Variations Of Potential Temperature Research Articles

Seasonal and interannual variability of Mediterranean Sea overturning circulation

The overturning streamfunction is a widely used metric to monitor ocean circulation changes in the North Atlantic Ocean. Analogously, it is known that an overturning circulation develops in the Mediterranean Sea, although substantially weaker and smaller than in the Atlantic. In this work we use monthly mean fields from a high-resolution ocean reanalysis (1/16°×1/16°) to explore seasonal and interannual variability of Mediterranean Sea overturning circulation in depth and water mass parameter spaces (potential density, potential temperature, salinity) from 1987 to 2018 (both included). Results show a clear single zonal clockwise transport cell in all three spaces that extends from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Levantine Basin, in which water masses tend to densify as they move eastward. This densification is mainly controlled by salinity in the Eastern Mediterranean basin (EMED), while in the Western Mediterranean (WMED) both salinity and potential temperature variations should be taken into account. In contrast, the meridional overturning transport, much more complex, is able to better capture smaller-scale variations since it responds faster to perturbations in the circulation.Seasonal variations in overturning transport are reflected in the size and strength of overturning cells in all spaces, being cells remarkably narrower in winter than in summer. Regarding interannual changes, we show that the meridional overturning transport in density space is significantly correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Mediterranean Oscillation Index and the Scandinavian pattern during wintertime in the WMED, and with the Eastern Atlantic and the East Atlantic–Western Russian in the EMED. The overturning metric in density space captures well the Eastern Mediterranean Transient, that occurred during years 1992–1996. Finally, we explore the usefulness of overturning metric to detect and track water mass changes associated to shorter scale events, using as example the strong deep convection events of years 2004–2006 in the Gulf of Lion, which marked the beginning of the Western Mediterranean Transition.

Relationship of Satellite Altimetry Data, and Bathymetry Observations on the West Coast of Africa

The sea surface is variable in time and space; therefore, many researchers are currently interested in searching for dependencies and connections with the elements influencing this diversity, e.g., with the seabed topography. An important problem is combining or comparing models obtained based on different data sets with different accuracies and spatial resolutions. These studies are designed to discover the relationship that may exist between observations of the shape of the seabed and changes in sea level. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship by checking the correlation between the observations from the point recording of satellite altimetry measurements and the bathymetric data. The object of research is the capital city of Gabon—Libreville, located on the west coast of Africa and three point in Las Palmas. The results present sea level, salinity, and potential temperature variations in selected points. The highest trends of sea level changes occur, at one point, in the open ocean (P6) and at coastal points (Libreville, P3, Pointe Noire). The study indicates that, from 1993 to 2020, the temperature trend at the assessed points is on average 0.018 ± 0.012 °C·year−1, while the average salinity trend is 0.008 ± 0.005 1e−3 year−1. The correlation coefficients for the sea water temperature trend and the sea water salinity trend—determined at 0.20 and 0.08—present a weak linear relationship. Correlation takes slightly higher values for elevation, which is determined at 0.38. Research shows that there is a relationship between satellite and bathymetric observations on the east coast of Africa; however, the strength of the correlation depends on the location.

Characteristics of a pre-monsoon dryline atmospheric boundary layer over the rain shadow region: A case study

A dryline is the zone of distinct moisture gradient separating warm, moist, and hot, dry air masses. It is usually associated with mesoscale phenomena and plays a significant role in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) dynamics including initiation of convection/thunderstorms. In the tropical Indian region, these dryline conditions are normally associated with the pre-monsoon season. In the present study, dryline characteristics over a rain shadow region in the Indian subcontinent were investigated utilizing observations and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model from 28 to 30 May 2019. Based upon Wind Profiler Radar and MicroWave Radiometer Profiler measurements, the ABL characteristics were investigated. Interestingly, the ABL height was found to evolve up to 5 km with the horizontal wind vectors oscillating between north-westerly and north-easterly flow. During the intense ABL deepening, stronger downdraft cores were observed in comparison with the updraft cores. The stronger downdrafts entrained free-tropospheric dry air thereby further deepening the ABL. Based upon the entrainment velocity estimates at the ABL top and the variations in potential temperature, the dynamic entrainment fluxes were estimated and further implemented for evaluating two slab models to recreate the ABL growth. With this analysis, we demonstrate the significant contribution of entrainment fluxes on ABL growth during dryline conditions.

QG–DL–Ekman: Dynamics of a Diabatic Layer in the Quasi-Geostrophic Framework

AbstractQuasigeostrophic (QG) theory describes the dynamics of synoptic-scale flows in the troposphere that are balanced with respect to both acoustic and internal gravity waves. Within this framework, effects of (turbulent) friction near the ground are usually represented by Ekman layer theory. The troposphere covers roughly the lowest 10 km of the atmosphere while Ekman layer heights are typically just a few hundred meters. However, this two-layer asymptotic theory does not explicitly account for substantial changes of the potential temperature stratification due to diabatic heating associated with cloud formation or with radiative and turbulent heat fluxes which can be significant in about the lowest 3 km and in the middle latitudes. To address this deficiency, this paper extends the classical QG–Ekman layer model by introducing an intermediate dynamically and thermodynamically active layer, called the “diabatic layer” (DL) from here on. The flow in this layer is also in acoustic, hydrostatic, and geostrophic balance but, in contrast to QG flow, variations of potential temperature are not restricted to small deviations from a stable and time-independent background stratification. Instead, within the DL diabatic processes are allowed to affect the leading-order stratification. As a consequence, this layer modifies the pressure field at the top of the Ekman layer, and with it the intensity of Ekman pumping seen by the quasigeostrophic bulk flow. The result is the proposed extended quasigeostrophic three-layer QG–DL–Ekman model for midlatitude dynamics.

Diurnal Cycle of Heating and Water Vapor in the Metropolitan Area of Porto in Portugal

In this work, it is investigated the Urban Heat Island (UHI) using conservative thermodynamic variables observed by surface weather stations on the Metropolitan Area of Porto (Oporto) in Portugal, under adiabatic conditions at the surface. These conditions are usually present and associated with the development of a mixture layer into the diurnal Convective Boundary Layer (CBL), which residual layer in the late afternoon defines the initial state for the development of the nocturnal UHI. Both the spatial structure and temporal variation of potential temperature and specific humidity were considered, along the hours and days of the year, from a statistical point of view, resulting in hourly climatology. Details of the hourly evolution of the meteorological variables on the Oporto surface are presented and discussed. Results show a seasonal variation of the potential temperature up to 17°C throughout the year, which is associated with horizontal thermal gradients that can control and trigger mesoscale circulations such as sea-land, urban and valley-mountain breezes.

Global trends in novel stable isotopes in basalts: Theory and observations

The geochemistry of global mantle melts suggests that both mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and ocean island basalts (OIB) sample lithological and temperature heterogeneities originating in both the upper and lower mantle. Recently, non-traditional stable isotopes have been suggested as a new tool to complement existing tracers of mantle heterogeneity (e.g., major and trace elements, radiogenic isotopes), because mineral- and redox-specific equilibrium stable isotope fractionation effects can link the stable isotope ratios of melts to their source mineralogy and melting degree. Here, we investigate five stable isotope systems (Mg-Ca-Fe-V-Cr) that have shown promise in models or natural samples as tracers of mantle temperature and/or lithological heterogeneity. We use a quantitative model, combining thermodynamically self-consistent mantle melting and equilibrium isotope fractionation models, to explore the behaviour of the isotope ratios of these elements during melting of three mantle lithologies (peridotite, and silica-excess and silica-deficient pyroxenites), responding to changes in mantle mineralogy, oxygen fugacity, temperature and pressure. We find that, given current analytical precision, the stable isotope systems examined here are not predicted to be sensitive to mantle potential temperature variations through equilibrium isotope fractionation processes. By contrast, source lithological heterogeneity is predicted to be detectable in some cases in the stable isotope ratios of erupted basalts, although generally only at proportions of >10% MORB-like pyroxenite in the mantle source, given current analytical precision. Magnesium and Ca stable isotopes show most sensitivity to a garnet-bearing source lithology, and Fe and Cr stable isotopes are potentially sensitive to the presence of MORB-like pyroxenite in the mantle source, although the behaviour of Cr isotopes is comparatively under-constrained and requires further work to be applied with confidence to mantle melts. When comparing the magnitude and direction of predicted equilibrium isotopic fractionation of peridotite and pyroxenite melts to natural MORB and OIB data, we find that aspects of the natural data (including the mean Mg-Ca-Fe-V isotopic composition of MORB, the range of Mg-Ca isotopic compositions seen in MORB data, the mean Mg-Ca-Cr isotopic composition of OIB, and the range of Mg-V-Cr isotopic compositions in OIB data) can be matched by equilibrium isotope fractionation during partial melting of peridotite and pyroxenite sources – with pyroxenite required even for some MORB data. However, even when considering analytical uncertainty on natural sample measurements, the range in stable isotope compositions seen across the global MORB and OIB datasets suggests that kinetic isotope fractionation, or processes modifying the isotopic composition of recycled crustal material such that it is distinct from MORB, may be required to explain all the natural data. We conclude that the five stable isotope systems considered here have potential to be powerful complementary tracers to other geochemical tracers of the source lithology of erupted basalts. However, continued improvements in analytical precision in conjunction with experimental and theoretical predictions of isotopic fractionation between mantle minerals and melts are required before these novel stable isotopes can be unambiguously used to understand source heterogeneity in erupted basalts.

The Vertical City Weather Generator (VCWG v1.3.2)

Abstract. The Vertical City Weather Generator (VCWG) is a computationally efficient urban microclimate model developed to predict temporal and vertical variation of potential temperature, wind speed, specific humidity, and turbulent kinetic energy. It is composed of various sub-models: a rural model, an urban vertical diffusion model, a radiation model, and a building energy model. Forced with weather data from a nearby rural site, the rural model is used to solve for the vertical profiles of potential temperature, specific humidity, and friction velocity at 10 m a.g.l. The rural model also calculates a horizontal pressure gradient. The rural model outputs are applied to a vertical diffusion urban microclimate model that solves vertical transport equations for potential temperature, momentum, specific humidity, and turbulent kinetic energy. The urban vertical diffusion model is also coupled to the radiation and building energy models using two-way interaction. The aerodynamic and thermal effects of urban elements, surface vegetation, and trees are considered. The predictions of the VCWG model are compared to observations of the Basel UrBan Boundary Layer Experiment (BUBBLE) microclimate field campaign for 8 months from December 2001 to July 2002. The model evaluation indicates that the VCWG predicts vertical profiles of meteorological variables in reasonable agreement with the field measurements. The average bias, root mean square error (RMSE), and R2 for potential temperature are 0.25 K, 1.41 K, and 0.82, respectively. The average bias, RMSE, and R2 for wind speed are 0.67 m s−1, 1.06 m s−1, and 0.41, respectively. The average bias, RMSE, and R2 for specific humidity are 0.00057 kg kg−1, 0.0010 kg kg−1, and 0.85, respectively. In addition, the average bias, RMSE, and R2 for the urban heat island (UHI) are 0.36 K, 1.2 K, and 0.35, respectively. Based on the evaluation, the model performance is comparable to the performance of similar models. The performance of the model is further explored to investigate the effects of urban configurations such as plan and frontal area densities, varying levels of vegetation, building energy configuration, radiation configuration, seasonal variations, and different climate zones on the model predictions. The results obtained from the explorations are reasonably consistent with previous studies in the literature, justifying the reliability and computational efficiency of VCWG for operational urban development projects.

Changes in bacterial loads, gas composition, volatile organic compounds, and glucosinolates of fresh bagged Ready-To-Eat rocket under different shelf life treatment scenarios

Temperature abuse and improper shelf life treatment of Ready-to-Eat wild rocket is a leading cause of product quality losses and consumer rejection. It can cause the deterioration of appearance, the build-up of bacterial numbers, and the production of off-odours. This study subjected commercially produced and processed bags of wild rocket to various temperature and shelf life duration treatments that could hypothetically be experienced by a consumer, purchasing bags from supermarkets that have suffered cold-chain breaches. We take a unique experimental perspective that accounts for potential temperature variation scenarios within supermarkets and the home. Bacterial counts, volatile organic chemical production, glucosinolate concentration, and internal bag atmosphere composition were measured under these temperature scenarios and across growing seasons. Our results showed that the season of purchase significantly affects wild rocket respiration and bacterial loads. Prolonged high temperature abuses increased microbial loads, disulfide abundance, and reduced content of the glucosinolate glucoerucin. Short temperature abuse treatments resulted in no significant changes in bacterial numbers, providing bags were returned to cool-chain conditions. Samples stored under these conditions (<5 °C) saw no significant changes. The effect of growth season also significantly affects wild rocket respiration. Summer-grown produce had high bacterial loads, but winter-grown had a higher respiration rates. These data illustrate the importance of maintaining cold-chain conditions for wild rocket to preserve key glucosinolate compounds and prevent sulfide formation via bacterial propagation and anaerobic respiration.

The Turbulent Circulation of a Snowball Earth Ocean

AbstractTheoretical arguments are developed to derive general properties of the ocean circulation in a “snowball” world, and the predictions are confirmed in a series of idealized numerical simulations. As suggested previously, a turbulent flow is driven by geothermal heating at the seafloor, which is balanced by a similar heat loss through the ice sheet above. It is argued that the expected horizontal inhomogeneities in these heat fluxes are sufficient to generate baroclinic instability, which drives geostrophic turbulence. Turbulent eddies then transport heat upward and poleward along isolines of constant density, thereby maintaining a statically stable stratification, contrary to previous findings from numerical models that do not adequately resolve the geostrophic turbulence. The kinetic energy of the turbulent flow is expected to be controlled by a balance between the potential energy input by the diabatic forcing and frictional dissipation in the bottom boundary layer. The resulting characteristic flow speed is estimated to be on the order of 1 cm s−1, which is in agreement with previous numerical simulations. Eddy diffusivities are estimated to be on the order of 100 m2 s−1, which is smaller than in the present-day ocean but probably within one order of magnitude. Because of the weak forcing, the resulting gradients of temperature and salinity would be much smaller than in the present-day ocean, with global-scale potential temperature variations on the order of 0.1 K, again in agreement with previous numerical simulations. The presented theoretical arguments may also be relevant to other planetary bodies with an ice-covered ocean.

A study of surface semi-geostrophic turbulence: freely decaying dynamics

In this study we give a characterization of semi-geostrophic turbulence by performing freely decaying simulations for the case of constant uniform potential vorticity, a set of equations known as the surface semi-geostrophic approximation. The equations are formulated as conservation laws for potential temperature and potential vorticity, with a nonlinear Monge–Ampère type inversion equation for the streamfunction, expressed in a transformed coordinate system that follows the geostrophic flow. We perform model studies of turbulent surface semi-geostrophic flows in a domain doubly periodic in the horizontal and limited in the vertical by two rigid lids, allowing for variations of potential temperature at one of the boundaries, and we compare the results with those obtained in the corresponding surface quasi-geostrophic case. The results show that, while the surface quasi-geostrophic dynamics is dominated by a symmetric population of cyclones and anticyclones, the surface semi-geostrophic dynamics features a more prominent role of fronts and filaments. The resulting distribution of potential temperature is strongly skewed and peaked at non-zero values at and close to the active boundary, while symmetry is restored in the interior of the domain, where small-scale frontal structures do not penetrate. In surface semi-geostrophic turbulence, energy spectra are less steep than in the surface quasi-geostrophic case, with more energy concentrated at small scales for increasing Rossby number. The energy related to frontal structures, the lateral strain rate and the vertical velocities are largest close to the active boundary. These results show that the semi-geostrophic model could be of interest for studying the lateral mixing of properties in geophysical flows.

Long-term variation in sea ice production and its relation to the intermediate water in the Sea of Okhotsk

Overturning in the North Pacific extending to the intermediate layer (about 200–800m depth) originates from the sinking of dense shelf water (DSW) formed by sea ice production in the Okhotsk coastal polynyas. It has been suggested that this overturning has weakened during the past 50years. The purpose of this study is to clarify the long-term variability of sea ice production in the polynyas and to discuss its linkage with DSW formation and the overturning. First, we have developed a thin ice thickness retrieval algorithm using Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data for the Sea of Okhotsk, and have estimated the ice production for 21years (1988–2008) by calculating heat flux from SSM/I-derived ice thickness. From a comparison with atmospheric variables, it is suggested that interannual variability of sea ice production in the polynyas can be explained mainly by three atmospheric parameters: autumn air temperature northwest of the sea, winter air temperature north of the sea, and late winter offshoreward wind speed north of the sea. By using these parameters from atmospheric reanalysis data, the annual ice production for the 34years period from 1974 to 2008 is reconstructed from a multiple regression coefficient analysis. The reconstructed ice production shows a significant decreasing trend of ∼11.4% over 34years, which is mainly explained by the warming of autumn air temperature. It is also found that the variation in the annual total ice production corresponds well with the potential temperature variation in Okhotsk Sea Intermediate Water (OSIW). This first observational evidence of a linkage between the annual total ice production and OSIW supports a hypothesis that decreasing ice production in the Okhotsk coastal polynyas, at least in part, has led to weakening of the overturning in the North Pacific.

Vertical behaviour and meteorological properties of air masses in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (1997–2007)

Air masses are characterized by physical (temperature, humidity) and chemical (transported gases and aerosols) properties, being associated their arrival to different meteorological scenarios. The knowledge of the air masses over a region is fundamental as complementary information in several atmospheric studies, being the calculation of back-trajectory the most widely used tool whenever air masses are analyzed. A study of air masses has been carried out in southwestern Iberian Peninsula using 5-day kinematic back trajectories computed by the HYSPLIT model at three heights (500, 1,500 and 3,000 m) from 1997 to 2007. The main aims have been to characterize their vertical behaviour and their thermal and humidity properties. Thirteen trajectory clusters have been defined, showing the northerly and westerly clusters a high coupling degree. Seasonal daily variation of potential temperature and specific humidity has been analyzed, obtaining higher differences among clusters in the cold season.

The interannual variability of potential temperature in the central Labrador Sea

The interannual variability of potential temperature in the central Labrador Sea is studied with a suite of numerical simulations with an eddy‐resolving regional ocean model and compared with available observations. The model successfully reproduces the observed variations in potential temperature at depths comprised between 150 and 2000 m over the period 1980–2009, capturing also the warming trend of the last decade and the deep water formation event in 2008. The suite of experiments allows for quantifying the contribution from the physical forcings responsible for the interannual variability of potential temperature in the region. The local atmospheric forcing drives the interannual signal by driving convection, while the incoming current system along the east coast of Greenland is responsible for about half of the warming trend (∼0.3–0.4°C) during the last decade through restratification process. The lateral transport of Irminger water in the convective region into the central Labrador Sea is further analyzed integrating a passive tracer. It is found that the overall amount of Irminger water transported in the convective region of the Labrador Sea is directly correlated with the amount of vertical convective mixing. In the last decade, following the decrease in convective activity, the model reveals a substantial decrease in concentration of Irminger Current water below 500 m in the Labrador Sea interior: by 2010 the overall amount is less than half than in the previous 20 years.

Regime of Validity of Soundproof Atmospheric Flow Models

Abstract Ogura and Phillips derived the original anelastic model through systematic formal asymptotics using the flow Mach number as the expansion parameter. To arrive at a reduced model that would simultaneously represent internal gravity waves and the effects of advection on the same time scale, they had to adopt a distinguished limit requiring that the dimensionless stability of the background state be on the order of the Mach number squared. For typical flow Mach numbers of , this amounts to total variations of potential temperature across the troposphere of less than one Kelvin (i.e., to unrealistically weak stratification). Various generalizations of the original anelastic model have been proposed to remedy this issue. Later, Durran proposed the pseudoincompressible model following the same goals, but via a somewhat different route of argumentation. The present paper provides a scale analysis showing that the regime of validity of two of these extended models covers stratification strengths on the order of (hsc/θ)dθ/dz &amp;lt; M2/3, which corresponds to realistic variations of potential temperature θ across the pressure scale height hsc of . Specifically, it is shown that (i) for (hsc/θ)dθ/dz &amp;lt; Mμ with 0 &amp;lt; μ &amp;lt; 2, the atmosphere features three asymptotically distinct time scales, namely, those of advection, internal gravity waves, and sound waves; (ii) within this range of stratifications, the structures and frequencies of the linearized internal wave modes of the compressible, anelastic, and pseudoincompressible models agree up to the order of Mμ; and (iii) if μ &amp;lt; ⅔, the accumulated phase differences of internal waves remain asymptotically small even over the long advective time scale. The argument is completed by observing that the three models agree with respect to the advective nonlinearities and that all other nonlinear terms are of higher order in M.

The timescale and extent of thermal expansion of the global ocean due to climate change

Abstract. With recently improved instrumental accuracy, the change in the heat content of the oceans and the corresponding contribution to the change of the sea level can be determined from in situ measurements of temperature variation with depth. Nevertheless, it would be favourable if the same changes could be evaluated from just the sea surface temperatures because the past record could then be reconstructed and future scenarios explored. Using a single column model we show that the average change in the heat content of the oceans and the corresponding contribution to a global change in the sea level can be evaluated from the past sea surface temperatures. The calculation is based on the time-dependent diffusion equation with the known fixed average upwelling velocity and eddy diffusivity, as determined from the steady-state limit. In this limit, the model reduces to the 1966 Munk profile of the potential temperature variation as a function of depth. There are no adjustable parameters in the calculation and the results are in good agreement with the estimates obtained from the in situ data. The method allows us to obtain relevant timescales and average temperature profiles. The evaluation of the thermosteric sea level change is extended back to the beginning of accurate sea surface temperature records. The changes in sea surface temperature from 1880 until the present time are estimated to have produced a thermosteric sea level rise of 35 mm. Application to future IPCC scenarios gives results similar to the average prediction of more complex climate models.

Large-amplitude internal waves observed in the Kruzenshtern Strait of the Kuril Island Chain and possible water transport and mixing

Vertical sections of temperature and current velocity across the sill in the Kruzenshtern Strait were observed four times in one day in September 1997. The observations captured nonlinear internal waves near the sea surface, which are likely to be tidally generated. Two of these waves had maximum amplitudes near the surface and each contained a trapped core, suggesting that a significant volumetric flux was induced. At mid depths, isotherms moved vertically more than 50 m, which is consistent with the generation of internal lee waves. From water-mass movements, the currents are estimated to flow from the North Pacific to the Sea of Okhotsk in the temperature-minimum layer at a mean speed of 0.2– 0.3 m s - 1 . The mean flow was weaker and the oscillatory component was stronger at mid depths, with the amplitude of the latter around 0.4 m s - 1 , leading to the above lee wave generation. Active temporal variations in potential temperature, particularly those associated with small-scale patches, suggest the occurrence of vigorous water-mass transformation. Vertical and horizontal diffusivities are estimated to be O ( 10 - 2 m 2 s - 1 ) and O ( 10 2 – 10 3 m 2 s - 1 ) , respectively. Because the tidal amplitude was close to the annual minimum at the time of observation, larger-amplitude internal waves and more vigorous water-mass transformation could take place at other times of the year.

On the composition of ocean island basalts (OIB): The effects of lithospheric thickness variation and mantle metasomatism

We have examined island-averaged geochemical data for 115 volcanic islands with known eruption ages and ages of the underlain lithosphere from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. These age data allow calculation of the lithosphere thickness at the time of volcanism. After correcting the basalts (including alkalic types) (<53% SiO2) for fractionation effect to Mg#=0.72, we found that the island-averaged Si72 and Al72 decrease whereas Fe72, Mg72, Ti72 and P72 increase with increasing lithosphere thickness. The island-averaged [La/Sm]CN and [Sm/Yb]CN ratios also increase with increasing lithosphere thickness. These statistically significant trends are most consistent with the interpretation that the mean extent of melting decreases whereas the mean pressure of melting increases with increasing lithosphere thickness. This is physically consistent with the active role the lithosphere plays in limiting the final depth of intra-oceanic mantle melting. That is, beneath a thin lithosphere, a parcel of mantle rises to a shallow level, and thus melts more by decompression with the aggregated melt having the property of high extent and low pressure of melting. By contrast, a parcel of mantle beneath a thick lithosphere has restricted amount of upwelling, and thus melts less by decompression with the aggregated melt having the property of low extent and high pressure of melting. This demonstrates that oceanic lithosphere thickness variation exerts the first-order control on the geochemistry of ocean island basalts (OIB). Variation in initial depth of melting as a result of fertile mantle compositional variation and mantle potential temperature variation can influence OIB compositions, but these two variables must have secondary effects because they do not overshadow the effect of lithosphere thickness variation that is prominent on a global scale. The mantle potential temperature variation beneath ocean islands cannot be constrained with the existing data. Fertile mantle source heterogeneity is required to explain the large OIB compositional variation on a given island, between islands and between island groups. The OIB mantle source heterogeneity must have multiple origins, but an incipient melt in the seismic low-velocity zone and its metasomatic lithologies in the lithosphere are best candidates that contribute to the incompatible element enriched OIB geochemistry on two different time scales: (1) melt–lithosphere interaction during OIB magmatism, and (2) recycled metasomatized lithosphere in the OIB source regions.

Deep-ocean mixing on the basin scale: Inference from North Atlantic transects

The measurements of thermohaline fine structure in the North Atlantic along four WOCE zonal transect and two post-WOCE sections were analyzed. The statistics of the near-bottom mixed-layer height H B as well as the Ellison L E and Thorpe L Th scales in the abyss were evaluated in relation to a roughness parameter z r, defined in terms of the rms of bathymetric irregularities of horizontal lengthscales less than ∼20–25 km. Within the near-bottom mixed layer, the variations of potential temperature did not exceed 0.005 °C. A combined probability distribution of H B was perfectly lognormal with the median 46.1 m, irrespective of the latitude. On the average, H B is about 1% of the ocean depth D for the depth range ∼1.5–5.5 km. In shallower regions over the continental slopes ( D<1.5–2 km), the ratio H B/ D is as high as 10%. The same tendency of increasing H B/ D with D was observed for D>5.5 km, in the abyss. The reduced Ellison scale ( L E− L Eo) correlated with the Thorpe scale, L E− L Eo=0.5 L Th, and L E at two post-WOCE transects showed a dependence on z r, L E− L Eo= Az r, where A=O(10 −2). Above the regions of enhanced z r, larger values of Ellison and Thorpe scales were found at larger distances ζ from the ocean floor. The thermohaline fine structure and mixing in abyssal waters are influenced by the topography up to hundreds of meters above the bottom, the latter increasing with z r. The correlations between ( L E− L Eo), L Th, and z r as well as H B and z r can be used to evaluate turbulent lengthscales l tr in the abyssal boundary layer. An example of the calculation of l tr is given for a post-WOCE transatlantic equatorial transect.

Mapping of an approximate neutral density surface with Ungridded data

A neutral density surface is a logical study frame for water-mass mixing since water parcels spread along such a surface without doing work against buoyancy restoring force. Mesoscale eddies are believed to stir and subsequently mix predominantly along such surfaces. Because of the nonlinear nature of the equation of state of seawater, the process of accurately mapping a neutral density surface necessarily involves lateral computation from one conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) cast to the next in a logical sequence. By contrast, the depth of a potential density surface on any CTD cast is found solely from the data on this cast. The lateral calculation procedure causes a significant inconvenience. In a previous paper by present author published in this journal (You, 2006), the mapping of neutral density surfaces with regularly gridded data such as Levitus data has been introduced. In this note, I present a new method to find the depth of a neutral density surface from a cast without having to specify an integration path in space. An appropriate reference point is required that is on the neutral density surface and thereafter the neutral density surface can be determined by using the CTD casts in any order. This method is only approximate and the likely errors can be estimated by plotting a scatter diagram of all the pressures and potential temperatures on the neutral density surfaces. The method assumes that the variations of potential temperature and pressure (with respect to the values at the reference point) on the neutral density surface are proportional. It is important to select the most appropriate reference point in order to approximately satisfy this assumption, and in practice this is found by inspecting the θ-p plot of data on the surface. This may require that the algorithm be used twice. When the straight lines on the θ-p plot, drawn from the reference point to other points on the neutral density surface, enclose an area that is external to the cluster of θ-p points of the neutral density surface, errors will occur, and these errors can be quantified from this diagram. Examples showing the use of the method are presented for each of the world’s main oceans.

Generation of mid-ocean ridge basalts at pressures from 1 to 7 GPa

We propose a model for the generation of average MORBs based on phase relations in the CaO-MgO-Al 2O 3-SiO 2-CO 2 system at pressures from 3 to 7 GPa and in the CaO-MgO-Al 2O 3-SiO 2-Na 2O-FeO (CMASNF) system at pressures from ∼0.9 to 1.5 GPa. The MELT seismic tomography (Forsyth et al., 2000) across the East Pacific Rise shows the largest amount of melt centered at ∼30-km depth and lesser amounts at greater depths. An average mantle adiabat with a model-system potential temperature (T p) of 1310°C is used that is consistent with this result. In the mantle, additional minor components would lower solidus temperatures ∼50°C, which would lower T p of the adiabat for average MORBs to ∼1260°C. The model involves generation of carbonatitic melts and melts that are transitional between carbonatite and kimberlite at very small melt fractions (<0.2%) in the low-velocity zone at pressures of ∼2.6 to 7 GPa in the CMAS-CO 2 system, roughly the pressure range of the PREM low-velocity zone. These small-volume, low-viscosity melts are mixed with much larger volumes of basaltic melt generated at the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition in the pressure range of ∼0.9 to 1.5 GPa. In this model, solidus phase relations in the pressure range of the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition strongly, but not totally, control the major-element characteristics of MORBs. Although the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition suppresses isentropic decompression melting in the CMAS system, this effect does not occur in the topologically different and petrologically more realistic CMASNF system. On the basis of the absence of plagioclase from most abyssal peridotites, which are the presumed residues of MORB generation, we calculate melt productivity during polybaric fractional melting in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition interval at exhaustion of plagioclase in the residue. In the CMASN system, these calculations indicate that the total melt productivity is ∼24%, which is adequate to produce the oceanic crust. The residual mineral proportions from this calculation closely match those of average abyssal peridotites. Melts generated in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition are compositionally distinct from all MORB glasses, but do not have a significant fractional crystallization trend controlled by olivine alone. They reach the composition field of erupted MORBs mainly by crystallization of both plagioclase and olivine, with initial crystallization of either one of these phases rapidly joined by the other. This is consistent with phenocryst assemblages and experimental studies of the most primitive MORBs, which do not show an olivine-controlled fractionation trend. The model is most robust for the eastern Pacific, where an adiabat with a T p of ∼1260°C is supported by the MELT seismic data and where the global inverse correlation of (FeO) 8 with (Na 2O) 8 is weak. Average MORBs worldwide also are well modeled. A heterogeneous mantle consisting of peridotite of varying degrees of major-element depletion combined with phase-equilibrium controls in the plagioclase-spinel lherzolite transition interval would produce the form of the global correlations at a constant T p, which suggests a modest range of T p along ridges. Phase-composition data for the CMASNF system are presently not adequate for quantitative calculation of (FeO) 8-(Na 2O) 8-(CaO/Al 2O 3) 8 systematics in terms of this model. The near absence of basalts in the central portion of the Gakkel Ridge suggests a lower bound for T p along ridges of ∼1240°C, a potential temperature just low enough to miss the solidus for basalt production at ∼0.9 GPa. An upper bound for T p is poorly constrained, but the complete absence of picritic glasses in Iceland and the global ridge system suggests an upper bound of ∼1400°C. In contrast to some previous models for MORB generation that emphasize large potential temperature variations in a relatively homogeneous peridotitic mantle, our model emphasizes modest potential temperature variations in a peridotitic mantle that shows varying degrees of heterogeneity. Calculations indicate that melt productivity changes from 0 to 24% for a change in T p from 1240 to 1260°C, effectively producing a rapid increase to full crustal thickness or decrease to none as ridges appear and disappear.