A laboratory assessment of the relative importance of turbulence, particle composition, and concentration in limiting maximal floc size and settling behaviour

The fate of fine particulate material in aquatic environments is closely linked to aggregation and disaggregation processes. Understanding the mechanisms controlling these processes is fundamental to the development of predictive models of fate and effects for particulate discharges in the coastal zone from such sources as offshore hydrocarbon exploration and development. One of the variables required for the development of these models is maximal floc size. Using a non-invasive imaging technique, the significance of turbulence, composition, and concentration on maximal floc size in an inverting column flocculator was determined for materials commonly discharged during offshore hydrocarbon development. The settling velocity of the suspension was determined from volume concentrations of samples obtained by pipette during still water settling in a manner similar to that of Owen tubes. After 20 h, both maximal floc size and settling velocity showed a highly significant dependence on turbulence and type of material in suspension, but showed no effect from concentration.     

Evaluation of a laser‐assisted particle sizing/settling velocity determination technique

The use of predictive models for the understanding and management of sediment and contaminant transport generally requires knowledge of particle size and settling velocity. Particle size is often obtained by direct measurements, and the settling velocities are usually predicted using the Stokes' law (or a modification thereof) for single‐grained spherical particles. Such measurements and estimates are not satisfactory measures for cohesive sediments, which exist as agglomerated particles called flocs and whose behaviour is significantly different from that of the single‐grained particles. Direct measurement of settling velocity and size using optical methods in settling columns has also been employed to improve these predictions; however, the subjectivity in determining which particles are in focus results in unreliable size data. An out‐of‐focus particle will generally possess a larger size than in reality. This paper evaluates a laser‐assisted particle sizing/settling velocity determination technique's ability to eliminate the subjectivity and improve particle‐sizing accuracy during settling column experiments. Although the diffraction of light by the translucent standard beads (used for evaluating the technique's accuracy for determining particle size) posed a problem, the results suggest that this technique has potential for assisting researchers to obtain the most accurate settling particle size data possible. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mineral ballast and particle settling rates in the coastal upwelling system off NW Africa and the South Atlantic

The ocean off NW Africa is the second most important coastal upwelling system with a total annual primary production of 0.33 Gt of carbon per year (Carr in Deep Sea Res II 49:59–80, 2002). Deep ocean organic carbon fluxes measured by sediment traps are also fairly high despite low biogenic opal fluxes. Due to a low supply of dissolved silicate from subsurface waters, the ocean off NW Africa is characterized by predominantly carbonate-secreting primary producers, i.e. coccolithophorids. These algae which are key primary producers since millions of years are found in organic- and chlorophyll-rich zooplankton fecal pellets, which sink rapidly through the water column within a few days. Particle flux studies in the Mauretanian upwelling area (Cape Blanc) confirm the hypothesis of Armstrong et al. (Deep Sea Res II 49:219–236, 2002) who proposed that ballast availability, e.g. of carbonate particles, is essential to predict deep ocean organic carbon fluxes. The role of dust as ballast mineral for organic carbon, however, must be also taken into consideration in the coastal settings off NW Africa. There, high settling rates of larger particles approach 400 m day⁻¹, which may be due to a particular composition of mineral ballast. An assessment of particle settling rates from opal-production systems in the Southern Ocean of the Atlantic Sector, in contrast, provides lower values, consistent with the assumptions of Francois et al. (Global Biogeochem Cycles 16(4):1087, 2002). Satellite chlorophyll distributions, particle distributions and fluxes in the water column off NW Africa as well as modelling studies suggest a significant lateral flux component and export of particles from coastal shelf waters into the open ocean. These transport processes have implications for paleo-reconstructions from sediment cores retrieved at continental margin settings.     

黄海秋季典型站位沉降颗粒物的垂直通量

2002年9月,在海州湾外侧(E1站)、黄海冷水团(E2站)和黄、东海毗邻水域(E3站)分别放置沉积物捕获器采集沉降颗粒物,研究其垂直通量.结果显示,E1、E2和E3站底层颗粒物沉降通量分别为215.44 g/(m2·d)、165.51 g/(m2·d)、873.91 g/(m2·d),POC沉降通量分别为3.15 g/(m2·d)、2.22 g/(m2·d)、10.49 g/(m2·d).生源颗粒物是E1站位次表层POC的主要来源.E3站水体底层的大量悬浮颗粒物主要来自沉积物的再悬浮,再悬浮强烈程度及影响深度均高于E1站.通过模型计算出E2站底层颗粒物再悬浮比率平均(±SD)为95.65(±2.14)%,底表沉积物再悬浮通量占总再悬浮通量的百分比(X值)为89.53%,显示秋季底部平流对黄海冷水团区再悬浮通量影响不大,但这种影响在夏季相对较强.E2站POC净沉降通量为192 mg/(m2·d),生源颗粒物是此站位POC通量的主要贡献者.由于温跃层的长期存在,营养盐贫乏,生物生长受到抑制,导致黄海冷水团区秋季POC通量小于夏季.     

Mechanism of Crystal Redistribution in a Sheet-like Magma Body: Constraints from the Nosappumisaki and Other Shoshonite Intrusions in the Nemuro Peninsula, Northern Japan

Processes of crystal separation in a magma heavily laden withcrystals without phase change are investigated from observationson frozen magma systems: Nosappumisaki and other shoshoniteintrusions in the Nemuro peninsula, Japan, for which the originof the crystals and the initial conditions are well constrained.The Nosappumisaki intrusion is 120 m in thickness and extendsfor more than 1·5 km. It exhibits a wide range of lithologicalvariation, principally as a result of crystal redistributionafter intrusion. Crystals in each lithology can be clearly dividedinto two kinds according to their composition and texture: thosepresent before the intrusion of the magma (‘phenocrysts’)and those that crystallized in situ after intrusion. From thevertical change in mode and size of ‘phenocrysts’,it is shown that (1) augite ‘phenocrysts’ were rapidlydeposited, with little overgrowth after intrusion, by significantcoagulation or clustering on a time-scale of more than a fewyears, and (2) plagioclase ‘phenocrysts’, definitelydenser than the melt but concentrated in the upper level, floatedby counter flow of massive deposition of augite ‘phenocrysts’.These results indicate that in a magma heavily laden with crystalsof a few millimeters in size (>20 vol. %), crystal–crystaland crystal–melt interaction play an important role inthe separation of crystals from the host melt. KEY WORDS: magma chamber; sill; crystal settling; plagioclase flotation; Nosappumisaki     

深圳湾浅海相淤泥固结变形特性研究

深圳—香港西部通道填海及地基处理中,主固结沉降采用压缩模量Es计算的结果比实测沉降量小30%左右,采用压缩指数Cc计算的结果比较符合实际。淤泥的沉降比在20%～32%,总平均值达到26%,超过以往15%～20%的经验值。淤泥在满载一定时间后沉降速率下降缓慢,在达到0 5mm d左右时,各项指标就满足设计要求,因而卸载时的沉降速率标准定为0 5mm d。     

Gas retention in fine-grained pyroclastic flow materials at high temperatures

The ability of a dense pyroclastic flow to maintain high gas pore pressure, and hence low friction, during runout is determined by (1) the strengths and longevities of gas sources, and (2) the ability of the material to retain residual gas once those sources become ineffective. The latter is termed the gas retention capacity. Gas retention capacity in a defluidizing granular material is governed by three timescales: one for the evacuation of bubbles (t _be ; brief and not considered in this paper), one for hindered settling from the expanded state (t _sett), and one for diffusive release of residual pore pressure from the non-expanded state (t _diff). The relative magnitides of t _sett and t _diff depend on bed thickness, t _sett dominating in thin systems and t _diff in thick ones. Three pyroclastic flow materials, two ignimbrites and a block-and-ash flow sample, were studied experimentally to investigate expansion behaviour under gas flow and to determine gas retention times. Effects of particle size were evaluated by using two size cuts (<4 mm and <250 μm) from each sample. Careful drying of the materials was necessary to avoid effects of humidity-related cohesion. Two sets of experiments were carried out: (1) expansion in the non-bubbling regime at 50–200°C, (2) bed collapse tests from the initially bubbling state at 50–550°C. Provided that gas channelling was avoided by gentle stirring, all the samples exhibited a regime of uniform expansion prior to the onset of bubbling. Fine particle size (in particular high fines content), low particle density and high temperature all favoured smoother fluidization by increasing the maximum expansion possible in the non-bubbling state. An empirical equation describing the uniform expansion of the materials was determined. High temperature also favoured greater gas partitioning into the dense phase of the bubbling bed, as well (in finer-grained samples) as higher voidage in the settled bed. Large values of t _sett and t _diff were favoured by fine particle size. Temperature had less influence, suggesting that experimental results at low temperatures (50–200°C) can be extrapolated to higher temperatures. Gas retention times provide insight into the ability of pyroclastic flows in expanded (t _sett) or non-expanded (t _diff) flow states to retain gas once air ingestion or gas production have become ineffective. Finer-grained pyroclastic flows are expected to retain gas longer, and hence to have higher apparent ‘mobilities’, than coarser-grained ones of comparable volume, as has been observed on Montserrat.     

Studies on settling, traction and entrainment of larger benthic foraminiferal tests: implications for accumulation in shallow marine sediments

Settling and traction velocities were measured on optimally preserved tests of larger foraminifera using a settling tube and flume tank. Within larger foraminifera with porcelaneous tests, the peneroplids, Peneroplis antillarum, P. planatus, P. pertusus and Dendritina cf. D. zhengae, are distinguished by low test densities (ca 1·2) that do not change with growth. Buoyancy is high because of low Reynolds numbers and increases in large individuals because of the allometric change of test shape. The fusiform Alveolinella quoyi, with test densities ca 1·6, is characterized by high Reynolds numbers, inducing the weakest buoyancy within porcelaneous larger foraminifera. The highest buoyancy was recorded for the three soritids, Parasorites orbitolitoides, Sorites orbiculus and Amphisorus hemprichii, because of their low test densities (ca 1·25) and the extremely flat, biconcave, plate‐like shape. Flat tests, however, reduce traction and entrainment from smooth surfaces. Within hyaline larger foraminiferat, the amphisteginids show thick‐lenticular (Amphistegina lobifera, A. radiata) to thin‐lenticular tests (A. bicirculata, A. papillosa), influencing buoyancy. Here, high test densities (ca 1·8) decrease with growth in A. lobifera, A. lessonii and A. bicirculata, and remain constant in A. radiata and A. papillosa. Minimum velocities required for entrainment are lower for thick‐lenticular tests and higher for thin‐lenticular tests. Test densities remain constant with growth in the calcarinid Baculogypsina sphaerulata (ρ ∼ 1·78) and decrease slightly in Calcarina gaudichaudii and Neorotalia calcar (starting at ρ ∼ 1·85), all living under extreme hydrodynamic conditions. Density decreases the most in Baculogypsinoides spinosus (starting at ρ ∼ 1·8), resulting in higher buoyancy through low Reynolds numbers. Traction is promoted in spherical tests of Baculogypsina and Baculogypsinoides. Within nummulitids, the thick‐lenticular Palaeonummulites venosus (test density decreasing with size; starting at 1·78) is less buoyant, expressed in high Reynolds numbers, but easily entrained. Thick‐lenticular juveniles and extremely flat adults distinguish Operculinella cumingii, Heterostegina depressa and the giant Cycloclypeus carpenteri. Test densities increase during growth, starting from ca 1·6 and attaining a maximum of 1·8. Buoyancy is low in small tests and high in large tests, while entrainment velocities are reduced as the tests flatten. High buoyancy is also a characteristic of the entirely flat tests in Operculina ammonoides (from deeper regions) and Planostegina operculinoides, which is expressed in the lowest Reynolds numbers within larger foraminifera.     

无纹波最小均方误差系统及计算机辅助设计

本文针对最小均方误差系统在理论和设计方法上存在的问题,推导出按无纹波条件下最小均方误差系统更完善的设计公式以及应用计算机的快速设计方法。     

利用坐底观测估算济州岛西南海域再悬浮临界应力

底边界层中沉积物的再悬浮和沉降是控制陆架海悬浮沉积物的输运的关键过程。沉积物输运过程的数值^*模拟也依赖于沉积物侵蚀和沉降的关键参数的研究。本文根据济州岛西南泥质区的坐底观测估算了此处临界应力。通过底边界层声学仪器ADV和PC-ADP的流速和悬浮物浓度同步观测,基于湍生成与耗散平衡假设,使用惯性耗散法计算沉降速度。这种方法得到的沉降速度ws平均值为0.91 mm s^-1,标准差为0.20 mm s^-1,此结果远大于Soulbsy（1997）和LISST-ST现场观测粒径分析仪等经验方法的结果。这主要是由于两种方法的本质不同,惯性耗散法形象的刻画了底边界层的水动力,并且更加合理的现场估计沉降速度w_s,然而Soulsby的方法通常适用于静水环境。我们提出了一种估计临界应力的新方法,根据悬浮颗粒物浓度时空变化的统计分析（深度平均的悬浮颗粒物浓度对时间求导数）和对应的底应力估算侵蚀临界应力τ_ce和沉降临界应力τ_cd。侵蚀临界应力τ_ce和沉降临界应力τ_ce的变化范围为0.11-0.25 Pa,对应的中值分别为0.20 Pa和0.16 Pa,这也证实了侵蚀临界应力略大于沉降临界应力。除此之外,我们还使用了另一种方法估算临界应力,通过沉降速度间接估算的临界应力范围为0.06-0.17 Pa。