Stochastic modeling of seafloor morphology; Resolution oftopographic parameters by sea beam data

The authors explore the resolving power of an inversion algorithm which estimates five parameters of the seafloor covariance function from a single swath of multibeam echosounding data. The resolving power is evaluated as a function of the swath length, the orientation of ship track with respect to topographic grain, and the response width of the sounding system. The analysis is conducted by inverting sets of synthetic data with known statistics. The mean and standard deviation of the inverted parameters can be directly compared with the input parameters and the standard errors output from the inversion. Experiments show that resolution of the covariance parameters is strongly dependent on the number of characteristic lengths which are sampled. Root-mean-square seafloor height can be estimated to within ~15%, and anisotropic orientation to within ~5% (for a strong lineation), using track lengths as short as three characteristic lengths     

Climate-based Monte Carlo simulation of trivariate sea states

Accurate wave climate characterization, which is vital to understand wave-driven coastal processes and to design coastal and offshore structures, requires the availability of long term data series. Where existing data are sparse, synthetically generated time series offer a practical alternative. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to simulate multivariate hourly sea state time series that preserve the statistical characteristics of the existing empirical data. This methodology combines different techniques such as univariate ARMAs, autoregressive logistic regression and K-means clusterization algorithms, and is able to take into account different time and space scales. The proposed methodology can be broken down into three interrelated steps: i) simulation of sea level pressure fields, ii) simulation of daily mean sea conditions time series and iii) simulation of hourly sea state time series. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by synthetically generating multivariate hourly sea states from a specific location near the Spanish Coast. The direct comparison between simulated and empirical time series confirms the ability of the developed methodology to generate multivariate hourly time series of sea states. Finally, the potential of the proposed methodology to simulate multivariate time series at multiple locations and incorporate climate change issues is discussed.     

Wave period distributions in non-Gaussian mixed sea states

The wave period probability densities in non-Gaussian mixed sea states are calculated by utilizing a transformed Gaussian process method. The transformation relating the non-Gaussian process and the original Gaussian process is obtained based on the equivalence of the level up-crossing rates of the two processes. A saddle point approximation procedure is applied for calculating the level up-crossing rates in this study. The accuracy and efficiency of the transformed Gaussian process method are validated by comparing the results predicted by using the method with those predicted by the Monte Carlo simulation method.     

海面粗糙度方案的适用性研究

由量纲分析导出海面粗糙度与波龄及海面涌浪的状况有关,并对与波龄和波陡有关的两种海面粗糙度模型方案进行了敏感性测试,得出利用波龄模型方案计算粗糙度的误差比利用波陡模型方案小。基于国际上6个不同水深、风区和海况条件的海气交换试验资料,将其分为两组,一组是纯风海或以风海为主海况条件,另一组是以涌浪为主海况条件,测试波龄、波陡模型海面粗糙度方案在不同试验条件下的适用性。结果得出:在各种海况条件下,波龄模型粗糙度方案比波陡模型具有更好的普适性。在纯风海或以风海为主海况条件下,PS07,DGHQ03方案计算的粗糙度长度与实测资料计算结果最接近,GW06方案次之,O02方案计算结果明显偏高;涌浪为主海况条件下两种模型方案计算的粗糙度长度均偏低,O02方案计算的粗糙度长度误差相对较小,TY01方案误差最大。     

Biogeochemical studies in the sea

My studies on metabolism of organic matter in aquatic environments first involved research on the sedimentation process of organic matter in lacustrine environments. Subsequently, measurements of primary production in lake and sea water were undertaken to know the organic substance supply into the metabolism. After establishing the routine technique of productivity measurement in aquatic environment, the primary production and the photosynthetic characteristics in waters in the northwestern Pacific, the western Indian Ocean and the Antarctic Sea were studied. Following the development of new methods to determine the organic substances in the dissolved and particulate forms and chlorophyll pigment in seawater, their distributions both horizontal and vertical directions were determined. And I have had interest in the mechanism producing a subsurface chlorophyll maximum in the ocean. Recently, my major interest has been directed to the coastal waters. The nitrogen cycle was studied in oyster beds and the research on eutrophication processes in a shallow bay is being carried out from the aspect of production and decomposition of organic matter.     

Some statistical aspects of wave-induced drift in sea states

The paper provides a simple analytical tool which can be used to give estimates of the mean value and the standard deviation of the Stokes drift for sea states. This is achieved by providing bivariate distributions of significant wave height with surface Stokes drift as well as with volume Stokes transport. These Stokes drift parameters are defined in terms of significant wave height and characteristic wave periods. Also bivariate distributions of spectral peak period and these two Stokes drift parameters are provided. The paper presents statistical aspects of the Stokes drift parameters, such as the conditional expected values and the conditional variances for given significant wave height, as well as examples of results corresponding to typical field conditions. The present analytical results can be used to make assessment of Stokes drift based on e.g. global wave statistics.     

黑鲷嗅上皮的超微结构

通过扫描与透射电镜观察了黑鲷嗅上皮的超微结构，嗅上皮内侧是感觉上皮区，其主要的细胞类型是：纤毛感觉细胞，微绒毛感沉细胞，柱状细胞，支持细胞和基细胞，非感觉上皮分布在嗅上皮边缘及点缀于感觉上皮区，似指状结构，具有粘液细胞，支持细胞，基细胞等，根据上述观察结果，可认为黑鲷属以视觉为主进行活动的鱼类。     

The influence of wave-current sea states on the reliability estimates of offshore towers

Since offshore towers are high-cost, high-risk structures, reliability analysis is of great importance in their design. This paper presents a possible practical approach to certify a design through selective critical member reliability estimates. After a brief review of current research in this field, the authors outline a procedure for reliability estimation of structural members in extreme stress and fatigue limit states. A spectral approach for the extreme response statistics with stochastic loading is described. The reliabilities are computed by the Level II first-order second moment (advanced) method. The fatigue reliability is estimated with a narrow-banded stress assumption with discrete, but significant sea states within the life of the structure. Two numerical examples, a three shallow water model and a two-dimensional deep water model are presented along with the influences of stochastic variables (sea state, current, tubular member diameter) on reliabilities (extreme stress and fatigue damage).     

海南岛东南外海海底沉积物特征及其声学物理性质研究

分析研究了南海北部大陆架西南缘的海南岛东南外海海底沉积物声学物理特性,在多个航次中进行了海底沉积层取样、海水CTD测量、浅地层及旁侧声呐扫测等工作.在实验室里对沉积物样品进行声学参数、沉积学基本参数、物理力学参数和14C年龄测试等分析.根据多尔特曼公式求解出弹性模量、体积弹性模量、压缩系数、切变模量、泊松比和拉梅常数等六项沉积物弹性参数.分析结果表明在该海区海底沉积物的压缩波速为1.474~1.700 m/s,在不同的海区内有高低声速两类性质的沉积物分布;沉积物的切变波速为150~600 m/s;沉积物在100 kHz的声衰减为35~260 dB/m;沉积物的密度为1.4~2.0 g/cm3;沉积物的孔隙度为42%~88%.     

Characteristics of abnormal waves in North Sea storm sea states

A data set of storm wave records from the North Sea is analysed. Using current definitions of abnormal waves, eight of the largest wind waves are defined as abnormal waves. Twenty-four of the largest waves in time series, with a height larger than 10 m and with big vertical asymmetry are chosen for further analysis. Their individual characteristics are investigated and related to the global sea state characteristics. A comparison between measured data, second-order theory predictions and offshore basin data is made. The results for the chosen waves do not coincide with predictions of second-order theory. Considering that wind wave is second- and third-order non-linear, a new relationship between skewness and kurtosis is proposed for the sea states in which extremely asymmetric large waves have occurred. Another relationship between kurtosis and abnormality index of maximum waves is proposed too.     

Joint modelling of wave spectral parameters for extreme sea states

Characterising the dependence between extremes of wave spectral parameters such as significant wave height (H_S) and spectral peak period (T_P) is important in understanding extreme ocean environments and in the design and assessment of marine structures. For example, it is known that mean values of wave periods tend to increase with increasing storm intensity. Here we seek to characterise joint dependence in a straightforward manner, accessible to the ocean engineering community, using a statistically sound approach.Many methods of multivariate extreme value analyses are based on models which assume implicitly that in some joint tail region each parameter is either independent of or asymptotically dependent on other parameters; yet in reality the dependence structure in general is neither of these. The underpinning assumption of multivariate regular variation restricts these methods to estimation of joint regions in which all parameters are extreme; but regions where only a subset of parameters are extreme can be equally important for design. The conditional approach of Heffernan and Tawn (2004), similar in spirit to that of Haver (1985) but with better theoretical foundation, overcomes these difficulties.We use the conditional approach to characterise the dependence structure of H_S and T_P. The key elements of the procedure are: (1) marginal modelling for all parameters, (2) transformation of data to a common standard Gumbel marginal form, (3) modelling dependence between data for extremes of pairs of parameters using a form of regression, (4) simulation of long return periods to estimate joint extremes. We demonstrate the approach in application to measured and hindcast data from the Northern North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the North West Shelf of Australia. We also illustrate the use of data re-sampling techniques such as bootstrapping to estimate the uncertainty in marginal and dependence models and accommodate this uncertainty in extreme quantile estimation.We discuss the current approach in the context of other approaches to multivariate extreme value estimation popular in the ocean engineering community.     

Archipelagos and the law of the sea: Island straits states or island-studded sea space?

At first sight, the regime suggested for archipelagos at UNCLOS seems to recognize to a large extent the concept of the archipelago as a single unit of islands and water. The author examines closely whether in fact the archipelagic states' view of their maritime jurisdiction has been upheld, or whether the negotiations have led to a position based on traditional concepts of law of the sea. The archipelago doctrine and interests underlying it, opposition to it, and the considerations by the international legal community are discussed. Finally, developments on archipelagos in the Seabed Committee and UNCLOS III are traced in order to understand the language of the proposed archipelagic regime.     

Wave height distributions in bimodal sea states from offshore basins

The paper presents results for the distribution of wave heights from laboratory generated bimodal sea states. Data collected at the DHI offshore basin are analyzed and compared with results based on wave records from the MARINTEK offshore basin. The comparisons are done for three groups of mixed sea states: wind-sea dominated, swell-dominated and energy-equivalent, determined on the basis of the parameter sea-swell energy ratio (SSER), which have been generated according to the model of Guedes Soares (1984). In some sea states abnormal or freak waves have been observed.The quasi-determinism theory of Boccotti is used to expand some linear narrowband models to second order, thus providing validation of the adequacy of the equations to represent the linear components of the wave heights. Also, the data are compared with the predictions of a third order model using as a nonlinear correction the coefficient of kurtosis. Due to the coexistence of wind-sea and swell, the core of the autocovariance function in some cases demonstrates a global minimum which is the second local minimum in the sequence. This can affect the fitting ability of distributions whose parameters depend on the form of the autocorrelation function or its envelope.The results for MARINTEK and DHI data show similar patterns of fit between predicted and observed exceedance probabilities for the considered classes of bimodal spectra.     

高等级海况条件下移动式海上基地动力响应分析

针对半潜式超大型浮式结构中典型的移动式海上基地(Mobile Offshore Base,MOB)在高等级海况下的动力响应问题展开研究。在MOB结构"刚性模块-柔性连接构件(Rigid Modules and Flexible Connectors,RMFC)"模型的前提下,根据动力学基本原理,经理论推导并计算得到MOB分别在6、7、8级海况的随机波激励下,其上各模块的动力响应位移结果。详细分析了MOB结构同一模块在不同海况条件下的动力响应位移随浪向角及连接构件刚度的变化规律。研究成果可为半潜式超大型浮式结构动力响应研究及结构优化设计提供一定的技术支撑。     

Steepness and asymmetry of the largest waves in storm sea states

Several steepness coefficients are proposed to describe the steepness and asymmetry of the largest individual waves in measured records of storm sea states. These coefficients are calculated for data collected in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Several statistical relationships between the new parameters are identified.     

联合重力异常和重力垂直梯度异常数据反演皇帝山海域海底地形

海底地形对开展海洋科学调查和研究十分重要。以多波束为主的回声测深技术测量成本高且效率低,几十年来仅实现了全球约20%的海床测绘。对于空白区（特别是深海区域）,可以借助重力异常和重力垂直梯度异常进行回归分析反演得到,但该方法得到的比例因子鲁棒性不强。为了解决这一问题,同时考虑到两种重力数据在表征海底地形长短波长的不同优势,本文结合滑动窗口赋权和稳健回归分析来反演海底地形。在太平洋皇帝山海域（35°～45°N,165°～175°E）的实验结果表明：在船测检核点处,本文构建模型的标准差为61.02 m,相比于单一重力数据反演模型,精度分别提高了14.92%（重力异常）和2.08%（重力垂直梯度异常）,能较好地反映皇帝海山链的地形走势。     

极端海洋环境对海洋平台疲劳寿命的影响

基于渤海和南海的海洋平台设计环境条件,分析了近年来我国近海极端海洋环境条件的发生规律及其对海洋平台疲劳设计条件的冲击。采用Miner’s线性累积疲劳损伤准则和疲劳可靠性理论,研究了极端海况引起的疲劳损伤对海洋平台疲劳寿命的影响,提出了考虑极端海洋环境条件的海洋平台疲劳设计方法。研究表明,由于近年来全球气候变换带来的极端气象条件频发,导致海洋工程结构经历传统意义上的多年一遇海洋环境条件的概率大大增加,使得现行的海洋平台疲劳设计条件偏离了实际的海洋环境条件。数值算例表明,极端海况引起的疲劳损伤在总的疲劳损伤的比例大大增加,甚至成为疲劳损伤的主要部分。因此,这些极端海况引起的疲劳损伤对结构疲劳寿命的影响不容忽略,考虑极端海洋环境条件的海洋平台疲劳设计符合近年来的灾害性海况频发的现状。     

Investigation of microbial influences on seafloor gas-hydrate formations

Microbial communities flourish at gas hydrate occurrences in ocean sediments. Studies are reported in this paper on the laboratory production, separation, characterization and hydrate catalysis of biosurfactants from cultures of the Bacillus subtilis bacterium associated with Gulf of Mexico gas-hydrate accumulations. The B. subtilis bacterium from ATCC 21332 species was cultured anaerobically with glucose as carbon-source to produce surfactin, one of the more potent surface active agents known. The surface-active agent was removed from the broth in foam created by bubbling inert gas through the mixture, and biosurfactant was then recovered from the collapsed-foam distilled water solution by acid precipitation and dichloromethane extraction. According to HPLC spectra, five surfactin isomers were identified in the sample of laboratory-generated biosurfactant. Recovered surfactin was then used to perform gas-hydrate formation studies in porous media saturated with the surfactin-water solution. Gas-hydrate induction time and formation rate determinations showed that the anaerobically-produced biosurfactants catalyzed hydrate formation markedly. The tests suggest prolific surfactin production by the B. subtilis bacterium and of other species under prevailing anaerobic conditions around seafloor gas hydrates that promotes hydrate formation and the propensity of the bioproduct to be dispersed in the porous media by natural gas vents.