A near-inertial current event in the homogeneous deep layer of the northern Sea of Japan during winter     

Michio Watanabe  Toshiyuki Hibiya 《Journal of Oceanography》2018,74(2):209-218

Under strong surface wind forcing during winter, direct current observations in the northern Sea of Japan show the existence of strong near-inertial currents in the deep water that is characterized by the extremely homogeneous vertical structures of temperature and salinity. However, the mechanism generating internal waves in the deep water of the northern Sea of Japan has not been well understood. In this study, to clarify the dynamical link between the surface wind forcing and near-inertial currents in the deep water of the northern Sea of Japan, we drive a general circulation model taking into account realistic wind stress, ocean bottom and land topography. In the northern Sea of Japan, the numerical results show that vertically coherent horizontal currents with a speed of ~ 0.05 m s^?1 are excited throughout the homogeneous deep water. A two-layer model successfully reproduces the pattern of the horizontal current velocities shown by the general circulation model, indicating that internal waves emanate westward from the northwestern coast of Japan through coastal adjustment to the strong wind forcing event and, while propagating into the ocean interior, they excite evanescent near-inertial response throughout the lower layer below the interface.  相似文献   

Evaluation of image processing methods for geological interpretation in the different environments in Libya   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Nureddin M. Saadi  Koichiro Watanabe  Hideki Mizunaga 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2011,4(3-4):635-643

This study evaluates the use of image processing techniques and methodologies of digital integration of multi-disciplinary geoscientific data to reduce the ambiguity in geological interpretations in different geological environments in Libya. To realize this objective, three areas were selected for this study; Eljufra, an arid environment; the mountainous environment Tarhunah; and the Jifara Plain, a coastal plain environment. Two types of remote sensing data were used in this study: Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and European Remote Sensing Satellite. The digital elevation model extracted from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and digital topographic maps scale 1:50,000 were used for remote sensing interpretation. GIS and remote sensing-based methods were used to process and integrate all raster and vector layers data. This study offered dramatic benefits for geological interpretations and provided new insights into the efficiency of image processing methods in different geological environments.  相似文献   

Study on the selection of unsaturated flow model for the different types of soil and soft rock   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Sajeewani Rajika Amarasinghe  Kunio Watanabe  Koji Ishiyama 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2011,64(7):1795-1805

Precise estimation of unsaturated hydraulic properties of porous media is indispensable in various study areas, such as analyzing the moisture flow, the drying process occurring from the surface, and the pollutant migration beneath the ground surface. Although many empirical/theoretical models describing the unsaturated hydraulic properties have been proposed by several previous researchers, the best model for the different types of soil/rock may not be identical. Thus, the model selection process and the estimation technique of the parameters included in the models should be developed. In the present study, the inverse technique based on the transient evaporation change was investigated to select the model and estimate the model parameters. The experimental work was based on a relatively low permeable soft rock and a relatively high permeable sandy soil (Toyoura standard sand). Experimental equipment was developed to precisely measure the evaporation rate for the high permeable sandy soil. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) was adopted in the inverse technique as an optimization tool. In order to simplify the problem, only the drying process from the saturated condition was considered. It was established that the information concerning the transient evaporation change could be used for the model selection and parameter estimation. Further, the saturation distribution could be used for the selection of the models. The present study provides important information for the development of the model selection process.  相似文献   

Phytoplankton productivity in the western subarctic gyre of the North Pacific in early summer 2006     

Tetsuichi Fujiki  Kazuhiko Matsumoto  Shuichi Watanabe  Takuji Hosaka  Toshiro Saino 《Journal of Oceanography》2011,67(3):295-303

We deployed a profiling buoy system incorporating a fast repetition rate fluorometer in the western subarctic Pacific and carried out time-series observations of phytoplankton productivity from 9 June to 15 July 2006. The chlorophyll a (Chl a) biomass integrated over the euphotic layer was as high as 45–50 mg Chl a m⁻² in the middle of June and remained in the 30–40 mg Chl a m⁻² range during the rest of observation period; day-to-day variation in Chl a biomass was relatively small. The daily net primary productivity integrated over the euphotic layer ranged from 144 to 919 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ and varied greatly, depending more on insolation rather than Chl a biomass. In addition, we found that part of primary production was exported to a 150-m depth within 2 days, indicating that the variations in primary productivity quickly influenced the organic carbon flux from the upper ocean. Our results suggest that the short-term variability in primary productivity is one of the key factors controlling the carbon cycle in the surface ocean in the western subarctic Pacific.  相似文献   

Distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nemopilema nomurai</Emphasis> in the southwestern Sea of Japan related to meandering of the Tsushima Warm Current     

Satoshi?KitajimaEmail author  Naoki?Iguchi  Naoto?Honda  Tatsuro?Watanabe  Osamu?Katoh 《Journal of Oceanography》2015,71(3):287-296

We investigated the horizontal distribution of Nemopilema nomurai medusae using a midwater trawl in the southwestern Sea of Japan from September to October of each year from 2006 to 2012. Numerous medusae of this species found in 2006, 2007, and 2009 were mainly distributed far (>40 km) from the mainland of Japan in the western part of the survey area, but were distributed in the stations closest (<25 km) to the mainland in the eastern part, particularly in 2006 and 2009. These distribution patterns were associated with the path of the second branch of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) that flows offshore to the west of Oki Islands and usually approaches the mainland of Japan to the east of Oki Islands. Differences in jellyfish distribution across the survey periods were related to the distribution of the second branch being associated with types, position and intensity of eddies in the eastern part of the survey area. Hence, the formations of eddies and consequent variation in the path of the TWC would be responsible for transporting medusae from offshore to near the mainland to the east of Oki Islands. Individuals with large bells accumulated in the northwestern part of the survey area, where a cyclonic eddy was present downstream of the third branch of the TWC. This variation in bell size distribution may be ascribed to differences in the physical and/or biological factors among the three branches of the TWC.  相似文献   

Under‐ice salinity and stable isotope distribution of Saroma‐ko Lagoon,Hokkaido, northern Japan     

Maki Morimoto  Kyoko Kawanobe  Osamu Abe  Takayoshi Kawai  Toshiyuki Kawamura  Kunio Shirasawa 《水文研究》2010,24(7):904-916

In winter, lakes and lagoons at high altitudes or high latitudes have interesting hydrological cycles that differ from those in other seasons or in other regions, because water surfaces are covered with ice. Hydrological balances of lakes and lagoons are complex dynamic systems, and to elucidate them, isotopic tracers of water have been used as effective tools along with observations of precipitation, evaporation, inflows, and outflows. Here, to understand hydrological processes during freezing periods in the brackish Saroma‐ko Lagoon, Hokkaido, northern Japan, we examined horizontal and vertical distributions of salinity and isotope compositions of lagoon water and ice in 2005 and 2006. Horizontal and vertical gradients of salinity and isotope compositions were observed from the river mouth to the sea channel, and factors determining these distributions were considered. The mixing of freshwater and seawater and a freezing effect were presumed to be factors in relationships between salinity and isotopes and in relationships between surface waters and ice just above the water. A simple box model for water balance was constructed based on these putative factors to reproduce the distributions of salinity and isotope compositions of surface waters and ice. An evaluation of the model revealed that this hydrological system is controlled primarily by horizontal advection of the epilimnion, freshwater influx, and the ice growth rate. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Annual Anthropogenic Carbon Transport into the North Pacific Intermediate Water through the Kuroshio/Oyashio Interfrontal Zone: An Estimation from CFCs Distribution     

Tsuneo Ono  Yutaka W. Watanabe  Katsuyuki Sasaki 《Journal of Oceanography》2000,56(6):675-689

Vertical distribution of anthropogenic carbon content of the water (exDIC) in the Oyashio area just outside of the Kuroshio/Oyashio Interfrontal Zone (K/O Zone) was estimated by the simple 1-D advection-diffusion model calibrated by the distribution of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The average concentration of exDIC for = 26.60–27.00 is multiplied by the volume transport of Oyashio water into the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) to estimate the annual transport of exDIC into NPIW through K/O Zone. The estimated transport of exDIC was 0.018–0.020 GtC/y, which corresponds to 15% of the whole total exDIC accumulation in the temperate North Pacific. A simple assessment using the NPIW 1-box model indicates that the current study explains at least 70% of the total annual transport of exDIC into NPIW, and that small exDIC sources for NPIW still exists in addition to K/O Zone.  相似文献   

Spatial Variation in the Structure of Kelp Forest Communities Along a Wave Exposure Gradient     

Christopher  Harrold  James  Watanabe Susan  Lisin 《Marine Ecology》1988,9(2):131-156

Abstract. Four sites were sampled in kelp (Macrocysiis pyrifera) forests occupying rocky bottom habitats along a wave exposure gradient in central California. Consistent betwecn-site differences were found in the three major structural elements - the surface canopy, the undcrstory assemblage, and the ground cover/turf assemblage - of kelp forest communities. Macrocysiis pyrifera was found at all four sites. Nereucyslis tuelkeana only at the most exposed site. The understory kelps Laminaria setchellii and Pterygopltora californica were also characteristic of exposed sites. Articulated coralline algae were more abundant at exposed sites than protected, while fleshy red algae showed the opposite pattern. All four study sites were located along 8.5 km of coastline, and thus were assumed to have available to them the same species pool for colonization. The substrate composition was the same and the amount of unconsolidated substrate was similar at all four sites. We suggest that exposure to wave-generated water motion, through its influence on the surface canopy and therefore on the amount of light reaching the bottom, is responsible for these between-site differences.  相似文献   

Biogeochemical Variation in Dimethylsulfide, Phytoplankton Pigments and Heterotrophic Bacterial Production in the Subarctic North Pacific during Summer     

Kazushi Aranami  Shuichi Watanabe  Shizuo Tsunogai  Masato Hayashi  Ken Furuya  Toshi Nagata 《Journal of Oceanography》2001,57(3):315-322

Dimethylsulfide (DMS), chlorophyll a (Chl-a), accessory pigments (fucoxanthin, peridinin and 19-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin), and bacterial production (BP) were measured in the surface layer (0–100 m) of the subarctic North Pacific, including the Bering Sea, during summer (14 July–5 September, 1997). In surface sewater, the concentrations of DMS and Chl-a varied widely from 1.3 to 13.2 nM (5.1 ± 3.0 nM, mean ± S.D., n = 48) and from 0.1 to 2.4 µg L^–1 (0.6 ± 0.6 µg L^–1, n = 24), respectively. In the subarctic North Pacific, DMS to Chl-a ratios (DMS/Chl-a) were higher on the eastern side than the western side (p < 0.0001). Below the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were law and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was relatively strong (r ² = 0.700, n = 27, p < 0.0001). In the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were higher and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was weak (r ² = 0.128, n = 50, p = 0.01). The wide variation in DMS/Chl-a ratios would be at least partially explained by the geographic variation in the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton, because of the negative correlation between DMS/Chl-a and fucoxanthin-to-Chl-a ratios (Fuc/Chl-a) (r ² = 0.476, n = 26, p = 0.0001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between DMS and BP (r ² = 0.380, n = 19, p = 0.005). This suggests that BP did not represent DMS and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) removal by bacterial consumption but rather DMSP degradation to DMS by bacterial enzyme.  相似文献   

Increase in total carbonate in the western North Pacific water and a hypothesis on the missing sink of anthropogenic carbon     

Shizuo Tsunogai  Tsuneo Ono  Shuichi Watanabe 《Journal of Oceanography》1993,49(3):305-315

Sea water samples were collected from various depths in the North Pacific (40–21°N) along 165°E in 1991. Their total carbonate (total dissolved carbonate species) contents were determined with random errors less than 0.2% by a coulometric method. The preformed carbonate contents defined by Chen (1982) were calculated from the obtained data and other observed data including potential temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and total alkalinity. The same calculation was done for the GEOSECS data obtained in nearly the same region in 1973. The difference between the two data sets reveals that the preformed carbonate has increased by 180±41 gC/m² during the last 18 years. This value is comparable or somewhat larger than 150 gC/m² obtained in the case that the ocean uptakes 3 GtC/yr for 18 years and distributes it equally among the world oceans. Based on the results, a hypothesis on the missing sink for the anthropogenic carbon dioxide is presented, in that the missing sink is the intermediate waters formed in the northern North Pacific and the Southern Ocean besides the deep waters formed in the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean.  相似文献