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Register a new userRole of mesoscale eddies in transport of Fukushima-derived cesium isotopes in the ocean
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We present the results of in-situ measurements of $^{134}$Cs and $^{137}$Cs released from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) collected at surface and different depths in the western North Pacific in June and July 2012. It was found that 15 month after the incident concentrations of radiocesium in the Japan and Okhotsk seas were at background or slightly increased level, while they had increased values in the subarctic front area east of Japan. The highest concentrations of $^{134}$Cs and $^{137}$Cs up to 13.5 ${pm}$ 0.9 and 22.7 ${pm}$ 1.5 Bq m$^{-3}$ have been found to exceed ten times the background levels before the accident. Maximal content of radiocesium was observed within subsurface and intermediate water layers inside the cores of anticyclonic eddies (100 - 500 m). Even slightly increased content of radiocesium was found at some eddies at depth of 1000 m. It is expected that convergence and subduction of surface water inside eddies are main mechanisms of downward transport of radionuclides. In situ observations are compared with the results of simulated advection of these radioisotopes by the AVISO altimetric velocity field. Different Lagrangian diagnostics are used to reconstruct the history and origin of synthetic tracers imitating measured seawater samples collected in each of those eddies. The results of observations are consistent with the simulated results. It is shown that the tracers, simulating water samples with increased radioactivity to be measured in the cruise, really visited the areas with presumably high level of contamination. Fast water advection between anticyclonic eddies and convergence of surface water inside eddies make them responsible for spreading, accumulation and downward transport of cesium rich water to the intermediate depth in the frontal zone.
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Sea surface height anomalies observed by satellites in 1993--2012 are combined with simulation and observations by surface drifters and Argo floats to study water flow pattern in the Near Strait (NS) connected the Pacific Ocean with the Bering Sea. Daily Lagrangian latitudinal maps, computed with the AVISO surface velocity field, and calculation of the transport across the strait show that the flow through the NS is highly variable and controlled by mesoscale and submesoscale eddies in the area. On the seasonal scale, the flux through the western part of the NR is negatively correlated with the flux through its eastern part ($r=-0.93$). On the interannual time scale, a significant positive correlation ($r=0.72$) is diagnosed between the NS transport and the wind stress in winter. Increased southward component of the wind stress decreases the northward water transport through the strait. Positive wind stress curl over the strait area in winter--spring generates the cyclonic circulation and thereby enhances the southward flow in the western part ($r=-0.68$) and northward flow in the eastern part ($r=0.61$) of the NR. In fall, the water transport in different parts of the NS is determined by the strength of the anticyclonic mesoscale eddy located in the Alaskan Stream area.
Lagrangian approach is applied to study near-surface large-scale transport in the Kuroshio Extension area using a simulation with synthetic particles advected by AVISO altimetric velocity field. A material line technique is applied to find the origin of water masses in cold-core cyclonic rings pinched off from the jet in summer 2011. Tracking and Lagrangian maps provide the evidence of cross-jet transport. Fukushima derived caesium isotopes are used as Lagrangian tracers to study transport and mixing in the area a few months after the March of 2011 tsunami that caused a heavy damage of the Fukushima nuclear power plant (FNPP). Tracking maps are computed to trace the origin of water parcels with measured levels of Cs-134 and Cs-137 concentrations collected in two R/V cruises in June and July 2011 in the large area of the Northwest Pacific. It is shown that Lagrangian simulation is useful to finding the surface areas that are potentially dangerous due to the risk of radioactive contamination. The results of simulation are supported by tracks of the surface drifters which were deployed in the area.
Dynamical systems theory approach has been successfully used in physical oceanography for the last two decades to study mixing and transport of water masses in the ocean. The basic theoretical ideas have been borrowed from the phenomenon of chaotic advection in fluids, an analogue of dynamical Hamiltonian chaos in mechanics. The starting point for analysis is a velocity field obtained by this or that way. Being motivated by successful applications of that approach to simplified analytic models of geophysical fluid flows, researchers now work with satellite-derived velocity fields and outputs of sophisticated numerical models of ocean circulation. This review article gives an introduction to some of the basic concepts and methods used to study chaotic mixing and transport in the ocean and a brief overview of recent results with some practical applications of Lagrangian tools to monitor spreading of Fukushima-derived radionuclides in the ocean.
We use dynamical systems approach and Lagrangian tools to study surface transport and mixing of water masses in a selected coastal region of the Japan Sea with moving mesoscale eddies associated with the Primorskoye Current. Lagrangian trajectories are computed for a large number of particles in an interpolated velocity field generated by a numerical regional multi-layer eddy-resolving circulation model. We compute finite-time Lyapunov exponents for a comparatively long period of time by the method developed and plot the Lyapunov synoptic map quantifying surface transport and mixing in that region. This map uncovers the striking flow structures along the coast with a mesoscale eddy street and repelling material lines. We propose new Lagrangian diagnostic tools --- the time of exit of particles off a selected box, the number of changes of the sign of zonal and meridional velocities --- to study transport and mixing by a pair of strongly interacting eddies often visible at sea-surface temperature satellite images in that region. We develop a technique to track evolution of clusters of particles, streaklines and material lines. The Lagrangian tools used allow us to reveal mesoscale eddies and their structure, to track different phases of the coastal flow, to find inhomogeneous character of transport and mixing on mesoscales and submesoscales and to quantify mixing by the values of exit times and the number of times particles wind around the eddys center.
Dissolved manganese (Mn) is a biologically essential element, and its oxidised form is involved in the removal of trace elements from ocean waters. Recently, a large number of highly accurate Mn measurements have been obtained in the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans as part of the GEOTRACES programme. The goal of this study is to combine these new observations with state-of-the-art modelling to give new insights into the main sources and redistribution of Mn throughout the ocean. To this end, we simulate the distribution of dissolved Mn using a global-scale circulation model. This first model includes simple parameterisations to account, realistically, for the sources, processes and sinks of Mn in the ocean. Whereas oxidation and (photo)reduction, as well as aggregation and settling are parameterised in the model, biological uptake is not yet taken into account by the model. Our model reproduces observations accurately and provides the following insights: - The high surface concentrations of manganese are caused by the combination of photoreduction and sources to the upper ocean. The most important sources are dust, then sediments, and, more locally, rivers. - Results show that surface Mn in the Atlantic Ocean moves downwards into the North Atlantic Deep Water, but because of strong removal rates the Mn does not propagate southwards. - There is a mostly homogeneous background concentration of dissolved Mn of about 0.10 to 0.15 nM throughout most of the deep ocean. The model reproduces this by means of a threshold on manganese oxides of 25 pM, suggesting that a minimal concentration of Mn is needed before aggregation and removal become efficient. - The observed sharp hydrothermal signals are produced by assuming both a high source and a strong removal of Mn near hydrothermal vents.
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