Modelling and mass balance assessments of nutrient retention in a seasonally-flowing estuary (Swan River Estuary,Western Australia)

An integrated mass balance and modelling approach for analysis of estuarine nutrient fluxes is demonstrated in the Swan River Estuary, a microtidal system with strong hydrological dependence on seasonal river inflows. Mass balance components included estimation of gauged and ungauged inputs to the estuary and losses to the ocean (outflow and tidal exchange). Modelling components included estimation of atmospheric (N fixation, denitrification) and sediment–water column nutrient exchanges. Gross and net denitrification derived using two independent methods were significantly correlated (r² = 0.49, p < 0.01) with net rates averaging 40% of gross. Annual nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads from major tributaries were linearly correlated with annual freshwater discharge and were 3-fold higher in wet years than in dry years. Urban drains and groundwater contributed, on average, 26% of N inputs and 19% of P inputs, with higher relative contributions in years of low river discharge. Overall, ungauged inputs accounted for almost 35% of total nitrogen loads. For N, elevated loading in wet years was accompanied by large increases in outflow (7x) and tidal flushing (2x) losses and resulted in overall lower retention efficiency (31%) relative to dry years (70%). For P, tidal flushing losses were similar in wet and dry years, while outflow losses (4-fold higher) were comparable in magnitude to increases in loading. As a result, P retention within the estuary was not substantially affected by inter-annual variation in water and P loading (ca. 50% in all years). Sediment nutrient stores increased in most years (remineralisation efficiency ca. 50%), but sediment nutrient releases were significant and in some circumstances were a net source of nutrients to the water column.     

Simulation of nonlinear wave run-up with a high-order Boussinesq model

This paper considers the numerical simulation of nonlinear wave run-up within a highly accurate Boussinesq-type model. Moving wet–dry boundary algorithms based on so-called extrapolating boundary techniques are utilized, and a new variant of this approach is proposed in two horizontal dimensions. As validation, computed results involving the nonlinear run-up of periodic as well as transient waves on a sloping beach are considered in a single horizontal dimension, demonstrating excellent agreement with analytical solutions for both the free surface and horizontal velocity. In two horizontal dimensions cases involving long wave resonance in a parabolic basin, solitary wave evolution in a triangular channel, and solitary wave run-up on a circular conical island are considered. In each case the computed results compare well against available analytical solutions or experimental measurements. The ability to accurately simulate a moving wet–dry boundary is of considerable practical importance within coastal engineering, and the extension described in this work significantly improves the nearshore versatility of the present high-order Boussinesq approach.     

Methods for monitoring tidal flushing in large animal burrows in tropical mangrove swamps

The typically anaerobic nature of mangrove sediments provides significant challenges to the mangrove trees and biota inhabiting them. The burrowing activities and flow of water through the numerous and complex animal burrows perforating the sediments of mangroves have a major influence on the biogeochemistry of the sediments and are important to the enhancement of nutrient and oxygen exchange. Two new methods are presented for monitoring the tidal flushing of Sesarma messa and Alpheus cf macklay burrows in a Rhizophora stylosa mangrove forest – by measuring oxygen content of burrow water and by determining the change in fluorescence of a dye tracer through tidal inundation. A case study using the first of these showed oxygen consumption rates at the burrow wall deep within the burrow were found to be between 210 and 460 μmol O₂ m⁻² h⁻¹. The influx of oxygen during a flood tide was found to be significant and indicated that approximately 40% of the burrow water is flushed during a single tidal event. However, the high consumption rate of oxygen within the burrow resulted in the oxygen concentration remaining at or below one-third of the oxygen content of the flooding tidal water. A test application of the second method, using rhodamine dye as a tracer, indicated that the exchange of water between the burrow and the flooding tide was found to be in the order of 30% of the burrow volume. These new techniques provide a means to further study the nutrient exchange within these burrow systems and verify the initial findings that several tidal inundations are necessary to completely flush the burrows.     

Comparative analysis of the experiments aimed at modeling marine ecosystems by using the object-oriented approach

We describe the results of comparative analysis of the numerical experiments carried out by using two different approaches to modeling the biological components of marine ecosystems: “ordinary” and object-oriented. These results demonstrate that the character of the space distribution (patchiness) of the food resource on the lowest level of the trophic chain strongly affects the growth rate of the density of population on the next level and forms specific features of its space distribution which, in fact, affect the productivity of all levels of the trophic chain. The representation of phytoplankton (lowest level) in the model in the form a continuous field of passive admixtures creates more favorable conditions for the nutrition of the organisms consuming this resource. Therefore, in our calculations based on the “ordinary” procedure of modeling of marine ecosystems, the productivity of all its living components is higher than in the case of application of the object-oriented method. The indicated distinctions are especially well visible on the scales of about ten kilometers. Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 1, pp. 26–35, January–February, 2009.     

Sandbank occurrence on the Dutch continental shelf in the North Sea

Sandbanks, the largest of bed patterns in shallow sandy seas, pose a potential risk to shipping. They are also valuable elements of natural coastal protection, dissipating the energy of waves. In the Southern Bight of the North Sea, several sandbank areas have been reported in the literature. However, based on an objective crest–trough analysis of the bathymetry of the Dutch continental shelf, the present study shows that sandbanks are more widespread than commonly considered. These banks are relatively low, presumably explaining why they have not been documented before. This widespread occurrence of sandbanks in the North Sea is in agreement with theoretical predictions based on stability analysis techniques. The possible interference between large-scale human activity and low-amplitude open-shelf ridges implies that one should be careful not to overlook these patterns if none should appear in a preliminary (visual) assessment. The only part of the Southern Bight in which no ridges can be seen is a circular area with a diameter of about 50 km near the mouth of the river Rhine. Here, freshwater outflow affects the direction of tidal ellipses and residual flow, and suppresses the formation of open ridges.     

Changes in climatic characteristics of Northern Hemisphere extratropical land in the 21st century: Assessments with the IAP RAS climate model

Assessments of future changes in the climate of Northern Hemisphere extratropical land regions have been made with the IAP RAS climate model (CM) of intermediate complexity (which includes a detailed scheme of thermo- and hydrophysical soil processes) under prescribed greenhouse and sulfate anthropogenic forcing from observational data for the 19th and 20th centuries and from the SRES B1, A1B, and A2 scenarios for the 21st century. The annual mean warming of the extratropical land surface has been found to reach 2–5 K (3–10 K) by the middle (end) of the 21st century relative to 1961–1990, depending on the anthropogenic forcing scenario, with larger values in North America than in Europe. Winter warming is greater than summer warming. This is expressed in a decrease of 1–4 K (or more) in the amplitude of the annual harmonic of soil-surface temperature in the middle and high latitudes of Eurasia and North America. The total area extent of perennially frozen ground S _p in the IAP RAS CM changes only slightly until the late 20th century, reaching about 21 million km², and then decreases to 11–12 million km² in 2036–2065 and 4–8 million km² in 2071–2100. In the late 21st century, near-surface permafrost is expected to remain only in Tibet and in central and eastern Siberia. In these regions, depths of seasonal thaw exceed 1 m (2 m) under the SRES B1 (A1B or A2) scenario. The total land area with seasonal thaw or cooling is expected to decrease from the current value of 54–55 million km² to 38–42 in the late 21st century. The area of Northern Hemisphere snow cover in February is also reduced from the current value of 45–49 million km² to 31–37 million km². For the basins of major rivers in the extratropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, runoff is expected to increase in central and eastern Siberia. In European Russia and in southern Europe, runoff is projected to decrease. In western Siberia (the Ob watershed), runoff would increase under the SRES A1B and A2 scenarios until the 2050s–2070s, then it would decrease to values close to present-day ones; under the anthropogenic forcing scenario SRES B1, the increase in runoff will continue up to the late 21st century. Total runoff from Eurasian rivers into the Arctic Ocean in the IAP RAS CM in the 21st century will increase by 8–9% depending on the scenario. Runoff from the North American rivers into the Arctic Ocean has not changed much throughout numerical experiments with the IAP RAS CM.     

Tortonian-Pleistocenic oceanic features in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea: magnetic inverse model of the Selli-Vavilov region

We show the magnetic model of the Selli-Vavilov region. The Selli Line is known as the northwestern edge of the southern Tyrrhenian Basin. The tectonic evolution of the Tyrrhenian Basin is dominated by a Tortonian-Quaternary extension through the eastward movement of the Apennine subduction system. This migration has generated a diffuse stretching of the continental crust with the emplacement of new oceanic material. This latter occurred in several localized zones where the eastward retreating of the Ionian subduction system produced a strong depletion of the crust with formation of basins and correlated spreading. Nowadays the presence of oceanic crust is confirmed through direct drilling investigation but a complete mapping of the oceanic crustal distribution is still lacking. The Selli-Vavilov region shows a differentiated crustal setting where seamount structures, the oceanic basement portions and continental crust blocks are superimposed. To this aim, a 2D inversion of the magnetic data of this region was conducted to define buried structures. The magnetic susceptibility pattern was computed by solving the least squares problem of the misfit between the predicted and real data for separated wavebands. This method produced two 2D models of the high and low frequency fields of the Selli-Vavilov region. The two apparent susceptibility maps provide different information for distinct ranges of depth. The results of the inversions were also combined with seismic data of the Selli region highlighting the position of the highly magnetized buried bodies. The results confirm a role for the Selli Line as a deep crustal boundary dividing the Sardinian passive domain from the easternmost active region where different oceanic structures are located. The Selli Line has worked as a detachment fault system which has moved eastward. Finally, the Selli-Vavilov region may be interpreted as a tectonic result due to a passive asymmetrical rift occurred between the Tortonian and Pliocene.     

Morphosedimentary features and recent depositional architectural model of the Cantabrian continental margin

Multibeam bathymetry, high (sleeve airguns) and very high resolution (parametric system-TOPAS-) seismic records were used to define the morphosedimentary features and investigate the depositional architecture of the Cantabrian continental margin. The outer shelf (down to 180–245 m water depth) displays an intensively eroded seafloor surface that truncates consolidated ancient folded and fractured deposits. Recent deposits are only locally present as lowstand shelf-margin deposits and a transparent drape with bedforms. The continental slope is affected by sedimentary processes that have combined to create the morphosedimentary features seen today. The upper (down to 2000 m water depth) and lower (down to 3700–4600 m water depth) slopes are mostly subject to different types of slope failures, such as slides, mass-transport deposits (a mix of slumping and mass-flows), and turbidity currents. The upper slope is also subject to the action of bottom currents (the Mediterranean Water — MW) that interact with the Le Danois Bank favouring the reworking of the sediment and the sculpting of a contourite system. The continental rise is a bypass region of debris flows and turbidity currents where a complex channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) of the Cap Ferret Fan develops.The recent architecture depositional model is complex and results from the remaining structural template and the great variability of interconnected sedimentary systems and processes. This margin can be considered as starved due to the great sediment evacuation over a relatively steep entire depositional profile. Sediment is eroded mostly from the Cantabrian and also the Pyrenees mountains (source) and transported by small stream/river mountains to the sea. It bypasses the continental shelf and when sediment arrives at the slope it is transported through a major submarine drainage system (large submarine valleys and mass-movement processes) down to the continental rise and adjacent Biscay Abyssal Plain (sink). Factors controlling this architecture are tectonism and sediment source/dispersal, which are closely interrelated, whereas sea-level changes and oceanography have played a minor role (on a long-term scale).     

The mid-depth circulation of the northwestern tropical Atlantic observed by floats

A comprehensive analysis of velocity data from subsurface floats in the northwestern tropical Atlantic at two depth layers is presented: one representing the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW, pressure range 600–1050 dbar), the other the upper North Atlantic Deep Water (uNADW, pressure range 1200–2050 dbar). New data from three independent research programs are combined with previously available data to achieve blanket coverage in space for the AAIW layer, while coverage in the uNADW remains more intermittent. Results from the AAIW mainly confirm previous studies on the mean flow, namely the equatorial zonal and the boundary currents, but clarify details on pathways, mostly by virtue of the spatial data coverage that sets float observations apart from e.g. shipborne or mooring observations. Mean transports in each of five zonal equatorial current bands is found to be between 2.7 and 4.5 Sv. Pathways carrying AAIW northward beyond the North Brazil Undercurrent are clearly visible in the mean velocity field, in particular a northward transport of 3.7 Sv across 16°N between the Antilles islands and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. New maps of Lagrangian eddy kinetic energy and integral time scales are presented to quantify mesoscale activity. For the uNADW, mean flow and mesoscale properties are discussed as data availability allows. Trajectories in the uNADW east of the Lesser Antilles reveal interactions between the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) and the basin interior, which can explain recent hydrographic observations of changes in composition of DWBC water along its southward flow.     

MedFlux: Investigations of particle flux in the Twilight Zone

The MedFlux project was devised to determine and model relationships between organic matter and mineral ballasts of sinking particulate matter in the ocean. Specifically we investigated the ballast ratio hypothesis, tested various commonly used sampling and modeling techniques, and developed new technologies that would allow better characterization of particle biogeochemistry. Here we describe the rationale for the project, the biogeochemical provenance of the DYFAMED site, the international support structure, and highlights from the papers published here. Additional MedFlux papers can be accessed at the MedFlux web site (http://msrc.sunysb.edu/MedFlux/).