Preliminary attempt to characterize the rotation of seafloor in the Pito Deep area of the Easter Microplate using a submersible magnetometer

Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the rotation of the nearly north-south abyssal hill fabric formed on the East Pacific Rise north of the Easter Microplate to the nearly east-west trends in the northern microplate interior. Proposed mechanisms include rigid microplate rotation, transform fault – parallel shear, and bookshelf faulting during the transfer of lithosphere from the Nazca Plate to the microplate. We used a submersible magnetometer on a NAUTILE dive program to measure the magnetic vector rotation of a pillow basalt and dike spur near Pito Deep, the present location of the tip of the propagating rift system that created the microplate. Our results, although too limited to draw strong conclusions from, suggest clockwise rotations of the seafloor magnetic vectors inconsistent with the transform-parallel shear model, and larger than can be explained solely by rigid microplate rotation.     

Invertebrates in the trophic webs of the white sea near-shore ecosystem (using the example of Gryaznaya Inlet)

In the food clods of the mass species of macrobenthos of the Gryaznaya Inlet, nonstructured matter plays a great role. We identify this matter as derivates from plant tissues, which are the products of their external metabolism and degradation, with associated microorganisms. This way, the near-shore community considered is supported by a detrital trophic web. This feature distinguishes it from the similar community of the near-Atlantic waters that is based on a pasture web, at least as far as the bivalve mass species are concerned. The groups of the near-shore species of Gryaznaya Inlet separated by a cluster analysis are identified as consortia, combined by the biogeochemical conditions (edifice factor), which can hardly be analyzed at present.     

Evolution of oceanographic conditions off Baja California: 1997–1999

This paper examines the oceanic response off Baja California, Mexico, to the 1997–1998 El Niño and the transition to La Niña conditions. The data presented were gathered during seven cruises over a grid based on the CalCOFI station plan, from lines 100–130, out to station 80. T–S diagrams with data obtained during the peak phase of El Niño, demonstrate that warmer and saltier (spicier) than normal conditions prevailed in the upper 600 m over this region. Temperature and salinity anomalies calculated for CalCOFI line 120 revealed waters near the coast at 50 m depth to be up to 8.7 °C warmer and S=0.8 saltier than the climatology during October 1997. These large anomalies persisted through January 1998, with some slight diminution in the magnitudes near the surface. This study suggests that anomalously warm and salty waters were fed from a source of spicy water to the southwest, identified as Subtropical Surface Water (StSW), and that low-salinity Tropical surface waters (TSW) were blocked to the southeast in the vicinity of the tip of the Peninsula. Subsurface waters associated with the California undercurrent (CU), fed from the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), were also warmer and saltier than normal, and indicate a significant expansion in volume of the CU, presumably a result of intensification of poleward flow at depth. We postulate that the well defined near-surface and deep poleward flows in the study area reflect anomalous large-scale cyclonic circulation affecting the flow in the southeastern region of the North Pacific subtropical gyre east of 125°W. Following the El Niño event, warm and salty upper waters retreated to latitudes south of Punta Eugenia. With the return to normal and cooler conditions, equatorward flow over the sampling grid predominated with an increased meandering and mesoscale activity. Transition to La Niña conditions would have been associated with re-establishment of normal anticyclonic flow in the southeastern quadrant of the Pacific subtropical gyre.     

A Unified Variational Principle of Fluid Mechanics and Application on Solitary Subdomain or Point

-According to basic equations of fluid mechanics, this paper presents a unified variational principle of fluid mechanics (UVPFM) by using the optimization method of weighted residuals (OMWR). The advantages are as follows, the establishment of the functional and the variational principle is easy, it can change various problems of fluid mechanics derived by basic equations into a unified optimization problem, and the solution is the optimum one in some sense. According to the OMWR for the solitary subdomain, this paper uses UVPFM onto any solitary subdomain and gives the solution of the hydrodynamics equation which is suitable only for that solitary subdomain. According to the OMWR for solitary point, this paper uses UVPFM to any solitary point and gives the solution of the hydrodynamics equation (point solution) which is suitable only for that solitary point. As the solution for the solitary subdomain or solitary point is developed independently, the compatibility with other subdomain or other points, do     

Observations of the countercurrent on the inshore side of the Kuroshio northeast of Taiwan

Intensive current measurements in the area northeast of Taiwan indicate subsurface, southwestward flow existed between the inshore edge of the Kuroshio and the East China Sea continental slope. At 70 km away from Taiwan, this countercurrent has a mean speed about 30 cm s^–1 at mid-depth. Closer to Taiwan, the flow turns along with the topography, and subjects to sidewall and bottom friction. Both the magnitude and the vertical shear of this countercurrent are comparable with that inferred from hydrographic survey. The wind field features short-period (a few days) fluctuations associated with the cold front passages, however, this is not reflected on the current records. It appears that the countercurrent is fairly steady. Together with similar reversing flow found at places much further to the north, the overall pattern seems to be a general quasi-steady feature along most part of the shelf edge of the East China Sea.     

On the adequacy of second-order models to predict abnormal waves

The paper is intended to extend the investigations about the nature of abnormal waves that have been reported in the work of Guedes Soares et al. (Characteristics of abnormal waves in North Sea states. Applied Ocean Research 25, [337–344]). The same dataset gathered at the oil platform North Alwyn in the North Sea during the November storm in 1997 is used along with the time series from the Draupner platform, in which an abnormal wave occurred. The data are reanalyzed from the viewpoint of the applicability of second-order models to fit large waves. The observed results confirm that the second-order approximation is not adequate to describe highly asymmetric and abnormal waves.     

Geomorphological evidence for upslope canyon-forming processes on the northern KwaZulu-Natal shelf,SW Indian Ocean,South Africa

A geomorphological and statistical analysis of slope canyons from the northern KwaZulu-Natal continental margin is documented and compared with submarine canyons from the Atlantic margin of the USA. The northern KwaZulu-Natal margin is characterized by increasing upslope relief, concave slope-gradient profiles and features related to upslope growth of the canyon forms. Discounting slope-gradient profile, this morphology is strikingly similar to canyon systems of the New Jersey slope. Several phases of canyon incision indicate that downslope erosion is also an important factor in the evolution of the northern KwaZulu-Natal canyon systems. Despite the strong similarities between the northern KwaZulu-Natal and New Jersey slope-canyon systems, key differences are evident: (1) the concavity of the northern KwaZulu-Natal slope, contrasting with the ∼linear New Jersey slope; (2) the relative isolation of the northern KwaZulu-Natal canyons, rather than the dense clustering of the New Jersey canyons; and (3) the absence of strongly shelf-breaching canyons along the northern KwaZulu-Natal margin. In comparison with the New Jersey margin, we surmise a more youthful stage of canyon evolution, a result of either the canyons themselves being younger or the formative processes being less active. Less complicated patterns of erosion resulting from reduced sediment availability have developed in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The reduction in slope concavity on the New Jersey margin may be the result of grading of the upper slope by intensive headward erosion, a process more subdued—or less evident—on the KwaZulu-Natal margin.     

A time-varying parameter model of a body oscillating in pitch

Among the assumptions upon which linear time-invariant models of floating bodies are based is that the body motions are so small that any change in the body’s angular position can be disregarded. However, it is often a major design requirement of a wave energy conversion device that the response amplitude is large, thereby invalidating one of the assumptions of the linear model. In particular, the immersed geometry of a body undergoes considerable variation when it is moved in pitch. With regard to this we investigate the difference in performance between a quasi-linear model in which the change of immersed surface is modelled by time-varying parameters and a basic linear model in which the immersed surface is time-invariant. The time-varying parameter model is realized by interpolation between the appropriate parameter values of a set of linear time-invariant (LTI) models derived for the different immersed surfaces that occur at discrete body displacements. It is shown that the responses predicted using the time-varying parameter model are closer to those measured experimentally than those of a standard frequency-domain model. Particular improvement occurs when the responses are large, such as at or near the resonance frequency. A problem which may limit the general use of the model is also discussed.     

Comparison of methods for computing hydrodynamic characteristics of arrays of wave power devices

A comparison of methods for the calculation of the hydrodynamic characteristics of arrays of wave power devices is presented. In particular, the plane-wave approximation and an exact multiple scattering formulation have been used to compute exciting wave forces, hydrodynamic coefficients and q factors for arrays of interacting wave power devices. The results obtained are compared with each other, and accuracy aspects of the computations are stressed and critically assessed.     

Estrogenic responses of larval sunshine bass (Morone saxatilis x M. Chrysops) exposed to New York City sewage effluent

To determine the estrogenicity of effluents from sewage treatment plants (STPs) to larval fish, 2-day-old sunshine bass were exposed to effluents from three STPs serving New York City (NYC), varying in size and treatment level. Estrogenic response was evaluated by measuring vitellogenin (VTG) and estrogen receptor (ER) expression in cytosolic fractions of whole body homogenates. Concentrations of the presumptive endocrine disruptors in the effluents were also measured. VTG and ER levels in sewage-exposed fish were 3-5 times that observed in controls. Combined concentrations of estradiol and estrone ranged from 5 to 13 ng/l and nonylphenol-ethoxylate metabolites (NPEOs: 4-nonylphenol, and 1-, 2-, and 3-nonylphenol-ethoxylates) ranged from 180 to 470 microg/l in chlorinated effluent. Results indicate that both ER and VTG can be used as biomarkers for endocrine disruption in larval fish, and that 4-day exposure to sewage effluent is sufficient to elicit significant expression of these markers in sunshine bass larvae. The extremely higher concentrations of NPEOs found in effluent relative to hormones (approximately 40,000-fold) indicates that surfactant metabolites may be contributing significantly to the estrogenic effects observed.