Browsing by Subject "oceanography"
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Item Centennial-Scale Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity Variability in the Florida Straits During the Early Holocene(2012-10-19) Weinlein, WilliamPrevious studies showed that sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Florida Straits as well as Florida Current transport covaried with changes in North Atlantic climate over the past two millennia. However, little is known about earlier Holocene variability in the Florida Straits. Here, we combine Mg/Ca-paleothermometry and stable oxygen isotope measurements on the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white variety) from Florida Straits sediment core KNR166-2 JPC 51 (24 degrees 24.70? N, 83 degrees 13.14?W, 198m deep) to reconstruct a high-resolution (~30 yr/sample) early to mid Holocene record of sea surface temperature and delta18OSW (a proxy for SSS) variability. We also measured Ba/Ca ratios in the same shell material as a proxy for riverine input into the Gulf of Mexico over the same time interval. After removing the influence of global delta18OSW change due to continental ice volume variability, we propose that early Holocene SSS enrichments were caused by increased evaporation/precipitation ratios in the Florida Straits associated with periods of reduced solar output, increased ice rafted debris in the North Atlantic and the development of more permanent El Nino-like conditions in the eastern equatorial Pacific. When considered with previous high-resolution reconstructions of early Holocene tropical atmospheric circulation changes, our results provide evidence that solar output variability over the Holocene had a significant impact on the global tropical hydrologic cycle over the last 10,000 years.Item Coastal Microstructure: From Active Overturn to Fossil Turbulence(2012-02-14) Leung, Pak TaoThe Remote Anthropogenic Sensing Program was a five year effort (2001- 2005) to examine subsurface phenomena related to a sewage outfall off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. This research has implications for basic ocean hydrodynamics, particularly for a greatly improved understanding of the evolution of turbulent patches. It was the first time a microstructure measurement was used to study such a buoyancy-driven turbulence generated by a sea-floor diffuser. In 2004, two stations were selected to represent the near field and ambient conditions. They have nearly identical bathymetrical and hydrographical features and provide an ideal environment for a control experiment. Repeated vertical microstructure measurements were performed at both stations for 20 days. A time series of physical parameters was collected and used for statistical analysis. After comparing the data from both stations, it can be concluded that the turbulent mixing generated by the diffuser contributes to the elevated dissipation rate observed in the pycnocline and bottom boundary layer. To further understand the mixing processes in both regions, data were plotted on a Hydrodynamic Phase Diagram. The overturning stages of the turbulent patches are identified by Hydrodynamic Phase Diagram. This technique provides detailed information on the evolution of the turbulent patches from active overturns to fossilized scalar microstructures in the water column. Results from this study offer new evidence to support the fossil turbulence theory. This study concluded that: 1. Field Data collected near a sea-floor outfall diffuser show that turbulent patches evolve from active (overturning) to fossil (buoyancy-inhibited) stages, consistent with the process of turbulent patch evolution proposed by fossil turbulence theory. 2. The data show that active (overturning) and fossil (buoyancy-inhibited) patches have smaller length scales than the active+fossil (intermediate) stage of patch evolution, consistent with fossil turbulence theory and with laboratory studies. 3. Compared to a far-field reference, elevated dissipation rates near the diffuser were found in the seasonal pycnocline as well as in the bottom boundary layer. 4. More than 90% of the turbulent patches observed in the water column were non-overturning (active+fossil and fossil). Such patches can provide significant mixing in the interior of the ocean, far from surface and bottom boundary layers.Item Shelf circulation patterns off Nigeria(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Rider, Kelly ElizabethLittle has been published about the shelf circulation off the coast of Nigeria. Due to increased activity and associated incidents in the shallow waters offshore Nigeria, there is a need to more clearly define the near-shore circulation patterns. An oil spill occurred in January of 1998, the slick drifted in the opposite direction at twice the speed as was anticipated. It was believed that the heavy discharge from the Niger River Delta would have a strong influence on the near-shore circulation patterns and was the reason for this unexpected drift. This thesis investigates the river discharge by examining hydrographic data taken along the coastline. Using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers, this thesis also investigates other possible forcing factors to gain an overall understanding of Nigeria??s shallow water circulation. Indeed river discharge plays an important role in the near-shore circulation as the coastal waters are highly stratified; however, the coastal waters are also strongly influenced by a cross-shelf semidiurnal tide, weather events and seasonal events, such as eddies and coastal upwelling. The resulting currents are a combination of a strong bi-directional cross-shelf tidal current with a strong bi-directional alongshelf current. The waters off Nigeria are highly stratified; they have spatial coherence and a uniform vertical structure along the coastline. These coastal waters may also be influenced by a remotely forced upwelling event and by northerly drift from the Congo River. The shelf circulation is clearly a complicated system and will require further investigation to be fully defined.