The sediment-water interface increment due to the complex burrows of macrofauna in a tidal flat

The architecture of macrofaunal burrows and the total area of the sediment-water interface created by biogenic structure were investigated in the Donggeomdo tidal flat on the west coast of Korea. Resin casting methods were applied to recover burrows of four dominant species, Macrophthalmus japonicus, Cleistostoma dilatatum, Perinereis aibuhitensis, and Periserrula leucophryna, and whole burrows within the casting area at three sites in different tidal levels.P. leucophryna excavated the largest burrow in terms of a surface area among them. In the case of whole burrow casting, the space occupied by the biogenic structure was extended into deeper and expanded more greatly at the higher tidal level. In the uppermost flat, the burrow wall surface area within sediment was more extensive than the sediment surface area. Increased oxygen supply through the extended interface could enhance the degradation rates of organic carbon and also change the pathways of degradation. Quantifying the relationship between the extended interface and mineralization rate and pathway requires more extensive study.     

Numerical and experimental study on hydrodynamic interaction of side-by-side moored multiple vessels

This paper aims to investigate the basic interaction characteristics of side-by-side moored vessels both numerically and experimentally. A higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) combined with generalized mode approach is applied to analysis of motion and drift force of side-by-side moored multiple vessels (LNG FPSO, LNGC and shuttle tankers). Model tests were carried out for the same floating bodies investigated in the numerical study in regular and irregular waves. Global and local motion responses and drift forces of three vessels are compared with those of calculations. Discussions is highlighted on applicability of numerical method to prediction of sophisticated multi-body interaction problem of which motion behavior is very important to analysis of mooring dynamics of deep sea floating bodies.     

Modeling of coupled tide–wave–surge process in the Yellow Sea

A coupled wave–tide–surge model has been developed in this study in order to investigate the effect of the interactions among tides, storm surges, and wind waves. The coupled model is based on the synchronous dynamic coupling of a third-generation wave model, WAM cycle 4, and the two-dimensional tide–surge model. The surface stress, which is generated by interactions between wind and wave, is calculated by using the WAM model directly based on an analytical approximation of the results using the quasi-linear theory of wave generation. The changes in bottom friction are created by the interactions between waves and currents and calculated by using simplified bottom boundary layer model. In consequence, the combined wave–current-induced bottom velocity and effective bottom drag coefficient were increased in the shallow waters during the strong storm conditions.     

Some stability properties of large-scale baroclinic flows with nonlinear zonal current profile

The stability properties of a baroclinic zonal current with nonlinear velocity profile are investigated. The integral method is applied to the governing eigenvalue equation having the vertical velocity as the dependent variable. Expressed in terms of the Rossby number and the Richardson number, stability criteria, unstable regions in the complexc plane, and the upper bound of the unstable wave growth rate are found. Some differences in the results are noted between the present model and the quasi-geostrophic streamfunction model, particularly in connection with the effect of the velocity profile curvature termU _zz . It is conjectured in the present model that, depending on extreme behaviors ofU _zz , the propagation speed of unstable waves can be greater thanU _max or smaller thanU _min .     

Glaciomarine sedimentation and palaeo-glacial setting of Maxwell Bay and its tributary embayment, Marian Cove, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica

High-resolution (3.5 kHz and multi-channel) seismic profiles and piston cores were collected from Maxwell Bay and its tributary embayment, Marian Cove, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, during the Korea Antarctic Research Program (1992/93 and 1995/96) to elucidate the glaciomarine sedimentation processes and recent glacial history of the area. Seismic data from Maxwell Bay reveal a rugged bay margin and flattened basin floor covered with well-stratified hemipelagic muds. On the base-of-slope, acoustically transparent debris flows occur, indicating downslope resedimentation of glaciomarine sediments. Despite the subpolar and ice-proximal settings of Marian Cove, the seafloor is highly rugged with a thin sediment drape, suggesting that much of the area has been recently eroded by glaciers. Sediment cores from the cove penetrated three distinct fining-upward lithofacies: (1) basal till in the lower part of the core, accumulated just seaward of the grounding line of the tidewater glacier; (2) interlaminated sand and mud in the middle part, deposited in ice-proximal zone by a combination of episodic subglacial meltwater inflow and iceberg dumping; and (3) pebbly mud in the upper part, deposited in ice-distal zone by both surface meltwater plume and ice-rafting from the glacier front. A reconstruction of the glacial history of these areas since the late glacial maximum shows an ice sheet filling Maxwell Bay in late Wisconsin time and grounding of the tidewater glacier in Marian Cove until about 1300 yr BP.     

Geophysical and geochemical observations on actively seeping hydrocarbon gases on the south-eastern Yellow Sea continental shelf

In the southeastern Yellow Sea, active seepage of hydrocarbon gases has been observed by high-resolution (3.5 kHz) seismic profiling both in 1987 and 2001, occurring through a large number of plumes from the topmost pre-Holocene sedimentary layer. It is strong enough to compensate for current speed, extending vertically up to the sea surface. The gas seepage often appears to be explosive to form craters and diapirs, although pockmarks are rare due to the redistribution of mobile palimpsest sands. In core-top seawater and sediments, the gases are characterized by high amounts of C₂, homogenous ¹³C₁ values and a large difference (19.7 on average) between ¹³C₁ (–55.2 to –53.6 PDB) and ¹³C₂ (–36.8 to –32.5 PDB) values. The gases are considered to be generated with a smaller amount of C₁ at the early thermal cracking stage of labile source materials, after which the C₂ gas is enriched in ¹³C by diffusion or biological alternation at the generation or accumulation site. The homogenous ¹³C₁ values may be one of the geochemical characteristics of gases acquired at depth which are less altered in the case of rapid diffusive gas migration to the seafloor.     

Bacterioplankton growth and production at the Louisiana hydrocarbon seeps

The growth rate and potential production of bacterioplankton in cold hydrocarbon seeps located along the Louisiana coast were determined using a pulse-labeling technique. Surprisingly, community doubling times are on the order of 1.1 h, which compares to laboratory-grown cultures. We also found that there are differences in growth rates on relatively small geographic scales, suggesting the influence of site-specific geological features (e.g., gas hydrate mounds). Proceeding downslope to deeper waters, methane-oxidizing bacteria appeared to play a more significant role in community productivity. These preliminary experiments indicated, quite unexpectedly, that water column microbes are growing at a more rapid rate than in any other marine system so far studied and that methane may serve as a primary nutrient (carbon) source in these seep-associated microbial assemblages.     

A new efficient 3D non-hydrostatic free-surface flow model for simulating water wave motions

A new three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic free surface flow model is presented. For simulating water wave motions over uneven bottoms, the model employs an explicit project method on a Cartesian the staggered gird system to solve the complete three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. A bi-conjugated gradient method with a pre-conditioning procedure is used to solve the resulting matrix system. The model is capable of resolving non-hydrostatic pressure by incorporating the integral method of the top-layer pressure treatment, and predicting wave propagation and interaction over irregular bottom by including a partial bottom-cell treatment. Four examples of surface wave propagation are used to demonstrate the capability of the model. Using a small of vertical layers (e.g. 2–3 layers), it is shown that the model could effectively and accurately resolve wave shoaling, non-linearity, dispersion, fission, refraction, and diffraction phenomena.     

Evaluation of bending moments and shear forces at unit connections of very large floating structures using hydroelastic and rigid body analyses

This paper investigates the characteristics of bending moments, shear forces and stresses at unit connections of very large floating structures (VLFS) under wave loads. The responses of VLFS are calculated by solving multi-body motion equation considering hydroelasticity and connection stiffness. Hydroelastic responses are calculated by the direct method. Higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is used for fluid analysis and finite element method (FEM) is introduced for structural analysis. The equation of motion is modified to describe the unit connections by employing spring elements. Bending moments and shear forces at the connections are obtained from the dynamic equilibrium condition for pressures and inertia forces. Two types of VLFS units such as tandem arranged units and side-by-side arranged units are considered in the numerical examples. The influences of connection stiffness, wave frequency and heading angle on responses of VLFS are investigated through the numerical examples. Rigid body analysis along with hydroelastic analysis is also carried out in the numerical analysis and comparison of those two approaches is discussed.     

Ultimate strength of ship hulls under torsion

For a ship hull with large deck openings such as container vessels and some large bulk carriers, the analysis of warping stresses and hatch opening deformations is an essential part of ship structural analyses. It is thus of importance to better understand the ultimate torsional strength characteristics of ships with large hatch openings. The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the ultimate strength characteristics of ship hulls with large hatch openings under torsion. Axial (warping) as well as shear stresses are normally developed for thin-walled beams with open cross sections subjected to torsion. A procedure for calculating these stresses is briefly described. As an illustrative example, the distribution and magnitude of warping and shear stresses for a typical container vessel hull cross section under unit torsion is calculated by the procedure. By theoretical and numerical analyses, it is shown that the influence of torsion induced warping stresses on the ultimate hull girder bending strength is small for ductile hull materials while torsion induced shear stresses will of course reduce the ship hull ultimate bending moment.