Aliasing due to sampling of the Adriatic temperature, salinity and density in space

High-resolution underway temperature and conductivity measurements collected by R/V Knorr during winter and spring 2003 are used to characterize errors associated with spatial aliasing in the northern and central Adriatic Sea. During winter, 99th percentile temperature, salinity and density errors were 0.62 °C, 0.25 and 0.12 kg/m³ (0.25 °C, 0.10 and 0.05 kg/m³) for sampling at 10 km (5 km) horizontal resolution, respectively. The corresponding values in spring were 1.31 °C, 0.50 and 0.40 kg/m³ (0.93 °C, 0.25 and 0.22 kg/m³) for the 10 km (5 km) sample spacing, respectively. The largest errors were associated with energetic regions over the shallow, western Adriatic, in front of the Po River mouth and off the tip of the Istrian peninsula. The deeper eastern basin exhibited smaller errors. The variability of errors in time and space reflected the variability of small-scale density features, characterized by wavelengths as small as 2 km in winter and 1 km in spring and being more pronounced in the western and northern parts of the Adriatic. As these results indicate that errors associated with undersampling can be considerable, they should be taken into account while planning future CTD measurements in the region.     

Crustal Thinning of the Northern Continental Margin of the South China Sea

Magnetic data suggest that the distribution of the oceanic crust in the northern South China Sea (SCS) may extend to about 21 °N and 118.5 °E. To examine the crustal features of the corresponding continent–ocean transition zone, we have studied the crustal structures of the northern continental margin of the SCS. We have also performed gravity modeling by using a simple four-layer crustal model to understand the geometry of the Moho surface and the crustal thicknesses beneath this transition zone. In general, we can distinguish the crustal structures of the study area into the continental crust, the thinned continental crust, and the oceanic crust. However, some volcanic intrusions or extrusions exist. Our results indicate the existence of oceanic crust in the northernmost SCS as observed by magnetic data. Accordingly, we have moved the continent–ocean boundary (COB) in the northeastern SCS from about 19 °N and 119.5 °E to 21 °N and 118.5 °E. Morphologically, the new COB is located along the base of the continental slope. The southeastward thinning of the continental crust in the study area is prominent. The average value of crustal thinning factor of the thinned continental crust zone is about 1.3–1.5. In the study region, the Moho depths generally vary from ca. 28 km to ca. 12 km and the crustal thicknesses vary from ca. 24 km to ca. 6 km; a regional maximum exists around the Dongsha Island. Our gravity modeling has shown that the oceanic crust in the northern SCS is slightly thicker than normal oceanic crust. This situation could be ascribed to the post-spreading volcanism or underplating in this region.     

Experimental study of strong reflection of regular water waves over submerged breakwaters in tandem

A series of laboratory experiments was carried out to investigate the strong reflection of regular water waves over a train of submerged breakwaters. Rectangular and trapezoidal shapes of submerged breakwaters are employed and compared for reflecting capability of incident waves. Measured reflection coefficients of regular waves over impermeable submerged breakwaters are verified by comparing with those of the eigenfunction expansion method. A very good agreement is observed. Reflection coefficients of permeable submerged breakwaters are less than those of impermeable breakwaters. The trapezoidal shape is recommended for a submerged breakwater in terms of reflecting capability and practical application.     

Sedimentology of a subtidal,tide-dominated sand body in the Yellow Sea,southwest Korea

Odanam Satoe, a subtidal, tide-dominated sand body in the Yellow Sea, Korea, is linear in plan and asymmetrical in cross-section. It consists of fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted subangular sand. Bedforms consist of high-amplitude (1–2 m) sandwaves on the lower flanks of the gentler-sloping bar surface, and medium-amplitude (0.5-1 m) sandwaves on the sand body trough adjoining the steeper face, the bar crest and shallower parts of the gently sloping bar surface. Bedforms are absent on the relatively steeper bar surface, which is characterized by 2° slopes. Bedform orientation on the gentler slope is oblique by 30° to the bar crest, parallel to the sand-body crest on the crest itself, and opposite to the steeper sand-body face in the trough below the steeper slope of the bar.Bottom current velocity data show that tidal currents are semi-rotary with a flood time—velocity asymmetry over the gentler slope, and ebb time—velocity asymmetry over the steeper slope during most of the tidal cycle. Tidal-current flow parallels bar elongation over the steeper slope, whereas over the gentler slope, tidal-current flow is directed at 30° to the bar crest and changes to normal to the crest one hour prior to low tide. Bedform orientation mapped with side-scan sonar shows agreement with these flow directions.Sand dispersal around the sand body is controlled by time—velocity asymmetry and partial rotary flow directions of tidal currents. This circulation causes not only a trapezoidal mode of grain dispersal, but also westerly migration of the sand body documented from comparative bathymetric surveys in 1964 and 1980.     

A time-dependent radiation condition for transient wave-structure interactions

An extrapolated version of a time-dependent nonreflecting boundary condition is developed for use at artificial boundaries to truncate infinite/semi-infinite domains for transient water wave problems. Test examples include single- and multiple-frequency flap wavemaker problems and free vibrations of a floating circular cylinder. The finite element results compare favorably to analytical solutions. It is shown that with the proposed boundary condition the numerical simulations have little reflections from the artificial boundaries.     

Wave-induced surge motion of a tension leg structure

An analytical solution for the coupling problem of a two-dimensional tension leg structure interacting with a monochromatic linear wave train in an inviscid and incompressible fluid is presented. The tension legs are considered to be linearly elastic. The flow is further assumed to be irrotational and single-valued velocity potentials can then be defined.The boundary value problem is incorporated into a scattering and a radiation problem. The boundary value problems are then solved separately and combined to resolve all unknowns. The complete solutions of the velocity potentials are represented by the series of eigen-functions, and the surge motion of the structure is described in terms of the incident wave properties.The analytical solution is compared with a computer-coded numerical solution utilizing the boundary element method. The solutions agree very well, and both predict a resonant frequency for a specific structure which is different from the natural frequency of the structure due to the presence of the evanescent waves caused by the structure.     

Effect of free surface and strut on fins attached to a strut

An extensive experimental and computational investigation of the combined and separate effects of free surface and body on the lift characteristics of a pair of fins attached to a strut and fin alone is conducted. The results reveal that the free-surface effect becomes significant when the depth of submergence to chord ratio (H/c) is less than three. The effect of the strut is also realized for shallower depth of submergence of the fins through free-surface deformation leading to a significant change in the incidence angle of the flow to the fins. The numerical results based on the Higher Order Boundary Element Method with the linearized free-surface condition show good agreement with the experimental results for fin (foil) alone even at shallow submergence, but some discrepancies appear for the fin attached to the strut at higher speeds mostly due to the neglect of the nonlinear free-surface effect.     

Algorithm for non-hydrostatic dynamics in the Regional Oceanic Modeling System

A non-hydrostatic algorithm for the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) is proposed. It is based on a decomposition technique for hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic pressure. The algorithm has a pressure-correction scheme with split-explicit time-stepping for baroclinic and barotropic vertical modes with a free surface. The algorithm implementation requires solving a Poisson equation for a non-hydrostatic pressure that has a non-symmetric matrix in discrete form. The efficiency of a different class of solvers and preconditioners were tested. The algorithm is successfully implemented with several examples where non-hydrostatic effects are important. These include standing external gravity waves; strongly nonlinear internal wave generation and transformation; stratified shear instability and its associated mixing; and nonlinear internal tidal generation over a ridge. The corresponding changes in the pre-processing and post-processing infrastructure in the existing hydrostatic ROMS code were performed to implement parallel elliptic solvers and a new set of dynamical equations.