Oceanography Commons^™

Instrumenting The Unmanned Surface Vehicle, Dorado With A Novel, Miniature Gas Chromatograph: Toward A Rapidly-Deployable, Operational Protocol For Studying Dispersion In The Ocean, John Christopher L'Esperance

Link Foundation Ocean Engineering and Instrumentation Fellowship Reports

There exists a well-developed and maturing framework for understanding and predicting the circulation of water masses at scales of the world ocean down to the scales of ports and harbors. Ocean circulation models employing data-assimilative techniques, and operating in real time, can benefit from observational infrastructure established and maintained by researchers, governments, and other organizations around the globe. As an example, observations from moored instruments which facilitate the measurements of current velocities can be used to constrain or adjust the predictions made by ocean circulation models (OCM). There are, however, properties of oceanic flows which are less conducive to direct …

Nonstationary Internal Tides Observed Using Dual-Satellite Altimetry, Edward D. Zaron

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dual-satellite crossover data from the Jason-2 and Cryosat-2 altimeter missions are used in a novel approach to quantify stationary and nonstationary tides from time-lagged mean square sea surface height (SSH) differences, computed for lags from 1 to 1440 h (60 days). The approach is made feasible by removing independent estimates of the stationary tide and mesoscale SSH variance, which greatly reduces the sampling error of the SSH statistics. For the semidiurnal tidal band, the stationary tidal variance is approximately 0.73 cm(2), and the nonstationary variance is about 0.33 cm(2), or 30% of the total. The temporal correlation of the nonstationary …

Taxonomy Of The Bitentaculate Cirratulidae (Polychaeta), Stacy A. Tewari

Graduate Masters Theses

The bitentaculate cirratulid polychaetes are an important faunal element of both near shore and deep-sea benthic faunal communities. The true diversity of the family is currently unknown due to a large number of undescribed species and erroneously applied “cospmopolitan” names being applied to local species. Cirratulids have been misidentified even in the local waters near the University of Massachusetts Boston. The current study presents six new species from North America. Caulleriella venefica, Chaetozone anasimus, Chaetozone diodonta, and Chaetozone hystricosus are described from Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay where only two species had previously been reported. Aphelochaeta bullata …

Medium-Range Forecast Of The Arctic Sea-Ice Cover Using The Satellite Observation Data, Kimura Noriaki

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

The Distribution Of Dissolved Barium Along The U.S. Geotraces North Atlantic Transect: Impact Of Biogeochemical Processes, Circulation And Phase Association, Karen Renee Grissom

Master's Theses

During the last four decades, since the completion of the GEOSECS program, there has been a growing interest in the biogeochemical cycle of barium (Ba) due to its potential as a proxy for interpreting the geologic record. The typical barium distribution exhibits removal in the upper water column and regeneration at depth, consistent with its classification as a bio-intermediate element and similar to the nutrient-like profiles of silicic acid and alkalinity. To better constrain the uses of Ba, trace element clean samples were collected during the North Atlantic US GEOTRACES cruises.

The cycling of barium in the North Atlantic region …

Assessing Biogeochemical Impacts And Environmental Conditions Associated With Cross-Shelf High Chlorophyll Plumes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Erin Brooke Jones

Dissertations

The northern Gulf of Mexico is a complex marine system subject to episodic physical phenomena such as loop current eddies. Flow fields generated by these eddies can result in cross-shelf exchanges between riverine influenced shelf waters and the offshore water column. This study considers the impacts of high chlorophyll plumes (HCPs) resulting from cross-shelf exchanges to the bio-optical properties of affected waters and how these plumes are influenced by their environment. The seasonal, interannual and decadal chlorophyll cycles of the Gulf of Mexico and the northern Gulf of Mexico are described to provide context for evaluating the ecological effects of …

Mate Choice In Temperate And Tropical Spiny Lobsters With Contrasting Reproductive Systems, Mark Butler Iv, Rodney Bertelsen, Alison Macdiarmid

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Sperm limitation of reproductive success is common in decapod crustaceans, favouring mating systems in which females compete for large males of high reproductive value. We investigated these phenomena in two species of spiny lobsters—one temperate, one tropical—with contrasting reproductive systems: the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). We hypothesized that female mate selection should be more pronounced in the temperate J. edwardsii than in the tropical P. argus because J. edwardsii matures later, has a shorter mating season, and produces just one clutch of eggs per year that benefit from …

Odu-European Collaborations On Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Reserach, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

Less than five years ago, Old Dominion University started the Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI), which led to the recently established Mitigation and Adaptation Research Institute (MARI) and the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness & Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project. This interdisciplinary area of research also has a long history in many European countries. Direct measurements of sea level started more than 200 years ago and flood mitigation measures have been in effect for a long time in London, the Netherlands and many other places. Today, reports on flooding in Norfolk, UK, by the BBC or …

Contrasting Environmental Drivers Of Adult And Juvenile Growth In A Marine Fish: Implications For The Effects Of Climate Change, Joyce Jia Lin Ong, Adam Nicholas Rountrey, Jessica Jane Meeuwig, Stephen J. Newman, Jens Zinke, Mark Gregory Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

Many marine fishes have life history strategies that involve ontogenetic changes in the use of coastal habitats. Such ontogenetic shifts may place these species at particular risk from climate change, because the successive environments they inhabit can differ in the type, frequency and severity of changes related to global warming. We used a dendrochronology approach to examine the physical and biological drivers of growth of adult and juvenile mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from tropical north-western Australia. Juveniles of this species inhabit estuarine environments and adults reside on coastal reefs. The Niño-4 index, a measure of the status of …

The Effect Of The El Nino-Southern Oscillation On U.S. Regional And Coastal Sea Level, B. D. Hamlington, R. R. Leben, K. -Y. Kim, R. S. Nerem, L. P. Atkinson, P. R. Thompson

CCPO Publications

Although much of the focus on future sea level rise concerns the long-term trend associated with anthropogenic warming, on shorter time scales, internal climate variability can contribute significantly to regional sea level. Such sea level variability should be taken into consideration when planning efforts to mitigate the effects of future sea level change. In this study, we quantify the contribution to regional sea level of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Through cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function analysis (CSEOF) of the long reconstructed sea level data set and of a set of U.S. tide gauges, two global modes dominated by Pacific Ocean …

Blooming Lotus, Brian Nguyen

Honors Theses

While reflecting on my poetry chapbook, Blooming Lotus, I ask myself what I was trying to accomplish by creating the chapbook. I have always been interested in my East Asian culture, but growing up as an Asian American has resulted in some ignorance in regards to the topic. I wanted to explore more of my own heritage through the creation of this chapbook by writing poems inspired by East Asian culture. Not only did I want to expose myself to East Asian culture but I also wanted to expose my readers to it as well. Most of my poems required …

Adcp Mooring System On The Southeast Florida Shelf, Alexander Soloviev, Cayla Whitney Dean, Robert H. Weisberg, Mark E. Luther, Jon Wood

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Marine Snow Settling Velocities At An Oil Spill Site And A Control Site In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Clayton Hugh Dike

Master's Theses

After budgeting for response efforts and natural processes, over one million barrels of oil from the BP oil spill were unaccounted for. A hypothesis coined "The Dirty Blizzard" formed subsequent to observations of large and numerous oiled marine snow aggregates amidst the surface slick proposed that a large quantity of oil sank to depth via the aggregates. Having reached the seafloor, aggregates were subject to microbial degradation and to redistribution due to bottom currents. To assist in characterizing redistribution of particles near the seafloor, sediment traps, marine snow cameras, and acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were deployed at two sites …

Improved Monitoring Of The Changjiang River Plume In The East China Sea During The Monsoon Season Using Satellite Borne L-Band Radiometers, Bumjun Kil

Dissertations

Measurement of sea surface salinity (SSS) from Satellite borne L-band (1.4 GHz, 21cm) radiometers (NASA Aquarius/SAC-D and ESA SMOS) in the East China Sea (ECS) is challenging due to the uncertainty of SSS caused by land thermal emissions in the antenna side lobes and because of strong radio frequency interference (RFI) due to illegally emitted man-made sources. RFI contamination in the ECS has gradually decreased because of the on-going international efforts to eliminate broadcasts in the protected L-band radio-astronomy frequency band. The present dissertation focuses on carefully eliminating the remaining RFI contamination in retrieved SSS, and masking out regions close …

Quantifying The Sensitivity Of Maximum, Limiting, And Potential Tropical Cyclone Intensity To Sst: Observations Versus The Fsu/ Coaps Global Climate Model, Sarah Strazzo, James Elsner, Tim Larow

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Aquatic Organisms For The Cyanotoxin Beta-Methylamino-L-Alanine (Bmaa), Ian M. Sammler

OES Theses and Dissertations

Cyanobacteria blooms are increasing globally as a result of eutrophication. Many cyanobacteria are potentially harmful, not only because of the oxygen depleted zones created when they decay, but also because of the toxins they produce. β- Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), reportedly produced by many species of cyanobacteria, is a non-proteinogenic amino acid that has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's) in humans. This study presents results from an assessment of BMAA in cyanobacteria and their grazers from the lower Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie regions. BMAA was analyzed in samples prepared with the EZ:Faast™ …

Doppler Shifted Internal Waves In A Shallow Water Region, William D. Boll

OES Theses and Dissertations

Measurements of velocity fields from a high frequency ( 1.2 MHz) vertical acoustic doppler current profiler (V ADCP) along with density and temperature profiles were taken in coastal waters on the New Jersey shelf. Time series span six consecutive months from May through October 2003, capturing the transition of the water column from a highly stratified summer into a fully mixed winter season. Barotropic tides interact with variations in local bathymetry causing disturbances within the fluid medium which govern internal wave characteristics. During the months of June, July, and August, a high number of internal wave signals were observed. Spectra …

Comparison Of Fish Assemblages In Restored And Natural Mangrove Habitats Along An Urban Shoreline, Joseph R. Peters, Lauren A. Yeager, Craig A. Layman

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The installation of living shorelines is one strategy used to ameliorate habitat degradation along developed coastlines. In this process, existing hard structures, such as sea walls and riprap revetments, are supplemented with habitat forming species, e.g., oysters and mangrove trees, to improve habitat quality and function. Shoreline restorations in Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA, often utilize red mangroves, Rhizophora mangle (Linneaus, 1753), in addition to riprap revetments, to help stabilize the shoreline. This riprap-mangrove habitat provides structure for marine organisms to utilize and is believed to improve shoreline habitats in areas previously cleared of mangroves. We examined whether habitat provisioning was …

Housatonic Organic Contaminants: Physical Data Archive, Michael M. Whitney

Department of Marine Sciences

This archive includes physical data from a Connecticut Sea Grant Project on organic contaminants in the Housatonic River estuary and Long Island Sound. The data included are water: temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and current velocities. Observations were collected in 2012 and 2013 from the R/V Weicker.

Performance Metrics For Depth-Based Signal Separation Using Deep Vertical Line Arrays, John K. Boyle

Dissertations and Theses

Vertical line arrays (VLAs) deployed below the critical depth in the deep ocean can exploit reliable acoustic path (RAP) propagation, which provides low transmission loss (TL) for targets at moderate ranges, and increased TL for distant interferers. However, sound from nearby surface interferers also undergoes RAP propagation, and without horizontal aperture, a VLA cannot separate these interferers from submerged targets. A recent publication by McCargar and Zurk (2013) addressed this issue, presenting a transform-based method for passive, depth-based separation of signals received on deep VLAs based on the depth-dependent modulation caused by the interference between the direct and surface-reflected acoustic …

Dissolved Fe And Al In The Upper 1000 M Of The Eastern Indian Ocean: A High‐Resolution Transect Along 95°E From The Antarctic Margin To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, William Landing, Peter Morton, Clifton Buck, Pamela Barrett, Joseph Resing

Faculty Publications

A high‐resolution section of dissolved iron (dFe) and aluminum (dAl) was obtained along ~95°E in the upper 1000 m of the eastern Indian Ocean from the Antarctic margin (66°S) to the Bay of Bengal (18°N) during the U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) CO2 Repeat Hydrography I08S and I09N sections (February–April 2007). In the Southern Ocean, low concentrations of dAl (<1 n M) reflect the negligible dust inputs impacting the water masses subducted in the circumpolar domain. The low dAl concentrations characterizing the Southern Ocean terminate near 45°S, probably because of the advection of subtropical water masses that received dust and sedimentary inputs in their formation region. Our subsurface dFe data near the southern Kerguelen Plateau were significantly higher than historical observations in other Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean. We surmise that the offshore advection of dFe‐rich waters along the western flank of the southern Kerguelen plateau and enhanced vertical mixing could contribute to this elevated subsurface dFe inventory. Elevated subsurface particulate and dFe levels downstream of the northern Kerguelen Plateau may reflect long‐range lateral transport from the plateau's sediments and/or remineralization inputs. At the northern edge of the south Indian subtropical gyre, the deposition of Australian dust, possibly combined with the advection of dAl‐enriched waters from the Indonesian Throughflow, creates a region of elevated dAl in the upper 400 m but without a corresponding enrichment in dFe. In the northern Indian Ocean, the South Equatorial Current constitutes a remarkable biogeochemical front separating the oxygen‐rich and dFe‐poor subtropical gyre waters from the dFe‐rich and oxygen‐depleted waters of the northern Indian Ocean. By tracing the accumulation of macronutrients and dFe along the advective pathway of Indian Central Water, we show that the central waters of the northern Indian Ocean receive excess dFe in addition to that produced by remineralization inputs. The resuspension of shelf sediments and release of pore waters probably contribute to the elevated dFe and dAl levels observed below the highly stratified upper layers of the Bay of Bengal.

Dust Deposition In The Eastern Indian Ocean: The Ocean Perspective From Antarctica To The Bay Of Bengal, Maxime Grand, Christopher Measures, Mariko Hatta, William Hiscock, Clifton Buck, William Landing

Faculty Publications

Atmospheric deposition is an important but still poorly constrained source of trace micronutrients to the open ocean because of the dearth of in situ measurements of total deposition (i.e., wet + dry deposition) in remote regions. In this work, we discuss the upper ocean distribution of dissolved Fe and Al in the eastern Indian Ocean along a 95°E meridional transect spanning the Antarctic margin to the Bay of Bengal. We use the mixed layer concentration of dissolved Al in conjunction with empirical data in a simple steady state model to produce 75 estimates of total dust deposition that we compare …

Introduction To Storm Surge Modeling, Rick Luettich

January 23, 2015: Storm Surge Modeling Tools for Planning and Response

No abstract provided.

Haverstraw Bay Benthic Mapping Project Gis Data, Robert M. Cerrato

SoMAS Research Data

High-resolution backscatter and bathymetric maps created by multibeam and sidescan sonar surveys were used to identify five different seafloor bottom types within Haverstraw Bay. Grab samples were collected within these areas to characterize sediment properties and macrofauna. Selected sampling locations were revisited and seafloor images were obtained with an HD underwater camera. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the most important factors explaining variations in community structure. Results indicated that categorical variables defining bottom types, grain size, and water depth can explain about 42% of community structure variation. In addition, shell length data collected for Rangia cuneata, an introduced species, …

The Extraordinary Voyage Of Kamome; A Tsunami Boat Comes Home, Lori Dengler, Amya Miller, Amy Uyeki

Trade & Scholarly Monographs

This sweet story, intended for lower elementary grades, is intended to provide a window for discussing earthquakes, tsunamis, marine debris, preparedness and cultural awareness in the classroom and within families.

On April 7, 2013, a little over two years after the magnitude 9 Tohoku-oki Japan earthquake triggered a massive tsunami off the coast of northeastern Japan, a lone boat washed up on the shores of Crescent City, California. The confirmation of the boat as belonging to a high school in Rikuzentakata was first step in an amazing story that has linked two tsunami-vulnerable communities on opposite sides of the Pacific …

Dimethylsulfide Gas Transfer Coefficients From Algal Blooms In The Southern Ocean, T. G. Bell, Warren J. De Bruyn, Christa A. Marandino, S. D. Miller, C. S. Law, Eric S. Saltzman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Air-sea dimethylsulfide (DMS) fluxes and bulk air-sea gradients were measured over the Southern Ocean in February-March 2012 during the Surface Ocean Aerosol Production (SOAP) study. The cruise encountered three distinct phytoplankton bloom regions, consisting of two blooms with moderate DMS levels, and a high biomass, dinoflagellate-dominated bloom with high seawater DMS levels (> 15 nM). Gas transfer coefficients were considerably scattered at wind speeds above 5 m s(-1). Bin averaging the data resulted in a linear relationship between wind speed and mean gas transfer velocity consistent with that previously observed. However, the wind-speed-binned gas transfer data distribution at all wind …

Mathematical Modeling Of Emiliania Huxleyi And A Host-Specific Virus, Julia Middleton

Honors Theses

The world’s oceans provide the basis for life on the planet. One microscopic algae, the coccolithophores, and Emiliania huxleyi in particular, is a major source of carbon drawdown in the context of the global carbon cycle and account for a significant amount of the primary production in oceanic ecosystems. We know that the oceans are packed with marine viruses and they have an important role in the rise and fall of plankton populations but current mathematical models do not accurately account for virus-host interactions when predicting plankton blooms. Therefore I am using model optimization and comparison techniques to evaluate current …

Divergent Responses Of Atlantic Coastal And Oceanic Synechococcus To Iron Limitation, Katherine R. M. Mackey, Anton F. Post, Matthew R. Mcilvin, Gregory A. Cutter, Seth G. John, Mak A. Saito

OES Faculty Publications

Marine Synechococcus are some of the most diverse and ubiquitous phytoplankton, and iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient that limits productivity in many parts of the ocean. To investigate how coastal and oceanic Atlantic Synechococcus strains acclimate to Fe availability, we compared the growth, photophysiology, and quantitative proteomics of two Synechococcus strains from different Fe regimes. Synechococcus strain WH8102, from a region in the southern Sargasso Sea that receives substantial dust deposition, showed impaired growth and photophysiology as Fe declined, yet used few acclimation responses. Coastal WH8020, from the dynamic, seasonally variable New England shelf, displayed a multitiered, hierarchical cascade …

The Relative Importance Of Methanogenesis In The Decomposition Of Organic Matter In Northern Peatlands, J. Elizabeth Corbett, Malak M. Tfaily, David J. Burdige, Paul H. Glaser, Jeffrey P. Chanton

OES Faculty Publications

Using an isotope-mass balance approach and assuming the equimolar production of CO₂ and CH₄ from methanogenesis (e.g., anaerobic decomposition of cellulose), we calculate that the proportion of total CO₂ production from methanogenesis varies from 37 to 83% across a variety of northern peatlands. In a relative sense, methanogenesis was a more important pathway for decomposition in bogs (80 ± 13% of CO₂ production) than in fens (64 ± 5.7% of CO₂ production), but because fens contain more labile substrates they may support higher CH4 production overall. The concentration of CO₂ produced from methanogenesis (CO …

Iron Supply And Demand In Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem, D. J. Mcgillicuddy Jr., Peter N. Sedwick, Michael S. Dinniman, K. R. Arrigo, T. S. Bibby, B. J. W. Greenan, Eileen E. Hofmann, John M. Klinck, W. O. Smith Jr., S. L. Mack, C. M. Marsay, B. M. Sohst, G. L. Van Dijken

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea sustains a rich ecosystem and is the most productive sector of the Southern Ocean. Most of this production occurs within a polynya during the November-February period, when the availability of dissolved iron (dFe) is thought to exert the major control on phytoplankton growth. Here we combine new data on the distribution of dFe, high-resolution model simulations of ice melt and regional circulation, and satellite-based estimates of primary production to quantify iron supply and demand over the Ross Sea continental shelf. Our analysis suggests that the largest sources of dFe to the euphotic zone are wintertime mixing and …