ALBERT

Description: NORP-SORP Workshop on Polar Fresh Water: Sources, Pathways and Impacts of Freshwater in Northern and Southern Polar Oceans and Seas (SPICE-UP)What: Up to 60 participants at a time and more than twice as many registrants in total from 20 nations and across experience levels met to discuss the current status of research on freshwater in both polar regions, future directions, and synergies between the Arctic and Southern Ocean research communitiesWhen: 19-21 September 2022 Where: Online

Description: Non-technical summary Scenarios compatible with the Paris agreement's temperature goal of 1.5 °C involve carbon dioxide removal measures - measures that actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere - on a massive scale. Such large-scale implementations raise significant ethical problems. Van Vuuren et al. (2018), as well as the current IPCC scenarios, show that reduction in energy and or food demand could reduce the need for such activities. There is some reluctance to discuss such societal changes. However, we argue that policy measures enabling societal changes are not necessarily ethically problematic. Therefore, they should be discussed alongside techno-optimistic approaches in any kind of discussions about how to respond to climate change. Technical summary The 1.5 °C goal has given impetus to carbon dioxide removal (CDR) measures, such as bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage, or afforestation. However, land-based CDR options compete with food production and biodiversity protection. Van Vuuren et al. (2018) looked at alternative pathways including lifestyle changes, low-population projections, or non-CO2 greenhouse gas mitigation, to reach the 1.5 °C temperature objective. Underlined by the recently published IPCC AR6 WGIII report, they show that demand-side management measures are likely to reduce the need for CDR. Yet, policy measures entailed in these scenarios could be associated with ethical problems themselves. In this paper, we therefore investigate ethical implications of four alternative pathways as proposed by Van Vuuren et al. (2018). We find that emission reduction options such as lifestyle changes and reducing population, which are typically perceived as ethically problematic, might be less so on further inspection. In contrast, options associated with less societal transformation and more techno-optimistic approaches turn out to be in need of further scrutiny. The vast majority of emission reduction options considered are not intrinsically ethically problematic; rather everything rests on the precise implementation. Explicitly addressing ethical considerations when developing, advancing, and using integrated assessment scenarios could reignite debates about previously overlooked topics and thereby support necessary societal discourse. Social media summary Policy measures enabling societal changes are not necessarily as ethically problematic as commonly presumed and reduce the need for large-scale CDR

Description: We investigate the origin of the equatorial Pacific cold sea surface temperature (SST) bias and its link to wind biases, local and remote, in the Kiel Climate Model (KCM). The cold bias is common in climate models participating in the 5 th and 6 th phases of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. In the coupled experiments with the KCM, the interannually varying NCEP/CFSR wind stress is prescribed over four spatial domains: globally, over the equatorial Pacific (EP), the northern Pacific (NP) and southern Pacific (SP). The corresponding EP SST bias is reduced by 100%, 52%, 12% and 23%, respectively. Thus, the EP SST bias is mainly attributed to the local wind bias, with small but not negligible contributions from the extratropical regions. Erroneous ocean circulation driven by overly strong winds cause the cold SST bias, while the surface-heat flux counteracts it. Extratropical Pacific SST biases contribute to the EP cold bias via the oceanic subtropical gyres, which is further enhanced by dynamical coupling in the equatorial region. The origin of the wind biases is examined by forcing the atmospheric component of the KCM in a stand-alone mode with observed SSTs and simulated SSTs from the coupled experiments. Wind biases over the EP, NP and SP regions originate in the atmosphere model. The cold EP SST bias substantially enhances the wind biases over all three regions, while the NP and SP SST biases support local amplification of the wind bias. This study suggests that improving surface-wind stress, at and off the equator, is a key to improve mean-state equatorial Pacific SST in climate models.

Description: State of the climate in 2019

Description: The Falkland Shelf is a highly productive ecosystem in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by upwelling oceanographic dynamics and displays a wasp-waist structure, with few intermediate trophic-level species and many top predators that migrate on the shelf for feeding. One of these resident intermediate trophic-level species, the Patagonian longfin-squid Doryteuthis gahi, is abundant and plays an important role in the ecosystem. We used two methods to estimate the trophic structure of the Falkland Shelf food web, focusing on the trophic niche of D. gahi and its impacts on other species and functional groups to highlight the importance of D. gahi in the ecosystem. First, stable isotope measurements served to calculate trophic levels based on an established nitrogen baseline. Second, an Ecopath model was built to corroborate trophic levels derived from stable isotopes and inform about trophic interactions of D. gahi with other functional groups. The results of both methods placed D. gahi in the centre of the ecosystem with a trophic level of ∼ 3. The Ecopath model predicted high impacts and therefore a high keystoneness for both seasonal cohorts of D. gahi. Our results show that the Falkland Shelf is not only controlled by species feeding at the top and the bottom of the trophic chain. The importance of species feeding at the third trophic level (e.g. D. gahi and Patagonotothen ramsayi) and observed architecture of energy flows confirm the ecosystem's wasp-waist structure with middle-out control mechanisms at play.

Description: In the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, meridional velocity variability exhibits a pronounced peak on intraseasonal timescales whereas zonal velocity dominantly varies on seasonal to interannual timescales. We focus on the intraseasonal meridional velocity variability away from the near-surface layer, its source regions and its pathways into the deep ocean. This deep intraseasonal velocity variability plays a key role in equatorial dynamics as it is an important energy source for the deep equatorial circulation. The results are based on the output of a high-resolution ocean model revealing intraseasonal energy levels along the equator at all depths that are in good agreement with shipboard and moored velocity data. Spectral analyses reveal a pronounced signal of intraseasonal Yanai waves with westward phase velocities and zonal wavelengths longer than 450 km. Different sources and characteristics of these Yanai waves are identified: near the surface between 40°W and 10°W low-baroclinic-mode Yanai waves with periods of around 30 days are exited. These waves have a strong seasonal cycle with a maximum in August. High-frequency Yanai waves (10–20-day period) are excited at the surface east of 10°W. In the region between the North Brazil Current and the Equatorial Undercurrent high-baroclinic-mode Yanai waves with periods between 30 and 40 days are generated. Yanai waves with longer periods (40-80 days) are shed from the Deep Western Boundary Current. The Yanai wave energy is carried along beams east- and downward thus explaining differences in strength, structure and periodicity of the meridional intraseasonal variability in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean.

Description: Marine heatwaves along the coast ofWestern Australia, referred to as Ningaloo Niño, have had dramatic impacts on the ecosystem in the recent decade. A number of local and remote forcing mechanisms have been put forward, however little is known about the depth structure of such temperature extremes. Utilizing an eddy-active global Ocean General Circulation Model, Ningaloo Niño and the corresponding cold Ningaloo Niña events are investigated between 1958-2016, with focus on their depth structure. The relative roles of buoyancy and wind forcing are inferred from sensitivity experiments. Composites reveal a strong symmetry between cold and warm events in their vertical structure and associated large-scale spatial patterns. Temperature anomalies are largest at the surface, where buoyancy forcing is dominant and extend down to 300m depth (or deeper), with wind forcing being the main driver. Large-scale subsurface anomalies arise from a vertical modulation of the thermocline, extending from the western Pacific into the tropical eastern Indian Ocean. The strongest Ningaloo Niños in 2000 and 2011 are unprecedented compound events, where long-lasting high temperatures are accompanied by extreme freshening, which emerges in association with La Niñas, more common and persistent during the negative phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. It is shown that Ningaloo Niños during La Nina phases have a distinctively deeper reach and are associated with a strengthening of the Leeuwin Current, while events during El Niño are limited to the surface layer temperatures, likely driven by local atmosphere-ocean feedbacks, without a clear imprint on salinity and velocity.

Description: The Antarctic Slope Front (ASF) is a fundamental feature of the subpolar Southern Ocean that is still poorly observed. In this study we build a statistical climatology of the temperature and salinity fields of the upper 380 m of the Antarctic margin. We use a comprehensive compilation of observational datasets including the profiles gathered by instrumented marine mammals. The mapping method consists first of a decomposition in vertical modes of the combined temperature and salinity profiles. Then the resulting principal components are optimally interpolated on a regular grid and the monthly climatological profiles are reconstructed, providing a physically plausible representation of the ocean. The ASF is located with a contour method and a gradient method applied on the temperature field, two complementary approaches that provide a complete view of the ASF structure. The front extends from the Amundsen Sea to the eastern Weddell Sea and closely tracks the continental shelf break. It is associated with a sharp temperature gradient that is stronger in winter and weaker in summer. The emergence of the front in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen sectors appears to be seasonally variable (slightly more westward in winter than in summer). Investigation of the density gradients across the shelf break indicates a winter slowdown of the baroclinic component of the Antarctic Slope Current at the near surface, in contrast with the seasonal variability of the temperature gradient.

Description: There is a controversy about the nature of multidecadal climate variability in the North Atlantic (NA) region, concerning the roles of ocean circulation and atmosphere–ocean coupling. Here we describe NA multidecadal variability from a version of the Kiel Climate Model, in which both subpolar gyre (SPG)–Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) coupling and atmosphere–ocean coupling are essential. The oceanic barotropic and meridional overturning streamfunctions and the sea level pressure are jointly analyzed to derive the leading mode of Atlantic sector variability. This mode accounting for 23.7% of the total combined variance is oscillatory with an irregular periodicity of 25–50 years and an e-folding time of about a decade. SPG and AMOC mutually influence each other and together provide the delayed negative feedback necessary for maintaining the oscillation. An anomalously strong SPG, for example, drives higher surface salinity and density in the NA’s sinking region. In response, oceanic deep convection and AMOC intensify, which, with a time delay of about a decade, reduces SPG strength by enhancing upper-ocean heat content. The weaker gyre leads to lower surface salinity and density in the sinking region, which reduces deep convection and eventually AMOC strength. There is a positive ocean–atmosphere feedback between the sea surface temperature and low-level atmospheric circulation over the southern Greenland area, with related wind stress changes reinforcing SPG changes, thereby maintaining the (damped) multidecadal oscillation against dissipation. Stochastic surface heat flux forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation drives the eigenmode.

Description: The Agulhas Current (AC) creates a sharp temperature gradient with the surrounding ocean, leading to a large turbulent flux of moisture from ocean to atmosphere. We use two simulations of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to show the seasonal impact of the warm core of the AC on southern Africa precipitation. In one simulation the sea surface temperature (SST) of the AC is similar to satellite observations, while the second uses satellite SST observations spatially smoothed to reduce the temperature of the core of the AC by ~1.5°C. We show that decreasing the SST of the AC reduces the precipitation of the wettest seasons (austral summer and autumn) inland. Over the ocean, reducing the SST reduces precipitation, low-level wind convergence, SST and SLP Laplacian above the AC in all seasons, consistent with the pressure adjustment mechanism. Moreover, winter precipitation above the Current may be also related to increased latent flux. In summer and autumn, the AC SST reduction is also associated with decreased precipitation further inland (more than 1.5 mm/day), caused by an atmospheric circulation that decreases the horizontal moisture flux from the AC to South Africa. The reduction is also associated with higher geopotential height extending from the surface east and over the AC to the mid-troposphere over southeastern Africa. The westward tilted geopotential height is consistent with the linear response to shallow diabatic heating in midlatitudes. An identical mechanism occurs in spring but is weaker. Winter rainfall response is confined above the AC.

Description: Spatial and temporal variations of nutrient-rich upwelled water across the major eastern boundary upwelling systems are primarily controlled by the surface wind with different, and sometimes contrasting, impacts on coastal upwelling systems driven by alongshore wind and offshore upwelling systems driven by the local wind-stress-curl. Here, concurrently measured wind-fields, satellite-derived Chlorophyll-a concentration along with a state-of-the-art ocean model simulation spanning 2008-2018 are used to investigate the connection between coastal and offshore physical drivers of the Benguela Upwelling System (BUS). Our results indicate that the spatial structure of long-term mean upwelling derived from Ekman theory and the numerical model are fairly consistent across the entire BUS and closely followed by the Chlorophyll-a pattern. The variability of the upwelling from the Ekman theory is proportionally diminished with offshore distance, whereas different and sometimes opposite structures are revealed in the model-derived upwelling. Our result suggests the presence of sub-mesoscale activity (i.e., filaments and eddies) across the entire BUS with a large modulating effect on the wind-stress-curl-driven upwelling off Lüderitz and Walvis Bay. In Kunene and Cape Frio upwelling cells, located in the northern sector of the BUS, the coastal upwelling and open-ocean upwelling frequently alternate each other, whereas they are modulated by the annual cycle and mostly in phase off Walvis Bay. Such a phase relationship appears to be strongly seasonally dependent off Lüderitz and across the southern BUS. Thus, our findings suggest this relationship is far more complex than currently thought and seems to be sensitive to climate changes with short- and far-reaching consequences for this vulnerable marine ecosystem.

Description: This study utilizes observations and a series of idealized experiments to explore whether eastern Pacific (EP)- and central Pacific (CP)-type El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events produce surface wind stress responses with distinct spatial structures. We find that the meridionally broader sea surface temperatures (SSTs) during CP events lead to zonal wind stresses that are also meridionally broader than those found during EP-type events, leading to differences in the near-equatorial wind stress curl. These wind spatial structure differences create differences in the associated pre- and post-ENSO event WWV response. For instance, the meridionally narrow winds found during EP events have (i) weaker wind stresses along 58N and 58S, leading to weaker Ekman-induced pre-event WWV changes; and (ii) stronger near-equatorial wind stress curls that lead to a much larger post-ENSO event WWV changes than during CP events. The latter suggests that, in the framework of the recharge oscillator model, the EP events have stronger coupling between sea surface temperatures (SST) and thermocline (WWV), supporting more clearly the phase transition of ENSO events, and therefore, the oscillating nature of ENSO than CP events. The results suggest that the spatial structure of the SST pattern and the related differences in the wind stress curl, are required along with equatorial wind stress to accurately model the WWV changes during EP- and CP-type ENSO events.

Description: Equatorial deep jets (EDJ) are zonal currents along the equator in all three ocean basins that alternate in direction with depth and time. In the Atlantic below the thermocline, they are the dominant variability on interannual timescales. Observations of equatorial deep jets are available but scarce, given the EDJs’ location at depth, their small vertical scale and their long periodicity of several years. In the last few years, Argo floats have added a significant amount of measurements at intermediate depth. In this study we therefore revise estimates of the EDJ scales based on Argo float data. Mostly, we use velocity data at 1000 m depth calculated from float displacement, which yield robust estimates of the Atlantic EDJ period (4.6 years), amplitude distribution, phase distribution, zonal wavelength (146.7°), and meridional structure. We also show that the equatorial amplitude of the EDJs’ first meridional mode Rossby wave component (9.8 cm s −1 ) is larger than that of their Kelvin wave component (2.8 cm s −1 ). Additionally, we present a new estimation of the EDJs’ vertical structure throughout the Atlantic basin, based on an equatorial geostrophic velocity reconstruction from hydrographic Argo float measurements from depths between 400 and 2000 m. Our new estimates from Argo float data provide the first basin-wide assessment of the Atlantic EDJ scales, as well as having smaller uncertainties than estimates from earlier studies.

Description: Changes in the background climate are known to affect El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) by altering feedbacks that control ENSO’s characteristics. Here, the sensitivity of ENSO variability to the background climate is investigated by utilizing two Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1), simulations in which the solar constant is altered by ±25 W m−2. The resulting stable warm and cold climate mean state simulations differ in terms of ENSO amplitude, frequency, diversity, asymmetry, and seasonality. In the warm run, ENSO reveals a larger amplitude and occurs at higher frequencies relative to the cold and control runs as well as observations. The warm run also features more eastern Pacific El Niños, an increased asymmetry, and a stronger seasonal phase locking. These changes are linked to changes in the mean state via the amplifying and damping feedbacks. In the warm run, a shallower mean thermocline results in a stronger subsurface–surface coupling, whereas the cold run reveals reduced ENSO variability due to a reduced Bjerknes feedback in accordance with a deeper mean thermocline and enhanced surface wind stress. A strong zonal advective and upwelling feedback further contribute to the large ENSO amplitude in the run with a warmer mean state. In the cold run, ENSO events are partly forced by anomalous shortwave radiation. However, in light of the large temperature contrast between the simulations of up to 6 K in the tropical Pacific, the relatively small changes in ENSO variability highlight the robustness of ENSO dynamics under vastly different climate mean states.

Description: Enhanced Southern Ocean ventilation in recent decades has been suggested to be a relevant modulator of the observed changes in ocean heat and carbon uptake. This study focuses on the Southern Ocean midlatitude ventilation changes from the 1960s to the 2010s. A global 1/4° configuration of the NEMO–Louvain-la-Neuve sea ice model, version 2 (LIM2), including the inert tracer CFC-12 (a proxy of ocean ventilation) is forced with the CORE, phase II (CORE-II), and JRA-55 driving ocean (JRA55-do) atmospheric reanalyses. Sensitivity experiments, where the variability of wind stress and/or the buoyancy forcing is suppressed on interannual time scales, are used to unravel the mechanisms driving ventilation changes. Ventilation changes are estimated by comparing CFC-12 interior inventories among the different experiments. All simulations suggest a multidecadal fluctuation of Southern Ocean ventilation, with a decrease until the 1980s–90s and a subsequent increase. This evolution is related to the atmospheric forcing and is caused by the (often counteracting) effects of wind stress and buoyancy forcing. Until the 1980s, increased buoyancy gains caused the ventilation decrease, whereas the subsequent ventilation increase was driven by strengthened wind stress causing deeper mixed layers and a stronger meridional overturning circulation. Wind stress emerges as the main driver of ventilation changes, even though buoyancy forcing modulates its trend and decadal variability. The three Southern Ocean basins take up CFC-12 in distinct density intervals but overall respond similarly to the atmospheric forcing. This study suggests that Southern Ocean ventilation is expected to increase as long as the effect of increasing Southern Hemisphere wind stress overwhelms that of increased stratification.

Description: Two decades of high-resolution satellite observations and climate modeling studies have indicated strong ocean–atmosphere coupled feedback mediated by ocean mesoscale processes, including semipermanent and meandrous SST fronts, mesoscale eddies, and filaments. The air–sea exchanges in latent heat, sensible heat, momentum, and carbon dioxide associated with this so-called mesoscale air–sea interaction are robust near the major western boundary currents, Southern Ocean fronts, and equatorial and coastal upwelling zones, but they are also ubiquitous over the global oceans wherever ocean mesoscale processes are active. Current theories, informed by rapidly advancing observational and modeling capabilities, have established the importance of mesoscale and frontal-scale air–sea interaction processes for understanding large-scale ocean circulation, biogeochemistry, and weather and climate variability. However, numerous challenges remain to accurately diagnose, observe, and simulate mesoscale air–sea interaction to quantify its impacts on large-scale processes. This article provides a comprehensive review of key aspects pertinent to mesoscale air–sea interaction, synthesizes current understanding with remaining gaps and uncertainties, and provides recommendations on theoretical, observational, and modeling strategies for future air–sea interaction research.

Description: Several years of moored turbulence measurements from xpods at three sites in the equatorial cold tongues of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans yield new insights into proxy estimates of turbulence that specifically target the cold tongues. They also reveal previously unknown wind dependencies of diurnally varying turbulence in the near-critical stratified shear layers beneath the mixed layer and above the core of the Equatorial Undercurrent that we have come to understand as deep cycle (DC) turbulence. Isolated by the mixed layer above, the DC layer is only indirectly linked to surface forcing. Yet, it varies diurnally in concert with daily changes in heating/cooling. Diurnal composites computed from 10-min averaged data at fixed xpod depths show that transitions from daytime to nighttime mixing regimes are increasingly delayed with weakening wind stress t. These transitions are also delayed with respect to depth such that they follow a descent rate of roughly 6 m h-1, independent of t. We hypothesize that this wind-dependent delay is a direct result of wind-dependent diurnal warm layer deepening, which acts as the trigger to DC layer instability by bringing shear from the surface down-ward but at rates much slower than 6 m h-1. This delay in initiation of DC layer instability contributes to a reduction in daily averaged values of turbulence dissipation. Both the absence of descending turbulence in the sheared DC layer prior to arrival of the diurnal warm layer shear and the magnitude of the subsequent descent rate after arrival are roughly predicted by laboratory experiments on entrainment in stratified shear flows.

Description: The cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa builds up bioherms that sustain high biodiversity in the deep ocean worldwide. Photographic monitoring of the polyp activity represents a helpful tool to characterize the health status of the corals and to assess anthropogenic impacts on the microhabitat. Discriminating active polyps from skeletons of white Lophelia pertusa is usually time-consuming and error-prone due to their similarity in color in common RGB camera footage. Acquisition of finer resolved spectral information might increase the contrast between the segments of polyps and skeletons, and therefore could support automated classification and accurate activity estimation of polyps. For recording the needed footage, underwater multispectral imaging systems can be used, but they are often expensive and bulky. Here we present results of a new, light-weight, compact and low-cost deep-sea tunable LED-based underwater multispectral imaging system (TuLUMIS) with eight spectral channels. A brunch of healthy white Lophelia pertusa was observed under controlled conditions in a laboratory tank. Spectral reflectance signatures were extracted from pixels of polyps and skeletons of the observed coral. Results showed that the polyps can be better distinguished from the skeleton by analysis of the eight-dimensional spectral reflectance signatures compared to three-channel RGB data. During a 72-hour monitoring of the coral with a half-hour temporal resolution in the lab, the polyp activity was estimated based on the results of the multispectral pixel classification using a support vector machine (SVM) approach. The computational estimated polyp activity was consistent with that of the manual annotation, which yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.957.

Description: The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual climate variability on the planet, with far-reaching global impacts. It is therefore key to evaluate ENSO simulations in state-of-the-art numerical models used to study past, present and future climate. Recently, the Pacific Region Panel of the International Climate and Ocean - Variability, Predictability, and Change (CLIVAR) Project, as a part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), led a community-wide effort to evaluate the simulation of ENSO variability, teleconnections and processes in climate models. The new CLIVAR 2020 ENSO metrics package enables model diagnosis, comparison, and evaluation to (1) highlight aspects that need improvement; (2) monitor progress across model generations; (3) help in selecting models that are well suited for particular analyses; (4) reveal links between various model biases, illuminating the impacts of those biases on ENSO and its sensitivity to climate change; and to (5) advance ENSO literacy. By interfacing with existing model evaluation tools, the ENSO metrics package enables rapid analysis of multi-petabyte databases of simulations, such as those generated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phases 5 (CMIP5) and 6 (CMIP6). The CMIP6 models are found to significantly outperform those from CMIP5 for 8 out of 24 ENSO-relevant metrics, with most CMIP6 models showing improved tropical Pacific seasonality and ENSO teleconnections. Only one ENSO metric is significantly degraded in CMIP6, namely the coupling between the ocean surface and subsurface temperature anomalies, while the majority of metrics remain unchanged.

Description: The physical processes driving the genesis of surface- and subsurface-intensified cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies originating from the coastal current system of the Mauritanian Upwelling Region are investigated using a high-resolution (~1.5 km) configuration of GFDL’s Modular Ocean Model. Estimating an energy budget for the boundary current reveals a baroclinically unstable state during its intensification phase in boreal summer and which is driving eddy generation within the near-coastal region. The mean poleward coastal flow’s interaction with the sloping topography induces enhanced anticyclonic vorticity, with potential vorticity close to zero generated in the bottom boundary layer. Flow separation at sharp topographic bends intensifies the anticyclonic vorticity, and submesoscale structures of low PV coalesce to form anticyclonic vortices. A combination of offshore Ekman transport and horizontal advection determined the amount of SACW in an anticyclonic eddy. A vortex with a relatively dense and low PV core will form an anticyclonic mode-water eddy, which will subduct along isopycnals while propagating offshore and hence be shielded from surface buoyancy forcing. Less contribution of dense SACW promotes the generation of surface anticyclonic eddies as the core is composed of a lighter water mass, which causes the eddy to stay closer to the surface and hence be exposed to surface buoyancy forcing. Simulated cyclonic eddies are formed between the rotational flow of an offshore anticyclonic vortex and a poleward flowing boundary current, with eddy potential energy being the dominant source of eddy kinetic energy. All three types of eddies play a key role in the exchange between the Mauritanian Coastal currents system and the adjacent eastern boundary shadow zone region.

Description: The Earth system is accumulating energy due to human-induced activities. More than 90% of this energy has been stored in the ocean as heat since 1970, with similar to 60% of that in the upper 700 m. Differences in upper-ocean heat content anomaly (OHCA) estimates, however, exist. Here, we use a dataset protocol for 1970-2008-with six instrumental bias adjustments applied to expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data, and mapped by six research groups-to evaluate the spatiotemporal spread in upper OHCA estimates arising from two choices: 1) those arising from instrumental bias adjustments and 2) those arising from mathematical (i.e., mapping) techniques to interpolate and extrapolate data in space and time. We also examined the effect of a common ocean mask, which reveals that exclusion of shallow seas can reduce global OHCA estimates up to 13%. Spread due to mapping method is largest in the Indian Ocean and in the eddy-rich and frontal regions of all basins. Spread due to XBT bias adjustment is largest in the Pacific Ocean within 30 degrees N-30 degrees S. In both mapping and XBT cases, spread is higher for 1990-2004. Statistically different trends among mapping methods are found not only in the poorly observed Southern Ocean but also in the well-observed northwest Atlantic. Our results cannot determine the best mapping or bias adjustment schemes, but they identify where important sensitivities exist, and thus where further understanding will help to refine OHCA estimates. These results highlight the need for further coordinated OHCA studies to evaluate the performance of existing mapping methods along with comprehensive assessment of uncertainty estimates.

Description: Modular Observation Solutions of Earth Systems (MOSES) is a novel observation system that is specifically designed to unravel the impact of distinct, dynamic events on the long-term development of environmental systems. Hydrometeorological extremes such as the recent European droughts or the floods of 2013 caused severe and lasting environmental damage. Modeling studies suggest that abrupt permafrost thaw events accelerate Arctic greenhouse gas emissions. Short-lived ocean eddies seem to comprise a significant share of the marine carbon uptake or release. Although there is increasing evidence that such dynamic events bear the potential for major environmental impacts, our knowledge on the processes they trigger is still very limited. MOSES aims at capturing such events, from their formation to their end, with high spatial and temporal resolution. As such, the observation system extends and complements existing national and international observation networks, which are mostly designed for long-term monitoring. Several German Helmholtz Association centers have developed this research facility as a mobile and modular “system of systems” to record energy, water, greenhouse gas, and nutrient cycles on the land surface, in coastal regions, in the ocean, in polar regions, and in the atmosphere—but especially the interactions between the Earth compartments. During the implementation period (2017–21), the measuring systems were put into operation and test campaigns were performed to establish event-driven campaign routines. With MOSES’s regular operation starting in 2022, the observation system will then be ready for cross-compartment and cross-discipline research on the environmental impacts of dynamic events.

Description: Numerical weather prediction models operate on grid spacings of a few kilometers, where deep convection begins to become resolvable. Around this scale, the emergence of coherent structures in the planetary boundary layer, often hypothesized to be caused by cold pools, forces the transition from shallow to deep convection. Yet, the kilometer-scale range is typically not resolved by standard surface operational measurement networks. The measurement campaign FESSTVaL aimed at addressing this gap by observing atmospheric variability at the hectometer to kilometer scale, with a particular emphasis on cold pools, wind gusts and coherent patterns in the planetary boundary layer during summer. A unique feature was the distribution of 150 self-developed and low-cost instruments. More specifically, FESSTVaL included dense networks of 80 autonomous cold pool loggers, 19 weather stations and 83 soil sensor systems, all installed in a rural region of 15-km radius in eastern Germany, as well as self-developed weather stations handed out to citizens. Boundary layer and upper air observations were provided by 8 Doppler lidars and 4 microwave radiometers distributed at 3 supersites; water vapor and temperature were also measured by advanced lidar systems and an infrared spectrometer; and rain was observed by a X-band radar. An uncrewed aircraft, multicopters and a small radiometer network carried out additional measurements during a four-week period. In this paper, we present FESSTVaL’s measurement strategy and show first observational results including unprecedented highly-resolved spatio-temporal cold-pool structures, both in the horizontal as well as in the vertical dimension, associated with overpassing convective systems.

Description: This study demonstrates that the generalization that strong anomalous equatorial Pacific westerly (easterly) winds during El Niño (La Niña) events displays strong adjusted warm water volume (WWV) discharges (recharges) is often incorrect. Using ocean model simulations, we categorize the oceanic adjusted responses to strong anomalous equatorial winds into two categories: (i) transitioning (consistent with the above generalization); and (ii) neutral adjusted responses (with negligible WWV re- and discharge) During the 1980-2016 period only 47% of strong anomalous equatorial winds are followed by transitioning adjusted responses, while the remaining are followed by neutral adjusted responses. Moreover, 55% (only 30%) of the strongest winds lead to transitioning adjusted responses during the pre-2000 (post-2000) period in agreement with the previously reported post-2000 decline of WWV lead time to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The prominent neutral adjusted WWV response is shown to be largely excited by anomalous wind stress forcing with a weaker curl (on average consistent with a higher ratio of off-equatorial to equatorial wind events) and weaker Rossby wave projection than the transitioning adjusted response. We also identify a prominent ENSO phase asymmetry where strong anomalous equatorial westerly winds (i.e., El Niño events) are roughly 1.6 times more likely to strongly discharge WWV than strong anomalous equatorial easterly winds (i.e., La Niña events) are to strongly recharge WWV. This ENSO phase asymmetry may be added to the list of mechanisms proposed to explain why El Niño events have a stronger tendency to be followed by La Niña events than vice versa.

Description: Trematode prevalence and abundance in hosts are known to be affected by biotic drivers as well as by abiotic drivers. In this study, we used the unique salinity gradient found in the south-western Baltic Sea to: (i) investigate patterns of trematode infections in the first intermediate host, the periwinkle Littorina littorea and in the downstream host, the mussel Mytilus edulis, along a regional salinity gradient (from 13 to 22) and (ii) evaluate the effects of first intermediate host (periwinkle) density, host size and salinity on trematode infections in mussels. Two species dominated the trematode community, Renicola roscovita and Himasthla elongata. Salinity, mussel size and density of infected periwinkles were significantly correlated with R. roscovita, and salinity and density correlated with H. elongata abundance. These results suggest that salinity, first intermediate host density and host size play an important role in determining infection levels in mussels, with salinity being the main major driver. Under expected global change scenarios, the predicted freshening of the Baltic Sea might lead to reduced trematode transmission, which may be further enhanced by a potential decrease in periwinkle density and mussel size.

Description: The last 85,000 years were characterized by high climate and environmental variability on the Yucatán Peninsula. Heinrich stadials are examples of abrupt climate transitions that involved shifts in regional temperatures and moisture availability. Thus, they serve as natural experiments to evaluate the contrasting responses of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We used ostracodes and pollen preserved in a 75.9-m-long sediment core (PI-6, ~85 ka) recovered from Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, to assess the magnitude and velocity of community responses. Ostracodes are sensitive to changes in water temperature and conductivity. Vegetation responds to shifts in temperature and the ratio of evaporation to precipitation. Ostracodes display larger and more rapid community changes than does vegetation. Heinrich Stadial 5-1 (HS5-1) was cold and dry and is associated with lower ostracode and vegetation species richness and diversity. In contrast, the slightly warmer and dry conditions during HS6 and HS5a are reflected in higher ostracode species richness and diversity. Our paleoecological study revealed the greatest ecological turnover for ostracodes occurred from 62.5 to 51.0 ka; for pollen, it was at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Future studies should use various climate and environmental indicators from lake and marine sediment records to further explore late glacial paleoclimate causes and effects in the northern neotropics.

Description: Although it is generally known that a combination of abiotic and biotic drivers shapes the distribution and abundance of parasites, our understanding of the interplay of these factors remains to be assessed for most marine host species. The present field survey investigated spatial patterns of richness, prevalence and abundance of parasites in Mytilus galloprovincialis along the coast of the northern Adriatic Sea. Herein, the relationships between biotic (host size, density and local parasite richness of mussel population) and abiotic (eutrophication and salinity) drivers and parasite richness of mussel individuals, prevalence and abundance were analysed. Local parasite richness was the most relevant factor driving parasite species richness in mussel individuals. Prevalence was mainly driven by eutrophication levels in 3 out of 4 parasite species analysed. Similarly, abundance was driven mainly by eutrophication in two parasite species. Mussel size, density and salinity had only minor contributions to the best fitting models. This study highlights that the influence of abiotic and biotic drivers on parasite infections in mussels can be differentially conveyed, depending on the infection measure applied, i.e., parasite richness, prevalence or abundance. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of eutrophication as a major factor influencing parasite prevalence and abundance in mussels in the Adriatic Sea

Description: The extratropical effect of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), known as the Holton-Tan effect, is manifest as a weaker, warmer winter Arctic polar vortex during the east QBO phase. While previous studies have shown that the extratropical QBO signal is caused by the modified propagation of planetary waves in the stratosphere, the mechanism dominating the onset and seasonal development of the Holton-Tan effects remains unclear. Here, the governing wave-mean flow dynamics of the early winter extratropical QBO signal onset and its reversibility is investigated on a synoptic time scale with a finite-amplitude diagnostic using reanalysis and a chemistry-climate model. The extratropical QBO signal onset in October is found to primarily result from modulated stratospheric life cycles of wave pulses entering the stratosphere from the troposphere, rather than from a modulation of their tropospheric wave source. A comprehensive analysis of the wave activity budget during fall, when the stratospheric winter polar vortex starts forming and waves start propagating up into the stratosphere, shows significant differences. During the east QBO phase, the deceleration of the mid-high-latitude stratospheric zonal-mean jet by the upward-propagating wave pulses is less reversible, due to stronger dissipation processes, while during the west phase, a more reversible deceleration of the main polar vortex is found owing to the waves being dissipated at lower latitudes, accompanied by a weak but different response of the tropospheric subtropical jet. From this synoptic wave-event viewpoint, the early season onset of the Holton-Tan effect results from the cumulative effect of the QBO dependent wave-induced deceleration during the life cycle of individual upward wave pulses.

Description: Since 1750, land use change and fossil fuel combustion has led to a 46 % increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, causing global warming with substantial societal consequences. The Paris Agreement aims to limiting global temperature increases to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Increasing levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), in the atmosphere are the primary cause of climate change. Approximately half of the carbon emissions to the atmosphere is sequestered by ocean and land sinks, leading to ocean acidification but also slowing the rate of global warming. However, there are significant uncertainties in the future global warming scenarios due to uncertainties in the size, nature and stability of these sinks. Quantifying and monitoring the size and timing of natural sinks and the impact of climate change on ecosystems are important information to guide policy-makers’ decisions and strategies on reductions in emissions. Continuous, long-term observations are required to quantify GHG emissions, sinks, and their impacts on Earth systems. The Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) was designed as the European in situ observation and information system to support science and society in their efforts to mitigate climate change. It provides standardized and open data currently from over 140 measurement stations across 12 European countries. The stations observe GHG concentrations in the atmosphere and carbon and GHG fluxes between the atmosphere, land surface and the oceans. This article describes how ICOS fulfills its mission to harmonize these observations, ensure the related long-term financial commitments, provide easy access to well-documented and reproducible high-quality data and related protocols and tools for scientific studies, and deliver information and GHG-related products to stakeholders in society and policy.

Description: As an important external forcing, the effect of the 11-yr solar cycle on the tropical Pacific decadal variability is an interesting question. Here, we systematically investigate the phase-locking of the atmosphere and ocean covariations to the solar cycle in the tropical Pacific and propose a new mechanism to explain these decadal covariations. In both observation/reanalysis datasets and a solar cycle forced sensitivity experiment (named the SOL experiment), the ocean heat content anomalies (OHCa; 300 m) resemble a La Niña–like pattern in the solar cycle ascending phase, and the Walker circulation shifts westward. In the declining phase, the opposite is true. The accumulative solar irradiation directly contributes to this coherent decadal variability via changing the warm water volume and the solar-related heat is redistributed by the ocean dynamic processes. During the 11-yr solar cycle, the Pacific Walker circulation anomalies maintain the OHCa in the western equatorial Pacific and work as negative feedback for the eastern Pacific to help the OHCa phase transition. In addition, oceanic meridional heat transport via the subtropical cells and the propagation of off-equatorial Rossby waves also provide a lagged negative feedback to the OHCa phase transition according to the 11-yr solar cycle. The decadal coupled responses of the tropical Pacific climate system are 2 years more lag in the SOL experiment than in the observation/reanalysis. Significance Statement Here, we propose a new mechanism that the heating effect of the accumulative solar irradiation during the 11-yr solar cycle can be “integrated” into the tropical Pacific OHC and then provide a bottom-up effect on the atmosphere at decadal time scales. The strongly coupled processes in this region amplify the decadal phase-locking of the covariations to the 11-yr solar cycle. Our study demonstrates the role of the 11-yr solar cycle in the tropical Pacific decadal variability and provides a new explanation for the “bottom-up” mechanism of the solar cycle forcing. Our results update the understanding of the tropical Pacific decadal variability and may help to improve climate predictions at decadal time scales.

Description: Spatially variable basal conditions are thought to govern how ice sheets behave at glacial time scales (〉1000 years) and responsible for changes in dynamics between the core and peripheral regions of the Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice sheets. Basal motion is accomplished via the deformation of unconsolidated sediments, or via sliding of the ice over an undeformable bed. We present an ice sheet sliding module for the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) that takes into account changes in sediment cover and incorporates surface meltwater. This model routes meltwater, produced at the surface and base of the ice sheet, toward the margin of the ice sheet. Basal sliding is accomplished through the deformation of water saturated sediments, or sliding at the ice-bed interface. In areas with continuous, water saturated sediments, sliding is almost always accomplished through sediment deformation. In areas with incomplete cover, sliding has a stronger dependence on the supply of water. We find that the addition of surface meltwater to the base is a more important factor for ice sheet evolution than the style of sliding. In a glacial cycle simulation, our model causes a more rapid buildup of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

Description: Radiocarbon (14C) concentrations in the oceans are different from those in the atmosphere. Understanding these ocean-atmospheric 14C differences is important both to estimate the calendar ages of samples which obtained their 14C in the marine environment, and to investigate the carbon cycle. The Marine20 radiocarbon age calibration curve is created to address these dual aims by providing a global-scale surface ocean record of radiocarbon from 55,000–0 cal yr BP that accounts for the smoothed response of the ocean to variations in atmospheric 14C production rates and factors out the effect of known changes in global-scale palaeoclimatic variables. The curve also serves as a baseline to study regional oceanic 14C variation. Marine20 offers substantial improvements over the previous Marine13 curve. In response to community questions, we provide a short intuitive guide, intended for the lay-reader, on the construction and use of the Marine20 calibration curve. We describe the choices behind the making of Marine20, as well as the similarities and differences compared with the earlier Marine calibration curves. We also describe how to use the Marine20 curve for calibration and how to estimate ΔR—the localized variation in the oceanic 14C levels due to regional factors which are not incorporated in the global-scale Marine20 curve. To aid understanding, illustrative worked examples are provided.

Description: The Marine20 radiocarbon (14C) age calibration curve, and all earlier marine 14C calibration curves from the IntCal group, must be used extremely cautiously for the calibration of marine 14C samples from polar regions (outside ∼ 40ºS–40ºN) during glacial periods. Calibrating polar 14C marine samples from glacial periods against any Marine calibration curve (Marine20 or any earlier product) using an estimate of , the regional 14C depletion adjustment, that has been obtained from samples in the recent (non-glacial) past is likely to lead to bias and overconfidence in the calibrated age. We propose an approach to calibration that aims to address this by accounting for the possibility of additional, localized, glacial 14C depletion in polar oceans. We suggest, for a specific polar location, bounds on the value of during a glacial period. The lower bound may be based on 14C samples from the recent non-glacial (Holocene) past and corresponds to a low-depletion glacial scenario. The upper bound, , representing a high-depletion scenario is found by increasing according to the latitude of the 14C sample to be calibrated. The suggested increases to obtain are based upon simulations of the Hamburg Large Scale Geostrophic Ocean General Circulation Model (LSG OGCM). Calibrating against the Marine20 curve using the upper and lower bounds provide estimates of calibrated ages for glacial 14C samples in high- and low-depletion scenarios which should bracket the true calendar age of the sample. In some circumstances, users may be able to determine which depletion scenario is more appropriate using independent paleoclimatic or proxy evidence.

Description: In this Open Access book, Sander van der Leeuw examines how the modern world has been caught in a socioeconomic dynamic that has generated the conundrum of sustainability. Combining the methods of social science and complex systems science, he explores how western, developed nations have globalized their world view and how that view has led to the sustainability challenges we are now facing. Its central theme is the coevolution of cognition, demography, social organization, technology, and environmental impact. Beginning with the earliest human societies, van der Leeuw links the distant past with the present in order to demonstrate how the information and communications technology revolution is undermining many of the institutional pillars on which contemporary societies have been constructed. An original view of social evolution as the history of human information-processing, his book shows how the past offers insight into the present and can help us deal with the future.

Description: Increases in ocean temperatures in the Filchner Ronne region of Antarctica are likely to result in increased ice mass loss and sea level rise. We constrain projections of the 21st century sea level contribution of this region using process-based ice-sheet modeling, with model parameters controlling ice dynamics calibrated using observed surface speeds and Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampling. We use climate forcing from Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios as well as a set of hypothetical scenarios of deep ocean warming to evaluate the sensitivity of this region to ocean temperatures. Projected changes in regional ice mass correspond to a decrease in global mean sea level of 24±7 mm over 2015–2100 under RCP 2.6 and 28±9 mm under RCP 8.5. Increased regional inland surface accumulation related to higher warming levels in RCP 8.5 leads to more ice above flotation, offsetting increased ice shelf basal melt. The tests involving step changes in ocean temperatures with constant surface forcing show that one degree of ocean warming from present results in an additional +11 mm contribution to sea level by 2100 and 1% of the ice-covered area in the domain becomes ungrounded (23 200 km2). The rate of mass loss with temperature increases at higher temperatures.

Description: Weather and climate variations on subseasonal to decadal time scales can have enormous social, economic, and environmental impacts, making skillful predictions on these time scales a valuable tool for decision-makers. As such, there is a growing interest in the scientific, operational, and applications communities in developing forecasts to improve our foreknowledge of extreme events. On subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) time scales, these include high-impact meteorological events such as tropical cyclones, extratropical storms, floods, droughts, and heat and cold waves. On seasonal to decadal (S2D) time scales, while the focus broadly remains similar (e.g., on precipitation, surface and upper-ocean temperatures, and their effects on the probabilities of high-impact meteorological events), understanding the roles of internal variability and externally forced variability such as anthropogenic warming in forecasts also becomes important. The S2S and S2D communities share common scientific and technical challenges. These include forecast initialization and ensemble generation; initialization shock and drift; understanding the onset of model systematic errors; bias correction, calibration, and forecast quality assessment; model resolution; atmosphere-ocean coupling; sources and expectations for predictability; and linking research, operational forecasting, and end-user needs. In September 2018 a coordinated pair of international conferences, framed by the above challenges, was organized jointly by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP). These conferences surveyed the state of S2S and S2D prediction, ongoing research, and future needs, providing an ideal basis for synthesizing current and emerging developments in these areas that promise to enhance future operational services. This article provides such a synthesis.

Description: There is a zonally oriented teleconnection pattern over the high-latitude Eurasian continent, which is maintained through baroclinic energy conversion. In this study, we investigate the unique features of the maintenance mechanism of this teleconnection. It is found that the baroclinic energy conversion is most efficient in both the mid-troposphere and the lower troposphere, and that the baroclinic energy conversion in the lower troposphere is comparable to that in the mid-troposphere. Further results indicate that the basic state plays a crucial role in the baroclinic energy conversion. For both the mid and lower troposphere, the atmospheric stability is low and the Coriolis parameter is large over high-latitude Eurasia, favoring strong baroclinic energy conversion. Particularly, in the lower troposphere, the atmospheric stability exhibits a clear land-sea contrast, favoring baroclinic energy conversion over the continents rather than the oceans. Furthermore, in the lower troposphere, the in-phase configuration of the meridional wind and temperature anomalies, which results from the strong meridional gradient of mean temperature around the north edge of the Eurasian continent, also significantly contributes to baroclinic energy conversion. This study highlights the role of the basic state of temperature rather than zonal wind in maintaining the high-latitude teleconnection through baroclinic energy conversion.

Description: Subtropical dry zones, located in the Hadley cells' subsidence regions, strongly influence regional climate as well as outgoing longwave radiation. Changes in these dry zones could have significant impact on surface climate as well as on the atmospheric energy budget. This study investigates the behavior of upper-tropospheric dry zones in a changing climate, using the variable upper-tropospheric humidity (UTH), calculated from climate model experiment output as well as from radiances measured with satellite-based sensors. The global UTH distribution shows that dry zones form a belt in the subtropical winter hemisphere. In the summer hemisphere they concentrate over the eastern ocean basins, where the descent regions of the subtropical anticyclones are located. Recent studies with model and satellite data have found tendencies of increasing dryness at the poleward edges of the subtropical subsidence zones. However, UTH calculated from climate simulations with 25 models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) shows these tendencies only for parts of the winter-hemispheric dry belts. In the summer hemisphere, even though differences exist between the simulations, UTH is increasing in most dry zones, particularly in the South and North Pacific Ocean. None of the summer dry zones is expanding in these simulations. Upper-tropospheric dry zones estimated from observational data do not show any robust signs of change since 1979. Apart from a weak drying tendency at the poleward edge of the southern winter-hemispheric dry belt in infrared measurements, nothing indicates that the subtropical dry belts have expanded poleward.

Description: It might be impossible to truly fathom the magnitude of the threat that global-mean sea level rise poses. However, conceptualizing the scale of the solutions required to protect ourselves against global-mean sea level rise, aids in our ability to acknowledge and understand the threat that sea level rise poses. On these grounds, we here discuss a means to protect over 25 million people and important economical regions in northern Europe against sea level rise. We propose the construction of a Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED) that stretches between France, the United Kingdom and Norway. NEED may seem an overwhelming and unrealistic solution at first. However, our preliminary study suggests that NEED is potentially favorable financially, but also in scale, impacts and challenges compared to that of alternative solutions, such as (managed) migrations and that of country-by-country protection efforts. The mere realization that a solution as considerable as NEED might be a viable and cost-effective protection measure is illustrative of the extraordinary global threat of global-mean sea level rise that we are facing. As such, the concept of constructing NEED showcases the extent of protection efforts that are required if mitigation efforts fail to limit sea level rise.

Description: The comparison of equivalent neutral winds obtained from (a) four WHOI buoys in the subtropics and (b) scatterometer estimates at those locations reveals a root-mean-square (RMS) difference of 0.56-0.76 m/s. To investigate this RMS difference, different buoy wind error sources were examined. These buoys are particularly well suited to examine two important sources of buoy wind errors because: (1) redundant anemometers and a comparison with numerical flow simulations allow us to quantitatively assess flow distortion errors, and (2) one-minute sampling at the buoys allows us to examine the sensitivity of buoy temporal sampling/averaging in the buoy-scatterometer comparisons. The inter-anemometer difference varies as a function of wind direction relative to the buoy wind vane and is consistent with the effects of flow distortion expected based on numerical flow simulations. Comparison between the anemometers and scatterometer winds supports the interpretation that the inter-anemometer disagreement, which can be up to 5% of the wind speed, is due to flow distortion. These insights motivate an empirical correction to the individual anemometer records and subsequent comparison with scatterometer estimates show good agreement.

Description: The North Atlantic (NA) basin-averaged sea surface temperature (NASST) is often used as an index to study climate variability in the NA sector. However, there is still some debate on what drives it. Based on observations and climate models, an analysis of the different influences on the NASST index and its low-pass filtered version, the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) index, is provided. In particular, the relationships of the two indices with some of its mechanistic drivers including the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are investigated. In observations, the NASST index accounts for significant SST variability over the tropical and subpolar NA. The NASST index is shown to lump together SST variability originating from different mechanisms operating on different time scales. The AMO index emphasizes the subpolar SST variability. In the climate models, the SST-anomaly pattern associated with the NASST index is similar. The AMO index, however, only represents pronounced SST variability over the extratropical NA, and this variability is significantly linked to the AMOC. There is a sensitivity of this linkage to the cold NA SST bias observed in many climate models. Models suffering from a large cold bias exhibit a relatively weak linkage between the AMOC and AMO and vice versa. Finally, the basin-averaged SST in its unfiltered form, which has been used to question a strong influence of ocean dynamics on NA SST variability, mixes together multiple types of variability occurring on different time scales and therefore underemphasizes the role of ocean dynamics in the multidecadal variability of NA SSTs.

Description: MILAN was a multidisciplinary, international study examining how the diel variability of sea-surface microlayer biogeochemical properties potentially impacts ocean-atmosphere interaction, in order to improve our understanding of this globally important process. The sea-surface microlayer (SML) at the air-sea interface is 〈 1 mm deep but it is physically, chemically and biologically distinct from the underlying water and the atmosphere above. Wind-driven turbulence and solar radiation are important drivers of SML physical and biogeochemical properties. Given that the SML is involved in all ocean-atmosphere exchanges of mass and energy, its response to solar radiation, especially in relation to how it regulates the air-sea exchange of climate-relevant gases and aerosols, is surprisingly poorly characterised. MILAN (sea-surface MIcroLAyer at Night) was an international, multidisciplinary campaign designed to specifically address this issue. In spring 2017, we deployed diverse sampling platforms (research vessels, radio-controlled catamaran, free-drifting buoy) to study full diel cycles in the coastal North Sea SML and in underlying water, and installed a land-based aerosol sampler. We also carried out concurrent ex situ experiments using several microsensors, a laboratory gas exchange tank, a solar simulator, and a sea spray simulation chamber. In this paper we outline the diversity of approaches employed and some initial results obtained during MILAN. Our observations of diel SML variability, e.g. the influence of changing solar radiation on the quantity and quality of organic material, and diel changes in wind intensity primarily forcing air-sea CO2 exchange, underline the value and the need of multidisciplinary campaigns for integrating SML complexity into the context of air-sea interaction.

Description: Mesoscale eddies can be strengthened by the absorption of submesoscale eddies resulting from mixed-layer baroclinic instabilities. This is shown for mesoscale eddies in the Agulhas Current system by investigating the kinetic energy cascade with a spectral and a coarse-graining approach in two model simulations of the Agulhas region. One simulation resolves mixed-layer baroclinic instabilities and one does not. When mixed-layer baroclinic instabilities are included, the largest submesoscale near-surface fluxes occur in winter-time in regions of strong mesoscale activity for upscale as well as downscale directions. The forward cascade at the smallest resolved scales occurs mainly in frontogenetic regions in the upper 30 m of the water column. In the Agulhas ring path, the forward cascade changes to an inverse cascade at a typical scale of mixed-layer eddies (15 km). At the same scale, the largest sources of the upscale flux occur. After the winter, the maximum of the upscale flux shifts to larger scales. Depending on the region, the kinetic energy reaches the mesoscales in spring or early summer aligned with the maximum of mesoscale kinetic energy. This indicates the importance of submesoscale flows for the mesoscale seasonal cycle. A case study shows that the underlying process is the mesoscale absorption of mixed-layer eddies. When mixed-layer baroclinic instabilities are not included in the simulation, the open-ocean upscale cascade in the Agulhas ring path is almost absent. This contributes to a 20 %-reduction of surface kinetic energy at mesoscales larger than 100 km when submesoscale dynamics are not resolved by the model.

Description: The structure, transport, and seasonal variability of the West Greenland boundary current system near Cape Farewell are investigated using a high-resolution mooring array deployed from 2014 to 2018. The boundary current system is comprised of three components: the West Greenland Coastal Current, which advects cold and fresh Upper Polar Water (UPW); the West Greenland Current, which transports warm and salty Irminger Water (IW) along the upper slope and UPW at the surface; and the Deep Western Boundary Current, which advects dense overflow waters. Labrador Sea Water (LSW) is prevalent at the seaward side of the array within an offshore recirculation gyre and at the base of the West Greenland Current. The 4-yr mean transport of the full boundary current system is 31.1 ± 7.4 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1), with no clear seasonal signal. However, the individual water mass components exhibit seasonal cycles in hydrographic properties and transport. LSW penetrates the boundary current locally, through entrainment/mixing from the adjacent re-circulation gyre, and also enters the current upstream in the Irminger Sea. IW is modified through air–sea interaction during winter along the length of its trajectory around the Irminger Sea, which converts some of the water to LSW. This, together with the seasonal increase in LSW entering the current, results in an anticorrelation in transport between these two water masses. The seasonality in UPW transport can be explained by remote wind forcing and subsequent adjustment via coastal trapped waves. Our results provide the first quantitatively robust observational description of the boundary current in the eastern Labrador Sea.

Description: The representation of tropical precipitation is evaluated across three generations of models participating in phases 3, 5, and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Compared to state-of-the-art observations, improvements in tropical precipitation in the CMIP6 models are identified for some metrics, but we find no general improvement in tropical precipitation on different temporal and spatial scales. Our results indicate overall little changes across the CMIP phases for the summer monsoons, the double-ITCZ bias, and the diurnal cycle of tropical precipitation. We find a reduced amount of drizzle events in CMIP6, but tropical precipitation occurs still too frequently. Continuous improvements across the CMIP phases are identified for the number of consecutive dry days, for the representation of modes of variability, namely, the Madden–Julian oscillation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and for the trends in dry months in the twentieth century. The observed positive trend in extreme wet months is, however, not captured by any of the CMIP phases, which simulate negative trends for extremely wet months in the twentieth century. The regional biases are larger than a climate change signal one hopes to use the models to identify. Given the pace of climate change as compared to the pace of model improvements to simulate tropical precipitation, we question the past strategy of the development of the present class of global climate models as the mainstay of the scientific response to climate change. We suggest the exploration of alternative approaches such as high-resolution storm-resolving models that can offer better prospects to inform us about how tropical precipitation might change with anthropogenic warming.

Description: A ship rain gauge has been developed that can be used under high wind speeds such as those experienced by ships at sea. The instrument has an improved aerodynamic design and an additional lateral collecting surface, which is effective especially with high wind speeds. The ship rain gauge has been calibrated at sea against a specially designed optical disdrometer. An accuracy of 2%–3% has been obtained for 6-hourly sums. The ship rain gauge has also successfully been tested at a test site of the German Weather Service and presently is used on research vessels and voluntary observing ship.

Description: Ocean currents’ effect on long-range sound propagation, though considerable in many cases, is difficult to separate from much stronger effects due to sound speed inhomogeneities, as flow velocity is usually much smaller than typical variations in the sound speed. Dramatic improvement can be achieved in reciprocal transmission experiments when sound signals propagate in opposite directions between two transceivers (source–receiver pairs). The presence of a current results in the breaking of the principle of acoustic reciprocity, thus making it possible to use nonreciprocity of acoustic field as an indicator of water movement. In this paper, reciprocal acoustic transmissions through a submesoscale interthermocline lens of Mediterranean Water (meddy) in the Atlantic are considered theoretically as a possible tool for meddies detection. A simple model of acoustic ray-travel-time nonreciprocity due to a meddy is proposed. The analytic estimates obtained from the model show that the influence of rotary flow is more important than that of drift and seems to be measurable. The problem is studied in more detail via computer simulations. The environmental model used in the simulations corresponds to case studies performed in the Iberian Basin in 1989 and 1991. Numerical simulations show that travel times between two transceivers can be gathered into several groups; for the most part, rays in each set have similar geometry for both propagation directions. However, the lens strongly affects the number of rays in each group, their launch angles, and number of surface interactions, making it impossible to identify these arrivals as required for conventional ocean acoustic tomography. In spite of complexity of ray structure, travel-time nonreciprocity predicted by the model proposed is in good agreement with numerical results. This fact suggests that the model could be used to estimate some parameters of a meddy.

Description: Statolith microstructure was studied in 162 specimens of Illex coindetii (mantle length ranging from 48 to 300 mm) captured on the shelves of Sierra Leone and Western Sahara between May and November 1987. Growth increments were revealed in all statoliths studied, but they were not well-resolved as in other congeneric species Illex illecebrosus and Illex argentinus . Age and growth rates were estimated assuming that growth increments within statoliths were produced. In both regions, differences in growth rates between sexes (females become larger than males) occurred first in length and then in weight. Geographical differences in sex-specific growth (Western Sahara squid grow faster and attain larger sizes than Sierra Leone squid) was apparent after 150 d in females and 120 d in males. Illex coindetii in Sierra Leone started maturing at smaller sizes but at approximately the same age as the Western Sahara squid. Small sized early maturing groups of I. coindetii with a life span of ~0.5 y occurred in both regions. However, large sized late maturing squid with a life span of ~1 y were encountered only in the Western Sahara. In waters of the west African shelf, I. coindetii spawn throughout the year.

Description: Stomach contents of Todarodes sagittatus caught by trawlers working from 100 to 800 m depth in the Balearic Sea (western Mediterranean) were studied. From the 348 stomachs examined (153 males and 195 females) 33.62% were empty (39.21% in males and 29.74% in females). The diet of the squid was composed of 58 different prey items belonging to four major groups: Osteichthya, Crustacea, Cephalopoda and Chondrichthya. Osteichthyes, crustaceans and cephalopods were the most common prey, with a frequency of occurrence value of 84.85, 48.92 and 29.87% respectively. A change in the diet as the squid grows was observed, since juveniles feed basically on fishes while adults prey more actively on crustaceans. Analysis of the diet by size-classes reflected an ontogenetic migration to deeper waters since, parallel to the increase of size, a raise in the percentage of prey species inhabiting deeper waters was detected. Cannibalism was quite frequent, since T. sagittatus was the second most common cephalopod prey. Females had higher fullness-weight index and lower emptiness index than males, which reflects their major energetic demand for egg production.

Description: The size of fish and squid prey of Loligo forbesi was investigated using otoliths, beaks and statoliths collected from stomach contents analysis of samples obtained from Scottish and Irish waters between 1990 and 1993. Loligo forbesi was found to consume a large range of prey sizes, but prey size was always less than the predator size. Season was shown to significantly influence the predator size-prey size relationship for sprat and sandeel prey, but this itself could be influenced by seasonal changes in the size of prey. Fish prey size increased with increased predator size up to a mantle length (ML) of 200 mm. Loligo forbesi of mantle length 〉200 mm consumed a range of prey sizes, with no clear increase in the size of prey. For most prey taxa the relationship between prey size and squid size was similar, the exceptions being dragonets and silvery pout. Cannibalism by L. forbesi was mostly limited to larger L. forbesi (〉150 mm ML) feeding on smaller (20–50 mm ML) conspecifics.

Description: The population structure of the European flying squid Todarodes sagittatus was studied using data of about 5000 squid caught in waters off the western Sahara between 1969 and 1997. The bulk of the population consisted of winter-spawned squid, which occurred as juveniles of 80–120 mm mantle length (ML) over the slope in spring, and as immature squid of 160–180 mm ML both on the shelf and slope in summer. In autumn, the squid attained 220–280 mm ML, matured, and shifted to the slope, where the spawning was supposed to occur in winter. Age and growth of T. sagittatus was studied using statolith ageing techniques. Assuming daily production of putative growth increments within statoliths, as well as sizes and proportions of immature and maturing females, the lifespan of the west Saharan populations of T. sagittatus lasts ∼1 y. Todarodes sagittatus is a fast growing squid at juvenile and immature ontogenetic phases. Early maturation (at ages 220–230 d in males and 250–260 d in females, respectively) and subsequent decrease of somatic growth rates caused rather small modal sizes of mature squid (250–300 mm ML) compared with those of their northern counterparts (350–420 mm ML). Both hatching dates and seasonality in occurrence of mature females shows that in waters off the western Sahara T. sagittatus spawns throughout the year with a well-pronounced winter peak.

Description: Size of ripe eggs and potential fecundity are described in the squid of the subfamilies Todaropsinae and Todarodinae (Oegopsida: Ommastrephidae)— Todaropsis eblanae from West Africa, Todarodes angolensis from Namibia, Todarodes sagittatus from north-west Africa and the Mediterranean Sea, Todarodes sp. from the south-east Pacific, Nototodarus hawaiiensis from the south-east Pacific and West Indian Ocean and Martialia hyadesi from the south-west Atlantic. Females of both subfamilies are characterized by a wide range of ripe egg size (0.7–2.4 mm) and low and medium values of potential fecundity (20,000–2,500,000).

Description: Records of unusual cephalopods, taken as by-catch in Irish and Scottish waters in the years 1985–1995, are presented. Of most interest are three specimens of giant squid (Architeuthis) that were caught in bottom trawls off the west of Ireland between April and June 1995, all were mature males of mantle length ∼1000 mm. Other records include a large mature female Histioteuthis bonnellii from the west of Ireland and three specimens of the gelatinous incirrate octopus, Haliphron atlanticus.

Description: Octopuses ( Eledone cirrhosa (Octopoda: Cephalopoda)) held in an aquarium were subjected to varying conditions of feeding and starvation to evaluate putative indices of feeding and growth. Specific growth rate (%d −1 ) was linearly related to feeding rate (% of the body mass d −1 ) in animals with a mean body mass of 250 g at 15°C. Maximum growth rates varied between 〉 2% d −1 (body weights 〈 300 g) to 〈 1% d −1 (body weights ≤ 900 g) but specific growth rates were not related to body weight. Growth rates became negative (weight loss) after one week without food. The digestive gland index (DGI) was significantly correlated with short and long-term feeding and specific growth rates, and with body weight. Muscle RNA concentration was linearly correlated with growth rate during the previous 1–3 weeks but not with feeding rate. RNA:protein ratios were not different between mid-arm and mantle sample sites but arm tip values were significantly higher. RNA:protein ratio was related to body weight only in feeding animals. It is concluded that DGI is an index of feeding rate and that RNA:protein ratio can be used as an index of recent (~ 4 weeks) growth rate.

Description: A specimen of Chaunoteuthis mollis (Cephalopoda: Onychoteuthidae), a mature mated female, from the Straits of Messina was examined. Measurements and indices were compared with those of Onychoteuthis banksii reported by previous authors. The differences found were attributed to the degeneration of the C. mollis specimen, due to sexual maturation. Two subocular (one under each eye) and two visceral photophores, similar to those of O. banksii , were present in the C. mollis specimen. The size of the posterior visceral photophore of C. mollis fit the regression line correlating posterior photophore diameter to mantle length in O. banksii. These results corroborate the hypothesis, put forward by other authors, that C. mollis represents the mature female of O. banksii.

Description: Three specimens of the giant squid Architeuthis were by-caught in demersal trawls to the west of Ireland, between April and June 1995. All three specimens were mature males, of mantle length 975–1084 mm. Although some intraspecific variation in fin, beak and gill were noticed, all three specimens were tentatively assigned to the species A. dux. The three specimens had food remains in their stomachs and food items identified included Micromesistius poutassou, Trachurus trachurus, Nephrops norvegicus and Eledone cirrhosa . Age estimates were made by counting putative daily growth increments in ground statoliths, and ranged from 294–122 d, giving percentage daily growth rates of 2·96–4·25% indicating a short life cycle and extremely rapid growth.

Description: Deep-water trawling for fish species on the shelf slope off Scotland results in a by-catch of rare cephalopod species. The cirrate octopus Opisthoteuthis grimaldii is normally present below 800 m; at least one other species of cirrate and five species of incirrate octopus are found; significant extensions of range and depth are recorded. An incidental catch of the ommastrephid squid, Todarodes sagittatus , included a fully mature specimen and is indicative of its probable breeding locations. The results highlight the many taxonomic and systematic uncertainties surrounding the rarer cephalopod forms, and emphasize the utility of the fishing by-catch.

Description: Two large (dorsal mantle length 42.5 and 47.5 cm), mated spent females of circum‐Antarctic bathypelagic cranchiid squid Galiteuthis glacialis were caught early in March 1992 at the surface of the ice hole in the western Weddell Sea over depths 1915‐1920 m by the team of the U.S.A.‐Russian Ice Station Weddell‐I. The structure of the reproductive system of adult females is described for the first time in detail. Both were gelatinous, devoid of tentacles, with empty or almost empty stomachs. The empty spermatangia (sperm reservoirs of spermatophores) 30‐35 mm in length were distributed in the mantle tissues parallel to the mantle surface and to each other in the dorso‐anterior part of the mantle: 13 in one female, parallel to the body axis, and 20 in the other, parallel (13) or perpendicular (7) to the body axis. In the latter case, they represented probably two mating events. The spermatangia lay nearer to the inner than the outer mantle side and opened by a round window on the inner side; the skin with chromatophores above them remained intact. The spermatozoa had one flagellum and rod‐like heads, length 5.0‐5.3 μm, width 1.2‐1.5 μm. The most characteristic features are: a very simple type of blood vessel branching making each micro‐gonad currant‐like, not grape‐like; a very compact disposition of oviducal, nidamental glands and gill, forming a united complex located on both sides of the mantle cavity; and an ovary connected by mesentery along all its length with the continuation of the stomach from the caecum to the end of the gastrogenital ligament. Only immature degenerating trophoplasmatic oocytes, length 0.9‐1.4, av. 1.0‐1.2 mm, were contained in ovaries; only one mature egg (length 3.3 mm, width 2.4‐2.5 mm) was found in each female. The absence of oocytes 〈0.9 mm and 1.5‐3.2 mm indicates that the maturation of oocytes proceeds rather synchronously, one large portion of eggs (some tens of thousands) matures in a short time while others degenerate. The residual fecundity is assessed to be approximately 20,000 eggs. It is hypothesized that mating occurs shortly before spawning and that mature males do not undergo gelatinous degeneration and do not lose tentacles. Spermatophores are placed on the inner side of the female's mantle with the aid of the male's tentacles and/or arms (less probably by the penis), but the exact mode of implantation is unclear. Spawning probably occurs at depths of adult habitat (approx. 500–2500m), may be multiportional but short; the exhausted female loses neutral buoyancy, rises to the surface and dies. Rising to the surface after spawning is a common feature of females of many meso‐ and bathypelagic squids undergoing gelatinous degeneration during maturation (Onychoteuthidae, Gonatidae, Histio‐teuthidae, Cranchiidae, etc.) and may explain the common occurrence of large deep‐water squids in the stomachs of seabirds, including those incapable of diving, and marine mammals.

Description: Growth in Loliolus noctiluca (Myopsida: Loliginidae) in Western Port, Victoria, Australia was studied from statolith growth increments. Tetracycline staining experiments verified previous work on tropical forms of this species that showed growth increments to be deposited daily. A logistic growth function described the relationship between length and increment number. There appear to be major differences in the form of growth, longevity and life history pattern between tropical and temperate forms of this species. These are probably attributable to differences in environmental conditions.

Description: Cephalopod prey of several cetacean species from Hawaiian waters were identified and quantified from the beaks in stomachs of stranded individuals. The different species of cetaceans all appear to target different species and sizes of cephalopods. Beaks from two sperm whales ( Physeter catodon ) included a total of 312 upper and 292 lower beaks (mandibles) of cephalopods. All of the cephalopods represented by lower beaks were oceanic squid belonging to 20 or more species in 14 families. The major constituents of the whale diet were Histioteuthis hoylei (45% by number and 10·9% by dry weight), Ommastrephes bartrami (7·6% by number, 30·6% by weight) and Architeuthis sp. (only 0·7% by number, but 26·5% by weight). In a Risso's dolphin ( Grampus griseus ) stomach, 1051 upper beaks and 1349 lower beaks were present. Eighteen or more genera of cephalopods in 15 families were present. The major constituents of the Grampus diet were Enoploteuthis spp. (36·1% by number and 30·1% by dry weight) and Abraliopsis spp. (23·6% by number, but only 4·9% by weight) and O. bartrami (1·3% and 32·1% respectively). The melon-headed whale ( Peponocephala electra ) eats fish as well as cephalopods which are represented by only six lower beaks belonging to five genera, Enoploteuthis, Teuthowenia, Abraliopsis, Abralia sp. and Bathyteuthis abyssicola . The beaked whale (unidentified) contained two lower beaks which were O. bartrami. Stenella attenuata also eats fish and the sample contained lower beaks, one of Enoploteuthis sp. and seven of an Abraliopsis sp.

Description: Observations on samples from Spanish trawlers between September and November of 1995 revealed the presence of mated females of Loligo gahi (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae) from 164–285 m depth, in the Western area of the Falkland Islands Conservation Zone. 93.8% of the mature females, and 31.0% of the maturing ones, were mated. Deposition of spermatophores always took place in the oral membrane between the connectives of arms IV. The relationships between sexual maturation and copulation have been analysed, and the hypothesis of mating acting as a ‘trigger’ of the final sexual maturation in Loligo gahi females is proposed and discussed.

Description: This paper gives morphometric variations and dorsal mantle length–total weight (DML-TW) relationships for Illex coindetii in the eastern Central Atlantic area. Positive allometry was observed in males and negative in females of the species. The most variable body measurements between males and females were width and perimeter of the head. In the study area, divergence of morphometric measurement starts at 95 mm. The point of divergence, however, varies with latitude; fluctuating from 104 mm in the north (Morocco and Sahara) to 76 mm in the central area (Mauritania and north of Senegal) and 73 mm in the south (Gulf of Guinea). The relationships between DML and TW showed that sexual dimorphism due to differential growth between males and females starts to occur at 56 mm ML. The starting point of sexual dimorphism (56 mm) varies according to the zone; the higher the latitude, the later it occurs. Thus, sexual dimorphism occurs at 49 mm in the south (Gulf of Guinea), at 54 mm in the central area (Mauritania and north of Senegal) and at 74 mm in the north (Morocco and Sahara). Females grow larger than males, but males were heavier at any given length. As latitude decreased, a slow down in the increase in weight-at-length was observed in both sexes.

Description: A total of 57 comparative hauls using a rectangular midwater trawl with a fishing mouth area of 50 m 2 (RMT 50) were carried out along the sides of an imaginary triangle south of Madeira in 1986. A total of 1258 cephalopods were caught, giving a mean of 22 per haul with a range from 0 to 67. The nets were used with a diver's light on the top bar which was either switched off or was operated with a 20, 70 or 150 W bulb, powered by a car battery. A significantly greater number of individuals per haul was caught with lights on than without lights, increasing from a mean of 13·5–25·1, a factor of 1·8. Similarly, the number of species caught was increased from a mean of 7 to 10·4, a factor of 1·5 and the volume of cephalopods was increased from a mean of 41·1–162·3ml, a factor of 3·9. Similar comparisons made for catches during day or night separately and on the three courses separately also showed marked increases with the lights. Samples show that increase in power of the lights increased the total number of cephalopod individuals caught. In the 12 species with more than ten individuals, in 33 of the 36 comparisons (of number of individuals, species and volumes) there is an increase with the light. The most influenced species was Taonius pavo which increased in numbers by a mean factor of 3·9 times with 20W, 4·0 times with 70W and 6·1 times with 150W when compared with the numbers caught with no light.

Description: Recent attention to members of the sepiolid squid genus Euprymna and symbiotic associations with luminescent bacteria ( Vibrio fischeri strains) has prompted a review of this poorly-resolved group of squids. Twelve nominal species have been placed in this genus of which the majority are ill-defined, known only from their original descriptions and separated on the basis of inadequate characters. As a first step in resolving this group, a temperate Australian species, the Southern dumpling squid, Euprymna tasmanica , is here redescribed in detail. As the genus Euprymna currently stands, most members are only distinguished on the number and position of enlarged suckers in mature males. No diagnostic characters are available to identify females. All nominal species placed in this genus are reviewed and a key to proposed valid species is presented. Six species are considered here to be valid: Euprymna berryi, E. hoylei, E. morsei, E. scolopes, E. tasmanica and an undescribed species treated here as Euprymna sp. 1. Euprymna similis is a synonym of E. morsei of Japan. Due to inadequate original descriptions, and lost or poor type material, two species are considered here to be nomen dubia ( E. schneehageni and E. pusilla ), while the taxonomic status of four additional species remain unresolved ( E. albatrossae, E. bursa, E. phenax and E. stenodactyla ).

Description: The statolith microstructure was studied in 142 females (mantle length, ML, ranging from 77–402 mm) and 119 males (72–328 mm ML) of Martialia hyadesi caught on the Patagonian and Falkland shelves and at the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone between 1989–94. The statolith microstructure dark zone in this species, contains narrower and more numerous growth increments than the dark zones of other ommastrephid squids. Assuming daily production of putative growth increments within statoliths males live up to 12 months, and females live up to 13 months. It is likely that the life cycle lasts c. 1 yr, but immature squids with ages 〉330–340 d suggest that a part of M. hyadesi populations could have life span 〉1 yr. Growth in length was best described by the Gompertz function, whereas growth in weight was best described by the logistic function. M. hyadesi is characterized by slow juvenile growth (〈100 mm ML), fast growth of immature squids and a sharp decrease in growth rates during maturation. M. hyadesi mature later (at ages 〉270 d) than other temperate ommastrephids, but maturation is rather rapid (2–3 months). In the south-west Atlantic, M. hyadesi hatch throughout the year.

Description: The current status of Antarctic Odontocetes – sperm whales Physeter catodon , killer whales Orcinus orca , long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melaena , hourglass dolphins Lagenorhynchus cruciger and poorly known species of beaked whales (family Ziphiidae)–were studied in Anatarctic waters using data gathered in sighting surveys conducted from 1976/77 to 1987/88. Temporal variation in density demonstrated the different migration patterns by species, especially between sperm whale and killer whale. Spatial distributions during mid-summer demonstrated different peaks of occurrence for each species by latitude that suggest possible segregation between the species. Killer whales occur mainly in the very southernmost areas, sperm whales in the southern half of the study area, beaked whales (mostly southern bottlenose whales Hyperoodon planifrons ) ranged over a wide area, and long-finned pilot whales and hourglass dolphins were mainly in the northern regions of Antarctic waters. Several longitudinal peaks of occurrence and apparent distribution gaps were identified for sperm, beaked and killer whales. Abundance estimates for south of the Antarctic Convergence in January are based on line transect theory and were 28 100 animals (coefficient of variation CV 0.18) sperm whales, 599 300 (0.15) beaked whales (mostly southern bottlenose whales), 80 400 (0.15) killer whales, 200 000 (0.35) long-finned pilot whales, and 144 300 (0.17) hourglass dolphins. Based on this, biomass of these species were estimated as 0.77 (sperm whales), 2.70 (beaked whales), 0.32 (killer whales), 0.16 (long-finned pilot whales) and 0.01 (hourglass dolphins) million tonnes. Consumption of food (mostly squid) by the Odontocetes is estimated as 14.4 million tonnes with 67% of the total consumed by beaked whales. Indirect consumption of Antarctic krill through the predation of squid by beaked whales is estimated to be c . 24 million tonnes. This value is similar to the estimate of krill consumption by penguins in the Antarctic (33 million tonnes). Odontocetes, especially southern bottlenose whales, are suggested to have a much greater role in the Antarctic ecosystem than has previously been considered.

Description: Subantarctic Marion Island is one of the few localities where the congeneric albatrosses Phoebetria fusca and P. palpebrata breed sympatrically. Chicks of both species at Marion Island were induced to regurgitate their stomach contents after being fed. Liquid formed over half the diet by mass. Cephalopods occurred most frequently in both species' diets. In terms of mass, cephalopods formed the larger part of the diet of sooty albatrosses, whereas fish was more important to light-mantled sooty albatrosses. Crustaceans and birds were also recorded for both species. Squid of the families Onychoteuthidae, Histioteuthidae, Chiroteuthidae and Cranchiidae occurred most abundantly in both species. Most squid taken by both albatrosses were of species known to float after death, suggesting that scavenging plays an important role in the species' foraging behaviour. Light-mantled sooty albatrosses consumed more squid restricted to the south of the Antarctic Polar Front than did sooty albatrosses, supporting a trend to latitudinal segregation of the two species while foraging.

Description: The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is the strongest natural interannual climate fluctuation1. ENSO originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean and has large effects on the ecology of the region, but it also influences the entire global climate system and affects the societies and economies of manycountries2. ENSO can be understood as an irregular low-frequency oscillation between a warm (El Niño) and a cold (La Niña) state. The strong El Niños of 1982/1983 and 1997/1998, along with the more frequent occurrences of El Niños during the past few decades, raise the question of whether human-induced 'greenhouse' warming affects, or will affect, ENSO3. Several global climate models have been applied to transient greenhouse-gas-induced warming simulations to address this question4, 6, but the results have been debated owing to the inability of the models to fully simulate ENSO (because of their coarse equatorial resolution)7. Here we present results from a global climate model with sufficient resolution in the tropics to adequately represent the narrow equatorial upwelling and low-frequency waves. When the model is forced by a realistic future scenario of increasing greenhouse-gas concentrations, more frequent El-Niño-like conditions and stronger cold events in the tropical Pacific Ocean result

Description: In this study, a hybrid coupled model (HCM) is used to investigate the physics of decadal variability in the North Pacific. This aids in an understanding of the inherent properties of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system in the absence of stochastic forcing by noncoupled variability. It is shown that the HCM simulates a self-sustained decadal oscillation with a period of about 20 yr, similar to that found in both the observations and coupled GCMs. Sensitivity experiments are carried out to determine the relative importance of wind stresses, net surface heat flux, and freshwater flux on the initiation and maintenance of the decadal oscillation in the North Pacific. It is found that decadal variability is a mode of the coupled system and involves interaction of sea surface temperature, upper-ocean heat content, and wind stress. This interaction is mainly controlled by the wind stress but can be strongly modified by the surface heat flux. The effect of the salinity is relatively small and is not necessary to generate the model decadal oscillation in the North Pacific. There are some limitations with this study. First, the effect of a stochastic forcing is not included. Second, a weak negative feedback is needed to run the control experiment for a longer time period. These two areas will be addressed in a future investigation.

Description: Recent captures of two female giant squid ( Architeuthis ) off southern Australia have provided the first record of a mated female specimen of these almost mythical deepsea creatures. We found sperm packages (spermatophores) embedded within the skin of both ventral arms of the larger of the two specimens. It seems that male giant squids may use their muscular elongate penis to ‘inject’ sperm packages under pressure directly into the arms of females.

Description: Changes in the molecular structure of a highly ordered kaolinite, intercalated with urea and potassium acetate, have been studied using Raman microscopy. A new Raman band, attributed to the inner surface hydroxyl groups strongly hydrogen bound to the acetate, is observed at 3605 cm (super -1) for the potassium acetate intercalate with the consequential loss of intensity in the bands at 3652, 3670, 3684 and 3693 cm (super -1) . Remarkable changes in intensity of the Raman spectral bands of the low-frequency region of the kaolinite occurred upon intercalation. In particular, the 144 and 935 cm (super -1) bands increased by an order of magnitude and were found to be polarized. These spectroscopic changes provide evidence for the inner surface hydroxyl group-acetate bond being at an angle approaching 90 degrees to the 001 face. Decreases in intensity of the bands at 243, 271 and 336 cm (super -1) were observed. The urea intercalate shows additional Raman bands at 3387, 3408 and 3500 cm-1 which are attributed to N-H vibrations after formation of the urea-kaolinite complex. Changes in the spectra of the inserting molecules were also observed.

Description: Squid (Lolliguncula brevis) were exercised in a tunnel respirometer during a stepwise increase in water velocity in order to evaluate the anaerobic treshold, i.e. the critical swimming speed above which anaerobic metabolism contributes to energy production. The average anaerobic treshold was found at speeds of 1.5-2 mantle lenghts s-1. Above this velocity, α-glycerophosphate, succinate and levels fell and phospho-L-arginine was progressively depleted, while the levels of glucose 6-phosphate and inorganic phosphate rose. The finding of a simultaneous onset of anaerobic metabolism in the cytosol and the mitochondria indicates that a limited oxygen supply to the mitochondria elicits anaerobic energy production. This finding is opposite to the situation found in many other vertebrate and invertebrate species, in which energy covered by anaerobic energy production. This finding is opposite to the situation found in many other vertebrate and invertebrate species, in which energy requirements in exvess of aerobic energy production are covered by anaerobic metabolism, with mitochondira remaining aerobic. In L. brevis, swimming at higher speeds is associated with a small factorial increase in metabolic rate based on a high resting rate of oxygen cnsumption. Pressure recordings in the mantle cavity support this finding, indicating a high basal level of spontaneous activity at rest and a small rise in mean pressure at higher swimming velocity. Bursts of higher pressures from the jet support elevated swiming speeds and may explain the early transition to anaerobic energy production which occurs when pressure rises above 0.22-0.25kPa. The finding f mitochondrial hypoxia at a low critical speed in these squid is interpreted to be related to their life in shallow coastal and bay waters, which limits the necessity to maintain high swimming velocities. At increased swimming velocities, the animals oscilliate between periods of high and lo muscular activity. This behaviour is interpreted to reduce transport cost and to permit a longer-term net use of anaerobic resources when speed exceeds the critical value or when the squid dive into toxic waters. The simultaneous onset of anaerobic metabolism in the cytosol and the mitochondria emphasizes that squid generally make maximal use of available requirements are the highest among marine invertebrates.

Description: A method to derive salinity data from RAFOS float temperature and pressure measurements is described. It is based on evaluating the float's in situ density from its mechanical properties and in situ pressure and temperature data. The salinity of the surrounding water may then be determined, assuming that the float has reached equilibrium with its environment. This method, in comparison with the possible use of floatborne salinity cells, has the advantage of being both cost and energy neutral and highly stable in the long term. The effect on the estimated salinity of various parameters used in the determination of the float's in situ density is discussed. Results of seven RAFOS Boats deployed in the Brazil Basin are compared with corresponding CTD data to estimate the magnitude of these errors. At present, an accuracy of 0.3 psu is achieved. The accuracy may be improved to 0.02 psu by referring the float's calculated density to a reference density established by a CTD cast at the time of launch. Results from five floats deployed in the heterogeneous water masses of the Iberian Basin are compared with the corresponding CM casts to demonstrate the variability and interpretation of p-T-S float datasets from different areas.

Description: The Southern Hemisphere Subtropical Front (STF) is a narrow zone of transition between upper-level subtropical waters to the north and subantarctic waters to the south. It is found near 40 degrees S across the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans and is associated with an eastward geostrophic current band, The current band in each basin is found at or just north of the surface front except near the eastern boundaries where most of the subtropical waters turn north into the eastern limbs of the subtropical gyres. The bands associated with the STF are thus distinct features separated from the strong zonal flows of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current farther south. The authors have referred to the current bands in the two respective oceans as the South Atlantic Current and the South Indian Ocean Current. In this paper the authors use the historical database from the South Pacific Ocean to investigate the geostrophic flow associated with the STF there. The STF extends across the southern Tasman Sea from south of Tasmania to southern New Zealand, and a weak eastward flow appears to be associated with it. The transport amounts to only about 3 Sv (1Sv = 10(6) m(3) s(-1)), little of which passes south of New Zealand. Mixing within the eddy-rich Tasman Sea may account for this weakness, while also setting up another more significant front in the northern Tasman Sea, the Tasman Front. It branches off from the East Australian Current toward the north of New Zealand, along which moves a flow of about 14 Sv. After passing north of New Zealand, a portion of this current flows east to contribute to a current band near 30 degrees S, while another portion turns south as the East Auckland Current and meets with subantarctic waters near Chatham Rise (44 degrees S), thus reestablishing the STF. An enhanced eastward current band is associated with the front there, one that extends across the remainder of the South Pacific and is referred to as the South Pacific Current. In comparison with its counterparts in the other basins, which typically begin by carrying 30 Sv (Atlantic) to 60 Sv (Indian) in the upper 1000 m in their western portions before weakening to 10-15 Sv in the east, the South Pacific Current is weak. Near Chatham Rise, it starts with a transport of approximately 5 Sv, and it remains near this strength as it shifts gradually north across the basin toward South America. The current appears to split into two smaller bands in the region of 115 degrees-85 degrees W, while near 28 degrees 5, 83 degrees W it begins to turn more strongly north and becomes shallower and weaker. Potential vorticity distributions indicate that this current acts as an impediment toward the northward spreading of Antarctic Intermediate Water, But why the South Pacific Current east of New Zealand should be so much weaker than its counterparts in the other basins is not particularly clear. It may be due to the presence of New Zealand and other topographic barriers to deep now east of Australia, to the axis of the subtropical gyre in the South Pacific shifting more rapidly southward with depth than those elsewhere, thus causing greater reductions in the underlying zonal velocities, and to strong poleward eddy heat and salt fluxes in the other two basins leading to smaller cross-STF gradients in the Pacific.

Description: The reliability of the Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Dataset (COADS) Release 1a 2° monthly winds is tested by comparing it with instrumental measurements in the northwest Atlantic from 1981 to 1991. The instrumental dataset contains anemometer measurements of a very high homogeneity and quality, which were taken by six research sister ships with known anemometer heights in the northwest Atlantic. Special data processing was made with instrumental samples to provide compatibility with the COADS winds. Comparison shows overestimation of the COADS winds in the low ranges and underestimation of the strong and moderate winds. Application of the alternative equivalent Beaufort scales does not remove this bias and makes it even more pronounced. Thus, the conclusion is made that the disagreement obtained results primarily from the uncertainties of anemometer measurements in COADS, especially from the incorrect evaluation of the true wind. Instrumental data also do not indicate significant long-term interannual changes, which are pronounced in the COADS dataset for the 1980s. Some regional features of the comparison are discussed.

Description: The Rio Grande Rise acts as a natural barrier for the equatorward flow of Antarctic Bottom Water in the subtropical South Atlantic. In addition to the Vema Channel, the Hunter Channel cuts through this obstacle and offers a separate route for bottom-water import into the southern Brazil Basin. On the occasion of the Deep Basin Experiment, a component of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the expected deep flow through the Hunter Channel was directly observed for the first time by an array of moored current meters and thermistor chains from December 1992 to May 1994. Main results are (i) the Hunter Channel is, in fact, a conduit for bottom-water flow into the Brazil Basin. Our new mean transport from moored current meters [2.92 (±1.24) × 106 m3 s−1] is significantly higher than earlier estimates that were based on geostrophic calculations. (ii) During the WOCE observational period a tendency toward increased bottom-water temperatures was observed. This observation from the Hunter Channel is consistent with findings from the Vema Channel. (iii) The overflow through the Hunter Channel is highly variable and puts in perspective earlier synoptic geostrophic transport estimates

Description: On the basis of the collection of individual marine observations available from the Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set, major parameters of the sea state were evaluated. Climatological fields of wind waves and swell height and period, as well as significant wave height and resultant period are obtained for the North Atlantic Ocean for the period from 1964 to 1993. Validation of the results against instrumental records from National Data Buoy Center buoys and ocean weather station measurements indicate relatively good agreement for wave height and systematic biases in the visually estimated periods that were corrected. Wave age, which is important for wind stress estimates, was evaluated form wave and wind observations. The climatology of wave age indicates younger waves in winter in the North Atlantic midlatitudes and Tropics. Wave age estimates were applied to the calculations of the wind stress using parameterizations from field experiments. Differences between wave-age-based and traditional estimates are not negligible in wintertime in midlatitudes and Tropics where wave-induced stress contributes from 5% to 15% to the total stress estimates. Importance of the obtained effects for ocean circulation and climate variability is discussed.

Description: A primitive equation model to study the dynamics of the Agulhas system has been developed. The model domain covers the South Atlantic and the south Indian Ocean with a resolution of ⅓° in the Agulhas region while coarser outside. It is driven by a climatology of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It is shown that the model simulates the Agulhas Current, its retroflection, and the ring shedding successfully. The model results show baroclinic anticyclonic eddies in the Mozambique Channel and east of Madagascar, which travel toward the northern Agulhas Current. After the eddies reach the current they are advected southward with the mean flow. Due to the limited numerical resolution only a few eddies reach the retroflection region without much modification. These eddies are responsible for drastic enhancement of the heat transfer from the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic and lead to periodicities in the interoceanic heat transport of about 50 days superimposed on the seasonal variability. Combined satellite data from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1 show that the observed vortices in the Mozambique Channel are comparable to those seen in the model. In contrast to this the simulated eddies east of Madagascar seem not to be well reproduced. Analyses of the energy conversion terms between the mean flow and the eddies suggest that barotropic instability plays an important role in the generation of Mozambique Channel eddies. For the generation of Agulhas rings and other eddy structures in the model the barotropic instability mechanism seems to be minor, and baroclinic instability mechanisms are more likely.

Description: Many models of the large-scale thermohaline circulation in the ocean exhibit strong zonally integrated upwelling in the midlatitude North Atlantic that significantly decreases the amount of deep water that is carried from the formation regions in the subpolar North Atlantic toward low latitudes and across the equator. In an analysis of results from the Community Modeling Effort using a suite of models with different horizontal resolution, wind and thermohaline forcing, and mixing parameters, it is shown that the upwelling is always concentrated in the western boundary layer between roughly 30° and 40°N. The vertical transport across 1000 m appears to be controlled by local dynamics and strongly depends on the horizontal resolution and mixing parameters of the model. It is suggested that in models with a realistic deep-water formation rate in the subpolar North Atlantic, the excessive upwelling can be considered as the prime reason for the typically too low meridional overturning rates and northward heat transports in the subtropical North Atlantic. A new isopycnal advection and mixing parameterization of tracer transports by mesoscale eddies yield substantial improvements in these integral measures of the circulation.

Description: Wind-driven flow in a baroclinic quasigeostrophic channel with simple bottom topography is studied in a model with reduced physics and degrees of freedom as an analogy to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. For a sinusoidal topography an approximate analytical solution is found using a low-order spectral model. Resonance of baroclinic Rossby waves can lead to different flow regimes of which one is a blocked state, where most of the momentum, imparted to the fluid by the wind stress, is transferred to the earth by bottom form stress. For some parameter values there are both resonant and nonresonant solutions to the model equations. It is shown that these results of the low-order model apply also to a more complicated spectral model with sinusoidal but also with Gaussian ridge topography. The steady states of these models are found numerically using a continuation algorithm. In the case of the ridge topography, the resonant and nonresonant steady states coexist over a wide range of topography heights.

Description: During December 1991 to April 1992 measurements with moored acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) stations and shipboard surveys were carried out in the convection regime of the Gulf of Lions, northwestern Mediterranean. First significant mixed layer deepening and generation of internal waves in the stratified intermediate layer occurred during a mistral cooling phase in late December. Mixed layer deepening to about 400 m, eroding the salinity maximum layer of saltier and warmer Levantine Intermediate Water and causing temporary surface-layer warming, followed during a second cooling period of late January. During a mistral cooling period from 18 to 23 February 1992, convection to 1500-m depth was observed, where the size of the convection regime was 50–100 km extent. Vertical velocities 40–640 m deep, recorded by four ADCPs of a triangular moored array of 2 km sidelength in the center of the convection regime, exceeded 5 cm s−1 and were not correlated over the separation of the moorings. Horizontal scales estimated from event duration and advection velocity were only around 500 m, in agreement with scaling arguments for convective plumes. Plume activity during nighttime cooling was larger than daytime daytime. Significant evidence for rotation of the plumes could not be found. Overall, plume energy, and the degree of mixing accomplished by them, was much lower than observed during a stronger mistral in February 1987. The mean vertical velocity over the mistral period, determined from the four ADCPs, was near zero, confirming the role of plumes as mixing agents rather than as part of a mean downdraft in a convection regime. The cyclonic rim current around the convection regime was confined to a strip of 〈20 km width with an average velocity of about 10 cm s−1, which is in agreement with near-zero vertical mean velocity in the interior based on potential vorticity conservation. A relation between variations of the larger-scale cyclonic North Mediterranean Current along the boundary and the deep convection could not be identified. An unexplained feature still is the cover of the convection regime by a shallow layer of light water that moves in rather quickly from the sides after the cooling ends.

Description: A method is presented for determining salinity and density from temperature data in conjunction with historical or contemporaneous (but not collocated) CTD observations. The horizontal density ratio r(z) is determined from the temperature and salinity differences at each depth (δT, δS) between pairs or ensembles of profiles. These differences are expressed as a density ratio r=αδT/βδS, where α and β are the expansion coefficients for temperature and salinity, respectively. Salinity at a site where only temperature is measured, as with an expendable bathythermograph (XBT), is computed based on the temperature and salinity at a reference station (SR,TR); that is, S=SR+(T−TR)δS/δT. The method is restrictive in its application because it is most accurate when all water masses in the region of a survey are linear extrapolations from the water masses at each of the reference stations. In reality, it provides useful results when the T and S fields are not simply linear functions of horizontal distance. This approach is particularly useful in regions where, the T(z)−S(z) relation is nonunique, as in the Mediterranean Water in the North Atlantic. The corresponding expression for the lateral density difference for an observed temperature difference (δT) is δρ=−αρ0δT(1−r−1). Observations from regions offshore and along the coast of Portugal are used to evaluate the method. Errors of less than 0.05 psu are exhibited in the evaluation of salinity determined from T-5 XBT drops compared with nearly simultaneous CTD casts. A comparison of water properties and cyclostrophic velocities is made using XCP temperatures and XCP velocities in a meddy.

Description: Long-term interannual variations of the intramonthly standard deviations of surface meteorological parameters are studied on the basis of the North Atlantic Ocean Weather Stations (OWSs) dataset. To consider the different scales of short-term synoptic variability, intramonthly statistics were calculated for 3-h sampled data and for running-mean data as well. Year-to-year variability is considered in terms of linear trends and interannual oscillations with characteristic periods of several years. Intramonthly standard deviations for most of the parameters tended to decrease during the OWS observational period. Trends in the parameters for different synoptic-scale statistics are discussed. Intramonthly statistics, computed for different averaging scales, demonstrate remarkably different short-period year to year oscillations. Some relationships between the interannual variations of synoptic activity and the SST anomalies are presented. Intramonthly statistics are found to be an effective indicator of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Finally, the possibility of applying results to statistics computed from climatological datasets and analyses of meteorological centers is discussed.