scholarly journals The influence of decadal oscillations on the oxygen and nutrient trends in the Pacific Ocean

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lothar Stramma ◽  
Sunke Schmidtko ◽  
Steven J. Bograd ◽  
Tsuneo Ono ◽  
Tetjana Ross ◽  
...  

Abstract. A strong oxygen deficient layer is located in the upper layer of the tropical Pacific Ocean and at deeper depths in the North Pacific. Processes related to climate change (upper ocean warming, reduced ventilation) are expected to change ocean oxygen and nutrient inventories. In most ocean basins, a decrease in oxygen (‘deoxygenation’) and an increase of nutrients has been observed in subsurface layers. Deoxygenation trends are not linear and there could be other influences on oxygen and nutrient trends and variability. Here oxygen and nutrient time series since 1950 in the Pacific Ocean were investigated at 50 to 300 m depth, as this layer provides critical pelagic habitat for biological communities. In addition to trends related to ocean warming the oxygen and nutrient trends show a strong influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the tropical and the eastern Pacific, and the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) especially in the North Pacific. In the Oyashio Region the PDO, the NPGO, the North Pacific Index (NPI) and a 18.6 year nodal tidal cycle overlay the long-term trend. In most regions oxygen increases and nutrients decrease in the 50 to 300 m layer during the negative PDO phase, with opposite trends during the positive PDO phase. The PDO index encapsulates the major mode of surface temperature variability in the Pacific and oxygen and nutrients trends throughout the basin can be described in the context of the PDO phases. An influence of the subtropical-tropical cell in the tropical Pacific cannot be proven with the available data. El Niño and La Niña years often influence the oxygen and nutrient distribution during the event in the eastern tropical Pacific, but do not have a multi-year influence on the trends.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 813-831
Author(s):  
Lothar Stramma ◽  
Sunke Schmidtko ◽  
Steven J. Bograd ◽  
Tsuneo Ono ◽  
Tetjana Ross ◽  
...  

Abstract. A strong oxygen-deficient layer is located in the upper layers of the tropical Pacific Ocean and deeper in the North Pacific. Processes related to climate change (upper-ocean warming, reduced ventilation) are expected to change ocean oxygen and nutrient inventories. In most ocean basins, a decrease in oxygen (“deoxygenation”) and an increase in nutrients have been observed in subsurface layers. Deoxygenation trends are not linear and there could be multiple influences on oxygen and nutrient trends and variability. Here oxygen and nutrient time series since 1950 in the Pacific Ocean were investigated at 50 to 300 m depth, as this layer provides critical pelagic habitat for biological communities. In addition to trends related to ocean warming the oxygen and nutrient trends show a strong influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the tropical and the eastern Pacific, and the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) in particular in the North Pacific. In the Oyashio Region the PDO, the NPGO, the North Pacific Index (NPI) and an 18.6-year nodal tidal cycle overlay the long-term trend. In most eastern Pacific regions oxygen increases and nutrients decrease in the 50 to 300 m layer during the negative PDO phase, with opposite trends during the positive PDO phase. The PDO index encapsulates the major mode of sea surface temperature variability in the Pacific, and oxygen and nutrients trends throughout the basin can be described in the context of the PDO phases. El Niño and La Niña years often influence the oxygen and nutrient distribution during the event in the eastern tropical Pacific but do not have a multi-year influence on the trends.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 12155-12216 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ishii ◽  
R. A. Feely ◽  
K. B. Rodgers ◽  
G.-H. Park ◽  
R. Wanninkhof ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air-sea CO2 fluxes over the Pacific Ocean are known to be characterized by coherent large-scale structures that reflect not only ocean subduction and upwelling patterns, but also the combined effects of wind-driven gas exchange and biology. On the largest scales, a large net CO2 influx into the extra-tropics is associated with a robust seasonal cycle, and a large net CO2 efflux from the tropics is associated with substantial inter-annual variability. In this work, we have synthesized estimates of the net air-sea CO2 flux from a variety of products drawing upon a variety of approaches in three sub-basins of the Pacific Ocean, i.e., the North Pacific extra-tropics (18° N–66° N), the tropical Pacific (18° S–18° N), and the South Pacific extra-tropics (44.5° S–18° S). These approaches include those based on the measurements of CO2 partial pressure in surface seawater (pCO2sw), inversions of ocean interior CO2 data, forward ocean biogeochemistry models embedded in the ocean general circulation models (OBGCMs), a model with assimilation of pCO2sw data, and inversions of atmospheric CO2 measurements. Long-term means, inter-annual variations and mean seasonal variations of the regionally-integrated fluxes were compared in each of the sub-basins over the last two decades, spanning the period from 1990 through 2009. A simple average of the long-term mean fluxes obtained with surface water pCO2 diagnostics and those obtained with ocean interior CO2 inversions are –0.47 ± 0.13 Pg C yr–1 in the North Pacific extra-tropics, +0.44 ± 0.14 Pg C yr–1 in the tropical Pacific, and –0.37 ± 0.08 Pg C yr–1 in the South Pacific extra-tropics, where positive fluxes are into the atmosphere. This suggests that approximately half of the CO2 taken up over the North and South Pacific extra-tropics is released back to the atmosphere from the tropical Pacific. These estimates of the regional fluxes are also supported by the estimates from OBGCMs after adding the riverine CO2 flux, i.e., –0.49 ± 0.02 Pg C yr–1 in the North Pacific extra-tropics, +0.41 ± 0.05 Pg C yr–1 in the tropical Pacific, and –0.39 ± 0.11 Pg C yr–1 in the South Pacific extra-tropics. The estimates from the atmospheric CO2 inversions show large variations amongst different inversion systems, but their median fluxes are consistent with the estimates from climatological pCO2sw data and pCO2sw diagnostics. In the South Pacific extra-tropics, where CO2 variations in the surface and ocean interior are severely under-sampled, the difference in the air-sea CO2 flux estimates between the diagnostic models and ocean interior CO2 inversions is larger (0.18 Pg C yr–1). The range of estimates from forward OBGCMs is also large (−0.19 to −0.72 Pg C yr–1). Regarding inter-annual variability of air-sea CO2 fluxes, positive and negative anomalies are evident in the tropical Pacific during the cold and warm events of the El Niño Southern Oscillation in the estimates from pCO2sw diagnostic models and from OBGCMs. They are consistent in phase with the Southern Oscillation Index, but the peak-to-peak amplitudes tend to be higher in OBGCMs (0.40 ± 0.09 Pg C yr–1) than in the diagnostic models (0.27 ± 0.07 Pg C yr–1).


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ishii ◽  
R. A. Feely ◽  
K. B. Rodgers ◽  
G.-H. Park ◽  
R. Wanninkhof ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air–sea CO2 fluxes over the Pacific Ocean are known to be characterized by coherent large-scale structures that reflect not only ocean subduction and upwelling patterns, but also the combined effects of wind-driven gas exchange and biology. On the largest scales, a large net CO2 influx into the extratropics is associated with a robust seasonal cycle, and a large net CO2 efflux from the tropics is associated with substantial interannual variability. In this work, we have synthesized estimates of the net air–sea CO2 flux from a variety of products, drawing upon a variety of approaches in three sub-basins of the Pacific Ocean, i.e., the North Pacific extratropics (18–66° N), the tropical Pacific (18° S–18° N), and the South Pacific extratropics (44.5–18° S). These approaches include those based on the measurements of CO2 partial pressure in surface seawater (pCO2sw), inversions of ocean-interior CO2 data, forward ocean biogeochemistry models embedded in the ocean general circulation models (OBGCMs), a model with assimilation of pCO2sw data, and inversions of atmospheric CO2 measurements. Long-term means, interannual variations and mean seasonal variations of the regionally integrated fluxes were compared in each of the sub-basins over the last two decades, spanning the period from 1990 through 2009. A simple average of the long-term mean fluxes obtained with surface water pCO2 diagnostics and those obtained with ocean-interior CO2 inversions are −0.47 ± 0.13 Pg C yr−1 in the North Pacific extratropics, +0.44 ± 0.14 Pg C yr−1 in the tropical Pacific, and −0.37 ± 0.08 Pg C yr−1 in the South Pacific extratropics, where positive fluxes are into the atmosphere. This suggests that approximately half of the CO2 taken up over the North and South Pacific extratropics is released back to the atmosphere from the tropical Pacific. These estimates of the regional fluxes are also supported by the estimates from OBGCMs after adding the riverine CO2 flux, i.e., −0.49 ± 0.02 Pg C yr−1 in the North Pacific extratropics, +0.41 ± 0.05 Pg C yr−1 in the tropical Pacific, and −0.39 ± 0.11 Pg C yr−1 in the South Pacific extratropics. The estimates from the atmospheric CO2 inversions show large variations amongst different inversion systems, but their median fluxes are consistent with the estimates from climatological pCO2sw data and pCO2sw diagnostics. In the South Pacific extratropics, where CO2 variations in the surface and ocean interior are severely undersampled, the difference in the air–sea CO2 flux estimates between the diagnostic models and ocean-interior CO2 inversions is larger (0.18 Pg C yr−1). The range of estimates from forward OBGCMs is also large (−0.19 to −0.72 Pg C yr−1). Regarding interannual variability of air–sea CO2 fluxes, positive and negative anomalies are evident in the tropical Pacific during the cold and warm events of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation in the estimates from pCO2sw diagnostic models and from OBGCMs. They are consistent in phase with the Southern Oscillation Index, but the peak-to-peak amplitudes tend to be higher in OBGCMs (0.40 ± 0.09 Pg C yr−1) than in the diagnostic models (0.27 ± 0.07 Pg C yr−1).


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2581-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixin Wu ◽  
Chun Li

Abstract In this paper, global climatic response to the North Pacific oceanic warming is investigated in a series of coupled ocean–atmosphere modeling experiments. In the model, an idealized heating is imposed over the North Pacific Ocean, while the ocean and atmosphere remain fully coupled both locally and elsewhere. The model explicitly demonstrates that the North Pacific oceanic warming can force a significant change of the atmospheric circulation with a strong seasonal dependence. The seasonal marching of the atmospheric response over the North Pacific is characterized by a quasi-baratropic warm ridge in early winter, a transition to a quasi-baratropic warm trough in late winter, and then to a baroclinic response in summer with a trough and ridge, respectively, in the lower and upper troposphere. The North Pacific warming also forces a significant remote response over the tropical Pacific. In winter, the tropical Pacific response is characterized by a nearly uniform warming coupled with anomalous southerly cross-equatorial winds, while in summer it is dominated by an enhanced zonal SST gradient and anomalous equatorial easterlies. The tropical warming tends to be associated with a reduction of the upper-ocean meridional overturning circulation and equatorial ocean dynamics associated with a reduction of the Hadley circulation and the surface coupled wind–evaporation–SST feedback. The resulting tropical warming can further intensify the seasonal marching of the North Pacific atmospheric response. The global impacts of the North Pacific warming are also discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 7-30
Author(s):  
A. Y. Petrov ◽  
V. N. Kostornichenko ◽  
M. M. Koskina

The article reviews the initial period of European colonization of the North Pacific Ocean and California within the context of diplomatic relations between Russia and Spain during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It tries to understand the policies of European powers in the American Northwest and the reasons for pursuing their colonial interests there. It analyses the history of exploration of these territories, expeditions to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, and historical maps of this region. For the first time in Russian historiography the authors touch upon the exploration of California in the 18th century.The exploration of the North Pacific Ocean, the northwestern American coast, including certain areas of California, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands has long attracted the attention of European powers. It was a process in which government authorities and private merchant companies took part. The expansion of the Spanish Empire into California was made possible in part because of the concerns of the Madrid court about the strengthening of the Russian and British empires in the North Pacific Ocean. The Spanish documents from the archives of Madrid, Seville and Simancas – the article introduces them into research communication the first time - show the validity of the fears of the Madrid court regarding the inevitable development of Russian colonization in the region. The advance of Russia to the shores of America has economic reasons: Cossacks and merchants reached the Pacific Ocean pursuing the desire to profit from the fur trade. As the economic influence expanded, the state interests of annexing territories and bringing the local population into citizenship followed behind. The territorial advance of the Russians to the Pacific Ocean was facilitated by the ambitious, but at the same time balanced diplomacy of Peter I, which managed to ensure the expansion of the borders of the Russian Empire.Spanish consolidation in certain territories in California was aimed at a possible containment of the Russian advance. Russian-Spanish relations in the Northwest Pacific at the end of the 17th – 18th centuries contributed to the nature of the subsequent development of territories in the North Pacific Ocean.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Rogers ◽  
Jason Furtado ◽  
Bruce Anderson

Abstract Persistent, multi-year shifts in atmospheric circulations and their associated influence on regional climates have profound impacts on physical, biological, and socioeconomic systems. The Pacific Decadal Precession (PDP), an atmospheric mode of variability consisting of a lower tropospheric height dipole which rotates counterclockwise over several years in the North Pacific, describes a series of such shifts in atmospheric circulations. One phase of the PDP, the north-south (N-S) phase, is hypothesized to be partially driven by central tropical Pacific (CP) sea surface temperature (SST) variability, but robust assessment of this dynamical connection in climate models remains to be done. In this study, we investigate this hypothesis with analyses in both reanalysis and selected models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) archive. We show that the emergence of the N-S phase is both related to and influenced by tropical Pacific decadal SST variability, specifically variability associated with CP El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. When examining the CMIP6 model output, we find that most models cannot recover the characteristic cyclonic precession of the dipoles of the PDP, instead featuring only amplitude and sign changes of the N-S phase, Moreover, the models do not replicate the dynamical connections between the tropical Pacific and this North Pacific mode. Our results suggest that primary reasons for this inconsistency are that models inaccurately simulate both the SST pattern associated with the PDP, shared low-frequency power associated with CP ENSO events, and incorrect Rossby wavetrains emanating from the tropical Pacific into the North Pacific on quasi-decadal timescales. Taken together, our analyses offer another benchmark by which to test the fidelity of the climate model simulations in capturing Pacific decadal climate variability in order to improve decadal-to-centennial climate projections.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingsheng Meng ◽  
Wei Zhuang ◽  
Weiwei Zhang ◽  
Angela Ditri ◽  
Xiao-Hai Yan

AbstractSea level changes within wide temporal–spatial scales have great influence on oceanic and atmospheric circulations. Efforts have been made to identify long-term sea level trend and regional sea level variations on different time scales. A nonuniform sea level rise in the tropical Pacific and the strengthening of the easterly trade winds from 1993 to 2012 have been widely reported. It is well documented that sea level in the tropical Pacific is associated with the typical climate modes. However, sea level change on interannual and decadal time scales still requires more research. In this study, the Pacific sea level anomaly (SLA) was decomposed into interannual and decadal time scales via an ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method. The temporal–spatial features of the SLA variability in the Pacific were examined and were closely associated with climate variability modes. Moreover, decadal SLA oscillations in the Pacific Ocean were identified during 1993–2016, with the phase reversals around 2000, 2004, and 2012. In the tropical Pacific, large sea level variations in the western and central basin were a result of changes in the equatorial wind stress. Moreover, coherent decadal changes could also be seen in wind stress, sea surface temperature (SST), subtropical cells (STCs), and thermocline depth. Our work provided a new way to illustrate the interannual and decadal sea level variations in the Pacific Ocean and suggested a coupled atmosphere–ocean variability on a decadal time scale in the tropical region with two cycles from 1993 to 2016.


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