An overview and general results of the Lopez island OBS experiment

The purpose of the experiment was to determine the effects of coupling and bottom currents on ocean bottom seismometers. Twelve operational OBSs, three specially designed three-component systems, and a hydrophone were compared with each other. Unlike seismometers placed on hard rock at land stations, ocean bottom seismometers can be affected by soft sediments (which act as lossy mechanical springs) and by buoyancy. Coupling through soft sediments can modify the response to ground motion much as a low pass filter does, and high buoyancy tends to counteract this effect. These effects are observed in the Lopez data, which consist of signals from mechanical transient tests, cap shots, airgun pulses, and general background noise. The modification of response is pronounced for some instruments and barely noticeable in others. Instruments that stand high in the water relative to their base width tend to be susceptible to rocking motion that shows up as a mechanical cross coupling between horizontal and vertical motion. Correlation of Lopez results with coupling theory suggests that it is possible to design ocean bottom seismometers that will couple well to any sediment. Current levels at the Lopez site (<5 cm s^-1) were too small to produce noticeable effect on any of the instruments; however, the same design criteria that will minimize coupling problems will also lessen problems caused by ocean currents.Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution No. 1171.     

A retrievable bottom-mounted current meter

The design and use of a lightweight, retrievable, bottom-mounted current meter for taking current measurements to ocean depths of 1800 m are described.     

Mechanisms of enrichment of the rarer elements in marine manganese nodules

The rare-earth distribution has been determined in five manganese nodules from a range of marine environments. Manganese nodules from Loch Fyne, Scotland, and the Gulf of Aden are characterized by a low absolute abundance of the rare-earth elements and a low Ce/La ratio compared with deep-sea nodules. This difference is interpreted in terms of the diagenetic remobilization of manganese in the high sedimentation regimes leading to the effective fractionation of manganese from the rare-earth elements and the resultant depletion of the rare earths in nodules from these environments. The mechanism of incorporation of the rare-earth elements into manganese nodules is thought to be either the direct adsorption of these elements from seawater or the scavenging of the elements by colloidal iron oxide prior to their incorporation into the authigenic phase of nodules. There appears to be no evidence for the surface transfer of these elements from inorganic detritus into the authigenic phase of nodules as suggested by previous authors. The distribution of U and Th in the nodules is controlled by factors similar to those controlling the rare-earth abundance in nodules. The higher U/Th ratios in nodules from Loch Fyne and the Gulf of Aden is considered to be due to the preferential reduction of UO₂(CO₃)₃^4? to some lower-valency uranium species such as U₃O₈ in nodules from less oxidizing environments.     

沉积物镁铝含量比及其古气候意义

沉积物的镁铝含量比——m 值(m=100×MgO/Al_2O_3)与沉积水介质的盐度、pH 水温关系密切。当水温处在冰点以下时,沉积物的m 值随水温降低而增大。当水温处在冰点以上时,水介质的盐度、pH 和水温的增加,都有利于m 值增大。由于气候条件能直接或间接地影响沉积水介质的特征,因此,沉积物的m 值对古气候的变化具有一定的判别功能。通过对中国元古宙以来沉积物m 值的分析,发现古气候的热冷变化有1200Ma 的周期,其中还有次一级的热冷气候波动。第四纪的气候是处在热气候期后期的一个冷的气候波动阶段。     

黄、东海近海面空气湿度分析及估算

利用1974～1982年黄、东海海洋水文气象标准断面实测资料对近海面空气湿度的分布、变化进行了分析。讨论了冬、夏季海、气温与湿度的关系,并对冬、夏季近海面空气湿度进行了估算。结果表明,夏季,空气湿度为气温的函数;冬季,除了考虑空气本身平流的水汽外,还必须考虑海洋向大气的水汽输送。     

底部边界层颗粒态物质迁移特征的放射性核素分析方法

利用颗粒态放射性核素携带的颗粒物历经过程信息,我们提出用泥沙扩散方程和颗粒态放射性核素扩散方程联解底部边界层颗粒态物质迁移参数的方法。分析实例的样品取自荷兰Waden Sea南部Balgzand潮滩(砂坪)和Mok湾潮滩(泥坪)的两个站位(BG1和Mok2)。示踪核素为~(234)Th,~(210)Pb和~(137)Cs,其放射性比度由r能谱测出。     

风暴潮灾与月相

本文以实测资料为依据,统计分析了风暴潮灾、风暴潮、登陆台风、天文高潮等与月相的关系。统计资料表明,登陆台风和台风风暴潮发生在大(小)潮期的次数相对较多,略大于平均数,但它们与月相没有明显的因果关系,它们相对于月相的分布大致上是随机的,如果台风在天文大潮期间登陆,台风引起的暴潮与天文潮叠加后成灾的概率明显增大,但也不一定成灾;成了灾的,往往是风暴潮峰值适逢当日的天文高潮所致。     

Sand ridges on the inner Atlantic shelf of North America: Morphometric comparisons with Huthnance stability model

Sand ridge fields on the inner shelf of the Middle Atlantic Bight are generally thought to have formed in response to northeasterly storm flows as the shoreface underwent erosional retreat with postglacial sea-level rise. However, the hydrodynamic mechanism is poorly unerstood. Coastal boundary models see the ridges as responses of the seafloor to distortions in the flow induced by the coastal boundary. Stability models propose that an irregular initial topography will evolve toward an ordered array of bedforms in response to repeated flow events. The two classes of models are not mutually exclusive, nor are members within each class mutually exclusive. Results of measurements of ridge spacing on the inner Atlantic shelf of North America agree with the predictions of stability models.     

UNCLOS and the marine scientist

The deliberations at UNCLOS have been watched with great interest by individual marine scientists and by those who have attended as observers on behalf of scientific groups. Most of all these scientists have been apprehensive that their ability (freedom) to carry out research would be significantly limited by many of the provisions of the ICNT. In fact, one author goes as far as to state that progress has been made, largely at the expense of the marine research scientist¹.     

Marine geology in the environs of Bouvet Island and the South Atlantic triple juction

It is suggested that Bouvet Island is the surface manifestation of a mantle plume which has resulted in the creation of a chain of seamounts in the South Atlantic and a general shoaling of the region.The strike of two newly defined large fracture zones borth and south of the Bouvet Island pedestal have been utilized to determine a pole of rotation at 12.5°S, 12.5°W for the Africa-Antarctica motion. A pole at 75°S, 13°E has been calculated for the South America-Antarctica motion. At the triple junction the South America-Africa relative motion is 3.3 cm yr^-1 (whole rate) at 075°. The Africa-Antarctica motion is 1.7 cm yr^-1 at 065° and the South America-Antarctica motion is 1.6 cm yr^-1 at 085.