Optical monitoring of coastal waters: Photic depth estimates

Measurements of underwater irradiance, transparency and Secchi disc depth were carried out in Liverpool Bay during 1974. The depth of the photic zone measured in the green portion of the spectrum ranged from 5 m to 50 m, depending on location and season. Inshore values of photic depth were smaller than those encountered offshore. By mid-summer the depth of the photic zone had reached or exceeded the depth of the sea bed over the whole study area.Consideration was given to the error terms associated with the optical measurements and to the problems of using standard optical relationships in coastal waters. The relationship between Secchi disc depth and the depth of the photic zone could not be taken as constant but was a function of the absorption and scattering properties of the water mass.     

La marge continentale Tunisienne: Résultats d'une étude par sismique réflexion: Sa place dans le cadre tectonique de la Méditerranée Occidentale

Résumé Une série de profils de sismique réflexion effectués au large de la Tunisie et dans le détroit sardano-tunisien aboutissent à l'élaboration d'un schéma géologique interprétatif dans lequel nous replaçons le socle paléozoïque et sa couverture autochtone (Eocène et plio-quaternaire) et allochtone (nappe numidienne). Nous discutons ensuite des manifestations néotectoniques (bassins d'effondrements plio-quaternaires-mouvement de flexure-surrections locales-venues intrusives). Enfin la nature du substratum du détroit sardano-tunisien est discutée en liaison avec les hypothèses dynamiques et statiques relatives à la formation de la Méditerranée occidentale.

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Serial seismic reflection profiles off Tunisia and between Sardinia and Tunisia are presented. Interpretation is given which includes paleozoïc basement and its autochtonous (Eocene and plioquaternary) and allochtonous (Numidian nappe) cover. Recent tectonic activity is discussed, (Plioquaternary foundered basins, flexure, local uplifts, intrusions). Then the nature of the basement of the Sardinia-Tunisia zone is discussed with respect to the various hypotheses on the region of the Western Mediterranean.

     

Geophysical evidence of mud diapirism on the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex

Mud volcanoes, mud cones, and mud ridges have been identified on the inner portion of the crestal area, and possibly on the inner escarpment, of the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex. Four areas containing one or more mud diapirs have been investigated through bathymetric profiling, single channel seismic reflection profiling, heat flow measurements, and coring. A sequence of events is identified in the evolution of the mud diapirs: initially the expulsion on the seafloor of gasrich mud produces a seafloor depression outlined in the seismic record by downward dip of the host sediment reflectors towards the mud conduit; subsequent eruptions of fluid mud may create a flat topped mud volcano with step-like profile; finally, the intrusion of viscous mud produces a mud cone.The origin of the diapirs is deep within the Mediterranean Ridge. Although a minimum depth of about 400 m below the seafloor has been computed from the hydrostatic balance between the diapiric sediments and the host sediments, a maximum depth, suggested by geometric considerations, ranges between 5.3 and 7 km. The presence of thermogenic gas in the diapiric sediments suggests a better constrained origin depth of at least 2.2 km.The heat flow measured within the Olimpi mud diapir field and along a transect orthogonal to the diapiric field is low, ranging between 16 ± 5 and 41 ± 6 mW m^–2. Due to the presence of gas, the thermal conductivity of the diapiric sediments is lower than that of the host hemipelagic oozes (0.6–0.9 and 1.0–1.15 W m^–1 K^–1 respectively).We consider the distribution of mud diapirs to be controlled by the presence of tectonic features such as reverse faults or thrusts (inner escarpment) that develop where the thickness of the Late Miocene evaporites appears to be minimum. An upward migration through time of the position of the décollement within the stratigraphic column from the Upper Oligocene (diapiric sediments) to the Upper Miocene (present position) is identified.     

Comparison of oscillatory and stationary flow through porous media

Experiments were conducted in an oscillatory water tunnel to investigate what effects temporal inertia has on the resistance of a granular medium. The flow law governing stationary porous media flow is reasonably well accepted and understood but the effects of unsteady flow have commonly been neglected. The present research was designed to assess the magnitude of the acceleration effects on media of uniformly packed spheres of equal diameter and on one sample of randomly placed stone.Oscillatory flow tests were made in a large oscillatory flume tunnel with periods varying from 3 to 12 seconds. The influence of properties of the medium (grain size and porosity) were tested by using spheres with two different diameters and packing each size sphere in different geometric arrangements. Tests made on a stone sample provided a qualitative assessment of the effects of more random material properties.For the experiments described in this paper, the Forchheimer unsteady-stationary flow law described the oscillatory measurements well when velocities and energy losses were maximum. Empirical coefficients determined from steady-stationary flow were generally found to apply to the unsteady flow, however some evidence of dependency on the period of oscillation was noted.     

红海及亚丁湾间之海水交换

分析表观耗氧量、滴定碱度及总二氧化碳量等资料来研判红海及亚丁湾间之海水交换。结果显示,红海深层水的方解石及霰石饱和度均比亚丁湾和阿拉伯海深层水的饱和度高。红海全水柱之方解石和霰石都处於过饱和状态,亚丁湾和阿拉伯海中各深度之方解石亦呈过饱和状态,但霰石的饱和探度则大约在500m左右。分析深层水之生物体无机碳与有机碳的分解比值,可以发现此地区深层水中,大约有25％的总二氧化碳增加量是由无机碳酸钙溶解而来。     

Validation of a finite difference method for the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations on a circular cylinder

The Karman Vortex Street generated by a circular cylinder is investigated by the numerical solution of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations in the incompressible Mach number range (Mach<0.3) using the Beam and Warming implicit scheme. The agreement with the fully incompressible projection method (Chorin, 1968) is fairly good while convergence time is very much better. The investigation suggests that the compressible Navier–Stokes equations may be used as an efficient alternative to study incompressible flows as well. Mach numbers just below 0.3 are enough to simulate incompressible flow behavior and at the same time do not cause numerical ill-conditioning in the solution. In addition, some relevant features of the vortices generated and carried by the wake of the cylinder could be fairly well captured.     

Spatial variability in the primary productivity in the East China Sea and its adjacent waters

Primary productivity in the East China Sea and its adjacent area was measured by the¹³C tracer method during winter, summer and fall in 1993 and 1994. The depth-integrated primary productivity in the Kuroshio Current ranged from 220 to 350 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹, and showed little seasonal variability. High primary productivity (above 570 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹) was measured at the center of the continental shelf throughout the observation period. The productivity at the station nearest to the Changjiang estuary exhibited a distinctive seasonal change from 68 to 1,500 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹. Depth-integrated primary productivity was 2.7 times higher in the shelf area than the rates at the Kuroshio Current. High chlorophyll-a specific productivity (mgC mgChl.-a⁻²d⁻¹) throughout the euphotic zone was mainly found in the shelf area rather than off-shelf area, probably due to higher nutrient availability and higher activity of phytoplankton at the subsurface layer in the shelf area.