Does subterranean flow initiate mud banks off the southwest coast of India?

Coastal waters off the southwest coast of India draw special attention because of the occurrence of mud banks at certain locations during southwest monsoon period. The present study puts forward a hypothesis of a subterranean flow, which could be a plausible mechanism to initiate the mud banks. The subterranean flow is believed to be coupled with activated trending faults and originate from the adjacent watershed (Vembanad Lake) separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land where submerged porous lime shell beds are present. When the lake water injection occurs through the fault, the mud/clay gets excited by its thixotrophic properties (as the overlying water looses its electrolyte) and transforms into a flowing fluid. The lowering of salinity due to the introduction of fresh water keeps the mud suspension in the water column for longer duration, leading to the formation of mud banks. The idea of subterranean flow through lime shell beds initiating formation of mud banks may apply globally to any coastal regions hugged by wetlands and of similar geological conditions.     

闽江河口地区河道演变及其影响因素分析

比之传统的调查方法,利用遥惑技术进行岸线解译具有范围大、多时段、省时、省力以及快速等优点。根据多时相TM遥惑数据,对闽江河口地区岸线进行解译,结合20世纪60年代地形图和2001年海图,分析了河口地区河道演变情况．对河流岸线和浅滩变化进行对比分析,发现闽江口南部水道多呈淤积状态,北边水道则为弱侵蚀型岸线;南部水下浅滩有新发育,原有的浅滩面积有很大的扩展,北边水道变化较小;文章最后对河道演变的影响因素进行了初步的探讨。     

黄河三角洲河道沉积规律研究Ⅱ. 建林边滩沉积作用机理

通过对建林边滩沉积物粒度分布、粒度参数及水体流变性质的分析，阐述了黄河三角洲上河道水流属于牵引流范畴，与低含沙水流无本质上的差别，并探讨沉积物搬运和沉积的基本特征。     

Algorithm for HF radar vector current measurements

A new algorithm is proposed, called the stream function method (SFM) for producing vector current maps from radial data measured by dual-site high frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR). In SFM, a scalar stream function is constructed under some oceanographic assumptions. The function describes the two-dimensional (2-D) ocean surface water motion and is used to obtain the distribution of vector currents. The performance of SFM is evaluated using simulated radial data, which demonstrates that SFM has advantages over typical vectorial combination methods (VCM) both in error acceptance and robustness, and excels another method based on least-squares fitting (LSF) in recovering the complicated current models. Furthermore, SFM is capable of providing the total currents based on radials from single-site radar. We also test the assumptions of horizontal non-divergence in the simulation. The new algorithm is applied to the field experiment data of Wuhan University’s ocean state measuring and analyzing radar (OSMAR), collected in the coastal East China Sea during April 11–17, 2004. Quantitative comparisons are given between radar results by three current algorithms and in-situ current meter measurements. Preliminary analysis of the vertical current shear is given based on the current meter measurements.     

Atmospherically-promoted photosynthetic activity in a well-mixed ecosystem: Significance of wet deposition events of nitrogen compounds

Wet atmospheric deposition of dissolved N, P and Si species is studied in well-mixed coastal ecosystem to evaluate its potential to stimulate photosynthetic activities in nutrient-depleted conditions. Our results show that, during spring, seawater is greatly depleted in major nutrients: Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN), Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus (DIP) and Silicic acid (Si), in parallel with an increase of phytoplanktonic biomass. In spring (March–May) and summer (June–September), wet atmospheric deposition is the predominant source (>60%, relative to riverine contribution) for nitrates and ammonium inputs to this N-limited coastal ecosystem. During winter (October–February), riverine inputs of DIN predominate (>80%) and are annually the most important source of DIP (>90%). This situation allows us to calculate the possibility for a significant contribution to primary production in May 2003, from atmospheric deposition (total input for DIN ≈300 kg km⁻² month⁻¹). Based on usual Redfield ratios and assuming that all of the atmospheric-derived N (AD-N) in rainwater is bioavailable for phytoplankton growth, we can estimate new production due to AD-N of 950 mg C m⁻² month⁻¹, during this period of depletion in the water column. During the same episode (May 2003), photosynthetic activity rate, considered as gross primary production, was estimated to approximately 30 300 mg C m⁻² month⁻¹. Calculation indicates that new photosynthetic activity due to wet atmospheric inputs of nitrogen could be up to 3%.     

Burial and degradation of organic carbon in Louisiana shelf/slope sediments

The primary focus of this paper is to better understand carbon burial on the Louisiana continental margin using spatial scales that covered various shelf depositional areas far-field and near-field (sediment and organic carbon inputs relative to river mouth proximity) and covering a variety of sedimentation rates. Box-cores samples were collected in July 2003; cores were collected along two depositional transects extending westward and southward from the Southwest Pass (SW Pass). A key difference between the two transects sampled in this study was the greater occurrence of mobile muds derived from spillover from shallower regions along the westward 50 m isobaths. The dominant mechanism for mixing in the surface active zone (SAZ) on the inner Louisiana shelf was due to physical, not biological, forces. Burial efficiencies for organic carbon (57.2–91.5%) and total nitrogen (44.2–86.9%) ranged widely across all shelf stations. Lower burial efficiencies for bulk organic carbon, total nitrogen, and pigment biomarkers were associated with mobile muds west of Southwest Pass. Chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly higher than pheopigments at depth at the Mississippi River and Southwest Pass stations, making up 40.4 and 77.4% of total pigment concentrations in the (SAZ) and 46.2 and 63.2% in the accumulation zone (AZ), respectively. These results are in agreement with earlier plant pigment studies which showed that a large fraction of the phytodetritus delivered to the inner shelf was derived from coastal and river diatoms. The amount of lignin preserved with depth decreased with increasing residence time in the SAZ and diagenetic zone (DZ) along the canyon transect but not along the western transect. Trends for lignin concentration followed previously identified surface sediment trends indicating overall lower burial of refractory terrestrial material at depth with greater distance offshore.     

城市中小河道水工建（构）筑物调查测绘技术方法的探讨

结合具体工程实例介绍了当前城市中小河道测量工程中常见水工建（构）筑物的类型、调查量测内容及对应精度指标、外业测绘取舍及内业成图表示方法等,特别是根据实地水工建（构）筑物的规模大小、复杂程度,探讨了对其进行调查测绘的技术方法,并结合CAD绘图系统提出了相应的解决办法.     

Unconsolidated sediment distribution patterns in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa: the role of wave ravinement in separating relict versus active sediment populations

This paper examines the distribution of unconsolidated sediment in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight located along the east coast of South Africa. Results show that there is a general shelf-wide sediment distribution of coarser grain sizes between depths of 60 and 100?m, punctuated by a broad swathe of mud offshore of the Thukela River. Seasonal changes in sediment distribution patterns are small, being restricted to seaward fining on the inner shelf off the fluvial sources. Sediment distribution reflects a partitioning between sediment populations that are current- influenced and relict (palimpsest) populations associated with submerged shorelines. Wave ravinement during the deglacial transgression, the reworking of submerged shorelines during sea-level stillstands and, to a lesser extent, the Agulhas Current system, are the dominant controls on sediment distribution.     

Spatial variability in specific discharge and streamwater chemistry during low flows: Results from snapshot sampling campaigns in eleven Swiss catchments

Catchments consist of distinct landforms that affect the storage and release of subsurface water. Certain landforms may be the main contributors to streamflow during extended dry periods, and these may vary for different catchments in a given region. We present a unique dataset from snapshot field campaigns during low‐flow conditions in 11 catchments across Switzerland to illustrate this. The catchments differed in size (10 to 110 km²), varied from predominantly agricultural lowlands to Alpine areas, and covered a range of physical characteristics. During each snapshot campaign, we jointly measured streamflow and collected water samples for the analysis of major ions and stable water isotopes. For every sampling location (basin), we determined several landscape characteristics from national geo‐datasets, including drainage area, elevation, slope, flowpath length, dominant land use, and geological and geomorphological characteristics, such as the lithology and fraction of quaternary deposits. The results demonstrate very large spatial variability in specific low‐flow discharge and water chemistry: Neighboring sampling locations could differ significantly in their specific discharge, isotopic composition, and ion concentrations, indicating that different sources contribute to streamflow during extended dry periods. However, none of the landscape characteristics that we analysed could explain the spatial variability in specific discharge or streamwater chemistry in multiple catchments. This suggests that local features determine the spatial differences in discharge and water chemistry during low‐flow conditions and that this variability cannot be assessed a priori from available geodata and statistical relations to landscape characteristics. The results furthermore suggest that measurements at the catchment outlet during low‐flow conditions do not reflect the heterogeneity of the different source areas in the catchment that contribute to streamflow.     

基于事件数据的雅鲁藏布江-布拉马普特拉河国际河流安全分析

雅鲁藏布江-布拉马普特拉河是我国重要的国际河流,近年的水电开发活动,使其日益成为国内外国际河流研究关注的热点。本文基于国际关系研究中常用的事件分析方法,在构建事件数据库的基础上,从事件类型、涉及国别、事件频率、影响程度四方面进行分析,结果表明：水资源分配问题是雅江流域主要问题;中国在雅江国际河流问题上与下游国家的联系主要以与印度或孟加拉国的双边联系为主;随着时间的推移,雅江冲突与合作事件的频率都表现出增加的趋势;雅江围绕国际河流的国际关系局势大致可分为4个阶段：60年代的平稳阶段、70年代的紧张阶段、80年代的沉寂阶段、90年代后的持续关注阶段。