Data are presented indicating the complexity and highly variable response of beaches to cold front passages along the northern Gulf of Mexico, in addition to the impacts of tropical cyclones and winter storms. Within the past decade, an increase in the frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes impacting the northern Gulf has dramatically altered the long-term equilibrium of a large portion of this coast. A time series of net sediment flux for subaerial and nearshore environments has been established for a section of this coast in Florida, and to a lesser extent, Mississippi. The data incorporate the morphological signature of six tropical storms/hurricanes and more than 200 frontal passages.
Data indicate that (1) barrier islands can conserve mass during catastrophic hurricanes (e.g., Hurricane Opal, a strong category 4 hurricane near landfall); (2) less severe hurricanes and tropical storms can promote rapid dune aggradation and can contribute sediment to the entire barrier system; (3) cold fronts play a critical role in the poststorm adjustment of the barrier by deflating the subaerial portion of the overwash terrace and eroding its marginal lobe along the bayside beach through locally generated, high frequency, steep waves; and (4) barrier systems along the northern Gulf do not necessarily enter an immediate poststorm recovery phase, although nested in sediment-rich nearshore environments. While high wave energy conditions associated with cold fronts play an integral role in the evolution and maintenance of barriers along the northern Gulf, these events are more effective in reworking sediment after the occurrence of extreme events such as hurricanes. This relationship is even more apparent during the clustering of tropical cyclones.
It is anticipated that these findings will have important implications for the longer term evolution of barrier systems in midlatitude, microtidal settings where the clustering of storms is apparent, and winter storms are significant in intensity and frequency along the coast. 相似文献
海洋碳循环是全球变化研究中的重要领域,它不仅在很大程度上决定了全球气温乃至全球气候的变化趋势,而且还是海洋生态系持续发展的基础,它决定着了海洋生态环境变化的走向。众所周知,碳(C)在海洋中以无机态和有机态的形式存在,在海气系统中,大于98%的C以溶解无机碳(DIC)形式存在于水体中(Zeebe et al,2001)其对海洋碳循环的影响至关重要。
氮(N)和磷(P)等营养盐对维持海洋生态系的正常运转起着至关重要的作用。但是,由于近年来人类生产、生活污水的排放以及滩涂和沿岸水域养殖区的长期施肥,它们也作为近岸海区的主要污染物而导致近海海洋生态环境的日益恶化,影响并改变了一些海域的生态结构。如在胶州湾,由于营养盐浓度及结构发生了变化导致该湾地区浮游植物数量和优势种组成的变化(沈志良,2002)近年来,在海洋沿岸带的河口、海湾等水体较浅的透光层内,以孔石莼等绿藻为主要代表的大型海藻开始泛滥,形成大型海藻的水华。海洋生态环境的改变,必然将导致海洋碳循环的变化,从长时间尺度来看也会影响到全球的气候和气温变化。目前,对营养盐与水生藻类之间的响应关系研究已有大量的报道(王勇等,2002;刘媛等,2004;张文俊等,2004)但对于营养盐与海水无机碳体系之间的耦合作用报道甚少。在海洋环境中、C N P作为主要的生源要素,其变化相互影响,并与海水中所存有的海洋生物密切相关。探讨海水中C-N-P的相互耦合关系对于研究海洋生态环境演变过程及效应,阐明海洋碳循环过程的深层次机理,揭示在过量N P作用富营养化条件下,C的迁移转化行为有重要的科学意义和实际价值。本文作者初步研究了模拟条件下C-N-P的相互关系。 相似文献