SETTLING TESTS FOR TRACER PARTICLES IN STATIC WATER

The production of fine sediments coated with radioisotopes to act as a tracer in studying the movement of dredging spoil involves some physical and chemical treatment of the sediment. The treatment can affect the electrochemical properties of the sediment and hence its behaviour in fresh and saline water. The effect of these changes on the degree of flocculation of the sediment has been studied by measuring the fall velocity distribution in a 4.4m settling column. The results of these tests show that the coating of inactive gold or silver on to natural sediment without any other pretreatment results in a tracer sediment having fall velocities similar to those of natural sediment. Other pretreatments result in variations in the fall velocity distributions owing to different degrees of flocculation induced by the chemical treatments. An artificial sediment consisting of finely ground scandium glass was also tested for comparison.     

Distribution and sources of heavy metals in the sediment of Xiangshan Bay

Heavy metals in the surface sediments and sediment core from the Xiangshan Bay, a mariculture base on the coast of the East China Sea, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP–MS) in order to evaluate their levels and sources. The results showed that the levels of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cr in the sediments of the bay have been generally influenced by anthropogenic inputs since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In particular, Cu and Zn were polluted to some extent, as evidenced by high enrichment factors. Organic matter, grain size, wastewater discharge, and low energy hydrodynamic environment played dominant roles in the heavy metal enrichment in the sediments. The ratio of terrigenous source to marine biogenic deposit of trace metals in the sediments was calculated, revealing that terrigenous inputs were the main source of Cu, Pb, and Zn, while biological pellets contributed much more to the enrichment of Cr and Cd. Considering the influence of biological sources on the enrichment of Cd and Cr, and the fact that the sediment has been polluted by Cu and Zn, the development of mariculture and discharge of wastewater into the Bay should be restricted.     

Rare-earth element geochemistry reveals the provenance of sediments on the southwestern margin of the Challenger Deep

The hadal zone represents one of the last great frontiers in modern marine science,and deciphering the provenance of sediment that is supplied to these trench settings remains a largely unanswered question.Here,we examine the mineralogical and geochemical composition of a sediment core(core CD-1)that was recovered from the southwestern margin of the Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench.Major element abundances and rare-earth element patterns from these sediments require inputs from both terrigenous dust and locally sourced volcanic debris.We exploit a two-endmember mixing model to demonstrate that locally sourced volcanic material dominates the sediment supply to the Challenger Deep(averaging^72%).The remainder,however,is supplied by aeolian dust(averaging^28%),which is consistent with adjacent studies that utilized Sr-Nd isotopic data.Building on a growing database,we strengthen our understanding of Asian aeolian dust input into the northwestern Pacific,which ultimately improves our appreciation of sedimentation in,and around,the hadal zone.     

Laboratory Simulation on Phosphorus Releasing near the Water／Sediment Interface in the East China Sea off the Changjiang Estuary

Surface sediment samples taken from the East China Sea off the Changjiang estuary are used as raw materials for phosphorus releasing experiment. It is found that after being thoroughly mixed with seawater for about 10 minutes, phosphorus released from the sediments reaches its maximum value. Adsorption kinetics can be fitted with both Elovich equation and two-constant rate equation. The releasing amount is closely related to the composition of the sediments. Phosphorus release from silty and muddy sediment is higher than from that dominated by sandy composition. For the desorption reaction, iron-phosphorus(Fe-P) is the most active one, with a releasing ratio higher than other phosphorus forms,followed by absorbed-phosphorus (Ad-P) and organic bound phosphorus (OP). All of them can be referred to as bio-available phosphorus. The results demonstrate that phosphorus in sediments can be released into seawater under suitable hydrodynamic conditions, and have a great impact on the nutrition state and primary productivity of marine biosphere.     

Sampling Surface Particle Size Distributions and Stability Analysis of Deep Channel in the Pearl River Estuary

Particle size distributions (PSDs) of bottom sediments in a coastal zone are generally multimodal due to the complexity of the dynamic environment. In this paper, bottom sediments along the deep channel of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) are used to understand the multimodal PSDs′ characteristics and the corresponding depositional environment. The results of curve-fitting analysis indicate that the near-bottom sediments in the deep channel generally have a bimodal distribution with a fine component and a relatively coarse component. The particle size distribution of bimodal sediment samples can be expressed as the sum of two lognormal functions and the parameters for each component can be determined. At each station of the PRE, the fine component makes up less volume of the sediments and is relatively poorly sorted. The relatively coarse component, which is the major component of the sediments, is even more poorly sorted. The interrelations between the dynamics and particle size of the bottom sediment in the deep channel of the PRE have also been investigated by the field measurement and simulated data. The critical shear velocity and the shear velocity are calculated to study the stability of the deep channel. The results indicate that the critical shear velocity has a similar distribution over large part of the deep channel due to the similar particle size distribution of sediments. Based on a comparison between the critical shear velocities derived from sedimentary parameters and the shear velocities obtained by tidal currents, it is likely that the depositional area is mainly distributed in the northern part of the channel, while the southern part of the deep channel has to face higher erosion risk.     

PRELIMINARY STUDY ON GENETIC ENVIRONMENT OF SEDIMENTS OF THE EAST CHINA SEA

In order to show the relationship between the grain size model and sedimentary environment of the East China Sea, typical samples have been selected from analytical data of 1233 surface sediments, and mathematical statistic analyses of these samples have been made. Based on these analyses and combined with the compositions of the sediments and history of its formation, the authors try to divide the genetic types of the sediments of the East China Sea, with focus on the discussion of the characteristics of ancient and present hydrodynamic environments.     

南海北部陆坡峡谷区海底沉积物工程地质特征及区域稳定性评价

The upper part of the continental slope in the northern South China Sea is prone to submarine landslide disasters,especially in submarine canyons. This work studies borehole sediments, discusses geotechnical properties of sediments, and evaluates sediment stability in the study area. The results show that sediment shear strength increases with increasing depth, with good linear correlation. Variations in shear strength of sediments with burial depth have a significantly greater rate of change in the canyon head and middle part than those in the canyon bottom. For sediments at the same burial depth, shear strength gradually increased and then decreased from the head to the bottom of the canyon, and has no obvious correlation with the slope angle of the sampling site. Under static conditions, the critical equilibrium slope angle of the sediments in the middle part of the canyon is 10° to 12°, and the critical slope angle in the head and the bottom of the canyon is 7°. The results indicate that potential landslide hazard areas are mainly distributed in distinct spots or narrow strips on the canyon walls where there are high slope angles.     

Characteristics of sediment transport in the Zhoushan Archipelago sea area

Based on the field data including tidal current,suspended sediment concentration,grain size of surface sediments,the transport mechanism and movement trend of sediments are analyzed using the method of flux decomposition and Grain Size Trend Analysis.The results show that the concentration and flux of suspended sediments decrease sharply from the Hangzhou Bay to the offshore area.The suspended sediment transport is mainly controlled by advection transport including average current transport and Stokes drift-induced transport and the gravitational circulation transport.The surface sediments are transported from the entrance of the Hangzhou Bay to the offshore area in general; meanwhile,the sediment transport has two obvious transport trends in the offshore area.The interaction of tidal currents,residual currents,the East China Sea coastal current,Taiwan Warm Current and wind waves appear to play important roles in the sediment transport.Furthermore,the sediment distribution and transport are significantly affected by the Zhoushan Archipelago.     

MEASURES TO REGULATE THE SAND BAR OUTSIDE SHANTOU HARBOUR

After a macroscopic analysis of the sediment movement in the current of the sand bar region outside the Shantou Harbour and on the basis of some experiences in the regulation of tidal inlet type harbour at home and abroad, this paper puts forward some regulation principles to apply to the harbour. Through model tests and computation analyses, the silting amount in the dredged outer navigation channel of harbour without regulation has been estimated. Finally, the experimental results of several regulation scnemes using physical model have been compared and an optimum one of the measures to regulate the sand bar outside Shantou Harbour has been recommended.     

Rock magnetic property of gravity core CSH1 from the northern Okinawa Trough and the effect of early diagenesis

Detailed rock magnetic investigations were undertaken at 2~4 cm interval for the gravity core CSH1(with a length of 17.36 m) from the northern Okinawa Trough.Time-scale of the core was constructed by two characteristic tephras and foraminferal assemblages,indicating an age of 50 ka for the bottom of the core.Except for three tephras and abrupt decrease in surface,there are little changes in all kinds of rock magnetic parameters that can be correlated to the climate change for the last 50 ka.Different from the common sediments,most S-ratios(S equals the negative ratio of IRM-0.3T to SIRM,which is an indicator of low coercivity content)of the sediments are smaller than 0.9,which implies a substantial amount of magnetic minerals with high coercivity.The existence of iron sulphide(greigite or pyrrhotite) is revealed by representative susceptibility-temperature curves showing 200~350 ℃ Curie temperature in addition to 580 ℃ of magnetite,and also by awful smell during heating and dark heating products.Both the occurrence of authigenic iron sulphide and quick decrease of magnetic parameters near the surface clearly show that sediments from Core CSH1 have undergone early diagenesis.The featureless magnetic changes of the whole core except for three tephras mean that the post-depositonal alteration is so strong that most original signals have been destroyed.For the same reason,the organic matter in sediment and sulphate in pore water must have been consumed along with dissolution,precipitation of iron and manganese happening sequencially during the redox reaction series.Great caution must be taken when using these altered chemical parameters for the interpretation of climatic changes.     

红树林海岸的沉积物输运和碳沉降特征

Mangroves play an important role in sequestering carbon and trapping sediments. However, the effectiveness of such functions is unclear due to the restriction of knowledge on the sedimentation process across the vegetation boundaries. To detect the effects of mangrove forests on sediment transportation and organic carbon sequestration, the granulometric and organic carbon characteristics of mangrove sediments were investigated from three vegetation zones of four typical mangrove habitats on the Leizhou Peninsula coast. Based on our results, sediment transport was often "environmentally sensitive" to the vegetation friction. A transition of the sediment transport mode from the mudflat zone to the interior/fringe zone was often detected from the cumulative frequency curve. The vegetation cover also assists the trapping of material, resulting in a significantly higher concentration of organic carbon in the interior surface sediments. However, the graphic parameters of core sediments reflected a highly temporal variability due to the sedimentation process at different locations. The sediment texture ranges widely from sand to mud, although the sedimentary environments are restricted within the same energy level along the fluvial-marine transition zone. Based on the PCA results, the large variation was mainly attributed to either the mean grain size features or the organic carbon features. A high correlation between the depth and δ13C value also indicated an increasing storage of mangrove-derived organic carbon with time.     

尼日利亚西部大陆边缘海底峡谷下部结构研究

Multi-beam,sub-bottom and multichannel seismic data acquired from the western Nigerian continental margin are analysed and interpreted to examine the architectural characteristics of the lower parts of the submarine canyons on the margin.The presence of four canyons: Avon,Mahin,Benin,and Escravos,are confirmed from the multi-beam data map and identified as cutting across the shelf and slope areas,with morphological features ranging from axial channels,moderate to high sinuosity indices,scarps,terraces and nickpoints which are interpreted as resulting from erosional and depositional activities within and around the canyons.The Avon Canyon,in particular,is characterised by various branches and sub-branches with complex morphologies.The canyons are mostly U-shaped in these lower parts with occasional V-shapes down their courses.Their typical orientation is NE–SW.Sedimentary processes are proposed as being a major controlling factor in these canyons.Sediments appear to have been discharged directly into the canyons by rivers during the late Quaternary low sea level which allows river mouths to extend as far as the shelf edge.The current sediment supply is still primarily sourced from these rivers in the case of the Benin and Escravos Canyons,but indirectly in the case of the Avon and Mahin Canyons where the rivers discharge sediments into the lagoons and the lagoons bring the sediments on to the continental shelf before they are dispersed into the canyon heads.Ancient canyons that have long been buried underneath the Avon Canyon are identified in the multichannel seismic profile across the head of the Avon Canyon,while a number of normal faults around the walls of the Avon and Mahin Canyons are observed in the selected sub-bottom profiles.The occurrence of these faults,especially in the irregular portions of the canyon walls,suggests that they also have some effect on the canyon architecture.The formation of the canyons is attributed to the exposure of the upper marginal area to incisions from erosion during the sea level lowstand of the glacial period.The incisions are widened and lengthened by contouric currents,turbidity currents and slope failures resulting in the canyons.     

Spatial and temporal distributions of nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metals in the intertidal sediment of the Chang jiang River Estuary in China

Spatial and temporal distributions of nutrients (N and P) and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in the intertidal sediments at Dongtan wetland of the Changjiang River (Yangtze River) Estuary were examined by laying one transect running seaward to landward during January, April, June, August and October of 2005. Total nitrogen (TN) and heavy metal concentrations in the intertidal sediment showed an increasing trend from open bare °at to the high marsh, with the maximum concentrations in the high marsh and the minimum values in open bare °at. In contrast, sediment total phosphorus (TP) concentrations changed little among sampling sites. One-way ANOVA found that there were signiˉcantly temporal variations of nutrients and heavy metals concentrations in the intertidal sediment (P <0.05). The concentrations of heavy metals generally showed an increasing trend from January to October. As compared with other large estuaries, heavy metal contamination in the intertidal sediment of the Changjiang River Estuary was relatively low.     

Estimating trends of the Mediterranean Sea level changes from tide gauge and satellite altimetry data (1993-2015)

The impact of climate change on sea level has received a great deal of attention by scientists worldwide. In this context, the problem of sea levels on global and regional scales have been analyzed in a number of studies based on tide gauges observations and satellite altimetry measurements. This study focuses on trend estimates from 18 high-quality tide gauge stations along the Mediterranean Sea coast. The seasonal Mann-Kendall test was run at a 5% significance level for each of the 18 stations for the period of 1993-2015 (satellite altimetry era). The results of this test indicate that the trends for 17 stations were statistically significant and showed an increase (no significant trend was observed only at one station). The rates of sea level change for the 17 stations that exhibit significant trends, estimated using seasonal Sen's approach, range after correction for Vertical Land Motion (VLM) from 1.48 to 8.72 mm/a for the period 1993-2015. Furthermore, the magnitude of change at the location of each tide gauge station was estimated using the satellite altimetry measurements. Thus, the results obtained agree with those from the tide-gauge data analysis.     

Modern sedimentation rates in the intertidal zone on the west coast of the Bohai Gulf

On the basis of the measurement of ^210Pbcx and ^137Cs activities in the sediment cores taken from the intertidal zone on the west coast of the Bohai Gulf, the average sedimentation rates of modern sediments are calculated. The results indicate that in the sandy area of the intertidal zone (from Daogouzi to the Duliujian River), the sedimentation rate from 1955 to 1963 is 3.43～4.06 cm/a, and is within the range of 0.65～1.59 cm/a since 1963. The average sedimentation rate in the muddy area (around Qikou) is approximately 1.81 cm/a.The results above suggest that the sandy area of the intertidal zone has experienced rapid sedimentation from the 1950s to the 1960s,and the sedimentation slows down after the 1960s, and the sedimentation rates increase from north to south spatially. The rapid sedimentation from the 1950s to the 1960s in the sandy area is due to the fact that North China has plentiful precipitation during this period and the intertidal zone is supplied with abundant matter sources for sedimentation. After the 1960s, the weakened sedimentation may be a result of the reduction of sand transported to the intertidal zone, which is a consequence of diminished rainfall in North China and intensive human activities in the Haihe basin.     

Sound velocity and related properties of seafloor sediments in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

The Bering Sea shelf and Chukchi Sea shelf are believed to hold enormous oil and gas reserves which have attracted a lot of geophysical surveys. For the interpretation of acoustic geophysical survey results, sediment sound velocity is one of the main parameters. On seven sediment cores collected from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea during the 5th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, sound velocity measurements were made at 35, 50, 100, 135, 150, 174, 200, and 250 k Hz using eight separate pairs of ultrasonic transducers. The measured sound velocities range from 1 425.1 m/s to 1 606.4 m/s and are dispersive with the degrees of dispersion from 2.2% to 4.0% over a frequency range of 35–250 k Hz. After the sound velocity measurements, the measurements of selected geotechnical properties and the Scanning Electron Microscopic observation of microstructure were also made on the sediment cores. The results show that the seafloor sediments are composed of silty sand, sandy silt, coarse silt, clayey silt, sand-silt-clay and silty clay. Aggregate and diatom debris is found in the seafloor sediments. Through comparative analysis of microphotographs and geotechnical properties, it is assumed that the large pore spaces between aggregates and the intraparticulate porosity of diatom debris increase the porosity of the seafloor sediments, and affect other geotechnical properties. The correlation analysis of sound velocity and geotechnical properties shows that the correlation of sound velocity with porosity and wet bulk density is extreme significant, while the correlation of sound velocity with clay content, mean grain size and organic content is not significant. The regression equations between porosity, wet bulk density and sound velocity based on best-fit polynomial are given.     

中国黄渤海沉积物声速与物理性质研究

In order to investigate the correlation between a sound velocity and sediment bulk properties and explore the influence of frequency dependence of the sound velocity on the prediction of the sediment properties by the sound velocity,a compressional wave velocity is measured at frequencies of 25–250 k Hz on marine sediment samples collected from the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea in laboratory,together with the geotechnical parameters of sediments.The results indicate that the sound velocity ranges from 1.232 to 1.721 km/s for the collected sediment samples with a significant dispersion within the series measuring frequency.Poorly sorted sediments are highly dispersive nearly with a positive linear relationship.The porosity shows a better negative logarithmic correlation with the sound velocity compared with other geotechnical parameters.Generally,the sound velocity increases with the increasing of the average particle size,sand content,wet and dry bulk densities,and decreasing of the clay content,and water content.An important point should be demonstrated that the higher correlation can be obtained when the measuring frequency is low within the frequency ranges from 25 to 250 k Hz since the inhomogeneity of sediment properties has a more remarkably influence on the laboratory sound velocity measurement at the high frequency.     

Distribution of organic carbon in sediments and its influences on adjacent sea area in the turbidity maximum of Changjiang Estuary in China

Distributions and sources of total organic carbon （TOC）in seabed sediments and their implications for hydrodynamics are analyzed, in the turbidity maximum of the Changjiang Estuary. Ecology ecoenvironmental effects of estuary water on the continuously increasing terrigenous organic carbon from the Changjiang River are also explored through variations of organic carbon content and water quality indicators. Results show that, hydrodynamics exert important influences on distributions of organic carbon in the tur- bidity maximum of Changjiang Estuary. For their redistribution effect of terrigenous organic carbon within the moving layer in the whole region, variations from land to sea are not indicated by surficial and vertical average values of TOC and total nitrogen （TN） contents in core sediment, as well as organic stable carbon isotopes in surface sediments. However, on the long-time scale, the trend of terrigenous organic carbon decreasing from land to sea is still displayed by variations of stable carbon isotopic average values becoming heavier from land to sea. Previous studies have shown that high content of Chl a cannot appear in the Changjiang Estuary in despite of adequate nourishment supply, because photosynthesis of phytoplankton is constrained by high suspended sediment concentration（SSC）. However, an area with a high content of Chl a occurs, which may be caused by resuspended benthic algae with bottom fine grain-size sediments. Tremendous pressures are imposed on the environment of Changjiang Estuary, because of uhrophication trends and special hydrodynamics. Phytoplankton bloom area tends to extend from the outer sea to the mouth of Changjiang River.     

Standing crop and primary production of benthic microalgae on tidal flats in the Sanggou and Jiaozhou Bays, China

The standing crop and primary production of benthic microalgae on tidal flats have seasonally been observed in the Sanggou and Jiaozhou Bays of the northern China coast during 1999 - 2000. The results show that the annual primary productions of benthic microalgae on tidal flats in the two bays are 2 532 and 7 542 tons carbon, which would be able to support 3.1 x 103 and 9.2 x 103 tons shellfish meat, respectively. The nature of sediment is essential for governing the biomass and primary production of benthic microalgae on tidal flats. The biomass and primary production of benthic microalgae on tidal flats with muddy sediments are higher than those with sandy sediments, which resulted from higher nutrient concentration and lower grazing pressure. That is the reason why in comparison with Xiangshan Bay the standing crop and production of benthic microalgae on tidal flats of the Sanggou and Jiaozhou Bays are low. Light was a key factor controlling vertical distribution of biomass and production of benthic     

Study on Deposition in Semi-Closed Coastal or Estuarine Harbour Basins

A preliminary study on the distribution of sediment transport and siltation within a semi-closed harbour as well as the factors affecting the siltation has been made with a suspended sediment model, in which the Lianyungang port is used as the prototype. Based on the work, this paper describes a tubid water experiment within a typical excavated harbour basin. According to the experimental results some expressions for predicting the average siltation amount for semi-closed harbour basins by means of dimensional analysis have been proposed, with tidal features, harbour geometry and properties of sediment taken into account. Through comparing the calculated results with the laboratory and field measured data, it has been shown that the expressions presented in this paper are reasonable.