Understanding El Niño — The importance of Grey Literature in Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management

Access to information about past states of the environment and social systems is fundamental to understand, and cope with, the challenges of climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources at the onset of the 21st century. The loss of (old) data is a major threat to understanding better and mitigating long-term effects of human activities and anthropogenic changes to the environment. Although this is intuitively evident for old and local literature of any kind, even present-day international publishing of papers without the underlying raw data makes access to basic information a crucial issue. Here, we summarise experience resulting from a EU-funded International Science & Technology Cooperation (INCO) project (CENSOR) addressing Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management in the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) context. We show that indeed “Grey Literature” is still one of the most important sources of knowledge about natural science research and management of natural resource systems in Latin American countries. We argue that public archiving of original data of present-day research and old (Grey) Literature and easy public access are important for appreciating today's global environmental challenges caused by human activities, both past and present.     

Viscous model of plate tectonics for the Black Sea region (in relation to the problem of the late Cenozoic evolution of the Black Sea basins)

A numerical model of the Black Sea region (Northeastern Mediterranean) is presented in which it is regarded as a part of the mosaic plate ensemble consisting of the fixed East European platform; the active Arabian, Adriatic, and Pannonian plates; and passive East and West Black Sea and Mysian microplates, which are embedded in a plastically deformable regional orogenic matrix. The fields of displacements, stresses, and deformations in the region are calculated by means of the finite element method within the framework of a linear-viscous rheology approach to a system with nonhomogeneous viscosities. The velocity field obtained is in good agreement with published data of direct observations of plate displacements in the region. In the pressure field, areas of low pressure and decompression are established in the western part of Black Sea and in the south of the Mysian microplate. The poles of rotation of the East and West Black Sea microplates and of the Mysian microplate are computed. For the latter two microplates, significant rotational components are suggested. The East Black Sea microplate acts mostly as indenter, which transmits the collisional motion from the Arabian plate to the southern edge of the East European platform including the Crimea. According to the geodynamical model, the rates of the Cenozoic sedimentation in the Black Sea depression at the collision stage (Oligocene-Pliocene) result from the greater compression of the East Black Sea microplate as compared to the West Black Sea microplate, which, probably, experienced a kind of extension.     

Coping with disaster: Rehabilitating coastal livelihoods and communities

This paper examines lessons from past approaches to natural disasters, as well as early lessons from the post-2004 Asian tsunami rehabilitation, to draw out general principles for rehabilitating livelihoods in poor coastal communities. We contend that avoiding the mistakes of the past requires: (1) a framework for understanding the diversity of coastal people's livelihood strategies and the sources of their vulnerability, (2) a process for designing interventions that build on this understanding in order to strengthen and revitalize coastal communities, including a means of assessing and selecting the most promising livelihood options, and (3) a focus on the longer-term challenge of building future resilience and sustainability in the communities by addressing the root causes of vulnerability.     

Effects of crab–halophytic plant interactions on creek growth in a S.W. Atlantic salt marsh: A Cellular Automata model

The Bahía Blanca Estuary (38° 50′ S, and 62° 30′ W) presents salt marshes where interactions between the local flora (Sarcocornia perennis) and fauna (Chasmagnathus granulatus) generate some kind of salt pans that alter the normal water circulation and condition its flow and course towards tidal creeks. The crab–vegetation dynamics in the salt marsh presents variations that cannot be quantified in a reasonable period of time. The interaction between S. perennis plant and C. granulatus crab is based on simple laws, but its result is a complex biological mechanism that causes an erosive process on the salt marsh and favors the formation of tidal creeks. To study it, a Cellular Automata model is proposed, based on the laws deduced from the observation of these phenomena in the field, and then verified with measurable data within macroscale time units. Therefore, the objective of this article is to model how the interaction between C. granulatus and S. perennis modifies the landscape of the salt marsh and influences the path of tidal creeks. The model copies the basic laws that rule the problem based on purely biological factors.The Cellular Automata model proved capable of reproducing the effects of the interaction between plants and crabs in the salt marsh. A study of the water drainage of the basins showed that this interaction does indeed modify the development of tidal creeks. Model dynamics would likewise follow different laws, which would provide a different formula for the probability of patch dilation. The patch shape can be obtained changing the pattern that dilates.     

Remote sensing and surface POC concentration in the South Atlantic

Several SeaWiFS products have been compared with shipboard data to assess the possibility of using remote sensing to estimate particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration in surface waters. Transmissometer data were collected during six South Atlantic Ventilation Experiment (SAVE) hydrographic expeditions conducted between November 1987 and March 1989 from R/V Knorr, and Melville. A total of 361 beam attenuation profiles were made with a SeaTech transmissometer interfaced with a CTD/rosette. In order to calculate the POC concentration from transmissometer profiles, a regression between beam attenuation and POC for open Atlantic Ocean waters derived from our research in the North Atlantic (North Atlantic Bloom Experiment, NABE) and enhanced by data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Station (BATS) was applied. The profiles were processed and examined as vertical sections of the surface 250 m. The data were collected in two successive years, during the same season, which allowed us to compile a combined data set over the austral summer for examination. Beam attenuation/POC concentrations were integrated down to one attenuation depth with the intent of making comparisons with satellite optical data. No satellite optical data were available for 1987–1989, so the only option was to compare our integrated data with SeaWiFS-derived variables from later years averaged over the same season as SAVE data. Analysis of four SeaWiFS products acquired from 1997 to 2002 demonstrated very low variations from year to year for seasonally averaged data, suggesting that making comparisons of the beam attenuation/POC fields with averaged satellite optical products from later years is a valid (though not optimal) approach for this area. The highest correlation between beam attenuation/POC concentration and remotely derived products was found with normalized water-leaving radiance at 555 nm. Other SeaWiFS-derived variables—chlorophyll concentration, diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm and integral chlorophyll (integrated over one attenuation depth)—were also compared but showed a slightly less satisfactory correlation.     

Casualties in dry bulk shipping (1963–1996)

In recent years, bulk carriers have been identified with high risks of catastrophic structural failure and foundering, and with heavy loss of human life. This study, based upon Lloyd's of London casualty records, identified four risk factors that had significant, independent effect upon the likelihood of a bulk carrier foundering. The risk of foundering increased with the age of the ship, and was related to the ship's flag of registration. Most importantly, however, increased risks were found for heavy cargoes of iron ore and scrap steel or iron, and for trading routes to the Far East and from Europe to North America. Additional safety measures, in particular regarding ship design and high-risk trades, may well be necessary to reduce the high casualty rates.     

Long-term variations of the location of the upper boundary of the hydrogen-sulphide zone in the Black Sea

We analyze the dependence of climatic variations of the location of the upper boundary of the hydrogen-sulphide zone in the Black Sea on the variations of the sea level and various types of atmospheric circulation (according to A.A. Girs). It is discovered that the level of correlation between the indicated parameters is high and that the corresponding plots are in good qualitative agreement. The accumulated results enable us to make an assumption that there exists an 80–100-yr cycle of variation of all analyzed parameters and that the long-term variations of the location of the upper boundary of the hydrogen-sulphide zone can be regarded as a manifestation of global climatic variations. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

Numerical investigation of the influence of various factors on the propagation and transformation of solitary waves in the sea

For various stratifications and different types of bottom patterns we study the transformations of solitary perturbations of density appearing in the depth of the sea. In the two-dimensional case, under the assumption that the average dynamic characteristics weakly vary in time as compared with the wave characteristics, we deduce the equations for mean currents and waves taking into account vertical and horizontal viscosity and the diffusion of density. Numerical examples show that the stratification, bottom topography, nonlinearity, mean currents, and dissipation strongly affect both the process of splitting of a solitary wave into wave trains and their amplitude and length. The wave currents exhibit the oscillatory (train-like) character. It is emphasized that, in the case of propagation of solitary perturbations of density with dissipation, it is also important to take into account the combined influence of nonlinearity, currents, bottom topography, and stratification. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

Structural monitoring of offshore platforms using impulse and relaxation response

Monitoring offshore platforms, long span bridges, high rise buildings, TV towers and other similar structures is essential for ensuring their safety in service. Continuous monitoring assumes even greater significance in the case of offshore platforms, which are highly susceptible to damage due to the corrosive environment and the continuous action of waves. Also, since a major part of the structure is under water and covered by marine growth, even a trained diver cannot easily detect damage in the structure. In the present work, vibration criterion is adopted for structural monitoring of jacket platforms. Artificial excitation of these structures is not always practicable and ambient excitation due to wind and waves may not be sufficient for collecting the required vibration data. Alternate methods can be adopted for the same purpose, for example, the application of an impact or a sudden relaxation of an applied force for exciting the structure. For jacket platforms, impact can be applied by gently pushing the structure at the fender while relaxation can be accomplished by pulling the structure and then suddenly releasing it using a tug or a supply vessel in both cases. The present study is an experimental investigation on a laboratory model of a jacket platform, for exploring the feasibility of adapting vibration responses due to impulse and relaxation, for structural monitoring. Effects of damage in six members of the platform as well as changes in deck masses were studied. A finite element model of the structure was used to analyze all the cases for comparison of the results as well as system identification. A data acquisition and analysis procedure for obtaining the response signatures of the platform due to the impulse and relaxation procedure was also developed for possible adoption in on-line monitoring of offshore platforms. From the study, it has been concluded that both impulse and relaxation responses are useful tools for monitoring offshore jacket platforms. The present work forms the basis for the development of an automated, on-line monitoring system for offshore platforms, using neural networks.