ENSO related modulation of coastal upwelling in the eastern Atlantic

An index of ENSO in the Pacific during early boreal winter is shown to account for a significant part of the variability of coastal SST anomalies measured a few months later within the wind driven West African coastal upwelling region from 10°N to 26°N. This teleconnection is thought to result from an atmospheric bridge between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, leading to warm (cold) ENSO events being associated with a relaxation (intensification) of the Atlantic trade winds and of the wind-induced coastal upwelling. This ENSO related modulation of the wind-driven coastal upwelling appears to contribute to the connection observed at the basin-scale between ENSO and SST in the north Atlantic. The ability to use this teleconnection to give warnings of large changes in the West African upwelling several months in advance is successfully tested using data from the 1998 and 1999 ENSO events.     

Approximate methods in short-term wave response distribution

The design and performance of an offshore structure depends largely upon the response of the structure to the environmental loading such as waves. The extreme response chosen for the design of a structure should meet its lifetime response, operational response as well as the fatigue damage. The failure of the structural member may be caused by the maximum instantaneous stress experienced by the member due to a given environment. This is considered short-term as opposed to long-term or fatigue damage. The short-term response statistics are obtained on the basis of one particular seastate. Since this seastate is invariably high, nonlinearity in the excitation and response of the structure is almost invariably present. The general nonlinear problem in the extreme response prediction is largely unsolved. Response characteristics are often obtained from the perturbation methods and equivalent linearization techniques. Unlike nonlinear problems, these methods greatly simplify the analysis for extreme values. This paper reviews the available approximation techniques in the response computation and the limits of their applicability in a design situation. Results are illustrated so that a designer may evaluate the suitability of a method in a particular design condition.     

The petroleum evaluation of a tectonically complex area: The western margin of the Southeast Basin (France)

The Southeast Basin of France is the thickest onshore French sedimentary basin which contains locally as much as 10 km of Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediment. Basin development occurred in several stages between late Carboniferous and late Cretaceous times. Partial tectonic inversion took place during two compressive events, the so-called ‘Pyrenean’ and ‘Alpine’ phases of late Cretaceous-early Tertiary and late Tertiary ages respectively. They are separated by an intervening stretching event of Oligocene age, which further south resulted in the opening of the western Mediterranean oceanic basin. As a result of this complex tectonic history, structural traps were difficult to image on the seismic data shot during the first phase of exploration prior to 1980. Oil and gas natural seeps, and shows in several wells, indicate that some petroleum systems are, or have been active, at least in some places.The present erosional western margin of the basin is more or less superimposed on the initial Triassic-Jurassic margin. Margin subsidence and Tertiary inversion are discussed using regional sections on which the polyphase history of the entire basin is well shown. These sections are located on three major segments where the Mesozoic margin is either partly preserved (Ardèche), or has been partly inverted in late Tertiary times (Vercors-Chartreuse), or has been completely inverted in early Tertiary times (Corbières-eastern Pyrenees). 1-D ‘Genex’ basin modelling on the Ardèche segment, and 2-D ‘Thrustpack’ structural-maturity modelling in the Vercors-Chartreuse segment are used to further assess the remaining petroleum plays.     

Steady drift force on vertical cylinder - viscous vs. potential

The contribution of the steady drift force on a floating structure may arise from waves, wind and current. The component of the wave drift force may be due to the second-order diffraction theory or potential effect and may be due to the velocity squared force or viscous effect. The presence of current in waves increases the effect of the viscous force. The expressions for these terms for a vertical cylinder are derived and their relative importance is investigated. Plots are presented showing the regions where the viscous or potential drift force predominates. Experiments were conducted with both small and large diameter cylinders. The mean drift forces obtained in these tests are compared with the theory.     

Long-term effects of tributyltin compounds on the baltic amphipod, Gammarus oceanicus

Amphipod larvae, Gammarus oceanicus, were exposed for 8 weeks to bis(tributyltin) oxide (TBTO) or tributyltin fluoride (TBTF), or for 5 weeks to leachates from tributyltin-containing antibiofouling paints. No larvae survived 8 weeks' exposure to 3 μg/litre TBTO or TBTF. Differential larval survival occurred during exposure to 0·3 gmg/litre of these same compounds. Paint leachates were shown to cause similar toxicity responses at comparable aqueous tributyltin concentrations. An examination of sublethal responses showed slight decreases in growth for larvae exposed to TBTO and to paint leachates, although responses at tributyltin levels below 1 μg/litre were not marked. Whole-animal oxygen consumption rates were not affected by low tributyltin exposure levels. While these studies demonstrate low level toxicity of tributyltins, effects on oxygen consumption and growth do not indicate a mode of action for these compounds.     

Bottom Simulating Reflector and Gas Seepage in Okinawa Trough： Evidence of Gas Hydrate in an Active Back-Arc Basin

To look for gas hydrate, 22 multi-channel and 3 single-channel seismic lines on the East China Sea (ECS) shelf slope and at the bottom of the Okinawa Trough were examined. It was found that there was indeed bottom simulating reflector (BSR) occurrence, but it is very rare. Besides several BSRs, a gas seepage was also found. As shown by the data, both the BSR and gas seepage are all related with local geological structures, such as mud diapir, anticline, and fault-controlled graben-like structure. However, similar structural "anomalies" are quite common in the tectonically very active Okinawa Trough region, but very few of them have developed BSR or gas seepage. The article points out that the main reason is probably the low concentration of organic carbon of the sediment in this area. It was speculated that the rare occurrence of gas hydrates in this region is governed by structure-controlled fluid flow. Numerous faults and fractures form a network of high-permeability channels in the sediment and highly fractured igneous basement to allow fluid circulation and ventilation. Fluid flow in this tectonic environment is driven primarily by thermal buoyancy and takes place on a wide range of spatial scales. The fluid flow may play two roles to facilitate hydrate formation:to help gather enough methane into a small area and to modulate the thermal regime.     

Impact of the tsunami and earthquake of 26th December 2004 on the vital coastal ecosystems of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands assessed using RESOURCESAT AWiFS data

Tsunami waves struck the Indian coast on 26th December 2004 affecting the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. A quick assessment of the status of the vital coastal ecosystems has been made using pre- and post-tsunami Advance Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data of Indian satellite RESOURCESAT with an accuracy of 87–90% and the Kappa ranging from 0.8696 to 0.9053. Among the coastal ecosystems the coral reefs have suffered the maximum with the Nicobar reefs (69% eroded and 29% degraded) bearing the brunt more than the Andaman reefs (54% eroded and 22% degraded). Significant improvement to the condition of the reef damaged due to backwash has been noted. About 41% of the Sentinel reef area has undergone significant improvement. The continuance of the erosion of the southwestern Andaman reefs is due to the impact of recurring earthquakes. The impact on mangroves of both the groups of islands has been due to uprooting as well as inundation of seawater and resulting stagnation. Changes are expected in community structure of mangroves as a result of tsunami.     

Heat flow and crustal thermal structure in the Late Archaean Closepet Granite batholith,south India

The Late Archaean Closepet Granite batholith in south India is exposed at different crustal levels grading from greenschist facies in the north through amphibolite and granulite facies in the south along a ∼400 km long segment in the Dharwar craton. Two areas, Pavagada and Magadi, located in the Main Mass of the batholith, best represent the granitoid of the greenschist and amphibolite facies crustal levels respectively. Heat flow estimates of 38 mW m⁻² from Pavagada and 25 mW m⁻² from Magadi have been obtained through measurements in deep (430 and 445 m) and carefully sited boreholes. Measurements made in four boreholes of opportunity in Pavagada area yield a mean heat flow of 39 ± 4 (s.d.) mW m⁻², which is in good agreement with the estimate from deep borehole. The study, therefore, demonstrates a clear-cut heat flow variation concomitant with the crustal levels exposed in the two areas. The mean heat production estimates for the greenschist facies and amphibolite facies layers constituting the Main Mass of the batholith are 2.9 and 1.8 μW m⁻³, respectively. The enhanced heat flow in the Pavagada area is consistent with the occurrence of a radioelement-enriched 2-km-thick greenschist facies layer granitoid overlying the granitoid of the amphibolite facies layer which is twice as thick as represented in the Magadi area. The crustal heat production models indicate similar mantle heat flow estimates in the range 12–14 mW m⁻², consistent with the other parts of the greenstone-granite-gneiss terrain of the Dharwar craton.     

The arrangement in mean elements space of the periodic orbits close to that of the Moon

In a simplified model of the Earth-Moon-Sun system based on the restricted circular 3-dimensional 3-body problem, it is possible to find numerically a set of 8 periodic orbits whose time evolutions closely resemble that of the Moon's orbit. These orbits have a period of 223 synodic months (i.e. the period of the Saros cycle known for more than two millennia as a means of predicting eclipses), and are characterized by a secular rotation of the argument of perigee . Periodic orbits of longer durations exhibiting this last feature are very abundant in Earth-Moon-Sun dynamical models. Their arrangement in the space of the mean orbital elements- for various values of the lunar mean motion is presented.     

Inductive electric fields in the magnetosphere

A quantitative estimate of the electric fields induced by the time dependent ring current is made incorporating the drifts and induced electric fields in a self-consistent manner. It has been shown that in the ring current region, the results of the self-consistent calculations deviate substantially from the first order estimates hitherto obtained. Since for a rapidly varying ring current, the induced electric field can be of the same order as the convection electric field in the magnetosphere, these deviations have to be taken into account in substorm studies.