Abstract: Ocean tides have been observed to be changing worldwide for nonastronomical reasons, which can combine with rising mean sea level (MSL) to increase the long-term impact to coastal regions. Tides can also exhibit variability at shorter timescales, which may be correlated with short-term variability in MSL. This short-term coupling may yield higher peak water levels and increased impacts of exceedance events that may be equally significant as long-term sea level rise. Previous studies employed the tidal anomaly correlation (TAC) method to quantify the sensitivity of tides to MSL fluctuations at long-period (>20 years) tide gauges in basin-scale surveys of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, finding that TACs exist at most locations. The Indian Ocean also experiences significant sea level rise and tidal variability yet has been less studied due to a sparse network of tide gauges. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, more tide gauges have been established in a wider geographical range, bringing the possibility of better estimates of tidal and MSL variability. Here, we improve the TAC approach, using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method to analyze tidal amplitudes and sea level at multiple frequency bands, allowing a more effective use of shorter record tide gauges and better understanding of multiple timescales of tidal variability. We apply this approach to 73 tide gauges in the Indian Ocean to better quantify tidal variability in these under-studied regions, finding that the majority of locations exhibit significant correlations of tides and MSL.

Abstract: We report concentration and nitrogen and oxygen isotopic measurements of nitrate, total dissolved nitrogen, and particulate nitrogen from Antarctic landfast sea ice, covering almost the complete seasonal cycle of sea ice growth and decay (from April to November). When sea ice forms in autumn, ice algae growth depletes nitrate and accumulates organic N within the ice. Subsequent low biological activity in winter imposes minor variations in the partitioning of fixed N. In early spring, the coupling between nitrate assimilation and brine convection at the sea ice bottom traps a large amount of fixed N within sea ice, up to 20 times higher than in the underlying seawater. At this time, remineralization and nitrification also accelerate, yielding nitrate concentrations up to 5 times higher than in seawater. Nitrate ?15N and ?18O are both elevated, indicating a near-balance between nitrification and nitrate assimilation. These findings require high microbially mediated turnover rates for the large fixed N pools, including nitrate. When sea ice warms in the spring, ice algae grow through the full thickness of the ice. The warming stratifies the brine network, which limits the exchange with seawater, causing the once-elevated nitrate pool to be nearly completely depleted. The nitrate isotope data point to light limitation at the base of landfast ice as a central characteristic of the environment, affecting its N cycling (e.g., allowing for nitrification) and impacting algal physiology (e.g., as reflected in the N and O isotope effects of nitrate assimilation).