Modeling Studies of Antarctic Krill (\u3ci\u3eEuphausia superba\u3c/i\u3e) Survival During Transport Across the Scotia Sea and Environs

The Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) populations at South Georgia, which is in the eastern Scotia Sea, are hypothesized to be sustained by import of individuals from upstream regions, such as the western Antarctic Peninsula. To test this hypothesis a modeling framework consisting of the Harvard Ocean Prediction System (HOPS) and a time-dependent, size-structured, physiologically-based krill growth model was developed. The simulated circulation fields obtained from HOPS were used with drifter studies to determine regions and pathways that allow transport of Antarctic krill to South Georgia. Pelagic phytoplankton concentrations along the simulated drifter trajectories were extracted from historical Coastal Zone Color Scanner measurements and sea ice algae concentrations were calculated from sea ice concentration and extent extracted along particle trajectories from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager measurements. As additional food sources, a time series of heterotrophic food was constructed from historical data, and time series of detritus concentrations along simulated drifter trajectories were calculated using phytoplankton concentrations extracted from Coastal Zone Color Scanner measurements together with measured particulate organic carbon to chlorophyll a ratios. These food resources, along specified drifter trajectories were then input to the krill growth model to determine the size and viability of krill during transport from the source region to South Georgia. The drifter simulations showed that krill spawned along the mid to northern portion of the west Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf, coinciding with known krill spawning areas, can be entrained into the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and be transported across the Scotia Sea to South Georgia in 10 months or less. Drifters originating on the continental shelf of the Weddell Sea can reach South Georgia as well; however, transport from this region averages about 20 months. The krill growth model simulations showed that no Single food source, such as pelagic phytoplankton, detritus, sea ice algae, or zooplankton, can support continuous growth of Antarctic krill during the 168 to 225 days needed for transport from the western Antarctic Peninsula to South Georgia. However, combinations of the food sources during the transport time enhanced krill survival, with zooplankton (heterotrophic food) and detritus being particularly important during periods of low pelagic phytoplankton concentrations. The growth model simulations also showed that larval and juvenile krill originating along the western Antarctic Peninsula can grow to the 1+ (14 mm to 36 mm) and 2+ (26 mm to 45 mm) sizes observed at South Georgia during the time needed for transport to this region. The additional transport time needed by krill originating in the Weddell Sea allows retention in a potentially high food environment, provided by sea ice, for almost one year. The krill then complete transport to South Georgia in the following year and larval and juvenile krill grow to 2+ (26 mm to 45 mm) and 3+ (35 mm to 60 mm) sizes during transport

Circulation, Vol. 7, No. 2

Spring 2000 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article Cruising the Southern Ocean by Bettina Fachhttps://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_circulation/1027/thumbnail.jp

Climatic controls on biophysical interactions in the Black Sea under present day conditions and a potential future (A1B) climate scenario

A dynamical downscaling approach has been applied to investigate climatic controls on biophysical interactions and lower trophic level dynamics in the Black Sea. Simulations were performed under present day conditions (1980–1999) and a potential future (2080–2099) climate scenario, based on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario. Simulations project a 3.7 °C increase in SST, a 25% increase in the stability of the seasonal thermocline and a 37 day increase in the duration of seasonal stratification. Increased winter temperatures inhibited the formation of Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL) waters resulting in near complete erosion of the CIL, with implications for the ventilation of intermediate water masses and the subduction of riverine nutrients. A 4% increase in nitrate availability within the upper 30 m of the water column reflected an increase in the retention time of river water within the surface mixed-layer. Changes in thermohaline structure, combined with a 27% reduction in positive wind stress curl, forced a distinct change in the structure of the basin-scale circulation. The predominantly cyclonic circulation characteristic of contemporary conditions was reversed within the southern and eastern regions of the basin, where under A1B climatic conditions, anticyclonic circulation prevailed. The change in circulation structure significantly altered the horizontal advection and dispersion of high nutrient river waters originating on the NW self. Net primary production increased by 5% on average, with much spatial variability in the response, linked to advective processes. Phytoplankton biomass also increased by 5% and the higher nutrient environment of the future scenario caused a shift in species composition in favour of larger phytoplankton. No significant change in zooplankton biomass was projected. These results constitute one of many possible future scenarios for the Black Sea, being dependent on the modelling systems employed in addition to the choice of emission scenario. Our results emphasise in particular the sensitivity of dynamical downscaling studies to the regional wind forcing fields extracted from global models (these being typically model dependent). As atmospheric warming is projected with a high degree of confidence warming of the Black Sea upper layer, increased water column stability, and erosion of the CIL are believed to be robust results of this study

Su kolonunun oksijenli-oksijensiz arayüzey tabakasındaki fosfat ve nitrat döngülerinin modellemesi

TÜBİTAK ÇAYDAG15.07.2012Data collected extensively in the water of the central Baltic Sea show the development of nitrate deficits, likely caused by denitrification and anammox. Observations of temperature and salinity, oxygen, hydrogen sulfide and nutrient concentrations in the central Gotland Sea reveal the rate of formation of nitrate deficits to be largest in the oxic waters above and in the halocline. The reason that large accumulated deficits are observed in stagnant deeper waters is simply that there they can build up over years to decades of stagnation. The magnitude of the nitrate deficit formation varies between years, mainly depending on the annual maximum depth of the mixed layer and related late-winter nitrate concentration in surface water. The bulk of nitrogen losses is by denitrification (anamox maximum 12%?) in the oxic part of the Baltic where it is only possible in sediments. Deep waters turning anoxic can have very high rates of denitrification, but for short periods only. Therefore, and with the small water volume involved, this is of no importance for the Baltic N-balance. The results show that denitrification is not high in the Baltic Sea because it is prone to anoxia at depth. Especially, an often invoked negative feedback removing nitrogen (high nitrate - high production – high sedimentation – high oxygen consumption – anoxia – high denitrification, hence lowered nitrate delivery to the surface) is not at work here. On the contrary, oxic conditions of the water favour nitrogen removal. The stagnation period in the seventies had lower denitrification than the more oxic period of the nineties. Other processes than denitrification and burial in sediments contribute to bound-nitrogen removal in the Baltic Sea, since nitrate deficits are smaller than observed N2 supersaturation

Eddy induced cross-shelf exchanges in the Black Sea

Cross-shelf exchanges in the Black Sea were investigated using remote sensing data and an ocean circulation model to which an eddy-tracking algorithm and Lagrangian particle tracking model was applied. An anticyclonic eddy in 1998 and a cyclonic eddy in 2000 were investigated in detail. Eddy-induced cross-shelf transport of low salinity and high Chl-a waters reached a maximum in the presence of filaments associated with these eddies. The daily mean volume transport by the eddies was comparable with the previously documented transport by eddies of similar size in the north-western shelf region. Lagrangian particle tracking results showed that 59% of particles initially released over the shelf were transported offshore within 30 days by the 1998 anticyclone and 27% by the 2000 cyclone. The net volume transport across the Black Sea shelf-break reached the maxima in winter, coinciding with the increase in wind stress curl and mean kinetic energy that is a measure of the intensity of the boundary current. Ekman transport directly influences the cross-shelf exchanges in the surface layer. The south-eastern Black Sea is presented as an important area for cross-shelf transport. The total cross-shelf transport can be divided into its “large-scale” and “eddy-induced” components. Eddy-induced transport was 34% and 37% of the total cross-shelf transport (1998–2014) in the Black Sea in the off-shelf and on-shelf directions, respectively, but these values ranged between 25% and 65% depending on the eddy activity over time

Doğu Akdeniz'de mevcut farklı ekosistemlerin - upwelling bölgeleri, açık deniz ve kıta sahanlığı suları - dinamikleri, bakteriyel ve birincil üretim potansiyelleri, üst trofik seviyelere yansımaları

TÜBİTAK ÇAYDAG15.10.2014Türkiye denizleri, su bütçesi, atmosferik ve karasal girdiler, taban topoğrafyası, iklimsel evrim gibi temel etkenlerin belirlediği fiziksel, kimyasal, biyolojik özellikler bakımından büyük farklılıklar içeren zengin ve değişken deniz ekosistemlerini barındırmaktadır. Birincil üretim potansiyelleri açısından Karadeniz’in özellikle kuzeybatı kıta sahanlığı ötrofik, Marmara Denizi ve körfezleri ileri derecede ötrofik, Ege Denizi ve Doğu Akdeniz oligotrofik yapı sergilemektedir. Özgün bir dinamiği olan Doğu Akdeniz, genelde bir uç oligotrofik sistem olarak tanımlansa da, kendi içinde önemli bölgesel farklılıklar göstermektedir. Özellikle karasal tatlı su ve besin girdilerinden etkilenen kuzeydoğu kıta sahanlığı (Mersin ve İskenderun Körfezleri) ve ‘upwelling’ dinamiğinden etkilenen Rodos döngüsünde önemli düzeylerde birincil üretim potansiyeline sahiptirler ve daha yoksul olan açık denizden farklıdırlar. Aktif dinamik yapıya ve zengin biyolojik çeşitliliğe sahip kıyısal denizlerimizin sürekli gözlem, analiz ve model öngörüleri aracılığıyla araştırılmasının sürdürülmesi, büyük stratejik önemi haizdir. Çalışma O.D.T.Ü. Deniz Bilimleri Enstitüsü Araştırma Gemisi Bilim-2 ile anılan sahalarda ve istasyonlarda mevsimsel bazda gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışma ile fonksiyonel olarak üç farklı ekosistemi teşkil eden alanlarda bakteriden balıklara uzanan besin zincirinde olası yapısal farklılıklar, üretim potansiyelleri, dinamikleri karşılaştırılmış, toplanan diğer çevre faktörleri ile etkileşimleri irdelenmiştir.Turkish seas accommodate rich and varied marine ecosystems which are diverse in their physical, chemical, biological characteristics as a result of differences in basic driving factors such as the water budget, atmospheric and land-based inputs, bottom topography, climatic evolution. In terms of primary production potential, the Black Sea especially the northwestern continental shelf exhibits eutrophic characteristics, while Marmara Sea and its bays are highly eutrophic, and Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Seas display oligotrophic structure. Although the Eastern Mediterranean with its rather unique characteristics is often defined as an ultra-oligotrophic system, there are significant regional differences within the system. The northeastern continental shelf (Mersin and İskenderun Bays) influenced by land-based fresh water and nutrient sources and the Rhodes Gyre influenced by ‘upwelling’ dynamics have potential for high primary production, while the open sea is relatively poor. Continued research through continuous observations, analyses and model predictions have immense strategic importance for the well being of our coastal seas possessing energetic dynamics and rich biological diversity. It is proposed that the physical-biochemical variability of the diverse northern Levantine Sea ecosystems be investigated through systematic observations during oceanographic cruises, as well as model-based predictions. Study has been conducted seasonally aboard Research Vessel Bilim-2 of the Institute of Marine Sciences of Middle East Technical University in the referred areas and stations. Throughout the study, in areas that represent the three different functional ecosystems, possible structural differences, productivity potential, and dynamics were compared in the food chain spanning bacteria to fish, and their interactions with the other environmental factors were investigated