Enhancement of biological productivity by internal waves: observations in the summertime in the northern South China Sea

Streaks of elevated concentrations of surface chlorophyll a (Chl_a) of various spacing were found to be associated with internal waves in their transmission zone and dissipation zone in the summertime in the deep open northern South China Sea. At an anchored station in the dissipation zone north of the Dongsha Atoll with a water depth of ca. 600?m, undulations of the mixed layer depth with an amplitude of ca. 30?m and a periodicity of ca. 12?h were observed, and they were accompanied by similar undulation in the isotherm and isopleth of the nutrients. These observations are consistent with the enhancement of vertical mixing by internal waves and the resulting transfer of cold, nutrient-rich subsurface water to the surface mixed layer to fuel biological productivity. In the transmission zone and dissipation zone, respectively, the summertime (May–October) average sea surface temperature was 0.5 and 0.8?°C lower and Chl_a was 19 and 43?% higher than those in a nearby subregion that was minimally affected by internal waves. The mean net primary productivity was elevated by 15 and 37?%. These results indicate that the enhancement of biological activity by internal waves is not confined to the shallow waters on the shelf. The effect can be detected in all phases of the internal waves although it may be especially prominent in the dissipation zone where mixing between subsurface and surface waters is more effective.     

Modelling nitrogen and phosphorus cycles and dissolved oxygen in the Zhujiang Estuary Ⅰ. Model development

wrmcrloxHuman activities related to the population growth and developrnent of industry and rnwhci-pality have led to the incrouing hadings of various POllutants into estudries during the past fewdecades. These increasing edlutant lOadings have caused declined estuallne hedth which can bemereured by a vdriety of indices. In order to obtain solutions to environrnent problerns, re-sources manageTnnt apencies are supporting a holistic approach to envirorirnental management.An effcient strategy t…     

Mean crustal velocity: a critical parameter for interpreting crustal structure and crustal growth

Mean crustal velocity is a critical parameter for genesis of continental crystalline crust because it is a function of mean crustal composition and therefore may be used to resolve continental crustal growth in space and time. Although the best values of mean crustal velocity are determined from wide-angle reflection measurements, most studied here necessarily come from vertical averages in crustal refraction determinations. The mode of 158 values of mean crustal velocity is 6.3 km/s, a velocity which corresponds to a mean crustal composition of granodiorite to felsic quartz diorite; Archean crust may be slightly more mafic. Mean crustal velocities range from 5.8 to 7.0 km/s. The lowest values invariably are found in thermally disturbed rift zones and the highest values correspond to velocities in gabbro. Velocities in island arcs may be as low as 6.0 km/s but are typically 6.5–6.9 km/s which corresponds to andesitic composition; estimates of island arc composition are andesitic. If values of mean crustal velocity are not biased, this observation suggests that continental crust did not grow simply by addition of island arc material. Possibilities are that crust formed from fusion of island arcs and was later changed to more felsic composition by addition of material from the mantle or that the late Archean episode of major crustal growth did not involve processes similar to younger island arcs. Some crustal blocks might be changed in composition and thickness by such processes as underplating, interthrusting, necking and sub-crustal erosion. Specially designed experiments are suggested to determine this parameter so critical for understanding genesis of continental crust.     

Prediction of ground vibration due to quarry blasting based on gene expression programming: a new model for peak particle velocity prediction

Blasting is a widely used technique for rock fragmentation in opencast mines and tunneling projects. Ground vibration is one of the most environmental effects produced by blasting operation. Therefore, the proper prediction of blast-induced ground vibrations is essential to identify safety area of blasting. This paper presents a predictive model based on gene expression programming (GEP) for estimating ground vibration produced by blasting operations conducted in a granite quarry, Malaysia. To achieve this aim, a total number of 102 blasting operations were investigated and relevant blasting parameters were measured. Furthermore, the most influential parameters on ground vibration, i.e., burden-to-spacing ratio, hole depth, stemming, powder factor, maximum charge per delay, and the distance from the blast face were considered and utilized to construct the GEP model. In order to show the capability of GEP model in estimating ground vibration, nonlinear multiple regression (NLMR) technique was also performed using the same datasets. The results demonstrated that the proposed model is able to predict blast-induced ground vibration more accurately than other developed technique. Coefficient of determination values of 0.914 and 0.874 for training and testing datasets of GEP model, respectively show superiority of this model in predicting ground vibration, while these values were obtained as 0.829 and 0.790 for NLMR model.     

A study on the flux,speciation, and budget of mercury in controlled experimental ecosystems

The lowest addition of mercury (0.1 ug Hg 1⁻¹) was used in CEEs for research on mercury flux, speciation and budget. The removal behavior of mercury by phytoplankton in water columns of CEEs can be described by first order kinetic equations for total and particulate mercury in the CEE spiked by mercury. The removal rate of mercury in water columns depends on the size and productivity of phytoplanton in a water column to which mercuric ions were added. A 4.4 day half-life time and a 2.8 day half-life time for total and particulate mercury respectively was obtained in diatom bloom. During microflagellate bloom a 30 day total mercury half-life time was estimated with increase of particulate mercury in the water column. The 0.010 ug Hg cm⁻²y⁻¹ mercury flux rate that was attained in the control bag agreed with the values from field measurements in Saanich Inlet where the bags were launched. The proportion of total mercury to dissolved and particulate mercury depended also on the size, productivity, and concentration of mercury in a water column. A more or less constant distribution of mercury species in the control bag was observed as follows: dissolved Hg 0.73, particulate Hg 0.27, inorganic Hg 0.42, dissolved organic Hg 0.31. After spiking with mercury, the particulate mercury rose rapidly and reached to over 70% of the total mercury. The concentration factor of mercury by phytoplankton in the CEEs in the order of 10⁵ was consistent with the results from field measurements in Saanich Inlet. The mercury recovery from the water column, sediment, water with sediment, and the CEE bag walls was only 52.3% of total mercury spiked in the CEE. The losses of mercury by vaporization into the ambient air and diffusion through the wall of the enclosure should be considered. This paper was published in Chinese inOcean. Limn. Sinica,17(4):307–317, 1986.     

USERS′ PERCEPTION OF KOWLOON PARK, HONG KONG： VISITING PATTERNS AND SCENIC ASPECTS

Hong Kong is a hyper-dense city with 7×10⁶ people living in an area of 1100km². One way to improve the livability of compacted and congested cities like Hong Kong is through the provision of urban parks, an aspect that has largely been under-researched. This study focuses on how users perceive and utilize various facilities in the Kowloon Park. The findings revealed that the Kowloon Park is one of the most preferred parks in Hong Kong for both local residents and tourists. Users were quite satisfied with the park’s facilities. Notably, the most important component of an urban park is its greenery. This is followed by water elements, seating places, and facilities for various recreational activities. The improvements users would like to see in urban parks include good design and management, meeting users’ needs, overcoming barriers to use, and providing a high quality and varied experience for different groups in the community. The findings of this study provide a good basis to address park management issues from the users’ perspective. In particular, parks should provide easy access, encourage optimum usage and enable complimentary improvements to the environment. Foundation item: Under the auspices of the Germany-Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme (No.GER/99-00/01) and the Faculty Research Grant of the Hong Kong Baptist University (No.FRG/00-01/I-38) Biography: WONG Koon-kwai (1950—), male, a native of Guangdong Province, Ph.D., associate professor, specialized in the analysis of human-environment interaction. E-mail: kenwong@hkbu.edu.hk     

Extrusion movements of a tunnel head reinforced by finite length bolts—a closed‐form solution using homogenization approach

An analytical model on the general behaviour of a tunnel head, reinforced by finite length bolts is proposed. This model is based on the homogenization method and spherical symmetry assumption. Despite its simplicity, and in consequence its limits of validity, it does allow a quick estimation of the key design parameters: frontal displacement, extension of decompressed zone, ground stresses and bolt tension, and constitutes thereby a very useful and handy tool for design engineers. In particular, the influence of the reinforcement length, as well as other important design parameters, are studied by the proposed model. The charts resulting from the parametric studies are directly applicable. Otherwise, the comparison to a 3D numerical model is also presented in this paper. The first results provide the validation of the analytical solution, at least in terms of average extrusion movements. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity of a hydraulic model to channel erosion uncertainty during extreme flooding

Recent research into flood modelling has primarily concentrated on the simulation of inundation flow without considering the influences of channel morphology. River channels are often represented by a simplified geometry that is implicitly assumed to remain unchanged during flood simulations. However, field evidence demonstrates that significant morphological changes can occur during floods to mobilize the boundary sediments. Despite this, the effect of channel morphology on model results has been largely unexplored. To address this issue, the impact of channel cross‐section geometry and channel long‐profile variability on flood dynamics is examined using an ensemble of a 1D–2D hydraulic model (LISFLOOD‐FP) of the ~1 : 2000 year recurrence interval floods in Cockermouth, UK, within an uncertainty framework. A series of simulated scenarios of channel erosional changes were constructed on the basis of a simple velocity‐based model of critical entrainment. A Monte‐Carlo simulation framework was used to quantify the effects of this channel morphology together with variations in the channel and floodplain roughness coefficients, grain size characteristics and critical shear stress on measures of flood inundation. The results showed that the bed elevation modifications generated by the simplistic equations reflected an approximation of the observed patterns of spatial erosion that enveloped observed erosion depths. The effect of uncertainty on channel long‐profile variability only affected the local flood dynamics and did not significantly affect the friction sensitivity and flood inundation mapping. The results imply that hydraulic models generally do not need to account for within event morphodynamic changes of the type and magnitude of event modelled, as these have a negligible impact that is smaller than other uncertainties, e.g. boundary conditions. Instead, morphodynamic change needs to happen over a series of events to become large enough to change the hydrodynamics of floods in supply limited gravel‐bed rivers such as the one used in this research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地下管线源数据处理方法的研究

为了保障顺利建设上海市地下管线数据库．需要对现存的地下管线的源数据进行一些技术处理，以满足数据入库的要求。本文主要个绍：笔者在从事地下管线源数据处理工作中，碰到的现存的上海市地下管线源数据对于建设上海市地下管线数据库所存在的一些问题：以及笔者利用Autodesk公司的AutoCAD二次开发工具开发的应用程序来处理这些问题的方法。