Shuwen Zhang

Summer upwelling and thermal fronts in the northwestern South China Sea: Observational analysis of two mesoscale mapping surveys

Persistent coastal upwelling and upwelling-induced thermal fronts in the northwestern South China Sea are investigated using satellite measurements, two intensive mesoscale mapping surveys and three bottom-mounted ADCPs. The results indicate that pronounced surface cooling and upwelling-related fronts with a width of 20-50 km occur around Hainan Island and persist through the summer upwelling season. Driven by the prevailing southwesterly monsoon, the subsurface cooling band is approximate to 6 degrees C colder than the water offshore of the East Coast, where the thermal gradients are generally more than 0.1 degrees C/km. The cold and nutrient-rich coastal water is identified to be derived primarily from the deep water of the outer shelf. At the same time, the spatial structure of the upwelling and thermal front, as well as the upwelling-related coastal currents, is significantly regulated by wind forcing. A prominent lagged correlation between the moored temperature records and alongshore wind stress is detected in the East Coast. The correlation coefficient is -0.8 with the temperature lagging behind wind stress by 2.2 days, indicating that the cooling band off the East Coast is dominated mostly by the alongshore southwesterly monsoon during the upwelling season.

3-D observations of a red tide event in the offshore water along the western Guangdong coast

From November 24 to 26, 2014, a red tide event occurred in the offshore water off the Hailing Island located at the western Guangdong coast. The red tide appeared as pink strips distributed within 3 km in the offshore water and extended for about 10 km along the shoreline. During the flood tide, the pink seawater rushed to the beach with breaking waves, forming foam strips on the beach. Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Coastal Ocean Variation and Disaster Prediction Technologies, Guangdong Ocean University, emergently responded to the event and organized three-dimensional observations from the air, onboard and on beach. The preliminary analyses of the cruise data and water samples indicate that the event was induced by nontoxic Noctiluca scintillans, of which the concentration reaches as high as 4 200 cells/L near the surface and 2 600 cells/L at the bottom.

Tropical storm-forced near-inertial energy dissipation in the southeast continental shelf region of Hainan Island

Near-inertial motion is an important dynamic process in the upper ocean and plays a significant role in mass, heat, and energy transport across the thermocline. In this study, the dissipation of wind-induced near-inertial energy in the thermocline is investigated by using observation data collected in July and August 2005 during the tropical storm Washi by a moored system at (19°35′N, 112°E) in the continental shelf region off Hainan Island. In the observation period, the near-inertial part dominated the observed ocean kinetic energy and about 80% of the near-inertial energy dissipated in the upper layer. Extremely strong turbulent mixing induced by near-inertial wave was observed in the thermocline, where the turbulent energy dissipation rate increased by two orders of magnitude above the background level. It is found that the energy loss of near-inertial waves in the thermocline is mainly in the large-scales. This is different from the previous hypothesis based on “Kolmogorov cascade” turbulence theory that the kinetic energy is dissipated mainly by small-scale motions.

The cruise observation of turbulent mixing in the upwelling region east of Hainan Island in the summer of 2012

The turbulent mixing in the upwelling region east of Hainan Island in the South China Sea is analyzed based on in situ microstructure observations made in July 2012. During the observation, strong upwelling appears in the coastal waters, which are 3°C cooler than the offshore waters and have a salinity 1.0 greater than that of the offshore waters. The magnitude of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy ε in the upwelling region is O (10–9 W/kg), which is comparable to the general oceanic dissipation. The inferred eddy diffusivity Kρ is O (10–6 m2/s), which is one order of magnitude lower than that in the open ocean. The values are elevated to Kρ≈O (10–4 m2/s) near the boundaries. Weak mixing in the upwelling region is consistent with weak instability as a result of moderate shears versus strong stratifications by the joint influence of surface heating and upwelling of cold water. The validity of two fine-scale structure mixing parameterization models are tested by comparison with the observed dissipation rates. The results indicate that the model developed by MacKinnon and Gregg in 2003 provides relatively better estimates with magnitudes close to the observations. Mixing parameterization models need to be further improved in the coastal upwelling region.

The Rossby normal modes in the South China Sea deep basin evidenced by satellite altimetry

ABSTRACT This study investigates the mechanism of mesoscale eddies observed in the South China Sea (SCS) deep basin, which are characterized by high-frequency occurrence, long life, and regular distribution patterns. Geophysical fluid dynamics predicts that for an enclosed ocean basin, there exist the Rossby normal modes if considering the Earth rotation effect. We use a rectangular ocean basin with a uniform depth to simulate the SCS deep basin and obtain 2D (x − y) sea level distribution patterns of the Rossby normal modes, consisting of alternating cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, as well as their dynamic parameters. The periods of the modes are evidenced by the Fourier period power density spectra of satellite altimeter sea level anomaly (SLA) data from 1993 to 2015. The 2D normal mode patterns are evidenced by SLA images. The phase speeds are evidenced by that derived from the westward movement of the wave/eddy patterns on SLA time-series images.

The distribution and composition of hydrocarbons in sediments of the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Sediment samples obtained from the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge are analyzed by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) for the abundances and distributions of hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons in the samples exhibit a bimodal distribution of n-alkanes and are rich in 3-methylalkanes, 8-methylalkanes and 2, 4, (n-1)-trimethylalkanes, which may be the result of metabolic activity of benthic microorganism. Terpanes, hopanes and steranes are all enriched in the samples, which also support the microbial origin of hydrocarbons in samples. Bitumen and hydrocarbons in the samples show a trend that the contents are the highest in the Samples 22VTVG10 and 26V-TVG05 collected near hydrothermal areas, and the lowest in samples 22IV-TVG01, 22V-TVG11, and 22V-TVG14 collected far from the hydrothermal areas, which suggest the possible influence on the samples by hydrothermal activity.

Effect of a fast-moving tropical storm Washi on phytoplankton in the northwestern South China Sea: A TROPICAL STORM'S EFFECT ON NWSCS Chl a

Tropical cyclones may augment nutrients in the ocean surface layer through mixing, entrainment, and upwelling, triggering phytoplankton blooms in oligotrophic waters such as the South China Sea (SCS). Previous studies focused mainly on responses of marine environments to strong or slow-moving typhoons in the SCS. In this study, we analyze variations of chlorophyll a (Chl a) and oceanic conditions in the continental shelf region east of Hainan Island during the fast-moving tropical storm Washi and investigate its influences on phytoplankton bloom and related dynamic mechanisms. Results indicate that there was significant variation of Chl a concentration in the continental shelf region, with low values (about 0.1 mg m(-3)) before the storm and a 30% increase after the storm. This increase was spatially variable, much larger nearshore than offshore. Power spectral analysis of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data at a shelf site near the study region reveals strong near-inertial oscillations (NIOs) in the upper layer, with a period of about 36 h, close to the local inertial period. The NIOs intensified mixing and modified the stratification of the upper layer, inducing uplift of nutrients and Chl a into the mixed layer from below, and leading to surface Chl a increase. The relatively shallow nutricline and thermocline in the continental shelf region before the storm were favorable for upwelling of nutrients and generation of NIOs. Advection of nutrients from enhanced runoff during and after the storm may be responsible for the larger increase of the Chl a nearshore.