Geochronology of the American-Antarctic Ridge     

A. A. Schreider  Al. A. Schreider  A. A. Bulychev  J. Galindo-Zaldivar  A. Maldonado  G. L. Kashintsev 《Oceanology》2006,46(1):114-122

A new map of chrons for the American-Antarctic Ridge area has been compiled. Its analysis and the calculations performed showed that the seafloor spreading with respect to its axis started before 85 My B.P. The spreading directions were 115° (chrons C34-C29), 145° (chrons C29-C21), 110° (chrons C21-C5C), and 85° (chrons C5C-C1). The maximum rates of about 4 cm/year were reached earlier than 52 My B.P.; subsequently, a progressive general decrease in the spreading rate has been observed. According to our forecast, the spreading may cease in the following 3.5 My.  相似文献   

Atmospheric forcing of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review   总被引：1，自引：8，他引：1  

Jorge A. Amador  Eric J. Alfaro  Omar G. Lizano  Victor O. Magaa 《Progress in Oceanography》2006,69(2-4):101

The increase in marine, land surface, atmospheric and satellite data during recent decades has led to an improved understanding of the air–sea interaction processes in the eastern tropical Pacific. This is also thanks to extensive diagnoses from conceptual and coupled ocean–atmosphere numerical models. In this paper, mean fields of atmospheric variables, such as incoming solar radiation, sea level pressure, winds, wind stress curl, precipitation, evaporation, and surface energy fluxes, are derived from global atmospheric data sets in order to examine the dominant features of the low level atmospheric circulations of the region. The seasonal march of the atmospheric circulations is presented to depict the role of radiative forcing on atmospheric perturbations, especially those dominating the atmosphere at low levels.In the tropics, the trade winds constitute an important north–south energy and moisture exchange mechanism (as part of the low level branch of the Hadley circulation), that determines to a large extent the precipitation distribution in the region, i.e., that associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Monsoonal circulations also play an important role in determining the warm season precipitation distribution over the eastern tropical Pacific through a large variety of air–sea–land interaction mechanisms. Westward traveling waves, tropical cyclones, low latitude cold air intrusions, and other synoptic and mesoscale perturbations associated with the ITCZ are also important elements that modulate the annual rainfall cycle. The low-level jets of the Gulf of California, the Intra-Americas Sea (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) and Chocó, Colombia are prominent features of the eastern tropical Pacific low-level circulations related to sub-regional and regional scale precipitation patterns. Observations show that the Intra-Americas Low-Level Jet intensity varies with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, however its origin and role in the westward propagation and development of disturbances that may hit the eastern tropical Pacific, such as easterly waves and tropical cyclones, are still unclear. Changes in the intensity of the trade winds in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (associated with eastern tropical Pacific wind jets) exert an important control on precipitation by means of wind–topography interactions. Gaps in the mountains of southern Mexico and Central America allow strong wind jets to pass over the continent imprinting a unique signal in sea surface temperatures and ocean dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific.The warm pools of the Americas constitute an important source of moisture for the North American Monsoon System. The northeastern tropical Pacific is a region of intense cyclogenetic activity, just west of the coast of Mesoamerica. Over the oceanic regions, large-scale properties of key variables such as precipitation, moisture, surface energy fluxes and wind stress curl are still uncertain, which inhibits a more comprehensive view of the region and stresses the importance of regional field experiments. Progress has been substantial in the understanding of the ocean and atmospheric dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific, however, recent observational evidence such as that of a shallow meridional circulation cell in that region, in contrast to the classic concept of the Hadley-type deep meridional circulation, suggests that more in situ observations to validate theories are still necessary.This paper is part of a comprehensive review of the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.  相似文献   

Seasonality and interannual variability of freshwater inflow to a large oligohaline estuary in the Northern Gulf of Mexico     

Y. Jun Xu  Kangsheng Wu 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2006,68(3-4):619

Quantity, timing, duration, and fluctuation of freshwater inflow are important factors affecting the development and health of aquatic and adjacent wetland ecosystems in coastal estuaries. This study assessed six decades of freshwater inflow from the Amite River, Tickfaw River, and Tangipahoa River watersheds to Lake Pontchartrain, a large oligohaline estuary in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, whose flood waters caused recent damage to the city of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. By utilizing the long-term (1940–2002) river discharge and climatic data from the three major tributary watersheds, monthly and annual freshwater inflows have been quantified and their spatial and temporal variations have been analyzed. On average, the three rivers discharged (±standard error) 0.27 ± 0.04 km³ freshwater monthly and 3.29 ± 0.15 km³ freshwater annually into the lake estuarine system, with the highest inflow from the Amite River (0.16 ± 0.03 m³ mon⁻¹, and 1.91 ± 0.09 km³ yr⁻¹) and the lowest inflow from the Tickfaw River (0.03 ± 0.00 km³ mon⁻¹, and 0.34 ± 0.02 km³ yr⁻¹). A distinct seasonality was evident with over 69% of the total annual inflow occurring during December and May (wet months) and with a low flow period from August to November (dry months). The monthly inflow during the wet months was positively correlated with the monthly precipitation (r² = 0.64), while the monthly inflow during the dry months was subject to evapotranspiration. Furthermore, the study found a 20-year low flow period from 1954–1973 (2.76 ± 0.24 km³ yr⁻¹) and a 24-year high flow period from 1975–1998 (3.84 ± 0.24 km³ yr⁻¹), coinciding with both the climate variation and population growth in the watersheds.  相似文献   

Manifestation of the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the tropical stratosphere     

V. A. Bezverkhny 《Izvestiya Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics》2007,43(3):317-322

Characteristics of the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño-Southern Oscillation effects manifested on interannual scales in the equatorial stratosphere are determined. Wavelet analysis of local phase shifts, coherence, and correlation is used to obtain correlation portraits of the largest factors of climate variability against the background of coherent variations in the equatorial stratospheric wind speed at the 50- and 15-hPa pressure levels. It is shown that the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño-Southern Oscillation signals may reach the tropical stratosphere. The signals are easily identified in a wide range of scales, including quasi-biennial, 3-to 5-year, and 10-to 11-year periods. The results obtained reflect a coherent pattern of the manifestation of these signals at the selected stratospheric levels. It is found that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect at periods close to 10–11 years reaches the stratospheric level rather rapidly, in the same or next month, while the effects of the Arctic Oscillation index are delayed by nine months. The estimates obtained show that a phase shift of almost 180° in the Arctic Oscillation index relative to the equatorial stratospheric wind occurred in almost all of the range of interannual periods in 1978 and 1992. For the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, an increase in local correlations on a scale of 3-to 5-year variations was observed in 1980–1990, a 180° phase shift occurred in 1992, and the correlation with stratospheric wind increased in 1992–2004. The estimates obtained are indicative of a change in the atmospheric circulation pattern that took place in the Northern Hemisphere in 1978–1991.  相似文献   

Geological structure of the Curonian Spit (of the Baltic Sea) and its evolution history (revised)     

E. N. Badyukova  L. A. Zhindarev  S. A. Luk’yanova  G. D. Solov’eva 《Oceanology》2007,47(4):554-563

The origin and evolution history of the Curonian Spit in the Baltic Sea are discussed based on geological and geomorphologic data. Evidence of the correlation between the spit formation stages and the Holocene sea level oscillations is presented. The ledges of moraine basement and marine accumulative features formed a single barrier. Its subsequent transformation occurred under the influence of the wave-related lithodynamic and eolian processes.  相似文献   

The Pechora Sea: Past,recent, and future     

Yu. A. Pavlidis  S. L. Nikiforov  S. A. Ogorodov  G. A. Tarasov 《Oceanology》2007,47(6):865-876

The main stages in the development of the Pechora Sea are discussed. It is established that, during the high sea level stand corresponding to the warmest epoch of the Mikulino Interglacial, the Pechora Sea represented a more spacious, as compared with its present-day size, basin owing to the flooded valleys of river lower reaches. No sea in its present-day configuration existed during the last (Valdai) glaciation. At that time, the sea could have occupied only a narrow area along the southern coast of Novaya Zemlya, where marine sedimentation was in progress during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. During the glaciation and postglacial time, the dried bottom of the former Pechora Sea accumulated large volumes of sand that are now concentrated largely in the accretion structures along its southern coast. In the current century, changes will occur mainly in the coastal zone of the Russkii Zavorot Peninsula, Pesyakov Island, the Varandei Settlement area, and the Medynskii Zavorot Peninsula, where a shoreline retreat for a distance of 0.5 km is expected.  相似文献   

A comparative mineralogical study of gas-related sediments of the Gulf of Cádiz     

C. Martín-Puertas  M. P. Mata  M. C. Fernández-Puga  V. Díaz del Río  J. T. Vázquez  L. Somoza 《Geo-Marine Letters》2007,27(2-4):223-235

The Gulf of Cádiz area has been extensively surveyed in recent years and several gas-related fluid escape seafloor structures have been identified. In this study, gravity cores, collected during the ANASTASYA/00 and ANASTASYA/01 cruises, on mud volcanoes, hemipelagic sediments and dredged material from diapiric structures, have been studied. A comparative mineralogical analysis by XRD and SEM of samples from different areas has been performed in order to determine whether there is a characteristic mineralogy related to these fluid escape structures, and also to determine the origin of the mud matrix and constrain the depth of the parent units. The mineralogical analysis reflects the different origins of the different units described in the cores: hemipelagic material of the slope, clays that underlie the mud volcanoes and are discharged at the sea bottom surface, and authigenic and diagenetic minerals possibly involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane in the mud volcano sediments.  相似文献   

Supply and precipitation of hydrothermal iron in the rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 26° and 29° N     

V. Yu. Rusakov 《Oceanology》2007,47(2):245-260

This publication considers the probing data on aquatic anomalies (hydrothermal plumes) in the areas of 26° and 29° N of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The mass of the hydrothermal iron supply and the intensity of the iron sedimentation onto the bottom were estimated by means of sediment traps. It was found that the plume of the TAG hydrothermal vent 6 km³ in volume contained about 67 t of suspended Fe; the plume of the Broken Spur field (up to 8.24 km³ in volume) contained 23.5 t or less because of the lower concentration. The data on the sedimentary matter fluxes showed that 0.3–0.5% of the hydrothermal iron was precipitated immediately from a plume of neutral buoyancy onto the bottom; the bulk of the iron was dissipated into the environment. From the dimensions of the plumes, the flow dynamics, the iron concentrations in the plumes, and the amounts of iron supplied by hydrothermal vents, it was found that the resident time of the plumes considered was from 5 to 10 days.  相似文献   

Intense Arctic mesocyclones     

I. I. Mokhov  M. G. Akperov  V. E. Lagun  E. I. Lutsenko 《Izvestiya Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics》2007,43(3):259-265

Characteristics of polar mesoscale cyclones (PMCs) over the North European Basin are analyzed using cloud cover distribution data for 1981–1995. Special features of the annual cycle and interannual variations in characteristics of Arctic mesocyclones with a spiral and comma-shaped cloud structure are discussed. Against the background of large interannual variations, no statistically significant trends were found in the characteristics of Arctic mesocyclones over the North European Basin in the late 20th century. It is shown that the cumulative frequency distribution of PMCs is well approximated by an exponential function in a size range for Arctic mesocyclones from 50 to 400 km. The applicability of the Weibull distribution as an approximation of the PMC size distribution of the number of cyclone days is analyzed. It is shown that the correspondence between the real distribution and the Weibull distribution became worse in the 1990s than in the 1980s, especially the first half of the 1980s. Much of this was due to an increased local maximum in the 1990s in the distribution of polar mesocyclones with diameters about 400 km. This local maximum was found for all types of mesoscale vortices and for all analyzed five-year subperiods during 1981–1995. A large discrepancy between the frequency distribution functions for PMCs depending on their diameters was shown to exist for different types of Arctic mesocyclones.  相似文献   

The contribution of atmospheric acid deposition to ocean acidification in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean     

Nicholas R. Bates  Andrew J. Peters   《Marine Chemistry》2007,107(4):547-558

The absorption of anthropogenic CO₂ and atmospheric deposition of acidity can both contribute to the acidification of the global ocean. Rainfall pH measurements and chemical compositions monitored on the island of Bermuda since 1980, and a long-term seawater CO₂ time-series (1983–2005) in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda were used to evaluate the influence of acidic deposition on the acidification of oligotrophic waters of the North Atlantic Ocean and coastal waters of the coral reef ecosystem of Bermuda. Since the early 1980's, the average annual wet deposition of acidity at Bermuda was 15 ± 14 mmol m^− 2 year^− 1, while surface seawater pH decreased by 0.0017 ± 0.0001 pH units each year. The gradual acidification of subtropical gyre waters was primarily due to uptake of anthropogenic CO₂. We estimate that direct atmospheric acid deposition contributed 2% to the acidification of surface waters in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, although this value likely represents an upper limit. Acidifying deposition had negligible influence on seawater CO₂ chemistry of the Bermuda coral reef, with no evident impact on hard coral calcification.  相似文献