Andrey Andreev

The Air-Sea Exchange of CO2 in the East Sea (Japan Sea)

During CREAMS expeditions, fCO2 for surface waters was measured continuously along the cruise tracks. The fCO2 in surface waters in summer varied in the range 320–440 µatm, showing moderate supersaturation with respect to atmospheric CO2. In winter, however, fCO2 showed under-saturation of CO2 in most of the area, while varying in a much wider range from 180 to 520 µatm. Some very high fCO2 values observed in the northern East Sea (Japan Sea) appeared to be associated with the intensive convection system developed in the area. A gas-exchange model was developed for describing the annual variation of fCO2 and for estimating the annual flux of CO2 at the air-sea interface. The model incorporated annual variations in SST, the thickness of the mixed layer, gas exchange associated with wind velocity, biological activity and atmospheric concentration of CO2. The model shows that the East Sea releases CO2 into the atmosphere from June to September, and absorbs CO2 during the rest of the year, from October through May. The net annual CO2 flux at the air-sea interface was estimated to be 0.032 (±0.012) Gt-C per year from the atmosphere into the East Sea. Water column chemistry shows penetration of CO2 into the whole water column, supporting a short turnover time for deep waters in the East Sea.

Effects of the Anticyclonic Eddies on Water Masses, Chemical Parameters and Chlorophyll Distributions in the Oyashio Current Region

Data from the R/V Mirai cruise (May–June 2000) have been examined to discover how mesoscale processes associated with eddy dynamics direct affect the water masses, the distributions and the vertical fluxes of the dissolved oxygen, nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon in the western subarctic Pacific. Using maps of the temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, chlorophyll and sea-air pCO2 difference we show that the boundaries of the anticyclone eddies in the study region were composed of high productivity coastal Oyashio water. The coastal waters were wrapped around the anticyclone eddies (thus creating a high productivity belt) and intruded inside of them. Using SeaWifs data we demonstrate that temporal variations in the position and the strength of anticyclone eddies advected the Kuril island coastal high productivity waters to the pelagic part, resulting in temporal variations of the chlorophyll in the Oyashio region. Computed vertical fluxes of the dissolved oxygen (DO), inorganic carbon (DIC) and silicate show that the anticylonic eddies in the Kuroshio-Oyashio Zone are characterized by enhanced vertical fluxes of the DO and DIC between the upper (σθ = 26.7–27.0) and lower (σθ = 27.1–27.5) intermediate layer, probably due to the intrusions of the Oyashio waters into the eddies.

Lagrangian study of temporal changes of a surface flow through the Kamchatka Strait

Using Lagrangian methods, we analyze a 20-year-long estimate of water flux through the Kamchatka Strait in the northern North Pacific based on AVISO velocity field. It sheds new light on the flux pattern and its variability on annual and monthly time scales. Strong seasonality in surface outflow through the strait could be explained by temporal changes in the wind stress over the northern and western Bering Sea slopes. Interannual changes in a surface outflow through the Kamchatka Strait correlate significantly with the Near Strait inflow and Bering Strait outflow. Enhanced westward surface flow of the Alaskan Stream across the 174°E section in the northern North Pacific is accompanied by an increased inflow into the Bering Sea through the Near Strait. In summer, the surface flow pattern in the Kamchatka Strait is determined by the passage of anticyclonic and cyclonic mesoscale eddies. The wind stress over the Bering basin in winter–spring is responsible for eddy generation in the region.

Mesoscale circulation along the Sakhalin Island eastern coast

The seasonal and interannual variability of mesoscale circulation along the eastern coast of the Sakhalin Island in the Okhotsk Sea is investigated using the AVISO velocity field and oceanographic data for the period from 1993 to 2016. It is found that mesoscale cyclones with the horizontal dimension of about 100 km occur there predominantly during summer, whereas anticyclones occur predominantly during fall and winter. The cyclones are generated due to a coastal upwelling forced by northward winds and the positive wind stress curl along the Sakhalin coast. The anticyclones are formed due to an inflow of low-salinity Amur River waters from the Sakhalin Gulf intensified by southward winds and the negative wind stress curl in the cold season. The mesoscale cyclones support the high biological productivity at the eastern Sakhalin shelf in July– August.

Mesoscale dynamics and walleye pollock catches in the Navarin Canyon area of the Bering Sea

Large canyons incise the shelf break of the eastern Bering Sea to be preferred sites of the cross-shelf exchange. The mesoscale eddy activity is particularly strong near the shelf-break canyons. To study the mesoscale dynamics in the Navarin Canyon area of the Bering Sea, the time series of velocities derived from AVISO satellite altimetry between 1993 and 2015, drifters, Argo buoys, and ship-borne data are analyzed. We demonstrate that the strength of anticyclonic eddies along the shelf edge in spring and summer is determined by the wind stress in March–April. The increased southward wind stress in the central Bering Sea forced a supply of low-temperature and low-salinity outer shelf water to the deep basin and formation of the anticyclonic mesoscale circulation seaward of the Navarin Canyon. Enhanced northwestward advection of the Bering Slope Current water leads to increase in an ice-free area in March and April and increased bottom-layer temperature at the outer shelf. The strong (weak) northwestward advection of the eastern Bering Sea waters, determined by eastern winds in spring, creates favorable (unfavorable) conditions for the pollock abundance in the western Navarin Canyon area in summer.