A hydrodynamic model of a submerged lenticular wave energy device

The wavemaking capability and energy absorbing characteristics of a single submerged body, constrained to move horizontally in a surge mode, are examined. The body possesses both a vertical axis of symmetry and a horizontal plane of symmetry and is ‘thin’ in the sense that the body draft is small compared to the length. The behaviour of a single body subject to a constraint being placed upon the amplitude of its displacement and the properties of an array of interacting identical devices are also discussed.     

Measurement of water particle velocities in waves

Water surface profiles and horizontal and vertical water particle velocity components have been measured to investigate the properties of intermediate depth waves generated in the laboratory. The data has been compared with linear wave theory. It was found that linear theory predicted the attenuation of velocity field with depth successfully and that it overestimates both components of velocity slightly.     

Physico-chemical and mineralogical studies on cochin marine clays

Large deposits of marine clays are encountered all along the Indian coastal belt. These clays are pleistocene to recent in origin, are considered to be young, and were deposited in a salt or brackish environment. These clays are very soft in consistency with low in-situ strength and high compressibility. The properties of these soil deposits depend mainly on the clay minerals present. In the present investigation, the mineralogical studies of some Cochin marine clays were carried out using XRD technique. The physical and chemical properties of these deposits were also reported. The test results were compared with some earlier reported works on marine clays.     

Impact of Two "El Niño" Events of Different Intensity on the Hypoxic Soft Bottom Macrobenthos off the Central Peruvian wast

Abstract. Monthly changes in the community structure of hypoxic soft-bottom macrobenthos have been studied at a station at 34 m depth in Ancón Bay (Peru) before and during two El Niño (EN) events. Of these events, 1982-83 is considered the strongest, and 1991–93 one of the most prolonged in the 20th century. On the oceanographic scale, EN 1982–83 ranges as "very strong", whereas EN 1991–93 ranges as "moderate".
The thermal anomalies at the station during EN 1982–83 (+ 7.8 °C) were almost twice those of EN 1991–93 (+ 4.1 °C). However, the community changes were not in all cases proportional to the extent of warming. Species numbers increased in a similar way (up to 24 species from near zero in each of the two events), but maximum faunal density was five times higher, and mean biomass was twice as high in 1982–83 compared with the event a decade later. Species diversity was slightly higher during EN 1982–83, whereas successional and trophic changes occurred on a broader scale during EN 1991–93. On the whole, the impact of the long-lasting event on the small soft-bottom macrofauna was not much weaker than that of the exceptionally strong event.
The authors discuss the mechanisms which may be responsible for the differences and similarities encountered in the benthic community dynamics during these two events. Both in the unusually strong and the unusually long EN, the community revealed a pattern of early biological response several months ahead of the onset of local warming which marks the official begin of EN. The question is addressed to what extent the increase of certain parameters in the benthic community could be used for predictive purposes.     

Transverse vibrations of a rectangular cantilever plate with thickness varying in a discontinuous fashion

A numerical solution is obtained for the title problem by means of the popular finite element method. An experimental investigation of the problem is also presented for plates of square planform. The agreement between theoretical and experimental values is very good in the case of the fundamental frequency, and reasonably good when the second and third normal modes of transverse vibration are considered. It is concluded that beneficial effects are obtained in the sense that one generates a lighter structural element with higher fundamental frequency of transverse vibration. Hence, dynamic stiffening is achieved.     

Thermal bending of thin, anisotropic, clamped elliptic plates

The present note deals with the exact analytical solution of thermal bending of clamped, anisotropic, elliptic plates in the case where the thermal field is given by an expression of the type T(x,y,z)=z(Ax²+Cxy+By²).The problem is of basic interest in some ocean and mechanical structural systems since anisotropic materials are commonly used in those fields. Obviously the case of an orthotropic material constitutes a particular situation of the problem under study.     

Historical record of heavy metals in a highly contaminated Mediterranean deposit: The Besòs prodelta

The Besòs prodelta, located around a highly populated area, receives the discharge of the Besòs River, one of the most contaminated rivers discharging into the Mediterranean sea. The record of heavy metals accumulated in this prodelta is studied to assess the sedimentary behaviour and the history of the anthropogenic heavy metals in the area.

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dated sediments have allowed the identification of the sedimentation patterns and the elaboration of dated heavy metals and cenospheres profiles, which reflected the evolution of the anthropogenic impact in this marine environment. Sediments accumulated during the 18th and 19th centuries were already affected by a moderate heavy metal contamination. This contamination increased drastically in the sediments accumulated during the last decades. This data is well correlated with the increase in industrialisation, population and energy consumption in the Besòs drainage basin during the last century.