Estuary/ocean exchange and tidal mixing in a Gulf of Maine Estuary: A Lagrangian modeling study

A Lagrangian particle method embedded within a 2-D finite element code, is used to study the transport and ocean–estuary exchange processes in the well-mixed Great Bay Estuarine System in New Hampshire, USA. The 2-D finite element model, driven by residual, semi-diurnal and diurnal tidal constituents, includes the effects of wetting and drying of estuarine mud flats through the use of a porous medium transport module. The particle method includes tidal advection, plus a random walk model in the horizontal that simulates sub-grid scale turbulent transport processes. Our approach involves instantaneous, massive [O(500,000)] particle releases that enable the quantification of ocean–estuary and inter-bay exchanges in a Markovian framework. The effects of the release time, spring–neap cycle, riverine discharge and diffusion strength on the intra-estuary and estuary–ocean exchange are also investigated.The results show a rather dynamic interaction between the ocean and the estuary with a fraction of the exiting particles being caught up in the Gulf of Maine Coastal Current and swept away. Three somewhat different estimates of estuarine residence time are calculated to provide complementary views of estuary flushing. Maps of residence time versus release location uncover a strong spatial dependency of residence time within the estuary that has very important ramifications for local water quality. Simulations with and without the turbulent random walk show that the combined effect of advective shear and turbulent diffusion is very effective at spreading particles throughout the estuary relatively quickly, even at low (1 m²/s) diffusivity. The results presented here show that a first-order Markov Chain approach has applicability and a high potential for improving our understanding of the mixing processes in estuaries.     

夏季南海上层环流动力机制的数值研究

通过利用一个分区性的正压-斜压衔接模式来探讨夏季南海的上层环流特征及其动力机制,结果表明:夏季期间,由于风生环流的不稳定性促使在东沙群岛附近的气旋涡的强度及位置发生变化,并间接导致黑潮侵入南海北部的程度变化以及气旋涡南侧的反气旋式环流、西沙群岛西南侧的气旋涡的强度和范围出现波动现象;在南海南部的北向西边界流由于离岸的西南季风所驱动在中南半岛中部沿岸脱离岸线往东北方向的流动,导致沿岸的水体大量流失而在沿岸形成一支南向补偿流并在西沙群岛西南侧诱生一气旋涡,而上述的离岸西边界流则作顺时针方向流动,从而在南海南部形成反气旋式大环流;在南沙海槽附近出现的局地气旋涡和万安滩附近的气旋涡分别受β效应、底形效应的作用而形成.     

Seasonally Hypersaline Estuaries in Mediterranean-climate Regions

Data collected in three Californian estuaries indicate that hypersaline conditions exist during the dry summers typical of a Mediterranean climate. The generalised seasonal and longitudinal hydrographic structures are described and explained. It is argued that this seasonal hypersalinity is common and that it represents a major class of estuaries. The observed accumulation of salt indicates surprisingly long residence times in small basins which have free exchange with the ocean. This semi-isolation of the inner basin leads to a large build-up or severe depletion of nutrients, pollutants and plankton in these systems. Of concern are the trends to increase pollutant loading in the same systems that are experiencing an increase in residence times owing to freshwater extraction in the watershed.     

Spatial and temporal variability of crustal magnetization of a slowly spreading ridge: Mid-Atlantic Ridge (20°–24° N)

The results of the two- and three-dimensional magnetic inversions performed on data located between 20°–24° N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge indicate the crustal magnetization has decayed exponentially for the last 10 Ma, and that this decay has been fairly symmetric about the ridge axis. After removal of the mean temporal decay, the residual field is characterized by more positive magnetizations at the second-order discontinuities, regardless of initial magnetization direction. A model that involves the preferential emplacement of serpentinized lithologies near the discontinuities is proposed to explain this correlation. The temporal detrending method also indicates that several ridge-parallel depressions located on the flanks of the ridge axis are regions of more positive magnetizations. These bathymetric depressions may mark the locations of detachment faulting that occurred during amagmatic periods of extension. The general symmetry of the crustal magnetization about the ridge axis does not support the occurrence of continuous detachment faulting proposed to correspond to the inner and outer corners of ridge axis discontinuities.     

Photoadaptation of carboxylating enzymes and photosynthesis during a spring bloom

Properties of the light saturation curve of photosynthesis and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC) activity are shown to change qualitatively in a natural population of marine phytoplankton during a spring bloom. Evidence is presented to show that these changes constitute photoadapative responses to increasing irradiance. As irradiance increased during the bloom, both the level of light-saturated photosynthesis (P_m) and the initial slope of the light saturation curve (α = photosynthetic efficiency) increased whether those parameters were normalized to chlorophyll a concentration (P_m^b, α^b) or to cell numbers (P_m^c, α^c). The magnitudes of these changes were such that I_k (= P_m/α, the photoadaptation parameter) did not change, but I_m, the light intensity at which photosynthesis becomes saturated, increased. RuBPC activity, both chlorophyll a (RuBPC^b) and cell number normalized (RuBPC^c), also increased during the bloom. We suggest that these adaptations were achieved by simultaneously increasing the number of photosynthetic units, proportionately decreasing the photosynthetic unit size, and increasing both the concentrations of the enzymes of the dark reactions and possibly also of photosynthetic electron transport components.We also observed diminished levels of photoinhibition in the high light adapted cells late in the bloom and have suggested that this was a consequence of the same suite of physiological changes.In situ carbon fixation per cell increased during the bloom whereas no change occurred in this parameter when normalized to chlorophyll a concentration. Although these photoadaptive responses thus permitted carbon to be fixed in situ more rapidly per cell, at a constant efficiency with respect to investment of energy in the photosynthetic apparatus, they did not result in a change in growth rate. Based on consideratios of the role of time scale in physiological adaptation, however, it is suggested that the observed alterations in photosynthesis with increasing irradiance might permit a cell to more rapidly fill an energy quota for division, possibly an advantage in a mixing environment in which energy is patchily distributed, both spatially and temporalyy.Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity when normalized to chlorophyll a (PEPC^b) did not change during the bloom while chlorophyll a normalized dark carbon fixation decreased sharply and was quantitatively small compared to PEPC^b. On this basis and considering that RuBPC^b increased during the bloom, it is suggested that, although PEPC may be involved in dark carbon fixation, its most important quantitative role is probably an indirect one in light dependent photosynthesis.We have also considered the relevance of laboratory results on photoadaptation to interpretations of field studies and have suggested that batch culture studies must be treated with caution but that turbidistat and semi-continuous methods provide reasonable simulations of natural conditions.     

分层流体中内孤立波在潜浮式竖直薄板上透射和反射

采用边缘层理论研究了两层流体系统中内孤立波在潜浮式竖直薄板上的透射和反射问题,提出了非线性演化方程的“初值”条件,分析了内孤立波与薄板非线性相互作用的效应。研究表明:流体层的密度比以及薄板伸入上下层的深度对于反射和透射波结构具有显著的影响,薄板伸入下层越深、密度差越小,则薄板阻碍孤立波透射的效率越高;透射波通常演化为单峰孤立波和迅速衰减的尾波,反射波演化为缓慢衰减的尾波列;对于具有小密度差的跃层结构,内孤立波在潜浮式竖直薄板上的透射及其演化近乎是无障碍的。     

大黄鱼病原弧菌拮抗放线菌的筛选与人工诱变

从厦门集美海滩底泥分离得到38株放线菌，用琼脂块法测定它们对大黄鱼病原弧菌-溶藻弧菌和副溶血弧菌的拮抗效果，选择两株拮抗效果较好的放线菌进行诱变，测定诱变后各菌株的抗菌效果，并选择抗菌效果较好的菌株进行第二次诱变，如此反复诱变3次，共得到97株放线菌，结果表明；38株放线菌中的22株对两株病原菌有一定的拮抗作用；用紫外线照射可以获得少量对两株病原菌拮抗作用加强的菌株。     

Evolution of the Axial Geometry of the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge between the Melville Fracture Zone and the Indian Ocean Triple Junction – Implications for Segmentation on Very Slow-Spreading Ridges

Geophysical data from 900 km of the Southwest Indian Ridge are used todescribe the pattern of evolution of the plate boundary between 61° Eand 70° E over the past 20 million years. The SWIR is anobliquely-opening, ultra slow-spreading axis, and east of61° E comprises a series of ridge sections, each about 100–120 kmin length. The orientation of these sections varies fromsub-orthogonal to oblique to the approximately N–S spreadingdirection. In general, the suborthogonal sections are shallower, commonlysubdivided into an array of discrete axial segments, and carry recognisablecentral magnetic anomalies. The majority of the oblique sections are single,continuous rifts without continuous axial magnetic signatures.Morphotectonics of the Southwest Indian Ridge crust have not previously beenwell constrained off-axis, and we here present sidescan sonar andswath bathymetric data up to 100 km from the ridge to demonstrate the complexities of its spatial and temporal evolution.A model is proposed that the segmentation style correlates with analong-axis variation between: (a) relatively thick crustal sections which overlie mantle sections with higher magmatic supply created in orthogonally-spreading segments and (b) those oblique sections associated with cooler, magmatically-starved mantle and thinner crust. These latter sections are formed at broad offset zones in theplate boundary, more precisely defined on faster-spreading ridges asnontransform discontinuities. The nonsystematic pattern of crustalconstruction, extensional basin formation and the absence of extension-parallel traces of discontinuities off-axis suggest that the oblique spreading sections are not fixed in space or time.