Acta Oceanologica Sinica最新文献

Storm surge is often the marine disaster that poses the greatest threat to life and property in coastal areas. Accurate and timely issuance of storm surge warnings to take appropriate countermeasures is an important means to reduce storm surge-related losses. Storm surge numerical models are important for storm surge forecasting. To further improve the performance of the storm surge forecast models, we developed a numerical storm surge forecast model based on an unstructured spherical centroidal Voronoi tessellation (SCVT) grid. The model is based on shallow water equations in vector-invariant form, and is discretized by Arakawa C grid. The SCVT grid can not only better describe the coastline information but also avoid rigid transitions, and it has a better global consistency by generating high-resolution grids in the key areas through transition refinement. In addition, the simulation speed of the model is accelerated by using the openACC-based GPU acceleration technology to meet the timeliness requirements of operational ensemble forecast. It only takes 37 s to simulate a day in the coastal waters of China. The newly developed storm surge model was applied to simulate typhoon-induced storm surges in the coastal waters of China. The hindcast experiments on the selected representative typhoon-induced storm surge processes indicate that the model can reasonably simulate the distribution characteristics of storm surges. The simulated maximum storm surges and their occurrence times are consistent with the observed data at the representative tide gauge stations, and the mean absolute errors are 3.5 cm and 0.6 h respectively, showing high accuracy and application prospects.

Coastal wetlands such as salt marshes and mangroves provide important protection against stormy waves. Accurate assessments of wetlands’ capacity in wave attenuation are required to safely utilize their protection services. Recent studies have shown that tidal currents have a significant impact on wetlands’ wave attenuation capacity, but such impact has been rarely considered in numerical models, which may lead to overestimation of wave attenuation in wetlands. This study modified the SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) model to account for the effect of accompanying currents on vegetation-induced wave dissipation. Furthermore, this model was extended to include automatically derived vegetation drag coefficients, spatially varying vegetation height, and Doppler Effect in combined current-wave flows. Model evaluation against an analytical model and flume data shows that the modified model can accurately simulate wave height change in combined current-wave flows. Subsequently, we applied the new model to a mangrove wetland on Hailing Island in China with a special focus on the effect of currents on wave dissipation. It is found that the currents can either increase or decrease wave attenuation depending on the ratio of current velocity to the amplitude of the horizontal wave orbital velocity, which is in good agreement with field observations. Lastly, we used Hailing Island site as an example to simulate wave attenuation by vegetation under hypothetical storm surge conditions. Model results indicate that when currents are 0.08–0.15 m/s and the incident wave height is 0.75–0.90 m, wetlands’ wave attenuation capacity can be reduced by nearly 10% compared with pure wave conditions, which provides implications for critical design conditions for coastal safety. The obtained results and the developed model are valuable for the design and implementation of wetland-based coastal defense. The code of the developed model has been made open source, in the hope to assist further research and coastal management.

The outbreak of Ulva in the Yellow Sea has seriously affected marine ecology and economic activities. Therefore, effective prediction of the distribution of Ulva is of great significance for disaster prevention and reduction. However, the prediction method of Ulva is mainly based on numerical simulation. There are two problems with these methods. First is that the initial distribution of Ulva is simulated using independent pixel-level particles. Besides, the influence of Ulva growth and diffusion on the drift is not considered. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-module with a two-way feedback method (MTF) to solve the above problems. The main contributions of our approach are summarized as follows. First, the initialization module, the generation and elimination module, and the drive module are composed in our way. Second, we proposed an initialization method using rectangle objects to simulate the Ulva distribution extracted from remote sensing images. Thirdly, the drift and diffusion mechanism of the Ulva is considered to realize the two-way feedback between the generation and elimination module and the drive module. The results of our experiments show that the MTF performs better than the traditional method in predicting the drift and diffusion of Ulva. The code is already publicly available at https://github.com/UPCGIT/A-multi-module-with-a-two-way-feedback-method-for-Ulva-drift-diffusion.

The aim of this study was to develop an improved thin sea ice thickness (SIT) retrieval algorithm in the Arctic Ocean from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity and Soil Moisture Active Passive L-band radiometer data. This SIT retrieval algorithm was trained using the simulated SIT from the cumulative freezing degree days model during the freeze-up period over five carefully selected regions in the Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian, Laptev and Kara seas and utilized the microwave polarization ratio (PR) at incidence angle of 40°. The improvements of the proposed retrieval algorithm include the correction for the sea ice concentration impact, reliable reference SIT data over different representative regions of the Arctic Ocean and the utilization of microwave polarization ratio that is independent of ice temperature. The relationship between the SIT and PR was found to be almost stable across the five selected regions. The SIT retrievals were then compared to other two existing algorithms (i.e., UH_SIT from the University of Hamburg and UB_SIT from the University of Bremen) and validated against independent SIT data obtained from moored upward looking sonars (ULS) and airborne electromagnetic (EM) induction sensors. The results suggest that the proposed algorithm could achieve comparable accuracies to UH_SIT and UB_SIT with root mean square error (RMSE) being about 0.20 m when validating using ULS SIT data and outperformed the UH_SIT and UB_SIT with RMSE being about 0.21 m when validatng using EM SIT data. The proposed algorithm can be used for thin sea ice thickness (<1.0 m) estimation in the Arctic Ocean and requires less auxiliary data in the SIT retrieval procedure which makes its implementation more practical.

Abstract

The snow depth on sea ice is an extremely critical part of the cryosphere. Monitoring and understanding changes of snow depth on Antarctic sea ice is beneficial for research on sea ice and global climate change. The Microwave Radiation Imager (MWRI) sensor aboard the Chinese FengYun-3D (FY-3D) satellite has great potential for obtaining information of the spatial and temporal distribution of snow depth on the sea ice. By comparing in-situ snow depth measurements during the 35th Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE-35), we took advantage of the combination of multiple gradient ratio (GR (36V, 10V) and GR (36V, 18V)) derived from the measured brightness temperature of FY-3D MWRI to estimate the snow depth. This method could simultaneously introduce the advantages of high and low GR in the snow depth retrieval model and perform well in both deep and shallow snow layers. Based on this, we constructed a novel model to retrieve the FY-3D MWRI snow depth on Antarctic sea ice. The new model validated by the ship-based observational snow depth data from CHINARE-35 and the snow depth measured by snow buoys from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) suggest that the model proposed in this study performs better than traditional models, with root mean square deviations (RMSDs) of 8.59 cm and 7.71 cm, respectively. A comparison with the snow depth measured from Operation IceBridge (OIB) project indicates that FY-3D MWRI snow depth was more accurate than the released snow depth product from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (NTPDC). The spatial distribution of the snow depth from FY-3D MWRI agrees basically with that from ICESat-2; this demonstrates its reliability for estimating Antarctic snow depth, and thus has great potential for understanding snow depth variations on Antarctic sea ice in the context of global climate change.

Generally, a teleostean group (e.g., family or genus) owns one type or a set of similar mitochondrial gene arrangement. It is interesting, however, that four different types of gene arrangement have been found in the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Cynoglossidae species. So far, the possible mechanisms of mitogenomic gene rearrangement and its potential implications have aroused widespread attention and caused lots of controversy. Here, a total of 21 Cynoglossidae mitogenomes and a newly sequenced mitogenome of Cynoglossus puncticpes (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) were compared. The length ranges from 16 417 bp to 18 369 bp, which is mainly caused by the length heteroplasmy of control region (CR). Further analysis reveals that the difference of tandem repeats acts as a determining factor resulting in the length heterogeneity. Like most gene rearrangements of Cynoglossinae mitogenomes, tRNA-Gln gene encoded by the L-strand has translocated to the H-strand (Q inversion), accompanied by the translocation of CR in C. puncticpes mitogenome. The typical IQM order (tRNA-Ile-Gln-Met) changed to QIM order. Tandem duplication/random loss and mitochondrial recombination were accepted as the most possible models to account for the rearrangements in C. puncticpes mitogenome. Phylogenetic trees showed a strong correlation between the gap spacer in the rearranged QIM area and phylogeny, which provides a fresh idea for phylogenetic studies in future.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is designed to divide the sea area into different types of functional zones, to implement corresponding development activities. However, the long-term impacts of anthropogenic activities associated with MSP practice on the marine microbial biosphere are still unclear. Yalu River Estuary, a coastal region in northeast of China, has been divided into fishery & agricultural (F&A) zone, shipping & port (S&P) zone and marine protected area (MPA) zone by a local MSP guideline that has been run for decades. To examine the effects of long-term executed MSP, benthic bacterial communities from different MSP zones were obtained and compared in this study. The results revealed significant differences in the bacterial community structure and predict functions among different zones. Bacterial genera enriched in different zones were identified, including SBR1031 in MPA, Woeseia and Sva0996 in S&P, and Halioglobus in F&A. In addition, correlations between some bacterial genera and sediment pollutants were uncovered. Furthermore, bacteria related to sulphide production were more abundant in the F&A zone, which was according to the accumulation of sulphides in this area. Moreover, bacteria associated with chemoheterotrophy and fermentation were more predominant in the S&P zone, consistent with high levels of organic matter and petroleum caused by shipping. Our findings indicated benthic bacterial communities could bring to light the anthropogenic activity footprints by different activities induced by long-term MSP practice.

Planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber (white) and Trilobatus sacculifer are the most frequently used mixed-layer dwelling species for reconstructing past oceanic environments. Specifically, the Mg/Ca ratios of these two foraminiferal species have been used for reconstructing tropical/subtropical changes in sea surface temperature (SST). However, these two species have different morphotypes, of which the spatial and temporal differences in Mg/Ca ratios and their influencing factors are still unclear. Our objective is to investigate the potential differences between the Mg/Ca ratios of these different morphotypes of G. ruber (white) and T. sacculifer in the western Philippine Sea (WPS) and determine their implications for the reconstruction of SST and upper-ocean structure. Mg/Ca measurements are made on two basic morphotypes of G. ruber (white) [sensu stricto (s.s.) and sensu lato (s.l.)] and T. sacculifer [with (w) and without (w/o) a sac-like final chamber] on samples of Site MD06-3047B from the WPS. Our results reveal that Mg/Ca ratios of different G. ruber morphotypes show consistent differences; and those of T. sacculifer morphotypes show staged variations since MIS 3. It is suggested to select a single morphotype for reconstructing SST changes using the Mg/Ca ratios of G. ruber and T. sacculifer in the WPS. Furthermore, the Mg/Ca ratios between G. ruber s.s. and G. ruber s.l. [Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.}] downcore MD06-3047B covaries with indexes of summer monsoon. Combining with the core-top results, showing regional variation of differences in the Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.} over the western tropical Pacific, we propose that Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.} may tend to reflect summer mixed layer depth.

In this study, Ulva prolifera protein was used for preparing angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide via virtual gastrointestinal digestion and in silico screening. Some parameters of the obtained peptide, such as inhibition kinetics, docking mechanism, stability, transport pathway, were explored by Lineweaver-Burk plots, molecular docking, in vitro stimulate gastrointestinal (GI) digestion and Caco-2 cells monolayer model, respectively. Then, a novel anti-ACE peptide LDF (IC₅₀, (1.66 ± 0.34) µmol/L) was screened and synthesized by chemical synthesis. It was a no-competitive inhibitor and its anti-ACE inhibitory effect mainly attributable to four Conventional Hydrogen Bonds and Zn701 interactions. It could keep activity during simulated GI digestion in vitro and was transported by peptide transporter PepT1 and passive-mediated mode. Besides, it could activate Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity to promote the production of NO and reduce Endothelin-1 (ET-1) secretion induced by Angiotensin II (Ang II) in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs). Meanwhile, it could promote mice splenocytes proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Our study indicated that this peptide was a potential ingredient functioning on vasodilation and enhancing immunity.

The chemical diversity of scleractinian corals is closely related to their physiological, ecological, and evolutionary status, and can be influenced by both genetic background and environmental variables. To investigate intraspecific variation in the metabolites of these corals, the metabolomes of four species (Pocillopora meandrina, Seriatopora hystrix, Acropora formosa, and Fungia fungites) from the South China Sea were analyzed using untargeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. The results showed that a variety of metabolites, including amino acids, peptides, lipids, and other small molecules, were differentially distributed among the four species, leading to their significant separation in principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering plots. The higher content of storage lipids in branching corals (P. meandrina, S. hystrix, and A. formosa) compared to the solitary coral (F. fungites) may be due to the high densities of zooxanthellae in their tissues. The high content of aromatic amino acids in P. meandrina may help the coral protect against ultraviolet damage and promote growth in shallow seawater, while nitrogen-rich compounds may enable S. hystrix to survive in various challenging environments. The metabolites enriched in F. fungites, including amino acids, dipeptides, phospholipids, and other small molecules, may be related to the composition of the coral’s mucus and its life-history, such as its ability to move freely and live solitarily. Studying the chemical diversity of scleractinian corals not only provides insight into their environmental adaptation, but also holds potential for the chemotaxonomy of corals and the discovery of novel bioactive natural products.