ALBERT

Description: The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), which feeds only at sea, is restricted to the higher latitudes of the antarctic sea-ice habitat1–3. It breeds on the winter fast ice when temperatures are−30 °C and high winds are frequent3. Assuming entirely the task of incubating the single egg, the male fasts for about 120 days in the most severe conditions. When it is relieved by the female around hatching time, the distance between the colony and the open sea may be 100km or more4,5, but where emperors go to forage at that time or during the summer is unknown. The polynias are areas of open water in sea-ice and during winter, with the under-ice habitats at any time of the year, they are among the most difficult of all Antarctic areas to sample. Here we monitor by satellite the routes taken by emperor penguins for foraging and compare them with satellite images of sea-ice. Winter birds walking over fast ice travelled up to 296 km to feed in polynias, whereas those swimming in light pack-ice travelled as far as 895km from the breeding colony. One record of diving showed that although most dives are to mid-water depths, some are near the bottom. Obtaining such detailed information on foraging in emperor penguins means that this bird now offers a unique opportunity to investigate the Antarctic sea-ice habitat.

Description: Seafloor topography is neither spatially homogeneous, nor does it obey Gaussian statistics; deviations from both of these assumptions are important from a geological and acoustic point of view. It has been found that the distribution of topographic slopes can be used as a primary tool for understanding the sources and extent of spatial heterogeneities and patterns on the seafloor. The covariance function has been widely used to characterize seafloor topography, but requires the assumption of Gaussian joint probability statistics to be valid. For heterogeneous topography characterized by large transient signals such as steep scarps and volcanoes, the covariance becomes dominated by the transients; in contrast the family slope distributions can still be used to derive stable descriptors for regions with large transient signals, as well as regions containing asymmetric features, and regions with only limited sampling. Knowledge of slopes is useful because a direct relation exists between the covariance and the slope distributions at different spatial scales. Studies of the slope distribution provide a means of identifying the presence of the non‐Gaussian elements in the topography, and flagging their spatial locations. The methods used here are demonstrated by applying them to three small patches of topography located within 20 km of each other in the Eastern Pacific. It is found that dominant azimuthal directions and dip angles differ widely between the patches. In addition, asymmetries in the cross‐sectional shapes of faulted abyssal hills are documented. [Work supported by ONR.]

Description: High‐frequency bottom acoustic and geoacoustic data from three well‐characterized sites of different bottom composition are compared with scattering models in order to clarify the roles played by interface roughness and sediment volume inhomogeneities. Model fits to backscattering data from two silty sites lead to the conclusion that scattering from volume inhomogeneities was primarily responsible for the observed backscattering. In contrast, measured bottom roughness was sufficient to explain the backscattering seen at a sandy site. Although the sandy site had directional ripples, the model and data agree in their lack of anisotropy.

Description: Seasonal records of tropical sea-surface temperature (SST) over the past 10(5) years can be recovered from high-precision measurements of coral strontium/calcium ratios with the use of thermal ionization mass spectrometry. The temperature dependence of these ratios was calibrated with corals collected at SST recording stations and by (18)O/(16)O thermometry. The results suggest that mean monthly SST may be determined with an apparent accuracy of better than 0.5 degrees C. Measurements on a fossil coral indicate that 10,200 years ago mean annual SSTs near Vanuatu in the southwestern Pacific Ocean were about 5 degrees C colder than today and that seasonal variations in SST were larger. These data suggest that tropical climate zones were compressed toward the equator during deglaciation.

Description: A mechanism exists whereby global greenhouse warning could, by intensifying the alongshore wind stress on the ocean surface, lead to acceleration of coastal upwelling. Evidence from several different regions suggests that the major coastal upwelling systems of the world have been growing in upwelling intensity as greenhouse gases have accumulated in the earth's atmosphere. Thus the cool foggy summer conditions that typify the coastlands of northern California and other similar upwelling regions might, under global warming, become even more pronounced. Effects of enhanced upwelling on the marine ecosystem are uncertain but potentially dramatic.

Description: The cause of decadal climate variability over the North Pacific Ocean and North America is investigated by the analysis of data from a multidecadal integration with a state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere model and observations. About one-third of the low-frequency climate variability in the region of interest can be attributed to a cycle involving unstable air-sea interactions between the subtropical gyre circulation in the North Pacific and the Aleutian low-pressure system. The existence of this cycle provides a basis for long-range climate forecasting over the western United States at decadal time scales.

Description: Long-range global climate forecasts were made by use of a model for predicting a tropical Pacific sea-surface temperature (SST) in tandem with an atmospheric general circulation model. The SST is predicted first at long lead times into the future. These ocean forecasts are then used to force the atmospheric model and so produce climate forecasts at lead times of the SST forecasts. Prediction of seven large climatic events of the 1970s to 1990s by this technique are in good agreement with observations over many regions of the globe.