The changing face of global fisheries—The 1950s vs. the 2000s

Spatialized catch and effort data, representing the world's marine fisheries in the 1950s and the 2000s are presented in form of cartograms, i.e., global maps in which the surface areas of continents are made proportional to the magnitude of the annual catches and fishing effort by their fleets. This is complemented by an analysis of the flows of seafood between the continents in whose waters the fish were captured, in the 1950s and the 2000s, and the continents where fleets originated. Such broad-brush analyses of temporal changes and trade patterns are helpful to understand major trends of fisheries, which, are increasingly dominated by scarcity of fish, and competition, notably off the coast of West Africa, and in newly accessed polar waters.     

The Boundary Element Method for Pile-Soil Interaction

In this paper, several mathmatical models for the pile- soil interaction are outlined. The Boundary Element Method is one of the very effective methods for the reasonable models of elasticity and elastoplasticity. The major of this paper is concerned with the Boundary Element Method for the pile-soil interaction, including general methods and calculating formulation of static and dynamic analysis of the pile and pile groups. Some results of analysis are also given.     

The Transient Solution of Plane Progressive Waves

- Generated by an ideal sinusoidal motion of the vertical plate, the simplest linear solution in time domain for two-dimensional regular waves is derived. The solution describes the propagation process of the plane progressive wave with a front, and will approach the linear steady- state solution as the oscillation time of the plate approaches infinity. The solution presented in this paper can be used to provide an incident wave model with analytical expression for solving the problems of diffraction and response of floating bodies in time domain.     

The 12th PAMS／JECSS Workshop

The 12th the Pacific Asian Marginal Seas (PAMS) / Japan and East China Sea Study (JECSS) (PAMS/JEC-SS) Workshop was held on 22-24 November 2003 in Hangzhou, China.More than 100 scientists attended this workshop. There were 57 oral presentations and 43 post presentations, grouped into 7 themes, namely,(1) Studies of the South China Sea(2) Studies of the Bohai, Huanghai and East China Seas     

The nautical chart‐friend or foe

For centuries the nautical chart has been an important part of activities related to the ocean. Today the nature of ocean operations is changing and placing increasing demand for navigational accuracy at sea; however, the nautical chart has not significantly changed. This article briefly examines some aspects of the nautical chart which could limit its usefulness and suggests, in the opinion of the author, the need for additional investigations into the proper role of the nautical chart.     

The Guinea-Bissau–Senegal maritime boundary dispute

This article discusses the role of negotiation, arbitration, and that of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in resolving maritime boundary disputes in the Gulf of Guinea region. Primarily using the cases of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, the paper highlights that joint maritime development agreements could be a better option for resolving existing maritime boundary disputes in the region rather than outright delimitation requests.     

The Bedload Movement in the Changjiang Estuary

- Sandwaves in the Changjiang estuary were measured with a shallow sediment profiler and an echosounder from 1978 to 1988. The data, together with grain size and bedform of sediment indicates that the bedload movement by rolling and saltation is of great significance to sediment transport and is the principal factor responsible for sandwave and sandbody development in the estuary. The sandwaves were found well-developed, which is related to the tidal range and the velocity of ebb current. However, the further growth is restricted by strong flood current prevailing in the estuary. Because of the significant bedload, the sandbodies shift obviously and frequently, and sometimes the exchange of position occurs between the sandbodies and tidal channels. As a result, ships are regularly forced to change their navigation course.     

The distribution of methane in the Tokyo-wan

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The irregular wave force on pier group

In this paper, the irregular wave force on a cylindrical pier group is calculated by the method of spectrum analysis, and the coefficients of the group effect of piers in the pier group are given here. The calculated results, using P-M and Bretshneider's. (B's) spectra, are obtained for the cases of 2 piers, 3 piers and 4 piers. To compare these results with those obtained for regular waves, we can come to some significant conclusions. Under the action of the irregular wave, when the distance between the piers in the pier group increases, the coefficient of the group effect decreases and tends rapidly to the case of a single pier. In general, when the ratio of the distance between the piers to the diameter of the pier is greater than 4, the group effect can be neglected.     

The algorithms of chlorophyll-a concentration for CMODIS

The algorithms of extracting chlorophyll-a(Chl-a) concentration have been established for Chinese moderate resolution imaging spectrometer(CMODIS) mounted on Shenzhou-3 spaceship launched on 25 March 2002.The CMODIS is an ocean color sensor with 30 visible channels and 4 infrared channels,much different from other ocean color satellites and needs new algorithms to process data.Three models of Chl-a concentration were established based on Chl-a data retrieved from sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor(SeaWiFS),with the average relative errors of 26.6%,24%.0% and 33.5%,respectively.This practical and economic approach can be used for developing the algorithms of Chinese ocean color and temperature sensor(COCTS) on the satellite Haiyang-1 to derive the Chl-a concentration concentration distribution.The applicability of the algorithms was analyzed using some in situ measurements.Suspended sediment is the main factor influencing the accuracy of the spectral ratio algorithms of Chl-a concentration.The algorithms are suitable to using in the regions where suspended sediment concentrations(SSC) are less than 5 g/m3 under the condition of relative error of Chl-a concentration retrieval within 35%.High concentration of suspended sediment leads to the overestimate remote sensing retrieval of concentration of Chl-a,while low-middle SSCs lead to the low Chl-a concentration values using the spectral ratio algorithms.Since the accuracy of Chl-a concentration by the spectral ratio algorithms is limited to waters of Case 2,it is necessary to develop semi-analytical models to improve the performance of satellite ocean color remote sensing in turbid coastal waters.     

The hydrodynamics and salinity regime of a coastal lagoon – The Coorong,Australia – Seasonal to multi-decadal timescales

The Coorong is a choked coastal lagoon in South Australia that forms part of the terminal lake system at the end of the River Murray, Australia’s major river. It is an inverse estuary with a constricted channel connection to the sea at one end and extends parallel to the coast for more than 100 km away from this inlet. The present paper considers the physical dynamics of the Coorong, particularly its ecologically important salinity and water level regimes, and how these respond to connectedness with the ocean, barrage flows and meteorological conditions. The approach combines hydrodynamic modelling with measurements and considers temporal variation in the system ranging from seasonal to multi-decadal timescales.     

The Panama Ship Registry: 1917–2017

The Panama Ship Registry has its origins in the year 1917. Nowadays, Panama has the largest vessel registry in the world. The second placed registry in the world ranking is Liberia, which does not have even half the number of Panamanian ships. In this Centennial, the aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the Panamanian Registry, the structure of the Panamanian-flagged fleet and the level of compliance with international standards in relation to maritime safety and working conditions. To undertake the analysis, two different qualitative and quantitative approaches are compared and integrated for the evaluation of the Panama Ship Registry: the degree of ratification and enforcement of the Conventions and Recommendations of the International Maritime Organization and International Labour Organization, and the results of Panamanian flagged vessels in inspections carried out within the major Port State Control Memoranda of Understanding. This paper fills a research gap by discussing an approach to the concept of flag of convenience and flag State, Panama is more an international registry, whose role is becoming less important from the points of view of safety or working conditions. The fleet performance evolution has been very positive as evidenced by the data presented in this article regarding Port State Control.     

The Irish Sea: Is it eutrophic?

The question of whether the Irish Sea is eutrophic is addressed by reviewing the evidence for anthropogenic nutrient enrichment, elevated phytoplankton production and biomass and undesirable disturbance in the context of the EU and OSPAR definitions of eutrophication. Winter concentrations of dissolved available inorganic phosphate (DAIP), nitrogen (DAIN as nitrate and nitrite) and silicate (Si) in coastal waters and concentrations of DAIP and Si in offshore waters of the Irish Sea are elevated relative to winter Celtic Sea shelf break concentrations (0.5 μM DAIP, 7.7 μM DAIN and 2.7 μM Si). Significant, negative nutrient salinity relationships and analysis of the Isle of Man nutrient time-series indicate that the elevated Irish Sea levels of DAIP and DAIN are the result of anthropogenic enrichment with highest concentrations (≈2.0 μM DAIP, 30 μM DAIN and 17 μM Si) measured in near shore eastern Irish Sea waters.     

The computation of maximum wind speeds of typhoon

-At present, it is still difficult to obtain an accurate maximum wind speed of typhoon with modern means,such as satellite survey , radar tracing and airplane reconnaissance. The performance of statistical equation established with observational maximum wind speed and the central pressure of typhoon is unstable ,and it is unreliable in operational use. Therefore a general pressure field model of typhoon is introduced in this paper based on atmospheric motion equations and formulas are derived for computing the maximum wind speed around typhoon center over sea surface . The theoretical curves derived from these formulas are in good agreement with those using the statistic empirical curves of typhoon pressure-wind relations over the western Pacific. Tests were conducted for typhoons which occurred in 1973 and in 1983 and the strongest typhoons selected each year during 1970 and 1978,the results were satisfactory. Meanwhile the analyses of computing results showed that the effect of Coriolis force could be     

The application of wave refraction-diffraction model with friction

In this paper a refraction-diffraction model with friction is used to compute wave characteristics in a region near a certain port. Comparing with the results from refraction model, and with the data observed during a typhoon in 1985, it is found that the characteristics from the refraction-diffraction model with friction are reasonable, and that the results are in rather good agreement with observations. Thus it can be concluded that the model is effective for computing coastal wave characteristics over complicated bottom topography.     

Characteristics of Tide in The South China Sea

Based ourself mainly on the harmonic constant in the tide table (English-edition), we acquire data from 320 tidal observatories, calculate the different tidal ranges and cotidal hours of the South China Sea, and by the contour line method, draw the M_2, S_2. K_1, O_1 constituent charts, thus better showing the tide distribution in the South China Sea and presenting tide characteristics in the area more accurately.     

The South China Sea thermohaline structure and circulation

In this study, we used the Navy' s Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set(MOODS), consisting of 116019 temperature and 9617 salinity profiles, during 1968- 1984 to investigate the temporal and spatial variabilities of South China Sea thermohaline structures and circulation. For temperature, profiles were binned into 204 monthly data sets from 1968 to 1984 (17 years). For salinity, profiles were binned into 12 climatological monthly data sets due to the data paucity. A two-scale optimal interpolation method was used to establish a three-dimensional monthly-varying gridded data set from MOODS, covering the area of 5°-25°N and 105° - 125°E and the depth from the surface to 400 m. After the gridded data set had been established, both composite analysis and the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis (for temperature only) were used to identify the major thermohaline fratures including annual mean, monthly anomalies, and interannual thermal variabilities. The inverted monthly circulation pattern     

The application of Hartley transform to ocean engineering

The Hartley transform is a real integral transform based on harmonic functions and hassome characteristics similar to the Fourier transform. Most applications in ocean engineering requiring the Fourier transform can also be performed by the Hartley transform. The fast Hartley transform is twice faster and more convenient to handle than the corresponding fast Fourier transform, so it is a real valued alternative to the complex Fourier transform in many applications. The use of the Hartley transform in ocean engineering is presented in detail in this paper, including wave spectral analysis, separation of waves, cross-correlation in PIV technique and expression of equation in the Hartley domain. The examples in the paper show deeply the advantage and efficiency of the Hartley transform over the Fourier transform.     

The equilibrium range of wind wave frequency spectrum

-Theoretical form of equilibrium range is given on the basis of the wind wave frequency spectra proposed by Wenel al. (1988a,b,c, 1989a,b). The effects of peakness factor and water depth are discussed. In the case of deep water the e-quilibrium range is reduced to the form first proposed by Toba (1973) and the coefficient of the formula is shown to be the function of nondimensional fetch or peak frequency. Results of the present paper have been verified through field data.     

The Statistical Distributions of Heights of Wave Groups

The development of the offshore industry on a world-wide basis has given rise to thegrowing demand for a good knowledge and understanding of the ocean wave environment.In addition to the accepted probabilistic and spectral methods of defining wave climate,attention has recently focussed on wave groups-a series of waves on enhanced amplitudeoccurring in close sequence. Such an occurrence is important in a range of offshore andcoastal engineering problems, particularly in the dynamic response of compliant offshore sys-tems and the stability of breakwaters. The paper presents a brief review of the previous work on wave groups, followed by