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Articles 2161 - 2190 of 2279

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Detection Of The Fast Kelvin Wave Teleconnection Due To El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Steven D. Meyers, Arne Melsom, Gary T. Mitchum, James J. O'Brien Nov 1998

Detection Of The Fast Kelvin Wave Teleconnection Due To El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Steven D. Meyers, Arne Melsom, Gary T. Mitchum, James J. O'Brien

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Previous analyses of the ocean state along the western American coast have often indicated unexpectedly slow and limited propagation of coastally trapped Kelvin waves associated with the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation. In contrast, theoretical and numerical ocean models demonstrate that these Kelvin waves are a rapid and long‐range teleconnection between the low‐ and high‐latitude Pacific Ocean, strongly impacting both the surface coastal currents and nutrient upwelling. Sea level variations along the western coast of North America are reexamined under the assumption that tropically forced Kelvin waves are produced in bursts of several months duration. A cross‐correlation analysis, restricted to mid‐1982 to …

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The Influence Of Loop Current Perturbations On The Formation And Evolution Of Tortugas Eddies In The Southern Straits Of Florida, Paula S. Fratantoni, Thomas N. Lee, Guillermo P. Podesta, Frank E. Muller-Karger Oct 1998

The Influence Of Loop Current Perturbations On The Formation And Evolution Of Tortugas Eddies In The Southern Straits Of Florida, Paula S. Fratantoni, Thomas N. Lee, Guillermo P. Podesta, Frank E. Muller-Karger

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Large cyclonic eddies on the northern edge of the Florida Current are the dominant mesoscale features within the southern Straits of Florida. The most prominent of these features is a quasi-stationary eddy that forms near the Dry Tortugas. Our observations, compiled from 3 years of advanced very high resolution radiometer measurements in the Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico, demonstrate a strong relationship between the generation of anticyclonic rings from the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and the evolution of Tortugas eddies within the southern Straits of Florida. In six cases, Tortugas eddies evolve from cyclonic frontal eddies which …

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Ocean Color Chlorophyll Algorithms For Seawifs, John E. O'Reilly, Stephane Maritorena, B. Greg Mitchell, David A. Siegel, Kendall L. Carder, Sara A. Garver, Mati Kahru, Charles Mcclain Oct 1998

Ocean Color Chlorophyll Algorithms For Seawifs, John E. O'Reilly, Stephane Maritorena, B. Greg Mitchell, David A. Siegel, Kendall L. Carder, Sara A. Garver, Mati Kahru, Charles Mcclain

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A large data set containing coincident in situ chlorophyll and remote sensing reflectance measurements was used to evaluate the accuracy, precision, and suitability of a wide variety of ocean color chlorophyll algorithms for use by SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor). The radiance-chlorophyll data were assembled from various sources during the SeaWiFS Bio-optical Algorithm Mini-Workshop (SeaBAM) and is composed of 919 stations encompassing chlorophyll concentrations between 0.019 and 32.79 mu g L-1. Most of the observations are from Case I nonpolar waters, and similar to 20 observations are from more turbid coastal waters. A variety of statistical and graphical criteria were …

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El Nino Southern Oscillation-Related Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling In The Western Equatorial Pacific, D. A. Mayer, Robert H. Weisberg Aug 1998

El Nino Southern Oscillation-Related Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling In The Western Equatorial Pacific, D. A. Mayer, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Using 43 years of Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data: Set and related data for the period 1950-1992, an examination is made into the regional dependence of ocean-atmosphere coupling in relation to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The cross correlation between sea surface temperature (SST) and sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over the global tropics shows two patterns of significant negative correlation consistent with a local hydrostatic response of SLP to SST: (1) the eastern Pacific, where the correlation is symmetric about and largest on the equator, and (2) the western Pacific, where symmetric regions of-negative correlation are found off the equator, separated …

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A Multicentury Stable Isotope Record From A New Caledonia Coral: Interannual And Decadal Sea Surface Temperature Variability In The Southwest Pacific Since 1657 Ad, Terrence M. Quinn, Thomas J. Crowley, Frederick W. Taylor, Christian Henin, Pascale Joannot, Yvan Join Aug 1998

A Multicentury Stable Isotope Record From A New Caledonia Coral: Interannual And Decadal Sea Surface Temperature Variability In The Southwest Pacific Since 1657 Ad, Terrence M. Quinn, Thomas J. Crowley, Frederick W. Taylor, Christian Henin, Pascale Joannot, Yvan Join

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A 335 year stable isotope record from a New Caledonia coral (22°S, 166°E) helps fill a large gap in historical climate reconstructions. Although the long‐term coral δ18O‐based sea surface temperature (SST) trend is one of warming, there are notable decadal fluctuations, especially in the early 18th and early 19th centuries. Mean annual SSTs between 1658 and 1900 are estimated to be ∼0.3°C lower than the 20th century average, with interdecadal excursions of 0.5°–0.8°C. Time series analyses of the coral isotope record reveals significant concentrations of variance in the El Niño band; an inderdecadal spectral peak is present, but its robustness …

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The Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Observing System: A Decade Of Progress, Michael J. Mcphaden, Antonio J. Busalacchi, Robert Cheney, Jean-Rene Donguy, Kenneth S. Gage, David Halpern, Ming Ji, Paul Julian, Gary Meyers, Gary T. Mitchum, Joel Picaut, Richard W. Reynolds, Neville Smith, Kensuke Takeuchi, Pearn P. Piller Jun 1998

The Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Observing System: A Decade Of Progress, Michael J. Mcphaden, Antonio J. Busalacchi, Robert Cheney, Jean-Rene Donguy, Kenneth S. Gage, David Halpern, Ming Ji, Paul Julian, Gary Meyers, Gary T. Mitchum, Joel Picaut, Richard W. Reynolds, Neville Smith, Kensuke Takeuchi, Pearn P. Piller

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A major accomplishment of the recently completed Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program was the development of an ocean observing system to support seasonal-to-interannual climate studies. This paper reviews the scientific motivations for the development of that observing system, the technological advances that made it possible, and the scientific advances that resulted from. the availability of a significantly expanded observational database. A primary phenomenological focus of TOGA was interannual variability of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system associated with El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Prior to the start of TOGA, our understanding of the physical processes responsible for the ENSO cycle …

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Upper Ocean Heat And Freshwater Advection In The Western Pacific Ocean, Michele Y. Morris, Dean H. Roemmich, Gary Meyers, Robert H. Weisberg Jun 1998

Upper Ocean Heat And Freshwater Advection In The Western Pacific Ocean, Michele Y. Morris, Dean H. Roemmich, Gary Meyers, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Mean net surface heating of the Pacific Ocean shows areas of high heat gain in the eastern tropics and heat loss in the western midlatitudes. For steady state conditions, westward and poleward transport of heat is implied. Mean geostrophic and Ekman fluxes of heat and freshwater through the sides of a western tropical Pacific box bounded by World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) high‐resolution expendable bathythermograph (XBT) transects are presented. Water mass properties of currents transporting heat and freshwater through the enclosed region are seen to be modified in transit. Net transport convergences within the volume of water extending to 800 …

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Midwater Fishes And Shrimps As Competitors And Resource Partitioning In Low Latitude Oligotrophic Ecosystems, Thomas L. Hopkins, Tracey T. Sutton Apr 1998

Midwater Fishes And Shrimps As Competitors And Resource Partitioning In Low Latitude Oligotrophic Ecosystems, Thomas L. Hopkins, Tracey T. Sutton

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Oligotrophic tropical-subtropical oceanic regimes constitute the largest and most ancient ecosystem on earth, with these enormous areas being characterized by high faunal diversity. The stability and age of the ecosystem have enabled the evolution of many similar species niches where there is considerable overlap in niche parameters such as food and space, resulting in high species packing, especially in the epi-and mesopelagic zones. Competition for limited resources undoubtedly exists and has been described by MacArthur (1972; Geographical ecology, Harper and Row, New York) as diffuse competition where each species is impacted by many other species sharing the environment. Most studies …

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Florida Red Tides From A Scientific And Public Information Perspective, Kristen M. Kusek Apr 1998

Florida Red Tides From A Scientific And Public Information Perspective, Kristen M. Kusek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of a comprehensive historical review and evaluation of Florida red tide research and a multifaceted analysis of red tide coverage by the St. Petersburg Times from 1953 to 1997. Red tides caused by Gymnodinium breve along the Florida Gulf coast are riddled with complexity; scientists have been asking many of the same questions for nearly 50 years. Red tides also attract considerable media publicity. This thesis addressed the following: 1. What have scientists learned about Florida red tides since G. breve was identified in 1948?, and 2. How well was the issue covered by the newspaper media? …

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Prophage Induction Of Indigenous Marine Lysogenic Bacteria By Environmental Pollutants, Pamela K. Cochran, Christine A. Kellogg, John H. Paul Apr 1998

Prophage Induction Of Indigenous Marine Lysogenic Bacteria By Environmental Pollutants, Pamela K. Cochran, Christine A. Kellogg, John H. Paul

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Lysogenic bacteria may be abundant components of bacterial assemblages in marine waters. The tremendous number of viruses found in estuarine and other eutrophic environments may be the result in part of induction of prophages. Mitomycin C is the inducing agent of choice for prophage induction; however this is not naturally found in the marine environment. We determined the capability of environmentally important pollutants to effect prophage induction in natural populations of marine bacteria. We investigated Aroclor 1248, a PCB mixture, bunker C fuel oil #6, and a pesticide mixture as inducing agents for natural bacterial communities from the Gulf of …

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Observations Of Meridional Scale Frequency Dependence In The Coupled Tropical Ocean-Atmosphere System, Chunzai Z. Wang, Robert H. Weisberg Feb 1998

Observations Of Meridional Scale Frequency Dependence In The Coupled Tropical Ocean-Atmosphere System, Chunzai Z. Wang, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

It is generally observed in models of the coupled tropical ocean‐atmosphere system that the meridional scales for oscillations at interannual periods are larger than an oceanic equatorial Rossby radius of deformation. Using 9 years of the high‐resolution optimum interpolation sea surface temperature (SST) product of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), analyses are made on the frequency dependence of the observed meridional scales, with emphasis on the latitudinal structures in the central Pacific at 140°W. On the relatively short intraseasonal and seasonal timescales the SST variations are found to occur over a meridional scale …

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Tropical Instability Wave Energetics: Observations From The Tropical Instability Wave Experiment, L. Qiao, Robert H. Weisberg Feb 1998

Tropical Instability Wave Energetics: Observations From The Tropical Instability Wave Experiment, L. Qiao, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Ocean velocity data from an array of subsurface moorings deployed from May 1990 to June 1991 during the Tropical Instability Wave Experiment are used to study the energetics of planetary waves in the vicinity of the equator at 140 degrees W. Such waves, observed from August to December 1990, were initiated by barotropic instability arising primarily from the cyclonic shear region of the South Equatorial Current and Equatorial Undercurrent just north of the equator. Subsequently, local barotropic production continued to maintain and modulate these tropical instability waves through a combination of cyclonic shear and meridional velocity component divergence just north …

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The Influence Of Habitat Variation On Demography Of Blue Jays (Cyanociita Cristata) In South-Central Florida, Keith Allen Tarvin Jan 1998

The Influence Of Habitat Variation On Demography Of Blue Jays (Cyanociita Cristata) In South-Central Florida, Keith Allen Tarvin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vertebrate populations rarely are homogeneous. Instead they exist as arrays of demographically variable subpopulations that are linked through dispersal. Variation in habitat quality is a major cause of demographic variability among subpopulations, but few studies have examined habitat-specific demography empirically. Here I present a detailed field study o f habitat-specific demography in Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) that occupied a habitat mosaic landscape in south-central Florida. By measuring habitat-specific demographic parameters, including density, reproductive output, survival, and dispersal, I tested for the existence of population sources and sinks associated with different habitats, and the applicability ofa series ofhabitat selection models …

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Measuring Heat Storage Changes In The Equatorial Pacific: A Comparison Between Topex Altimetry And Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean Buoys, D. P. Chambers, B. D. Tapley, R. H. Stewart Jan 1998

Measuring Heat Storage Changes In The Equatorial Pacific: A Comparison Between Topex Altimetry And Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean Buoys, D. P. Chambers, B. D. Tapley, R. H. Stewart

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Heat storage variations in the equatorial Pacific have been studied from December 1992 through February 1997, using sea level data from the TOPEX altimeter and temperatures measured by 42 tethered buoys that are part of the Tropical Ocean-Atmosphere (TAO) array. The TOPEX measurements are converted to heat storage anomalies using a coefficient determined from mean climatological values. For 30-day averages the two measurements agree well over most of the region, except for the southwestern quadrant of the warm pool and a small region of the north-central equatorial Pacific. In the southwestern quadrant the TOPEX measurements indicate a smaller long-term heating …

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On The Use Of Tide Gauges To Determine Altimeter Drift, D. P. Chambers, J. C. Ries, C. K. Shum, B. D. Tapley Jan 1998

On The Use Of Tide Gauges To Determine Altimeter Drift, D. P. Chambers, J. C. Ries, C. K. Shum, B. D. Tapley

Marine Science Faculty Publications

TOPEX measurements of sea level variability have been compared to tide gauge measurements from 40 sites and to dynamic topography measurements computed from temperatures recorded at 23 Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA)-Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) buoys in the eastern Pacific and mean temperature-salinity profiles. Buoy data in the western Pacific were not used because of large long-term slopes in the data that appear to be due to interannual salinity variations. The relative drift between TOPEX and the two different in situ sets of data agree within 1 mm yr−1, with a weighted average of −2.6 mm yr−1 and an …

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Plate Tectonic Reconstructions Of The Juan Fernandez Microplate: Transformation From Internal Shear To Rigid Rotation, Robert T. Bird, David F. Naar, Roger L. Larson, Roger C. Searle, Christopher R. Scotese Jan 1998

Plate Tectonic Reconstructions Of The Juan Fernandez Microplate: Transformation From Internal Shear To Rigid Rotation, Robert T. Bird, David F. Naar, Roger L. Larson, Roger C. Searle, Christopher R. Scotese

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Side-scan sonar, swath bathymetry and magnetic anomaly date define a detailed, three-phase history of the Juan Fernandez microplate. The ∼6 m.y. history is presented in a series of discrete time steps to document the growth and reorganization of propagating spreading centers and structural feature, and microplate kinematic evolution. Prior to the microplate, the East Pacific Rise at the Pacific-Antarctic-Nazca triple junction was offset by a long transform fault zone, likely the fastest slipping transform on Earth at anomaly 3A time. The microplate originated from an intratransform setting between anomaly 3A (5.95 Ma) and anomaly 3 (5.24 Ma) time. Its early …

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Seasonal Global Water Mass Budget And Mean Sea Level Variations, J. L. Chen, C. R. Wilson, D. P. Chambers, R. S. Nerem, B. D. Tapley Jan 1998

Seasonal Global Water Mass Budget And Mean Sea Level Variations, J. L. Chen, C. R. Wilson, D. P. Chambers, R. S. Nerem, B. D. Tapley

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Analysis of TOPEX/Poseidon satellite altimeter data indicates that the global mean sea level variation has a clear seasonal signal with an amplitude of about 2 to 3 mm, along with a long term drift. This seasonal variation is associated with mass redistribution within the global hydrological cycle plus steric thermal contributions. We investigate seasonal variations of water vapor in the atmosphere and water storage on land using both assimilated atmospheric models and climatological data, and to estimate the corresponding global mean sea level changes. The predicted seasonal global mean sea level changes are then compared with the seasonal variabilities observed …

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Large-Scale Estimation Of Transport From The Pacific To The Indian Ocean, James T. Potemra, Roger Lukas, Gary T. Mitchum Dec 1997

Large-Scale Estimation Of Transport From The Pacific To The Indian Ocean, James T. Potemra, Roger Lukas, Gary T. Mitchum

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The objective of this model-data intercomparison is to determine the feasibility of deriving an useful index for fluctuations in the Pacific to Indian Ocean throughflow volume transport. Due to insufficient direct observations and the present limitations in numerical models, accurate estimation of variations in the throughflow transport on seasonal to interannual timescales is not yet possible; however, an index based on weighted, monthly mean sea level anomalies in different regions of the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans is presented. Numerical model results and sea level from the TQPEX/POSEIDON altimeter show that the large-scale pressure gradient forcing of the throughflow …

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Model‐Validated Parametrization For Air‐Sea Gas Transfer In The North Indian Ocean, Meredith A. Haines, Mark E. Luther, Rana A. Fine Nov 1997

Model‐Validated Parametrization For Air‐Sea Gas Transfer In The North Indian Ocean, Meredith A. Haines, Mark E. Luther, Rana A. Fine

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Mixed‐layer CFC‐11 saturations measured in the northwestern Indian Ocean during the 1995 World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) along I7N are compared to those from a numerical model using three alternative parametrizations for the air‐sea flux of CFC‐11. The Wanninkhof [1992] gas flux parametrization for climatological winds gives gas saturations which agree best with those observed. The observed and model mixed‐layers are in equilibrium with the contemporary atmosphere to within 1% (the experimental error) in the summer of 1995, excluding cold coastal upwelled waters. When the model is used to extend the space and time scales of the observations in the …

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Evidence For A Volcanic Cooling Signal In A 335-Year Coral Record From New Caledonia, Thomas J. Crowley, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor, Christian Henin, Pascale Joannot Oct 1997

Evidence For A Volcanic Cooling Signal In A 335-Year Coral Record From New Caledonia, Thomas J. Crowley, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor, Christian Henin, Pascale Joannot

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Although volcanic cooling events have been detected in tree ring records, their occurrence in marine records has received much less attention, Herein we report results from a 335-year oxygen isotope record (1657-1992) from a New Caredonia coral indicating that as many as 16 interannual-scale cooling events occur within 1 year of a volcanic eruption as determined by ice core records, There are also pentadal/decadal-scale cooling events beginning in 1675, 1813, and 1903 that immediately postdate volcanic eruptions. However, the interannual correspondences are complicated by the fact that some of the cooling events also coincide with El Ninos, which cause cooling …

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The Zonal Momentum Balance Of The Equatorial Undercurrent In The Central Pacific, L. Qiao, Robert H. Weisberg Jun 1997

The Zonal Momentum Balance Of The Equatorial Undercurrent In The Central Pacific, L. Qiao, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Current velocity data from an array of subsurface moorings deployed during the Tropical Instability Wave Experiment from May 1990 to June 1991 are used to diagnose the upper-ocean zonal momentum balance at 08, 1408W. The flow field and associated zonal momentum flux divergence are fully three-dimensional over the upper 250 m, consistent with the earliest descriptions and theoretical ideas of the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). Estimates of the vertical stress divergence show dynamical flow regimes that change between the surface and the base of the EUC, being essentially linear (modified by nonlinearity) near the surface, weakly nonlinear at the EUC core, …

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Analysis Of Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase Gene Expression In Natural Phytoplankton Communities By Group-Specific Gene Probing, S. L. Pichard, L. Campbell, Kendall L. Carder, J. B. Kang, J. Patch, F. Robert Tabita, John H. Paul Apr 1997

Analysis Of Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase Gene Expression In Natural Phytoplankton Communities By Group-Specific Gene Probing, S. L. Pichard, L. Campbell, Kendall L. Carder, J. B. Kang, J. Patch, F. Robert Tabita, John H. Paul

Marine Science Faculty Publications

To understand the composition and photosynthetic carbon fixing activities of natural phytoplankton communities, we employed group-specific ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RubisCO) large subunit gene probes (rbcL) to examine RubisCO gene expression. The rbcL genes from Synechococcus PCC6301 (cyano) and from Cylindrotheca sp. (chrome) were used as probes at select stations to examine levels of rbcL mRNA in specific size fractions (>5 mu m, 1-5 mu m, m) in surface waters of the mouth of Tampa Bay (estuarine), West Florida Shelf (coastal), and from the offshore Gulf of Mexico. Using DNA purified from algal isolates, we demonstrated that the cyano probe …

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Basin-Wide Zonal Wind Stress And Ocean Thermal Variations In The Equatorial Pacific Ocean, Y. J. Yang, T. Y. Tang, Robert H. Weisberg Jan 1997

Basin-Wide Zonal Wind Stress And Ocean Thermal Variations In The Equatorial Pacific Ocean, Y. J. Yang, T. Y. Tang, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Wind data, obtained from the model results of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), for the equatorial Pacific Ocean from 1985 to 1992, were employed to study the basin-wide distributions for various constituents of zonal wind stress. Forcing the ocean by the individual constituent of zonal wind stress, the upper ocean thermal variation was investigated using a linear analytical ocean model. The interannual variation of zonal wind stress is largest in amplitude in the west-central part of the basin and is dominated by an eastwardly propagating wave. The upper layer thickness perturbation h shows an evolving eastward …

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Variations In Axial Morphology Along The Galápagos Spreading Center And The Influence Of The Galápagos Hotspot, J. Pablo Canales, Juan José Dañobeitia, Robert S. Detrick, Emilie E. E. Hooft, Rafael Bartolomé, David F. Naar Jan 1997

Variations In Axial Morphology Along The Galápagos Spreading Center And The Influence Of The Galápagos Hotspot, J. Pablo Canales, Juan José Dañobeitia, Robert S. Detrick, Emilie E. E. Hooft, Rafael Bartolomé, David F. Naar

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The Galápagos Spreading Center (GSC) is marked by systematic changes in axial morphology between the Inca Fracture Zone (FZ) at 85.5°W and the 95.5°W propagator. We analyze these changes using new swath bathymetry and magnetic data acquired aboard the B/O Hespérides during the Galápagos'96 experiment. Within ∼350 km of the Galápagos hotspot the ridge axis is associated with an East Pacific Rise (EPR)-like axial high. At increasing distance from the hotspot the axial high broadens and deepens forming a distinctive transitional axial morphology (TAM). The axis in this transitional region is typically a broad zone (∼20 km wide) consisting of …

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Long-Period Ocean Heat Storage Rates And Basin-Scale Heat Fluxes From Topex, D. P. Chambers, B. D. Tapley, R. H. Stewart Jan 1997

Long-Period Ocean Heat Storage Rates And Basin-Scale Heat Fluxes From Topex, D. P. Chambers, B. D. Tapley, R. H. Stewart

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Over 3 years of TOPEX altimeter data have been used to estimate annual heat storage and long-period heat storage rates in 1° grids over the global oceans (65°S to 65°N). The mean annual heat storage rates computed from the TOPEX data agree with those computed from monthly-mean temperatures to within 30 W m2. The accuracy of long-term heat storage rates is estimated to be less than 10 W m2 over mid and low latitudes. Regional heat storage rates are larger than this error in many regions, most notably in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans and in the northern Atlantic …

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Improved Determination Of Global Mean Sea Level Variations Using Topex/Poseidon Altimeter Data, R. S. Nerem, B. J. Haines, J. Hendricks, J. F. Minster, G. T. Mitchum, W. B. White Jan 1997

Improved Determination Of Global Mean Sea Level Variations Using Topex/Poseidon Altimeter Data, R. S. Nerem, B. J. Haines, J. Hendricks, J. F. Minster, G. T. Mitchum, W. B. White

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite altimeter mission has measured sea level on a global basis over the last 4 years at 10 day intervals. After correcting for a recently discovered error in the measurements, the estimated rate of global mean sea level change over this time period is −0.2 mm/year. Comparisons to tide gauge sea levels measured in spatial and temporal proximity to the satellite measurements suggest there is a residual drift in the satellite measurement system of −2.3±1.2 mm/year, the origin of which is presently unknown. Application of this rate correction yields a “calibrated” estimate of +2.1±1.3 mm/year for the rate …

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Morphology And Distribution Of Seamounts Surrounding Easter Island, Yoav Rappaport, D. F. Naar, C. C. Barton, Z. J. Liu, R. N. Hey Jan 1997

Morphology And Distribution Of Seamounts Surrounding Easter Island, Yoav Rappaport, D. F. Naar, C. C. Barton, Z. J. Liu, R. N. Hey

Marine Science Faculty Publications

We investigate the morphology and distribution of a seamount population on a section of seafloor influenced by both superfast seafloor spreading and hotspot volcanism. The population under investigation is part of a broad chain of seamounts extending eastward from the East Pacific Rise, near Easter Island. In order to define the morphological variability of the seamounts, basal shape, cross-sectional area, volume, flatness, and flank slope are plotted against height for 383 seamounts with heights greater than 200 m, based on bathymetry data collected by GLORI-B and SeaBeam 2000, during three cruises onboard the R/V Melville in the spring of 1993. …

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Occurrence Of Lysogenic Bacteria In Marine Microbial Communities As Determined By Prophage Induction, Sunny C. Jiang, John H Paul Oct 1996

Occurrence Of Lysogenic Bacteria In Marine Microbial Communities As Determined By Prophage Induction, Sunny C. Jiang, John H Paul

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Viruses are abundant and dynamic members of the marine microbial community, and it is important to understand their role in the ecology of natural microbial populations. We have previously found lysogenic bacteria to be a significant proportion (43%) of the cultivable heterotrophic microbial population. As the majority of marine bacteria are not cultivable using standard plating methods, we measured the proportion of marine lysogenic bacteria in natural communities by prophage induction. Mitomycin C, UV radiation, sunlight, temperature and pressure were used to induce prophage in lysogenic bacteria from estuarine, coastal and oligotrophic offshore environments. To determine if hydrocarbon pollutants may …

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Evaluation Of Sampling Resolution In Coral Stable Isotope Records: A Case Study Using Records From New Caledonia And Tarawa, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor, Thomas J. Crowley, Suzanne M. Link Oct 1996

Evaluation Of Sampling Resolution In Coral Stable Isotope Records: A Case Study Using Records From New Caledonia And Tarawa, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor, Thomas J. Crowley, Suzanne M. Link

Marine Science Faculty Publications

We have generated a 40‐year‐long, monthly stable isotope record from a Porites lutea coral collected offshore of Amedee, New Caledonia (22°S, 167°E) to investigate the relation between sampling resolution in coral isotope studies and retrieval of sea‐surface environmental information. We interpret the high correlation between our oxygen isotope record and a twenty‐year long sea‐surface temperature record at the monthly timescale (r=0.88) to indicate that our coral isotope record is an accurate monitor of environmental conditions offshore of Amedee. The character of the signal and the percent variance explained in the record at the annual band, at the quasi‐biennial oscillation band …

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Nitrogen Fixation Within A Tropical Upwelling Ecosystem: Evidence For A Redfield Budget Of Carbon/Nitrogen Cycling By The Total Phytoplankton Community, John J. Walsh Sep 1996

Nitrogen Fixation Within A Tropical Upwelling Ecosystem: Evidence For A Redfield Budget Of Carbon/Nitrogen Cycling By The Total Phytoplankton Community, John J. Walsh

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Recent measurements and paradigms suggest that (1) the uptake of dissolved carbon and nitrate by phytoplankton may be greater than the Redfield ratio of 6.6 and (2) the oceans may be loosing nitrogen from an imbalance in the global rates of nitrogen fixation and denitrification. An analysis of concurrent ΔDIC/ΔNO3 depletion ratios within the Venezuelan and Peruvian upwelling ecosystems, indeed, suggests that values of 10.1–28.6 may pertain to these tropical eutrophic habitats. Nitrogen fixation may provide a Redfield balance in at least the former system, with 34–77% of the new production attributed to assimilation of N2. Independent …

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