The coastal circulation in the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC) and the southern central
California shelf is described in terms of three characteristic flow patterns. The upwelling
pattern consists of a prevailing equatorward flow at the surface and at 45 m depth, except in
the area immediately adjacent to the mainland...
The thermal properties of sediment and the albedo are critical in calculating the heat
flux of a tidal flat. However, they are not well known because of the difficulties of
sampling and observing tidal flats. We use extensive field observations of a macrotidal flat
on the western coast of Korea...
The northern California Current System is impacted by two primary freshwater
sources: the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River. The Columbia is frequently
bidirectional in summer, with branches both north and south of the river mouth
simultaneously. We describe the interaction of these two warm Columbia plumes...
We present an optical method (optical current meter) to measure the longshore
component of nearshore surface currents by measuring the alongshore drift of persistent
sea foam in the surf zone. The method uses short time series of video data collected from
an alongshore array of pixels. These space-time data are...
Enhanced pool boiling critical heat fluxes (CHF) at reduced wall superheat on nanostructured
substrates are reported. Nanostructured surfaces were realized using a low temperature process,
microreactor-assisted-nanomaterial-deposition. Using this technique we deposited ZnO nanostructures
on Al and Cu substrates. We observed pool boiling CHF of 82.5 W/cm2 with water as
fluid...
Numerical simulations of the Hudson River estuary using a terrain-following, three-dimensional
model (Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)) are compared with an
extensive set of time series and spatially resolved measurements over a 43 day period with
large variations in tidal forcing and river discharge. The model is particularly effective at...
We give a detailed description of the semidiurnal-band current and temperature
variability observed during the Internal Waves on the Continental Margin (IWAVES) field
experiments of 1996 and 1997 off of Mission Beach, California. This variability was
dominated by the internal tide, and the structure of the internal tide on the...
During the Internal Waves on the Continental Margin (IWAVES) field experiments of 1996 and 1997 off of Mission Beach, California (32.75° N), we observed energetic, dirunal-band motions across the entire study site in water depths ranging from 15 to 500 m and spanning a cross-shore distance of 15 km. The...
Methane reservoirs and seeps are an active component
of the continental margin carbon budget and represent a
poorly characterized pathway for reduced carbon cycling
and methane input to the atmosphere. Active gas seeps from
three shelf settings on the Cascadia Continental Margin off
Oregon and Northern California contain nearly pure...
To constrain the fluxes of methane (CH4) in the water column above the accretionary
wedge along the Cascadia continental margin, we measured methane and its stable carbon
isotope signature (δ¹³C-CH₄). The studies focused on Hydrate Ridge (HR), where
venting occurs in the presence of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments. The vent CH₄ has...
Many cranberry growers on the Oregon coast are well aware that good pollination is necessary for quality fruit set. Multiple
visits to the flower deliver more pollen, which can increase the percentage fruit set, number of seeds per berry, and mature
berry weight. The better a bee is at delivering...
The acorn woodpecker is among the most common primary cavity nesting bird of the Oregon white oak woodlands. In most of
their range, acorn woodpeckers are dependent on granaries for acorn storage, yet little is known about their selection of granary
sites. We compared habitat characteristics within 12 m of...
Hydrographic and tracer data from 2002 illustrate Atlantic water pathways and
variability in the Mendeleev Ridge and Chukchi Borderland (CBLMR) region of the
Arctic Ocean. Thermohaline double diffusive intrusions (zigzags) dominate both the Fram
Strait (FSBW) and Barents Sea Branch Waters (BSBW) in the region. We show that
details of...
Upper ocean hydrography in the central Arctic Ocean
has relaxed since 2000 to near-climatological conditions
that pertained before the dramatic changes of the 1990s. The
behavior of the anomalies of temperature and salinity in the
central Arctic Ocean follow a first-order linear response to
the AO with time constant of...
Here we report results from an extensive survey of
dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Arctic Ocean, which
was achieved by means of a high-resolution, in situ UV fluorometer
deployed on a nuclear submarine. Based on a strong
linear correlation observed between fluorescence (320 nm excitation,
420 nm emission) and...
Monitoring the sources and fate of freshwater in the
East Greenland Current (EGC) is important, as this water
has the potential to suppress deep convection in the Nordic
and Labrador Seas if the outflow of freshwater from the
Arctic Ocean increases in response to climate change. Here,
hydrographic, oxygen isotope...
We investigate the freshwater composition of the shelf
and slope of the Arctic Ocean north of the New Siberian
Islands using geochemical tracer data (δ¹⁸O, Ba, and PO₄*)
collected following the extreme summer of 2007. We find
that the anomalous wind patterns that partly explained the sea
ice minimum at...
The interaction of basalt melt with mantle harzburgite at low pressure might result in silica enrichment of the melt by assimilation of orthopyroxene. Experimental tests of this hypothesis show that silica-rich liquids (56 wt %) are produced by melt-orthopyroxene reaction at 1200° to 1250°C. These silica-rich liquids are enriched in...
The Hawaii Scientific Drilling Program (HSDP) cored and recovered igneous rock from the surface to a
depth of 3109 m near Hilo, Hawaii. Much of the deeper parts of the hole is composed of hyaloclastite
(fractured basalt glass that has been cemented in situ with secondary minerals). Some hyaloclastite units...
At Oregon State University a library collection assessment is a required part of the review process for every new academic program proposal. Over time, this assessment has moved away from a brief statement regarding the adequacy of the collection to support the new program to a more thorough evaluation and...
Field measurements of onshore and longshore velocities in the surf zone have been obtained on Martinique
Beach, Nova Scotia, for the purpose of investigating the dynamics of the infragravity band (0.003-
0.03 Hz) of the spectra. A total of35 data runs were obtained during a 1-week period. Of particular interest...
Cartwright and Longuet-Higgins (1956) describe the statistical distribution of maxima that would result from the linear superposition of random, Gaussian waves. The distribution function depends solely upon the relative width of the power spectrum and root-mean-square value of the process time series. Runup field data from three experiments are presented...
Synchronous runup records were collected from 14 locations spaced irregularly over a 7 km stretch of
a low-slope beach. The significant runup height, herein defined as the significant vertical excursion of
water level at the shoreline, was typically 2 m, 60% of the incident significant wave height at the
breakpoint....
A technique is presented to remotely measure the scales and morphology of natural sandbars based
on the preferential dissipation of wind waves and swell over the crests of the bar. Photographic or
video images are recorded and statistical uncertainties associated with incident wave height modulations
removed by averaging (time exposures)....
The spatial and temporal variability of nearshore sand bar morphology is quantified using a unique data set
spanning 2 years. The data consist of daily time exposure images of incident wave breaking on an open coast
sandy beach which may be used to infer bar morphology (Lippmann and Holman, 1989)....
Theoretical growth rates for resonantly driven edge waves in the nearshore are
estimated from the forced, shallow water equations of motion for the case of a plane sloping bed.
The forcing mechanism arises from spatial and temporal variations in radiation stress gradients
induced by a modulating incident wave field. Only...
In shallow water, any two waves of the same frequency are shown to produce complex patterns of
drift velocity above the sea bed. If the longshore components λ₁, λ₂ of the wave numbers of the two
waves are different, these steady flow patterns exhibit a longshore periodicity of wave number...
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of worldwide mobile usage; mobile technologies; libraries' use of mobile technologies including a review of library mobile catalog options, both vendor-supplied and in-house created; perspectives from current library leaders and innovators on the importance of incorporating...
Changes in snow’s influence on surface ground temperature (SGT) could create a bias
in the borehole temperature record of climate change. Using a snow-ground thermal model
which predicts changes in the mean annual offset between SGT and surface air
temperature (SAT), we calculate the response of SGT to changes in...
The alteration of subseafloor volcanic glass from three locations is qualitatively attributed to biological
(biotic) or chemical (abiotic) reactions on the basis of microscopic morphology of the boundary between
the unaltered and altered glass. Eleven-element composition of fresh basalt glass (sideromelane) and its
alteration products were determined by electron microprobe....
Bransfield Strait is a Quaternary, ensialic back arc basin at the transition from rifting
to spreading. Fresh volcanic rocks occur on numerous submarine features distributed
along the rift axis, including a discontinuous neovolcanic ridge similar to the nascent
spreading centers seen in some other back arc basins. Smaller edifices near...
Two methods of estimating surface velocity vectors from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data were applied to the same set of images and the results were compared with in situ and altimeter measurements. The first method used and automated feature –tracking algorithm and the second method used an inversion...
A numerical model has been used to investigate the wind-driven circulation in a stratified basin of
moderate size, Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada. Two types of circulation are identified: "direct" circulations,
in which the current directions remain relatively constant and the mean circulation formed over
several days resembles the instantaneous circulation, and...
Past measurements off the coast of central Oregon and Washington have shown that the rapid change
from northward monthly mean winter winds to southward summer winds forces a "spring transition" of
the coastal ocean: sea levels and temperatures drop, and mean surface currents shift from northward to
southward. Current and...
Seasonal cycles of coastal wind stress, adjusted sea level (ASL), shelf currents, and water
temperatures off the west coast of North America (35°N to 48°N) are estimated by fitting annual and
semiannual harmonics to data from 1981-1983. Longer records (9-34 years) of monthly ASL indicate
that these two harmonics adequately...
A 5-year time series of coastal zone color scanner imagery (1980-1983, 1986) is used to examine
changes in the large-scale pattern of chlorophyll pigment concentration coincident with the spring
transition in winds and currents along the west coast of North America. The data show strong
interannual variability in the timing...
Previously published physical and biological data document a zonally oriented frontal region within the California Current system separating colder and more eutrophic water north of ≈33°N from warmer; more stratified, and oligotrophic water farther to the south. Satellite images of phytoplankton pigment from the coastal zone color scanner from 1979-1983...
Temperature profiles from boreholes on the Colorado Plateau of southeastern Utah have been examined for evidence of climate change. Because these boreholes penetrate layered sedimentary rocks with different thermal conductivities, Bullard plots (temperature versus integrated thermal resistance) are used to estimate background heat flow and surface temperature intercepts. Reduced temperatures,...
Time series of flow were measured across the inner surf zone during a storm. These data were used to quantify the dependence of wave height (transformed from measured flow) and velocity on local slope and depth. Similar to previous studies, as incident waves broke and propagated into the surf zone,...
A new remote sensing technique based on video image processing
has been developed for the estimation of nearshore bathymetry. The shoreward
propagation of waves is measured using pixel intensity time series collected at a
cross-shore array of locations using remotely operated video cameras. The incident
band is identified, and the...
We construct an extratropical reduced temperature–depth profile for land areas north
of 20°N latitude from the global borehole temperature database compiled for climate
reconstruction. The mean reduced temperature profile compares well with a time series
constructed from an initial baseline temperature (0.6° ± 0.1°C) and the last 140 years
of...
We examine variability observed in heat flow determinations collected on hot spot
swells. We find substantial scatter in heat flow at wavelengths of a few hundred kilometers
and less at both Hawaii and Reunion, where closely spaced data exist, and large variability
in the regional heat flow surveys at Cape...
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 316 Sites C0006 and C0007 examined the
deformation front of the Nankai accretionary prism offshore the Kii Peninsula, Japan. In the drilling area,
the frontal thrust shows unusual behavior as compared to other regions of the Nankai Trough. Drilling
results, integrated with observations from...
Here I synthesize the results of several types of measurements of organic carbon respiration and calcium carbonate dissolution rates in pelagic seafloor sediments. Measurements of pore water oxygen demonstrate that
most of the respiration takes place very near the sediment-water interface, with a scale depth of a few
millimeters. The...
We developed a multiple linear regression model to
robustly determine aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) from
observations of temperature and oxygen (R² = 0.987, RMS
error 0.053), using data collected in the Pacific Northwest
region in late May 2007. The seasonal evolution of Ωarag near
central Oregon was evaluated by applying...
A poleward increase in phytoplankton biomass along
the West Coast of North America has been attributed to
increasing river runoff towards the north. We combine
streamflow and shelf width data with satellite-derived
estimates of phytoplankton biomass to quantify the
relationship between these variables. We find that a
combination of winter...
We examined high-resolution cross-shelf distributions of particulate organic carbon
(POC) and dissolved O₂ during the upwelling season off the Oregon coast. Oxygen
concentrations were supersaturated in surface waters, and hypoxic in near-bottom
waters, with greatly expanded hypoxic conditions late in the season. Simplified time-dependent
mass balances on cross-shelf integrated concentrations...
The results of high-resolution biogeochemical measurements in the upper 200 m of
the Ross Sea, Antarctica, obtained during the AESOPS (U. S. JGOFS) program using the
Lamont Pumping SeaSoar (LPS) are presented. They consist of three west-east transects
from 170°E to 180° longitude along the AESOPS study line at 76.5°S...
A biological pump for transferring atmospheric CO₂ to deep ocean regimes has been
identified in the upwelling zone of the U.S. Pacific coast off Oregon using high-resolution
measurements of Pco₂ and nutrient concentrations that were made in May through
August 2001. Surface water over most of the shelf was a...
Detailed and repeated measurements of nitrate across the Oregon shelf, made
coincident with turbulence measurements, reveal the importance of cross-isopycnal
mixing via turbulence in providing nitrate to the upper water column. Spatial distributions
of vertical gradients and turbulent fluxes in the Oregon coastal ocean reveal variability that
could not have...
We present observations from deployments of a microstructure turbulence instrument
(the Towed Microstructure and Auxiliary Sensor Instrument) aboard a pumping profiling
vehicle (the Lamont Pumping SeaSoar) towed behind a research vessel at the New
England shelf break front in August 2002. From these we determined coincident fine-scale
vertical eddy diffusivity...
At least nine WNW trending left-lateral strike-slip faults have been mapped on the Oregon-Washington continental margin using sidescan sonar, seismic reflection, and bathymetric data, augmented by submersible observations. The faults range in length from 33 to 115 km and cross much of the continental slop. Five faults offset both the...
We have mapped a recently active left-lateral strike-slip fault (the Wecoma fault) on the floor of Cascadia Basin west of the Oregon convergent margin, using SeaMARC I sidescan sonar, Seabeam bathymetry and multichannel seismic and magnetic data. The fault intersects the base of the continental slope at 45°10’N and extends...
The Critical Depth Hypothesis formalized by Sverdrup in 1953 posits that
vernal phytoplankton blooms occur when surface mixing shoals to a depth shallower than a
critical depth horizon defining the point where phytoplankton growth exceeds losses. This
hypothesis has since served as a cornerstone in plankton ecology and reflects the...
Analysis of the Bakota basalts exposed in the Zambezi Gorge some 40 km east of Victoria Falls characterizes them as high Fe, moderately high Ti, and low K, P, and Zr tholeiites. The ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age determinations are tightly clustered at 180-179 Ma. All of the lavas that were samples have...
Lavas of the Rano Rahi seamount field define a Nd-Pb-Sr isotopic array that connects, and substantially
overlaps, the arrays of the nearby East Pacific Rise axis and 5.6–28 Ma lavas of the Pukapuka ridge
system, situated between the seamount field and French Polynesia. Dating of Rano Rahi samples by
⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar...
Radiometric ages (K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar-
³⁹Ar methods) have been determined on dredged
volcanic rocks from seven of the New England
Seamounts, a prominent northwest-southeast trending
volcanic lineament in the northwestern
Atlantic Ocean. The ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar total fusion and
incremental heating ages show an increase in
seamount construction age from southeast to...
K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar geochronologic
data reveal the Paleocene to Eocene eruptive
history of volcanic centers which produced the
basaltic basement rocks of the Coast Range of
Oregon and Washington. Volcanism was short
lived at each center and migrated with time from
the northern and southern ends toward the
center, near...
Persistent, long‐lived, stationary sites of excessive mantle melting are called hotspots. Hotspots leave volcanic trails on lithospheric plates passing across them. The global constellation of fixed hotspots thus forms a convenient frame of reference for plate motions, through the orientations and age distributions of volcanic trails left by these melting...
Determination of reliable crystallization ages by
K-Ar methods for young (<1 Ma), fresh basalts from the
seafloor has been frustrated by several effects. The small
amounts of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar developed over these timescales in
such low-K rocks are difficult to resolve from predominantly
atmospheric ⁴⁰Ar. An additional concern is that...
The Marquesas archipelago is a short. NW-SE trending cluster of islands and seamounts that formed as a result of volcanic activity over a weak hotspot. This volcanic chain lies at the northern margin of a broad region of warm and compositionally diverse mantle that melts to build several other subparallel...
Cobb hotspot, currently located beneath Axial seamount on the Juan de Fuca ridge, has the temporal
but not the isotopic characteristics usually attributed to a mantle plume. The earlier volcanic products of
the hotspot, from eight volcanoes in the Cobb-Eickelberg seamount (CES) chain, show a westward age
progression away from...
Paleomagnetic directions from the Eocene Tillamook Volcanic Series of the Oregon Coast Range
point 460 clockwise from the expected Eocene field direction. Potassium argon dating of six dikes and
flows from this formation yields a mean age of 44.3 ± 0.6 m.y. These results establish that the Oregon
coastal block...
Full-coverage multibeam bathymetric mapping of twelve seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska reveals that
they are characterized by flat-topped summits (rarely with summit craters) and by terraced, or step-bench,
flanks. These summit plateaus contain relict volcanic features (e.g., flow levees, late-stage cones, and
collapse craters) and as such must have...
A volcanic sequence almost 700 meters thick has been sampled in the Punaruu valley on the island of
Tahiti, southern central Pacific Ocean. Detailed paleomagnetic results have been obtained from 123 sites. Three
reversals are recorded in this sequence. Age determinations (K-Ar) indicate that the youngest reversal corresponds
to the...
We report paleointensity results of the Earth's
magnetic field from n Late Pleistocene lava flow
(Louchadiere, Central France), which recorded an intermediate
geomagnetic field direction (5 sites, mean declination=
114.1°, inclination=58.2°, k=130, α95=6.7°). New K-Ar
age determinations confirm that this flow is contemporaneous
with the Laschamp and Olby flows, and...
Two methods to alleviate the problem of fouling of moored flow tube optical instruments are presented. A chemical method diffuses a concentrated solution of bromine into the flow tube between sampling periods, creating a toxic environment for microorganisms. An optical method removes a baseline value from the red peak of...
In situ attenuation (488 and 660 nm), absorption (488, 676, and 750 nm), backscattering (at 488 nm), and
stimulated fluorescence were determined as functions of depth in oceanic and coastal waters off Oregon,
using both commercial instruments and recently developed prototypes. The inability to perfectly constrain
scattered light in these...
We have collected data during eight separate research cruises from open ocean to estuarine oceanic environments. Inherent optical property data collected during these cruises were incorporated into a large database totaling 1914 samples. The range of each inherent optical property within this database spans over 2 orders of magnitude. Using...
Measurements of inherent optical properties (IOP) were conducted over bottoms with different substrates by use
of a sampling package mounted on and operated by a SCUBA diver. It was found that in areas of low ambient
currents the distribution of IOP varies with bottom type in (1) its value relative...
Global Positioning System vectors and surface
tilt rates are inverted simultaneously for the rotation of western
Oregon and plate locking on the southern Cascadia subduction
thrust fault. Plate locking appears to be largely
offshore, consistent with earlier studies, and is sufficient to
allow occasional great earthquakes inferred from geology.
Clockwise...
High-precision GPS geodesy in the Pacific
Northwest provides the first synoptic view of the along-strike
variation in Cascadia margin kinematics. These results constrain
interfering deformation fields in a region where typical
earthquake recurrence intervals are one or more orders of magnitude
longer than the decades-long history of seismic monitoring
and...
Intraexciton transitions in semiconductor quantum wells are modulated by strong and tunable few-cycle terahertz pulses. Time-resolved terahertz-pump and optical-probe measurements demonstrate that the 1s heavy-hole and light-hole exciton resonances undergo large-amplitude spectral modulations when the terahertz radiation is tuned near the 1s–2p intraexciton transition. The strong nonlinear optical transients exhibit...
At Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries, librarians are evaluating the decade-old information commons in the transition to a learning commons. Visits to commons spaces at libraries across the country provided perspective on this transition. This paper describes the development of the OSU Libraries Information Commons, identifies themes from our trips...
A topic of recurring interest in ecological research is the degree to which
vegetation structure influences the distribution and abundance of species. Here we test the
applicability of remote sensing, particularly novel use of waveform lidar measurements, for
quantifying the habitat heterogeneity of a contiguous northern hardwoods forest in the...
A method for predicting oceanic productivity from remotely sensed diffuse attenuation (488 nm) and
surface chlorophyll concentration is presented. The method uses a climatological approach which consists
of applying a set of regressions for each region and season to yield the depth of the chlorophyll maximum,
the exponential slope of...
Theoretical scattering computations are performed on a phytoplankton model consisting of three
concentric spheres. The outer sphere represents the wall, membrane, or frustule and is assigned a
relatively high index of refraction with no absorption. The middle layer represents the chloroplasts
and is assigned a relatively low index of refraction...
The dynamics of the growth of linear disturbances
to a chaotic basic state is analyzed in an asymptotic model of
weakly nonlinear, baroclinic wave-mean interaction. In this
model, an ordinary differential equation for the wave amplitude
is coupled to a partial differential equation for the zonal
flow correction. The leading...
We propose alternative mechanisms for the origin of three unusual rock suites, high-Mg andesites, NaTi basalts, and arclike rocks, that have been dredged from the Woodlark basin, southwest Pacific Ocean. We show that the high-Mg andesites and NaTi basalts are associated with an unusually cool ridge environment. The cooling is...
Particle size distributions (8-105-μm diameter), chlorophyll a, and particulate carbon
were measured off the Oregon coast during July 1973. The particle counts were transformed
to volume concentration and then subjected to characteristic vector analysis.
Ninety-two percent of the variance was accounted for by linear combinations of the first
two characteristic...
One hundred and seventy pairs of temperature and light transmission profiles were obtained by simultaneous conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) and light transmissometer casts in three cruises on the R/V Yaquina over the continental shelf off Oregon. These were analyzed for bottom nepheloid layers (BNL) and bottom mixed layers layers (BML). Supplementing these...
Two distinct kinds of particle maxima (nepheloid layers) were observed off Oregon in November 1977
and off Washington in October 1978 by an in situ light transmissometer: one in the thermocline in the
euphotic zone and the other at intermediate depth well below the thermocline. The thermocline nepheloid
layer is...
We looked at the influence of temperature and salinity on the absorption coefficient of water with emphasis on the red and near-IR portions of the spectrum. The absorption coefficient of pure water was found to have a strong dependence on temperature and little dependence on salinity near the harmonics of...
In the spring of 1992 an optical closure experiment was conducted at Lake
Pend Oreille, Idaho. A primary objective of the experiment was to compare techniques
for the measurement of the spectral absorption coefficient and other inherent optical
properties of natural waters. Daily averages of absorption coefficients measured using
six...
A fundamental relationship of inherent optical properties (IOP) is that the
beam attenuation coefficient is the sum of the volume absorption and scattering
coefficients (c = a + b). A relative calibration of a set of instruments can be provided
using this IOP closure equation. Measurement of the true beam...
Suspended matter in Astoria canyon was monitored by means of an in situ nephelometer and by means of light-scattering and particle concentration measurements performed aboard ship on water samples. Nephelometer profiles obtained along the axis of the canyon in February and April 1973 indicate that the canyon is divided into...
Profiles of light transmission versus depth have been studied in the region of the Scotian Rise of the
North Atlantic at bottom depths between 4900 and 5000 m. A component model has been developed
and consists of three components of transmission which can be combined to duplicate accurately any
given...
Measurements of total irradiance versus depth and beam transmission versus depth were made at
stations near shore along the west coast of the North and South American continents. The water types at
each station were optically classified according to the system of Jerlov (1976), thus providing additional
information for the...
The distribution of suspended matter in the Panama basin was determined by means of
light scattering and Coulter counter measurements on water samples collected at 50 hydrographic
stations. The observed distribution indicates three probable sources of suspended
matter: (1) the surface waters throughout the basin; (2) erosion and runoff from...
Light transmission profiles have been used to study the optical properties of the suspended particles which are characteristic of the area of the Scotian Rise in the North Atlantic Ocean. This area is typified by very strong bottom currents and a highly variable bedform morphology. A good correlation (r =...
The solar energy flux as a function of depth (the irradiance profile) in the ocean is an important function. It influences the dynamics of the mixed layer via the heat budget as well as the biology of the euphotic zone. The following three-parameter model can take into account the very...
Optical and hydrographic observations were made at two meridional sections across the Cromwell Current at 92°00’ and 91°40’W during February 1969. The distribution of hydrographic and optical properties near the Galapagos Islands is described. Beneath the thermocline the Cromwell Current is characterized by deepening of the light-scattering isolines. Above the...
A method is described for determining the index of refraction distribution and the particle size distribution
of suspended particles. The distribution s are obtained by breaking down an observed volume
scattering function into its contributing components. The component scattering functions are calculated
using Mie theory. The component functions include all...
A simple heat budget model for a radiation-dominated mixed layer of constant depth is presented. In this model the influence of the vertical irradiance (heat flux) profile is examined by means of the Jerlov [1976] optical water type classification. It is shown that the vertical irradiance profile is important in...
An expression for the ratio of the upwelling nadir radiance L(π, z) and the downwelling scalar irradiance Eod(Z) is derived from the following equation of radiative transfer. This expression is given by RSR(z)=[L(π, z)]/Eod(Z) = [fb(z)bb(z)]/2π[k(π, z) + c(z) – fL(z)bf(z)], where bb(z) is the backscattering coefficient, k(π, z) is...
Data from an array of bottom pressure gauges and a string of current meters in the vicinity of 47°N,
139°W, are used to examine the deep-ocean variability forced by ocean surface wind stress curl from
August 1987 to June 1988. Bottom geostrophic currents are computed from the pressure gauge array,...
A thermistor chain was towed 1400 km through the eastern North Pacific subtropical frontal zone in
January 1980. The observations resolve surface layer temperature features with horizontal wavelengths of
0.2-200 km and vertical scales of 10-70 m. The dominant features, which have horizontal wavelengths of
10-100 km, amplitudes of 0.2°-1.0°C,...
The Oregon Coastal Transition Zone (OCTZ) extends several hundred
kilometers offshore where shelf flows interact with the northern California Current. A
primitive-equation numerical ocean model is used to study the upwelling circulation in this
region from 1 May to 1 November 2001. This OCTZ model obtains initial and boundary
conditions...
The coastal ocean may experience periods of fluctuating
along-shelf wind direction, causing shifts between
upwelling and downwelling conditions with responses that
are not symmetric. We seek to understand these asymmetries
and their implications on the Eulerian and Lagrangian flows.
We use a two-dimensional (variations across-shelf and with
depth; uniformity along-shelf)...
The rip current field resulting from the transformation of surface gravity waves over
offshore submarine canyons is studied. Employing a wave transformation model and a
wave-induced circulation model over observed bathymetry we find that wave height
variations associated with undulations in the canyon contours cause rip current circulation
cells with...