Ecotone or Ecocline: Ecological Boundaries in Estuaries

Two main ecological boundaries, ecotone and ecocline, have been defined in landscape ecology. At this scale, the estuary represents a boundary between rivers and the sea, but there has been no attempt to fit empirical data for estuaries to these boundary models. An extensive data set from the Thames estuary was analysed using multivariate techniques and species-range analysis, in order to investigate whether the ecocline or the ecotone model was most relevant to this estuary. Data for periods of high and low freshwater flow allowed the impact of large-scale fluctuations implicit in both models to be determined.A continuum of assemblages existed along the salinity gradient from freshwater river to the North Sea, with shifts in the ranges of organisms apparent in response to changes in freshwater flow. This pattern closely fits an ecocline model. However, the estuary differs from previously defined ecoclines in having two overlapping gradients in the major stressor: from river to mid-estuary for freshwater species and from sea to mid-estuary for marine species. We propose, therefore, that the estuary represents a two-ecocline model, with fauna inhabiting the mid-estuary being either freshwater or marine species at the edge of their range, rather than ‘ true estuarine organisms ’. This allows a redefinition of the Remane diagram, with estuarine species removed, and supports previous arguments that brackish-water species do not exist. Such two-ecocline models may also exist in other marine systems, such as rocky shores.     

辽东湾S2冰侧限剪切强度的试验研究

利用试验方法系统地研究了辽东湾S2型海冰侧限剪切强度随剪切应变速率、加载方向、法向应力、温度和冰内孔隙率的变化规律。介绍了S2型海冰各向异性特点及剪切应变速率对剪切破坏方式的效应和韧脆破坏转变的条件。分析了不同加载方向海冰峰值剪切强度的差异 ,获得 - 6 2℃温度下S2冰内摩擦角和内聚力分别为 42°和 70 0kPa。利用统计分析给出峰值剪切强度与冰温和孔隙率的试验关系     

仿鱼尾潜器推进系统的水动力分析

以开发适用于小型潜器的仿生操纵与推进系统为研究背景 ,对金枪鱼的月牙形尾鳍进行水动力分析。文中将金枪鱼的尾鳍处理为在做横移和摇摆的耦合运动的同时 ,以某一匀速向前运动的月牙形刚性尾翼。计算中应用了双曲面元和压力库塔条件 ,利用面元法计算分析该三维尾翼的非定常水动力性能。探讨了前进速度、横荡和摇首的幅度、频率及其相位差对推进性能的影响     

Effect of shallow and narrow water on added mass of cylinders with various cross-sectional shapes

The sway, heave and roll added masses of three uniform cylinders with semi-circular, rectangular and triangular cross-sectional shapes in shallow and narrow water are numerically analysed. The method is based on simulation of the potential flow induced by the cylinder's mode of motion. The effects of shallow and narrow water on added mass are analysed and presented. It is concluded that the shallow and narrow water effects on added mass depend on the different cross-section shapes of the cylinders. In particular, the water depth effect on sway added mass is stronger than that on heave added mass while the narrow water effect on sway is weaker than that on heave. The shallow water effect on added mass tends to weaken the narrow water effect. Lastly the effect of shallow and narrow water on added mass on a rectangular cylinder is the strongest while that on a triangular cylinder is the weakest.     

A new efficient 3D non-hydrostatic free-surface flow model for simulating water wave motions

A new three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic free surface flow model is presented. For simulating water wave motions over uneven bottoms, the model employs an explicit project method on a Cartesian the staggered gird system to solve the complete three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. A bi-conjugated gradient method with a pre-conditioning procedure is used to solve the resulting matrix system. The model is capable of resolving non-hydrostatic pressure by incorporating the integral method of the top-layer pressure treatment, and predicting wave propagation and interaction over irregular bottom by including a partial bottom-cell treatment. Four examples of surface wave propagation are used to demonstrate the capability of the model. Using a small of vertical layers (e.g. 2–3 layers), it is shown that the model could effectively and accurately resolve wave shoaling, non-linearity, dispersion, fission, refraction, and diffraction phenomena.     

Gradation affects basic mechanical characteristics of Chinese calcareous sand as airport subgrade of reefs

Abstract

Construction of the reefs in the South China Sea is a significant foundation to the secure stability and economic development of China. The construction of an airport runway is necessary for this realization. The calcareous sand is the main primary material in the runway construction. A certain type of calcareous sand near a certain reef of the South China Sea was studied in this paper. To investigate this specific calcareous sand, quartz sand was used as a reference for comparison. Microscopic 3-D imaging, compression and triaxial tests were conducted to test the micro, squeezing and shear properties. The effect mechanism of gradation on the calcareous sand’s compressibility and shear characteristics are discussed from a mesoscopic viewpoint using 3-D morphology. Calcareous sand particles are multiangular and flatter in comparison with quartz sand. The larger the particle sizes are, the more different the two sands’ morphologies are. The compressibility of calcareous sand is greater, and the effect of the coarse fraction (5–1?mm) content in the gradation plays the most significant role in this feature. When the coarse particles’ content is less than 25% and the mass ratio of the middle and fine particles (M) is constant, there is the worst coarse fraction content causing the calcareous sand to be most likely compressed. The worst coarse fraction content decreases with the increase in M, and an empirical formula is proposed. When the gradation, relative density and confining pressure are the same, the peak shear stress and strain of calcareous sand are all at a high level. The effect of confining pressure is manifested in calcareous sand. The shear strength and dilation of calcareous sand are also most affected by the medium coarse fraction (5–0.25?mm) content.     

Undular tidal bore dynamics in the Daly Estuary, Northern Australia

Measurements in the macro-tidal Daly Estuary show that the presence of an undular tidal bore contributed negligibly to the dissipation of tidal energy. No recirculation bubble was observed between a trough and the following wave crest in the lee waves following the undular bore. This differs to stationary undular bores in laboratory experiments at larger Froude numbers where a recirculation bubble exists. Secondary motions and the turbulence generated by the undular bore had no measurable influence on the sediment transport. This situation contrasts with the intense sediment resuspension observed in breaking tidal bores. The tidally averaged sediment budget in the Daly Estuary was controlled by the asymmetry of tidal currents. The undular bore may widen the river by breaking along the banks that it undercuts, leading to bank slippage. A patch of river-wide macro-turbulence of 3-min duration occurred about 20 min after the passage of the bore during accelerating tidal currents.     

泥石流平面形态的统计分析

泥石流扇的平面形态可用规划的几何图形来模拟。在研究了中国西南地区小江流域和意大利东北部阿尔卑斯山区的５２个泥石流扇的基础上，本文提出了两种泥石流扇的平面形态：中国西南地区的“等腰三角形＋半圆形”泥石流扇和意大利东北部的“几何扇”。用统计分析建立了两组泥石流扇和泥石流流域之间的形态度量关系。通过两个研究区域的对比，两个流域参数：流域面积和主沟比降确定为影响泥石流扇平面形态和面积的最重要的因素。     

A Preliminary Study of Shear Wave in Seafloor Surface Sediments

This article preliminarily reports and analyses the transmission characteristics and behaviors of shear wave in the offshore seafloor surface sediments in China, discusses the relationships between the physical and mechanical features of the shear wave and the compression wave, and compares the testing results with that of Hamilton and Chen et al. The result shows that the shear wave can be tested if the seafloor surface sediment has tangent modulus. The shear wave velocity ranges from 50-600 m/s and the measuring frequency from 50-200 kHz. The sound velocity rate of shear wave and compression wave can be used to appraise the stress-strain feature of seafloor surface sediments. This study provides a basis for further describing and appraising the seafloor sedimentary acoustic-mechanical feature and building a geological-acoustic model on China's offshore sea area.     

In-line response of a cylinder in oscillatory flow

The most widely used mathematical model to represent flow-induced in-line forces on structures is based on the Morison¹ equation. The present paper investigates the validity of using an extension of Morison's equation for non-stationary structures, by comparing predictions with results from a simple laboratory experiment. An elastically-mounted circular cylinder is placed in the sinusoidal flow of a U-tube, and responds in-line with the flow. Cylinder forces and responses are recorded over a range of Keulegan Carpenter numbers up to 35. An equation of motion is solved simply by using relative coordinates and by employing equivalent linearisation. The linear results are compared over a wide variation of parameters with solutions using the full nonlinear equation. Thereafter experimental results are compared with linear predictions.