A new mixing equation for bed material composition in bed form dominant conditions

Vertical mixing beneath the bed surface and its effect on sediment composition has long been underestimated. This paper proposes a mixing equation to illustrate the temporal and spatial variations of bed material composition for bed form dominant rivers. A continuous mass conservation equation for elevation-specific nonuniform bed material composition is initially presented. A vertical mixing equation is finally derived as a diffusion-type partial differential equation with a source term charact...     

Numerical investigation of chaotic advection past a groyne based on laboratory flow experiment

A laboratory flow past a groyne with complex hydrodynamics was investigated using surface Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) technique for detecting chaotic features in fluvial mixing processes. In the reconstructed velocity field particles were deployed and tracked numerically in a Lagrangian way. Calculating some appropriate parameters (e.g. flushing times, finite-size Lyapunov exponent) originating from chaos theory, we are able to give a more detailed picture on surface mixing driven by aperiodic flows than traditional approaches, including the separation of sub-regions characterized by sharply different mixing efficiency.     

Investigation of OMA formation and the effect of minerals

Oil-mineral-aggregates (OMA) have been shown to be effective in oil spills cleanup. Experimental work was carried out to study the effects of physical-chemical properties of natural minerals and chemically modified minerals on OMA formation and oil removal. The results showed that the hydrophobicity, particle sizes and specific surface of minerals played an important role in OMA formation. Appropriate hydrophobicity of minerals can enhance the formation of OMA. The surface property of minerals can also influence the shape of OMA. Spherical mineral-oil aggregates were frequently formed with hydrophilic minerals while irregular shaped OMA were observed with hydrophobic minerals. The sizes of OMA also increased when the minerals changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. The effects of dispersant and mixing energy were also carefully studied. The results showed that dispersant were a dominant factor. When dispersant was applied, effects of other factors became minimal.     

Comment on “Complete Eulerian-mean tracer equation for coarse resolution OGCMs” by M. S. Dubovikov and V. M. Canuto

Dubovikov and Canuto (Dubovikov, M.S. and Canuto, V.M., Complete Eulerian-mean tracer equation for coarse resolution OGCMs. Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., 2006, 100, 197–214), after averaging the tracer conservation equation in density coordinates and transforming to height coordinates, concluded that present ocean models are missing important terms in their mean tracer equations. Here we point out some errors made by Dubovikov and Canuto (2006 Dubovikov, MS and Canuto, VM. 2006. Complete Eulerian-mean tracer equation for coarse resolution OGCMs. Geophys. & Astrophys. Fluid Dynam., 100: 197–214. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in their isopycnal averaging procedure. We draw on the temporal-residual-mean (TRM) theory and show that when the isopycnal averaging and coordinate transformation are performed correctly, the tracer equations of present ocean circulation models are recovered. We therefore conclude that present ocean circulation models are not neglecting the leading order terms identified by Dubovikov and Canuto (2006 Dubovikov, MS and Canuto, VM. 2006. Complete Eulerian-mean tracer equation for coarse resolution OGCMs. Geophys. & Astrophys. Fluid Dynam., 100: 197–214. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Stratified convection with multiple states

A simplified box model of the cooling of a salt-stratified ocean is analyzed analytically and numerically. A large isothermal basin of salt water has a layer of fresh water at the surface. Beside this is a small basin, cooled from above and connected to the large basin by horizontal tubes at the top, middle and bottom. For small cooling rate, fresh water enters the small basin, is cooled and leaves through the middle tube. For greater cooling rate, the fresh water leaves the small basin through the middle and bottom tube. If the top tube is smaller than the deeper tubes and the fresh water layer is sufficiently shallow, flow in the middle tube reverses at a critical cooling rate. In this case, a mixture of salt and fresh water is cooled and leaves the bottom tube. Increased cooling produces much greater flow rate; consequentially temperature increases rather than decreases in the small basin. A relaxation heat flow condition results in multiple equilibria. One of the stable modes has fresh surface water descending in the small basin and flowing out through the middle and bottom tube. The other has a greater rate of flow of both fresh and salty water (through the middle tube) into the basin with the flow of mixed salty water out of the bottom tube. Implications for deep convection in the ocean are discussed.     

黄河上游河南县地面大气冰核观测分析

用Bigg型混合云室对2001年8月黄河上游青海省河南县的地面大气冰核浓度进行了观测,分析发现(1)青海省河南县冰核浓度低于北京20世纪90年代的测值,但高于大连、西安和兰州(20世纪60年代)等地的测值,同时也高于黄河上游的玛曲(2000年)、西宁(1989年)两地的测值,高温核尤其偏高.(2)降水时大气冰核浓度减少,降水的冲刷可能是其主要原因.(3)当地冰核浓度和气压成正相关.(4)大气冰核浓度受风向的影响,无风时测值较小,偏东风时测值较大,高温核浓度增加明显.     

On the importance of non-hydrostatic processes in determining tidally induced mixing in sill regions

The importance of using a non-hydrostatic model to compute tidally induced mixing and flow in the region of a sill is examined using idealized topography representing the sill at the entrance to Loch Etive. This site is chosen since detailed measurements were recently made there. Calculations are performed with and without the inclusion of non-hydrostatic dynamics using a vertical slice model for a range of sill widths corresponding to typical sill regions. Initial non-hydrostatic calculations showed that the model could reproduce the observed flow characteristics in the region. However, when calculations were performed using the model in hydrostatic form, the significant artificial convective mixing that occurred in order to remove density inversions led to excessively high vertical mixing. This influenced the computed temperature field and the intensity of the current jet that separated from the sill on its lee side. In addition it affected the magnitude and spatial characteristics of the lee waves generated on the lee side of the sill. Calculations with a range of sill widths, showed that as the sill width decreased the difference between the solution computed with the non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic model increased.     

Geochemical characteristics and isotopic reversal of natural gases in eastern Kopeh-Dagh,NE Iran

Natural gas samples from two gas fields located in Eastern Kopeh-Dagh area were analyzed for molecular and stable isotope compositions. The gaseous hydrocarbons in both Lower Cretaceous clastic reservoir and Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir are coal-type gases mainly derived from type III kerogen, however enriched δD values of methane implies presence of type II kerogen related material in the source rock. In comparison Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir gases show higher dryness coefficient resulted through TSR, while presence of C₁C₅ gases in Lower Cretaceous clastic reservoir exhibit no TSR phenomenon. Carbon isotopic values indicate gas to gas cracking and TSR occurrence in the Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir, as the result of elevated temperature experienced, prior to the following uplifts in last 33–37 million years. The δ¹³C of carbon dioxide and δ³⁴S of hydrogen sulfide in Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir do not primarily reflect TSR, as uplift related carbonate rock dissolution by acidic gases and reaction/precipitation of light H₂S have changed these values severely. Gaseous hydrocarbons in both reservoirs exhibit enrichment in C₂ gas member, with the carbonate reservoir having higher values resulted through mixing with highly-mature-completely-reversed shale gases. It is likely that the uplifts have lifted off the pressure on shale gases, therefore facilitated the migration of the gases into overlying horizons. However it appears that the released gases during the first major uplift (33–37 million years ago) have migrated to both reservoirs, while the second migrated gases have only mixed with Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir gases. The studied data suggesting that economic accumulations of natural gas/shale gases deeper than Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir would be unlikely.     

Studies on turbulent diffusion processes and evaluation of diffusivity values from hydrodynamic observations in Corpus Christi Bay

The physical process of dispersion which can be attributed to turbulence (turbulent diffusion) or shear (shear-augmented diffusion) within the flow field is very important as it ultimately governs the distribution of constituents of interest within the environment. A series of diffusion experiments were conducted in Corpus Christi Bay, TX with the purpose of characterizing turbulent diffusion through dispersion coefficients or turbulent diffusivity, K_i (i=x, y, z) dependent on the degree of randomness or turbulence intensity, I.Measured with a boat-mounted acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP), the Eulerian velocity time-series of fluid particles in random motion, u_i was used in the evaluation of the Eulerian time-scale of turbulence, T^E based on the velocity correlation function, R^E with T^E being related to the Lagrangian time-scale T^L through a scaling parameter, β(=T^L/T^E). Surface currents were obtained with high frequency (HF) Radar equipment deployed over the study area from which the horizontal velocity gradients were determined.Within the spatial scale of the experiment (1000 m), the observed low horizontal gradients (10⁻⁴ s⁻¹) allowed for the generation of velocity time-series from an ADCP mounted on a moving platform. A numerical scheme for evaluating turbulent diffusivity values was developed on the basis of Eulerian current measurements and calibrated through the statistics of an evolving dye patch for the scaling parameter β which in this scheme was found to be in the range 1–3.     

Diagenesis in salt dome roof strata: Barite - calcite assemblage in Jebel Madar,Oman

Halokinesis causes a dynamic structural evolution with the development of faults and fractures, which can act as either preferential fluid pathways or barriers. Reconstructing reactive fluid flow in salt dome settings remains a challenge. This contribution presents for the first time a spatial distribution map of diagenetic phases in a salt dome in northern Oman. Our study establishes a clear link between structural evolution and fluid flow leading to the formation of diagenetic products (barite and calcite) in the salt dome roof strata. Extensive formation of diagenetic products occurs along NNE-SSW to NE-SW faults and fractures, which initiated during the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) and were reactivated in the Miocene, but not along the E-W fault, which was generated during Early Paleocene time. We propose that the diagenetic products formed by mixing of a warm (100 °C) saline (17 wt% NaCl eq.) ⁸⁷Sr enriched (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr: 0.71023) fluid with colder (35 °C) meteoric fluid during Miocene to Pleistocene. The stable sulphur and strontium isotope composition and fluid inclusion data indicate that a saline fluid, with sulphate source derived from the Ara Group evaporite and Haima Supergroup layers, is the source for barite formation at about 100 °C, predominantly at fault conjunctions and minor faults away from the main graben structure in the dome. In the Miocene, the saline fluid probably ascended along a halokinesis-related fault due to fluid overpressure (due to the rising salt and impermeable layers in the overlying stratigraphic sequence), and triggered the formation of barite due to mixing with barium-rich fluids, accompanied by a drop in temperature. Subsequently, evolving salt doming with associated fault activity and erosion of the Jebel allows progressively more input of colder meteoric fluids, which mix with the saline warmer fluid, as derived from stable isotope data measured in the progressively younger barite-associated calcite, fault zone calcite and macro-columnar calcite. The reconstructed mixing model indicates a 50/50 to 90/10 meteoric/saline fluid mixing ratio for the formation of fault zone calcite, and a 10 times higher concentration of carbon in the saline fluid end member compared to the meteoric fluid end member. The presented mixing model of salt-derived fluids with meteoric fluids is suggested to be a general model applicable to structural diagenetic evolution of salt domes world wide.