Cold water temperature anomalies on the Sodwana reefs and their driving mechanisms

The Sodwana reef system experiences short-term temperature fluctuations that may provide relief from bleaching and be crucial in the future survival of the system. These temperature fluctuations are best described as cold water temperature anomaly events that occur over a period of days and cause a drop in temperature of a few degrees on the reef. We explored the statistical link between the temperature anomalies and the regional hydrodynamics to elucidate the driving mechanisms of the temperature anomalies around Sodwana. Temperature measurements taken between 1994 and 2015 on Nine‑Mile Reef at Sodwana show that temperature anomalies occur on average three times per year at Sodwana and predominantly during the summer months. A conditional average of altimetry data at the peak of the temperature anomalies showed the emergence of a negative sea surface height (SSH) anomaly pattern and associated cyclonic eddy just offshore of the Sodwana region. The cyclonic eddies associated with the temperature anomalies originate on the southwestern edge of Madagascar and migrate westwards until they interact with the African coastline at Sodwana. Instantaneous altimetry SSH fields over the 21-year period were cross-correlated to the conditionally averaged SSH field within a 2° region around Sodwana. It was found that 33% of the temperature anomalies at Sodwana were not associated with the presence of cyclonic eddy systems. This finding suggests that an offshore cyclonic eddy interacting with the shelf is not the sole driving mechanism of the temperature anomalies.

The Response and Feedback of Ocean Mesoscale Eddies to Four Sequential Typhoons in 2016 Based on Multiple Satellite Observations and Argo Floats

Four sequential tropical cyclones generated and developed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean (NWP) in 2014, which had significant impacts on the oceanic environment and coastal regions. Based on a substantial dataset of multiple-satellite observations, Argo profiles, and reanalysis data, we comprehensively investigated the interactions between the oceanic environment and sequential tropical cyclones. Super typhoon Neoguri (2014) was the first typhoon-passing studied area, with the maximum sustained wind speed of 140 kts, causing strong cold wake along the track. The location of the strongest cold wake was consistent with the pre-existing cyclonic eddy (CE), in which the average sea surface temperature (SST) cooling exceeded −5 °C. Subsequently, three tropical cyclones passed the ocean environment left by Neoguri, namely, the category 2 typhoon Matmo (2014), the tropical cyclone Nakri (2014) and the category 5 typhoon Halong (2014), which caused completely different subsequent responses. In the CE, due to the fact that the ocean stratification was strongly destroyed by Neoguri and difficult to recover, even the weak Nakri could cause a secondary response, but the secondary SST cooling would be overridden by the first response and thus could cause no more serious ocean disasters. If the subsequent typhoon was super typhoon Halong, it could cause an extreme secondary SST cooling, exceeding −8 °C, due to the deep upwelling, exceeding 700 m, surpassing the record of the maximum cooling caused by the first typhoon. In the anti-cyclonic eddy (AE), since the first typhoon Neoguri caused strong seawater mixing, it was difficult for the subsequent weak typhoons to mix the deeper, colder and saltier water into the surface, thus inhibiting secondary SST cooling, and even the super typhoon Halong would only cause as much SST cooling as the first typhoon. Therefore, the ocean responses to sequential typhoons depended on not only TCs intensity, but also TCs track order and ocean mesoscale eddies. In turn, the cold wake caused by the first typhoon, Neoguri, induced different feedback effects on different subsequent typhoons.

Assemblages of Gelatinous Zooplankton in Mesoscale Oceanographic Features in the Tropical-Temperate Transition Zone of a Western Boundary Current

Boundary currents generate cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, which strongly influence the composition of plankton communities and their spatial dynamics. We explored the gelatinous zooplankton communities where the East Australian Current (EAC) intensifies between 25-31°S, forming a dynamic eddy field at a tropical/temperate boundary. Five types of mesoscale features including the EAC were sampled: the adjacent continental shelf, a transient upwelling feature at the shelf break, a cyclonic frontal eddy which had entrained shelf water and a larger cyclonic eddy that had originated in the Tasman Sea. Forty-two gelatinous taxa were sampled from 62 plankton tows, including 24 cnidarians (9 hydromedusae, 14 siphonophores, 1 scyphozoan), 5 ctenophores and 12 thaliaceans. Assemblages of gelatinous zooplankton differed significantly among oceanographic features but were dominated by the salp, Salpa fusiformis, which comprised 66% of the overall catch. Abundances of gelatinous zooplankton were lowest in the EAC, the shelf break upwelling feature and over the continental shelf, which at the time sampled was flooded by a coastal incursion of the EAC. Abundances were greatest in the two cyclonic eddies and increased four-fold in the Tasman Sea cyclonic eddy over the three times it was sampled, highlighting the importance of cyclonic eddies in driving production of gelatinous zooplankton.

Organic matter transport by cyclonic eddies formed in eastern boundary upwelling system supports heterotrophy in the open oligotrophic ocean

<p>Mesoscale eddies formed in Eastern boundary upwelling systems are elementary components of ocean circulation and play important roles in the offshore transport of organic carbon and nutrients. Yet, most of our knowledge about this lateral transport and its influence on biogeochemical cycles relies on modelling studies and satellite observations, while in situ measurements of biogeochemical parameters are scarce. For example, little is known about the effects of mesoscale eddies on organic carbon distribution, microbial activity, and organic matter (OM) turnover in the open oligotrophic ocean. To address this gap, we investigated the horizontal and vertical variability of phytoplankton and bacterial activity as well as dissolved organic carbon along a zonal corridor of the westward propagation of eddies between the Cape Verde Islands and Mauretania in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA). We additionally collected samples from a cyclonic eddy along this transect at high spatial resolution. Our results indicate a strong impact of cyclonic eddies on both microbial abundance and metabolic activity in the epipelagic layer (0–200 m). Generally, all determined parameters (bacterial abundance, heterotrophic respiration rates, bacterial biomass production, bacterial growth efficiency, bacterial carbon demand and net primary production) were higher in the eddy than in the stations along the meridional transect. Along the transect, microbial biomass and activity rates were gradually decreasing from the coast to the open ocean. We further observed high variability of biogeochemical parameters within the eddy with elevates microbial abundances as well as process rates in the south-western periphery. This can be explained by the rotational flow of the cyclonic eddy, which perturbs local OM and nutrient distribution via azimuthal advection. The local positive anomaly of microbial activity in the cyclonic eddy compared to all other stations including the near coast ones results from eddy pumping of nutrient into the epipelagic layer that promotes growth of phytoplankton. Overall, our study supports that cyclonic eddies are important vehicles for the transport of fresh OM that fuel heterotrophic activity the open ocean, highlighting the coupling between productive EBUS and the adjacent oligotrophic ETNA.</p>

A Study on an Anticyclonic-Cyclonic Eddy Pair Off Fraser Island, Australia

This research examines a cyclonic-anticyclonic eddy (AE) pair off Fraser Island next to the eastern Australian coast in 2009 using the Bluelink Reanalysis data, where the local eddies are poorly understood. This eddy pair formed in July and dissipated in November. We detailed the horizontal and vertical structures of the eddy pair in terms of three-dimensional variations in relative vorticity, hydrographic properties, velocity, and dynamic structures, which presented notable scales of the eddy pair. The AE formed beside the meandering of the East Australian Current (EAC) at 24°S and had a tilting structure in the upper 1,000 m toward the EAC. A cyclonic eddy (CE) formed a month later and interacted with the AE, which had a tilting structure toward the AE in the upper 1,000 m. Heterogeneity in the AE and CE composing this eddy pair was observed in the horizontal and vertical planes. The AE had a stronger and more coherent dynamic structure than the CE. The AE and the EAC interacted in the generation stage when the EAC path shifted eastward, away from the coast. As the EAC subsequently swung back to the coastal area, the AE and the EAC separated. The AE then interacted with the surrounding eddy fields, propagated westward, before finally merging again with the EAC. The energy transfer during this process also indicated the interactions among the eddy pair, the surrounding eddy fields and the EAC. Baroclinic instability (BCI) was a main contributor to the AE in the generation stage. Barotropic instability (BTI) also contributed energy to the AE when it interacted with the EAC but accounted for a much smaller proportion. Both BCI and BTI contributed to the CE for most of its life cycle but to a much less extend than to the AE. The zonal heat and salt mass transported by the AE and CE were calculated based on a Lagrangian framework method, and these amounts were considerable compared with global zonal averaged heat and salt mass transported by other mesoscale eddies.