An early Miocene reefal platform in the Rama Ridge (Banda Sea, Indonesia)

 In December 1995 we dredged early Miocene coral-reef carbonates and early/middle Pliocene slope carbonates outcropping on the submerged Rama Ridge. This indicates that some of the Banda Sea Ridges were present during early Miocene times. Subsequent major tectonic subsidence occurred between middle Miocene and early Pliocene times. These results concur with the hypothesis of a relatively recent age for the North Banda Sea basement. Received: 5 March 1997 / Revision received: 23 October 1997     

The statistics of particle velocities and accelerations under waves with directional spread

The statistics of the horizontal component of the water particle velocity vector under random waves are considered. A spread in the directions of travel of the component wave trains does not affect the rms value of the modulus r but it affects the shape of its probability distribution in such a way that the pr3bability of extreme values is reduced. For small and moderate directional spreads the modulus for a given probability of exceedance is reduced by a factor which tends to F_s as the probability of exceedance tends to zero, where F_s is the spread factor (which is typically 0.9 in temperate storms). However, the convergence on this asymptote is not complete for probabilities of engineering importance, particularly for wide directional spreads. The standard deviation of the probability distribution of the direction of the vector is reduced roughly in inverse proportion to r. The same conclusions apply to particle accelerations.     

Factors governing abundance of hydrolyzable amino acids in the sediments from the N.W. European Continental Margin (47–50°N)

Fifty-six samples representing 6 sediment cores taken along the N.W. European Continental Margin from the shelf, slope and abyssal plain of the Goban Spur and Meriadzek Terrace were quantitatively analysed for total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and clay minerals. In descending order, the five most abundant amino acids making up more than 70% of the total were: aspartic acid, glycine, serine, alanine and glutamic acid. Clay mineral proportions were typical for the N.E. Atlantic, in order of descending abundance: illite, kaolinite, chlorite, smectite and mixed layers.The Meriadzek Terrace area is characterised by fine grain suspension sedimentation with a low pelagic carbonate input and the lowest content of THAA. In contrast, the Goban Spur transect is characterised by much higher carbonate inputs and more vigorous hydrodynamics as judged from granulometry and the high abundance of minerals of shelf and continental origin and a generally higher THAA content. The pelagic portion of THAA deposited at the sea floor is more readily mineralised during early diagenesis than the more ‘refractory', clay mineral-associated continental portion. Along this margin the average mineralization of THAA down to 25 cm in the sediment is about 54%. There is a significant affinity between chlorites and amino acids which we suggest may involve the formation of ionic bonds between the octahedral layers of the clay and the amino acids.     

Influence of Bottom Stress on the Two-layer Flow Induced by Gravity Currents in Estuaries

Baroclinic circulation in highly stratified and partially stratified estuaries is characterised by a two-layer flow: a bottom salt- water inflow and a surface brackish-water outflow. Tidal period variation of the thicknesses of a two-layer flow is observed to be associated with mixing, bottom stress and hydraulic characteristics of superposed tidal and gravity currents. Here, both analytical two-layer hydraulic equations with weak friction and a numerical model including a turbulence closure were utilised to understand the mechanism of the layer tendency within a two-layer flow under different barotropic flow conditions. It has been found that in the weak bottom friction case, a gravity current has two critical solutions at the layer thickness equal to 0·5Hand 0·292H. The layer thickness towards a particular critical solution is dependent on the sign of the bottom stress, i.e. when the bottom stress is opposite (favor) to the bottom gravity current, its layer thickness converges to 0·5H(0·292H). In the case of strong bottom stress and mixing opposing the gravity current, the solutions of the gravity current layer thickness at 0·5Hand 0·292Hwill not be valid. Both mixing and vorticity produced by bottom stress erode the halocline, and produce a high velocity core in the mid-depth, which leads to the thickness of a bottom gravity current greater than 0·5H. These internal hydraulic tendency and mixing processes, varying with time-dependent barotropic tidal current forcing, determine the tidal period variation of the gravity current structure.     

Benthic Nutrient Recycling in Port Phillip Bay, Australia

Benthic chamber measurements of the reactants and products involved with biogenic matter remineralization (oxygen, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, TCO₂and alkalinity) were used to define solute exchange rates between the sediment and overlying water column of Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Measurements at various sites throughout the bay, conducted during the summers of 1994 and 1995, indicate that the variability in flux values within a site is comparable to year-to-year variability (±50%). Four regions of the bay were distinguished by sediment properties and the northern region was identified as having 3–30 times greater nutrient regeneration rates than the other regions. Benthic recycling accounted for 63 and 72% of the annualized N and P input, respectively, to the entire bay as determined by summing benthic, dissolved riverine, atmospheric and dissolved effluent sources. However, bay-wide sedimentary denitrification accounted for a loss of 63% of the potentially recyclable N. This fraction is higher than many other coastal regions with comparable carbon loading. Denitrification efficiency is apparently not enhanced by benthic productivity nor by bio-irrigation. The rate of bio-irrigation is negatively correlated with denitrification efficiency. Bio-irrigation was studied using radon-222 and CsCl spike injection chamber measurements. Radon fluxes from sediments in Port Phillip Bay were enhanced over the diffusive flux by 3–16 times. The modelled rate of loss of Cs from chamber water was positively correlated with radon flux enhancement results. Both methods identify regions within Port Phillip Bay that have particularly high rates of non-diffusive pore-water overlying water solute exchange.     

The Effect of the Introduction of the American Species Marenzelleria viridis (Polychaeta; Spionidae) on the Benthic Ecosystem of Vistula Lagoon

Abstract. In the late 1980s, a radical change in the macrozoobenthos composition occurred in the Vistula Lagoon, an oligohaline and silted water basin. This structural change is a result of the mass appearance of the very strongly euryhaline spionid polychaete Marenzelleria viridis Verrill, a newcomer from North American estuaries. It considerably reduced the previous bottom macrofauna, which was composed mainly of Chironornidae larvae and oligochaetes.
The penetration depth of the macrozoobenthos into the sediments and its total biomass increased in the last years, which enhanced the organic matter displacement in sediment layers of a greater thickness. The previous bottom dwellers inhabited mainly the most superficial sediment layer, whereas the new polychaete immigrant can penetrate down to a depth of 20–40 cm.     

An iterative method for boundary element solution of large offshore structures using the GMRES solver

The GMRES approach is used to solve complex matrix solution arising from boundary element analysis of large offshore structures. This makes it possible to solve problems with large numbers of panels on a workstation with a much smaller memory than typical high performance computers. The speed of the solver is compatible with direct solvers when the enough RAM is available. Otherwise, an iteration procedure can be used. By using an out-of-core treatment, typical RAM requirement is reduced to a size approximately linearly proportional to the panel number n instead of being proportional to n². The code is first verified with direct solver for cases with small number of panels. The applicability to large offshore structure of the model is demonstrated for a TLP case.     

The synchronous coupling of a third-generation wave model and a two-dimensional storm surge model

The interaction of waves and currents is studied by the dynamical coupling of a third generation wave model and a two-dimensional storm surge model. The coupling process of the two models is implemented synchronously. To estimate the effects of waves on the generation of storm surges, the theory of Janssen is used. The effects of the wave radiation stress on surge levels and the effects of storm-induced currents on waves are also investigated.The coupled wave and storm surge models have been tested by hindcasting two storm events in the northern South China Sea. The use of the Simth and Banke stress relation underestimates the surges by 10%. The inclusion of the radiation stress improves the accuracy of the computed results slightly by 2%. The introduction of a wave-dependent surface drag gives a significant improvement. The storm-induced currents clearly affect the wave characteristics at the peak stage. However, as far as the prediction of wave height is concerned, it is better not to consider the wave radiation stress in the storm surge model unless this is accompanied by a wave-dependent surface drag.     

Voracious planktonic hydroids: unexpected predatory impact on a coastal marine ecosystem

Hydroids are typically attached, benthic cnidarians that feed on a variety of small prey. During sampling on Georges Bank in spring 1994, we found huge numbers of hydroids suspended in the plankton. They fed on young stages of copepods that are an important prey for fish, as well as on young fish themselves. Two independent methods were used to estimate feeding rates of the hydroids; both indicate that the hydroids are capable of consuming from 50% to over 100% of the daily production of young copepods. These results suggest that hydroids can have a profound effect on the population dynamics of zooplankton and young fish on Georges Bank.