Spectral Analysis based on Wavelet Transform Maxima: Identification of Multi-order Stratigraphic Boundaries and Cycles

In sedimentology, stratigraphic sequences and cycles are ordered by time spans and physical scales, such as thickness, and bounded by discontinuities, including unconformities or flooding surfaces. Spectral analysis based on wavelet transform (WT) maxima is proposed and used as a quantitative tool to identify multi-order stratigraphic boundaries and cycles in well log data. The proposed spectral analysis is based on quantitative analysis on the center frequencies and resolutions of Gaussian wavelets in time and frequency, and uses a combination of the WT maxima based on both the first order Gaussian wavelet having a high time resolution and the seventh order Gaussian wavelet having a high frequency resolution. WT maxima spectra, which can characterize the evolution of WT maxima across scales and periods along WT maxima lines concerned with sequence boundaries, are used to detect dominant spectral peaks corresponding to the time-period domain WT maxima and to determine WT maxima spectral slopes. The WT maxima spectral slopes are helpful for discriminating sequence boundaries from intrasequence cyclic variations in well log data, and the time-period domain WT maxima are used to relate the detected boundaries to relevant cycles. The interval WT maxima spectra and the stationary index, related to the WT maxima spectra, are introduced as indicators that can be used for the hierarchical ordering of the boundaries and cycles. Application of the proposed method to well log data shows that the suggested method is efficient in identifying multi-order sequences that relate well to the Milankovitch cycles.

     

Evolution of waves and currents over a submerged laboratory shoal

The vertically-integrated effect of interaction between waves and wave-induced currents on wave transformation over a submerged elliptic shoal was investigated based on numerical simulations of the Vincent and Briggs experiment [Vincent, C.L., Briggs, M.J., 1989. Refraction- diffraction of irregular waves over a mound. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, 115(2), pp. 269–284.]. The numerical simulations were performed using two numerical wave-current model systems: one, a combination of the wave model SWAN and the current model SHORECIRC, and the other, a combination of the wave model REF/DIF and the same current model. A time-dependent, phase-resolving wave and current model, FUNWAVE, was also utilized to simulate the experiment. In the simulations, the developed wave-induced currents defocused waves behind the shoal and brought on a wave shadow zone that showed relatively low wave height distributions. For the breaking case of monochromatic waves, the wave heights computed using FUNWAVE showed good agreement with the measurements and the resulting wave-induced currents showed a jet-like velocity distribution in transverse direction. And the computed results of the two model combinations agreed better with the measurements than the computed results obtained by neglecting wave-current interaction. However, it was found that for the case in which transverse interference pattern caused by refracted waves was strong, REF/DIF-SHORECIRC did not correctly evaluate radiation stresses, the gradients of which generate wave-induced currents. SWAN-SHORECIRC, which cannot deal with the interference patterns, predicted a jet-like wave-induced current. For breaking random wave cases, the computed results of the two model combinations and FUNWAVE agreed well with the measurements. The agreements indicate that it is necessary to take into account the effect of wave-induced current on wave refraction when wave breaking occurs over a submerged shoal.     

Real‐time hybrid simulation for an RC bridge pier subjected to both horizontal and vertical ground motions

It is well known that real‐time hybrid simulation (RTHS) is an effective and viable dynamic testing method. Numerous studies have been conducted for RTHS during the last 2 decades; however, the application of RTHS toward practical civil infrastructure is fairly limited. One of the major technical barriers preventing RTHS from being widely accepted in the testing community is the difficulty of accurate displacement control for axially stiff members. For such structures, a servo‐hydraulic actuator can generate a large force error due to the stiff oil column in the actuator even if there is a small axial displacement error. This difficulty significantly restricts the implementation of RTHS for structures such as columns, walls, bridge piers, and base isolators. Recently, a flexible loading frame system was developed, enabling a large‐capacity real‐time axial force application to axially stiff members. With the aid of the flexible loading frame system, this paper demonstrates an RTHS for a bridge structure with an experimental reinforced concrete pier, which is subjected to both horizontal and vertical ground motions. This type of RTHS has been a challenging task due to the lack of knowledge for satisfying the time‐varying axial force boundary condition, but the newly developed technology for real‐time force control and its incorporation into RTHS enabled a successful implementation of the RTHS for the reinforced concrete pier of this study.     

Monthly Geographical Distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nemopilema nomurai</Emphasis> (Scyphozoa: Rhizosotomeae) in the Bohai and North Yellow Seas: a Preliminary Study using Ships of Opportunity

Nemopilema nomurai, an endemic and blooming jellyfish species in the waters of Korea, China and Japan, were monitored from June to October, 2017, in the Bohai and northwestern Yellow Seas, using the ship sighting method, as a preliminary study to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of medusae. Monitoring revealed that the mass appearance of young medusae was observed in Liaodong Bay in summer. In late summer they disappeared and a high density zone shifted to the mid- and northern Bohai Strait. In early fall, healthy adults with relatively high density were observed in the area around the border of the South and North Yellow Seas. These results suggest that medusae of N. nomurai originated from the Bohai Sea and were advected into the Yellow Sea through the Bohai Strait.     

Bioremediation of contaminated coastal sediment: Optimization of slow release biostimulant ball using response surface methodology (RSM) and stabilization of metals from contaminated sediment

The aim of the present study is to optimize the slow release biostimulant ball (BSB) for bioremediation of contaminated coastal sediment using response surface methodology (RSM). Metals contamination and stabilization of metals in coastal sediments using BSB were investigated. The effects of BSB size (1–5 cm), distance (1–10 cm), and time (1–4 months) on the stabilization of metals including Fe, Cd, Cu, and Pb were determined. The maximum stabilization percentages of Fe, Cd, Cu, and Pb, of 64.5%, 54.9%, 63.8%, and 47.6%, respectively, were observed at a 3 cm ball size, 5.5 cm distance, and a period of 4 months; these values are the optimum conditions for effective treatment of contaminated coastal sediment. The determination coefficient of the R² value suggests that > 91.55%, 89.97%, 96.10%, and 86.40% of the variance is attributable to the variables of Fe, Cd, Cu, and Pb, respectively.     

Density Estimates of Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia coerulea) in the Yeongsan Estuary using Nets and Hydroacoustics

Ocean Science Journal - Using nets and acoustic frequencies of 38 and 120 kHz, we estimated the density distribution of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia coerulea, in the Yeongsan Estuary, where a large...     

Imaging Spectroscopy of a Solar Filament Using a Tunable Hα Filter

Observations using a narrow band Hα filter still remain one of the best ways to investigate the fine structures and internal dynamics of solar filaments. Hα observations, however, have been usually carried out with the peak response of the filter fixed at a single wavelength, usually at the centerline, in which the investigation is limited to the Hα morphology and its time evolution. In this paper, we demonstrate that the Hα spectroscopy that takes Hα images successively at several wavelengths is a useful tool in the study of solar filaments on the solar disk. Our observation of a filament was carried out on August 3, 2004 at Big Bear Solar Observatory using the 10-inch refractor. The Lyot Hα filter was successively tuned to five wavelengths: ?0.6, ?0.3, 0.0, +0.3, and +0.6 Å from the Hα line center. Each set of wavelength scan took 15 s. After several steps of data reduction, we have constructed a five-wavelength spectral profile of intensity contrast at every spatial point. The contrast profile at each spatial point inside the filament was reasonably well fit by the cloud model as far as the contrast is high enough, and allowed us to construct the maps of τ₀, v, Δ λ_D and S in the filament. We also found that the line center method that is often used, always yields line-of-sight velocities that are systematically lower than the cloud model fit. Our result suggests that taking Hα images at several wavelengths using a tunable filter provides an effective way of deriving physically meaningful parameters of solar filaments. Particularly constructing the time sequence of v maps appears to be a useful tool for the study of internal dynamics, like counterstreaming, in filaments.     

Determination of magnetic helicity content of solar active regions from SOHO/MDI magnetograms

Chae (2001) first proposed a method of self-consistently determining the rate of change of magnetic helicity using a time series of longitudinal magnetograms only, such as taken by SOHO/MDI. Assuming that magnetic fields in the photosphere are predominantly vertical, he determined the horizontal component of velocity by tracking the displacements of magnetic flux fragments using the technique of local correlation tracking (LCT). In the present paper, after briefly reviewing the recent advance in helicity rate measurement, we argue that the LCT method can be more generally applied even to regions of inclined magnetic fields. We also present some results obtained by applying the LCT method to the active region NOAA 10365 under emergence during the observable period, which are summarized as follows. (1) Strong shearing flows were found near the polarity inversion line that were very effective in helicity injection. (2) Both the magnetic flux and helicity of the active region steadily increased during the observing period, and reached 1.2 × 10²² Mx and 8 ×10⁴² Mx², respectively, 4.5 days after the birth of the active region. (3) The corresponding ratio of the helicity to the square of the magnetic flux, 0.05, is roughly compatible with the values determined by other studies using linear-force-free modeling. (4) A series of flares took place while the rate of helicity injection was high. (5) The choice of a smaller window size or a shorter time interval in the LCT method resulted in a bigger value of the LCT velocity and a bigger value of the temporal fluctuation of the helicity rate. (6) Nevertheless when averaged over a time period of about one hour or longer, the average rate of helicity became about the same within about 10%, almost irrespective of the chosen window size and time interval, indicating that short-lived, fluctuating flows may be insignificant in transferring magnetic helicity. Our results suggest that the LCT method may be applied to 96-minute cadence full-disk MDI magnetograms or other data of similar kind, to provide a practically useful, if not perfect, way of monitoring the magnetic helicity content of active regions as a function of time.