Influence of wind upon water quality in Liverpool Bay

Comprehensive distribution patterns of physical and chemical characteristics have been obtained from a series of cruises in Liverpool Bay. The marked feature of these distributions was their temporal variability, suggesting that the surface residual circulation is also temporally variable. The influence of wind stress upon the circulation pattern and hence water quality of this sea area is illustrated.     

The role of prior model calibration on predictions with ensemble Kalman filter

This paper, based on a real world case study (Limmat aquifer, Switzerland), compares inverse groundwater flow models calibrated with specified numbers of monitoring head locations. These models are updated in real time with the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the prediction improvement is assessed in relation to the amount of monitoring locations used for calibration and updating. The prediction errors of the models calibrated in transient state are smaller if the amount of monitoring locations used for the calibration is larger. For highly dynamic groundwater flow systems a transient calibration is recommended as a model calibrated in steady state can lead to worse results than a noncalibrated model with a well-chosen uniform conductivity. The model predictions can be improved further with the assimilation of new measurement data from on-line sensors with the EnKF. Within all the studied models the reduction of 1-day hydraulic head prediction error (in terms of mean absolute error [MAE]) with EnKF lies between 31% (assimilation of head data from 5 locations) and 72% (assimilation of head data from 85 locations). The largest prediction improvements are expected for models that were calibrated with only a limited amount of historical information. It is worthwhile to update the model even with few monitoring locations as it seems that the error reduction with EnKF decreases exponentially with the amount of monitoring locations used. These results prove the feasibility of data assimilation with EnKF also for a real world case and show that improved predictions of groundwater levels can be obtained.     

Numerical simulation of the interaction between two high-energy plasma bunches in the ionosphere

The 3D MHD algorithm developed by us has been adapted to modeling the interaction between two plasma bunches in the ionosphere, mainly in order to sufficiently correctly describe the physics of the interaction between two plasma regions with regard to the ionospheric inhomogeneity and the geomagnetic field action. Modeling has been performed for several versions of location of the plasma region centers.     

Bildung bromhaltiger Desinfektionsnebenprodukte nach Chlorung von Bodenseewasser in Abhängigkeit von Aufbereitungsschritten und der Bromidkonzentration

Formation of Brominated Disinfection By-products after Chlorination of Water from Lake Constance Depending on Treatment Steps and Bromide Concentration The formation of halogenated disinfection by-products (DNP) (trihalomethanes (THM), haloacetic acids (HES), haloacetonitriles (HAN), haloketones (HKE) and chloropicrin (TCNM)) was studied after chlorination (0.5 mg/L) of raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of bromide ion on the distribution of DNP-species resulting from chlorination and to draw up a bromide mass-balance. The treatment of water from Lake Constance with ozone decreased the formation of DNP about 35% and of total organic halogens (AOX) about 45%. This decline in DNP-formation is mainly due to the formation of chloroform, dichloro- and trichloroacetic acid. Though there is only a small amount of bromide (6.2 μg/L) in water from Lake Constance, about 32% of THM, 16% of HES, and 30% of HAN contained bromine after chlorination of treated water. The addition of bromide ion (up to 1 mg/L) shifted the DNP-composition to more brominated species. The distribution of the DNP-species depends on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio. A mathematic model showed the same pattern of DNP-species depending on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio that was observed experimentally in microstrained raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. After chlorination of microstrained raw water, 27% of the bromide were incorporated in known DNP, 34% in unknown substances, and about 39% of bromide were not converted to organic bromine. After chlorination of treated water, only 16% of the bromide were incorporated in unknown substances, whereas 34% were found in known DNP. About 50% were found as bromide again. After addition of bromide (up to 25 μg/L) to ozonated and treated water from Lake Constance, between 60 and 72% of the bromide that had reacted after chlorination were found in analyzed low-molecular DNP.     

A regional model for studies of atmosphere-ice-ocean interaction in the western Arctic

Summary Asa step in the development of a fully coupled regional model of the atmosphere-ice-ocean system, atmospheric and sea ice models have been adapted to a western Arctic domain centered on the Bering Strait. Lateral boundary conditions derived from operational analyses drive the models through simulations on grids having horizontal resolutions of 21 km and 7 km. Sensitivities to the presence of sea ice are large after only 48 hours, by which time the surface temperatures in the Bering and Chukchi Seas are 10–15°C higher without sea ice than with sea ice. The temperatures, in turn, modify the fields of sea level pressure, surface wind and precipitation. By influencing the surface wind stress through the static static stability, the surface state feeds back to the surface momentum exchange, ice/ocean transport, and the rate of formation of new ice. The results also show a resolution-dependence of the surface winds, precipitation rates and new ice formation rates, particularly in areas in which the coastal configuration and topography are spatially complex. The experiments will be augmented by the implementation of an ocean model on the same grids.With 12 Figures     

Total N,total P and organic matters content in floodplain soils of Xianghai Nature Reserve

Soil sediment samples of 10 layers with a spacing of 10 cm each were collected in different floodplain zones adjacent to Huolin River in the Xianghai Nature Reserve, and contents of total N, total P and organic matters were analyzed. The results showed that contents of total N, total P and organic matters were generally decreasing with the increase of distance from sample locations to the river channel, and contents of the three items were generally higher in the upper soil layer than that in the lower soil layer. The content variations displayed how flooding functions influenced nutrient matter content variations in floodplain soils since the flood inundation frequencies of the sample locations varied. The correlation analysis displayed that there were remarkable relativities between total N, total P and organic matters within definite spatial distance from the Huolin River channel.     

Deformability properties of model granular soils under true triaxial compression conditions

The study presents a review of modifications to the design of true triaxial test apparatuses and described a new mixed boundary apparatus to study the stress-strain behavior of coarse-grained soil under true triaxial compression conditions. It was shown that the deviatoric component plays an important role in affecting the volumetric compression of coarse-grained soil. The study analyzed the influence of different stress-strain characteristics on the development of lateral earth pressure.     

Archaeal Communities of Frozen Quaternary Sediments of Marine Origin on the Coast of Western Spitsbergen

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The archaeal composition of permafrost samples taken during the drilling of frozen marine sediments in the area of the Barentsburg coal mine on the east...     

Application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for flood risk assessment: a case study in Malda district of West Bengal,India

A field experiment was conducted from 2 May 2010 to 1 May 2012 in the Gurbantunggut Desert, the second largest desert in China, to investigate saltation activity and its threshold velocity, and their relations with atmospheric and soil conditions. The results showed that saltation activity occurred more frequently during 08:00–20:00 Local Standard Time in spring and summer, with air temperatures between 20.0 and 29.0 °C, water vapor pressures between 0.6 and 0.9 kPa, soil temperatures between 25.0 and 30.0 °C, and a soil moisture lower than 0.04 m³/m³. At 2 m height, the saltation threshold velocity varied between 11.1 and 13.9 m/s, with a mean of 12.5 m/s. Threshold velocity showed clear seasonal variations in the following sequence: spring (11.7 m/s) < autumn (12.7 m/s) < summer (13.6 m/s). Affected by soil conditions, aeolian sand transport was weak, with an average annual aeolian sand that transported across a section (1.0 m × 2.0 m) of less than 6.0 kg.     

Biogenic origin of coastal honeycomb weathering

Honeycomb weathering occurs in two environments in Late Cretaceous and Eocene sandstone outcrops along the coastlines of south‐west Oregon and north‐west Washington, USA, and south‐west British Columbia, Canada. At these sites honeycomb weathering is found on subhorizontal rock surfaces in the intertidal zone, and on steep faces in the salt spray zone above the mean high tide level. In both environments, cavity development is initiated by salt weathering. In the intertidal zone, cavity shapes and sizes are primarily controlled by wetting/drying cycles, and the rate of development greatly diminishes when cavities reach a critical size where the amount of seawater left by receding tides is so great that evaporation no longer produces saturated solutions. Encrustations of algae or barnacles may also inhibit cavity enlargement. In the supratidal spray zone, honeycomb weathering results from a dynamic balance between the corrosive action of salt and the protective effects of endolithic microbes. Subtle environmental shifts may cause honeycomb cavity patterns to continue to develop, to become stable, or to coalesce to produce a barren surface. Cavity patterns produced by complex interactions between inorganic processes and biologic activity provide a geological model of ‘self‐organization’. Surface hardening is not a factor in honeycomb formation at these study sites. Salt weathering in coastal environments is an intermittently active process that requires particular wind and tidal conditions to provide a supply of salt water, and temperature and humidity conditions that cause evaporation. Under these conditions, salt residues may be detectable in honeycomb‐weathered rock, but absent at other times. Honeycomb weathering can form in only a few decades, but erosion rates are retarded in areas of the rock that contain cavity patterns relative to adjacent non‐honeycombed surfaces. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.