Wave reflection from partially perforated-wall caisson breakwater

In 1995, Suh and Park developed a numerical model that computes the reflection of regular waves from a fully perforated-wall caisson breakwater. This paper describes how to apply this model to a partially perforated-wall caisson and irregular waves. To examine the performance of the model, existing experimental data are used for regular waves, while a laboratory experiment is conducted in this study for irregular waves. The numerical model based on a linear wave theory tends to over-predict the reflection coefficient of regular waves as the wave nonlinearity increases, but such an over-prediction is not observed in the case of irregular waves. For both regular and irregular waves, the numerical model slightly over- and under-predicts the reflection coefficients at larger and smaller values, respectively, because the model neglects the evanescent waves near the breakwater.     

The dynamic behaviour of a river-dominated tidal inlet, River Murray, Australia

Australia's largest river, the River Murray, discharges to the southern ocean through a coastal lagoon and river-dominated tidal inlet. Increased water extractions upstream for irrigation have led to significantly reduced flows at the mouth and, as a result, the area is undergoing rapid change, particularly with regard to the rate at which sediment is being transported into the lagoon. Based on detailed and accurate bathymetric surveys it has been possible to estimate that the rate of lagoon in-filling is of the order of 100,000 m³ per year for the period June 2000 to May 2003, although the actual rate shows significant year to year variability. Dredging of the lagoon commenced in 2000 in an attempt to reverse the trend.In an effort to understand the behaviour of the inlet a one-dimensional numerical model of the inlet has been developed. The model extends the original of van de Kreeke by including a dynamic inlet throat area based on predicted river flows and a sediment transport module to predict the resulting net sediment transport. Comparisons with water level data collected on both the ocean and lagoon sides of the mouth have shown that the model is able to predict the attenuation and lag of the tidal signal reasonably well. The sediment transport model was based on predicted sediment concentrations in the surf zone and was found to predict the rate of sediment in-filling to an acceptable level of accuracy. It is envisaged that the model will be a useful management tool, especially since it is possible to manipulate river discharges to the mouth.     

A singular evolutive extended Kalman filter to assimilate ocean color data in a coupled physical–biochemical model of the North Atlantic ocean

Within the European DIADEM project, a data assimilation system for coupled ocean circulation and marine ecosystem models has been implemented for the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas. One objective of this project is to demonstrate the relevance of sophisticated methods to assimilate satellite data such as altimetry, surface temperature and ocean color, into realistic ocean models. In this paper, the singular evolutive extended Kalman (SEEK) filter, which is an advanced assimilation scheme where three-dimensional, multivariate error statistics are taken into account, is used to assimilate ocean color data into the biological component of the coupled system. The marine ecosystem model, derived from the FDM model [J. Mar. Res. 48 (1990) 591], includes 11 nitrogen and carbon compartments and describes the synthesis of organic matter in the euphotic zone, its consumption by animals of upper trophic levels, and the recycling of detritic material in the deep ocean. The circulation model coupled to the ecosystem is the Miami isopycnic coordinate ocean model (MICOM), which covers the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans with an enhanced resolution in the North Atlantic basin. The model is forced with realistic ECMWF ocean/atmosphere fluxes, which permits to resolve the seasonal variability of the circulation and mixed layer properties. In the twin assimimation experiments reported here, the predictions of the coupled model are corrected every 10 days using pseudo-measurements of surface phytoplankton as a substitute to chlorophyll concentrations measured from space. The diagnostics of these experiments indicate that the assimilation is feasible with a reduced-order Kalman filter of small rank (of order 10) as long as a sufficiently good identification of the error structure is available. In addition, the control of non-observed quantities such as zooplankton and nitrate concentrations is made possible, owing to the multivariate nature of the analysis scheme. However, a too severe truncation of the error sub-space downgrades the propagation of surface information below the mixed layer. The reduction of the actual state vector to the surface layers is therefore investigated to improve the estimation process in the perspective of sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor (SeaWiFS) data assimilation experiments.     

Intercomparison of coastal area morphodynamic models

Five different coastal area morphodynamic models have been set up to run on the same offshore breakwater layout and an intercomparison carried out on the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic output produced by each scheme. In addition, the predicted morphodynamics was checked against available laboratory and field data.It is concluded that the models are capable of producing realistic estimates for the dominant morphodynamic features associated with offshore breakwaters. Coupling of the wave, current and sediment transport components of each scheme is shown to yield bathymetry which attains a state of equilibrium, unlike models which are based on the initial transport field only.     

Far beyond the Gulf: the implications of warfare for Asian labour migration

The implications of the Gulf War are assessed for the countries in Asia that send labor migrants to the Middle East. "This paper seeks to examine the effects of...the loss of remittances (and related issues, including return migration), primarily in terms of the long-term implications of the War for the future of contract labour migration in the Asian region...."     

Guadalupian （Middle Permian） Conodont Faunas at Shangsi Section, Northeast Sichuan Province

This study recovered the Guadalupian conodont faunas from Shangsi (上寺) Section in Northeast Sichuan (四川). Four genera and nine species were identified, and three conodont zones were recognized and established; they include Jinogondolella nankingensis Zone, J. aserrata Zone, and J. postserrata Zone. The Roadian and Wordian boundary is set in the interval 5 m from the top of Bed 86 by the first appearance of the conodont J. aserrata. The Wordian and Capitanian boundary is set in the interval 2.3 m from the top of the Bed 95 by the first appearance of J. postserrata. Most of the specimens demonstrated low color alteration index (CAI) as 1.5-3, indicating that most part of the Maokou (茅口) Formation may have the suitable thermal conditions for the formation of oil source rocks.     

A New Female Cone, Araucaria beipoiaoensis sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation, Beipiao, Western Liaoning, China and Its Evolutionary Significance

A new species of Araucaria, Araucaria beipiaoensis sp. nov., collected from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation, southern hill of Shebudai village, near Beipiao city, western Liaoning is based on a permineralized female cone, which is ovate to elliptical in shape, about 11 cm × 7 cm × 4.5 cm in size. The cone bears rhomboid bracts that are spirally attached, texture thicker, with wings on both sides, with a detached lamina-like apex at the tip. In inner structure the ovuliferous scales are thicker and fused with bracts at the end with a ligular sulcns. There is one wingless ovule/seed per seed-scale complex embedded in the ovuliferous scale tissue, with the micropyle directed toward the cone axis. The ovules/seeds are long ovate or elliptical in shape, 1 cm long and near the base about 3 mm in diameter; the ovule/seed integuments have begun differentiation into 3 layers： the sarcotesta, sclerotesta, and endotesta. The nucellus is free from the enclosing integuments except in the chalazal region where it is fused to the inner layer （endotesta） of integument. Some ovules show cellularized nucellar tissue. Mature seeds exhibit the papery-thin wavy nucellus characteristically near to the micropyle. The embryonic tissue appears to be four cotyledons. The morphology and structure of the cone shows a close relationship to the araucarian cones of fossil and living genera but differs from any known species. The new species is distributed in the Middle Jurassic of the northern hemisphere, especially Asia, and has important significance for the evolution of the Family Araucariaceae.     

New Isophlebioid Dragonflies from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China(Insecta:Odonata:Isophlebioptera:Campterophiebiidae)

Three new species of fossil dragonflies assigned to Sinokaratawia Nel,Huang and Lin in family Campterophlebildae,i.e.S,daohugouica sp.nov.,S.magica sp.nov.and S.gloriosa sp.nov.,and new materials of male S.prokopi Nel,Huang and Lin,2007 are described from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou,Inner Mongolia,China.An emended diagnosis of genus Sinokaratawia was proposed.     

On the multivariate total least-squares approach to empirical coordinate transformations. Three algorithms

The multivariate total least-squares (MTLS) approach aims at estimating a matrix of parameters, Ξ, from a linear model (Y−E _Y = (X−E _X ) · Ξ) that includes an observation matrix, Y, another observation matrix, X, and matrices of randomly distributed errors, E _Y and E _X . Two special cases of the MTLS approach include the standard multivariate least-squares approach where only the observation matrix, Y, is perturbed by random errors and, on the other hand, the data least-squares approach where only the coefficient matrix X is affected by random errors. In a previous contribution, the authors derived an iterative algorithm to solve the MTLS problem by using the nonlinear Euler–Lagrange conditions. In this contribution, new lemmas are developed to analyze the iterative algorithm, modify it, and compare it with a new ‘closed form’ solution that is based on the singular-value decomposition. For an application, the total least-squares approach is used to estimate the affine transformation parameters that convert cadastral data from the old to the new Israeli datum. Technical aspects of this approach, such as scaling the data and fixing the columns in the coefficient matrix are investigated. This case study illuminates the issue of “symmetry” in the treatment of two sets of coordinates for identical point fields, a topic that had already been emphasized by Teunissen (1989, Festschrift to Torben Krarup, Geodetic Institute Bull no. 58, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp 335–342). The differences between the standard least-squares and the TLS approach are analyzed in terms of the estimated variance component and a first-order approximation of the dispersion matrix of the estimated parameters.