226Ra and 228Ra in the seawater of the western Yellow Sea

1Introduction Therearefourradiumisotopesinnature,ofwhich224Ra,226Raand228Rahavebeenwidelyinvestigated inmarineresearch,butthespecificactivityof223Rais toolowtobemeasured,therefore,itsapplicationsarelimited(Moore,1969;Broeckeretal.,1976;KuandLin,1976;Nozak…     

Analysis of the distribution characteristics of 226Ra and 228Ra and their sources in the western part of Qinghai Lake

The 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities of Qinghai Lake surface water,groundwater,river water,suspended particles,and bottom sediments were measured in a gamma-ray spectrometer.The sources of 226 Ra and 228 Ra were discussed according to their distribution characteristics.226 Ra and 228 Ra activities(dpm/(100 L)) ranged from 14.13±0.22 to 19.22±0.42 and 17.72±0.66 to 30.96±1.47 in the surface water of the North Bay,respectively,and from 7.88±0.24 to 33.80±0.47 and 15.73±0.74 to 57.31±1.44,respectively,in the South Bay.The surface water near the estuary had a lower salinity and had a higher concentration of radium isotopes than the samples collected further away.The farther offshore the sample,the higher the salinity was,and the lower the radium isotope activity.The distribution of radium activities in the western part of Qinghai Lake is controlled by several factors,including Buha River runoff,desorption from suspended particles derived from the river,groundwater discharge,and a small amount of diffusion from the sediment.     

MEAN SEA LEVEL AND SEA SURFACE VARIABILITY OF NQRTHWEST PACIFIC OCEAN AND EASTERN CHINA SEAS FROM GEOSAT ALTIMETRY

Collinear analysis technique is widely used for determining sea surface variability with Geosat altimeterdata from its Exact Repeat Mission(ERM).But most of the researches have been only on global scaleor in oceans deeper than 2000 m.In shallow shelf waters this method is hampered by the inaccuracy ofocean tide data supplied with Geosat Geophysical Data Records(GDRs).This work uses a modified collinearanalysis technique characterized by simultaneous separation of mean sea level and ocean tide with theleast squares method,to compute sea surface variability in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and eastern ChinaSeas.The mean sea level map obtained contains not ouly bathymetric but also dynamic features such asamphidromes,indicating considerable improvement over previous works.Our sea surface variability mapsshow clearly the main current system,the well-known Zhejiang coastal upwelling,and a northern East Chi-na Sea meso-scale eddy in good agreement with satellite sea surface temperature(SST)observation and his-to     

Grain-size related nitrogen distribution in southern Yellow Sea surface sediments

Forty-eight surface sediments of the southern Yellow Sea are separated into three grain-size fractions. Four forms of extractable nitrogen (nitrogen in ion-exchangeable form (Nie), nitrogen in weak-acid extractable form (Nwa), nitrogen in strong-alkali extractable form (Nsa) and nitrogen in strong-oxidant form (N50))are obtained by the sequential extraction. The results show that the contents and the distributions of the extractable nitrogen in the southern Yellow Sea surface sediments are closely related to sediment grain size. The distributions ofNie, Nso and total nitrogen (TN) present positive correlations with fine particles content, while Nwa and Nsa does not have such correlation. The net contents of all the forms of nitrogen increase with sediment grain size finer.     

Diatom distribution in surface sediments from Chinese inshore waters and the relationship to modern environmental variables

Diatoms are widely used to study past and present changes in the marine environment. Unimodal models are appropriate for exploring the relationship between environmental properties in Chinese inshore waters and fossil diatom species derived from modem surface sediments. The best-fit relationships between two multivariate datasets （diatom species and environmental variables） were identified using canonical correspondence analysis （CCA）, which is a constrained ordination technique. The absolute abundance of diatoms in the Chinese inshore waters ranged from 500 to 48 000 valves/g, and the average absolute abundance of all the 29 sites was l l 300 valves/g. 153 species and varieties of diatoms belonging to 42 genera in all were identified in the Chinese inshore waters. There were 28 dominant diatom species in all. According to the absolute abundance of the dominant species and the spatial distribution of the currents from the Chinese inshore waters, 12 diatom assemblages were distinguished from north to south, which reflected the different oceanographic conditions at the regional scale. Of the eight environmental variables considered, the most important environmental variable is winter sea surface salinity （WSS）, which was also the only environmental variable with statistical significance. Therefore, it may be used to establish a transfer functions for the Chinese inshore waters in future paleoclimate studies.     

The Hydromedusae and its distribution in Chukchi Sea and adjacent southern edge waters of Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean

The present paper is based on materials collected in Chukchi Sea and adjacent southern edge waters of Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean during the period from July to August 1999 on the icebreaker, the R/V “Xuelong”, by the Chinese First Arctic Scientific Expedition. Totally, 8 species of pelagic Hydromedusae were identified, of which 4 species belonged to Anthomedusae, 2 species to Leptomedusae, 1 species to Trachymedusae and 1 species to Narcomedusae, the Neoturris breviconis is recorded for the first time in Chukchi Sea. Their principal morphological characteristics are described and illustrated. The 8 species of Hydromedusae occurring in the Chukchi Sea were all cold water species, of which 6 species belong to neritic species and 2 species to ocean species. According to the geographic distribution of species, they may be divided into three groups: Arctic species, Arctic-boreal species and Boreal-temperate species. From the view-point of zoogeography, species from these waters belong to the Arctic fauna.The abundance of Hydromedusae in Chukchi Sea was generally low, with a mean value of 108 ind.*10-2*m-3. Rathkea octopunctata and Aglantha digitale were dominant species. From the view-point of vertical distribution Aglantha digitale is inhabiting in the depth of 0 300 m and with the maximum in the depth of 50 m to 100 m.     

Spatial distribution and seasonal variations of heavy metal contamination in surface waters of Liaohe River,Northeast China

Heavy metal pollutants are a worldwide concern due to slow decomposition, biocondensation, and negative effects on human health. We investigated seasonal and spatial variations of the five heavy metals and evaluated their health risk in the Liaohe River, Northeast China. A total of 324 surface water samples collected from 2009 to 2010 were analyzed. Levels (high to low) of heavy metals in the Liaohe River were: zinc (Zn) > chromium (Cr) > copper (Cu) > cadmium (Cd) > mercury (Hg). Spatial and seasonal changes impacting concentrations of Cu and Zn were significant, but not significant for Cr, Cd and Hg. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were: Hg at Liuheqiao, Cu at Fudedian, Zn at Tongjiangkou, Cr at Mahushan, and Cd at Shenglitang. The highest concentrations of Hg and Cr were found in the wet period, Cu and Cd in the level period, and Zn in the dry period. The surface water of a tributary was an important accumulation site for heavy metals. Health risks from carcinogens and non-carcinogens increased from upstream to downstream in the mainstream of the Liaohe River. The total health risk for one person in the Liaohe River exceeded acceptable levels. The total health risk was the greatest during the wet period and least in the dry period. Among the five heavy metals in the Liaohe River, Cr posed the greatest single health risk.     

A study of transport and impact strength of Fukushima nuclear pollutants in the north pacific surface

Based on the statistics of surface drifter data of 1979–2011 and the simulation of nuclear pollutant particulate movements simulated using high quality ocean reanalysis surface current dataset, the transport pathways and impact strength of Fukushima nuclear pollutants in the North Pacific have been estimated. The particulates are used to increase the sampling size and enhance the representativeness of statistical results. The trajectories of the drifters and particulates are first examined to identify typical drifting pathways. The results show that there are three types of transport paths for nuclear pollutants at the surface: 1) most pollutant particles move eastward and are carried by the Kuroshio and Kuroshio-extension currents and reach the east side of the North Pacific after about 3.2–3.9 years; 2) some particles travel with the subtropical circulation branch and reach the east coast of China after about 1.6 years according to one drifter trajectory and about 3.6 years according to particulate trajectories; 3) a little of them travel with local, small scale circulations and reach the east coast of China after about 1.3–1.8 years. Based on the particulates, the impact strength of nuclear pollutants at these time scales can be estimated according to the temporal variations of relative concentration combined with the radioactive decay rate. For example, Cesium-137, carried by the strong North Pacific current, mainly accumulates in the eastern North Pacific and its impact strength is 4% of the initial level at the originating Fukushima area after 4 years. Due to local eddies, Cesium-137 in the western North Pacific is 1% of the initial pollutant level after 1.5 years and continuously increases to 3% after 4 years. The vertical movement of radioactive pollutants is not taken into account in the present study, and the estimation accuracy would be improved by considering three-dimensional flows.     

Measurement of the surface emissivity of turbid waters

For interpreting thermal IR imagery of the ocean surface, the emissivity of the sea surface is usually assumed to be constant, approximately 0.98. However, the emissivity varies with the roughness of the sea surface, and the concentration and type of suspended particulates. The emissivity variations caused by the suspended sediments introduce significant errors in the satellite-derived temperature maps of turbid coastal waters. We measured in the laboratory the thermal IR emissivity of water as the suspended sediment concentration was varied from zero to extremely high values. The results indicated that increasing the sediment concentration decreases the spectral emissivity within the 8–14 μm waveband. Editor’s note A conference on West Pacific Circulation Influence in China Seas (WEPACICS) was held during November 10–14, 1986 in Qingdao, China, under the joint auspices of the Institute of Onceanology, Academic Sinica (IOAS) and the National Science Foundation, United States, and under the convernorship of Ya Hsueh, Florida State University, and Hu, Dunxin, IOAS. The primary subject of the conference is the influence of the West Pacific Circulation in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea through the intermediary of the Kuroshio. In the conference more than 20 papers were presented, summarizing the works on the interaction between the Yellow and East China Sea, and the oceanic circulation, and the research experiences gained in the studies of the Gulf Stream and its influences in the U.S. Coastal waters were shared. In order to facilitate scientific exchange we chose to published successively the significant papers presented at the conference in the journal.     

Effect of spatial and temporal scales on habitat suitability modeling: A case study of Ommastrephes bartramii in the northwest pacific ocean

Temporal and spatial scales play important roles in fishery ecology, and an inappropriate spatio-temporal scale may result in large errors in modeling fish distribution. The objective of this study is to evaluate the roles of spatio-temporal scales in habitat suitability modeling, with the western stock of winter-spring cohort of neon flying squid(Ommastrephes bartramii) in the northwest Pacific Ocean as an example. In this study, the fishery-dependent data from the Chinese Mainland Squid Jigging Technical Group and sea surface temperature(SST) from remote sensing during August to October of 2003–2008 were used. We evaluated the differences in a habitat suitability index model resulting from aggregating data with 36 different spatial scales with a combination of three latitude scales(0.5°, 1° and 2°), four longitude scales(0.5°, 1°, 2° and 4°), and three temporal scales(week, fortnight, and month). The coefficients of variation(CV) of the weekly, biweekly and monthly suitability index(SI) were compared to determine which temporal and spatial scales of SI model are more precise. This study shows that the optimal temporal and spatial scales with the lowest CV are month, and 0.5° latitude and 0.5° longitude for O. bartramii in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This suitability index model developed with an optimal scale can be cost-effective in improving forecasting fishing ground and requires no excessive sampling efforts. We suggest that the uncertainty associated with spatial and temporal scales used in data aggregations needs to be considered in habitat suitability modeling.     

The distribution and concentration of particulate biogenic silica in surface waters of Prydz Bay, Antarctica, during the austral summer of 2011

The concentrations and distributions of particulate biogenic silica （PBSi） in the upper surface waters of Prydz Bay, Antarctica, were investigated during the 27th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition cruises of January 2011. We aimed to characterize the correlations between PBSi and plankton, nutrients and particulate organic carbon. The results showed that the concentrations of biogenic silica ranged from 0.76--19.72 ktmol-dm3 and the average concentration of biogenic silica was 6.06 mol.dm3. The distribution of surface PBSi had significant regional characteristics： The concentrations were higher south of 67S than to the north. The distribution of PBSi, chlorophyll a and particulate organic carbon showed similar patterns, and PBSi distribution had a negative correlation with that of silicate. In the vertical direction, the mole ratio of PBSi and POC （Si/Co） decreased with increasing depth. This trend indicated a higher rate of PBSi dissolution, or a lower rate of organic matter reminer- alization rate, in the upper 200 m.     

Numerical simulation of scatterometer assimilated wind and ocean wave in eastern China seas and adjacent waters

Using the latest version of Mesoscale Modeling System (MM5v3), we assimilated wind data from the scatterometer and built a model to assimilate the wind field over eastern China seas and adjacent waters and applied the wave model WAVEWATCH-Ⅲ to test the sea area with assimilative wind and blended wind of QSCAT and NCEP as driving forces. High precision and resolution numerical wave results were obtained. Analysis indicated that if we replace the model wind result with the blended wind, better sea surface wind results and wave results could be obtained.     

Low frequency oscillations of the heat distribution in the global upper ocean layers

The heat distributions in the upper layers of the ocean have been studied and some important low frequency oscillations （LFOs） are already found and quantified by using various characteristic factors. In this paper, the ‘heat center＇ of a sea area is defined with a simple method. Then the temperature data set of the upper layer of the global ocean （from surface down to 400 m, 1955-2003） is analyzed to detect the possible LFOs. Not only some zonal LFOs, which were reported early, but also some strong LFOs of the vertical and meridional heat distribution, which might imply some physical sense, are detected. It should be noted that the similar vertical oscillation pattern can be found in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. Results from some preliminary studies show that the vertical LFO might be caused by the solar irradiance anomalies. This study may help reveal some unknown dynamical processes in the global oceans and may also benefit other related studies.     

Response of upper ocean currents to typhoons at two ADCP moorings west of the Luzon Strait

We deployed two ADCP mooring systems west of the Luzon Strait in August 2008, and measured the upper ocean currents at high frequency. Two typhoons passed over the moorings during approximately one-month observation period. Using ADCP observations, satellite wind and heat flux measurements, and high-resolution model assimilation products, we studied the response of the upper ocean to typhoons. The first typhoon, Nuri, passed over one of the moorings, resulting in strong Ekman divergence and significant surface cooling. The cooling of surface water lagged the typhoon wind forcing about one day and lasted about five days. The second typhoon, Sinlaku, moved northward east of the Luzon Strait, and did not directly impact currents near the observation regions. Sinlaku increased anomalous surface water transport exchange across the Luzon Strait, which modulated the surface layer current of the Kuroshio.     

Modeling vertical heat transport in the wave affected surface layer of the ocean

In considering the vertical heat transport problems in the upper ocean, the flat upper boundary approximation for the free surface and the horizontal homogenous hypothesis are usually applied. However, due to the existence of the wave motion, the application of this approximation may result in some errors to the solar irradiation since it decays quickly in respect to the actual thickness of the water layer below the surface; on the other hand, due to the fluctuation of the water layer depth, it is improper to neglect the effects of the horizontal advection and turbulent diffusion since they also contribute to the vertical heat transport. A new model is constructed in this study to reflect these effects. The corresponding numerical simulations show that the wave motion may remarkably accelerate the vertical heat transferring process and the variation of the temperature in the wave affected layer appears in an oscillating manner. Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2006AA09A309); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 20070411111) and the Fund of Shandong Province for the Excellent Post-Doctors (No. 200603056)     

Population structure of antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana) in the waters north and west of Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctic krill (Euphasia superba Dana) is a key organism of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and a potential fishery resoure. Its ecology was the major biological project in the First Chinese Antarctic Expedition (1985). Acoustic observations and IKMT tows were madecin waters north and west of Antarctic Peninsula. Environmental factors were also observed. Analyses of the population structure, i.e. the sex percentage distribution and other data obtained show that among the 3,640 individuals of determinable sex, only 38.1% were males and that the larger the body length the smaller the percentage of males, for example, male percentage dropped to 8.3% for size group >55 mm. The population's relations to environmental factors are also discussed. Contribution No. 1711 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Wave breaking on turbulent energy budget in the ocean surface mixed layer

As an important physical process at the air-sea interface, wave movement and breaking have a significant effect on the ocean surface mixed layer （OSML）. When breaking waves occur at the ocean surface, turbulent kinetic energy （TKE） is input downwards, and a sublayer is formed near the surface and turbulence vertical mixing is intensively enhanced. A one-dimensional ocean model including the Mellor-Yamada level 2.5 turbulence closure equations was employed in our research on variations in turbulent energy budget within OSML. The influence of wave breaking could be introduced into the model by modifying an existing surface boundary condition of the TKE equation and specifying its input. The vertical diffusion and dissipation of TKE were effectively enhanced in the sublayer when wave breaking was considered. Turbulent energy dissipated in the sublayer was about 92.0% of the total depth-integrated dissipated TKE, which is twice higher than that of non-wave breaking. The shear production of TKE decreased by 3.5% because the mean flow fields tended to be uniform due to wave-enhanced turbulent mixing. As a result, a new local equilibrium between diffusion and dissipation of TKE was reached in the wave-enhanced layer. Below the sublayer, the local equilibrium between shear production and dissipation of TKE agreed with the conclusion drawn from the classical law-of-the-wall （Craig and Banner, 1994）.     

Composition and distribution of planktonic ciliates in the southern South China Sea during late summer: Comparison between surface and 75 m deep layer

Ciliates are very important components in most marine ecosystem.They are trophic link between the microbial food web and grazing food chain.In this study,ciliates were collected from 11 sites in the southern South China Sea(SCS) during August 25 to September 28,2011.Their composition and distribution at the surface and 75 m deep depth of the ocean were studied.A total of 30 species belonging to 22 genera were identified,and 22 species of 15 genera were Tintinnids.Eutintinnus fraknoii and E.stramentus were the most common species.The other dominants were strombidiids ciliates including Strombidium conicum and S.globosaneum,which were followed by the tide form,Mesodinium pulex.Ciliates abundance ranged from 46 ind L~(-1) to 368 ind L~(-1) in the open sites,46–368 ind L~(-1) at surface and 73–198 ind L~(-1) at 75 m deep layer.In the Yongshu reef,ciliates abundance ranged from 167 ind L~(-1) to 365 ind L~(-1) in the water column,similar to that in Sanya coral reef waters.Ciliates composition showed obvious difference between surface and 75 m deep layer at station S2(P 0.05),while no similar result was observed at other sites.At 75 m deep layer,salinity was negatively related to mixed layer depth(P 0.05),but positively to chlorophyll a concentration(P 0.05),indicating that the change of vertical mixing in water column influenced vertical distribution of ciliates in the southern SCS.     

Prediction of ocean surface current velocity and application to meteorological navigation in the North Pacific

On the basis of an understanding of the ocean current produced under the combined forces of wind stress over the sea surface and horizontal pressure gradient force caused by the uneven distribution of seawater density and the elevation of sea surface, we obtained the unsteady analytic solution of the variation with time of ocean surface current velocity corresponding to the time variation of the above two forces, and the unsteady analytic solution for variation of seawater density with time by considering only the vertical turbulence. To meet different needs, the above solutions may be written in two forms for short and long time predictions. After some simplification the analytic solution was used to predict surface ocean current velocity for meteorological navigation in the North Pacific. The monthly average current field was first obtained to get the necessary parameters for selecting the initial shipping route in the North Pacific and Bohai and Yellow Seas. The wind current field was then calculated by means of the simplified analytic solution to provide realistic bases for prediction of the ocean surface current field so that the optimum navigational route can be known several days in advance. This paper was presented on the Program on “Meteorological navigation in the North Pacific” as a contribution on prediction of ocean surface current in the North Pacific. This program won the Second Prize for Scientific-technical Progress awarded by the National Education Committee.