The subarctic North Pacific is one of three major high nitrate, low chlorophyll (HNLC) oceanic regions, along with the Southern Ocean and the eastern equatorial Pacific. In these regions, uptake of nitrogen by phytoplankton is widely thought to be regulated by the availability of dissolved iron. The supply of dissolved iron is twofold: via atmospheric deposition of dust and via upward transport...

[1] A near-annual coupled ocean-atmosphere mode in the equatorial Pacific is studied using the NCEP ocean assimilation data set. This fast mode of tropical Pacific climate variability is superimposed on the slow 3–5 year El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Anomalous zonal advection plays a crucial role in generating this fast mode. It is suggested that this fast mode can be understo...

The ENSO observing system in the tropical Pacific plays an important role in monitoring ENSO and helping improve the understanding and prediction of ENSO. Occurrence of ENSO has been explained as either a self-sustained and naturally oscillatory mode of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system or a stable mode triggered by stochastic forcing. In either case, ENSO involves the positive ocean-atmosphe...

Harryplax severus, a new genus and species of coral rubble-dwelling pseudozioid crab is described from the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean. The unusual morphological features of its carapace, thoracic sternum, eyes, antennules, pereopods and gonopods place it in the family Christmaplacidae Naruse & Ng, 2014. A suite of characters on the cephalothorax, pleon and appendages distinguis...

The oceans are becoming more acidic due to absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems is unclear, but it will likely depend on species adaptability and the rate of change of seawater pH relative to its natural variability. To constrain the natural variability in reef-water pH, we measured boron isotopic compositions in ...

Title of Document: INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE IN THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RAINFALL Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Ph.D., 2007 Directed By: Professor Antonio J. Busalacchi Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Sea surface temperature (SST) in the east Pacific warm pool (EPWP) plays a potentially important role in Central American rainfall...

More than 5,000 km separates the frequently disturbed coral reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) from western sources of population replenishment. It has been hypothesized that El Niño events facilitate eastward dispersal across this East Pacific Barrier (EPB). Here we present a biophysical coral larval dispersal model driven by 14.5 years of high-resolution surface ocean current data in...

Citation: Lezama-Ochoa N, Murua H, Hall M, Román M, Ruiz J, Vogel N, Caballero A and Sancristobal I (2017) Biodiversity and Habitat Characteristics of the Bycatch Assemblages in Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and School Sets in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:265. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00265 Biodiversity and Habitat Characteristics of the Bycatch Assemblages in Fish Aggregating...

Citation: Rowden AA, Anderson OF, Georgian SE, Bowden DA, Clark MR, Pallentin A and Miller A (2017) High-Resolution Habitat Suitability Models for the Conservation and Management of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems on the Louisville Seamount Chain, South Pacific Ocean. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:335. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00335 High-Resolution Habitat Suitability Models for the Conservation and Managemen...

A contrasting trend pattern of sea surface salinity (SSS) between the western tropical Pacific (WTP) and the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean (SETIO) is observed during 2004-2013, with significant salinity increase in the WTP and freshening in the SETIO. In this study, we show that increased precipitation around the Maritime Continent (MC), decreased precipitation in the western-central tropi...