A Modeling Study of the Potential Water Quality Impacts from In-Stream Tidal Energy Extraction

To assess the effects of tidal energy extraction on water quality in a simplified estuarine system, which consists of a tidal bay connected to the coastal ocean through a narrow channel where energy is extracted using in-stream tidal turbines, a three-dimensional coastal ocean model with built-in tidal turbine and water quality modules was applied. The effects of tidal energy extraction on water quality were examined for two energy extraction scenarios as compared with the baseline condition. It was found, in general, that the environmental impacts associated with energy extraction depend highly on the amount of power extracted from the system. Model results indicate that, as a result of energy extraction from the channel, the competition between decreased flushing rates in the bay and increased vertical mixing in the channel directly affects water quality responses in the bay. The decreased flushing rates tend to cause a stronger but negative impact on water quality. On the other hand, the increased vertical mixing could lead to higher bottom dissolved oxygen at times. As the first modeling effort directly aimed at examining the impacts of tidal energy extraction on estuarine water quality, this study demonstrates that numerical models can serve as a very useful tool for this purpose. However, more careful efforts are warranted to address system-specific environmental issues in real-world, complex estuarine systems.     

Effects of Tidal-Forcing Variations on Tidal Properties Along a Narrow Convergent Estuary

A 1D analytical framework is implemented in a narrow convergent estuary that is 78 km in length (the Guadiana, Southern Iberia) to evaluate the tidal dynamics along the channel, including the effects of neap-spring amplitude variations at the mouth. The close match between the observations (damping from the mouth to ～ 30 km, shoaling upstream) and outputs from semi-closed channel solutions indicates that the M₂ tide is reflected at the estuary head. The model is used to determine the contribution of reflection to the dynamics of the propagating wave. This contribution is mainly confined to the upper one third of the estuary. The relatively constant mean wave height along the channel (<?10% variations) partly results from reflection effects that also modify significantly the wave celerity and the phase difference between tidal velocity and elevation (contradicting the definition of an “ideal” estuary). Furthermore, from the mouth to ～ 50 km, the variable friction experienced by the incident wave at neap and spring tides produces wave shoaling and damping, respectively. As a result, the wave celerity is largest at neap tide along this lower reach, although the mean water level is highest in spring. Overall, the presented analytical framework is useful for describing the main tidal properties along estuaries considering various forcings (amplitude, period) at the estuary mouth and the proposed method could be applicable to other estuaries with small tidal amplitude to depth ratio and negligible river discharge.     

长江口潮位变化对潮型影响的研究

利用代表潮位站吴淞站19752010年实测资料,分析了长江口潮位变化对潮型的影响。研究结果表明,随着年平均潮位的上升,代表站年平均高（低）潮位会相应抬升,二者线性相关关系非常密切,而潮差、潮历时与年平均潮位的相关关系不明显。另外,年最高（低）高（低）潮位、年最大涨（落）潮潮差、年最大（小）涨（落）潮历时等各项极值与年平均潮位变化也没有明显的相关关系。     

Effect of Wind and Rainfall on Water Exchange in a Stratified Estuary

This study was conducted to estimate the horizontal and vertical exchange of water in response to meteorological effects in Inohana Lake, Japan. To examine the horizontal water flow between Hamana and Inohana Lakes while monitoring horizontal and vertical exchanges of water within the lake, we determined the current velocity, salinity, and water density in the field. We performed regression analysis of the relationship between meteorological factors such as wind and rain and the horizontal water flow between the two lakes. This information was then used to construct a simple box model to estimate the average water exchange and evaluate the meteorological effect based on the average salinity and river discharge. These results revealed that the surface water-volume flux in the channel was heavily influenced by the north–south wind intensity. These findings indicate that a box model is capable of providing a good estimate of the summer-averaged water flow and the exchange rate that is influenced by wind and rain.     

Impact of Channel Deepening on Tidal and Gravitational Circulation in a Highly Engineered Estuarine Basin

Deepening of estuarine channels is a common practice to ensure navigation. Here, we investigate whether such deepening impacts physical processes such as the strength of the estuarine exchange flow, the horizontal salinity gradient, and tidal dynamics. We analyze recent and historical hydrodynamic observations in Newark Bay, New Jersey, to assess the effect of channel deepening on tides, circulation, and salinity. The Bay’s navigational channel has undergone significant deepening, from 3 to 10 m in the nineteenth century to ~16 m today. Observations presented here include sea-level data from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century, and moored Doppler current data and bottom salinity measurements made over the past 20 years. Results show a doubling of the estuarine exchange flow, a slight increase in salinity and in the horizontal salinity gradient, a decrease in tidal current amplitude, and a spatially variable change in the tidal range. The doubling of the exchange flow is consistent with the Hansen and Rattray scaling provided that the horizontal salinity gradient is unable to fully adjust landward because the dredging is limited to a short reach of the estuary. However, uncertainty in channel depth leaves open the possibility that the exchange flow is also augmented by an increase in the horizontal salinity gradient and/or a reduction in vertical mixing. Nevertheless, results demonstrate that a relatively small (15%) increase in depth appears to have doubled the exchange flow. We believe that this result is relevant to other systems where dredging is limited to a short reach of an estuary.     

The Effects of Tidal Export from Salt Marsh Ditches on Estuarine Water Quality and Plankton Communities

Salt marshes are an important transition zone between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and in their natural state, they often function to cycle or trap terrestrially derived nutrients and organic matter. Many US salt marshes were ditched during the twentieth century, potentially altering their functionality. The goal of this 4-year study was to assess the impact of water from ditches within seven salt marshes on estuarine water quality and plankton communities within four estuaries on Long Island, NY, USA. We found that concentrations of inorganic nutrients (ammonium, phosphate), dissolved and particulate organic nitrogen and carbon (POC, PON, DOC, DON), and total coliform bacteria were significantly enriched in salt marsh ditches compared to the estuaries they discharged into. In addition, concentrations of ammonium and DON became more enriched in ditches as tidal levels decreased, suggesting these constituents were generated in situ. Quantification of nitrogen sources in Flanders Bay, NY, suggested salt marsh ditches could represent a substantial source of N to this estuary during summer months. Experimental incubations demonstrated that water from salt marsh ditches was capable of significantly enhancing the growth of multiple classes of phytoplankton, with large diatoms and dinoflagellates displaying the most dramatic increases in growth. Experiments further demonstrated that salt marsh ditchwater was capable of significantly enhancing pelagic respiration rates, suggesting discharge from ditches could influence estuarine oxygen consumption. In summary, this study demonstrates that tidal draining of salt marsh ditches is capable of degrading multiple aspects of estuarine water quality.     

Ecological Signatures of Anthropogenically Altered Tidal Exchange in Estuarine Ecosystems

One of the most conspicuous anthropogenic disturbances to estuaries worldwide has been the alteration of freshwater and tidal influence through the construction of water control structures (dikes, tide gates, culverts). Few studies have rigorously compared the responses of differing groups of organisms that serve as contrasting conservation targets to such anthropogenic disturbances in estuarine ecosystems. Elkhorn Slough in central California includes a spectrum of tidally restricted habitats behind water control structures and habitats experiencing full tidal exchange. To assess community composition for several different taxa in habitats with varying tidal exchange, we employed a variety of field approaches and synthesized results from several different studies. Overall, we found that communities at sites with moderately restricted tidal exchange were fairly similar to those with full tidal exchange, but those with extremely restricted tidal exchange were markedly different from other categories. These differences in community composition are likely the result of several factors, including restricted movement due to physical barriers, differences in water quality characteristics, and differences in habitat structure. Indeed, in this study, we found that water quality characteristics strongly vary with tidal restriction and may strongly influence patterns of species presence or absence. We also found that different conservation targets showed contrasting responses to variation in tidal exchange. Full exchange appears to favor native oysters, commercially valuable flatfish, migratory shorebirds, and site-level biodiversity. Minimal tidal exchange due to water control structures supports a suite of estuarine endemics (including the tidewater goby and California brackish snail) not represented elsewhere and minimizes invasions by non-native marine species. Altogether, our results suggest that total estuary-wide biodiversity may be enhanced with a mosaic of tidal exchange regimes.     

Modeling the Effects of Future Outflow on the Abiotic Habitat of an Imperiled Estuarine Fish

Future development and climate change pose potentially serious threats to estuarine fish populations around the world. We examined how habitat suitability for delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), a state and federally protected species, might be affected by changes in outflow in the San Francisco Estuary due to future development and climate change. Forty years of sampling data collected during fall from 1967 to 2008 were examined to define abiotic habitat suitability for delta smelt as a function of salinity and water transparency, and to describe long-term trends in habitat conditions. The annual habitat index we developed, which incorporated both quantity and quality of habitat, decreased by 78% over the study period. Future habitat index values under seven different development and climate change scenarios, representing a range of drier and wetter possibilities, were predicted using a model which related estuarine outflow to the habitat index. The results suggested that each of the scenarios would generally lead to further declines in delta smelt habitat across all water year types. Recovery targets for delta smelt will be difficult to attain if the modeled habitat conditions are realized.     

Fortnightly Tidal Modulations Affect Net Community Production in a Mesotidal Estuary

Optical in situ chemical sensors enable sampling intervals and durations that rival acoustic techniques used for measuring currents. Coupling these high-frequency biogeochemical and physical measurements in estuaries to address ecosystem-scale questions, however, is still comparatively novel. This study investigated how tides affect ecosystem metabolism in a mesotidal estuary in central California (Elkhorn Slough). Dissolved oxygen measurements were used to estimate the terms in a control volume budget for a tidal creek/marsh complex at tidal timescales over several weeks. Respiration rates were 1.6 to 7.3 g O₂ m^?2 day^?1; net community production approached 20 g O₂ m^?2 day^?1. We found that aquatic NCP integrated throughout the creek complex varied significantly over the spring-neap cycle. The intertidal contribution to aquatic metabolism was net heterotrophic during spring tides and generally in balance during neap tides because spring-tide marsh inundation was limited to nighttime, and therefore the marsh could not contribute any primary production to the water column. At the estuary scale, the fortnightly export of oxygen from the main channel to the intertidal was largely balanced by an advective flux up-estuary.     

长江口潮流速垂线分布规律研究

河道中流速沿垂线的分布规律是研究许多河床动力学问题的关键.长江口潮流河段涨、落潮流垂线流速分布有其特殊规律,因此根据长江口实测水流流速资料,分析流速垂线分布的规律性具有重要意义.本文通过对长江口的实例运用对数线性扩展分布模式计算分析,并与传统的对数分布模式进行比较,结果表明,对数线性扩展分布模式在各层数据上都与实测数据具有更好的相关性.     

磨刀门河口环流与咸淡水混合层化机制

为研究磨刀门盐水混合层化特征,基于SCHISM模型,建立了三维盐度数值模型,根据实测资料对其进行验证。结合水体势能异常理论,对枯季磨刀门河口混合层化的时空变化特征及深槽与浅滩的层化机制差异进行分析。结果表明:磨刀门河口小潮时水体层化最强,中潮时水体层化最弱,且拦门沙至挂定角段水体层化始终较强。磨刀门深槽水体层化主要受纵向平流、纵向水深平均应变和垂向混合影响,而浅滩水体层化则受横向平流、横向水深平均应变和垂向混合影响;磨刀门河口表、底层水体湍动能耗散率较高,而中间水层存在低耗散区,且涨潮时湍动能耗散率比落潮时大。     

Tidal and Groundwater Fluxes to a Shallow, Microtidal Estuary: Constraining Inputs Through Field Observations and Hydrodynamic Modeling

Increased nutrient loading to estuaries has led to eutrophication, degraded water quality, and ecological transformations. Quantifying nutrient loads in systems with significant groundwater input can be difficult due to the challenge of measuring groundwater fluxes. We quantified tidal and freshwater fluxes over an 8-week period at the entrance of West Falmouth Harbor, Massachusetts, a eutrophic, groundwater-fed estuary. Fluxes were estimated from velocity and salinity measurements and a total exchange flow (TEF) methodology. Intermittent cross-sectional measurements of velocity and salinity were used to convert point measurements to cross-sectionally averaged values over the entire deployment (index relationships). The estimated mean freshwater flux (0.19?m³/s) for the 8-week period was mainly due to groundwater input (0.21?m³/s) with contributions from precipitation to the estuary surface (0.026?m³/s) and removal by evaporation (0.048?m³/s). Spring?Cneap variations in freshwater export that appeared in shorter-term averages were mostly artifacts of the index relationships. Hydrodynamic modeling with steady groundwater input demonstrated that while the TEF methodology resolves the freshwater flux signal, calibration of the index?Csalinity relationships during spring tide conditions only was responsible for most of the spring?Cneap signal. The mean freshwater flux over the entire period estimated from the combination of the index-velocity, index?Csalinity, and TEF calculations were consistent with the model, suggesting that this methodology is a reliable way of estimating freshwater fluxes in the estuary over timescales greater than the spring?Cneap cycle. Combining this type of field campaign with hydrodynamic modeling provides guidance for estimating both magnitude of groundwater input and estuarine storage of freshwater and sets the stage for robust estimation of the nutrient load in groundwater.     

Environmental Determinants of Emergent Macrophyte Vegetation in Pacific Northwest Estuarine Tidal Wetlands

We investigated whether within wetland environmental conditions or surrounding land cover measured at multiple scales were more influential in structuring regional vegetation patterns in estuarine tidal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Surrounding land cover was characterized at the 100, 250, and 1,000 m, and watershed buffer scales. Vegetation communities were characterized by high species richness, lack of monotypic zonation, and paucity of invasive species. The number of species per site ranged between 4 and 20 (mean?±?standard deviation?=?10.2?±?3.1). Sites supported a high richness (mean richness of native species 8.7?±?2.8) and abundance of native macrophytes (mean relative abundance 85 %?±?19 %). Vegetation assemblages were dominated by a mix of grasses, sedges, and herbs with Sarcocornia pacifica and Distichlis spicata being common at sites in the oceanic zone of the estuary and Carex lyngbyei and Agrostis stolonifera being common at the fresher sites throughout the study area. The vegetation community was most strongly correlated with salinity and land cover within close proximity to the study site and less so with land cover variables at the watershed scale. Total species richness and richness of native species were negatively correlated with the amount of wetland in the buffer at all scales, while abundance of invasive species was significantly correlated to within wetland factors, including salinity and dissolved phosphorus concentrations. Landscape factors related to anthropogenic disturbances were only important at the 100-m buffer scale, with anthropogenic disturbances further from the wetland not being influential in shaping the vegetation assemblage. Our research suggests that the traditional paradigms of tidal wetland vegetation structure and environmental determinants developed in east coast US tidal wetlands might not hold true for Pacific Northwest wetlands due to their unique chemical and physical factors, necessitating further detailed study of these systems.     

Tidal and Meteorological Forcing of Suspended Sediment Flux in a Muddy Mesotidal Estuary

Although the supply and fate of suspended sediment is of fundamental importance to the functioning and morphological evolution of muddy estuaries, reliable sediment budgets have been established in only a few cases. Especially for smaller estuaries, inadequate bathymetric surveys and a lack of intertidal sedimentation data often preclude estimation of the sediment budget from morphological change, while instrument-derived residual fluxes typically lie well within the errors associated with measurement of much larger gross tidal transports. Given suitably long-term records of continuously monitored suspended sediment concentration (SSC), however, analysis of the major scales of variation in sediment transport and their relation to hydrodynamic and meteorological forcing permits qualitative testing of hypotheses suggested by directly measured residual fluxes. This paper analyzes data from a 1-year acoustic Doppler profiler deployment in the Blyth estuary, a muddy mesotidal barrier-enclosed system on the UK east coast. Flux calculations indicate a small sediment import equivalent to just 1.5% of the gross flood tide transport. Little confidence can be assigned to either the magnitude or direction of such a small residual when considered in isolation. However, the inference that the sediment regime is finely balanced is qualitatively supported by the close similarity between flood-tide and ebb-tide SSC values. Singular spectrum analysis of the SSC time series shows the expectedly large contributions to the variance in SSC at intratidal and subtidal (semimonthly and monthly) scales but also picks out intermittent variability that is initially attributed to a combination of non-tidal surge and wind stress forcing. Closer examination of the data through cross-correlograms and event-scale analysis indicates that local meteorological forcing is the major factor. Acting through the resuspension of intertidal mudflat sediments at times of strong westerlies, meteorological forcing is directly implicated in episodic sediment export from the estuary. Thresholding of tide-averaged fluxes using a range of critical wind stress values further indicates that ‘tide-dominated’ (i.e., low wind stress) and ‘wave-dominated’ (high wind stress) conditions are associated with sediment import and export. Sediment balance is potentially sensitive to the frequency of high wind stress events, since the associated sediment exports are several times larger than the average import under calm conditions. Intermittent meteorological forcing may thus exert an important control on the sedimentary balance of otherwise tidally dominated muddy estuarine systems, and the role of wind climate should not be overlooked in studies of estuary response to environmental change.     

河口湾潮坪潮汐水道发育特征及地质意义——以钱塘江为例

河口湾中的砂体是有利的油气储集层,但复杂的水动力变化导致古代河口湾识别困难。通过对现代钱塘江河口湾的研究表明,河口湾潮坪环境潮汐水道可以成为识别古河口湾的一种辅助标志。基于野外实地观测,结合卫星地图对潮坪环境潮汐水道的发育特征进行了详细的描述,并探讨了它的地质意义。结果表明:1）泥坪潮汐水道横截面形态主要有“V”型及宽缓的透镜状,平面上由海向陆可划分为曲折的A段、平直的B段和树状分叉的C段;2）砂坪潮汐水道横截面形态主要有“U”型和阶梯型,平面上由海向陆可划分为曲折或平直的A'段和树状分叉的B'段,A'段的平直与曲折主要受控于砂坪潮道规模的大小;3）在砂质潮坪中常见炭屑层、包卷层理、液化流痕、垮塌构造、波痕等特殊的沉积构造;不同形态和规模的潮坪潮道主要受控于潮坪坡度、沉积物粒度、河口湾形态及相对海平面高低的影响,高坡度、低海平面有利于完整序列潮道的发育;4）不同类型河口湾潮坪潮道的特征及其伴生的特殊沉积构造可以为确定地质历史时期的古河口湾及其演化提供参考。     

Geological Modeling on the Reservoir of Oil Sand in Estuary

<正>1 Introduction Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of heavy crude oil,located in northeastern Alberta Basin,Canada.Those oil sands,hosted primarily in upper and middle of McM urray Formation,is in 18m in thickness and 160m-180m in buried depth.The average liquid saturation is     

长江口可能最高潮位研究

以长江口高桥站为研究对象,根据历史资料,用经验分析和统计结合起来的方法,建立风暴潮增水模式,依据流体动力学原理建立二维风暴潮天文潮综合水位模式,尔后以极值气象因子为基础,利用因子组合法及台风位移法分别设计极端台风模型,推算高桥站最大增水及可能最高潮位,并以水文统计频率分析成果作为研究确定长江口ＰＭＴ的佐证。     

长江口九段沙现代潮滩沉积特征

根据2003年对长江河口九段沙潮间带和潮上带的现场调查和室内对沉积构造、粒度分布、矿物组成、沉积速率等的分析,对九段沙现代潮滩的沉积特征进行了研究。研究表明九段沙潮间带以小型交错层理为主,波痕发育,粒度主要为细砂至粗粉砂;潮上带主要为水平层理,粒度主要为中细粉砂。潮间带和潮上带的沉积矿物组成非常接近。沉积速率以潮间带低而潮上带高为特点。     

Fish Interactions with a Commercial-Scale Tidal Energy Device in the Natural Environment

Fish are a key part of the marine ecosystem likely to be affected by hydrokinetic tidal turbines, but little is known about their behavior around such obstacles in the natural environment. In September 2010, two DIDSON acoustic cameras were used to observe fish interactions with a commercial-scale turbine in Cobscook Bay, Maine. Twenty-two hours (nearly two tidal cycles) of footage were collected. Behaviors of individual fish and schools were classified (e.g., entering, avoiding, passing, or remaining in the wake of the turbine). We analyzed the effects of turbine motion (rotating or not rotating), diel condition (day or night), and fish size (small, ≤10 cm; large, >10 cm) on individual fish behaviors, and compared behaviors of individual fish to schools of fish. When the turbine was rotating, the probability of fish entering the turbine decreased by over 35 % from when it was not. The probability that fish would enter the turbine was higher at night than during the day, and this difference was greater for small fish than for large fish (probability of small fish entering?=?0.147 day, 0.513 night; large fish?=?0.043 day, 0.333 night). Fish were almost always present in the wake of the turbine. Schools of fish had a 56 % lower probability of entering the turbine than individual fish, and reacted at greater distances from the turbine (median distance of 2.5 m for schools, 1.7 m for individuals). This study indicates that fish behavior in response to tidal turbines appears to be similar to responses to obstacles such as trawls, and highlights the importance of environmental context in determining the effects of a tidal turbine on fish.