The Structure of A Turbulent Jet in A Crossflow-Effect of Jet-Crossflow Velocity

A comprehensive numerical study on the three-dimensional structure of a turbulent jet in crossflow is performed. The jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio (R) varies in the range of 2 - 16; both vertical jets and inclined jets without excess streamwise momentum are considered. The numerical results of the Standard two-equation k-ε model show that the turbulent structure can be broadly categorised according to the jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio. For strong to moderate jet discharges, i.e. R> 4, the jet is characterized by a longitudinal transition through a bent-over phase during which the jet becomes almost parallel with the main freestream, to a sectional vortex-pair flow with double concentration maxima; the computed flow details and scalar mixing characteristics can be described by self-similar relations beyond a dimensionless distance of around 20-60. The similarity coefficients are only weakly dependent on R. The cross-section scalar field is kidney-shaped and bifurcated, vvith distinct double concentr     

Geochemical cycling in the Hooghly estuary, India

U–Th decay series isotopes, δ¹⁸O and Si measurements in the river estuarine waters and sediments of the polluted Hooghly estuary as well as the surface waters of the Bay of Bengal, its high salinity end member, are reported. Dissolved Si indicates that there are probably two mixing regimes, dissolved U behaviour is nonconservative and δ¹⁸O behaves conservatively in the overall estuarine region. Isotopes of reactive elements, viz. ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Po, are removed from the estuarine waters in <2 days and <1 month, respectively, which is due to high suspended matter (30–301 mg l⁻¹). ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra are profusely released into the estuarine waters in the low to mid-salinity regions.As expected, the opposite trend is observed in the case of estuarine sediments and suspended matter. Reactive isotopes of Th, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po are enriched, whereas Ra isotopes are depleted with respect to their parent nuclides in the estuarine sediments and suspended matter. ²³²Th/Al ratio appears well suited to study the distribution and mixing of the bed load sediments of the Ganga–Brahmaputra (G–B) and the Hooghly rivers with those from other rivers on the Bay of Bengal floor.     

Mean flow and variability in the southwestern East Sea

The Ulleung Basin is one of three deep basins that are contained within the East/Japan Sea. Current meter moorings have been maintained in this basin beginning in 1996. The data from these moorings are used to investigate the mean circulation pattern, variability of deep flows, and volume transports of major water masses in the Ulleung Basin with supporting hydrographic data and help from a high-resolution numerical model. The bottom water within the Ulleung Basin, which must enter through a constricted passage from the north, is found to circulate cyclonically—a pattern that seems prevalent throughout the East Sea. A strong current of about 6 cms⁻¹ on average flows southward over the continental slope off the Korean coast underlying the northward East Korean Warm Current as part of the mean abyssal cyclonic circulation. Volume transports of the northward East Korean Warm Current, and southward flowing East Sea Intermediate Water and East Sea Proper Water are estimated to be 1.4 Sv (1 Sv=10⁻⁶ m³ s⁻¹), 0.8 Sv, and 3.0–4.0 Sv, respectively. Deep flow variability involves a wide range of time scales with no apparent seasonal variations, whereas the deep currents in the northern East Sea are known to be strongly seasonal.     

Nereis diversicolor: an Unreliable Biomonitor of Metal Contamination in the 'Ría de Bilbao' (Spain)

Abstract. Samples of the polychaete Nereis diversicolor O.F. M üller and surficial sediments from a clean and a polluted estuary were taken during a year at monthly intervals to determine, by comparison, the range of temporal fluctuations in trace metal concentrations. Whereas metal variations in surficial sediments were more pronounced in the polluted estuary, concentrations in N. diversicolor in both estuaries showed a wide range of temporal variation that surpassed that of surficial sediments. A clear decline in all metals studied (except Mn) from polluted sediments was noted after episodes of strong rainfall. In the reference estuary the fluctuations were less pronounced. Metal body burdens in N. diversicolor from the two estuaries were usually quite similar even though total levels in sediments differed considerably, indicating a lack of worm-sediment relationship. The low level of Cu, Cr and Pb in the tissues of N. diversicolor suggest a mechanism which prevents the polychaete from being exposed to these metals in highly polluted sediments. Therefore, it is concluded that N. diversicolor cannot be considered to be an ideal biomonitor of metal contamination in the polluted Bilbao Estuary.     

The abyssal bounty fan and lower Bounty Channel: evolution of a rifted-margin sedimentary system

The Bounty Channel and Fan system provides the basis for a model for deep-sea channel and fan development in a rifted continental margin setting. The sedimentary system results from an interplay between tectonics (fan location; sediment source), turbidity currents (sediment supply), geostrophic currents (sediment reworking and distribution) and climate (sea level, and hence sediment supply and type). Today, sediment is shed from the collisional Southern Alps, part of the Pacific/Indo-Australian plate margin, and passes east across the adjacent shelf and into the Otago Fan complex at the head of the Bounty Trough. Paths of sediment supply, and locations of sediment deposition, are controlled by the bathymetry of the Bounty Trough, with axial slopes as high as 37 m/km (2°) towards the trough head, diminishing to around 3.5 m/km (0.2°) along the trough axis. The Bounty Fan is located 800 km further east, where the Bounty Channel debouches onto abyssal oceanic crust at the mouth of the Bounty Trough. The Bounty Fan comprises a basement controlled fan-channel complex with high leveed banks exhibiting fields of mud waves, and a northward-elongated middle fan. Channel-axis gradients diminish from 6 m/km (0.35°) or more on the upper fan to less than 1 m/km (<0.06°) on the lower fan. Parts of the left bank levee and almost the entire middle fan are being eroded and re-entrained within a Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC), which passes along the eastern New Zealand margin at depths below 2000 m. The DWBC is the prime source of deep, cold water flow into the Pacific Ocean, with a volume of ca. 20 Sv and velocities up to 4 cm/s or greater. The mouth of the Bounty Channel, at a depth of 4950 m at the south end of the middle fan, acts as a point source for an abyssal sediment drift entrained northward under the DWBC at depths below 4300 m. The Bounty Fan probably originated in the early to middle Neogene, but has mostly been built during the last 3 Myr (Plio-Pleistocene), predominantly as climate-controlled sedimentary couplets of terrigenous, micaceous mud (acoustically reflective; glacial) and biopelagic ooze (acoustically transparent; interglacial), deposited under the pervasive influence of the DWBC.     

Upper temperature tolerances of exotic brackish-water mussel, Mytilopsis leucophaeata (Conrad): an experimental study

The dark false mussel, Mytilopsis leucophaeata is an important mussel colonising the brackish-water systems of temperate and subtropical regions. Of late it has earned notoriety as a biofouling species in industrial cooling water systems. However, there are no published data on the temperature tolerance of this species. This paper presents data on the upper temperature tolerance of this mussel from the view point of biofouling control using thermal methods. In addition to mortality, response of physiological activities such as oxygen consumption, filtration rate, foot activity and byssus thread production were also studied at temperatures varying from 5 to 35 degrees C. Experiments were also carried out to understand the effect of mussel size, breeding condition, nutritional status and acclimation conditions (temperature and salinity) on the mortality pattern. The physiological activities were significantly reduced at temperatures beyond 27.5 degrees C and ceased at 35 degrees C. In 20 mm size group mussels exposed to 37 degrees C, 50% mortality was observed after 85 min and 100% mortality after 113 min. The effect of mussel size on mortality at different temperatures was significant, with the larger size group mussels showing greater resistance. M. leucophaeata collected during the non-breeding season (December-April) were more tolerant to temperature than those collected during the breeding season (June-October). Nutritional status of the mussel had no significant influence on the thermal tolerance of the mussel: fed and starved (non-fed) mussels succumbed to temperature at comparable rates. The effect of acclimation temperature and acclimation salinity on M. leucophaeata mortality at different temperatures was significant. Survival time increased with increasing acclimation temperature and decreased with increasing salinity. In comparison with other co-occurring species such as Mytilus edulis and Dreissena polymorpha, M. leucophaeata appears to be more tolerant to high temperature stress.     

Temperature of the ocean surface as an indicator of thermodynamic processes in the northwest Pacific

The numerical computations and analysis of the anomalies of temperature of the ocean surface in the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean were carried out on the basis of the archival data for 1960 and 1964–1985. A five-year period of general instability of the annual average temperature was revealed (1973–1977). In this period, the year 1974 was the coldest and the year 1977 was characterized as extremely warm. We performed the analysis of the interannual and annual variability of the anomalies of temperature of the ocean surface and revealed common features and distinctions of the seasonal evolution of these anomalies for years with substantially different temperature conditions. A quasistationary zone of maximally heated waters was discovered in the band located (independently of the year and season) between 36 and 46°N to the east of 140°E. This zone coincides in space with the zone of the subarctic front and the south part of the subarctic region. The influence of the meanders of the Kuroshio Current was demonstrated. It is shown that their activity increases after the events of El-Niño and, hence, the thermal energy of the water area considerably increases and remains elevated for a period of 1–2 yr after the indicated events.Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 5, pp. 45–52, September–October, 2004.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to cover date.     

A depocenter of organic matter at 7800 m depth in the SE Pacific Ocean

The Atacama trench, the deepest ecosystem of the southern Pacific Ocean (ca. 8000 m depth) was investigated during the Atacama Trench International Expedition. Sediments, collected at three bathyal stations (1040–1355 m depth) and at a hadal site (7800 m) were analyzed for organic matter quantity and biochemical composition (in terms of phytopigments, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids), bacterial abundance, biomass and carbon production and extracellular enzymatic activities. Functional chlorophyll-a (18.0±0.10 mg m⁻²), phytodetritus (322.2 mg m⁻²) and labile organic carbon (16.9±4.3 g C m⁻²) deposited on surface sediments at hadal depth (7800 m) reached concentrations similar to those encountered in highly productive shallow coastal areas. High values of bacterial C production and aminopeptidase activity were also measured (at in situ temperature and 1 atm). The chemical analyses of the Atacama hadal sediments indicate that this trench behaves as a deep oceanic trap for organic material. We hypothesize that, despite the extreme physical conditions, benthic microbial processes might be accelerated as a result of the organic enrichment.     

Pathways of clay mineral transport in the coastal zone of the Brazilian continental shelf from Ceará to the mouth of the Amazon River

The transport pathways of fine sediments (fraction <2 μm) along the Brazilian continental shelf from Ceará to the Amazon River mouth were studied by means of clay mineral analyses. On the continental shelf southeast of the Amazon mouth, fluctuations in clay mineral compositions reflect simple mixing between the suspended load of the North Brazil Current and sediment from several smaller rivers. Previously, clay mineral variations west of the Amazon mouth have been explained by variable settling velocities of different grain-size classes within the <2 μm fraction or by selective coagulation of individual clay mineral groups. By contrast, our experiments with river bank samples show that selective coagulation does not occur in Amazon River sediments. A more appropriate explanation for observed variations in clay mineral composition off the Amazon mouth seems to be, similarly to that for the shelf between Ceará and the Amazon mouth, a mixing of Amazon sediments with suspended material of the North Brazil Current. This interpretation is supported by data on clay mineral composition east and south of the Amazon mouth, showing more affinity to sediments of the North Brazil Current than to the suspended load of the Amazon River. Additionally, relatively low sedimentation rates and low concentrations of fine-grained sediments on the shelf suggest that high riverine input by the Amazon River does not overprint the sediments of the North Brazil Current in this region. The strong North Brazil Current shunts the Amazon suspended load in a north-westerly direction along the north-eastern coast of South America. Hence, stronger sedimentation of Amazon sediments would occur only west of the river mouth.