Wind-induced hydrodynamic changes impact on sediment resuspension for large,shallow Lake Taihu,China

The internal sediment release is a key factor controlling eutrophication processes in large,shallow lakes.Sediment resuspension is associated with the wave and current induced shear stress in large,shallow lakes.The current study investigated the wind field impacts on sediment resuspension from the bottom at Meiliang Bay of large,shallow Lake Taihu.The impacts of the wind field on the wave,current,and wave-current combined shear stresses were calculated.The critical wind speed range was 4–6 m/s after which wave and current shear stress started to increase abruptly,and onshore wind directions were found to be mainly responsible for greater shear stress at the bottom of Lake Taihu.A second order polynomial fitting correlation was found between wave(R^2 0.4756)and current(R^2 0.4466)shear stresses with wind speed.Wave shear stress accounted for 92.5% of the total shear stress at Meiliang Bay.The critical wave shear stress and critical total shear stress were 0.13 N/m^2 for sediment resuspension whereas the current shear stress was 0.019 N/m^2 after which suspended sediment concentrations(SSC)increased abruptly.A second order polynomial fitting correlation was found between wave(R^2 0.739),current(R^2 0.6264),and total shear stress(R^2 0.7394)with SSC concentrations at Meiliang Bay of Lake Taihu.The sediment resuspension rate was 120 to 738 g/m^2/d during 4–6 m/s onshore winds while offshore winds contributed ≥ 200 g/m^2/d.The study results reveal the driving mechanism for understanding the role of the wind field in sediment resuspension while considering wind speed and direction as control parameters to define wave and current shear stresses.     

Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the surficial sediments from the lower Meghna River estuary,Noakhali coast,Bangladesh

Sediment samples were collected from ten selected sites of the lower Meghna River estuary,and six heavy metals were analyzed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry(AAS)to assess the contamination level and the metals’association with sediment grain size.The current results revealed that the mean concentrations of the studied metals were ranked in descending order of iron(Fe)(1.29×103 mg/kg)>zinc(Zn)(42.41 mg/kg)>lead(Pb)(12.48 mg/kg)>chromium(Cr)(10.59 mg/kg)>copper(Cu)(6.22 mg/kg)>cadmium(Cd)(0.28 mg/kg).The geo-accumulation,contamination,and pollution load indexes suggested that the lower Meghna river estuary was not contaminated by Fe,Zn,Pb,Cr,and Cu.The mean size of the sediment ranged from 28.92 to 126.2 mm,and the Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant association between Fe and Pb(coefficient of determination,r2=0.836;p<0.05),and no significant correlation was found between individual metals and grain size,indicating no or low influence on the metals distribution.     

First Record of the Belemnite Genus Hibolithes from Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Turbidites from Malaysia

Discovery of the remains of belemnites referred to the Hibolithes sp. from the Jurassic–Cretaceous Pedawan Formation in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo(Malaysia) comprises four fragments of belemnite rostra. The specimens are characterized by multiple fractures and vein filling. Two fragments measuring about 130 mm are relatively intact, with only part of the alveolar region missing; a third piece represents the middle part of a rostrum, and the fourth specimen is too fragmentary to be assigned to any specific part of the rostrum. Based on specimen characteristics, a Tithonian–Hauterivian age is plausible. The sedimentary succession that yielded the belemnite material comprises thick shale that reflects the Te division of Bouma sequence. The occurrence of a Hibolithes taxon in the uppermost Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous Pedawan Formation sediments in Borneo reflects a near to global palaeobiogeographic distribution of this genus.     

Relationship between coral bleaching and large-scale oscillations in the Lakshadweep archipelago

Ocean Dynamics - The coral reef ecosystems in the Lakshadweep Sea are among the least studied due to the dearth of in situ measurements. The objectives of this study were to compare the remote...     

The role of a strong far-infrared radiation field in line excitation and cooling of photodissociation regions and molecular clouds

We have theoretically studied the influence of a far-infrared radiation (FIR) field from H_π region on the cooling by C and O atoms, C⁺ ion and CO molecule in a photodissociation region, and a molecular cloud associated with H_π region (hereinafter referred as H_I region) at low temperatures (T _k≤200 K). Comparisons have been made for cooling with and without FIR for two extreme abundances (10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁷) of the mentioned species for temperatures ranging between 10 and 200K and an hydrogen particle density range 10 cm⁻³≤n _o≤ 10⁷ cm³. The cooling by the species with low line-splitting (C_I, C_π and CO) is significantly influenced by the radiation field for temperaturesT _k < 100 K while the effect of radiation field on cooling by O_I is significant even at higher temperatures (T _k > 100 K). The effect of FIR field on the cooling of CO from low rotational transitions is negligibly small, whereas it is considerable for higher transitions. In general, the cooling terms related to the short-wavelength transitions are more affected by FIR than those related to longer wavelengths. It is also demonstrated here that in the determination of thermal structure of an HI region the dust grains play an important role in the heating of gas only through photoelectron emission following irradiation by far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation, as the infrared radiation from the dust is too small to have substantial effect on the cooling. It is found that in the H_π /H_I interface the FIR field from grains in the H_π region is not capable of modifying the temperature of the warmest regions but does so in the inner part where the temperature is low enough.     

The near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslides and slumps spreading in two orthogonal directions

The aim of this study is to present the solutions for the near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslumps and slides spreading in two orthogonal directions. A linearized shallow water wave theory is derived. The transform techniques (Fourier and Laplace transform) are used for the solution of Laplace equation. The results show that if the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=0.1, the numerical results are almost the same as the values obtained for one dimensional movement of the slumps and slides. But, when the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=1, obtained normalized peak amplitudes, η_max/ζ₀ are smaller than the numerical values for one dimensional solution. It is concluded that normalized peak amplitudes for the models are small because of the interaction of the velocities. Numerical examples are presented for various parameters.     

Community structures of coral reefs around Peninsular Malaysia

Coral community structures at eleven fringing reef sites were investigated along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Estimated coverage of coral communities is examined by applying quantitative digital image analysis to the line transect method. Four coral community types were characterized by dominant genera and lifeforms: Acropora branching community, Montipora-Acropora community, Porites massive community, and Heliopora community. Live coral coverage in all study sites ranged from 17.9% to 68.6%. Most reefs were in “fair” condition while some reefs were shown to be in “poor” condition. Coral community structures among the study sites were divided into the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia with a dominant Porites massive lifeform, and the east coast with a variety of lifeform categories of Montipora and Acropora. Physical effects such as the monsoon wind regime and sedimentation are likely to influence the formation of dominant coral communities around Peninsular Malaysia.     

Relative Sea Level Changes in Maldives and Vulnerability of Land Due to Abnormal Coastal Inundation

Oceanic Islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have extremely small land areas, usually less than 500 km2, with maximum height about 4 m above sea level. The Republic of Maldives is an independent island nation in the Indian Ocean south of Sri Lanka which stretches vertically in the Indian Ocean from 07° 06'N - 0° 42'S. The land area of this island country is about 300 km2, and none of Maldives' 1190 islands has an elevation more than 3 m above sea level. In fact the Maldives has the distinction of being the flattest country on earth, making it extremely vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Of the south Asian countries, the Maldives is the most vulnerable nation, facing severe consequences as a result of global warming and sea level rise (SLR). Because of their obvious vulnerability to SLR, the Government of Maldives is very much concerned about climate change. As global warming and the related SLR is an important integrated environmental issue, the need of the hour is to monitor and assess these changes. The present article deals mainly with the analysis of the tidal and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data observed at Male and Gan stations along the Maldives coast in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. The objective of the analysis is to study the trends of these parameters. Trend analysis is also performed on the corresponding air temperature data of both stations. The results show that Maldives coastal sea level is rising in the same way (rising trend) as the global sea level. The mean tidal level at Male has shown an increasing trend of about 4.1 mm/year.Similarly at Gan, near the equator,it has registered a positive trend of about 3.9 mm/year.Sea level variations are the manifestations of various changes that are taking place in the Ocean-Atmosphere system. Therefore, the variations in SST and air temperature are intimately linked to sea level rise. It is found that SST and air temperature have also registered an increasing trend at both stations. The evidence of rising trends suggest that careful future monitoring of these parameters is very much required. Tropical cyclones normally do not affect the Maldives coast. However, due to its isolated location, the long fetches in association with swells generated by storms, that originated in the far south have resulted in flooding. Thus the rising rate of sea level with high waves and flat topography have increased the risk of flooding and increased the rate of erosion and alteration of beaches.     

Variations of Surface Air Temperature Over the Land Areas in and Around the Bay of Bengal

The inter-annual variation and linear trends of the surface air temperature in the regions in and around the Bay of Bengal have been studied using the time series data of monthly and annual mean temperature for 20–40 years period within 1951–1990. The study area extends from Pusma Camp of Nepal in the north and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia in the south and between 80--100 ° E. The annual variation of temperature has also been studied using the mean monthly temperature for the variable time frames 1961–1975, 1976–1990 and 1961–1990. The trend of temperature has been analyzed using linear regression technique with the data from 1961–1990, which showed that the warming trend is dominant over the study areas except for a few stations. It has been found that Nepal shows predominant warming trends. Bangladesh and the adjacent areas of India and the northern part of Bay of Bengal adjacent to the Bangladesh coast have shown strong warming trends of the annual temperature with maximum at Dhaka (0.037 °C/year). The near equatorial zone, i.e., southern India, Sri Lanka and part of Thailand and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) shows warming trends in the annual mean temperature with strong warming at Pamban and Anuradhapura (around 0.04 °C/year). The cooling trends have been observed at a few stations including Port Blair, Yangoon and Cuttack. Further analysis shows the presence of prominent ENSO scale of variations with time period 4–7 years and 2–3 years for almost all the stations. The decadal mode with T >7 years is present in some data series. The results of the variations of temperature with respect to the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) show that SOI has some negative correlation with temperature for most of the stations except those in the extreme northeast. It has been found that positive anomaly of temperature has been observed for El Niño events and negative anomaly for the La Nina events.