Effect of temporal resolution of water level and temperature inputs on numerical simulation of groundwater–surface water flux exchange in a heavily modified urban river

Groundwater interacts with surface water features nearly in all types of landscapes. Understanding these interactions has practical consequences on the quantity and quality of water in either system, because the depletion or contamination of one of the systems will eventually affect the other one. Many studies have shown that the use of heat as natural tracer in conjunction with water level measurements is an effective method for estimating water flow (fluxes) between groundwater and surface water. A number of studies have explored the effects of spatial and temporal variability of groundwater–surface water flux exchanges using temperature and water level measurements; however, the effect of temporal resolution of water level and temperature data on estimating flux remains unexplored. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of temporal resolution of input data on temporal variation of groundwater–surface water flux exchanges. To this end, we calibrated a variably saturated two‐dimensional groundwater flow and heat transport model (VS2DH) at hourly and daily time scales using temperatures measured at multiple depths below the riverbed of the Zenne River, located at a well‐known Belgian brownfield site. Results of the study showed that the computed water flux through the streambed ranged between ?32 mm/day and +25 mm/day using the hourly model and from ?10 mm/day to ?37 mm/day using the daily model. The hourly model resulted in detecting reversal of flow direction inducing short‐term surface water flow into the streambed. However, such events were not captured if daily temperature and water level measurements were used as input. These findings have important implications for understanding contaminant mass flux and their attenuation in the mixing zone of groundwater and surface water. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Concentrations and annual fluxes of sediment‐associated chemical constituents from conterminous US coastal rivers using bed sediment data

Coastal rivers represent a significant pathway for the delivery of natural and anthropogenic sediment‐associated chemical constituents to the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the conterminous USA. This study entails an accounting segment using published average annual suspended sediment fluxes with published sediment‐associated chemical constituent concentrations for (1) baseline, (2) land‐use distributions, (3) population density, and (4) worldwide means to estimate concentrations/annual fluxes for trace/major elements and total phosphorus, total organic and inorganic carbon, total nitrogen, and sulphur, for 131 coastal river basins. In addition, it entails a sampling and subsequent chemical analysis segment that provides a level of ‘ground truth’ for the calculated values, as well as generating baselines for sediment‐associated concentrations/fluxes against which future changes can be evaluated. Currently, between 260 and 270 Mt of suspended sediment are discharged annually from the conterminous USA; about 69% is discharged from Gulf rivers (n = 36), about 24% from Pacific rivers (n = 42), and about 7% from Atlantic rivers (n = 54). Elevated sediment‐associated chemical concentrations relative to baseline levels occur in the reverse order of sediment discharges: Atlantic rivers (49%) > Pacific rivers (40%) > Gulf rivers (23%). Elevated trace element concentrations (e.g. Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn) frequently occur in association with present/former industrial areas and/or urban centres, particularly along the northeast Atlantic coast. Elevated carbon and nutrient concentrations occur along both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts but are dominated by rivers in the urban northeast and by southeastern and Gulf coast (Florida) ‘blackwater’ streams. Elevated Ca, Mg, K, and Na distributions tend to reflect local petrology, whereas elevated Ti, S, Fe, and Al concentrations are ubiquitous, possibly because they have substantial natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Almost all the elevated sediment‐associated chemical concentrations found in conterminous US coastal rivers are lower than worldwide averages. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Triassic to Middle Jurassic stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well,offshore southern England

The Triassic through to the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well is described using petrophysical logs, in association with lithological and palaeontological analyses. Over 6210′ of sediment was penetrated, with sixteen Triassic and fourteen Lower–Middle Jurassic sedimentary units recognised, with a total measured depth (T.D) of 7310′ within the Sherwood Sandstone Group, Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds of Early/Middle Triassic, Olenekian/Anisian age. As expected the sedimentary sequences are comparable to those described from the Wessex Basin, especially the Portland–Wight and Dorset (sub) basins. Of particular note, however, is the very thick halite sequence (1074′) within the Carnian, Dunscombe Mudstone Formation and also an expanded “Paper Shales” (27′) sequence within the earliest Toarcian. A normal fault is noted at 1260′ with the Late Bajocian, Inferior Oolite Group in fault contact with the latest Toarcian, Bridport Sand Formation, Down Cliff Clay Member. The Late Triassic (Rhaetian) to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) yielded rich microfaunal and palynomorph assemblages, all of which have been previously described throughout northwest Europe. Four microfossils groups (foraminifera, ostracods, dinocysts and miospores) have been used to interpret stratigraphic ages and palaeoenvironments.This study provides new lithological and microfossil data for the Triassic to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) sequences preserved in the offshore Portland–Wight Basin and provides a key tie-point/reference section for future offshore drilling.     

3-D reconstruction of coastal bathymetry from AIRSAR/POLSAR data

This paper introduces a new method for reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) coastal bathymetry changes from Airborne AIRSAR/POLSAR synthetic aperture data. The new method is based on integration between fuzzy B-spline and Volterra algorithm. Volterra algorithm is used to simulate the ocean surface current from AIRSAR/POLSAR data. Then, the ocean surface current information used as input for continuity equation to estimate the water depths from AIRSAR/POLSAR data. This study shows that 3D ocean bathymetry can be reconstructed from AIRSAR/POLSAR data with root mean square error of ±0.03 m.     

Coastal phytoplankton blooms in the Southern California Bight

Surface chlorophyll (CHL) measured at the Scripps Pier in the Southern California Bight (SCB) for 18 years (1983–2000) reveals that the spring bloom occurs with irregular timing and intensity each year, unlike sea-surface temperature (SST), which is dominated by a regular seasonal cycle. In the 1990s, the spring bloom occurred earlier in the year and with larger amplitudes compared to those of the 1980s. Seasonal anomalies of the Pier CHL have no significant correlation with local winds, local SST, or upwelling index, which implies that classical coastal upwelling is not directly responsible for driving chlorophyll variations in nearshore SCB.The annual mean Pier CHL exhibits an increasing trend, whereas the Pier SST has no evident concomitant trend during the CHL observation period. The interannual variation of the Pier CHL is not correlated with tropical El Niño or La Niña conditions over the entire observing period. However, the Pier CHL was significantly influenced by El Nino/Southern Oscillation during the 1997/1998 El Niño and 1998/1999 La Niña transition period. The Pier CHL is highly coherent at long periods (3–7 years) with nearby offshore in situ surface CHL at the CalCOFI (California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations) station 93.27.     

The geochemistry of sediments from the northern Reykjanes Ridge and the Iceland—Faroes Ridge

Samples from the active Reykjanes Ridge and the inactive Iceland—Faroes Ridge have been investigated sedimentologically, mineralogically, and geochemically. The sediments display polymodal grain-size distributions and are poorly sorted, indicating deposition by various mechanisms and contributions from numerous sources. The mineralogy is fairly typical for the region and strongly reflects the large input of volcanic ash and ice-rafted material.Bulk chemical analyses indicate that the Reykjanes Ridge sediments appear to be enriched in Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr, and Zn as has been reported for other active ridges while the inactive Iceland—Faroes Ridge does not display such enrichments. The enriched metals in the ridge sediments do not show a particular affinity for any one size class. Partition studies indicate that the enriched Fe and Mn are held in separate phases while the other metals are present in all phases. Adsorption is not a major concentrating mechanism for the enhanced elements.Li distributions are apparently unaffected by active ridges and Pb seems to be partially concentrated biologically. There are indications that other criteria must be used in conjunction with bulk chemical analyses, in order to establish the presence of active ridge metal contributions.     

Modeling of mesoscale coupled ocean–atmosphere interaction and its feedback to ocean in the western Arabian Sea

Observations of the western Arabian Sea over the last decade have revealed a rich filamentary eddy structure, with large horizontal SST gradients in the ocean, developing in response to the southwest monsoon winds. This summertime oceanic condition triggers an intense mesoscale coupled interaction, whose overall influence on the longer-term properties of this ocean remains uncertain. In this study, a high-resolution regional coupled model is employed to explore this feedback effect on the long-term dynamical and thermodynamical structure of the ocean.The observed relationship between the near-surface winds and mesoscale SSTs generate Ekman pumping velocities at the scale of the cold filaments, whose magnitude is the order of 1 m/day in both the model and observations. This additional Ekman-driven velocity, induced by the wind-eddy interaction, accounts for approximately 10–20% of oceanic vertical velocity of the cold filaments. This implies that Ekman pumping arising from the mesoscale coupled feedback makes a non-trivial contribution to the vertical structure of the upper ocean and the evolution of mesoscale eddies, with obvious implications for marine ecosystem and biogeochemical variability.Furthermore, SST features associated with cold filaments substantially reduce the latent heat loss. The long-term latent heat flux change due to eddies in the model is approximately 10–15 W/m² over the cold filaments, which is consistent with previous estimates based on short-term in situ measurements. Given the shallow mixed layer, this additional surface heat flux warms the cold filament at the rate of 0.3–0.4 °C/month over a season with strong eddy activity, and 0.1–0.2 °C/month over the 12-year mean, rendering overall low-frequency modulation of SST feasible. This long-term mixed layer heating by the surface flux is approximately ±10% of the lateral heat flux by the eddies, yet it can be comparable to the vertical heat flux. Potential dynamic and thermodynamic impacts of this observed air–sea interaction on the monsoons and regional climate are yet to be quantified given the strong correlation between the Somalia upwelling SST and the Indian summer monsoons.     

On the association of aerosol optical depth and total ozone fluctuations with recent earthquakes in Greece

A number of recent studies suggest that atmospheric changes that precede an earthquake might offer the hope of providing early warning. This study attempts to examine seismo-atmospheric anomalies around the time and the location of some of the major earthquakes in Greece in the period 2001–2015. Daily values of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and total ozone column (TOZ) obtained from satellite observations are used, in the time window between 25 days before and 14 days after each of these events, in a 1° × 1° area centred on the epicentre of each earthquake. For some of these earthquake events, abnormal increases in time series of AOD and TOZ data were detected before and after the occurrence of the earthquake. Nevertheless, in other cases, no clear anomalies were observed around the earthquake date. In addition, examining the statistics of AOD and TOZ daily values, there were many cases of prominent abnormal variations, without, however, being associated with an earthquake event. Therefore, no clear association was found between AOD and TOZ fluctuations and recent earthquakes in Greece.     

台湾周遭之地下水入海

A preliminary study shows that the submarine groundwater discharge(SGD) exists around Taiwan even though groundwater overdrawing on the island is serious. Fifteen of the 20 sites studied for major anions and cations recorded a clear SGD signal with freshwater outflow. A total of 278 salinity and major ion measurements were made. Sixteen nearly freshwater SGD(salinity≤1.0) samples were obtained, providing strong and direct evidence for the existence of fresh meteoric groundwater entering the ocean from Taiwan. The total SGD flux is estimated to be 1.07×1010 t/a which is about 14% of the annual river output. The freshwater component of the SGD is3.85×109 t which is about 5.2% of the annual river discharge in Taiwan. The collected SGD has a composition similar to seawater with an addition of Ca, CO_3 and HCO_3 due to dissolution of calcareous rocks. Some samples with high Cl/(Na+K) may indicate pollution.     

The cost-benefit ledger of quota leasing

Bruce Turris recently presented an analysis of the expenses and earnings of British Columbia fishermen who lease halibut quota (ITQs). The BC Longline Fishermen's Association, which represents active halibut fishermen has quite a different analysis of these costs and benefits, and also takes issue with Turris’ analysis of the state of the fishery in general under quotas.