Postglacial stratigraphic evolution of a current-influenced sandy shelf: offshore Kujukuri strandplain,central Japan

Sandy shelf sediments are important elements of clastic sedimentary systems because of their wide distribution in the geological record and their significance as hydrocarbon reservoirs. Although many studies have investigated shelf sediments influenced by waves or tidal currents, little is known about shelf sediments influenced by oceanic currents, particularly their lithofacies characteristics and stratigraphic evolution. This study investigated the stratigraphic evolution of shelf sediments off the Kujukuri strandplain facing the Pacific Ocean, which is influenced by the strong Kuroshio Current. Sediment cores were obtained from six locations on the Kujukuri shelf (34 to 124 m water depth) using a vibrocorer. The dominant lithofacies is mud-free sand with low-angle cross-lamination associated with alternating beds of finer and coarser sand with cross-lamination. These display depositional processes influenced by storm waves and the Kuroshio Current, respectively. This finding is consistent with the previously presented modern and historical observations of the Kuroshio Current and estimates of the storm-wave base. Radiocarbon dates show that the sediment succession formed during the last transgressive and highstand stages after 13·1 ka. The depositional processes during the stages represent a transition from storm waves with abundant sediment supply to both storm waves and the Kuroshio Current with sediment starvation mainly due to its trapping in the strandplain. Comparison to other Holocene–Modern shelf systems suggests that the sandy shelf successions are strongly influenced by oceanic currents under conditions of limited riverine input and open coastal geometry. The resultant sand-dominated succession is characterized by reversal of the proximal to distal grain-size trend compared to the fining for most other recognized wave/storm-dominated shelf successions. This is because of seaward increase in the influence of the Kuroshio Current. Thus, shelf deposits are naturally complex, and these may be further complicated by the additional influence of oceanic currents above the usual wave-dominated and tide-dominated end members.     

南极绕极流研究进展综述

南极绕极流是自西向东横贯太平洋、大西洋和印度洋的全球性环流,也是世界上唯一一支和地球上所有其他洋流都有关联的洋流。尽管对南极绕极流的观测和研究历史相对较短,但是对其特征、变化和机制的研究已取得了许多重要进展,对其在全球变化中的作用的研究也日益深入。南极绕极流成为海洋和大气科学领域的前沿研究内容。以绕极流锋面分布、流速特征、纬向输运、经向输运及其响应的动力机制为重点,总结了过去数十年里对绕极流观测和理论的研究结果,明确了研究中仍然薄弱的环节,并提出了相应的工作建议,以促进我国关于南极绕极流及相关海洋和大气过程的研究。     

Sediment resuspension under action of wind in Taihu Lake,China

A field study was undertaken to investigate the changes of the current speed, wave parameters and sediment resuspension under different wind speeds in the Taihu Lake. The Acoustic Doppler Current Profi...     

影响广西热带气旋暴雨的环境流场和一些物理量特征分析

通过综合利用ECMWF提供的热带风场、气压场、高度场等资料,对24例影响广西的热带气旋环境流场和一些物理量特征进行了较为深入的分析。结果表明:大多数热带气旋的发生、发展都与赤道西风急流向东扩展或热带气旋东侧南风急流向北扩展有关;造成广西大范围台风暴雨的因素不仅取决于台风登陆地点和登陆后的路径以及中心是否直接进入广西内陆有关,而且还与副热带高压脊线的位置和面积指数、强度指数的变化关系密切。登陆台风在影响广西的过程中,其台风东侧的偏南风急流中心涌进广西和正涡度中心进入广西对产生大范围的暴雨起着重要的作用。     

Improving the estimate of wind energy input into the Ekman layer within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Based on the data and method offered by Liu et al. (2009), the direct wind and Stokes drift-induced energy inputs into the Ekman layer within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) area are reestimated since the results of the former have been proved to be underestimated. And the result shows that the total rate of energy input into the Ekman-Stokes layer within the ACC area is 852.41 GW, including 649.75 GW of direct wind energy input (76%) and 202.66 GW of Stoke drift-induced energy input (24%). Total increased energy input, due to wave-induced Coriolis-Stokes forcing added to the classical Ekman model, is 52.05 GW, accounting for 6.5% of the wind energy input into the classical Ekman layer. The long-term variability of direct wind and Stokes drift-induced energy inputs into the Ekman layer within the ACC is also investigated, and the result shows that the Stokes drift hinders the decadal increasing trend of direct wind energy input. Meanwhile, there is a period of 4-5 a in the energy spectrums, as same as the Antarctic circumpolar wave.     

The evolution of the Tugela canyon and submarine fan: A complex interaction between margin erosion and bottom current sweeping,southwest Indian Ocean,South Africa

The transfer of sediment from the upper continental slope to rise is poorly documented along the southeast African passive margin. New swath bathymetric and sub-bottom data collected in the Natal Valley, southwest Indian Ocean, provide insight into the evolution of the Tugela canyon and fan system. Several distinct downslope changes in canyon morphology are noted. The canyon increases in relief and widens with depth. Basement outcrop is restricted to the head of the canyon becoming less prominent with depth. Step-like terracing of the canyon walls and floor becomes prominent in the mid-slope portions of the canyon and is related to a marked increase in the cross sectional asymmetry of the canyon profile. The contemporary Tugela canyon rests within a depression of the last phase of infilling. The canyon is the product of downslope erosion, and incision, caused by several phases of hinterland uplift in the mid Oligocene, mid Miocene and late Pliocene. Each phase was followed by pelagic infilling of the palaeo-canyon form. Downslope, the uplift phases are preserved in the cut-terraces and axial incisions within the main canyon thalweg. The contemporary canyon is a moribund feature, sediment starvation of the shelf area by current sweeping of the Agulhas current has decreased the material available for canyon incision and fan development. Additional current sweeping by the North Atlantic Deep Water current has stunted the development of the associated fan complex.     

台湾岛附近海洋对0908号台风“莫拉克”的响应特征

在模拟2009年登陆我国东部沿海的台风"莫拉克"的基础上,利用AVHRR/AMSR和SODA再分析数据和模拟结果,初步评估了GRAPES-ECOM海-气耦合模式(上海台风研究所基于GRAPES-TCM区域台风模式和ECOM海洋模式开发而成)模拟台风期间海洋响应的能力,并分析了台风期间台湾岛周围海域的海温、上升流、中尺度冷涡等的变化特点。分析结果表明,GRAPES-ECOM耦合模式较好地模拟了表层海温对台风的响应,与深水海洋响应比较,揭示了近海对台风响应的一些新特征:(1)在台湾以东海域,台风活动改变了黑潮海域海水的垂直运动,诱导黑潮南部沿岸上升流,而北部先于台风存在的上升流减弱,导致不同水深海温的最大降温位置都出现在路径左侧,与深海偏向路径右侧不同;(2)位于台湾岛东北面的彭佳屿冷涡因其形成与大陆架和黑潮有关,当台风在台湾以东洋面活动时,冷涡位于台风右前方,黑潮表层海水辐合流向大陆架,冷涡中心温度上升,强度减弱,当台风转折北上,冷涡位于台风东南侧,表层海水辐散,加强底层冷水上涌,从而增强了该冷涡的强度;(3)台风不仅加深了台湾海峡的混合层深度,还使得海水的垂直热力结构改变,并使整层海温趋于一致。     

Synoptic surveys of lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti

Surface and bottom water samples were collected from 39 widely spaced stations in Lake Rotorua in February 1967 and from 12 stations in Lake Rotoiti in March 1967. In Lake Rotorua, data obtained from these samples showed that small horizontal differences existed between the southern and northern parts of the lake probably related to the higher inflow of plant nutrients at the southern end and to the prevailing southerly wind concentrating phytoplankton populations at the northern end. Lake Rotoiti, which differed from Lake Rotorua in being thermally stratified, showed no important horizontal differences, Vigorous mixing in the strata probably being accomplished by deep seiches except in the shallow western basin of the lake, where the inflow from Lake Rotorua occurs. Serial vertical hauls for a zooplankton survey of Lake Rotoiti were taken from three stations in March 1967. The distribution of zooplankton was complex because diurnal vertical migrations of the animals were combined with horizontal movement of the water layers.     

Emergence patterns and microhabitat preference of aquatic dance flies (Empididae; Clinocerinae and Hemerodromiinae) on a longitudinal gradient of barrage lake system

Aquatic dance flies (Empididae; Clinocerinae and Hemerodromiinae) are important components of freshwater assemblages, especially in running waters. They are predators as larvae and adults and thus essential for understanding aquatic food webs. This study was conducted in Plitvice lakes National Park (Croatia) representing a wide variety of freshwater habitats (springs, streams, lakes and tufa barriers). Adults were collected monthly from March 2007 until March 2009 using pyramid-type emergence traps at 13 locations. A total of 3865 specimens comprising 18 species were collected. The dominant genus was Chelifera, while the most abundant species was Hemerodromia unilineata. All species were univoltine except Chelifera precabunda, Chelifera pyrenaica and Chelifera stigmatica that were bivoltine. Considerable differences in composition and structure of aquatic dance flies assemblages were recorded along a longitudinal gradient of studied sites, primarily related to differences in physical and chemical parameters of water. Water temperature was the main factor influencing the timing of emergence. Hemerodromia species preferred variable water temperature throughout the year while the majority of the Chelifera species preferred stable water temperature characteristic of spring sites. Furthermore, discharge affected assemblage composition of aquatic dance flies. The highest abundance of aquatic dance flies was recorded in lotic habitats with fast water current over substrates of moss, gravel and particulate tufa with detritus. These results give a new insight on microhabitat preference and their distribution on unique karstic habitats.     

Vorticity budget study on the seasonal upper circulation in the northern South China Sea from altimetry data and a numerical model

Based on the EOF analyses of Absolute Dynamic Topography satellite data,it is found that,in summer,the northern South China Sea(SCS) is dominated by an anticyclonic gyre whilst by a cyclonic one in winter.A connected single-layer and two-layer model is employed here to investigate the dynamic mechanism of the circulation in the northern SCS.Numerical experiments show that the nonlinear term,the pressure torque and the planetary vorticity advection play important roles in the circulation of the northern SCS,whilst the contribution by seasonal wind stress curl is local and limited.Only a small part of the Kuroshio water intrudes into the SCS,it then induces a positive vorticity band extending southwestward from the west of the Luzon Strait(LS) and a negative vorticity band along the 200 m isobath of the northern basin.The positive vorticity field induced by the local summer wind stress curl is weaker than that induced in winter in the northern SCS.Besides the Kuroshio intrusion and monsoon,the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage are also important to the circulation in the northern SCS,and the induced vorticity field in summer is almost contrary to that in winter.The strength variations of these three key factors(Kuroshio,monsoon and the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage) determine the seasonal variations of the vorticity and eddy fields in the northern SCS.As for the water exchange via the LS,the Kuroshio intrusion brings about a net inflow into the SCS,and the monsoon has a less effect,whilst the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage are the most important influencing factors,thus,the water exchange of the SCS with the Pacific via the LS changes dramatically from an outflow of the SCS in summer to an inflow into the SCS in winter.