Numerical simulation of nearshore circulation on field topography under random wave environment

In order to investigate surf zone hydrodynamics through two-dimensional numerical simulations of nearshore circulation under random wave environment, a nearshore circulation model, SHORECIRC, and a random wave model, SWAN, were combined and utilized. Using this combined model, a numerical simulation of the October 2, 1997 SandyDuck field experiment was performed. For this simulation, field topography and an input offshore spectrum were constructed using observed data sets synchronized with the experiment. The wave-breaking model in SWAN was modified by using breaker parameters varied according to bottom slope. The simulation results were compared with the experimental data, which revealed a well-developed longshore current, as well as with results using other combinations which were SHORECIRC and its original monochromatic wave-driver, and SHORECIRC and the default of SWAN. The results from the novel combined model agreed well with the experimental data. The results of the present simulation also indicate that alongshore field topography influences shear fluctuation of longshore currents.     

黄河三角洲孤东海域沉积物及水动力

根据黄河三角洲孤东近岸海域表层沉积物取样、水文泥沙观测和风浪资料推算,分析沉积物特征和运移趋势,并通过水动力条件(潮流和波浪)探讨沉积物起动和输移特征。结果表明,孤东海域沉积物多为粉砂类物质,由内向外逐渐变细,分选变差,丁坝的修建对周围粒径分布影响明显;沉积物运移趋势受风成余流、岸线轮廓和丁坝工程修建的影响,不同区域表现为不同的输移方向;研究区水动力表现为波浪掀沙、潮流输沙的特征,由于潮流较小,不足以引起泥沙的起动,泥沙起动主要由波浪引起。     

Influence of straits and bottom topography on the structure of barotropic currents in a flow-through basin

The development of currents and eddies in a basin of variable depth with two straits is studied within the framework of the nonlinear theory of long waves taking into account turbulent viscosity and the Coriolis parameter. The problem is solved numerically. We perform the comparative analysis of the results of modeling of currents in a homogeneous liquid. It is shown that these results depend on the location of the straits and bottom topography. Only jet currents are formed in basins of constant depth with symmetric straits. Eddy structures periodically appear in the presence of asymmetric straits.     

Application of a nonlinear frequency domain wave–current interaction model to shallow water recurrence effects in random waves

The effect of ambient currents on nearshore nonlinear wave–wave energy transfer in random waves is studied with the use of a nonlinear frequency domain wave–current interaction model. We focus on the phenomenon of wave recurrence as a classical nonlinear phenomenon whose characteristics are well established for systems truncated to small numbers of frequency modes. The model used for this study is first extended to enhance accuracy; comparisons of permanent form solutions to analytical forms confirm the model accuracy. Application of the model to a highly truncated system confirmed the model’s consistency with published results for both positive (following) and negative (adverse) currents. Propagation of random wave spectra over a flat bottom was performed with the model, with the intent of determining the prevalence of recurrence between the spectral peak and its harmonics. For spectra of moderate Ursell number, it was found that positive currents extended the length scale of recurrence relative to the case with no currents; conversely, negative currents reduced the recurrence lengths. However, beyond a propagation distance of ≈40 wavelengths of the spectral peak, recurrence becomes almost completely damped as the spectra becomes broad and the spectral energies equilibrate. For spectra of high Ursell number, in contrast, recurrence is almost immediately damped, suggesting that the nonlinearity is sufficient to allow immediate spectral broadening and equilibration and overwhelming any preferential interactions among the spectral peak and its harmonics, regardless of current magnitude or direction.     

沿岸海区冬季垂直环流及其温盐结构的数值研究 Ⅰ.环流的基本特征

为了揭示沿岸海区冬季垂直环流及其温盐结构的分布特征和变化规律，利用三维斜压流体动力学模型，对具有岸界坡度变化、河流入海、海湾、岛屿和海槽的理想海区冬季的垂直环流及其温盐结构进行了数值模拟。其环流的数值结果表明，冬季沿岸海区的垂直环流普遍呈逆时针流动。在近表层为向岸流，沿岸为下降流，近表层以下为离岸流；近表层以下的离岸流在外海有明显的上升趋势；沿岸下降流自表层至底层逐渐由强变弱；就整个海区而言，随着自南往北海区水深的逐渐变浅和岸界地形坡度的由大变小，其沿岸下降流则由强变弱。     

Numerical modelling of sand beach evolution around coastal structures

I~crIOWIn the coastal area, especially at the sandy seashore, wave and nearshore current are the major factors which affect sediment transPOrt and the motyhChdynamics.The numerical models of predicting the beach evolution can be classified intO the medi~term and long-term models according to their space and time scales (De Briend et al., 1993;Watanabe, 1990; Watanabe et al., 1986; Tao, 1996). In the medium-term model the effects ofwave, nearshore current and sediment transport are conside…     

近岸波、流作用下结构物附近海岸演变的数值模拟

针对与砂质海岸在波浪作用下的演变有关的波浪、近岸流及输沙问题进行了系统的研究,并对结构物附近海岸演变进行了数值模拟。考虑了波浪折射-绕射及波浪破碎的综合作用,在近岸流场的模拟中用沿水深积分形成的K方程模型确定涡粘系数。计算岸滩地形变化时,综合波浪、近岸流作用的底沙和悬沙输沙率,并考虑波浪对泥沙作用的影响。模型对防波堤和近岸沉船附近地形变化进行了模拟,效果良好。     

Nearshore sticky waters

Wind- and current-driven flotsam, oil spills, pollutants, and nutrients, approaching the nearshore will frequently appear to slow down/park just beyond the break zone, where waves break. Moreover, the portion of these tracers that beach will do so only after a long time. Explaining why these tracers park and at what rate they reach the shore has important implications on a variety of different nearshore environmental issues, including the determination of what subscale processes are essential in computer models for the simulation of pollutant transport in the nearshore. Using a simple model we provide an explanation for the underlying mechanism responsible for the parking of tracers, not subject to inertial effects, the role played by the bottom topography, and the non-uniform dispersion which leads, in some circumstances, to the eventual landing of all or a portion of the tracers. We refer to the parking phenomenon in this environment as nearshore sticky waters.     

南海北部内孤立波数学模型

在二层内潮数学模型的基础上,考虑非静力平衡扰动压力的影响,导出潮频内孤立波产生、传播的数学模型。该模型不受小地形假设的限制,并适用于南海。应用该模型能解释说明产生以下现象的物理机制：潮流流过巴坦-萨布坦海脊时,在一定海洋环境条件下,通过潮流与起伏的底地形相互作用可激发产生潮频内孤立波,并西传至东沙群岛附近的海域。     

粤东后江湾近岸带风-浪-流联合作用下的泥沙输运

在现场观测资料分析基础上,应用波-流联合输沙模型,对粤东后江岬间海湾近岸带净环流、泥沙输运作用加以模拟分析,结果表明,东北东向风是形成近岸西南向净环流的主要驱动力,波浪控制了海底泥沙再悬浮和底质推移输运的过程,从而形成海湾海底地形以东北部侵蚀为主、西南部以淤积为主的发展趋势.     

Random wave-current interactions in water of varying depth

Refraction of incoherent random gravity waves with currents and bottom topography results in spatial variations in the spectral characteristics of the free surface. Prediction of such variations based on the radiation transfer equation is in a simple analytic form for the case of one dimensional inhomogeneities in currents and topography. This analytic form is examined in terms of two-dimensional wave number- and polar frequency-direction spectra along the associated dynamic and kinematic constraints relevant to wave breaking and reflection. Results are specialized to the simplest case of horizontal shear currents in deep and shallow water with explicit examples to illustrate the relative and combined effects of currents and topography on free surface spectra.     

连云港近岸海域沉积物特征与沉积环境

根据连云港地区近岸海域的表层沉积物分析结果,运用Flemming的三角图示对沉积环境进行划分,并在此基础上结合沉积物结构、地形及水动力条件,探讨了研究区域沉积物特征及沉积环境。结果表明,研究区域沉积物以潮流作用为主,沉积环境可划分为近岸和远岸沉积环境。近岸沉积环境,由于潮流由外海向岸逐渐减小,向上部搬运的泥沙粒径越来越小,因此该区域泥沙颗粒较细,主要为黏土质粉砂和砂-粉砂-黏土;远岸沉积环境,潮流流速很大,可掀动并搬运较细颗粒泥沙,使得远岸区域有进一步粗化的趋势。     

辽东湾北部浅海区海洋工程地质特征

通过对浅地层剖面仪、侧扫声纳和海底取样等实测资料的详细分析,揭示了辽东湾北部浅海区的自然地质状况和复杂的海洋工程地质特征。该海区海底地形地貌较为复杂,存在海底冲刷深槽、埋藏古河道、浅层气、潮流沙脊与潮沟、埋藏古陡坡、软弱土层及可能的砂土液化层等潜在灾害地质因素,对海上构筑物存在直接或潜在的危险性,应引起高度重视。     

琼州海峡的一个三维泥沙扩散模式

通过建立一个三维陆架海数值模式来预报近海潮流和泥沙浓度的对流扩散,并应用于琼州海峡跨海工程的前期数值预测。预测结果表明,海区潮流的涨落、岸线形状、海底地形及源强位置与泥沙在近海的输运扩散关系密切,模拟情形基本合理,表明该模式适合应用于河口、近岸等涉海海洋工程海域的流场及泥沙扩散的三维数值预测,为相关的水动力环境要素和水质影响评价提供一定的参考价值。     

Numerical investigation of the influence of various factors on the propagation and transformation of solitary waves in the sea

For various stratifications and different types of bottom patterns we study the transformations of solitary perturbations of density appearing in the depth of the sea. In the two-dimensional case, under the assumption that the average dynamic characteristics weakly vary in time as compared with the wave characteristics, we deduce the equations for mean currents and waves taking into account vertical and horizontal viscosity and the diffusion of density. Numerical examples show that the stratification, bottom topography, nonlinearity, mean currents, and dissipation strongly affect both the process of splitting of a solitary wave into wave trains and their amplitude and length. The wave currents exhibit the oscillatory (train-like) character. It is emphasized that, in the case of propagation of solitary perturbations of density with dissipation, it is also important to take into account the combined influence of nonlinearity, currents, bottom topography, and stratification. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

Seismic expression of shallow- to deep-water contourites along the south-eastern Brazilian margin

The Neogene-to-Quaternary sediment section along the south-eastern Brazilian margin was deeply influenced by bottom currents acting from the upper slope down to the continental rise in water depths ranging from 100 m to >3,500 m. Different depositional styles are observed as a resultant of the interaction between bottom currents, seafloor topography, available grain size and time span involved in the process. Their importance in the sedimentary record varies in accordance with the intensity of that interaction. Deposits associated to bottom currents are both coarse-grained and fine-grained and are distributed along all margins. The identification of coarse-grained deposits in deep-water is critical for the petroleum industry, thus characterising sandy contourites as relevant for the understanding of reservoir analogues. Slope plastered sand sheets occur in the upper slope setting. They are strike-fed, along slope-elongated and internally characterised by high amplitude seismic reflections usually developing reflection free blankets above erosional terraces due to their small thickness (in average less than 30 m thick). Middle and lower slope contourites are mostly constituted of fine-grained plastered and separated drifts, where a general upslope migration trend and an erosional basal surface are observed. The seafloor topography from the foot of the slope towards the continental rise is controlled by salt walls and diapirs which influence the acceleration of the currents and the development of contourite drifts. Paleoceanographic reconstructions supported by seismic evidence indicate that the major currents sculpting the seafloor are southerly originated and their action can overcome the importance of gravity currents where continental supply is reduced.E&P/UN-RIO/ATEX/ABIG-PL     

DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF TYPHOON SURGES ALONG THE COASTS OF ZHEJIANG AND JIANGSU PROVINCES

Based on the numerical model shown in Ref. [1], a dynamic analysis is given for the storm surges caused by the four typhoons (i. e. typhoons Nos. 5310, 5612, 6126 and 6207) on the east coast of Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, in which the contributions of various dynamic factors to local surge elevation are calculated numerically, including the Coriolis force, the atmospheric pressure force, the bottom friction, the local topography and the couple nonlinear interactions between surge current and elevation as well as between surge currents themselves. Moreover, the responses of these factors to different kinds of typhoon tracks and water depths are discussed in more detail, and the effects of grid size on the computed results demonstrated.     

Interaction of dispersive water waves with weakly sheared currents of arbitrary profile

A set of depth-integrated equations describing combined wave–current flows is derived and validated. To account for the effect of turbulence induced by interactions between waves and currents with arbitrary horizontal vorticity, new additional stress terms are introduced. These stresses are functions of a parameter b that relates the relative importance of wave radiation stress and bottom friction stress to the wave–current interaction. To solve the equations, a fourth-order MUSCL-TVD scheme with an approximate Riemann solver is adopted. As a first-order check of the model, the Doppler shift effect and wave dispersion over linearly sheared currents are analytically shown to be retained appropriately in the equation set. The model results are then validated through comparisons with three experimental data sets. First, based on the experiments of Kemp and Simons (1982, 1983), a reasonable functional form of b is estimated. Second, simulations examining the propagation of a weakly dispersive wave over a depth-uniform or linearly sheared current are performed. Finally, the model is applied to a more complex configuration where bichromatic waves interact with spatially varying currents. Simulated results indicate that the model is capable of predicting nearshore interactions of waves with currents of arbitrary vertical structure. One of the unique properties of the developed model is its ability to assimilate an external current field from any source, be it from a circulation model or an observation, and predict the interaction of a nonlinear and dispersive wave field with that current.     

A theoretical reason to expect inviscid western boundary currents in realistic oceans

The conventional picture of an ocean gyre, based on an ocean with vertical sidewalls, assumes a balance between an input of vorticity by wind stress curl, and a viscous flux of vorticity through the boundary at the same latitude, resulting from a viscous western boundary current which may be significantly modified by nonlinear terms. Potential interactions with topography are also commonly acknowledged as a possible complicating factor. In this idealized picture, the zonal momentum balance is taken to be geostrophic, as numerous model analyses confirm. A theoretical argument is given here which shows that, in an ocean with sloping sidewalls, this geostrophic balance results in bottom pressure torques which balance the wind stress curl at each latitude. This removes the requirement for a viscous western boundary current at each latitude suggesting that the dynamics within a western boundary current may be essentially inviscid. While inviscid western boundary currents have already been found in certain idealized systems, and in one set of diagnostics from an eddy permitting model, the generality of the argument presented here gives a strong reason to believe that these are not special cases. Inviscid western boundary currents are in fact the rule, and the vertical sidewall case is an unrealistic exception.     

Quadtree grid numerical model of nearshore wave–current interaction

This paper describes an adaptive quadtree-based 2DH wave–current interaction model for evaluating nearly horizontal wave-induced currents in the surf-zone. The model accounts for wave breaking, shoaling, refraction, diffraction, wave–current interaction, set-up and set-down, mixing processes (turbulent diffusion), bottom frictional effects, and movement of the land–water interface at the shoreline. The wave period- and depth-averaged governing equations, which conserve mass, momentum, energy and wave action, are discretised explicitly by means of an Adams–Bashforth second-order finite difference technique on adaptive hierarchical staggered quadtree grids. Grid adaptation is achieved through seeding points distributed according to flow criteria (e.g. local current gradients). The model is verified for nearshore circulation at a sinusoidal beach and nearshore currents at a multi-cusped beach. Reasonable agreement is obtained with experimental data from da Silva Lima [da Silva Lima, S.S.L., 1981. Wave-induced Nearshore Currents. PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Liverpool] and Borthwick et al. [Borthwick, A.G.L., Foote, Y.L.M., Ridehalgh, A., 1997. Nearshore measurements at a cusped beach in the UK Coastal Research Facility, Coastal Dynamics '97, Plymouth, 953–962]. The modelling approach presented herein should be useful in simulating nearshore processes in complicated natural coastal domains. Of particular value is the local grid enrichment capability, which permits refined modelling of important localised flow behaviour such as rip currents and surf-zone circulation systems.