For a number of years daily observations of surface temperature and salinity have been taken at ooeanographic stations (mostly lighthouses) on the B. C. coast. The present thesis is the first attempt that has been made to systematically analyse this data. The annual variation in temperature was seen to follow the general climatological trend of the B. C. coast at each of the stations, although a wide range in the amplitudes of these periodic variations was noted. The factors influencing the amplitude of the annual temperature curves were considered and such effects as incoming radiation, the extent of turbulence, the degree of shelter and the phenomena of upwelling due to horizontal wind stress (West Coast of Vancouver Island) have been discussed for each of the stations. Correlations were made between available meteorological information and the sea temperature observations and an attempt has been made to determine temperature contours of the B. C. coastal waters during the summer when the surface temperature is least uniform. The salinity observations were treated in an analogous manner to temperature and found to exhibit characteristic periodic annual variations. The stations were classified by means of these variations and the influences of precipitation and fresh water runoff, evaporation and mixing were discussed and correlations with meteorological observations were again made. / Science, Faculty of / Physics and Astronomy, Department of / Graduate

A study of the mineralogy and major element geochemistry of ferromanganese crusts and nodules from the northeastern equatorial Pacific Ocean involved three inter-related projects: ft) the major element geochemistry of crusts and nodules from two study areas, (2) the development of a selective sequential extraction scheme (SSES) and a differential X-ray diffraction technique (DXRD) for the study of the mineralogy of the deposits, and (3) the application of the SSES and DXRD to a small population of crusts and nodules from the two study areas. The objectives of the first project were to relate the composition of the crust and nodule samples to the environment of formation as well as to the mineralogy which could be identified from a bulk powdered sample. The SSES was developed to determine the partitioning of Cu, Ni, and Co concentrations between the Mn and Fe oxides present in crusts and nodules. In developing a SSES, two goals had to be attained: (1) since crust and nodule samples are finite in size and numerous different analyses are to be preformed on a single sample, a SSES should be developed which uses as small amount of sample as feasible, and (2) develop a SSES which is as time efficient as possible. The development of the DXRD in conjuction with the SSES identified which Mn and Fe oxide mineral phase was responsible for hosting Cu, Ni, and Co. In developing the DXRD procedure two other goals had to be attained: (1) use of small leached samples, and (2) recovery of the sample aafter XRD analysis. The purpose of the third project was to test the two analytical procedures on a group of crust and nodule samples which have a wide range in compositions and oxide phase mineralogies. One group of hydrothermal nodules, from Survey Region B, was found to be enriched in Mn and depleted in Fe and Si. The Mn-rich mineral phases were identified as todorokite and birnessite. The second group of hydrothermal nodules, from Survey Region B, was found to be enriched in Fe and Si and depleted in Mn. The Fe-Si rich mineral phase was identified as iron-rich nontronite. Both groups of hydrothermal nodules were depleted in Co, Cu, and Ni. Dymond et al. (1984) and Chen & Owen (1989) identified one group of hydrothermal nodules located close to the East Pacific Rise (EPR) as being enriched in Fe but depleted in Mn, Cu, Ni, and Co. This composition agrees with the Fe-Si rich hydrothermal nodules identified in Survey Region B. Both Dymond et al. (1984) and Chen & Owen (1989), however, interpreted a second group of nodules, close to the EPR, which were enriched in Mn but depleted in Cu, Ni, and Co as suboxic diagenetic deposits. This group of nodules is the Mn-rich end-member composition of hydrothermal nodules identifed in this study. The composition of nodules from Survey Region B indicates there is a correlation between Co abundance and the proximity of the nodules to the hydrothermal discharge from the JEPR. Nodules that are Co-enriched are found farthest away from hydrothermal activity. In contrast, cobalt-depleted nodules coincide with known areas of hydrothermal activity. The SSES and DXRD was applied to a small population of crusts and nodules from the two Survey Regions. The DXRD patterns from the second stage of leaching on the crusts and nodules showed that the iron phase mineralogy in marine crusts and nodules is either akaganeite or ferrihydrite. The DXRD patterns from the second stage of leaching on the Mn-rich hydrothermal crusts and nodules, from Survey Region B, identified the Mn-bearing mineral hausmannite. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

A description is presented of some of the oceanographic features of the northern Chilean waters as indicated by a study of the distribution of properties and of direct current measurements during the Marchile II Expedition, 1962. A narrow band of cold, low salinity water of low oxygen content close to the coast; an oxygen minimum layer from 50 to 400 m and the permanence of the Peru - Chile undercurrent are the outstanding features of the area. The process of upwelling is suggested as the main cause of the distribution of properties near the coast. However this process of upwelling was probably in a quiescent state during the Marchile II Expedition, being much less intense than during other expeditions in the same area, and than in other similar upwelling regions of the world. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Theoretical studies of two problems concerned with the surface forced, large-scale motions in bounded oceanic regions are presented. In Part I, such motions are considered for a particular area of the North Pacific Ocean known as the Subarctic Pacific Region. Discussion is based on the assumption that the velocity components may be separated into a time-averaged or quasi-steady flow about which fluctuations occur in the form of transient planetary waves. Some of the characteristics of the latter are briefly outlined. Several aspects of the time-averaged motions are then considered. A simple circulation, driven by the vertical velocity structure, is presented for the interior region of the ocean below the upper frictional layer. Also, using observational data to obtain the depth of the layer between the suface [sic] and the main halocline, this upper layer is found to behave as a geostrophic layer of fluid when averaged over many years. Combination of the above observed depths with the mean calculated Ekman divergences permitted calculation of a mean eddy coefficient of diffusivity for density. The results agree very well with those obtained by Veronis for similar oceanic situations. An explanation for the variations in the intrusion of 'warm' water along the top and bottom of the halocline off the coast of British Columbia is also given. The two final sections of Part I deal with the overall, quasi-steady circulation of the Subarctic Pacific Region. Here, a theoretical study is combined with the mean-monthly values of the calculated surface forcing. Curvilinear coordinates are used in order to model the northern boundary formed by the Aleutian-Komandorski island chain. The interior quasi-steady flow, which satisfies a Sverdrup-type balance of vorticity, is closed to the north by a frictional boundary layer. Using mean-monthly values for the surface winds over the region, the observed separation of the eastward flowing West Wind Drift into a northern and southern tending flow is found to correspond to the zero of the mean wind-stress curl. In the northern boundary layer, the characteristics of the westward flowing boundary current there, are shown to change downstream from a Western' to a 'zonal', type boundary current. The stability of the latter is dependent upon vorticity of appropriate sign being added to the boundary layer flow to balance that generated by friction along the coast. Discussion is also given for the effect of passes between the Aleutian islands on the zonal boundary current. Through a type of boundary layer 'suction' or, alternately, by mass transport into the boundary layer, the effect of these passes would seem to be to keep the boundary flow attached to the coast. Finally, spectral analysis of the wind-stress curl data, obtained from the mean-monthly surface pressure, is performed to determine its frequency distribution. A demodulation technique is used to determine the time variations of six of the frequency bands obtained in the spectral analysis. These results are then applied to the circulation in the Subarctic Pacific Region in an attempt to relate variations and spatial distribution in the circulation with the applied winds. The generation by the atmosphere of a type of long, boundary waves, known as Kelvin waves, is considered in Part II. In particular, it is shown that for a general large-scale distribution of wind and pressure systems that only the longshore component of the wind-stress and pressure can generate such waves. Examples are presented for a semi-infinite wind and moving pressure pattern. Kelvin waves are shown to move away from the force discontinuities at the speed of shallow-water waves. These waves are further found to exhibit a frequency shift, typical of non-dispersive waves from a moving source. Using some observed parameters for the atmospheric forcing terms off the Oregon coast of the United States, numerical values for the wave amplitudes for both examples are given. Part II has been published in the form presented here. Reference: J. Fluid Mech. C1970), 42C4), 657-670. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The frontal system that passed over the Storm Transfer and Response Experiment Study area on 19 November 1980 was the third vigorous system in succession to affect this region of the northeast Pacific Ocean. This study marks the first detailed investigation of a frontal wave over the Gulf of Alaska and as such provides structural details not shown in other studies. Precipitation and changes in temperature, wind velocity, and pressure were associated with the passage of both the warm and cold fronts. The thermal structure exhibits a well defined warm sector with regions of large baroclinicity in both the warm and cold frontal zones. Data from radiosonde releases from the northern-most of two observing platforms indicate a mid-level upper moisture front above the kata cold front. Throughout these northern cross-sections, gradients in the warm and cold frontal zones are of similar magnitudes while sections from the southern ship show a warm frontal zone that is more intense than the cold transition region. Along-frontal gradients of equivalent potential temperature are of the same order of magnitude as the cross-frontal gradients. Horizontal wind components relative to the storm indicate strong inflow to the system at lower layers from both south and east. The wind exits the system to the west and south. Upper level winds are westerly throughout. Gradients of wind components are strongest in frontal zones, which results in the cold front coincident with the peak axis in the vertical component of relative vorticity. The field of horizontal divergence also exhibits its largest magnitudes in the frontal zones, with convergence in the warm frontal zone and divergence in the cold transition region. This seldom observed feature of divergence at the cold front leads to a downwelling motion in this region and categorizes the front as a kata-cold trout. Most of the upward vertical velocity occurs in and around the warm frontal zone as a result of horizontal convergence in this region. Relative isentropic analysis indicates that there are three main air streams within the system. The warm conveyor belt flows to the north in the warm sector and rises gradually as it makes it way to the north. Ahead of the warm front and behind the cold front are two cold air streams that flow to the north and south respectively. Analysis of the kinematic, frontogenesis indicates that confluence and infrequently studied shear effects are the most important processes influencing the frontal gradients. Analysis of uncertainty in the terms of the prognostic kinematic frontogenesis equations reveals that the diabatic heat and twisting terms that others have found important are smaller than their estimated errors in this study. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Graduation date: 1969

The warm pool region of the western tropical Pacific is of particular interest to atmospheric dynamics because it represents a significant source of energy to the atmosphere. A better understanding of heat transfer driven by mesoscale and turbulent circulations within this region could lead to improved global circulation models, and therefore to improved prediction of global weather patterns. A first step to this understanding is to evaluate empirical data as well as the methods used to estimate heat transfer, or heat flux, at the surface. Of specific interest here are latent heat flux, the heat transfer associated with evaporation, and sensible heat flux, the heat transfer associated with convection and conduction. In this paper, two different methods of turbulent flux calculation, eddy correlation and the bulk aerodynamic method are compared. Eddy correlation directly uses turbulence measurements to estimate heat flux whereas the bulk aerodynamic method relies on similarity theory to relate heat flux to mean flow quantities. A brief discussion of selection of averaging length based on flight altitude is included, as well as a comparison of errors introduced in averaging velocity as a scalar or as a vector. Errors introduced by averaging, including mesoscale flux enhancement, are evaluated for strong and weak wind cases during relatively light convection in the region. Finally, month to month variability in heat flux is evaluated in an effort to further understand the accuracy of various approximations used in flux calculation. / Graduation date: 2002

Data from the Surveyor 1968 Spring cruise were used to study the vertical distribution of salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization, pH, alkalinity, specific alkalinity and percent saturation of calcite in two sections, one along 162°W from 35°N to 45°N and the other along 180°W from 35°N to 50°N. Data from this cruise and additional data from the Surveyor 1968 Fall cruise, YALOC 66 cruise (summer) (Barstowetal, , 1968) and Boreas cruise (winter, 1966) (SIO reports, 1966) were used to study the distribution of salinity, temperature, apparent oxygen utilization, preformed phosphate and depth on the sigma-t surfaces of 26.8 and 27.3 in an area between 35°N and 52°N and 162°W and 155°E. In both sections the vertical distribution of the physico-chemical parameters is such that in general there is a tendency for the isograms to slope upward from south to north following the same trend of the sigma-t surfaces. This indicates that mixing and advection along the sigma-t surfaces play an important role on the distribution of these parameters. AOU data from YALOC 66 cruise (summer) compared to that from Surveyor 1968 Spring cruise suggest that aeration by mixing, eddy diffusivity and conductivity takes place to more than 500 meters depth at about 50°N. It also suggests that the changes of organic primary production at the euphotic zone during different seasons of the year may affect to a great extent the AOU distribution on the 26.8 sigma-t surface and to a very small extent on the 27.3 sigma-t surface. The direction of flow suggested by the AOU distribution on the 26.8 and 27.3 sigma-t surfaces was compared to that indicated by the acceleration potential contours on the S[subscript t] = 125 cl/ton and S[subscript t] = 80 cl/ton surfaces drawn by Reid (1965). The disagreements were explained in terms of mixing and possible gradients of primary production at the sea surface. On the 26.8 sigma-t surface a southward flow connecting the westward flow south of the Aleutian chain and the eastward flow farther south, between 175°E and 180°W is suggested by the AOU distribution but not by the acceleration potential contours. If the circulation pattern at this density surface is similar to that at the sea surface, this linkage is very likely to be real. / Graduation date: 1970

Graduation date: 1969

Hydroacoustic tertiary (T-) waves are seismically generated acoustic waves that propagate over great distances in the ocean sound channel with little loss in signal strength. Hydrophone recorded T-waves can provide a lower earthquake detection threshold and an improved epicenter location accuracy for oceanic earthquakes than land-based seismic networks. Thus detection and location of NE Pacific ocean earthquakes along the Blanco Transform Fault (BTFZ) and Gorda plate using the U.S. Navy's SOSUS (SOund SUrveillance System) hydrophone arrays afford greater insight into the current state of stress and crustal deformation mechanics than previously available. Acoustic earthquake information combined with bathymetry, submersible observations, earthquake source-parameter estimates, petrologic samples, and water-column chemistry renders a new tectonic view of the southern Juan de Fuca plate boundaries. Chapter 2 discusses development of seismo-acoustic analysis techniques using the well-documented April 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquake sequence. Findings include a hydrophone detection threshold estimate (M~2.4), and T-wave propagation path modeling to approximate earthquake acoustic source energy. Empirical analyses indicate that acoustic energy provides a reasonable magnitude and seismic moment estimate of oceanic earthquakes not detected by seismic networks. Chapters 3 documents a probable volcanogenic T-wave event swarm along a pull-apart basin within the western BTFZ during January 1994. Response efforts yielded evidence of anomalous water-column ��He concentrations, pillow-lava volcanism, and the first discovery of active hydrothermal vents along an oceanic fracture zone. Chapter 4 discusses the detection of a NE-SW trending microearthquake band along the mid-Gorda plate which was active from initiation of SOSUS recording in August 1991 through July 1992, then abruptly ceased. It is proposed that eventual termination of the Gorda plate seismicity band is due to strain reduction associated with the Cape Mendocino earthquake sequence. Chapter 5 combines bathymetric, hydro-acoustic, seismic, submersible, and gravity data to investigate the active tectonics of the transform parallel Blanco Ridge (BR), along the eastern BTFZ. The BR formation mechanism preferred here is uplift through strike-slip motion (with a normal component) followed by formation and intrusion of mantle-derived serpentinized-peridotite into the shallow ocean crust. The conclusion considers a potential link between the deformation patterns observed along the BTFZ and Gorda plate regions. / Graduation date: 1998