Feature Publication Archive
Monthly average pH for Washington's marine waters. Line colors correspond to distinct regions within Washington's marine waters as shown in the base map (blues on coast, grays in straits, and red/orange in Puget Sound)
Fassbender, A.J., S.R. Alin, R.A. Feely, A.J. Sutton, J.A. Newton, C. Krembs, J. Bos, M. Keyzers, A. Devol, W. Ruef, and G. Pelletier (2018): Seasonal carbonate chemistry variability in marine surface waters of the Pacific Northwest. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1367–1401, doi:10.5194/essd-10-1367-2018
The northern California Current and Salish Sea ecosystems are hotspots for acidified ocean conditions, which are impacting many marine organisms and intensifying due to on-going ocean acidification. “Ocean acidification” (OA) refers to the global absorption of human-released carbon dioxide by the ocean’s surface, which in turn results in chemical changes including increased acidity (reflected by long-term declines in average pH levels) and reduced concentrations of carbonate ions (relevant to the stability of calcium carbonate shells or skeletons made by organisms such as oysters, clams,... more »
Differences in the heat balance terms in the upper 700 m for the Southern Indian Ocean for two periods: P2 (1998–2015) minus P1 (1992–1998).
Red arrows: an increase in heat transport into the Southern Indian Ocean in P2 relative to P1; blue arrows: a decrease in heat transport into of the Southern Indian Ocean in P2 relative to P1. Units are 10-2 °C per year (approx. 0.02 petawatts of heat). Surface: heat exchanges across the air-sea interface; Bottom-700 m: heat exchanges across 700 m.
Zhang, Y., M. Feng, Y. Du, H.E. Philips, N.L. Bindoff, and M.J. McPhaden (2018): Strengthened Indonesian Throughflow drives decadal warming in the Southern Indian Ocean. Geophys. Res. Lett., 45(12), 6167–6175, doi:10.1029/2018GL078265.
The first decade of the 21st century witnessed a slowdown in the rise of global surface atmospheric temperatures, referred to as the global warming hiatus. During this time, the tropical Pacific Ocean absorbed more heat from the atmosphere than in previous decades, associated with unusually strong trade winds and a cold phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. However, there is no evidence that the tropical Pacific heat content increased during this time. Where did the excess heat go?
Coincidentally, observations indicated that the upper 700 m of the Indian Ocean gained heat at a... more »
The plume originating from Ahyi was sampled in May (green circles) and December (red circles) of 2014. A CTD tow-yo (black line) was conducted in December 2014 to determine current magnitude and direction (red arrows) within the observed plume depth of 80-200 m.
Buck, N.J., J.A. Resing, E.T. Baker, and J.E. Lupton (2018): Chemical fluxes from a recently erupted shallow submarine volcano on the Mariana Arc. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 19, doi:10.1029/2018GC007470.
The Earth-Ocean Interactions (EOI) group at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory explores the solid Earth impacts on ocean chemistry and biological productivity. Of particular interest is the role of submarine volcanoes in providing iron, an essential nano-nutrient, to the sun-lit productive layers of the ocean (also known as the surface ocean).
There are many places in the ocean where macronutrients (like those that we put in our garden—for example, nitrate and phosphate) are abundant but a paucity... more »
Bathymetric chart of Axial Seamount, located ~5000 ft below the ocean surface and ~250 mi west of Newport, Oregon. Axial Seamount hosts a variety of geophysical sensors that are part of the Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) Cabled Array.
Wilcock, W.S.D., R.P. Dziak, M. Tolstoy, W.W. Chadwick, Jr., S.L. Nooner, D.R. Bohnenstiehl, J. Caplan-Auerbach, F. Waldhauser, A.F. Arnulf, C. Baillard, T.-K. Lau, J.H. Haxel, Y.J. Tan, C. Garcia, S. Levy, and M.E. Mann (2018): The recent volcanic history of Axial Seamount: Geophysical insights into past eruption dynamics with an eye toward enhanced observations of future eruptions. Oceanography, 31 (1), 114–123, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2018.117.
Studies of underwater eruptions are essential to understand the processes that form oceanic crust, and the role submarine volcanoes have in exchanging heat and chemicals with the ocean and in supporting chemosynthetic biological communities. The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Cabled Array at Axial Seamount is the world’s most advanced underwater volcano observatory, building upon 30+ years of sustained geophysical monitoring at this site with autonomous and remote systems as part of PMEL’s New Millennium... more »
Composite map of various branches of the flow in the Chukchi Sea and along the slope.
Stabeno, P., N. Kachel, C. Ladd, and R. Woodgate (2018): Flow patterns in the eastern Chukchi Sea: 2010–2015. J. Geophys. Res., 123(2), 1177–1195, doi:10.1002/2017JC013135.
This paper describes currents in the Chukchi Sea and their relationship to ice and winds. The Chukchi Sea consists of a broad shallow shelf, extending more than 800 km northward from its southern boundary at Bering Strait to the shelf break bounding the Arctic basin. The primary source of water to this shelf is Bering Strait, and much of the flow exits the Chukchi shelf through two canyons—Barrow in the east and Herald in the west. The inflow of Pacific water through Bering Strait provides heat, freshwater, salt, and nutrients to the Arctic Ocean via the Chukchi shelf.
From 2010 to... more »