice to reduced physical condition, growth, and survival of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Combined with projections of population decline due to continued climate warming and the ensuing loss of sea ice habitat, those findings contributed to the 2008 decision to list the species as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Here, we used mark-recapture models to investigate the population dynamics of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea from 2001 to 2010, years during which the spatial and temporal extent of summer sea ice generally declined. Low survival from 2004 through 2006 led to a 25-50% decline in abundance. We hypothesize that low survival during this period resulted from (1) unfavorable ice conditions that limited access to prey during multiple seasons; and possibly, (2) low prey abundance. For reasons that are not clear, survival of adults and cubs began to improve in 2007 and abundance was comparatively stable from 2008 to 2010, with ~900 bears in 2010 (90% CI 606-1212). However, survival of subadult bears declined throughout the entire period. Reduced spatial and temporal availability of sea ice is expected to increasingly force population dynamics of polar bears as the climate continues to warm. However, in the short term, our findings suggest that factors other than sea ice can influence survival. A refined understanding of the ecological mechanisms underlying polar bear population dynamics is necessary to improve projections of their future status and facilitate development of management strategies.

Occurrence of microplastics in the beach sand of the Chinese inner sea: the Bohai Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xubiao; Peng, Jinping; Wang, Jundong; Wang, Kan; Bao, Shaowu

2016-07-01

The occurrence of microplastics in the beach sand of the Bohai Sea was investigated for the first time. The Bohai Sea is the largest Chinese inner sea and its coastal region is one of the most densely urbanized and industrialized zones of China. Samples from three costal sites (i.e., Bijianshan, Xingcheng and Dongdaihe) were collected, quantified and identified for microplastic analysis. Effects of sample depth and tourism activity were investigated. Surface samples (2 cm) contained higher microplastic concentrations than deep samples (20 cm). Samples from the bathing beach exhibited higher microplastic concentrations than the non-bathing beach, suggesting the direct contribution of microplastics from tourism activity. Of eight types of microplastics that were found, PEVA (polyethylene vinyl acetate), LDPE (light density polyethylene) and PS (polystyrene) were the largest in abundances. Moreover, the non-plastic items from samples were analyzed and results revealed that the majority abundance of the observed non-plastics were viscose cellulose fibers. Further studies are required to evaluate the environmental hazards of microplastics, especially as they may "act as a contaminant transporter" to the Bohai Sea ecosystem. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Steric and mass-induced Mediterranean sea level trends from 14 years of altimetry data

Science.gov (United States)

Criado-Aldeanueva, Francisco; Del Río Vera, Jorge; García-Lafuente, Jesús

2008-02-01

Long-term series of almost 14 years of altimetry data (1992-2005) have been analysed along with Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and temperature and salinity profiles to investigate sea level trends over the Mediterranean Sea. Although sea level variations are mainly driven by the steric contribution, the mass-induced component plays some role in modulating its oscillation. A spatially averaged positive trend of 2.1 ± 0.6 mm/year has been observed, but a change in sign in 2001 seems to appear. Steric effects (mainly on thermal origin) account for ˜ 55% of sea level trend. Although Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed basin, this value is comparable to that reported for the global ocean. Sea level rise is particularly important in the Levantine basin south of Crete with values up to 10 ± 1 mm/year. Other areas of sea level rise are localised throughout the Levantine basin and in the Adriatic and Alboran Seas, with more moderate values. Sea level drop areas are localised in the Algerian basin, between the Balearic Islands and the African coasts and, particularly, in the Ionian basin. In this area, negative trends as high as - 10 ± 0.8 mm/year are detected mainly due to the mass-induced contribution, which suggests decadal changes of surface circulation. The inferred sea level trends have been correlated with North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) indices and a low but significant correlation has been detected between sea level in the Levantine and Balearic basins and NAO index.

Precession and atmospheric CO2 modulated variability of sea ice in the central Okhotsk Sea since 130,000 years ago

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Li; Belt, Simon T.; Lattaud, Julie; Friedrich, Tobias; Zeeden, Christian; Schouten, Stefan; Smik, Lukas; Timmermann, Axel; Cabedo-Sanz, Patricia; Huang, Jyh-Jaan; Zhou, Liping; Ou, Tsong-Hua; Chang, Yuan-Pin; Wang, Liang-Chi; Chou, Yu-Min; Shen, Chuan-Chou; Chen, Min-Te; Wei, Kuo-Yen; Song, Sheng-Rong; Fang, Tien-Hsi; Gorbarenko, Sergey A.; Wang, Wei-Lung; Lee, Teh-Quei; Elderfield, Henry; Hodell, David A.

2018-04-01

Recent reduction in high-latitude sea ice extent demonstrates that sea ice is highly sensitive to external and internal radiative forcings. In order to better understand sea ice system responses to external orbital forcing and internal oscillations on orbital timescales, here we reconstruct changes in sea ice extent and summer sea surface temperature (SSST) over the past 130,000 yrs in the central Okhotsk Sea. We applied novel organic geochemical proxies of sea ice (IP25), SSST (TEX86L) and open water marine productivity (a tri-unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid and biogenic opal) to marine sediment core MD01-2414 (53°11.77‧N, 149°34.80‧E, water depth 1123 m). To complement the proxy data, we also carried out transient Earth system model simulations and sensitivity tests to identify contributions of different climatic forcing factors. Our results show that the central Okhotsk Sea was ice-free during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e and the early-mid Holocene, but experienced variable sea ice cover during MIS 2-4, consistent with intervals of relatively high and low SSST, respectively. Our data also show that the sea ice extent was governed by precession-dominated insolation changes during intervals of atmospheric CO2 concentrations ranging from 190 to 260 ppm. However, the proxy record and the model simulation data show that the central Okhotsk Sea was near ice-free regardless of insolation forcing throughout the penultimate interglacial, and during the Holocene, when atmospheric CO2 was above ∼260 ppm. Past sea ice conditions in the central Okhotsk Sea were therefore strongly modulated by both orbital-driven insolation and CO2-induced radiative forcing during the past glacial/interglacial cycle.

Sea ice biogeochemistry: a guide for modellers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Letizia Tedesco

Full Text Available Sea ice is a fundamental component of the climate system and plays a key role in polar trophic food webs. Nonetheless sea ice biogeochemical dynamics at large temporal and spatial scales are still rarely described. Numerical models may potentially contribute integrating among sparse observations, but available models of sea ice biogeochemistry are still scarce, whether their relevance for properly describing the current and future state of the polar oceans has been recently addressed. A general methodology to develop a sea ice biogeochemical model is presented, deriving it from an existing validated model application by extension of generic pelagic biogeochemistry model parameterizations. The described methodology is flexible and considers different levels of ecosystem complexity and vertical representation, while adopting a strategy of coupling that ensures mass conservation. We show how to apply this methodology step by step by building an intermediate complexity model from a published realistic application and applying it to analyze theoretically a typical season of first-year sea ice in the Arctic, the one currently needing the most urgent understanding. The aim is to (1 introduce sea ice biogeochemistry and address its relevance to ocean modelers of polar regions, supporting them in adding a new sea ice component to their modelling framework for a more adequate representation of the sea ice-covered ocean ecosystem as a whole, and (2 extend our knowledge on the relevant controlling factors of sea ice algal production, showing that beyond the light and nutrient availability, the duration of the sea ice season may play a key-role shaping the algal production during the on going and upcoming projected changes.

210Po and 210Pb variations in fish species from the Aegean Sea and the contribution of 210Po to the radiation dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mat Çatal, Ebru; Uğur, Aysun; Özden, Banu; Filizok, Işık

2012-01-01

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the significance of natural radionuclides, particularly 210 Po, in the marine environment. 210 Po, a naturally occurring alpha emitter, accumulates in marine organisms and reflects differences in their diets. In the literature, there is no data for 210 Po and 210 Pb activity concentrations for fish species on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea. Therefore, in this study, multiple fish species were collected from six stations seasonally on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea and were analyzed for their 210 Po and 210 Pb content. The 210 Po and 210 Pb concentrations in the fish samples were found to vary from undetectable levels to 499 ± 44 Bq kg −1 dry weight (dw) and from 1.0 ± 0.3 Bq kg −1 to 35 ± 4.0 Bq kg −1 (dw), respectively. There were no significant differences in the activity concentrations of 210 Po and 210 Pb in fish samples between seasons (ANOVA, P > 0.05). The highest dose contribution of 210 Po to humans was calculated to be 10,530 μSv year −1 .

Source apportionment of particulate pollutants in the atmosphere over the Northern Yellow Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, L.; Qi, J. H.; Shi, J. H.; Chen, X. J.; Gao, H. W.

2013-05-01

Atmospheric aerosol samples were collected over the Northern Yellow Sea of China during the years of 2006 and 2007, in which the Total Carbon (TC), Cu, Pb, Cd, V, Zn, Fe, Al, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+, NO3-, SO42-, Cl-, and K+ were measured. The principle components analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor models were used to identify the sources of particulate matter. The results indicated that seven factors contributed to the atmospheric particles over the Northern Yellow Sea, i.e., two secondary aerosols (sulfate and nitrate), soil dust, biomass burning, oil combustion, sea salt, and metal smelting. When the whole database was considered, secondary aerosol formation contributed the most to the atmospheric particle content, followed by soil dust. Secondary aerosols and soil dust consisted of 65.65% of the total mass of particulate matter. The results also suggested that the aerosols over the North Yellow Sea were heavily influenced by ship emission over the local sea area and by continental agricultural activities in the northern China, indicating by high loading of V in oil combustion and high loading of K+ in biomass burning. However, the contribution of each factor varied greatly over the different seasons. In spring and autumn, soil dust and biomass burning were the dominant factors. In summer, heavy oil combustion contributed the most among these factors. In winter, secondary aerosols were major sources. Backward trajectories analysis indicated the 66% of air mass in summer was from the ocean, while the air mass is mainly from the continent in other seasons.

40K in the Black Sea: a proxy to estimate biogenic sedimentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulin, S.B.; Gulina, L.V.; Sidorov, I.G.; Proskurnin, V.Yu.; Duka, M.S.; Moseichenko, I.N.; Rodina, E.A.

2014-01-01

An approach to estimate the rate of biogenic sedimentation in the Black Sea using the naturally occurring radionuclide 40 K has been considered. It allows assessment of the contribution of suspended matter of biological origin to the overall sediment accumulation in the Black Sea coastal, shelf and deep-water areas. Based upon this method, a relationship between the biogenic fraction of the seabed sediments and the water depth has been established with a view to differentiating the contributions of allochthonous and autochthonous suspended matter to the sedimentation rate. Overall, 40 K can be considered as an easily applicable proxy to assess sedimentation rate of biogenic fraction of particulate matter in marine environments. - Highlights: • 40 K-based approach was developed to assess biogenic sedimentation in the Black Sea. • 40 K-derived relationship between biogenic sedimentation and water depth was traced. • 40 K is an easily applicable proxy to estimate rate of biogenic sedimentation in sea

The role of local and external factors in determining the interannual sea level variability of the Adriatic and Black Seas during the 20th century.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarascia, Luca; Lionello, Piero

2016-04-01

The Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea are two semienclosed basins connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Otranto and the Bosporus straits, respectively. This work aims to reconstruction the sea level for both basins in the 20th century and to investigate main sources of interannual variability. Using 7 tide gauge timeseries located along the Adriatic coast and 5 along the Black Sea coast, provided by the PSMSL (Permanent service of mean sea level), a seamless sea level timeseries (1900-2009) has been obtained for each basin on the basis of statistical procedure involving PCA and Least Square Method. The comparison with satellite data in the period 1993 - 2009 confirms that these are reliable representations of the observed sea level for the whole basin, showing a great agreement with a correlation value of 0.87 and 0.72 for Adriatic and Black Sea respectively. The sea level has been decomposed in various contributions in order to analyze the role of the factors responsible for its interannual variability. The annual cycles of the local effect of pressure (inverse barometer effect IB), of the steric effect due to temperature and salinity variation and of the wind effect have been computed. The largest contribute for the Adriatic Sea is due to the wind, whilst inverse barometer effect plays a minor role and the steric effect seems to be almost negligible. For the Black Sea, on the contrary, wind effect is negligible, and the largest source of variability is due to the Danube river, which is estimated from the available discharge data of Sulina (one of the exits of the Danube delta. Steric and IB effects play both a minor role in this basin. A linear regression model, built considering as predictor the SLP gradient identified at large scale after having carried out the correlation analysis, is capable to explain a further percentage of variability (about 20-25%) of the sea level after subtracting all the factors considered above. Finally, residual sea levels show a

The Mediterranean Moisture Contribution to Climatological and Extreme Monthly Continental Precipitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danica Ciric

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Moisture transport from its sources to surrounding continents is one of the most relevant topics in hydrology, and its role in extreme events is crucial for understanding several processes such as intense precipitation and flooding. In this study, we considered the Mediterranean Sea as the main water source and estimated its contribution to the monthly climatological and extreme precipitation events over the surrounding continental areas. To assess the effect of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation, we used the Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP database to characterize precipitation. The Lagrangian dispersion model known as FLEXPART was used to estimate the moisture contribution of this source. This contribution was estimated by tracking particles that leave the Mediterranean basin monthly and then calculating water loss (E − P < 0 over the continental region, which was modelled by FLEXPART. The analysis was conducted using data from 1980 to 2015 with a spatial resolution of 0.25°. The results showed that, in general, the spatial pattern of the Mediterranean source’s contribution to precipitation, unlike climatology, is similar during extreme precipitation years in the regions under study. However, while the Mediterranean Sea is usually not an important source of climatological precipitation for some European regions, it is a significant source during extreme precipitation years.

Present day sea level changes: observation and causes; Les variations actuelles du niveau de la mer: observations et causes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lombard, A

2005-11-15

Whereas sea level has changed little over the last 2000 years, it has risen at a rate of about 2 mm/year during the 20. century. This unexpected sea level rise has been attributed to the anthropogenic global warming, recorded over several decades. Sea level variations have been measured globally and precisely for about 12 years due to satellite altimeter missions Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1. These observations indicate a global mean sea level rise of about 3 mm/year since 1993, a value significantly larger than observed during previous decades. Recent observations have allowed us to quantify the various climatic factors contributing to observed sea level change: thermal expansion of sea water due to ocean warming, melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets, and changes in the land water reservoirs. A water budget based on these new observations allows us to partly explain the observed sea level rise. In particular, we show that the thermal expansion explains only 25% of the secular sea level rise as recorded by tide-gauges over the last 50 years, while it contributes about 50% of sea level rise observed over the last decade. Meanwhile, recent studies show that glacier and ice sheet melting could contribute the equivalent of 1 mm/year in sea level rise over the last decade. In addition, the high regional variability of sea level trends revealed by satellite altimetry is mainly due to thermal expansion. There is also an important decadal spatio-temporal variability in the ocean thermal expansion over the last 50 years, which seems to be controlled by natural climate fluctuations. We question for the first time the link between the decadal fluctuations in the ocean thermal expansion and in the land reservoirs, and indeed their climatic contribution to sea level change. Finally a preliminary analysis of GRACE spatial gravimetric observations over the oceans allows us to estimate the seasonal variations in mean sea level due to ocean water mass balance variations

Comparative study of air quality by the North Sea and Baltic Sea; Vergleichsuntersuchungen der Luftqualitaet an Nord- und Ostsee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriske, H.J.; Turowski, E.; Klar, A.; Schoendube, M.; Ebert, G.; Konieczny, L. [Umweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Wasser-, Boden- und Lufthygiene

2000-01-01

Air quality measurements were carried out in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. The results are summarized in this contribution from the hygienic view. [German] Im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes des Umweltbundesamtes, das zwischen 1996 und 1998 mit dem Titel 'Erfassung gasfoermiger und partikelfoermiger Bestandteile der Umgebungsluft an Nord- und Ostsee - Untersuchungen zur hygienischen Bedeutung des maritimen Aerosols' durchgefuehrt wurde, sollte die Frage unterschiedlicher Luftqualitaet an Nord- und Ostsee beantwortet werden und eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme vorgenommen werden. Der Artikel fasst die Forschungsergebnisse aus hygienischer Sicht zusammen. (orig./SR)

Expanding Antarctic Sea Ice: Anthropogenic or Natural Variability?

Science.gov (United States)

Bitz, C. M.

2016-12-01

Antarctic sea ice extent has increased over the last 36 years according to the satellite record. Concurrent with Antarctic sea-ice expansion has been broad cooling of the Southern Ocean sea-surface temperature. Not only are Southern Ocean sea ice and SST trends at odds with expectations from greenhouse gas-induced warming, the trend patterns are not reproduced in historical simulations with comprehensive global climate models. While a variety of different factors may have contributed to the observed trends in recent decades, we propose that it is atmospheric circulation changes - and the changes in ocean circulation they induce - that have emerged as the most likely cause of the observed Southern Ocean sea ice and SST trends. I will discuss deficiencies in models that could explain their incorrect response. In addition, I will present results from a series of experiments where the Antarctic sea ice and ocean are forced by atmospheric perturbations imposed within a coupled climate model. Figure caption: Linear trends of annual-mean SST (left) and annual-mean sea-ice concentration (right) over 1980-2014. SST is from NOAA's Optimum Interpolation SST dataset (version 2; Reynolds et al. 2002). Sea-ice concentration is from passive microwave observations using the NASA Team algorithm. Only the annual means are shown here for brevity and because the signal to noise is greater than in the seasonal means. Figure from Armour and Bitz (2015).

Sea level change since 2005: importance of salinity

Science.gov (United States)

Llovel, W.; Purkey, S.; Meyssignac, B.; Kolodziejczyk, N.; Blazquez, A.; Bamber, J. L.

2017-12-01

Sea level rise is one of the most important consequences of the actual global warming. Global mean sea level has been rising at a faster rate since 1993 (over the satellite altimetry era) than previous decades. This rise is expected to accelerate over the coming decades and century. At global scale, sea level rise is caused by a combination of freshwater increase from land ice melting and land water changes (mass component) and ocean warming (thermal expansion). Estimating the causes is of great interest not only to understand the past sea level changes but also to validate projections based on climate models. In this study, we investigate the global mass contribution to recent sea level changes with an alternative approach by estimating the global ocean freshening. For that purpose, we consider the unprecedented amount of salinity measurements from Argo floats for the past decade (2005-2015). We compare our results to the ocean mass inferred by GRACE data and based on a sea level budget approach. Our results bring new constrains on the global water cycle (ocean freshening) and energy budget (ocean warming) as well as on the global ocean mass directly inferred from GRACE data.

Linking Regional Winter Sea Ice Thickness and Surface Roughness to Spring Melt Pond Fraction on Landfast Arctic Sea Ice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasha Nasonova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The Arctic sea ice cover has decreased strongly in extent, thickness, volume and age in recent decades. The melt season presents a significant challenge for sea ice forecasting due to uncertainty associated with the role of surface melt ponds in ice decay at regional scales. This study quantifies the relationships of spring melt pond fraction (fp with both winter sea ice roughness and thickness, for landfast first-year sea ice (FYI and multiyear sea ice (MYI. In 2015, airborne measurements of winter sea ice thickness and roughness, as well as high-resolution optical data of melt pond covered sea ice, were collected along two ~5.2 km long profiles over FYI- and MYI-dominated regions in the Canadian Arctic. Statistics of winter sea ice thickness and roughness were compared to spring fp using three data aggregation approaches, termed object and hybrid-object (based on image segments, and regularly spaced grid-cells. The hybrid-based aggregation approach showed strongest associations because it considers the morphology of the ice as well as footprints of the sensors used to measure winter sea ice thickness and roughness. Using the hybrid-based data aggregation approach it was found that winter sea ice thickness and roughness are related to spring fp. A stronger negative correlation was observed between FYI thickness and fp (Spearman rs = −0.85 compared to FYI roughness and fp (rs = −0.52. The association between MYI thickness and fp was also negative (rs = −0.56, whereas there was no association between MYI roughness and fp. 47% of spring fp variation for FYI and MYI can be explained by mean thickness. Thin sea ice is characterized by low surface roughness allowing for widespread ponding in the spring (high fp whereas thick sea ice has undergone dynamic thickening and roughening with topographic features constraining melt water into deeper channels (low fp. This work provides an important contribution towards the parameterizations of fp in

The strange and light quark contributions to the nucleon mass from lattice QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bali, Gunnar S.; Collins, Sara; Goeckeler, Meinulf

2011-12-01

We determine the strangeness and light quark fractions of the nucleon mass by computing the quark line connected and disconnected contributions to the matrix elements m q left angle N vertical stroke anti qq vertical stroke N right angle in lattice QCD, using the non-perturbatively improved Sheikholeslami-Wohlert Wilson Fermionic action. We simulate n F =2 mass degenerate sea quarks with a pion mass of about 285 MeV and a lattice spacing ∼0.073 fm. The renormalization of the matrix elements involves mixing between contributions from different quark flavours. The pion-nucleon σ-term is extrapolated to physical quark masses exploiting the sea quark mass dependence of the nucleon mass. We obtain the renormalized values σ πN =(38±12) MeV at the physical point and f T s =σ s /m N =0.012(14) +10 -3 for the strangeness contribution at our larger than physical sea quark mass. (orig.)

The strange and light quark contributions to the nucleon mass from lattice QCD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bali, Gunnar S.; Collins, Sara; Goeckeler, Meinulf [Regensburg Univ. (DE). Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik] (and others)

2011-12-15

We determine the strangeness and light quark fractions of the nucleon mass by computing the quark line connected and disconnected contributions to the matrix elements m{sub q} left angle N vertical stroke anti qq vertical stroke N right angle in lattice QCD, using the non-perturbatively improved Sheikholeslami-Wohlert Wilson Fermionic action. We simulate n{sub F}=2 mass degenerate sea quarks with a pion mass of about 285 MeV and a lattice spacing {approx}0.073 fm. The renormalization of the matrix elements involves mixing between contributions from different quark flavours. The pion-nucleon {sigma}-term is extrapolated to physical quark masses exploiting the sea quark mass dependence of the nucleon mass. We obtain the renormalized values {sigma}{sub {pi}}{sub N}=(38{+-}12) MeV at the physical point and f{sub T{sub s}}={sigma}{sub s}/m{sub N}=0.012(14){sup +10}{sub -3} for the strangeness contribution at our larger than physical sea quark mass. (orig.)

Contribution of crenarchaeal autotrophic ammonia oxidizers to the dark primary production in Tyrrhenian deep waters (Central Mediterranean Sea).

Science.gov (United States)

Yakimov, Michail M; Cono, Violetta La; Smedile, Francesco; DeLuca, Thomas H; Juárez, Silvia; Ciordia, Sergio; Fernández, Marisol; Albar, Juan Pablo; Ferrer, Manuel; Golyshin, Peter N; Giuliano, Laura

2011-06-01

Mesophilic Crenarchaeota have recently been thought to be significant contributors to nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycling. In this study, we examined the vertical distribution of ammonia-oxidizing Crenarchaeota at offshore site in Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The median value of the crenachaeal cell to amoA gene ratio was close to one suggesting that virtually all deep-sea Crenarchaeota possess the capacity to oxidize ammonia. Crenarchaea-specific genes, nirK and ureC, for nitrite reductase and urease were identified and their affiliation demonstrated the presence of 'deep-sea' clades distinct from 'shallow' representatives. Measured deep-sea dark CO(2) fixation estimates were comparable to the median value of photosynthetic biomass production calculated for this area of Tyrrhenian Sea, pointing to the significance of this process in the C cycle of aphotic marine ecosystems. To elucidate the pivotal organisms in this process, we targeted known marine crenarchaeal autotrophy-related genes, coding for acetyl-CoA carboxylase (accA) and 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase (4-hbd). As in case of nirK and ureC, these genes are grouped with deep-sea sequences being distantly related to those retrieved from the epipelagic zone. To pair the molecular data with specific functional attributes we performed [(14)C]HCO(3) incorporation experiments followed by analyses of radiolabeled proteins using shotgun proteomics approach. More than 100 oligopeptides were attributed to 40 marine crenarchaeal-specific proteins that are involved in 10 different metabolic processes, including autotrophy. Obtained results provided a clear proof of chemolithoautotrophic physiology of bathypelagic crenarchaeota and indicated that this numerically predominant group of microorganisms facilitate a hitherto unrecognized sink for inorganic C of a global importance.

Polar bear population dynamics in the southern Beaufort Sea during a period of sea ice decline

Science.gov (United States)

Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; McDonald, Trent L.; Stirling, Ian; Derocher, Andrew E.; Richardson, Evan S.; Regehr, Eric V.; Douglas, David C.; Durner, George M.; Atwood, Todd C.; Amstrup, Steven C.

2015-01-01

In the southern Beaufort Sea of the United States and Canada, prior investigations have linked declines in summer sea ice to reduced physical condition, growth, and survival of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Combined with projections of population decline due to continued climate warming and the ensuing loss of sea ice habitat, those findings contributed to the 2008 decision to list the species as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Here, we used mark–recapture models to investigate the population dynamics of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea from 2001 to 2010, years during which the spatial and temporal extent of summer sea ice generally declined. Low survival from 2004 through 2006 led to a 25–50% decline in abundance. We hypothesize that low survival during this period resulted from (1) unfavorable ice conditions that limited access to prey during multiple seasons; and possibly, (2) low prey abundance. For reasons that are not clear, survival of adults and cubs began to improve in 2007 and abundance was comparatively stable from 2008 to 2010, with ~900 bears in 2010 (90% CI 606–1212). However, survival of subadult bears declined throughout the entire period. Reduced spatial and temporal availability of sea ice is expected to increasingly force population dynamics of polar bears as the climate continues to warm. However, in the short term, our findings suggest that factors other than sea ice can influence survival. A refined understanding of the ecological mechanisms underlying polar bear population dynamics is necessary to improve projections of their future status and facilitate development of management strategies.

Tradition and Technology: Sea Ice Science on Inuit Sleds

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Jeremy P.; Hanson, Susanne; Hughes, Nick E.; James, Alistair; Jones, Bryn; MacKinnon, Rory; Rysgaard, Søren; Toudal, Leif

2011-01-01

The Arctic is home to a circumpolar community of native people whose culture and traditions have enabled them to thrive in what most would perceive as a totally inhospitable and untenable environment. In many ways, sea ice can be viewed as the glue that binds these northern communities together; it is utilized in all aspects of their daily life. Sea ice acts as highways of the north; indeed, one can travel on these highways with dogsleds and snowmobiles. These travels over the frozen ocean occur at all periods of the sea ice cycle and over different ice types and ages. Excursions may be hunting trips to remote regions or social visits to nearby villages. Furthermore, hunting on the sea ice contributes to the health, culture, and commercial income of a community.

Antarctic contribution to sea level rise observed by GRACE with improved GIA correction

Science.gov (United States)

Ivins, Erik R.; James, Thomas S.; Wahr, John; Schrama, Ernst J. O.; Landerer, Felix W.; Simon, Karen M.

2013-06-01

Antarctic volume changes during the past 21 thousand years are smaller than previously thought, and here we construct an ice sheet history that drives a forward model prediction of the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) gravity signal. The new model, in turn, should give predictions that are constrained with recent uplift data. The impact of the GIA signal on a Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Antarctic mass balance estimate depends on the specific GRACE analysis method used. For the method described in this paper, the GIA contribution to the apparent surface mass change is re-evaluated to be +55±13 Gt/yr by considering a revised ice history model and a parameter search for vertical motion predictions that best fit the GPS observations at 18 high-quality stations. Although the GIA model spans a range of possible Earth rheological structure values, the data are not yet sufficient for solving for a preferred value of upper and lower mantle viscosity nor for a preferred lithospheric thickness. GRACE monthly solutions from the Center for Space Research Release 04 (CSR-RL04) release time series from January 2003 to the beginning of January 2012, uncorrected for GIA, yield an ice mass rate of +2.9± 29 Gt/yr. The new GIA correction increases the solved-for ice mass imbalance of Antarctica to -57±34 Gt/yr. The revised GIA correction is smaller than past GRACE estimates by about 50 to 90 Gt/yr. The new upper bound to the sea level rise from the Antarctic ice sheet, averaged over the time span 2003.0-2012.0, is about 0.16±0.09 mm/yr.

On the contribution of organics to the North East Atlantic aerosol number concentration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bialek, Jakub; Dall’Osto, Manuel; Monahan, Ciaran; O’Dowd, Colin; Beddows, David

2012-01-01

k-means statistical-cluster analysis of submicron aerosol size distributions is combined with coincident humidity tandem differential mobility analyser data, leading to five unique aerosol categories for hygroscopic growth factors (HGFs): low sea-salt background marine, high sea-salt background marine, coastal nucleation, open ocean nucleation and anthropogenically influenced scenarios. When considering only marine conditions, and generic aerosol species associated with this environment (e.g. non-sea-salt sulfate, sea-salt, partly soluble organic matter and water insoluble organic matter), the two-year annual average contribution to aerosol number concentration from the different generic species was made up as follows: 46% (30–54%) of partially modified ammonium sulfate particles; 23% (11–40%) of partially modified sea-salt; and the remaining 31% (25–35%) contribution attributed to two distinct organic species as evidenced by different, but low, HGFs. The analysis reveals that on annual timescales, ∼30% of the submicron marine aerosol number concentration is sourced from predominantly organic aerosol while 60% of the anthropogenic aerosol number is predominantly organic. Coastal nucleation events show the highest contribution of the lowest HGF mode (1.19), although this contribution is more likely to be influenced by inorganic iodine oxides. While organic mass internally mixed with inorganic salts will lower the activation potential of these mixed aerosol types, thereby potentially reducing the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), pure organic water soluble particles are still likely to be activated into cloud droplets, thereby increasing the concentration of CCN. A combination of dynamics and aerosol concentrations will determine which effect will prevail under given conditions. (letter)

Sea level: measuring the bounding surfaces of the ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamisiea, Mark E; Hughes, Chris W; Williams, Simon D P; Bingley, Richard M

2014-09-28

The practical need to understand sea level along the coasts, such as for safe navigation given the spatially variable tides, has resulted in tide gauge observations having the distinction of being some of the longest instrumental ocean records. Archives of these records, along with geological constraints, have allowed us to identify the century-scale rise in global sea level. Additional data sources, particularly satellite altimetry missions, have helped us to better identify the rates and causes of sea-level rise and the mechanisms leading to spatial variability in the observed rates. Analysis of all of the data reveals the need for long-term and stable observation systems to assess accurately the regional changes as well as to improve our ability to estimate future changes in sea level. While information from many scientific disciplines is needed to understand sea-level change, this review focuses on contributions from geodesy and the role of the ocean's bounding surfaces: the sea surface and the Earth's crust. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Air pollution related to sea transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massin, J.M.; Hertz, O.

1993-01-01

Sea transportation contributes only 1-2% of world CO 2 emissions. Owing to the sulphur concentration in the bunker fuels, this transportation mode represents over 4% of the world SO 2 emissions. In addition, NO x emissions are likely to exceed 7% of the world emissions. SO 2 emissions in the North Sea and the Channel account for 15% of the whole French emissions, NO x emissions for about 10% and CO 2 emissions for about 3%. There are several potential measures to reduce the emissions of ship engines - propelling engines or generator driving engines - improvement of fuel quality, by desulphurizing and prohibiting the use of noxious additives such as PCB; use of alternative fuels; engine optimizing; exhaust gas processing; use of new propelling systems. A new organisation of world marketing of fuels with low or high sulphur levels could also be set up. The Sea Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) discussed this problem during its meeting in 1990. The 73/78 MARPOL convention provides the IMO with an international juridical tool, especially designed for the preclusion of pollution due to sea transportation. It can address the issue of air pollution which requires a concerted approach between seaside countries and the drawing up of international regulations relating to the protection of the sea world. Fuel quality is already controlled by international standards drawn up by ISO. These standards should be improved to reduce air pollution due to sea transportation

Sea level oscillations over minute timescales: a global perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Vilibic, Ivica; Sepic, Jadranka

2016-04-01

Sea level oscillations occurring over minutes to a few hours are an important contributor to sea level extremes, and a knowledge on their behaviour is essential for proper quantification of coastal marine hazards. Tsunamis, meteotsunamis, infra-gravity waves and harbour oscillations may even dominate sea level extremes in certain areas and thus pose a great danger for humans and coastal infrastructure. Aside for tsunamis, which are, due to their enormous impact to the coastlines, a well-researched phenomena, the importance of other high-frequency oscillations to the sea level extremes is still underrated, as no systematic long-term measurements have been carried out at a minute timescales. Recently, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established Sea Level Monitoring Facility portal (http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org), making 1-min sea level data publicly available for several hundred tide gauge sites in the World Ocean. Thereafter, a global assessment of oscillations over tsunami timescales become possible; however, the portal contains raw sea level data only, being unchecked for spikes, shifts, drifts and other malfunctions of instruments. We present a quality assessment of these data, estimates of sea level variances and contributions of high-frequency processes to the extremes throughout the World Ocean. This is accompanied with assessment of atmospheric conditions and processes which generate intense high-frequency oscillations.

Monitoring and modeling of contaminant loads and levels in Norwegian sea 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, Norman W.; Heldal, Hilde Elise; Maage, Amund; Aas, Wenche; Graefert, Torbjoern; Schrum, Corinna; Boitsov, Stepan; Breivik, Knut; Iosjpe, Mikhail; Yakushev, Evgeniy; Skogen, Morten; Hoegaasen, Tore; Eckhardt, Sabine; Christiansen, Anne Bjoerkenes; Daae, Kjersti L.; Durand, Dominique; Ledang, Anna Birgitta; Jaccard, Pierre Francois

2012-01-01

This report describes the calculation of the supply of oil, hazardous chemicals and radioactive substances from seven sources of seven regions in the Norwegian part of the Norwegian Sea. The data from the various sources used to calculate the concentrations of pollutants in the water column throughout the defined area of the Norwegian Sea (3 dimensions) and calculate the transport of Hg, PCB153 and BaP in and out of each of the seven regions. This transport flux is huge compared with inputs and will alternately be a net source or net sink of each region. The main feature is that the supply is dominated by the fallout from the atmosphere is balanced by decomposition and sedimentation in the water column plus exports / imports from adjacent waters. It is relatively small supply of hazardous substances. With few exceptions, for the supply of air the biggest contribution of mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, PCBs (PCB-153) and PAH (benzo [a] pyrene) to all regions. Exception contributions of land for chromium in mid-Norway and contributions from seabed for lead and chromium from more central parts of the Norwegian Sea. Ship traffic dominates regard. supply of oil. Supply air from the major contribution of radionuclides plutonium-239 240 and strontium-90 in the eastern part of the Norwegian Sea. Otherwise, Sellafield is the dominant source. Contaminants in sediment and cod were largely of low to moderate concentrations. The concentration of radioactive substances in water, sediment and cod were low and comparable with results from other studies in the Norwegian Sea. There are still large gaps in knowledge and uncertainties in both the data and the estimates of supplies. It is especially important to improved figures for inflows into the oceans via air and enhancement of the marine transport and dispersion models.(eb)

Carbon Dioxide Transfer Through Sea Ice: Modelling Flux in Brine Channels

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, L.; Mitchelson-Jacob, G.; Hardman-Mountford, N.

2010-12-01

For many years sea ice was thought to act as a barrier to the flux of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere. However, laboratory-based and in-situ observations suggest that while sea ice may in some circumstances reduce or prevent transfer (e.g. in regions of thick, superimposed multi-year ice), it may also be highly permeable (e.g. thin, first year ice) with some studies observing significant fluxes of CO2. Sea ice covered regions have been observed to act both as a sink and a source of atmospheric CO2 with the permeability of sea ice and direction of flux related to sea ice temperature and the presence of brine channels in the ice, as well as seasonal processes such as whether the ice is freezing or thawing. Brine channels concentrate dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as well as salinity and as these dense waters descend through both the sea ice and the surface ocean waters, they create a sink for CO2. Calcium carbonate (ikaite) precipitation in the sea ice is thought to enhance this process. Micro-organisms present within the sea ice will also contribute to the CO2 flux dynamics. Recent evidence of decreasing sea ice extent and the associated change from a multi-year ice to first-year ice dominated system suggest the potential for increased CO2 flux through regions of thinner, more porous sea ice. A full understanding of the processes and feedbacks controlling the flux in these regions is needed to determine their possible contribution to global CO2 levels in a future warming climate scenario. Despite the significance of these regions, the air-sea CO2 flux in sea ice covered regions is not currently included in global climate models. Incorporating this carbon flux system into Earth System models requires the development of a well-parameterised sea ice-air flux model. In our work we use the Los Alamos sea ice model, CICE, with a modification to incorporate the movement of CO2 through brine channels including the addition of DIC processes and ice algae production to

Chlorophyll specific absorption coefficient and phytoplankton biomass in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Tiwari, Surya Prakash

2015-01-01

The role of total particulate matter, the sum of phytoplankton and nonalgal particles, is essential to understanding the distribution and pathways of particulate carbon in the ocean. Their relative contributions to light absorption and scattering are fundamental to understanding remotely sensed ocean color. Until recently, data regarding the contribution of phytoplankton and algal particles to the inherent optical properties of the Red Sea was nonexistent. Some of the first measurements of these inherent optical properties in the Red Sea including phytoplankton specific absorption coefficients (aph*(λ)) were obtained by the TARA Oceans expedition in January 2010. From these observations, chlorophyll a was calculated using the Line Height Method (LHM) that minimizes the contribution to total and particulate absorption by non-algal particles (NAP) and CDOM. Bricaud and Stramski’s (1990) a method was then used to decompose hyperspectral total particulate absorption into the contributions by phytoplankton and nonalgal particles.

Exploration drilling and ecology. A contribution to the MER (Environmental Effect Report) of the NAM (Netherlands Petroleum Company) for the benefit of exploration drilling for natural gas in the Waddenzee and the North Sea coastal area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dankers, N.; Wintermans, G.J.M.

1996-01-01

Within the framework of the title drilling activities the NAM carries out a MER. Several research institutes were asked to contribute to the MER. The authors' institute was asked to describe the ecology of the exploration areas in the Wadden Sea, as well as the possible effects of the exploration drilling on the ecology. In this report only the impact for the Wadden Sea is dealt with. In chapter 1 the ecology of the Wadden Sea is discussed in detail for the subjects primary production (photosynthesis), secondary production (consumption of vegetable organic materials), birds, seals, and societal functions. In chapter 2 specific aspects of specific sites are outlined. In chapter 3 an overview (the so-called factor train) is given of the activities around the exploration drilling of the NAM in the Wadden Sea and the disturbances that can be the result of those activities. In chapter 4 the possible effects of exploration drilling on birds and seals are discussed for each drilling site

Scientific symposium on the North Sea quality status report 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, J.; Karup, H.; Nielsen, U.B.

1996-01-01

The Scientific Symposium on the 1993 North Sea quality Status Report took place in Ebeltoft, Denmark from 18 to 21 April 1994. The aim was to bring together scientists, researchers and administrators from governments, industries and environmental organizations from the countries around the North Sea in order to review new information which may supplements the 1993 North Sea Quality Status Report and to discuss the Quality Status Report and its possible implications. The 1993 North Sea Quality Status Report has been prepared by the North Sea Task force as a comprehensive statement of circulation patterns, inputs and dispersion of contaminants, ecological conditions and effects of human activities in the North Sea including the Skagerrak and the Kattegat. The programme of the Scientific Symposium on the 1993 North Sea Quality Status Report included 8 sessions for oral presentations, a poster session presenting the North Sea Task Force subregional reports and a poster session presenting individual posters. The headings of the sessions were as follows: Oceanography, Models and Remote Sensing; Ecosystem Structure; Contaminants -Distribution and Effects; Nutrients and Eutrophication Problems; Effects of Fishery; Habitats and Species; Management Implications; Conclusions and Recommendations. The proceedings includes a total of 45 contributed papers. (EG)

The Effect of Subsidies on the Offer of Sea Transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drago Pupavac

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this academic discussion is to study the effect of subsidies on the offer of sea transport. Research results are based on the method of microeconomic analysis. The knowledge obtained through this academic discussion may prove to be of assistance to managers in the area of sea transport in deliberating on more efficient and market-oriented business models. The results of this work reveal that subsidies in sea transport make sense if they contribute to the improvement of the quality of transport or are of help to those for whom they are intended.

Sea-level rise caused by climate change and its implications for society

Science.gov (United States)

MIMURA, Nobuo

2013-01-01

Sea-level rise is a major effect of climate change. It has drawn international attention, because higher sea levels in the future would cause serious impacts in various parts of the world. There are questions associated with sea-level rise which science needs to answer. To what extent did climate change contribute to sea-level rise in the past? How much will global mean sea level increase in the future? How serious are the impacts of the anticipated sea-level rise likely to be, and can human society respond to them? This paper aims to answer these questions through a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. First, the present status of observed sea-level rise, analyses of its causes, and future projections are summarized. Then the impacts are examined along with other consequences of climate change, from both global and Japanese perspectives. Finally, responses to adverse impacts will be discussed in order to clarify the implications of the sea-level rise issue for human society. PMID:23883609

The relative contributions of tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures and atmospheric internal variability to the recent global warming hiatus

Science.gov (United States)

Deser, Clara; Guo, Ruixia; Lehner, Flavio

2017-08-01

The recent slowdown in global mean surface temperature (GMST) warming during boreal winter is examined from a regional perspective using 10-member initial-condition ensembles with two global coupled climate models in which observed tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (TPAC SSTAs) and radiative forcings are specified. Both models show considerable diversity in their surface air temperature (SAT) trend patterns across the members, attesting to the importance of internal variability beyond the tropical Pacific that is superimposed upon the response to TPAC SSTA and radiative forcing. Only one model shows a close relationship between the realism of its simulated GMST trends and SAT trend patterns. In this model, Eurasian cooling plays a dominant role in determining the GMST trend amplitude, just as in nature. In the most realistic member, intrinsic atmospheric dynamics and teleconnections forced by TPAC SSTA cause cooling over Eurasia (and North America), and contribute equally to its GMST trend.

Hard time to be parents? Sea urchin fishery shifts potential reproductive contribution of population onto the shoulders of the young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Loi, Barbara; Guala, Ivan; Pires da Silva, Rodrigo; Brundu, Gianni; Baroli, Maura; Farina, Simone

2017-01-01

In Sardinia, as in other regions of the Mediterranean Sea, sustainable fisheries of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus have become a necessity. At harvesting sites, the systematic removal of large individuals (diameter ≥ 50 mm) seriously compromises the biological and ecological functions of sea urchin populations. Specifically, in this study, we compared the reproductive potential of the populations from Mediterranean coastal areas which have different levels of sea urchin fishing pressure. The areas were located at Su Pallosu Bay, where pressure is high and Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo, a marine protected area where sea urchin harvesting is low. Reproductive potential was estimated by calculating the gonadosomatic index (GSI) from June 2013 to May 2014 both for individuals of commercial size (diameter without spines, TD ≥ 50 mm) and the undersized ones with gonads (30 ≤ TD sea urchins than on their size. However, since population survival in the high-pressure zone is supported by the high density of undersized sea urchins between 30 and 50 mm, management measures should be addressed to maintain these sizes and to shed light on the source of the larval supply.

The Osservatorio Geofisico Sperimentale marine magnetic surveys in the Antarctic Seas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Zanolla

1999-06-01

Full Text Available About 40 000 km of marine magnetic and gradiometric data have been collected during eight geophysical surveys conducted since the Austral summer 1987/1988 in the circum-antarctic seas, by the research vessel OGS-Explora. For the most surveyed areas (Ross Sea, Southwestern Pacific Ocean, and Southern Scotia Sea, the analysis of the acquired data have contributed to clarify important aspects of their geological structure and tectonic evolution. The main scientific results, obtained combining other available geophysical data (multichannel seismic profiles and satellite-derived data, will be briefly illustrated.

Phenolic compounds in Ross Sea water

Science.gov (United States)

Zangrando, Roberta; Barbaro, Elena; Gambaro, Andrea; Barbante, Carlo; Corami, Fabiana; Kehrwald, Natalie; Capodaglio, Gabriele

2016-04-01

Phenolic compounds are semi-volatile organic compounds produced during biomass burning and lignin degradation in water. In atmospheric and paleoclimatic ice cores studies, these compounds are used as biomarkers of wood combustion and supply information on the type of combusted biomass. Phenolic compounds are therefore indicators of paleoclimatic interest. Recent studies of Antarctic aerosols highlighted that phenolic compounds in Antarctica are not exclusively attributable to biomass burning but also derive from marine sources. In order to study the marine contribution to aerosols we developed an analytical method to determine the concentration of vanillic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, syringic acid, isovanillic acid, homovanillic acid, syringaldehyde, acetosyringone and acetovanillone present in dissolved and particle phases in Sea Ross waters using HPLC-MS/MS. The analytical method was validated and used to quantify phenolic compounds in 28 sea water samples collected during a 2012 Ross Sea R/V cruise. The observed compounds were vanillic acid, vanillin, acetovanillone and p-coumaric acid with concentrations in the ng/L range. Higher concentrations of analytes were present in the dissolved phase than in the particle phase. Sample concentrations were greatest in the coastal, surficial and less saline Ross Sea waters near Victoria Land.

Radioactive materials and emergencies at sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, K.B.

1988-01-01

Recent events have heightened awareness of the problems raised by accidents at sea involving radioactive materials. The NEA Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) noted that, while the transport of radioactive materials at sea is governed by extensive international regulations, deficiencies remained, particularly concerning mechanisms for early accident reporting and the development of generic safety assessments and accident analysises for various kinds of sea transport. As a contribution towards improving international guidance in this field, the NEA appointed a consultant to review the current status of activities carried out by the principal international organizations concerned with the transport of radioactive materials (the IAEA, IMO and the CEC), to identify the various areas where additional work is required and to suggest appropriate improvements. Only the radiation protection aspects of sea transport have been considered here. After having examined the consultant report, the CRPPH felt that its wide distribution to national regulatory authorities in OECD countries would serve a useful purpose. The report is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD and does not commit Member Governments or the Organization

Measurements of sea level off Tikkavanipalem - Coast India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Joseph, A.; Desai, R.G.P.; Peshwe, V.B.; Desa, E.; VijayKumar, K.; Desa, E.S.; Mehra, P.; Nagvekar, S.

, and meteorological measurements were also made during this one-year period. These measurements have indicated that the sea level along this coast contains contributions from several classes of motions, principally tidal motions and set-up/set-down motions...

The multi-millennial Antarctic commitment to future sea-level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Golledge, N R; Kowalewski, D E; Naish, T R; Levy, R H; Fogwill, C J; Gasson, E G W

2015-10-15

Atmospheric warming is projected to increase global mean surface temperatures by 0.3 to 4.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial values by the end of this century. If anthropogenic emissions continue unchecked, the warming increase may reach 8-10 degrees Celsius by 2300 (ref. 2). The contribution that large ice sheets will make to sea-level rise under such warming scenarios is difficult to quantify because the equilibrium-response timescale of ice sheets is longer than those of the atmosphere or ocean. Here we use a coupled ice-sheet/ice-shelf model to show that if atmospheric warming exceeds 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above present, collapse of the major Antarctic ice shelves triggers a centennial- to millennial-scale response of the Antarctic ice sheet in which enhanced viscous flow produces a long-term commitment (an unstoppable contribution) to sea-level rise. Our simulations represent the response of the present-day Antarctic ice-sheet system to the oceanic and climatic changes of four representative concentration pathways (RCPs) from the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We find that substantial Antarctic ice loss can be prevented only by limiting greenhouse gas emissions to RCP 2.6 levels. Higher-emissions scenarios lead to ice loss from Antarctic that will raise sea level by 0.6-3 metres by the year 2300. Our results imply that greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades will strongly influence the long-term contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to global sea level.

Sea surface temperatures and salinities from platforms in the Barents Sea, Sea of Japan, North Atlantic Ocean, Philippine Sea, Red Sea, and the South China Sea (Nan Hai) from 1896-1950 (NODC Accession 0000506)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Surface temperatures and salinities were collected in the Barents Sea, Sea of Japan, North Atlantic Ocean, Philippine Sea, Red Sea, and South China Sea (Nan Hai)...

Accumulation of 95mTc by marine algae and sea urchin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Ryoichi; Nakahara, Motokazu; Matsuba, Mitsue; Suzuki, Yuzuru

1994-01-01

It is necessary to investigate the accumulation of technetium by marine algae popular in Japan and it is also important to examine the contribution of food to the accumulation of the nuclide by sea urchin which grazes algae. In the laboratory tracer experiment, some species of algae and sea urchin were kept separately for 7 days in sea water containing 95m Tc (uptake experiment) and then transferred into non-radioactive sea water to be held for 28 days with the frequent renewal of the sea water (excretion experiment). No food was given during the uptake experiment to prevent the urchins from accumulating 95m Tc through food. Another experiment was done by feeding urchins with 95m Tc labeled algae in the non-radioactive sea water. Five species of brown algae showed CFs in the range of 900 and 35000 but CFs of green and red algae were 1-4. Sea urchin accumulated more 95m Tc through food (brown algae) than directly from sea water, so that the main pathway of technetium accumulation by sea urchin was estimated to be brown algae which were the most favorite food of the organism. (author)

The old man and the sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geesaman, Donald F.

2010-01-01

While many models describe the proton at some low scale as composed of only valence quarks and glue, experimental data on the flavor dependence of anti-quark distributions show that this picture cannot be right at any scale. The non-perturbative origin of the sea remains a critical question in hadron structure. New HERMES measurements of the strangeness content of the proton also suggest an intriguing relation between the non-perturbative contribution to u-bar+d-bar and d-bar-u-bar. Two future measurements of the non-perturbative nature of the sea appear to be especially important. One, the measurement of the d-bar/u-bar at higher x, will be carried out by the SEAQUEST experiment at FNAL in the next few years. The second, a higher precision measurement of the spin carried by the sea of anti-quarks, Δd-bar-Δu-bar, may require a future generation of experiments.

Observational analysis of air-sea fluxes and sea water temperature offshore South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, X.; Huang, J.; Gao, Z.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

This paper investigates the air-sea fluxes (momentum flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux) from eddy covariance method based on data collected at an offshore observation tower in the South China Sea from January 2009 to December 2016 and sea water temperature (SWT) on six different levels based on data collected from November 2011 to June 2013. The depth of water at the tower over the sea averages about 15 m. This study presents the in-situ measurements of continuous air-sea fluxes and SWT at different depths. Seasonal and diurnal variations in air-sea fluxes and SWT on different depths are examined. Results show that air-sea fluxes and all SWT changed seasonally; sea-land breeze circulation appears all the year round. Unlike winters where SWT on different depths are fairly consistent, the difference between sea surface temperature (SST) and sea temperature at 10 m water depth fluctuates dramatically and the maximum value reaches 7 °C during summer.

Sea Ice Prediction Has Easy and Difficult Years

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Lawrence C.; Bitz, Cecilia M.; Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, Edward; Cutler, Matthew; Kay, Jennifer; Meier, Walter N.; Stroeve, Julienne; Wiggins, Helen

2014-01-01

Arctic sea ice follows an annual cycle, reaching its low point in September each year. The extent of sea ice remaining at this low point has been trending downwards for decades as the Arctic warms. Around the long-term downward trend, however, there is significant variation in the minimum extent from one year to the next. Accurate forecasts of yearly conditions would have great value to Arctic residents, shipping companies, and other stakeholders and are the subject of much current research. Since 2008 the Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) (http://www.arcus.org/search-program/seaiceoutlook) organized by the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) (http://www.arcus.org/search-program) has invited predictions of the September Arctic sea ice minimum extent, which are contributed from the Arctic research community. Individual predictions, based on a variety of approaches, are solicited in three cycles each year in early June, July, and August. (SEARCH 2013).

Indigenous Knowledge and Sea Ice Science: What Can We Learn from Indigenous Ice Users?

Science.gov (United States)

Eicken, H.

2010-12-01

Drawing on examples mostly from Iñupiaq and Yup’ik sea-ice expertise in coastal Alaska, this contribution examines how local, indigenous knowledge (LIK) can inform and guide geophysical and biological sea-ice research. Part of the relevance of LIK derives from its linkage to sea-ice use and the services coastal communities derive from the ice cover. As a result, indigenous experts keep track of a broad range of sea-ice variables at a particular location. These observations are embedded into a broader worldview that speaks to both long-term variability or change and to the system of values associated with ice use. The contribution examines eight different contexts in which LIK in study site selection and assessment of a sampling campaign in the context of inter annual variability, the identification of rare or inconspicuous phenomena or events, the contribution by indigenous experts to hazard assessment and emergency response, the record of past and present climate embedded in LIK, and the value of holistic sea-ice knowledge in detecting subtle, intertwined patterns of environmental change. The relevance of local, indigenous sea-ice expertise in helping advance adaptation and responses to climate change as well as its potential role in guiding research questions and hypotheses are also examined. The challenges that may have to be overcome in creating an interface for exchange between indigenous experts and seaice researchers are considered. Promising approaches to overcome these challenges include cross-cultural, interdisciplinary education, and the fostering of Communities of Practice.

Ice-sheet model sensitivities to environmental forcing and their use in projecting future sea level (the SeaRISE project)

OpenAIRE

Bindschadler, Robert A.; Nowicki, Sophie; Abe-Ouchi, Ayako; Aschwanden, Andy; Choi, Hyeungu; Fastook, Jim; Granzow, Glen; Greve, Ralf; Gutowski, Gail; Herzfeld, Ute; Jackson, Charles; Johnson, Jesse; Khroulev, Constantine; Levermann, Anders; Lipscomb, William H.

2013-01-01

Ten ice-sheet models are used to study sensitivity of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to prescribed changes of surface mass balance, sub-ice-shelf melting and basal sliding. Results exhibit a large range in projected contributions to sea-level change. In most cases, the ice volume above flotation lost is linearly dependent on the strength of the forcing. Combinations of forcings can be closely approximated by linearly summing the contributions from single forcing experiments, suggestin...

Early Chinese Voyaging in the South China Sea: Implications on Territorial Claims

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Flecker

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this paper is to examine historically issues of territorial claims over the South China Sea. As it is known that at present there are at least six countries claiming part or all of South China Sea territory. In this case China is the most ambitious country to control all areas in the South China Sea. This has led to political and military tensions in the region. It is strange that the South China Sea waters has actually been a shipping thoroughfare for the last two millennia. Therefore, this historical study will contribute to an understanding of the issues that could provoke international conflict.

Variability of sea salts in ice and firn cores from Fimbul Ice Shelf, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Paulina Vega, Carmen; Isaksson, Elisabeth; Schlosser, Elisabeth; Divine, Dmitry; Martma, Tõnu; Mulvaney, Robert; Eichler, Anja; Schwikowski-Gigar, Margit

2018-05-01

Major ions were analysed in firn and ice cores located at Fimbul Ice Shelf (FIS), Dronning Maud Land - DML, Antarctica. FIS is the largest ice shelf in the Haakon VII Sea, with an extent of approximately 36 500 km2. Three shallow firn cores (about 20 m deep) were retrieved in different ice rises, Kupol Ciolkovskogo (KC), Kupol Moskovskij (KM), and Blåskimen Island (BI), while a 100 m long core (S100) was drilled near the FIS edge. These sites are distributed over the entire FIS area so that they provide a variety of elevation (50-400 m a.s.l.) and distance (3-42 km) to the sea. Sea-salt species (mainly Na+ and Cl-) generally dominate the precipitation chemistry in the study region. We associate a significant sixfold increase in median sea-salt concentrations, observed in the S100 core after the 1950s, to an enhanced exposure of the S100 site to primary sea-salt aerosol due to a shorter distance from the S100 site to the ice front, and to enhanced sea-salt aerosol production from blowing salty snow over sea ice, most likely related to the calving of Trolltunga occurred during the 1960s. This increase in sea-salt concentrations is synchronous with a shift in non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO42-) toward negative values, suggesting a possible contribution of fractionated aerosol to the sea-salt load in the S100 core most likely originating from salty snow found on sea ice. In contrast, there is no evidence of a significant contribution of fractionated sea salt to the ice-rises sites, where the signal would be most likely masked by the large inputs of biogenic sulfate estimated for these sites. In summary, these results suggest that the S100 core contains a sea-salt record dominated by the proximity of the site to the ocean, and processes of sea ice formation in the neighbouring waters. In contrast, the ice-rises firn cores register a larger-scale signal of atmospheric flow conditions and a less efficient transport of sea-salt aerosols to these sites. These findings are a

Predicting Land-Ice Retreat and Sea-Level Rise with the Community Earth System Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lipscomb, William [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-06-19

Coastal stakeholders need defensible predictions of 21st century sea-level rise (SLR). IPCC assessments suggest 21st century SLR of {approx}0.5 m under aggressive emission scenarios. Semi-empirical models project SLR of {approx}1 m or more by 2100. Although some sea-level contributions are fairly well constrained by models, others are highly uncertain. Recent studies suggest a potential large contribution ({approx}0.5 m/century) from the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet, linked to changes in Southern Ocean wind stress. To assess the likelihood of fast retreat of marine ice sheets, we need coupled ice-sheet/ocean models that do not yet exist (but are well under way). CESM is uniquely positioned to provide integrated, physics based sea-level predictions.

The olive compound 4-hydroxytyrosol inactivates Staphyloccoccus aureus bacteria and Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA)

Science.gov (United States)

The foodborne pathogen Staphylococcus aureus produces the virulent staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), a single chain protein which consists of 233 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 27,078 Da. SEA is a superantigen that is reported to contribute to animal (mastitis) and human (emesis, ...

Light-cone expansion of the Dirac sea in the presence of chiral and scalar potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Finster, Felix

2000-10-01

We study the Dirac sea in the presence of external chiral and scalar/pseudoscalar potentials. In preparation, a method is developed for calculating the advanced and retarded Green's functions in an expansion around the light cone. For this, we first expand all Feynman diagrams and then explicitly sum up the perturbation series. The light-cone expansion expresses the Green's functions as an infinite sum of line integrals over the external potential and its partial derivatives. The Dirac sea is decomposed into a causal and a noncausal contribution. The causal contribution has a light-cone expansion which is closely related to the light-cone expansion of the Green's functions; it describes the singular behavior of the Dirac sea in terms of nested line integrals along the light cone. The noncausal contribution, on the other hand, is, to every order in perturbation theory, a smooth function in position space.

Separating decadal global water cycle variability from sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlington, B D; Reager, J T; Lo, M-H; Karnauskas, K B; Leben, R R

2017-04-20

Under a warming climate, amplification of the water cycle and changes in precipitation patterns over land are expected to occur, subsequently impacting the terrestrial water balance. On global scales, such changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) will be reflected in the water contained in the ocean and can manifest as global sea level variations. Naturally occurring climate-driven TWS variability can temporarily obscure the long-term trend in sea level rise, in addition to modulating the impacts of sea level rise through natural periodic undulation in regional and global sea level. The internal variability of the global water cycle, therefore, confounds both the detection and attribution of sea level rise. Here, we use a suite of observations to quantify and map the contribution of TWS variability to sea level variability on decadal timescales. In particular, we find that decadal sea level variability centered in the Pacific Ocean is closely tied to low frequency variability of TWS in key areas across the globe. The unambiguous identification and clean separation of this component of variability is the missing step in uncovering the anthropogenic trend in sea level and understanding the potential for low-frequency modulation of future TWS impacts including flooding and drought.

Integrative study of the mean sea level and its components

CERN Document Server

Champollion, Nicolas; Paul, Frank; Benveniste, Jérôme

2017-01-01

This volume presents the most recent results of global mean sea level variations over the satellite altimetry era (starting in the early 1990s) and associated contributions, such as glaciers and ice sheets mass loss, ocean thermal expansion, and land water storage changes. Sea level is one of the best indicators of global climate changes as it integrates the response of several components of the climate system to external forcing factors (including anthropogenic forcing) and internal climate variability. Providing long, accurate records of the sea level at global and regional scales and of the various components causing sea level changes is of crucial importance to improve our understanding of climate processes at work and to validate the climate models used for future projections. The Climate Change Initiative project of the European Space Agency has provided a first attempt to produce consistent and continuous space-based records for several climate parameters observable from space, among them sea level. Th...

Insertion sequences enrichment in extreme Red sea brine pool vent

KAUST Repository

Elbehery, Ali H. A.

2016-12-03

Mobile genetic elements are major agents of genome diversification and evolution. Limited studies addressed their characteristics, including abundance, and role in extreme habitats. One of the rare natural habitats exposed to multiple-extreme conditions, including high temperature, salinity and concentration of heavy metals, are the Red Sea brine pools. We assessed the abundance and distribution of different mobile genetic elements in four Red Sea brine pools including the world’s largest known multiple-extreme deep-sea environment, the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. We report a gradient in the abundance of mobile genetic elements, dramatically increasing in the harshest environment of the pool. Additionally, we identified a strong association between the abundance of insertion sequences and extreme conditions, being highest in the harshest and deepest layer of the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. Our comparative analyses of mobile genetic elements in secluded, extreme and relatively non-extreme environments, suggest that insertion sequences predominantly contribute to polyextremophiles genome plasticity.

Contribution of Deformation to Sea Ice Mass Balance: A Case Study From an N-ICE2015 Storm

Science.gov (United States)

Itkin, Polona; Spreen, Gunnar; Hvidegaard, Sine Munk; Skourup, Henriette; Wilkinson, Jeremy; Gerland, Sebastian; Granskog, Mats A.

2018-01-01

The fastest and most efficient process of gaining sea ice volume is through the mechanical redistribution of mass as a consequence of deformation events. During the ice growth season divergent motion produces leads where new ice grows thermodynamically, while convergent motion fractures the ice and either piles the resultant ice blocks into ridges or rafts one floe under the other. Here we present an exceptionally detailed airborne data set from a 9 km2 area of first year and second year ice in the Transpolar Drift north of Svalbard that allowed us to estimate the redistribution of mass from an observed deformation event. To achieve this level of detail we analyzed changes in sea ice freeboard acquired from two airborne laser scanner surveys just before and right after a deformation event brought on by a passing low-pressure system. A linear regression model based on divergence during this storm can explain 64% of freeboard variability. Over the survey region we estimated that about 1.3% of level sea ice volume was pressed together into deformed ice and the new ice formed in leads in a week after the deformation event would increase the sea ice volume by 0.5%. As the region is impacted by about 15 storms each winter, a simple linear extrapolation would result in about 7% volume increase and 20% deformed ice fraction at the end of the season.

The Mediterranean Sea system: a review and an introduction to the special issue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Tanhua

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed sea characterized by high salinities, temperatures and densities. The net evaporation exceeds the precipitation, driving an anti-estuarine circulation through the Strait of Gibraltar, contributing to very low nutrient concentrations. The Mediterranean Sea has an active overturning circulation, one shallow cell that communicates directly with the Atlantic Ocean, and two deep overturning cells, one in each of the two main basins. It is surrounded by populated areas and is thus sensitive to anthropogenic forcing. Several dramatic changes in the oceanographic and biogeochemical conditions have been observed during the past several decades, emphasizing the need to better monitor and understand the changing conditions and their drivers. During 2011 three oceanographic cruises were conducted in a coordinated fashion in order to produce baseline data of important physical and biogeochemical parameters that can be compared to historic data and be used as reference for future observational campaigns. In this article we provide information on the Mediterranean Sea oceanographic situation, and present a short review that will serve as background information for the special issue in Ocean Science on "Physical, chemical and biological oceanography of the Mediterranean Sea". An important contribution of this article is the set of figures showing the large-scale distributions of physical and chemical properties along the full length of the Mediterranean Sea.

The distribution and diversity of sea cucumbers in the coral reefs of the South China Sea, Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Sau Pinn; Yasin, Zulfigar; Ismail, Siti Hasmah; Tan, Shau Hwai

2013-11-01

A study on the distribution and diversity of sea cucumbers in the coral reefs of the South China Sea, Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea was carried out in July 2009. The survey was done using wandering transect underwater with SCUBA. Twelve species of sea cucumber were found from four different families and nine genera. The most dominant family was Holothuriidae (five species), followed by Stichopodidae (three species), Synaptidae (three species) and Cucumariidae with only one species. The most dominant species found around the island was Pearsonothuria graffei, which can be found abundantly on substrate of dead corals in a wide range of depth (6-15 m). The Sulawesi Sea showed a higher diversity of sea cucumber with seven different species compared to the South China Sea with only six different species and Sulu Sea with only two species. Ordination by multidimensional scaling of Bray-Curtis similarities clustered the sampling locations to three main clusters with two outgroups. Previous studies done indicated a higher diversity of sea cucumber as compared to this study. This can be indication that the population and diversity of sea cucumbers in the reef is under threat.

Environmental pollution of the Black Sea: A search for answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabry, V.; Osvath, I.; Froehlich, K.

1993-01-01

The Black Sea region governments have initiated a regional approach to the management and protection of the marine environment supported by research at national and international levels. Environmental problems in the Black Sea are serious. The Sea's shallow, mixed surface waters receive river discharges which are heavily loaded with nutrients containing nitrogen and phosphorus and contaminated with industrial and mining wastes. In addition, coastal industries appear to discharge wastes directly into the sea with little or no treatment. Thus the water quality of the life-supporting surface layer has seriously deteriorated. Eutrophication (an enrichment in nutrients) presently prevails in many parts of the Black Sea. It has dramatically changed the marine food chain, thus contributing to the demise of the Black Sea fishery and, especially in the northwestern region, to its diminished amenity value. Other factors also are at work, including changes in the hydrological balance, overfishing, and chemical pollution. Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, riparian countries further identified radioactive pollution as having a high priority. This article looks at major aspects of the state of the Black Sea's environment, and outlines the potential of, and first results derived from, the use of isotope tracers in Black Sea studies. It further discusses IAEA initiatives to join concerted international actions directed towards rehabilitation of the Black Sea environment. 1 fig., 3 tabs, 2 maps

Sea-level rise caused by climate change and its implications for society.

Science.gov (United States)

Mimura, Nobuo

2013-01-01

Sea-level rise is a major effect of climate change. It has drawn international attention, because higher sea levels in the future would cause serious impacts in various parts of the world. There are questions associated with sea-level rise which science needs to answer. To what extent did climate change contribute to sea-level rise in the past? How much will global mean sea level increase in the future? How serious are the impacts of the anticipated sea-level rise likely to be, and can human society respond to them? This paper aims to answer these questions through a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. First, the present status of observed sea-level rise, analyses of its causes, and future projections are summarized. Then the impacts are examined along with other consequences of climate change, from both global and Japanese perspectives. Finally, responses to adverse impacts will be discussed in order to clarify the implications of the sea-level rise issue for human society.(Communicated by Kiyoshi HORIKAWA, M.J.A.).

Visualizing Glaciers and Sea Ice via Google Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Ballagh, L. M.; Fetterer, F.; Haran, T. M.; Pharris, K.

2006-12-01

The NOAA team at NSIDC manages over 60 distinct cryospheric and related data products. With an emphasis on data rescue and in situ data, these products hold value for both the scientific and non-scientific user communities. The overarching goal of this presentation is to promote products from two components of the cryosphere (glaciers and sea ice). Our Online Glacier Photograph Database contains approximately 3,000 photographs taken over many decades, exemplifying change in the glacier terminus over time. The sea ice product shows sea ice extent and concentration along with anomalies and trends. This Sea Ice Index product, which starts in 1979 and is updated monthly, provides visuals of the current state of sea ice in both hemispheres with trends and anomalies. The long time period covered by the data set means that many of the trends in ice extent and concentration shown in this product are statistically significant despite the large natural variability in sea ice. The minimum arctic sea ice extent has been a record low in September 2002 and 2005, contributing to an accelerated trend in sea ice reduction. With increasing world-wide interest in indicators of global climate change, and the upcoming International Polar Year, these data products are of interest to a broad audience. To further extend the impact of these data, we have made them viewable through Google Earth via the Keyhole Markup Language (KML). This presents an opportunity to branch out to a more diverse audience by using a new and innovative tool that allows spatial representation of data of significant scientific and educational interest.

Insights into factors contributing to the observability of a submarine at periscope depth by modern radar, Part 2: EM simulation of mast RCS in a realistic sea surface environment

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smit, JC

2012-09-01

Full Text Available IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications (APWC), Cape Town 2-7 September 2012 Insights into factors contributing to the observability of a submarine at periscope depth by modern radar, Part 2: EM... simulation of mast RCS in a realistic sea surface environment Smit JC; Cilliers JE CSIR, Defence, Peace, Safety and Security. PO Box 395, Pretoria, 0001 Abstract Recently, a set of high resolution radar measurements were undertaken in South...

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of SEA: Towards a better understanding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doren, D. van; Driessen, P.P.J.; Schijf, B.; Runhaar, H.A.C.

2013-01-01

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is vital in order to know to what extent the tool fulfills its purposes and produces expected results. However, the studies that have evaluated the substantive effectiveness of SEA produce varying outcomes as regards the tool's contribution to decision-making and have used a variety of approaches to appraise its effectiveness. The aim of this article is to discuss the theoretical concept of SEA substantive effectiveness and to present a new approach that can be applied for evaluation studies. The SEA effectiveness evaluation framework that will be presented is composed of concepts of, and approaches to, SEA effectiveness derived from SEA literature and planning theory. Lessons for evaluation can be learned from planning theory in particular, given its long history of analyzing and understanding how sources of information and decisions affect (subsequent) decision-making. Key concepts of this new approach are ‘conformance’ and ‘performance’. In addition, this article presents a systematic overview of process and context factors that can explain SEA effectiveness, derived from SEA literature. To illustrate the practical value of our framework for the assessment and understanding of substantive effectiveness of SEA, three Dutch SEA case studies are examined. The case studies have confirmed the usefulness of the SEA effectiveness assessment framework. The framework proved helpful in order to describe the cumulative influence of the three SEAs on decision-making and the ultimate plan. - Highlights: ► A new framework to evaluate the substantive effectiveness of SEA is presented. ► The framework is based on two key concepts: ‘conformance’ and ‘performance.’ ► The practical applicability of the framework is demonstrated by three Dutch cases. ► The framework allows for a more systematic understanding of SEA effectiveness. ► Finally, this paper presents explanations

Uncertainties in the Antarctic Ice Sheet Contribution to Sea Level Rise: Exploration of Model Response to Errors in Climate Forcing, Boundary Conditions, and Internal Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Schlegel, N.; Seroussi, H. L.; Boening, C.; Larour, E. Y.; Limonadi, D.; Schodlok, M.; Watkins, M. M.

2017-12-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory-University of California at Irvine Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) is a thermo-mechanical 2D/3D parallelized finite element software used to physically model the continental-scale flow of ice at high resolutions. Embedded into ISSM are uncertainty quantification (UQ) tools, based on the Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications (DAKOTA) software. ISSM-DAKOTA offers various UQ methods for the investigation of how errors in model input impact uncertainty in simulation results. We utilize these tools to regionally sample model input and key parameters, based on specified bounds of uncertainty, and run a suite of continental-scale 100-year ISSM forward simulations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Resulting diagnostics (e.g., spread in local mass flux and regional mass balance) inform our conclusion about which parameters and/or forcing has the greatest impact on century-scale model simulations of ice sheet evolution. The results allow us to prioritize the key datasets and measurements that are critical for the minimization of ice sheet model uncertainty. Overall, we find that Antartica's total sea level contribution is strongly affected by grounding line retreat, which is driven by the magnitude of ice shelf basal melt rates and by errors in bedrock topography. In addition, results suggest that after 100 years of simulation, Thwaites glacier is the most significant source of model uncertainty, and its drainage basin has the largest potential for future sea level contribution. This work is performed at and supported by the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Supercomputing time is also supported through a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cryosphere program.

Features of Red Sea Water Masses

Science.gov (United States)

Kartadikaria, Aditya; Hoteit, Ibrahim

2015-04-01

Features of Red Sea water mass can be divided into three types but best to be grouped into two different classes that are split at the potential density line σθ=27.4. The surface water (0-50 m) and the intermediate water (50-200 m) have nearly identical types of water mass. They appear as a maxima salinity layer for the water mass that has σθ > 26.0, and as a minimum salinity layer for water mass that has σθ water masses are strongly affected by mixing that is controlled by seasonal variability, fresh water intrusion of the Gulf of Aden Intermediate Water (GAIW), and eddies variability. Two types of mixing; isopycnal and diapycnal mixing are part of important physical phenomena that explain the change of water mass in the Red Sea. The isopycnal mixing occurs at the neutral potential density line, connecting the Red Sea with its adjacent channel, the Gulf of Aden. Diapycnal mixing is found as a dominant mixing mode in the surface of the Red Sea Water and mainly due to energetic eddy activity. Density gradients, across which diapycnal mixing occurs, in the Red Sea are mainly due to large variations in salinity. The isolation of an extreme haline water mass below the thermocline contributes to the generation of the latitudinal shift and low diapycnal mixing. This finding further explains the difference of spatial kinetic mixing between the RSW and the Indian Ocean basin.

Features of Red Sea Water Masses

KAUST Repository

Kartadikaria, Aditya R.

2015-04-01

Features of Red Sea water mass can be divided into three types but best to be grouped into two different classes that are split at the potential density line σθ=27.4. The surface water (0-50 m) and the intermediate water (50-200 m) have nearly identical types of water mass. They appear as a maxima salinity layer for the water mass that has σθ > 26.0, and as a minimum salinity layer for water mass that has σθ < 26.0. These types of water masses are strongly affected by mixing that is controlled by seasonal variability, fresh water intrusion of the Gulf of Aden Intermediate Water (GAIW), and eddies variability. Two types of mixing; isopycnal and diapycnal mixing are part of important physical phenomena that explain the change of water mass in the Red Sea. The isopycnal mixing occurs at the neutral potential density line, connecting the Red Sea with its adjacent channel, the Gulf of Aden. Diapycnal mixing is found as a dominant mixing mode in the surface of the Red Sea Water and mainly due to energetic eddy activity. Density gradients, across which diapycnal mixing occurs, in the Red Sea are mainly due to large variations in salinity. The isolation of an extreme haline water mass below the thermocline contributes to the generation of the latitudinal shift and low diapycnal mixing. This finding further explains the difference of spatial kinetic mixing between the RSW and the Indian Ocean basin.

A combined approach of remote sensing and airborne electromagnetics to determine the volume of polynya sea ice in the Laptev Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Rabenstein

2013-06-01

Full Text Available A combined interpretation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR satellite images and helicopter electromagnetic (HEM sea-ice thickness data has provided an estimate of sea-ice volume formed in Laptev Sea polynyas during the winter of 2007/08. The evolution of the surveyed sea-ice areas, which were formed between late December 2007 and middle April 2008, was tracked using a series of SAR images with a sampling interval of 2–3 days. Approximately 160 km of HEM data recorded in April 2008 provided sea-ice thicknesses along profiles that transected sea ice varying in age from 1 to 116 days. For the volume estimates, thickness information along the HEM profiles was extrapolated to zones of the same age. The error of areal mean thickness information was estimated to be between 0.2 m for younger ice and up to 1.55 m for older ice, with the primary error source being the spatially limited HEM coverage. Our results have demonstrated that the modal thicknesses and mean thicknesses of level ice correlated with the sea-ice age, but that varying dynamic and thermodynamic sea-ice growth conditions resulted in a rather heterogeneous sea-ice thickness distribution on scales of tens of kilometers. Taking all uncertainties into account, total sea-ice area and volume produced within the entire surveyed area were 52 650 km2 and 93.6 ± 26.6 km3. The surveyed polynya contributed 2.0 ± 0.5% of the sea-ice produced throughout the Arctic during the 2007/08 winter. The SAR-HEM volume estimate compares well with the 112 km3 ice production calculated with a~high-resolution ocean sea-ice model. Measured modal and mean-level ice thicknesses correlate with calculated freezing-degree-day thicknesses with a factor of 0.87–0.89, which was too low to justify the assumption of homogeneous thermodynamic growth conditions in the area, or indicates a strong dynamic thickening of level ice by rafting of even thicker ice.

Silver eel migration, wind power and alternating current fields; Blankaalsvandring, vindkraft och vaexelstroemsfaelt, 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lagenfelt, Ingvar; Andersson, Ingemar; Westerberg, Haakan

2012-02-15

How are eels affected by large offshore wind farms? The study follows the silver eels' migration and behavior at Lillgrund wind farm in Oeresund and the passage over an 130 kV AC cable between the mainland and Oeland. The aim is to see if the AC cable precludes or otherwise affects the eel's ability to reach its destination. Eels migrate up to 7500 km from the Baltic Sea to spawn in the Sargasso Sea. Every delay is of importance for the silver eels, which must be able to travel the entire distance on a single energy reserve. Fish, which make use of the earth's magnetic field for navigation or which are sensitive to electromagnetic fields, may be affected by AC cables on the seabed. The study shows that the silver eels swimming speed was reduced when there was more current in the cable and there was an average delay of 40 minutes before they passed it

Importance of the Gulf of Aqaba for the formation of bottom water in the Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Plähn, Olaf; Baschek, Burkard; Badewien, Thomas H.; Walter, Maren; Rhein, Monika

2002-08-01

Conductivity-temperature-depth tracer and direct current measurements collected in the northern Red Sea in February and March 1999 are used to study the formation of deep and bottom water in that region. Historical data showed that open ocean convection in the Red Sea can contribute to the renewal of intermediate or deep water but cannot ventilate the bottom water. The observations in 1999 showed no evidence for open ocean convection in the Red Sea during the winter 1998/1999. The overflow water from the Gulf of Aqaba was found to be the densest water mass in the northern Red Sea. An anomaly of the chlorofluorocarbon component CFC-12 observed in the Gulf of Aqaba and at the bottom of the Red Sea suggests a strong contribution of this water mass to the renewal of bottom water in the Red Sea. The CFC data obtained during this cruise are the first available for this region. Because of the new signal, it is possible for the first time to subdivide the deep water column into deep and bottom water in the northern Red Sea. The available data set also shows that the outflow water from the Gulf of Suez is not dense enough to reach down to the bottom of the Red Sea but was found about 250 m above the bottom.

On the role of tides and strong wind events in promoting summer primary production in the Barents Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Le Fouest, Vincent; Postlethwaite, Clare; Morales Maqueda, Miguel Angel; Bélanger, Simon; Babin, Marcel

2011-11-01

Tides and wind-driven mixing play a major role in promoting post-bloom productivity in subarctic shelf seas. Whether this is also true in the high Arctic remains unknown. This question is particularly relevant in a context of increasing Arctic Ocean stratification in response to global climatic change. We have used a three-dimensional ocean-sea ice-plankton ecosystem model to assess the contribution of tides and strong wind events to summer (June-August 2001) primary production in the Barents Sea. Tides are responsible for 20% (60% locally) of the post-bloom primary production above Svalbard Bank and east of the Kola Peninsula. By contrast, more than 9% of the primary production is due to winds faster than 8 m s -1 in the central Barents Sea. Locally, this contribution reaches 25%. In the marginal ice zone, both tides and wind events have only a limited effect on primary production (central Barents Sea), respectively. When integrated over all Barents Sea sub-regions, tides and strong wind events account, respectively, for 6.8% (1.55 Tg C; 1 Tg C=10 12 g C) and 4.1% (0.93 Tg C) of the post-bloom primary production (22.6 Tg C). To put this in context, this contribution to summer primary production is equivalent to the spring bloom integrated over the Svalbard area. Tides and winds are significant drivers of summer plankton productivity in the Barents Sea.

Organic matter diagenesis within the water column and surface sediments of the northern Sargasso Sea revealed by lipid biomarkers

Science.gov (United States)

Conte, M. H.; Pedrosa Pàmies, R.; Weber, J.

2017-12-01

The intensity of particle cycling processes within the mesopelagic and bathypelagic ocean controls the length scale of organic material (OM) remineralization and diagenetic transformations of OM composition through the water column and into the sediments. To elucidate the OM cycling in the oligotrophic North Atlantic gyre, we analyzed lipid biomarkers in the suspended particles (30-4400 m depth, 100 mab), the particle flux (500 m, 1500 m and 3200 m depth), and in the underlying surficial sediments (0-0.5 cm, 4500-4600 m depth) collected at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time series site located 75km SE of Bermuda. Changes in lipid biomarker concentration and composition with depth highlight the rapid remineralization of OM within the upper mesopelagic layer and continuing diagenetic transformations of OM throughout the water column and within surficial sediments. Despite observed similarities in biomarker composition in suspended and sinking particles, results show there are also consistent differences in relative contributions of phytoplankton-, bacterial- and zooplankton-derived sources that are maintained throughout the water column. For example, sinking particles are more depleted in labile biomarkers (e.g. polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)) and more enriched in bacteria-derived biomarkers (e.g. hopanoids and odd/branched fatty acids) and indicators of fecal-derived OM (e.g. saturated fatty acids, FA 18:1w9 and cholesterol) than in the suspended pool. Strong seasonality in deep (3200 m) fluxes of phytoplankton-derived biomarkers reflect the seasonal input of bloom-derived material to underlying sediments. The rapid diagenetic alteration of this bloom-derived input is evidenced by depletion of PUFAs and enrichment of microbial biomarkers (e.g. odd/branched fatty acids) in surficial sediments over a two month period.

Infectious diseases of fishes in the Salish Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Hershberger, Paul; Rhodes, Linda; Kurath, Gael; Winton, James

2013-01-01

As in marine regions throughout other areas of the world, fishes in the Salish Sea serve as hosts for many pathogens, including nematodes, trematodes, protozoans, protists, bacteria, viruses, and crustaceans. Here, we review some of the better-documented infectious diseases that likely contribute to significant losses among free-ranging fishes in the Salish Sea and discuss the environmental and ecological factors that may affect the population-level impacts of disease. Demonstration of these diseases and their impacts to critical and endangered resources provides justification to expand pathogen surveillance efforts and to incorporate disease forecasting and mitigation tools into ecosystem restoration efforts.

Microbial community composition of deep-sea corals from the Red Sea provides insight into functional adaption to a unique environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Röthig, Till; Yum, Lauren K; Kremb, Stephan G; Roik, Anna; Voolstra, Christian R

2017-03-17

Microbes associated with deep-sea corals remain poorly studied. The lack of symbiotic algae suggests that associated microbes may play a fundamental role in maintaining a viable coral host via acquisition and recycling of nutrients. Here we employed 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to study bacterial communities of three deep-sea scleractinian corals from the Red Sea, Dendrophyllia sp., Eguchipsammia fistula, and Rhizotrochus typus. We found diverse, species-specific microbiomes, distinct from the surrounding seawater. Microbiomes were comprised of few abundant bacteria, which constituted the majority of sequences (up to 58% depending on the coral species). In addition, we found a high diversity of rare bacteria (taxa at 90% of all bacteria). Interestingly, we identified anaerobic bacteria, potentially providing metabolic functions at low oxygen conditions, as well as bacteria harboring the potential to degrade crude oil components. Considering the presence of oil and gas fields in the Red Sea, these bacteria may unlock this carbon source for the coral host. In conclusion, the prevailing environmental conditions of the deep Red Sea (>20 °C, <2 mg oxygen L -1 ) may require distinct functional adaptations, and our data suggest that bacterial communities may contribute to coral functioning in this challenging environment.

Microbial community composition of deep-sea corals from the Red Sea provides insight into functional adaption to a unique environment

KAUST Repository

Röthig, Till

2017-03-17

Microbes associated with deep-sea corals remain poorly studied. The lack of symbiotic algae suggests that associated microbes may play a fundamental role in maintaining a viable coral host via acquisition and recycling of nutrients. Here we employed 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to study bacterial communities of three deep-sea scleractinian corals from the Red Sea, Dendrophyllia sp., Eguchipsammia fistula, and Rhizotrochus typus. We found diverse, species-specific microbiomes, distinct from the surrounding seawater. Microbiomes were comprised of few abundant bacteria, which constituted the majority of sequences (up to 58% depending on the coral species). In addition, we found a high diversity of rare bacteria (taxa at <1% abundance comprised >90% of all bacteria). Interestingly, we identified anaerobic bacteria, potentially providing metabolic functions at low oxygen conditions, as well as bacteria harboring the potential to degrade crude oil components. Considering the presence of oil and gas fields in the Red Sea, these bacteria may unlock this carbon source for the coral host. In conclusion, the prevailing environmental conditions of the deep Red Sea (>20 °C, <2 mg oxygen L−1) may require distinct functional adaptations, and our data suggest that bacterial communities may contribute to coral functioning in this challenging environment.

An Analysis of Sea Turtle Demographics along Maryland Shores, 1990-2015

Science.gov (United States)

Rhoades, C.; Driscoll, C.; Weschler, A.; Crawford, M.

2016-02-01

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program was established in the fall of 1990, and responded to their first documented sea turtle stranding in the summer of 1991. Over this twenty-five year period, 575 dead strandings of sea turtles have been documented. This research project analyzes all sea turtle case files from the initiation of this program for the following parameters in order to associate stranding trends; species, location (Atlantic Ocean v. Chesapeake Bay), seasonality, length, relative age, condition code, and sex. Further understanding these protected species will assist in conserving their coastal ecosystem and securing these species a sustainable future. Along with the parameters previously discussed, this study will also consider the factors contributing to the animal's death, if determined. These potential causes incorporate natural causes such as disease, and also detail instances of human interaction, including: dredge takes, commercial or recreational fishing interaction, power plant entrainment, propeller and boat strikes. A total of approximately 17% of the dead stranded sea turtles Maryland Department of Natural Resources responded to were found to have some proven aspect of human interaction. Lastly, in order to further investigate for human interaction stomach contents were analyzed for plastics or other forms of marine debris. This project will contribute to MD DNR and NOAA's mission, goals, and objectives by further understanding these protected species in order to conserve their coastal ecosystem and secure these species a sustainable future.

Seasonal variation in chromophoric dissolved organic matter and relationships among fluorescent components, absorption coefficients and dissolved organic carbon in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wen-Zhuo; Zhang, Hong-Hai; Zhang, Jing; Yang, Gui-Peng

2018-04-01

The absorption coefficient and fluorescent components of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the Bohai Sea (BS), Yellow Sea (YS), and East China Sea (ECS) in spring and autumn were analyzed in this study. Excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) identified three components, namely, humic-like C1, tyrosine-like C2 and tryptophan-like C3. The seasonal variations in the vertical patterns of the CDOM absorption coefficient (aCDOM(355)) and fluorescent components were influenced by the seasonal water mass except for the terrestrial input. The relationship between aCDOM(355) and dissolved organic matter (DOC) was attributed to their own mixing behavior. The correlation of the fluorescent components with DOC was disturbed by other non-conservative processes during the export of CDOM to the open ocean. The different chemical compositions and origins of DOC and CDOM led to variability in carbon-specific CDOM absorption (a*CDOM(355)) and fluorescent component ratios (ICn/IC1). The relationship between a*CDOM(355) and aCDOM(355) demonstrated that dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the BS, but not in the ECS, highly contributed non-absorbing DOC to the total DOC concentration. The photodegradation of dominant terrestrially derived CDOM in the ECS contributed to the positive relationship between a*CDOM(355) and ICn/IC1. By contrast, the abundant autochthonous CDOM in the YS was negatively correlated with ICn/IC1 in autumn. Our established box models showed that water exchange is a potentially important source of the aromatic components in the BS, YS, and ECS. Hence, the seasonal variations in water exchange might contribute to the variability of CDOM chemical composition in the BS, YS, and ECS, and significantly influence the structure and function of their ecosystems.

How effective is albedo modification (solar radiation management geoengineering) in preventing sea-level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Applegate, Patrick J; Keller, Klaus

2015-01-01

Albedo modification (AM) is sometimes characterized as a potential means of avoiding climate threshold responses, including large-scale ice sheet mass loss. Previous work has investigated the effects of AM on total sea-level rise over the present century, as well as AM’s ability to reduce long-term (≫10 3 yr) contributions to sea-level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS). These studies have broken new ground, but neglect important feedbacks in the GIS system, or are silent on AM’s effectiveness over the short time scales that may be most relevant for decision-making (<10 3 yr). Here, we assess AM’s ability to reduce GIS sea-level contributions over decades to centuries, using a simplified ice sheet model. We drive this model using a business-as-usual base temperature forcing scenario, as well as scenarios that reflect AM-induced temperature stabilization or temperature drawdown. Our model results suggest that (i) AM produces substantial near-term reductions in the rate of GIS-driven sea-level rise. However, (ii) sea-level rise contributions from the GIS continue after AM begins. These continued sea level rise contributions persist for decades to centuries after temperature stabilization and temperature drawdown begin, unless AM begins in the next few decades. Moreover, (iii) any regrowth of the GIS is delayed by decades or centuries after temperature drawdown begins, and is slow compared to pre-AM rates of mass loss. Combined with recent work that suggests AM would not prevent mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, our results provide a nuanced picture of AM’s possible effects on future sea-level rise. (letter)

Ginsparg-Wilson pions scattering in a sea of staggered quarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, J.-W.; O'Connell, Donal; Van de Water, Ruth; Walker-Loud, Andre

2006-01-01

We calculate isospin 2 pion-pion scattering in chiral perturbation theory for a partially quenched, mixed action theory with Ginsparg-Wilson valence quarks and staggered sea quarks. We point out that for some scattering channels, the power-law volume dependence of two-pion states in nonunitary theories such as partially quenched or mixed action QCD is identical to that of QCD. Thus one can extract infinite-volume scattering parameters from mixed action simulations. We then determine the scattering length for both 2 and 2+1 sea quarks in the isospin limit. The scattering length, when expressed in terms of the pion mass and the decay constant measured on the lattice, has no contributions from mixed valence-sea mesons, thus it does not depend upon the parameter, C Mix , that appears in the chiral Lagrangian of the mixed theory. In addition, the contributions which nominally arise from operators appearing in the mixed action O(a 2 m q ) Lagrangian exactly cancel when the scattering length is written in this form. This is in contrast to the scattering length expressed in terms of the bare parameters of the chiral Lagrangian, which explicitly exhibits all the sicknesses and lattice spacing dependence allowed by a partially quenched mixed action theory. These results hold for both 2 and 2+1 flavors of sea quarks

Deglacial and Holocene sea-ice variability north of Iceland and response to ocean circulation changes

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Xiaotong; Zhao, Meixun; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Sha, Longbin; Eiríksson, Jón; Gudmundsdóttir, Esther; Jiang, Hui; Guo, Zhigang

2017-08-01

Sea-ice conditions on the North Icelandic shelf constitute a key component for the study of the climatic gradients between the Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans at the Polar Front between the cold East Icelandic Current delivering Polar surface water and the relatively warm Irminger Current derived from the North Atlantic Current. The variability of sea ice contributes to heat reduction (albedo) and gas exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, and further affects the deep-water formation. However, lack of long-term and high-resolution sea-ice records in the region hinders the understanding of palaeoceanographic change mechanisms during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Here, we present a sea-ice record back to 15 ka (cal. ka BP) based on the sea-ice biomarker IP25, phytoplankton biomarker brassicasterol and terrestrial biomarker long-chain n-alkanols in piston core MD99-2272 from the North Icelandic shelf. During the Bølling/Allerød (14.7-12.9 ka), the North Icelandic shelf was characterized by extensive spring sea-ice cover linked to reduced flow of warm Atlantic Water and dominant Polar water influence, as well as strong meltwater input in the area. This pattern showed an anti-phase relationship with the ice-free/less ice conditions in marginal areas of the eastern Nordic Seas, where the Atlantic Water inflow was strong, and contributed to an enhanced deep-water formation. Prolonged sea-ice cover with occasional occurrence of seasonal sea ice prevailed during the Younger Dryas (12.9-11.7 ka) interrupted by a brief interval of enhanced Irminger Current and deposition of the Vedde Ash, as opposed to abruptly increased sea-ice conditions in the eastern Nordic Seas. The seasonal sea ice decreased gradually from the Younger Dryas to the onset of the Holocene corresponding to increasing insolation. Ice-free conditions and sea surface warming were observed for the Early Holocene, followed by expansion of sea ice during the Mid-Holocene.

Environmental radioactivity: A perspective on industrial contributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baxter, M.S.

1993-01-01

This essay aims to show how many non-nuclear industries contributed significantly to natural radioactivity. The examples given include the release of radon-220 and radon-222, as well as other radioisotopes, from the combustion of fossil fuels. Furthermore, edible mussels in the Irish Sea have been found to concentrate polonium-210 from seawater: the original source of the isotope was found to be the waste from a phosphate processing plant. These contributions should be taken into account when the environmental impacts of different industrial activities are compared. 3 tabs

Environmental radioactivity: A perspective on industrial contributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baxter, M S [International Atomic Energy Agency, Monaco (Monaco). Marine Environment Lab.

1993-06-01

This essay aims to show how many non-nuclear industries contributed significantly to natural radioactivity. The examples given include the release of radon-220 and radon-222, as well as other radioisotopes, from the combustion of fossil fuels. Furthermore, edible mussels in the Irish Sea have been found to concentrate polonium-210 from seawater: the original source of the isotope was found to be the waste from a phosphate processing plant. These contributions should be taken into account when the environmental impacts of different industrial activities are compared. 3 tabs.

RNA viruses in the sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Andrew S; Rise, Matthew L; Culley, Alexander I; Steward, Grieg F

2009-03-01

Viruses are ubiquitous in the sea and appear to outnumber all other forms of marine life by at least an order of magnitude. Through selective infection, viruses influence nutrient cycling, community structure, and evolution in the ocean. Over the past 20 years we have learned a great deal about the diversity and ecology of the viruses that constitute the marine virioplankton, but until recently the emphasis has been on DNA viruses. Along with expanding knowledge about RNA viruses that infect important marine animals, recent isolations of RNA viruses that infect single-celled eukaryotes and molecular analyses of the RNA virioplankton have revealed that marine RNA viruses are novel, widespread, and genetically diverse. Discoveries in marine RNA virology are broadening our understanding of the biology, ecology, and evolution of viruses, and the epidemiology of viral diseases, but there is still much that we need to learn about the ecology and diversity of RNA viruses before we can fully appreciate their contributions to the dynamics of marine ecosystems. As a step toward making sense of how RNA viruses contribute to the extraordinary viral diversity in the sea, we summarize in this review what is currently known about RNA viruses that infect marine organisms.

The importance of North Sea oil to European energy supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauw, R. De

1992-01-01

There is no doubt about the importance of North Sea oil to the energy supply of the European Community. One might however be used to it and forget about the nature and the size of its impact on our economies. Firstly, this paper intends to estimate this impact - past, present and future. Secondly, a more qualitative approach will explore possible consequences of the implementation of the internal market for North Sea oil. Thirdly, the assistance given by the Community to innovative technologies which enabled North Sea oil to contribute, under better economic conditions and within a safer environment, to our supply is recalled. And finally, some remarks on energy policy form an EC perspective, are offered. (author)

Contribution of crenarchaeal autotrophic ammonia oxidizers to the dark primary production in Tyrrhenian deep waters (Central Mediterranean Sea)

OpenAIRE

Yakimov, Michail M.; La Cono, Violetta; Smedile, Francesco; DeLuca, Thomas H.; Juarez, Silvia; Ciordia, Sergio; Fernandez, Marisol; Albar, Juan Pablo; Ferrer, Manuel; Golyshin, Peter N.; Giuliano, Laura

2011-01-01

Mesophilic Crenarchaeota have recently been thought to be significant contributors to nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycling. In this study, we examined the vertical distribution of ammonia-oxidizing Crenarchaeota at offshore site in Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The median value of the crenachaeal cell to amoA gene ratio was close to one suggesting that virtually all deep-sea Crenarchaeota possess the capacity to oxidize ammonia. Crenarchaea-specific genes, nirK and ureC, for nitrite reductase and u...

Inhibition of Biological Activity of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A (SEA) by Apple Juice and Apple Polyphenols

Science.gov (United States)

The foodborne pathogen Staphylococcus aureus produces the virulent staphylococcal entertoxin A (SEA), a single-chain protein that consists of 233 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 27 078 Da. SEA is a superantigen that is reported to contribute to animal (mastitis) and human (emesis, dia...

Accumulation and maternal transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls in Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) from Prince William Sound and the Bering Sea, Alaska

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jun; Huelck, Kathrin; Hong, Su-Myeong; Atkinson, Shannon; Li, Qing X.

2011-01-01

The western stock of the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) in the northern Pacific Ocean has declined by approximately 80% over the past 30 years. This led to the listing of this sea lion population as an endangered species in 1997. Chemical pollution is a one of several contributing causes. In the present study, 145 individual PCBs were determined in tissues of male sea lions from Tatitlek (Prince William Sound) and St. Paul Island (Bering Sea), and placentae from the Aleutian Islands. PCBs 90/101, 118, and 153 were abundant in all the samples. The mean toxic equivalents (TEQ) were 2.6, 4.7 and 7.4 pg/g lw in the kidney, liver, and blubber samples, respectively. The mean TEQ in placentae was 8 pg/g lw. Total PCBs concentrations (2.6-7.9 μg/g lw) in livers of some males were within a range known to cause physiological effects. Further suggesting the possibility of adverse effects on this stock. - PCBs at median concentrations of 1.2-3.7 μg/g lipid weight in different tissues of the western stock of Steller sea lions have physiological effects.

Generalized Cauchy model of sea level fluctuations with long-range dependence

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ming; Li, Jia-Yue

2017-10-01

This article suggests the contributions with two highlights. One is to propose a novel model of sea level fluctuations (sea level for short), which is called the generalized Cauchy (GC) process. It provides a new outlook for the description of local and global behaviors of sea level from a view of fractal in that the fractal dimension D that measures the local behavior of sea level and the Hurst parameter H which characterizes the global behavior of sea level are independent of each other. The other is to show that sea level appears multi-fractal in both spatial and time. Such a meaning of multi-fractal is new in the sense that a pair of fractal parameters (D, H) of sea level is varying with measurement sites and time. This research exhibits that the ranges of D and H of sea level, in general, are 1 ≤ D sea level, we shall show that H > 0 . 96 for all data records at all measurement sites, implying that strong LRD may be a general phenomenon of sea level. On the other side, regarding with the local behavior, we will reveal that there appears D = 1 or D ≈ 1 for data records at a few stations and at some time, but D > 0 . 96 at most stations and at most time, meaning that sea level may appear highly local irregularity more frequently than weak local one.

Carbon mineralization in Laptev and East Siberian sea shelf and slope sediment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Brüchert

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Siberian Arctic Sea shelf and slope is a key region for the degradation of terrestrial organic material transported from the organic-carbon-rich permafrost regions of Siberia. We report on sediment carbon mineralization rates based on O2 microelectrode profiling; intact sediment core incubations; 35S-sulfate tracer experiments; pore-water dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; δ13CDIC; and iron, manganese, and ammonium concentrations from 20 shelf and slope stations. This data set provides a spatial overview of sediment carbon mineralization rates and pathways over large parts of the outer Laptev and East Siberian Arctic shelf and slope and allows us to assess degradation rates and efficiency of carbon burial in these sediments. Rates of oxygen uptake and iron and manganese reduction were comparable to temperate shelf and slope environments, but bacterial sulfate reduction rates were comparatively low. In the topmost 50 cm of sediment, aerobic carbon mineralization dominated degradation and comprised on average 84 % of the depth-integrated carbon mineralization. Oxygen uptake rates and anaerobic carbon mineralization rates were higher in the eastern East Siberian Sea shelf compared to the Laptev Sea shelf. DIC ∕ NH4+ ratios in pore waters and the stable carbon isotope composition of remineralized DIC indicated that the degraded organic matter on the Siberian shelf and slope was a mixture of marine and terrestrial organic matter. Based on dual end-member calculations, the terrestrial organic carbon contribution varied between 32 and 36 %, with a higher contribution in the Laptev Sea than in the East Siberian Sea. Extrapolation of the measured degradation rates using isotope end-member apportionment over the outer shelf of the Laptev and East Siberian seas suggests that about 16 Tg C yr−1 is respired in the outer shelf seafloor sediment. Of the organic matter buried below the oxygen penetration depth, between 0.6 and 1.3�

Nudging the Arctic Ocean to quantify Arctic sea ice feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Dekker, Evelien; Severijns, Camiel; Bintanja, Richard

2017-04-01

It is well-established that the Arctic is warming 2 to 3 time faster than rest of the planet. One of the great uncertainties in climate research is related to what extent sea ice feedbacks amplify this (seasonally varying) Arctic warming. Earlier studies have analyzed existing climate model output using correlations and energy budget considerations in order to quantify sea ice feedbacks through indirect methods. From these analyses it is regularly inferred that sea ice likely plays an important role, but details remain obscure. Here we will take a different and a more direct approach: we will keep the sea ice constant in a sensitivity simulation, using a state-of -the-art climate model (EC-Earth), applying a technique that has never been attempted before. This experimental technique involves nudging the temperature and salinity of the ocean surface (and possibly some layers below to maintain the vertical structure and mixing) to a predefined prescribed state. When strongly nudged to existing (seasonally-varying) sea surface temperatures, ocean salinity and temperature, we force the sea ice to remain in regions/seasons where it is located in the prescribed state, despite the changing climate. Once we obtain fixed' sea ice, we will run a future scenario, for instance 2 x CO2 with and without prescribed sea ice, with the difference between these runs providing a measure as to what extent sea ice contributes to Arctic warming, including the seasonal and geographical imprint of the effects.

Millennial total sea-level commitments projected with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goelzer, H; Huybrechts, P; Raper, S C B; Loutre, M-F; Goosse, H; Fichefet, T

2012-01-01

Sea-level is expected to rise for a long time to come, even after stabilization of human-induced climatic warming. Here we use simulations with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM to project sea-level changes over the third millennium forced with atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations that stabilize by either 2000 or 2100 AD. The model includes 3D thermomechanical models of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets coupled to an atmosphere and an ocean model, a global glacier melt algorithm to account for the response of mountain glaciers and ice caps, and a procedure for assessing oceanic thermal expansion from oceanic heat uptake. Four climate change scenarios are considered to determine sea-level commitments. These assume a 21st century increase in greenhouse gases according to SRES scenarios B1, A1B and A2 with a stabilization of the atmospheric composition after the year 2100. One additional scenario assumes 1000 years of constant atmospheric composition from the year 2000 onwards. For our preferred model version, we find an already committed total sea-level rise of 1.1 m by 3000 AD. In experiments with greenhouse gas concentration stabilization at 2100 AD, the total sea-level rise ranges between 2.1 m (B1), 4.1 m (A1B) and 6.8 m (A2). In all scenarios, more than half of this amount arises from the Greenland ice sheet, thermal expansion is the second largest contributor, and the contribution of glaciers and ice caps is small as it is limited by the available ice volume of maximally 25 cm of sea-level equivalent. Additionally, we analysed the sensitivity of the sea-level contributions from an ensemble of nine different model versions that cover a large range of climate sensitivity realized by model parameter variations of the atmosphere–ocean model. Selected temperature indices are found to be good predictors for sea-level contributions from the different components of land ice and oceanic thermal expansion after 1000 years. (letter)

REGIONAL COOPERATION IN THE BLACK SEA BASIN

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Anastasiia GAVUIK

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Topicality. The Black Sea region is situated in a very important geopolitical manner. Consequently, a large-scale regional collaboration becomes possible within the Black Sea zone and countries get appropriate conditions to launch their activity in this context. Aim: The body of the article is going to analyze the BSEC as one of the most successful regional organizations in the Black Sea area. The paper aims to provide an overview of the regional players’ activity in the framework of the BSEC which are involved in sustaining and strengthening of this organization and also in continuing the reform process in it, developing in the same time relations of cooperation with the EU and other regional initiatives. Methods. This article embraces a row of different scientific methods of data analysis, predictive analytics, historical and statistical overview, descriptive method, case study etc. Results. The countries from the Black Sea basin are the most vulnerable to potential risks and shocks due to the instability of the region. This requires the interstate cooperation in the Black Sea area with no tradition in this field several decades ago. In the same time, countries like Turkey, Romania or Russia aspire to play the role of the regional leader, which can cause regional rivalries. With the help of the regional cooperation and the BSEC in particular, regional countries could learn how to work together for the common benefit. The creation of stable markets, interconnected and transparent regional organizations and initiatives would largely contribute to the security and stability of the Black Sea region.

Potential sea-level rise from Antarctic ice-sheet instability constrained by observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ritz, Catherine; Edwards, Tamsin L.; Durand, Gaël; Payne, Antony J.; Peyaud, Vincent; Hindmarsh, Richard C. A.

2015-12-01

Large parts of the Antarctic ice sheet lying on bedrock below sea level may be vulnerable to marine-ice-sheet instability (MISI), a self-sustaining retreat of the grounding line triggered by oceanic or atmospheric changes. There is growing evidence that MISI may be underway throughout the Amundsen Sea embayment (ASE), which contains ice equivalent to more than a metre of global sea-level rise. If triggered in other regions, the centennial to millennial contribution could be several metres. Physically plausible projections are challenging: numerical models with sufficient spatial resolution to simulate grounding-line processes have been too computationally expensive to generate large ensembles for uncertainty assessment, and lower-resolution model projections rely on parameterizations that are only loosely constrained by present day changes. Here we project that the Antarctic ice sheet will contribute up to 30 cm sea-level equivalent by 2100 and 72 cm by 2200 (95% quantiles) where the ASE dominates. Our process-based, statistical approach gives skewed and complex probability distributions (single mode, 10 cm, at 2100; two modes, 49 cm and 6 cm, at 2200). The dependence of sliding on basal friction is a key unknown: nonlinear relationships favour higher contributions. Results are conditional on assessments of MISI risk on the basis of projected triggers under the climate scenario A1B (ref. 9), although sensitivity to these is limited by theoretical and topographical constraints on the rate and extent of ice loss. We find that contributions are restricted by a combination of these constraints, calibration with success in simulating observed ASE losses, and low assessed risk in some basins. Our assessment suggests that upper-bound estimates from low-resolution models and physical arguments (up to a metre by 2100 and around one and a half by 2200) are implausible under current understanding of physical mechanisms and potential triggers.

Consistent estimate of ocean warming, land ice melt and sea level rise from Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Blazquez, Alejandro; Meyssignac, Benoît; Lemoine, Jean Michel

2016-04-01

Based on the sea level budget closure approach, this study investigates the consistency of observed Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) estimates from satellite altimetry, observed Ocean Thermal Expansion (OTE) estimates from in-situ hydrographic data (based on Argo for depth above 2000m and oceanic cruises below) and GRACE observations of land water storage and land ice melt for the period January 2004 to December 2014. The consistency between these datasets is a key issue if we want to constrain missing contributions to sea level rise such as the deep ocean contribution. Numerous previous studies have addressed this question by summing up the different contributions to sea level rise and comparing it to satellite altimetry observations (see for example Llovel et al. 2015, Dieng et al. 2015). Here we propose a novel approach which consists in correcting GRACE solutions over the ocean (essentially corrections of stripes and leakage from ice caps) with mass observations deduced from the difference between satellite altimetry GMSL and in-situ hydrographic data OTE estimates. We check that the resulting GRACE corrected solutions are consistent with original GRACE estimates of the geoid spherical harmonic coefficients within error bars and we compare the resulting GRACE estimates of land water storage and land ice melt with independent results from the literature. This method provides a new mass redistribution from GRACE consistent with observations from Altimetry and OTE. We test the sensibility of this method to the deep ocean contribution and the GIA models and propose best estimates.

Phosphorus recycling and availability in the western Wadden Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Freixo Leote, C.M.

2014-01-01

Phosphorus is a main and often limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth, as suggested for the western Wadden Sea. In this area, freshwater discharge was a major nutrient source in the past. However, pollution reduction measures dramatically reduced its contribution, particularly for phosphorus. In

Past 140-year environmental record in the northern South China Sea: evidence from coral skeletal trace metal variations.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yinxian; Yu, Kefu; Zhao, Jianxin; Feng, Yuexing; Shi, Qi; Zhang, Huiling; Ayoko, Godwin A; Frost, Ray L

2014-02-01

About 140-year changes in the trace metals in Porites coral samples from two locations in the northern South China Sea were investigated. Results of PCA analyses suggest that near the coast, terrestrial input impacted behavior of trace metals by 28.4%, impact of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) was 19.0%, contribution of war and infrastructure were 14.4% and 15.6% respectively. But for a location in the open sea, contribution of War and SST reached 33.2% and 16.5%, while activities of infrastructure and guano exploration reached 13.2% and 14.7%. While the spatiotemporal change model of Cu, Cd and Pb in seawater of the north area of South China Sea during 1986-1997 were reconstructed. It was found that in the sea area Cu and Cd contaminations were distributed near the coast while areas around Sanya, Hainan had high Pb levels because of the well-developed tourism related activities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-Surface Monsoonal Circulation of the Vietnam East Sea from Lagrangian Drifters

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-30

Sea from Lagrangian Drifters Luca Centurioni Scripps Institution of Oceanography 9500 Gilman Drive Mail Code 0213 La Jolla, California 92103...Contribute to the study of coastal and open ocean current systems in sparsely sampled regions such us the South China Sea (SCS), using a Lagrangian ...We intend to make new Lagrangian and Eulerian observations to measure the seasonal circulation 1) in the coastal waters of Vietnam and 2) in the SCS

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of SEA: Towards a better understanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doren, D. van [Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands); Driessen, P.P.J., E-mail: p.driessen@uu.nl [Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands); Schijf, B. [Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment, P.O. Box 2345, 3500 GH Utrecht (Netherlands); Runhaar, H.A.C. [Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands)

2013-01-15

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is vital in order to know to what extent the tool fulfills its purposes and produces expected results. However, the studies that have evaluated the substantive effectiveness of SEA produce varying outcomes as regards the tool's contribution to decision-making and have used a variety of approaches to appraise its effectiveness. The aim of this article is to discuss the theoretical concept of SEA substantive effectiveness and to present a new approach that can be applied for evaluation studies. The SEA effectiveness evaluation framework that will be presented is composed of concepts of, and approaches to, SEA effectiveness derived from SEA literature and planning theory. Lessons for evaluation can be learned from planning theory in particular, given its long history of analyzing and understanding how sources of information and decisions affect (subsequent) decision-making. Key concepts of this new approach are 'conformance' and 'performance'. In addition, this article presents a systematic overview of process and context factors that can explain SEA effectiveness, derived from SEA literature. To illustrate the practical value of our framework for the assessment and understanding of substantive effectiveness of SEA, three Dutch SEA case studies are examined. The case studies have confirmed the usefulness of the SEA effectiveness assessment framework. The framework proved helpful in order to describe the cumulative influence of the three SEAs on decision-making and the ultimate plan. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A new framework to evaluate the substantive effectiveness of SEA is presented. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The framework is based on two key concepts: 'conformance' and 'performance.' Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The practical applicability of the framework is demonstrated by three Dutch cases. Black

Evolutionary process of deep-sea bathymodiolus mussels.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazaki, Jun-Ichi; de Oliveira Martins, Leonardo; Fujita, Yuko; Matsumoto, Hiroto; Fujiwara, Yoshihiro

2010-04-27

Since the discovery of deep-sea chemosynthesis-based communities, much work has been done to clarify their organismal and environmental aspects. However, major topics remain to be resolved, including when and how organisms invade and adapt to deep-sea environments; whether strategies for invasion and adaptation are shared by different taxa or unique to each taxon; how organisms extend their distribution and diversity; and how they become isolated to speciate in continuous waters. Deep-sea mussels are one of the dominant organisms in chemosynthesis-based communities, thus investigations of their origin and evolution contribute to resolving questions about life in those communities. We investigated worldwide phylogenetic relationships of deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels and their mytilid relatives by analyzing nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated sequence data showed that mussels of the subfamily Bathymodiolinae from vents and seeps were divided into four groups, and that mussels of the subfamily Modiolinae from sunken wood and whale carcasses assumed the outgroup position and shallow-water modioline mussels were positioned more distantly to the bathymodioline mussels. We provisionally hypothesized the evolutionary history of Bathymodilolus mussels by estimating evolutionary time under a relaxed molecular clock model. Diversification of bathymodioline mussels was initiated in the early Miocene, and subsequently diversification of the groups occurred in the early to middle Miocene. The phylogenetic relationships support the "Evolutionary stepping stone hypothesis," in which mytilid ancestors exploited sunken wood and whale carcasses in their progressive adaptation to deep-sea environments. This hypothesis is also supported by the evolutionary transition of symbiosis in that nutritional adaptation to the deep sea proceeded from extracellular

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the Baltic Sea in the period 1995–2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Bartnicki

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The EMEP/MSC-W model has been used to compute atmospheric nitrogen deposition into the Baltic Sea basin for the period of 12 yr: 1995–2006. The level of annual total nitrogen deposition into the Baltic Sea basin has changed from 230 Gg N in 1995 to 199 Gg N in 2006, decreasing 13 %. This value corresponds well with the total nitrogen emission reduction (11 % in the HELCOM Contracting Parties. However, inter-annual variability of nitrogen deposition to the Baltic Sea basin is relatively large, ranging from −13 % to +17 % of the averaged value. It is mainly caused by the changing meteorological conditions and especially precipitation in the considered period. The calculated monthly deposition pattern is similar for most of the years showing maxima in the autumn months October and November. The source allocation budget for atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the Baltic Sea basin was calculated for each year of the period 1997–2006. The main emission sources contributing to total nitrogen deposition are: Germany 18–22 %, Poland 11–13 % and Denmark 8–11 %. There is also a significant contribution from distant sources like the United Kingdom 6–9 %, as well as from the international ship traffic on the Baltic Sea 4–5 %.

The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea: environmental and socioeconomic status, future prognosis and ameliorative policy options.

Science.gov (United States)

DeVantier, Lyndon; Alcala, Angel; Wilkinson, Clive

2004-02-01

The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, with neighboring Indonesian Seas and South China Sea, lies at the center of the world's tropical marine biodiversity. Encircled by 3 populous, developing nations, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Sea and its adjacent coastal and terrestrial ecosystems, supports ca. 33 million people, most with subsistence livelihoods heavily reliant on its renewable natural resources. These resources are being impacted severely by rapid population growth (> 2% yr-1, with expected doubling by 2035) and widespread poverty, coupled with increasing international market demand and rapid technological changes, compounded by inefficiencies in governance and a lack of awareness and/or acceptance of some laws among local populations, particularly in parts of the Philippines and Indonesia. These key root causes all contribute to illegal practices and corruption, and are resulting in severe resource depletion and degradation of water catchments, river, lacustrine, estuarine, coastal, and marine ecosystems. The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea forms a major geopolitical focus, with porous borders, transmigration, separatist movements, piracy, and illegal fishing all contributing to environmental degradation, human suffering and political instability, and inhibiting strong trilateral support for interventions. This review analyzes these multifarious environmental and socioeconomic impacts and their root causes, provides a future prognosis of status by 2020, and recommends policy options aimed at amelioration through sustainable management and development.

A decade of sea level rise slowed by climate-driven hydrology.

Science.gov (United States)

Reager, J T; Gardner, A S; Famiglietti, J S; Wiese, D N; Eicker, A; Lo, M-H

2016-02-12

Climate-driven changes in land water storage and their contributions to sea level rise have been absent from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sea level budgets owing to observational challenges. Recent advances in satellite measurement of time-variable gravity combined with reconciled global glacier loss estimates enable a disaggregation of continental land mass changes and a quantification of this term. We found that between 2002 and 2014, climate variability resulted in an additional 3200 ± 900 gigatons of water being stored on land. This gain partially offset water losses from ice sheets, glaciers, and groundwater pumping, slowing the rate of sea level rise by 0.71 ± 0.20 millimeters per year. These findings highlight the importance of climate-driven changes in hydrology when assigning attribution to decadal changes in sea level. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Sea sand for reactive barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia R, G.; Ordonez R, E.; Ordonez R, En.

2002-01-01

Some phosphates have the property to suck in radioactive metals in solution, what it is taken in advance to make reactive barriers which are placed in the nuclear waste repositories. In an effort for contributing to the study of this type of materials, it has been obtained the zirconium silicate (ZrSiO 4 ) and the alpha zirconium hydrogen phosphate (Zr(HPO 4 ) 2H 2 O) starting from sea sand in an easy and economic way. (Author)

Land-sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Donders, Timme H.; van Helmond, Niels A. G. M.; Verreussel, Roel; Munsterman, Dirk; ten Veen, Johan; Speijer, Robert P.; Weijers, Johan W. H.; Sangiorgi, Francesca; Peterse, Francien; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.; Lourens, Lucas; Kuhlmann, Gesa; Brinkhuis, Henk

2018-03-01

We assess the disputed phase relations between forcing and climatic response in the early Pleistocene with a spliced Gelasian (˜ 2.6-1.8 Ma) multi-proxy record from the southern North Sea basin. The cored sections couple climate evolution on both land and sea during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG) in NW Europe, providing the first well-constrained stratigraphic sequence of the classic terrestrial Praetiglian stage. Terrestrial signals were derived from the Eridanos paleoriver, a major fluvial system that contributed a large amount of freshwater to the northeast Atlantic. Due to its latitudinal position, the Eridanos catchment was likely affected by early Pleistocene NHG, leading to intermittent shutdown and reactivation of river flow and sediment transport. Here we apply organic geochemistry, palynology, carbonate isotope geochemistry, and seismostratigraphy to document both vegetation changes in the Eridanos catchment and regional surface water conditions and relate them to early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles and relative sea level changes. Paleomagnetic and palynological data provide a solid integrated timeframe that ties the obliquity cycles, expressed in the borehole geophysical logs, to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 103 to 92, independently confirmed by a local benthic oxygen isotope record. Marine and terrestrial palynological and organic geochemical records provide high-resolution reconstructions of relative terrestrial and sea surface temperature (TT and SST), vegetation, relative sea level, and coastal influence.During the prominent cold stages MIS 98 and 96, as well as 94, the record indicates increased non-arboreal vegetation, low SST and TT, and low relative sea level. During the warm stages MIS 99, 97, and 95 we infer increased stratification of the water column together with a higher percentage of arboreal vegetation, high SST, and relative sea level maxima. The early Pleistocene distinct warm-cold alterations are

Relative contributions of sampling effort, measuring, and weighing to precision of larval sea lamprey biomass estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Slade, Jeffrey W.; Adams, Jean V.; Cuddy, Douglas W.; Neave, Fraser B.; Sullivan, W. Paul; Young, Robert J.; Fodale, Michael F.; Jones, Michael L.

2003-01-01

We developed two weight-length models from 231 populations of larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) collected from tributaries of the Great Lakes: Lake Ontario (21), Lake Erie (6), Lake Huron (67), Lake Michigan (76), and Lake Superior (61). Both models were mixed models, which used population as a random effect and additional environmental factors as fixed effects. We resampled weights and lengths 1,000 times from data collected in each of 14 other populations not used to develop the models, obtaining a weight and length distribution from reach resampling. To test model performance, we applied the two weight-length models to the resampled length distributions and calculated the predicted mean weights. We also calculated the observed mean weight for each resampling and for each of the original 14 data sets. When the average of predicted means was compared to means from the original data in each stream, inclusion of environmental factors did not consistently improve the performance of the weight-length model. We estimated the variance associated with measures of abundance and mean weight for each of the 14 selected populations and determined that a conservative estimate of the proportional contribution to variance associated with estimating abundance accounted for 32% to 95% of the variance (mean = 66%). Variability in the biomass estimate appears more affected by variability in estimating abundance than in converting length to weight. Hence, efforts to improve the precision of biomass estimates would be aided most by reducing the variability associated with estimating abundance.

Revisiting the contemporary sea-level budget on global and regional scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Rietbroek, Roelof; Brunnabend, Sandra-Esther; Kusche, Jürgen; Schröter, Jens; Dahle, Christoph

2016-02-09

Dividing the sea-level budget into contributions from ice sheets and glaciers, the water cycle, steric expansion, and crustal movement is challenging, especially on regional scales. Here, Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity observations and sea-level anomalies from altimetry are used in a joint inversion, ensuring a consistent decomposition of the global and regional sea-level rise budget. Over the years 2002-2014, we find a global mean steric trend of 1.38 ± 0.16 mm/y, compared with a total trend of 2.74 ± 0.58 mm/y. This is significantly larger than steric trends derived from in situ temperature/salinity profiles and models which range from 0.66 ± 0.2 to 0.94 ± 0.1 mm/y. Mass contributions from ice sheets and glaciers (1.37 ± 0.09 mm/y, accelerating with 0.03 ± 0.02 mm/y(2)) are offset by a negative hydrological component (-0.29 ± 0.26 mm/y). The combined mass rate (1.08 ± 0.3 mm/y) is smaller than previous GRACE estimates (up to 2 mm/y), but it is consistent with the sum of individual contributions (ice sheets, glaciers, and hydrology) found in literature. The altimetric sea-level budget is closed by coestimating a remaining component of 0.22 ± 0.26 mm/y. Well above average sea-level rise is found regionally near the Philippines (14.7 ± 4.39 mm/y) and Indonesia (8.3 ± 4.7 mm/y) which is dominated by steric components (11.2 ± 3.58 mm/y and 6.4 ± 3.18 mm/y, respectively). In contrast, in the central and Eastern part of the Pacific, negative steric trends (down to -2.8 ± 1.53 mm/y) are detected. Significant regional components are found, up to 5.3 ± 2.6 mm/y in the northwest Atlantic, which are likely due to ocean bottom pressure variations.

The gill microbiota of invasive and indigenous Spondylus oysters from the Mediterranean Sea and northern Red Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Roterman, Yahala Rina; Benayahu, Yehuda; Reshef, Lea; Gophna, Uri

2015-12-01

The gill tissue of bivalve mollusks hosts rich symbiotic microbial communities that may contribute to the animal's metabolism. Spondylus spinosus is an invasive oyster that has become highly abundant along the eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) coastline, but is scarce in the northern Red Sea (NRS), its indigenous region. The composition and seasonal dynamics of the gill microbial communities of S. spinosus were examined in both regions, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Additionally, two Red Sea Spondylus species, S. avramsingeri and S. pickeringae, were investigated using the same approach. Significant differences were found between microbial communities of the EMS S. spinosus and the three NRS species. Bacteria from the family Hahellaceae dominated the communities of the EMS S. spinosus and the NRS S. avramsingeri, oysters that are dominant in their habitat, yet were rare in the NRS S. spinosus and S. pickeringae, which are only seldom encountered. Bacterial communities of EMS S. spinosus were more similar to those of NRS S. spinosus than to those of other NRS Spondylus species, indicating that either part of the microbiota had co-invaded with their host into the Mediterranean Sea, or that there are species-specific selective constraints on microbial composition. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Numerical Modelling of Extreme Natural Hazards in the Russian Seas

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipkin, Victor; Dobrolyubov, Sergey; Korablina, Anastasia; Myslenkov, Stanislav; Surkova, Galina

2017-04-01

Storm surges and extreme waves are severe natural sea hazards. Due to the almost complete lack of natural observations of these phenomena in the Russian seas (Caspian, Black, Azov, Baltic, White, Barents, Okhotsk, Kara), especially about their formation, development and destruction, they have been studied using numerical simulation. To calculate the parameters of wind waves for the seas listed above, except the Barents Sea, the spectral model SWAN was applied. For the Barents and Kara seas we used WAVEWATCH III model. Formation and development of storm surges were studied using ADCIRC model. The input data for models - bottom topography, wind, atmospheric pressure and ice cover. In modeling of surges in the White and Barents seas tidal level fluctuations were used. They have been calculated from 16 harmonic constant obtained from global atlas tides FES2004. Wind, atmospheric pressure and ice cover was taken from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis for the period from 1948 to 2010, and NCEP/CFSR reanalysis for the period from 1979 to 2015. In modeling we used both regular and unstructured grid. The wave climate of the Caspian, Black, Azov, Baltic and White seas was obtained. Also the extreme wave height possible once in 100 years has been calculated. The statistics of storm surges for the White, Barents and Azov Seas were evaluated. The contribution of wind and atmospheric pressure in the formation of surges was estimated. The technique of climatic forecast frequency of storm synoptic situations was developed and applied for every sea. The research was carried out with financial support of the RFBR (grant 16-08-00829).

Effective media reporting of sea level rise projections: 1989-2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rick, U K; Boykoff, M T; Pielke, R A Jr

2011-01-01

In the mass media, sea level rise is commonly associated with the impacts of climate change due to increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases. As this issue garners ongoing international policy attention, segments of the scientific community have expressed unease about how this has been covered by mass media. Therefore, this study examines how sea level rise projections-in IPCC Assessment Reports and a sample of the scientific literature-have been represented in seven prominent United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) newspapers over the past two decades. The research found that-with few exceptions-journalists have accurately portrayed scientific research on sea level rise projections to 2100. Moreover, while coverage has predictably increased in the past 20 years, journalists have paid particular attention to the issue in years when an IPCC report is released or when major international negotiations take place, rather than when direct research is completed and specific projections are published. We reason that the combination of these factors has contributed to a perceived problem in the sea level rise reporting by the scientific community, although systematic empirical research shows none. In this contemporary high-stakes, high-profile and highly politicized arena of climate science and policy interactions, such results mark a particular bright spot in media representations of climate change. These findings can also contribute to more measured considerations of climate impacts and policy action at a critical juncture of international negotiations and everyday decision-making associated with the causes and consequences of climate change.

Origin of particulate organic carbon in the marine atmosphere as indicated by it stable carbon isotopic composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chesselet, R.; Fontugne, M.; Buat-Menard, P.; Ezat, U.; Lambert, C.E.

1981-01-01

Organic carbon concentration and isotopic composition were determined in samples of atmospheric particulate matter collected in 1979 at remote marine locations (Enewetak atoll, Sargasso Sea) during the SEAREX (Sea-Air Exchange) program field experiments. Atmospheric Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) concentrations were found to be in the range of 0.3 to 1.2 mg. m -3 , in agreement with previous literature data. The major mass of POC was found on the smallest particles (r 13 C/ 12 C of the small particles is close to the one expected (d 13 C = 26 +- 2 0 //sub infinity/) for atmospheric POC of continental origin. For all the samples analysed so far, it appears that more than 80% of atmospheric POC over remote marine areas is of continental origin. This can be explained either by long-range transport of small sized continental organic aserosols or by the production of POC in the marine atmosphere from a vapor phase organic carbon pool of continental origin. The POC in the large size fraction of marine aerosols ( 13 C = -21 +- 2 0 / 00 ) for POC associated with sea-salt droplets transported to the marine atmosphere

The Red Sea Modeling and Forecasting System

KAUST Repository

Hoteit, Ibrahim

2015-04-01

Despite its importance for a variety of socio-economical and political reasons and the presence of extensive coral reef gardens along its shores, the Red Sea remains one of the most under-studied large marine physical and biological systems in the global ocean. This contribution will present our efforts to build advanced modeling and forecasting capabilities for the Red Sea, which is part of the newly established Saudi ARAMCO Marine Environmental Research Center at KAUST (SAMERCK). Our Red Sea modeling system compromises both regional and nested costal MIT general circulation models (MITgcm) with resolutions varying between 8 km and 250 m to simulate the general circulation and mesoscale dynamics at various spatial scales, a 10-km resolution Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the atmospheric conditions, a 4-km resolution European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) to simulate the Red Sea ecosystem, and a 1-km resolution WAVEWATCH-III model to simulate the wind driven surface waves conditions. We have also implemented an oil spill model, and a probabilistic dispersion and larval connectivity modeling system (CMS) based on a stochastic Lagrangian framework and incorporating biological attributes. We are using the models outputs together with available observational data to study all aspects of the Red Sea circulations. Advanced monitoring capabilities are being deployed in the Red Sea as part of the SAMERCK, comprising multiple gliders equipped with hydrographical and biological sensors, high frequency (HF) surface current/wave mapping, buoys/ moorings, etc, complementing the available satellite ocean and atmospheric observations and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). The Red Sea models have also been equipped with advanced data assimilation capabilities. Fully parallel ensemble-based Kalman filtering (EnKF) algorithms have been implemented with the MITgcm and ERSEM for assimilating all available multivariate satellite and in-situ data sets. We

The Red Sea Modeling and Forecasting System

KAUST Repository

Hoteit, Ibrahim; Gopalakrishnan, Ganesh; Latif, Hatem; Toye, Habib; Zhan, Peng; Kartadikaria, Aditya R.; Viswanadhapalli, Yesubabu; Yao, Fengchao; Triantafyllou, George; Langodan, Sabique; Cavaleri, Luigi; Guo, Daquan; Johns, Burt

2015-01-01

Despite its importance for a variety of socio-economical and political reasons and the presence of extensive coral reef gardens along its shores, the Red Sea remains one of the most under-studied large marine physical and biological systems in the global ocean. This contribution will present our efforts to build advanced modeling and forecasting capabilities for the Red Sea, which is part of the newly established Saudi ARAMCO Marine Environmental Research Center at KAUST (SAMERCK). Our Red Sea modeling system compromises both regional and nested costal MIT general circulation models (MITgcm) with resolutions varying between 8 km and 250 m to simulate the general circulation and mesoscale dynamics at various spatial scales, a 10-km resolution Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the atmospheric conditions, a 4-km resolution European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) to simulate the Red Sea ecosystem, and a 1-km resolution WAVEWATCH-III model to simulate the wind driven surface waves conditions. We have also implemented an oil spill model, and a probabilistic dispersion and larval connectivity modeling system (CMS) based on a stochastic Lagrangian framework and incorporating biological attributes. We are using the models outputs together with available observational data to study all aspects of the Red Sea circulations. Advanced monitoring capabilities are being deployed in the Red Sea as part of the SAMERCK, comprising multiple gliders equipped with hydrographical and biological sensors, high frequency (HF) surface current/wave mapping, buoys/ moorings, etc, complementing the available satellite ocean and atmospheric observations and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). The Red Sea models have also been equipped with advanced data assimilation capabilities. Fully parallel ensemble-based Kalman filtering (EnKF) algorithms have been implemented with the MITgcm and ERSEM for assimilating all available multivariate satellite and in-situ data sets. We

Large sea ice outflow into the Nares Strait in 2007

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kwok, R.; Pedersen, L.T.; Gudmandsen, Preben

2010-01-01

Sea ice flux through the Nares Strait is most active during the fall and early winter, ceases in mid- to late winter after the formation of ice arches along the strait, and re-commences after breakup in summer. In 2007, ice arches failed to form. This resulted in the highest outflow of Arctic sea...... at Fram Strait. Clearly, the ice arches control Arctic sea ice outflow. The duration of unobstructed flow explains more than 84% of the variance in the annual area flux. In our record, seasonal stoppages are always associated with the formation of an arch near the same location in the southern Kane Basin...... ice in the 13-year record between 1997 and 2009. The 2007 area and volume outflows of 87 x 10(3) km(2) and 254 km(3) are more than twice their 13-year means. This contributes to the recent loss of the thick, multiyear Arctic sea ice and represents similar to 10% of our estimates of the mean ice export...

SEA effectiveness criteria-equally valid in all countries? The case of Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Thomas B.; Gazzola, Paola

2006-01-01

Recent years have seen the introduction of various sets of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) effectiveness criteria in the professional international literature. Content analysis of key international SEA publications suggest that these have been developed based on the experiences of a selected number of countries only, and to date, the question whether they are fully valid in all systems and countries world-wide has not been addressed sufficiently, yet. In this context, the paper discusses the validity of effectiveness criteria for Italy, a country from which authors have only contributed to a very limited extent to the international SEA literature. It is concluded that, particularly in the light of experiences with a 'flexible', but ineffective EIA system, in Italy SEA needs to be applied in a systematic and rigorous manner, aided by strong enforcement mechanisms

Northern Alaskan land surface response to reduced Arctic sea ice extent

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Higgins, Matthew E. [University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO (United States); Cassano, John J. [University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Boulder, CO (United States)

2012-05-15

With Arctic sea ice extent at near-record lows, an improved understanding of the relationship between sea ice and the land surface is warranted. We examine the land surface response to changing sea ice by first conducting a simulation using the Community Atmospheric Model version 3.1 with end of the twenty-first century sea ice extent. This future atmospheric response is then used to force the Weather and Research Forecasting Model version 3.1 to examine the terrestrial land surface response at high resolution over the North Slope of Alaska. Similar control simulations with twentieth century sea ice projections are also performed, and in both simulations only sea ice extent is altered. In the future sea ice extent experiment, atmospheric temperature increases significantly due to increases in latent and sensible heat flux, particularly in the winter season. Precipitation and snow pack increase significantly, and the increased snow pack contributes to warmer soil temperatures for most seasons by insulating the land surface. In the summer, however, soil temperatures are reduced due to increased albedo. Despite warmer near-surface atmospheric temperatures, it is found that spring melt is delayed throughout much of the North Slope due to the increased snow pack, and the growing season length is shortened. (orig.)

Predators of the destructive sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis on the Norwegian coast

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Morten Foldager; Fagerli, Camilla With; Norderhaug, Kjell Magnus

2014-01-01

on recently settled S. droebachiensis in Laboratory experiments. Tethering experiments in kelp forest and on barren ground study sites in the area where sea urchin populations are collapsing confirmed predation by some of the predators tested in laboratory experiments. The edible crab Cancer pagurus...... was the most efficient sea urchin predator, and it was more abundant at kelp forest sites than on barren grounds. Stocks of C. pagurus have increased dramatically in central Norway since the 1990s, and predation by C. pagurus may contribute to the decline in sea urchin densities, allowing kelp recovery...... and conferring resilience of the new kelp forest state....

Dramatic increase in sea otter mortality from white sharks in California

Science.gov (United States)

Tinker, M. Tim; Hatfield, Brian B.; Harris, Michael D.; Ames, Jack A.

2016-01-01

Although southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) are not considered prey for white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), sharks do nonetheless bite sea otters. We analyzed spatial and temporal trends in shark bites on sea otters in California, assessing the frequency of shark bite wounds in 1,870 carcasses collected since 1985. The proportion of stranded sea otters having shark bites has increased sharply since 2003, and white shark bites now account for >50% of recovered carcasses. The trend was most pronounced in the southern part of the range, from Estero Bay to Point Conception, where shark bite frequency has increased eightfold. Seasonal trends were also evident: most shark-bitten carcasses are recovered in late summer and fall; however, the period of elevated shark bite frequency has lengthened. The causes of these trends are unclear, but possible contributing factors include increased white shark abundance and/or changes in white shark behavior and distribution. In particular, the spatiotemporal patterns of shark-bitten sea otters match increases in pinniped populations, and the increased availability of marine mammal prey for white sharks may have led to more sharks spending more time in nearshore waters utilized by both sea otters and pinnipeds.

Radioecological monitoring of the Black Sea basin following the Chernobyl NPP accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulebakina, L.G.; Polikarpov, G.G.

1991-01-01

A monitoring programme was drawn up to study the radioecological situation of the Black Sea basin following the Chernobyl NPP accident, with studies being carried out from May 1986 onwards to determine the levels of radioactive contamination in various parts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Aegean Sea, including the estuaries of major rivers (Dnieper, Danube, Dniester and Don) and shelf areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The work focused on long-lived radionuclides ( 90 Sr and 137 Cs), with the migration dynamics of these radionuclides in the aquatic environment, bed sediments and aquatic biota (including plants, molluscs, crustacea and fish) being studied. We compared the behaviour of radionuclides in the aquatic environment of the Dnieper reservoirs following the Chernobyl accident (our data) with the behaviour of radionuclides in lakes in the Urals following the Kyshtym accident (published data). As in the case of the lakes in the Urals, the Dnieper waters contain substantial concentrations of 90 Sr as a result of the Chernobyl accident, and 90 Sr therefore enters the Black Sea with the Dnieper waters. The paper compares the contribution of the Chernobyl accident to radioactive contamination of the Black Sea with that of global fallout. (author)

Views on planning and expectations of SEA: the case of transport planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilden, Mikael; Furman, Eeva; Kaljonen, Minna

2004-01-01

This paper examines the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in transport planning in the light of different views of planning: synoptic optimising planning, communicative planning and planning as a social struggle. The analysis uses empirical materials from 17 case studies collected by survey from Member Countries of the United Nation's Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and further processed in a practitioners' workshop, and also a detailed case study carried out in Finland. The case studies and the workshop identified a set of necessary conditions and facilitating factors that contribute to the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessments in transport planning. Our findings suggest that transport planning can often best be characterised as a social struggle over problem definitions and future choices. Thus, the effectiveness of SEA will depend on how well the assessment fits into the planning context and on its actual contribution to debates on problem definitions. Specific procedural steps may improve the effectiveness but explicit requirements to recognise SEA in decision making are likely to be a key condition

Atmospheric forcing of decadal Baltic Sea level variability in the last 200 years. A statistical analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huenicke, B. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Kuestenforschung

2008-11-06

This study aims at the estimation of the impact of different atmospheric factors on the past sealevel variations (up to 200 years) in the Baltic Sea by statistically analysing the relationship between Baltic Sea level records and observational and proxy-based reconstructed climatic data sets. The focus lies on the identification and possible quantification of the contribution of sealevel pressure (wind), air-temperature and precipitation to the low-frequency (decadal and multi-decadal) variability of Baltic Sea level. It is known that the wind forcing is the main factor explaining average Baltic Sea level variability at inter-annual to decadal timescales, especially in wintertime. In this thesis it is statistically estimated to what extent other regional climate factors contribute to the spatially heterogeneous Baltic Sea level variations around the isostatic trend at multi-decadal timescales. Although the statistical analysis cannot be completely conclusive, as the potential climate drivers are all statistically interrelated to some degree, the results indicate that precipitation should be taken into account as an explanatory variable for sea-level variations. On the one hand it has been detected that the amplitude of the annual cycle of Baltic Sea level has increased throughout the 20th century and precipitation seems to be the only factor among those analysed (wind through SLP field, barometric effect, temperature and precipitation) that can account for this evolution. On the other hand, precipitation increases the ability to hindcast inter-annual variations of sea level in some regions and seasons, especially in the Southern Baltic in summertime. The mechanism by which precipitation exerts its influence on Baltic Sea level is not ascertained in this statistical analysis due to the lack of long salinity time series. This result, however, represents a working hypothesis that can be confirmed or disproved by long simulations of the Baltic Sea system - ocean

Sea level changes induced by local winds on the west coast of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Mehra, P.; Tsimplis, M.N.; Desai, R.G.P.; Joseph, A.; Shaw, A.G.P.; Somayajulu, Y.K.; Cipollini, P.

1 National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India 2 National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK # [Corresponding author: pmehra@nio.org] Abstract The contribution of atmospheric pressure and wind to sea level variability at Goa (West...), Southampton under an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOWTS) fellowship-2008-2009. We are all grateful to the International Oceanographic Commission for providing us with the opportunity of working together. 17 R: Correlation coefficient between sea...

Uncertainty Quantification for Ice Sheet Science and Sea Level Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Boening, C.; Schlegel, N.; Limonadi, D.; Schodlok, M.; Seroussi, H. L.; Larour, E. Y.; Watkins, M. M.

2017-12-01

In order to better quantify uncertainties in global mean sea level rise projections and in particular upper bounds, we aim at systematically evaluating the contributions from ice sheets and potential for extreme sea level rise due to sudden ice mass loss. Here, we take advantage of established uncertainty quantification tools embedded within the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) as well as sensitivities to ice/ocean interactions using melt rates and melt potential derived from MITgcm/ECCO2. With the use of these tools, we conduct Monte-Carlo style sampling experiments on forward simulations of the Antarctic ice sheet, by varying internal parameters and boundary conditions of the system over both extreme and credible worst-case ranges. Uncertainty bounds for climate forcing are informed by CMIP5 ensemble precipitation and ice melt estimates for year 2100, and uncertainty bounds for ocean melt rates are derived from a suite of regional sensitivity experiments using MITgcm. Resulting statistics allow us to assess how regional uncertainty in various parameters affect model estimates of century-scale sea level rise projections. The results inform efforts to a) isolate the processes and inputs that are most responsible for determining ice sheet contribution to sea level; b) redefine uncertainty brackets for century-scale projections; and c) provide a prioritized list of measurements, along with quantitative information on spatial and temporal resolution, required for reducing uncertainty in future sea level rise projections. Results indicate that ice sheet mass loss is dependent on the spatial resolution of key boundary conditions - such as bedrock topography and melt rates at the ice-ocean interface. This work is performed at and supported by the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Supercomputing time is also supported through a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cryosphere program.

Climatology of sea breezes along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Khan, Basit

2018-04-25

Long-term near-surface observations from five coastal stations, high-resolution model data from Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and high-resolution daily sea surface temperature (SST) from National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are used to investigate the climatology of sea breezes over the eastern side of the Red Sea region. Results show existence of separate sea breeze systems along different segments of the Red Sea coastline. Based on the physical character and synoptic influences, sea breezes in the Red Sea are broadly divided into three regions: the north and the middle Red Sea (NMRS), the Red Sea convergence zone (RSCZ) and the southern Red Sea (SRS) regions. On average, sea breezes developed on 67% of days of the 10-year study period. Although sea breezes occur almost all year, this mesoscale phenomenon is most frequent from May to October (78% of the total sea breeze days). The sea breeze frequency increases from north to south (equatorwards), and sea breeze characteristics appear to vary both temporally and spatially. In addition to land-sea thermal differential, coastline shape, latitude and topography, the prevailing northwesterly at NMRS region, the convergence of northwesterly and southeasterly wind system at RSCZ region and the northeast and southwest monsoon at SRS region play an important role in defining the sea breeze characteristics over the Red Sea.

Intraseasonal sea surface temperature variability in Indonesian seas

Science.gov (United States)

Napitu, A. M.; Gordon, A. L.; Yuan, X.

2012-12-01

The satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data, 1998-mid 2012, are used to examine intraseasonal variability (ISV; 20-90 days) across the Indonesian seas. The most energetic ISV is observed in the Banda Sea and across the Indo-Australia basin with an The satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data, 1998-mid 2012, are used to examine intraseasonal variability (ISV; 20-90 days) across the Indonesian seas. The most energetic ISV is observed in the Banda Sea and across the Indo-Australia basin with an average SST standard deviation (STD) between 0.4-0.5°C, with strongest signature during boreal winter. What physical processes force the SST ISV variability within the Indonesian seas? Ocean process, sea-air interaction, or both? To help identify the main forcing, the satellite derived outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and wind stress data in the region are examined. The OLR shows robust intraseasonal variations and is significantly correlated with the SST, particularly for variability with periods of 30-60 days, with OLR accounting for ~60-70% of the SST variance. The OLR is also maximum during boreal winter. Conversely, the surface wind may play insignificant role in perturbing the SST at intraseasonal timescales as shown by weak correlation between wind stress and SST. We thus suspect that the surface solar flux (suggested by the OLR) is likely more dominant than the surface turbulent heat flux (indicated by the surface wind) as the main source for the ISV in the SST in Indonesian seas. Furthermore the maximum OLR phase, coupled with a period of minimum mixed layer depth, may explain the strong SST variation during boreal winter in Indonesian seas. The influence of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the OLR and SST variability is currently being evaluated.

On the variability of sea drag in finite water depth

Science.gov (United States)

Toffoli, A.; Loffredo, L.; Le Roy, P.; LefèVre, J.-M.; Babanin, A. V.

2012-11-01

The coupling between the atmospheric boundary layer and the ocean surface in large-scale models is usually parameterized in terms of the sea drag coefficient, which is routinely estimated as a function of mean wind speed. The scatter of data around such parametric dependencies, however, is very significant and imposes a serious limitation on the forecasts and predictions that make use of sea surface drag parameterizations. The analysis of an atmospheric and wave data set collected in finite water depth at the Lake George measurement site (Australia) suggests that this variability relates to a number of parameters at the air-sea interface other than wind speed alone. In particular, results indicate that the sea drag depends on water depth and wave steepness, which make the wave profile more vertically asymmetric, and the concentration of water vapor in the air, which modifies air density and friction velocity. These dependencies are used to derive parametric functions based on the combined contribution of wind, waves and relative humidity. A standard statistical analysis confirms a substantial improvement in the prediction of the drag coefficient and sea surface roughness when additional parameters are taken into account.

Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Masateru; Takahashi, Etsuko; Joudeh, Luay I; Marini, Monica; Das, Gobind; Elshenawy, Mohamed M; Akal, Anastassja; Sakashita, Kosuke; Alam, Intikhab; Tehseen, Muhammad; Sobhy, Mohamed A; Stingl, Ulrich; Merzaban, Jasmeen S; Di Fabrizio, Enzo; Hamdan, Samir M

2018-01-24

The deep-sea brines of the Red Sea are remote and unexplored environments characterized by high temperatures, anoxic water, and elevated concentrations of salt and heavy metals. This environment provides a rare system to study the interplay between halophilic and thermophilic adaptation in biologic macromolecules. The present article reports the first DNA polymerase with halophilic and thermophilic features. Biochemical and structural analysis by Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the charge distribution on the protein's surface mediates the structural balance between stability for thermal adaptation and flexibility for counteracting the salt-induced rigid and nonfunctional hydrophobic packing. Salt bridge interactions via increased negative and positive charges contribute to structural stability. Salt tolerance, conversely, is mediated by a dynamic structure that becomes more fixed and functional with increasing salt concentration. We propose that repulsive forces among excess negative charges, in addition to a high percentage of negatively charged random coils, mediate this structural dynamism. This knowledge enabled us to engineer a halophilic version of KOD DNA polymerase.-Takahashi, M., Takahashi, E., Joudeh, L. I., Marini, M., Das, G., Elshenawy, M. M., Akal, A., Sakashita, K., Alam, I., Tehseen, M., Sobhy, M. A., Stingl, U., Merzaban, J. S., Di Fabrizio, E., Hamdan, S. M. Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea.

Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Takahashi, Masateru; Takahashi, Etsuko; Joudeh, Luay I.; Marini, Monica; Das, Gobind; Elshenawy, Mohamed; Akal, Anastassja; Sakashita, Kosuke; Alam, Intikhab; Tehseen, Muhammad; Sobhy, Mohamed Abdelmaboud; Stingl, Ulrich; Merzaban, Jasmeen; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.; Hamdan, Samir

2018-01-01

The deep-sea brines of the Red Sea are remote and unexplored environments characterized by high temperatures, anoxic water, and elevated concentrations of salt and heavy metals. This environment provides a rare system to study the interplay between halophilic and thermophilic adaptation in biologic macromolecules. The present article reports the first DNA polymerase with halophilic and thermophilic features. Biochemical and structural analysis by Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the charge distribution on the protein’s surface mediates the structural balance between stability for thermal adaptation and flexibility for counteracting the salt-induced rigid and nonfunctional hydrophobic packing. Salt bridge interactions via increased negative and positive charges contribute to structural stability. Salt tolerance, conversely, is mediated by a dynamic structure that becomes more fixed and functional with increasing salt concentration. We propose that repulsive forces among excess negative charges, in addition to a high percentage of negatively charged random coils, mediate this structural dynamism. This knowledge enabled us to engineer a halophilic version of KOD DNA polymerase.—Takahashi, M., Takahashi, E., Joudeh, L. I., Marini, M., Das, G., Elshenawy, M. M., Akal, A., Sakashita, K., Alam, I., Tehseen, M., Sobhy, M. A., Stingl, U., Merzaban, J. S., Di Fabrizio, E., Hamdan, S. M. Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea.

Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Takahashi, Masateru

2018-01-24

The deep-sea brines of the Red Sea are remote and unexplored environments characterized by high temperatures, anoxic water, and elevated concentrations of salt and heavy metals. This environment provides a rare system to study the interplay between halophilic and thermophilic adaptation in biologic macromolecules. The present article reports the first DNA polymerase with halophilic and thermophilic features. Biochemical and structural analysis by Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the charge distribution on the protein’s surface mediates the structural balance between stability for thermal adaptation and flexibility for counteracting the salt-induced rigid and nonfunctional hydrophobic packing. Salt bridge interactions via increased negative and positive charges contribute to structural stability. Salt tolerance, conversely, is mediated by a dynamic structure that becomes more fixed and functional with increasing salt concentration. We propose that repulsive forces among excess negative charges, in addition to a high percentage of negatively charged random coils, mediate this structural dynamism. This knowledge enabled us to engineer a halophilic version of KOD DNA polymerase.—Takahashi, M., Takahashi, E., Joudeh, L. I., Marini, M., Das, G., Elshenawy, M. M., Akal, A., Sakashita, K., Alam, I., Tehseen, M., Sobhy, M. A., Stingl, U., Merzaban, J. S., Di Fabrizio, E., Hamdan, S. M. Dynamic structure mediates halophilic adaptation of a DNA polymerase from the deep-sea brines of the Red Sea.

Dynamics of sea-ice biogeochemistry in the coastal Antarctica during transition from summer to winter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhas Shetye

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The seasonality of carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2, air-sea CO2 fluxes and associated environmental parameters were investigated in the Antarctic coastal waters. The in-situ survey was carried out from the austral summer till the onset of winter (January 2012, February 2010 and March 2009 in the Enderby Basin. Rapid decrease in pCO2 was evident under the sea-ice cover in January, when both water column and sea-ice algal activity resulted in the removal of nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC and increase in pH. The major highlight of this study is the shift in the dominant biogeochemical factors from summer to early winter. Nutrient limitation (low Si/N, sea-ice cover, low photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, deep mixed layer and high upwelling velocity contributed towards higher pCO2 during March (early winter. CO2 fluxes suggest that the Enderby Basin acts as a strong CO2 sink during January (−81 mmol m−2 d−1, however it acts as a weak sink of CO2 with −2.4 and −1.7 mmol m−2 d−1 during February and March, respectively. The present work, concludes that sea ice plays a dual role towards climate change, by decreasing sea surface pCO2 in summer and enhancing in early winter. Our observations emphasize the need to address seasonal sea-ice driven CO2 flux dynamics in assessing Antarctic contributions to the global oceanic CO2 budget.

An Empirical Ocean Colour Algorithm for Estimating the Contribution of Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter in North-Central Western Adriatic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra Campanelli

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The performance of empirical band ratio models were evaluated for the estimation of Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM using MODIS ocean colour sensor images and data collected on the North-Central Western Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea. Relationships between in situ measurements (2013–2016 of CDOM absorption coefficients at 355 nm (aCDOM355 with several MODIS satellite band ratios were evaluated on a test data set. The prediction capability of the different linear models was assessed on a validation data set. Based on some statistical diagnostic parameters (R2, APD and RMSE, the best MODIS band ratio performance in retrieving CDOM was obtained by a simple linear model of the transformed dependent variable using the remote sensing reflectance band ratio Rrs(667/Rrs(488 as the only independent variable. The best-retrieved CDOM algorithm provides very good results for the complex coastal area along the North-Central Western Adriatic Sea where the Po River outflow is the main driving force in CDOM and nutrient circulation, which in winter mostly remains confined to a coastal boundary layer, whereas in summer it spreads to the open sea as well.

Distinct Bacterial Microbiomes Associate with the Deep-Sea Coral Eguchipsammia fistula from the Red Sea and from Aquaria Settings

KAUST Repository

Röthig, Till

2017-08-10

Microbial communities associated with deep-sea corals are beginning to be studied in earnest and the contribution of the microbiome to host organismal function remains to be investigated. In this regard, the ability of the microbiome to adjust to prevailing environmental conditions might provide clues to its functional importance. In this study, we characterized bacterial community composition associated with the deep-sea coral Eguchipsammia fistula under natural (in situ) and aquaria (ex situ) settings using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We compared freshly collected Red Sea coral specimens with those reared for >1 year at conditions that partially differed from the natural environment, in particular regarding increased oxygen and food availability under ex situ conditions. We found substantial differences between the microbiomes associated with corals under both environmental settings. The core microbiome comprised only six bacterial taxa consistently present in all corals, whereas the majority of bacteria were exclusively associated either with freshly collected corals or corals under long-term reared aquaria settings. Putative functional profiling of microbial communities showed that corals in their natural habitat were enriched for processes indicative of a carbon- and nitrogen-limited environment, which might be reflective of differences in diet under in situ and ex situ conditions. The ability of E. fistula to harbor distinct microbiomes under different environmental settings might contribute to the flexibility and phenotypic plasticity of this cosmopolitan coral. Future efforts should further assess the role of these different bacteria in holobiont function, in particular since E. fistula is naturally present in markedly different environments.

Distinct Bacterial Microbiomes Associate with the Deep-Sea Coral Eguchipsammia fistula from the Red Sea and from Aquaria Settings

KAUST Repository

Rö thig, Till; Roik, Anna Krystyna; Yum, Lauren; Voolstra, Christian R.

2017-01-01

Microbial communities associated with deep-sea corals are beginning to be studied in earnest and the contribution of the microbiome to host organismal function remains to be investigated. In this regard, the ability of the microbiome to adjust to prevailing environmental conditions might provide clues to its functional importance. In this study, we characterized bacterial community composition associated with the deep-sea coral Eguchipsammia fistula under natural (in situ) and aquaria (ex situ) settings using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We compared freshly collected Red Sea coral specimens with those reared for >1 year at conditions that partially differed from the natural environment, in particular regarding increased oxygen and food availability under ex situ conditions. We found substantial differences between the microbiomes associated with corals under both environmental settings. The core microbiome comprised only six bacterial taxa consistently present in all corals, whereas the majority of bacteria were exclusively associated either with freshly collected corals or corals under long-term reared aquaria settings. Putative functional profiling of microbial communities showed that corals in their natural habitat were enriched for processes indicative of a carbon- and nitrogen-limited environment, which might be reflective of differences in diet under in situ and ex situ conditions. The ability of E. fistula to harbor distinct microbiomes under different environmental settings might contribute to the flexibility and phenotypic plasticity of this cosmopolitan coral. Future efforts should further assess the role of these different bacteria in holobiont function, in particular since E. fistula is naturally present in markedly different environments.

Addressing environmental issues through foraminifera – Case studies from the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Nigam, R.

of relict foraminifera in certain environments also helps in deciphering palaeo-sea level conditions (Mazumder, 2004; Panchang et al., communicated). Significant Results: The relative rise and fall of sea level over the time has been studied with the help... and shared or distributed, contributing to balance the economy of the country during the time of crisis. Sufficient or excess rainfall conditions will even improve relationship between the states as well as bordering countries sharing water resources...

Denitrification in the Arabian Sea: A 3D ecosystem modelling study

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Thomas R.; Ryabchenko, Vladimir A.; Fasham, Michael J. R.; Gorchakov, Victor A.

2007-12-01

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic-ecosystem model was used to examine the factors determining the spatio-temporal distribution of denitrification in the Arabian Sea. The ecosystem model includes carbon and nitrogen as currencies, cycling of organic matter via detritus and dissolved organic matter, and both remineralization and denitrification as sinks for material exported below the euphotic zone. Model results captured the marked seasonality in plankton dynamics of the region, with characteristic blooms of chlorophyll in the coastal upwelling regions and central Arabian Sea during the southwest monsoon, and also in the northern Arabian Sea during the northeast monsoon as the mixed layer shoals. Predicted denitrification was 26.2 Tg N yr -1,the greatest seasonal contribution being during the northeast monsoon when primary production is co-located with the zone of anoxia. Detritus was the primary organic substrate consumed in denitrification (97%), with a small (3%) contribution by dissolved organic matter. Denitrification in the oxygen minimum zone was predicted to be fuelled almost entirely by organic matter supplied by particles sinking vertically from the euphotic zone above (0.73 mmol N m -2 d -1) rather than from lateral transport of organic matter from elsewhere in the Arabian Sea (less than 0.01 mmol N m -2 d -1). Analysis of the carbon budget in the zone of denitrification (north of 10°N and east of 55°E) indicates that the modelled vertical export flux of detritus, which is similar in magnitude to estimates from field data based on the 234Th method, is sufficient to account for measured bacterial production below the euphotic zone in the Arabian Sea.

Quark contributions to baryon magnetic moments in full, quenched, and partially quenched QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leinweber, Derek B.

2004-01-01

The chiral nonanalytic behavior of quark-flavor contributions to the magnetic moments of octet baryons is determined in full, quenched and partially quenched QCD, using an intuitive and efficient diagrammatic formulation of quenched and partially quenched chiral perturbation theory. The technique provides a separation of quark-sector magnetic-moment contributions into direct sea-quark loop, valence-quark, indirect sea-quark loop and quenched valence contributions, the latter being the conventional view of the quenched approximation. Both meson and baryon mass violations of SU(3)-flavor symmetry are accounted for. Following a comprehensive examination of the individual quark-sector contributions to octet baryon magnetic moments, numerous opportunities to observe and test the underlying structure of baryons and the nature of chiral nonanalytic behavior in QCD and its quenched variants are discussed. In particular, the valence u-quark contribution to the proton magnetic moment provides the optimal opportunity to directly view nonanalytic behavior associated with the meson cloud of full QCD and the quenched meson cloud of quenched QCD. The u quark in Σ + provides the best opportunity to display the artifacts of the quenched approximation

Sea-ice evaluation of NEMO-Nordic 1.0: a NEMO-LIM3.6-based ocean-sea-ice model setup for the North Sea and Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Pemberton, Per; Löptien, Ulrike; Hordoir, Robinson; Höglund, Anders; Schimanke, Semjon; Axell, Lars; Haapala, Jari

2017-08-01

The Baltic Sea is a seasonally ice-covered marginal sea in northern Europe with intense wintertime ship traffic and a sensitive ecosystem. Understanding and modeling the evolution of the sea-ice pack is important for climate effect studies and forecasting purposes. Here we present and evaluate the sea-ice component of a new NEMO-LIM3.6-based ocean-sea-ice setup for the North Sea and Baltic Sea region (NEMO-Nordic). The setup includes a new depth-based fast-ice parametrization for the Baltic Sea. The evaluation focuses on long-term statistics, from a 45-year long hindcast, although short-term daily performance is also briefly evaluated. We show that NEMO-Nordic is well suited for simulating the mean sea-ice extent, concentration, and thickness as compared to the best available observational data set. The variability of the annual maximum Baltic Sea ice extent is well in line with the observations, but the 1961-2006 trend is underestimated. Capturing the correct ice thickness distribution is more challenging. Based on the simulated ice thickness distribution we estimate the undeformed and deformed ice thickness and concentration in the Baltic Sea, which compares reasonably well with observations.

Sea level report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, M.L.

1979-01-01

Study of Cenozoic Era sea levels shows a continual lowering of sea level through the Tertiary Period. This overall drop in sea level accompanied the Pleistocene Epoch glacio-eustatic fluctuations. The considerable change of Pleistocene Epoch sea level is most directly attributable to the glacio-eustatic factor, with a time span of 10 5 years and an amplitude or range of approximately 200 m. The lowering of sea level since the end of the Cretaceous Period is attributed to subsidence and mid-ocean ridges. The maximum rate for sea level change is 4 cm/y. At present, mean sea level is rising at about 3 to 4 mm/y. Glacio-eustacy and tectono-eustacy are the parameters for predicting sea level changes in the next 1 my. Glacio-eustatic sea level changes may be projected on the basis of the Milankovitch Theory. Predictions about tectono-eustatic sea level changes, however, involve predictions about future tectonic activity and are therefore somewhat difficult to make. Coastal erosion and sedimentation are affected by changes in sea level. Erosion rates for soft sediments may be as much as 50 m/y. The maximum sedimentation accumulation rate is 20 m/100 y

Dumping of radioactive waste and investigation of contamination in the Kara Sea. Results from 3 years of investigations (1992-1994) in the Kara Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strand, P.; Foeyn, L.; Nikitin, A.I.

1996-03-01

The report summarises the results obtained from the joint Russian-Norwegian investigation concerning the consequences of dumping of radioactive waste in the Kara Sea. Three expeditions were undertaken to the Kara Sea and the present dumping sites for radioactive waste. Samples of water, sediments and biota were collected and analysed. An impact and risk assessment was performed, based on the information provided through the joint cooperation. Enhanced levels and artificially produced radionuclides in the sediments collected in the very close vicinity of almost all localised dumped objects, demonstrate that leakage occur. No contribution from dumped radioactive waste was observed in the open Kara Sea. Due to the potential for leakage from the dumped waste in the future and the presence of other potential sources in the area, a regular monitoring programme is highly recommended. 65 refs., 42 figs., 16 tabs

Dumping of radioactive waste and investigation of contamination in the Kara Sea. Results from 3 years of investigations (1992-1994) in the Kara Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strand, P [Statens Straalevern, Oesteraas (Norway); Foeyn, L [Norsk Inst. for Vannforskning, Oslo (Norway); Nikitin, A I [SPA ` ` Typhoon` ` , Roshydromet (Russian Federation); and others

1996-03-01

The report summarises the results obtained from the joint Russian-Norwegian investigation concerning the consequences of dumping of radioactive waste in the Kara Sea. Three expeditions were undertaken to the Kara Sea and the present dumping sites for radioactive waste. Samples of water, sediments and biota were collected and analysed. An impact and risk assessment was performed, based on the information provided through the joint cooperation. Enhanced levels and artificially produced radionuclides in the sediments collected in the very close vicinity of almost all localised dumped objects, demonstrate that leakage occur. No contribution from dumped radioactive waste was observed in the open Kara Sea. Due to the potential for leakage from the dumped waste in the future and the presence of other potential sources in the area, a regular monitoring programme is highly recommended. 65 refs., 42 figs., 16 tabs.

Chlorophyll specific absorption coefficient and phytoplankton biomass in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Tiwari, Surya Prakash; Kheireddine, Malika; Jones, Burton

2015-01-01

are fundamental to understanding remotely sensed ocean color. Until recently, data regarding the contribution of phytoplankton and algal particles to the inherent optical properties of the Red Sea was nonexistent. Some of the first measurements of these inherent

Relating Radiative Fluxes on Arctic Sea Ice Area Using Arctic Observation and Reanalysis Integrated System (ArORIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Sledd, A.; L'Ecuyer, T. S.

2017-12-01

With Arctic sea ice declining rapidly and Arctic temperatures rising faster than the rest of the globe, a better understanding of the Arctic climate, and ice cover-radiation feedbacks in particular, is needed. Here we present the Arctic Observation and Reanalysis Integrated System (ArORIS), a dataset of integrated products to facilitate studying the Arctic using satellite, reanalysis, and in-situ datasets. The data include cloud properties, radiative fluxes, aerosols, meteorology, precipitation, and surface properties, to name just a few. Each dataset has uniform grid-spacing, time-averaging and naming conventions for ease of use between products. One intended use of ArORIS is to assess Arctic radiation and moisture budgets. Following that goal, we use observations from ArORIS - CERES-EBAF radiative fluxes and NSIDC sea ice fraction and area to quantify relationships between the Arctic energy balance and surface properties. We find a discernable difference between energy budgets for years with high and low September sea ice areas. Surface fluxes are especially responsive to the September sea ice minimum in months both leading up to September and the months following. In particular, longwave fluxes at the surface show increased sensitivity in the months preceding September. Using a single-layer model of solar radiation we also investigate the individual responses of surface and planetary albedos to changes in sea ice area. By partitioning the planetary albedo into surface and atmospheric contributions, we find that the atmospheric contribution to planetary albedo is less sensitive to changes in sea ice area than the surface contribution. Further comparisons between observations and reanalyses can be made using the available datasets in ArORIS.

Arctic Intermediate Water in the Nordic Seas, 1991-2009

Science.gov (United States)

Jeansson, Emil; Olsen, Are; Jutterström, Sara

2017-10-01

The evolution of the different types of Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) in the Nordic Seas is evaluated and compared utilising hydro-chemical data from 1991 to 2009. It has been suggested that these waters are important components of the Norwegian Sea Arctic Intermediate Water (NSAIW), and of the dense overflows to the North Atlantic. Thus, it is important to understand how their properties and distribution vary with time. The AIWs from the Greenland and Iceland Seas, show different degrees of variability during the studied period; however, only the Greenland Sea Arctic Intermediate Water (GSAIW) shows an increasing temperature and salinity throughout the 2000s, which considerably changed the properties of this water mass. Optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis was conducted to assess the sources of the NSAIW. The analysis shows that the Iceland Sea Arctic Intermediate Water (ISAIW) and the GSAIW both contribute to NSAIW, at different densities corresponding to their respective density range. This illustrates that they flow largely isopycnally from their source regions to the Norwegian Sea. The main source of the NSAIW, however, is the upper Polar Deep Water, which explains the lower concentrations of oxygen and chlorofluorocarbons, and higher salinity and nutrient concentrations of the NSAIW layer compared with the ISAIW and GSAIW. This shows how vital it is to include chemical tracers in any water mass analysis to correctly assess the sources of the water mass being studied.

Consequences of WindSpeed scenarios for other sea use functions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wal, van der J.T.; Glorius, S.T.; Jongbloed, R.H.

2011-01-01

Offshore wind energy can significantly contribute to the sustainable energy mix of Europe. However, competing usage of the sea, cost and grid barriers are important challenges to overcome. The Windspeed project, funded bij DG Energy and Transport under Intelligent Energy for Europe (IEE) programme,

Final deglaciation of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and implications for the Holocene global sea-level budget

Science.gov (United States)

Cuzzone, Joshua K.; Clark, Peter U.; Carlson, Anders E.; Ullman, David J.; Rinterknecht, Vincent R.; Milne, Glenn A.; Lunkka, Juha-Pekka; Wohlfarth, Barbara; Marcott, Shaun A.; Caffee, Marc

2016-08-01

The last deglaciation of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) from ∼ 21, 000 to 13,000 yr ago is well-constrained by several hundred 10Be and 14C ages. The subsequent retreat history, however, is established primarily from minimum-limiting 14C ages and incomplete Baltic-Sea varve records, leaving a substantial fraction of final SIS retreat history poorly constrained. Here we develop a high-resolution chronology for the final deglaciation of the SIS based on 79 10Be cosmogenic exposure dates sampled along three transects spanning southern to northern Sweden and Finland. Combining this new chronology with existing 10Be ages on deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum shows that rates of SIS margin retreat were strongly influenced by deglacial millennial-scale climate variability and its effect on surface mass balance, with regional modulation of retreat associated with dynamical controls. Ice-volume estimates constrained by our new chronology suggest that the SIS contributed ∼ 8 m sea-level equivalent to global sea-level rise between ∼14.5 ka and 10 ka. Final deglaciation was largely complete by ∼10.5 ka, with highest rates of sea-level rise occurring during the Bølling-Allerød, a 50% decrease during the Younger Dryas, and a rapid increase during the early Holocene. Combining our SIS volume estimates with estimated contributions from other remaining Northern Hemisphere ice sheets suggests that the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) contributed 14.4 ± 5.9 m to global sea-level rise since ∼13 ka. This new constraint supports those studies that indicate that an ice volume of 15 m or more of equivalent sea-level rise was lost from the AIS during the last deglaciation.

Land–sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. H. Donders

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We assess the disputed phase relations between forcing and climatic response in the early Pleistocene with a spliced Gelasian (∼ 2.6–1.8 Ma multi-proxy record from the southern North Sea basin. The cored sections couple climate evolution on both land and sea during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG in NW Europe, providing the first well-constrained stratigraphic sequence of the classic terrestrial Praetiglian stage. Terrestrial signals were derived from the Eridanos paleoriver, a major fluvial system that contributed a large amount of freshwater to the northeast Atlantic. Due to its latitudinal position, the Eridanos catchment was likely affected by early Pleistocene NHG, leading to intermittent shutdown and reactivation of river flow and sediment transport. Here we apply organic geochemistry, palynology, carbonate isotope geochemistry, and seismostratigraphy to document both vegetation changes in the Eridanos catchment and regional surface water conditions and relate them to early Pleistocene glacial–interglacial cycles and relative sea level changes. Paleomagnetic and palynological data provide a solid integrated timeframe that ties the obliquity cycles, expressed in the borehole geophysical logs, to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS 103 to 92, independently confirmed by a local benthic oxygen isotope record. Marine and terrestrial palynological and organic geochemical records provide high-resolution reconstructions of relative terrestrial and sea surface temperature (TT and SST, vegetation, relative sea level, and coastal influence.During the prominent cold stages MIS 98 and 96, as well as 94, the record indicates increased non-arboreal vegetation, low SST and TT, and low relative sea level. During the warm stages MIS 99, 97, and 95 we infer increased stratification of the water column together with a higher percentage of arboreal vegetation, high SST, and relative sea level maxima. The early Pleistocene distinct

Contributions of molecular size, charge distribution, and specific amino acids to the iron-binding capacity of sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus) ovum hydrolysates.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Na; Cui, Pengbo; Jin, Ziqi; Wu, Haitao; Wang, Yixing; Lin, Songyi

2017-09-01

This study investigated the contributions of molecular size, charge distribution and specific amino acids to the iron-binding capacity of sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus) ovum hydrolysates (SCOHs), and further explored their iron-binding sites. It was demonstrated that enzyme type and degree of hydrolysis (DH) significantly influenced the iron-binding capacity of the SCOHs. The SCOHs produced by alcalase at a DH of 25.9% possessed the highest iron-binding capacity at 92.1%. As the hydrolysis time increased, the molecular size of the SCOHs decreased, the negative charges increased, and the hydrophilic amino acids were exposed to the surface, facilitating iron binding. Furthermore, the Fourier transform infrared spectra, combined with amino acid composition analysis, revealed that iron bound to the SCOHs primarily through interactions with carboxyl oxygen of Asp, guanidine nitrogen of Arg or nitrogen atoms in imidazole group of His. The formed SCOHs-iron complexes exhibited a fold and crystal structure with spherical particles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benthic nitrogen loss in the Arabian Sea off Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah eSokoll

2012-11-01

Full Text Available A pronounced deficit of nitrogen (N in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ of theArabian Sea suggests the occurrence of heavy N-loss that is commonly attributed to pelagicprocesses. However, the OMZ water is in direct contact with sediments on three sides of thebasin. Contribution from benthic N-loss to the total N-loss in the Arabian Sea remains largelyunassessed. In October 2007, we sampled the water column and surface sediments along atransect cross-cutting the Arabian Sea OMZ at the Pakistan continental margin, covering arange of station depths from 360 to 1430 m. Benthic denitrification and anammox rates weredetermined by using 15N-stable isotope pairing experiments. Intact core incubations showeddeclining rates of total benthic N-loss with water depth from 0.55 to 0.18 mmol N m-2 d-1.While denitrification rates measured in slurry incubations decreased from 2.73 to 1.46 mmolN m-2 d-1 with water depth, anammox rates increased from 0.21 to 0.89 mmol N m-2 d-1.Hence, the contribution from anammox to total benthic N-loss increased from 7% at 360 m to40% at 1430 m. This trend is further supported by the quantification of nirS, the biomarkerfunctional gene encoding for cytochrome cd1-nitrite reductases of microorganisms involved inboth N-loss processes. Anammox-like nirS genes within the sediments increased in proportionto total nirS gene copies with water depth. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses of nirS revealeddifferent communities of both denitrifying and anammox bacteria between shallow and deepstations. Together, rate measurement and nirS analyses showed that anammox, determined forthe first time in the Arabian Sea sediments, is an important benthic N-loss process at thecontinental margin off Pakistan, especially in the sediments at deeper water depths.Extrapolation from the measured benthic N-loss to all shelf sediments within the basinsuggests that benthic N-loss may be responsible for about half of the overall N-loss in theArabian Sea.

Impacts of South East Biomass Burning on local air quality in South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Wai-man Yeung, Irene; Fat Lam, Yun; Eniolu Morakinyo, Tobi

2016-04-01

Biomass burning is a significant source of carbon monoxide and particulate matter, which is not only contribute to the local air pollution, but also regional air pollution. This study investigated the impacts of biomass burning emissions from Southeast Asia (SEA) as well as its contribution to the local air pollution in East and South China Sea, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Three years (2012 - 2014) of the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian-Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) with particles dispersion analyses using NCEP (Final) Operational Global Analysis data (FNL) data (2012 - 2014) were analyzed to track down all possible long-range transport from SEA with a sinking motion that worsened the surface air quality (tropospheric downwash from the free troposphere). The major sources of SEA biomass burning emissions were first identified using high fire emissions from the Global Fire Emission Database (GFED), followed by the HYSPLIT backward trajectory dispersion modeling analysis. The analyses were compared with the local observation data from Tai Mo Shan (1,000 msl) and Tap Mun (60 msl) in Hong Kong, as well as the data from Lulin mountain (2,600 msl) in Taiwan, to assess the possible impacts of SEA biomass burning on local air quality. The correlation between long-range transport events from the particles dispersion results and locally observed air quality data indicated that the background concentrations of ozone, PM2.5 and PM10 at the surface stations were enhanced by 12 μg/m3, 4 μg/m3 and 7 μg/m3, respectively, while the long-range transport contributed to enhancements of 4 μg/m3, 4 μg/m3 and 8 μg/m3 for O3, PM2.5 and PM10, respectively at the lower free atmosphere.

Sea level and shoreline reconstructions for the Red Sea: isostatic and tectonic considerations and implications for hominin migration out of Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Lambeck, Kurt; Purcell, Anthony; Flemming, Nicholas. C.; Vita-Finzi, Claudio; Alsharekh, Abdullah M.; Bailey, Geoffrey N.

2011-12-01

The history of sea level within the Red Sea basin impinges on several areas of research. For archaeology and prehistory, past sea levels of the southern sector define possible pathways of human dispersal out of Africa. For tectonics, the interglacial sea levels provide estimates of rates for vertical tectonics. For global sea level studies, the Red Sea sediments contain a significant record of changing water chemistry with implications on the mass exchange between oceans and ice sheets during glacial cycles. And, because of its geometry and location, the Red Sea provides a test laboratory for models of glacio-hydro-isostasy. The Red Sea margins contain incomplete records of sea level for the Late Holocene, for the Last Glacial Maximum, for the Last Interglacial and for earlier interglacials. These are usually interpreted in terms of tectonics and ocean volume changes but it is shown here that the glacio-hydro-isostatic process is an additional important component with characteristic spatial variability. Through an iterative analysis of the Holocene and interglacial evidence a separation of the tectonic, isostatic and eustatic contributions is possible and we present a predictive model for palaeo-shorelines and water depths for a time interval encompassing the period proposed for migrations of modern humans out of Africa. Principal conclusions include the following. (i) Late Holocene sea level signals evolve along the length of the Red Sea, with characteristic mid-Holocene highstands not developing in the central part. (ii) Last Interglacial sea level signals are also location dependent and, in the absence of tectonics, are not predicted to occur more than 1-2 m above present sea level. (iii) For both periods, Red Sea levels at 'expected far-field' elevations are not necessarily indicative of tectonic stability and the evidence points to a long-wavelength tectonic uplift component along both the African and Arabian northern and central sides of the Red Sea. (iv) The

Evolutionary process of deep-sea bathymodiolus mussels.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun-Ichi Miyazaki

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Since the discovery of deep-sea chemosynthesis-based communities, much work has been done to clarify their organismal and environmental aspects. However, major topics remain to be resolved, including when and how organisms invade and adapt to deep-sea environments; whether strategies for invasion and adaptation are shared by different taxa or unique to each taxon; how organisms extend their distribution and diversity; and how they become isolated to speciate in continuous waters. Deep-sea mussels are one of the dominant organisms in chemosynthesis-based communities, thus investigations of their origin and evolution contribute to resolving questions about life in those communities. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: We investigated worldwide phylogenetic relationships of deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels and their mytilid relatives by analyzing nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4 genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated sequence data showed that mussels of the subfamily Bathymodiolinae from vents and seeps were divided into four groups, and that mussels of the subfamily Modiolinae from sunken wood and whale carcasses assumed the outgroup position and shallow-water modioline mussels were positioned more distantly to the bathymodioline mussels. We provisionally hypothesized the evolutionary history of Bathymodilolus mussels by estimating evolutionary time under a relaxed molecular clock model. Diversification of bathymodioline mussels was initiated in the early Miocene, and subsequently diversification of the groups occurred in the early to middle Miocene. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The phylogenetic relationships support the "Evolutionary stepping stone hypothesis," in which mytilid ancestors exploited sunken wood and whale carcasses in their progressive adaptation to deep-sea environments. This hypothesis is also supported by the evolutionary transition of

Contamination of short-chain chlorinated paraffins to the biotic and abiotic environments in the Bohai Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Wanyanhan; Huang, Tao; Chen, Han; Lian, Lulu; Liang, Xiaoxue; Jia, Chenhui; Gao, Hong; Mao, Xiaoxuan; Zhao, Yuan; Ma, Jianmin

2018-02-01

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have been produced and emitted intensively around the Bohai Sea, potentially causing risks to this unique ecosystem and one of primary fishery resources in China and busiest seaways in the world. Little is known about fate, cycling, and sources of SCCPs in the Bohai Sea biotic and abiotic environment. In this study, we combined a marine food web model with a comprehensive atmospheric transport-multiple phase exchange model to quantify SCCPs in the biotic and abiotic environment in the Bohai Sea. We performed multiple modeling scenario investigations to examine SCCP levels in water, sediment, and phytoplankton. We assessed numerically dry and wet depositions, biomagnification and bioaccumulation of SCCPs in the Bohai Sea marine food web. Results showed declining SCCP levels in water and sediment with increasing distance from the coastline, and so do dry and wet depositions. The net deposition overwhelmed the water-air exchange of SCCPs due to their current use in China, though the diffusive gas deposition fluctuated monthly subject to mean wind speed and temperature. A risk assessment manifests that SCCPs levels in the Bohai Sea fish species are at present not posing risks to the residents in the Bohai Sea Rim region. We identified that the SCCP emission sources in the south of the Bohai Sea made a primary contribution to its loadings to the seawater and fish contamination associated with the East Asian summer monsoon. In contrast, the SCCP emissions from the north and northwest regions of the Bohai Sea were major sources contributing to their loading and contamination to Bohai Sea food web during the wintertime, potentially driven by the East Asian winter monsoon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The wind sea and swell waves climate in the Nordic seas

Science.gov (United States)

Semedo, Alvaro; Vettor, Roberto; Breivik, Øyvind; Sterl, Andreas; Reistad, Magnar; Soares, Carlos Guedes; Lima, Daniela

2015-02-01

A detailed climatology of wind sea and swell waves in the Nordic Seas (North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea), based on the high-resolution reanalysis NORA10, developed by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, is presented. The higher resolution of the wind forcing fields, and the wave model (10 km in both cases), along with the inclusion of the bottom effect, allowed a better description of the wind sea and swell features, compared to previous global studies. The spatial patterns of the swell-dominated regional wave fields are shown to be different from the open ocean, due to coastal geometry, fetch dimensions, and island sheltering. Nevertheless, swell waves are still more prevalent and carry more energy in the Nordic Seas, with the exception of the North Sea. The influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the winter regional wind sea and swell patterns is also presented. The analysis of the decadal trends of wind sea and swell heights during the NORA10 period (1958-2001) shows that the long-term trends of the total significant wave height (SWH) in the Nordic Seas are mostly due to swell and to the wave propagation effect.

Baltic Sea ice and environmental and societal implications from the comparative analysis of the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Riga

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Élise Lépy

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article contributes to many studies on sea ice often carried out by geophysicists and rarely by geographers. Thus, it aims to understand climatic and marine processes of ice formation and break-up of littoral waters and coastal sea, and their environmental, economic and societal consequences in the Baltic Sea. The interest of this research lies in the comparative analysis of two regions: the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Riga. These two case studies are politically, economically and culturally different and help to understand the diversity of reactions and adaptations to the human management of the natural constraint imposed by sea ice phenomena. By using a systemic approach, quite common when studying geographical issues of nature and societies, the work has contributed to a better knowledge of the natural environment of Baltic Sea ice showing a significant interannual variability and a spatial internal diversity of sea ice conditions in the Baltic Sea. It also raises the questions of the environmental determinism which is rejected by the remarkable adaptability of coastal population. Finally, the socio-economic implications of historical changes of sea ice features are emphasized showing that future Baltic Sea ice conditions should be carefully considered when talking about global evolution.

Sea salt and pollution inputs over the continental United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y.-H.

1992-01-01

The average deposition rate of sea salt chloride over the world continents is about 10 meq m -2 yr -1 . Only about 14±1% of chloride in the pollution-corrected world average river is contributed by sea salt aerosols and the rest from the dissolution of evaporites. The significant increase of the ion concentrations in the Mississippi river from the year 1905 to 1987 was caused by anthropogenic inputs such as fossil fuel burning, common salt consumption, and dissolution of carbonate and silicate rocks by acids derived from acid precipitation. 29 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs

A performance evaluation of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) processes within the South African context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Retief, Francois

2007-01-01

SEA has been described as being more about process than about product. Yet very little research has been conducted to gain a better understanding of how SEA processes perform within developing country contexts. To address this gap in knowledge the research underlying this paper aimed to evaluate the quality of SEA processes within the South African context against specifically designed key performance indicators. Comparison of the different data patterns revealed general SEA process features as well as three broad models, namely the 'stand alone', 'central to decision making' and 'integrated' models. The research results suggest a particularly poor performance in terms of process quality for the SEA case studies investigated. Moreover, it shows that there is no one understanding of SEA process within the South African context. The main limitations related to a weak understanding of the decision making processes SEA aimed to inform, as well as an inability to incorporate flexibility into process design. To take the debate forward it is proposed that SEA follow-up and effectiveness research be explored to determine which of these models (if any) ultimately contributed to influencing decision making and promote sustainability

Case studies: Application of SEA in provincial level expressway infrastructure network planning in China - Current existing problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Kaiyi; Sheate, William R.

2011-01-01

Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment was enacted in 2003 and Huanfa 2004 No. 98 was released in 2004, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been officially being implemented in the expressway infrastructure planning field in China. Through scrutinizing two SEA application cases of China's provincial level expressway infrastructure (PLEI) network plans, it is found that current SEA practice in expressway infrastructure planning field has a number of problems including: SEA practitioners do not fully understand the objective of SEA; its potential contributions to strategic planning and decision-making is extremely limited; the employed application procedure and prediction and assessment techniques are too simple to bring objective, unbiased and scientific results; and no alternative options are considered. All these problems directly lead to poor quality SEA and consequently weaken SEA's effectiveness.

Possible connections of the opposite trends in Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice cover.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Lejiang; Zhong, Shiyuan; Winkler, Julie A; Zhou, Mingyu; Lenschow, Donald H; Li, Bingrui; Wang, Xianqiao; Yang, Qinghua

2017-04-05

Sea ice is an important component of the global climate system and a key indicator of climate change. A decreasing trend in Arctic sea-ice concentration is evident in recent years, whereas Antarctic sea-ice concentration exhibits a generally increasing trend. Various studies have investigated the underlying causes of the observed trends for each region, but possible linkages between the regional trends have not been studied. Here, we hypothesize that the opposite trends in Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice concentration may be linked, at least partially, through interdecadal variability of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Although evaluation of this hypothesis is constrained by the limitations of the sea-ice cover record, preliminary statistical analyses of one short-term and two long-term time series of observed and reanalysis sea-ice concentrations data suggest the possibility of the hypothesized linkages. For all three data sets, the leading mode of variability of global sea-ice concentration is positively correlated with the AMO and negatively correlated with the PDO. Two wave trains related to the PDO and the AMO appear to produce anomalous surface-air temperature and low-level wind fields in the two polar regions that contribute to the opposite changes in sea-ice concentration.

Cyanobacteria toxins in the Salton Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Carmichael, Wayne W; Li, RenHui

2006-04-19

The Salton Sea (SS) is the largest inland body of water in California: surface area 980 km2, volume 7.3 million acre-feet, 58 km long, 14-22 km wide, maximum depth 15 m. Located in the southeastern Sonoran desert of California, it is 85 m below sea level at its lowest point. It was formed between 1905 and 1907 from heavy river flows of the Colorado River. Since its formation, it has attracted both people and wildlife, including flocks of migratory birds that have made the Salton Sea a critical stopover on the Pacific flyway. Over the past 15 years wintering populations of eared grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) at the Salton Sea, have experienced over 200,000 mortalities. The cause of these large die-offs remains unknown. The unique environmental conditions of the Salton Sea, including salinities from brackish freshwater at river inlets to hypersaline conditions, extreme daily summer temperatures (>38 degrees C), and high nutrient loading from rivers and agricultural drainage favor eutrophic conditions that encourage algal blooms throughout the year. A significant component of these algal blooms are the prokaryotic group - the Cyanophyta or blue-green algae (also called Cyanobacteria). Since many Cyanobacteria produce toxins (the cyanotoxins) it became important to evaluate their presence and to determine if they are a contributing factor in eared-grebe mortalities at the Salton Sea. From November 1999 to April 2001, 247 water and sediment samples were received for phytoplankton identification and cyanotoxin analyses. Immunoassay (ELISA) screening of these samples found that eighty five percent of all water samples contained low but detectable levels of the potent cyclic peptide liver toxin called microcystins. Isolation and identification of cyanobacteria isolates showed that the picoplanktonic Synechococcus and the benthic filamentous Oscillatoria were dominant. Both organisms were found to produce microcystins dominated by microcystin-LR and YR. A laboratory strain

Cleaning up the sea bed in the North Sea. 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The yearly raid was executed in an efficient way and without excess technical equipment interruptions. The vessel ''Lance'' owned by the Norwegian Sea Mapping Authorities which was used for the sonar mapping of the sea bed, was equipped with a Klein 531T side seeking sonar, a Simrad echo sounder of the type EM100 (multiray) and differential GPS navigation system. The executive committee has earlier expressed desire for a strengthening of the co-operation with the Norwegian Sea Mapping Authorities. The use of the vessel was in accordance with this wish. Stolt Comex Seaway A/S used the vessel M/S ''Seaway Commander'' and the underwater vessel ''Solo'' for the cleaning up project. The systems worked satisfactory during the entire operation. The cleaning operation was in 1994 carried out in 2 sections. The Petroleum Directorate agreed to letting the M/S ''Seaway Commander'' complete the project for Norsk Hydro at the Troll field in order to avoid delays in the Troll Oil project. In both periods there were good weather conditions. There was no extensive discontinuations due to the weather. During the two periods of 13,5 days 259 out of 370 positions were investigated visually through the systems. This is in average about 20 inspected positions a day. The reason for the high average is that the sailing distances are short between the positions and the findings corresponded to stated positions and sonar interpretations. Also this year there was installed a side seeking sonar in the underwater vessel which resulted in reduced investigation time at each aim. It was possible with this type of sonar to identify the goal quicker and to seek during transit between goals at moderate distances. Few articles with certainty contributed by the petroleum activities were retrieved

An approach to estimate the freshwater contribution from glacial melt and precipitation in East Greenland shelf waters using colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stedmon, Colin; Granskog, Mats A.; Dodd, Paul A.

2015-01-01

Changes in the supply and storage of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean and its subsequent export to the North Atlantic can potentially influence ocean circulation and climate. In order to understand how the Arctic freshwater budget is changing and the potential impacts, it is important to develop......, and precipitation) and sea ice melt. We develop this approach further and investigate the use of an additional tracer, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), which is largely specific to freshwater originating from Arctic rivers. A robust relationship between the freshwater contribution from meteoric water...... processes (riverine input and sea ice formation), while previously, these waters where thought to be derived from open sea processes (cooling and sea ice formation) in the northern Barents and Kara Seas. In Greenlandic coastal waters the meteoric water contribution is influenced by Greenland ice sheet...

Long-memory and the sea level-temperature relationship: a fractional cointegration approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ventosa-Santaulària, Daniel; Heres, David R; Martínez-Hernández, L Catalina

2014-01-01

Through thermal expansion of oceans and melting of land-based ice, global warming is very likely contributing to the sea level rise observed during the 20th century. The amount by which further increases in global average temperature could affect sea level is only known with large uncertainties due to the limited capacity of physics-based models to predict sea levels from global surface temperatures. Semi-empirical approaches have been implemented to estimate the statistical relationship between these two variables providing an alternative measure on which to base potentially disrupting impacts on coastal communities and ecosystems. However, only a few of these semi-empirical applications had addressed the spurious inference that is likely to be drawn when one nonstationary process is regressed on another. Furthermore, it has been shown that spurious effects are not eliminated by stationary processes when these possess strong long memory. Our results indicate that both global temperature and sea level indeed present the characteristics of long memory processes. Nevertheless, we find that these variables are fractionally cointegrated when sea-ice extent is incorporated as an instrumental variable for temperature which in our estimations has a statistically significant positive impact on global sea level.

Cellular responses in sea fan corals: granular amoebocytes react to pathogen and climate stressors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura D Mydlarz

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Climate warming is causing environmental change making both marine and terrestrial organisms, and even humans, more susceptible to emerging diseases. Coral reefs are among the most impacted ecosystems by climate stress, and immunity of corals, the most ancient of metazoans, is poorly known. Although coral mortality due to infectious diseases and temperature-related stress is on the rise, the immune effector mechanisms that contribute to the resistance of corals to such events remain elusive. In the Caribbean sea fan corals (Anthozoa, Alcyonacea: Gorgoniidae, the cell-based immune defenses are granular acidophilic amoebocytes, which are known to be involved in wound repair and histocompatibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrate for the first time in corals that these cells are involved in the organismal response to pathogenic and temperature stress. In sea fans with both naturally occurring infections and experimental inoculations with the fungal pathogen Aspergillus sydowii, an inflammatory response, characterized by a massive increase of amoebocytes, was evident near infections. Melanosomes were detected in amoebocytes adjacent to protective melanin bands in infected sea fans; neither was present in uninfected fans. In naturally infected sea fans a concurrent increase in prophenoloxidase activity was detected in infected tissues with dense amoebocytes. Sea fans sampled in the field during the 2005 Caribbean Bleaching Event (a once-in-hundred-year climate event responded to heat stress with a systemic increase in amoebocytes and amoebocyte densities were also increased by elevated temperature stress in lab experiments. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The observed amoebocyte responses indicate that sea fan corals use cellular defenses to combat fungal infection and temperature stress. The ability to mount an inflammatory response may be a contributing factor that allowed the survival of even infected sea fan corals during a

Sea level change

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Church, J.A.; Clark, P.U.; Cazenave, A.; Gregory, J.M.; Jevrejeva, S.; Levermann, A.; Merrifield, M.A.; Milne, G.A.; Nerem, R.S.; Nunn, P.D.; Payne, A.J.; Pfeffer, W.T.; Stammer, D.; Unnikrishnan, A.S.

This chapter considers changes in global mean sea level, regional sea level, sea level extremes, and waves. Confidence in projections of global mean sea level rise has increased since the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) because of the improved...

Air-sea exchange studies at the North Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leeuw, G. de; Eijk, A.M.J. van; Kunz, G.J.; Veefkind, P.J.

1996-01-01

The North Sea can be considered as a local 'inner' sea in which many processes are quite different from these over the open ocean. The surrounding land has a major influence, being the source for man-made aerosols and gases, whereas the North Sea acts as a sink for these. At the same time the North

Sea ice dynamics across the Mid-Pleistocene transition in the Bering Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Detlef, H; Belt, S T; Sosdian, S M; Smik, L; Lear, C H; Hall, I R; Cabedo-Sanz, P; Husum, K; Kender, S

2018-03-05

Sea ice and associated feedback mechanisms play an important role for both long- and short-term climate change. Our ability to predict future sea ice extent, however, hinges on a greater understanding of past sea ice dynamics. Here we investigate sea ice changes in the eastern Bering Sea prior to, across, and after the Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT). The sea ice record, based on the Arctic sea ice biomarker IP 25 and related open water proxies from the International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1343, shows a substantial increase in sea ice extent across the MPT. The occurrence of late-glacial/deglacial sea ice maxima are consistent with sea ice/land ice hysteresis and land-glacier retreat via the temperature-precipitation feedback. We also identify interactions of sea ice with phytoplankton growth and ocean circulation patterns, which have important implications for glacial North Pacific Intermediate Water formation and potentially North Pacific abyssal carbon storage.

Public participation in and learning through SEA in Kenya

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walker, Heidi, E-mail: heidi.mwalker@yahoo.ca [Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 303-70 Dysart Road, Winnipeg R3T 2M6 (Canada); Sinclair, A. John, E-mail: john.sinclair@ad.umanitoba.ca [Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 303-70 Dysart Road, Winnipeg R3T 2M6 (Canada); Spaling, Harry, E-mail: harry.spaling@kingsu.ca [Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The King' s University College, 9125-50 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2H3 (Canada)

2014-02-15

Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) due to its potential for integrating sustainability principles into policies, plans and programs in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined two selected SEA case studies to identify the extent of participation, learning outcomes attributable to participation, and if any learning outcomes led to social action for sustainability at the community level. Strengths across the two cases were the inclusion of marginalized populations and consideration of socio-economic concerns. Consistent weaknesses included inadequate notice, document inaccessibility, lack of feedback and communication, and late analysis of alternatives. Despite some learning conditions being unfulfilled, examples of instrumental, communicative, and transformative learning were identified through a focus group and semi-structured interviews with community participants and public officials. Some of these learning outcomes led to individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability. -- Highlights: • The strengths and weaknesses of Kenyan SEA public participation processes were identified. • Multiple deficiencies in the SEA process likely frustrate meaningful public engagement. • Participant learning was observed despite process weaknesses. • Participant learning can lead to action for sustainability at the community level.

Public participation in and learning through SEA in Kenya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, Heidi; Sinclair, A. John; Spaling, Harry

2014-01-01

Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) due to its potential for integrating sustainability principles into policies, plans and programs in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined two selected SEA case studies to identify the extent of participation, learning outcomes attributable to participation, and if any learning outcomes led to social action for sustainability at the community level. Strengths across the two cases were the inclusion of marginalized populations and consideration of socio-economic concerns. Consistent weaknesses included inadequate notice, document inaccessibility, lack of feedback and communication, and late analysis of alternatives. Despite some learning conditions being unfulfilled, examples of instrumental, communicative, and transformative learning were identified through a focus group and semi-structured interviews with community participants and public officials. Some of these learning outcomes led to individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability. -- Highlights: • The strengths and weaknesses of Kenyan SEA public participation processes were identified. • Multiple deficiencies in the SEA process likely frustrate meaningful public engagement. • Participant learning was observed despite process weaknesses. • Participant learning can lead to action for sustainability at the community level

North Sea oil and gas: a geographical perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapman, K

1976-01-01

Only ten years after the first rig moved into position, British oil has been piped ashore from the North Sea and, by 1980, will be making a substantial contribution to UK energy supplies. The discovery of natural gas in 1967--for initially gas was the primary objective--has transformed the gas supply so that 90% of the UK's needs already come from the North Sea. The speed and concentration of exploration pinpoints the vital importance of this new energy source. Until now the major oil 'pipeline' in the world has been led between the Middle East and Western Europe, so this new energy source has far reaching implications, both political and economic. Keith Chapman examines these implications starting from events in the North Sea itself; the geological background, agreement on the division of the North Sea, relations between oil companies, and government embodied in offshore mining legislation. The latter part of the book concentrates on the onshore repercussions of offshore activities; how North Sea oil fits into the international oil system, the various options open for its utilisation, the attitude of the EEC towards Scottish-based resources, government policy for the North coast of Scotland--an area which planners classed as ''peripheral'' but which must now accommodate extensive support facilities and service industries for the oil sites. There is also the question of relations between national and commercial interests--government versus the giant multi-national companies which took the initial gamble in the North Sea and are now responsible for the development of a resource vital to the economic well-being of Western Europe.

Export from Seagrass Meadows Contributes to Marine Carbon Sequestration

KAUST Repository

Duarte, Carlos M.; Krause-Jensen, Dorte

2017-01-01

Seagrasses export a substantial portion of their primary production, both in particulate and dissolved organic form, but the fate of this export production remains unaccounted for in terms of seagrass carbon sequestration. Here we review available evidence on the fate of seagrass carbon export to conclude that this represents a significant contribution to carbon sequestration, both in sediments outside seagrass meadows and in the deep sea. The evidence presented implies that the contribution of seagrass meadows to carbon sequestration has been underestimated by only including carbon burial within seagrass sediments.

Export from Seagrass Meadows Contributes to Marine Carbon Sequestration

KAUST Repository

Duarte, Carlos M.

2017-01-17

Seagrasses export a substantial portion of their primary production, both in particulate and dissolved organic form, but the fate of this export production remains unaccounted for in terms of seagrass carbon sequestration. Here we review available evidence on the fate of seagrass carbon export to conclude that this represents a significant contribution to carbon sequestration, both in sediments outside seagrass meadows and in the deep sea. The evidence presented implies that the contribution of seagrass meadows to carbon sequestration has been underestimated by only including carbon burial within seagrass sediments.

Should We Leave? Attitudes towards Relocation in Response to Sea Level Rise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Song

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The participation of individuals contributes significantly to the success of sea level rise adaptation. This study therefore addresses what influences people’s likelihood of relocating away from low-lying areas in response to rising sea levels. The analysis was based on a survey conducted in the City of Panama Beach in Florida (USA. Survey items relate to people’s risk perception, hazard experience, threat appraisal, and coping appraisal, whose theoretical background is Protection Motivation Theory. Descriptive and correlation analysis was first performed to highlight critical factors which were then examined by a multinomial Logit model. Results show that sea level rise awareness is the major explanatory variable. Coping appraisal is qualitatively viewed as a strong predictor for action, while threat appraisal is statistically significant in driving relocation intention. These factors should be integrated in current risk communication regarding sea level rise.

Mapping radiation transfer through sea ice using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Nicolaus

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Transmission of sunlight into and through sea ice is of critical importance for sea-ice associated organisms and photosynthesis because light is their primary energy source. The amount of visible light transferred through sea ice contributes to the energy budget of the sea ice and the uppermost ocean. However, our current knowledge on the amount and distribution of light under sea ice is still restricted to a few local observations, and our understanding of light-driven processes and interdisciplinary interactions is still sparse. The main reasons are that the under-ice environment is difficult to access and that measurements require large logistical and instrumental efforts. Hence, it has not been possible to map light conditions under sea ice over larger areas and to quantify spatial variability on different scales. Here we present a detailed methodological description for operating spectral radiometers on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV under sea ice. Recent advances in ROV and radiation-sensor technology have allowed us to map under-ice spectral radiance and irradiance on floe scales within a few hours of station time. The ROV was operated directly from the sea ice, allowing for direct relations of optical properties to other sea-ice and surface features. The ROV was flown close to the sea ice in order to capture small-scale variability. Results from the presented data set and similar future studies will allow for better quantification of light conditions under sea ice. The presented experiences will support further developments in order to gather large data sets of under-ice radiation for different ice conditions and during different seasons.

History of Aral Sea level variability and current scientific debates

Science.gov (United States)

Cretaux, Jean-François; Letolle, René; Bergé-Nguyen, Muriel

2013-11-01

The Aral Sea has shrunk drastically over the past 50 years, largely due to water abstraction from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for land irrigation. Over a longer timescale, Holocene palaeolimnological reconstruction of variability in water levels of the Aral Sea since 11,700 BP indicates a long history of alternating phases of regression and transgression, which have been attributed variously to climate, tectonic and anthropogenic forcing. The hydrological history of the Aral Sea has been investigated by application of a variety of scientific approaches, including archaeology, palaeolimnological palaeoclimate reconstruction, geophysics, sedimentology, and more recently, space science. Many issues concerning lake level variability over the Holocene and more recent timescales, and the processes that drive the changes, are still a matter for active debate. Our aim in this article is to review the current debates regarding key issues surrounding the causes and magnitude of Aral Sea level variability on a variety of timescales from months to thousands of years. Many researchers have shown that the main driving force of Aral Sea regressions and transgressions is climate change, while other authors have argued that anthropogenic forcing is the main cause of Aral Sea water level variations over the Holocene. Particular emphasis is made on contributions from satellite remote sensing data in order to improve our understanding of the influence of groundwater on the current hydrological water budget of the Aral Sea since 2005. Over this period of time, water balance computation has been performed and has shown that the underground water inflow to the Aral Sea is close to zero with an uncertainty of 3 km3/year.

Particulate absorption properties in the Red Sea from hyperspectral particulate absorption spectra

KAUST Repository

Tiwari, Surya Prakash; Zarokanellos, Nikolaos; Kheireddine, Malika; Shanmugam, Palanisamy; Jones, Burton

2018-01-01

This paper aims to describe the variability of particulate absorption properties using a unique hyperspectral dataset collected in the Red Sea as part of the TARA Oceans expedition. The absorption contributions by phytoplankton (aph) and non

Structure and functioning of the acid-base system in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Kuliński, Karol; Schneider, Bernd; Szymczycha, Beata; Stokowski, Marcin

2017-12-01

The marine acid-base system is relatively well understood for oceanic waters. Its structure and functioning is less obvious for the coastal and shelf seas due to a number of regionally specific anomalies. In this review article we collect and integrate existing knowledge of the acid-base system in the Baltic Sea. Hydrographical and biogeochemical characteristics of the Baltic Sea, as manifested in horizontal and vertical salinity gradients, permanent stratification of the water column, eutrophication, high organic-matter concentrations and high anthropogenic pressure, make the acid-base system complex. In this study, we summarize the general knowledge of the marine acid-base system as well as describe the peculiarities identified and reported for the Baltic Sea specifically. In this context we discuss issues such as dissociation constants in brackish water, different chemical alkalinity models including contributions by organic acid-base systems, long-term changes in total alkalinity, anomalies of borate alkalinity, and the acid-base effects of biomass production and mineralization. Finally, we identify research gaps and specify limitations concerning the Baltic Sea acid-base system.

Automated parameter tuning applied to sea ice in a global climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Roach, Lettie A.; Tett, Simon F. B.; Mineter, Michael J.; Yamazaki, Kuniko; Rae, Cameron D.

2018-01-01

This study investigates the hypothesis that a significant portion of spread in climate model projections of sea ice is due to poorly-constrained model parameters. New automated methods for optimization are applied to historical sea ice in a global coupled climate model (HadCM3) in order to calculate the combination of parameters required to reduce the difference between simulation and observations to within the range of model noise. The optimized parameters result in a simulated sea-ice time series which is more consistent with Arctic observations throughout the satellite record (1980-present), particularly in the September minimum, than the standard configuration of HadCM3. Divergence from observed Antarctic trends and mean regional sea ice distribution reflects broader structural uncertainty in the climate model. We also find that the optimized parameters do not cause adverse effects on the model climatology. This simple approach provides evidence for the contribution of parameter uncertainty to spread in sea ice extent trends and could be customized to investigate uncertainties in other climate variables.

Thermodynamic and dynamic ice thickness contributions in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in NEMO-LIM2 numerical simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xianmin; Sun, Jingfan; Chan, Ting On; Myers, Paul G.

2018-04-01

Sea ice thickness evolution within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is of great interest to science, as well as local communities and their economy. In this study, based on the NEMO numerical framework including the LIM2 sea ice module, simulations at both 1/4 and 1/12° horizontal resolution were conducted from 2002 to 2016. The model captures well the general spatial distribution of ice thickness in the CAA region, with very thick sea ice (˜ 4 m and thicker) in the northern CAA, thick sea ice (2.5 to 3 m) in the west-central Parry Channel and M'Clintock Channel, and thin ( Program data at first-year landfast ice sites except at the northern sites with high concentration of old ice. At 1/4 to 1/12° scale, model resolution does not play a significant role in the sea ice simulation except to improve local dynamics because of better coastline representation. Sea ice growth is decomposed into thermodynamic and dynamic (including all non-thermodynamic processes in the model) contributions to study the ice thickness evolution. Relatively smaller thermodynamic contribution to ice growth between December and the following April is found in the thick and very thick ice regions, with larger contributions in the thin ice-covered region. No significant trend in winter maximum ice volume is found in the northern CAA and Baffin Bay while a decline (r2 ≈ 0.6, p < 0.01) is simulated in Parry Channel region. The two main contributors (thermodynamic growth and lateral transport) have high interannual variabilities which largely balance each other, so that maximum ice volume can vary interannually by ±12 % in the northern CAA, ±15 % in Parry Channel, and ±9 % in Baffin Bay. Further quantitative evaluation is required.

An Empirical Ocean Colour Algorithm for Estimating the Contribution of Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter in North-Central Western Adriatic Sea

OpenAIRE

Alessandra Campanelli; Simone Pascucci; Mattia Betti; Federica Grilli; Mauro Marini; Stefano Pignatti; Stefano Guicciardi

2017-01-01

The performance of empirical band ratio models were evaluated for the estimation of Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) using MODIS ocean colour sensor images and data collected on the North-Central Western Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Relationships between in situ measurements (2013–2016) of CDOM absorption coefficients at 355 nm (aCDOM355) with several MODIS satellite band ratios were evaluated on a test data set. The prediction capability of the different linear models was assess...

Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

KAUST Repository

Zolina, Olga; Dufour, Ambroise; Gulev, Sergey K.; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2016-01-01

The major sources of atmospheric moisture over the Red Sea are analyzed using ERA-Interim for the 1979-2013 period. The vertical structure of moisture transports across the coastlines has been computed separately for the western and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. The vertical structure of the moisture transport from the Red Sea to the continents is dominated by a breeze-like circulation in the near-surface layer and the Arabian high above 850 hPa. The lower-layer, breeze-like circulation is acting to export the moisture to the northwest of Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula and contributes about 80% of the moisture exports from the Red Sea, dominating over the transport in the upper layer, where the moisture is advected to the Arabian Peninsula in the northern part of the sea and to the African continent in the southern part. Integrated moisture divergence over the Red Sea decreased from the early 1980s to 1997 and then increased until the 2010s. Associated changes in the moisture export were provided primarily by the increasing intensity of the breeze-associated transports. The transports above the boundary layer, while being strong across the western and the eastern coasts, have a smaller effect on the net moisture export. The interannual variability of the moisture export in the near-surface layer was found to be closely correlated with the variability in sea surface temperature, especially in summer. Implications of the observed changes in the moisture advection for the hydrological cycle of the Middle East are discussed.

Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

KAUST Repository

Zolina, Olga

2016-09-30

The major sources of atmospheric moisture over the Red Sea are analyzed using ERA-Interim for the 1979-2013 period. The vertical structure of moisture transports across the coastlines has been computed separately for the western and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. The vertical structure of the moisture transport from the Red Sea to the continents is dominated by a breeze-like circulation in the near-surface layer and the Arabian high above 850 hPa. The lower-layer, breeze-like circulation is acting to export the moisture to the northwest of Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula and contributes about 80% of the moisture exports from the Red Sea, dominating over the transport in the upper layer, where the moisture is advected to the Arabian Peninsula in the northern part of the sea and to the African continent in the southern part. Integrated moisture divergence over the Red Sea decreased from the early 1980s to 1997 and then increased until the 2010s. Associated changes in the moisture export were provided primarily by the increasing intensity of the breeze-associated transports. The transports above the boundary layer, while being strong across the western and the eastern coasts, have a smaller effect on the net moisture export. The interannual variability of the moisture export in the near-surface layer was found to be closely correlated with the variability in sea surface temperature, especially in summer. Implications of the observed changes in the moisture advection for the hydrological cycle of the Middle East are discussed.

Heat in the Barents Sea: transport, storage, and surface fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. H. Smedsrud

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A column model is set up for the Barents Sea to explore sensitivity of surface fluxes and heat storage from varying ocean heat transport. Mean monthly ocean transport and atmospheric forcing are synthesised and force the simulations. Results show that by using updated ocean transports of heat and freshwater the vertical mean hydrographic seasonal cycle can be reproduced fairly well.

Our results indicate that the ~70 TW of heat transported to the Barents Sea by ocean currents is lost in the southern Barents Sea as latent, sensible, and long wave radiation, each contributing 23–39 TW to the total heat loss. Solar radiation adds 26 TW in the south, as there is no significant ice production.

The northern Barents Sea receives little ocean heat transport. This leads to a mixed layer at the freezing point during winter and significant ice production. There is little net surface heat loss annually in the north. The balance is achieved by a heat loss through long wave radiation all year, removing most of the summer solar heating.

During the last decade the Barents Sea has experienced an atmospheric warming and an increased ocean heat transport. The Barents Sea responds to such large changes by adjusting temperature and heat loss. Decreasing the ocean heat transport below 50 TW starts a transition towards Arctic conditions. The heat loss in the Barents Sea depend on the effective area for cooling, and an increased heat transport leads to a spreading of warm water further north.

Nuisance Flooding and Relative Sea-Level Rise: the Importance of Present-Day Land Motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Karegar, Makan A; Dixon, Timothy H; Malservisi, Rocco; Kusche, Jürgen; Engelhart, Simon E

2017-09-11

Sea-level rise is beginning to cause increased inundation of many low-lying coastal areas. While most of Earth's coastal areas are at risk, areas that will be affected first are characterized by several additional factors. These include regional oceanographic and meteorological effects and/or land subsidence that cause relative sea level to rise faster than the global average. For catastrophic coastal flooding, when wind-driven storm surge inundates large areas, the relative contribution of sea-level rise to the frequency of these events is difficult to evaluate. For small scale "nuisance flooding," often associated with high tides, recent increases in frequency are more clearly linked to sea-level rise and global warming. While both types of flooding are likely to increase in the future, only nuisance flooding is an early indicator of areas that will eventually experience increased catastrophic flooding and land loss. Here we assess the frequency and location of nuisance flooding along the eastern seaboard of North America. We show that vertical land motion induced by recent anthropogenic activity and glacial isostatic adjustment are contributing factors for increased nuisance flooding. Our results have implications for flood susceptibility, forecasting and mitigation, including management of groundwater extraction from coastal aquifers.

Evidence for link between modelled trends in Antarctic sea ice and underestimated westerly wind changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Purich, Ariaan; Cai, Wenju; England, Matthew H; Cowan, Tim

2016-02-04

Despite global warming, total Antarctic sea ice coverage increased over 1979-2013. However, the majority of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 models simulate a decline. Mechanisms causing this discrepancy have so far remained elusive. Here we show that weaker trends in the intensification of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind jet simulated by the models may contribute to this disparity. During austral summer, a strengthened jet leads to increased upwelling of cooler subsurface water and strengthened equatorward transport, conducive to increased sea ice. As the majority of models underestimate summer jet trends, this cooling process is underestimated compared with observations and is insufficient to offset warming in the models. Through the sea ice-albedo feedback, models produce a high-latitude surface ocean warming and sea ice decline, contrasting the observed net cooling and sea ice increase. A realistic simulation of observed wind changes may be crucial for reproducing the recent observed sea ice increase.

Ice volume and climate changes from a 6000 year sea-level record in French Polynesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallmann, N; Camoin, G; Eisenhauer, A; Botella, A; Milne, G A; Vella, C; Samankassou, E; Pothin, V; Dussouillez, P; Fleury, J; Fietzke, J

2018-01-18

Mid- to late-Holocene sea-level records from low-latitude regions serve as an important baseline of natural variability in sea level and global ice volume prior to the Anthropocene. Here, we reconstruct a high-resolution sea-level curve encompassing the last 6000 years based on a comprehensive study of coral microatolls, which are sensitive low-tide recorders. Our curve is based on microatolls from several islands in a single region and comprises a total of 82 sea-level index points. Assuming thermosteric contributions are negligible on millennial time scales, our results constrain global ice melting to be 1.5-2.5 m (sea-level equivalent) since ~5500 years before present. The reconstructed curve includes isolated rapid events of several decimetres within a few centuries, one of which is most likely related to loss from the Antarctic ice sheet mass around 5000 years before present. In contrast, the occurrence of large and flat microatolls indicates periods of significant sea-level stability lasting up to ~300 years.

Suspended marine particulate proteins in coastal and oligotrophic waters

Science.gov (United States)

Bridoux, Maxime C.; Neibauer, Jaqui; Ingalls, Anitra E.; Nunn, Brook L.; Keil, Richard G.

2015-03-01

Metaproteomic analyses were performed on suspended sediments collected in one coastal environment (Washington margin, Pacific Ocean, n = 5) and two oligotrophic environments (Atlantic Ocean near BATS, n = 5, and Pacific Ocean near HOTS, n = 5). Using a database of 2.3 million marine proteins developed using the NCBI database, 443 unique peptides were detected from which 363 unique proteins were identified. Samples from the euphotic zone contained on average 2-3x more identifiable proteins than deeper waters (150-1500 m) and these proteins were predominately from photosynthetic organisms. Diatom peptides dominate the spectra of the Washington margin while peptides from cyanobacteria, such as Synechococcus sp. dominated the spectra of both oligotrophic sites. Despite differences in the exact proteins identified at each location, there is good agreement for protein function and cellular location. Proteins in surface waters code for a variety of cellular functions including photosynthesis (24% of detected proteins), energy production (10%), membrane production (9%) and genetic coding and reading (9%), and are split 60-40 between membrane proteins and intracellular cytoplasmic proteins. Sargasso Sea surface waters contain a suite of peptides consistent with proteins involved in circadian rhythms that promote both C and N fixation at night. At depth in the Sargasso Sea, both muscle-derived myosin protein and the muscle-hydrolyzing proteases deseasin MCP-01 and metalloprotease Mcp02 from γ-proteobacteria were observed. Deeper waters contain peptides predominately sourced from γ-proteobacteria (37% of detected proteins) and α-proteobacteria (26%), although peptides from membrane and photosynthetic proteins attributable to phytoplankton were still observed (13%). Relative to surface values, detection frequencies for bacterial membrane proteins and extracellular enzymes rose from 9 to 16 and 2 to 4% respectively below the thermocline and the overall balance between

Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, Phosphate, pH and Alkalinity data collected in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea and White Sea from R/Vs Artemovsk, Atlantida, Okeanograf, Professor Rudovits, and ice observations, 1957 - 1995 (NODC Accession 0073674)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, Phosphate, pH and Alkalinity data collected in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, North Sea, Norwegian...

The Climate Science Special Report: Rising Seas and Changing Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Kopp, R. E.

2017-12-01

GMSL has risen by about 16-21 cm since 1900. Ocean heat content has increased at all depths since the 1960s, and global mean sea-surface temperature increased 0.7°C/century between 1900 to 2016. Human activity contributed substantially to generating a rate of GMSL rise since 1900 faster than during any preceding century in at least 2800 years. A new set of six sea-level rise scenarios, spanning a range from 30 cm to 250 cm of 21st century GMSL rise, were developed for the CSSR. The lower scenario is based on linearly extrapolating the past two decades' rate of rise. The upper scenario is informed by literature estimates of maximum physically plausible values, observations indicating the onset of marine ice sheet instability in parts of West Antarctica, and modeling of ice-cliff and ice-shelf instability mechanisms. The new scenarios include localized projections along US coastlines. There is significant variability around the US, with rates of rise likely greater than GMSL rise in the US Northeast and the western Gulf of Mexico. Under scenarios involving extreme Antarctic contributions, regional rise would be greater than GMSL rise along almost all US coastlines. Historical sea-level rise has already driven a 5- to 10-fold increase in minor tidal flooding in several US coastal cities since the 1960s. Under the CSSR's Intermediate sea-level rise scenario (1.0 m of GMSL rise in 2100) , a majority of NOAA tide gauge locations will by 2040 experience the historical 5-year coastal flood about 5 times per year. Ocean changes are not limited to rising sea levels. Ocean pH is decreasing at a rate that may be unparalleled in the last 66 million years. Along coastlines, ocean acidification can be enhanced by changes in the upwelling (particularly along the US Pacific Coast); by episodic, climate change-enhanced increases in freshwater input (particularly along the US Atlantic Coast); and by the enhancement of biological respiration by nutrient runoff. Climate models project

Black Sea Energy Security - Present and Future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florinel Iftode

2011-05-01

Full Text Available We chose this theme to highlight the need for continuous and sustained human society to secure energy resources needed to survive, needs reflected in an increasingly in recent years in the strategies adopted at both states, as at the level of international organizations. Achieving security and stability in the wider Black Sea area has been among the priorities of each country's interests in this region. In this context, state and non-state actors were being called to come up with new solutions to achieve those interests. Certainly not in all cases the negotiations were completed or not yet found a generally accepted formula for others to apply, but most of them show off their values. The main environmental threats to security environment in the Black Sea region are represented by ethnic conflicts and territorial secessionism. A significant contribution to the security environment of the Black Sea region has the phenomenon of globalization, which in this region is manifested by a steady increase in traffic and volume of shipping passage of communication, which largely affects the security in the region. Globalization and the need for energy resources in the Black Sea was an important area not only as energy transport route, but as a potential supplier of material energy (oil and natural gas. Black Sea Basin can be stabilized and secured only by the will and input from all States and interested international organizations in pragmatic and effective institutional frameworks, meant to promote and protect the common interests of countries decided to participate in actions aimed at ensuring a stable environment security.

The impact of shipping emissions on air pollution in the greater North Sea region - Part 1: Current emissions and concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Aulinger, A.; Matthias, V.; Zeretzke, M.; Bieser, J.; Quante, M.; Backes, A.

2016-01-01

The North Sea is one of the areas with the highest ship traffic densities worldwide. At any time, about 3000 ships are sailing its waterways. Previous scientific publications have shown that ships contribute significantly to atmospheric concentrations of NOx, particulate matter and ozone. Especially in the case of particulate matter and ozone, this influence can even be seen in regions far away from the main shipping routes. In order to quantify the effects of North Sea shipping on air quality in its bordering states, it is essential to determine the emissions from shipping as accurately as possible. Within Interreg IVb project Clean North Sea Shipping (CNSS), a bottom-up approach was developed and used to thoroughly compile such an emission inventory for 2011 that served as the base year for the current emission situation. The innovative aspect of this approach was to use load-dependent functions to calculate emissions from the ships' current activities instead of averaged emission factors for the entire range of the engine loads. These functions were applied to ship activities that were derived from hourly records of Automatic Identification System signals together with a database containing the engine characteristics of the vessels that traveled the North Sea in 2011. The emission model yielded ship emissions among others of NOx and SO2 at high temporal and spatial resolution that were subsequently used in a chemistry transport model in order to simulate the impact of the emissions on pollutant concentration levels. The total emissions of nitrogen reached 540 Gg and those of sulfur oxides 123 Gg within the North Sea - including the adjacent western part of the Baltic Sea until 5° W. This was about twice as much of those of a medium-sized industrialized European state like the Netherlands. The relative contribution of ships to, for example, NO2 concentration levels ashore close to the sea can reach up to 25 % in summer and 15 % in winter. Some hundred kilometers

Controls of Multiple Stressors on the Black Sea Fishery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Temel Oguz

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Black Sea is one of the most severely degraded and exploited large marine ecosystems in the world. For the last 50 years after the depletion of large predatory fish stocks, anchovy (with the partial contribution of sprat has been acting as the main top predator species and experienced a major stock collapse at the end of 1990s. After the collapse, eastern part of the southern Black Sea became the only region sustaining relatively high anchovy catch (400,000 tons whereas the total catch within the rest of the sea was reduced to nearly its one-third. The lack of recovery of different fish stocks under a slow ecosystem rehabilitation may be attributed, on the one hand, to inappropriate management measures and the lack of harmonized fishery policy among the riparian countries. On the other hand, impacts of multiple stressors (eutrophication, alien species invasions, natural climatic variations on the food web may contribute to resilience of the system toward its recovery. The overfishing/recovery problem therefore cannot be isolated from rehabilitation efforts devoted to the long-term chronic degradation of the food web structure, and alternative fishery-related management measures must be adopted as a part of a comprehensive ecosystem-based management strategy. The present study provides a data-driven ecosystem assessment, underlines the key environmental issues and threats, and points to the critical importance of holistic approach to resolve the fishery-ecosystem interactions. It also stresses the transboundary nature of the problem.

Sea Urchin Morphogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

McClay, David R

2016-01-01

In the sea urchin morphogenesis follows extensive molecular specification. The specification controls the many morphogenetic events and these, in turn, precede patterning steps that establish the larval body plan. To understand how the embryo is built it was necessary to understand those series of molecular steps. Here an example of the historical sequence of those discoveries is presented as it unfolded over the last 50 years, the years during which major progress in understanding development of many animals and plants was documented by CTDB. In sea urchin development a rich series of experimental studies first established many of the phenomenological components of skeletal morphogenesis and patterning without knowledge of the molecular components. The many discoveries of transcription factors, signals, and structural proteins that contribute to the shape of the endoskeleton of the sea urchin larva then followed as molecular tools became available. A number of transcription factors and signals were discovered that were necessary for specification, morphogenesis, and patterning. Perturbation of the transcription factors and signals provided the means for assembling models of the gene regulatory networks used for specification and controlled the subsequent morphogenetic events. The earlier experimental information informed perturbation experiments that asked how patterning worked. As a consequence it was learned that ectoderm provides a series of patterning signals to the skeletogenic cells and as a consequence the skeletogenic cells secrete a highly patterned skeleton based on their ability to genotypically decode the localized reception of several signals. We still do not understand the complexity of the signals received by the skeletogenic cells, nor do we understand in detail how the genotypic information shapes the secreted skeletal biomineral, but the current knowledge at least outlines the sequence of events and provides a useful template for future

Packaging of radioactive wastes for sea disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-02-01

The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by the Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, known as the London Dumping Convention was adopted by an inter-governmental conference in London in 1972 and came into force in 1975. In 1977, the IAEA Board of Governors agreed that there is a continuing responsibility for the IAEA to contribute to the effectiveness of the London Dumping Conventions by providing guidance relevant to the various aspects of dumping radioactive wastes at sea. In the light of the above responsibilities, the IAEA organized a Technical Committee Meeting from 3 to 7 December 1979 to assess the current situation concerning the requirements and the practices of packaging radioactive wastes for dumping at sea with a view to providing further guidance on this subject. The present report summarizes the results of this meeting