Accurate GPS measurement of the location and orientation of a floating platform

Abstract

This article describes the design and initial tests of the GPS portion of a system for making seafloor geodesy measurements. In the planned system, GPS antennas on a floating platform will be used to measure the location of an acoustic transducer, attached below the platform, which interrogates an array of transponders on the seafloor. Since the GPS antennas are necessarily some distance above the transducer, a short‐baseline GPS interferometer consisting of three antennas is used to measure the platform's orientation.

A preliminary test of several crucial elements of the system was performed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in December 1989. The test involved a fixed antenna on the pier and a second antenna floating on a buoy about 80 m away. GPS measurements of the vertical component of this baseline, analyzed independently by two groups using different software, agree with each other and with an independent measurement within a centimeter.

The first test of an integrated GPS/acoustic system took place in the Santa Cruz Basin off the coast of southern California in May 1990. In this test a much larger buoy, designed and built at SIO, was equipped with three GPS antennas and an acoustic transducer that interrogated a transponder on the ocean floor. Preliminary analysis indicates that the horizontal position of the transponder can be determined with a precision of about a centimeter. Further analysis will be required to investigate the magnitude of systematic errors.     

Trophic ecology of Pomatoschistus microps within an intertidal bay (Roscoff,France), investigated through gut content and stable isotope analyses

The diet of Pomatoschistus microps has been studied using both gut content and stable isotope analyses. In the Roscoff Aber Bay (Brittany, France), this fish is commonly found on sandy muddy intertidal flats. Gut content analyses were also interpreted using trophic indices. Owing to the large diversity of prey consumed, these indices emphasised the opportunistic feeding behaviour of P. microps. Here, this species fed mainly on endofauna with meiofauna being of high relative importance. The main biotic components of its trophic habitat, characterized by δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, provided evidence of a major trophic pathway based on drift Enteromorpha sp. Trophic positions estimated by both diet analyses and isotopic analyses led to similar results. In this bay, P. microps is a first‐order predator with a low degree of omnivory. Despite a preferential consumption of the amphipod Corophium arenarium, we assumed that this goby behaves as a generalist feeding on a uniform variety of endofauna taxa.     

Diversity and temporal fluctuations of epiphytes and sessile invertebrates on the rhizomes Posidonia oceanica in a seagrass meadow off Tunisia

The aim of this work is to study the temporal dynamics of rhizome epiphytes and sessile animals living on the rhizomes of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica in the east of Tunisia. Surveys were conducted in October 2009, and in January, April and August 2010 on a fringing reef located in Chebba. Rhizomes were sampled by SCUBA diving at three stations. Samples were examined with a microscope to estimate the cover of macroinvertebrate and macroalgal organisms on the top 10 cm of each rhizome. Results revealed a high diversity of epiphytes on P. oceanica rhizomes with a dominance of red and brown algae, ascidians, and bryozoans. Distinct temporal changes were observed in Oued Lafrann, with a high January cover (winter period) for all groups. These winter increases can be attributed to: (i) the low phenological parameters of P. oceanica in winter that reduce the effects of shading, (ii) life cycles of the epiphytes and invertebrates, (iii) water motion and (iv) grazing.     

Movement patterns of individual migrating western rock lobster,Panulirus cygnus,in Western Australia

Abstract

Migrating and pre‐migrating western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus were tagged with datastorage tags that recorded temperature and pressure, which was converted to depth (Pressure (kPa) — surface pressure (kPa)/10)) at Dongara and Jurien Bay in Western Australia between December 2005 and December 2007. All lobsters were fitted with tag flotation devices, and returns were made by either commercial fishers or beachcombers who located detached tags. A total of 135 lobsters were released with “backpack” flotation tags, but only 84 (62.2%) of the backpacks carried data‐storage tags. Depths of release ranged from 5 to 113 m. Of the tagged lobsters released, commercial fishers recaptured 52 (38.5%), whereas 11 tags (8.1%) were found by beachcombers. At least 33%, and possibly up to 63%, of animals identified by their pale coloration as pre‐migrating individuals, failed to migrate. Those that did migrate (n = 11) were at liberty from 1 to 94 days and showed generally similar movement patterns in that they migrated only at night from darkness (after 2000 h) until after moonrise. However, their movement patterns were less constrained by the rising of the moon in deep water. Only 27% migrated nightly, compared with 73% that skipped migrating on one or more nights, to restart some days later. This latter proportion would likely have been considerably greater, but some migrating animals were only at large for short periods before recapture, and therefore had little time to show any variation to the nocturnal migration pattern. Individual speeds of migration during periods of activity were estimated for nine lobsters as 0.20 to 0.68 km h^?1, with a mean speed of 0.44 km h^?1, or 7.4 m min^?1. Improved knowledge of daily movement patterns resulting from this study provides a potentially important input into technological improvements in bait and pot design.     

Geotechnical characterization of slump scars,eroded slopes,and correlated deposits on continental margins: Gulf of Lions,Western Mediterranean sea

Abstract

Vertical variations of geotechnical properties in the uppermost sediment layers characterize the main sedimentary processes acting on the construction and destruction of progressive‐type continental slopes. In the Gulf of Lions, the original thicknesses and distribution of the uppermost sedimentary layers of the continental slope and rise, which consist of Holocene muds overlying Pleistocene muds, have been greatly modified by erosion and several kinds of slope failure processes. Each process is typified through sets of geotechnical properties measured in the eroded or slumped sections and in the associated sediment accumulations.

In slump scars, the water‐rich Holocene muds lie on fine, overconsolidated, Pleistocene muds with high plasticity and low shear strength. In bottom current‐eroded slopes, where modern sedimentation is extremely reduced, the Pleistocene muds frequently outcrop and may sometimes be overlain by a very thin layer of Holocene muds. The Pleistocene muds of eroded slopes are overconsolidated and more silty and less plastic than the Pleistocene muds from slopes affected by slope failure, their shear strength being 10 times greater.

Deposits at the toe of slumps are very often formed by several superposed three‐layer units (triplets of interstratified Holocene, transitional, and Pleistocene layers) issued from retrogressive slumping occurring in the slump scars above their head area. The main body of each layer is then relatively undisturbed, showing the usual burial geotechnical gradients due to overburden pressure (i.e., decrease of water content and increase of unit weight and shear strength). At the toe of bottom current‐eroded slopes, a thick and homogeneous layer of Holocene muds overlies the Pleistocene muds; this Holocene layer has unappreciable burial depth gradient of its geotechnical parameters because of a high rate of modem and continuous deposition.     

Behavior of soil plugs in open‐ended model piles driven into sands

Calibration chamber tests were conducted on open‐ended model piles driven into dried siliceous sands with different soil conditions in order to clarify the effect of soil conditions on load transfer mechanism in the soil plug. The model pile used in the test series was devised so that the bearing capacity of an open‐ended pile could be measured as three components: outside shaft resistance, plug resistance, and tip resistance. Under the assumption that the unit shaft resistance due to pile‐soil plug interaction varies linearly near the pile tip, the plug resistance was estimated. The plug capacity, which was defined as the plug resistance at ultimate condition, is mainly dependent on the ambient lateral pressure and relative density. The length of wedged plug that transfers the load decreases with the decrease of relative density, but it is independent of the ambient pressure and penetration depth. Under several assumptions, the value of earth pressure coefficient in the soil plug can be calculated. It gradually reduces with increase in the longitudinal distance from the pile tip. At the bottom of the soil plug, it tends to decrease with increase in the penetration depth and relative density, and to increase with the increase of ambient pressure. This may be attributed to (1) the decrease of friction angle as a result of increase in the effective vertical stress, (2) the difference in the dilation degree of the soil plug during driving with ambient pressures, and (3) the difference in compaction degree of soil plug during driving with relative densities. Based on the test results, an empirical equation was suggested to compute the earth pressure coefficient to be used in the calculation of plug capacity using one‐dimensional analysis, and it produces proper plug capacities for all soil conditions.     

顺序扫描ICP—AES法测定海洋沉积物中九种主要成分

用ICP—AES法测定海洋沉积物中铝、铁、钙、镁、钠、钾、钦、锰、磷等九种主要成分,方法简便,省时省力,测量精密度小于4％,可以满足海洋地球化学的要求。     

水样及生物体内微量锌、锰、硒的极谱催化波同时测定

本文提出了在酒石酸盐-乙二胺-高氯酸-亚硫酸钠-高碘酸钾-EDTA体系中同时测定微量锌、锰、硒的极谱催化波，波峰敏锐，波形稳定。Zn2 浓度在0．4～40μg／dm3，Mn2 浓度在1．6～80μg／dm3，Se（Ⅳ）浓度在0．02～3．0μg／dm3范围内浓度与峰电流呈线性关系。取天然水样平行12份测定，变异系数在10％以内。     

Midlittoral polychaete communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: new information from the implementation of the Natural Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA) protocol and comparisons at local and regional scales

The aim of this study was to attempt to fill current knowledge gaps on midlittoral Mediterranean biodiversity at local and regional scales, by using benthic polychaetes as a model taxon. Two different data sets were analysed: (i) a quantitative data set from the two Natural Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA) study sites in Crete and (ii) a qualitative data set from multiple sites across the Mediterranean. At the local scale, the results provide evidence that (i) discrete species communities are formed in midlittoral Mediterranean habitats, which vary by geographical location and year, depending on the scale of observation; (ii) macrophyte coverage and Chl‐a are the only environmental variables associated, albeit weakly, with the above pattern; (iii) although naturally disturbed, the Cretan NaGISA sites do not seem to experience any anthropogenic stress; (iv) environmental heterogeneity and history seem to be much less important in shaping the polychaete communities than inter‐specific interactions; however, it is not possible to specify at this stage whether local or regional processes or even their interactions may shape the polychaete communities. At the regional scale, the results indicate that (i) the only factor that seems to be involved in the regional pattern is the identity of the study providing the data sets, which implies variability and bias in how research projects are carried out, from the sampling design through to data collection and analysis; (ii) the Cretan NaGISA sites may be considered as representative of the habitat in the Mediterranean, under certain conditions.