Diurnal variability of upper ocean temperature and heat budget in the southern Bay of Bengal during October–November, 1998 (BOBMEX-Pilot)

Time-series data on upper-ocean temperature, Vessel-Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (VM-ADCP) measured currents and surface meteorological parameters have been obtained for the first time in the southern Bay of Bengal at 7‡N, 10‡N, and 13‡N locations along 87‡E during October–November, 1998 under BOBMEX-Pilot programme. These data have been analysed to examine the diurnal variability of upper oceanic heat budget and to estimate the eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat in the upper layer. Diurnal variation of near-surface temperature is typical at northern location (13‡N) with a range of 0.5‡C while the diurnal range of temperature is enhanced to 0.8‡C at the central location (10‡N) due to intense solar radiation (1050 W/m²), clear skies and low wind speeds. At the southern location (7‡N), the diurnal variation of temperature is atypical with the minimum temperature occurring at 2000 hrs instead of at early morning hours. In general, the diurnal curve of temperature penetrated up to 15 to 20 m with decreasing diurnal range with depth. The VM-ADCP measured horizontal currents in the upper ocean were predominantly easterly/northeasterly at southern location, north/northerly at central location and northwesterly at northern location, thus describing a large-scale cyclonic gyre with the northward meridional flow along 87‡E. The magnitudes of heat loss at the surface due to air-sea heat exchanges and in the upper 50 m layer due to vertical diffusion of heat are highest at the southern location where intense convective activity followed by overcast skies and synoptic disturbance prevailed in the lower atmosphere. This and the estimated higher value (0.0235 m²/s) of eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat in the upper ocean (0–50 m depth) suggest that 1-D processes controlled the upper layer heat budget at the southern location. On the other hand, during the fair weather conditions, at the central and northern locations, the upper layer gained heat energy, while the sea surface lost (gained) heat energy at northern (central) location. This and lower values of eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat (0.0045 and 0.0150 m²/s) and the northward intensification of horizontal currents at these locations suggest the greater role of horizontal heat advection over the 1-D processes in the upper ocean heat budget at these two locations.     

Wrench tectonics flip at oblique subduction. A model from New Zealand

In eastern North Island New Zealand, oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate is associated with strain partitioning. Dextral along-strike component of displacement occurred first at Early Miocene major faults within the eastern fore-arc domain. These faults were active from Early Miocene to Pliocene times. Since Pliocene times, most of the movement occurs at western faults such as the Wellington Fault. The latter joins the back-arc domain to the north. The jump of wrench faulting is related to the oblique opening of the back-arc domain. Both phenomena are impeded southwards by the Hikurangi oceanic plateau entering the subduction zone. To cite this article: J. Delteil et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

On the singing phenomenon in the offshore seismic experiments

Summary Offshore areas are sometimes found in which seismic record assumes the appearance of a sine wave or a simple combination of sine waves. It is more interesting to note that the dominant frequency on the singing records is the third harmonic of a fundamental whose wave length is four times the water depth. In this paper it has been proved that this peculiar phenomenon happens due to the slope of the sedimentary layer near the observational points. Using the method introduced byCovert (1958) of finding the Green's function for built in bodies, pressure field has been obtained in the water layer for a two dimensional point source in the same medium and it has been proved that due to the slope of the sedimentary layer singing is caused by waves of wave-length equal to four times the water depth.     

Errors due to the anisotropic-common-ray approximation of the coupling ray theory

The common-ray approximation eliminates problems with ray tracing through S-wave singularities and also considerably simplifies the numerical algorithm of the coupling ray theory for S waves, but may introduce errors in travel times due to the perturbation from the common reference ray. These travel-time errors can deteriorate the coupling-ray-theory solution at high frequencies. It is thus of principal importance for numerical applications to estimate the errors due to the common-ray approximation applied. The anisotropic-common-ray approximation of the coupling ray theory is more accurate than the isotropic-common-ray approximation. We derive the equations for estimating the travel-time errors due to the anisotropic-common-ray (and also isotropic-common-ray) approximation of the coupling ray theory. The errors of the common-ray approximations are calculated along the anisotropic common rays in smooth velocity models without interfaces. The derivation is based on the general equations for the second-order perturbations of travel time.     

A DEVICE FOR MEASURING GULLY HEADWALL MORPHOLOGY

This paper describes a low-cost device for measuring the three-dimensional morphology of a gully headwall. The device was designed to operate in a gully system with the following characteristics: overhanging banks caused by a thick, dense root mat; retreat of the underlying unconsolidated sediments through small slab failures, leading to a considerable variation in retreat rate at each point on the headwall; and changes in the orientation of the headwall owing to changes in sediment properties and the topographical and hydrological controls of gully growth. The device is used to measure a series of closely spaced vertical profiles of the headwall, and the collected data are combined to draw a contour map showing the distance from the plane of the instrument to the headwall. Comparing maps for sequential times enables retreat rates for the diffferent proportions of the headwall to be quantified.     

Quasi-harmonic faraday-rotation fluctuations of radio waves when sounding the outer solar corona

A statistical analysis of the Faraday-rotation fluctuations (FRFs) of linearly polarized radio signals from the Helios 1 and Helios 2 spacecraft shows that the FRF time power spectra can be of three types. Spectra of the first type are well fitted by a single power law in the range of fluctuation frequencies 1–10 mHz. Spectra of the second type are a superposition of a power law and two quasi-harmonic components with fluctuation frequencies of about v₁=4 mHz (fundamental frequency) and v₂=8 mHz (second harmonic). Spectra of the third type exhibit only one of the two quasi-harmonic components against the background of a power law. The spectral density of the quasi-harmonic components can be represented by a resonance curve with a fairly broad [Δυ ≈ (0.5–1.3)υ_1,2] distribution relative to the v=v_{1, 2} peak. The intensity of the quasi-harmonic FRF has a radial dependence that roughly matches the radial dependence for the background FRF, while their period at the fundamental frequency is approximately equal to the period of the wellknown 5-min oscillations observed in the lower solar atmosphere. The fluctuations with 5-min periods in FRF records can be explained by the presence in the outer corona of isolated trains of Alfvén waves generated at the base of the chromosphere-corona transition layer and by acoustic waves coming from deeper layers.     

Deterministic strong ground motion study for the Sitamarhi area near Bihar–Nepal region

We explore the challenges of avalanche and debris flow hazard assessment for urban areas exposed in the Sakhalin region. Avalanches are a threat to more than 60 settlements in the region and debris flows to more than 30. Data are provided for avalanche and debris flow events that occurred in the Sakhalin region between 1928 and 2015. In this paper, the method for the design of hazard maps for snow avalanches and debris flows is described, providing the starting point for any planning constraints in general settlement planning schemes. These maps further allow conducting an assessment of avalanche and debris flow risk within a short time period for a larger territory and at minimum cost.