Transformation of phosphorus species in settling seston and during early sediment diagenesis

Sequential P extraction was combined with electron microscop and X-ray spectroscopy to characterise various P species and to study their transformation in settling seston and in recent sediment. During early diagenesis most of the particulate P formed in the water was redissolved. No net transformation into species that would resist dissolution was observed.It was shown that

ENSO related variations in biogeochemistry of AA and HA in settling particles along the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Four year-long time-series sediment trap experiments were conducted along the equatorial Pacific Ocean in order to understand the biogeochemistry of particulate organic matter (POM) on the basis of amino acid (AA) and hexosamine (HA) compositions of the settling particles. Total mass flux in the study area varied over 4 orders of magnitude without a common seasonality among all trap sites. Planktonic blooms were apparent in terms of total mass and AA fluxes at the easternmost end of the Niño-4 region. AA fluxes closely followed the total mass flux profiles, suggesting that increased particle flux delivered a greater amount of labile OM to the deep ocean. A labile OM index (LI)-based classification showed that during the El Niño conditions in 2002, the eastern side of the equatorial Pacific transported relatively more labile OM than the western equatorial Pacific. An overall change in AA and HA composition of settling particles could be revealed with the help of discriminant analysis, suggesting that settling particles during El Niño were compositionally different from those settling during La Niña condition in the equatorial Pacific.     

Investigation on Settling Characteristics of Floes in the Changjiang Estuary, China

- Settling characteristics of floes, including relative settling velocity, relative flocculation coefficient and flocculation exponent, are obtained by the suspended load equations for different size fractions. Data of the Changjiang Estuary suggest that level of flocculation changes from river section, river mouth (turbidity maximum) to offshore area in sequence of low, very high and high. The settling characteristics of floes reflected by in situ estimation performs a similar feature as that obtained from still water experiment.     

An analytical solution for the local suspended sediment concentration profile in tidal sea region

The time-averaged and oscillatory solutions of the one-dimensional vertical (1DV) advection–diffusion equation for the suspended sediment have been derived analytically in a tidal sea region of finite water depth. The basic equation assumes constant eddy diffusivity and settling velocity. No net flux condition is set at the sea surface, while a boundary condition with the erosion rate and depositional velocity is prescribed at the sea bottom. The time-averaged solution has been derived in a straightforward manner, while the advection–diffusion equation governing the oscillatory concentration has been first transformed to a simple diffusion equation and then solved using the Galerkin-eigenfunction method. The former is given in a closed form, while the latter is presented in a series solution.A set of calculations has been performed to examine the change in the vertical structure as well as magnitude of the concentration response function. A possible use of the solution to make an estimate of the erosion rate at the sea bottom based on the concentration information at the sea surface is discussed.     

Analysis of influencing factors on fine sediment flocculation in the Changjiang Estuary

Based on the test data in dynamic water and static water, the main factors, which influence the fine sediment flocculation, are analyzed with a gray model method of correlation theory. It is shown that the main influencing factors are water temperature, settling time, salinity, grain size, sediment concentration and current velocity according to the correlation coefficients. Among them, the salinity and the sediment grain size are critical type influencing factors (CrTIF); the settling time, the sediment concentration and the velocity are continuous type influencing factors (CoTIF); and the water temperature has the characteristics of both. When the critical values of CrTIF are reached or exceeded, the fine sediments will be flocculated, but values of CrTIF will not influence the settlement strength of floes. The influence of CoTIF is continuous. The values of the CoTIF will not only influence the occurrence of flocculation but also the settlement strength of the floes.     

长江口悬沙沉速室内试验研究

在充分认识传统沉降筒缺陷的基础上提出了"大型可温控自动搅拌沉降试验筒"。通过室内系列试验发现:(1)含沙量对长江口细颗粒沉降速度影响最大;(2)温度上升,沉速增加,但不同阶段影响程度有所不同;(3)含沙量越高,盐度对沉速的影响越小,含沙量相同情况下,长江口北槽悬沙枯季水温下盐度对沉速的影响在1.8~5.7倍左右;洪季水温下盐度对沉速的影响在1.5~2.2倍左右。(4)枯季最佳絮凝盐度在7左右,最佳絮凝含沙量为7 kg/m3;洪季最佳絮凝盐度在10~12左右,最佳絮凝含沙量为4.5kg/m3。本研究成果可望加深我们对细颗粒泥沙动力过程相关机理的认识,同时可为相关港口、航道的淤积机理分析,数学模型、物理模型研究工作提供一定技术参考。     

钻井岩粉在钻井液中自由沉降的实验研究─—岩粉的沉降阻力系数及沉降速度

利用模拟岩屑分别在淡水、ＣＭＣ钻井液以及用于德国大陆超深井的ＫＴＢ钻井液中进行了沉降实验并测定了岩屑的沉降速度。观测到两种不同的沉降方式－稳定沉降、摇摆沉降。岩屑的沉降方式与岩屑的雷诺数有关。     

The importance of grain size and shape in controlling the dispersion of the Vedde cryptotephra

Volcanic ash is dispersed in the atmosphere according to meteorology and particle properties, including size and shape. However, the multiple definitions of size and shape for non-spherical particles affect our ability to use physical particle properties to understand tephra transport. Moreover, although particles are often excluded from operational ash dispersion model setups, ash in tephra deposits 1000 km from source can exceed . Here we measure the shape and size of samples of Vedde ash from Iceland, an exceptionally widespread tephra layer in Europe, collected in Iceland and Norway. Using X-ray computed tomography and optical microscopy, we show that distal ash is more anisotropic than proximate ash, suggesting that shape exerts an important control on tephra dispersion. Shape also impacts particle size measurements. Particle long axis, a parameter often reported by tephrochronologists, is on average greater than geometric size, used by dispersion modellers. By using geometric size and quantifying shape, we can explain the transport of Vedde ash particles more than 1200 km from source. We define a set of best practices for measuring the size and shape of cryptotephra shards and discuss the benefits and limitations of using physical particle properties to understand cryptotephra transport.     

A model for the numerical simulation of tephra fall deposits

A simple semianalytical model to simulate ash dispersion and deposition produced by sustained Plinian and sub-Plinian eruption columns based on the 2D advection–dispersion equation was applied. The eruption column acts as a vertical line source with a given mass distribution and neglects the complex dynamics within the eruption column. Thus, the use of the model is limited to areas far from the vent where the dynamics of the eruption column play a minor role. Vertical wind and diffusion components are considered negligible with respect to the horizontal ones. The dispersion and deposition of particles in the model is only governed by gravitational settling, horizontal eddy diffusion, and wind advection. The model accounts for different types and size classes of a user-defined number of particle classes and changing settling velocity with altitude. In as much as wind profiles are considered constant on the entire domain, the model validity is limited to medium-range distances (about 30–200 km away from the source).The model was used to reconstruct the tephra fall deposit from the documented Plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy, in 79 A.D. In this case, the model was able to broadly reproduce the characteristic medium-range tephra deposit. The results support the validity of the model, which has the advantage of being simple and fast to compute. It has the potential to serve as a simple tool for predicting the distribution of ash fall of hypothetical or real eruptions of a given magnitude and a given wind profile. Using a statistical set of frequent wind profiles, it also was used to construct air fall hazard maps of the most likely affected areas around active volcanoes where a large eruption is expected to occur.