How are large western hemisphere warm pools formed?

During the boreal summer the Western Hemisphere warm pool (WHWP) stretches from the eastern North Pacific to the tropical North Atlantic and is a key feature of the climate of the Americas and Africa. In the summers following nine El Niño events during 1950–2000, there have been five instances of extraordinarily large warm pools averaging about twice the climatological annual size. These large warm pools have induced a strengthened divergent circulation aloft and have been associated with rainfall anomalies throughout the western hemisphere tropics and subtropics and with more frequent hurricanes. However, following four other El Niño events large warm pools did not develop, such that the mere existence of El Niño during the boreal winter does not provide the basis for predicting an anomalously large warm pool the following summer.In this paper, we find consistency with the hypothesis that large warm pools result from an anomalous divergent circulation forced by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Pacific, the so-called atmospheric bridge. We also find significant explanations for why large warm pools do not always develop. If the El Niño event ends early in the eastern Pacific, the Pacific warm anomaly lacks the persistence needed to force the atmospheric bridge and the Atlantic portion of the warm pool remains normal. If SST anomalies in the eastern Pacific do not last much beyond February of the following year, then the eastern North Pacific portion of the warm pool remains normal. The overall strength of the Pacific El Niño does not appear to be a critical factor. We also find that when conditions favor a developing atmospheric bridge and the winter atmosphere over the North Atlantic conforms to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern (as in 1957–58 and 1968–69), the forcing is reinforced and the warm pool is stronger. On the other hand, if a positive NAO pattern develops the warm pool may remain normal even if other circumstances favor the atmospheric bridge, as in 1991–92. Finally, we could find little evidence that interactions internal to the tropical Atlantic are likely to mitigate for or against the formation of the largest warm pools, although they may affect smaller warm pool fluctuations or the warm pool persistence.     

Jellyfish patch formation investigated by aerial photography and drifter experiment

Jellyfish patch formation is investigated by conducting a drifter experiment combined with aerial photography of a sustained patch of the moon jellyfish in Hokezu Bay, Japan. Jellyfish patches are aggregations of individuals that are caused by a combination of swimming (active influence) and advection by currents (passive influence). The drifter experiment involved the injection of 49 drifters around a distinct surface patch of jellyfish within an area of approximately 300 m × 300 m. The drifters’ motion, caused only by the passive influence, was recorded in a series of 38 aerial photographs taken over approximately 1 h. The ambient uniform current field larger than the patch scale was estimated from the movement of the centroid position of drifters, while the distribution of horizontal divergence and relative vorticity around the patch was estimated from the time-derivative in areas of triangles formed by the drifters. The centroid positions of both drifters and patches moved stably toward the bay head at different speeds. The difference vector between the patch and drifter centroids was directed to the sun, and was opposite to the ambient current. The distributions of vorticity and divergence around patches exhibited inhomogeneity within the patch scale, and the drifters in this nonuniform current field aggregated near the convergence area within 1 h. The results suggest that horizontal patch formation is predominantly influenced by passive factors at the surface of Hokezu Bay. Furthermore, the upward swimming against downwelling may make sustained patch in surface layer.     

Analysis of seabed instability using element free Galerkin method

Wave-induced seabed instability, either momentary liquefaction or shear failure, is an important topic in ocean and coastal engineering. Many factors, such as seabed properties and wave parameters, affect the seabed instability. A non-dimensional parameter is proposed in this paper to evaluate the occurrence of momentary liquefaction. This parameter includes the properties of the soil and the wave. The determination of the wave-induced liquefaction depth is also suggested based on this non-dimensional parameter. As an example, a two-dimensional seabed with finite thickness is numerically treated with the EFGM meshless method developed early for wave-induced seabed responses. Parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of wavelength, compressibility of pore fluid, permeability and stiffness of porous media, and variable stiffness with depth on the seabed response with three criteria for liquefaction. It is found that this non-dimensional parameter is a good index for identifying the momentary liquefaction qualitatively, and the criterion of liquefaction with seepage force can be used to predict the deepest liquefaction depth.     

Biodiversity of meiofauna in the intertidal khe nhan mudflat,can gio mangrove forest,vietnam with special emphasis on free living nematodes

The ecological aspect of meiofaunal communities in Can Gio mangrove forest, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam has not been investigated before. The composition, distribution, density and biodiversity of meiofaunal communities were studied along an intertidal transect at the Khe Nhan mudflat. Each time, three replicate samples were collected in four stations along a transect following the water line from low tide level up to the mangrove forest edge. In total, 18 meiofaunal taxa were found with the dominant taxa belonging to Nematoda, Copepoda, Sarcomastigophora and Polychaeta. The densities of meiofauna ranged from 1156 inds/10 cm² to 2082 inds/10 cm². The increase in densities from the mangrove forest edge towards the low water line was significant. Along the mudflat transect, the biodiversity (expressed by different indices) was relatively high at different taxonomic levels but did not vary significantly along the mudflat except for taxa richness. Eighty nematode genera belonging to 24 families with Comesomatidae having the highest abundance 33.8 % were found.Theristus andNeochromadora decreased in densities from the lower water line towards the mangrove forest edge, whileParacomesoma andHopperia are typical and more abundant at the middle of the mudflat.Halalaimus increased from high on the mudflat to the low water line.     

南沙群岛海区晚第四纪碳酸盐沉积

本文研究了五个柱状沉积物的碳酸盐沉积。根据沉积物的陆源碎屑和生物骨屑ＣａＣＯ３沉积作用的特点，把本区沉积物分为五种沉积类；碳酸盐生物组成的门类较多，以有孔虫为主，其次为珊瑚，腹足类等；碳酸盐矿物以低镁方解石为主，还有高镁方解石和文石；与沉积物中ＣａＣＯ３有关的化学元素１０多种。这些元素和稀土元素的含量，比值等，是区分礁相，礁体过渡带和非礁相的标志。所有这些碳酸盐沉积作用的特点表明，区内存在着五种沉     

用样条函数计算结果研究冲绳海槽热源机制

对冲绳海槽１９８４－１９９０年的实测热流值，利用数字滤波方法计算，得到反映该区深部地壳热状态的区域热流值为８０－１６０ｍＷ／ｍ＾２，用Ｂ样条函数法对其作数值模拟，计算出海槽地温场模式，并以此研究冲绳海槽海底高热流的形成机制，得出冲绳海槽热流值的区域性变化与綦中地质构造格局呈正相关，高热流是该区现代构造活动所致，其明显特征是地壳减薄，地幔上拱等结论。     

关于海域面积精确计算的若干问题探讨

海域面积精确计算是实现海洋功能区划的基础和关键之一。本文通过对江苏省海洋功能区划工作中误差的分析 ,并针对其产生原因 ,在地图投影的选择和坐标的变换、扫描精度的控制、配准精度的控制、图象的数字化和图形编辑等方面 ,提出了相应的优化处理方法 ,提高了海域面积计算的精度 ,将其中误差控制在估计值范围内 ,从而在实际工作中有一定的应用价值。     

渤海南部表层沉积的相特征

通过海上调查及实验室分析,查明渤海南部表层沉积物在结构类型、矿物组合、生物组分及沉积构造等相特征方面具有明显的分区性。渤海南部存在五种沉积相:黄河水下三角洲相、陆架盆地相、海湾相、潮流浅滩相及古滨岸相。黄河水下三角洲相从河口延至水深15—20米处,沉积速率很高,沉积物富含碎屑云母及CaCo_3。陆架盆地相的沉积为粉砂质粘土,具有生物扰动构造。     

Investigation of the hydrate reservoir production under different depressurization modes

Abstract

Large reserves of natural gas hydrates exist, and the depressurization method has the greatest potential for gas hydrate reservoir recovery. Currently, the most commonly adopted depressurization simulation method is a constant bottom-hole pressure production scheme. This study proposes a new depressurization mode with decreasing bottom-hole pressure. The production characteristic was numerically investigated using this method. The results show the following: (1) As the depressurization exponent (n) decreases, the development effect improves, and production indexes including cumulative gas production/dissociation and gas-water ratio increase. However, the reservoir energy consumption is higher and the hydrate reformation is more severe. (2) Compared to the proposed depressurization mode, the hydrate production index of the constant bottom-hole pressure production (n?=?0) is better. However, the hydrate reservoir energy consumption is higher and the hydrate reformation is more severe using constant bottom-hole pressure production. (3) To achieve a balance between production and reservoir energy consumption during depressurization production, the bottom-hole pressure should be controlled by selecting a suitable depressurization exponent between n_min and n_max, which can be determined through numerical simulations.     

红海湾水域溶解氧、pH值、盐度和营养盐分布特征及相互关系研究

通过１９９８年６月对广东省红海湾海水养殖水域环境因子的调查,阐述了海水中溶解氧、盐度、ｐＨ值和营养盐的分布特征及其变化规律,并讨论了它们之间的相互关系,结果表明,溶解氧及海水ｐＨ值随温度由北（除１５￣１７号站）向南（除６号站）增高而增高。同时证实了光合作用是导致溶解氧含量和ｐＨ值增高的主要原因。而营养盐与盐度呈密度的负相关,浮游植物总量随营养盐由北向南降低而明显增高。