Pipe laying simulation with an active reel drive

Dynamic and quasi-static models for analysis of a pipe lay spread are presented in the paper. Depending on the type of a pipe, spooling it on a big drum (reel) may cause plastic deformations. When the pipe is reeled out at sea, again it undergoes plastic deformations. In order to model such a nonlinear behaviour, a model, which includes both elasto-plastic material characteristics and large deformations, is required. Discretisation of the pipe is performed by means of the Rigid Finite Element Method (RFEM), which allows us to study static and dynamic problems, taking into account required properties of the model. Different sea conditions are simulated and analysed. It is shown how operational conditions can limit the ability of laying operation by a dedicated vessel, due to an unstable system response. The second part of the paper presents an upgrade of a passive reel drive by application of an active drive. In the model used for control applications, the pipe is modelled by a neural network. This allows us to perform a real-time calculations. In this fast-response calculation model, nonlinear aspects of the system are taken into account. The improvements in a pipe laying vessel performance are presented by some results of numerical simulations. The conclusions are also formulated.     

Mesozooplankton biomass and grazing responses to Cyclone Opal, a subtropical mesoscale eddy

As part of E-Flux III cruise studies in March 2005, plankton net collections were made to assess the effects of a cyclonic cold-core eddy (Cyclone Opal) on the biomass and grazing of mesozooplankton. Mesozooplankton biomass in the central region of Cyclone Opal, an area of uplifted nutricline and a subsurface diatom bloom, averaged 0.80±0.24 and 1.51±0.59 g DW m⁻², for day and night tows, respectively. These biomass estimates were about 80% higher than control (OUT) stations, with increases more or less proportionately distributed among size classes from 0.2 to >5 mm. Though elevated relative to surrounding waters south of the Hawaiian Islands (Hawai’i lee), total biomass and size distribution in Cyclone Opal were almost exactly the same as contemporary measurements made at Stn. ALOHA, 100 km north of the islands, by the HOT (Hawaii Ocean Time-series) Program. Mesozooplankton biomass and community composition at the OUT stations were also similar to ALOHA values from 1994 to 1996, preceding a recent decadal increase. These comparisons may therefore provide insight into production characteristics or biomass gradients associated with decadal changes at Stn. ALOHA. Gut fluorescence estimates were higher in Opal than in ambient waters, translating to grazing impacts of 0.11±0.02 d⁻¹ (IN) versus 0.03±0.01 d⁻¹ (OUT). Over the depth-integrated euphotic zone, mesozooplankton accounted for 30% of the combined grazing losses of phytoplankton to micro- and meso-herbivores in Opal, as compared to 13% at control stations. Estimates of active export flux by migrating zooplankton averaged 0.81 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ in Cyclone Opal and 0.37 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ at OUT stations, 53% and 24%, respectively, of the carbon export measured by passive sediment traps. Migrants also exported 0.18 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ (117% of trap N flux) in Cyclone Opal compared to 0.08 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ (51% of trap flux) at control stations. Overall, the food-web importance of mesozooplankton increased in Cyclone Opal both in absolute and relative terms. Diel migrants provided evidence for enhanced export flux in the eddy that was missed by sediment trap and ²³⁴Th techniques, and migrant-mediated flux was the major export term in the observed bloom-perturbation response and N mass balance of the eddy.     

Experimental study on hydrodynamic performance of SWATH vessels in calm water and in head waves

An extensive experimental investigation on four SWATH hull forms has been conducted in calm water and in regular waves at University of Naples Federico II. Calm water tests have been analyzed in the range of Froude number Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.6. For all four SWATH configurations at the speed, corresponding to Fr_T 0.32, the behaviour in regular waves has been tested. The results of heave, pitch and vertical accelerations are presented in nondimensional form as RAO. For the “most promising” SWATH #4 configuration, a set of stabilizing fins have been designed and an active stabilization system has been developed. The developed SWATH#5 has been tested in calm water on three displacements in the range of Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.65. The dynamic wetted surface has been identified and the residual resistance coefficient C_R as well as R_T/Δ are reported. Seakeeping tests have been performed in regular head sea and in head and following irregular sea at Fr_T = 0.50. The conditions for the occurrence of dynamic longitudinal instabilities have been identified. The results allows to comment the effect of slenderness of struts and SWATH’s immersed bodies on resistance and seakeeping and concerns the applicability of SWATH concept to small craft.     

基于SMAP卫星雷达资料的海冰密集度反演技术研究

SMAP是美国于2015年初发射的一颗卫星,搭载了L波段的雷达。它采用圆锥扫描方式,具有固定的入射角、较大的幅宽和千米级的分辨率,在海冰监测方面具有独特的优势。本文利用SMAP卫星雷达资料分别与德国Bremen大学海冰密集度产品和美国国家冰雪数据中心（NSIDC）海冰密集度产品建立3.125 km和25 km匹配数据集,分析了L波段雷达后向散射系数、极化比和归一化极化差与海冰密集度之间相关性,建立基于人工神经网络的海冰密集度反演算法。为了验证SMAP卫星雷达资料反演海冰密集度的精度,本文选择德国Bremen大学和美国冰雪数据中心发布的海冰密集度产品分别与SMAP海冰密集度产品进行对比分析,SMAP海冰密集度与Bremen海冰密集度的偏差为0.07、均方根误差为0.14;与NSIDC海冰密集度的偏差为0.04、均方根误差为0.18,这表明SMAP海冰密集度产品与现有业务化海冰密集度产品具有很好的一致性。     

Intraplate geodynamics and magmatism in the evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) was produced as a consequence of the successive closure of the Paleoasian Ocean and the accretion of structures formed within it (island arcs, oceanic islands, and backarc basins) to the Siberian continent. The belt started developing in the latest Late Neoproterozoic, and this process terminated in the latest Permian in response to the collision of the Siberian and North China continents that resulted in closure of the Paleoasian ocean (Metcalfe, 2006; Li et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2009; Xiao et al., 2010; Didenko et al., 2010). Throughout the whole evolutionary history of this Orogenic Belt, a leading role in its evolution was played by convergent processes. Along with these processes, an important contribution to the evolution of the composition and structure of the crust in the belt was made by deep geodynamic processes related to the activity of mantle plumes.Indicator complexes of the activity of mantle plumes are identified, and their major distribution patterns in CAOB structures are determined. A number of epochs and areas of intraplate magmatism are distinguished, including the Neoproterozoic one (Rodinia breakup and the origin of alkaline rock belt in the marginal part of the Siberian craton); Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian (origin of oceanic islands in the Paleoasian Ocean); Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician (origin of LIP within the region of Early Caledonian structures in CAOB); Middle Paleozoic (origin of LIP in the Altai–Sayan rift system); Late Paleozoic–Early Mesozoic (origin of the Tarim flood-basalt province, Central Asian rift system, and a number of related zonal magmatic areas); Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic (origin of continental volcanic areas in Central Asia).Geochemical and isotopic characteristics are determined for magmatic complexes that are indicator complexes for areas of intraplate magmatism of various age, and their major evolutionary trends are discussed. Available data indicate that mantle plumes practically did not cease to affect crustal growth and transformations in CAOB in relation to the migration of the Siberian continent throughout the whole time span when the belt was formed above a cluster of hotspots, which is compared with the African superplume.     

Projecting uncertainty onto marine megafauna trajectories

In this study, a method is proposed for estimating the uncertainty of a Lagrangian pathway calculated from an undersampled ocean surface velocity field. The primary motivation and application for this method is the differentiation between active and passive movements for sea turtles whose trajectories are observed with satellite telemetry. Synthetic trajectories are launched within a reconstructed surface velocity field and integrated forward in time to produce likely trajectories of an actual turtle or drifter. Uncertainties in both the initial conditions at launch and the velocity field along the trajectory are used to yield an envelope of possible synthetic trajectories for each actual trajectory. The juxtaposition of the actual trajectory with the resulting cloud of synthetic trajectories provides a means to distinguish between active and passive movements of the turtle. The uncertainty estimates provided by this model may lead to improvements in our understanding of where and when turtles are engaged in specific behaviors (i.e. migration vs. foraging)—for which potential management efforts may vary accordingly.     

Distribution and expression of gas seeps in a gas hydrate province of the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope, Sea of Okhotsk

Multidisciplinary surveys were conducted to investigate gas seepage and gas hydrate accumulation on the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope (NESS), Sea of Okhotsk, during joint Korean–Russian–Japanese expeditions conducted from 2003 to 2007 (CHAOS and SSGH projects). One hundred sixty-one gas seeps were detected in a 2000 km² area of the NESS (between 53°45′N and 54°45′N). Active gas seeps in a gas hydrate province on the NESS were evident from features in the water column, on the seafloor, and in the subsurface: well-defined hydroacoustic anomalies (gas flares), side-scan sonar structures with high backscatter intensity (seepage structures), bathymetric structures (pockmarks and mounds), gas- and gas-hydrate-related seismic features (bottom-simulating reflectors, gas chimneys, high-amplitude reflectors, and acoustic blanking), high methane concentrations in seawater, and gas hydrates in sediment near the seafloor. These expressions were generally spatially related; a gas flare would be associated with a seepage structure (mound), below which a gas chimney was present. The spatial distribution of gas seeps on the NESS is controlled by four types of geological structures: faults, the shelf break, seafloor canyons, and submarine slides. Gas chimneys that produced enhanced reflection on high-resolution seismic profiles are interpreted as active pathways for upward gas migration to the seafloor. The chimneys and gas flares are good indicators of active seepage.     

基于浅层反射地震勘探技术的大庆地区近地表构造特征研究

目前,对于大庆地区的地质构造研究成果仅局限在深部构造上,该地区从未开展过针对近地表隐伏断裂的探查工作.本文采用浅层反射地震勘探方法,查明了克山—大安断裂嫩江组以上地层的详细地层信息以及断裂的展布形态;同时,在主干断裂上覆的背斜构造中,发现了许多次级断裂,这些次级断裂在前人的成果中并未提出过,并且在本区的断裂-褶皱构造体系中,次级断裂的活动特性同样受主干断裂活动的影响;然后通过钻孔验证,证实了浅层反射地震勘探结果的可靠性,并且确定了次级断裂的最新活动时代;最后综合编制了松辽盆地长垣隆起地区浅层地质模型,并讨论了本地区的构造体系受晚白垩纪以来太平洋板块俯冲方向变化的影响而形成的构造特征.本次研究中的方法和成果可为大庆市城市发展规划、重大工程建设选址和大庆油田安全高效生产等提供科学依据,可为其他地区开展近地表断裂探查提供借鉴和参考,为本地区浅层地质构造后续研究提供了基础资料,填补该地区近地表地球物理勘探构造研究的空白.

     

渭河盆地东部地区的活断层

本文根据近年来的调查结果,讨论了渭河盆地东部地区六条主要断裂的活动情况。指出这些断裂现今活动以倾向滑落为主,同时兼有一定分量的左旋走滑运动     

东南沿海地震活动特征量

1970年以来,东南沿海地区经历了上世纪末以来明显的第Ⅴ活跃幕(或轮回)平静和活跃时段,本文通过分析研究这两个时段地震活动在时空强上的差异性,定量提取其活动演化过程参量,为该区未来地震活动期判定提供相对定量的参考依据。