Experimental Study on Sloshing Characteristics in the Elastic Tank Based on Morlet Wavelet Transform

Hydroelastic effect of sloshing is studied through an experimental investigation. Different excitation frequencies are considered with low-fill-depth and large amplitude. Morlet wavelet transform is introduced to analyze the free surface elevations and sloshing pressures. It focuses on variations and distributions of the wavelet energy in elastic tanks. The evolutions of theoretical and experimental wavelet spectra are discussed and the corresponding Fourier spectrums are compared. Afterwards, average values of the wavelet spectra are extracted to do a quantitative study at various points. From the wavelet analysis, sloshing energies are mainly distributed around the external excitation frequency and expanded to high frequencies under violent condition. In resonance, experimental wavelet energy of the elevation in elastic tanks is obviously less than that in the rigid one; for sloshing pressures, the elastic wavelet energy close to the rigid one and conspicuous impulse is observed. It recommends engineers to concern the primary natural frequency and impulsive peak pressures.     

Penetration Depth of Torpedo Anchor in Two-Layered Cohesive Soil Bed by Free Fall

The penetration depth of torpedo anchor in two-layered soil bed was experimentally investigated. A total of 177 experimental data were obtained in laboratory by varying the undrained shear strength of the two-layered soil and the thickness of the top soil layer. The geometric parameters of the anchor and the soil properties (the liquid limit, plastic limit, specific gravity, undrained shear strength, density, and water content) were measured. Based on the energy analysis and present test data, an empirical formula to predict the penetration depth of torpedo anchor in two-layered soil bed was proposed. The proposed formula was extensively validated by laboratory and field data of previous researchers. The results were in good agreement with those obtained for two-layered and single-layered soil bed. Finally, a sensitivity analysis on the parameters in the formula was performed.     

白令海大型底栖动物群落结构及其空间分布格局

Due to its unique geological location, the Bering Sea is an ideal place to investigate the water exchange and ecosystem connectivity of the Pacific Ocean–Arctic Ocean and subarctic–Arctic region. Based on a number of summer surveys(July to September, 2010, 2012 and 2014), macrobenthic communities and their spatial-temporal patterns are exhibited for the majority of the Bering Sea(53°59′–64°36′N). The results show that the macrobenthic communities were dominated by northern cold-water species and immigrant eurythermic species, and the communities assumed a dispersed and patchy distribution pattern. Polychaetes(Scoloplos armiger), crustaceans(Ceradocus capensis) and sea urchins(Echinarachnius parma) were the main dominant groups in the shallow shelves; the sea star(Ctenodiscus crispatus) and the brittle star(Ophiura sarsii) were the main dominant groups in the continental slope; whereas small polychaetes(Prionospio malmgreni) dominated the basin area. Sediment type, water depth, and currents were the major factors affecting the structure and spatial distribution of the macrobenthic communities. Compared with other seas, the shallow areas of the Bering Sea showed an extremely high-standing biomass. In particular, the northern shelf area(north of St. Lawrence Islands and west of 170°W),which is primarily controlled by Anadyr Water, is an undersea oasis. In contrast, a deficiency in the downward transport of particulate organic carbon has resulted in a desert-like seabed in the basin area. By comparing our results to previous studies, we found that macrobenthic communities of the Bering Sea have undergone significant structural changes in recent decades, resulting in a decrease in abundance and an increase in biomass.In addition, populations of amphipods and bivalves in the northern shelves have decreased significantly and have been gradually replaced by other species. These changes might be associated with advanced seasonal ice melting,changes in organic carbon input, and global warming, indicating that large-scale ecosystem changes have been occurring in the Bering Sea.     

Determination of the Total Ozone Content in Cloudy Conditions based on Data from the IKFS-2 Spectrometer onboard the Meteor-M no. 2 Satellite

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A new technique has been developed to obtain the total ozone content (TOC) under cloudy conditions from the spectra of outgoing thermal IR radiation...     

Ekman Convective Layer Flow of a Viscous Incompressible Fluid

Analytical solutions for generalizing the Ekman stationary flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in an infinite layer are obtained. The solution of an overdetermined system of the Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations is considered. It is suggested to use a class of exact solutions for this problem. It is shown that the structure of the solutions allows one to preserve the advective derivative in the heat-conductivity equation; this makes it possible to model the stratification of the temperature and pressure fields and describe the oceanic countercurrents.     

Surface Oscillations of a Free-Falling Droplet of an Ideal Fluid

According to observations, drops freely falling in the air under the action of gravity are deformed and oscillate in a wide range of frequencies and scales. A technique for calculating surface axisymmetric oscillations of a deformed droplet in the linear approximation under the assumption that the amplitude and wavelength are small when compared to the droplet diameter is proposed. The basic form of an axisymmetric droplet is chosen from observations. The calculation results for surface oscillations agree with recorded data on the varying shape of water droplets falling in the air.     

Seasonal Dynamics of Microbial Processes in Bottom Sediments of the Sevastopol Coastal Area

Oceanology - A seasonal study of microbial methane oxidation (MO) and sulfate reduction (SR) processes in bottom sediments was carried out at five stations in the estuarian Sevastopol coastal area,...     

Responses of soil moisture to vegetation restoration type and slope length on the loess hillslope

Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and slope length is controversial. Therefore, soil moisture across soil layers (0-400 cm depth) was measured before and after the rainy season in severe drought (2015) and normal hydrological year (2016) in three vegetation restoration areas (artificial forestland, natural forestland and grassland), on the hillslopes of the Caijiachuan Catchment in the Loess area, China. The results showed that artificial forestland had the lowest soil moisture and most severe water deficit in 100-200 cm soil layers. Water depletion was higher in artificial and natural forestlands than in natural grassland. Moreover, soil moisture in the shallow soil layers (0-100 cm) under the three vegetation restoration types did not significantly vary with slope length, but a significant increase with slope length was observed in deep soil layers (below 100 cm). In 2015, a severe drought hydrological year, higher water depletion was observed at lower slope positions under three vegetation restoration types due to higher transpiration and evapotranspiration and unlikely recharge from upslope runoff. However, in 2016, a normal hydrological year, there was lower water depletion, even infiltration recharge at lower slope positions, indicating receiving a large amount of water from upslope. Vegetation restoration type, precipitation, slope length and soil depth during a rainy season, in descending order of influence, had significant effects on soil moisture. Generally, natural grassland is more beneficial for vegetation restoration than natural and artificial forestlands, and the results can provide useful information for understanding hydrological processes and improving vegetation restoration practices on the Loess Plateau