Can the gold coast beaches withstand extreme events?

The Gold Coast sandy beaches of Queensland (Australia) are exposed to energetic wave conditions. Storms, particularly tropical cyclones, have a high potential of destruction. The Gold Coast has not experienced excessive erosive events over the past 30 years. However, some climate indicators suggest that cyclone frequency is likely to increase in response to global climate change within the near future. Over a 2-month period in early 2006, beach surveys were undertaken with a theodolite total station at four different sites. Offshore wave conditions were provided by SWAN regional wave modelling. During this study, the Gold Coast was exposed to three major storms, the first one being the second most energetic over the past 30 years. Results show a substantial variability of the beach response to these events along the Gold Coast, and that engineering structures do not have marked effects. Easterly swells have the greatest impact on the Gold Coast sub-aerial beach morphology. When low wave-energy conditions prevail, the southern Gold Coast beaches recover more quickly than the northern ones, as they are sheltered from high SE waves and draw advantage from the artificial sand bypassing system. Nevertheless, the data show that the Gold Coast beaches are exceedingly fragile. For instance, the early March decadal event considerably weakened the beaches, which resulted in surprisingly high erosion rates all along the Gold Coast during the two following annual wave events. This study suggests that the Gold Coast beaches would not be able to withstand the impact of an increased frequency of extreme events similar in scale to those of 1967.     

Mixing efficiency from microstructure measurements in the Sicily Channel

Ocean Dynamics - The dissipation flux coefficient, a measure of the mixing efficiency of a turbulent flow, was computed from microstructure measurements collected with a vertical microstructure...     

Impact of model free parameters and sea-level rise uncertainties on 20-years shoreline hindcast: the case of Truc Vert beach (SW France)

Shoreline change is driven by various complex processes interacting at a large range of temporal and spatial scales, making shoreline reconstructions and predictions challenging and uncertain. Despite recent progress in addressing uncertainties related to the physics of sea-level rise, very little effort is made towards understanding and reducing the uncertainties related to wave-driven shoreline response. To fill this gap, the uncertainties associated with the long-term modelling of shoreline change are analysed at a high-energy cross-shore transport dominated site. Using the state-of-the-art LX-Shore shoreline change model, we produce a probabilistic shoreline reconstruction, based on 3000 simulations over the past 20 years at Truc Vert beach, southwest France, whereby sea-level rise rate, depth of closure and three model free parameters are considered uncertain variables. We further address the relative impact of each source of uncertainty on the model results performing a Global Sensitivity Analysis. This analysis shows that the shoreline changes are mainly sensitive to the three parameters of the wave-driven model, but also that the sensitivity to each of these parameters is strongly modulated seasonally and interannually, in relation with wave energy variability, and depends on the time scale of interest. These results have strong implications on the model skill sensitivity to the calibration period as well as for the predictive skill of the model in a context of future climate change affecting wave climate and extremes. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photoelectric observations of CH Cygni during the explosive phases of 1967–68

Observations made at Trieste in 1967 and 1968 of CH Cygni reveal a strong variability, particularly in U colour. From the observed colours, a suggestion is made about the existence of a hot companion which could be a subdwarf.Presented at the Trieste Colloquium on Mass Loss from Stars, September 12–16, 1968.     

Sediments and pollution in the Northern Adriatic Sea: a statistical analysis

Data concerning grain-size distribution, mineralogy, geochemistry, and chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations, obtained from 246 surface sediment samples collected in the Northern Adriatic sea (Italian area), provide the basis for a multivariate statistical analysis which evaluates the influence of riverine inputs, the differences among various depositional environments and the presence of polluted zones.Cluster analysis applied to grain size has identified nine groups of lithotypes associated with the morphology and the hydrology of the basin.In the Gulf of Venice, principal component analysis on clay minerals and carbonates has permitted recognition of two main areas located north and south of the Brenta river. More subareas correspond to other lithological types.Principal component analysis of nine metal (Hg, Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Co) concentrations reveals that the studied sea area is more complex from the geochemical point of view. Three geochemical zones related to riverine inputs, different lithotypes and specific forms of contamination are identified. High pollution of both halocarbons and heavy metals is associated with fine grain size.     

Multiphase model for inclusion‐reinforced geostructures: Application to rock‐bolted tunnels and piled raft foundations

A multiphase model is proposed to describe the mechanical behaviour of geomaterials reinforced by linear inclusions. This macroscopic approach considers the reinforced soil or rock mass as the superposition of continuous media. Equations of motion and constitutive laws of the model are first derived. Its implementation in a finite element computer code is then detailed. A modified implicit algorithm for elastoplastic problems is proposed. The model and its implementation are fully validated for rock‐bolted tunnels (comparison with scale model experiments) and piled raft foundations (comparison with the classical ‘hybrid method’). The Messeturm case history is finally presented to assess the handiness of the approach for real structures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.