Propagation and run-up of nearshore tsunamis with HLLC approximate Riemann solver

A numerical model describing the propagation and run-up process of nearshore tsunamis in the vicinity of shorelines is developed based on an approximate Riemann solver. The governing equations of the model are the nonlinear shallow-water equations. The governing equations are discretized explicitly by using a finite volume method. The nonlinear terms in the momentum equations are solved with the Harten-Lax-van Leer-Contact (HLLC) approximate Riemann solver. The developed model is first applied to prediction of water motions in a parabolic basin, and propagation and subsequent run-up process of nearshore tsunamis around a circular island. Computed results are then compared with available analytical solutions and laboratory measurements. Very reasonable agreements are observed.     

High-resolution sea ice in long-term global ocean GCM integrations

The resolution of the sea-ice component of a coarse-resolution global ocean general circulation model (GCM) has been enhanced to about 22 km in the Southern Ocean. The ocean GCM is designed for long-term integrations suitable for investigations of the deep-ocean equilibrium response to changes in southern hemisphere high-latitude processes. The space and time scales of the high-resolution sea-ice component are commensurate with those of the resolution of satellite passive-microwave sea-ice data. This provides the opportunity for a rigorous evaluation of simulated sea-ice characteristics. It is found that the satellite-derived continuous high ice concentration of the interior winter ice pack can only be captured when vertical oceanic mixing is modified in a way that less local, intermittent convection occurs. Furthermore, the width and the variability of the coastal polynyas around the Antarctic continent and its ice shelves are best captured when some form of ice-shelf melting is accounted for. The width of the wintertime ice edge is reasonably reproduced, while its variability remains underestimated, closely following the coarse-grid pattern of the ocean model due to its high dependence on ocean temperature. Additional variability besides daily winds, e.g. in form of idealized tidal currents, improves the temporal and spatial ice-edge variability, while leads in the interior ice pack become more abundant, more in line with the fine-scale satellite-derived texture. The coast- or ice-shelf line is described on the fine grid based on satellite passive-microwave data. This method requires parts of a coarse coastal ocean grid cell to be covered by an inert layer of “fast ice” or “ice shelf”. Reasonable long-term global deep-ocean properties can only be achieved when these areas are not inert, i.e. are exposed to heat flux and ice growth, or when the vertical mixing parameterization allows for excessive open-ocean convection. The model area exposed to cold high-latitude atmospheric conditions thus being most decisive for a realistic representation of the long-term deep-ocean properties, suggests that high-latitude coastlines are definitely in need of being represented at high resolution, including ice sheets and their effects on the heat and freshwater flux for the ocean.     

A nonlinear wave profile correction of the diffraction of a wave by a long breakwater: Fixed point approach

The authors of the present paper have suggested an iterative scheme to calculate the nonlinear wave profiles [Jang and Kwon, 2005. Application of nonlinear iteration scheme to the nonlinear water wave problem: Stokes wave. Ocean Engineering 32, 1862–1872]. The scheme was shown to be good for estimating nonlinear wave profiles. In the study, the iterative scheme is applied to the wave-diffraction problem by a long breakwater to calculate a diffracted wave by the breakwater. The iterative solution of diffraction was compared with the linear solution of Sommerfeld, 1896. [Mathematische Theoried der Diffraction. Mathematical Annals 47, 317–374]. For a small wave slope, the two solutions were in good agreement. However, the scheme enabled us to observe the nonlinear behaviors of a beating phenomenon and of wave profile such as Stokes’ wave for a relatively large wave slope: as the wave slope becomes larger, we can examine the nonlinear wave characteristics of the actual shapes of waves, i.e., the crests are steeper and the troughs are flatter.     

Strength Characteristics of the Cement-Stabilized Surface Layer in Dredged and Reclaimed Marine Clay, Korea

A series of tests in both laboratory and field were performed to investigate the engineering and mechanical properties, especially flexural strength, of cement-stabilized soils. The strength of cement-stabilized soils mainly depends on water-to-cement ratio and curing temperature. The higher curing temperature and the longer curing time, the higher strength in cement-stabilized soils generates. The high ratio of water-to-cement results in lower strength. The compressive strength observed in the field is similar to the strength in the laboratory. Field tests on a cement-stabilized soil layer indicate that the strength is significantly affected by the thickness of the improved layer, which is directly related to the moment of inertia. In addition, the failure shape observed in a cement-stabilized layer in the field looks likes a bending failure type, because the flexural tensile strength, rather than the compressive strength, mainly dominates the failure of cement-stabilized layer. The flexural tensile strength is closely related to the moment of inertia. Therefore, the flexural tensile strength should be considered for determining the thickness and strength in improvement of soft clay.     

Identifying late Quaternary coastal deposits in Kyonggi Bay, Korea, by their geotechnical properties

Based on cone penetration tests with pore pressure measurements (CPTUs) and standard penetration tests (SPTs), the geotechnical properties of five lithostratigraphic units were determined during the construction of Incheon international airport on reclaimed macrotidal flats in Kyonggi Bay, Korea. Two late Pleistocene non-marine units (unit V and unit IV) display largest N values (cf. number of blows required to achieve a standard penetration), reflecting coarse-grained and overconsolidated sediments. Tidal channel and tidal flat facies (unit IIIb) consist of unweathered late Pleistocene tidal sand and mud. The tidal channel facies is characterized by upward-decreasing cone resistance (q _t) and sleeve friction (f _s) with negative pore pressures (u _bt), reflecting a fining-upward textural trend. The tidal flat facies, by contrast, is represented by uniformly low q _t and f _s values with high friction ratios (FRs), suggesting homogeneous muddy deposits. Two overconsolidated units, a weathered late Pleistocene tidal mud (unit IIIa) and an early Holocene organic-rich non-marine mud (unit II), are characterized by high q _t, f _s, FRs and N values, unit IIIa being much more consolidated than unit II. Holocene tidal sands and muds (unit I) show the smallest q _t and f _s values with positive u _bt. These are slightly more consolidated than the tidal flat facies of unit IIIb. Two unconformable boundaries (a sequence boundary and a transgressive surface) have also been identified on some CPTU and SPT profiles. The boundaries are indicated by gradual but sharp increases in q _t, f _s and N values with an abrupt drop of u _bt, which indicates the contact between two units showing contrasting rigidity. The regional pattern produced by the unconformable boundaries indicates the presence of late Pleistocene valleys which pass through the middle of study area. The location of the valleys seems to be controlled by the antecedent basement morphology.     

Late Quaternary sediments on the outer shelf of the Korea Strait and their paleoceanographic implications

Sedimentological and micropaleontological characteristics of core sediments from the outer shelf of the Korea Strait, which connects the northern East China Sea and the East Sea (Sea of Japan), were investigated to elucidate the paleoceanographic environment, especially the timing of the Kuroshio inflow, since the last glacial maximum. The core sediments, containing continuous records of the last 15,000 years, are characterized by a relatively high mud content (more than 50%, on average) and well-developed tide-influenced sedimentary structures. Their mineralogy suggests that the material originated from the paleo-Nakdong River system, which extended across the shelf of the Korea Strait during low sea-level periods. Planktonic foraminifers reveal a series of well-defined changes in paleoceanographic conditions during the late Pleistocene–Holocene. Down-core variations in the abundance of four foraminiferal assemblages, i.e., cold, coastal, tropical–subtropical, and Kuroshio water groups comprising characteristic planktonic species, suggest the occurrence of a distinct paleoenvironmental change in the surface water at 7,000 years b.p., i.e., from 15,000 to 7,000 years b.p., the area was influenced by coastal waters whereas since ca. 7,000 years b.p., it has been under the influence of open-sea water related to the Kuroshio Current flow, associated with both higher temperature and higher salinity. In particular, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata increased markedly in abundance at this time, documenting the inflow of the Kuroshio into the study area. These data indicate that the coastal water stage terminated at ca. 7,000 years b.p. when the warm Kuroshio and its major branch, the Tsushima Current, began to flow into the East Sea, as is the case today. The intrusion of the Tsushima Current through the Korea Strait after ca. 7,000 years b.p. resulted in abrupt changes in sedimentation rates and a dramatic increase in abundance of the Kuroshio indicator species, P. obliquiloculata.     

Study on hydraulic characteristics of sabo dam with a flap structure for debris flow

The front part of the flow is very important and complex in the case of debris flow where there is an accumulation of large boulders. It is important to control or dampen the energy of the frontal part of a debris flow for the safety of the downstream area because the impact pressure of debris flow is much greater than that of clear fluid. The main objective of this study is to analyze the hydraulic characteristics of the proposed dam (i.e. closed-type dam with flap). The vertical pressure distribution of this type is compared with conventional dam types. In the experiments, the total pressure associated with major debris flows was recorded in real time by a system consisting of four dynamic pressure sensors installed on different types of dam. The results from experimental data clearly show that the dam with the flap has advantages of capturing the debris flow with large boulders and controls the total pressure by flow circulation due to presence of the flap structure compared to a closed-type dam without flap. Further-more, the empirical coefficients of hydrodynamic and solid collision models were proposed and com-pared with available coefficients.     

Reduction of the thermocline feedback associated with mean SST bias in ENSO simulation

Associated with the double Inter-tropical convergence zone problem, a dipole SST bias pattern (cold in the equatorial central Pacific and warm in the southeast tropical Pacific) remains a common problem inherent in many contemporary coupled models. Based on a newly-developed coupled model, we performed a control run and two sensitivity runs, one is a coupled run with annual mean SST correction and the other is an ocean forced run. By comparison of these three runs, we demonstrated that a serious consequence of this SST bias is to severely suppress the thermocline feedback in a realistic simulation of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation. Firstly, the excessive cold tongue extension pushes the anomalous convection far westward from the equatorial central Pacific, prominently diminishing the convection-low level wind feedback and thus the air-sea coupling strength. Secondly, the equatorial surface wind anomaly exhibits a relatively uniform meridional structure with weak gradient, contributing to a weakened wind-thermocline feedback. Thirdly, the equatorial cold SST bias induces a weakened upper-ocean stratification and thus yields the underestimation of the thermocline-subsurface temperature feedback. Finally, the dipole SST bias underestimates the mean upwelling through (a) undermining equatorial mean easterly wind stress, and (b) enhancing convective mixing and thus reducing the upper ocean stratification, which weakens vertical shear of meridional currents and near-surface Ekman-divergence.