Multi-stakeholder collaboration yields valuable data for cetacean conservation in Gamba,Gabon

Private industry, the Government of Gabon and two international NGOs collaborated to conduct marine surveys off the coast of Gabon, Central Africa. Surveys addressed multiple objectives of surveillance and monitoring, the documentation of the distribution of and threats to the marine megafauna, and capacity-building among government agents and local early-career scientists. During 22 days of survey effort over a two-year period, observers documented humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae, bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, Atlantic humpback dolphins Sousa teuszii and common dolphins Delphinus delphis. Humpback whale presence was limited to the months of July to November. Bottlenose dolphins were present year-round and photo-identification of individuals indicated a closed, resident population, with an abundance estimate of 118 (CV = 21.6%, 95% CI 78–180). Small open-decked fishing vessels with gillnets were observed concentrated around river mouths within 2 km of shore, while commercial trawlers were at least 10 km offshore; all were confirmed to be registered and legal. Observations of marine turtles, flocks of marine birds, and floating logs and other debris were sparse. This multi-stakeholder collaboration to conduct a marine survey can serve as an effective model by which funding and logistic support from private industry paired with technical expertise from NGOs and academic institutions can benefit marine and coastal conservation.     

Probability of Sediment Incipient Motion Under Complex Flows

Presented in this paper is a mathematical model to calculate the probability of the sediment incipient motion,in which the effects of the fluctuating pressure and the seepage are considered.The instantaneous bed shear velocity and the pressure gradient on the bed downstream of the backward-facing step flow are obtained according to the PIV measurements.It is found that the instantaneous pressure gradient on the bed obeys normal distribution.The probability of the sediment incipient motion on the bed downstream of the backward-facing step flow is given by the mathematical model.The predicted results agree well with the experiment in the region downstream of the reattachment point while a large discrepancy between the theory and experiment is seen in the region near the reattachment point.The possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Modified Moving Particle Semi-implicit methods for the prediction of 2D wave impact pressure

As a gridless particle method, the MPS (Moving Particle Semi-implicit) method has proven useful in a wide variety of engineering applications including free-surface hydrodynamic flows. Despite its wide range of applicability, the MPS method suffers from some shortcomings such as non-conservation of momentum and spurious pressure fluctuation. By introducing new formulations for the pressure gradient and a new formulation of the source term of the Poisson Pressure Equation (PPE), and by allowing a slight compressibility, we have proposed modified MPS methods for the prediction of wave impact pressure on a coastal structure. The improved performance of the modified methods is shown through the simulation of numerous wave impact problems (including the impacts by a dam break flow, a flip-through and two cases of slightly-breaking waves) in comparison with the experimental data.     

Analysis of seabed instability using element free Galerkin method

Wave-induced seabed instability, either momentary liquefaction or shear failure, is an important topic in ocean and coastal engineering. Many factors, such as seabed properties and wave parameters, affect the seabed instability. A non-dimensional parameter is proposed in this paper to evaluate the occurrence of momentary liquefaction. This parameter includes the properties of the soil and the wave. The determination of the wave-induced liquefaction depth is also suggested based on this non-dimensional parameter. As an example, a two-dimensional seabed with finite thickness is numerically treated with the EFGM meshless method developed early for wave-induced seabed responses. Parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of wavelength, compressibility of pore fluid, permeability and stiffness of porous media, and variable stiffness with depth on the seabed response with three criteria for liquefaction. It is found that this non-dimensional parameter is a good index for identifying the momentary liquefaction qualitatively, and the criterion of liquefaction with seepage force can be used to predict the deepest liquefaction depth.     

A higher-order σ-coordinate non-hydrostatic model for nonlinear surface waves

A higher-order non-hydrostatic model in a σ-coordinate system is developed. The model uses an implicit finite difference scheme on a staggered grid to simultaneously solve the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) with the free-surface boundary conditions. An integral method is applied to resolve the top-layer non-hydrostatic pressure, allowing for accurately resolving free-surface wave propagation. In contrast to the previous work, a higher-order spatial discretization is utilized to approximate the large horizontal pressure gradient due to steep surface waves or rapidly varying topographies. An efficient direct solver is developed to solve the resulting block hepta-diagonal matrix system. Accuracy of the new model is validated by linear and nonlinear standing waves and progressive waves. The model is then used to examine freak (extreme) waves. Features of downshifting focusing location and wave asymmetry characteristics are predicted on the temporal and spatial domains of a freak wave.     

浮游植物生物量研究 Ⅰ.浮游植物生物量细胞体积转化法

在海洋生态动力学研究过程中,采用浮游植物细胞数量来估算浮游植物丰度可以说是不够精确的,因为不同种的浮游植物细胞大小差别很大,只有浮游植物的生物量才能正确反映海洋生态系中的能量分布.本文以拟合浮游植物细胞相似体积方法,基于胶州湾生态动力学研究所获资料,计算了87种中国近海常见浮游植物的细胞体积、鲜重、碳含量、氮含量.     

Experimental investigation of tsunami bore impact pressure on a perforated seawall

Catastrophic failures of many tsunami barriers along the affected coasts during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake tsunami has prompted extensive investigation into improving and revising design codes for tsunami defence structures. To date, researchers and coastal engineers are investigating to understand the failure mechanisms and to find solutions so that the structures merely remain intact in the extreme event such as tsunami. Thus, the present work is motivated to experimentally study tsunami-induced bore pressures exerted on vertical seawalls; a solid vertical wall and a porous vertical seawall that consisted of a perforated front wall and a solid rear wall. Bores with various heights and velocities were generated by using the dam-break method. A porous seawall with 20% porosity of perforated front wall was used in this study. Bore pressures exerted on the solid rear wall and chamber oscillations that occurred in the experiments were also discussed. The experimental results showed that multiple peak pressures were observed during bore run-up phase in the time series of bore impacts. A predictive equation to estimate the maximum bore pressure on a perforated seawall was developed using multiple regression analysis. The proposed equation was also compared with previous empirical formulas.     

Effects of long-term cyclic horizontal loading on bucket foundations in saturated loose sand

A 1-g model experimental study was conducted to investigate the accumulated rotations and unloading stiffness of bucket foundations in saturated loose sand. One-way horizontal cyclic loading was applied to model bucket foundations with embedment ratios 0.5 and 1.0. Up to 10⁴ cycles of loading were applied at a frequency of 0.2 Hz varying load amplitudes. The accumulated rotation of the bucket foundations increased with the number of cycles and the load amplitudes. Empirical equations were proposed to describe the accumulated rotation of the foundations. The unloading stiffness of foundations increased with the number of cycles but decreased with an increase in load amplitude. The initial unloading stiffness of L/D = 1.0 (L is skirt length; D is foundation diameter) was approximately twice that of L/D = 0.5. Excess pore water pressure difference of 50% was observed between L/D = 0.5 and 1.0. The suction and static capacity of the bucket increased with increase of bucket embedment ratio with a difference of 69.5% and 73.6% respectively between L/D = 0.5 and 1.0.     

带丁坝型半封闭矩形海湾中M_2分潮潮波和潮流特性分析

将黄渤海海域概化为矩形海湾,山东半岛概化为垂直于海岸的巨型丁坝,形成一个带丁坝型半封闭矩形海湾。利用DELFT3D-FLOW计算模块在上述海湾中进行了M2分潮数值模拟,对其无潮点和辐射状潮流场的特性进行了分析。研究发现:考虑科氏力影响和巨型丁坝反射作用,坝前形成了明显的无潮点,但在等水深条件下并未形成辐射状潮流场,而叠加上倾斜海底地形后其得以形成;无潮点和辐射状潮流场顶端位置受水深影响明显,随着平均水深的增大,无潮点将向湾口和湾中轴线方向偏移,而辐射状潮流场顶端则向湾口方向偏移。研究结果有助于加深对带丁坝型半封闭矩形海湾中驻潮波系统形成机制和动力特性的理解和认识。     

深海极端环境模拟装置设计

为了满足深海极端环境科学研究的需求,设计了深海极端环境模拟装置。对系统结构以及工作原理进行分析,介绍了培养釜、温度控制子系统和压力控制子系统。重点针对当前模拟装置压力控制精度不高的问题,设计了高精度压力传感器,并提出一种迭代自学习PID压力控制算法,实现系统压力自动检测和连续控制,同时带有观察窗的培养釜结构可以实现微生物状况实时观测。实验结果表明,该系统能够实现深海极端环境参量高精度模拟,可以为深海极端环境科学研究提供很好的平台。