The transition between the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean is marked by a frontal system that includes both the South Atlantic Current and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). In the eastern part of the basin the latitudinal position of the fronts that compose this system is thought to control the input of warm waters into the Atlantic basin through the Agulhas Leakage. Changes in the Subtropical and Polar regimes associated with the system that marks the boundary between the Subtropical Gyre and the ACC are investigated using the simulation results of the ocean component of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM), POP2. Sea surface height gradients and specific contours are used to identify and track the ocean fronts position. We compare the Subtropical Front position at the eastern edge of the South Atlantic to changes in temperature and salinity, as well as Agulhas Current transports and the overlying wind field, in order to determine what could be driving frontal variability at this region and its consequences to volume transport from the Indian into the Atlantic. Results suggest that the Subtropical Front is not the southern boundary of the subtropical gyre, but it responds to changes in the \"Supergyre\", especially the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre expansion. / A transição entre os oceanos Atlântico Sul e Austral é marcada por um sistema frontal que inclui tanto a Corrente do Atlântico Sul quanto a Corrente Circumpolar Antártica (CCA). Na porção oeste da bacia, acredita-se que a posição meridional das frentes que compõem este sistema controla o aporte de águas quentes para o Atlântico pelo Vazamento das Agulhas. Mudanças nos regimes subtropical e polar associadas ao sistema que marca o limite entre o giro subtropical e a CCA são investigadas através dos resultados da componente oceânica do modelo do National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), o Community Earth System Model (CESM). O gradiente meridional, bem como valores específicos de altura da superfície do mar são usados para identificar e acompanhar a posição destas frentes oceânicas. A comparação da posição da Frente Subtropical no limite leste do Atlântico Sul com as mudanças na temperatura e salinidade, assim como no transporte da Corrente das Agulhas e do campo de ventos sobrejacente, é feita para determinar quais as forçantes da variabilidade frontal nesta região e suas consequências no transporte de volume entre o Índico e o Atlântico. Resultados sugerem que a Frente Subtropical não é o limite sul do giro subtropical, mas responde às mudanças no \"Supergiro\", especialmente à expansão do Giro Subtropical do Oceano Índico.

Ao sul da África, a Corrente das Agulhas sofre uma abrupta retroflexão, liberando anéis com águas mais quentes e mais salinas do Oceano Índico na região sudeste do Atlântico Sul. A transferência de águas do Índico para o Atlântico por meio de anéis e filamentos na região de retroflexão da Corrente das Agulhas é referida na literatura como o vazamento das Agulhas. Esse vazamento conecta os giros subtropicais do Atlântico Sul e do Índico, sendo parcialmente responsável pela alta salinidade do Oceano Atlântico. A comunicação entre esses dois giros subtropicais na área de retroflexão da Corrente das Agulhas é limitado ao sul pela Frente Subtropical, que é controlada pela posição do rotacional zero do tensão de cisalhamento do vento. Desde o final da década de 1960, os ventos de oeste do Hemisfério Sul tem sofrido uma migração em direção ao polo como reflexo da tendência positiva do índice do modo anular sul (SAM). Para investigar o impacto dessas mudanças na circulação atmosférica no vazamento das Agulhas, foi implementada uma rodada do modelo HYCOM forçada com médias mensais dos produtos de reanálise do NCEP entre 1948 e 2010. Os resultados mostram um aumento no vazamento das Agulhas de 1.1 Sv por década entre 1960 e 2010. O aumento nesse transporte interoceânico está relacionado a uma migração para o sul da Frente Subtropical, forçada pelo deslocamento para o sul dos ventos de oeste. Os resultados também mostram uma tendência positiva nos campos de altura da superfície livre e temperatura na região das Agulhas, sendo esses, consequência da migração para o sul da Frente Subtropical. A tendência positiva desses campos e o deslocamento para o sul da Frente Subtropical seguem a tendência positiva do índice da SAM, com valores mais altos durante o verão austral. Como a tendência do índice da SAM tem sido atribuída à redução na camada de ozônio e ao aumento na concentração dos gases causadores do efeito estufa, os resultados aqui apresentados salientam as consequências das mudanças climáticas antropogênicas na distribuição de sal e calor dos oceanos. / South of Africa, the southwestward flowing Agulhas Current retroflects abruptly, shedding rings with saltier and warmer Indian Ocean waters into the relatively colder and fresher southeast portion of the South Atlantic. This Agulhas leakage connects the South Atlantic and Indian oceans subtropical gyres, and is partly responsible for the Atlantic Ocean high salinity. The connection between Indian Ocean and South Atlantic at the Agulhas retroflection area is limited to the south by the Subtropical Front, and is largely controlled by the location of the zero wind stress curl. Since the late 1960s, the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds have been showing a poleward shift possibly in response to the positive trend of the southern annular mode (SAM). To access the impact of these changes of the atmospheric forcing on the Agulhas leakage, an implementation of the HYCOM, forced with monthly means of NCEP/Reanalysis since 1948 was run. The results show an Agulhas leakage increase of 1.1 Sv per decade between 1960 and 2010. This inter-basin transport increase is correlated to a southward shift of the Subtropical Front, forced by the poleward migration of the westerlies. The results also show a positive trend in sea surface height and temperature at the Agulhas region as a consequence of the poleward shift of the Subtropical Front. The positive trends of these fields and the displacement of the Subtropical Front follow the positive trend of the SAM index, with higher values during austral summer months. As the SAM index trend is been assigned to the ozone depletion and to the increase of the greenhouse gases, these results highlight the consequences of the anthropogenic atmospheric changes on the heat and salt distribution within the oceans.

Ao sul da África, a Corrente das Agulhas sofre uma abrupta retroflexão, liberando anéis com águas mais quentes e mais salinas do Oceano Índico na região sudeste do Atlântico Sul. A transferência de águas do Índico para o Atlântico por meio de anéis e filamentos na região de retroflexão da Corrente das Agulhas é referida na literatura como o vazamento das Agulhas. Esse vazamento conecta os giros subtropicais do Atlântico Sul e do Índico, sendo parcialmente responsável pela alta salinidade do Oceano Atlântico. A comunicação entre esses dois giros subtropicais na área de retroflexão da Corrente das Agulhas é limitado ao sul pela Frente Subtropical, que é controlada pela posição do rotacional zero do tensão de cisalhamento do vento. Desde o final da década de 1960, os ventos de oeste do Hemisfério Sul tem sofrido uma migração em direção ao polo como reflexo da tendência positiva do índice do modo anular sul (SAM). Para investigar o impacto dessas mudanças na circulação atmosférica no vazamento das Agulhas, foi implementada uma rodada do modelo HYCOM forçada com médias mensais dos produtos de reanálise do NCEP entre 1948 e 2010. Os resultados mostram um aumento no vazamento das Agulhas de 1.1 Sv por década entre 1960 e 2010. O aumento nesse transporte interoceânico está relacionado a uma migração para o sul da Frente Subtropical, forçada pelo deslocamento para o sul dos ventos de oeste. Os resultados também mostram uma tendência positiva nos campos de altura da superfície livre e temperatura na região das Agulhas, sendo esses, consequência da migração para o sul da Frente Subtropical. A tendência positiva desses campos e o deslocamento para o sul da Frente Subtropical seguem a tendência positiva do índice da SAM, com valores mais altos durante o verão austral. Como a tendência do índice da SAM tem sido atribuída à redução na camada de ozônio e ao aumento na concentração dos gases causadores do efeito estufa, os resultados aqui apresentados salientam as consequências das mudanças climáticas antropogênicas na distribuição de sal e calor dos oceanos. / South of Africa, the southwestward flowing Agulhas Current retroflects abruptly, shedding rings with saltier and warmer Indian Ocean waters into the relatively colder and fresher southeast portion of the South Atlantic. This Agulhas leakage connects the South Atlantic and Indian oceans subtropical gyres, and is partly responsible for the Atlantic Ocean high salinity. The connection between Indian Ocean and South Atlantic at the Agulhas retroflection area is limited to the south by the Subtropical Front, and is largely controlled by the location of the zero wind stress curl. Since the late 1960s, the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds have been showing a poleward shift possibly in response to the positive trend of the southern annular mode (SAM). To access the impact of these changes of the atmospheric forcing on the Agulhas leakage, an implementation of the HYCOM, forced with monthly means of NCEP/Reanalysis since 1948 was run. The results show an Agulhas leakage increase of 1.1 Sv per decade between 1960 and 2010. This inter-basin transport increase is correlated to a southward shift of the Subtropical Front, forced by the poleward migration of the westerlies. The results also show a positive trend in sea surface height and temperature at the Agulhas region as a consequence of the poleward shift of the Subtropical Front. The positive trends of these fields and the displacement of the Subtropical Front follow the positive trend of the SAM index, with higher values during austral summer months. As the SAM index trend is been assigned to the ozone depletion and to the increase of the greenhouse gases, these results highlight the consequences of the anthropogenic atmospheric changes on the heat and salt distribution within the oceans.

The transition between the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean is marked by a frontal system that includes both the South Atlantic Current and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). In the eastern part of the basin the latitudinal position of the fronts that compose this system is thought to control the input of warm waters into the Atlantic basin through the Agulhas Leakage. Changes in the Subtropical and Polar regimes associated with the system that marks the boundary between the Subtropical Gyre and the ACC are investigated using the simulation results of the ocean component of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM), POP2. Sea surface height gradients and specific contours are used to identify and track the ocean fronts position. We compare the Subtropical Front position at the eastern edge of the South Atlantic to changes in temperature and salinity, as well as Agulhas Current transports and the overlying wind field, in order to determine what could be driving frontal variability at this region and its consequences to volume transport from the Indian into the Atlantic. Results suggest that the Subtropical Front is not the southern boundary of the subtropical gyre, but it responds to changes in the \"Supergyre\", especially the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre expansion. / A transição entre os oceanos Atlântico Sul e Austral é marcada por um sistema frontal que inclui tanto a Corrente do Atlântico Sul quanto a Corrente Circumpolar Antártica (CCA). Na porção oeste da bacia, acredita-se que a posição meridional das frentes que compõem este sistema controla o aporte de águas quentes para o Atlântico pelo Vazamento das Agulhas. Mudanças nos regimes subtropical e polar associadas ao sistema que marca o limite entre o giro subtropical e a CCA são investigadas através dos resultados da componente oceânica do modelo do National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), o Community Earth System Model (CESM). O gradiente meridional, bem como valores específicos de altura da superfície do mar são usados para identificar e acompanhar a posição destas frentes oceânicas. A comparação da posição da Frente Subtropical no limite leste do Atlântico Sul com as mudanças na temperatura e salinidade, assim como no transporte da Corrente das Agulhas e do campo de ventos sobrejacente, é feita para determinar quais as forçantes da variabilidade frontal nesta região e suas consequências no transporte de volume entre o Índico e o Atlântico. Resultados sugerem que a Frente Subtropical não é o limite sul do giro subtropical, mas responde às mudanças no \"Supergiro\", especialmente à expansão do Giro Subtropical do Oceano Índico.

Biogeochemical changes across oceanic interfaces, and method development to study such changes, are described in this work. The interfaces studied include the Subtropical Front in the Pacific Ocean and the boundary at the base of the euphotic zone. Both interfaces are characterized by accumulations of phytoplankton, although the forcing functions that result in increased biomass are distinctly different. The Subtropical Front, located at approximately 30°N in the Pacific Ocean, was detected during a cruise in the summer of 2002 by its diagnostic 34.8 salinity outcrop, in spite of the absence of its associated temperature signature. The front displayed elevated concentrations of large diatoms; Rhizosolenia and Hemiaulus, with concentrations penetrating deeper in the water column south of the front. Rhizosolenia species were dominant on the warmer, high salinity side of the front, while Hemiaulus prevailed on the cooler, low salinity side. While high cell counts were enumerated by net tows, the elevated biomass was not visible in satellite color imagery. Size fractionated chlorophyll data revealed > 10 um cells were found below 200 m, indicating export of large cells out of the euphotic zone. This confirms observations by other investigators that fronts represent important regions of episodic export, although such export may go undetected if the biomass is not visible in ocean color images. Another region of interest was the narrow layer at the base of the euphotic zone. During stratified conditions, the layer was characterized by a fluorescence maximum, a primary nitrite maximum, and a nutricline. While fluorescence maxima have proven easy to detect using commercial fluorometers, nutrient distributions have proven more difficult. The Spectrophotometric Elemental Analysis System (SEAS) permitted detection of low concentrations of nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate with nanomolar sensitivity and 1 Hz or better sampling frequency. Using multiple wavelength spectroscopy, the range of nitrate concentrations from 2 nM to 20 uM have been detected. Profiles of nitrite obtained across the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre revealed the close correlation between nitrite and chlorophyll fluorescence maxima, suggesting that the nitrite maximum is formed by phytoplankton when insufficient light is available to permit reduction of nitrite to ammonia.

The New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) is the most abundant fur seal species in the Australian-New Zealand region. Approximately 85 % of Australia’s population of New Zealand fur seals reside in the state of South Australia. As a result of their abundance and size, it has been estimated that the New Zealand fur seal population in South Australia consumes the greatest biomass of resources of all marine mammal and seabird species. However, despite the importance of New Zealand fur seals as top predators, our understanding of their foraging ecology in South Australia is limited. In order to better understand the habitat utilized and the diet of New Zealand fur seals, this study explores the foraging ecology of lactating seals from four primary colonies in South Australia, which account for ~ 78 % of the Australian population. These colonies are Cape Gantheaume (36о04’S, 137о27’E) and Cape du Couedic (36о03’S, 136о42’E) on Kangaroo Island; North Neptune Island (35о13’S, 136о03’E) and Liguanea Island (34о59’S, 135о37’E). I start this study by assessing the seasonal variation in foraging location and dive behaviour of lactating New Zealand fur seals from Cape Gantheaume. 18 seals were fitted with satellite transmitters and time depth recorders (TDRs). The presence of thermoclines (derived from TDRs), were used as a surrogate measure of upwelling activity in continental shelf habitats. During the austral autumn 80 % of lactating fur seals foraged on the continental shelf (114 ± 44 km from the colony), in a region associated with a seasonal coastal upwelling system, the Bonney upwelling. In contrast, during winter months seals predominantly foraged in oceanic waters (62 %), in a region associated with the Subtropical Front (460 ± 138 km from the colony). Results suggested that lactating New Zealand fur seals shift their foraging location from continental shelf to oceanic habitats, in response to a seasonal decline in continental shelf productivity, attributed to the cessation of the Bonney upwelling in autumn. To study inter-colony differences in foraging locations, 21 New Zealand fur seals were satellite tracked from four colonies within close proximity (46 km – 200km apart). Seals initiated foraging trips on a colony-specific bearing (Cape Gantheaume 141 ± 33º, Cape du Couedic 186 ± 12º, North Neptune Island 200 ± 23º and Liguanea Island 234 ± 69º), and recorded little overlap between colony-specific foraging areas. The distribution of colony-specific foraging grounds appeared to be influenced by the proximity of colonies to predictable local upwelling features, as well as a distant oceanic frontal zone, the Subtropical Front. Foraging site fidelity and route-choice was further assessed by comparing site fidelity between continental shelf and oceanic habitats. Data from 31 lactating females, satellite tracked over 107 consecutive foraging trips indicated that females foraging on the continental shelf recorded a significantly greater overlap in foraging area between consecutive foraging routes, when compared to females that foraged in oceanic waters (55.9 ± 20.4 % and 13.4 ± 7.6 %, respectively). Findings suggest that seals learn the direction of travel to a predictable foraging region, and initiate a foraging trip on that bearing. However, actual foraging routes are likely to be influenced by a number of factors including previous foraging trip experience and prey encounter rate, which is related to prey density and the spatial scale of the patch exploited. The final chapter integrates scat analysis with milk fatty acid (FA) analysis to investigate dietary differences between continental shelf and oceanic waters. Milk FA composition was determined for 29 satellite-tracked fur seals, that were known to forage in either shelf or oceanic habitats. Based on FA compositions, I predicted the likelihood that milk samples collected at random (n = 131) represented individual seals having foraged either on the continental shelf or in distant oceanic waters. FA analysis and satellite tracking results contrasted with scat analyses, from which only 6 % of scats by frequency of occurrence contained prey remains from oceanic waters. The results suggest that scats were biased toward females foraging on the continental shelf. This study highlights the importance of two predictable ocean features utilised by New Zealand fur seals; (1) a nearby and seasonally predictable coastal upwelling system, the Bonney upwelling and; (2) a distant but permanent oceanic front, the Subtropical Front. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1347312 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Studies, 2008

The Chatham Islands are located in the SW Pacific Ocean, approximately 850 km to the east of the South Island of New Zealand. This small group of islands is situated near the eastern margin of the Chatham Rise, an elongated section of submerged continental crust that represents part of the Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic Gondwana accretionary margin. The location and much of the geology of the Chatham Islands are attributed to intra-plate basaltic volcanism, initiated during the Late Cretaceous, in association with development of a failed rifting system to the south of the Chatham Rise. Despite the volcanic nature of much of the geology, the majority of the Cenozoic sedimentary stratigraphic record on the islands comprises non-tropical skeletal carbonate deposits whose deposition was often coeval with submarine volcanics and volcaniclastic deposits. This has resulted in complex stratigraphic relationships, with the volcanic geology exerting a strong influence on the geometry and distribution of the carbonate deposits. These limestones, despite some general field descriptions, have been little studied and are especially poorly understood from a petrographic and diagenetic perspective. The carbonate geology in detail comprises eleven discrete limestone units of Late Cretaceous through to Pleistocene age which were studied during two consecutive field expeditions over the summers of 2005 and 2006. These limestone occurrences are best exposed in scattered coastal outcrops where they form prominent rugged bluffs. While many of the younger (Oligocene to Pliocene) outcrops comprise of poorly exposed, thin and eroded limestone remnants (it;5 m thick), older (Late Paleocene to Early Oligocene) exposures can be up to 100 m in thickness. The character of these limestones is highly variable. In outcrop they display a broad range of textures and skeletal compositions, often exhibit cross-bedding, display differing degrees of porosity occlusion by cementation, and may include rare silicified horizons and evidence of hardground formation. Petrographically the limestones are skeletal grainstones and packstones with a typical compositional makeup of about 70% skeletal material, 10% siliciclasts, and 20% cement/matrix. Localised increases in siliciclastics occur where the carbonates are diluted by locally-derived volcaniclastics. The spectrum of skeletal assemblages identified within the Chatham Island limestones is diverse and appears in many cases to be comparable to the bryozoan dominant types common in mainland New Zealand and mid-latitude Australian cool-water carbonates in general. However, some key departures from the expected cool-water carbonate skeletal makeup have been identified in this study. The occurrence of stromatolitic algal mats in Late Cretaceous and Early Eocene carbonate deposits indicates not cool-temperate, but certainly warm-temperate paleoclimatic conditions. A change to cool-temperate conditions is recorded in the limestone flora/fauna from the mid-Late Miocene times following the development and later northward movement of the Subtropical Front. An uncharacteristic mix of shallow-shelf (bryozoans) and deeper water fauna (planktic foraminifera), together with their highly fragmented and abraded nature, is indicative of the likely remobilisation and redistribution of carbonate, primarily during episodic storm events. The Chatham Islands limestones formed within the relative tectonic stability of an oceanic island setting, which was conducive to ongoing carbonate accumulation throughout much of the Cenozoic. This contrasts markedly with other mainland New Zealand shelf carbonates which formed over sporadic and short-lived geological periods, experiencing greater degrees of burial cementation controlled by a relatively more active tectonic setting. As a consequence of the tectonically stable setting, the Chatham Islands limestones have experienced little burial and exhibit a paucity of burial cementation effects. They remain commonly soft and friable. Detailed petrographic investigations have shown the limestones are variably cemented by rare uneven acicular spar fringes, poorly to well-developed syntaxial rim cements about echinoderm fragments, and equant/blocky microsparite. Staining of thin sections and cathodoluminescence petrography show these spar cement generations are non-ferroan and their very dull- to non-luminescent nature supports precipitation from Mn-poor oxygenated waters, likely of an either meteoric or combined marine/shallow burial origin. Micrite is the dominant intra- and inter-particle pore fill and occurs both as a microbioclastic matrix and as precipitated homogenous and/or micropeloidal cement. The rare fringing cements often seen in association with homogenous and/or micropeloidal micrite may be indicative of true early marine (seafloor) cement precipitation and localised hardground development. An interesting feature of the geology of the Chatham Islands is the occurrence of carbonate material within sedimentary dykes. The locations of the dykes are in association with volcanic and volcaniclastic deposits. Similarities between dyke characteristics at Red Bluff on Chatham Island with mainland occurrences from East Coast and Canterbury Basins (North and South Islands, respectively) on mainland New Zealand have been recognised. They show complex structures including sidewall striations, internal flow structures as revealed by grain sorting, and extra-clast inclusions of previous fill lithologies which are characteristic of carbonate injection. This is in contrast to other dykes which are known to be of a passive fill origin. Multiple phases of carbonate sediment injection can be recognised by crosscutting relationships enabling the determination of a parasequence of events. Possible injection mechanisms are most likely associated with sediment overloading or hydrothermal pressurisation associated with emplacement of submarine volcanics. The Chatham Islands provide an exciting example of a geologically unique and complex non-tropical carbonate depositional setting. The production of carbonates is controlled by volcanic and volcaniclastic sediment input with the types of carbonate deposits and water depth variations related to thermal uplift/subsidence in association with global eustatic sealevel and temperature changes associated with development of Southern Ocean water fronts from the Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic. Carbonate deposition on the Chatham Islands is considered to relate to a rather variable and small scale oceanic, high energy, cool-water carbonate ramp setting whose geometry was continually evolving/changing as a consequence of periodic volcanic episodes.