Interference fringes on GLORIA side-scan sonar images from the Bering Sea and their implications

GLORIA side-scan sonographs from the Bering Sea Basin show a complex pattern of interference fringes sub-parallel to the ship's track. Surveys along the same trackline made in 1986 and 1987 show nearly identical patterns. It is concluded from this that the interference patterns are caused by features in the shallow subsurface rather than in the water column. The fringes are interpreted as a thin-layer interference effect that occurs when some of the sound reaching the seafloor passes through it and is reflected off a subsurface layer. The backscattered sound interferes (constructively or desctructively) with the reflected sound. Constructive/destructive interference occurs when the difference in the length of the two soundpaths is a whole/half multiple of GLORIA's 25 cm wavelength. Thus as range from the ship increases, sound moves in and out of phase causing bands of greater and lesser intensity on the GLORIA sonograph. Fluctuations (or wiggles) of the fringes on the GLORIA sonographs relate to changes in layer thickness. In principle, a simple three dimensional image of the subsurface layer may be obtained using GLORIA and bathymetric data from adjacent (parallel) ship's tracks. These patterns have also been identified in images from two other systems; SeaMARC II (12 kHz) long-range sonar, and TOBI (30 kHz) deep-towed sonar. In these, and other cases world-wide, the fringes do not appear with the same persistence as those seen in the Bering Sea.     

The status of geological dredging techniques

Scientific sea-floor dredging is currently used in marine geology primarily by the hard-rock community interested in the recovery of basement rock samples from the unsedimented deep ocean floor. The technique has generally been eclipsed by ocean drilling for recovery of sedimentary rocks, because of perceived uncertainties in the location of sampling and in the representativeness of recovered material. This contribution reviews dredging equipment currently in use by marine geological institutions and refers to pinger attachments that allow precise information on the behaviour of the dredge to be telemetered back to the ship. We argue that improvements in ship navigation and transponder navigation at the seafloor, when used in conjunction with surface and/or deeply towed sidescan and swathemapping surveys, now allow for considerably less uncertainty on the location of dredge sampling. Refined sorting criteria for dredge hauls are now also available. Recent comparisons of regional sample recovery by ocean drilling and by dredge sampling indicate that the dredge hauls can usefully supplement the drilling data in the construction of sedimentary and tectonic histories of seafloor areas.     

Long-range underwater photography in the deep ocean

Although the optical properties of seawater at extreme depths are more suitable for underwater photography than those at the surface or on continental shelves, they still impose severe limitations on long-range wide area bottom photography. Additionally, deep ocean operations impose technical limitations on control, power and bandwidth. This chapter reviews the approaches contemplated or made towards improving the camerato-target range in underwater photography in the deep ocean. Further significant improvements await advances in control, power/light sources and bandwidth reduction. With the developments now contemplated, TV and video systems will eventually present a strong challenge to emulsion film techniques.     

Sediment transport,biotic modifications and selection of grain size in a surface deposit-feeder

Deposit-feeders often select for particles on the basis of grain size. The available pool of particles at the sediment surface may be modified both by deposit-feeder activity and by sediment transport, but the effects of these alterations on deposit-feeder diet composition have received little attention. In laboratory experiments the spionid polychaeteParaprionospio pinnata altered the grain-size composition in its foraging area, and these alterations were reflected in grain-size changes in the diet. After simulated transport of fine-grain sediments,P. pinnata diets also changed in grain-size composition. Field data were collected from 9 m depth in the lower Chesapeake Bay. A video camera, deployed near the bottom, identified times of sediment transport over a 6-h Period;P. pinnata were collected concurrently for gut analysis. Consistent with predictions from the laboratory experiments,P. pinnata ingested primarily small-grain sizes. During periods of no sediment transport this feeding pattern reduced the relative availability of small particles; larger sediments were incorporated into the diet. Sediment transport may resupply the foraging area with fine-grain particles which are then incorporated into the diet. On these small spatial and time scales, deposit-feeder activity may affect the availability of food resources.     

Dissipative systems: Implications for geomorphology

A recent revolution in the study of nonlinear dynamical systems in the physical sciences has shown the worth of regarding systems as dissipative. The nature of dissipative systems in equations, bifurcations, and fluctuations. Some speculations are then made concerning the implications of dissipative system theory for geomorphology. It is suggested that geomorphological systems containing bifurcations will have both deterministic (universal and necessary) and probabilistic (historical happenstance) elements; they will have more than one solution (configuration) and this fact calls into question notions of process domains leading to the development of characteristic forms; they will possess varying degrees of susceptibility to change induced by fluctuations; and they will respond differently to local, regional, and global fluctuations.     

Lateral translocation of soil plasma through a small valley basin in the Northaw Great Wood,Hertfordshire

The paper looks at the process of lateral translocation in a small valley basin from the Northaw Great Wood, Hertfordshire. The valley basin comprises four lithostratigraphic units (London Clay and Pebble Gravel, and the others a mixture of these two), which were initially established in the field by a rough assessment of texture. Particle size analysis validated the lithostratigraphic units as delineated in the field; it was found unnecessary to alter the boundaries of the units. Patterns of lateral translocation of silt and clay (measured by the hydrometer method) and the amorphous colloidal hydrous oxides and hydroxides of Al, Fe, Mn and Si (measured in oxalate solution by atomic absorption spectrophotometry) are inferred from balance sheets of the relative gains and losses of the materials. Materials from horizons formed in lithostratigraphic units derived from London Clay are balanced against a clay dilution factor; those from the lithostratigraphic unit of Pebble Gravel against the dilution of sand on a clay-free basis. The results lead to the following conclusions about the process of lateral translocation: it has been a significant contributor to soil development; larger amounts of material have moved down-slope towards the hollow than over the nose because there has, theoretically, been more throughflow in the hollow; for some materials there has been less down-slope transport in lower horizons owing to less throughflow in them.     

Summer circulation of the waters in Queen Charlotte sound

Abstract

An extensive set of measurements of currents, winds, subsurface pressures and water properties was undertaken in the summer of 1982 in Queen Charlotte Sound on the west coast of Canada. At most observation sites the summer‐averaged currents are found to be about 10 cm s^?1, smaller than the tidal currents but comparable to the standard deviation of the non‐tidal currents. The strongest average flow was the outflow of surface water past Cape St James at the northwestern corner of the Sound. During strong winds from the north or northwest a strong outflow of near‐surface fresher water was also observed over Cook Bank in the south. Eddies dominate the motion in the interior of the Sound, as shown by the behaviour of a near‐surface drifter that remained in mid‐Sound for 40 days before a storm pushed it into Hecate Strait. The disorganized, weak currents in the central Sound will likely allow surface waters or floating material to remain there for periods of several weeks in summer.

Empirical orthogonal function analyses of fluctuating currents, subsurface pressures and winds reveal that a single mode explains most of the wind and pressure variance but not the current variance. The first two pressure modes represent two distinct physical processes. The first mode is a nearly uniform, up‐and‐down pumping of the surface, while the second mode tilts across the basin from east to west, likely due to geostrophic adjustment of wind‐driven currents. This mode also tilts from south to north, owing to along‐strait wind stress. Most contributions to the first mode currents come from meters near shore or the edge of a trough. Coherence is high between these second mode pressures and first mode currents and winds, and lower but still significant between first mode pressures and first mode currents and winds. It is therefore difficult to predict the behaviour of currents in Queen Charlotte Sound in summer from pressure measurements at a single site, but the difference in sea‐level across Hecate Strait is a more reliable indicator.     

Summer and winter differences in zooplankton biomass,distribution and size composition in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa

Zooplankton biomass and distribution in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight were investigated in relation to environmental parameters during summer (January–February 2010) and winter (July–August 2010). Mean zooplankton biomass was significantly higher in winter (17.1 mg dry weight [DW] m^–3) than in summer (9.5 mg DW m^?3). In summer, total biomass was evenly distributed within the central bight, low off the Thukela River mouth and peaked near Durban. In winter, highest biomass was found offshore between Richards Bay and Cape St Lucia. Zooplankton biomass in each size class was significantly, negatively related to sea surface temperature and integrated nitrate, but positively related to surface chlorophyll a and dissolved oxygen. Zooplankton biomass was significantly related to bottom depth, with greatest total biomass located inshore (<50 m). Distribution across the shelf varied with zooplankton size. Seasonal differences in copepod size composition suggest that a smaller, younger community occupied the cool, chlorophyll-rich waters offshore from the St Lucia upwelling cell in winter, and a larger, older community occurred within the relatively warm and chlorophyll-poor central bight in summer. Nutrient enrichment from quasi-permanent upwelling off Durban and Richards Bay appears to have a greater influence on zooplankton biomass and distribution in the bight than the strongly seasonal nutrient input from the Thukela River.