Dataset Information

Latitude-dependent finescale turbulent shear generations in the Pacific tropical-extratropical upper ocean.

ABSTRACT: Turbulent mixing, which is critically important for the equilibrium of ocean circulation, is controlled by finescale turbulent shear (S²) of oceanic flows through shear instability. Although the relationship between S² and mixing is well understood, the latitude-dependent generation processes of S² remain poorly known due to the lack of geographically extensive, long-term finescale velocity measurements. Here, using one-year ADCP data from 17 moorings along 143°E, we first show that the upper-ocean S² and its resultant mixing rate have a W-shaped latitudinal distribution in the tropical-extratropical northwest Pacific with peaks at 0-2°N, 12-14°N, and 20-22°N, respectively. Further analyses reveal that these S² peaks are caused by vertically-sheared equatorial currents, parametric subharmonic instability of diurnal tide, and anticyclonic eddy's inertial chimney effect, respectively. As climate model simulations are sensitive to the mixing parameterizations, our findings highlight the need to incorporate the latitude-dependent generation mechanisms of S² to improve climate models' prediction capabilities.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6173738 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Latitude-dependent finescale turbulent shear generations in the Pacific tropical-extratropical upper ocean.

Zhang Zhiwei Z Qiu Bo B Tian Jiwei J Zhao Wei W Huang Xiaodong X

Nature communications 20181005 1

Turbulent mixing, which is critically important for the equilibrium of ocean circulation, is controlled by finescale turbulent shear (S2) of oceanic flows through shear instability. Although the relationship between S2 and mixing is well understood, the latitude-dependent generation processes of S2 remain poorly known due to the lack of geographically extensive, long-term finescale velocity measurements. Here, using one-year ADCP data from 17 moorings along 143°E ...[more]

PMID: 30291235

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Project description:The world's oceans contain a complex mixture of micro-organisms that are for the most part, uncharacterized both genetically and biochemically. We report here a metagenomic study of the marine planktonic microbiota in which surface (mostly marine) water samples were analyzed as part of the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition. These samples, collected across a several-thousand km transect from the North Atlantic through the Panama Canal and ending in the South Pacific yielded an extensive dataset consisting of 7.7 million sequencing reads (6.3 billion bp). Though a few major microbial clades dominate the planktonic marine niche, the dataset contains great diversity with 85% of the assembled sequence and 57% of the unassembled data being unique at a 98% sequence identity cutoff. Using the metadata associated with each sample and sequencing library, we developed new comparative genomic and assembly methods. One comparative genomic method, termed "fragment recruitment," addressed questions of genome structure, evolution, and taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity, as well as the biochemical diversity of genes and gene families. A second method, termed "extreme assembly," made possible the assembly and reconstruction of large segments of abundant but clearly nonclonal organisms. Within all abundant populations analyzed, we found extensive intra-ribotype diversity in several forms: (1) extensive sequence variation within orthologous regions throughout a given genome; despite coverage of individual ribotypes approaching 500-fold, most individual sequencing reads are unique; (2) numerous changes in gene content some with direct adaptive implications; and (3) hypervariable genomic islands that are too variable to assemble. The intra-ribotype diversity is organized into genetically isolated populations that have overlapping but independent distributions, implying distinct environmental preference. We present novel methods for measuring the genomic similarity between metagenomic samples and show how they may be grouped into several community types. Specific functional adaptations can be identified both within individual ribotypes and across the entire community, including proteorhodopsin spectral tuning and the presence or absence of the phosphate-binding gene PstS.

Dataset Information

Latitude-dependent finescale turbulent shear generations in the Pacific tropical-extratropical upper ocean.

Publications

Latitude-dependent finescale turbulent shear generations in the Pacific tropical-extratropical upper ocean.

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