ALBERT

Description: While being a major source for atmospheric CO2 the Peruvian upwelling region exhibits strong variability in surface fCO2 on short spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the physical processes driving the strong variability is of fundamental importance for constraining the effect of marine emissions from upwelling regions on the global CO2 budget. In this study, a frontal decay on length scales of 𝒪(10 km) was observed off the Peruvian coast following a pronounced decrease in downfrontal wind speed with a time lag of 9 hours. Simultaneously, the sea-to-air flux of CO2 on the inshore (cold) side of the front dropped from up to 80 to 10 mmol m-2 day-1, while the offshore (warm) side of the front was constantly outgassing at a rate of 10–20 mmol m-2 day-1. Based on repeated ship transects the decay of the front was observed to occur in two phases. The first phase was characterized by a development of coherent surface temperature anomalies which gained in amplitude over 6–9 hours. The second phase was characterized by a disappearance of the surface temperature front within 6 hours. Submesoscale mixed layer instabilities were present but seem too slow to completely remove the temperature gradient in this short time period. Dynamics such as a pressure driven gravity current appear to be a likely mechanism behind the evolution of the front.

Description: As a major source for atmospheric CO2, the Peruvian upwelling region exhibits strong variability in surface fCO2 on short spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the physical processes driving the strong variability is of fundamental importance for constraining the effect of marine emissions from upwelling regions on the global CO2 budget. In this study, a frontal decay on length scales of ?(10 km) was observed off the Peruvian coast following a pronounced decrease in down-frontal (equatorward) wind speed with a time lag of 9 h. Simultaneously, the sea-to-air flux of CO2 on the inshore (cold) side of the front dropped from up to 80 to 10 mmol m−2 day−1, while the offshore (warm) side of the front was constantly outgassing at a rate of 10–20 mmol m−2 day−1. Based on repeated ship transects the decay of the front was observed to occur in two phases. The first phase was characterized by a development of coherent surface temperature anomalies which gained in amplitude over 6–9 h. The second phase was characterized by a disappearance of the surface temperature front within 6 h. Submesoscale mixed-layer instabilities were present but seem too slow to completely remove the temperature gradient in this short time period. Dynamics such as a pressure-driven gravity current appear to be a likely mechanism behind the evolution of the front.

Description: As a major source for atmospheric CO2, the Peruvian upwelling region exhibits strong variability in surface fCO2 on short spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the physical processes driving the strong variability is of fundamental importance for constraining the effect of marine emissions from upwelling regions on the global CO2 budget. In this study, a frontal decay on length scales of 𝒪(10 km) was observed off the Peruvian coast following a pronounced decrease in down-frontal (equatorward) wind speed with a time lag of 9 h. Simultaneously, the sea-to-air flux of CO2 on the inshore (cold) side of the front dropped from up to 80 to 10 mmol m−2 day−1, while the offshore (warm) side of the front was constantly outgassing at a rate of 10–20 mmol m−2 day−1. Based on repeated ship transects the decay of the front was observed to occur in two phases. The first phase was characterized by a development of coherent surface temperature anomalies which gained in amplitude over 6–9 h. The second phase was characterized by a disappearance of the surface temperature front within 6 h. Submesoscale mixed-layer instabilities were present but seem too slow to completely remove the temperature gradient in this short time period. Dynamics such as a pressure-driven gravity current appear to be a likely mechanism behind the evolution of the front.

Description: Increased observational efforts have revealed a multi-decadal decrease of oxygen concentrations with superimposed interannual to decadal variability in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) of the eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA). Recent studies have linked this variability to long-term changes in the ventilation by the latitudinally alternating zonal jets (LAZJs). In this study a 1.5 layer non-linear shallow water model coupled to an advection-diffusion model is employed in basins with either rectangular or Atlantic geometry to obtain a conceptual understanding of the influence of the LAZJs on the ventilation of the ETNA OMZ. Using an equatorial annual period forcing, westward propagating off-equatorial Rossby waves are generated that subsequently break up into non-linear eddies. The responsible non-linear triad instability mechanism thereby sets the amplitude and size of the generated eddies, which rectify to LAZJs when temporally averaged. An oxygen-mimicking tracer is transported by the resulting velocity field, forming a region with minimum tracer concentration whose location is in general agreement with the observed ETNA OMZ. Despite the purely annual period forcing, interannual to decadal and longer tracer variability is excited in the basin, including the region of the ETNA OMZ. A comparison between modelled and observed oxygen trends in the lower OMZ does not lead to a rejection of the null hypothesis that the observed decadal oxygen trends are part of the system's intrinsic variability. However, the observed pronounced decadal oxygen decrease in the upper OMZ during 2006-2013 is not reproduced by the model. On a multi-decadal time scale, the picture is reversed. In contrast to the upper OMZ, the multi-decadal oxygen decrease in the lower OMZ is not reproduced by the idealised model. While this would support the idea of an anthropogenically driven long term deoxygenation of the lower OMZ, it is important to bear the simplicity and shortcomings of the model in mind. Further, the sparsity in measured oxygen data before the recently increased observational efforts complicates the reliable estimation of multi-decadal trends.

Description: An advection-diffusion model coupled to a simple dynamical ocean model is used to illustrate the formation and ventilation of an oxygen minimum zone. The advection-diffusion model carries a tracer mimicking oxygen, and the dynamical model is a non-linear 1 ½ layer reduced-gravity model. The latter is forced by an annually oscillating mass flux confined to the near-equatorial band that, in turn, leads to the generation of mesoscale eddies and latitudinally alternating zonal jets at higher latitudes. The model uses North Atlantic geometry and develops a tracer minimum zone remarkably similar in location to the observed oxygen minimum zone in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA). This is despite the absence of wind forcing and the shadow zone predicted by the ventilated thermocline theory. Although the model is forced only at the annual period, the model nevertheless exhibits decadal and multidecadal variability in its spun-up state. The associated trends are comparable to observed trends in oxygen within the ETNA oxygen minimum zone. Notable exceptions are the multi-decadal decrease in oxygen in the lower oxygen minimum zone, and the sharp decrease in oxygen in the upper oxygen minimum zone between 2006 and 2013.

Description: While being a major source for atmospheric CO2 the Peruvian upwelling region exhibits strong variability in surface fCO2 on short spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the physical processes driving the strong variability is of fundamental importance for constraining the effect of marine emissions from upwelling regions on the global CO2 budget. In this study, a frontal decay on length scales of (10km) was observed off the Peruvian coast following a pronounced decrease in downfrontal wind speed with a time lag of 9 hours. Simultaneously, the sea-to-air flux of CO2 on the inshore (cold) side of the front dropped from up to 80 to 10 mmol/m**2/day, while the offshore (warm) side of the front was constantly outgassing at a rate of 10-20 mmol/m**2/day. Based on repeated ship transects the decay of the front was observed to occur in two phases. The first phase was characterized by a development of coherent surface temperature anomalies which gained in amplitude over 6-9 hours. The second phase was characterized by a disappearance of the surface temperature front within 6 hours. Submesoscale mixed layer instabilities were present but seem too slow to completely remove the temperature gradient in this short time period. Dynamics such as a pressure driven gravity current appear to be a likely mechanism behind the evolution of the front.