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/).     

莱州湾南岸海水入侵现状评价

根据莱州湾南岸海水入侵区地下水水质特点,将海水入侵等级划分为4级。同时,选取Cl^-,矿化度,SO4^2-,rHCO3^-/rCl^-,K^-等指标作为评价因子,并分别确定了这5项指标的等级划分范围。然后,运用模糊数学的综合评判方法,对研究区内海水入侵现状做出评价。     

东营凹陷南斜坡沙四段高频沉积旋回对滩坝砂体的沉积控制作用

在东营凹陷南斜坡的沙四段地层中,常发育典型的湖相滩坝砂体沉积.详细观察表明,这些滩坝砂体在垂向上常发育较为对称的高频基准面上升半旋回和下降半旋回,且对滩坝砂体的沉积过程有明显的控制作用.通过测井曲线的频谱分析,高频基准面的变化与米兰柯维奇轨道气候周期有着密切的关系,而单砂体规模的滩坝砂体在平面展布上又有着明显的对称性.这些都表明滩坝砂体主要沉积在湖平面升降转换的相对稳定期,同生断层活动产生的陡坎或隆起会有助于滩坝砂体的富集.可根据滩坝砂体的垂向沉积序列和组合方式来判断滩坝主体的分布位置.     

Performance results of HESP physical model

As a continuation to the published work on model based calibration technique with HESP(Hanle Echelle Spectrograph) as a case study, in this paper we present the performance results of the technique. We also describe how the open parameters were chosen in the model for optimization, the glass data accuracy and handling the discrepancies. It is observed through simulations that the discrepancies in glass data can be identified but not quantifiable. So having an accurate glass data is important which is possible to obtain from the glass manufacturers. The model’s performance in various aspects is presented using the ThAr calibration frames from HESP during its pre-shipment tests. Accuracy of model predictions and its wave length calibration comparison with conventional empirical fitting, the behaviour of open parameters in optimization, model’s ability to track instrumental drifts in the spectrum and the double fibres performance were discussed. It is observed that the optimized model is able to predict to a high accuracy the drifts in the spectrum from environmental fluctuations. It is also observed that the pattern in the spectral drifts across the 2D spectrum which vary from image to image is predictable with the optimized model. We will also discuss the possible science cases where the model can contribute.     

Reprint of: Diagenetic controls on evolution of porosity and permeability in lower Tertiary Wilcox sandstones from shallow to ultradeep (200–6700 m) burial,Gulf of Mexico Basin,U.S.A.

Reservoir quality is a critical risk factor in deep to ultradeep reservoirs at depths >4.5 km. Analysis of Paleogene Wilcox sandstones on the upper Texas Gulf Coast provides insight into the evolution of reservoir quality during shallow to ultradeep burial diagenesis. Reduction of porosity and permeability with burial in Wilcox sandstones was evaluated using subsurface samples from 200 to 6700 m, at temperatures of 25–230 °C. Diagenesis and petrophysical properties were interpreted from petrographic data and core analyses. Wilcox sandstones are mostly lithic arkoses and feldspathic litharenites having an average composition of Q₅₉F₂₂R₁₉. Provenance did not change significantly during Wilcox deposition in this area, nor does average sandstone composition vary among lower, middle, and upper Wilcox sandstones. However, composition does vary with sequence-stratigraphic position; lowstand slope-fan deposits contain more rock fragments than do deposits from highstand or transgressive systems tracts. Given observations from this onshore dataset, Wilcox sandstones deposited in deepwater environments in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to contain more rock fragments than their linked highstand equivalents.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

Dissolved iodine flux from estuarine sediments and implications for the enrichment of iodine at the sediment water interface

During the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in sediments iodine is released into solution. Three techniques have been applied to independently estimate the resulting flux of soluble I from the sediments to the overlying water of Mud Bay, Georgetown, South Carolina. Flux estimates (summer) range between ~ 5 and 41 μmol/m²/day. The estimates predicted from either the pore water I concentration gradient across the sediment-water interface or the dissolved I production rate are higher than the apparent flux measured directly at the same site. This suggests that I which is released to the pore water under the anoxic conditions below the sediment surface reacts with a sedimentary component at or near the sediment water interface and is lost from solution.