Bottom-current control on sedimentation in the western Bellingshausen Sea, West Antarctica

A set of single- and multi-channel seismic reflection profiles provide insights into the younger Cenozoic sedimentation history of the continental rise in the western Bellingshausen Sea, west and north of Peter I Island. This area has been strongly influenced by glacially controlled sediment supply from the continental shelf, interacting with a westward-flowing bottom current. From south to north, the seismic data show changes in the symmetry and structure of a prominent sediment depocentre. Its southernmost sector provides evidence of sediment drift whereas northwards the data show a large channel-levee complex, with a western levee oriented in the opposite direction to that of the drift in the south. This pattern indicates the northward-decreasing influence of a westward-flowing bottom contour current in the study area. Topographic data suggest the morphologic ridges at Peter I Island to be the main features responsible for variable bottom-current influence, these acting as barrier to the bottom current and entrained sedimentary material. West of Peter I Island, the east-orientated Coriolis force remains effective in deflecting the suspended load of the turbidity currents towards the west, thereby promoting growth of the western channel levee. Calculated sediment accumulation rates based on seismic data reveal Depocentre C to consist of younger Cenozoic material supplied by glacial transport and modified by contour currents in the western Bellingshausen Sea. These findings demonstrate that the shape, structure and distribution of sediment mounds and estimates of sediment accumulation rates can be associated to the influence of bottom currents and their long-term evolution in response to tectonic movements, ice-sheet dynamics and deep-water formation.     

Sedimentary matter fluxes in the contour current sedimentation system over the continental slope of the Norwegian Sea

The sedimentation system of the bottom contour current over the continental slope of Bear Island in the Norwegian Sea is considered. The nepheloid layer that provides the high horizontal flux of sedimentary material represents the main source of matter for the bottom sediments. The vertical particulate matter flux is largely formed in the nepheloid layer; the flux from higher layers of the water column is insignificant. Horizontal and vertical fluxes of sedimentary matter show a positive correlation. The flux of the matter from the bottom sediment into the nepheloid matter and the residence time of particles in the latter are estimated.     

Deep-Water Bottom Current Research in the Northern South China Sea

This article discusses an effective way to study deep-water current activity with the sedimentary features of seabed sediments. In the paper, we have processed a seismic survey line crossing the Northwest sub-basin of the South China Sea (SCS). In the seismic profile, we can clearly distinguish the contourite sediment waves and find the erosion scope formed by the deep-water bottom current. Combining the analytic result of piston cores sediments in the research area, we can conclude that the deep-water current is the contour current. It enters the SCS through the narrow Bashi Channel and then it flows to the southwest direction along the isobaths of Dongsha uplift and Southern uplift, but there isn't direct evidence to explain that bottom current flows to the direction of the deep-sea basin. The conclusion confirms former speculation about the passage of deep-water current and provides an important foundation to construct the whole structure of deep-water circulation for the SCS.     

The influence of the bottom contour on the deformed state of the ice cover due to the motion of the submarine

The authors have previously determined that the effectiveness and failure pattern of the ice cover caused by flexural-gravity waves generated by a submerged body motion near the bottom ice can greatly depend on the depth of the water area. In its turn, the presence of a ledge on the ice surface may affect a wave propagation pattern. This paper presents an experimental study of the bottom contour influence on the deflection and length of flexural-gravity waves. The authors describe a numerical model for the analysis of the deformed state of ice caused by hydrodynamic loads due to a submarine motion, taking into account the bottom contour. The experiments are carried out in the ice tank. The results of calculations and experiments are compared.     

等深流沉积研究现状与展望

本文根据国内外等深流及其沉积的研究成果,概述了它们的研究进展,且详细阐述了等深流沉积特征和沉积类型,并指出等深岩丘的发现是该领域最为重要、最具特色的突出成果以及等深流沉积研究的油气勘探意义.虽然随着深海钻探计划和大洋钻探项目的开展,等深流沉积研究取得了较大进展,但现代等深流沉积和古代等深流沉积的研究在一定程度上发展尚不平衡,仍存在着较多问题,尤其是在古代等深流沉积研究方面显得更为薄弱.最为重要的是,等深流沉积的识别是该领域研究的最大难题.因此,在其未来研究上,应注意运用地震波识别、遥感等现代科技调查手段,进行多学科综合研究,尽快建立一套完善的识别标志,如沉积学标志、古生物标志等,以促使其逐渐成为海洋沉积学中一个更为完善的研究领域.     

Seasonal and sub-seasonal oxygen and nutrient fluctuations in an embayment of an eastern boundary upwelling system: St Helena Bay

Seasonal, sub-seasonal and spatial fluctuations in bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) were examined in St Helena Bay, South Africa’s largest and most productive embayment, between November 2013 and November 2014. Alongshore bay characteristics were assessed through comparison of variables along the 50-m depth contour. A mean coefficient of variation of 0.35 provided a measure of the relative variability of near-bottom DO concentrations along this contour. Consistently lower DO concentrations in the southern region of the bay in summer and autumn are attributed to enhanced retention. Across-shelf transects captured the seasonal development of hypoxia in relation to the distribution of phytoplankton biomass. Exceptional dinoflagellate blooms form extensive subsurface thin layers preceding the autumn DO minima in the south of the bay, prior to winter ventilation of the bottom waters. The seasonal decline in DO concentrations in the bottom waters was marked by sub-seasonal events of hypoxia, and ultimately anoxia linked to episodic deposition of organic matter, as indicated by increases in bottom chlorophyll-a concentrations. Seasonal changes in bottom water macronutrient concentrations followed trends in apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU), both of which mirrored DO concentrations. In the south of the bay, nitrogen loss through denitrification/anammox in suboxic waters was indicated by a dissolved inorganic N deficit in the bottom waters, which was most pronounced in autumn.     

Abyssal current along the northern periphery of Shikoku Basin

Abyssal currents along the northern periphery of the Shikoku Basin south of Japan were measured by current meters moored off Cape Daio-zaki, Cape Shiono-misaki and Cape Ashizuri-misaki and on the eastern foot of the northernmost part of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. Total length of observation off Cape Shiono-misaki was about five years including the periods of the Kuroshio large meander and no meander. Analyses of current data show:

1. Mean currents with a magnitude of 5–10 cm sec^?1 were observed during the whole observation period at all of current meters which were set 400 m above the sea bottom that was deeper than 4,500 m. The mean current for each current meter was parallel to the local bottom contour arond each station and was toward a direction looking the Nankai Trough (a trough located along the northern end of the Shikoku Basin) to the left.
2. At each station located above the shelf toe off Cape Daio-zaki and off Cape Shiono-misaki and on the foot of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, the mean current increases with depth (a bottomward intensification of the mean current), and the vertical extent of the mean current is estimated to be about 2,000 m above the sea bottom.
3. At a station located at 2,600 m depth on the continental slope off Cape Shiono-misaki, no bottom-ward intensification of currents was observed.

These results strongly suggest that a steady abyssal flow exists in the depths deeper than about 3,000 m along the northern and northwestern peripheries of the Shikoku Basin. Existence of the abyssal circulation system is also suggested, at least, in the north of the Shikoku Basin.     

Manifestation of marine and riverine factors in the tide and ebb phases along the white sea coasts of different configuration

The peculiarities of the distributional patterns of the water temperature, salinity, current velocities, particulate matter concentration, bottom contour, and zooplankton abundance were studied in relation to the marine-riverine interactions and tide/ebb phases for coast lines of different configurations in the White Sea during the cruises of the R/V Ekolog (August of 2006 and 2007). A significant difference in the manifestation of the combined effect of the marine and riverine impacts (the estuarine concave relief) and only the marine impact (the open-sea straight-line portion) was observed, which results in both variations in the sea water level and the distributional patterns of the suspended matter and the zooplankton.     

Effects of bottom topography and density stratification on the formation of western boundary currents

A wind-driven, general circulation for a two-layer ocean with continental shelf-slope along the western boundary is studied numerically. Special attention is focused on the formation process of the western boundary current in the subtropical gyre. The western boundary current develops in the upper layer along the western boundary on the shelf-slope with a bottom trapped poleward flow in the lower layer. The poleward undercurrent is concentrated approximately along the contour lines of the potential vorticity,f/D, wheref is the Coriolis parameter andD the depth of the ocean. The separation of upper- and lower-layer flows on the shelf-slope represents a typical transient response. As the response approaches a steady state, the poleward undercurrent decreases in amplitude, and the motion tends to be confined to the upper layer. The flow pattern becomes similar to that found in a flat bottom ocean. A steady-state response is expected to be isostatic (no motion in the lower layer), even on the shelf-slope, as conservation of potential vorticity would suggest.The remarkable increase in transport of the western boundary current produced by the formation of an anticyclonic vortex on the shelf-slope extending throughout the hemisphere (Holland, 1973) does not occur in the wind-driven general circulation.     

Sediment waves on the Moroccan continental rise

A nearly continuous zone of sediment waves is present on the lower continental rise off western Morocco which parallels the regional bathymetric trends. The individual sediment waves within the zone migrate upslope with time and, in general, also trend parallel to the regional bathymetric contours. These observations suggest that geostrophic contour currents are responsible for the formation of sediment waves. Physical oceanographic measurements and sea-floor photographs indicate only a very weak bottom circulation in this region. This suggests either that strong bottom currents are not essential for the formation of sediment waves or that relatively stronger bottom currents flowed along the continental margin of Morocco in the recent past. Turbidity flows may also influence the distribution of these sediment waves.     

Seismic and oceanographic evidence of present-day bottom-water dynamics in the Lousy Bank—Hatton Bank area,NE Atlantic

High-resolution multi-channel seismic records from the eastern margin of the Iceland Basin, Northeast Atlantic, are used to infer regional patterns of bottom water dynamics from seafloor morphology and distribution of the most recent geological units deposited along the margin. This information is combined with results from oceanographic and hydrodynamic measurements made in the area. The study area is located between Lousy Bank and Hatton Bank, where deep-water currents are forced around structural highs, leaving a complex pattern of topographically controlled sediment transport pathways. At the top and upper flank of Lousy Bank, George Bligh Bank and Hatton Bank topographic forcing leads to considerable acceleration of the northward flowing North Atlantic Current. At greater water depth, seismic facies indicative of bottom current action are found to be widespread. In addition, seafloor morphology displays moat features extending over large distances. The occurrence of these moats is confined to specific water depths in the range from 700–1400 m and from 1800 to 2200 m depth range. These depth ranges correspond to the basal depth stratum of the North Atlantic Current and the depth range of the Deep Northern Boundary Current, respectively. Geological evidence suggests maximum near-bottom current speed of about 0.5 m/s for these moat areas. Using oceanographic data we suggest that formation of the moats is not likely to be associated with the presence of a persistent high-speed contour current core, but probably originates from the occurrence of solibores and thus may be related to the internal wave field of the Iceland Basin possible linked to atmospheric pressure variation.     

Numerical modelling of the propagation of tsunami waves in the crimean peninsula shelf zone

The paper analyses the effect of non-linearity and bottom friction on propagation of tsunami-type surface waves from the abyssal part of the Black Sea towards the shelf zone. The study relies, on numerical solution of unidimensional non-linear equations for long waves, using the finite-difference technique. Numerical experiments have been conducted for the bottom profile continental slope and shelf, with the full wave reflection being prescribed at a 10-m depth contour. It has been shown that the major role in transforming solitary waves belongs to non-linear topographic factors rather than to dissipation. The reflected wave has been found to be non-linearly distorted, and wave heights in the Black Sea coastal zone have been found to increase by many times. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

琼东南盆地南部中新统“丘”形反射成因探讨

在琼东南盆地南部中新统梅山组广泛发育“丘”形反射, 对其识别分析具有重要的意义。这些“丘”形反射主要分布在北礁凹陷及周缘斜坡带上, 在顶底界面呈强反射, 在内部成层、杂乱或为空白反射, 有时在顶部见披覆沉积, 从盆地中心北礁凹陷向边缘斜坡带迁移生长。通过对“丘”形反射的古构造和古地理背景、几何学特征及地震响应特征等方面综合分析, 对其成因进行了探讨, 排除了其为生物礁、泥底辟以及火山丘的可能, 认为其可能为深水环境底流作用下形成的等深流沉积或某种沉积物波。     

Two-layer quasi-geostrophic model of contour dynamics for a round basin

A quasi-geostrophic contour dynamics model permitting one to study flows induced by a system of vortex patches in a two-layer ocean with round shore boundaries in the presence of specified background flows caused by the bottom relief, the β effect, and sources and sinks at the boundaries is proposed. The principal relations of the model are presented and the algorithm of its numerical realization is described. Some experimental results of the study of the evolution of unstable two-layer vortices are demonstrated.     

On the genesis of some bottom and coastal features in the Eastern Gulf of Finland

An investigation undertaken recently by the Division of Regional Geoecology and Marine Geology of the Karpinsky All-Russian Research Geological Institute in the coastal zones of the Eastern Gulf of Finland allowed finding some specific relief forms of both near-shore bottom topography and shoreline shape. First of all, among the most interesting objects, the sand ridges on the surface of submarine terrace (between Repino locality and Cape Lautaranta) should be mentioned. These ridges are elongated at an angle to the shoreline and are located beyond the limits of wave action. The other interesting morphological type is represented by longshore sand waves up to some hundreds of meters long and some tens of meters wide near the Bol’shaya Izhora locality. Longshore sand waves move along the southern coast of the gulf, this causing alteration of erosion and accretion zones and leading to formation and degradation of the sand spits. Shore-face-connected ridges are believed to develop under the action of drift currents generated during the passage of deep west cyclones. It is shown that the ridge turned toward the current gives rise to a convergence of the cross-shore flows over the crest and provokes a shift of the maximum velocity toward the front side of the structure. Associated changes in sediment discharges result in accumulation and growth of the ridge. The origin of wavelike features in the shoreline contour (longshore sand waves) is due to a very oblique wave approach caused by predominance of the west winds blowing along the axis of the gulf. Under these conditions a small perturbation of the shoreline contour is shown to manifest a trend to increase with time.     

Abyssal bedforms and sediment drifts effected by deep-sea flows

The investigation of abyssal bedforms and sediment drifts as a tool for understanding the deep flow characteristics allows us to interprete that a benthic storm is primarily related to sediment distribution, development of longitudinal ripple marks, and concentration of suspended particulate matter. There explicitly exists a strong and periodical bottom flow which is called the benthic storm having a current speed of over 15 cm sec^?1 and duration of more than two days. Hydrodynamic regime has been thought to affect underlying sediment textural natures which can be used to distinguish between bottom currents with different velocities. Therefore, concentration of medium silt mode (0.010–0.017 mm in size) delineates a high-velocity core of the benthic storm in the deep sea bottom. Bottom current measurements in most of the North Pacific Ocean indicate that present bottom current speeds are generally less than 10 cm sec^?1. It appears likely, therefore, that significant erosion is not taking place today. However, at current passages, bases of sea mounts, and other topographic obstructions locally accelerated current flows are recognized to affect bottom configuration. While, it is concluded from bottom echo-characteristics and bottom current measurements that widespread occurrences of echo type 3 (sediment-drift deposit facies) recognized at 22°N and 42°N in the Northwest Pacific are associated with the North Equatorial current and the North Pacific current respectively, and can best be interpreted to be originated from benthic storms, the source of which were come from those surface currents.     

长江口潮沼植物对动力沉积过程的影响

为探讨潮沼植物对动力沉积过程的影响,在长江口南汇东滩沼泽和邻近的光滩上进行了近底层流速、波浪、悬沙浓度、沉积物粒径和滩面淤积速率等对比实验,并在九段沙潮沼中做了两种先锋植物黏附悬沙的实验.结果表明,沼泽和同高程的邻近光滩近底层平均流速的比值为0.16～0.84;两种环境平均波周期、平均波高和平均悬沙浓度的比值分别为1.4,0.43,和0.71.波浪传入沼泽后,一方面波高大大降低,另一方面变得规则有序.海三棱草和草两种先锋植物群落黏附的悬沙分别达到298和40g/m2.由于水动力降低和植物的捕沙功能,细颗粒泥沙易于在沼泽中沉积下来,导致沼泽环境沉积物明显较相邻光滩细;沼泽中沉积速率加快,侵蚀受到抑制.     

Influence of Bottom Stress on the Two-layer Flow Induced by Gravity Currents in Estuaries

Baroclinic circulation in highly stratified and partially stratified estuaries is characterised by a two-layer flow: a bottom salt- water inflow and a surface brackish-water outflow. Tidal period variation of the thicknesses of a two-layer flow is observed to be associated with mixing, bottom stress and hydraulic characteristics of superposed tidal and gravity currents. Here, both analytical two-layer hydraulic equations with weak friction and a numerical model including a turbulence closure were utilised to understand the mechanism of the layer tendency within a two-layer flow under different barotropic flow conditions. It has been found that in the weak bottom friction case, a gravity current has two critical solutions at the layer thickness equal to 0·5Hand 0·292H. The layer thickness towards a particular critical solution is dependent on the sign of the bottom stress, i.e. when the bottom stress is opposite (favor) to the bottom gravity current, its layer thickness converges to 0·5H(0·292H). In the case of strong bottom stress and mixing opposing the gravity current, the solutions of the gravity current layer thickness at 0·5Hand 0·292Hwill not be valid. Both mixing and vorticity produced by bottom stress erode the halocline, and produce a high velocity core in the mid-depth, which leads to the thickness of a bottom gravity current greater than 0·5H. These internal hydraulic tendency and mixing processes, varying with time-dependent barotropic tidal current forcing, determine the tidal period variation of the gravity current structure.     

Observation of the bottom boundary layer off the Soya Warm Current

A mooring observation of current velocity, temperature and bottom pressure was carried out approximately 30 km off the coast of Monbetsu, between August 7 and September 2, 2005, to investigate the characteristics of bottom boundary layer (BBL) off the Soya Warm Current (SWC). We succeeded in measuring the Ekman veering and bottom Ekman transport in the BBL. On comparing the observed current velocity with that represented by the classical theoretical equation, the observed alongshore current velocity in BBL disagreed with that represented by the classical theoretical equation, but the cross-shore one agreed well. However after applying a linear extrapolation for the alongshore current velocity to estimate the alongshore geostrophic current velocity above the bottom, we could explain the alongshore current velocity by that represented in the classical theoretical equation. Consequently, our observations strongly support one of the proposed formation mechanisms of the cold-water belt observed off the SWC, that is, the convergence of bottom Ekman transport. The volume transport of vertical pumping velocity was estimated to be (0.12–0.25) Sv. In addition, the vertical profile of average temperature in all observation periods shows that slightly warmer water lies beneath the homogenous temperature layer, in the BBL. The result is considered to imply that the down-slope advection due to bottom Ekman transport supplies the SWC water in BBL and the eddy diffusivity of order of 10⁻³ m²s⁻¹ maintains the oceanic structure in the bottom mixed layer.     

南黄海和东海“人工水母”投放试验

1984—1986年,作者在南黄海和东海投放大量“人工水母”测量底层流。本文介绍了“人工水母”的投放、回收和漂流概况,根据这一实验结果,参考有关黄、东海海流研究的成果,绘出了调查试验海区的底层流模式。