Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

About: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a nonprofit organization based out in Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Mantle (geology). The organization has 5685 authors who have published 18396 publications receiving 1202050 citations. The organization is also known as: WHOI.

Mixing and Spreading of the Mediterranean Outflow

Abstract: Hydrographic and current profiler data taken during the 1988 Gulf of Cadiz Expedition have been analyzed to diagnose the mixing, spreading, and descent of the Mediterranean outflow. The θ–S properties and the thickness and width of the outflow were similar to that seen in earlier surveys. The transport of pure Mediterranean Water (i.e., water with S ≥ 38.4 psu) was estimated to be about 0.4 × 106 m3 s−1, which is lower than historical estimates—most of which were indirect—but comparable to other recent estimates made from direct velocity observations. The outflow transport estimated at the west end of the Strait of Gibraltar was about 0.7 × 106 m3 s−1 of mixed water, and the transport increased to about 1.9 × 106 m3 s−1 within the eastern Gulf of Cadiz. This increase in transport occurred by entrainment of fresher North Atlantic Central Water, and the salinity anomaly of the outflow was consequently reduced. The velocity-weighted salinity decreased to 36.7 psu within 60 km of the strait and decre...

The temperature at the ocean-air interface

Abstract: A simple theory is presented to account for the difference between the temperature at the ocean-air interface and that of the water at a depth of about one meter. Except in very light winds and intense solar radiation the mean temperature difference ΔT is expected to be of the formwhere q is the sum of the sensible, latent, and long-wave radiative heat flux from ocean to atmosphere and τ/ρw is the kinematic stress. No data are available to test this prediction. The influence of slicks and solar insolation on interface temperature is also briefly discussed.

Molecular characterization of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the Guaymas Basin.

Abstract: The Guaymas Basin (Gulf of California) is a hydrothermal vent site where thermal alteration of deposited planktonic and terrestrial organic matter forms petroliferous material which supports diverse sulfate-reducing bacteria. We explored the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the sulfate-reducing bacteria by characterizing PCR-amplified dissimilatory sulfite reductase (dsrAB) and 16S rRNA genes from the upper 4 cm of the Guaymas sediment. The dsrAB sequences revealed that there was a major clade closely related to the acetate-oxidizing delta-proteobacterial genus Desulfobacter and a clade of novel, deeply branching dsr sequences related to environmental dsr sequences from marine sediments in Aarhus Bay and Kysing Fjord (Denmark). Other dsr clones were affiliated with gram-positive thermophilic sulfate reducers (genus Desulfotomaculum) and the delta-proteobacterial species Desulforhabdus amnigena and Thermodesulforhabdus norvegica. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNAs from the same environmental samples resulted in identification of four clones affiliated with Desulfobacterium niacini, a member of the acetate-oxidizing, nutritionally versatile genus Desulfobacterium, and one clone related to Desulfobacula toluolica and Desulfotignum balticum. Other bacterial 16S rRNA bacterial phylotypes were represented by non-sulfate reducers and uncultured lineages with unknown physiology, like OP9, OP8, as well as a group with no clear affiliation. In summary, analyses of both 16S rRNA and dsrAB clone libraries resulted in identification of members of the Desulfobacteriales in the Guaymas sediments. In addition, the dsrAB sequencing approach revealed a novel group of sulfate-reducing prokaryotes that could not be identified by 16S rRNA sequencing.

Environmental turbulent mixing controls on air-water gas exchange in marine and aquatic systems

Abstract: [1] Air-water gas transfer influences CO 2 and other climatically important trace gas fluxes on regional and global scales, yet the magnitude of the transfer is not well known. Widely used models of gas exchange rates are based on empirical relationships linked to wind speed, even though physical processes other than wind are known to play important roles. Here the first field investigations are described supporting a new mechanistic model based on surface water turbulence that predicts gas exchange for a range of aquatic and marine processes. Findings indicate that the gas transfer rate varies linearly with the turbulent dissipation rate to the 1/4 power in a range of systems with different types of forcing - in the coastal ocean, in a macro-tidal river estuary, in a large tidal freshwater river, and in a model (i.e., artificial) ocean. These results have important implications for understanding carbon cycling.