Estuary/ocean exchange and tidal mixing in a Gulf of Maine Estuary: A Lagrangian modeling study

A Lagrangian particle method embedded within a 2-D finite element code, is used to study the transport and ocean–estuary exchange processes in the well-mixed Great Bay Estuarine System in New Hampshire, USA. The 2-D finite element model, driven by residual, semi-diurnal and diurnal tidal constituents, includes the effects of wetting and drying of estuarine mud flats through the use of a porous medium transport module. The particle method includes tidal advection, plus a random walk model in the horizontal that simulates sub-grid scale turbulent transport processes. Our approach involves instantaneous, massive [O(500,000)] particle releases that enable the quantification of ocean–estuary and inter-bay exchanges in a Markovian framework. The effects of the release time, spring–neap cycle, riverine discharge and diffusion strength on the intra-estuary and estuary–ocean exchange are also investigated.The results show a rather dynamic interaction between the ocean and the estuary with a fraction of the exiting particles being caught up in the Gulf of Maine Coastal Current and swept away. Three somewhat different estimates of estuarine residence time are calculated to provide complementary views of estuary flushing. Maps of residence time versus release location uncover a strong spatial dependency of residence time within the estuary that has very important ramifications for local water quality. Simulations with and without the turbulent random walk show that the combined effect of advective shear and turbulent diffusion is very effective at spreading particles throughout the estuary relatively quickly, even at low (1 m²/s) diffusivity. The results presented here show that a first-order Markov Chain approach has applicability and a high potential for improving our understanding of the mixing processes in estuaries.     

Record of Late Pleistocene Glaciation and Deglaciation in the Southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological Evidence from Lacustrine Sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, Southern Oregon

Petrological and textural properties of lacustrine sediments from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, reflect changing input volumes of glacial flour and thus reveal a detailed glacial history for the southern Cascade Range between about 37 and 15 ka. Magnetic properties vary as a result of mixing different amounts of the highly magnetic, glacially generated detritus with less magnetic, more weathered detritus derived from unglaciated parts of the large catchment. Evidence that the magnetic properties record glacial flour input is based mainly on the strong correlation between bulk sediment particle size and parameters that measure the magnetite content and magnetic mineral freshness. High magnetization corresponds to relatively fine particle size and lower magnetization to coarser particle size. This relation is not found in the Buck Lake core in a nearby, unglaciated catchment. Angular silt-sized volcanic rock fragments containing unaltered magnetite dominate the magnetic fraction in the late Pleistocene sediments but are absent in younger, low magnetization sediments. The finer grained, highly magnetic sediments contain high proportions of planktic diatoms indicative of cold, oligotrophic limnic conditions. Sediment with lower magnetite content contains populations of diatoms indicative of warmer, eutrophic limnic conditions. During the latter part of oxygen isotope stage 3 (about 37–25 ka), the magnetic properties record millennial-scale variations in glacial-flour content. The input of glacial flour was uniformly high during the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 21 and 16 ka. At about 16 ka, magnetite input, both absolute and relative to hematite, decreased abruptly, reflecting a rapid decline in glacially derived detritus. The decrease in magnetite transport into the lake preceded declines in pollen from both grass and sagebrush. A more gradual decrease in heavy mineral content over this interval records sediment starvation with the growth of marshes at the margins of the lake and dilution of detrital material by biogenic silica and other organic matter.     

基于同轴差距测量法的南海深水海底沉积物声衰减特性研究

通过分析沉积物声波测量过程能量损失的实质,阐述平行轴差距衰减测量法和垂直轴差距衰减测量法的研究基础——差动式衰减测量方法原理,并推导了其衰减系数公式。根据南海沉积物的柱状样品分装的特点,结合以上两种方法,提出了同轴差距衰减测量法,这种方法具有原理上的合理性并且其可操作性强;运用此方法测量了沉积物在常温和温度控制变化条件下的声波信号,计算了衰减系数,研究了温度对沉积物声波传播能量的影响,得出南海深水海底沉积物具有以下声衰减特性：沉积物含砂量高,声衰减系数大;随着温度的升高,沉积物的声衰减系数变化具有不均匀性,整体呈非线性减小趋势。以上研究将为声学遥测和反演海底沉积物的物理力学特性提供数据和方法支持。     

西菲律宾海沉积物铁族元素地球化学

本文对取自西菲律宾海区的三个柱状沉积物岩芯的铁族元素地球化学行为进行了系统的研究。从元素的含量及剖面变化、元素的相关性及组合特征,铁族元素与主元素的关系以及元素的赋存状态等方面探讨了物质来源、沉积作用和古气候,并据此进行了地层划分。沉积物有4种来源:海底火山源、生物源、自生源和陆源。海底火山物质提供了较多的铁族元素,相形之下,自生沉积作用较弱。元素地层学研究表明,在全新世温暖期和晚更新世寒冷期铁族元素表现出不同的地球化学行为,尤以Mn和亲生物(Ca)元素对气候的反映灵敏。WP_2孔和WP_(40)孔铁族元素特征相似,与WP_1孔差别较大。     

Tidal effects on estuarine circulation and outflow plume in the Chesapeake Bay

The response of the Chesapeake Bay to river discharge under the influence and absence of tide is simulated with a numerical model. Four numerical experiments are examined: (1) response to river discharge only; (2) response to river discharge plus an ambient coastal current along the shelf outside the bay; (3) response to river discharge and tidal forcing; and (4) response to river discharge, tidal forcing, and ambient coastal current. The general salinity distribution in the four cases is similar to observations inside the bay. Observed features, such as low salinity in the western side of the bay, are consistent in model results. Also, a typical estuarine circulation with seaward current in the upper layer and landward current in the lower layer is obtained in the four cases. The two cases without tide produce stronger subtidal currents than the cases with tide owing to greater frictional effects in the cases with tide. Differences in salinity distributions among the four cases appear mostly outside the bay in terms of the outflow plume structure. The two cases without tide produce an upstream (as in a Kelvin wave sense) or northward branch of the outflow plume, while the cases with tide produce an expected downstream or southward plume. Increased friction in the cases with tide changes the vertical structure of outflow at the entrance to the bay and induces large horizontal variations in the exchange flow. Consequently, the outflow from the bay is more influenced by the bottom than in the cases without tide. Therefore, a tendency for a bottom-advected plume appears in the cases with tide, rather than a surface-advected plume, which develops in the cases without tide. Further analysis shows that the tidal current favors a salt balance between the horizontal and vertical advection of salinity around the plume and hinders the upstream expansion of the plume outside the bay.     

Geochemical modeling,fate distribution,and risk exposure of potentially toxic metals in the surface sediment of the Shyok suture zone,northern Pakistan

The objective of the current study was to assess the contamination of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in weathered surface sediment, along stream tributaries, and surrounding area of the river Chitral, Shyok suture zone district Chitral, Pakistan. To understand the geochemical features of 113 sediment, samples were collected from the Mirkhani and Drosh area. Then, different statistical tools including the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and ecological risk assessment (ERA) were used to unravel the origin, intensity, and exposure level of PTMs to control risk and restore the ecosystem within the study area. The results for the PTMs namely nickle (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and cobalt (Co) in Mirkhani and Drosh were in the following ranges: 10–150, 15–210, 15–250, 0.08–1.00, 10–70, 76–240 and 14–51; and 13–240, 17–210, 15–150, 0.08–0.60, 7–140, 47–150 and 13–36 mg/kg, respectively. In consequence, the potential ecological risk caused by Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn is reflected by the percentages of samples with an ecological risk index (ERI) greater than one which were 100%, 91%, 100%, 100%, 92%, and 100%, respectively. However, the overall mean decreasing order of ecological risk of PTMs in the district Chitral was Pb > Ni > Cu > Co > Cr > Zn > Cd. Moreover, the PCA yielded 78% variability which indicated that mineral prospects play an important role in the contamination of sediment. Furthermore, the mineral phases of Pb and Zn suggested supersaturation, while that for Cd revealed unsaturation. The results of Igeo, ERI, and CA indicated contamination of PTMs in the study area. The ERI value of Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn was higher than 1 suggesting an ecological risk in the study area. Moreover, the current study showed the dominance of geogenic contamination with major contributions from ultramafic rock and known mineral prospects. Therefore, contaminated sediment of the Shyok suture zone is extremely detrimental to the aquatic ecosystem of the study area.     

Temporality of disasters: The politics of women's livelihoods ‘after’ the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka

The devastation caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka is represented as a ‘natural disaster’. Yet, the tsunami did not occur in a sociopolitical and historical vacuum. How people responded to the tsunami, the challenges of and attitudes to relocation and post‐tsunami livelihoods, were/are shaped by uneven development, social exclusion and ethnonationalist war. All these responses are embedded in structures of gender, caste, class, and ethnicity. The tsunami, thus, brought to the forefront preexisting inequalities, showing up complexities in the temporality of disasters. Drawn from fieldwork in two coastal areas in the Southern and Eastern provinces, this paper shows how gendered structures within the local political economy influenced the ways that institutional actors as well as the displaced communities and women initially devised livelihood strategies. These reactions show how place matters as much as preexisting gendered political economy conditions and reveal the complex ways in which women continue to mediate and negotiate everyday responses in the aftermath of a ‘natural’ disaster.     

台湾东部海域沉积物波特征及其成因探讨

利用地震剖面对沉积物波的分布、形态和内部结构进行了分析,结合区域地质背景对沉积物来源和成因进行了探讨。识别出的沉积物波域主要位于台东峡谷与陆坡其他峡谷的交汇区,单个波形的波长为0.8～7.2 km,波高为18～75 m左右,呈NE—SW向展布。台东峡谷弯曲段内侧向上坡迁移的沉积物波,其底界发育块体流沉积,内部可细分为下部过渡单元和上部波形单元。弯曲段外侧的沉积物波呈垂向加积的特征,底部无块体流沉积。基于沉积物波的几何形态,估算整个波域的流体厚度在196～356 m之间,流体速度在15～21 cm/s之间。沉积物波的形态特征、内部结构、分布规律以及数值计算表明这些沉积物波为浊流成因。台湾东部海域沉积物波域的发育与台湾西南部的沉积物波域一样,是台湾造山运动的沉积响应。距今3.5 Ma以来花东海脊的形成以及广燠火山岛—绿岛—兰屿火山岛间闸口的抬升和封闭使得沉积物经由卑南溪及海下水道向南输送到绿岛西侧的台东海槽残留弧前盆地时受阻,转而沿台东峡谷及陆坡冲沟体系向东输送入花东海盆。浊流沉积物沿着峡谷/沟谷体系向下坡方向输送的过程中,在峡谷/冲沟的嘴部等地形限制性降低的位置卸载,或在台东峡谷的高弯曲段漫溢出来,从而形成沉积物波域。     

西藏地堡那木岗矿区水系沉积物地球化学特征及找矿预测

利用SPSS等软件对矿区1：5万水系沉积物地球化学数据分析,选用平均值±3倍标准差（X±3S）作为上下限反复剔除原始数据的特值,使元素含量服从正态分布.最后以X+2S作为异常下限（T）,以1T、2T、4T三级浓度分带,圈定Cu、Au、Ag、Mo单元素异常和Au-Ag-Mo综合元素异常,揭示矿区内水系沉积物地球化学异常特征.将异常区与矿区地质特征、矿床（点）套合分析,表明异常受地层、断裂、围岩蚀变控制,对寻找矿（化）体、断层、围岩蚀变带有指示作用.最终,优选2处远景区,分别为3号综合异常区中心北北西方向至北东向断裂附近,1号、2号综合异常区及其东侧组成一个走向为东西向的异常带.