A method to estimate the forces exerted by internal solitons on cylindrical piles

Internal soliton is the large amplitude wave existing in the pycnocline, induced by internal tide in the condition of special bottom topography. During its propagation process, the induced disturbance can bring about strong convergence of sea water and sudden strong current (wave-induced-current), which can cause severe threat to the ocean engineering structures, such as oil drilling platform and pipeline. In this paper, Morison’s empirical method, modal separation and regression analyses are introduced to estimate the forces and torques exerted by internal soliton on cylindrical piles. As an example, a limited set of observational data recording a passage of the internal soliton near Dongsha Islands is used to estimate the horizontal velocity and its acceleration in a vertical section for computing the force and torque on a supposed pile, and the estimation results are reasonable. It is shown that, the higher number of the modes retained in the calculation, the better the estimation of velocity profile fits the observational one. A better overall approximation to the real solution can be reached if there are more observational current data acquired in a whole vertical profile.     

Thickening of the oceanic layer in the Pacific Ocean

A statistical analysis of published seismic refraction results in the Pacific Ocean confirms the existence of a progressive thickening of the oceanic layer with age, following an inverse exponential law. There is no strong indication in the Pacific data of an increase in the thickness of layer 2 with decreasing spreading rate.Contribution No. 93 of the Département Scientifique of the Centre Océanologique de Bretagne, B.P. 337, 29200, Brest, France.     

Notes Ecological study of macrobenthos in Fuqing Bay

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The behaviour of 59Fe in marine microhabitat

Under the artificial condition the 59Fe morphology in sea water, its concentration in sediment and phytoplankton, its distribution and metabolism in tissue organs of marine animals were studied. The results showed that the morphology of 59Fe was in a particulate state in sea water. The adsorption rule of 59Fe by three kinds of sediments was similar. The concentration ability of 59Fe by phytoplankton was very strong. The critical concentration organs of S9Fe by marine animals were viscera. The gross radioactivity of 59Fe was mainly concentrated in protein. The concentration factor of 59Fe by DNA was the highest one. After excretion experiment, 59Fe of all the tissue organs was not detected. Small part of59Fe remained in the organic acid and protein state. There was a redistribution process in sediment for59Fe.     

几种养殖鲍同工酶生化遗传的比较研究

运用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳对我国主要养殖鲍(皱纹盘鲍、盘鲍及九孔鲍)12种同工酶(LDH、ME、MDH、GPI、PGM、IDH、IDDH、SOD、EST、ODH、ADH、AAT)26个基因座位进行了分析．结果表明：EST、PGM可以作为区分三种(亚种)鲍的生化遗传标记；在所分析的位点中，未发现多态现象，表明三种养殖鲍杂合子缺失严重，其主要原因可能在于哑基因、近交与自然选择。     

Current status of bacteriological parameters and DOC/POC in Xiamen coastal waters

The surface and bottom waters samples were collected from six locations in Xiamen western sea. The quantified estimation of bacterial production (3H-thymidine method) and observation of bacterial heterotrophic activity (14C-glucose method) have been made in order to have a better understanding of the role of marine bacteria and their activities. The results showed that the mean value of bacterial heterotrophic activity was 9×108 cells/(L.h) in the surface waters and 2.6×108 cells/(L.h) in the bottom waters. The mean value of bacterial production was 38×108 cells/(L.h) in the surface waters and 7.1×108 cells/(L.h) in the bottom waters. The relationship between bacterial production, heterotrophic activity, POC and DOC measured during this survey were discussed. The good understanding of the relationship between bacteria activity and total coliform was addressed.     

Multi-bioindicator study of a small estuary in Vendée (France)

Surficial sediment (about 5 mm) was scraped off in 15 stations selected in the Vie Estuary, a small estuary on the French Atlantic coast. The samples, prepared using the suitable methods, were used for comparing the behaviour of periphytic algae, sporopollinic and other palynologic material, ostracoda and foraminifera for proposing a synthetic evaluation of the information provided by each of them. Dinoflagellate cysts, which are found in an almost monospecific assemblage in low-salinity water, are dispersed by tidal currents, but the location of tintinnids in only the lower reaches shows a limited inward transport. Sporopollinic material is clearly related to the adjacent vegetation, indicating a local origin, and then little influence of transport on the microbenthos, even if fragments of freshwater crustaceans and of Pediastrum alga are found down to the mouth in the sporopollinic deposits. This limited transport of microbenthos allows the use of periphytic algae, benthic ostracoda and benthic foraminifera as indicators of local environmental conditions. It was then possible to determine the extent of marine influence in the estuary, to discriminate between the main channel and adjacent basins, and between different stages of evolution of the basins, from a recently dug basin to a eutrophicated one.     

Isolation and characterisation of pristane metabolites formed in vivo by rainbow trout

Pristane (2,6,10,14 -tetramethylpentadecane) occurs ubiquitously in the marine environment. This hydrocarbon may be of biogenic or petrogenic origin.¹ Recently it has been shown that residual amounts of this branched alkane increased in marine organisms after an oil spill.^2,3 The lack of data on the fate of pristane in fish, added with the fact that this compound was considered by some authors as a non-metabolisable substance in vertebrates, including man,⁴ led us to investigate the capability of fish to metabolise pristane. In this study, urinary and fecal excretion, tissue distribution and metabolism of ³H-pristane were analysed in Salmo gairdneri R. after a single intragastric dose. In addition to unchanged hydrocarbon, various labelled compounds have been isolated and identified in liver, bile, faeces, urine and surrounding water, demonstrating that pristane was first oxidised to alcohols (pristanol and pristane-diol) and to acid (pristanic acid). The elimination of these compounds occurred in the form of conjugated products (primarily glucuronides) as well as free metabolites.     

Local remineralization patterns in the mesopelagic zone of the Eastern North Atlantic, off the NW Iberian Peninsula

The short-time-scale variability of the remineralization patterns in the domain of Eastern North Atlantic Central Waters (ENACW) off the NW Iberian Peninsula is studied based on biogeochemical data (oxygen, nutrient salts, total alkalinity, pH, dissolved organic matter and fluorescence of dissolved humic substances) collected weekly between May 2001 and April 2002. The temporal variability of inorganic variables points to an intensification of remineralization during the summer and autumn, with an increase of nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and a decrease of oxygen. During the subsequent winter mixing, there is a biogeochemical reset of the system, with lower nutrients, total inorganic carbon and fluorescence and higher oxygen. In contrast to inorganic variables, the levels of dissolved organic matter in the ENACW seem to respond to short-term events probably associated with fast sinking particles, where solubilisation of organic matter prevails over remineralization. Applying a previously published stoichiometric model, we observed a vertical fractionation of organic-matter remineralization. Although there is a preferential remineralization of proteins and P compounds in the entire domain of ENACW, the percentage was higher in the upper ENACW (σ<27.10 kg/m³) than in the lower; the percentage of N and P compounds in the oxidised organic matter was >80% for the upper ENACW and 63% for the lower. Likewise, the redissolution of calcareous structures contributes about 6% and 13% to the carbon regenerated in the upper and lower layers of ENACW, respectively.