Automated multi-scale classification of the terrain units of the Jiaxie Guyots and their mineral resource characteristics

Given the advances in satellite altimetry and multibeam bathymetry, benthic terrain classification based on digital bathymetric models (DBMs) has been widely used for the mapping of benthic topographies. For instance, cobalt-rich crusts (CRCs) are important mineral resources found on seamounts and guyots in the western Pacific Ocean. Thick, plate-like CRCs are known to form on the summit and slopes of seamounts at the 1 000–3 000 m depth, while the relationship between seamount topography and spatial distribution of CRCs remains unclear. The benthic terrain classification of seamounts can solve this problem, thereby, facilitating the rapid exploration of seamount CRCs. Our study used an EM122 multibeam echosounder to retrieve high-resolution bathymetry data in the CRCs contract license area of China, i.e., the Jiaxie Guyots in 2015 and 2016. Based on the DBM construted by bathymetirc data, broad- and fine-scale bathymetric position indices were utilized for quantitative classification of the terrain units of the Jiaxie Guyots on multiple scales. The classification revealed four first-order terrain units (e.g., flat, crest, slope, and depression) and eleven second-order terrain units (e.g., local crests, depressions on crests, gentle slopes, crests on slopes, and local depressions, etc.). Furthermore, the classification of the terrain and geological analysis indicated that the Weijia Guyot has a large flat summit, with local crests at the southern summit, whereas most of the guyot flanks were covered by gentle slopes. “Radial” mountain ridges have developed on the eastern side, while large-scale gravitational landslides have developed on the western and southern flanks. Additionally, landslide masses can be observed at the bottom of these slopes. The coverage of local crests on the seamount is ~1 000 km2, and the local crests on the peak and flanks of the guyots may be the areas where thick and continuous plate-like CRCs are likely to occur.     

Morphological Evolution and Its Response to the Navigational Improvements in the North Passage,Yangtze Estuary

By use of bathymetric chart,recent change of the riverbed in the North Passage of the Yangtze Estuary has been studied in this paper.The main channel of the upper,middle and lower(section)in the North Passage has been successively eroded and its groin field significantly deposited.At the same time,sediment has been deposited on the entrance region.Erosion and deposition had responded rapidly to the construction of the regulation engineering.There was about one year duration of lagging between erosion in the deep channel and the construction of the regulation engineering.The siltation lag of time in the groin field varied with the initial depth,but the average deposited thickness was about 0.5 m per year.Volumetric analysis demonstrates that there is a increasing trend of siltation in the North Passage after 2002,because of the difference in duration and quantity between erosion in the deep channel and deposition in the groin field.The water volume of the North Passage was reduced by ≈9%(280 million m3)between 2002 and 2006.Sediment budget reveals that the main sediment deposited in the North Passage takes its source from the river and the ocean.The decreasing water volume was attributable to shoaling in the groin field.Its triggering factors for increased sedimentation are the navigational improvements(jetties and groins)after 1998,which altered the passage boundary and destroyed the equilibrium state on the average ebb and flood sediment fluxes.The establishment of a stable estuary is attributed to a reduction in depth of the groin field.The forecast on the sediment deposition quantity and continuous infilling time in the groin system is about 325×106m3 and 6～7 years,respectively.     

Bowers Swell: Evidence for a zone of compressive deformation concentric with Bowers Ridge, Bering Sea

Bowers Swell is a newly discovered bathymetric feature which is up to 90 m high, between 12 and 20 km wide, and which extends arcuately about 400 km along the northern and eastern sides of Bowers Ridge. The swell was first revealed on GLORIA sonographs and subsequently mapped on seismic reflection and 3.5 kHz bathymetric profiles. These geophysical data show that the swell caps an arcuate anticlinal ridge, which is composed of deformed strata in an ancient trench on the northern and eastern sides of Bowers Ridge. The trench fill beneath the swell is actively deforming, as shown by faulting of the sea floor and by thinning of the strata across the crest of the swell. Thinning and faulting of the trench strata preclude an origin for the swell by simple sediment draping over an older basement high. We considered several models for the origin of Bowers Swell, including folding and uplift of the underlying trench sediment during the interaction between the Pacific plate beneath the Aleutian Ridge and a remnant oceanic slab beneath Bowers Ridge. However, such plate motions should generate extensive seismicity beneath Bowers Ridge, which is aseismic, and refraction data do not show any remnant slab beneath Bowers Ridge. Another origin considered for Bowers Swell invokes sediment deformation resulting from differential loading and diapirism in the trench fill. However, diapirism is not evident on seismic reflection profiles across the swell. We favour a model in which sediment deformation and swell formation resulted from a few tens of kilometers of low seismicity motion by intraplate crustal blocks beneath the Aleutian Basin. This motion may result from the translation of blocks in western Alaska to the south-west, forcing the movement of the Bering Sea margin west of Alaska into the abyssal Aleutian Basin.     

浅水多波束系统及其最新技术发展

针对目前国际上8家公司生产的16种新型浅水多波束系统的技术指标,对它们的技术性能,包括采用的波束形成方法、频率范围、测深量程、深度分辨率、最大测幅、单位时间（s）内的采样次数、波束宽度、侧扫功能、测深精度、测量航速、声线弯曲改正、姿态传感器及设备寿命等给予了评价,并展望了浅水多波束技术的发展前景.     

Resolution of Seamount Geoid Anomalies Achieved by the SARAL/AltiKa and Envisat RA2 Satellite Radar Altimeters

The resolution of seamount geoid anomalies by the SARAL/AltiKa Ka-band radar altimeter is compared with the Envisat RA2 Ku-band altimeter using cross-spectral analysis of exact-repeat profiles. Noise spectra show white noise floors at root-mean-square levels around 8 mm per root-Hz for AltiKa and 19 mm per root-Hz for RA2, and are colored at wavelengths longer than a few km, with a spectral hump similar to that seen in Jason-2 data. The AltiKa noise level is lower than the RA2 noise level by more than one would expect from the ratio of their pulse repetition frequencies. Large outliers are present in data from both altimeters, always of one sign (range too long), and show little correlation with rain or other error flags. Seamount anomaly signal to noise ratios are 30 to 10 dB for AltiKa and 3 to 8 dB less for RA2, decreasing as seamount size decreases. Seamounts as small as 1.35 km tall are resolved by both instruments, with significantly better performance by AltiKa due to its lower noise level. If AltiKa can fly a geodetic mission, it will find many presently unknown seamounts.     

Underwater Terrain Positioning Method Based on Least Squares Estimation for AUV

To achieve accurate positioning of autonomous underwater vehicles, an appropriate underwater terrain database storage format for underwater terrain-matching positioning is established using multi-beam data as underwater terrain-matching data. An underwater terrain interpolation error compensation method based on fractional Brownian motion is proposed for defects of normal terrain interpolation, and an underwater terrain-matching positioning method based on least squares estimation (LSE) is proposed for correlation analysis of topographic features. The Fisher method is introduced as a secondary criterion for pseudo localization appearing in a topographic features flat area, effectively reducing the impact of pseudo positioning points on matching accuracy and improving the positioning accuracy of terrain flat areas. Simulation experiments based on electronic chart and multi-beam sea trial data show that drift errors of an inertial navigation system can be corrected effectively using the proposed method. The positioning accuracy and practicality are high, satisfying the requirement of underwater accurate positioning.     

海洋采油平台海底勘测调查及成果分析

为了给海洋采油作业平台提供安全保障,需要进行海洋采油平台海底勘测,该文研究了采油平台海底勘测调查的技术路线,对海底勘测的数据处理及成果分析进行了阐述,最后得出海底勘查的技术结论。     

扬子区晚二叠世—中三叠世海平面变化

本文首先介绍了建立扬子地台晚二叠世－中三叠世海平面变化曲线的步骤，即将由生境型得出的水深曲线按阶转换为海平面变化曲线，然后将扬子区曲线与世界曲线进行了比较，结果表明，晚二叠世至Ｇｒｉｅｓｂａｃｈｉａｎ期，由于世界上绝大部分地区缺上二叠统海相地层序列，扬子区曲线的这一部分可作为修改世界曲线的重要参考，扬子区早－中三叠世短期变化曲线与世界曲线一致，而长期曲线则不相符，扬子区的长期曲线对受印支运动影响的     

Recurrence of major flank landslides during the last 2-Ma-history of Reunion Island

New detailed swath bathymetry and backscatter data corroborate the existence of four large bulges on the submarine flanks of Reunion Island. These fan-shaped promontories are 20–25 km wide at the coastline and 70–150 km across the seafloor 40–50 km offshore. Their surfaces are characterized by a speckle sonar pattern, indicating the presence of large blocks up to several hundred meters across. Each bulge results from the superposition of multiple landslide deposits whose older ones are dissected and delimited by erosive channels as much as 200 m deep and 20 km long. The submarine flanks of Reunion Island are thus mostly built by accumulation of debris avalanche fans. Morphologic and geologic evidence define large subaerial source areas for these mass-wasting events. In particular, inferred headwalls of most landslides having affected the Piton des Neiges massif generally coincide with the boundaries of its cirques (Mafate, Salazie, and Cilaos), whereas recurrent landslides have resulted in the formation of large concentric amphitheatre structures through the Piton de la Fournaise massif. Thus, about 15 slide events accompanied growth of the Reunion Island shield since 2 Ma.Editorial responsibility: J. Stix