Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Open Access Articles

Bioscatter Transport By Tropical Cyclones: Insights From 10 Years In The Atlantic Basin, Matthew S. Van Den Broeke

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Tropical cyclones (TCs) can transport birds and insects near their center of circulation. In this study, we examined the maximum altitude, area and density of the radar-derived bioscatter signature across a set of 42 TC centers of circulation sampled from 2011 to 2020. All TC events contained at least one time when a bioscatter signature was present. More intense hurricanes with closed eyes typically had taller and denser bioscatter signatures, and sometimes larger areas dominated by bioscatter. This indicated a larger number of organisms within the circulation of more intense hurricanes, supporting the speculation that those storms were most likely …

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Estimating Carbon Flux From Optically Recording Total Particle Volume At Depths Below The Primary Pycnocline, Alexander B. Bochdansky, Robert B. Dunbar, Dennis A. Hansell, Gerhard J. Herndl

OES Faculty Publications

Optical instruments can rapidly determine numbers and characteristics of water column particles with high sensitivity. Here we show the usefulness of optically assessed total particle volume below the main pycnocline to estimate carbon export in two systems: the open subarctic North Atlantic and the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Both regions exhibit seasonally high phytoplankton production and efficient export (i.e., a strong biological pump). Total particle volumes in the mesopelagic (200-300 m) were significantly correlated with those in the overlying surface mixed layer (50-60 m), indicating that most particles at depth reflect export from the surface. This connectivity, however, is modulated by …

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Spatial And Temporal Distributions Of Pelagic Sargassum In The Intra-Americas Sea And Atlantic Ocean, Mengqiu Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pelagic Sargassum is one type of marine macroalgae that is known to be abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and Sargasso Sea. It is also known to serve as a critical habitat for many marine animals. In the past few years, large amounts of Sargassum have been reported in the Tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea (CS), causing significant environmental and economic problems. The goal of this study is to improve the understanding of Sargassum distributions, quantity, transport pathways, and bloom mechanisms in the CS and Tropic Atlantic through combining a variety of techniques including satellite remote sensing, field and laboratory …

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Using Ammonium Pore Water Profiles To Assess Stoichiometry Of Deep Remineralization Processes In Methanogenic Continental Margin Sediments, David J. Burdige, Tomoko Komada

OES Faculty Publications

In many continental margin Sediments, a deep reaction zone exists which is separated from remineralization processes near the sediment surface. Here, methane diffuses upward to a depth where it is oxidized by downwardly diffusing sulfate. However, the methane sources that drive this anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMT) may vary among sites. In particular, these sources can be thought of as either (i) "internal" sources from in situ methanogenesis (regardless of where it occurs in the sediment column) that are ultimately coupled to organic matter deposition and burial, or (ii) "external" sources such as hydrocarbon …

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The Impact Of Oceanic Heat Content On The Rapid Intensification Of Atlantic Hurricanes, Kevin Law

Kevin Law

With the increased infrastructure and amount of people living along the United States coastline, it is imperative to improve the accuracy of Atlantic hurricane intensity forecasts. Over the last 10 years, there have been many Atlantic hurricanes, including Hurricanes Katrina and Charley that surprised many forecasters with their rapid intensification and power. The rapid intensification of tropical cyclones is the most serious aspect, when it comes to forecasting. It is generally accepted that sufficient surface ocean temperatures (approximately 26°C) are needed to produce and sustain tropical cyclone formation. However, the sea-surface temperature (SST) has shown not to be critical in …

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Draft Genome Sequence Of Strain Himb100, A Cultured Representative Of The Sar116 Clade Of Marine Alphaproteobacteria, Jana Grote, Cansu Bayindirli, Kristin Bergauer, Paula C. De Moraes, Huan Chen, Lindsay D'Ambrosio, Bethany Edwards, Beatriz Fernandez-Gomez, Mariam Hamisi, Dan Nguyen, Yoshimi M. Rii, Emily Saeck, Charles Schutte, Brittany Widner

OES Faculty Publications

Strain HIMB100 is a planktonic marine bacterium in the class Alphaproteobacteria. This strain is of interest because it is one of the first known isolates from a globally ubiquitous clade of marine bacteria known as SAR116 within the family Rhodospirillaceae. Here we describe preliminary features of the organism, together with the draft genome sequence and annotation. This is the second genome sequence of a member of the SAR116 clade. The 2,458,945 bp genome contains 2,334 protein-coding and 42 RNA gene

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Can Otolith Elemental Signatures Record The Capture Site Of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), A Fully Marine Fish In The Southern Ocean?, J. R. Ashford, C. M. Jones, E. Hofmann, I. Everson, C. Moreno, G. Duhamel, R. Williams

CCPO Publications

Otolith chemistry has been successfully used to reconstruct the environmental history experienced by estuarine-dependent teleost fish, including movement between estuaries and coastal areas. However, application has been more limited in species exposed exclusively to oceanic waters, where gradients in physical and chemical properties are less extreme. To test whether otolith elemental signatures record spatial information in an oceanic species, we sampled otoliths from Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) and used an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) coupled to a laser ablation system to target the outer otolith edges corresponding to the period immediately before capture. Using multivariate analysis …

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Iron In The Sargasso Sea (Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study Region) During Summer: Eolian Imprint, Spatiotemporal Variability, And Ecological Implications, Peter N. Sedwick, T. M. Church, A. R. Bowie, C. M. Marsay, S. J. Ussher, K. M. Achilles, P. J. Lethaby, R. J. Johnson, M. M. Sarin, D. J. Mcgillicuddy

OES Faculty Publications

We report iron measurements for water column and aerosol samples collected in the Sargasso Sea during July-August 2003 (summer 2003) and April-May 2004 (spring 2004). Our data reveal a large seasonal change in the dissolved iron (dFe) concentration of surface waters in the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study region, from ∼1-2nM in summer 2003, when aerosol iron concentrations were high (mean 10 nmol/m^-3), to ∼0.1-0.2nM in spring 2004, when aerosol iron concentrations were low (mean 0.64 nmol/m^-3). During summer 2003, we observed an increase of ∼0.6nM in surface water dFe concentrations over 13 days, presumably due to …

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Continuous Assimilation Of Geosat Altimeter Data Into A Three-Dimensional Primitive Equation Gulf Stream Model, Tal Ezer, George L. Mellor

CCPO Publications

A three-dimensional data assimilation scheme is described and tested, using the Geosat altimeter data and a high-resolution, primitive equation, numerical ocean model of the Gulf Stream region. The assimilation scheme is based on an optimal interpolation approach in which data along satellite tracks are continuously interpolated horizontally and vertically into the model grid and assimilated with the model prognostic fields. Preprocessed correlations between surface elevation anomalies and subsurface temperature and salinity anomalies are used to project surface information into the deep ocean; model and data error estimates are used to optimize the assimilation. Analysis fields derived from the Navy's Optimum …

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Effect Of Wind Changes During The Last Glacial Maximum On The Circulation In The Southern Ocean, John M. Klinck, David A. Smith

CCPO Publications

Present-day surface wind stress climatology is manipulated to simulate wind conditions during the last glacial maximum. These estimated wind fields force a one-layer, wind-driven numerical model of the southern ocean to determine if a change in the strength of the surface wind stress can shift the location of the Antarctic Polar Front, which is part of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. A change in the forcing by a factor of 0.5-2.0 results in a change in the speed of the flow by an identical factor with no change in position. However, if the present-day wind climatology is shifted meridionally there is …

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Mid‐Level Intrusions At The Continental Shelf Edge, Christopher S. Welch

VIMS Articles

Observations across the continental shelf offshore from New Jersey in late summer 1976 show an intrusion of saline water at the mid level of the water column across the shelf edge front, which appears in density only as an offshore thickening of the pycnocline. This internal density field produces horizontal pressure gradient forces within the pycnocline in the onshore direction. These forces, in the linearized equation of motion with a constant eddy viscosity, drive a circulation which resembles a double Ekman spiral for internal pressure vertical distributions which are thin with respect to the Ekman depth. For thick pressure distributions, …

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Bioscatter Transport By Tropical Cyclones: Insights From 10 Years In The Atlantic Basin, Matthew S. Van Den Broeke

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Estimating Carbon Flux From Optically Recording Total Particle Volume At Depths Below The Primary Pycnocline, Alexander B. Bochdansky, Robert B. Dunbar, Dennis A. Hansell, Gerhard J. Herndl

OES Faculty Publications

Spatial And Temporal Distributions Of Pelagic Sargassum In The Intra-Americas Sea And Atlantic Ocean, Mengqiu Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using Ammonium Pore Water Profiles To Assess Stoichiometry Of Deep Remineralization Processes In Methanogenic Continental Margin Sediments, David J. Burdige, Tomoko Komada

OES Faculty Publications

The Impact Of Oceanic Heat Content On The Rapid Intensification Of Atlantic Hurricanes, Kevin Law

Kevin Law

OES Faculty Publications

Can Otolith Elemental Signatures Record The Capture Site Of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), A Fully Marine Fish In The Southern Ocean?, J. R. Ashford, C. M. Jones, E. Hofmann, I. Everson, C. Moreno, G. Duhamel, R. Williams

CCPO Publications

OES Faculty Publications

Continuous Assimilation Of Geosat Altimeter Data Into A Three-Dimensional Primitive Equation Gulf Stream Model, Tal Ezer, George L. Mellor

CCPO Publications

Effect Of Wind Changes During The Last Glacial Maximum On The Circulation In The Southern Ocean, John M. Klinck, David A. Smith

CCPO Publications

Mid‐Level Intrusions At The Continental Shelf Edge, Christopher S. Welch

VIMS Articles