What drives cold pulses at remote tropical reefs?

在海洋变暖事件期间，珊瑚礁容易受到热致漂白的影响，尽管有些珊瑚礁比其他珊瑚礁更容易受到影响，这是珊瑚礁生态学中一个活跃的研究领域。内波可以提供答案。与在海滩上破碎的表面波类似，次表层（内部）波是驱动珊瑚礁上涌的一个共同特征，在热应力事件期间，通过其冷却效应或提供支持珊瑚礁生长的能量补贴，使珊瑚礁生态系统受益。然而，空间上稀缺的热带岛屿周围的原位温度数据，使我们无法详细研究内波的行为。该项目将通过开发最先进的海洋模型来解决这一知识差距，以模拟39个热带太平洋岛屿周围的内波驱动的上升流模式，以了解为什么有些岛屿比其他岛屿更容易受到珊瑚礁漂白的影响，重要的是，这些岛屿对预计的气候变化的脆弱性。这些模型将揭示内波驱动的上升流是否存在可预测的模式，为什么，并通过新的气候变化预测确定这些模式未来将如何变化，从而影响珊瑚礁群落。

Coral reefs are susceptible to thermal-induced bleaching during ocean warming events, although some reefs are more susceptible than others and this is an active research field within coral reef ecology. Internal waves could provide the answer. Similarly to surface waves that break on beaches, sub-surface (internal) waves are a common feature that drives upwelling on coral reefs that benefit reef ecosystems during thermal stress events by either their cooling effect, or the delivery of energetic subsidies that support reef growth. However, spatially scarce in-situ temperature data around tropical islands prevent us from studying internal wave behavior in detail. This project will address this knowledge gap by developing state-of-the-art ocean models to simulate internal wave-driven upwelling patterns around 39 tropical Pacific islands to understand why some islands are more resilient to coral reef bleaching than others, and importantly, the vulnerability of these island to projected climate change. The models will reveal if there are predictable patterns in internal wave-driven upwelling, why, and through new climate change projections determine how these patterns will change in the future to impact upon coral reef communities.