Shallow gas and fluid migration in the northern Arafura Sea (offshore Northern Australia)

A variety of shallow gas indicators and fluid migration pathways have been interpreted from new sub-bottom profiler, multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar, and echo-sounder data together with geochemical analyses of sampled sediments from the northern Arafura Sea, offshore Northern Australia. This study provides new geological data and a seismic stratigraphy of the youngest units in the Money Shoal Basin, in an area that has not been closely studied in over 30 years. The shallow gas indicators include pockmarks, low frequency enhanced reflectors and acoustic blanking. These indicators are supported by gas within shallow cores. Geochemistry indicates that this gas has a microbial origin but deeper fluid movement is also suggested by the presence of interpreted hydrocarbon slicks based on synthetic aperture radar data. A region of likely hydrocarbon seepage is indicated by the clear coincidence of shallow gas indicators with an area of increased faulting and a zone of poor quality seismic data (recognised on conventional seismic data), together with anomalies (interpreted on remote-sensing data) aligned with mapped deep structures.     

Effects of mechanical macrophyte control on suspended sediment concentrations in streams

Suspended sediment (SS) is an important pollutant in freshwater ecosystems and can be detrimental to fish communities. Although macrophytes mediate sediment deposition, little effort has been put into determining how their removal affects sediment resuspension. The present study examined the immediate and long-term impacts of mechanical macrophyte removal on SS concentrations in streams. The results of this study suggest that bed disturbance during mechanical excavation of macrophytes significantly increases SS in the short term, and concentrations were found to increase by as much as 15,687 mg L^–1 immediately after macrophyte removal. Significant long-term (77 day) increases in SS were also observed, indicating that without macrophytes, disturbed material is continually resuspended after excavation by fluvial processes. These results demonstrate that macrophyte removal can result in SS levels that have previously been shown to harm fish, and indicate that this activity may be more detrimental to fish than previously thought.     

Application of a panel method to hydrodynamics of underwater vehicles

A low-order singularity panel method based on Green's formulation is used to predict the hydrodynamics characteristics of underwater vehicles. The low-order modeling employs constant strength sources and doublets, and the body surface is modeled by quadrilaterals. The method is first applied to predicting the force and moment coefficients of underwater vehicles for the body-alone and finned configurations. Hydrodynamic coefficients of added mass and added moment of inertia are also calculated by modifying the code. Results for several two and three-dimensional bodies show the usefulness of the method for predicting the added mass and added moment of inertia.     

A taut-wire core cutter

A device for splitting gravity and piston cores taken in plastic liners is described. The unit is of simple design and can be used to cut unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sediments without disturbance of primary sedimentary structures.