Review of continental shelf marine geotechnics: Distribution of soils,measurement of properties,and environmental hazards

Abstract

Sands and silty sands are the predominant surficial soils of continental shelves. Cohesive fine‐grained soils are typical off the mouths of large rivers, near bays and estuaries, and in basins located on the shelf. The stratigraphy of shelf soils is very poorly known for most engineering purposes, except in the vicinity of the Mississippi Delta.

Vibratory coring is the most common method of sampling shelf sands to depths of about 13 m; greater soil depths are sampled by borings often using drilling and wireline sampling tools. Employment of self‐contained or wireline static cone penetrometers to obtain in situ measurements of sands has not been as common in the United States as in Europe. Dynamic piston corers are the most common samplers in cohesive soils, but rotary and hydraulically activated incremental corers are becoming available for marine use. Self‐contained or wireline vane shear devices and static cone penetrometers are used for the in situ testing of cohesive soils, and the latter device is also used for cohesionless soils. Dynamic cone penetrometers have been developed and have had limited experimental use at sea. In situ electrical resistivity and nuclear‐transmission and backscatter probes have been used in cohesive soils to obtain bulk‐density and water‐content measurements and for stratigraphic correlation. Acoustical properties of cohesive and cohesionless soils have been measured by in situ probes and have been estimated from results of geophysical surveys made on ships that are under way.

Environmental hazards to the foundations of offshore structures include earthquakes, wave‐induced loading and scour, and burrowing animals. Reported bottom‐current velocities on the United States continental shelf appear to have maximums of about 0.5 m/s under fair‐weather conditions and greater than about 5 m/s under hurricane conditions. Cyclical loading of the seafloor induced by storm waves appears to be a major hazard to soil stability in some areas.

A representative sample of the widely scattered engineering and scientific literature of continental shelf marine geotechnics and geotechnically related subjects has been made to aid marine geologists, geotechnologists, and other specialists.     

南海东北部冬季表面环流的卫星红外遥感观测研究

根据 1 989～ 1 993年美国 NOAA系列卫星 (NOAA- 1 1、 1 2 )经过南海上空时所获取的数幅较完整的 AVHRR传感器映像资料 ,并结合 1 992年 3月 8日～ 2 7日在南海东北部海域现场观测所获的 CTD资料 ,揭示并讨论了发生在该海域的一些物理海洋学现象。结果表明 ,利用卫星映像和现场观测资料来分析和研究南海中的物理海洋学问题有着较好的互补性。卫星映像产生的海面温度场的分布基本上反映了现场观测的结果。通过对两者的综合分析 ,给出了一幅南海东北部冬季表面环流的形势图     

近40年来对南海化学海洋学研究的新认知

作为西太平洋最大的边缘海, 南海在全球海洋和海洋学研究中占有重要地位。近40年来, 南海的化学海洋学研究取得了大量系统的新发现、新认识, 提出了不少新的理论观点, 对全球海洋学的发展进步做出了重要贡献。研究发现了南海次表层存在以海水亚硝酸盐为代表的生态环境参数极值现象, 不同参数水层深度范围不同, 由此形成的跃层生态系统有着与其他生态系统显著不同的特点。从系统研究获知, 南海碳循环过程十分复杂, 生物作用下的生物泵过程以及碳源汇区域和季节变化巨大, 南海碳源汇在不同的区域不同的时间的性质和强度迥异, 全年尺度上总体表现为大气二氧化碳的弱源。南海北部的珠江口邻近海域和深海盆的生态环境特征与化学物质循环和陆架边缘海、珊瑚礁等密切相关, 但又与陆架边缘海、珊瑚礁等显著不同, 表现为珠江口底层存在缺氧现象, 珠江口海域是一个以缺氧为特征的生态脆弱区。在系统认识南沙珊瑚礁生态系统物质循环快速、生物过程控制着化学物质的垂直转移的基础上, 提出了维持珊瑚礁生态系统高生产力的新机制——“拟流网理论”。对南海沉积物化学的系统研究认识到, 沉积物-水体化学物质循环有密切的耦合关系, 南海珊瑚礁或沉积岩心化学物质分布变化可反演其历史变化, 如南海冰期表层海水古生产力为间冰期的1.6倍; 晚中新世南海南部发生了一次“生物勃发事件”, 其生产力主要受季风和陆源营养物质输入量影响; 东北季风与西南季风在不同区域其影响程度不同等。40年来南海化学海洋学研究的这些新发现和新认识对系统揭示南海的海洋学过程奠定了强有力的基础, 未来南海化学海洋学研究也必将为南海资源环境的可持续利用提供科学支撑。     

光纤温深传感器在物理海洋的应用

光纤传感器技术已经在土木工程、航空航天、石油石化等方面得到应用,其温度、压力、流速传感日趋成熟,且具有本征绝缘、易于复用、远距离传输等优势,在物理海洋领域有较大的潜在应用。在先导专项的支持下,课题组完成了光纤温深传感器及其系统在海洋牧场遥测方面的实践应用,是光纤温度链在海洋养殖方面的应用创新,为现代海洋牧场的研制提供了技术支撑作用;课题组研制了船载拖曳温深链系统,并在北黄海和南海海域进行了温度跃层的快速高效海试应用,实时、连续、原位获取了水下温度剖面情况,该领域温度测量的首次试验应用,为物理海洋的科学研究提供了一种全新的快速、高时空密度的测量手段,将会推动物理海洋的科学研究和海洋仪器设备研发水平,具有一定的先导作用。     

不同海水营养盐现场连续观测系统的比较研究

海水营养盐自动观测技术是海洋观测技术的核心之一, 也是世界各国海洋观测技术发展的重点。本文概述了海水营养盐自动观测技术在海洋环境监测中的研究进展, 并基于航次的现场实践, 比较了海水营养盐自动观测设备的应用情况, 归纳了不同设备的优缺点。基于紫外光谱法的硝酸盐传感器(in-situ ultraviolet spectroscopy, ISUS)具有不需化学试剂、响应速度快、适合连续长期观测、耐压深度深的优点, 可广泛应用于海水和淡水环境的走航观测、现场剖面观测和浮标定点观测; 其缺点是测定参数少、灵敏度低。基于湿化学法的营养盐剖面自动分析仪(Autonomous Profiling Nutreint Analyzer, APNA)与连续流动在线分析仪(型号为QuAAtro)具有测定精度和准确度高、多营养盐参数同步测定的优点, 可用于浅水剖面和短时间连续观测, 但存在操作复杂、工作时间短、试剂用量大的缺点, 不适合长期时间序列或深水观测; APNA能进行原位观测, QuAAtro基于船载, 需要加载样品采集过滤系统。本研究基于以上实践与经验, 进一步探讨了现有海水营养盐自动观测技术目前所面临的技术瓶颈及未来发展趋势, 旨在为海洋现场自动监测仪器的选用提供参考。     

A poleward jet and an equatorward undercurrent observed off Oregon and northern California, during the 1997–98 El Niño

The timing and intensity of the effects of the 1997–98 El Niño on sea-surface temperature (SST) and coastal sea level along the US west coast are examined using in situ time-series measurements, and the effects on upper ocean currents on the continental shelf and slope off Oregon and northern California are examined using repeated shipborne ADCP transects, a mid-shelf mooring off Newport Oregon and an HF surface current radar. An initial transient positive anomaly was observed in both adjusted sea level and SST during May–June 1997, followed by anomalously high coastal sea levels, generally strongest during September 1997 through February 1998 and abruptly returned to normal in late February 1998, and by positive temperatures anomalies over the mid-shelf that persisted longer, into April 1998. Low-frequency coastal sea-level anomalies propagated poleward at 2.1 m/s. Poleward flow over the shelf and slope was enhanced at most depths during the El Niño, compared with following years. Northward currents in the upper 12 m over the continental shelf off Newport, Oregon averaged 13.7 cm/s stronger during August 1997 through February 1998 than during the same period the following year. Enhanced poleward flow was present at all latitudes sampled during November 1997 and February 1998, particularly over the continental slope. These transects also provided clear views of a fall/winter equatorward undercurrent, which was both strongest and had the most alongshore similarity of form, during the ENSO. Finally, subsurface-intensified anticyclonic eddies originating in the poleward undercurrent appear to be a recurrent feature of the circulation off Newport late in the upwelling season.     

A study of stability of the seafloor foundation on a gently sloping continental shelf

Abstract

The possibility of seafloor failure under external loadings on a gently sloping continental shelf is controlled, to a large extent, by the geotechnical characters of subbottom sediments (e.g., shear strength, compressibility, and liquefaction potential) and structural factors (e.g., sedimentary stratification). By means of undis‐turbing coring, in‐situ acoustic measurement, and subbottom profiling, the authors conducted an investigation into the seafloor instabilities and possibilities of sediment slope failure within the continental shelf off the Pearl River mouth, which is one of the most important areas for offshore development in the northern South China Sea. Based on in‐situ and laboratory measurements and tests for sediment physical properties, static and dynamic behavior, and acoustic characteristics, the analyses indicate: (1) subbottom sediments that originated from terrigenous clay during the Pleistocene are compact and overconsolidated, and the mean sound velocity in such sediments is relatively high; (2) the maximum vertical bearing capacity of subbottom sediments is efficiently conservative on the safe side for dead loads of light structures, and the trench walls are stable enough while trenching to a depth of about 2 m below the seafloor under still water; and (3) it is quite improbable that the subbottom sediments liquefy under earthquake (M ≤ 6) or storm wave loading.     

2002年夏季广东陆架边缘上升流海域的内潮现象及其局地反馈初探

基于2002年夏季开展的"中国近海环流形成变异机理、数值预测方法及对环境的影响"观测项目获得的往复走航温盐流资料,结合同期的卫星观测(风、SST、海表动力高度)数据,初步探讨了粤东陆架边缘上升流区的内潮现象及其局地反馈特征.研究结果表明:粤东陆架边缘海域存在显著的、间歇性的相对低温海水的沿陆坡涌升现象,其中A航段的低温(18～23℃)海水涌升发生在约50～150m深度,B航段的低温(<18℃)海水涌升则主要位于150 m以深.由于观测期间海表风变化很小,而海洋涡旋在几周至几个月内相对稳定,并且研究海域涡旋对流场的影响似乎局限于75 m以浅的上层海洋,因而A、B航段的差异显然不能用海表风或海表动力高度变化来解释.进一步的分析表明粤东陆架边缘上升流区存在显著的内潮现象,尽管资料所限使得我们无法准确判定该内潮性质,往复走航海流剖面的确揭示了1阶和5阶内潮模的存在.内潮的不同模态极大地改变了上层海洋的热力和环流结构;低阶内潮模导致沿最大温度水平梯度处水温的剧烈垂向起伏(>30 m)以及跃层两侧的海流反向现象;高阶内潮模导致垂直陆坡方向水平流速的多次反向,强烈的流剪切可能与增强的混合联系在一起.导致低阶内潮模(A航段)向高阶内潮模(B航段)转变的原因可能是由于内潮特征线倾角与地形坡度比较接近而激发的"临界反射"效应.分析结果还表明,不同内潮模态导致的环流结构变异叠加在背景环流场之上,会显著影响粤东陆架边缘上升流的空间结构及强度.     

潮成内波在物理海洋和相关学科中的影响

潮成海洋内波作为物理海洋学中的一个研究内容，虽然对海洋中的能量分配过程起着相当重要的作用，但其作用和影响却不仅仅限于此范畴之内。在许多相关学科的研究中，如水声学、地学(物质输运、地形地貌、深水沉积、地壳液体流动)、海洋工程(海洋资源的勘探、开发和保护等)、海洋生态环境，海水养殖、渔业捕捞，航道淤积以及观测仪器、卫星海洋学等，都存在潮成内波的作用。文章分析了线性或弱非线性潮成内波(常称为内潮波)和强非线性潮成内波(常称为内孤立波)可能的作用方式，对其在物理海洋学及各相关学科中的作用作了简单介绍。     

对海洋生态学和生物海洋学的浅析

海洋生态学和生物海洋学的研究内容大多交叉、重叠。为利于学科发展,文章在简述学科的产生与定义的基础上,强调学科之间要加强合作,适当分工。建议:海洋生态学侧重研究生物之间的相互关系和对环境的适应性、生存策略,并积极与经济、社会和文化相关学科交叉、融合;生物海洋学侧重于研究生物在海洋环境中的作用和功能,把推进对海洋的认识放在首位,加强与物理海洋学、化学海洋学的耦合,为海洋在地球四大圈层的相互关系中展现活力。据此,以渔业海洋学、海洋生态灾害和生物对地质的作用为例,阐述海洋生态学和生物海洋学的理解及其相互之间关系。     

具有运动补偿高精度海洋气象多参数模拟仪的研制

针对船舶气象仪的综合检查过程中检测周期长、人工排查效率低以及传统的自动气象站传感器信号模拟器的模拟精度低,没有相关运动补偿算法导致此类系统不适应海洋船舶应用环境的问题,对气象要素传感器的高精度信号采样电路、信号输出、软件滤波和运动补偿等方面进行了研究。通过分析传感器和船舶气象仪的原理,设计了各个气象参数的采样电路、信号模拟电路、触摸屏、GPS和电子罗盘采样与模拟电路,并在近海测试过程中进行了运动补偿模型测试,并基于STM32微控制器进行了该仪器的系统检测实验。研究测试结果表明：该系统具有低功耗、高可靠性、高精度的特点,能应用于海上环境,同时具有对船舶实时定位、气象要素实时模拟和采集、运动补偿多项功能。并且本系统精度在运动补偿后,系统测量方差为0.019 3 m/s,精度提高至接近真实值,均符合《海洋调查规范第3部分：海洋气象观测》的标准。     

Diurnal shelf waves off Hamada on San'in Coast

The tidal current data observed off Hamada on San'in coast have shown the diurnal tidal currents to be larger than the semidiurnal ones by a factor of 5–8, although the ratio (K₁+O₁)/(M₂+S₂) for the tidal heights at Hamada is 1.3. Furthermore, the diurnal currents are found to be more remarkable on the shelf slope than on the shelf. We consider such diurnal current features as being due to the vortical mode waves, and show that the broad shelf and steep shelf slope off San'in coast allow 1st-mode interior shelf waves (ISWs) at a diurnal-period. Using a simple shelf model, it is shown that ISWs occur in response to the seaward component of diurnal tidal oscillations on the shelf and their propagation originates from the western entrance of the Tsushima Straits.     

A STUDY ON THE PLANKTON COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTH HUANGHAI SEA AND THE EAST CHINA SEA

The South Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea lie on the east continental shelf ofChina. These areas are generally under the effects of river, coastal currents, and coldwater in the Huanghai Sea, as well as the branches of Kuroshio. Therefore, obviously, thephysical oceanography, chemical elements and plankton distribution in these areas areconsiderably complicated. As for plankton composition, there are temperate neriticspecise, brackish water and estuarine species, coastal species and also tropical pelagicspecies. Each community of the plankton occupies a distributional area of its own.Among the communities there exists a transitional area caused by horizontal andvertical mixing of water masses which effect this area in different degrees. All commu-nities and the transitional area are more or less relatively stable, except for seasonal varia-tion.     

Pelagic-Benthic Coupling in the Nordic Seas: The Role of Episodic Events

Abstract. The consequences of the following episodic phenomena for the pelagic-benthic coupling in the Nordic Seas are illustrated: (1) Advection of water masses between fjords and shelf environments, (2) freshwater run-off and vertical stability, (3) dynamics of the marginal ice zone in the central and northern Barents Sea and the Polar Ocean, (4) drift patterns of sinking particles along the North Norwegian coast, (5) advection of zooplankton into subarctic fjords and the southern Barents Sea, zooplankton overwintering and composition, and (6) transport of organic particulate matter from the Barents Sea shelf. It is shown that physical processes in the north-eastern North Atlantic and Polar Ocean can be strongly variable on time scales of days to decades. They have a significant influence on the dynamics of pelagic-benthic coupling. The physical oceanography influences the vertical and horizontal particle flux not only directly (mixing, advection, up- and down-welling), but also indirectly through its impact on the biota (for example radiation, wind, ice cover, freshwater run-off and overwintering, advection and retention of zooplankton). Understanding pelagic-benthic coupling at high latitudes depends even more on a best possible understanding of the physical oceanography and the time scales involved than elsewhere.     

Structure and development of the southern Moroccan continental shelf

The structure of the continental shelf off southern Morocco was studied by means of 2,100 km of seismic reflection profiles, magnetic and bathymetric surveys, and dredge samples. The research area lies off four geologic divisions adjacent to the coast: the Atlas Mountains; the Souss Trough; the Anti-Atlas Mountains; and the Aaiun Basin. The continental shelf, along with the western Atlas Mountains, the western Souss Trough, and the entire Aaiun Basin, has subsided along a normal fault-flexure system. This system runs along the shore at the Anti-Atlas Mountains, and cuts off this cratonic block from the shelf subsidence. The shelf is narrow and characterized by out-building off the Anti-Atlas range, whereas it is broader and characterized by upbuilding to the north and south. Deposition was essentially continuous at least from Early Cretaceous through Eocene time. Published work suggests that the last cycle of sedimentation began during Permian rifting. After Eocene time, most sediments carried to the shelf must have bypassed it and gone to construct the slope and rise or to the deep sea. Tertiary orogenies caused extensive folding of Mesozoic and early Tertiary deposits off the Atlas Mountains.     

Particle transport from the West African shelves of Liberia and Sierra Leone to the deep sea: A chemical approach

The chemical and mineralogical composition of suspended particle suites has been used to assess off-shelf transport on the West African shelves of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Using the ratios of Si/Al, Fe/Al, Mg/Al and Mn/Al as tracers, it was possible to detect shelf-derived materials in slope waters. In the majority of cases, these inputs could not have been detected using particle mass or light scattering measurements and could only be measured by using the chemical signatures of the particulate matter. At the time of sampling, the suspensate which had been moved seaward over the slope was detected adjacent to submarine canyons and highly turbid areas on the outer shelf. The chemical and mineralogical composition of the suspensates, and sediments in the adjacent eastern Atlantic basin are similar to those found in the water column seaward of the West African continental shelves and yet distinct from the Sahelian dust which is considered the major source of sedimentary material for the tropical and semi-tropical areas of the deep eastern basin. These findings suggest that materials from this shelf area could be a more important input to the deep sea than was previously realised.     

Late Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentation and hydrocarbon seeps on the continental shelf of a steep,tectonically active margin,southern California,USA

Small, steep, uplifting coastal watersheds are prolific sediment producers that contribute significantly to the global marine sediment budget. This study illustrates how sedimentation evolves in one such system where the continental shelf is largely sediment-starved, with most terrestrial sediment bypassing the shelf in favor of deposition in deeper basins. The Santa Barbara–Ventura coast of southern California, USA, is considered a classic area for the study of active tectonics and of Tertiary and Quaternary climatic evolution, interpretations of which depend upon an understanding of sedimentation patterns. High-resolution seismic-reflection data over >570 km² of this shelf show that sediment production is concentrated in a few drainage basins, with the Ventura and Santa Clara River deltas containing most of the upper Pleistocene to Holocene sediment on the shelf. Away from those deltas, the major factor controlling shelf sedimentation is the interaction of wave energy with coastline geometry. Depocenters containing sediment 5–20 m thick exist opposite broad coastal embayments, whereas relict material (bedrock below a regional unconformity) is exposed at the sea floor in areas of the shelf opposite coastal headlands. Locally, natural hydrocarbon seeps interact with sediment deposition either to produce elevated tar-and-sediment mounds or as gas plumes that hinder sediment settling. As much as 80% of fluvial sediment delivered by the Ventura and Santa Clara Rivers is transported off the shelf (some into the Santa Barbara Basin and some into the Santa Monica Basin via Hueneme Canyon), leaving a shelf with relatively little recent sediment accumulation. Understanding factors that control large-scale sediment dispersal along a rapidly uplifting coast that produces substantial quantities of sediment has implications for interpreting the ancient stratigraphic record of active and transform continental margins, and for inferring the distribution of hydrocarbon resources in relict shelf deposits.     

Distribution of Divaricella huttoniana (mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae) in the New Zealand region

The distribution of samples containing the lucinid Divaricella (Divalucina) huttoniana (Vanatta) from the continental shelf of the North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands (New Zealand) in the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute collection is discussed in relation to published records and museum collections. The paucity of living specimens and large shells in shelf samples contrasts with beach collections, and is partly related to sampling problems close inshore off sandy beaches. Southern distributional limits are probably related to winter temperatures on the sea floor.     

中国物理海洋学研究70年:发展历程、学术成就概览

本文概略评述新中国成立70年来物理海洋学各分支研究领域的发展历程和若干学术成就。中国物理海洋学研究起步于海浪、潮汐、近海环流与水团,以及以风暴潮为主的海洋气象灾害的研究。随着国力的增强,研究领域不断拓展,涌现了大量具有广泛影响力的研究成果,其中包括:提出了被国际广泛采用的“普遍风浪谱”和“涌浪谱”,发展了第三代海浪数值模式;提出了“准调和分析方法”和“潮汐潮流永久预报”等潮汐潮流的分析和预报方法;发现并命名了“棉兰老潜流”,揭示了东海黑潮的多核结构及其多尺度变异机理等,系统描述了太平洋西边界流系;提出了印度尼西亚贯穿流的南海分支(或称南海贯穿流);不断完善了中国近海陆架环流系统,在南海环流、黑潮及其分支、台湾暖流、闽浙沿岸流、黄海冷水团环流、黄海暖流、渤海环流,以及陆架波方面均取得了深刻的认识;从大气桥和海洋桥两个方面对太平洋–印度洋–大西洋洋际相互作用进行了系统的总结;发展了浅海水团的研究方法,基本摸清了中国近海水团的分布和消长特征与机制,在大洋和极地水团分布及运动研究方面也做出了重要贡献;阐明了南海中尺度涡的宏观特征和生成机制,揭示了中尺度涡的三维结构,定量评估了其全球物质与能量输运能力;基本摸清了中国近海海洋锋的空间分布和季节变化特征,提出了地形、正压不稳定和斜压不稳定等锋面动力学机制;构建了“南海内波潜标观测网”,实现了对内波生成–演变–消亡全过程机理的系统认识;发展了湍流的剪切不稳定理论,提出了海流“边缘不稳定”的概念,开发了海洋湍流模式,提出了湍流混合参数化的新方法等;在海洋内部混合机制和能量来源方面取得了新的认识,并阐述了混合对海洋深层环流、营养物质输运等过程的影响;研发了全球浪–潮–流耦合模式,推出一系列海洋与气候模式;发展了可同化主要海洋观测数据的海洋数据同化系统和用于ENSO预报的耦合同化系统;建立了达到国际水准的非地转(水槽/水池)和地转(旋转平台)物理模 型实验平台;发展了ENSO预报的误差分析方法,建立了海洋和气候系统年代际变化的理论体系,揭示了中深层海洋对全球气候变化的响应;初步建成了中国近海海洋观测网;持续开展南北极调查研究;建立了台风、风暴潮、巨浪和海啸的业务化预报系统,为中国气象减灾提供保障;突破了国外的海洋技术封锁,研发了万米水深的深水水听器和海洋光学特性系列测量仪器;建立了溢油、危险化学品漂移扩散等预测模型,为伴随海洋资源开发所带来的风险事故的应急处理和预警预报提供科学支撑。文中引用的大量学术成果文献(每位第一作者优选不超过3篇)显示,经过70年的发展,中国物理海洋学研究培养了一支实力雄厚的科研队伍,这是最宝贵的成果。这支队伍必将成为中国物理海洋学研究攀登新高峰的主力军。