Equilibrium erosion of soft rock shores with a shallow or absent beach under increased sea level rise

A process-based numerical model was used to explore the response of soft rock shores with low volume beaches to variable rates of sea level rise. Equilibrium recession rates were simulated for ranges of wave height and period, tidal amplitude, rock strength, beach volume and rate of sea level rise. Equilibrium shore profiles were found to be steeper with higher rates of sea level rise. Beaches were represented as protective surfaces yet were found to cause no significant reduction in equilibrium recession rate when their volumes were below a critical threshold. Reduced equilibrium recession rates were found with beaches that extended sufficiently far below low tide level. The model results imply that, given several constraints, a very simple relationship exists between increased rates of sea level rise and the response of eroding composite soft rock/low volume beach shores.     

A probabilistic methodology to estimate future coastal flood risk due to sea level rise

In this paper we present a methodology to estimate the probability of future coastal flooding given uncertainty over possible sea level rise. We take as an example the range of sea level rise magnitudes for 2100 contained in the IPCC Third Assessment Report [Church, J.A., Gregory, J.M., Huybrechts, P., Kuhn, M., Lambeck, K., Nhuan, M.T., Qin, D., Woodworth, P.L., Anisimov, O.A., Bryan, F.O., Cazenave, A., Dixon, K.W., Fitzharris, B.B., Flato, G.M., Ganopolski, A., Gornitz, V., Lowe, J.A., Noda, A., Oberhuber, J.M., O'Farrell, S.P., Ohmura, A., Oppenheimer, M., Peltier, W.R., Raper, S.C.B., Ritz, C., Russell, G.L., Schlosser, E., Shum, C.K., Stocker, T.F., Stouffer, R.J., van de Wal, R.S.W., Voss, R., Wiebe, E.C., Wild, M., Wingham, D.J. and Zwally, H.J., 2001. Changes in sea level. In Houghton, J.T. et al. (eds), Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 881pp.] and infer a plausible probability distribution for this range. We then use a Monte Carlo procedure to sample from this distribution and use the resulting values as an additional boundary forcing for a two-dimensional model of coastal inundation used to simulate a 1 in 200 year extreme water level event. This yields an ensemble of simulations for an event of this magnitude occurring in 2100, where each member represents a different possible scenario of sea level rise by this time. We then develop a methodology to approximate the probability of flooding in each model grid cell over the ensemble and by combining these hazards maps with maps of land use values (consequence) we are able to estimate spatial contributions to flood risk that can aid planning and investment decisions. The method is then applied to a 32 km section of the UK coast in Somerset, South-West England and used to estimate the monetary losses and risk due a 1 in 200 year recurrence interval event under: (a) current conditions; (b) with the IPCC's most plausible value for sea level rise by 2100 (0.48 m) and (c) using the above methodology to fully account for uncertainty over possible sea level rise. The analysis shows that undertaking a risk assessment using the most plausible sea level rise value may significantly underestimate monetary losses as it fails to account for the impact of low probability, high consequence events. The developed method provides an objective basis for decisions regarding future defence spending and can be easily extended to consider other sources of uncertainty such as changing event frequency–magnitude distribution, changing storm surge conditions or model structural uncertainty, either singly or in combination as joint probabilities.     

香港西贡滨珊瑚REE的地球化学特征及其与海平面变化的关系

用ICP-MS技术测定了位于珠江口西岸香港西贡滨珊瑚在1991～2002年(分辨率达到0.5a)的稀土元素(REE)含量。实验结果显示香港滨珊瑚REE具有Ce负异常、重稀土富集这种典型的海水相分布模式。香港滨珊瑚中REE含量处于目前已见报道中的高值范围,与巴布亚新几内亚珊瑚的REE含量相当。通过与不同地区的比较,香港珊瑚高REE含量很可能就是毗邻的珠江水体高REE的直接反映,而且同南海北缘半封闭边缘海的性质有关。香港珊瑚REE的来源主要为珠江口及其相邻的陆缘沉积物。此外,1991～2002年香港珊瑚REE含量年际下降趋势十分明显,Ce负异常和重稀土富集的程度也呈加剧的趋势,分布模式向海水相转化。REE含量与海平面的年际变化之间有显著的负相关关系(r=-0.7～-0.9),而且重稀土与海平面的相关系数优于轻稀土。上述结果揭示了热带滨珊瑚对近期全球变暖、极冰融化和海水膨胀所引起的海平面快速上升的响应。     

海底热液沉积物中流体包裹体的研究进展

最近几个新兴起的海底热液沉积物中流体包裹体的研究可以解决许多利用常规矿物学和地球化学方法无法解决的重要科学问题,本文总结了该领域研究工作的进展,探讨了技术手段或方法上的发展及局限性,提出对热液沉积物中透明矿物的大范围显微测温对比分析和非透明矿物分温度段释放包裹体气候相结合,从而获取不同类型和不同成矿阶段包裹体物化指标及成分特征,进而研究热液循环机制及成矿作用过程的思路,对热液沉积物中流体包裹体研究     

一种优化模糊度搜索方法的研究

对于高精度测量和导航,GPS载波相位整周模糊度的快速求解仍然是一个难点,尤其对于单频接收机。提出一种快速求解整周模糊度的方法,其基本思想采用分步求解,首先应用最小二乘模糊去耦调节法(LAMBDA)搜索出来的模糊度作为初始值,然后应用卫星分组方法降低搜索维数,并应用极大似然准则,构造搜索函数,最后应用最优化原理,搜索出最优的模糊度参数,并从三个方面对其进行检验,即RATIO检验,OVT检验,多项式拟合残差检验。为验证该算法,我们用单频GPS接收机进行了实验,利用本文方法在11 S以内正确确定了模糊度,其基线长误差小于3MM,表明该方法不但可以改进模糊度的搜索速度,而且可以进一步提高其可靠性和成功率。该方法可广泛应用于定向及姿态测量。     

中沙大环礁四种大型海藻的光生理特征比较及其对升温的响应*

生活于珊瑚礁区的大型海藻可以与珊瑚一起为礁栖生物提供食物和栖息地, 它们在维护珊瑚礁生态系统生物多样性中起着极为重要的作用。本论文比较研究了生活于我国南海中沙大环礁区4种优势海藻的生化组分、光合特征及其对海水升温的生理响应,其中厚膜藻(Grateloupia ellipitica)和粉枝藻(Liagora samaensis)为红藻, 钙扇藻(Udotea flabellum)和仙掌藻(Halimeda discoidea)为绿藻。结果显示, 与绿藻相比, 红藻藻体叶绿素(Chl a)和类胡萝卜素含量更低且含有藻胆素, 红藻的光补偿点(E_C)和呼吸速率(R_d)均显著低于绿藻。海水升温提高了4种海藻的光能利用效率(α)、E_C、R_d和日净光合固碳量; 同时, 升温还降低红藻的饱和光强(E_K)、提高绿藻的最大光合放氧速率(P_max)。结果还显示, 海水升温在光强较低时提高红藻的光合放氧速率, 光强较高时则降低其放氧速率; 升温也提高绿藻的光合放氧速率, 但光强变化对升温效应的影响不显著。基于4种海藻的光生理特征以及升温效应的种间差异性可见, 短时间升温(~4℃)有利于中沙大环礁区海藻的光合作用; 与绿藻相比, 该升温效应更有利于红藻。     

阶变折射率轴棱锥产生局域空心光束

提出利用折射率成阶跃性变化的轴棱锥产生局域空心光束(bottle beam).讨论了折射率沿径向成阶跃式减小或增加两种模型,从几何光学角度分析了它们产生bottle beam的原理,利用衍射积分理论数值模拟两种轴棱锥光传输的光场分布和不同距离处的二维光斑图,研究结果表明折射率沿径向阶跃减小的轴棱锥产生单个bottle beam,而折射率沿径向阶跃增加的轴棱锥产生具有周期再现的bottle beams.bottle beam在原子引导和囚禁、光学俘获及光镊等方面有广泛的应用, 因此本文的研究对bottle     

Probability of Sediment Incipient Motion Under Complex Flows

Presented in this paper is a mathematical model to calculate the probability of the sediment incipient motion,in which the effects of the fluctuating pressure and the seepage are considered.The instantaneous bed shear velocity and the pressure gradient on the bed downstream of the backward-facing step flow are obtained according to the PIV measurements.It is found that the instantaneous pressure gradient on the bed obeys normal distribution.The probability of the sediment incipient motion on the bed downstream of the backward-facing step flow is given by the mathematical model.The predicted results agree well with the experiment in the region downstream of the reattachment point while a large discrepancy between the theory and experiment is seen in the region near the reattachment point.The possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Impact of dynamic feedbacks between sedimentation,sea-level rise,and biomass production on near-surface marsh stratigraphy and carbon accumulation

Salt marshes accrete both organic and inorganic sediments. Here we present analytical and numerical models of salt marsh sedimentation that, in addition to capturing inorganic processes, explicitly account for above- and belowground organic processes including root growth and decay of organic carbon. The analytical model is used to examine the bias introduced by organic processes into proxy records of sedimentation, namely ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. We find that accretion rates estimated using ²¹⁰Pb will be less than accretion rates estimated using the ¹³⁷Cs peak in steadily accreting marshes if (1) carbon decay is significant and (2) data for ²¹⁰Pb extend below the ¹³⁷Cs peak. The numerical model expands upon the analytical model by including belowground processes such as compaction and root growth, and by explicitly tracking the evolution of aboveground biomass and its effect on sedimentation rates. Using the numerical model we explore how marsh stratigraphy responds to sediment supply and the rate of sea-level rise. It is calibrated and tested using an extensive data set of both marsh stratigraphy and measurements of vegetation dynamics in a Spartina alterniflora marsh in South Carolina, USA. We find that carbon accumulation in marshes is nonlinearly related to both the supply of inorganic sediment and the rate of sea-level rise; carbon accumulation increases with sea-level rise until sea-level rise reaches a critical rate that drowns the marsh vegetation and halts carbon accumulation. The model predicts that changes in carbon storage resulting from changing sediment supply or sea-level rise are strongly dependent on the background sediment supply: if inorganic sediment supply is reduced in an already sediment poor marsh the storage of organic carbon will increase to a far greater extent than in a sediment-rich marsh, provided that the rate of sea-level rise does not exceed a threshold. These results imply that altering sediment supply to estuaries (e.g., by damming upstream rivers or altering littoral sediment transport) could lead to significant changes in the carbon budgets of coastal salt marshes.     

Higher harmonics induced by a submerged horizontal plate and a submerged rectangular step in a wave flume

The decomposition of a monochromatic wave over a submerged plate is investigated experimentally in a wave flume. Bound and free higher harmonic modes propagating upstream and downstream the structure are discriminated by means of moving resistive probes. The first-order analysis shows a resonant behaviour linked to the ratio of the plate's width and the fundamental mode wavelength over the plate. The second-order analysis shows an energy transfer from the fundamental mode towards free harmonics propagating downstream the structure. This transfer is linked to the ratio of the width of the plate and the bound harmonic wavelength over the plate. We also performed experiments with a submerged step to compare the efficiency of both structures. The submerged plate is shown to be a more efficient breakwater than the step, at the first as well as the second-order.