Experimental investigation of water impact on axisymmetric bodies

The results of an elaborate experimental investigation on bottom slamming of axisymmetric objects are presented. Drop tests have been performed on a hemisphere and two conical shapes with different deadrise angles. The test setup is designed so as to prevent small rotations of the test objects which cause scatter in the measurement data. The pressure distribution and evolution as well as the body motion parameters are measured during impact. By means of a high speed camera the water uprise is visualized and the wetting factor is determined for the cones. The results are compared with a three-dimensional asymptotic theory for axisymmetric rigid bodies with constant entry velocity. The ratio between the registered peak pressures and the asymptotic theory are in accordance with comparable experiments in the literature. The asymptotic theory, however, is found to be quite conservative, since the measured peak pressure levels appear to be approximately 50% to 75% of the theoretical levels.     

Detecting anomalous CO2 flux using space borne spectroscopy

Over the time-scale, earth's atmospheric CO₂ concentration has varied and that is mostly determined by balance among the geochemical processes including burial of organic carbon in sediments, silicate rock weathering and volcanic activity. The best recorded atmospheric CO₂ variability is derived from Vostok ice core that records last four glacial/interglacial cycles. The present CO₂ concentration of earth's atmosphere has exceeded far that it was predicted from the ice core data. Other than rapid industrialization and urbanization since last century, geo-natural hazards such as volcanic activity, leakage from hydrocarbon reservoirs and spontaneous combustion of coal contribute a considerable amount of CO₂ to the atmosphere. Spontaneous combustion of coal is common occurrence in most coal producing countries and sometimes it could be in an enormous scale. Remote sensing has already proved to be a significant tool in coalfire identification and monitoring studies. However, coalfire related CO₂ quantification from remote sensing data has not endeavoured yet by scientific communities because of low spectral resolution of commercially available remote sensing data and relatively sparse CO₂ plume than other geological hazards like volcanic activity. The present research has attempted two methods to identify the CO₂ flux emitted from coalfires in a coalmining region in north China. Firstly, a band rationing method was used for column atmospheric retrieval of CO₂ and secondly atmospheric models were simulated in fast atmospheric signature code (FASCOD) to understand the local radiation transport and then the model was implemented with the inputs from hyperspectral remote sensing data. It was observed that retrieval of columnar abundance of CO₂ with the band rationing method is faster as less simulation required in FASCOD. Alternatively, the inversion model could retrieve CO₂ concentration from a (certain) source because it excludes the uncertainties in the higher altitude.     

A protocol for classifying ecologically relevant marine zones,a statistical approach

Mapping ecologically relevant zones in the marine environment has become increasingly important. Biological data are however often scarce and alternatives are being sought in optimal classifications of abiotic variables. The concept of ‘marine landscapes’ is based on a hierarchical classification of geological, hydrographic and other physical data. This approach is however subject to many assumptions and subjective decisions.     

The new wave overtopping database for coastal structures

Significant effort has been made to generate a homogeneous database on wave overtopping consisting of more than 10,000 irregular wave overtopping tests from more than 160 independent projects or test series, each described by means of 31 parameters. Many coastal structures, including dikes, rubble mound breakwaters, berm breakwaters, caisson structures and combinations have been considered and have been schematised for inclusion in the database. All these overtopping tests are represented by over 300,000 numbers in the database.     

High-resolution record of tectonic and sedimentary processes in growth strata

Growth strata are used to determine the kinematics of synsedimentary structures such as faults. Classical methods of analysis such as thickness versus throw plot consider that the available space created by fault slip in the hanging wall of faults is instantaneously filled up by sediments. This has lead many previous works to identify a cyclic activity for growth faults. Here we perform a careful analysis of the variation of strata thicknesses on each side of a very well documented normal growth fault in the Niger delta. We show that these thickness variations are induced by the alternation of sedimentary processes during continuous fault slip. Suspended-load processes induce either uniform or slightly variable thickness of a large majority of mudstone layers. Bedload processes result in a preferential thickening of sand layers in the hanging wall. These high quality data thus provide strong grounds for doubting the polycyclic growth diagnosed for some faults at the scale of sedimentary cycles and supports the notion that fault displacement rates can be very well behaved. Our study emphasizes the important conclusion that stable fault growth, and related displacement rates, can appear to be punctuated when viewed at the scale of sedimentary cycles. It follows that care should be taken when attempting to derive displacement rates on temporal scales equivalent to those of alternating sedimentological cycles.     

Coral assemblages and reef growth in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Western Pacific Ocean)

Reef development varies considerably around the high, raised‐limestone islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Here we examine the modern assemblages at 30 sites for coral composition, colony density, colony size, and fidelity. We defined four reef types and hypothesize the presence of environmentally driven ecological stasis, whereby the environment continuously selects for coral species membership, defines colony sizes, and over time creates the noted reef types. Our results show that constructional spur‐and‐groove reefs supported significantly larger coral‐colony sizes and higher coral species richness compared with high‐relief interstitial framework, low‐relief incipient, and non‐constructional coral assemblages. Non‐constructional reefs supported much smaller coral colony sizes, despite similar population densities, and were consistently found in association with high wave exposure. The distinct coral assemblages found on interstitial framework and low‐relief incipient reefs were not affiliated with any wave exposure regime, but were located adjacent to large watersheds and on islands with unique geological history. These assemblages were nested within the spur‐and‐groove species pool. Overall, modern coral cover was well predicted by bathymetric slope and watershed size, while species richness was additively influenced by two proxies of pollution, suggesting the latter is better suited for establishing management targets. In contrast with previous studies that suggested modern assemblages were biologically controlled in the CNMI, we show reef assemblages and reef development are highly influenced by long‐term environmental forcing.     

Micromorphological characteristics of glacimarine sediments: implications for distinguishing genetic processes of massive diamicts

Glacimarine diamicts are produced by diverse processes, and genetic differentiation is often problematic using macro-sedimentological criteria alone. Micromorphology offers a potentially helpful tool in such investigations. Macroscopically massive diamict samples of known glacimarine origin, from the Polar North Atlantic, Antarctica and north Irish Sea, were prepared for micromorphological analysis to (1) identify microstructures unique to different modes of sedimentation and (2) interpret genetic processes from those structures. The samples comprised examples of debris-flow, iceberg-turbate and suspension settling deposits from late Quaternary glacier-influenced marine environments: tidewater glacier, sub- or pro-ice shelf and continental slopes in front of ice stream termini. Results show two significant features of debris-flow sediments: a bimodal grain fabric of near-horizontal and -vertical grains, and laminated clay and silt coatings on sand and pebble grains. Coatings are best developed in sediments with finer grain-size distributions and in debris-flow sediments which have had relatively long run-out distances on trough-mouth fans, suggesting continuous rotation of grains in a buoyant, turbulent aqueous environment. This is significant because it precludes debris-flow delivery by plug flow. The micromorphology of iceberg turbate has not been described previously. It contains structures similar to those described in tills, so that unambiguous identification of these sediments seems unlikely based on micromorphological criteria alone. Suspension sediments range from fine-grained massive diamicts containing microfossils to more heterogeneous coarser sediments characterised by abrupt textural variations, from ice-distal and ice-proximal glacimarine environments respectively. The ice-proximal sediments contain fine vertical lineations marking the trajectories of dropstones through wet matrix. These dropstone tracks have not been reported in previous studies.     

Dissolved organic nitrogen dynamics in the North Sea: A time series analysis (1995–2005)

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) dynamics in the North Sea was explored by means of long-term time series of nitrogen parameters from the Dutch national monitoring program. Generally, the data quality was good with little missing data points. Different imputation methods were used to verify the robustness of the patterns against these missing data. No long-term trends in DON concentrations were found over the sampling period (1995–2005). Inter-annual variability in the different time series showed both common and station-specific behavior. The stations could be divided into two regions, based on absolute concentrations and the dominant times scales of variability. Average DON concentrations were 11 μmol l⁻¹ in the coastal region and 5 μmol l⁻¹ in the open sea. Organic fractions of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) averaged 38 and 71% in the coastal zone and open sea, respectively, but increased over time due to decreasing dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations. In both regions intra-annual variability dominated over inter-annual variability, but DON variation in the open sea was markedly shifted towards shorter time scales relative to coastal stations. In the coastal zone a consistent seasonal DON cycle existed with high values in spring–summer and low values in autumn–winter. In the open sea seasonality was weak. A marked shift in the seasonality was found at the Dogger Bank, with DON accumulation towards summer and low values in winter prior to 1999, and accumulation in spring and decline throughout summer after 1999. This study clearly shows that DON is a dynamic actor in the North Sea and should be monitored systematically to enable us to understand fully the functioning of this ecosystem.     

Marine protected areas—substantiating their worth

With the UK Marine Bill promoting the creation of a network of marine protected areas and similar commitments in other countries there is a need for tools to assist in their design and management. Although physical science often drives designation, the implementation of marine protected areas also encompasses political and socio-economic issues. This paper focuses on one tool in the armoury of decision-makers: choice experiments. It illustrates its application to the quantification of aspects of socio-economic value not readily incorporated into the evaluation of the costs and benefits of marine protected areas utilising cold-water deep coral reefs off the Republic of Ireland.