The Columbia Basin once supported a diversity of native fishes and large runs of anadromous salmonids that sustained substantial fisheries and cultural values. Extensive land conversion, watershed disruptions, and subsequent fishery declines have led to one of the most ambitious restoration programs in the world. Progress has been made, but...
Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) of purportedly terrestrial origin are frequently detected in marine sediments, even in remote ocean sites where no direct impact from land erosion via rivers takes place. At these places, the most likely explanation for the presence of brGDGTs is in situ production or eolian...
Recent studies of estuarine sediment deposits have focused on grain size spectra as a tool to better understand depositional processes, in particular those associated with tidal inlet and basin dynamics. The key to accurate interpretation of lithostratigraphic sequences is establishing clear connections between morphodynamic changes and the resulting shifts in...
Considerable effort is presently being devoted to producing high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) analyses with a goal of spatial grid resolutions as low as 1 km. Because grid resolution is not the same as feature resolution, a method is needed to objectively determine the resolution capability and accuracy of SST...
A central challenge for natural resource management is developing rigorous yet practical approaches for balancing the costs and benefits of diverse human uses of ecosystems. Economic theory has a long history of evaluating tradeoffs in returns from different assets to identify optimal investment strategies. There has been recent progress applying...
We integrate micropaleontological and geochemical records (benthic stable isotopes, neodymium isotopes, benthic foraminiferal abundances and XRF-scanner derived elemental data) from well-dated Pacific Ocean successions (15-12.7 Ma) to monitor circulation changes during the middle Miocene transition into a colder climate mode with permanent Antarctic ice cover. Together with previously published records,...
Characterizing the vigor of magmatic activity in Yellowstone requires knowledge of the mechanisms and rates of heat transport between magma and the ground surface. We present results from a heat flow study in two vapor dominated, acid-sulfate thermal areas in the Yellowstone Caldera, the 0.11 km² Obsidian Pool Thermal Area...
The low-frequency dynamics of coastal upwelling and cross-shelf transport in the Central and Southern California Current System (CCS) are investigated using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) over the period 1965-2008. An ensemble of passive tracers released in the numerical model is used to characterize the effects of linear (Ekman...
We describe a new algorithm for robust principal component analysis (PCA) of electromagnetic (EM) array data, extending previously developed multivariate methods to include arrays with large data gaps, and only partial overlap between site occupations. Our approach is based on a criss-cross regression scheme in which polarization parameters and spatial...
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are acidifying the ocean, affecting calcification rates in pelagic organisms, and thereby modifying the oceanic carbon and alkalinity cycles. However, the responses of pelagic calcifying organisms to acidification vary widely between species, contributing uncertainty to predictions of atmospheric CO₂ and the resulting climate change. At...
In the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), the regular occurrence of summer phytoplankton blooms contributes to marine ecosystem productivity and the annual carbon export. The mechanisms underlying the formation, maintenance, and decay of these blooms remain largely unknown; nitrogen fixation, episodic vertical mixing of nutrients, and meso- (<100 km) and...
We used split-beam acoustic techniques to observe free-swimming of jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas during 4 cruises in the Gulf of California. Four-dimensional spatio-temporal data revealed that at night in shallow water, jumbo squid were using ascending, spiral-like swimming paths to emerge from extremely dense aggregations, and were likely foraging on...
Turbulence controls the composition of river plumes through mixing and alters the plume's trajectory by diffusing its momentum. While believed to play a crucial role in decelerating river-source waters, the turbulence stress in a near-field river plume has not previously been observationally quantified. In this study, finely resolved density, velocity,...
Equilibrium climate sensitivity of the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4) is 3.20 degrees C for 1 degrees horizontal resolution in each component. This is about a half degree Celsius higher than in the previous version (CCSM3). The transient climate sensitivity of CCSM4 at 1 degrees resolution is 1.72...
Recent studies have found that equatorial Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) variability may be influencing tropical Indian Ocean climate (Kucharski 2009, Wang 2009). Due to the economic and social impact of tropical cyclones, it is important to investigate how an Atlantic-Indian Ocean connection may be affecting tropical cyclone behavior in...
This paper examines the effect of “stencil width” on surface ocean geostrophic velocity and vorticity estimated from differentiating gridded satellite altimeter sea surface height products. In oceanographic applications, the value of the first derivative at a central grid point is generally obtained by differencing the sea surface heights at adjacent...
The impacts of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Great Lakes ice cover were investigated using lake ice observations for winters 1963–2010 and National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis data. It is found that both NAO and ENSO have impacts on Great Lakes ice cover. The...
Methane derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) precipitation occurs within marine sediments as a byproduct of the microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). While these carbonates form in chemical and isotopic equilibrium with the fluids from which they precipitate, burial diagenesis and recrystallization can overprint these signals. Plane polarized light (PPL) and...
Simple parameterizations of dune erosion are necessary for forecasting erosion potential prior to an oncoming storm. Dune erosion may be parameterized in terms of the elevation of the total water level (composed of surge, tide, and wave runup) above the dune base and period of exposure of the dune to...
The early Pliocene warm phase was characterized by high sea surface temperatures and a deep thermocline in the eastern equatorial Pacific. A new hypothesis suggests that the progressive closure of the Panamanian seaway contributed substantially to the termination of this zonally symmetric state in the equatorial Pacific. According to this...
Bathymetry and magnetic anomalies indicate that a seamount on the Juan de Fuca plate has been subducted beneath the central Cascadia accretionary complex and is now located similar to 45 km landward of the deformation front. Passage of this seamount through the accretionary complex has resulted in a pattern of...
The rare earth elements (REEs) with their systematically varying properties are powerful tracers of continental inputs, particle scavenging intensity and the oxidation state of seawater. However, their generally low (similar to pmol/kg) concentrations in seawater and fractionation potential during chemical treatment makes them difficult to measure. Here we report a...
Using stable isotope analyses of N and C we present preliminary evidence of marine-derived nutrients from introduced Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum) in stream food webs of Laguna Los Patos, NW Patagonia. Similar to values reported within Chinook salmon's native distributional range periphyton and aquatic insects are the trophic levels...
Oregon is currently in the process of establishing Marine Reserves (MRs) and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within Oregon’s Territorial Sea. To assure that residents are aware of impending policy and the science behind it, science educators must formulate education tools that define terms and identify issues, but do not alienate...
During the 2008 and 2009 breeding seasons of murres Uria spp., we combined visual observations of these predators with active acoustics (sonar), fish trawls, zooplankton net tows, and hydrographic measurements in the area surrounding breeding colonies in the southeastern Bering Sea. We acoustically detected thousands of bubble trails that were...
We examine the thermal effects of seamount subduction. Seamount subduction may cause transient changes in oceanic crust hydrogeology and plate boundary fault position. Prior to subduction, seamounts provide high‐permeability pathways between the basaltic crustal aquifer and overlying ocean that can focus fluid flow and efficiently cool the oceanic crust. As...
Oyster shell is a crucial component of healthy oyster reefs. Shell planting has been a main component of oyster restoration efforts in many habitats and has been carried out on scales from individual and grassroots efforts to multiagency efforts across entire estuaries. However, the cycling and lifetime of the shell...
A 1-km-horizontal-resolution model based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System is implemented along the Oregon coast to study average characteristics and intermittency of the M₂ internal tide during summer upwelling. Wind-driven and tidally driven flows are simulated in combination, using realistic bathymetry, atmospheric forcing, and boundary conditions. The study period...
Alongshore flow in the direction of propagation of coastal trapped waves can result in upwelling at the shelfbreak. The intensity of this upwelling can be comparable in magnitude to wind-driven coastal upwelling, with its associated ecological features. Recent numerical experiments by Matano & Palma indicate that this upwelling results from...
Internal tide generation, propagation, and dissipation are investigated in Luzon Strait, a system of two quasi-parallel ridges situated between Taiwan and the Philippines. Two profiling moorings deployed for about 20 days and a set of nineteen 36-h lowered ADCP-CTD time series stations allowed separate measurement of diurnal and semidiurnal internal...
Outreach is a small, but significant component to modern research.
Developing an exhibit for public display can be an effective way to communicate science to broad audiences, although it may be a less familiar method to scientists than writing papers or giving presentations. I outline the process of developing an...
Marine sediments contain an abundance of methane that is biologically produced
and plays a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Microbes responsible for the
carbon cycle in marine sediments, and the processes that they carry out, need to be
characterized in order to fully understand the role of this...
In a steady state, the Earth's absorbed solar radiation (ASR) balances the outgoing
longwave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). In response to a radiative
forcing, that is, an external perturbation to the top of the atmosphere energy balance, the
Earth's climate system adjusts until reaching a...
Two bloom-detection products were developed for the Oregon coast that describe the relative percent change observed between successive pairs of 8-day chlorophyll-a (CHL) and fluorescence line-height (FLH) products obtained from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Aqua spacecraft (MODIS-Aqua). The CHL[subscript dev] and FLH[subscript dev] products, respectively, were optimized...
Jellyfish benefit from many of the changes mankind is making to the ocean. Climate change, overfishing, nutrient runoff, the introduction of invasive species, and coastal development all promote these ancient, gelatinous creatures. Because of their familiarity to readers and affinity for degraded places in the ocean, jellyfish are used to...
With over 175 million Americans visiting each year and the ability to create unique learning experiences, informal science institutions may play a greater role in climate change education in the coming years. As facilities in Oregon begin to incorporate climate science and solutions into their educational programming, effective communication across...
The deglacial behavior of the sub-Arctic North Pacific is poorly constrained, with many published records suffering from limited age control due to extensive post- depositional biogenic carbonate dissolution. Potential alternative dating methods could include the correlation of stable-isotopic and/or paleomagnetic secular variation records to an independently-dated regional template, however no...
In 2007, the City of Corvallis was issued a Phase II NPDES permit from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for non-point source pollution. In Corvallis, the majority of the stormwater conveyance system is separate from the sanitary sewer system. During a rain event, stormwater flows through pipes or over...
Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a shear layer with salt-fingering-favorable stratification have been performed for different Richardson numbers Ri and density ratios R[subscript]p. In the absence of shear (Ri = oo), the primary instability is square planform salt fingering, alternating cells of rising and sinking fluid. In the presence of...
Report on CICEET grant research in coordination with Laura Brophy, Marine Resource Management Program, OSU-COAS September 2009 - June 2011.
Tidal wetlands are a powerful carbon sink. They can sequester an order of magnitude
more carbon than any other type of wetland system, and emit only negligible amounts
of methane...
Juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) are one of the primary prey items for bird and mammal predators in the Bering Sea and support a large commercial fishery. An understanding of the environmental factors that determine the horizontal and vertical distribution of juvenile pollock is needed to estimate the effects that...
Small, mountainous river systems have been increasingly studied due to their importance as sources of fluvial sediment and organic matter to the coastal ocean. Thus far, studies of small, mountainous river systems have focused on rivers with very high sediment loads. The well-studied Eel River dispersal system in northern California...
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes between the ocean and atmosphere on continental margins are difficult to diagnose because these regions experience large variability over spatial and temporal scales spanning meters to basins and hours to years, respectively. In a global sense, continental margins could represent a significant atmospheric CO₂ sink, equivalent...
The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) is the first spaceborne hyperspectral sensor designed specifically for the coastal ocean and estuarial, riverine, or other shallow-water areas. The HICO generates hyperspectral images, primarily over the 400–900 nm spectral range, with a ground sample distance of ≈90 m (at nadir) and a high...
Hazards threaten coastal communities and ecosystems over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. One of the most pressing concerns for coastal property owners, decision makers, and researchers is the uncertain role that a changing climate will have on the intensity and frequency of these hazards. The significant uncertainties associated with...
This study investigates atmospheric factors influencing the quality and the postprocessing (e.g., tilt correction) of fast-response measurements of turbulent fluxes for difficult open-sea measurements over an offshore platform. The data were collected at the Ieodo Ocean Research Station over the Yellow Sea during the period from 5 November 2007 to...
Narrowband oscillations observed in the upper equatorial Pacific are interpreted in terms of a random ensemble of shear instability events. Linear perturbation analysis is applied to hourly averaged profiles of velocity and density over a 54-day interval, yielding a total of 337 unstable modes. Composite profiles of mean states and...
Bi-weekly sampling of zooplankton and environmental parameters was conducted along a cross-shelf transect off the coast of Newport, OR, USA (44.65°N) from 1996 to present. Results have demonstrated the feasibility of using copepod community structure as an early indicator of ecosystem response to seasonal and large scale environmental changes in...
This paper presents an evaluation and validation of the Naval Research Laboratory's COAMPS® real-time forecasts during the VOCALS-REx over the area off the west coast of Chile/Peru in the Southeast Pacific during October and November 2008. The analyses focus on the marine boundary layer (MBL) structure. These forecasts are compared...
The floating ice shelf of Petermann glacier interacts directly with the ocean and is thought to lose at least 80% of its mass through basal melting. Based on three opportunistic ocean surveys in Petermann Fjord we describe the basic oceanography: the circulation at the fjord mouth, the hydrographic structure beneath...
The boundary between ice and basalt on Earth is an analog for some near-surface environments of Mars. We investigated neutrophilic iron-oxidizing microorganisms from the basalt-ice interface in a lava tube from the Oregon Cascades with perennial ice. One of the isolates (Pseudomonas sp. HerB) can use ferrous iron Fe(II) from...
Regional ocean circulation along the Oregon coast is studied numerically for forcing fields derived from year 2005 and climatological-mean conditions. The primary object is to study directly the Lagrangian pathways by which fluid arrives in the Oregon upwelling zone. Roughly half of the upwelling fluid is found to arrive in...
We examined the incidental catches of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) taken during research cruises and in commercial and recreational landings along the Pacific coast of North America during over 30 years of sampling. Shad, an introduced species, was mainly found over the shallow continental shelf, and largest catches and highest...
Global climate change is projected to have far-ranging effects on the oceans and
marine life. In turn, fisheries will likely undergo changes in their distributions and
abundance. Coastal Alaskan communities are often highly dependent on commercial
fisheries, and as a result will likely be vulnerable to climate change. The purpose...
The seafood industry in Alaska produces about 4.4 billion pounds of fish every year and approximately 2.2 billion pounds of fish waste. Product recovery rates in the seafood industry have increased in the last decade, but still a large portion of all harvested fish is unused and often discharged into...
Internal‐tide generation is usually predicted from local topography, surface tides, and stratification. However, internal tides are often observed to be unrelated to local spring‐neap forcing, appearing intermittently in 3–5 day bursts. Here we suggest a source of this intermittency by illustrating how remotely‐generated shoaling internal tides induce first‐order changes in...
Rates of benthic O₂ exchange are important measurements for determining organic matter remineralization, and can shed light on factors driving biogeochemical processes in coastal environments. Measurement of in situ O₂ consumption and production within permeable sediments, such as those found over ~43% of the Oregon-Washington shelf, has traditionally been done...
The subaerial beach, composed of sand dunes and the foreshore, provides a natural buffer zone between vulnerable land and the dissipation of storm wave energy due to wave breaking. The natural beauty of this region is attractive to people, and as a result, significant investment has been placed in this...
Tide-topography coupling is important for understanding surface-tide energy loss, the intermittency of internal tides, and the cascade of internal-tide energy from large to small scales. Although tide-topography coupling has been observed and modeled for 50 years, the identification of surface and internal tides over arbitrary topography has not been standardized....
Nitrogen (N) fixation by specialized microorganisms (diazotrophs) influences global plankton productivity because it provides the ocean with most of its bio-available N. However, its global rate and large-scale spatial distribution is still regarded with considerable uncertainty. Here we use a global ocean nitrogen isotope model, in comparison with δ15NO3 observations,...
Current projections of the oceanic response to anthropogenic climate forcings are uncertain. Two key sources of these uncertainties are (1) structural errors in current Earth system models and (2) imperfect knowledge of model parameters. Ocean tracer observations have the potential to reduce these uncertainties. Previous studies typically consider each tracer...
Current projections of the oceanic response to anthropogenic climate forcings are uncertain. Two key sources of these uncertainties are (1) structural errors in current Earth system models and (2) imperfect knowledge of model parameters. Ocean tracer observations have the potential to reduce these uncertainties. Previous studies typically consider each tracer...
Over the last three decades Oregonians have been engaged in a protracted discussion about Marine Spatial Planning. In the last twenty years the discussion has centered on the protection of Oregon’s natural marine resources and has taken on various labels such as marine gardens, conservation areas, marine sanctuary, and marine...
This dissertation investigates the dynamics of the tidally modulated outflow from the Columbia River mouth using high resolution measurements of velocity, density and turbulent microstructure. At high tide, flow through the river mouth reverses from flood (onshore) to ebb (offshore). During ebb, buoyant fluid issues from the river mouth and...
Project CROOS, Collaborative Research on Oregon Ocean Salmon, is a unique partnership of scientists and commercial fishermen that combines catch location data with stock assignments obtained from genetic micro-satellite analysis to investigate the distribution of Oregon Chinook across multiple spatial scales. Using catch data collected by collaborating Oregon troll fishermen,...
Ship tracks have proven to be an ideal laboratory for studying the response of marine
stratocumulus to an increase in aerosol pollution. Here the response of already
polluted marine stratocumulus to further pollution was examined by studying the
clouds where two ship tracks cross. 78 crossings of ship tracks were...
The Hi-CLIMB seismic experiment (2002-2005) operated 233 sites along an 800-km long north-south array extending from the Himalayan foreland into the Central Tibetan Plateau and a flanking 350x350 km lateral array in southern Tibet and eastern Nepal. Data from the experiment’s second phase (June 2004 to August 2005), when stations...
Oregon Fishermen in Ocean Observing Research (OrFIOOR) is a cooperative research program between ocean scientists and fishermen in the Pacific Northwest. Dungeness crab fishermen attach sensor packages (temperature and dissolved oxygen) to crab pots. The pots serve as platforms of opportunity for ocean observing. This study examines three principle questions...
The weather pattern and trends associated with heat flux events (HFEs) over the Gulf Stream (GS) are examined as part of the CLIMODE project. A large portion of GS turbulent heat loss occurs during distinct synoptic scale events with a duration of one to two days. Forty percent (40%) of...
Port Orford is a small fishing community on the southern Oregon coast. Like many coastal towns in Oregon, Port Orford's main economy is the commercial fishing industry. As such, the community has a high dependence on its nearshore marine resources. Those who make their living from these resources know that...
Establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) has been documented to effectively manage marine resource's diversity and enhance fisheries productivity. However, there must be a critical consideration of how these sites are selected and the actual description of the site itself. Its effectiveness is greatly dependent on understanding these habitats and...
We estimate the depth of the 120°C isotherm by constructing crustal thermal gradients based on theoretical and observed conductive heat flux as a function of lithospheric age. We chose the 120°C isotherm because it is close to the upper limit for prokaryotic life, and therefore, the isotherm approximates the maximum...
Under conditions of fixed N-limitation, as with most oligotrophic systems, the process of biological N₂ fixation (diazotrophy) is favored, provided the necessary trace elements and vitamins are sufficient. Despite the well understood contributions of N₂
fixation in oligotrophic regions, the nutritional and ecological controls of marine diazotrophs have not been...
A new dataset synthesizes in situ and remote sensing observations from research ships deployed to the southeastern tropical Pacific stratocumulus region for 7 years in boreal fall. Surface meteorology, turbulent and radiative fluxes, aerosols, cloud properties, and rawinsonde profiles were measured on nine ship transects along 20°S from 75° to...
The typically sparse distribution of weather stations in mountainous terrain inadequately resolves temperature variability. Accordingly, high‐resolution gridding of climate data (for applications such as hydrological modeling) often relies on assumptions such as a constant surface temperature lapse rate (i.e., decrease of surface temperature with altitude) of 6.5°C km⁻¹. Using an...
The backscattering properties of marine phytoplankton, which are assumed to vary widely with differences in size, shape, morphology and internal structure, have been directly measured in the laboratory on a very limited basis. This work presents results from laboratory analysis of the backscattering properties of thirteen phytoplankton species from five...
Shoreward propagating, mode 2 nonlinear waves appear sporadically in mooring records obtained off the coast of New Jersey in the summer of 2006. Individual mode 2 packets were tracked between two moorings separated by 1 km; however, packets could not be tracked between moorings separated by greater distances from one...
The method used to separate surface and internal tides ultimately defines properties such as internal‐tide generation and the depth structure of internal‐tide energy flux. Here, we provide a detailed analysis of several surface‐/internal‐tide decompositions over arbitrary topography. In all decompositions, surface‐tide velocity is expressed as the depth average of total...
New analyses of teleseismic body waves from moderate earthquakes in western Argentina demonstrate that active shortening of the Andean foreland occurs on reverse faults extending to 40–50 km depth. Existing crustal‐scale models of foreland deformation invoke thin‐skinned fault geometries, which root into an east‐dipping mid‐crustal décollement. Whereas thin‐skinned thrust sheets...
Time‐dependent buoyant plumes form at the outflow of tidally dominated estuaries. When estuary discharge velocity exceeds plume internal wave speed c, a sharp front forms at the plume’s leading edge that expands from the time‐dependent source. Using observations of the Columbia River tidal plume from multiple tidal cycles we characterize...
Instability and turbulence in sheared, salt-fingering favorable stratification are studied
using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS). Salt-fingering favorable
stratification is gravitationally stable, because the unstable vertical gradient of salinity
is stabilized by temperature (warm, salty over cool, fresh water-masses). Salt-fingering
instability can occur at the interface of these different water-masses....
Phagotrophic protists are major consumers of microbial biomass in aquatic ecosystems. However, biochemical mechanisms underlying prey recognition and phagocytosis by protists are not well understood. We investigated the potential roles of cell signaling mechanisms in chemosensory response to prey, and in capture of prey cells, by a marine ciliate (Uronema...
The generation mechanism for downslope windstorms was shown to vary according to inversion height and strength using a series of numerical experiments. Strong low level inversions were dominated by interfacial waves on the inversion, while high level inversion and cases without an inversion were dominated by internal gravity wave (IGW)...
Small pelagic fish represent a critical trophic link between plankton and large predators in marine upwelling ecosystems such as the California Current System. Populations of these fish are highly variable over time and are characterized by extreme fluctuations in abundance, which have significant ecosystem impacts. The causes driving
this instability...
Aerosols are tiny particles that serve as nuclei for cloud droplet and ice crystal formation. Increases in aerosol concentration lead to clouds with smaller but more numerous droplets. Some recent studies have found evidence that ice crystal size in deep convective clouds is also reduced by elevated aerosol concentrations. In...
Tourism is an ever-growing economic force across the world, the United States, Oregon, and on the Oregon Coast. In Oregon alone, the tourism industry had an economic impact in the state of $7.9 billion in 2006, up from $6.9 billion in 2004 (OTC, 2007). Though economically beneficial, tourism can be...
The copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the most important and biomass dominant mesozooplankter in the temperate-boreal North Atlantic. C. finmarchicus has an overwintering phase, termed diapause, during which it descends to great depths (300-2000m) and is metabolically quiescent for up to ten months. Changes in the currents at depth due to...
Dramatic and ongoing changes pervading the Arctic and subarctic seas over
recent decades have motivated this effort to track and better understand hydrographic
variability using chemical tracers. Particular emphasis has been paid to differentiating
freshwater contributions to upper layers: namely Pacific water, meteoric water, and
sea-ice melt/formation.
Data collected in...
Summertime, wind-driven upwelling off the Oregon coast delivers nutrient rich water to the surface that fuels the autotrophic production of particulate organic carbon (POC). This POC can be transported horizontally by fluid motions and vertically by sinking to the bottom where it can be entrained in the benthic boundary layer...
A Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) application for the coastal region of Kenya and Tanzania (0-10° S, 38.7-46.98° E) was developed with the aim of better resolving the circulation patterns in the coastal region that is poorly represented in global models. The model has a horizontal resolution of 4 km,...
Vailulu’u seamount is an active underwater volcano that marks the end of the Samoan hotspot trail (Hart et al., 2000). Vailulu’u has a simple conical morphology (Figure 1) with a largely enclosed volcanic crater at relatively shallow water depths, ranging from 590 m (highest point on the crater rim) to...
Recent analysis of 38 globally distributed paleoclimatic records covering Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) 60–26 ka demonstrated that the two leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) explaining the data are the Greenland ice-core signal (“northern” signal) and the Antarctic ice-core signal (“southern” signal). Here singular spectral analysis (SSA) is used...
Lō`ihi Seamount defines the volcanically active, leading edge in the Hawaiian hotspot chain. It is located on the submarine flank of Mauna Loa, 30 km south of the island of Hawai`i. Lō`ihi’s summit is at 975-m water depth (Pisces Peak), and the seamount has a pronounced southern rift that extends...
Reading through this issue of Oceanography, it will become
apparent that researchers in different disciplines see their
seamounts in quite different ways. The term seamount has been
defined many times (e.g., Menard, 1964; Wessel, 2001; Schmidt and
Schmincke, 2000; Pitcher et al., 2007; International Hydrographic
Organization, 2008; Wessel et al.,...
Seamounts are ubiquitous features of the seafloor that form part of the fabric of oceanic crust. When a seamount enters a subduction zone, it has a major affect on forearc morphology, the uplift history of the island arc, and the structure of the downgoing slab. It is not known, however,...
Corrections
18 Mar 2010: Shaman J, Pitzer VE, Viboud C, Grenfell BT, Lipsitch M (2010) Correction: Absolute Humidity and the Seasonal Onset of Influenza in the Continental United States. PLOS Biology 8(3): 10.1371/annotation/35686514-b7a9-4f65-9663-7baefc0d63c0.
15 Mar 2010: Shaman J, Pitzer VE, Viboud C, Grenfell BT, Lipsitch M (2010) Correction: Absolute Humidity...
Turbulent mixing of salt is examined in a shallow salt wedge estuary with strong fluvial and tidal forcing. A numerical model of the Merrimack River estuary is used to quantify turbulent stress, shear production, and buoyancy flux. Little mixing occurs during flood tides despite strong velocities because bottom boundary layer...
We present an atmospheric inverse modeling framework to constrain terrestrial biosphere CO₂ exchange processes at subregional scales. The model is operated at very high spatial and temporal resolution, using the state of Oregon in the northwestern United States as the model domain. The modeling framework includes mesoscale atmospheric simulations coupled...
The spatial variability of turbulence and surface heat flux are examined for the case of small air-surface temperature difference and modest sea-surface temperature variability. As a result of nonlinearities in the bulk formula, the heterogeneity is predicted to shift the area-averaged heat flux toward more significant upward values compared to...