Some Oceanographic Characteristics of the Larger Inlets of Southeast Alaska

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1475-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Pickard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
River Runoff ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
General Description ◽  
Secchi Disc ◽  
Southeast Alaska ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Temperature

Observations were made of salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen in 15 inlets in southeast Alaska in June 1964 and August 1965 with some observations in the southern inlets in May 1966. The data are summarized in tables, vertical profiles, and characteristic diagrams to provide a general description of the water property distributions in the larger inlets. Some comparisons are made with corresponding distributions in British Columbia inlets, previously described by Pickard in June 1961 in the Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.The larger Alaska inlets are longer and wider than those in British Columbia but the mean and maximum depths are similar. Sill depths are also similar and there are few very shallow sills. The river runoff into the Alaska inlets is generally less than into the British Columbia ones. The larger rivers (the minority) have a summer maximum from glacier and snowfield melt whereas the smaller ones generally have fall and winter maxima. Icebergs occur in some of the Alaska inlets; they are not found in any British Columbia inlets.Surface salinities were generally higher in Alaska than in British Columbia, and at the heads of the inlets the highest salinity values were in the "iceberg" inlets. Surface temperatures were between 5 C (in the iceberg inlets) and 18 C. Salinity increased with depth, reaching 90% of the deep water values by 20 m or less. The deepwater characteristics extended the British Columbia inlet values toward higher salinity (to 34‰) and lower temperature (to 2.5 C in the north). Dissolved oxygen decreased with depth in most cases with the lowest values of 1.5–2 ml/liter in the deep water where there was direct access for northeast Pacific Ocean waters. A conspicuous exception was that the deepwater oxygen values were high in the iceberg inlets (5–6.5 ml/liter). Secchi disc depths varied from 0.1 m near the large rivers to 11 m near the Pacific Ocean.There were some differences between the property distributions observed in 1964 and in 1965. Salinity and temperature differences in the surface layers are presumed to be due to seasonal variation in river runoff and net heat input. Lower temperatures in the deep water of some of the northern inlets in 1965 compared to 1964 may be due to larger than usual winter cooling between the years.

Oceanographic Characteristics of Inlets of Vancouver Island, British Columbia

1963 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1109-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Pickard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Oxygen Content ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Secchi Disc ◽  
Water Properties ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Water Characteristics ◽  
Clayoquot Sound

Observations of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen content in all but one of the inlets of ten or more miles in length along the west coast of Vancouver Island were made by the University of British Columbia in 1959 and some additional observations were made in 1960 and 1961. The data are summarized to provide a general picture of the oceanographic characteristics of fifteen inlets. Attention is drawn to various features, and comparisons are made with the previous data which are available for only five of the inlets here described. Comparisons are also made with inlets in the mainland coast of British Columbia previously described by Pickard in 1961 in the Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.Generally the Vancouver Island inlets are shorter and shallower than those of the mainland coast and have shallower sills. The river runoff into the inlets is considerably less than into the mainland ones and has a winter maximum in contrast to the summer maximum on the mainland.Surface salinities during the summer in 1959, 1960 and 1961 were in most cases between 12 and 28‰ at the inlet head increasing to 27–31‰ at the mouth, while surface temperatures were between 10 and 15 °C. The low-salinity surface layer had a thickness of 2 m or less in all but two cases. Secchi disc depths were usually from 4 to 8 m. The deep water characteristics were from 7.5 to 9.5 °C and 31 to 33.6‰ except in the Clayoquot Sound group where the water was warmer (to 15.4 °C) and less saline (to 24.8‰). Dissolved oxygen values were very variable even along individual inlets. At depths greater than 100 m the content was usually less than 4 ml/l and in many cases less than 1 ml/l. The effect of the shallow sills in limiting deep water circulation appeared to be significant.Even when all the available data are assembled there are no time series of observations sufficient to prepare a description of seasonal variations of water properties, but data for six years from 1939 to 1961 are available for Alberni Inlet and for three years for the Nootka Sound inlets and for Neroutsos Inlet. These data indicate that in the deep water changes of up to 0.4‰ in salinity, 1 °C in temperature and 2.5 ml/l in dissolved oxygen content may occur from year to year.An hypothesis is advanced that, on account of the relatively shallow sills of many of the inlets, the deep water in their basins forms a 'memory' of extreme (high density) conditions of the continental shelf waters outside the inlets, and that the consistency of the basin water characteristics in the inlets suggests that the water properties observed in the shelf waters in 1959–61 by the Pacific Oceanographic Group may be typical of shelf waters in this region over many years.

Deep water Exchanges in Bute Inlet, British Columbia

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 2075-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Lafond ◽  
G. L. Pickard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Water Exchange ◽  
Renewal Processes ◽  
Strait Of Georgia ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Sill Depth

Bute Inlet is a fjord of the British Columbia mainland coast connected to the Strait of Georgia through Sutil Channel. The properties of the waters in the inlet were observed during a series of cruises from June 1972 to June 1974 with the main objective of determining the water exchange below the top 100 m.Vertical longitudinal sections and time-series plots of salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen distributions measured during the 2-yr survey were used to analyze the circulation patterns and renewal processes of the water below 100 m.Inflows of deep water from the Strait of Georgia into Bute occurred frequently during the study period, and took place when the water from the Strait of Georgia above the inlet sill depth was denser than the water in the basin of the inlet. Volumes of some inflows into Bute were estimated, and calculations indicate that inflow speeds could be large enough to be recorded by existing current meters. The renewal of the deep water in Bute Inlet basin appears to be basically consistent with the annual cycle of deepwater replacement in the Strait of Georgia with its year-to-year variations.

Oceanographic Features of Inlets in the British Columbia Mainland Coast

1961 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 907-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Pickard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Surface Layer ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Tidal Period ◽  
Homogeneous Surface ◽  
Water Characteristics

The inlets of the British Columbia mainland coast are morphologically fjords but few possess sills of depth less than 15 m.The most significant influence in them is the fresh water runoff, chiefly from rivers. It is large in many of the inlets fed by rivers from glaciers, is seasonal in flow, and determines the estuarine character and circulation of the inlets and thereby the distribution of water characteristics.In the large-runoff inlets the surface salinity increases from zero at the head to coastal sea values at the mouth. In winter the surface temperature is low and uniform but in summer it increases from the head, reaches a maximum where the salinity is about 8‰ and then diminishes toward the mouth. The water is highly stratified, particularly from the surface to about 20 m depth where the salinity rises to 90% or more of the deep water value. The marked halocline in the upper layer is accompanied by a marked thermocline. Below 50 m the salinity and temperature do not change much along the length of an individual inlet.There is a pronounced geographical change of deep water characteristics from 30.7‰ and 8.3 °C in the southern to 33.2‰, and 6.3 °C in the northern inlets. In general, seasonal changes of temperature can be detected to 100 m but of salinity to only 30 m, suggesting a difference in the rates of eddy diffusion. Changes of deep water characteristics occur irregularly.In many of the inlets a temperature minimum at 20 to 100 m depth is common in the inner reaches in the spring and diminishes in intensity later in the year.In the inlets with medium or small runoff the surface salinity is generally higher and changes less along an inlet, and the halocline and thermocline are less marked. The homogeneous surface layer characteristic of the large-runoff inlets is usually absent.Generally the large-runoff inlets show less variable dissolved oxygen values along an inlet at any depth than do the small-runoff inlets. Supersaturation of the upper layers is common, and there is often an oxygen maximum just below the halocline of the larger-runoff inlets. A few small-runoff inlets have a mid-depth oxygen minimum in which the lowest values are at the inlet head. Dissolved oxygen values of less than 2 ml/l are not common in any mainland inlets and zero values have not been definitely recorded.The optical turbidity in large-runoff inlets is high in the surface layer, lower in the main body of water, and often increases in the bottom 50 to 100 m. At the heads of the large-runoff inlets Secchi-disc depths of 0.1 to 0.3 m are common in the summer. In the inlets with smaller runoff the turbidity is less. In both types the turbidity is at a maximum in the summer and a minimum in the winter, and the particulate material in the water is largely minerogenic.Internal waves of period 1 to 4 minutes and amplitude up to 5 m occur in the upper layers. At mid-depth (20 to 150 m), vertical oscillations of the isotherms with semidiurnal tidal period are common, the amplitude being from 5 to 75 m.A waxy substance sometimes found floating or washed ashore in Bute Inlet during cold winters appears to be peculiar to that inlet as no reference has been found to any similar substance being observed elsewhere in the world.

Postglacial paleoecology and successional relationships of a bog woodland near Prince Rupert, British Columbia

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 938-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Banner ◽  
J. Pojar ◽  
G. E. Rouse
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
Southeast Alaska ◽  
The North ◽  
Drainage Patterns ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Scrub Forest ◽  
Alluvial Forest

The historical development of a bog woodland on the north coast of British Columbia is reconstructed using pollen analysis, peat stratigraphy, and 14C dating. The succession spans 8700 ± 210 years in the following sequence: Pinuscontorta Dougl. – Alnusrubra Bong. – ferns/pioneer alluvial forest; Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr. – Alnus – Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. – (Thujaplicata) Donn. – Lysichitonamericanum Hulten & St. John – ferns/moist productive alluvial forest on regosols; Thuja – Chamaecyparisnootkatensis (D. Don) Spach – Tsuga – Pinus/scrub forest on peaty mineral soils; Pinus – Chamaecyparis – ericaceous shrubs – Sphagnum L. spp./bog woodland on organic soils. This ecosystem sequence is correlated with changes in paleoclimate reported for southwestern British Columbia and may also be associated with edaphic factors such as changing drainage patterns, the formation of cemented soil horizons, and the accumulation of thick organic surface horizons. The succession from forest to muskeg is contrasted with other evidence for succession from muskeg to forest in north-coastal British Columbia and southeast Alaska. We interpret the regional vegetation and soils as a dynamic complex of ecosystems linked successionally through climatically sensitive pathways. Local site factors such as topography, landform, drainage, and nutrient regime are important secondary factors controlling the direction of succession.

scholarly journals First Specimens of the Marine Eels Venefica ocella and V. tentaculata (Nettastomatidae) from British Columbia

2013 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin F. Hanke ◽  
Steven M. Roias
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
North American ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Survey Sampling ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
The North ◽  
Deep Water Species ◽  
By Catch ◽  
Water Species

Until recently, only the following seven species of marine eels were known to exist in waters off British Columbia (based on literature sources and museum records): Nemichthys scolopaceus, and Avocettina infans (Nemichthyidae, snipe eels), Xenomystax atrarius (Congridae, conger eels), Serrivomer jesperseni (Serrivomeridae, sawtooth eels), Cyema atrum (Cyematidae, bobtail eels), Synaphobranchus affinis (Synaphobranchidae, cutthroat eels), and Thalassenchelys coheni (Colocongridae, worm eels). Histiobranchus bathybius (also in the Synaphobranchidae) is expected to occur in British Columbia, since its range extends from Mexico to Alaska. Recent surveys to determine the viability of crab fisheries facilitated the collection of non-game fishes from by-catch in bottom-trawl samples. Several eels were collected between 2004 and 2006, and they were originally identified as Serrivomer jesperseni (Serrivomeridae). Re-examination of these specimens indicates that they all are duckbill eels (Nettastomatidae), the first records of this family north of 45°39'N along the North American Pacific coast. Both Venefica ocella and V. tentaculata are represented, with V. ocella found farther north than V. tentaculata. All British Columbia specimens are housed at the Royal British Columbia Museum. The collection of new deep-water species in British Columbia reinforces the value of survey sampling to improve our knowledge of biodiversity.

Late Quaternary palaeo-oceanography of the Denmark Strait overflow pathway, South-East Greenland margin

1998 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 163-167
Author(s):  
Antoon Kuijpers ◽  
Jørn Bo Jensen ◽  
Simon R . Troelstra ◽  
And shipboard scientific party of RV Professor Logachev and RV Dana
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Conveyor Belt ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Greenland Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Denmark Strait ◽  
The North Atlantic

Direct interaction between the atmosphere and the deep ocean basins takes place today only in the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic continent and in the northern extremity of the North Atlantic Ocean, notably in the Norwegian–Greenland Sea and Labrador Sea. Cooling and evaporation cause surface waters in the latter region to become dense and sink. At depth, further mixing occurs with Arctic water masses from adjacent polar shelves. Export of these water masses from the Norwegian–Greenland Sea (Norwegian Sea Overflow Water) to the North Atlantic basin occurs via two major gateways, the Denmark Strait system and the Faeroe– Shetland Channel and Faeroe Bank Channel system (e.g. Dickson et al. 1990; Fig.1). Deep convection in the Labrador Sea produces intermediate waters (Labrador Sea Water), which spreads across the North Atlantic. Deep waters thus formed in the North Atlantic (North Atlantic Deep Water) constitute an essential component of a global ‘conveyor’ belt extending from the North Atlantic via the Southern and Indian Oceans to the Pacific. Water masses return as a (warm) surface water flow. In the North Atlantic this is the Gulf Stream and the relatively warm and saline North Atlantic Current. Numerous palaeo-oceanographic studies have indicated that climatic changes in the North Atlantic region are closely related to changes in surface circulation and in the production of North Atlantic Deep Water. Abrupt shut-down of the ocean-overturning and subsequently of the conveyor belt is believed to represent a potential explanation for rapid climate deterioration at high latitudes, such as those that caused the Quaternary ice ages. Here it should be noted, that significant changes in deep convection in Greenland waters have also recently occurred. While in the Greenland Sea deep water formation over the last decade has drastically decreased, a strong increase of deep convection has simultaneously been observed in the Labrador Sea (Sy et al. 1997).

scholarly journals Physiological resilience of pink salmon to naturally occurring ocean acidification

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Y Frommel ◽  
Justin Carless ◽  
Brian P V Hunt ◽  
Colin J Brauner
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Elevated Co2 ◽  
Condition Factor ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Hypoxia Tolerance ◽  
High Co2 ◽  
The North ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Co2 Levels

Abstract Pacific salmon stocks are in decline with climate change named as a contributing factor. The North Pacific coast of British Columbia is characterized by strong temporal and spatial heterogeneity in ocean conditions with upwelling events elevating CO2 levels up to 10-fold those of pre-industrial global averages. Early life stages of pink salmon have been shown to be affected by these CO2 levels, and juveniles naturally migrate through regions of high CO2 during the energetically costly phase of smoltification. To investigate the physiological response of out-migrating wild juvenile pink salmon to these naturally occurring elevated CO2 levels, we captured fish in Georgia Strait, British Columbia and transported them to a marine lab (Hakai Institute, Quadra Island) where fish were exposed to one of three CO2 levels (850, 1500 and 2000 μatm CO2) for 2 weeks. At ½, 1 and 2 weeks of exposure, we measured their weight and length to calculate condition factor (Fulton’s K), as well as haematocrit and plasma [Cl−]. At each of these times, two additional stressors were imposed (hypoxia and temperature) to provide further insight into their physiological condition. Juvenile pink salmon were largely robust to elevated CO2 concentrations up to 2000 μatm CO2, with no mortality or change in condition factor over the 2-week exposure duration. After 1 week of exposure, temperature and hypoxia tolerance were significantly reduced in high CO2, an effect that did not persist to 2 weeks of exposure. Haematocrit was increased by 20% after 2 weeks in the CO2 treatments relative to the initial measurements, while plasma [Cl−] was not significantly different. Taken together, these data indicate that juvenile pink salmon are quite resilient to naturally occurring high CO2 levels during their ocean outmigration.

Turbidite depositional architecture across three interconnected deep-water basins on the north-west African margin

Sedimentology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell B. Wynn ◽  
Philip P. E. Weaver ◽  
Douglas G. Masson ◽  
Dorrik A. V. Stow
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
West African ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Depositional Architecture
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document